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[Ter13]

Essentially, I'm writing this from the perspective of Bomrek, our woodcutter. The rules for this map are:

1) No migrants.
2) No caravans.
3) No hunting, no fishing.
4) No web gathering.
5) Anyone hurt by a zombie anything will be left to die, even if they survive.
6) Invading armies will also be considered infected, so the above rules apply.

I've only got one female, so this fort is going to take a while for breeding to start. Seeing as our second female decided to take a dip in the magma.

I'm trying to keep them sealed off from the surface. There's a cave river, a magma pipe, and a chasm in the map.

This game will continue for as long as possible, or until all members of the party are dead. I will be able to get outside goods should I choose to trap and kill a caravan, that is the only way I will gain anything. This will make for some interesting situations, I think.

[Ter13]

Day 1: Fear and loss

There were Twenty of us until this evening. I hope this log makes it to the outside world, but we remaining seven are lost.

The night fell quickly around us, while we passed through the mountains, and that's where my dream of traveling the world with a merchant caravan became a nightmare.

Our caravan was circling the wagons to rest the horses for the evening, when Dastot heard a cry in the distance. He, and six speardwarves went to scout it out. They were gone for possibly two hours, when one of them returned, bleeding horribly from a mangled arm. He babbled something about demons in the darkness before falling unconscious, into a slumber we all thought he would not awaken from.

It was not a moment later that a mass of bodies came sprinting out of the inky curtain beyond our fire's light. A few at first, then more. Masses of misshapen, stinking creatures flung themselves at our horses and guards. Fear overtook us, and we scattered. Another wave of creatures attacked from behind, and those who ran were slain, mercilessly torn apart by these creatures, who ravaged even the corpses, consumed by primal rage.

The fallen dwarf with the mangled arm awoke, but he did not flee. He tackled the nearest dwarf, and began to bite and claw him. It was then that I knew we were done for. We had walked into a land infested with a zombie plague.

Myself and six others managed to flee with a single wagon, and the two remaining beasts of burden, a horse and a donkey. We rode the wagon hard north, attempting to make it away from the creatures, until we came across a brook, pinning us in. We prayed to Armok to spare us, but the creatures closed in on us near daybreak.

They encircled us, and suddenly dispersed, fleeing the light of the sun creeping above the crest of the mountains in the east.

Nobody spoke the first day, we had three miners, three planters, and a woodcutter. We had no weapons, no trained military dwarves, and no protection from the creatures. The miners began work once they had drunk themselves into enough of a stupor to numb their fears. Lorbam, Lor, and Lokam were their names. The three of them dug into a channel carved into the mountainside by the brook. The rest of us, the three planters, Udib, Mebzuth, and Urdim, and myself, the woodcutter Bomrek set out to pick local fruits and berries, as it was discovered that we had no source of food in the wagon, only a few barrels of booze, an anvil, and the clothes on our back.

It began to grow dark again, and the cries in the distance drew near. Frantically, we unloaded our wagon, and stowed our belongings in the cavern the miners had dug. There was no way to keep the creatures out, and we hoped the brook bordering the entrance would wash our scent away.

Lor did not return after midday. She went to the other side of the brook. One of the planters said he saw her digging a hole straight down. I hope she is alright, but we cannot risk to search for her.

We will begin the search in the morning.

[Ter13]

Day 2: Facing sobriety and starvation

The search for Lor was short. We didn't find any footprints, or a body. What we did find, led us to believe she deliberately committed suicide. We found a gaping hole in the ground. Peering into it, we saw a boiling sea of liquid magma, and swimming around inside of the magma, were zombified Fire Imps. We sealed off the hole and said a few words for Lor. She was a good friend of mine, and I will miss her company. The last remaining female in our party, Udib has taken this quite hard. The rest of the party is already stony-faced and a single step from panic.

I rounded up the miners, and told them that the planters were risking their lives being out in the open picking berries for us to eat and brew, and that we needed to dig into the mountain and get some farms, if we were to survive this. Mebzuth snorted, and said "What's the use? We're going to die here. Why delay the inevitable?". I gave him a good punch to the jaw and sent him to help haul the loose stone the miners had created yesterday.

I set about to chopping down some more trees. We would need the lumber badly in the coming days. I already had a crick in my neck from sleeping on the rocks, and my knees hurt badly from standing so often. How nice it would be to have chairs and a bed!

The miners tunneled out a six large rooms across the brook from our cave, and the planters quickly set up two small patches for our plump helmets. I pointed out that we had very few plump helmet spawn, and it would be better to wall off a section above ground so that we could grow some of the wild strawberries we had found in the woods.

It was at this point, that Udib began to cry. I had forgotten that Lor was our only mason. I decided to take up the task, and Lorbam also helped me with it. We only got a small section of wall by the time the sun dipped behind the mountains, and we retreated into our cave again, hiding from the dark and wishing sleep would come.

The others have been drinking excessively, and our already pathetic food stores are almost gone. I fear there will be nothing left of the booze when the sun rises again.

[Ter13]

Day 3: Productivity

Last night was worse than most. The creatures don't seem to like the water, so they leave us alone. They however, made a mess of the compound we built on the other side of the brook. Luckily, they left sometime during the night, and did not make it their lair for the day.

Lokum has taken it upon himself to seal off the fortress. He has been building drawbridges all day long. The first one is complete now, but the last two may be a few days. Since the last two go across the brook, we are going to make those a one-day project in a few days.

The rest of the day was spent brewing new booze and planting seeds. The plump helmets will be coming along nicely soon.

I asked the miners to dig out a large area on the north side of the brook for me to build a carpentry shop. Beds and chairs are a must. We'll have to move our food stores once we secure the south side of the brook, and dig in a little deeper, in case something goes wrong and something gets inside of our cave. We're going to line a corridor with cage traps, and use the magma to burn anything we catch. It's the only safe way to deal with zombies.

We've been talking about starting a longer project today. We need a way to use that magma to our advantage, and the first order of business should be to pump some of it up into the fort, so that we can get some metalsmithing done. Perhaps later, we can talk about weaponizing the magma, or creating a moat, but that will be a topic for another day. We don't have the manpower to do a lot in one day, and we can't work through the night until we have finished the walls above the north side of our fortress, and lock it off with drawbridges as well.

Night comes soon. Hopefully we can get the work done before long.

[Ter13]

Day 10: No rescue

It has been long before I wrote. I have been weary to my very soul the last week. The drawbridges were completed today. We now have five function drawbridges built, two above the north end of the fortress, one spanning the brook, and two spanning the brook before the main entryway into the fortress.

The miners are both quite proud of their work. We had to rush it a bit, as a caravan was spotted in the distance. They will not reach us before nightfall, and we cannot make it to them before the zombies do. May Armok allow them a clean death, and safeguard them from walking the earth for all time.

I have told Mebzuth, who spotted the caravan to keep quiet about it. I don't want the rest of the party to get their hopes up before we are sure we can be rescued. Our best hope to get out of here is to die. Mebzuth knows we are doomed, but I know we can survive this. We have all the tools at our disposal, we just need some time.

The miners have been busily chipping away at our longer term project for nearly four days, and have completed it just this afternoon. Now that we can work through the night, our jobs are much easier. The miners have installed a screw pump below their project. They have tapped the volcano, and are busily pumping it into an dwarf-dug cistern beneath the room they have carved. This room has enough space for two forges and two smelters. This will allow us to craft the tools we need to escape this place.

Perhaps I may rest easy tonight, and get started on some bedrooms and a dining room tomorrow.

[Ter13]

Autumn Year 1:

The vision still haunts me every night. I opened the drawbridge and instructed Mebzuth to open it only if I returned unscathed. I headed southeast, into the mountains, where we saw the caravan. What I saw there was horrifying.

They had been slaughtered, one and all. There were no bodies, no limbs, no bones, only blood. So much blood... I raced back to the fortress and told Mebzuth what I saw. He agreed with me that noone will leave this place. We will live here, closed off from the world, with no hope of rescue, and no attempt at escape.

I have not yet broken the news to the others.

The end of the autumn was spent building a bridge over the magma. We've made it pretty zombie-friendly. Our excess cats have been going inside of a small pen on the bridge.

We've been lucky so far. Let's hope our luck holds.

[Ter13]

Winter Year 1:

I still have not broken the news to the rest. I am attempting to make their stay as comfortable as possible. I have ensured they all have bedrooms and a fine dining room. We will be settling in, possibly for the rest of our lives.

A group of migrants came. As usual, Mebzuth pulled me from my office immediately, and told noone else. I stood atop the wall and looked down at the migrants. Half of them were wounded. I could not risk opening the gates, so I convinced them that the only way into the fortress was through room with a trap-door floor in it. They bought it, and stood on the bridge we built last autumn.

I feel terrible for what I did to those poor souls, but I absolutely refuse to be a damn living corpse.

We finished a masonry workshop, and polished off the beds this season. The nightmares still haven't stopped... I wonder if I am going mad...

[Ter13]

Spring, Year 2:

An elven caravan was spotted in the distance by Mebzuth. It never came near enough to the mountain to encounter the zombies. Spring passed without incident.

I had a nightmare, in which a caravan arrived, and all of my friends rushed out to meet them, screaming "we're saved!" only to be ambushed by hordes of zombies. Something must be done!

I have prepared a new entryway into the fortress. The miners will start working on it tomorrow at daybreak.

[Ter13]

Summer, Year 2:

We've lost so much time! Our plumbing designs failed us, and spewed water everywhere! Damn my carelessness!

To make matters worse, a group of migrants arrived to the southwest. I have no idea where these refugees are coming from, but they are not coming prepared. The lack of survivors may be staunching tales of the horror of this place from returning to the mountainhomes.

I lowered the gates, and sprinted out to meet them half way, but what I saw when I arrived, terrified me. A zombified giant cave spider had webbed, and eaten its way through half of the migrants. Those corpses would walk the earth again by that night.

The hunter of the group managed to slay the giant spider, but himself was bitten four times. His leg was in terrible shape, and another was missing most of his foot following a battle with a zombie troll.

I led the band back toward the fortress, but the zombies were determined to let none pass, throwing caution to the winds, and temporarily ignoring their hatred of the light. They picked off a square half dozen migrants on the way back. Almost everyone was injured, and I narrowly escaped a tussle with a zombie giant bat unharmed.

I led the rabble to the "entryway", and convinced them they were safe. I pulled the lever, and winced as I heard their screams.

I can't help but feel that I will have my own personal place in hell when this is all over.

What if we are already in hell?

[Ter13]

Autumn, Year 2:

What must be done is clear to me now. Before I dreamt of escape, but now I know this is the only safe haven in the world. This plague cannot be stopped, and has already claimed the lives of hundreds of dwarves, elves, and men alike.

NOTHING can stop this. We must remain.

I have completed the redesign of the plumbing for our "Trade depot". It will put the poor sots out of their misery before the zombies can get to them.


It worked! The caravan was anihilated, and the infected corpses were immediately hauled off to the incinerator!

[Ter13]

Winter, Year 2:

I lay here, writing what I know will be my last words. I do not remember what happened to the other five, but I was carried out of the fray after losing my leg to a zombie giant bat that had somehow gotten inside of the fortress. I don't have long, the plague will claim me. I had to crawl my way to the incinerator before the madness turned me into one of those beasts.

As I crawled through the main stairwell, I saw the aftermath of the battle. There were a dozen cat corpses dismantled and thrown about the room, puddles of blood mingled with vomit, chunks of my comrades piled about the room, a decapitated horse, and nearly ten dead and dismembered dogs and puppies lying about. The kittens had been slaughtered in a pile near the stairs. The amount of blood was unbelievable. I could not find my leg.

I saw the creature sitting stupidly beneath a tree in the distance. It had a copper pick stuck through its head, another in its chest, and my axe lodged in its arm. We had failed to kill it.

I dragged the corpses of my comrades with me, one by one onto the lip of the incinerator. None of us will walk this earth again.

May I hope whosoever finds this log remembers our plight, and fares better than we.

[Ter13]

Well then, two years... I didn't even make it two years. I thought I could manage it better than that, but I stupidly dug through a spot I had channeled, making a nice hole for a giant bat.