"From the Journal of Olim Alathgomath, Miner and Manager of Alathanir"
Where should I begin? As I write this, it is the 24th of Granite... over a year since we first set out to this haunted shore. I guess at the beginning would do.
Myself, and Rimtar got drunk one night, after floating about 12 barrels of rum. We were working on unlucky 13 when she made me a bet, just before passing out. She bet that we could not build a fortress in one of the most inhospitable places imaginable.
This got me to thinking. What would be inhospitable to a dwarf? Elf lands? Brilliant! We'll gather supplies and a few friends, and head to a wooded region that I quickly picked at random on a map, supposedly under Elf control.
It didn't turn out quite that way. When we arrived, the 7 of us found not a lush, Elf forest, but a forest of the dead. The Walking Dead. As we marched through these accursed woods, we caught glimpses of... things following us at a distance. Things with no flesh.
Finally, we made it to the edge of the woods only to find that the sandy ground dropped off to a beach, with waves crashing upon the shore. This was a stark contrast to the broad river followed by hilly forests that my map had.
I took out the map while we listened to the sounds of the woods behind us, and tried to figure out what went wrong. Then I saw it; I read the map upside down. We were hundreds of miles south of where I wanted to be, far too far off to return to the mountain homes. In fact, I doubt we could survive the trip back through those shadowed woods.
So we dug in, us 7 dwarves. Myself and Lokum Oddromithar with our picks carved a series of chambers into the sandy cliffs, and we moved lock, stock, and barrel in and prepared to sit out the rest of our lives in this forsaken place.
-F Olin Alathgomath - Miner, Negotiator, Broker
-F Lokum Oddromithar - Miner
-F Kosoth Bokbonerith - Carpenter, Woodworker
-M Asob Tangathmezuth - Stonerworker, Mason
-F Rimtar Nilesatir - Mason, Stoneworker
-F Cog Enorkib - Mechanic, Cook, Brewer
-M Stukos Zanegisul - Farmer
Note to self; don't drink 13 barrels of rum at once. I don't even like the stuff.
The first thing we did was to build doors once we had dug out a carpenter's shop. The upper level is nothing but white sand; not too comforting to my mine, but it's held for a year. Most everything in the upper halls was constructed at once. Afterwards we dug out and constructed a small barracks in the northwest, above our meeting hall/dinning room.
Finally, after doors were in place (and a lock system devised and installed on the gate) I decided to dig downwards, in hopes of finding some stone. Thankfully, I did; Gypsum and shale abounds in our second level, as does even more sand. With this material, we started building furniture, and by summer we all had our own rooms carved from the stone.
Finally in the fall our mountainhome liason came. With him, he brought little more than junk, I got what little food and drink he had for some trinkets. With him, he also brought 8 more
lunatics dwarves, all of whom were fleeing some crime or another; as well as one kitten. I could think of no other reason to come here (other than getting drunk and making a bet or two). How that kitten survived the woods above is beyond my explanation.
With that, we settled in for a bitterly cold winter. Our wood stocks had ran out, and while there was plenty of dead birch and oak above the cliff face, Udil Rigothkadol, our newly migrated woodcutter, refuses to go get some, even for her and her fellows' beds.
-F Udil Rigothkadol - Woodcutter, Carpenter, Woodworker
-M Asob Tangakmebzuth - Stoneworker
-F Datan Mafolmisten - Stoneworker
-M Misten Kolalek - Weaponsmith, training to work stone
-F Cerol Enshalsodel - Woodcrafter
-F Mebzuth Lanlarlibash - Farmer
-F Kulet Fikodibel - Farmer
-F Rovod Zanegonul = Farmer
-F Ezum Sibrekziril - Miner
Momuz Abanlid - Kitten and Terror of Vermin
With that, we locked the gates to keep out the wind and the dead, and set to work. Lacking anything for most of the newcomers to do, one Ezrum Sibrekziril was handed a pick, several others were told to help clear rubble and smooth stone, and a couple were settled in as farmers, helping maintain our supplies of food and drink.
At the start of spring, Elves came to trade. I was shocked, to be frank. I thought they had forsaken this wood, but it seems they retain holdings to the south. Should I ever see enough dwarves come to live here, I may work out an agreement with them to clear the woods of the undead menace.
Again, they possessed little I felt necessary. I got a bin full of cloth that I'll probably trade to the dwarven caravan in the fall; a scarce amount of food, and some logs. Udil will NOT be getting her own bedroom until she cuts the wood I requested her to.
We had to add two new doors, closed tightly, to protect our kitten. She ran out to hunt, which is suicide in this region. The main gates are opened, but the second gates are closed against her. While she's a bit annoying, the number of vermin that have been tossed in the dump is astounding. Anyone who pulls their own weight is welcome here, and the kitten most assuredly has.
Our main production is centered on crops, which far outstrips our ability to eat and drink them, and useless junk crafts like instruments and toys. Our furniture production is in-house use only.
The last project finished, and what is the cause of the party going on in the dining room above right now, is the tombs. We constructed a single tomb for the seven founders, and another general tomb for the others.
A large general store room was dug out in the south, near my office, and a wall put up to separate it from the rest of the fortress. Enough rooms have been dug to house everyone, and furniture is on order now to provide everyone with the necessities.
I've dug down below our residential level, but haven't begun any real mining down there as of yet.
Author
Topic: Alathanir "Boltsrythym" (Read 978 times)