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[Terra_Inc]

Sorry about the lack of update. More coming tomorrow night.

All but the most elfy of us have real lifes as well.

[Kate Wissen]

14th of Limestone

We found the body of ushrir this morning. She had put up quite the fight it seems, but it wasn't enough. She will be buried properly soon. In the mean time I have sent down every available dwarf, myself included to work on the walls. We won't have this happening again any time soon.

Additionally I have spared some wood toward making some cage traps, since our metal resources are currently rather low, and require wood as fuel anyway. I think we may have brought some coal, but I dont want to exaust that so soon either. I spoke to Tirion and Tau about our military capabilities and how we need them to start getting more skilled. We have too few dwarves around to spare for much of a military and too little time to train them properly. The old 'danger rooms' were banned in the mountainhomes after too many were maimed, but they were effective. By the time this point came up several dwarves had gathered to hear the conversation, and most grumbled about the idea.

Tirion came up with the only other alternative, but it would be expensive and time consuming. We would have our soldiers train lightly in barracks while the citizens trained in siege weaponry. With some clever setup we could very easily defend ourselves from anything coming from above. It is that which comes from below that worries me now, given recent events. The walls may hold off many things, but if anything comes that might break through those, we would be doomed.

Still we decided to set it to a vote. I am nothing if not reasonable. Siege weapons and traps, or a small group of highly trained dwarves. Personally I would rather have both, and that is the option I am voting for.


20th of Limestone

Two more dwarves arrived today, another married couple. Whatever is drawing people to move here, it seems to be in the interest of couples only. I put them to work on the walls right away. On a side note Blade and I have begun eating together and enjoying what freetime we have together. I'm not going to gush into my journal like some youngster, but it's nice to find a companion out here in the middle of nowhere.


=============================================================

So now the question is, what does everyone want to see. Goblins are coming soon, no doubt, so how do  we deal with them. Any and all ideas will be heard from enlist everydwarf and make them train, to pillbox ballistas, danger rooms, breed cats to insane levels and release the hoard for defense?

Give out a shout as to how you want to defend LostPages.

[peregarrett]

Do we have magma somewhere near the surface? If yes, then - gobbo icicle machine to go!
What about our supplies? What ores we've found so far?
There was design of Perpetuum Minecart Mobile, that used to smash everything that comes through it.

Gar is asking btw: - Was that piece a echidna leather? I'd like to have something made from it. Say, an armor, or trousers, or shoes... something!

[Tirion]

I say go for both: have a small standing army of 2 dwarf melee squads (so they spar a lot and stay happy) and draft everyone but the miners, hunters and woodcutters into permanently inactive militia squads, preferably equipped with bone/wooden crossbows and bone (for now) bolts. Settings: wearing uniform when inactive, carry any drink, carry no food (food from backpack doesn't give dining room happy thought). Danger rooming the standing army to skill levels where they don't bitch about duty anymore would be useful, but dangerous without metal armor- but bone and leather might suffice for that. Shields are mandatory for everyone, and can be made of anything.

Before you draft people full-time, make sure they have good attributes (can be improved by a screw pump gym, but the danger room will boost them too, except regeneration and disease resistance) and are at least Happy, but preferably better. Before you draft me full-time, I could make some leather armor, or if we don't have much leather, keep it for waterskins (those are a must-have for everyone, saving time) and quivers.

Have one designated bone carver so he can be trained up with plenty of masterwork totems and doesn't get melancholic about a masterwork cat bone bolt hauled off-map in a goblin's ass.

We will need a meat industry for all that leather and bone. Ask the Outpost Liaison for a breeding pair of dogs and pigs, both are non-grazers and don't adopt owners uncontrollably.

As we don't have metal armor, taking on the first ambushes would be suicide. Let's just kill or capture them with traps, take and equip their metal weapons and armor.

As for trap design, I say do ALL the suggestions! http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/187/321/xallthey.png

Have the top few levels dedicated to all the trap layouts. The trade depot should stand in a big room empty of traps, where the army will be able to meet siegers on it's home turf, and the help of any caravan guards present at the moment. This room is surrounded by airlocks: raising bridges at all entrances, and an unarmed half-goblingrinder (citizen-only entrance, build this first!) leading to the fort like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

W-wall F-floor X-stairway H-hatch cover over empty space P-pressure plate linked to hatch cover D-door B- raising bridge C-cage trap T-weapon trap

WWW        WW
FFFFWWWW
XXXFDHPBFF
XXXFWWWW    biiiig room with depot where hostiles are killed, and can be sealed off to recover wounded and goblinite safely.
XXXFDHPBFF
FFFFWWWW
WWW       WW

From that big room, many passages with different designs (with raising bridges on both ends, open each as the situation demands) open towards the surface. Mine input is a short 2-tunnel goblin grinder with cage traps on the fortress side and weapon traps (with whatever melee weapons we have at the time, or menacing wooden spikes- 2 traps with 2-3 trap components per tunnel will suffice.) on the other, and a longer zig-zagged 6 tile wide (to avoid human-dwarven caravan collisions) path for wagon access, with shared start and end drawbridges. Close both in case of building destroyer attack, let other trap corridors handle it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWBBBBBBWWW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFW
FFFFFFWWWWWWWWWWWWWHWHW 
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWPWPW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWCWCW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWCWCW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWCWCW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWCWCW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWFWFW
WWWWWWWWWWWWFFFFFFWFWFW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWFWFW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWFWFW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWTWTW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWTWTW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWPWPW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFWHWHW
FFFFFFWWWWWWWWWWWWWBWBW
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

[peregarrett]

Tirion, Do you realize that your design fully consists of dozens of WTFs and FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUs?  At least that's what I see when look at them.
I think that's the reason why we should build it!

[Tirion]

Tirion, Do you realize that your design fully consists of dozens of WTFs and FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUs?  At least that's what I see when look at them.
I think that's the reason why we should build it!

Yeah, the whole mapping with letters thing is better in theory than practice... but hopefully also how the goblins will vocalize their opinion I'll upload a graphic description momentarily.

14th of Limestone

Ushrir is dead. We all knew it, but still, seeing her body is shocking. It could have been any of us.
We have to prepare some defenses.

15th of Limestone

I drew up some trap designs and training schedules for Our Beloved Leader. It's sufficient by itself, yet leaves space for further additions. I hope she can read it, the parchment was a bit moldy and the cat spilled some ink on the plans.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

this is what I'd have you build: http://kepfeltoltes.hu/view/120827/trapdesign_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg
examples for the goblin grinder, and the success of the glacier ice+cave-in=water method:
z=0 http://kepfeltoltes.hu/view/120827/grinder_z0_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg
z=-1 http://kepfeltoltes.hu/view/120827/grinder_z1_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg

OOC:
Source from the wiki: http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Trap_design#Goblin_Grinder
Ideas #1 and #4 tested and found to be working. Bridges at the end are my addition, to close it down once building destroyers rush in, as they'll destroy the hatches and strand the siege in front of them. Also, if you carve the wall like in the example, dig an 1 tile wide tunnel accessible only from the inside of the fort, AND close the bridges* once goblins have filled the grinder's cage traps and jammed the weapon traps, you can order your marksdwarf squads to safely** kill the goblins. Then you can open the fort-side bridges and have your civilians collect the goblinite.

There are a couple of useful ideas for the other trap tunnels on that page too. I suggest building minde first, as it requires little to no metal and can be built gradually, being fully armed and operational all the while.

* if military dwarves or war dogs or caravan guards see&can path to the goblins in the grinder, they'll rush in and probably die screaming, especially as goblin weapon lords tend to be alive and kicking after crossing the weapon trap.
** bowgoblins will shoot back. If it's a siege, try to divert that squad elsewhere, let other people's traps deal with them. If it's an ambush, wait till all the cages are full and all the traps are jammed, then rush them with everything you have.


Oh, and for weapon traps: large daggers brought by snatchers work very well.

[NRDL]

Can I please be dorfed?  Put me in as NRDL, military dwarf, preferably hammerdwarf, please. 

[NESgamer190]

14th Limestone:

The body was recovered...  I was happy, yet sad at the same time...  Happy in the sense that the dead can finally get proper burial rights, yet sad we still lost a dwarf.  I had heard of cage traps being implemented, and I had strong support on that.  At worst, we'll only cage our own kind by mistake, and at best, we'll have an awesome pet!  Upon meeting upon a conversation regarding the whole mess of defense, I was all against those accursed 'danger rooms'.  From what I have heard, even the bluntest of training spears killed, and I do NOT approve of the murder of dwarves in the name of having a couple elite dwarves.  Hearing upon siege araments, I had fidgeted, personally believing if it came down to it, I'd operate a catapult, though in the end, I kept quiet about the siege engine operation for a couple good reasons:  One, I'm a doctor...  I've the dwarfocratic oath to deal with, which is to first do minimal harm, and two...  I'm sure the leader'd say no or put me on a ballista.  In personal thought, I'd say catapults and traps are the way to go...  and I'm leaning more on traps.

20th Limestone:

More dwarves!  Wait...  only two dwarves?  This isn't honeymoon, the fortress now!  Last thing I need to do is be reverend for a million zillion dwarves now!  I may be stout, but now I'm thinking the mountainhome has something against this fortress with such few migrants!  In any case though, I'd like to see Ushrir alive again...  Hopefully, I'm not being too soft and squishy...  I just hope nobody goes mad...  I have NO known cure for a bout of madness at glaciers.  I am fairly confident nothing can just...  crash through walls like a certain cinnabar jug full of blood...  but I've heard ghosts can do just that.  I suppose I should give the leader this assurance that the walls will NOT be going down any time soon.

[aussieevil]

14 Lim
I'm still being accused of being a "murderer" by some in the fortress, but now after they found the body of Ushrir, I'm still getting dirty looks. It's not my fault, all right?! I was merely following orders! And besides, would you rather have one dwarf die or dozens?

I fear I might be losing sway with some of the workers here. I even overheard some calling me "gobbo-brain".

I've also heard talk about raising a citizen army? I haven't been topside for months after my encounter with that odd sludge... what could be approaching us?

[Blade Master Model 42]

Do I have a forge to work in yet? Am I cranking out weapons for us? Because I should be.

[Tirion]

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=6741

If you plan on making a standing army, this binary patch can make it feasible. It deals with the long patrol duty thought bug.

[peregarrett]

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=6741

If you plan on making a standing army, this binary patch can make it feasible. It deals with the long patrol duty thought bug.

What for? Never had a dwarf going mad just because of long patrol duty. They die out faster than descending to madness

[Tirion]

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=6741

If you plan on making a standing army, this binary patch can make it feasible. It deals with the long patrol duty thought bug.

What for? Never had a dwarf going mad just because of long patrol duty. They die out faster than descending to madness

Because they get it from ALL military activities, training included, not just patrol. And if this won't be a fortress that rushes goblins head on, the soldiers will be used for beast disposal, and may live and train long enough to make this matter.

[Tirion]

Bump.

Can I take a look at my dorf's character sheet, please?

[Kate Wissen]

Sorry again about the delay, more is coming soon and will hopefully be worth the wait.

NRDL you will be dwarfed and put into service.

Thanks for the ideas everyone. Hopefully things don't fail horribly. Or if they do they do so in an amusing way.

(More delays, don't worry I'm still around.)