[The appearance of the writing changes again; though unmistakably of the same hand as before, it is now far neater and more-legible than it ever had been. Additionally, the authour appears to be applying far more pressure to the paper than before, leaving deep grooves that can be seen on the opposite side of each page.]
1 Moonstone 1057That got a bit messy, now, didn't it? I suppose one can't expect the complete assimilation of someone's conscious mind to go smoothly. In any case, she's quieted down now, and it looks like I get to write in her journal -- with a proper pen, too! Melting notes into slade works in a pinch, but paper is so much more compact.
I'd forgotten how exciting it was to command a dwarf. The sights! The smells! This morning, I went down to the butcher's shop and stood there for a moment, just breathing the sweet air. The dwarves stared at me, but to them I say: How's about I ram a fistful of hot coals up your noses and see how much you'd give to be able to smell rotting flesh again, hm?
It looks like this vessel had been made the temporary ruler of the place. Not sure why, the silly bitch didn't have enough brains to fill a thimble. Perhaps this is simply how dwarven society works? Makes it easier for me, at least. Besides, if these shits are going to give some idiot farmgirl a title she has no business holding, then I suppose one could consider it a good deed to take the reins from her, as it were.
I must say, this vessel was quite a stick-in-the-mud before I got to her. No ambition! No sense of fun! Is this really the role I must play? Why can't I take over anyone fun, like a warlord of some stripe? Someone powerful that commands respect, preferably with some skull-cracking as an additional responsibility? Bah!
In any case, my first act as acting Overseer (not that these dwarves know anything about the, shall we say, change in command) is to build a lever to raise that bridge the dwarves built over the magma river, in case they risk freeing the Archdemon:
I'd tried to convince the Great Houses to let me do something fun, like kill off precisely half of the fortress's population over a course of exactly 23 days, but they wouldn't have any of it. Apparently, all I'm to do with this vessel is watch the dwarves and make sure they don't open a route down to here or -- perish the thought -- release the Archdemon. Boring, but I understand how important this is, so I'll respect their wishes. If the dwarves released the Archdemon, and the Archdemon found its way back down here, then it'd probably take control and make everyone go to war with all mortalkind, just like the old days, and where's the fun in that? I like seeing the swine writhe in dying agony as much as the next demon, but the problem with breaking one's toys is that they then don't work anymore, and fleshbags are rather-difficult to fix after one breaks them.
I can indeed feel the Archdemon's presence here. It's weak -- the Azure's blocking its call -- but it's still tugging at me, trying to seize control of this vessel. No matter; so long as the Azure's untouched, it can nag at us all day long and I don't have to lift a finger to bust the old blowhard out. I think I'll go sit in this vessel's tomb -- not a few miles from the Azure as the dwarf digs -- for a few hours just to taunt it. Maybe tell it some knock-knock jokes to pass the time. It must be dreadfully-lonely locked in there for the past... how long has it been, again? Who knows anymore?
It
is irritating as all get out to listen to, though. I can see why it drove this vessel batty at first. When she started clawing at the cave wall, I thought we were finished; fortunately, I managed to wrench control of her away from the Archdemon before she thought to grab a pick, assuming she ever would.
2 Moonstone 1057Based on this vessel's description of the dwarves' work ethic, I had expected the construction of the lever to take some time. However, it was finished today, less than a day after I had ordered it built. I suppose this vessel had simply failed to command the proper respect, what with her impotent blustering. It's truly-amazing what one can accomplish with the right combination of a steely gaze, gentle-but-firm tone, and the subtle insinuation that, should one be disobeyed, one will break into the transgressor's lodgings and set fire to their socks and/or offspring.
I've ordered the lever to be linked to the drawbridge:
Incidentally, I found a somewhat-frayed cloth shoe lying around in the goods stockpile. I liked the colour, and it doesn't look like anyone wants it for some reason (perhaps they already have their own?), so I'm stashing it in our tomb for safekeeping:
The dwarf-scratchings on the walls around here pale in comparison to the relief work in the great halls of Castle Bloodfire, but millenia spent looking at naught but slade, slade, and more pitch-black slade tend to teach one the true value of a touch of colour here and there. Hopefully I can find a nice tapestry somewhere to go with!
4 Moonstone 1057I have a new idea to keep the dwarves away from the Azure. I've ordered a floodgate installed coming off one of the magma channels running through the upper half of the fortress, as well as having some doors removed that could get in the way of its flow:
I can't say I like these mechanical dwarven traps very much. I appreciate the effort that goes into their design and construction, but what then? It seems terribly-lazy and boring to simply pull a lever and have all of one's problems be washed away in a sea of fire. Not to mention underhanded; frog demons may go in for that sort of cheap trickery, but we spirits of fire know that one should meet their adversary directly or run away like the worthless coward they are.
That said, I doubt the Archdemon will much care whether or not I honoured tradition if these twits end up releasing it; any precaution is a good precaution, no?
5 Moonstone 1057This vessel passed out on the ground today. I panicked for a bit before one of the other demons reminded me that dwarves need to eat occasionally. Blast it, how could I have forgotten something so basic as that!? They'll never let me hear the end of this!
7 Moonstone 1057I've ordered the construction of a lever that will operate the floodgate I've ordered installed:
If they try to dig any deeper into the mountain, I'll surreptitiously flip it, thus blocking the way into the inner fortress with a sea of fire (and possibly incinerating a few dwarves as a bonus).
The dwarves were rather confused by this; they kept explaining to me that the creatures that come out of the magma river won't be harmed by the magma flow, apparently thinking that that was my intended purpose -- what sort of idiot do they take me for, I wonder? ...Oh,
right, the idiot whose body I'm borrowing. Never mind!
I decided that telling them the truth -- to wit, that the machine was intended to be used on them -- would not be conducive to my purposes. I instead assured them that I was aware that it would not serve us against the magma creatures, and that it would (somehow) improve the functioning of the magma-flooding device they had set up. A few asked me how; I wasn't sure how to respond, so I began confidently spouting some vaguely-technical-sounding nonsense with a lot of big words, most of which I made up on the spot. At that point, their eyes glazed over and they dropped the matter entirely. Problem solved!
‼FUN‼: Come up with definitions for the following terms: 'polyclastic', 'conflatulate', 'implungentation', 'metamondomorphicise'
8 Moonstone 1057Augh! It looks like, after my little con-job yesterday, these Azureblighted dwarves have come to believe that this vessel is some sort of idiot savant, and are now coming to me for advice on every little piddling thing relating to mechanics. I've deflected most of their questions for the time being, but I can't reasonably keep bouncing them off forever without them realising something's up. This is
exactly why I don't tell lies, dammit!
I've set the rats to gather whatever materials pertaining to mechanics they can find -- old diagrams, books, et cetera -- so that I can study them. Learning more about the subject should be fun, at least. I can't remember the last time I bothered with mechanics! Besides, this fiasco has already given me a fair bit of trust and influence among the dwarves; I simply need to be able to back up my claims. It can hardly be called deception if I truly am as knowledgeable as I claim, no?
9 Moonstone 1057The rats have already gathered a few papers and such for me. I was (perhaps-too-optimistically) hoping for something with a title like 'Practical Mechanics: a Step-By-Step Guide for the Demon with neither a Clue nor Time to Get One', but all I have so far are some diagrams for various machines, a page of a thesis on some topic I don't even understand ("Quantum Entanglement"? Is that even a thing?), and a rather-dubious-looking proposal for a mysterious hydraulic device called a 'bidet'. This is going to be like solving a riddle posed by a forgetful tentacle demon who half-overheard it being told from the other side of a hallway through a door. Should be fun!
Incidentally, because it's been bugging me, I've ordered the mysterious lever set into the bottom of the cliff face:
To be pulled. Call it an opportunity for practical study.
Some of the dwarves are nervous about this. They appear to be of the opinion that pulling it without knowing what it does is dangerous, and could even kill someone. I'm not sure I see their point.
11 Moonstone 1057A dwarf turned up to pull the mysterious mystery lever of mystery:
After waiting a few moments without anybody dying, I looked around to try and figure out what exactly it even did. Turns out it's something boring:
I can only assume that some previous Overseer had decided to set the bridges to raise before deciding that, eh, too much effort. Snivelling quitter.
The fourth dining hall lever has been completed, so I've ordered it to be linked to the floodgate I installed earlier:
I've volunteered to oversee the process. Hopefully I'll be able to learn something by watching and taking notes.
14 Moonstone 1057The bridge over the magma stream has been set to raise when triggered, and in a timely fashion, too! These dwarves can work quite quickly if properly-motivated.
19 Moonstone 1057I was concerned that the fortress's defenses were a bit lacking, so I ordered some of our underemployed masons into a special squad:
Their equipment consists of maces and nothing else. Some of them complained about how they had no armour and they were all going to die. Really, I think they should consider it a challenge! An easy life just isn't worth living, no?
20 Moonstone 1057A goblin snatcher was spotted near the entrance:
I couldn't care less about what happens to these dwarves' offspring, but I'm not terribly-fond of the goblins' particular brand of sneakery all the same. If the only way to get past an obstacle is to slink around it, what's the point?
Predictably, the snatcher flees the scene, presumably frightened by the nearby carpenters' scary axes. It raises a bit of a commotion as it leaves:
It was a pathetic scene; cowards fleeing from cowards. However, the metalworker surprises even me by running up to the goblin and performing some kind of wrestling hold on it, nearly twisting its elbow apart in the process. I believe the goblin was actually
crying afterwards:
True, he immediately joined the others in fleeing after finishing with his random act of violence, but it still gave me a good laugh to watch.
23 Moonstone 1057
Drat. Now the little maggot's parents are banging down my door, screeching like harpies about negligence and why didn't I save him and other such nonsense. I told them that growing up at a goblin fort builds character, and would almost-certainly be more-exciting than loafing around here for the next twelve years, but they refused to listen to reason. They kept shouting at me for a bit, until finally I told the ingrates to get their Azure-blighted faces out of my bedroom before I assigned them to safety-inspect the new magma valve, possibly while it was operating.
I just can't understand the bizarre fixation they seemed to have with their offspring's fate! I suppose I'd be upset if one of my friends was taken away, too, but certainly not to that degree. I wonder if it's some sort of mental disorder dwarves get sometimes?
27 Moonstone 1057After looking at some of the reference materials the rats have been bringing, including a very-detailed (if confusing) guide by one 'Mr. Spishabtham', I think I've figured out enough to try to make my own mechanisms. It's quite simple, really; the squiggly thingy hooks up with the bumpy thingy and then you induce potential for quantum transposition in the whatsit and then you stick brane-doodad A into the time-inverse of slot B and there you are! Now all I need is to apply the principles I learned in practice:
The first couple I made kept inverting fonon spin at regular intervals, which -- if what I've gleaned from Mr. Spishabtham's notes is correct -- has a non-zero chance of initiating total protonic reversal should the aer streams be crossed as a result during operation. Sounds dangerous! Good thing I only made two mechanisms before realising there was a problem and fixing it, huh? I'm pretty sure the two mechanisms I destroyed were the bad ones, but it should be quite entertaining if they weren't, and one gets put into a lever by accident.
2 Opal 1057I've decided to inquire into the function of another mystery lever, this one in a tiny room across the hall from the dining hall:
I was hoping it would make something funny happen, and you know what? It made something funny happen!:
The nearby bridge over the river is raised, flinging a trio of dwarves as well as some animals through the air. The mechanic lands safely on the bridge, leaving the wrestler and peasant splashing about in the water. The wrestler, apparently giving up hope, splashes around aimlessly for a bit before sinking to the riverbed. The peasant showed considerably-more guts, doggedly floundering towards the safety of the riverbank even as his lungs filled with water. It was quite impressive; I'd never seen someone drown on dry land before:
Also, I finally decided what 'conflatulate' means! It means when one gets two similar-looking parts of a device mixed up and then the whole thing explodes when one tries to use it.
14 Opal 1057We've a lot of shiftless peasants shuffling around with nothing to do. I put a few of them in the cannon-fodder squad. Should brighten up their lives a bit!
Also, some of the other dwarves have been suspicious of us lately. Scruffy in particular; he pointed out that this vessel never had any sort of head for mechanics (or, I should add, anything more-complex than chewing food) before, and yet has nevertheless somehow managed to make a few functioning mechanisms over the last few weeks. How rude! Still, I understand his suspicions. I've assigned myself a new title, to make it clear there's nothing too fishy going on:
True, there's been a change in command over this vessel's actions, but a dwarf is still a dwarf, correct?
17 Opal 1057I found a bunch of unused, unclaimed bedrooms in the lower half of the fortress:
I asked why nobody had claimed them, and they said that they hadn't been properly-zoned for habitation or some such. I've filled out the proper paperwork and ordered beds and doors installed in rooms that don't have them, though it galls me that none of the silly twits had thought to claim the beds themselves or even ask for permission to use them. Is there some bizarre, draconian code of etiquette in place here that I'm not aware of, or are dwarves just spineless idiots? Actually, it's probably both.
22 Opal 1057We don't have nearly enough bins to store all of the knickknacks lying around the fortress:
I'd like to tidy the place up a bit, so I've ordered the carpenters and smiths to begin producing more bins. We have a lot of gold and steel bars lying around, so that's what the smiths will be making the bins from. Should be nice and shiny! The smiths looked at me funny and said something about gold being too heavy to carry around easily. Nonsense, I say! Our haulers need the exercise, and if one of them happens to fall over and get their spine crushed, why, that's just survival of the fittest.
2 Obsidian 1057We have piles of raw gemstones lying around without anyone using them. What's more, the stockpile is sitting right in the middle of a hallway! This, of course, is nonsense, so I've moved the gem pile closer to the crafts pile and ordered the construction of a jeweler's shop nearby:
3 Obsidian 1057Some recruit dove into the chasm; nobody could explain why. Apparently he just casually strolled up to the edge and jumped in without a word. Perhaps it was suicide? In that case, good riddance. Still, I wish I could have seen it. Would have been good for a laugh.
5 Obsidian 1057I spotted a female cat milling around in the entrance complex; nobody else was nearby. Those fluffy little bastards breed like rodents and are nigh-on-impossible to pry out of the dwarves' fat, clingy hands once they latch on, so of course I jumped at the chance to prevent one of them from spewing forth any more spawn -- and without even any collateral damage!:
A win all around, I'd say!
15 Obsidian 1057The fortress's food supply is running a bit low. We only have to get by without a farm for a few more weeks, but why sit on our laurels? I've ordered the kitchens to resume processing fat into tallow.
18 Obsidian 1057The Mason's Guild representative just barged into my office and started shouting about he
desperately needed an onyx item in his dining room if he was to perform his duties. These nobles really are impudent little snots, aren't they? I understand this vessel's ire towards them. Is it really so hard to get one for himself if he needs it so badly? Can he not just learn masonry skills, or at least commission someone who already has them? I'd be more-inclined to keel to his demands if I knew what these supposed 'duties' that he apparently can't perform were.
Also, it'd probably help if I knew where his lodgings
were. I've looked everywhere, but I can't find them.
21 Obsidian 1057I've decided that, as long as I can't find where the Mason's Guild rep's lodgings are, I might as well give him some new lodgings that I
can find... and -- wouldn't you know it -- I happen to already have the perfect room for him!:
26 Obsidian 1057One of our recruits got this funny look in his eye and charged towards a leatherworking shop, where he began feverishly drawing pictures of animal skins, long-forgotten runes of unfathomed power, and eldritch beings beyond the comprehension of man or demon. Funny thing is, none of the other dwarves seemed to really be concerned by it! Is this normal for dwarves, I wonder?
It looks like this vessel's term as Overseer is drawing to a close. I'd love to stage a coup and set myself up as permanent ruler, but I'm not sure how that could be done with my current resources. A project for the future, I suppose!
Author
Topic: CraftedDreams - A 2-D Succession Fort (Read 46009 times)