A Dwarf Fortress tale in the style of MSPA, written by evictedSaint, about a young dwarf girl who has recently come of age and is ready to pursue her life-long goal of becoming The Greatest Cheesemaker Ever. That is, if everyone in her home fort wasn't so against it. So, she must sneak away and set off with the next group of migrants to the mighty fortress of ShieldDawn. After all, there must be a place for a cheesemaker in such a grand hall, right?
This story provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Recruit Reg is clearly one of these, especially when she gets angry.
- Anyone Can Die: if (ANNOYED_W_FANS==true) { KILL_CHAR(rand()); }
- Badass Adorable: Reg. No doubt about it.
- Bad Liar: It isn't a good idea to use an order from the mayor as an excuse when talking to the mayor himself.
- Big Damn Heroes: The elven party came just in time for poor Misty.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Reg. She might be a little too obsessed with kobolds, but are you going to argue with someone who can bisect a night creature with a single slice?
- Cerebus Syndrome: The story takes a couple of turns into darker comedy, once along the journey and once at the end. To be expected from Dwarf Fortress.
- Coming of Age Story
- Cool Old Guy: Captain Holt. He isn't bad with a blade either.
- Cutesy Dwarf: Misty. She is adorable.
- Elves vs. Dwarves: Misty's biological parents died in the Great Elf-Dwarf War, and signs of the war show up from time to time. The elves consider the dwarves barbaric for destroying trees, and the Dwarven creation myth apparently holds that elves were the last of Armok's creations, right after the 'creeping, crawling, ugly things'. Even so, there are signs of the two races attempting to come to a better understanding of each other, and the dwarven migrants get along all right with the elven caravan when they decide to travel together. All that goes right out the window when they reach Shielddawn, though.
- Emergency Food Supply Animal: Plumpy the Plump Helmet Man already has a bite taken out of his head when he is first introduced, and the elves' mule has been gradually eating him alive, piece by piece. Given the usual role of Plump Helmet Men in dwarf culture, it is not unlikely that he is being kept as emergency rations to begin with.
- Exact Words: Misty is forbidden from opening her door... but not from deconstructing a nearby wall and escaping through the adjacent room.
- Green Thumb: Flowerplucker the elvish druid.
- Deuteragonist: Reg is the Deuteragonist to Misty's protagonist.
- Look Behind You: "Look! Behind you! A KOBOLD!" Reg falls for it easily.
- Imagine Spot: Misty parrying the EARTH ITSELF and raking in enough Experience Points to become SUPER MISTY! Nope.
- The Voiceless: Plumpy the Plump Helmet Man. Until the first update of the third plot, where he is revealed as Che Plumpy.
- The Chew Toy: Plumpy again. Literally, in his case.
- Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: Misty's reaction to Kulet's demonstration of how a Nun of Armok offers tribute to the God of Blood.
- Mobile Shrubbery: Misty uses a bin in an effort to sneak out of the Mountainhome. It doesn't work.
- Nuns Are Spooky: Especially nuns of Armok.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Enir Twigappears, the Overseer of Shielddawn. She crushed Misty's dreams by a single phrase. Also, she speaks in the same tone about weather, work, severed heads, someone dying from starvation...
- Sacrificial Lamb: Darkerdaffodil.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: Misty, possibly. she was raised by the Duke, after all.
- Tsundere: Misty to Darkerdaffodil the elf, who happens to be almost 30 and married, based on
Word of God. - Those Two Guys: Captain Gruzzluss Holt and Recruit Reg Pashmad. The two of them work together to capture Misty and bring her home against her will.
- Welcome to the Dwarf Fortress: Misty's first experience upon setting foot in Shielddawn is watching her new elvish friend get shot in the throat with a crossbow and then killed by an axe-wielding soldier.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Holt disarms a night creature with a thrown blade. Literally.
- Wham Line: Gods, your dad is such an ass.
- Windmill Crusader: Reg is absolutely convinced that kobolds are behind everything. EVERYTHING.
- The Worf Effect: Rimtar, the burly armorsmith and de facto leader of the migrant group, finds out the hard way that undead are not to be trifled with. Even if they are building some kind of nefarious road...
