Guide (you are encouraged to read all of it):

Parts pertaining those who signed up for the progression.

Parts pertaining Dwarger, Mervel, Grudgebeard, Bolgnir and Grogg.

Parts pertaining Kóri, Raeghor, Rhena and Hekkaes.

Parts pertaining clan Starbreaker.

Parts pertaining clan Onyxheart.

Parts pertaining clan Stormbreaker.

The crevice that had previously unnerved the Dwedmar in Kaz’Ulrah laid blocked with rubble, a temporary measure from the Stormbreakers to prevent anything from emerging. The cave did not, however, remain in peace. The Wonk chieftess dispatched a plea to the stationed Vanguards, who in turn communicated it to the High Queen. In the end, the Lord Commander was commissioned to draft a force of Dwed and investigate the crevice.

Dwarger Silvervein, as ordered, assembled a hit force of seven Dwedmar and a golem, ready to remove the rubble and venture down the unexplored caves. Clearing the rubble revealed some clear clues of clawing and digging from the other side: Kóri noted that those across have made similar efforts to remove the blockage.

The group decided to move onward, braving the unknown. The passageway seemingly led around the Dwarven quarry behind the wizard tower. The floor was littered with rubbish that seemed to had fallen off the cave wall, some evident sign that they stoneworking from the Dwarven side may have collapsed parts of the cave across. Soon enough, however, the rubbish cleared up and a clear caveway opened up ahead leading gradually down into the darkness.

Bolgnir conjured a tiny magelight, whereas Raeghor kept close to Rhena as the golem’s runes lit up the cave. The Dark Dwarf’s attention did not only fixate towards the cave system, but also searched the cave walls for anything valuable down there. Patch by patch he saw ores that he couldn’t recognise on the go.

The cave soon forked into two directions: one descending steep into the darkness, the other a moist tunnel reaching eastwards. The Dwedmar stopped to discuss who would go where, eventually deciding by a game of golem-elger-axe and splitting into two. Dwarger, Mervel, Grudgebeard, Bolgnir and Grogg moved on in the cave, while Kóri led Raeghor, Rhena and Hekkaes down the steep tunnel.

As Dwarger led the Dwarves into the upper cave section, it became rather clear the source of whatever creatures clawed their way through the stone into the Ulrah mushroom caverns resided that way. Trash began to pile up around the sides of the cave, with bones of various animals and broken weapons accounting to a good portion of it. After a couple minutes’ walk, the Dwarves found the inhabitants: seemingly slaughtered in a cave opening, Ratiki corpses around a snuffed campfire.

The lot moved to search the corpses. Before anything was found, Dwarger moved his hand towards the snuffed fire pit, only to notice the logs were still warm and somewhat wet from a recent sprinkle of water. “It’s a trap!” He spoke out loud, but that same moment the corpses sprung to life and revealed the trap proper, rattling their makeshift weapons and teeth at the Dwedmar surrounded.

Grudgebeard immediately reached to cock his weapon, though as he pulled the trigger he had to realise the weapon’s barrel grew stale, moist and unusable, unleashing nothing more than a painful click. It was Mervel barrel-crushing into the fierce Ratiki in front of him, preventing a surprise clawing of the officer’s face. Grogg found himself lifting one of the enemies by the throat as two others swarmed to clash into his legs with crude hammers, while Bolgnir shot shards of ice to prevent the Ratiki from encircling the group.

Dwarger’s senses did not betray him. The dwarf’s ears perked at screeching radiating from the yet unexplored part of the cave. He called for an immediate retreat, obeyed by the Dwarves and the group moved back down the tunnel as arrows hailed at them from behind. In the end, the group managed to cut off their chasers and returned to lay camp by the junction, with only minimal injuries suffered. Dwarger and Mervel got off with mostly scratches, while Grogg’s legs suffered cracks all over them warranting a re-make. Bolgnir’s left buttock was punctured by an arrow, whereas Grudgebeard’s forearm ached broken after a tumble into the rocks during their flee.

All the while, Kóri’s group manged to descend the slope using ropes. They found themselves by a subterranean lake surrounded by glowing green mushrooms, their mycelia visible in the clear waters below. At his command, the group remained clear of the water and went around on the dry shores between the shrooms, soon stopping when Kóri raised a hand. Up in front of them was a cave bear, larger than his overground cousins and seemingly gone blind throughout the years, its fur littered with shrooms much alike the ones around the lake. The Dwedmar did not draw a single loud breath, they waited until the bear drank from the waters and departed deep into the blackness below.

As they waited, Hekkaes noticed a flat surface along the cave wall. He spoke quiet to his compatrios and the group moved up to where the bear was, standing in front of an abandoned and old looking stone wall. Its bricks were eloquent-carved, even after what seemed a century of abandonement the stone pieces betrayed they were cut into shape precisely, inch-by-inch.

Above the bricks sat an inscription on the wall, though covered by cave mould. Hekkaes did not hesitate, neither did Raeghor. Both Dwed reached to draw parchmen from their beards and inscribe what they saw in as much detail as they could, though the tablet was too damaged to be read clear.

Before they could finish, the group heard a grinding noise behind them, heavy steps approaching. They all turned around, weapons drawn and ready to fight, only to see Grogg the golem in the water, knee-deep and Bolgnir cradling his neck on his shoulders, half an arrow still sticking out of his behind. He notified those below of the Ratiki and called their immediate return to the surface, which the Dwed obeyed. All that remained with them is what they saw down below: the mushrooms, the bear, the lake and the tablet. And the parchments of inscription in the hands of Hekkaes and Raeghor.

Runes noted by Hekkaes:

Runes noted by Raeghor:

__________________________________________________

The events beneath the Mushroom forest were kept a strict secret. The Wonks were informed that the Dwarves would be taking care of the crevice, with the barricade re-established by the opening. Suppressing the news wasn’t all complicated, though. Next to the deep roads exploration, the Kingdom was preparing for war and this caused quite the stir in the Kaz’Ulran economy.

By a good choice of preparation, the rising war economy also saw a surprising amount of Starbreaker weapons on the market, hinting that the clan dedicated most of its resources to contribute to the war effort. Whether this was out of benevolence towards the kingdom or out of greed for the rising prices on the market is not known, but will perhaps be made known by the clan father’s public statements or stance the coming year.

While they worked, a group of Onyxheart dwarves crossed the barricade in secrecy, under High Council orders of the forgemaster. They ventured only as far as the ore veins spotted by Raeghor and chipped on all they could find to pack them in a sack and bring them back to the Irongut tower, where both the forgemaster and the high Alchemist, Dor Irongut, would have the opportunity to experiment with the ores. One group of chunks seemed to be brownish red in hue, while the other was silvery grey with a surprising heavy weight.

One Dwarf stood witness to the Onyxheart incursion into the caves, Kóri Stormbreaker. After the storm that was the venture down into the caves, he opted to sit down in the harbour with his fellow clansmen and play card games while drinking rum. His attention was also claimed by a Dwarven trader who tried to peddle a bottle of homebrew spiced rum on the Dwarves. When asked about its origin, he spoke muddy tales of island to the west, with sugar and cactus green on plantations. Sadly, as Kóri listened to these words he did not notice the sudden smirk on Kardakk’s face, who managed to win all of Kóri’s Vanguard wage over with a pair of aces.

Project Urir is a Kaz'Ulrah project of enhancing national roleplay with a set of ongoing storylines that are influenced by RP actions, while they too influence RP in return. 

A follow-up IG event will follow, which will be announced soon, related to these events. Tune in for that.

For intoduction to Project Urir, please click here.

For the system of progression submissions, click here.

All the dwarf that want to participate can send me a bird .All the dwarf should gather arround the tavern that where we all gona meet and talk then we gona start the event.

I wish good luck to every dwarf in Kaz'Ulrah and the ones that participate .(Everyone can participate to all the events for free and can just show up)

“Recently there have been some reports of strange events happening behind the wizard’s tower in Kal’Tarak. It might be a young beardling travelling, it might be some old elgur prisoners, and it might be some monsters. I’m searching for strong, capable dwedmar to help me find out what is happening there. The rewards will be the loot found there of course, 200 minas for the slayer of the maybe-beast, and 30 honor points, if you are in the vanguard. All attenders will also get 15 honor points.

Contact Dwarger Silvervein, or Kóri Stormbreaker.”

https://goo.gl/forms/cPWQIizdWxSANpW23

Two dwarves descended the cliffside to the mushroom forest from Kal’tarak, both wearing Vanguard armour. They were young, one with a golden blonde beard reaching to his chest, the other a ginger with his facial hair braided down just beneath his belly.

“The golem makes me nervous.” The blonde stated.

They turned down to the riverside in their patrol. In the mud, Wonks tilled various kinds of fungi, their ribeting echoing around them.

“Makes me nervous too.” The other dwarf replied. “And it’s all against the Prince. Can’t believe these poor folk lived above him forever.”

The Wonks did not seem to hear the discussion as they continued their daily chores. The patrol turned up the riverbank and both dwed now approached the bridge leading over the Wonk village.

“Ever seen the elf living up there?” The ginger dwarf asked, pointing a fat finger at the quartz-lined tower carved into the cave pillar. His blonde partner shook his head.

“An elven wizard lives up there. Hasn’t been around for at least a year. I do hope he’s gone to bring some … relics against the prince.”

His blonde partner was no longer paying attention by the end of the sentence. Instead, his eyes fixated across the bridge, squinted at the darkness. He lifted a left hand while using the other to unsheathe his axe. His words rung of both surprise and a fair degree of fear.

“I heard something across. By Dungrimm, I swear I heard.”

“Let us hope the elf arrived home, then.” The blonde one replied quiet as the two made their way across the bridge, weapons unsheathed. In front of them stood the statue of an old dwarven wizard, untended and mouldy from the nearby river’s moist air.

“Last month.” The blonde one continued in a hushed tone. “The Wonks were chanting something. It echoed from their cave and sounded eerie … croaky singing makes the hair stand on your back.”

As the dwarf said those words, both of them heard footsteps again. Ears perked as they moved on to the back wall of the cave. The stone laid flat from the pickaxe cuts the Dwarves made across of it, slabs missing from the side and leaving the cave wall blocky. In front, a stonemason’s tools still laid on a table, though behind it the two dwarves peeked a passage no wider than a child’s shoulders.

Behind it, the noise of feet tapping intensified. Metal clung against stone as a chunk of the cave wall fell between the opening and the mason’s seat, leaving the two Dwarves facing eye-to-eye with a tiny, black eye framed by muddy grey fur.

After five seconds of silence, both parties turned around and made a run for it. The passage remained there, open though not widened further, whereas the two Dwed ran straight to the Vanguard depot. After a mug of ale each, they shared their story with the others there, and word soon spread about the discovery behind the wizard tower.

(( This Progression is part of Project Urir. Click here for more information! ))

Note: this is a solely OOC thread to introduce the reader to Project Urir. There is no point in IC comments on it, however, OOC comments and questions are welcome. The thread is located under the Kaz’Ulrah roleplay section for ease of organisation with the actual progressions.

Project Urir is an OOC project of the Kingdom of Kaz’Ulrah and myself to introduce a new way of story-telling to LOTC. It aims to establish a sleek, player-managed system mirroring the story progression frameworks of other major roleplay servers, within the bounds of the Kingdom.

How does it function?

The project involves weekly progressions that explain the general events in the Kingdom. These events are almost exclusively matters that cannot be roleplayed out, or is rather generic in roleplay. Dwarven industry, exploration of off-map places, military clashes, construction roleplay, etc.

These events are not static. They are determined by progression orders given by officials in the Kingdom and clan fathers. The Master of Coins may opt to fund an expedition, the Remembrancer may attempt to develop some knowledge while a clan father could attempt to heist another clan’s hall. The progressions, by their nature, are thus shaped by those participating in the project.

Furthermore, sign-up progressions allow for on-the-spot writing where Dwarves throw in their lot for a specific effort and see if it succeeds. They may involved three, five or even thirty Dwed. These are open to all, from the newest to the oldest of Ulrah dwarves.

Who is involved?

Anyone roleplaying in Kaz’Ulrah. Project Urir is an implementation test-run, which is why I opted not to overburden myself. This is also necessary because of the very mechanics this story-telling operates. Lately, there was a thread criticising events. How they were lame, how they had no actual influence on characters and the environment. The goal of Project Urir is to reverse a burden of responsibility. Instead of expecting Event Team members to cater for specific needs drafted by nation leaders, Project Urir is managed by a nation leader and allows the Event Team to opt in.

That is to say, others are welcome to interact with it as well. I will seek to expand the scope of the Project, if the implementation test-run is successful, to involve the allies and friends of Kaz’Ulrah from surrounding areas. The system is largely opt-in. Lacking staff authority, I won’t be able to enforce anything on characters within Kaz’Ulrah. Only those characters will be featured who sign up, whose clan fathers sign them up or whose organisation leaders from Kaz’Ulrah sign them up.

How does Project Urir influence roleplay?

It is up to the individual player how it does. All events in a progression post are to be taken as things happened IC, and players may react to it. Clan fathers are encouraged to meet with their clans to discuss their decisions on what orders they’ll put. And Dwedmar are encouraged to think about the events, consider what they could do and act on it, either in person, through a councillor or through their clan. All Kaz’Ulrah dwarves immediately know everything in any progression post. If not, it will be specifically stated on the post itself.

All order-based progressions will feature no explicit character harm or damage. Death is completely out of the question, as it is against server rules. Sign-up progressions will, if necessary, feature a question prompting players to put their characters in a risk bracket. Characters will be able to achieve far greater success at the risk of being injured or maimed. Any maim done is expected to be roleplayed at least for an OOC week before it is healed, for the sake of immersion.

Additionally, Project Urir will seek out event staff to create IC scenarios and skirmishes as part of the story telling. Naturally, the outcome of these on-server events will also influence the outcome of a progression.

The Project & its Future

The project, with the publication of this document, enters its phase two. This project started initially in a personal alpha development, lifted into a beta version through a discussion between some of the Kaz’Ulrah leadership. Its phase one was debate and discussion,with a gathering of opinions from the Kaz’Ulrah clan fathers and leadership, and drafting of the base outline you have seen published.

Phase two of the project is a test run. I wish to gauge interest, involvement and the initiative players take through the project to guide both progression and on-server roleplay. Phase three is already prepared: it involves the implementation of a reward-based resource system to supplement orders received from clans and their clan leaders.

How can I get involved?

Management - Contact Medvekoma. If you have the motivation to write progressions or brainstorm story ideas, you are more than welcome to.

Progression orders - You need to have a sort of IC authority allowing you to pass an order. More information behind this link!

Sign-up progressions - Keep an eye on Kingdom announcements and the forums. It’ll be made obvious if you can sign up for something, most likely with a link to a google form.

Average dwarf - Try and contact your clan father, or various organisation leaders. They all can take you along on whatever ventures they seek to pursue.

Ally of Kaz’Ulrah - Contact me. While I want to keep the initial test-run restricted to Ulah dwarves, if you’re interested I’ll have nothing against setting you up.

Q & A Section

Any questions I overhear from various platforms that could interest the majority of readers I will put here with an answer. Feel free to ask questions in this thread too.

A big thanks to all who contributed to the brainstorming of the idea, its realisation and the way of its implementation.