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[Hokan]

PROJECT FLOOD

Experiment Conductor: Urist Eldenberyl


Investigative Question - Can water be harnessed to flood the entirety of the exterior of a dwarven fortress, thus making it all but immune to ground attackers?


Hypothesis - If the allotted area is flooded then it will result in a significant drop in the flow of time due to the requirement of Armok to govern and process more than he is capable of in ease, comparatively to the standard speed of his going-ons.


Journal/Log:
Day 1: Embarked on a standard-sized piece of territory. An aquifer lay below the grounds to allow us to tap into it's water for the project. Six others came to help; I hope to remedy the shortage of manpower soon.
Day 2: Set up the basic farms needed for sustenance. Nothing noteworthy.
Day 3: Began the construction of the water tunnel, one Urist wide at the moment. Will expand tomorrow
Day 4: Brought the tunnel to two Urists in measurement. The arrangement, when completed, is as below:
========================================
    |             |
---V---------V-------------------------------------------
|                               -->                                           |
|                               -->                                           |
---^---------^-------------------------------------------
    |              |
========================================
                                                     
                                                      Key: -> indicates pump flow direction
                                                              = indicates aquifer breach
                                                              Lines indicate walls

There is an opening to the surface at the right end of the tunnel. Windmills will power pumps that bring that water to the surface.
Day 5: The amount of pumps required will be much more than that given in the diagram. I am doubling the amount of machinery. Wooden axles now crisscrosses the fortress to transfer power to the pump systems. We drink and dine in harmony with the rotating logs.
Day 6: Pumps have finally started. Water is being distributed at a depth of only one Urist at the moment; that is to be expected until the project has reached its height. Now all there is to do is wait this out.
Day 12: The world has been brought to a standstill. Fit, verile dwarves are reduced to ambling hulks. As I write these words in a sluggish manner, the very fabric of the dimension seems to slow. The cause may be Project Flood, but I am not willing to turn this around after so much effort has been given to the experiment. I gambled on the slowing of Armok's work, but never to such an extent.
(Bloody and ripped pages are incomprehensible, but from a few ordained words, the writing is completely inane when compared to the calm, concerted efforts of the previous scripture)
Day 21: Everyone has been driven mad by the incredible slowing of events. I lay here the only survivor of failed research. If the entire world suffers from this, surely it will have ended by now.
Day 22: It is obvious that the cause of the disaster is the pumps. I have got to dismantle the system before Armok takes it upon himself to smite the source of his agony. The dangerous flow of water will likely carry me away while removing the devices, but it is the only course of action I may take. I may die from this, but it is the only way to preserve the life on this land. May the gods bless my passing.
Day 23: I have managed to make it out alive, but only barely. In order to keep from drowning, I sealed myself in the stone coffin chamber, where the water will not flood. I cannot, however, leave by door as a watery death lies on the other side. I hope rescue will come in a few days, as sleeping with the dead is never a good cause to be involved in. I would like to finish my experment papers so that upon my rescue I will face a heroic return and have plenty of time to drink with friends. My wife must be waiting in my home, waiting for her lover's return.



Conclusion:

The experiment should not be attempted to be replicated in any way, shape or form. The disasterous outcome will be recreated for the suffering of other unless Armok feels particularly capable of himself to handle such arduous tasks. In theory, this project may work. If the pumped water were to stabilize on the surface, Armok would not have register the movement of the disgusting liquid and would lay in rest. The time-warping effects of this will, however, make this nearly impossible. As a simpler way to replicate the results may be to dig out the land above until the parts desired to be filled with water are coinciding with the aquifer. Such will reduce water flow and require much less effort, but much more mining. I believe this safe, but it will require further testing.



Day 45: The people are very silent. No matter how much I try to coax the sleepers out they will not leave their hard beds. I even invite them to a soft mat of straw I gathered from the ground. They are as stolid as myself before I decided to make friends. I apologize to my friends that I have eaten, for their bodies looked so plump and delicious while mine so weak and thin. I'm sure they will agree when Armok sees the blood still warm from my veins drip out onto the ground. These are artistic patterns are like the career I wanted as a little boy, but my father had deterred me from it. I hope I will make him proud, I even see him daily. Strange, I think I remember seeing him last year before others sealed him into a coffin when he started to sleep and never woke up again. He seems to be beckoning to me, to come to him, but I cannot seem to reach him, not yet... not yet... not yet.... maybe some day I may join him, but for now I do what I always wanted to do. I have never been happier in my life.

[They Got Leader]

Nicely done.

[Hokan]

By the way, if you were unable to figure out, this was actually a dwarven science project I decided to turn into a story. Never try to flood the world with pumps, it will take WAY too long. A better solution would be to dig the world down onto the layer with the water on it.

[Namfuak]

I've flooded the world before.  It was one of my first forts.  I wanted to create a huge river to use for what have you (I guess I was just experimenting, it being my fourth fort or something like that).  Anyway, I pierced an aquifer which started draining 3 z-levels down a huge waterfall (that was what I wanted for, a waterfall before my dining hall).  I didn't know that much about pressure, so I noticed it was rising, and figured that if I drained it it would be OK.  It all went down the mountain and flooded the valley below.  By flooded, I actually mean that the valley turned into a 1-3 /7 water lake.  It got really slow at that point, so I abandoned.  I have no idea if it would have stopped invaders.

Also, not knowing how flow worked, I flooded the mayor's room I wanted to create a separate waterfall for.

[Hokan]

I've flooded the world before.  It was one of my first forts.  I wanted to create a huge river to use for what have you (I guess I was just experimenting, it being my fourth fort or something like that).  Anyway, I pierced an aquifer which started draining 3 z-levels down a huge waterfall (that was what I wanted for, a waterfall before my dining hall).  I didn't know that much about pressure, so I noticed it was rising, and figured that if I drained it it would be OK.  It all went down the mountain and flooded the valley below.  By flooded, I actually mean that the valley turned into a 1-3 /7 water lake.  It got really slow at that point, so I abandoned.  I have no idea if it would have stopped invaders.

Also, not knowing how flow worked, I flooded the mayor's room I wanted to create a separate waterfall for.

Ah, but that works on a different mechanic, of pressure rather than pumping. I should try that method, but for the most part, we both suffered FPS death and left it because of that.

[Sphalerite]

Water won't stop invaders, because the map edges are open to water.  When water reached the edge of the map, it will flow off the map.  The only way to use this to stop invaders is to maintain enough flow that every map tile is being refilled with water as fast as it's flowing out.  Good luck with that.

In 40d the map edge wasn't open to magma, just to water, and magma wouldn't flow off the edge of the map.  It was possible in 40d to permanently cover the entire surface with magma.  This is no longer possible, in the current version the map edge is now open to both water and magma.

[Hokan]

Water won't stop invaders, because the map edges are open to water.  When water reached the edge of the map, it will flow off the map.  The only way to use this to stop invaders is to maintain enough flow that every map tile is being refilled with water as fast as it's flowing out.  Good luck with that.

In 40d the map edge wasn't open to magma, just to water, and magma wouldn't flow off the edge of the map.  It was possible in 40d to permanently cover the entire surface with magma.  This is no longer possible, in the current version the map edge is now open to both water and magma.

The experiment involved creating a wall around the entire embark to keep water in, leaving a 1 Urist wide chasm at the edges of the maps, which could have bridges to allow entrance for migrants and caravans. I did not clarify this, so I apologize.

[Johnfalcon99977]

You misspelt the tital, it is correctly spelled "DWARVEN !!SCIENCE!!"