Dwarf Fortress - The Town Of Coldness - A Half-Hearted Start
The dwarf sharpened the quill pen and then filled it full of ink from a nearby ink stone.
The quill pen had once been the tail feather of a turkey. A turkey who had not been happy with the dwarf. And the ink stone was just a stone that had a small dent in it that allowed it to be used to crush a dimple cup, mix it with water, which then could be used as ink.
The dwarf's body was thin with some fat on it. It was if he was just recovering from a long diet. His beard was of medium length when compared to others of his race. It, and his long sideburns, were both braided. His moustache had been simply combed. He also had a long pony tailed tied back to keep it out of way. His hair was chestnut with a touch of gray.
His dark yellow-brown eyes were close set and his lips kind of thick over a broad chin. His hooked nose was narrow. His skin, a shade of beige, was wrinkled
The gray hair and wrinkles suggested he was at least in his 80s.
On the rhyolite table in front of him was a pile of rough papers. He placed his tip of his pen carefully onto the top sheet and with squinted eyes started to write.
The Faithful Hall had sent us, the Glory of Brave, to found the The Town of Coldness. Don't look at me, I didn't pick the names.
It took us over two weeks to get here. On the 15th of Granite we arrived here. It was early spring but the snow was still on the ground and the nearby river, or the streams that were the start of the river, were still frozen.We happy seven were sent with a wagon full of weapons, tools, food, drink, even some rocks, along with chickens, pigs, cows, goats, and tuckeys, to start a town. And I mean town. We've been told to keep the populace at a reasonable number. They also gave us some yaks to pull the wagon. So we have a lot of livestock to work with. He stopped to fill the pen with more ink, took a few seconds to read what he written down and, then, continued.
Plently of trees. Walnut trees, hazels trees, huge ginkgo trees, so lots of wood. Hills at the source of the steams that make the river. So lots of room to dig out chambers and tunnels and such.
Also noticed, even with the snow, there were prickle berry bushes, cranberry bushes, and even saw some muskmelons. Many may not be ready for harvest, sadly. But in autumn we may have some more berries to brew and seeds to grow on the surface.So the Likot picked up her pick and got to work on the first tunnel. While Zasit and Thikut grabbed their axes to cut down some trees and clear a area to create a pasture for the cows and yaks. Of course the pigs and birds would be kept inside.
Once we had a inside, of course. I also asked Dodok to collect the plants. At least those we could use.
One of the woodworkers, Zasit, dropped a tree on himself. What a great start.
We had brought four nest boxes with us so we didn't need to do anything to the pens with the birds but toss in them in, put in the nests, and put up a door which was then locked. We wanted some baby chicks before we start stealing their eggs. We just have to wait.
Of course the first workshops were the basic ones. Kitchen, Still, Carpenter's Workshop, Stoneworker's Workshop, Farmer's Workshop. A table and throne was made so I could have a proper office.
I placed them between the Farmer's Workshop and plots. Maybe not that proper office but it gave me something to sit and work. Mebzuth the Mason, well, she was swift at her job. Which is good. We have lots of stone to work with.He stopped as he refilled his pen and glanced at the four farming plots. A nanny goat stared back at him as it walked over some of the plump helmets growing in the neartest plot.
He went back to his writing.
There was that giant hamster that our dwarfs ran into when trying to hunt. Not much out there. The giant hamster and a eagle. I don't think we will be seeing a lot of animals in this region. Too cold, not enough plants to feed larger herds, or maybe just bad luck?Also we only brought five copper bolts for the three crossbows. So the bolts that missed the hamster had to be collected for reuse.
Once the streams melted we found they produced pretty clean water. Also turns out Sazir liked to fish. I did warn the others to stay out of the water. And when it freezes to stay off the ice. It is deep and most of us don't know how to swim. In fact I don't think anybody among us knows how to swim.Of course the bedrooms were last to be dug out and it is slow work smoothing them out and getting them ready. Don't want to rush the bedrooms. In fact when summer came we still had not finished any of them.
At least summer will bring us warmer weather and maybe more animals? And better fishing?
signed,
ingiz Swordtundra - Expedition Leader, Book Keeper, And Manager
1st of Hematite, Year 150He sat up and sighed. Not a lot of details. But still, it gave the folks back home a idea about what was happening. And that their friends and family were still alive.
He cleaned the pen and yawned. There were a few problems he had not passed on. He didn't want anybody to worry too much about the settlers. But...
The river had thawed yet it wasn't ready giving them much in the way of fish. They had fished one fish out of the river. A perch. And the streams would likely prove a bad water source when they froze again during the cold months.
Alot of the milk they had brought with them had gone to waste because, once it had been turned into cheese, nobody had stored it into barrels or pots or whatever. Miasma had filled the chamber containing the Still, the Fishery, the Farmer's Workshop, the Farming Plots and his office. Lucky for him.
Not ALL the cheese had gone bad before being used in biscuits. So that was good. If you liked cheese biscuits.
They were living on biscuits and a very limited selection of booze. Dwarven ale, Dwarven beer, Dwarven rum, and Dwarven wine. In other words the drinks they had brought with them in the wagon. And everybody was doing more than one job. In some cases three, or four, or five.
In fact he was also a carpenter, milker, cook, planter, herbalist, stone carver, appraiser, and diagnosthician. He would likely end up the Broker after all this.
He sighed. All settlements started small. The problem was this one was meant to STAY small. A few waves of migrants and that would be it. It would be closed off. Outside of native born and a few petitions for becoming a resident that MIGHT be approved if the person had any special skills. That would be it.
He also reminded himself they needed to make a barn around the livestock on the surface. Besides predators there was the winter that would make the surface a frozen nightmare. It would also keep the Yak Bull from running off all the time.
Maybe the ravens were scaring it? The giant hamster and eagle had left with the coming of summer and been replaced by a flock of ravens. Hopefully they didn't steal any of the items still on the surface.
He signed the letter, waited for it to dry, folded it, sealed with wax and placed it on the table. Once the first traders showed up from the Mountainhomes he would give it to them to be delivered to the King Fikod Urmimoddom. The Ruler of the Faithful Hall. And a well-known drunk who came up with stupid ideas.
"Like this one," ingiz murmured to himself as he went to sleep on the floor.
Before writting the letter he had eaten a biscuit of cave lobster which had been made up of minced cave lobster and minced cave lobster. And washed it down with Dwarven rum. He preferred artichoke wine himself. But what could you do?
As he tried to sleep on the ground he frowned at the buzz of the flies. He detested flies and their buzzing. But the underground tunnels and chambers seem to attract them. Maybe the underground rooms were warmer than the surface? Even with the coming of the summer sun?
What a horrible place. Cold and wet. Hopefully the bedrooms would be finished soon. And, of course, a proper dining room dug out.
As he slipped into a deep sleep he also mumbled to himself about remembering to build a Trade Depot before fall came. They were in the middle of a, somewhat, populated region and they were looking forward to some trade.
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Author's Note:
Welcome to the Town of Coldness. This is a modded world but I am not using any mods. I just went into the code to, I hope, limit the populace of the Fortress to twenty adults. Now, we will likely still grow if babies are born, I didn't limit children, and if we get enough drinks to make a tavern we can approve resident petitions.
So there can be growth but it will take time. I also made sure to say "nope" to vampires, werewolves, and so on. There may still be Forgotten Beasts and such, but that's life.
With the hard coded two migrant waves we will likely reach twenty adults before the end of the year.
I want to keep it small so I can dive into the dwarves and their stories and events and so on. Once you get over twenty if starts to become more society history than individual stories. If that makes sense?
And yeah, I found a map of North America and made sure we have a Pole on the North. Sorry Canada.
The Town is someplace just a little west of 'Old Man River', in a cold forest, but it is hard to pinpoint on the map because it is close to other towns and cities, so it does not show up when you center on the settlement. Kind of a flaw with how the map works.
If I remember right we are close to both apes and tree huggers. Er...humans and elves. So trade with them should help expand on our food sources. In other words seeds, plants, and more livestock?
Also by not using mods from the workshop it won't break the save when the Adventure Mode update happens. I hope. I want to keep this save and see how long is lasts.
Enjoy!
