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[FearfulJesuit]

In the Halls of Endok Eggut, 63

Udib Scaldedworked, lying half a mile below the ground in a cell that measured six by six by eight feet, sighed and reflected yet again on the contrasting dimensions of his position. Having accidentally delivered a stack of twenty-five copper bolts to the trade depot- to trade to a civilization which was perfectly friendly, mind- he was likely to be killed in a few hours slowly and painfully by hammer.

It was not fair.

He was but a lowly administrator's apprentice, learning basic organization, trading and administration skills as his ticket out of the Mountainhomes. Oh, most of his /friends/ were perfectly content to mooch off the abundant food and luxurious accommodation, making friends all day, never amounting to anything. In a fortress where jobs were scarce and the free provisions lavish, there were only three ways to become someone, anyone, rather than a senseless, pointless moocher.

The first was to get your way into the guilds and become a master. This was difficult if you had connections, and for Udib, who had none, it was impossible. The guilds were monopolies, owned the government, and kept a tight control on the production of raw materials and goods to make sure their skills were immune to competition.

The second was the military. Udib had tried this, and indeed became somewhat skilled with a battleaxe, before being passed over for an equipment promotion to a guildsmaster's nephew, who received an armor upgrade because "he's more valuable to the life of the fortress." Udib promptly left the army in disgust.

The third was to leave the Mountainhomes, which was extremely hit-or-miss. Anyone could sign up for a colonization mission, get a month of training in a basic skill like carpentry, and leave on a wagon for Armok-knows-where. Over half of these, however, did not survive. The official policy, Roll Back Evil, was to send masses of unskilled nobodies to labor in dangerous locales. If they died, it didn't really matter; the supplies sent with them were cheap for a mature fortress like the Mountainhomes, and the peasants were, well, peasants. If they lived, so much the better; even if it was a hole in the ground, it was a dwarven hole in the ground, and represented a claim on land and resources, a sink for excess population, and a source of supplies and soldiers.

Alternatively, and only if you got decent administrator training and pulled a few strings, you could be sent to look over one of the island colonies that were also being planted, albeit fewer of them. Here, invasion from goblins was impossible, the climate forgiving, and threats far and few between; you could die of old age in a large, comfortable bedroom.

It was this that Udib had craved, and by a spot of luck he had gotten a foot in the door. He had always had a head for numbers, and was able to get a recommendation for the Advanced Administration Track at the academy by his old math teacher, Catten Goldencloister.

And then, just a week ago, it had all fallen apart...against the queen's wishes, and quite by accident, he had brought a load of bolts to trade to the humans.

Now he awaited trial...
---------

The door of the cell swung open.
"Udib Scaldedworked? It's time."

He followed the guard, a burly, middle-aged dwarf clad in iron and wielding a bronze sword, up the stairs, down a cold, empty stone hall, and finally at a great, wide pair of wooden doors.

The guard swung the knocker, and the door opened to reveal a courtroom, carved of pure marble, with mahogany furniture. He sat down in the defendent's bench, and looked up at the judge.

"Mr. Udib Scaldedworked, the 3rd of Moonstone, year 63, on twenty-five counts of trading away an item deemed vital to fortress security. Mr. Scaldedworked, do you know what sentence is usually given per count of trading an item whose export is banned?"

"No, Your Honor, I don't."

"Ten swings of the hammer. That works out to a round two hundred and fifty, Mr. Scaldedworked, if I'm not mistaken."

There was silence, for a very long time, before Udib spoke up.

"I was not aware of such a ban at the time I brought the bolts to the depot, Your Honor."

"The law, Mr. Scaldedworked, makes no such distinction. You are guilty by virtue of bringing to the depot an item on which there was an export ban, and the punishment for that is two hundred fifty hammer strikes."

Udib gulped. The hammerer, Morul Plankoils, was an old war vet with three hundred goblin kills to his name and an artifact golden hammer at his side. Two hundred and fifty hammer strikes was virtually a death sentence.

"However, Mr. Scaldedworked, the judge may make such a distinction- if he acts within the leeway the law gives him, and does not overstep usual procedure...Mr. Clerk, please hand me the most recent volume on court cases involving all defendents with last name starting with S, and look for any cases involving a Mr. Scaldedworked since the publication date..."

The clerk rummaged through a bookshelf at his side, producing a thick, leather-bound book which he handed to the judge, who began to peruse it; then he pulled out a thick folder and began to peruse through it.

"Mr. Clerk," said the judge after a short period, "have you found any convictions?"

"No, sir."

"Then, Mr. Scaldedworked, I presume I am correct in noting that this is your first time you have been brought to trial?"

"That's correct, Your Honor."

"What was your former profession before your arrest?"

"I was training to become an outpost administrator, Your Honor."

"And your skills?"

"I have some skill in brokering, Your Honor, and I can do basic bookkeeping. I have a rough knowledge of anatomy and medicine, allowing me to make a diagnosis, if need be. I also have some skill fighting with a battleaxe and shield from a short stint in the military."

"As it happens, Mr. Scaldedworked, we have a set of six minor criminals whose sentences have been commuted to starting an outpost in a northern region known as the Barbarous Forest. The chosen site is not too far from a Goblin tower, which is why it's imperative to gain a foothold in the area. I shall commute your sentence from hammer strikes to a position as the administrator of the soon-to-be-founded outpost of Forestmurdered; it's a difficult location, but you were going to be placed as an overseer, anyways. Unless, that is...you want to take the hammer strikes?"

"No, Your Honor."

"Then so be it. Mr. Clerk, please note the following: Mr. Udib Scaldedworked has been found guilty on twenty-five counts of violating an export ban on this the third day of Moonstone in the sixty-third year of the fortress. His sentence has been commuted from two hundred fifty hammer strikes to exile and his appointment to the position of overseer of the outpost of Forestmurdered in the Barbarous Forests. The court adjourns. Mr. Scaldedworked..."

"Yes, Your Honor?"

"May Armok have mercy on your beard."
Out-of-Game Introduction

Welcome to Forestmurdered, a succession game in a haunted taiga, where the pine trees stand tall and evil. The world, "The Wonderous Realms," was a large region generated with history ending in the year 300, but I cut it short in 63. In recompense for the evil surroundings, our starting embark points have been beefed up slightly from 1324 to 1500. I increased the probability of a haunted taiga appearing (and made virtually the entire world cold) by giving temperature a 1:40:1:1:1 ratio, and an evil region count of 3 in small regions and 1 in large regions. Minerals are more abundant (1250); in recompense, the number of other terrors has been increased, with fifty titans (now arriving at a population of 50) instead of thirty-three, and the number of megabeast and semimegabeast caves has been increased as well. In essence I'm attempting to make the game very Fun, but also make sure we have the resources we need first to protect ourselves from an early death, and secondly to make sure that our defeats really are our own doing and not just an unfortunate lack of metal. There aren't any succession games I know in a haunted taiga, and I'm enchanted by taiga landscapes.



With danger, however, will come reward, if we're willing to put our beards and muscles to it. There is abundant clay, soil, wood, and metal, and I'm hoping flux as well. There is a river which will be frozen for most of the year, but we can tap it during the short summer thaw and store some of its water in a cistern. (Note to future overseers: Pulling an Ardentdikes with the water supply is not only allowed but encouraged, iff you think you have a shot at keeping the fortress from completely dying). We border elves, goblins and humans, and are not at war with anyone (but obviously hostile with the goblins); I was hoping for a tower, but we'll have enough undead Fun as it is already, I think. Our civilization is called the Attic of Gullies, and there are lots of slopes around the river, which is good (a flat embark is more organized and neater, but being able to dig and wall up a hole quickly can mean life and death). All in all, it's a high-risk, high-reward embark.

The available dwarves are:

Udib Scaldedworked, a guy, whom I am dorfing as Dieter Meyer. (+1 Judge of Intent, +1 Appraiser, +1 Record Keeper, +1 Organizer, +2 Diagnosis, +2 Axeman, +2 Shield User)

Cilob Columnlens, a girl. (+3 Mining)
Uzol Palmsilvers, a girl. (+3 Mining)
Datan Cloisterattack, a guy. (+2 Woodcutting, +2 Carpentry, +3 Axeman)
Solon Craftroads, a guy. (+2 Growing, +2 Brewing, +2 Butchery, +2 Tanning)
Atīs Warcities, a guy. (+4 Cooking, +2 Stonecrafting, +2 Mechanic)
Kogan Brightgilt, a guy. (+2 Furnace Operator, +2 Weaponsmithing)

We also packed:
2 copper picks
Iron anvil
20 each of dwarven wine, ale and beer
21 each of each seed except for dimple cups
15 of two kinds of meat
15 plump helmets
5 silk cloth
5 silk bags
10 silk thread
3 silk ropes
1 copper battle axe
3 sandstone blocks
10 pieces of charcoal
4 pieces of hematite
4 pieces of marble

And we also have some livestock. Nothing with big grazing needs, it'd die (and we'll butcher the pack animals too). Just a couple of cats (same-sex), some dogs, and some poultry:
Female dogs, 3
Male dog, 1
Female war dogs, 2
Male war dogs, 2
Guineahens, 2
Guineacock, 1
Peahen, 2
Peacock, 1

I thought about bringing along a couple of pigs, but at 102 points for a breeding pair, it simply isn't worth it. I'll order a pair in the fall though. Sheep are damned useful, but only once we're secure enough that we can cut out an indoor pasture for them. Our group name is Kenis Zar, "The Meadow of Outrage."

Turn List (finished, active, upcoming, skipped):

1. dhokarena56
2. Squeegy
3. rumpel
4. Chimpanzee

Sign up. In the meantime, it's time to... STRIKE THE EARTH!

Latest Save
18th Malachite, 64 (middle of year 1)

[FearfulJesuit]

The Journal of "Dieter Meyer" Scaldedworked, 1st Granite, 64

Happy fucking new year.

At this time, I should be relaxing after my second-year administration finals have finished, on a two-month hiatus until my third and final year of classes, after which I would be on a boat to a comfortable, safe island fortress to live out the rest of my years drinking sunshine and eating duck meat roasts.

Instead, I'm in the middle of fucking nowhere. The nearest outpost of civilization is a minor goblin outpost two day's journey to the south. It's cold as hell and probably won't thaw until Hematite. And as for the landscape, well...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Quick sketch of the landscape though it is, it will suffice. We were promised cliffs around the river, and so we got them. The only problem is that we're nowhere near the cliffs. We are sitting in a low, flat valley between two hills, carved out by a thin, winding, currently-frozen river. Thank Ostath there are no creatures in the vicinity, it gives us time to plan. And I have a decision to make.

In Fortress Management, we were taught that if the fortress is to be founded on a flat plain, the overseer should dig a staircase down into the ground and then fortify the immediate area. If the fortress is in a hilly area, the overseer is luckier: he can dig into a nearby cliff, bring everything into the cliff, and fortify the entrance to the tunnel, which is much easier.

But now I have a choice to make: the cliffs are far away, and it would be quicker to dig straight down. On the other hand, however, fortification will take a long time if I order Uzol and Cilob to dig where we are, and it will be comparatively easier to fortify a tunnel opening.

And, upon the reflection this journal has given me, I have decided to dig a tunnel into the cliff to the east of our wagon. Hauling all our stuff inside will take longer, but once it's inside, it's safe. We can build a pair of doors to guard the entrance and not come back out to face the elements and whatever wildlife decides to show up until we're ready. There will be three steps to this process: firstly, I will have the miners dig into the cliff face, and quickly dig a jack-of-all-trades stockpile immediately in the entrance where we can put everything we own, including the wagon wood. This will be followed by a second area designated as a meeting area/pasture, where we can throw the animals, and space for a carpenter's workshop to build an entrance door. I'm not giving a damn about what happens after we've built that door. The point is to be inside and safe.

The Journal of "Dieter Meyer" Scaldedworked, 15th Granite, 64


We have been operating on fairly good fortune until now. We've been moving things inside quickly, both the holding cell for the animals and the stockpile (along with a carpenter's workshop) are in operation, and the only wildlife around have been a trio of non-undead deer who haven't been in the vicinity.

It's unlikely, but possible, that the dust storm will affect us, but we need to take all possible precautions.


"Alright," I said, "everyone inside. No, leave the animals that are still out there out there...it's just a yak bull and a peachick."

19th Granite
Thankfully, the burrow was unneeded; the dust storm, which had appeared to the south of us, headed northwest and never hit us. But preparation is essential.

Our metalsmith has taken the opportunity to have a drink out in the middle of the valley. Idiot.

2nd Slate
Another cloud of eerie dust is passing over us as we speak; I was dragging some hematite in, and got into the dugout just in time. For some reason, it isn't piling up on the ground, which is a good thing. I don't know what it does, and I don't have any particular desire to find out.

With a whole month passed and most of the things brought in, it's time to start thinking about how we will expand and turn Forestmurdered into a fully-functional settlement, rather than some animals, seven dwarves and a stockpile of random stuff. I have opted for an unconventional plan in which, on the level directly below the river, we will dig three parallel halls, the outer being three Urists wide and the inner being four. While pedestrians will perambulate through the outer halls, surrounded by stockpiles, the inner hall will be left theoretically empty. At the moment, with space and time concerns, I may allow it to hold random stockpiles and minor industries for which real space has not yet been carved out, but my intention is to construct a series of minor tunnels between the outer pedestrian halls which allow pedestrians to pass safely above the minecarts. It is unlikely, given the short amount of time and labor available to us, that I will order any minecarts or infrastructure for their use built this year, during my immediate tenure. If, at the end of my term, my position is renewed, I may choose to begin construction the next year, but if a successor is chosen, I wish them the best.

Construction begins tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a small sketch of what is constructed...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I have noted the dust storm to our southwest, and two reindeer I spotted while bringing back the hematite; they are harmless. No dangerous wildlife seems to have shown up yet.

10th Slate



There is no fucking way we are going out during those dust storms. Armok help any migrants who try to make their way here when it's falling.

2nd Felsite

Our first "tricky" situation. I've ordered walking bridges between the halls build over the minecart hall come hell or high water, and for two such halls, it's high ice. I'm smoothing out the pond ice, along with the metalsmith, the carpenter and the cook. I'm hoping it isn't too late. It is probably going to be a while before we get the final supplies outside in; the reindeer thralls have barfed a couple trails of dust outside the door.

8th Felsite
I finished smoothing the last ice wall today, and about time, too- the first sign of spring has arrived. The snow cover on a small part of the area to our southeast has just melted.

15th Felsite
The rest of the snow melted today. I have ordered construction of a new food stockpile, as well as space for farms. There was even a hunk or two of native platinum in the food stockpile space...

1st Hematite
Summer has arrived, but the murky pools and the stream still haven't melted.

I'm starting to get concerned about the piles of dust outside. Theoretically we can bypass them, but you know how we dwarves are with finding a path. And I don't want to track it in.

The thing is, although we can survive indefinitely with what we have, the dust makes it tricky to do all sorts of things. We can't gather wood. Receiving migrants will be difficult...I suppose we'll find out what the dust does to dwarves when they arrive. Building fortifications will be hard, too. And there are still things outside that we brought that we don't have inside.

I'll think about it in the morning...hopefully, one of the other dwarves here will put his name on the list to be my successor. I've had that list on the door since Slate and nobody's signed up.

[Squeegy]

Heyyyy, community game buddy! We both started on the same day.

Sign me up, I guess; I haven't played a really dangerous fort in a loooong time. We'll see whose fort shall prosper more.

[FearfulJesuit]

Heyyyy, community game buddy! We both started on the same day.

Sign me up, I guess; I haven't played a really dangerous fort in a loooong time. We'll see whose fort shall prosper more.

Do you want to be dorfed?

I suppose upon reflection the smart thing would have been to dig a staircase below the wagon, dig a 2x2 hallway east, and then pop out one Z-Level above where I actually did put the fort; then I could have hauled all the stuff underground. And indeed I'll probably build such a system tomorrow morning.

[rumpel]

I hoped for a easier set-up for my first succession game, but Losing Is Fun. Sign me up. I wanna be the butcher dorf. Just call him 'rumpel'.

[FearfulJesuit]

The Journal of 'Dieter Meyer' Scaldedworked, 10th Hematite, 64

I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before. Of course we can grab our stuff; we just have to dig underground for it.

In the meantime, it's time to start getting the farms working. I'm also going to try and get some sort of stone quarry set up so we can start making much-needed rock equipment.

15th Hematite
It seems that smoothing the walls of a frozen murky pool does not work. Damn. Well, at least there's not so much water that we'll be flooded.

However, there was an upside: the woodworker walked through the drained pool to get our abandoned things, and in the course of walking over the trail of dust...nothing happened. It's safe.

22nd Hematite
Today, some migrants arrived, which is a lucky break for us. There's Bomrek Townpatterns, a fish dissector, and her husband, Bėmbul Heatknives, a gem cutter with some experience as a marksdwarf. We also have a replacement carpenter, another Bomrek, Bomrek Shootprophet; I'll tell Datan that he's only to do woodcutting from now on.

On the other hand, the eerie dust has claimed its first victims. Today, one of our war dogs, after walking through the eerie dust, was found dead in the hallway, and another has turned into a husk.

Thinking quickly, I've drafted Datan into a squad of one...



Might want to deal with that cat husk, too.

25th Hematite

It worked. I'm going to ask the new carpenter to build us a new door; we're going to need a secure refuse stockpile.

8th Malachite

Chaos reigns.

Somehow, at some point, Datan lost his axe. He is now currently attempting to fight the husk of one of our cats without it. I fear he may not survive the encounter.

A few other of our animals have become husks, too, including a baby alpaca that immigrated this season.

And the "fortress"...well, it's a mess.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Armok grant that we survive. Nobody has died yet, but if we're not careful we could start succumbing to the thralls...

(AN: Or the FPS drop. It's doing that thing where you pause it, FPS is at 80 or 90, and then it starts sinking into the low 60s. I think it's due to the contaminants everywhere. A suggestion for future overseers: use DFHack to clean the map of contaminants as a routine thing at least at the start of each year, maybe every six months. I'm certainly going to use it when autumn starts. It's not entirely sporting, but I fear that there's no other way to keep the fortress from dying a slow, painful FPS death.)

[Chimpanzee]

Looks great! I want a turn in this clusterfuck and a dwarf, please.
I'll take one of the 2 girl miners.
Name: Belvor
Job name: Dwarven Drill

[FearfulJesuit]

The Journal of 'Dieter Meyer' Scaldedworked, 10th Malachite


Alas, Datan.

I promise that you shall not have died in vain. Forestmurdered shall live...it shall defeat the undead cat that slew you...

YOUR SPIRIT LIVES ON!

I have formed myself into a new squad, equipped myself with your battle axe, and shall defeat the cat husk, whom we have dubbed Phrasepaddle, and the undead baby alpaca!

(AN: I think somehow I misassigned the battleaxe, so the carpenter ended up fighting the cat husk without a weapon. I have high hopes that this tone of surreal mayhem will continue throughout the fortress's history. At least three other fortress members are unhappy.)

Victory!


...Oh, Bomrek died in the chaos. Upon further investigation into the cause...



Truly a dark shadow hangs over Forestmurdered.

(Condensed version: we weren't careful when digging through the frozen murky pools. Then, when they melted, they leaked dust into the fortress, turning a cat and a baby alpaca into eerie husks. I then misassigned the fortress's only weapon to the expedition leader rather than the carpenter, who died at the hands of the undead cat he was trying to defeat, sparking a tantrum spiral. The expedition leader, who did have the battleaxe, successfully killed them, but in an ensuing tantrum spiral the cook, in a one-page, three-line combat report, killed the other carpenter. We are so fucked.)

23rd Malachite
The cook seems to have shown some remorse for his actions...



...but a fat lot of good it does us.

Nobody is doing anything. Even I am not doing anything, and I don't know why. There is enough booze, but nobody's drinking it. We have wood and a carpenter's workshop, and I told four otherwise unoccupied dwarves to take up carpentry, but nobody is making caskets. Nobody is brewing booze. There are cancelled projects for no reason. Nothing makes sense.

(Seriously, I can't figure it out. I tried building a stairway so we could get a refuse stockpile in, but it keeps getting suspended, even though there's access to the rock and the build site, and no burrows. We have wood and a workshop and dwarves with carpentry, but nobody will build caskets. We have plants and barrels, but nobody will brew drinks. We're screwed if we can't at least do these things, and I'm out of my depth; either it's a bug or a feature I don't know about. Regardless, I don't think I can keep this going, but I'd like to turn the save over to someone who can. Not even the next person in line, just anyone who wants to take it up to the end of the year.)

I am putting a .rar of the save in the OP as I write this (it's uploading to DFFD DFFD is being a little bitch right now, unfortunately, but I can e-mail it to you if you PM me your email address there we go, see the OP for link). I also forgot to dorf rumpel and Chimpanzee, both of whom are still alive, if not for long (Squeegy said he would dorf himself when if his turn comes), so do that.

[Ashsaber]

1st impression on opening the fort: Everyone's running away from something.

Autodumped some corpse pieces - Nothing.

Watched the dogs bite on the depressed guy - Nothing.

Set everyone to militia and activated - People started killing each other.

Conclusion: uh...what's it called. Loyalty Cascade.

[FearfulJesuit]

If it is a loyalty cascade, it may be completely unsalvageable.

Squeegy, would you like to start another game in a similar (evil, preferably haunted) taiga?

[Squeegy]

Sure, why not.