Browse Points of Interest - DF Map Archive

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Fortress: Project Superbowl II - Part 1		Shurikane
10 - Room of Curious Materials There was no more to see in the courtyard. We took the northern stairway. Our first stop was this sober room. Pillars had been constructed in a decidedly purposeful fashion, but I could see little reason behind the design. An unfinished room, perhaps? And then it dawned on us. All the materials making up the pillars were rare. Some of them could not be found in the area at all. Huh. Neat. Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-19
09 - The Vault "Now, that's more like it!" Everyone sprang forth to admire the incredible plethora of items laid out each in their own display case. Gemstones of the highest quality, precious artifacts, clothing decorated with infinite care - there must've been millions' worth in this room alone. Well, if anything, they have not lost their sense for craftsdwarfship. But so far, this was the only normality in this mad place. And this, in and of itself, was suspicious. It was like this was the last bastion of their culture, their origins. And they had merely tucked it away in a convenient box. Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-19
08 - Whippit Version 2.0 We made for the silver cube on the eastern end of the courtyard. Inside was another cube, made of lead. We found a level, and pulled it. Right away, our macedwarf outstretched a hand to bar the passage. "It is littered with traps. Watch your step." "What is the point of this?" I said. "This doesn't make much sense." He stepped forward, carefully working around the various plates and gears laid out in the floor. Meanwhile, we searched the other floors of the structure. It turned out to be a classical drop bit: lever-activated hatches, cage slots, and platforms linked to retractable machinery. "That's peculiar." said the macedwarf. "They didn't design this chamber to kill their prisoners quickly." "What makes you say that?" I asked. "The traps... they each contain one, and only one whip." Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-19
07 - Inner Courtyard We bolted upstairs as fast as we could. The stairs took us to the very top of the mountain. No one had told us it was a volcano. And now, no one could guess it was one. Everything had been neatly covered up in green glass through and through, making the whole place look artificially made. What little nature remained consisted of the ground's bare rock, untouched and raw. At the far end of the plateau, we witnessed a large tower of solid gold. Surely the noble quarters. But to the right, we saw... dwarves in a cage. Once again, we stopped a passing worker. "Excuse me, what are these dwarves in the cage over there?" "Prisoners." he said without turning to look at us, simply continuing on his way. "They were with a goblin siege party." "And... how long have they been in there?" "'Bout 110 years." Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-19
06 - Hello, World By the gods... Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-18
05 - The Hall We quickly walked by a disorganized mess - probably some ill-planned staging area meant for the trade depot. At least here, we were within recognizable civilization. The floor tiles depicted elements of our culture in ways that displayed flawless technique. The barrels let away this lingering smell of mixed alcohols, and a few others peppered the air with scent of roasts, of chopped quarry bush leaves, and of dwarven syrup. Something did not sit quite right, however. The crowd ceaselessly changed. We tracked one fresh arrival to verify. He went to a barrel, chugged a drink, and walked away. He took a roast from another barrel, sat down at a table, and ate through it at a frightening speed. The moment he was done, he got up, and disappeared back into the stairway. We saw dwarf, after dwarf, after dwarf, eating without tasting, slaved to their occupation, and never once slowing down to enjoy one another. No party, no gathering, no idle time. Everyone worked, worked, worked. And for what? We approached the central window, and we peered. Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-18
04 - Home A contingent of seasoned veterans formed our welcoming party. They lowered their weapons upon recognizing us. We could just barely catch a glimpse of a civilian dragging the bloody corpse of an ettin away into the darkness. "The cartos, you are?" said the militia commander. "Help yourselves. We'll pretend you don't exist." "Is there no one to show us around." I asked. "No." he flatly answered. "The place has got no use for paper pushers. Fall in line while you can." I am a master cartographer. I hold a Grand Master title in architecture. My purpose is to map, and describe. Nobody hates cartographers. What've I done to deserve this treatment? I looked at him, and only saw glazed-over eyes that looked right through me, disacknowledging my existence the moment the conversation was over. The poor commander had been worked to the bone for so long, that it had become his life. Past the depot, the barracks awaited. The militia practiced on one another, rather than training dummies. They always held live, deadly weapons. Whoever dared attack the place would never make it past this room. Beyond were signs of constant, corrupted renovations. The entrance had been a bedroom, a hall, a storage depot, and a little of all of those at once for a time. The stones did not sit quite right anymore. It was difficult to tell where the original design ended, and where the new ones began. More troubling however were the green glass sections boring straight through the hall. From there, the rumble was at its loudest. "What is this?" I asked a passerby, pointing at the glass. The dwarf answered gruffly. "Dry-run test. We'll be ready to go in an hour" "To go? Where?" But already, the dwarf was gone. Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-18
03 - Stairway to Hell The stench followed us as we ascended the ramp. I ordered the men to scrape some of the vomit from the floor. Underneath the caked layer was a neatly constructed structure of basalt, lined in the middle with solid gold. If only anyone could've seen this gold... The ascension seemed endless. The citadel loomed, becoming ever greater in size. We had vastly underestimated the sheer grandeur of the project. We could hear a constant rumble from the very ground. The entire landscape quaked without cease. There was machinery at work. Too much machinery. This was not a shrine. This was not a monument. This was madness. Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-18
02 - The Nasty Arrival A pit surrounded the entry ramp. It was filled with molten rock. How it got there, no one could explain. No sign, no statue outlined the site's identity. All that one could see was the gigantic citadel looming not at the mountaintop, but around it. There was an otherworldly, daresay infernal mystery to the place. Not that it wasn't meant to be, but that whoever put this plan into action had long since become... a little unhinged. One of the macedwarves sarcastically remarked that the grandiose structure must've been due to the expedition leader's small penis. I informed him that the honorable Besmar Riddlebanner had been a woman, and that it was a grave break of form to speak ill of her memory. A faint, but putrid stench filled the air. The detritus surrounding the ramp had basked in seasons of sunlight, becoming part of the landscape itself. So many arrows pointing back to their origins. Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-18
01 - INTRO Behold: Project Superbowl II. Also known as: Project Gloryhole. Grand beacon of Growlworks, mountainhome, and magnum opus of the Furnaces of Charcoal. Founded in the year 500, it was to be a mere monument to the flame, a shrine amidst a treacherous mountain pass to give caravans and adventurers some hope, and share the dwarven culture. The initial party begrudgingly set out. The king, to rally them, said these words: "Nothing is too great for the gods." The dwarves listened. Things got slightly out of hand. Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-18
Fortress: Project Coppertop		Shurikane
SUPERSTRUCTURE - VII - Manager's Office "The manager is above everyone, including the nobles. The manager sees everything, knows everything and commands everything. As such, he has the most prized spot inside the fortress, overlooking the great work that was built under his guidance." Submitted by: Shurikane - 2010-11-23
SUPERSTRUCTURE - VI - The Vault "Our most precious of works are stored and put on display in our most colorful of rooms. Put together by the legendary artist Urist, the room is a wonder of simplicity and elegance, marrying ease of management with an artifact-friendly setting." Submitted by: Shurikane - 2010-11-23
SUPERSTRUCTURE - V - Noble & Mayor Quarters "Our blue-blooded bretheren have had time to get settled in and become part of the furniture. A time they used to gather incredible amounts of trinkets that our manager had trouble keeping track of. He eventually gave up, deciding against walking into the philosopher's room ever again from fear of crushing one of the countless amulets on the floor beneath his boot." Submitted by: Shurikane - 2010-11-23
SUPERSTRUCTURE - IV - Blood District Residences "The inner rooms are made a little more spacious and ergonomic to compensate for their lack of a window. They became surprizingly popular, especially among the most cave-adapted who had a hard time getting used to the torchlights in the main compound. Unsurprizingly, most of our champions favored the blood district as their living quarters." Submitted by: Shurikane - 2010-11-23
SUPERSTRUCTURE - III - Gold District Residences "Each room is fully furnished with one bed, one cabinet, one chest, one armor stand and one weapon rack, along with a view to the inside of Coppertop and a so-called artwork of 'Shifting Gem Technology' patented by our dear Urist. This allows newcomers to choose a room that flashes to their liking." Submitted by: Shurikane - 2010-11-23

Sort by: Title, Submitter, Date Submitted (Clear Search)

There was no more to see in the courtyard. We took the northern stairway.

Our first stop was this sober room. Pillars had been constructed in a decidedly purposeful fashion, but I could see little reason behind the design. An unfinished room, perhaps?

And then it dawned on us. All the materials making up the pillars were rare. Some of them could not be found in the area at all.

Huh. Neat.

Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-19

09 - The Vault

"Now, that's more like it!"

Everyone sprang forth to admire the incredible plethora of items laid out each in their own display case. Gemstones of the highest quality, precious artifacts, clothing decorated with infinite care - there must've been millions' worth in this room alone.

Well, if anything, they have not lost their sense for craftsdwarfship.

But so far, this was the only normality in this mad place. And this, in and of itself, was suspicious.

It was like this was the last bastion of their culture, their origins. And they had merely tucked it away in a convenient box.

Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-19

08 - Whippit Version 2.0

We made for the silver cube on the eastern end of the courtyard.

Inside was another cube, made of lead.

We found a level, and pulled it. Right away, our macedwarf outstretched a hand to bar the passage. "It is littered with traps. Watch your step."

"What is the point of this?" I said. "This doesn't make much sense."

He stepped forward, carefully working around the various plates and gears laid out in the floor. Meanwhile, we searched the other floors of the structure. It turned out to be a classical drop bit: lever-activated hatches, cage slots, and platforms linked to retractable machinery.

"That's peculiar." said the macedwarf. "They didn't design this chamber to kill their prisoners quickly."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"The traps... they each contain one, and only one whip."

Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-19

07 - Inner Courtyard

We bolted upstairs as fast as we could. The stairs took us to the very top of the mountain.

No one had told us it was a volcano. And now, no one could guess it was one. Everything had been neatly covered up in green glass through and through, making the whole place look artificially made. What little nature remained consisted of the ground's bare rock, untouched and raw.

At the far end of the plateau, we witnessed a large tower of solid gold. Surely the noble quarters. But to the right, we saw... dwarves in a cage.

Once again, we stopped a passing worker. "Excuse me, what are these dwarves in the cage over there?"

"Prisoners." he said without turning to look at us, simply continuing on his way. "They were with a goblin siege party."

"And... how long have they been in there?"

"'Bout 110 years."

Submitted by: Shurikane - 2016-09-19

06 - Hello, World

By the gods...