Cthulu Dwarves?

As to their society... we have no idea. Certainly, they are organized and intelligent, but no one has ever been able to communicate with them. Until we can capture one for study, the College Arcane can offer no further information. And capturing one has proven nightmarishly difficult. They're simply too strong, even stripped of arms and armour. Even then, the surface seems to be too cold for them - magical runes etched into their armour keep them warm during their attacks.

What do they want? I honestly can't say for sure, Inquisitor. They've taken entire villages before now - literally taken them, kidnapped every man, woman, and child. Dismantled every building, taken everything back into the underground with them.

...

...

This is X-Com: Dorf Fortress.

>>7025790
FUND IT!

>>7025790
Yes.

>Darkborn

Genlocks?!

>>7025851
These things sound more like super-deepstalkers to me.

>>7025851
My thought too.

http://www.robwert.com/markus-neidel-art/22

Pardons... this one.

http://www.markus-neidel.de/privatework.htm

I don't believe them to be demonic in origin, no. But are you not the authority, Inquisitor? Our research here does not extend to demonology. Neither can they be the work of a rogue Communer - they would have to be a Mage of incredible power to create such things. I am led to understand, in fact, that Umbraten are highly magically resistant. Why Dwarves? According to... heretical sources, the Old Imperials who first encountered them were giants.

Not sure where OP is going with this,but since they aren't a nation? Crossbow bolt to the head. Takes them down every time. Plenty of specimens.

>>7025901

The Inquisitors aide, I presume? They may have a nation, sir - they attack in numbers, in coordinated strikes, supported by their golems and definitely led by one of their own. But no one risks searching for real traces of their civilisation. Much of the research I have done, however, suggests they do have cities deep under the mountains.
As for shooting them in the head, by all means, try it - they don't have eyes, their entire head is protected by their helmets. Fortunately, Gregor should have plenty to say about the specimen you brought in by morning

Amazing. Stealing for my next campaign. Also enjoying the hints dropped about the rest of the world in the writefaggotry.

Oh, bah. The real dwarves will kick their pansy tentacled asses, and then go back to having the noblemen executing themselves in grisly ways and scorching the countryside with magma.

>>7025790

"You want to hear about how I lost my leg? Hah. I don't tell them that don't ask it, but it weren't one of the Deep Ones. I caught a bolt to the foot the first time I tried to fire a crossbow. S'how I got here, anyways.

"See the Commander? His family has 'a rich tradition of military service'. The kid wanted to make his Daddy proud, and Daddy had enough money to put him somewhere where he weren't ever going to get shot at. Hah, coulda worked out better.

"Timmons over there... he showed up babbling about things from the dark with no eyes that wanted to eat his brain and take over the kingdom. Even if he's right, don't make him any less barmy.

"What you have to understand is, back in the day, before the Inquisitors got involved, before all the money and weapons and soldiers and mages started flowing in, it was just us. Doing a job that no one thought we needed to do, not even ourselves.

"But by the gods, when they showed up, we did it."

I'm not sure what I think about them having four legs. Seems to me they should at least be vaguely humanoid. Other than that, I approve.

Cool xeno bro, but if it isn't gar and manly then it isn't a dwarf.
These guys are just too alien.

Bamp

>>7025643
[CREATURE:DEEP_DWARF]
[NAME:Umbraten:Umbraten:Umbraten]
[TILE:1][COLOR:3:0:0]
[GENPOWER:3]
[UTTERANCES]
[INTELLIGENT]
[TRANCES]
[EVIL]
[CANOPENDOORS]
[PREFSTRING:twitching beards]
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:5FINGERS:
5TOES:MOUTH]
[STOUT]
[MAXAGE:150:170]
[ATTACK:MAIN:BYTYPE:GRASP:punch:punches:1:2:BLUDGEON][ATTACKFLAG_WITH]
[ATTACK:SECOND:BYTYPE:MOUTH:bite:bites:1:1:GORE][ATTACKFLAG_CANLATCH]
[CHILD:12][BABY:1][MULTIPLE_LITTER_RARE]
[DAMBLOCK:1]
[FAT:3]
[SIZE:6]
[EQUIPS]
[CAVE_ADAPT]
[DIURNAL]
[SPEECH:dwarf.txt]
[HOMEOTHERM:10095]
[SWIMS_LEARNED][SWIM_SPEED:2500]
[HEATDAM_POINT:13000]
[IGNITE_POINT:13500]
[LEATHER_HEATDAM_POINT:13000]
[LEATHER_IGNITE_POINT:13500]
[BONE_HEATDAM_POINT:14000]
[LAYERING:50]

most excellent writefaggotry.
I intend on using parts of this in my DH campaign

Anybody know what setting this and that magic thread come from?

Also, lanky = no.

I can't imagine why anyone would even call this a dwarf.

DWARVES

STONE

STONED

MARIJUANA

DWARVES + MARIJUANA

>>7026636

OP did mention they were named by giant heretics.
GIANT HERETICS.

Some kind of... subterranean Cthulhu.

>>7026163
Useful in caves, where a straight, bipedal posture doesn't cut

>>7025643
DID YOU SAY FUCKING HERESY?

ASSOCIATING WITH HERESY IS HERETICAL

FUCKING HERESY IS EXTRA HERETICAL

>>7027062
Call for the orbital bombardment

>>7027084
Call it yourself you fat bastard

>>7027085
YOU THINK THE EMPEROR WILL ALLOW YOU TO TALK TO ME LIKE THAT?

"He's been like this for hours, Apothecary. We don't know what happened to him. He wouldn't even sit still when we put him in the bindings - he thrashed so hard he developed weeping sores beneath the manacles." the young soldier danced uneasily from one foot to the other, spear held awkwardly in his hands. His eyes were wide and his pupils devoured them, giving him the appearance of one possessed.

"Rest easy, soldier. I shall see what I can do to ease this man's pain." I opened the door softly, not wishing to disturb the young man within. He lay naked on the floor amidst a pile of rags, presumable the remains of his clothing. I padded over to him, gently, and placed the back of my hand upon his forehead. He was not fevered, which indicated that he was not in a state of madness.

>>7027095
To be fair, he has a point.

As I watched, he began to toss and turn, moaning piteously as he did. Though he was awake, he seemed to be having nightmares. Brow furrowed, I rummaged through the pouches at my waist until I found a small bundle of dried leaves. I crushed one in my hand and held it to his nose for him to inhale. He flinched away from me, but I persisted, gently wafting the fumes and dust from the leaf toward his face. As he breathed the scent, his widened eyes calmed, his pupils receded, and his body settled back to rest.

As soon as he had calmed, I stood over him, hands spread wide, and stared directly in his eyes.

"I need you to listen to me, child. I must know what happened to you. I must know that I may ease your burden and soothe your pain."

Those eyes stared blankly at me, their natural blue faded to a light gray by the herb he had inhaled. Then the mouth opened, and in a grim monotone, the soldier began to speak.

I have a feeling I misinterpreted it. How far am I, OP?

>>7027160
Ok, I'll go call then and get rid of this scum.

>>7027161
"I was in the South reaches. My post was the Third Road Watchtower, but I had vacated my guard duty. I assumed that there would never be a need to man that tower - we have known no enemies from the South for as long as any living man can remember. I knew of a village nearby wherein lies a tavern. The owner's daughter is a sweet young girl, and she and I have fancied one another for some time. I had hoped to see her. Rosalin was her name. I had hoped to propose to her. I had the ring with me. God had different plans."

>>7027178
I think they're supposed to be quadrupeds that can use their forelegs as hands like bears.

>>7027187
Don't worry, I'll handle the disciplinary action here.

>>7027178

Damn near spot on, broseph.

>>7027213
ok, as you please

>>7027198

"This story will not be new to you. It will sound much like any soldier's story. It will sound like the story of an officer battling the Eastern barbarians, or fighting off the raiders of the north. It will sound like the records from the days before Unification. But this will not be their story.

I saw the smoke from miles away. First I passed it off as chimney smoke, though in the back of my mind I knew better. Then I said, surely 'tis a bonfire, for the celebration of harvest is nigh. As I drew closer and saw the flames leaping over the palisade wall, I thought that some poor cotter's house had caught fire. But it was no accident. The gates were rent from their hinges, left strewn about like so much sawdust in a cooper's shop."

>>7027210

OP mentioned they use them as "extra arms". That suggests they already have arms. But you are right, the abomination of mine couldn't really stand up, since there's so much mass at its front.and too little in the back.

This is going to get archived, because this is the sort of thread that deserves archival. OP, you committed not heresy but instead a great act this day.

>>7027261
Cheers.
This would be a good time to start plugging the books again, then, wouldn't it?

>>7027276
I don't know what you're talking about but probably.

Is this idea from a book (even one to be released) instead of original content?

>>7027085

As punishment for your crimes against a commissar you are here by sentenced to cleaning duties for the next year.

>>7027311

It is from a book not yet released, but also original content, because I wrote the book.

>>7027233

I like where this is going...

The Umbraken are the Vascek of the maligned city. They, and Vasnok's hounds, are the ultor-force of the greater Cthulhi nation.

See, making up shitty new words doesn't make your setting or creation sound "cool". It just makes everything sound dumb.

>>7027233

"The town was carnage manifested. Everything was in ruins. The flames I had seen leapt from the roof of the only building still burning, but not a single shop or cottage was left intact. The bell tower was toppled onto the tavern. Oh, god, Rosalin. She was there. She was in the tavern, crushed under a dozen stones and timbers. I could barely recognize her. Oh, God, Rosalin!"

It appeared that his composure broke, even through the mental haze brought on by the leaf. He rolled over, pushed himself up to his knees, and vomited, sobbing the whole time. "Rosalin, my love, my darling. I left her the ring. It will do me no good. Rosalin, Rosalin!" His anguished moans moved me deeply, and his pain was so apparent that I allowed him to continue for several minutes before handing him another leaf.

"Crush this, my child, and inhale the fumes. It will not cure your pain, but it will ease it for a time." He did so, and slowly his sobs receded and he was calm again. He returned to his pile of rags and faced me as his tale resumed.

>>7027344
See penny arcade

I do heartily approve OP. Now I simply cannot get cthulu dorfs outta my head.

>>7027344
Actually it makes a good deal of sense if you know the context. So go back under your bridge.

>>7027344

>>HOW DARE YOU GO NAMING SHIT IN A FANTASY SETTING

>>7027336
I'm writefagging your dwarves, hope you don't mind :D

>>7027349
"I dropped to my knees at once, and I prayed to God," he resumed in that same terrible monotone. "I asked him what this town had done to irk his wrath. I asked him what my Rosalin had done. I railed against Heaven and against Him, and I drove my fists into the earth in anguish. I shouted curses, but God was not in that place. I screamed, but there were no souls alive to hear my screams. Or so I thought.

I wandered the streets of the village, crushed by my own misery, and by the doom of these poor villagers who had died as they ate, or worked, or played. It was then that I found the pit. I had chanced upon a slaughterhouse whose entire South wall was destroyed. Within the wrecked remains of the slaughterhouse, within the mud and the filth of the animals, was a huge pit. It sloped at an impossible angle down into the deeps I could see trails in the mud where animals had been dragged down, and inexplicable footprints of no shape I recognized. Something had come from the earth to take them. Then that thing had come into this village - for what? It had not taken the bodies of the people, nor their valuables. It had only broken their homes, destroyed their livelihoods, and slain them like so many ants. Then the horror dawned upon me: the gates." He shuddered, feeling his horror again despite the numbing of his mind. "The gates were broken outward, not in."

So OP's created an alternate version of dwarves... that aren't very dwarflike at all?

There's only so much you can reimagine something before it becomes something else entirely.

>>7027336
Right, and it's definitely cool shit that I'm glad to see, but I'm not going to archive it in that case. Someone else might think it should be done anyways, and more power to them. I would like the name of the book, especially if it's an indie fa/tg/uy production and the ideas are all like this.

>>7027436
By the way, what's your take on elves, OP? And any chance of putting this writefagging into the book?

>>7027432
His words were coming faster now, as though his memory was growing more intense. "I raced back through the cobbled streets of the town, back to the gate. I searched on both sides of the road leading to the town, and finally found the tracks They headed off to the east, in a wide circle that could take them through the hill country where a man, if he is clever, can sneak past the Towers unseen. I knew then, though I told myself I was wrong. I knew that their goal was invasion.

I ran back to the tower. I ran so fast that my chain coat left blisters upon my whole body. When my feet began to bleed, I ran. When they swelled up so much that my boots felt near to bursting, I ran. I reached the tower and ran up the stairs and into the watch master's quarters."

>>7027436
>>7027447

I can post a megaupload of the current core rulebook - which, in honesty, focuses on humans to a huge degree and won't be fully finished until January. I wanted to have it done by November, but my laptop died. Elves come in three flavours, two of which are too vital to the metaplot to discuss right now.

>>7027433
Sturdiness?
Check
Awesome craftdwarfship?
Check
Living underground?
Check
Beard?
Check

Thy point is mooteth!

>>7027507
"I told the watch master. He promised me retribution if I was wrong - he promised me retribution regardless, because I had abandoned my post. I did not care. I knew that whatever had come from the earth beneath the village was more important than me, or the captain, or my dear sweet Rosalin. Within fifteen minutes the whole garrison was prepared to mount a sortie.

The Captain took the lead and we rode out to comb the hills for the unknown beast. We sent scouts in every direction, and messengers to alert the south towers along the Second and Fourth roads to ready themselves as well.

It was not ten minutes before our first scout returned, horse and rider winded, and warned us that the thing was coming to us. No further than this did he speak before he collapsed in his saddle, a dart buried in his back. The captain murmered a command to the man's horse, which trotted back to the Tower. Then he told us to ready ourselves for battle."

Bump for writefaggan

>>7027513
Elves my good sir?

What kind of elves?

>>7027657
...

I REALLY need to start watching Wakfu again, it seems.

>>7027657

Well, you've got your old-school, horrifying and capricious Elves from beyond the veil who steal children and ruin your shit for the evulz - and they are important to metaplot.
And then you have Elves no one realises are Elves, yet, who are also relevant to metaplot.

And finally, there are the Sky Elves of the frozen north, who ride flying whales.

>>7027669
Hm?

Actually, that was just one of the few elvish pictures I had to post....

>>7027693
Ah, okay.

I knew about the first. Obviously, no one knows about the second, and as for the third, well, I think THAT'S FUCKIN' AWESOME!!!

>>7027693
>sky elves
>ride FLYING WHALES
FUCK YEAH

>>7027693
There better be the original maggot elves as distant cousins of dwarves.

>>7027599
"At first we thought that the Giants had somehow come to the South. Two colossal figures of gleaming metal strode menacingly toward us. The captain arrayed us at the base of the tower, ready to ride out and meet them. But behind the two giants were two strange worm-things. They seemed to be almost driving the giants before them. The worms shuffled along on four splayed feet, spears in hands. They were near to the height of a man, and clad in the same bronze armour as the giants. On their helms and breastplates were carved scratches and lines that radiated some unfathomable power. One of them uttered a terrible war cry of some kind and the giants surged forward.

We charged as well, the Captain in the lead, his spear shining in the afternoon sun. From the tower, the ballistae fired huge bolts, most of which thudded harmlessly into the dirt or clanged off the armor of the giants. One lodged itself into a crease in the giant's armour between thigh and belly and drove itself a foot in. The giant snapped the thing off and tossed the broken shaft away without so much as looking at it. Then our lines met their charge.

The giants just walked right past us as our spears shattered on their armour. The captain signaled us to ignore them and destroy the creatures guiding them. The giants didn't so much as slow down. They just kept marching toward the tower. We pushed our horses onward, toward the vile worms. The carnage was horrible. They fought with the fury of demons, One of us fell, then another, as our blades failed to penetrate their armor. Bronze it seemed, but no bronze could stand up to our steel. Behind us, the giants had begun pounding on the walls of the tower. The ballistae kept on firing, right into the face of certain death. Still the Captain held us together, forced us to stay in the fight."

It was really cool until you made it 40k.

>>7027513
>>post content

I'm up for reading it. And probably buying a .pdf when it's done. It's hard to find really fresh takes on fantasy, and I like these ideas.

Do recommend you take Anon's advice about names unless there's something to it, and this writefaggotry might be half of what's selling me on this idea.

>>7027764

"I thought I would die there. I prayed to God, even as I fought, apologizing for the unfaithful thoughts I had earlier leveld upon him. I fought only to prolong my life long enough to remedy my slights against God. The worm-things had unnatural strength. Their spears drove through our chain and plate like paper. The whole fight became a blur of stab, parry, wheel and repeat. The giants thundered on behind us.

Finally, with a crack and a groan, the tortured stone of the watchtower gave way. The top half of it toppled, bringing down giant and soldier alike. The worms cried out, their screams like those of tortured animals more than anything intelligent. They made to retreat, and we were far too weary to follow. The captain was dead. The men in the tower were dead. My friends were dead." His pupils swelled again, his eyes widening to their original shocked state. "Rosalin was dead. The village was dead. Dead, dead, dead. Even the ghosts are dead." I could tell that I would get no more from him. The lucid mind that the leaves had revealed was giving way to the madness of the soldier's ordeal. I withdrew a flask from my belt and left it on the floor next to him. "A drink to bring sweet oblivion, my child. Take it and rest."

I opened the door gently and left the poor soldier to his torment. The young guard looked at me. "Are... are we in trouble, sir?" I nodded grimly.

"I'm afraid so, my child. The Dwarves have returned."

>>7027790
Who the hell made it 40k?

Writefag, it's hard to believe you wrote all that on the spot, but if you did my hat is off and then some.

>>7027915
Thanks. It was going in a totally different (and probably boring) direction... and then I was like "what if the gate was broken from the INSIDE?!?!"
And then shit got real.

>>7027884
Good job writefag. That's plenty awesome.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/7025643/

archived

Hey writefag, you really did a good work portraying the role of their golems- straight to the point, topple the tower, ignore the soldiers. The atmosphere is also pretty exciting. Good job!

>>7028349
Thanks. I figured they would be something like that. I wasn't sure the control mechanism of the golems - are they preprogrammed? Do they take direct mental commands from dorfs? So I just kinda made it up - a sort of mindlink between golem and dwarf that is very painful if severed.

Awesome, but I still hope there's more traditional dorfs somewhere.

Writefag here - gotta go, but someone keep this thread archived if moar good shit turns up.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C57USKVR

Current core rulebook.

Big thanks to the writefag, I hope he sees this later. Will post moar related content soon, I expect - details on Sky Elves or some other monsters.

Bamp

>>7029430
Thanks, DL-ing