#armok

As a dragon blessed with the ability to take any human-like form he wished, Armok was typically Rhoam's first choice as a scout when traveling. He was able to quickly change guises based on what manner of folk were likely in the former king's path, a convenience that hardly needed stated.

Yet he returned with an interesting report this day. As Rhoam made to return to Lookout Landing, Armok informed the former king of a man in... curious garb. Wealthy garb that did not befit any who existed in this time save for Rhoam himself– as the king's traditional robe and crown had traveled through time with him. Armok reported a man in a long blue robe with gold trimmings, and white boots and gloves with similar effects.

It did not feel to Rhoam as a trap, but he felt it wisest to send someone more knowledgeable with magic; Gateni might have an idea of how such a curiosity could exist, with further inspection and perhaps a conversation. And... it couldn't hurt to send Raven as well. For good measure, and Gateni's protection; it wouldn't do to send her alone to what could very well be an... adversary.

What is the Dwarf Fortress Gladiator Tournament?

The DFGT is a semi-annual community event run by fans of Dwarf Fortress in which contestants fight to the death in a single-elimination tournament run by volunteers. Entrants offer up unique characters, backstories and fanart, and are rewarded in turn with the privilege of watching their chosen fighters ascend towards glory - or die trying. 2024 marks the ninth Tournament, and the first to be covered on Tumblr.

What's this blog about?

This blog exists to promote and post results for the upcoming Tournament IX, and to celebrate the stories of fighters from years past. Stay tuned for more!

What is Dwarf Fortress?

Slaves to Armok: God of Blood, Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress is a PC game by Tarn and Zach Adams which has been in continuous development for nearly twenty years. Its titular Fortress mode simulates geology, erosion, world history, warring empires, realistic wildlife, and more - down to the hopes and dreams of individual dwarves. Dwarf Fortress has been entered in a MOMA exhibit and earned countless accolades for its feats of procedural generation. It is for sale on Steam and available free at bay12games.com.

What is the Arena?

Just as Dwarf Fortress spares no detail in its worlds, so too does its Arena show no mercy in its simulation. Blood, bone, muscle and sinew are all simulated and tracked, and the material of a given weapon or armor can mean the difference between life or death.

Can I enter a Gladiator into the Tournament?

Submissions open on June 23rd on the official forums at bay12games.com. A link will be provided here at that time.

The Dwarf Fortress Gladiator Tournament accepts entrants of all races, from Dwarves and Humans to oddly-specific animal races like Peach-Faced Lovebird Men. Smaller fighters are allotted more points in character creation to even the scales against bigger, stronger races, making every match a potential David-and-Goliath upset waiting to happen.

Any number of applicants may submit a gladiator. Typically, 62 fighters are chosen at random to fill the initial 64-fighter bracket, with the final two slots filled by the winner of a Battle Royale - one for lightweights, one for heavyweights. No matter what, if you submit a gladiator before the deadline, you will get to see them fight!

What can I do to support the Tournament?

I like to build vertical forts, so I had a massive staircase leading from the surface to my main hall.

I spotted a giant dingo on the surface, and so I decided to use it for combat training. I alerted the squad to pick up their gear and head up to murder this doggo.

One dwarf, nicknamed Guppy, had a line in her bio that said she was prone to being clumsy and possessed poor spatial sense. Probably the worst candidate for the military in hindsight.

But enough about her, back to the dingo. I see my squad starting to fight the thing. Most of the dwarves were doing a good job dodging, and eventually the beast is put down, with only a few bites and minor injuries to the group. I pan back over to my fort and see blood on the stairs as I work my way down the z-levels.

What the hell?

Guppy had somehow tripped on the stairs, fallen down a few flights and broke her leg. There was blood everywhere and she was getting quite upset over the whole ordeal. I had to pause the game and laugh for a bit (don't worry, the doctor fixed her up)

Clumsiness was not just flavor text after all!

Sisko/Bashir and Tuvok/Neelix for @armok for @trek-rarepair-swap.

6. Character you feel a show could have done without?

uhhhhhhh hm. i’m taking it to mean main. looking at my least favorites across tng/ds9/voy.... jadzia needed to exist for ezri’s sake and for ben’s sake, even if i Screm Every Day about how bad she is. she’s necessary, she just needs to be rewritten. 

there is, actually, an interesting way to rewrite riker. i used to be in the “delete riker” camp and i deleted him in my rewrite of tng (which i need to get back to, fuck), but i realized later that he could be narratively useful, if used well. you see, they brought in pulaski to be the mccoy to data’s spock, a rival for him. 

however, with data’s polite and friendly manner, it was much easier to see that pulaski’s actions toward him were born of simple prejudice (as indeed mccoy’s were, but that is often ignored because spock bites back), and they quickly developed her out of it. in fact, her quick change of heart about data is one of the reasons i like her so much. she thought data was nonsentient, she was shown she was wrong, and then she changed her mind. it’s a part of her clear-eyed,   evidence based mentality. but i digress.

data doesn’t need a mccoy style rival, (although imo, neither did spock. let’s call it a quark style rival instead, quark and odo are actually rivals with a current of respect underneath, not a colleague being racist to another colleague and the second one snarking back), what data needs is an ethical rival. tng is all about moral conundrums, and data has one of the most consistent philosophies among the crew. riker, however, also has a consistent philosophy, though it’s rarely explicitly stated: while data’s philosophy is a universalized utilitarian consequentialism, where no sentient life matters more than any other and the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, riker tends to protect his own, first and foremost, whether that’s those he loves, members of the crew, or members of the federation. if riker could be rewritten to be both less awful and in a different narrative role (data’s ethical rival instead of protagonist), he would have a good reason to be on tng. i would love to see constant conflict between data and riker.

that leaves neelix, who doesn’t really contribute to anything, and is awful, esp about kes. bye bye neelix.

12. Top 3 NOTPs?

uhhhhhhhhh jadzia/worf, neelix/kes, garak/ziyal. 

23. Favorite tropes?

Holodeck Bullshit (tm), time travel funtimes, the entire spock character archetype, every bit of weird alien sex bullshit, Member Of The Main Cast Has To Be A Spy For An Episode, uhhhhhhhhh The Kid Episode For Spock-Types (the offspring, the begotten, drone), i could go on.......

25. Favorite villain(s)?

uhhhhhh fuck my ass but like the entire ds9 rogues gallery. don’t make me choose between dukat, whose existence is a work of literary genius and who is one of the best written characters on the show (in fact one of the best written villains i’ve ever seen), weyoun, who is My Guilty Pleasure, and winn, who i find to be a genuinely moving and tragic character.

35. A minor character you wish had become a main character?

uhhhhhhhhhhhhh

well, my tng rewrite features alyssa ogawa as a main character and like, bev crusher’s child-figure the way other characters are picard’s and like, Dark TNG: Please. i’m a big alyssa ogawa should be a major character stan.

guinan, of course. like dark tng give us a long ass arc about guinan’s backstory culminating in a two parter about the borg, and maybe she gets to lean on picard and/or ro laren for support and help processing her experiences with them. like, what the fuck. give us guinan’s breakdown over the loss of her home which she still hasn’t really processed hundreds of years later. what the Fuck.

KEIKO O’BrIEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nuff said.

Sitting here realizing kitfox depicted armok like a goblin which is a nice callback to the first game... which had no dwarves and just goblins, humans, tree gecko people, and shadow demons, flesh balls, kobolds, and dragons... and trees. I then went and try to recreate the description in df using adventure mode and landed on a shaven hair carmine bearded goblin with ash gray skin.

(Answering with the royal guard squad, Age of Calamity/100 years pre-Breath of the Wild verse.)