Ok, this third-person writing is quite tricky, so I'll revert to simpler descriptive first-person narrative.
I've started with issuing some simple orders to check dwarven input response time. Produce some booze, produce some biscuits, produce mayor-mandated buckler etc. Manager was too busy at first, so I've stripped him from other jobs. Then I've explored the fortress (main entrance, caverns entrances, magma etc) and reread the thread to get bits of useful info from previous overseers. I loved bp920091's part the most because he explained some fortress design. Thank you british petroleum! Should say that I take off hat to edgefigaro who was able to overcome the disaster. Also, floating stones looks terrific; may be one of the best fortress features so far.
Grazers started starving to death on a grassless pasture, generating miasma clouds. Regular refuse stockpiles are full and/or not accepting certain kinds of refuse. So I've designated to dump rotten corpses. It happened that Amberjewel had
at least 3 (it's difficult to check how many exactly) dump zones: one over air-locked pit, one over magma channel and one just somewhere. Of course, dwarves put rotten corpses to the third one, spreading miasma even more. I plan to overhaul refuse management to improve happiness a little. To deal with grazers I've created a second pasture to the south of the new farm plots, it actually had a lot of fungus/moss concealed by mud. Looks like it was a tree farm once, but we have a bigger one now anyway. Also I plan to slaughter all the grazers except milk- and wool-giving.
As far as it goes, most of the fortress will run itself
I've found that the crippled legendary miner, one of the survivors from happier times, was refusing to work. IIRC the previous overseer mentioned this too. First I thought he was unable to move due to his leg loss, but that wasn't the case. He moved to his quarters and just stood there, hungry. Hungry? WTF? Food was like 15 tiles from him. I've just ignored him for a while. But then the mayor did something similar (had he tried to feed the miner?):
Eventually I investigated. The reason was that some citizens and most of children were assigned to a burrow which occasionally intersected the food stockpile, but just a little. There were no food left in the intersection, only booze, so they were doomed to wait for a lucky hauling job or starve to death.
I was horrified to read the health history of the aforementioned miner:
It looks like health care was in a very poor state. I even wasn't able to find a hospital at first, but when I finally found it... Classy: no tables, no traction benches, no soap, but shitloads of cloth and thread.
Well, ingame Njals is a doctor by profession so he definitely will fix this.
I've checked our metallurgy industry and found we had a little iron reserve but a lot of flux and quite significant amount of goblinite and coke. Producing pig iron/steel from smelter menu doesn't work though because of
a bug. Designating smelting via manager solves the issue. I plan to melt all the goblinite and produce as much steel as possible, maybe forge some decent steel mail shirts/helms (we have mostly bronze armor for now).
I'd be very thankful to uber pye if he explains the vital controls necessary for trading/accepting migrants etc. I've found only a lever controlling main entrance bridge so far. Pulled it twice, launching some poor cat into the air; nevertheless a trade depot was still inaccessible from outside. We have 2 depots btw (second one is neatly airlocked but deconstructed and not connected to the outside at all). Also, how to control the western tunnel?
And how to start the notorious minecart trap?
Some random stuff occured. A peasant was taken by a mood:
Its base value is over 121 kilodwarvenbucks, making it second most valuable artifact after adamantine crossbow (756 kdb).
Somebody was concerned about minotaur growth rate? Well...
Latest weather report: the weather has cleared after a snow storm. The temperature outside is 9982 U (-10 C). The temperature inside the glacial part of fortress is 9990 U (-6 C). The temperature in dwarven quarters is 10015 U (+8 C). The temperature in magma zone is 10075 U (+42 C).
Upd: Ok, I've found a lever controlling 3-way bridge and am trading with elves now. Injured 2 dwarves in a minecart trap, which seemed to be turned on.