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[Mystry]

I always wanted to make a coastal fortress, and I've just been able to find the perfect spot, devoid of annoying aquifers no less. Then I thought to myself, why not make this a story game? I've no idea if this has been done before, but here goes my first 'story' game. Everything I write will be from the perspective of either a dwarven narrator, or one of the dwarves in the fortress. Comments by me will be within ()s. Feel free to suggest things or make comments, I've never actually written anything before.
Table of Contents

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1. The Beginning - First Page
2. Summer of Year 1 - First Page
3. Late Summer of Year 1 - First Page

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It is the year 126 of the Dwarven calendar. It is an age of plenty; the kobolds and other evil creatures have retreated to their southern safeholds, pushed back by the combined efforts of Dwarven and Human armies. Despite the largely prevailing peace, strife still exists in some pockets. Rumors exist of strange creatures to the north-east, tall savage forest-dwellers who attack human loggers. Undead creatures from the sea have emerged upon Dwarven settlements to the west. But that is not the focus of this story, this is the story of Drumboulder, or as the humans call it 'The Great Dwarven Bridge'.

Nearly 20 years before the founding of Drumboulder, in the year 105, a terrible war raged throughout the world. Kobolds and goblins, their numbers uncountable, marched into the Northlands to conquer for their necromancer masters. The Humans were safe for most of the war, isolated on their north-eastern island, but the Dwarves were directly in the path of invasion. Though they fought valiantly, with every dwarf life costing the enemy dozens of soldiers, they were eventually pulled back to a stronghold situated in a deep canyon. Deeptrenches, the name itself a descriptor of the place, it was the only pass in the mountain line which separated the Dwarven nations of the north from the necromancer hordes. The enemy assaulted the dwarves relentlessly, giving no pause between siege attacks. Night was no barrier, for the kobolds and goblins, reinforced by undead from necromancers, could see equally well in darkness. The dwarves were beleaguered, and were nearly defeated had the Humans not arrived.

Unknown to either the Dwarves or Necromancers, the humans of the north-east knew that if the dwarven nations were to fall, nothing would stop the necromancers from turning towards their island home. They sailed their army past the battle, and landed on the deserted, ravaged areas that the war had claimed. Marching north, they formed the southern pincer against the Necromancers, and grinded them into the walls of the canyon and fortress itself. Had there been an escape, there would have certainly been a rout among the enemy, but they had nowhere to go, and were slaughtered to the last goblin. The Necromancers, seeing their army destroyed, used their magic to flee, and so the battle was one.

After decimating the kobolds, and banishing their necromancer masters, the Dwarves and Humans emerged from the war with greater respect for one another. Before the conflict, both civilizations kept to themselves, distrustful and unwilling to chance making another enemy. But the Humans had not endangered themselves needlessly. They were traders, merchants and businessmen. They hoped that by aiding the dwarves, they would not only halt the threat from the south, but convince them to open to trade. Their plan worked better then they had expected. Not only did the dwarven coastal settlements open their ports to human vessels for trade, but the dwarven king himself proclaimed that a bridge would be built between the north-eastern island home of the humans, and the mainland continent housing the dwarves. This bridge would be built at a narrow channel between the two, far to the north-east, and would grant both civilizations access and a land route to the interior cities and mountainhomes. The dwarven king picked seven stout dwarves to board a departing human trade vessel, and journey with the humans to their island, and once there, begin constructing the bridge. (This is just an explanation for why the dwarves are on the right side of the map, instead of the left. I wanted them on the left but after embarking they were on the right. Oh well.)
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Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is the journal of Rimtar Zirilamost, if found please return to me. I'm writing this as the King has mandated that the leaders of the colony keep records of the events of Drumboulder. He says its for the historians, but I have a feeling its just for his amusement.
Day 1 of Spring, year 126
We've finally reached the site. The coast of the human island proved to be more rugged than we had anticipated, but this spot is fairly level. At least its away from those damn humans, loud stinky giant things they are. The trip on the boat was hellish, but that's all over now.
Best to start simple. I've instructed Oddom (the miner) to hollow out an entrance along the beach, along with a storage area to the south, a location for farming to the north, and the beginning of some stairs going downward. I can't wait to get inside. Being outside is all fine and dandy but our wagon has broken down right in the path of the ocean waves, and I don't fancy getting entire lower body wet every few minutes. Besides, I can't swim. Now that I think of it, none of us know how to swim. Who was in charge of selecting the people to build a bridge for Armoks sake? You'd think they would pick dwarves who wouldn't immediately drown. At least they were smart enough to include a veteran fisherdwarf, seeing as how we are on the coast. Which reminds me, fresh water could be a problem, but there are numerous pools near the construction site. Once we have basic amenities up and running, we can drain those into a cistern. Hopefully the frequent rain around here will fill them back up. I've included a sketch with this entry of what the site looks like as of this writing.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(The dwarves and wagon aren't actually in the water, thats just an ocean wave. The wagon is almost DIRECTLY next to the water though.)

[Mystry]

From the journal of Rimtar
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Summer, Year 1
Much work has been done, but despite progress I fear we are moving too slowly. The dwarves with me are a hardy bunch, used to adversity and a hard life, but I cannot ask them to sleep on the dirt floor of the main entrance much longer. Still, we have basic needs covered. Shelter from the rain, a small farm in the northern chamber and a kitchen, fishery and still have been set up. They provide us with food and drink, and with full bellies comes high spirits. Everyone seems upbeat and excited, but I know its only a matter of time before their patience runs out. On the bright side, Oddon has finally hit stone, several layers below the entrance. My current plan is to use the soil layers as storage, workshop, and kitchens. Required areas that we won't have to waste time hauling loose rock out of to make way for needful buildings. I will not use the soil layers as housing though, dwarves, especially these bunch, deserve the comfort, security and familiarity of stone, not dirt, no matter how smooth and polished that dirt is. A large storage room below the farming layer is being dug out as I write this, and I've instructed Oddom to create small room nearby that I can use as an office. If I am to keep an accurate count of our stocks, I'll need space to work in and be close to the items I'm counting. I've included a sketch of both the housing and storage layers as of right now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

No sketch of the main entrance and farming layers. Not much has changed, structurally. Besides the kitchen, farm, and still workshops, the dogs we brought along have been leashed to the entrance. They should scare away any nosy animals that come calling. The two horses who pulled the wagon have been pastured on the plain above the fortress, and the damn cats keep leaving rat corpses everywhere. I've also given up on trying to keep track of the days. It seemed like a good idea on the boat, and during the wagon ride here, but its hard to keep track underground.
The wagon is still sitting right next to the ocean, and it worries me. Its certainly heavy enough not to be dragged off by the waves, but besides our food, all our other supplies are still on it. Priority one has to be to get the storage room finished, before the ocean salt water degrades the tools and what-not too much. After that, creating the workshops for the various trades the other dwarves have, and then constructing suitable housing. I just hope I can get it all done in a timely fashion.
One last note, a letter has arrived from the mountainhomes via human courier. The king is sending migrants of all things. He now has it in his head, not only to construct a bridge, but to establish a permanent settlement here. Whether I like it or not, the immigrants will be coming, and I hope we can get things ready for them. The king may be mad, but I'll not see innocent dwarves suffer just because he was crazy enough to send them here.

[Mystry]

From the journal of Rimtar
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Mid-Summer, Year 1

Disaster has struck! The migrants have arrived, far faster than anyone had anticipated, and only a fraction of the work has been finished! The storage room was finished just now, and we were moving all of the supplies inside when Adil, our fisherdwarf, ran up to me, shouting he saw them approaching from the east. I have no idea how they got here so quickly, it took us almost half a year to reach this place from the mountainhomes. I suspect the king sent them only shortly after we left, how else could they arrive at such a time?
I've written down a list of their names and occupations for future reference, I will copy it here.
Obok Risentholest - Mason, was previously in the army and as such has skills as a hammerdwarf
As Likotkokeb - Carpenter, was also in the army as a hammerdwarf, wife to Stodir
Stodir Mengbunem - Gem Cutter, yet another previous hammerdwarf, husband to As
Erith Ellestinod - Child, youngest son of As and Stodir. They tell me they have multiple children, all grown except Erith.
Likot Odurcatten - Fishery worker. Also tells me he apprenticed to a farmer when young, and has some skills with milking spinning and pressing. Another veteran hammerdwarf.
Cog Cogabsam - Ranger, previous marksdwarf in the army. Trains animals as a hobby. I've instructed him not to hunt around here until we know more about the wildlife.
In addition, they've brought a female yak calf with them. I put it in the pasture with the horses. Yaks eat grass, I think.
Six dwarves. Six more to feed and find work and housing for. All of them are older, all of them are veterans from the Great War. I have no idea why none of them thought to bring a hammer or mace or some kind of weapon with them, though. Only Cog had the presence of mind to bring his crossbow and a quiver of bolts, likely because he intended to hunt with them. I told not to hunt anything at this time, under the pretense of not knowing the dangers or number of wildlife in the country-side. The real reason is that he has the only real weapon amongst us. Should someone or something attack, as unlikely as that is, his crossbow is our best hope of defense, and I don't want him wasting his high quality steel bolts on animals.
Having to tell those six the current status of the outpost, the fact that housing is still not constructed, was immensely embarrassing. Only Cog seemed indifferent to that news, I suppose he is used to living outdoors on a daily basis. I've scrapped most of the workshop plans. They will have to wait. We must get workshops for both of the masons and carpenters, and get housing built. No sketch, not enough time, too much to be done.

[Mystry]

From the journal of Rimtar
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Late-summer, Year 1

I breathe a great sigh of relief as I write this. The housing for not only the seven founding dwarves, but the first wave of immigrants has been finished, albeit in a rough but livable state. Everyone is quite happy to have their own rooms. To lessen the organization work, I've handed each dwarf a small plaque, courtesy of Obok the mason, with their names carved into it. Once a dwarf chooses a room, they need only affix the plaque to the door. That way I won't have to go through the tedium of assigning everyone rooms. Despite the small quarters, Stodir and As have elected to sleep in the same room, and the boy Erith will take a separate room. This effectively frees one of the rooms up, which is a big bonus.
Other than the housing, I've selected Ezum Bekarvucar, the woodworker of the original seven, to take over the farm plot fulltime. His carpentry duties will be taken over by As, who has proven herself, though I hesitate to say it, far better than Ezum. Ezum was the only one of us with any experience in farming, and I've used that as leverage to get him to take over the farm. He seems to enjoy it but I get the feeling he would rather be whittling.
Also of note, despite me telling him not to do so, Cog took his crossbow out for a hunting trip after spotting a flock of storks landing nearby. He returned with two of them, and 38 bolts remaining. His accuracy and skill with a crossbow is admirable, and I find it difficult to be angry at him for his insubordination. The stork meat is a welcome change from the endless parade of fish, seeing as how most of the plump helmets are used for brewing. Too bad we have no leatherworkers, the skin went to waste.
My office near the storage room was finished quite a while ago, and I spend most of my time in here keeping the stocks up to date and writing in this journal. The arithmetic is sometimes difficult, but there is a perverse enjoyment in seeing a column of figures added correctly. I'm running out of table space for the number carvings though, I'll have to get Obok to make me another soon.
Right after all the work was done though, a second group of migrants arrived! I still have no clue as to how they are getting here so fast, but I will copy down their names and occupations for record, again.
Rovod Kibdodok - Butcher, was previously an axedwarf in the army. Husband to Onol. Younger brother of Edem.
Onol Muthkatthalal - No Profession, was previously a skirmisher in the army, has skills with swords and is an expert tracker. Wife to Rovod
Uvash Gamilcatten - Son of Rovod and Onol
Iden Rathnekas - Daughter of Rovod and Onol
Edem Ezumtosid - Fishery worker, older brother of Rovod. Husband to Zuglar.
Zuglar Kelorshar - Bone Doctor, previously served as a combat medic in a marksdwarf squad of the army. Has skills in crossbows, bone setting, and wound dressing. Wife to Edem.
Shem Sarekducim - Daughter of Edem and Zuglar.

Even though this group is one larger than the last, I am not overly concerned. Spare rooms were already being dug before they arrived, and I expect we shall have room and board for all of them before the day is out. The abundance of children is concerning however, this is not exactly a settled area. The wilderness has dangers of its own, and we are constructing a bridge first and foremost. This is no place to raise a child. The adults are a welcome addition however, especially Zuglar and Rovod. The addition of a professional butcher, along with occasional hunts of Cog, will add meat to our plates. Variety is the spice of life, and all that. Zuglar, with her medical training, will be invaluable should injuries occur, though I doubt there is much we can do if a dwarf falls in the sea. None of us are swimmers.

I am also beginning to suspect that the army takes weapons from their soldiers when they leave duty. None of the veterans besides Cog has arrived with a weapon in tow, and Cogs crossbow is of such quality that I believe it to be personally owned. No army would issue such fine weapons to their soldiers, it would be far too expensive.

One last addition, a trade depot has been built near the pasture. Assuming we get can make some crafts, we will be able to trade with the humans of the island. They seem to enjoy our mugs above all else for some reason.
Given my sudden availability of time, I've included a drawing of all three levels so far.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[MrWillsauce]

ptw