Spearbreakers is a sort of sequel to three other succession games: Boatmurdered (considered by all the best succession game of all time), Headshoots, and Syrupleaf. Fortunately, you won't need to know much of their history... but you will need to know some, about Sankis, Holistic, and the origins of the Spawn. I'll try to keep it short. Also, I'll be putting a couple more explanations in the previous post.
Boatmurdered, a succession game of 2005, was finally finished off by a dwarf who was named after a previous overseer, Sankis. Sankis, on fire from the weaponized magma that had been poured outside the gates, managed to kill off most of the fortress's population (and a number of elephants) before he finally died.
In Headshoots, the sequel to Syrupleaf, the fortress fell because of its two best soldiers, whom the players finally decided to mod for the purpose of taking down the fortress. Nemo and Holistic Detective, modded to be turned into skeletons, actually did manage to kill everyone inside, and then they turned on each other. Nemo sliced off Holistic Detective's hands, but Holistic literally bit Nemo to death. The story behind it was that Sankis's spirit, still desiring destruction, had done it to them.
Syrupleaf came after headshoots, and the defining feature was the modded-in Holistic Spawn. The story was that Holistic had returned to the gates of hell, and Sankis had given her children. The Holistic Spawn are described as mockeries of dwarvenkind, with shriveled skin, long, bony arms, claws instead of hands, a heart made of stone, and a giant mouth running up and down their chest, filled with teeth. Syrupleaf didn't last all too long.
After a gap, Spearbreakers was created by a friend of mine, just earlier this year. I was one of the original three who worked on getting it up and running. The other two were Splint, who had the idea in the first place, and Mr Frog, who did most of the modding. My job was to test everything - I was basically the guinea pig. The sole difference in the Spawn in our version is the fact that with a single bite, they can infect dwarves with something which, after a few months, causes them to transform into Holistic Spawn themselves. Apart from the Spawn, Splint also modded in pikes, so as to have some reason for the name "Spearbreakers".
Here's the turn list:
- Splint
- Talvieno (myself)
- Mr Frog
- Draignean
- Sus
- Mitchewawa
- Stormtemplar
A brief description of Spearbreakers' history:
Splint's year passed uneventfully, though he carved out the basic foundations of the fortress. When my turn came, the first thing I did was rebuild Splint's poorly-designed entrance. The Holistic Spawn appeared first during my year (far earlier than we expected them), and as part of the story, I wrote that they subsequently drove Talvi, my dwarf, out of her wits. Near the end of my turn, as a sort of a monument to myself, I carved out a cavy-shaped room for Talvi, as her personality description said she loved them.
Mr Frog abandoned many things I'd done over my turn, the most notable being the garbage dump, living quarters and entrance - he built the fortress a third entrance. He also built a "spawn containment area" - a long hallway with levers and locked doors to put soldiers that were suspected to be infected into. After his turn was over, he handed the fortress to Draignean.
The defining feature of Draignean's reign was our first major battle, with a zombie siege from a nearby necromancer tower occurring at the exact same time as a massive attack from the Spawn. As a defense, he put up a giant underground bridge of spike traps to impale enemy armies or send them hurtling into the depths. He also managed to dig down and safely mine out most of the adamantine, which we've been making into armor since.
During his turn, Sus managed to fend off several necromancer armies, and he worked on getting the Spearbreakers military into shape. He also identified a problem with the hospital - basically, it was terrible, and almost every dwarf sent in died from neglect or the incompetency of the doctors.
Mitchewawa's turn was undoubtedly both the most uneventful and most productive. He overhauled the hospital, and then most of the jobs for the dwarves, to make things more efficient. Even so, after his turn, the fortress is still a wreck.
We have a total of four entrances - two of them completely dysfunctional. One, the underground wagon road, is a complete mess due to all the battles fought there, and is lined with corpses. The other, the spike bridge, is also more or less jammed with the fallen corpses of enemies. They meet at the same place - the trading depot. This is also surrounded by corpses and severed body parts, possibly so that the merchants have an excellent example of what happens if they don't offer their best prices (I'm joking, but still). The fortress has absolutely no way to dispose of garbage. As if the skeletons and bones everywhere weren't enough, the dining room is severely lacking in tables and chairs, the upper layers have a ridiculous number of doors spanning the hallways, half the aboveground is abandoned, we have a poorly-designed tower near the wagon road, and no real defenses for the fortress. Did I mention there are three times as many corpses/severed limbs outside the entrances as inside the fortress?
And now, a brief description of the personalities of the main characters. You don't have to memorize it - checking back here while you're reading my story is perfectly fine. I won't spoil anything. In fact, you could skip it and just use it as a reference later on, if you wanted to.
- Splint - He acts as the father of the fortress, willing to do absolutely anything to keep the fortress alive for as long as possible (reflects non-dwarf Splint). Also, as a running gag, he throws mugs when he's angry. He has a phobia of adamantine. Despite this, he invented a number of ridiculously powerful weapons, which are currently only in the prototype stage. If Spearbreakers has a sequal, non-dwarf Splint intends to include them as part of the game.
- Talvi - She was originally an eccentric dwarf with a habit of inventing nonsensical proverbs or phrases, but lost her mind during her reign (due to the appearance of the Spawn) and gave the fort to Mr Frog, who she's remained infatuated with until recently. She has a severe country accent, which she used to cover up. During Draignean's reign, she picked up the habit of eating paper - she prefers to consume Draignean's calendars, but she'll eat anything. She also has an imaginary friend named Joseph, and used to have many pet cavies she considered her children. When the first one went missing, she put up hundreds of "have you seen me" posters. As the rest disappeared, her mood went south, and until recently she's been moping about in her room. That was when Mr Frog figured out she'd stolen his PEA (basically an iPad), which was how she knew about "Joseph", who wasn't imaginary at all. He knocked her over the head, and gave her a powerful amnesiac.
- Mr Frog - His origin is a matter of debate, but apparently he's a time traveler from an alternate universe, who came to study the spawn. While human, he's short enough to just barely pass as a dwarf. He has a habit of smoking drugs he's created himself, as well as drinking large quantities of self-brewed alcohol. He does everything in the name of science, having a very loose set of morals. He knows Talvi used to sleep outside his room or watch him as he slept, and he rather hates her for it, as he's a very private person.
- Draignean - He's basically a dwarven version of Zapp Brannigan from the TV show "Futurama". Loud, overdramatic, and slow to catch on, he has a big ego and is almost always in a good mood. He trusts Talvi with his life, as he can't figure out it's her who's eating his calendars. He's also in the army - and is an incredibly-skilled fighter.
- Fischer - One of the starting seven dwarves, this crossdressing woman leads the Spearbreakers army. She and Talvi have a sort of silent feud going between them. She's mean and tough, and doesn't have a soft spot at all. Her gender is a subject of a joke, as so many people mistake her for a guy at first.
- Terrahex - A fan-created character who was dwarfed later, Terrahex is a dwarf who is afraid of everything except Spawn, who he's somehow managed to make friends with. He's quiet and almost invisible - throughout the Spearbreakers stories he's often vaguely alluded to as a sort of mysterious messenger.
- Urist - Another fan-created character, created by Hanslanda, Urist is a military dwarf who's seen his share of combat against the spawn. Upon arriving at Spearbreakers, he's terribly surprised to find how much stronger the spawn are around his new home. He's not much of a talker, and avoids making friends, due to how everyone he's ever cared about has either died or left him. In Hanslanda's story, he does actually manage - under the wise guidance of Mr Frog - to save the fortress from a wicked dimension traveler.
- Sus - Sus was a military dwarf with a heavy Scottish accent. He was kind-hearted and enjoyed the simple life. Draignean thrust him into office at the end of his reign, when beforehand no one had ever heard of him. Though he did an excellent job of keeping the fortress afloat, he was killed in a necromancer siege.
- Mitchewawa - A businessman at heart, Mitchewawa is a no-nonsense kind of guy. He always strives for maximum efficiency, and will stop at nothing to make sure things are running smoothly. He has a satirical sense of humor, though he rarely laughs. He's also somewhat easily distracted.
There are a number of other characters, but these are the main ones.
I think that's probably enough for you to go on - I'll post Vanya's first entry soon. Vanya is a character I created for the purpose of Talvi's story, as Talvi couldn't do what she was doing and still manage to keep a journal going.
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