Fire-Forged Friends

[Shawer]

Sorrryyy!
Completely forgot this!
But i am back, lo behold!

[Zamael]

Welcome back.

Not that you missed anything, at least upon this front here. We're at a bit of a stalemate at the moment, when both Solsword and I have apparently refused to work further. 'Tis most annoying, I tell you.

[Zamael]

Well, it has been nearly a year.

I guess I've been in a bit of a funk. I do not like it when I'm fed hope, you know, and Solsword really did do some awesome stuff with that first chapter when it was made playable. Shame that's where it left.

But this whole thing just keeps bugging me. Even after all this time, I can't let it go. The least I could do, I think, is to show off what I have managed.

***********************************

Chapter 10: Dwarves Under Siege

The tunnels were cold, and dark, but at least neither orcs nor the freezing winter gale could reach them down here. The dwarven roads were relatively well-maintained, allowing them to keep quite a fast pace concerning the circumstances: aside from that very first incident with trolls, the journey passed without nothing big.

Whatever instructions they gained from an occasional mountainhome they stumbled into, all told them to head west towards the halls of the Bigpick clan, and then north through a small underground swamp the locals had named Bog of Blight. This was the most direct route to Earthflame - although, concerning the recent news, Cheska received several fair warnings to not enter. She took them into consideration, although she was determined to get to the bottom of this.

After five days of journey, echoes of water and buzzing bugs from the tunnels told them that they had reached the edge of the swamp, and by extension, Bigpick. But they soon found out that other, less benevolent forces, wished for an entrance to the great city as well...

---

Spoiler:

(Drake blademaster in the southwest, saurian oracle in the northwest, orcish warlord in southeast, dwarf lord named Cavin in the middle, you in the northeast. There are dwarvish stalwarts, and maybe a couple steelclads and thunderguards, guarding at all entrances to the city. This map has neither darkness nor fog, and it is set underground in its entirety, aside from that tiny patch in the southeast.)

The warlord arrives from outside the map, along with a couple of its lackeys - it might stop halfway through, to look around for a second - and sets up camp to its proper place.
Lackey: "Hey Chief, look what we stumbled into!"
Cavin: "Orcs! Bah, like we didnae have enough trouble with them damn lizards already!"
A fighter runs to the scene from southeast.
Fighter: "My lord! Dire news from the southeastern front!"
Fighter: "Our defenses have been broken through! Drakes are coming in!"

The drake blademaster and a couple others show up and occupy the keep nearby.
Blademaster: "You should surrender already, dwarf. Perhaps then we might let you live."
Cavin: "Shuddap! Come over here where my axe can reach ya!"
Blademaster: "Such foolishness. You are surrounded and outnumbered."
Orc warlord: "Hey, looks like we came in just in time to join the fun! Need any help over there, lads?"
Oracle: "Get bent, orc! We've got this one under control even without you."
Cavin: "Are ya sure ya can afford sendin' them off?"
Blademaster: "Such gall! We have all but crushed you, yet you can still taunt us?"
Cavin: "Ya couldnae crush water outta sponge, ya ugly stink-breathing newt!"
Blademaster: "That does it! I am going to show you wha-"
Oracle: "Oh. Um, lord [blademaster's name]?"
Blademaster: "What?"
Oracle: "We've got more company."

Lukas: "Looks like we have arrived in a nick of time."
Cheska: "Ahoy there! Can we help you?"
Cavin: "Well, it ain't like we couldnae handle ourselves here..."
Cavin: "But aye, any help would be much appreciated."

Blademaster: "Hmm. These would be the ones that...?"
Oracle: "Yes. They're the ones."
Blademaster: "I see."
Cheska: "Excuse me?"
Blademaster: "You are the one that has been opposing us. So far, there has been no harm done, but if you keep going, you may grow to become a serious inconvenience."
Oracle: "She needs to go down. Maybe we can find some use for you orcs after all."
Warlord: "...On second thought, I feel rather conflicted about the prospect of fighting the one that's been beating us all up left and right for months."
Lackey: "You know, boss. Once she's dead, you could probably get to keep that sword of hers."
(Beat.)
Warlord: "I have now gotten over my conflicted feelings. Let's do this!

---
The warlord, the oracle, and Cavin recruit exclusively second level units. The blademaster can go third level. This mission isn't all that complicated: just beat up all enemies without Cavin or Cheska dying.

When one of the saurians reaches the edge of the lake (i.e. just a couple steps south from their fort)... the music stops. Just for the dramatic effect. Then:
(Beat.)
Oracle: "What's wrong? Why won't you move on?"
Saurian in question: "...There's... something down there. I saw something..."
Oracle: "Stop being a wuss. There's nothing there."

When the saurian takes another step, a tentacle of the deep is materialized next to him:
Saurian: "Augh!"
Another saurian: "What is that thing?!"
And another saurian: "Kill it!"
Immediately afterwards, a pretty big bunch of more tentacles appear nearby. A couple more arrive every other turn or so. There's enough of them to hold off the saurians for a while.
Cavin: "And they told us... heh heh heh... they told us we were just wastin' our time tamin' that thing."
Cheska: "What is it?"
Cavin: "It's an old beast tha' lives in the nethers of tha' lake. We have it as a gatekeeper of sorta. It eats anyone who tries to pass without permission."
Dorothy: "And how... did you manage to tame it?"
Cavin: "Dinnae ask."

There is some dialogue when the player first make contact with the enemy saurians:
Cheska: "I would like to ask you something."
Oracle: "What? Are you talking to me?"
Lukas: "There was a strange incident in Lintanir Forest some weeks ago: according to many witnesses, small, lizard-like creatures performed severe acts of vandalism and murder."
Cheska: "Yet my own saurians plead not guilty."
Oracle: "And?"
Elric: "We came to the conclusion that we were framed."
Oracle: "Get to the point."
Cheska: "Were you responsible?"
(Beat.)
Oracle: "...Frankly, yes."
Oracle: "I was responsible."
Lukas: "You and your men are the reason many good men and women, on both sides, lost their lives for naught, lives that might have been better spent for fighting against the real enemies of light and mankind?"
Oracle: "I suppose."
(Beat.)
Oracle: "What are you going to do about it?"
Cheska: "I am going to end you."
Oracle: "Try me."

When the oracle goes down:
Lukas: "And so the justice is served."
Cheska: "Do you think, though, that the elves will believe us if we tell them about this?"
Lukas: "...They will most certainly not listen it if it comes from your mouth. I dare to doubt if they would believe even me."
(Beat.)
Lukas: "What about you?"
Cheska: "Hm?"
Lukas: "Did you have anything personal on stake here?"
Cheska: "...You are talking about the loss of my friends."
Cheska: "..."
Cheska: "...No. This is war, and these things happen. If it wasn't by his hand, or through his actions, it might have been something else."
Lukas: "A good answer. Sir Nichlas would be proud to hear how much his daughter has grown up."
(Beat.)
Cheska: "That's not to say that I would not miss them, though."
Lukas: "And that is perfectly understandable."

When the player first connects with the drakes:
Blademaster: "Tell me, Cheska Kuhral. Why do you continue to oppose us?"
Blademaster: "Why do you constantly put your life on the line to try and thwart our plans, when you really have absolutely no idea of what we are doing or even how we are threatening your people, if at all?"
Cheska: "I will tell you if you tell me what you really are planning."
Blademaster: "I have absolutely no reason or desire to divulge that information."
Cheska: "Then neither have I."

When the player comes in touch with the dwarves:
Cheska: "Admit it. You were in trouble and knew it, until we came to help."
Cavin: "We... could have won."
Cheska: "Of course."
Cavin: "No, really!"
Cheska: "I believe you."

When the player makes contact with the orcs:
Elric: "What is your connection with the drakes?"
Warlord: "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Elric: "You take orders from them. Some weeks earlier, we saw a great orcish force being led to battle by a drake. Why?"
Warlord: "We get paid for it."
Lukas: "...You get paid."
Warlord: "Yeah. We get paid to fight. They paid us a lot of gold and trinkets to wage war with you people."
Blademaster: "We would also have paid them to keep their mouths shut, but really... what can they tell you?"
Warlord: "Speaking of which, boss, what are you really planning? I'm kinda curious."
Blademaster: "I will tell you after this battle."
Warlord: "You got it!"

And when the warlord finally falls:
Lukas: "You had no intentions of really telling him anything, did you?"
Blademaster: "What does that matter now? He is dead."
Blademaster: "Or you would be dead."
Blademaster: "In any case, I see no reason why it should interest you."

When the blademaster goes down:
Blademaster: "Augh... I cannot... I will not..."
Blademaster: "Master...! I have failed you...!"
(He dies.)
Lukas: "This... entire drake thing is really starting to disturb me. They are far, far more active than they should."
Zeza: "We are not the kinds to conquer. We have our territory, and fiercely protect what is ours, but we do not usually come and try to take what does not belong to us."
Cheska: "Perhaps this was just an exception."
Dorothy: "...Or perhaps they have other goals than conquest...?"

---
On victory:
Cavin: "Ya stay away from our halls, lizards!"
Cavin: "Ah thank ya for your help, lass. Um, without ya..."
Cheska: "You could have survived regardless, could you not?"
Cavin: "Well... not this many of us."
Cheska: "We were happy to help. However..."
Cheska: "I would like to talk with you about the situation with Earthflame."

(Fade to black. After, everyone is gone aside from Cheska, Cavin, whatever named heroes you still have left, and a dwarvish scout. If Zeza has perished, he will be replaced by some other drake, picked from among your veterans if any way possible.)
Scout: "Lass, ya hafta promise me first: don't ya go assaultin' Earthflame with the force ya have. Ya wanna me tell ya anything, but I wannae not see anyone die for nothin' because of what I told 'em."
Cheska: "...Fine. I promise."
Cheska: "Now then, could you tell me what happened? How exactly did drakes manage to conquer that which was supposed to be impenetrable?"
Scout: "'Cuz it was not designed to hold against those that couldnae be hurt by fire! Not all that well, at least."
Scout: "We had rivers of molten rock that we could redirect to burn anyone who dared ta come knockin' at our doorstep! Our only door was two feet thick and made of volcanic iron!"
Scout: "Murder holes for thundersticks! The tunnel after the gate was trapped and could be collapsed from seven places! None could come through!"
Dorothy: "So, in essence, your defense was based upon a single entry point, defended and trapped, that none could be passed unless you wanted them to."
Scout: "Aye. But that ain't where the enemy came from."
Scout: "I wasnae there ta see it - I dinnae think anyone who actually was there survived, in the end - but I heard them screamin' of a monster that had risen from the biggest of our lava lakes like a mighty beast of ancient times!"
Scout: "It ascended quickly on its wings, screamin' loudly, and begun throwing dwarves at the lake and belchin' fire at them and tearin' them asunder with its giant claws! We were no match!"
Cheska: "The entire fortress was destroyed by a single monster?"
Scout: "Nay! I think we mighta been able to fight it off in tha end, but then it fought its way to the gates and opened them."
Scout: "And then we were neck deep in bloody lizards that swarmed our tunnels and killed everyone who tried to resist and then kicked the rest out!"

Zeza: "I find that story extremely difficult to believe."
Cheska: "What? How come?"
Zeza: "Because our complete immunity to fire and heat is greatly exaggerated! We can stand it far better than any other race, but we can be killed by it, if you try hard enough."
Zeza: "Most certainly, to my rather extensive knowledge, there is no man or beast - not even the ancient dragons - that could dive into a river of magma and survive, let alone swim countless miles in it and emerge unharmed below a dwarven mountainhome!"
Scout: "Are ya callin' me a liar?"
Zeza: "I am just saying. You never really saw what happened, did you? Whatever witnesses there were, they also likely were far too afraid and panicked to make anything clear out of it."
Cheska: "But no matter the story, and whether it's true or not, the fact remains that Earthflame was conquered, against all odds, and as we are, we do not stand a chance in taking it back."
Lukas: "Then what should we do?"
Cheska: "I... don't know. I will have to think about-"

Just then, a dwarvish explorer arrives through that single pathway to outside.
Explorer: "Oi, lass! Your name was Cheska, wasnae?"
Cheska: "Yes, it is. What of it?"
Explorer: "There was a bird out here, with a message strapped on its leg. Directed at ya. You got a letter!"
Cheska: "What?"
(Beat.)
Cheska: "It's from my father. He tells me to return home as fast as possible!"
Elric: "Why? Has something happened?"
Cheska: "It doesn't tell. He does say, though, that we have important matters to discuss, and that I will learn about everything once we are reunited."
Cheska: "He also says he is proud of me, which is rather nice."
Elric: "We will be going, then, milady?"
Cheska: "We will leave at dawn."
Cavin: "Ye'r underground, lass. There ain't no dawns here-"
Cheska: "There's a passage to surface right next to you, smartass. We can go there and check."

Cavin: "Any other news?"
Explorer: "Aye, there is some. Orcs have begun attackin' elves, Wesnoth, an' an occasional dwarven hall again, mainly from north an' east."
Explorer: "Drake activity has been increasin' constantly in Northlands, and even in Wesnoth: mostly they're allied with orcs if they ever appear at the same time, but sometimes they attack each other instead."
Lukas: "That is weird."
Cheska: "Why hasn't my father mentioned any drakes? I specifically asked him to do that."
Explorer: "There's also the whole issue with elves and saurians, which has become pretty big in Lintanir."
Explorer: "Some reckon that ya lass's bunch may be innocent after all, most agree that saurians should be kept better in check from now on - if they're allowed inside to begin with - and then there's some who think ya shoulda be hunt down and brought to justice."
Cheska: "Of course."
Lukas: "Was there... any real progress with the matter at all, or just elves arguing over it?"
Explorer: "Well I did hear they actually had a saurian prisoner among them for a while."
Cheska: "Really? Did he tell them anything?"
Zeza: "Or she."
Cheska: "Or she."
Explorer: "Nay, he escaped after just a coupla days, I hear. Through snow and everything, mind ya, in the middle of a winter! And shackled!"
Cheska: "Shackled?"
Explorer: "Aye, in wrought iron! Which is kinda weird, since elves dinnae have any wrough-"
Cheska: "What?"
Explorer: "Aye? What what?"
Zeza: "How did they find him? Tell us!"
Explorer: "Well they say he was pulled from a freezing river with an arrow stuck in his shoulder, but-"
Explorer: "Look, do ya think I can just go to elves and ask about this stuff? I got them through several intermediaries! And the more these stories have middlemen, the more exaggerat-"
Cheska: "Okay, never mind! We understand! Just shut up!"
Cheska: "Xel didn't die! He is alive!"
Elric: "Or... was, at least, several days back from where this news is from. He might have..."
Cheska: "No! He... he is really tough. If he really did survive to begin with, and he did escape a number of drakes... then he is not going to be brought down by a bit of cold weather, as much as he might hate it."
Cheska: "And those shackles most likely helped against elves, somewhat."
Cheska: "Anyway..."

Elric: "Milady?"
Cheska: "Cancel orders. We will still leave at dawn... but we will head east. We will find Xel."
Elric: "Milady, I do not think that's..."
Cheska: "What?"
Lukas: "What he is trying to say is... we cannot afford to head on a wild goose chase right now. Your father's letter is written on such tone as if he would have some very urgent matters to discuss with you."
Zeza: "By now, either Xel has gotten himself in a safe position... or he is dead already. Either way, as much as it pains me to say, there is nothing we can do to help him."
Cheska: "But..."
Lukas: "Look. Think it this way: either we can head east through the Swamp of Dread or dwarven halls, cross at the very least River Listra once more, possibly the Great River as well, in the midwinter..."
Lukas: "...or we can head south towards Wesnoth, cross at Ford of Abez, take a far faster and safer route to where Xel likely is - and visit your father in Dan Tonk, which is basically right at our path, while we are at it."
Cheska: "..."
(Beat.)
Cheska: "...Fine. You make a very persuasive argument."
Cheska: "I... I really want to see him, though. When the last sight of him I had was getting shot and being thrown in a freezing torrent, almost two weeks ago... you can probably understand why I wish to make sure he is all right."

***********************************

- I swear, every single time I opened this map, that swamp/lake thing doubled in size. It actually started as very small, just a bit around the saurian base.
- The drakes don't actually have any real reasons to take over Bigpick: they're only doing that so that the little buggers wouldn't try to interfere with their awesome plans. Pretty much the same reason they framed Cheska's saurians for some nasty crimes back at elves.
- The reason you don't ask Cavin how they tamed that horrible lake monster... is that he can't remember. I think some merchants just moved the thing from a faraway land when it was still just a baby, and dwarves bought and raised it. I dunno, it's not really important.
- So, Xel pretty much escaped through a whole forest covered in snow. I wonder how he did that, considering it takes a saurian a whole four movement points to cross a single snow tile? This question is the main reason why I'm hesitating to spend a scenario for this: it might be better to leave such big questions ambiguous.
- So I've been building up a bit of moral ambiguity on Silan - how well I succeeded is arguable - but it's funny how everybody pretty much ignored the other question that was asked, or at least suggested in a subtle way: why did Xel get those shackles in the first place?
- You really haven't commented too much about the general plot. I'm assuming you're just waiting in silence to see it all unravel.
- This game requires waterfalls. I mean, I put a chasm tile in the middle of that lake for a moment, as a sort of experiment - and it looked utterly ridiculous.
- This would also seem to be the biggest map so far. All the scenarios in this campaign have been relatively small, really, considering all the big epic maps seen in other campaigns.
- And no one out there really cares at this point, do you?

[doofus-01]

This game requires waterfalls. I mean, I put a chasm tile in the middle of that lake for a moment, as a sort of experiment - and it looked utterly ridiculous.

This campaign has waterfalls, though I don't know how easy they are to use.

- And no one out there really cares at this point, do you?

The people who post here are a small subset of the people who download the add-ons. Silence on the forum doesn't really mean anything, good or bad.

[Luther]

I think it would really help if you upload everything you have to the add-on server, including the maps. Coders need to be able to see the work that's been done so far before they'll get interested. If it hasn't been updated for Wesnoth 1.8, put a warning to that effect in the description.

[Alarantalara]

This game requires waterfalls. I mean, I put a chasm tile in the middle of that lake for a moment, as a sort of experiment - and it looked utterly ridiculous.

This campaign has waterfalls, though I don't know how easy they are to use.

Possibly too easy as it currently infects the map editor and can be placed correctly by the random map generator. Thinking about it, I realized that I don't actually use the waterfalls with the default water terrain in the campaign, so I'm going to upload an update in 6-7 hours that will reduce their presence in the map editor. So if you want waterfalls and copy and paste use, you have a time limit before it stops working that way.

[Zamael]

I think it would really help if you upload everything you have to the add-on server, including the maps. Coders need to be able to see the work that's been done so far before they'll get interested. If it hasn't been updated for Wesnoth 1.8, put a warning to that effect in the description.

I'm fairly certain it was made on a version before that, though I might be mistaken. I'm also almost certain that the first chapter is already uploaded, as well as equally sure that I can't upload anything else. Or can I? I don't know, please tell me how it's done, or direct me to a relevant post.

Once I know how, I'll certainly upload everything.

[Luther]

I couldn't find it for any Wesnoth version on http://addons.wesnoth.org.The instructions for uploading add-ons are here: Distributing_content#The_Add-on_Server

Please let us know if you need any help.

[Zamael]

Thanks. I think that uploaded everything in the folder, but you better check. The version is 1.7.5: if someone wishes to take up the whole coding thing, I suppose you'll have to update it to the most recent version as well.

[Luther]

I still can't see it there. What version of Wesnoth are you running? Also tell me the exact title (from the .pbl file) and directory name. (Maybe I'm just not searching properly.)

EDIT: I found it on the page for the trunk server. You must be using an svn checkout. I use Wesnoth 1.8.5, so if I do update it, it'll be for that version.

[Elvish_Hunter]

One thing that may have slowed down finding a coder/maintainer could have been the huge amount of dialogues. So, to help speeding up things, I copied the content of all the RTF files contained in the campaign, and ran a small Lua script on it.
The result is that the dialogues are now automatically converted as [message] tags. Of course, they still need double-checking, but at least it's better that writing each tag or macro from scratch.
Those lines that cannot be converted as [message], were converted to a non-existent [narrator] tag (well, it can be integrated using Lua if needed...).
Here there is the zipped result and, for everyone that knows Lua, the script that I used.

FFF-output.zip

(54.76 KiB) Downloaded 214 times

Spoiler:

Code: Select all

function convert(input, output)
	local file=io.open(input, "r")
	local file2=io.open(output, "w")

	repeat
		local line=file:lines()
		for line_1 in line do
			local line_table={}
			for value in string.gmatch(line_1, "[^:%s][^:]+") do
				table.insert(line_table, value)
			end
			if #line_table >= 2 then
				local speaker = line_table[1]
				local message = table.concat(line_table, ": ", 2)
				file2:write(string.format("\t[message]\n\t\tspeaker = %s\n\t\tmessage = _ %s\n\t[/message]\n", speaker, message) )
			elseif #line_table == 1 then
				local message = line_table[1]
				file2:write(string.format("\t[narrator]\n\t\tmessage = _ %s\n\t[/narrator]\n", message) )
			end
		end
	until not line_1
	file:close()
	file2:close()
end

[Zamael]

Well done! I am curious to see how well it works on practice.

[haizaar]

The story line is so interesting! I just can not stop reading it!

I really hope it will turn to full-fledged campaign one day (and one of the most inetesting I've seen so far)

[Kenpachi]

The story line is so interesting! I just can not stop reading it!

I really hope it will turn to full-fledged campaign one day (and one of the most inetesting I've seen so far)

[haizaar]

Well, just finished reading the whole thing - its just amazing!!!

Zamael, PLEASE keep posting. At least if we are not going to play this any soon we ENJOY reading the plot.

Can't wait to see the next chapter.