My latest cave embark. Savage rocky wasteland, shallow clay, aquifer (god bless it), no vegetation whatsoever. I brought a pair of shalswars, an ogress, a pair of changelings and a pair of giant jack rats. I brought a clay boulder to start building Kilns and mass gathering clay. My army is composed of a Lizard with a copper Machete, a Turtle with a copper pointy stick and two Viper guys whose most useful asset is a poisonous bite. I had literally no wood to start with. Literally. My wagon got glitched out because it spawned on the slopes of the cave, rather than on top of it. No seeds whatsoever. The only ones available at embark were never-heard-that stuff like carrots and green cabbages. My life would have been a lot easier if I had brought any seed to make booze to turn into fuel, and brought some wood logs with me. I started by slaughtering many Cave Beetles and blobs, then sealed the entrance of the cave off with a floor and sealed ourselves in with a moat. I set up a butchery, a kitchen (to compress food) and a tanner. Look at all that chitin, without logs for a Chitin Scrapper (curse you, kobold tent logic!) I can't make any use of it. The moat proved its usefullness when a bunch of thieving lanky grey lanches got sealed in and took away some meals. I just stationed my military at the only exit, the bridge, and if you zoom very closely at the butchery stockpile you can see the results. What I am really worried about is the lack of a well. I've dug out a channel to the aquifer, but out of my moat. I don't want any hole in the ground in my camp, it's ugly (later I'll use said aquifer tile to pump water into the moat, hoping it doesn't freeze). You see that one ramp in the north that leads out of the moat? It's the shortest way to the drinking hole.
