Rally-HO! Hikaro's Dwarf Onslaught (a WH 2.2 mod story)

Chapter 3: More Giant Rats, Rude Neighbors and Drunken Dwarves.

"There is nothin' as sure in the world as the glitter of gold and the treachery of Elves." - Old Dwarf Saying

The first major achievement o' the Dwarves under the new calendar was the foondin' o' Tetsuyama beside the Airn. (Player's Note: Testuyama, meaning Iron Mounain in Japanese, is the largest of several Dwarven cities in the Seiryu Kingdom, which is in a fantasy story I've been writing called Reitekina Senso). The goovernor immeditately starts trainin' soome stardy lads inta Dwarf Warriors ta deal wi' the giant rats that keep shoowin' oop nearby. (50 IC) Skaven Clanrat attacks the city noot lang after the new warriors are trained, an' he get's killed fer his efforts. (175IC)

The skaven gets up, and looks around in puzzlement... The last thing it can remember is getting hit in the back by some dwarf warrior's axe, but for some funny reason he doesn't feel any pain.... As these thoughts go through his head, he looks down and spots his body lying on the ground in several places. Then he notices a small figure wearing a black cowl and robe that's carrying a tiny scythe. "Are you who I think you are?" the clanrat asks the figure, who nods.

"SQUEAK!" the figure replies, which pretty much sums up the situation, and the spirit of the clanrat follows the Death of Rats to the big sewer in the sky

The next prooject that Tetsuyama starts is a shrine, since the Low King wants ta boold a soommer hame in the city called the Palace Fortress eventually. (Player's Note: The Palace Fortress = the Forbidden Palce in the Epic game). Soometime Later (250 IC) oor clansmen exploorin' the Sooth defeat anoother Rat-Ogre... It's joost too bad that these giant rat's flesh is poisonous, ootherwise, we'd be feastin' every night! (Player's Note: The Dwarves in Discworld consider rat to be a delicacy, which is a taste that most cities with mixed Human/dwarf populations (Ankh-Morpork in particular) are more than happy to cater to).

While the Skaven war was ragin' ta the Noortheast and the Sooth, our chief sage, Giott (Player's Note: Giott was the King of the Dwarves in Final Fantasy IV, and a very astute scientist... While most of the FF IV world was medieval, he had freakin' Main Battle Tanks in his underground kingdom) came oop ta the Low King and reported that oor sages had finally goot a workable irrigation plan figgered oot. Goetrek nodded, sayin' "Good joob, Giott, now try and see if you kin figger oot hae ta boold soome boots fer oos."

Giott bows and replies, "Aye, yer grace, once we get a boot boolt, we kin exploore the woorld that mooch faster," after which he left with the Low King's orders. (Historian's Note: Dwarves research Irrigation and start work on Sailing). The Low King then orders oor miners ta start irrigatin' grasslands and plains soo we kin get soome moore food inta oor cities. Also, the Low King calls oor chief diplomat, Carrot Ironfoundersson (who actually is hooman, but he was oorphaned an' a group o' local dwarves raised him oop, and since he knoows the Laws o' Tak an' all the prooper ceremonies, soo he's coonsidered ta be a prooper dwarf by the Laws), and tells him ta goo ta the Doolgans and shoow them hae ta make stoof oota clay an' hae ta boold shrines in their cities ta woorship their choosen gods. In exchange, they shoow Carrot hae ta roon a city properly an' hae ta train better diplomats. (Historian's Note: In 325 IC, Dwarves trade Mysticism and Pottery to the Dolgans for Emmissaries and Civil Service). (Player's Note: that account given is pretty much the background story of Carrot Ironfoundersson, Captain of the Ankh-Morpork City watch and one of the more interesting charachters in the Discworld series. Carrot is well know in the series for being able to get along with just about everyone and anyone) Nae we kin boold Town Halls ta keep corrooption in check as well as establish embassies in oother coontries.

A picture of the Dolgan leader after the details of the trade were worked out


A while later, soome travellin' merchants coome ta the Low King an' report that some boonch o' lizardmen callin' themselves Slann boolt the Standin' Stanes in Itza, their capitol city. (Historan's Note: Slann build the Standing Stones in 425 IC) (Player's Note: The Standing Stones are a great wonder that doubles the effect of shrines and becomes obsolete with religion). Soon after that (425 IC) the city o' Borogravia is foonded aloong the coost ta the Noorth o' Moria, an' they start booldin' a shrine. After that, anoother groop o' travellers tells oos that soome evil hoomans callin' themselves Chaoos boolt the Errantry war in their capitol city of Khorinaun. (Historian's Note: Chaos builds the Errantry War in 475 IC) (Player's Note: Errantry War doubles combat values vs barbs and acts as a free barracks in the city). We get woord that the vampires take the materials they were gatherin' fer the Errantry War and use them ta start booldin' a Great Bazaar (Great Bazaar puts a free marketplace in every city on the continent), an' oor good buddy Bugman decides ta oofer ta oopen a franchise in Doolga if they kin boold it before we do!! Ah think we need ta remind Mr. Bugman that he IS a dwarf and where his loyalties lie (oh, that's right... oor loyalties are with the gold). We establish embassies in Drakenhoff and Dolga. The embasy in Dolga reveals the following:

Spoiler :


Froom the reports we read, there was noo way that they'd be doone before we were, soo we gave it nae further thought.

Some years later, a delegation o' smaelly Doolgans coome ta Ankh-Morpork requestin' an audience with the Low King. When asked what he wishes ta discuss, the Doolgan ambassador says, "My good friend Goetrek Starbreaker, we would like to know the secrets of irrigation, in exchange for continued friendship between our nations... If ya catch my drift."

The Low King's scowled, an' says, "Let me discooss this with mah advisers, an' we'll get back ta ya in a mooment." The Doolgan Ambassador, smilin', boowed and stepped back as the Low king beckons Takara Kanayama, his military advisor, an' whispers, "Takara, I always troost yer judgement oon affairs o' oor army.. Do ya think we kin beat the smaell ootta their arses?"

Ta this, Takara replies, "I'm sorry, your grace, but our forces keep getting worn down by Skaven attacks.... We barely have enough dwarfs to defend all our cities, not to mention we're trying to found as many new cities as we can right now. We'd better give them what they want." (Player's Note: General Takara Kanayama is one of the main dwarven charachters in my story, Retekina Senso).

The Low King glumly noods, an' says ta the Doolgan Ambassador, "Very well, we will graciously teach ya hae ta dig irrigation ditches... Goodness knaes ye kin all use it.. yer smaell is enoof ta make a trooll gag. Nae get oota mah Mine!" Smirking, the Doolgan ambassador boows an' leaves. (Historian's note: Dolgans demand Irrigation from the Dwarves in 520 IC, which the dwarves give so that they can concentrate on rampant Skaven problems at their borders).

Fortunately we get soome good news noot lang after. We foond the City o' Copperhead oon the oother side o' the Lonely Mountain, and we finally get shipments o' gems from the mines arrivin' in Ankh-Morpork. Now a boonch o' yoong dwarves are goin' around, swaggerin' oop an' doown the main streets, wearin' as many gem-studded axes, swords, an' daggers as they kin buy. They call this accessorizing "Clang"but as Ah always say, there's noo accoontin' fer kids these days. (Historians Note: Dwarves found Copperhead in 570 IC and giet thier first luxury resource connected in the same year).

Not Lang after, Giott reports that we discovered hae to boold boots, an' that oor sages are already startin' ta stoody hae ta boold better boots. (Historian's Note: ca 600 IC, Dwarves finish research on Sailing and start research on Seafaring). The Low King ooffers his coongratulations. Oonfortunately, the Sylvanians moost o' goot wind o' oor discoveries, because it wasn't lang before, a group o' Sylvanians coome ta the Low King demandin' we teach them hae ta bold boots. Since we're still neck deep in giant rats and tryin' ta expand oor kingdoom, the Low King tells them ta take the plans fer a boot an' ta noot let the door hit them in the arse an the way oot. (Historian's Note: 620 IC, Sylvania demands sailing from Dwarves, who give in because they have bigger fish to fry).

Fortunately, oor expansion plans were bearin' soome fruit (which helped improve the Low King's mood), and in 700 IC we boold the city o' Mt. Duregar beside the Hobbit village, and at the base o' a mountain bearin' the same name. (Player's Note: Mt. Duregar was the home of the dwarves in Final Fantasy I) Noot lang after, Conde Petie christens oor first galley, the Party Barge, which is sent exploorin' doown the coost. (710 IC) A few years later, We boold Uberwald along a river, between two vampire cities to the Sooth. A shrine is immediately started in the city. Oor clansmen exploorin' the Sooth are ordered ta get their arses Uberwald as fast as they kin (720 IC). A bit after that, we boold Zhufbar ta the far Noorth along the river beside the haerses, meanin' we nae have TWO herds o' harses oonder oor controol. (740 IC). Finally ta top ooff the good news, we boold Bugman's Brewery franchise in Ankh-Morpork. (Player's Note: Bugman's brewery puts a brewery, a city improvement that makes 1 person happy but produces 0 culture, in every city on the continent).

Illustration of the warehouse at the headquarters of Bugman's Brewery franchise in Ankh-Morpork


Immediately, kegs o' the fainest Bugman's ale coome rollin' oot o' Ankh-Morpork, and soon every city o' oors has its oown brewery, makin' fer a lotta happy, and slightly droonk dwarves. Ankh-Morpork's governor, Lord Havelock Vetinari, immediately gets the citizens ta start booldin' a harbor.

And among cheerin' throngs and much celebration, we look at oor accoomplishments and despite the fact that we are behind the oother contries in technology, noot ta mention surroonded by hordes o' giant rats, we are still hoopeful that we will be able ta make a name fer oorselves in the future....

Maps of the Dwarf Kingdom, Sylvania and Dolga c.a. 780 IC
 
Just wait... Death will be making at least one appearance as well....

And I'm not planning on going to war until I get the Anvil of Doom built... Unless my hand is forced somehow.
 
Stormrage said:
Make an aliance with Sylvannia against Dolgans, you`ll slow their expanding and research, and you`ll be safe cos the enemy has to go trough Sylvannia to get to you, so you can concentrate on peace-time buisiness.. :evil:

Actually, I am not at war with the Dolgans. I caved to their demands... Mainly due to the fact that about 50% of my cities are building settlers so that I can make a final rush to beat Sylvania to the remaning territory nearby.
....Well that, and the 8 or so Rat Ogres wandering around just outside my borders require my constant attention if my settler rush is to succeed.

Anyways, I'll post an update tonight, and you'll see how I managed to re-gain tech parity within a few turns.... All I'll say about that is the good ship, Party Barge, had a big part in that.
 
It seems that the dolgans, the sylvanians and the dwarves(you) got all the jungle...:sad: , nevertheless, great update, and is Bugman's Brewery good? Im guessing it makes people happy by providing alchohol.:beer:
 
Ansar_the_King said:
It seems that the dolgans, the sylvanians and the dwarves(you) got all the jungle...:sad: , nevertheless, great update, and is Bugman's Brewery good? Im guessing it makes people happy by providing alchohol.:beer:

Actually, there are no Jungle tiles in my territory.... They're all in the Dolgan's and Sylvanian's territories (the only reason the Sylvanins were able to expand as fast as they did in the beginning was because of several floodplain tiles near their capitol...)

And about Bugmans, as I stated before, it puts a free brewery in every city of yours on the entire continent. A brewery is a city improvement that doesn't produce any culture, but it does produce a happy face in the city (which means that if you capture a city with a brewery, you get to KEEP the brewery :D ), meaning that as soon as I build a city, it already has a brewery in it, and with the settler escort doing MP duty, and my 1 luxury resource hooked up, the city can grow to 5 pop before I have to worry about building other happiness enhancing improvements. That's the main reason I went straight for Bugmans... On difficulties higher than warlord, half of your playing strategy revolves around keeping your miserable ingrate citizens from rioting every time your city grows in size.
 
That and the fact that dwarves love their beer :beer:

I like your writing style ... I especially enjoyed the fact that Bugmann put the brewery franchise out to tender :lol:
 
fe3333au said:
That and the fact that dwarves love their beer :beer:

I like your writing style ... I especially enjoyed the fact that Bugmann put the brewery franchise out to tender :lol:
That's also hobbits. ;)
 
This is a nice story :)

Comment: Dwarfs in WH-mod actually DO get a cavalry unit - called Deathroller (altough it comes only in the third age). In addition to rolling over enemies, it can level forest and smoothen out nice roads :)
 
LizardmenRule! said:
Are the Dwarfs hibernating in their mountains? ;)

Sorry about the lack of updates, but the historian has been wandering around in mod-land for the past few days... I'll try to whip up an update this evening before I start final work on my Thief LH (because one I hit the "make movie" button, my processor is going to be pretty much tied up for the next couple hours)...
 
Chapter 4: The Voyages of the Good Ship Party Barge

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo-Ho-Ho! And a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil will be done with the rest
Yo-Ho-Ho! And a bottle of rum!


- Old Pirate song from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Whilst we were recoverin' froom oor hangoover after properly celebratin' the oopening o' Bugman's Brewery, soome fishermen came ta the palace an' informed the Low King that oor galley, Party Barge joost made contact with a new group o' people: some dairty gooblin's who called themselves "Redeye."



The Sooprisin' part is that they're willin' ta shoow oos hae ta boold siege engines if we was ta teach them oor methods o' roonin' a coontry and hae ta ride haerses.... The Low King aggrees, an' noow we kin boold soome Stain Throwers, but the Low King says we need more Dwarven Warriors right noow, soo we aint booldin' any yet. (Historian's Note: 790 IC, the Dwarves meet the Redeye Goblins and trade Civil Service and Riding for Siegecraft) In the same year, a Sylvanian Archer kills a rat-ogre near Uberwald ta the Sooth, an' anoother rat-ogre attackin' Mt. Duregar ta the Noorth gets killed by the faine dwarven warriors defendin' the city.

Several Years later, a carrier pigeon bearin' a message froom the Party Barge infoorms oos that they hae met soom people wearin' clooth wrapped aroond their haids and callin' themselves Ind... Oonfortunately, they're way ahead o' oos in technoology, soo we kinnae trade anything with them. (810 IC)



In the same year, Sylvanian archers kill the last o' the giant rats near Uberwald, an' the Skaven menace ta the Sooth has ended! Noot lang after that, Lord Vetinari infoorms the Low King that Ankh-Morpork has completed it's harbor, and work has started on a "Lighthouse o' Manaan" (but really we're stockpilin' materials ta boold a bigger harbor called the "Suiddock"). He also infoormed the Low king that oor fishermen were noow able ta catch more fish oota the sea aroond Ankh-Morpork, thanks ta the dock-hands increasin' the speed with which they could oonload their catch an' get back oot ta fishin'. The Low King was quite pleased with this, an' congratulated the Patrican, when anoother messanger came an' told him that due ta the fact that Ind wouldn't grant passage fer the Party Barge ta goo through their boorders, and there were nae safe ways aroond Indic waters, the captain decided ta moor offshore between Ind and the Gooblin's and try ta work oot a better way o' navigatin' (Player's Note: Seafaring due in 9 turns, which allows passage through sea, so I didn't think it worthwhile to go all the way back to dwarven waters only to turn around and go back down the coast again). The Low King aggrees that this is a good plan. (820 IC)

In the meantime, ta the Noortheast, a rat ogre tries ta block oor warrior-settler party, and gets hacked ta peices fer his trooble. (830 IC) Ta the Sooth o' Tetsuyama, we boolt a city in a rooged floodplain valley between mountains, where lang agoo a great battle between Troolls an' Dwarves was fooght. The name o' the valley (an' the city we boolt in it) is Koom Valley.... It's an interestin' histoorical fact that the Battle o' Koom Valley was the oonly battle in histoory where booth sides managed ta successfully amboosh each oother at the same taime. Since Koom Valley is right beside the blood-suckin' vampire's kingdoom, we start ta boold a shrine, since the bloodsuckers hate religous symbols. (translation: I'm trying to prevent a culture-flip). Oor Warrior-Settler party ta the Noorth coomes accross anoother rat ogre sittin oon top o' where we was goonna faund oor city, soo the warriors decide ta fix that problem right quick.... When the warriors were done pryin their axs ootta the back o' the noow dead rat ogre, they spoot the rat-nest where the rat ogre came froom. Fortunately there is oonly a clanrat guardin' it, an' he kin easily be dealth with once the city is foonded. (840 IC)

850 IC was a rather bad year fer Skaven ta the Noortheast.... First o' all the warriors defendin' Zhufbar get massacred by some rat-ogres (althoogh the survivors say that they gave joost aboot as good as they got up until the end), and the giant rats wreacked the shrine we were halfways doone booldin'!! The stoory at Mt. Duregar was much better, thoough.... the scrappy warriors there managed ta kill all the rat-ogres attackin' their toown. Finally, the settlers we sent ta the Noortheast boold the toown o' Llamedos in a forest o' holly beside the sea. The townsfolk sneak inta the rat-hole durin' the day an' collapse it while the rats are elsewhere and manage ta get 25 gold worth o' useless treasure oota it, soo nae there will be nae more rats poppin' oop ta the Noortheast (Unfortunately, there are still a few rat-ogres and clanrats hidin' aroond the place). Oother villagers report findin' a large ooyster bed with lotsa pearls aloong that coast (Player's Note: Pearls are a bonus resource found in coastal tiles that increase the trade by 4 or so), as well as plentiful game in the Holly forest. The oonly doownsideso' the ootherwise perfect location was the volcano 20 miles ta the noorth, but Giott, oor sage said that was plenty far enoogh ta be ootta the way in case it eroopted, an' the stinkin' vampires ta the immediate Sooth.... Speakin' o' the vampires, woord reaches the palace that they have started booldin' the Black Library (Player's Note: Black Library = the Great Library), an' the Gooblin's start oon it soon after (860 IC)

While the hoont fer the remainin' rats ta the Noortheast continues, Tetsuyama finishes its shrine, an' starts oon a Toown Hall (Player's Note: Town Hall = Courthouse), however the Low King has somethin' else in mind fer the materials bein' stockpiled fer the Toown Hall.... (870 IC) Noot lang after that, the last o' the rat-ogres makes the incredibly stoopid mistake o' attackin' oor warriors in Llamedos, an' get chooped oop an' throown inta the sea fer their efforts. The warriors then spoot the last clanrat, who was supoortin' the rat-ogre's attack, and charge ooota the city, killin' him as well. Oor Kingdoom is fainally free o' the giant rats fer good! (880 IC).

Noot lang after (890 IC), we get word from merchants that a group o' Humans callin' themselves the Empire boolt a Great Bazaar (Player's Note: the Great Bazaar is a powerful Great Wonder that requires Trade to be researched and puts a free marketplace in every city on the continent). We also boold a toown called Ered Luin ta the Noorth o' Llamedos, securin' a second soource o' quality loomber in the process. Ta toop ooff the good news, Giott cames before the Low King a few years later repoortin' that we finally figgered oot a better way o' sailin' and ship booldin, soo noow the Party Barge can safely sail aroond Indic waters. Once the captain gets the carrier pigeon detailin' the techniques o' oor new knoowledge, he weighs anchor and coontinues ta exploor the coast. Carrot Ironfoundersson, oor chief diploomat then is sent oof ta the coountries wee knae aboot, ta see what they are willin' ta trade fer seafarin'. The Blood-suckin' vampires an' Ind wooldn't oofer any acceptable deals, soo we tell them ta shoove it an' moove along. The Doolgans, who thanks ta the Irrigation technology weren't smaellin' as bad as they usually do, told oos hae ta properly train soldiers in exchange, an' the Gooblins were willin' ta teach oos Literature an' coonstruction techniques if we threw Irrigation inta the deal. As a result o' this tradin' we were noow almoost caught oop ta the rest o' the coountries in research. (Historian's Note: 900 IC, the dwarves research Seafaring, and trade it to the Dolgans for Military Training, and they traded Seafaring and Irrigation to the Redeye Goblins for Literature and Construction).




Giott then said he heard aboot soome kaind o' game called Bloodbowl that coold keep oor citizens entertained an' happy, so the Low King says that soonds good ta him. Lord Vetinari soogests that we use tha materials bein' gathered fer the Suiddock fer the Black Library instead, since that would alloow oos ta fainally get ahead in research, an' the Low King aggrees. Word also reaches oos that we fainally have a road boolt ta oor Airn mines in the mountain ootside o' Tetsuyama, so we kin noow train a better class o' warriors called Hammerers (so named because o' the big airn hammers they use ta beat the crap oota their enemies), an' several cities troop trainin' orders are changed from dwarf warriors ta Hammerers.

Aboot the same time all this is happenin' aroond the capitol, the Low King visits Tetsuyama an' decrees that instead o' booldin' a Town Hall, the city will instead use the materials accumulated thus far ta start on a new soomer hame fer him called the Palace Fortress (Player's Note: Palace Fortress = Forbidden Palace). (910 IC) Soon after that, we get word from the Party Barge that they met some scaley lizardmen who call themselves the Slann. We trade oor knowledge o' seafarin' an' military trainin' fer their secrets o' meteoric airn an' astrology...



O' course, knowin' oor luck, there's not a single speck o' brightstone or warpstone in oor country... The nearest warpstone is in the smaelly Doolgan's land, an' they doon't even knae what it is! (Historian's Note: Dwarves meet Slann in 920 IC and trade Seafaring and Military Training for Meteoric Iron and Astrology) (Player's Note: Meteoric Iron is an optional tech that allows Warpstone (strat) and Brightstone (Lux) to appear on the map. Also, if you have warpstone in your city radius, you can build the Cursed Pit, which increases production and science but creates a lot of pollution (which is why I'd never build it)). We soon get word that Ind boolds the Black Library, so Vetinari changes the production in Ankh-Morpork ta the Suiddock, an' we get word that the Slann are booldin' the Great Forge (although we doon't see what's soo great aboot it) (940 IC). The Smaelly Doolgans soon get ta wonderin' why some dwarven prospectors were checkin' oot the mountain near their Noorthernmost city, an they demand ta be taught aboot Warpstone, which we do, since we were aboot ta give it ta them anyways...(960 IC) In the same year, word reaches oos that Chaos declared war oon Ind. Since booth coontries are too far away to boother oos, we just decide ta sit back an' watch. The Doolgans also start booldin' the Great Forge.

While the Party Barge was sailin' aloong the coast, they coome accross soome smaelly orcs callin' themselves the Ironclaw Orcs oon accoont o' their leader bein' named Gorbad Ironclaw...



The evil brutes doon't want ta trade, soo the Party Barge sails oon. (980 IC) Not lang after, Giott comes inta the throne room with a distinguished lookin' dwarf an' says, "Your grace, this is Kurgaz, the dwarf who finalized the rules o' Bloodbowl. He's quite a brilliant engineer, an' Ah reccommend him ta yer service." The king nods an' tells Giott ta start workin' on reasearchin' Artificin' (Player's Note: Yes, I got a Scientific Great Leader for being the first one to research Blood Bowl, a completely optional tech :lol: I saved the SGL since the Suiddock was due in 6 turns ) Carrot Ironfoundersson, oor chief diplomat then manages ta teach the rules o' Bloodbowl along with astrology an' meteoric airn ta Sylvania fer trade, an' we traded blood bowl ta the Slann fer the secret o' caravans, meanin' that we had noow caught oop in research!!

As if that weren't enough good news in one year, a groop o' bloodsuckin' vampires from the toown o' Naubonum coome ta the Low King wearin' black ribbons sayin' that they joined the Uberwald Temperanc League (their motto: "Not One Drop of Human Blood") an' wanted ta join oor Kingdoom. The Low King graciously accepted, an' the Black Ribboners' toown became part o' the Dwarf Kingdoom. (Player's Note: the Sylvanian town of Naubonum flipped (along with all this other stuff happening) in 990 IC).

10 years after Naubonum's residents became teetotalers, We founded the village o' Quirm ta the Noorth o' Ankh-Morpork, fillin' oop the last unclaimed territory oon oor continent. We also pay the workers in Koom Valley oovertaime ta get the library there finished faster.

So it is that we reach the first millennium with a bright future fer oor kingdoom, but there are still many adventures and perils ahead o' oos....
 
Why didn't you just sail right through Ind's waters? :confused:
And I build the Cursed Pit if I can, the production beats the pollution (just clean it up if you get it :)).
Too bad the Empire built the Great Bazaar, that's the best wonder in the mod, IMO.
 
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