Seven Dwarven Maidens : A Dwarf and his Wall - Chapter 1

Ethan Asobthosbut sat cross-legged on a slightly raised hill overlooking his campsite in the Land of Fog. The six maidens that had been his company on the long voyage slept loudly in the covered wagons. That was okay. He was their expedition leader, the one that made sure they stayed safe. He strokes his long, finely tailored mustache enjoying the swell of pride that rose up inside. He had made it, despite what his father and brothers may have thought of his chances.

Aerial depiction of Asobthosbut original campsite circa year 5

The golden rising sun glistens off his gold eyes and brown skin as it peaked from behind the mountain range that was to his back. For now, the outdoors would be their home, but soon they will make their way into the mountains and build homes like a true dwarf should. Standing up, he took his first long real glance at the lands around him. They had traveled far and quickly though the night. Strange sounds hung in the air in this part of the world. Sounds from beasts that he hopes they should never soon meet. It would not smart to be mining out caves with their backs unprotected to this wild land.

The pasture stretched from the mountain range as far as he could seem at least there would be no beast of the wild sneaking upon them. What they need first was some protection so they can focus and plan the next stage of the journey. Shading his eyes, he looked far out and mapped in his mind how the stone wall would reach. It would be large covering most of the pasture and the small lake that bubbled forth. Plenty of space to pin up the surviving livestock. Separate pens for the horses, cows, and wild pigs that have been their loyal accomplices. Keeping them both company and nourishment.

Ethan paced back and forth along the ridge top, putting his plans for the wall in motion. It would take him and the other six dwarves a few days to get all the stone needed and unpacked from the wagons. They would need sturdy doors built along with stone pavers for roads. A makeshift Carpenter shop will need to be erected at once along with a form for them to bed in. His mind started to race as he paced even faster. It will be glorious, he thought. His fist pounding into his hand as he thought of each new order he would give. Expansive outdoor storages will be built within the safety of their walls in the northern planes to stockpile all their resources. And once the wall was built, they would go underground and make the mountain their dwarf fortress.

Early plans for the wall being built in The Land of Fog

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Seven Dwarven Maidens : Prologue II

In my younger days, I use to stay up very late into the night so that nanna would tell me a story.  I always demanded a story about the fantastical unbelievable world long before our age of humans. A time where fanciful creatures lived and breathed as the battle against good, evil and mediocracy raged on. And usually, it went like this...
  
It started at the beginning. 

God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  God saw that the light was good, and he separated the view from the darkness. And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under... 

And you get the picture. Won't bother going through all that. Let's just say God one day decided to abandon his creation, said his goodbyes to the forsaken world and took his quantum toys somewhere else to play. In his wake, he left behind a world known to the ignorant warring few who now occupy it as The Ageless Universe. 
  
We come across this place when the civilized world was quite young. It was a time where the unexplainable was everyday and magic was the science. An era at the dawn of the Time of Myths entering into the month of Granite the fifth year of our Lord. At this time recorded history is still quite young. Historical figures of note number in the thousands, only a few hundred record deaths.
  
But this story is not about the history of the world. It is about a young Nobel, Ethan Asobthosbut, the seventh and last son of the great Asobthosbut in a long line of dwarves. 
  
Being so far in lineage and under the constant shadow of his sixteenth other older brothers Ethan had not accomplishment much by the age of sixty-five..his father became tired of his shiftless ways and cast him out to extend the reach of the Asobthosbut name. He was given caravans full of supplies and allowed his pick of six women within his father estates that may attend him and see to his needs in the hope of creating a fruitful dynasty. 
  
Ethan begrudgingly accepted his father's decree, and he had little choice in the matter. He was to pick a destination at once. a place long and far from his ancestral home. In the end, Ethan settled for a continent he had only seen briefly in books. It was an island continent that the passing travelers had to describe as The Land of Fog. He would make the journey there and build the Fortress of Summitrock in a land known to the locals as the Steppe of Nuts. 
  
For his companions, Ethan picked the following women to accompany him. For now, we will only speak of their names and learn more about them as time progress.

• Ellen Itebshetbeth - Peasant
• Cristn Avlfkd - Alchemist Guild Member
• Kayley Rigothiseth - Peasant
• Pyper Lorbamkudust - Peasant
• Julianna Ostukkosoth - Peasant
• Susana Idthad - Smiths Guild Member
• Sylvi Trdshrst - Crater Guild Member
• Carlee Ubbulkerig - Peasant

If you wondering why these dwarves have human-sounding first names it is because female dwarven names are so unpronounceable I use to beg my nanna to name them something nicer.

And with that.. I guess this story begins.

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Seven Dwarven Maidens - Prologue

So What is This?

Every great story begins somewhere, and here, my friend is the start of ours. I’m not sure what reaches brought you here, but in the same breath, I am eternally thankful that you came.

And since you are here may I ask that you stay a little while? I do believe you are in for a sweet treat. But where are my manners, before we go headfirst into exploring lives on far off distance planets, I would like to explain a little of what you are in for.

This blog is a novel chronicling the life and adventures of an evolving developing world inspired by the game Dwarf Fortress. If you haven't heard of Dwarf Fortress (don't worry I only discovered it less than a year ago), then take a minute to check out this review by Kotaku. If the review catches your fancy go play it for free.

So know that you know where it is, I won’t go into details of the game because one, this is not a gaming review site, and two others can do that much better than me. What I can do is bring to life a rich story of the experiences, pain, happiness, sadness, and eventual death of our friends as I explore the world with you. 

Truth be told I have only played Dwarf Fortress for less than a month or so and I’ve barely scratched the surface, but my ineptitude in guiding the story of my fellow dwarves should make for interesting reading, don’t you think? 

Ahh.. Where to begin. Well since the rest of this novel will be in character, I guess I can use this prologue to talk a little about the world at large.

For starters, I am using a mod called MasterWork to add a bunch of exciting features into Dwarf Fortress to make the lives of my dwarves a living hell. For those that are interested, I will post the game settings in a subsequent post. I felt it was much too dull to open with,

So Where is This Place?

As you can see below the world is quite large. This story won’t focus on much of the world. Just a bit of small landmass as the story unfolds. The goal is to keep this world and continue to build rich stories from it. The world is young, with only about five years of written history. But more on that later. All we need to know is that the inhabitants of this planet view the world as the Ageless Universe.

The Ageless Universes circa Year 5 of Our Lord.

So Where Does the Story Start?

The tale of the Six Dwarven Maidens begins near the Barb of the Blades mountains on the small continent recorded on ancient maps as the Land of Fog in the northwest corner of the globe. It is an area of low mountain ranges, hot deserts, swamps, and fields full of mystery. It is a land populated with many different races surrounded by the Sea of Swallowing. As we explore we shall learn so much more about this land.

The Land of Fog

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