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[Pan]

Last update coming out tomorrow morning.

[Pan]

1st Limestone

Autumn and the following winter creeps forward, and first comes its heralds - autumn storms.



The past few days saw three different storms. They all headed different directions away from the camp, and for that we were glad. Wouldn't want the goods we have laid at the trade depot to receive rough treatment of the sands.

Did notice a peregrine falcon hobbling about blindly. Sandstorm may have caught it unawares. Such is the stupidity of overland creatures.





The Nephilim also announced that in the wake of these sandstorms, they had best be going. Best leave while the worst is over. Sir Voluntus bid me farewell, and promises to send caravans our way. Like I said, decent folks, if a little 'head above the clouds' (more ways than one, heh)

2nd Limestone

DCOgre is overjoyed that we will be once again planting plump helmets this season.

5th Limestone



Gold is struck in the living quarters we have carved our for Bomrek's men. I'd hope the miners can quickly dig out the living quarters so as I can prepare adequate living quarters of our own. I also mean to find me some wood, meaning that the caverns will need to be pierced soon.

15th Limestone

I've designated the shafts that leads down into the caverns. It's close - I can feel it.

16th Limestone

Almost two levels down, and a breach was made. Simon reports that the cavern is large and wide open. Water was reportedly heard as well. While that is cause for rejoicing, I feel uneasy that water within the caverns would be disturbed.

Nevertheless, the fungus and the promise of water are resources we must exploit. With the return of Bomrek's soldiers, our supply of alcohol will be depleted faster. And while I am grim at the prospect of drinking water while Bomrek's men chugs our beer, we simply have no choice. Anyway, I give him permission to continue to carve out an entrance into it.



1st Sandstone

The entrance of the cave have been opened up - Simon had, using his extraordinary perception, been able to piece out precisely how to tunnel right down there into an elevated plateau, which can be fortified easily against the denizens of the caverns. However, his extraordinary perception also caused the entrance to be blocked by a line cliffs. We'll need to construct some floors to get to the plateau.

2nd Sandstone

As Tahu and his apprentice built the masonry in the caverns, they reportedly heard a fluttering of wings, and something came at Tahu, knocking him over.



An enormous oyster barreled over Tahu, and made straight for the ramped corridor up into the fortress! His apprentice raced up the ramps and alerted the soldiers I had stationed earlier to prevent just this, and what happened next was short.



It yielded an enormous shell as well as a beautiful rounded pearl. In it's raw state, it's worth almost ten times as much as normal stone. I order it forbidden from crafting.

A second oyster attempted the same, and was treated the same.

3rd Sandstone

All the training Nevyn and the guardsmen have done has no doubt paid off. I therefore decided they will scout the caverns. I order the marksdwarf to guard the entrance, and assign a cannon beetle to her. I myself had spent the last month trying to coax the insect to fire on command, and I hope it'll prove it's worth here.

The soldiers move west…



They immediately encounter the pool we've heard recently. I inspected and tasted it. While foul, was no more foul than water already is. I decide this water suitable for our use, and can be pumped into the fortress for wells. I also see that the nearby pillars can easily house watch towers.

The squad of soldiers reportedly moved northwards, where Nevyn also reportedly ran into some cave spider webs and was bitten, resulting in my guardsman continuing on alone. While not tactically sound, I concur that a dwarven warrior clad in a fine bronze great helm and wielding a masterfully crafted spear should be a match for whatever is out there. Sure enough, he was soon ambushed by a giant olm, who had no doubt thought itself clever by waiting for the numbers to decrease. It let loose a noise between a hiss and a snarl and leapt at the guardsman…



 A few more quick blows to the giant olm managed to finish it off, although it caused quite a commotion. The unmistakable stench of blood soon drew predators. In a hostile ecosystem here, nothing is wasted - before long cave spiders had appeared near the corpse, and the spear guardsman spotted a giant toad as well as a rather unconventional creature lurking nearby…




I quickly had the corpse hauled in and the guardsman retreat.

The crossbowman's report was much more intriguing, however. As he patrolled the corridor, he had heard the giant olm's death cries, and so did his pet the giant insect. I raised it's head and swung the antennae back and forth… and darted into the caverns. I guess my animal training was rather… sloppy. The marksdwarf hurried after it. The cannon beetle, however, is not a natural cavern creature - it soon got lost and the marksdwarf with him. I denied orders for searching, only to find the marksdwarf hurrying back the next day, and he had something interesting to report deep in the caverns…



A rounded area contained rough and weathered, but unmistakably crafted and engraved walls! I had the marksdwarf take me to it, and I think these ruins could potentially be of good use to us in future. The markings were hard to make out, although I can more or less decipher an image to the likeness of what appears to be some sort of golem. A dwarf of higher scientific knowledge might find the use in these rubble. Despite their beauty I do have practical matters to attend.

The cavern's plateau is ordered to be walled up. Fortifications will be constructed later. For now, we just need the wood for beds and other wooden items.

10th Sandstone

The miners begin excavating the workshop area while I oversee the masonry in the caverns. For now, a small single level wall will do. We will need to fortify the outside, of course. In future, I hope this area can be expanded and our farms be moved down here.

Bomrek's been gone too long. I know it. The military caravan would never have enough provisions to last this long, and the ground is too barren for forage. It's been three seasons, and while time flies as a dwarf (relatively long lived, after all), this is far too long for any mission. I had expected them during the start of Autumn. I say nothing though - no point in demoralizing everyone. I gaze out into the wastes and… there they are! I squint against the sun - a group of dwarves, heading straight at us! Our welcome party met them at the gates. At first sight, we knew something was wrong.

The leader of the ragged band, a woodcutter, hollow eyed and emaciated from lack of rest and food, recounted what had happened.

[The first spoiler is just a summary of the longer, second spoiler. I spoilered the second one because it's mainly flavor, not really fortress stuff. I may have gone a bit over the top. I don't know. Not sure if long winded or creative lol]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Following might be a tl;dr story of Bomrek's band getting slaughtered. You knew this was coming anyway hehe. Read if you have time. If not, basically the military caravan is killed by an LFR race, and these guys are the survivors.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It started a few days after Nevyn's band had left. The traps had closed then. As the caravan continued to press on, it found itself continuously harried by packs of mysterious creatures. The rearguard took the blow, as Bomrek had ordered them to march through the night. By the time the column had halted, it was too late. A wagon and all its inhabitants, four steel clad dwarves (one with an unfired crossbow, such was the speed of the ambush), the kennel master and his pack of hounds, a saber toothed tiger had been killed. A flare of lustrum, lighted up and tossed into the midst revealed them at last for what the attackers are: grey quadruples loping away swiftly on all fours, carrying limbs and even whole dead dogs in their tentacled mouths. One or two had appeared to be different, and one had been observed to have four bladed arms.

At this point, I wonder if he had gone mad from dehydration, but his companions assure me this is nothing less than the horrible truth.

The caravan had halted for the night, surrounding itself in a ring of lustrum torches - a glowing stone that glows very brightly, if for a shorter duration, when lit up. Bomrek had, however, refused to turn back. They would now attempt to track these creatures down. This was his first command, Bomrek had been reported to seethed, he would not dishonor himself and his name with a failure.

And so the caravan had pushed onwards, west again, where the tracks had headed. Bomrek had lit no outriders or scouts to diminish losses, but they were marching blind. Everyday, there were losses. The woodcutter said that parties like Nevyn's had been sent towards here, but they must have been hunted down as well, for tragically we have had no sign of them.

 By the start of the last month of summer, Bomrek had decided at last to turn back, with losses mounting up to almost two thirds of the entire column incapacitated or dead. However, their return trip was another trail of corpses, and finally barely three days away from the fortress, they had been assaulted in midst of a sand storm at night. The creatures had surrounded the camp, under cover of the storm, and waited it out. Bomrek, feeling the steel jaws close, decided they must break out if they have any hope of even surviving. Everyone had armed themselves, and an attempt to break out with a line of wagons laden with soldiers (the supplies, what little remained, had been thrown out for space) behind Bomrek's mounted wedge of him and his captains. The spearhead bulled past a pack, managing to break it apart and get picked off by marksdwarves on the wagons behind. Any of the creatures attempting to board were quickly repelled by sword, bolt and spear.

 However, they were quick to pursue and stronger in endurance than the pack horses, and soon the back wagon's horses were killed. The wood cutter had recounted peering back and seeing the soldiers attempting to run after the other wagons run down by the creatures, and the wounded soldiers devoured alive. This fate soon befell one wagon after another, until Bomrek, in a fit of gallantry, had turned the spearhead around to buy time for the last two wagons. I wonder if Bomrek felt particularly gallant being eaten alive.

 Of the two wagons managing to escape the carnage one fled another direction for some reason, whereas this band's raced towards the fortress at full speed, with the creatures hot on their heels. When I asked what happened to the wagon, as they arrived on foot, the wood cutter admitted with terrible guilt the wagon wheel broke down and they were forced to leave the eight wounded dwarves on it. They had armed themselves with the crossbows the wagon had carried and awaited the creatures.

This harrowing tale of the fate of the military caravan had left me and my guards in shock for quite a bit. I would not have such military tardiness, nor the horrifying consequences. I immediately order our gates closed, and that venturing outside is strictly forbidden without military escort, who are to flee back inside instead of fighting at first sight of enemy. The curtain wall is yet to be completed, despite it being almost two seasons. We are under siege from the unseen and unknown about, but ever present enemy, and I did not sleep a wink this night.

The survivors consist of: A wood cutter, a black smith, a farmer and a peasant. They are ragged and not fit for military service.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The rest will be up within the next few hours. Just don't like uploading all at the same time in a huge chunk.

[Pan]

The rest of the month passed uneventfully, save for a murder of clams trying to force it's way into the fortress again. What the creatures are trying to do is beyond me, but in any case, it's not a problem since we now have three more pretty pearl stones and shells.

The woodcutter was able to hack down some fungi in the caverns, which we shall gladly turn into beds. Of the other new arrivals, there was a farmer, a fishery worker, a blacksmith interested in masonry. The farmer and fisher were assigned to haul the logs of lumber into the camp, while the black smith learnt the skills of masonry under Tahu, who was surprisingly happy to receive another man. I guess swinging a chisel at rocks and shaping them is a lot easier with company to chat to…

The fisher and farmer were blinded by a dust storm swept up. It disappeared as quickly as it came, but did their damage. I'm expecting the blindness to last no longer than a week or two.

Many of the dogs gave birth, while a saber tooth was discovered somewhere with a litter of kittens the size of regular cats. To my immense annoyance, they ignored the insects that infested our place.

3rd Timber

A large rat was found to be lurking about our base. When approached, it snarled and charged! The spear guardsman recoiled, but Nevyn charged and cleaved it's head apart. An impressive kill, but aren't rats supposed to be docile?



13th Timber



A gremlin was caught trying to sneak up to the fortress. It was discovered by the new mason apprentice, who scared it back into the caverns. It'll be back.

14th Timber

 A commotion is astir in the commons room. A guarded caravan has been observed approaching from the north by the sparring soldiers. It carries the banners of the Rooms of Obeying. It would appear that the mountainhome has seen fit to come to our, Bomrek's, aid with his military outpost. I wonder what they would make of the latest news of Bomrek's whereabouts...

'What! Slain with all his strength? Where, when and how?' the guard captain, a noble of some sort, seethed. 'How had an army of well equipped, well provisioned and well governed army under to command of one of the empire's most promising suddenly be lost out in the wasteland? Are you tugging my beard, overseer?'

'No, a band of escapees from the carnage was able to report back the details.'

'And did that happy-go-lucky group happen to have glimpsed these assailants they had precariously managed to escape from?'

I had recounted the tale the wood cutter had told. The captain had been obviously unimpressed. He had folded his arms, fixed a pointed, stony look on my face and  'Well, Your story seems to point towards the barbarian beastmen or overland creatures to have slaughtered an armed convoy, a prospect I find highly unlikely. Let it suffice to say that whatever or whoever these creatures, or perhaps not outsider creatures, are, they would been very ambitious and very stupid to have assailed forces bearing the seal of royal command. I'm relying on you, Uzol. If this is indeed a traitor dwarf, your traitor's blood might be just the thing we need to root out another traitor. All who oppose the might of the mountainhome, there will be consequences to those who had participated in that act, I'll assure you of that.'

Even I was not so blind as to realize what he was implying in that statement.

Despite the ugliness with the guard captain threatening to have my head off as a traitor, the traders themselves were decent, and seemed genuinely sympathetic, rather than a bureaucratic, lying snake the noble was. Still, it worries me that I just happen to be in a great position for a scapegoat - I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by plotting to murder Bomrek. And my earlier 'crimes' that sentenced me here in the first place further my accuser's case. But the fortress comes before my beard, so I push these thoughts away and we resume trading. But I knowI've not heard the last of the vipers of the mountainhome.

I'm rather glad to finally receive more news from the mountainhome. The new general has not done well for himself with the purges, and unrest is brewing. There is open talk of uprising. To counter this, the crown has introduced a secret weapon that they claim will revolutionize the dwarves army - megalania war beasts! Apparently, these creatures' scales are hugely resistant from anything between copper and weak quality steel! They can go very long periods without food and possess an intelligence of a dog. Their teeth can rip apart flesh, and their size is larger than a cave alligator. The only catch - it's expensive. Even so I ask politely for them to bring some next caravan.

The biggest excitement for the military, however, was regarding 'zingers'. Apparently, cave blobs underground are harvested in cage traps, tested by the Alchemist's Guild, and flung at the enemy. These creatures are still experimental in military use, however, as they can result in great, friendly fire accidents. They are cheap as a result, and the merchants say we would be doing them a favor to use these creatures. I order none, nonetheless. Such tricks are risky.

Last of all, the merchants explain to me the happenings of the world. I had been rather out of the loop with my imprisonment, then being sent here. He brings out a labeled map - labeled with the common geographic names instead of the traditional (which dies slow deaths in dwarves society). They put it out:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Central Marches are honey combed by the tunnels of our civilization, the Rooms of Obeying.
The Eastern Pass is sparsely populated. I used to command a single mountainside tower that would occasionally host passing armies.
The Southern Riverlands is populated by Nephilim, Humans and Goblins. The southerners wage bloody war over it, controlling this river and that.
The Central Riverlands is a savage wilderness inhabited by elves and Nephilim. It used to be populated by bog trolls, but they were wiped out in the campaigns mounted by Stegeth, the vampire general I had served under.
The Northern top mountains are home to dwarves of a different culture. We have little contact with them.
Last and least is the Western Riverlands are primarily the elves. Caravans often come this way, same as the Eastern pass. The top half of the region has vegetation for the elves who live here, but the lower half's trees are long replaced by sand and the moors situated ourselves in.

In gratitude for the merchants' friendliness, I trade some crafts Tesum had made for stocks of dry fish and some cloth for a profit for them. I was hoping there would be perhaps a cat to get rid of our vermin problem, but luck was not with us this time. They did sell us a saber tooth tiger.

Speaking of cats, a traveling caravan of meowkin stopped by. They had heard rumors of dwarves military movements here and was hoping to find customers. They carried no cats, sadly, save themselves, and they ignored the roaches crawling about. The only vermin they killed were a pair of kobolds by the gates.

They offered bronze scratching posts, and assorted cat toys. (Perhaps if i arrange them in strategic wilderness areas, I can catch some cats?) I trade some barrels of alcohol with them, paid with some nice knives looted off a few kobolds that tried to sneak in earlier. Something of real importance caught my eye - an 'imported mechanical box' or something, they call it, though it would make more sense for them to say 'exported'. I had hoped to inspect it, but they refuse to let me unpack it without paying, and it costs some 2500. Probably more toy parts anyway, a squeaky mouse that'd make their own kind purr, but ours a little uncomfortable being around one who owned something like that.

Their leader also asked me what they should bring next year. He tells me their travels allows them to sell lots of exotic creatures. Sadly, the creatures were all just furry mammals, small exotic pets, and large insects. Not a single predator was found. I tell him we have no market for adorable mammals here, although we will buy alcohol. That satisfied him.

18th Timber

The marksman's cannon beetle raced from the cavern entrance today with an injured leg, surprising all of us in the commons  room, and going completely bollocks. It even nipped at my clothes and tried to drag me off! It appears it wants us to follow it. I send the guards to follow it, since the merchant caravan was sufficiently guarded itself, and the portcullis was closed. I assemble the first squad to move down to investigate, to discover a grisly scene - the marksman had been dragged off by a cavern megalania! The ferocity of the creature was well founded, and it would surely have killed him if it wasn't for the heroic cannon beetle, diving in and gripping onto the megalania's head, ripping and tearing. I had someone drag him back into the fortress for treatment, while the beast's body is to be butchered.



I butchered the beast myself, and autopsy of sorts. It's scales resists my blade finely, and I had to work very carefully to get it cut.  The teeth are sharp, and the claws hooked. This is a dangerous creature indeed… After butchering the beast, I diagnosed my guardsman.

My diagnosis on Erib is grim. Erib's condition is bad. He has an infection from the megalania's dirty bite, and a limb is gone. His mood is low as well, as without an arm his ability to load and shoot a crossbow may be hampered.




19th Timber



The last bit of wall is close to completion, though flying creatures may still assail us. For now, this will have to do.

1st Moonstone
The days grow shorter and the nights colder. Winter has come.

22nd Moonstone
We lack the pumps to create a proper well back in the fortress, so we must be creative. Simon digs into a pillar near the lake so as we may harvest the water for our injured. In future, I am hoping for a aqueduct.

23rd Moonstone
The cold winds are rising, bringing with it a cloud of shimmering sand. The merchants all took their leave. The dwarven captain gives me one last glower, threatening me that by the end of the year, there will be a raven from the mountainhome.

The crossbow guard's leg has healed. A crutch has been made for him, and he will be able to move about. He's luckier than he thinks - surviving both a megalania and an infection.

6th Opal



The curtain wall is being worked on. It should be finished by the end of the year. When inspecting it, a bark scorpion scuttered indifferently across my boot. I hope the next migrants bring some cats.

Another cloud of shimmering sand drifts nearby.

23rd Opal

There was a mutilated peregrine falcon's corpse found in the butcher block… Apparently, a cannon beetle had shot it, killed it, eaten half of it, and then dragged it near the butcher's shops… Clever girl.

29th Opal

The puppies running to and fro is annoying me, and they don't help a bit with the vermin situation. I order them all confined to the seed store room, for lack of a better space.

5th Obsidian

A flock of keas flew through the unfinished wall, screeched about and left. Only after they left did I realize they stole a bronze mail shirt! How did they even manage to carry that...

15th Obsidian

The year has passed by unexpectedly well. The creatures had not attacked us, and we were able to finish the curtain wall in peace. In future, they will need to be made higher to prevent the storms from blinding the archers. However, today Simon quietly tells me that a bird has arrived from the mountainhome - I am accused of being involved in Bomrek's demise. I am to board the next allied caravan to the mountainhomes so as I may surrender myself for trial. I know that will be my doom. A scapegoat is always needed. However, this scapegoat has friends, it seems, and Simon proposes a plan for me.

Simon has dug for me a small room in the caverns, and made me a fake beard to wear out of some llama hair he yanked off a stray. I am touched. All the dwarves will now know me by a false name - Pan, a medical worker. Uzol has officially fled the fortress.

Simon will take control of the fortress for now as the overseer. With the threats about, however, I hope my presence here in future will help.

____________________________________________________________________________________

So, there's an exciting playthrough. Sorry it took so fucking long... my next turn will be as fast as I can, I promise. Just that I kept reloading the save, hoping for a shedim attack that never came

Some advice for the next player - shimmering sand storms are annoying. And get some vermin hunters. The area is crawling, literally, with them.
Also, build some temples and shrines to explore that part of the LFR tech tree.
I've ordered orihalcum for next year's caravan. Then you can get it started.
Ignore the staircases at the corners - I used them to breach the caverns at first - see what' I'm dealing with.
Save often!
Use plenty screenshots!

Anyway, how do I upload the save, and where? I figure it's a file upload website, where I upload the save? If so, please tell me which link is best. I don't do this a lot.

[simonthedwarf]

Impressive work Pan. I hope to be as inspiring. Let us all hope that the next overseer will be as cautious and full of foresight as our previous one.

http://www.gamefront.com/

Upload link in upper right corner, No registry needed, and I assume you know how to upload a save. If not just zip and upload the entire DF folder with the fort and the graphic mod and everything. Shouldn't be that much anyway.

[Pan]

Impressive work Pan. I hope to be as inspiring. Let us all hope that the next overseer will be as cautious and full of foresight as our previous one.

And less long winded as well... I sure took long enough with this one =\

Anyway, here it is.

http://www.gamefront.com/files/22014364/Succession+Game+Save.zip

Since I'm in a country with internet censorship, I needed to use a proxy to get to Gamefront. I hope there won't be any trouble that comes with that.

[simonthedwarf]

You set a huge precedent for effort, Pan. The following overseers cant just slob it out when they have your initial work to look back on

Time to explore Akil Bukog!

[simonthedwarf]

Some technical updates first:

- 'IronTomato' dwarfed as our weapon prodigy.
- 'Remuthra' dwarfed as a guardsman.
- 'Danielthedwarf' dwarfed as a woodcutter.
- 'DenisMorin' dwarfed as a mason.

[simonthedwarf]

<Placeholder>

[simonthedwarf]

<Placeholder>

[Hugo_The_Dwarf]

PTW, hope to read this all later. ATM power reading is impossible.

[simonthedwarf]

NOTES OF THE OVERSEER SIMON

18th of Obsidian 201

It is with great joy that I Simon Vűshnďr have been chosen to oversee Akil Bukog, in the common tongue known as "Point of choking". Exactly who is getting choked and at what point it begins remains a mystery. My first task has been to familiarize myself with our situation. The previous overseer Pan has nowe settled happily into his new role as a broker and a doctor. That leaves him still as one of the fort's most important dwarves, something I am convinced he smugly appreciates behind his constant idle chattering about arcane concepts such as personal hygiene and corporative trade.

Reading his notes on the situation, his mind seems to be more preoccupied with mundane matters such as vermin and lack of cats. What a wholesomely undwarvenly focus he lent to his job as a overseer. Whether there is a cat or a cockroach in the beard of Urist is completely uninteresting to me. There is work to be done.

My first order of business is to insert a dwarf into the position of bookkeeper. Keeping tally of our development other than counting the fact that we had zero cats and lots of vermin was obviously beyond of the abilities of Pan.

For this job I have chosen Tesum Ustutnum. He has a sharp intellect but no creativity whatsoever, a combination well suited for the job. Creative bookkeeping is not something I am looking for. It is clear that he enjoys repetetive and endless tasks, because he has happily been making rock mugs as long as Pan was in charge.

The rock mugs themselves are mostly of such poor worksmanship that they are better used for kitten litters or throwing weapons. Pan even had him waste precious marble on this fool project. I have for now halted this mugjob and ordered the rock craft room to be expanded by a short corridor into a room where Tesum can count crates for all eternity.

Other than his obsessions, I have to give Pan credit for his work. Our settlement is defensible. I have yet to locate the lever that controls the bridge which seems pretty important to me to locate.

19th of Obsidian

I have located the lever and ordered someone to test that the bridge mechanism actually works. In the meantime we are plagued by Keas who are drawn to our items and are stealing them. Our spear and sworddwarves will just be tied up from their civilian duties. To my great surprise Pan has not assigned a crossbow to our marksdwarf squad consisting of one (1) dwarf. In fact he has assigned no equipment whatsoever to Erib. I am not surprised that this fool dwarf got himself badly injured. I have made a plan to fill this missing card in our deck. Pan is slobberingd down ale in the hospital. I need to put him to actual work so I have ordered a splint and a crutch to be made so we can attempt to revive our only marksdwarf.

20th of Obsidian

That idiot Tesum refuses to stop making mugs. I dont know what to do. A new Nephilim caravan has arrived. I suppose I can get rid of the mugs at least. I know now what has delayed all my orders around here. More than half the population seems to be carrying rocks like neanderthals. Some kind of mass dumping operation was ordered by Pan I have made sure that this operation now is at an end so we can focus on a bit more evolved operations.


22th of Obsidian
Someone pulled the lever just as the last Nephilim passed over the bridge. It must have looked like a smooth operation, when in fact we were seconds away from killing off two of the trader kin.
I have ordered the building of a outdoor smithshop so I can make a crossbow and some bolts for the dwarf which will be posted to ward off the thieving birds.

28th of Obsidian

I have traded away all the rock mugs. In return we received metal bars, a leopard and a cow. My eyes also fell on a humble steel quarterstaff that the religious Nephilim brought with them. It seems the type of prestigious yet humble weapon a dwarf like myself should be carrying. Pan was furthermore able to trick them into parting with 4 steel anvils, going into great lengths how unpractical they are to carry for the caravan.

29th of Obsidian

I have taken myself off mining duty. Menial labour like that is not suited for a thinking dwarf like myself.  I have also set up a temporary smelter so we can melt down these anvils, which seems the best idea. I have also given orders for the completion of the upper wall. Erib Inguishunok who was injured earlier is starting to show signs of recovery in his leg. With the completion of the crossbow we need to have him back on duty, leg or arm or not. I have told the lazy Bomrek Ethablibash which has no competance whatsoever in medicine or mechanical endavours to make a small hospital. Everything is so messy and disorganized around here! I walk these corridors and hardly know whats going on in half of them.

30th of Obsidian

I have decided to make Tesum the work manager. I don't even know where the carpenters shop is located, so it's better to just rely it to to the unimaginative Tesum who does whatever he is told.

9th of Granite

Another one of these storms. Pan never made much fuzz about them, so I'm largely ignoring the event.
I have also moved a bed into the office of Tesum so he doesn't have to move around so much. Tesum and Pan now share a office.

10th of Granite
Nobody has melted down the anvils yet. I am forced to do it myself. I also opened a tall cabinet and was nearly buried in a hidden cache of rock mugs. It's perverse how many of these we have and I am starting to develop a strong hatred of them. The last batch (hopefully) has been traded for medical supplies like splints before the Nephilim left.

11th of Granite
Erib is up and about! He will be happy to be assigned a crossbow. I have made modifications to the crutch so that it can have the crossbow attached. Erib will simply just have to stand on one leg when he shoots with it. I don't see a problem.

12th of Granite
A KEA HAS STOLEN MY QUARTERSTAFF WHILE ERIB WAS SLEEPING! The mutts I call my workerdwarves had not carried it inside. I will need to add more guardsmen. If my personal luxuries are not safe in Akul Bukog, neither is rest of the fort. This obviously calls for ballistaes: I have conjured a most intelligent of plans. The least useful immigrants will be fed to the shimmering sand until they are permanently blind so they won't fear charging enemies. The idea right now is to add four of them.

[Remuthra]

Some technical updates first:

- 'IronTomato' dwarfed as our weapon prodigy.
- 'Remuthra' dwarfed as a guardsman.
- 'Danielthedwarf' dwarfed as a woodcutter.
- 'DenisMorin' dwarfed as a mason.

Okay nice. Which guardsman was I?

[Pan]

Damn keas and vermin...

Meh, I needed to assign every able bodied dwarf to setting up defenses or trading stuff. The amount of rocks in the fortress counted can wait. 

As to your brilliant plan, shimmering sand blindness does not last very long. It sucks if you have archers on the rampants, and it blows over here and blinds them in the middle of a siege. Any nearby melee enemies they blind, however, will keep pathing into the fortress. Be careful, they spawn at the edge of a biome... and our fortress is right next to the edge of the rocky wasteland biome...  Sometimes storms spawn right next to us and blow over us. I suggest making the trade depot sheltered as soon as possible (remember to make it big enough for the wagons)

I dug out a nice workshop area, with ramps up to a general stockpile (that can be enlarged). Was gonna move all workshops there, but I forgot and only moved the masonry ones there. Try to destroy the other workshops and crap and move them all down there.

As for the dining room, the second level was going to be a series of balconies where drinks and tables and stuff will be put. Never got around to digging it out, since miners were always busy. Think the designnations is still there if you think it's a good idea.

[Pan]

Not to rush or anything. Just wondering how this is going

[Remuthra]

Indeed. Where is everyone?