Syrupleaf

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It is said that when the god Nemo fought the fell god-beast Holistic Detective, Nemo struck off both her hands, then slashed her face open along the mouth with his obsidian blade. Holistic Detective then used her now horribly enlarged mouth to tear Nemo in half, then descended to Hell, taking her rightful place at the head of the demons there. Now, her horrific descendants plague the land, conquering fortresses and towns alike, breeding madly like animals and consuming any who oppose them.
—Overseer Vox Nihili, on the Spawn

Syrupleaf was a Succession Game Let's Play of Dwarf Fortress which existed in the same continuity as the earlier game Headshoots. The main quirk of the game was the addition of a new enemy civilization, the Spawn of Holistic: undead dwarf-things powered by molten magma.

Starting with the murder of a party member by batmen, the game transitioned into brutal sieges, bravery, madness, artwork, madness, masterwork low boots and especially madness.

The whole thing, as well as some side material, can be found here.

Tropes used in Syrupleaf include:
  • Badass: tehsid and Drakenel were both responsible for destroying almost entire Spawn invasions solo, though the latter died of exhaustion in battle.
  • Badass Army: Syrupleaf's militia, thanks to constant hands-on training by way of seemingly endless sieges, ambushes, and assaults. A random patrolling guard encountering a charging frost giant on a massive warhorse and casually punting the horse out from under its rider with one barehanded blow is all in a day's work.
  • Blood Knight: Firos, who refused to retreat into the gatehouse even against Spawn attacks.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Sirocco, with elements of The Cuckoolander Was Right when he becomes overseer.
  • Crapsack World: The fort's location is on a blasted, freezing waterless glacier on the south pole, where it is regularly assaulted by enormous, powerful zombies in huge numbers.
  • Dead Baby Comedy: Firos is a damn good fighter, but perhaps not the best mother. Loses two children and permanently maims another because she carried them into battle with her.
    • Let's clarify this slightly: when we say she carried them into battle, we don't mean she had them with her. We mean she carried them into battle and beat things to death with them.
  • Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Literally. The fortress taunts the Spawn by building an enormous tower topped with a giant adamantine sculpture of a hand with middle finger extended, visible for miles around.
  • Eldritch Abomination: The Spawn. They are shaped like huge dwarves, rent down the middle from forehead to abdomen, powered by "hearts" of magma.
  • Ghost Town: While Syrupleaf experienced a brief golden age, it rapidly turned into one of these late in its life. The vast majority of the fortress had been completely abandoned for years by the time it finally fell.
  • Last Stand: The dwarves try one of these, complete with Rousing Speech. They're completely slaughtered, and don't even manage to kill a single Spawn in the final battle.
  • Madness Mantra: After Jazzimus' breakdown, he constantly babbles about the numbers...
  • Name's the Same: Holistic Detective was an ancient hero-turned-demon god, and the force behind the monsters besieging Syrupleaf. Holistic Detective was also a brave warrior of Syrupleaf, slain in battle against the Spawn. Explained in-universe as having been named after Holistic before her fall to darkness.
  • Punched Across the Room: A few of the stronger champions of Syrupleaf can and often do send opponents flying ludicrous distances, including at least one instance where tehsid picked up a Spawn and tossed it over three hundred feet.
  • Pointless Doomsday Device: One of these was constructed but failed to deploy properly and was abandoned.
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