Unusual volcanic wall

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An unusual volcanic wall is a pillar-like formation consisting primarily of obsidian alongside various high-value gems. These formations are commonly found in the magma sea and the deepest parts of the caverns, although some extending upwards into the sky for thousands of z-levels have been reported.

Upon discovery, the player will get an announcement that they have discovered an "unusual volcanic wall studded with gems"

Digging into the pillar will reveal various pockets which will contain water, magma, fire that will extend outward when revealed, divine artifacts, and other fun things. Veins of adamantine can also be found deep inside the pillar.

Upon becoming the Mountainhome and meeting all of the monarch's room requirements, an announcement will prompt the player to acquire "seven symbols not of this world" as well as a "true throne" made from any divine metal. These symbols refer to the various divine metal artifacts that can be found throughout the wall. Once the symbols are assigned and the throne is constructed in the monarch's throne room, the fortress will be elevated from Capital to Mountainhome.

Small 3x3 'geodes' of obsidian and similar valuable gems may also be found throughout the caverns.

Contents

• Variously sized pools of water and magma

• A pocket containing fire, prompting an announcement of We checked that stone for heat! What devilry is this?! The fire will expand outwards on the same z-level and (potentially) kill whichever unfortunate miner discovered it. As the announcement message implies, these pockets are not surrounded by warm stone.

• A set of 1-3 artifacts made of a random divine metal, prompting an announcement of Deep within this strange place, we've uncovered what must be a treasure of the gods! Note that it is possible for many of these artifacts to have no graphic. These items can be assigned to your monarch through the nobles and administrators menu, although depending on the usefulness of the item you may wish to allow your military to use it. Much of the armor will probably be too large for dwarves to wear.

• A random demon, prompting an announcement of Something evil is emerging from this newly exposed pocket! Demons often have some fun attacks such as fire or webs, and will most likely kill the unfortunate miner who discovered it.

• A random angel, prompting an announcement of We have unleased the echo of a forgotten divine retribution! Angels will usually be equipped with a randomly generated set of divine metal armor and weapons, which, similar to the unique artifacts above, may be invisible. Unlike the unique artifacts, these can be melted down into bars at the smelter. It is advisable to only have a single smelter set to melt items at this point, so the extra 'fractions' accumulate into bars instead of being lost.

• A pillar of raw adamantine. As in previous versions, it is hollow, and breaching it will likely lead to large amounts of fun.

Strategies

Due to the danger of what lies within the pillar (even a single demon is capable of wiping out an entire fortress) care must be taken when exploring. Isolating the pillar from the rest of your fortress with only a single entrance and keeping the military nearby would be wise. Collapsing a single layer of floor on top of the pillar with a cave-in will expose all pockets, and the resulting dust will potentially kill (or at least injure) any hostiles that pop out. The military can then be sent in to kill them, and that layer of pillar can then be safely mined out.

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