24th Timber, 1051
Finally the outpost liaison, Ezum Itonrober shows up with her band of rag-tag merchants to see how things are going in our humble abode. Kadol Rashgurgeshud, the fearless expedition leader, gives her a frigid stare.
"My dear Kadol, we must tend to business...the hour is late."
"Well, Ezum, I have more important matters to attend to that must be taken care of at the moment. There is this frosty, frothy substance within this mug that MUST be addressed IMMEDIATELY."
Ezum waits patiently outside the office door as Kadol attends to her affairs. I'm not sure Kadol really cares about what the liaison may be offering anyway - one look at Ezum gives her a sense of disdain. After all, Ezum's appearance is weak - who ever heard of a weak dwarf leading the pack?
"My dear Kadol, perhaps we can settle up at the depot over a barrel of wine...what do you say?"
That suddenly caught Kadol's attention. She slammed down her flask, and with a hearty smile, she stood up from her desk and had a change of heart toward Ezum.
"Well, I suppose you have a point Ezum. Business MUST be attended to!"
And up the two went to take a look at the various knick-knacks and items at the depot. In the meanwhile, as the dwarves hustled to carry various rock structures, Kadol noticed a few that were breathtaking. She found Tun Konoszareth, the local stonecrafter, walking from the wine barrels with a big smile on his face. She proceeded to slap him on the back and praise his efforts.
"I must say, Tun, those last batch of shale pots simply cannot be traded. I think I'm gonna need to keep them on site for my personal stash of brew!"
Tun smiled and nodded, heading back to his station. Was he in agreeance, or simply inebriated?
The two dwarves began to stare at the stacks of goods laying before them in the depot.
"Ezum, I must say, our first year has been a fine year of sorts. These dwarves have slept in harsh conditions and I think I have even seen a few munching on rats that were scurrying round the food stash. They believe in protecting our food supplies at any costs."
"Well, Kadol, I can see you've handled your own quite well. I look forward to seeing Idokrigoth grow into one of the finest outposts Kadol Nunur has seen over the next few years."
With that, they smiled and laughed and began to drink the next batch of wine as they discussed transactions. Ezum begins to take a look at the pots and crafts brought for trade.
"I must say, I am impressed. Within your first year, you have demonstrated fine efforts in your crafts! I think you owe your stonecrafter a raise!"
"Well then, we'll give him two barrels of wine next time!"
They both let out a hearty chuckle and Kadol begins to sort through the goods from the Mountainhomes. She immediately eyed the foods - her dwarves had been living off of raw plump helmets for quite some time, and she thought some hearty foods would do their spirits well.
"I'll take all your cheeses, an iron pick, and a few barrels of rum for the lots of these pots. These are exceptional pots after all - they would look good in your storage."
Ezum suddenly looked up from her flask, wiped the froth off her upper lip and began to think.
"Well, I'm not sure we've got enough here to give you the cheese, the pick and the rum. Let's see if we can renegotiate."
Kadol thought for a moment. Rum would be no issue to make in the coming months, with the new farm plots coming ahead.
"Okay, fine. Throw in the cheeses and the pick and you've got a deal."
The two dwarves smashed their cherished brew containers together in agreeance, and the workers scurried to put the new materials in their respective areas. Kadol wondered if the cheeses would ever actually make it down to the food pantry...
As the merchants prepared to make their trip back to Kadol Nunur, Kadol watched Udil Lorbamlilar put together four new farm plots. "What you up to, Udil?" He looked at her with a mischevious grin. "I have been tired of drinking the same old booze lately. Time to shake things up a bit! Bit o' cave wheat, some pig tails, and some sweet pods ought to do the trick."
Kadol smiled with satisfaction. It had been a good year for sure. Yet, in the back of her mind, she wondered what the future might hold. It would only be a matter of time before the pesky creatures of the area discovered her fort. She began to eyeball the traps that were prepared for placement, as well as the current ore stockpiles. The dwarves were going to need to do a LOT more digging. It was already 19th Moonstone, and a lazy dwarf is a dead dwarf, as she was always told as a young girl. It stuck with her through all these years.
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Topic: The Domain of Dawns (Succession Fortress) (Read 4076 times)