Personal diary of Tau, expedition leader
1st Granite, 201AF
The outpost of HauntedhallsThe wagon rattled along an abandoned road leading northward to the oppressed region of the Bridled Swamp. It was a fertile, flat swamp bordered by low, rolling hills... quite beautiful. Well, as beautiful as the surface can be. I was much more interested in the ground. What was not covered by reed and rush showed the typical red and tan colors of sand, with a bit of darker brown in it. Probably siltstone.
We decided to settle down close to a river promising much fresher water than the ubiquitous murky pools. According to our maps, this was one of the best spots in the area. I went up to one of the small hills to the south and tried to sketch a rough map of our surroundings.
The map shows the entire embark square, the sand layer is wonderfully visible.I was delighted to see a small number of wild turkeys quite close to where our wagon had stopped. We had brought a single turkey hen with us, mostly because they are delicious, but the sight of these fat, plump birds reminded me of the turkey roasts they served in the Mountainhome. I thought of catching them, but we had more important things to do right now.
Even though the landscape was rather pleasant, we had to get underground as fast as possible. I showed Iron Tea, the miner who was part of our expedition, the general outline of the near-surface fort, while the others unpacked our supplies. Our first task was to get past the sand layer and set up a small near-surface structure that could serve as a easily defendable base while we dug deeper. Most important, though, was a farm to provide us with food and booze.
The main halls, as they were planned, consisting of a meeting hall, dormitory, food stockpile and the stairs to the left leading up to the farm in the sand layer.Our woodworker, who went by the name of Spinning Welshman, set up a small carpenter's workshop on the surface and began cutting down trees. I looked forward to the prospect of sleeping in a bed again. That wagon hadn't exactly been comfortable, and from what I heard the rest of us wasn't too fond of it, either.
Now all that needs to be done is a carpton of digging. I hope we'll have our halls set up soon. Some of us have decided to give this fortress the name of Hauntedhalls. I smiled at the choice, knowing how ironic a name it was.
25 Felsite, 201AFWell, what a surprise. When digging our first underground rooms, Iron Tea dug right into magnetite! Looks like we'll have a good supply of iron goods right away. Unfortunately, none of us has any experience with smithing. But Vabok has promised to send us talented workers, so I hope he'll send some smiths our way.
Momuz has set up our farm, and we can expect the first plump helmet harvest in less than a month. I persuaded him to plant some cave wheat as well. It'll complement the plump helmet wine nicely.
Momuz constructing the farm and stills.The workshops, including jeweler workshop to the right and furniture/goods stockpile to the south.We've started to move all surface operations down into the siltstone layer. Since we will be relying on masonry and mechanics a lot, an area below the main halls has been designated for workshops. Our mason charred_gp has created a fine set of furniture for my office, and Tevish Szat, our Fortress Architect, plans our defenses with him. We'll probably get a decent wall in a few weeks, and then we can set up traps. Some of the Warrior Monks back in the Mountainhome would disagree with me, but cage traps will be a very useful part of our fortress, protecting us from servants of evil as long as we have no military, and they'll probably catch some animals as well.
While the two are doing the planning, I've begun to put my office to use. There's a lot of bookkeeping to be done.
This is a masterful PNG image. On this item is an image of a dwarf in ASCII. The dwarf is laboring. The image relates to the bookkeeping in Hauntedhalls in 201 by Tau. Before I finish this tablet, I should add that our medical dwarf, who goes by the name of "Gamerboy4life" (despite being female), has requested that we set up a hospital. It is a bit too early for that, since we don't even have a proper well yet, but I will have her set one up once that is done.
Aaand that was Spring. Going pretty well (and rather fast) so far.
Here are all the char screens.