Hey all! You might remember me from my last fortress entitled Noni (Lost), but I mispalced the region file >.> So Lost is, rather orinically, lost. So, after ages of procrastination, work, and unpleasantness, I present to you for yoru enjoyment a community fortress already in progress.
Also note: I tend to write "in character" with my chosen avatar. In this case, Annie, who is very organized
Here's the procedure. I'll list the survivors available and their profession. You pick one available, and I'll try to keep the list updated. Feel free to change the profession or request a change pertaining to your character.
I will be keeping the first post updated with entries in the journal, as well as adding them as I go along so the thread is bumped appropriately.
As an added bonus, when I'm utterly bored of this one, I'll give the fort over to someone else, and it'll become a succession game. (I'll announce when I'm ready to give it up ^^) but I'll try to keep the first post updated as best I can. If I DO vanish again for whatever reason, apologies in advance
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Umcos Lico The Home of WanderersCurrent Available Survivors
Migrant F 1 - Wood Burner
Migrant F 2 - Wood Cutter (with Carpentry & Bowyer)
Migrant F 3 - Carpenter
Migrant F 4 - Animal Trainer
Migrant F 5 - Recruit (Planned marksman)
Migrant M 1 - Marksman (Warning: Responsible for catsplosion)
Baby M 1 (Anne)
Baby M 2 (Anne)
Baby M 3 (Susan)
Baby M 4 (Anne)
Baby F 1 (Susan)
Baby F 2 (Susan)
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Entry 1
As per my instructions, I will be keeping a log of my time as the (rather unqualified) leader of the expedition, The Ghost of Wanderers, so named because we managed to arrive at our destination with little to no trouble from the infected. My name is Anne, I was born in the Confederation of Nets, a small cluster of towns which, I'm told, was once far more impressive than it is now. Before the zombies came, I mean...
Anyway, we were told that we were the prime choices to send on such a 'brave expedition' but I don't see how. The seven of us, Lucile, Jenny, Karren, Gerald, Harry, Susan, and I, have no skills to speak of, and I can't help but think they sent us away so that our already stretched food supplies would be granted a bit of a reprieve. Several such bands have ventured out before, but none that travel this far survive... We're going to die out here, but I'd rather die of freezing to death than being ripped apart by a zombie I guess.
A little more information on our current location, and likely our graves: We are in the northeastern corner of the world, where a frozen wind perpetually blows from the northeast, and I can't imagine the snow ever melting. We brought with us some supplies; seeds, some horse meat, and of course what we could catch from ponds on the way here. Turtles that were napping on the shores almost entirely actually. The ponds here are frozen, the trees towering conifers, and to the east a vast expanse of nothing opens up. We're on the very edge of habitable existence, if not beyond it. There are doubts among us whether or not the crops we plant can even grow here, but if they don't we have three horses and a donkey, and even a little meat can stave off starvation. The only drink we have that won't freeze here is a single barrel, more than half empty, of vodka. We did manage to bring a shovel and hatchet, thankfully, or we would have been truely doomed.
Our food stores are sufficient to last us awhile, if eaten sparingly, but we need to at least try planting something. None of us have any experience though...
Jenny volunteered when I brought it up, but we all doubted that we could make anything grow in the snow. We'd have to dig down into the frozen ground to break the wind and give them a chance at taking root. No one was keen for this job, so we drew straws (twigs actually) and Harry got landed with it. He didn't seem too upset at least. Unfortunately, snow would just pile in, so we'll need to roof it over, but to do that we need wood, which is a job Gerald volunteered for.
That should take care of the basic necessities of food, but for water we'll have to dig down and hope of being able to build a well. A well... That means we need to be able to excavate stone, and work with it. Everyone grumbled when I brought that up, but no one particularly liked the idea of drinking from a cistern with their hands... So, we have to ope that harry will be able to reach stone somewhere, and hope to goodness that the shovel is up to it. As for the masonry, I guess I'm as good a choice as any. As for Lucile and Susan... Lucile volunteered to do the dirty work if we do have to eat the horses, and Susan is good with her fingers. The two of them won't be doing much until we're settled in I guess. Or dieing. Whatever, they'll have work to do later. For now, we need to get some shelter dug out and some trees cut or we'll freeze to death.
Entry 2
Well, some time has passed. I can't honestly tell how much, I kinda lose track of day and night; the moon illuminates this world of white as the sun did the world of green we left. And when the sun shines down we're all nearly blind. Thank goodness for the forest sheltering us from most of it. And the cruel winds too, though it's still very cold. The strawberries we planted took root, and are sprouting, which I find amazing. Melting snow drips down through the wooden roof, watering them, though the cold will probably stunt their growth. I can feel it warming up a little so we've had to have been here a little while at least. Spring is just getting underway, I think.
As for us, we've had to curl up on the dirt in the hole that Harry dug, which was only partially roofed, when we finally couldn't work anymore. Thankfully we've got beds made now, so that's sure to be more pleasant. It's warmer inside, at least. As for the infected... We spotted some roamers moing thorugh the forest earlier but they seem to have gone. Just scouts I'm sure... If the Horde comes upon us, we're done for. Speaking of impending doom, we were all terribly thirsty by the time the roof was finished on the plant shelter, so we swallowed our pride, managed to scrape down deep enough to find the aquifer, and drank. Qutie eagerly. It tasted sorta like mud and minerals, but the water was warm enough to be liquid, which was heaven all by itself. Still, to someone with a dry throat even muddy water is a lifesaver, but none of us particularly want to repeat it if possible. We have a rope from tieing everything together on the wagon (which we still use for a meeting place), so all we need are some stone blocks and a bucket. Gerald can make the bucket but for stone... Well our life-saving aquifer is likely to cover this entire area, since the terrain is perfectly flat. I told Harry to start digging out a quarry away from our camp but close enough to make lugging the stone not TOO terrible of a chore. Oh and on another note, I updated our records and took inventory... It's gloomy but not grim. We have a clean source of water, enough food left for two more months I think, and we won't freeze to death as long as we don't go streaking. We even saw some deer and things like that in the forest, and our cats never seem to go hungry. If we get desperate, there's food everywhere. Just not of the sort any of us would eat if there was another choice.
Anyway, our next big projects, importance noted by *:
***- Dig Quarry
**** Top off food stores from bushes and berries near camp.
**-- Construct Food Storage area. (outside near the center of camp is working for now, due to cold air)
*--- Design Camp Layout
*--- Build Housing
**** Attempt to make area defensible from Zombies.
Notes: Harry is getting rather good at digging considering he hasn't had much practice, and that he's using a soft metal shovel... Will discuss subject of digging shelters into ground instead of building up walled buildings for now. Less conspicuous, and requires less of our limited resources.
Entry 3
Summer has come and gone, and now we stand in autumn still alive, and moderately jovial. Zombies have yet to notice our encampment. The quarry has reached the aquifer, however it's so cold the water freezes within an hour or two, allowing us to continue work. We'll have to wall off the ice in the offchance that it melts, but we're making progress. Our food stores are sufficient, due partially to our strawberry crop coming in, and also because a few raccoons wandered into camp. The dogs killed them, and we butchered the remains, even tanning their little hides. We managed to cook up a good amount of food from them and some of our horse meats.
However by far the most interesting occurance was the fact that a liason and a TRADING CARAVAN dropped by. Not unthinkable I suppose since there's a bussiness-man tower within reaosnable distance of here and I guess they dropped by. We'll barter and see if we can beg some supplies we can use, or need. I feel the zombies won't ignore us forever though, so I'm in a hurry to get this camp fortified. I've even lain out a basic design! The others think it's OK, and I hope it will be. Anyway, gotta go pretend to appreciate the bastards' visit.
Entry 4
Penetrated the first layer of the aquifer, and I'm getting increasingly nervous; It's taking far too long... I don't know if we'll have enough time to wall in the peremeter before trouble strikes. In an emergency we can block ourselves into our food shelter I guess, but somehow I don't think that would end well.. Anyway, traded for some more meat when the caravan was still here. It was nice to hear someone elses voice though. Harry dug out another area in the gorund and we've begun roofing it, it's nearly adjacent to the planting area, and we think we're going to grow non-edible crops there, like cotton. Lucile practiced catching some lizards, rats, that kind of thing in hand-made wooden traps. I think someone ate the lizard and one rat. We still have some rations, biscuits, that kind of thing. Enough to last us awhile, but I guess some people just like their red meat. Can't blame them either. Some of us are lucky and haven't had too terribly much hard work yet, but harry and gerald? Goodnes.
Projects still to do:
**** Wall in camp
**-- Build housing
**** Finish Quarry
*--- Designate place for workshops
***- Build well.
**-- Build indoor storage area.
Note: We've come across compacted garbage here and there, especially on the second layer of the aquifer in our quarry. It seems to be mostly cleaned and compresed, and doesn't permit water but... Well let's just say there's still a smell and a bit of a stigma to it. It's generally unpleasant. Still, it can't be helped. Additionally, it's unexpected that the water will ever melt once exposed to air, so the valuable stone will be reserved for defensive purposes instead.
Entry 5
We have pierced the aquifer today and our quarry has begun producing stone! I'm celebrating by smoothing stone into blocks as best I can, and I'll be seting the guideposts for the wall today out of blocks from a very light-colored stone today.
Hopefully the white walls will help us blend in to the snow. Some time last week, Gerald and I were married. One thing lead to another and things got interesting! Regardless, we still have far too much work to do to celebrate the event with anything more than a bit of private time in the barracks while everyone else was out working. Only a little.
The well was built today, FINALLY, with Harry's help; he made the lever and such to bring up the bucket. Housing is becoming an issue as well, since Harry married Susan some time after work on the wall. All in all things are shaping up, and we even have a small bit of fresh meat thanks to a few more raccoon kills. Our livestock is starting to boom too, so we should have self-sustainable meat in the forseeable future.
Entry 6
Our luck has completely and utterly run out... The infected are here! The minute we heard their groans Gerald and I tried to slap together whatever portion of the walls we could, but they were already in viewing distance before we could secure the border. The encircling ditch isn't nearly done either, what had been completed is on the opposite end of camp as the roving band. The wood we stored in the shelters for barricading the entrances was used up... We were in such a hurry to put the wall together we didn't care where the wood was coming from... Our only hope is the quarry. We're going to grab what food we can and block the ramps down. Maybe we can hold out.
*~*~*~*
We made it to the quarry with our meager supply of food. We have no access to water, but Harry's going to dig us a few cisterns near the barricades. We can hear them wrecking camp... All that hard work... sigh... Still, we're alive, and beds can be remade, workshops rebuilt... I don't think the structural integrity of the camp is at too much risk; not when we're so convenient targets. As for our barricades, it's a thick wall of rough stone piled together until it won't move. Hopefully it'll be enough to keep them away. As for food, we'll have to hope we can outlast them, and their hunger will lead them elsewhere. We have livestock still, of course. We managed to guide them down, though we're missing the female cat and kitten, it's an acceptable loss even though we were all fond of them. We still have one fully grown mouser and several kittens, puppies, dogs, and horses. We might have to thin our reserves but we'll make it I think.
...Now that the adrenaline is gone, we have time to just sit in fear. The only thing we could do now would be to keep digging down into the quarry, but that would make rest even more difficult than the moans, and shuffing figures along the edges. We don't even have beds, so we have to find the softest scrap of rock to curl up on. But I asay again, at least we're alive. For what it's worth. I... I'm passing the time by smoothing all the rock walls of the quarry. Everyone else is keeping busy by moving the rck closer to the ramps... More convenient when life gets back to normal... And makes it easier to lay down... They're still up there... I wish they'd leave...
Entry 7
The zombies left. Just now got a spare moment, because while the zombies left, we lost all our food to thieving vermin. Raccoons stole every bit of food we had while we were busy assessing and trying to rebuild some of the damage. It's autumn and we can't plant a new crop until spring... We'll have to kill some of our livestock. Well, at least they've been breeding like rabbits. We should have plenty to get us through the winter. Mmm, and cooked meat does sound good. We're focusing almost entirely on the fortifications at the moment though, since to do otherwise would be inviting another too-long stay in the quarry, provided we can make it next time. The perimeter ditch has been dug, but we're still vulnerable via our east and west gate. The east gate can be barricaded but the western gate is our path to the quarry. We can seal both of course but work will grind to a halt if the quarry is sealed. Still, I don't think anyone would mind some quiet time. Gerald's been having a rough time; having to cobble together all kinds of things we need. Beds, that sort of thing...
Projects Until Next Entry:
**** Resupply Food
**-- Secure Food Storage
*--- Dining House
**-- Housing
**** Secure Camp Peremiter
Addendum: Had to barricade the western entrance, the eastern is above ground level and thus safe. The howls and moans of the dead approach not a moment before we finish laying three trees worth of logs between the stone guardposts. My workshop and the mechanics (harry's) are outside, and will undoubtedly be destroyed, but that's OK, we knew better than to make them out of anything valuable when we couldn't move them in. Also the peremeter is secure, and food's been supplied. Next entry will be written from the comfort of my own home!
Entry 8
Finally found this worn out old journal under some old leather. I've been looking for it forever! Where do I even start?! It's been over a year, quite possibly two, I still can't keep very good track of the time, but boy it flies!
We'll start with the good news:
Firstly, we're almost entirely self sufficient! We need an anvil before we're truely good to go, because we can't produce our own weapons or ammunition beyond an air rifle made out of wood and bones.
Secondly, our population has gone up to 19! Six immigrants, arriving in waves of three, stumbled upon our outpost. They won't talk about themselves much and we don't even have their names, and the other 6 are children, born right here! Two girls, four boys, spread between myself and Susan. I'm blessed with three of the boys, and susan one boy and two girls.
Thirdly, we have a means of defending ourselves! One of the unnamed men, not talking much, took up an air rifle that we had made in emergencies, and began practicing. We made ammunition for him too, and as soon as we make a second, one of the others wants to practice with one as well.
Fourthly, the houses are finished! We would have had plenty with the initial seven but the unexpected arrivals have us building upward. And speaking of building, I'm using obsidian now. We ran out of the light-colored stone but that's OK. I love the way it shines. My only complaint is how devoid our world is of color, black, white, and a little green and browns of dirt.
Lastly, The perimeter is entirely secure, complete with a retractable bridge, stone ramp leading up to us, and we've managed to wall in the path to the quarry with a wooden barricade. I would have replaced it with stone, but...
Now for the bad news:
First, a horde of zombies followed the last trading caravan. They managed to hide, but the liason back was trapped in with us. He went stir-crazy, and stopped eating after not even half a season. I guess that says something about us... We buried him in a section of the quarry we designated the graveyard. It's between two cisterns... I think it looks really nice.
Second, there have been scant few weeks in between moaning droves of the undead, and while we're completely sectioned off (they don't even come near us most of the time, I think the white walls work), we can't go out for wood for fires, or beds, or smelting some plastic we salvaged from the garbage. Thankfully we recieved a brief reprieve when the second wave of immigrants (or refugees?) came. Cut down all the trees that had grown around our outpost, and we have a decent buffer going. Our dining area is woefully unstarted save for a hole in the ground where we keep our food. The snow acts as a refridgerator and keeps it from rotting.
All in all I think we're doing well, and as for our livestock? We might have to kill a good many sheerl ybecause of overpopulation! Our marksman, the one with the bone rifle I mentioned earlier, has adopted several of the cats, two females and one male, and a kitten. .. We've had to pilfer kittens and.. put them down... before he could get attatched to them. It's not because we don't mind the little furballs running around, it's just they tend to get in the way in very stubborn ways. That, and he shares his food with them. That might have flown before the Infection, but sadly not anymore. The horses though,... Gods we could eat like kings for years.
Current Projects:
**** Complete second story housing
**** Smooth enough stone blocks to bring the house up to completion.
*--- Build animal pens.
**-- Mine out another layer of Quarry
***- Obtain anvil at earliest possibility.
***- Complete workshop area
**** Build dining area.
**** Build kitchen.
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Most recent map (Entry 8 ):
Here!
Author
Topic: Umcos Lico (40d Zombie Mod) (Read 1030 times)