Year 1003
7th of Timber, Late Autumn. The Second Founding of Ghoullights.
Set a cage trap. Set another cage trap. Ignore the filth, the misery, the blood and gore.
No, that's it. Destra has been running this, but I think she is losing it. She has lost too much too quickly, and last I saw her she was anguishing by throwing a still-twitching arm.
On my way back, what do I see? Another one of the reanimated, right in the middle of everything.
This is IT! My family, my children, they deserve better than this. It's time I took our destiny into my hands, and straightened things out.
I have spent the last while with my head down, making sure the traps work. Time I learned the ropes and the place.
First thing first, our palisade has trees growing in it. Digging through the pile of documents, I find that Remuthra is the only one allowed to carry an axe to cut trees. Oh, and every Armok damned tree in the main cavern has been designated for cutting.
No, this won't do. Let me get this right.
I will play this extremely cautiously. We are dangerously close to a tantrum spiral, and there was at least one zombie milling around. I will likely NOT open the bridge until I stabilize everything. Order of events:
- Figure out just WHAT is going on
- Review designations, both labour and task
- Focus on happiness
- Isolate all undead threat
- Optimize travel paths
- Straighten production paths
- Make sure we have enough food production
18th Timber
We have lost 8 more. The dead litter the halls, and are coming back to life. This place is cursed as they get.
I will have to resort to unheard of measures. I will take a large empty hall, and entomb all the dead within. They will not get the proper honours they deserve, but this will preserve the life of others.
Ghoullights will live, or we will die. But we will not go quietly.
I must recruit more troops. Last night, I heard the howling of a were-skink. It echoed all the way down to the cursed tomb.
And yesterday, one of the kids spotted a monstrosity in one of the caves. A great eyeless mite, with a pair of knobby antennate. The kid called it Afi Riqui Bathore, and ran away.
The infrastructure is in shambles. There are no skilled masons or metalworkers. I don't know who will live. Some already wander the halls with their soul gone from their eyes - melancholy has taken them. How much longer can we persevere?
Give me strength...
1st of Moonstone
This is the end... we have been overrun... Sa
ve yourse...*the rest of the page is torn off, and the journal below it is soaked in blood*
The denizens of Ghoullights have suffered much, but they fought to the end. One of the daughters of the late Cog escaped her mother, who has come into undeath, and rallied a few survivors. They tried to escape deep underground and seal themselves below, but it was to no avail. Those who were their neighbours just days ago chased them down and cut them one by one. As they fell, they rose as undead. They almost made it to the deep stairs...
More survivors clustered in the main cave, and tried to flee outside the palisade. Only seven remained, most of them insane. The lone miner started digging a hole, but the undead caught their scent. They rushed the traps, tripping into the few cages.
The cages ran out, and a single half-corpse crawled after the survivors. They mobbed it and broke it, but lost one of their ranks.
It was only a short period of time as both remains came back to undeath, and finished the job. Those whose minds weren't snapped fell first, and the rest welcomed oblivion.
Ghoullights descended into silence. It is doubtful life will ever sprout in its cursed halls.
Well, that ended quickly. There were only a handful of corpses inside, but with the tantrums I couldn't contain them in time. We survived for a short while, but now the only ones alive are two insane dwarves... wait... one
And they are being chased by the undead everything. This is the end of Ghoullights.
I was almost successful, by the way. Despite heavy losses, the undead were coralled to their future tomb. The military was down to two dwarves. But then somebody died of thirst or hunger or depression, and came back to life in the middle of everything.
On top of this, the tomb was compromised as somebody died on one of the doors and I couldn't get their clothing off it quickly enough. Outside there were cage traps, and it would take too long to demolish those. I tried to build a wall inside, but it was too late.
I will settle a nearby area, and try again!