The Saga of Asobiden

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Also, there's something that I feel should be brought to your attention:





Your last name apparently translates to "Bustmirror" in the common tongue.

We Bustmirrors may not be the most comely people in the region, but we aren't the least comely people in the...

Oh wait. Yes we are.

I also like that I'm a dabbling grower. Hey hey hey!

[Cainad (dec.)]

Date Unknown, Journal Entry X

The Truemetal... the blue bones of Armok... I have struck it from the earth with my pick, touched it with my very own fingers.

This was many days ago now, and work has proceeded as one might expect. And yet, things are clearly different. I know the others feel it, Remington does his level best to hide it, but he too has touched the adamantine, felt its truth.

I spent many an hour trying to clear my thoughts, working with our fortress' own Holy Man, The Good Reverend Roger. If anyone among us would know what it means to the Dwarven soul, he would, but out of all of us he seems the least perturbed by the adamantine. We cleared our way to the magma sea, great pillars of adamantine standing unblemished by the heat.

I underestimated this place when we first came here. Our industry shall grow mighty with these tools at our disposal. Despite our earlier disagreements, I have no doubt that Nigel will do great work with the stuff.

And yet...

The blue metal. Even now I hear in my mind the uncanny ringing of my pick chipping away at it, a sound like no other ore I have ever heard. A sound that seems to chime through the whole earth one moment, and inside one's skull the next. The chime of Dwarven fate.

Our clock is ticking.

[Remington]

I played a few hours tonight and got lots of material. Too tired tonight to upload and write it out, will be up tomorrow. Nigel gets her adamantine on, and Cainad goes nutso over religious memorabilia.

[Remington]

5th Malachite, 132 (Mid-Summer)

The furries on the surface continually pester us. We have trapped several of them in cages, but the others of their flock gather around them and prevent our dwarves from carrying them away.



I've requested that Gogira go and kill them, but every time he gets close they simply fly away and return when he is gone. It's past time we trained some marksdwarves.




Our canine population has exploded recently, giving us plenty of candidates for war dog training. I am hoping that they will offset the lack of any real militia until we can get iron and steel production going.






Lastly, both our bedrooms and forges are finally up and running. Each bedroom is equipped with a bed, chest, cabinet, and door. Finally we will have some privacy from each other.

[Remington]

11th Malachite, 132 (Mid-Summer)

I've ordered the EXTREMELY CAREFUL excavation of the stone around the adamantine vein on the lower levels, so that we can determine the width and depth of the vein. The value of the lustrous metal in unquestioned, and Asobiden needs wealth in order to fuel our economy and attract new migrants. The shining surface of the adamantine stirs feelings of dread within me, but (I cannot deny it) also feelings of desire. I must have it.

[Remington]

Ancient Dwarven writings found in the ruins of Ast Murtk, one of the oldest Dwarven fortresses in Sil Unol

TWO BY TWO
A HELLISH VIEW
FOUR BY FOUR
AND NOT ONE MORE

[Remington]

25th Malachite, 132 (Mid-Summer)

Cainad returned from surveying the adamantine earlier tonight, uncharacteristically silent. He refused to acknowledge anyone as he strode through the fortress, not even stopping for his lover Nigel's famous "Mushroom Burger" (raw mushroom on a mushroom bun, garnished with mushrooms). He immediately claimed one of the craftsdwarves workshops, slamming the doors behind him and allowing no-one in. Despite herself, I can see that Nigel is worried. She has heard the stories of the adamantine madness.









If I press your ear to the door, and tune out the sounds of the fortress, I can just barely make out the sound of ritualistic chanting, along with the steady chip-chip-chip of a crafting chisel.

[Remington]

30th Malachite, 132 (Mid-Summer)

After five long days, Cainad has finally emerged from his sanctuary. He clutches a stone figurine in his hand at all times now, and frequently seeks the wisdom of the Good Reverend in private. Whatever happened down in the depths of the magma forges and the adamantine, it seems to have spurred some kind of religious epiphany in the stoic miner.





He refuses to discuss what led him to such a state, and seems extremely reluctant to return to the depths of the earth. I ask him what he saw down there in the adamantine, and he merely shakes his head, speaking only a single word.



"Ashes."

[Remington]

7th Galena, 132 (Late Summer)

Nigel has requested the use of some of the adamantine, in hopes of understanding the strange mood that overtook her lover. Her skill as a master craftsdwarf is unparalleled, so I have granted her request and moved some adamantine up to the stores near her workshop.







She quickly gets to work, and within a day has crafted some of the finest artifacts any of us have ever seen.








She has kept the adamantine scepter for "personal use". Who knows what that could mean.

[Eater of Clowns]

Friends, Hedwarves, Shedwarves, Alldwarves,

The adamantine is not your friend.  It is a temptation to delve deeper into a world we cannot rely upon.  Heed instead the call of the surface, of the petals and the pollen.  Heed the call of your Queen!

The beauty and serenity of the Hive is Elven fantasy.  It is the industriousness to which we dwarves are most akin.  It is comaraderie where we shall find salvation, but where is it found?

In Her wisdom.  In Her glory.  In Her defense.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Date: Time is dust

They must not know... only Nish can know

I must bring Nish to us, she must WITNESS

The others cannot see, they must not see

Nigel, she works the blue threads, as the ancient customs of our race demand. The knowledge lives in all dwarven blood

All dwarven blood

All dwarven blood

Only Nish can show us the way to keep our Dwarven blood within us

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Date: Time is dust

They must not know... only Nish can know

I must bring Nish to us, she must WITNESS

The others cannot see, they must not see

Nigel, she works the blue threads, as the ancient customs of our race demand. The knowledge lives in all dwarven blood

All dwarven blood

All dwarven blood

Only Nish can show us the way to keep our Dwarven blood within us

Darling, I'm worried about you.




We need to talk.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Darling, I'm worried about you.




We need to talk.

YOU MUST COMPLETE THE WORK

the blue threads, they answer to your hands

Nish shall witness, Nish shall preserve our blood





mushrooms mushrooms mushroomsmushroomsmushroomsTHE BLUE BONES OF ARMOK!


         mushrooms

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Well, I do like making pretty things, but with all this talk of mushrooms...

Baby, are you ON DRUGS?

[Cainad (dec.)]

NO I DON'T SMOKE CAVE WEED, IT'S ILLEGAL AND A BAD INFLUENCE ON TEEN DWARVES.

I just haven't been drinking as much lately, that's all



(I've made up in my own mind that handling raw adamantine ore or inhaling dust containing it is toxic, a little like mercury, but only mind-affecting)