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[Corai]

"Well, talking to the thrips didn't work out too well. They don't like secrets, they don't like hugs, and then they die. So...   hello Mr Syrup Barrel. I'm not expecting you to be the sort of friend who likes secrets or hugs either, but I can steal syrup out of you, so that's enough."

"..."

"My crossbows have been used in battle now, Mr Barrel! Isn't that exciting? Some of my bolts are stuck in a goblin!"

"..."

She glares at the barrel for a while, and then shrugs, and dips in a finger to steal another taste.

"I'm starting to see why the others just keep a journal. Barrels are no fun."

You can faintly hear Corai talking to a giant thrip, which isdesperately trying to escape.

[Fishybang]

Fishybangs Dairy entry two.

"All the dwarfs in this fortress are crazy! Just a little while ago a saw some insane dwarf talking to a syrup barrel!
Remind me not to eat any of the syrup roasts. The only dwarf whos not crazy is Corai. I dont see why people dont like him very much hes fun and shows me the Thrips that im not allowed to go near... BLARGH WHATS HAPPENING TO ME!!!

[Sphalerite]

Cilob's Journal

Our fortress is in morning now, the first dwarf having died in our fortress.  Etur Lorbuket, hammerdwarf, gave her life in defense of the fortress.

I had stationed our soldiers out by the trade depot, keeping an eye on the elves in case they tried anything suspicious.  Our military commander must have become bored with the elves' non-aggression.  She spotted some type of giant insect-monster off in the woods and charged off after it.  She and the other soldiers managed to kill it, but not before the commander suffered some minor injuries in the battle.

I shall have to have a talk with her about military discipline.  While she was being returned to the hospital for examination, a goblin thief snuck into the main hall.  The foul invader stabbed a fishery worker before fleeing, but was caught in the cage traps at the entrance.  No sooner had the trap been reloaded that a second goblin trying to sneak in was caught in the same trap.

Our military commander was sufficiently shamed by that to return to duty without even waiting for Cain to examine her injuries.  It's just as well, Doctor Cain will be busy stitching up the injuries on the civilian who was stabbed.  But after returning to patrol, the commander couldn't find Etur.

They went searching along the shoreline, and eventually found her mangled body far to the north.  The corpse was mangled, bearing deep tears and puncture wounds.  A burial place is being prepared in the magnetite lodes.

The real surprise came when the corpse of the giant louse monster over to the butcher.  Will_Tuna is positive that the creature our commander was responsible for Etur's death.  She must have wandered off alone and been ambushed by it.  Having tasted dwarf blood, the monster then attacked our commander, and even managed to injure her before being struck down.

I have instructed Phenix that getting the curtain wall finished has to be our top priority.  I will also demand the construction of steel armor for every member of our military, as only the commander has proper armor at the moment.

[Phenixmirage]

Phenix's Journal

Cilob reminded me again today that the curtain wall is top priority. Does he think I don't know that? Does he think that pestering me about it will build it faster?  I work for the day that this wall is finished so my talents can be put toward more creative endeavors.

The trainees I've been sent wouldn't know craftsmanship if it set their beards on fire, but at least they know which end of the hammer to hold. The extra hands should speed construction along nicely, providing no one is stupid enough to wall themselves in. ... I'd better check on them.

~ Phenix~

[Sphalerite]

Cilob's Journal

After a suggestion from of all people CoraiUnki, I have moved our one surviving tame giant thrips out in front of the fortress entrance, on a chain, placed such that anyone entering the fortress will have to pass by it.  Perhaps we can find out if it is any good at combat before it dies.

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We had a bit of mixed luck from the cage traps recently.  A flock of some kind of giant bird, sparrows by the look of it, landed out there, and several were caught in the traps.  I have been hoping to catch some of those.  If they breed like other birds, we should be able to breed them in captivity and properly domesticate them.  And even if they don't breed, the eggs would at least be a welcome food supply.

I'm told there was a bit of a difficulty retrieving the cages, as the remainder of the flock refused to leave their trapped brethren.

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I had to send the military out there to help finish them off.  You woudn't think a few birds would be so hard to kill.

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Of course, only later after managing to tame them, did I realize that we hadn't managed to catch any females.

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It's a step forward at least.

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There have been a few reminders lately that this is settling down to be a proper settlement.  We had our first child born in the fortress.

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Of course, it's part of that gigantic sprawling inbred family that's been forced on us, so I take this as a mixed good and bad news item.

At about the same time, our Broker informed me that the mayor had forbade the export of Earrings.

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My response, of course, was What mayor?  The immigrants decided to hold an election without telling me.

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Strangely, the fellow isn't a member of That Family, but one of the unrelated immigrants that arrived at the same time.

He'll need a better room than what he's got.  Have to keep up standards.  I should go see how Phenix is coming along with what she's already got to do.

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"Phenix.  What in the world is that?"

"That, Cilob, is the curtain wall you keep pestering me about."

"I can see that.  But why is it wavy?  The plans from the Queen showed a straight wall."

"The plans from the Queen were scrawled in charcoal on a crumpled napkin.  You handed them to me and told me to figure it out.  So I did."

"But why did you make it wavy?"

"Because we are on the ocean.  The waves in the wall evoke the waves in the ocean.  And it is practical.  After the lower level is done, we'll be putting archery nests at the protruding part of each wave.  Being set out from the wall will give the marksdwarves a wider field of fire than a flat wall would."

"Right.  How long till the basic wall is finished?"

"By the end of the year, provided you stop interrupting me."

[Jarod Cain]

Chief Medical Officer's Log, Brightwater, Cain
It appears that I have been lax in my assigned duties. No matter, with the final construction of the hospital things have been quite busy as of late. Repeated attacks by giant pests and goblins have fortunately kept people in harms way and me busy. It is a shame that my quarters cannot look out over or into the sea but I suppose some things are not worth asking about. I am concerned with the lack of genetic diversity in this place, hopefully we can have some purging menace come and rebalance things.

With the aid of Cilob our information regarding several of the local species has increased. This knowledge could be expanded, however my older plans for the extreme environment chambers would need to be adapted to work for this area before they could be submitted. Fortunately work with the goblins has proven fruitful and I can without doubt say that they have no souls. The reason for this, be it some freak genetic weakness on their part, or by means of a demonic pact has yet to be determinted.

As always, sublimely joyful I am me.
Cain
-------
OOC: Wow... I leave for the weekend and you make something like ten posts... :|
-J-

[Corai]

Chief Medical Officer's Log, Brightwater, Cain
It appears that I have been lax in my assigned duties. No matter, with the final construction of the hospital things have been quite busy as of late. Repeated attacks by giant pests and goblins have fortunately kept people in harms way and me busy. It is a shame that my quarters cannot look out over or into the sea but I suppose some things are not worth asking about. I am concerned with the lack of genetic diversity in this place, hopefully we can have some purging menace come and rebalance things.

With the aid of Cilob our information regarding several of the local species has increased. This knowledge could be expanded, however my older plans for the extreme environment chambers would need to be adapted to work for this area before they could be submitted. Fortunately work with the goblins has proven fruitful and I can without doubt say that they have no souls. The reason for this, be it some freak genetic weakness on their part, or by means of a demonic pact has yet to be determinted.

As always, sublimely joyful I am me.
Cain
-------
OOC: Wow... I leave for the weekend and you make something like ten posts... :|
-J-

While you were gone, Cain from Bleedtrials got owned with my dwarf. Cain also threw a tantrum that attracted zombies inside to maul us.

[Jarod Cain]

Yeah, just read that. About all I can say is that was awesome.
-J-

[Corai]

Yeah, just read that. About all I can say is that was awesome.
-J-

Wanna try again?



On-topic


I wanna see a under-water dome for the queen, she would like that.

[Sphalerite]

In the noise and bustle of the fortress, a child sneaks off on his own, to a workshop unused for current lack of bones to carve.

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He gathers a few pieces of materials from unwatched stockpiles.

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None of the adults pay attention.

Soon, his project is finished.

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It's very clever.  It even has a picture of itself on itself.


Cilob's Journal, 28th of Malachite

Yet another crowd of inbred relations of our General showed up on our doorstep today.

First, we have an older married couple, Tirist Zuntirlimar and Stukos Avuzzedot.

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Looking over my genealogy chart, I see that these two are grandparents of our jeweler Rachel through one child, and our bonecarver Geb through another.  They have also brought along two more of their own not yet grown children.

We also have one Kogan Delerled, who claims to be a Bowyer but also has a fair amount of experience with a sword.

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He fits into the great sprawling family tree, some cousin or something.

There are also four here who amazingly aren't part of the great sprawling family.

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It looks like Thikut has some military experience, and Zefon and Monom have some skill with swords.  I'll be putting them in the militia.

Finally, one more dwarf came with them, but she didn't join the others coming to the fortress.  She took a position off in the distance, at the edge of the perimeter construction, and stayed there.

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I went out to speak with her.  Quite an unfriendly person!  She refused to say what she was there for, but I managed to get from her that we wouldn't be getting any more immigrants until she was done observing the fortress.

This is intolerable.  It's bad enough that General Reg is sending her troops and relatives to my fortress.  Now she's sending observers who aren't even trying to disguise their reasons for being here.  It's only a matter of time before she tries to remove me from this place completely and put a puppet of her own in power.


I have had a few architecture requests.  Doctor Cain mentioned to me the other day that he'd like to someday have an office overlooking the ocean.  I told him that a luxury tower overlooking the ocean is in the Queen's plans, but it will have to wait until we finish building the curtain wall and making basic living quarters for everyone.  Someone else left me a note about an 'underwater dome!' where the queen could watch fish from under the ocean.  A fascinating challenge.  We might try that someday.

[zomara0292]

I was listening to mamma and Pappap talken and they said that the Gobels were commin, that they always commin. So I sat around thinkin. I though and though and thunk until my I was tired. I got so tired that I feel down the stairs. It hurt a lot but Mr. Cain said I would be fine. Then I got an idea. What if I fell from higher. it would hurt even more. I might not even be able to walk. It hurt so much that I might not be able to move. If a Gobel would have seen me then, I would be finished. Then I thoough, what if it was a Gobel instead of me? Then it would be finished! It would be hurt so bad even I could fight it and win. Can we have a Gobel pit? Please?
-Athra

OOC: I got the idea from my fortress. I build a pit to see what it does and accidently sent an untamed boar instead of the tamed one. I watched in horror as it was dragged all the way to the pit. And dropped. Died on impact. Then I got curious. Tried it with a goblin. Worked. Died on impact. Tried it with two more. Same. Tried it with five and a Troll. All but one goblin survived. The other four lost their weapons and broke most of their bones. The Troll survived, but lost both of its legs and a tusk. They were easy pickings. Mine is about 5-6 z layers down. That's all you need. A training post at the bottom. A pit at the top. And a goblin, of course.

[Sphalerite]

Events of the 18th of Galena, year 52.

Thikut Sazirrubal, recently immigrant, was calmly cutting down trees.  He had to admit to himself that he wasn't much impressed with the fortress itself so far - not much more than a hole in the ground, some roughly-carved rooms, and an incomplete curtain wall.  The people were decent enough, for the most part.  Bit of a divide between the relatives of the General, and the outliers like himself.

And then there was CoraiUnki.  Cilob, the dwarf in charge, had sent Corai along with Thikut to cut trees inside the unfinished curtain wall.  And Corai hadn't shut up the entire time.  Only a lifetime of practice allowed Thikut to maintain his calm.

"an then Cilob trained the giant Thrips and learned their secrets and taught them to talk but then they all died and it was sad and then I showed my friend Fishy the secret animal room she's so pretty and then KOBOLD!"

"Eeeregevus!"

The Kobold which had been trying to sneak past them jumped up and screamed.  Corai laughed.  Thikut just sighed as it ran off.  "Better call the militia, there might be more of them."


The soldiers - at least, those few of them that had armor and weapons - gathered on the hill in front of the main wall.  They eyed the untouched woods outside the wall nervously, scanning the brush for movement.  They weren't scared of kobolds, or even goblins, those were just fun prey to kill.  They were more scared of the strange giant monsters that wandered the woods, which had already killed one soldier.

"There, something moving over there!  Must be another one!"

"I don't think so, soldier.  Kobolds don't bring wagons."

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"Better get down there, kobolds might think they're an easier target than the fortress."

"Hang on, what's that?  Over there, to the north!"

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Morul Cattendoren, militia commander, shuddered with the memory, recalling ancient horrors.  Minotaurs, killers of kings.  There wasn't dwarf of the Imperial Picks who hadn't lost a relative to their attacks.  "No, not yet.  We aren't ready for this."

[Corai]

I love your writing style, so freaking much.

[Sphalerite]

Belepi would have to admit that she was not the most fearsome of minotaurs.  That is, provided Belepi could talk, and were the type to bellow anything but threats, of course.  Her brothers and sisters had torn through the dwarven civilizations, attacking mountainhomes with impunity, killing their leaders and military heroes.  She had little more to show than a string of failed attacks on elves, and most humiliatingly, had even been hunted herself by the local humans.

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She had nearly convinced herself that elves and humans were terribly fearsome beasts, and if only she could find some dwarves to hunt, she'd have the same luck as the other minotaurs.

To her delight, a stretch of beach that had been barren just a few years back, now had a selection of unaware dwarves for her to hunt!  One was standing off by itself, away from the others.  She bellowed with joy and charged towards it.

Astesh Gingurist, Trader, was sitting out in the terrible sunlight, in the interminable humid heat of this muddy fortress site near the horrifyingly large ocean.  She was really not enjoying her job, and was very much looking forward to the arrival of the fall caravan, when she could give her report and then leave.

She had a brief moment of hope when she caught a glimpse of wagons being pulled through the jungle, but then realized that the figures walking past them were much too tall to be dwarves.  Humans, probably using wagons baseon designs stolen from dwarves.

Suddenly, a bellowing tore through the jungle.  A sound of terror, something she hadn't heard since she was a child.  Memories of walls smashed asunder, dwarven heroes being tossed around by a monstrous form.

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The militia commander charged northward over the muddy ground.  "It's going after the Trader!  Head east around the pond, cut it off!"

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Belepi caught up with the trader easily.  With a single punch she easily knocked the dwarf over.  She reached down, grabbed the struggling dwarf's right foot, lifted the dwarf off the ground, then with a snap of her jaws removed a toe.  Ha!  Dwarves were easy to fight!  She should have done this years ago!

At that moment the Militia Commander struck her from behind like a tiny steel-clad avalanche, knocking her off her feet.

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The Commander struck at Belepi again and again, landing an endless flurry of blows on the downed creature.  Her vision was a red haze, her movement driven by the pent-up hatred and anger, of so many dwarves killed or maimed by minotaurs over the years.  Belepi never regained her feet, never managed to land a blow on her assailant.

Astesh staggered to her feet, wincing at the loss of her toe, and holding her side, where the minotaur's punch had broken bone and torn flesh.  She looked over at where the military commander was still pummeling an increasingly mangled, unmoving mass.  "I think - ah, that hurts - I think it's dead now.  You can stop hitting it."

The Commander lowered her hammer gently, and looked over at the Trader.

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The trader drew herself up, trying to hide the pain.

"Don't think I'll make my report more favorable on your account.  Your security here is terribly lax.  I'll be recommending to the General that you get no more immigrants till this is improved."

The Militia Commander shook her head.  "That's supposed to be a threat?"  She turned to the other soldiers who were just arriving.  "Come on, let's go tell Cilob the good news."

[Corai]

-Diary of CoraiUnki, Entry Four-

Hi diary! Guess what! We have alot of fun the last few days! We got visited by someone from the mountainhomes! She doesnt seem very happy...maybe I should go talk to her! That would make her feel better! Especially since she got hurt playing with a Minotaur, it was fun watching the soldiers running around. I also saw a kobold! They are so cute, but it ran on screaming something, It was adorable. Maybe we can herd some into a small cave with glass, and watch them make a new home in there. They get to be safe and we get to melt at there cuteness! I keep giving ideas, maybe I should sign this one. Well, bye diary!