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[Myrkky100]

14th Hematite 128, Early Summer:

Things are getting back to normal. We’ve even recovered most of the cattle that the Goblins scared away and the last bits of gear they left behind are being hauled to the storerooms. I’ve ordered the smelting of ores to be started again, as this was surely not the last warband we must face and there is sore need for more arms and armor. The fortifications above the gate shall be named the Silver Perch in honor of our marksdwarves.

The cavern on the first level, used to store goods destined for trade, needed expansion. Ducim is one of the most productive dwarves here (after myself, naturally), we are awash with trinkets of shell and bone. The holding cells are also coming along nicely, each already has a bed and a small stockpile of food, as soon as the masons have time, dining tables and chairs will be added for comfort.

Looking at the accounts, we are quite dependent on fishing for our sustenance. As the world outside the gates looks ever more dangerous, I have concluded that we must find a supply of fish which we can tap without leaving the safety of the fortress. I have plan, which shall be called project Wave Eater.

27th Hematite 128, Early Spring:

Another group of migrants from the Mountainhome. They had lost their way and reached the coast further north, so they came down along the beach. There are 15 of them. With the babies people have been having recently, there are now 133 mouths to feed in Oceanquest.  The group contained another smith, a fisherdwarf and a leatherworker. The latter is needed, as I have decided to set up facilities to process leather into armor.

Project Wave Eater has begun. I’ve drawn up the plans for the mining work needed. Rimtal has been hard at work and MrWillSauce has declared she is taking a break. We had quite an intense discussion about this and I sincerely hoped her neck takes a break soon.

14th Malachite 128, Mid Summer:

Sometimes I plan so well I surprise myself. The drainage channel from project Wave Eater hit an aquifer from above, that will absorb all the water that goes through the system.

15th Galena 128, Late Summer:

Wave Eater has progressed well. All the mining is finished and the installation of grates, floodgates and hatches is underway… Soon my first masterwork shall be complete.

A human caravan from Isacbehal is approaching the gates. And not a day too soon, the trade goods storeroom is nearly overflowing with shell crafts. We will make a small fortune, I just hope the tall folk have enough good stuff to trade with and… Why are they running?

Armok’s arse! The caravan is pursued by nearly 50 Goblins! They ride elk birds and have half a dozen cave dragons with them! Get everyone inside right now! The caravan better be quick, when the first gobbo is within crossbowshot, I’m personally throwing the gate lever.

[Myrkky100]

18th Galena 128, Late Summer

They nearly made it. I must say, the human warriors escorting the merchants put up a vicious rearguard fight. Unfortunately the main body of the warband executed a pincer movement and headed straight for our gates from the north to cut the caravan off. They had no less than 7 war cave dragons which made directly for our gate so as soon as all the fisherdwarves were underground, I gave the order to seal the gate.

And then things started to go wrong. I had given specific orders for the Tempted Silvers to take up positions in the Silver Perch. Instead one of the marksdwarves, Zon, rushed out of the gate just as the last fisherdwarf was getting inside and started shooting at the first cave dragon that showed up over the crest of the hill. Mind you, the shot was beautiful, sent the beast crashing to the ground from full gallop. Still, this was against the whole defence plan I had set up, even more so as I saw that Captain Asmel and marksdwarf Onul were heading up the entrance tunnel to join Zon. I pleaded with them to see sense and stay within the defences but instead Asmel lined up with Zon and killed the first dragon. The gate shut just in front of Onul.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You just couldn't stay inside, could you? No, wanted to see the dragons, of course...

I could not just leave Zon and Asmel out there so I gave the order for the gate to be quickly lowered again. They would have one more chance to come back to their senses and get inside. The next cave dragon was already upon them and while Zon stood back, Asmel took the monster on in hand to hand combat. He did surprisingly well and even better when the caravan driver rammed the monster with his wagon and let both his horses kick the snot out of it. Unfortunately the gate came down upon said wagon, crushing the driver and one of the horses. Still, Asmel and Zon battered the dragon to death with their crossbows and finally decided to head back inside. Luckily the other dragons and goblins were busy chasing the remains of the caravan and our pastured horses all over the place.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Allow me to express my wish that getting crushed under our drawbridge will not adversely effect our business relations.

I gave the order to close the gate again. And was told that somebody would get to it right after everyone had had a little drink to calm their nerves! I mean, I like a nice drink as much as the next dwarf but… And, before anyone got round to it, a horse ran inside with another cave dragon in hot pursuit. It was met in the corridor by the guard dogs and the Silvers. The fight was vicious with the Silvers using their crossbows as hammers and everyone, dwarf, dog and dragon, scratching and biting. Finally yet another beast was taken down.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yes, both dog and dwarf teeth marks were evident on the corpse when this was finished.

Now all we can do is wait. We haven’t the might to sally forth and face the raiders, who appear to have killed everyone and –thing moving outside. But all in all I think we were lucky. Three cave dragons were slain, while only some of our dogs suffered injuries. The one killed in the corridor is being taken to the butcher’s as I write. The Silvers are finally in the Perch, shooting at everything in range. I just hope the goblins get bored soon and the humans don’t kick up a fuss about losing a caravan…

[Myrkky100]

20th Limestone 128, Early Autumn

The Goblins are still out there, standing out there in the cold and rain while we sit here, feasting on ale and roasted cave dragon meat. Not too bad, I’d say. The Wave Eater is also nearly ready, just a few finishing touches and we can start filling it up.

Moldath Mengroldeth went a bit weird and stormed the forge, claiming he could produce something nobody could even imagine. That was all fine and good but he claimed he needed some lumber for his creation and we had just finished converting the last of our stock into charcoal. Luckily the remains of the crushed wagon waited right outside the gates. The Tempted Silvers provided cover and a few brave souls quickly ventured out, grabbed some planks and ran in again, after which the gate was again sealed. Moldath went on to happily produce the Spinsplattered, a nice silver short sword though not something I’d say was beyond my wildest dreams. The little excursion also had the added side benefit of drawing the attention of the remaining cave dragons and goblins who ventured into crossbow range.

12th Sandstone 128, Mid-Autumn

It just gets better and better. What appears to be a weremonkey just attacked the besiegers. The night creature was putting up quite fight until it suddenly transformed into a dwarf and was promptly slain. Still, good entertainment.

18th Sandstone 128, Mid-Autumn

The Silvers killed the last cave dragon today. The goblins are mostly keeping out of range but occasionally a foolhardy individual rushes up to the gate and provides target practice.

The Wave Eater has also been finished. Simply put, it is a fishing cavern, two levels deep, directly connected to the ocean. The fisherdwarves can catch small fish through floor grates on the first underground level. If something bigger swims in, a few convenient levers can be used to close the floodgate leading to the ocean and to open a hatch in the bottom of the chamber. All the water will be flushed to a smaller chamber underneath from there through a grate into the aquifer. The grate should stop any sea creature, which can then be killed and taken to the butchers. As soon as the main chamber fills up, we will have fresh fish again. And in case we catch something bigger, I've ordered three suits of armor and silver war hammers produced.

13th Timber 128, Late Autumn

The Goblins are still camping outside the gates. This is mainly annoying, because I’m itching to get my hands on all the loot left behind by the caravan. Getting those cave dragon carcasses to the butcher’s before they start rotting would also be nice. We still have some eggs and stuff, and the fisherdwarves are getting a good catch from Wave Eater but some variety would be nice.

Perhaps the biggest problem is the lack of fuel.  We ran out of charcoal so the hammerdwarf uniforms still lack boots and greaves. To see if we could find something, I've ordered the miners to dig a corridor south of the first housing block and then start going deeper, constructing a wide stairway as they go. A few levels down they hit a layer of mica and phyllite, which really does not bode well for finding fuel as such. Perhaps we can locate a cave with underground plants or better yet, magma.

Regardless of the lack of full suits of armor, a new squad of hammerdwarves shall be drafted, just in case we need a cave entrance secured or some ocean critters killed in the Wave Eater. The Geared Actions shall be led by Mayor CognitiveDissonance himself, accompanied by MrWillSauce and Masam the Carpenter. Too bad they don’t have those greaves, a lucky shot could cut the big artery running in the thigh and kill one of them in seconds. Or it could be an unlucky shot, I don’t really have a problem with Masam.

18th Timber 128, Late Autumn

Huzzah! The Goblins have went away. They left behind a few wounded, whom we quickly dispatched. CognitiveDissonance got all excited about having a brand new war hammer, ran out and promptly got his leg broken in a tussle but he is already being taken to the hospital. I guess we need to set up a traction bench… Anyways, nearly everyone is outside now. Does them good not to forget what sunlight looks like, and we have loads of things to haul back inside from the caravan remains. I better start doing inventory…

[Myrkky100]

18th Opal, Mid Winter

The mayor is out and about again. With a crutch but still, he is nearly as bad as new.

Digging further down we’ve found marble. That could make for some nice statues and decorations. Exploratory mining was cut short by a swift expansion of the tombs and has now commenced again.

Ezum the Leathercrafter was just in the Drinking Hall, showing this to anyone who cared to look. Apparently, it is his masterpiece. Senseveiled… Right… I think he has been working with leather for too long…

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

27th Opal, Mid Winter

The layer of marble was fairly thin and below it we have found gneiss and then even more granite. Doesn’t look like there are deep veins of coal here, but we must also explore horizontally.

A party of 22 immigrants has arrived. The fools must have left the mountains much too late in the autumn and have suffered much hardship trekking the plains during the coldest winter. They do not want to discuss their trip and I frankly I do not wish to know. I think we have enough rooms for all and the larders are overflowing, so they should soon be settled in and working.

15th Obsidian, Late Winter

Arnok damn it! The Goblins have returned! They have footmen armed with spears, cave dragons and a mounted squad of archers led by what appears to be a three-eyed rat monster. And he bloody dragons are so fast! They dashed straight for the gates and I had no option but to order the drawbridge closed even as people were scrambling to get inside. Zasit the Ranger and Kogan the Woodcutter didn’t make it in time. Even more tragically, Kogan was carrying the dwarfling Erush with her. They ran until they reached the beach, Kogan fought with her axe but a horde of goblins stabbed them to death. They shall be avenged.

1st Granite 129, Early Spring

Another year has passed. The year was marked by conflict with the forces of darkness, who even now stand before our gates.

There are 162 inhabitants in the fortress now, Oceanquest has grown into a proper dwarven city. Everyone is housed in good homes and food and drink is plentiful. (I have even had a slightly better apartment carved out for myself.) I’ve actually had to order the production of trade goods to stop for the time being, as the storerooms are absolutely full.
The only remaining problem is the lack of a stable source of fuel but the miners have begun to dig deep and greedy, so event that problem should soon be solved. If nothing unexpected happens, I hope to be able to expand our fortifications above the ground this year. I know this goes against the sensibilities of traditional dwarven architecture but we don’t have cliffs and easily sealed mountain passes here so we’ll just have to make our own.

[Myrkky100]

23rd 129, Early Spring

Yet another drarfling was born today, Destra gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

The goblins are still out there, on the beach, out of the range of our bolts. The Silvers have been biding their time in the Silver Perch, mostly shooting at passing buzzards. We have mostly busied ourselves with maintenance work, widening a few staircases and mining out more storage space. The current state of affairs is most annoying but we have no choice but to wait the enemy out.

10th Felsite 129, Late Spring

This is quite spectacular. The miners had channeled the main stairway down about 50 floors from the surface and I ordered a horizontal tunnel to be dug to create an easily defendable position, should we ever find ourselves threatened from below. They had hardly begun the tunnel when a section of the wall fell away to reveal a massive underground cavern.

The hollow is positively huge and we have penetrated it near the roof. It falls away steeply as far as the eye can see, at least 150 meters, and at the very bottom we think we can see the light of our torches reflect on water. Towercap and fungiwood grow wherever they can find purchase on the ledges and among them cave spiders have woven their silvery webs.

Miraculous as it is, the Hollow shall be walled off for the time being. There are not enough plants there to make exploration useful with regard to solving the fuel problem and we still lack the militia to face the critters I am certain live within that great dark space. We shall plot a new route for the main staircase and continue to delve for the lifeblood of the bedrock itself; magma.

16th Felsite 129, Late Spring

Finally, the goblins have left! Now we can bury our dead and carve on the walls of the tombs the rat monstrosity that led the horde and shall one day pay for it. People have gone out to recover the lumber and gear that was left behind in the dash for the gate and the Tempted Silvers can finally rest after standing guard for months on the Silver Perch.

I’ve also ordered the masons to begin the production of rock blocks and the construction of a great ring wall. We must bolster our defenses and to build a deep system of fortifications the building site must fist be secured.

8th Malachite 129, Mid-Summer

Good times, good times! Due to public demand, elections were held and we have a new mayor! Shorast Ererfat, previously one of the hospital workers. CognitiveDissonance has naturally become even more unbearable after losing his office. Once we have the fortifications readied, we must set up a workshop so he can finally get to cheese making.

More migrants from the mountains, twenty of them this time. They shall be drafted as miners and masons to begin with. We should still have enough spare bed rooms for all. Besides the horse-sized grasshoppers the summer has been nice and uneventful.

17th Galena 129, Late Summer

The humans of Isacbehal have sent another caravan, which must mean they aren’t blaming us about what happened to the last one. They better have loads of weapons and exotic drinks and food in their inventory, you can’t shake a pick around here without hitting a finely crafted stone crown. And with CognitiveDissonance no longer in charge, we can actually sell off the humongous collection of earrings he ordered to be produced. Though in this regard, Shorast isn’t much of an improvement as a mayor. She insists to be presented with a large gem the size of a fist. The jeweler is trying his best to find and cut one but to no avail thus far.

Spores from the underground flora of the Great Hollow have spread around the fortress. The soil floors and walls of the upper levels are growing moss, which I actually find to be an improvement. The towercap saplings are a bit of a problem though, we must weed them out before they grow enough to block passages or doors. I’ve been entertaining the idea of expanding the old tunnels which were supposed to feed the cistern from the river and seeing if we could turn those into an underground tree farm. For the present, however, the miners must be kept at work producing rock for the ring wall. Work on that has proceeded nicely, especially after an intermediate stockpile of stone blocks was set up outside. Over half of the circumference of the wall has been finished and the drawbridge has been linked to a new lever in the drinking hall.

The spores might have produced an allergic reaction in Asmel the weaponsmith. About a week ago his pupils became the size of pinheads and after that he has spent all his time skulking about in dark corners and stealing an odd assortment of things, which he has taken to the forge. He has just lit up the forge and is giggling in a rather disturbing fashion. For a weaponsmith this is either a very good or a very, very bad sign. 

[Myrkky100]

20th Galena 129, Late Summer

Asmel came out of the workshop with quite a special crossbow. Solid silver with cunningly embedded bony spikes and all surfaces covered with engravings. He calls it the Bud of Harmonies.

22nd Limestone 129, Early Autumn

The merchants are continuing on their way. We bartered our crafts for a dozen weapons, several bins of leather and cloth and enough drink and food to last a year. The humans were paid handsomely, as much for the goods as to compensate for the loss of their brethren at our gates. I believe no ill feeling remains about that unfortunate incident.

The outer wall has finally been completed. Now the area is secured and the masons can continue construction without fear of wild animals or worse. The next order of business is to build the wall higher and add fortifications so the marksdwarves can rain bolts down on invaders. I’ve also recently noticed that some citizens are reluctant to come out to the sunlight. I like the cool darkness underground as much as the next dwarf but since the militia will be greatly increased as soon as we can start forging weapons and armor, I can’t have people getting cave adapted. An above ground garden with statues and an open air militia training area shall be constructed to try and entice everyone to have a breath of fresh air now and again. The rubbish dump, on the other hand, was moved indoors. It will start smelling foul in no time but I had a room carved out at the end of a long tunnel on one of the mining levels and sealed with four doors, so the miasma shouldn’t spread.

After two litters of puppies were born almost at once, the kennel descended into a chaos. Untrained dogs were biting each other and the puppies, so I ordered to room to be quickly enlarged and some of the trained dogs to be moved to the entrance tunnel. As that didn’t remedy the situation, I had to have the untrained adult dogs put down. I don’t really see any reason to make the fact that the dogs shall be served as lunch public knowledge…

28th Limestone 129, Early Autumn

16 migrants arrived today, many children again. Nobody of any real interest, I’d say, but some new bedrooms had to be set up to accommodate them.

18th Timber, Late Autumn

The caravan from the mountains is here! Too bad we haven’t had time to produce many crafts since the humans emptied to stocks… But we should be able to barter what we need with gems. They tell me last year’s caravan spotted the goblins besieging us and turned away.

Since the immediate need for more stone for building work has been satisfied, I’ve ordered the miners to continue the Long Stairs downwards. It is looking more and more like the magma will be very deep, which does not bode well for us.

19th Timber, Late Autumn

The miners have hit another cavern, a full 110 landings underground. It is a vast underground lake with large beaches of lush vegetation. Most interesting but again, we will have to reroute the stairs and wall the cavern off for a while…

What? Goblins? With trolls?! Tangle their beards! But this time they aren’t riding elk birds, perhaps the caravan will make it inside the gate in time… Or not. The liason made a run for the gates and their guards fought the trolls with great skill and fury and slew many but two squads goblins also came from the south and cut them off. One wagon managed to escape up the beach but the rest of the party were slaughtered. I begin to suspect that the goblins lie in wait along the caravan routes leading to our gates…

---

It’s one thing after another here. The miners just come up from the bottom of the Long Stairs to inform me that they have found a third underground lake just below the second. The floor of the second lake is ridiculously thin, a small wonder it can hold the mass of water. The sea water must be seeping through the soil and rock and forming these lakes. The stairs shall go down through a rock pillar in the middle of the lake.

1st Moonstone 129, Early Winter

For Arnok’s sake! Now the goblins have parked themselves near the northwestern corner of the fortifications and all the masons are too scared to go up on the wall and build fortifications and walkways for the marksdwarves. Well, at least we can still go outside even if we have to again wait the fiends out. I hope this winter will be cold…

2nd Moonstone 129, Early Winter

Huzzah! The miners have finally located stone hot to the touch. It is just below the bottom of the third lake, so we will have go back up and down at place where we have enough room to build the forges and storerooms but still, this is very very good news.

[Myrkky100]

20th Moonstone, Early Winter

Finally! We have delved to the fierce lifeblood of the living rock! The Great Magma Sea is within our grasp. A new tunnel was carved from the 110th level to the south and now we have enough room to build a forge and smelter as well as store the ores needed. There is even a pillar of adamantine in the distance, which we must soon try to excavate.

In other news, Destra gave birth to a daughter today.

8th Opal 129, Mid-Winter

The liason of the decimated caravan is not keen to try and get back to the mountains and frankly I am not keen to open the gates so he could try, so for the time being he shall stay in the fortress. This may naturally cause some problems with the Mountainhome but once again, the survival of the fortress is of primary importance.

The excavation of the necessary rooms above the Magma Sea is coming along nicely. We can soon construct the forges and begin work on living quarters and a dining hall nearby. The smiths must be able to rest nearby, otherwise all their time will be wasted climbing the stairs.

10th Opal 129, Mid Winter

Ezum , the Chief Medical dwarf and his husband Geshud have gotten their fifth daughter. Little Id brings the number of inhabitants of Oceanquest to 200.

17th Opal 129, Mid-Winter

Hah, the marauding bastards may be stopping us from enhancing the fortifications but I do take a certain amount of pleasure from knowing that they are standing outside our walls in waist deep snow while in here every last dwarf can drink and sing in a glorious hall every evening before passing out in a warm bed. In fact we are having the pleasant problem of plump helmet overproduction. I think a second still is in order.

22nd Opal 129, Mid-Winter

It is my unfortunate duty to record that Dusky the Mason was found dead of thirst today in an offshoot of the Long Stairs. Which I ordered him to wall off for security reasons quite a while ago. And apparently he did it in a manner that caused him to get stuck in a hole. Apparently nobody heard him shouting. We must find way to recover his remains and lay them to rest in the proper manner.

16th Obisidian 129, Late Winter

The snow has already melted and the new statue garden is positively delightful, apart from the curses of the goblins we can hear over the wall. The statues commemorate some of the heroic deeds we have carried out here.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

23rd Obisidian 129, Late Winter

The goblins have once again left our gates. I hope they froze their toes off. Now we can go about adding the the fortifications.

1st 130, Early Spring

The fourth year of Oceanquest has passed. The year was successful in that the ring wall is completed and we delved to the Magma Sea and are just beginning to smelt ores in large quantities. The goblins are becoming an ever more pressing threat and pose a great danger to our trade relations but with the fortifications and increasing production of weapons, this should be the year when a the numbers of the militia can be increased to effective levels.

There are 202 of us now. The food and drink stockpiles are stacked and people are generally happy. My personal quarters are ready, though they still need a bit of decorating and more furniture. All in all, I think they will be surprised back in the Mountainhome, at least as soon as a caravan can get through and tell them of our success.

[Dr_Nocturne]

Glad nothing happened to me yet...

[Myrkky100]

Glad nothing happened to me yet...

Yet. My tendency to turtle is still affecting my style of play a bit but now that smelting and forging is under way, I'll do my best to be a bit more active, explore the caverns and bring the fight to the goblins.

Also, the FPS is down to 28.

[masam]

May I have the fancy crossbow?

[Timeless Bob]

Please dorf one of the infants as "Timeless Bob".  I often wonder how many of those little meat shields survive.

[bp920091]

I often wonder how many of those little meat shields survive.

To adulthood, or just to being a child?

Unless the mother is in the military, the infant mortality rate is close to 100%