Tis the ten year anniversary of the founding of Mechanismcorridor. An expedition sent to explore the uninhabited central mountains known as the Cherished Towers found bituminous coal seams at the surface. The mountains are good aligned, bordered by a sinister region haunted by re-animation and rains of dwarf blood. The mighty dwarven civilization known as "The Mousy Incests" (they are all George R. R. Martin fans, I guess?) decided they would be the first to settle this region.
The pioneers picked a location at the edge of the blood-plains, in a calm region of wooded hills abutting the mountains. Digging in, they quickly found plenty of iron and gold, an abundance of marble, and best of all, a magma tube in the center of the first caverns. The upperworks have all been completed: a low central citadel with wooden stockades enclosing pastures, a trade hall, and an entrance tower occupy the center of the map, overlooking the small brook that flows from the west down to the east. A trade road leads east and a large white brick inn, fortified in the traditional "L-plan castle" style, sits at the eastern border of the area.
To celebrate anniversary, the dwarves are moving into the caverns. A vicious forgotten beast with poisonous gas was killed in a repeating spear hall, and then the magma tube and a small central lake next to it were walled off. Another beast showed up just as the cavern-floor level walls were being finished, but it caused no trouble. The herds of wooly mountain goats, boozebelly goats, pekyts and tusk-oxen have been moved to the cavern from their muddy dens near the surface. The dwarves are now in the process of excavating new spaces for a kitchen, workshops, and living spaces in the cavern pillars overlooking the lake.
The military is now in fine shape, a polished killing machine composed of forty highly trained professional military guild dwarves: twenty melee fighters clad in full steel, ten crossbow dwarves clad in mithril and ten more in leather. The older of the two melee squads all have steel-clad war grizzlies as pets, while the newer squad have steel-clad cragtooth boars. Steel-clad badgerdogs accompany the mithrl-clad crossbow squad, while the relatively green second crossbow squad are simply expected to occupy the gate tower, directly above the floor with the slade and bullet turrets.
Mage training proceeds apace, Mechanismcorridors now has an arcane protector, witch hunter, two rockmages, a skymage, and an icemage in a squad, clad in mithril, training with staves and auras. A novice firemancer studies at the fire altar, while an adept learns his craft making missiles, spell tomes and phylacteries.
The priesthood consists of a high priest, a priestess and an apostle. They don't do much but sacrifice hearts and ash at the altar.
Our Duchess was specifically chosen because she has no item preferences, so she never issues any demands. The mayor, a slick merchant's guild type, likes gauntlets and barrels. This has made trading food a bit tricky.
The fort has had its share of troubles in the past, and twenty coffins lay occupied in to tombs below. A secret necromancer was starved in his room, and unwisely buried near everyone else. He came back from the grave and would occasionally raise the dead before anyone figured out what was going on. The lifemancer finally put an end to his evil. A drow spy was sacrificed to Armok for equipment. A missed production deadline forced the captain of the guard to kill one of his own recruits. A nasty goblin ambush facing a green and overconfident military led to five soldiers dead on the battlefield. Two failed moods led to berserk dwarves being put down. A giant bat flew in from the caverns and bit the head off a legendary mason while the cavern walls were being built.
But now, the only real problem faced by the fort is trash and disorganization. Old cloths, weird gnomish gadgets bought to see what they might do, too much food, far too many bags and barrels, unprocessed invader gear, and oh so many bones. The tailors went a bit berserk on repeat orders and produced far too much clothing. The upper areas of the fort weren't so much designed as thrown down willy-nilly, without much thought for efficiency, stockpile size and placement, or the use of minecarts and quantum stockpiling. Hopefully, the new cavern level fortress will be prettier and more efficient.
