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Voting closed: September 27, 2013, 08:30:18 pm

[MDFification]

Welcome to Truthdoors! This is my first time playing on a terrifying biome (turned out it was simply a very, very savage reanimating biome... at least there's no thralls), and I figured I might as well share the experience. Enjoy my suffering!
If anyone wants to suggest a project or be dorf'd, just post in the thread and say so. 

Note: I'm using this thread to test the Grit Fortress mod. You can find more information on the mod and current features here.

Current Suggestions/Projects
Dodge-me Trap Entrances (Two began; in the caverns and outside. Caverns version partially constructed.)
Bloodfall (Apparently Reset; we'll have to construct it again.)

Chapters

Truthdoors the First

The First Embark - In which we meet the inhabitants of Truthdoors, and their infinite malevolence.
Carp Diem
The Second Embark - In which we kind of, sort of, redeem our last failure.
Obok and at 'em
The Third Embark - In which we achieve startling success and hope, which ends because we accidentally poked holes in the fort.
We totally possibly got this
Surprisingly, we're not dead
Happy New Year!
The Fourth Embark *sigh* - In which we find even greater success, but reality falls apart.
Episode IV: A New Hopelessness
Spring Cleaning (also digging)
Dwarfs Run on Google Maps
Intermission - In which we see if Truthdoors can be made playable again.
1 2

Truthdoors the Second There was no second Truthdoors. You saw nothing.
First Embark - In which, hypothetically speaking of course, the embark was too frustrating for testing.
We cannot escape the Sponges

[MDFification]

Chapter 1: Carp Diem

Journal of Emdief Eritholtar, Overseer of Truthdoors.

7th Granite, 83

Still can't believe my luck. The mountainhomes need a new colony, and they choose me! You think after I'd accidentally collapsed the booze stockpile they'd have been angry with me, but I think they were impressed by my take-charge, seize-the-day attitude.
Truthdoors, they call this colony. Doesn't quite look like the brochure. All the grass and trees are dead. I wonder what the inhabitants are like?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Armok damnit.

Oh. Aggressive fish (otters are fish right? I mean they swim and all), men comprised of sponge, a few zombies and an unkillable blob of organic matter. I'm flattered that they think I'm up to this, I really am. I mean, they wouldn't send me here if they didn't think I could survive, right?
Seeing as I'm expected to keep these six malcontents here alive, I should probably make some kind of shelter. Preferably one deep underground, away from the HUGE, FLYING, ZOMBIE BUG.
The surroundings give me an idea. This deep chasm can provide a natural fortification, provided the bridge we build has a roof. I think I'll build a retractable bridge there too; something tries to come in, we can just drop them down this absurdly high cliffs to their death.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Seriously. Those cliff go like 12 z-levels down.

11th Granite, 83
Well, we had a stroke of luck. Our bridge is nearly complete, when the dwarfs come running to me in a panic. One of them, striking a grave face, informs me that the Giant Zombie Moth has been sighted. I start to hyperventilate a little, and ask them to explain. They reveal that it's currently beating itself senseless on the Giant Sponge.
Armok, that's funny! Of all the tender, fragile living things here, the one the zombie has to pick a fight with is a nigh-unkillable blob of matter. I guess it'll be down there until judgement day, trying desperately to kill that sponge.

16th Granite, 83
I've designated a temporary stockpile where I think I'll build our trade depot. Our bunkers construction is well under way. I'm starting to think about possible defenses.
Meanwhile, additional flying zombies have showed up. These would worry me, but they proceeded to attack the giant sponge. That sponge is the best defense our fort has at this point. If it's ever feasible I'll give it a medal. Perhaps inspired by the sponge's example, a few carp have started to attack the zombies, with little to no success.

16th Granite, 83

The journal is stained with blood. OH GODS OH GODS THE GIANT ZOMBIE WREN BROUGHT FRIENDS
ALL THAT DIES HERE RISES AGAIN
WE CAN'T HID-


Well, that's the end of my first attempt to settle this place. There's a lot more zombies now. We didn't manage to get the bunker online in time. From now on, we'll be less ambitious in our bunker construction.
It's going to be a loooong let's play.

[Timeless Bob]

How about re-embarking with enough wood to throw up a quick 9 x 9 palisade around your wagon?  Your miners would probably then have enough time to carve out a quick living bunker and stick a lockable hatch cover over its entrance.  If you then build a 1 x 10 bridge across the chasm and stick your trading depot in the center, you can hang draw bridges off of either side and protect from attacks.

[MDFification]

Chapter 2: Obok and at 'em

Journal of Obok Asteshineth, Hammerdwarf

Well, looks like Obok's in deep trouble again. Most dwarfs prefer not to concentrate on this, but our king is a necromancer. Quite mad, too. Obsessed with the arcane sciences. This is unfortunate, you see, because his quest for dark knowledge is more prioritized than dwarven survival.
So, apparently last year a few dumb yokels were send to some godsforsaken wasteland to dig a new fort. Apparently the king was interested in the properties of the place, which reanimate biological tissue due to fluctuations of the magnetic field and blah blah blah blah.
Let's make a long story short. They yokels were completely unprepared and were slaughtered to a man. How godsdamn surprising.
So the king decided he'd try again. This time, he sent me to keep the peasants from dying. Although, I'm sure he'd forgive me if a few reanimated.

After looking at the site, I'm horrified. Zombies. Sponge Men. Hippos. I quickly don my armor and fetch my hammer.
The previous expedition started constructing a bunker. My hope is that we can seal us and our supplies inside before the zombies notice us.
Now. If we're lucky, the giant flying undead bug's won't notice us.
What the blazes is tha-


Journal of Atir, Acting-Expedition Leader

7th Granite, 84

I'm, uh, in charge now. Obok was set upon by the giant zombie Thirps. We're, uh, probably going to die.
Obok wanted us to move everything we have indoors. Not to criticize, but we don't have time for that. It's only a matter of time before they come back. So instead, I'm trying to move our food and seeds indoors. Who knows how long we'll be hole up in here?
The other dwarfs seem to have given up on survival. I need to shout at them constantly or they'll just stop hauling things and stare into space.
One of them just got ate by the bugs. We need to get inside. I'm sealing it off and hoping we have enough seeds in there. Armok help us.

23rd Granite, 84

Armok. They won't even lift a finger to survive. Can't say I blame them. We're all doomed.
We have one more wall left to seal ourselves off from the monsters outside. Nobody seems to care enough to do it. We don't have the seeds indoors to life, but we can't go back out there. Three of us remain. I don't think we'll live much longer.
Godsdamnit, we will survive. WE WON'T DIE HERE. WE'LL JUST WAIT UNTIL THAT WALL BUILDS ITSELF, THEN!

5th Slate, 84

I finally convinced the dwarfs to finish that wall. At the very least we'll die underground now.
We started working on a basic farm. Which, incidentally, points out a slight problem. You know those seeds we brought inside? It turns out none of them produce anthing edible. We didn't bring in any other food, either. So, we have a choice. We can starve to death, and have plenty of booze to dull the hopelessness of our situation. Or, we can try to make a break for our remaining supplies. I choose the second option. Us three can farm in here. Also, one of us is a woman. I call dibs.

The ones who survive are me, Edzul (our miner) and Ablel (the lass I have farming while I focus on stoneworking).

12th Slate, 84

So, a dead guineacock that somehow wound up in the fort before we sealed it off rose today. Edzul put 'is pick through its skull before it could hurt anyone. Getting a bit off his rocker; started calling himself the commander of our militia now that Obok's gone (and presumable very, very pissed at us).
Reading back into Oboks notes, I think some o' the fort lies within a re-ani-matin biome. I think that means corpses in it go undead? Edzul dug out a passage as far north as we can go, and we dumped the guineacock corpse there. Hopefully that's outside o' the biome, or we're going to have a bad time. Well, a worse time than we already are.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

14th Slate, 84

Well, someone neglected to tell me that a severed hand had entered the fort before we sealed ourselves in. Edzul smashed it, and we dumped it. Godsdamn the biome.
I built us a door. We decided we'd grab some supplies and lock the door before anything could come kill us. This worked pretty well, actually. We got us some more seeds, some meat, some beer... then Obok decided he didn't like how this was turning out and came a-knocking. We locked him out; he's still wearing his armor, and Edzul was asleep anyway.

Your uncooperative attitude is starting to annoy me, Obok.

In other news, it turns out the biome stretches all the way to where we've been dumping the bodies!
Well, we won't starve to death. But we are still doomed. Don't you forget it.

21st Slate, 84

As if it couldn't get any worse, the leader of the last expedition has risen and is haunting the fortress. It wasn't enough that the dead walk. There have to be ghosts, too.
We all want beds, but there's no wood in the fort and no way for us to get wood. Edzul mentioned that there's trees that grow underground, that you find down in the caverns. I ain't never been there myself, but maybe we can create some sort of... tree farm?
Edzul goes off the shaft, since the guineacock rose from the dead again too far from us to notice us, and nobody wanted to go through the effort of killing it again. However, once he gets down there he starts throwing a massive tantrum. In between hissy fits, he asks if anyone wants to jump down the shaft to conduct a meeting with him in a cheerful voice. I think that the insanity might be starting.
Ablel seems content enough in here, but the rest of us as miserable. I suppose things would be better if we carved out a dining hall and some decent rooms, but I can't do that because Edzuls in a pit refusing to cooperate.

I considered just opening the door and making a run for it, but once again we've been invaded by giant zombie birds, and our only competent fighter is sitting in a pit talking to himself.
I see no hope in our current situation, if we loose Edzul. If I lose one more friend, I think I'll just put myself out of my misery.


I decided to abandon. I've effectively fallen prey to diggor mortis, and when my miner starves to death the other two will go insane.
Seriously though. Nothing was stopping them from building the wall. They just wouldn't do it. DORFS.
@Bob: That's actually a really good idea. The only problem is that we have a few zombies of giant, flying creatures. I thought they wouldn't be able to fly, but it turns out they can. My hope is that when the caravan comes the guards dispatch a few zombies.

[MDFification]

Chapter 3: We totally possibly got this.

1st Granite, 85

Greetings. I who write to you am Erib Taronmeng, faithful servant to his majesty Limul the Undying and latest victim Overseer of Truthdoors.
This place has claimed two expeditions already. Ours is the third. I am determined not to disappoint his majesty. Through his science, even the gods must be conquered.
I have planned this expedition thoroughly. The others failed due to inadequate provisioning, leadership and a deficit of necessary skills. This expedition is different. I bring with me experts in trap design and farming; all we need to make a self-sustaining settlement. I have also adequately provisioned wood; it is hard to gather here, and keeping our dwarfs happy requires it.

The first thing I notice here is that for some reason, this place teems with life, to the extent that it seems to be slowing down time. We've counted 61 large animals here, many of... unfortunate savagery. The dead we have yet to see, but no doubt they are here, and in large numbers.
Now I understand why the king wants us to settle. Other than this place's scientific value, the life here is dangerous and numerable. This place could unleash a massive amount of the undead on surrounding lands. We must survive here. We must thin out these dead.

I quickly order our supplies moved inside. This is accomplished with remarkable efficiency, as the first undead to show up have attacked the great enemy of their kind, the local giant sponge. It is our hero. Once everything is inside, we seal ourselves in. I must now construct this fortress.

No caravans are comming for us. Reinforcement will be slow, if it can survive long enough to reach us. We are alone.

6th Granite, 85

We left the horses outside. We can't feed them in here anyway, and butchering them is a very, very bad idea until we can find a way to get rid of the bodies. Their screams were heard from inside the walls. It seems the dead have grown bored of sponges.
No matter. We'll be safe in here. I brought us plenty of provisions. I must concentrate my efforts on food production, living space and defenses. Currently, our defenses are a locked door. I forsee thieves attempting to sneak in and bringing the undead horde with them. I will replace this door system with a floodgate at the soonest possible opportunity. I laugh at sieges, however. Even without a military, if we simply shut attackers out they must certainly die. The problem is that only makes more undead. We're going to have to get rid of them.

I start digging out a workspace for our carpenters. The farms are simply teeming with produce.

17th Granite, 85

Oh, Armok preserve us. There is a zombie giant sponge here. And we, without magma! We'll be stuck in here for a long while.
In other news, the waterfall outside now partially flows blood.

In the future, we might expand upon this effect to create a blood waterfall to please the great Armok. But that's presuming we survive, and I should focus on this.

1st Felsite, 85

Well, I did it. We've survived longer than any other settlers. Nobody has died, our food supplies are secure, and the dwarfs are surprisingly content. I've dug out a proper stockpile for stone, our farms are expanding to allow for production of textiles and eggs, our rooms are complete, and refit of the entrance is underway in a secure manner. 
We still have a few problems. One is a lack of a secure wood supply. The other is ghosts, which we're currently memorializing en mass.

19th Malachite, 85

Eight migrants arrived today. Poor souls. Only one farmer makes it inside. A waste, such a tragic waste. It did, however, prove that if inefficient, the new "airlock" design for our entrance does work.
Welcome to Truthdoors, my brethren. Some ground rules to follow; Don't go near the giant, unkillable blob, ignore the waterfall of blood, don't speculate as to what's happening outside, and if you die so help me Armok I will kill you.
On another note, our only cat died. That's actually terrible. We needed that.


Food supply is stable.
Population is kind of rising.
Zombies are goddamn numerous.
Vermin are all over the stockpile.
Population mental health is bar our migrant suprisingly good.
The fort is semi-kinda-maybe defensible.
The Lets-Play is not necessarily doomed.

[MDFification]

Chapter 4: Surprisingly, we are not dead.

3rd Limestone, 85

Well, it's autumn, and nothing much has happened since those migrants.
All of us in here are ecstatic; we're pioneers where none dare go before. His eternal majesty must be so pleased with me! Or would be if he knew we were alive. Those migrants were actually supposed to be the next expedition. Didn't expect we'd make it through.
Well, not all of us are ecstatic. Our newcomer lost her husband and little sister to the zombies. She seems to be getting a little better, but just to be safe I'm upgrading our bedrooms. Well, maybe not to be safe. Maybe there's just not a ton to do in here until I start dreaming up some architectural projects.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The height of luxury here in Truthdoors.

18th Limestone, 85

Today while I was having my morning ale and fantasizing about being welcomed back into the king's court, our miner Urist decided it was time to point out my gross negligence.
"'ey boss... remember you had us dig that big 'ole pit?"
I paused mid quaff. "Aye."
"Me and Fikod had that cave in on us boss. Wasn't fun. Dust everywhere, we're lucky nobody got killed."
"What about it, Urist?"
"Well, weren't we gonna do somethin' with that there pit?"
Never been so embarassed in front of a lowly miner in my whole life. We never bothered to fill the tree farm with trees. I immediately order the miners to start digging a deep shaft. If there are caverns here, we'll find them. It'll be dangerous with so few dwarfs, but the surface is so dangerous at this point that it should be a relief.

21st Limestone, 85

We have struck silver. Also, more migrants have arrived. The current entrance being so dangerous, we're going to make a new one; this one will be closer to where the migrants come and more secure.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This time we had 7. None make it. The dead are too thick outside the walls.

The caverns are breached. I only hope we can secure the entrance adequately.
I'm considering moving the entire fort down to the cavern. Sure we'd have to irrigate, but there's less undead down there, in addition to quicker access to resources. If we had more dwarfpower I'd divide us into two; as it is, I'm having difficulty choosing.

14th Timber, 85

Some merchants came, along with a representative of his eternal majesty. If they reach our depot I'll be highly and pleasantly surprised.
An ambush of kobolds also showed up. Apparently they've been taking things off the corpses in between their killing sprees, and now they were emboldened enough to attack us. I hope they take a lot of zombies with them before succumbing, but I doubt they will.
It's a full on battle outside now, and surprise surprise, the dead are winning. The kobolds are giving them a run for their money though. I mean, they are doomed as they have limited numbers, but it's surprising how such a pathetic creature can face down the undead without blinking.

20th Timber, 85

Well, it's over. The dead are especially good at making more dead. This has settled it for me. As soon as possible, we're moving to the caverns. When we've grown stronger, we'll dig out that entrance and increase our population. Getting over that river infested with the undead will be tricky, but dwarfs don't cower in a pit like this. Time to make Truthdoors the glorious bastion of dwarfdom she was always meant to be.

Ok, she was meant to be a center for messing with things we don't understand and a way to handle surplus population. But at least we can try.


Migrants can't get in.
The fort is ugly.
Our allies/enemies are snacks for the dead.
The caverns are the safer option for once.

[Timeless Bob]

For the migrant and cavern entrance problems, I suggest building the "Path of Harmony".  Essentially, it's a 1 tile wide stretch of of entrance over a pit 10 to 15 z-levels deep (or only 3 deep, but its such fun to stick apartments with windows farther down to amuse nobles resting in them with the sight of falling enemies).  Each tile is trapped with a single training weapon (I like to imagine that they're actually little wooden dolls that pop out on a bit of spring and begin singing).  The traps aren't meant to harm creatures, they're meant to horrify them into a reflexive dodge, usually into empty space and a long drop to the pit below.  Migrants (being dwarves and therefore already quite mad) will have a bit of a cheery sing-along as they pass by these little automatons, but zombies and other invading types will more naturally jump screaming to their doom trying to get the infectious ditty out of their heads.  Thieves need to be identified at the end of these trapped corridors by an animal in an alcove (so that they're protected from any projectile or breath weapon types that may happen along looking for a target.), but once they are identified, they should flee along the trap corridor to the zombies waiting outside and their almost certain doom, or go a-tumbling down to the charnel pit below.  I imagine a similar thing could be rigged for the entrance to the caverns, but maybe with a different melody for variety.

[MDFification]

Chapter 5: Happy New Year!

5th Moonstone, 85

Progress on entering the caverns is going nicely. We've decided to wall off our breech pending the creation of proper defenses.
The fort is surprisingly ecstatic. I guess that despite its faults, for example the horrific death and reanimation of almost all who come here, it's more than most of us had back at home. And it is home now; we've been in this bunker for almost a year.
My god there's a lot of silver at this site. I just want some iron. We have both a sedimentary layer above and a metamorphic layer below. Which means unfortunately, our deeper mines won't be finding anything particularly useful, considering our complete inability to trade.

Our population needs to rise. Well, until we can ensure that happens with dwarfs, I'm making sure it happens with our chickens and dogs. Dogs will be useful in the caverns; Until we know what's down there I'd prefer that anyone going to chop wood or dig be escorted. We'll enjoy the company, too.

28th Moonstone, 85

We've captured a giant mole that tried to get into the booze depot. Not sure what to do with it; we could tame it, but it's too stupid to work, and we can't kill it or we have a zombie on our hands.
Tonight I dreamed of his eternal majesty. He appeared before me fully naked. To my considerable alarm.
"... your grace?"
"RIGHT. HERE'S THE DEAL. I CAN COMMUNE WITH YOU WHILE YOU SLEEP. OOH, WHAT A TWIST. I'M A GODDAMN SORCEROR, YOU HAVE TO START EXPECTING THINGS LIKE THIS.
"I know this, your grace. But why are you naked?"
"...DAMN. SORRY, FORGOT TO CHANGE AVATARS. YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHY I HAVE THIS ONE."
"I'm sure you have your reasons, your eternal majesty. I take it you have heard of our pligh-"
"I USE IT TO SEDUCE WOMEN WHILE THEY SLEEP."
"... as is your right, your grace. Are you appraised of our situation in Truthdoors?"
"YOU HAVE DONE WELL, MY SERVANT. I ESPECIALLY LIKED THE PART WHERE THE WATERFALL STARTED TO FLOW WITH BLOOD. YOU SHOULD EXPAND UPON THAT."
"Your grace, that I shall do. I am pleased to report our settlement is currently stable and secure. We're attempting to redesign to allow more migrants in. After that we can begin whatever task you have in mind for this fort. "
"YOU CONTINUE TO EXCEED MY EXPECTATIONS. ALTHOUGH, MY EXPECTATIONS WERE THAT YOUR EXPEDITION WOULD FAIL AND I COULD CONTINUE EXPERIMENTING WITH THIS ARMY OF WILD ZOMBIES."
"My lord, whatever thy will be, it shall be don-"
"I HAVE GREAT HOPES FOR GIANT SPONGES. NOW, AWAY WITH YOU. I SHALL CONTACT YOU WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT."

His eternal majesty hasn't forgotten us. If we can prove worthy of his service, what might he bestow upon Truthdoors?

4th Obsidian, 85

Chicks have hatched. Our egg production shall be in the future much higher.
The caverns are finally secure from both land-dwelling and airborne creatures. I won't make the same mistake my predecessors did with those undead birds.
We've also started digging out the new entrance. I've designed a simple trap to knock all the undead into a deep pit. They'll reanimate down there, so maybe in the future we can find a way to flood this chamber with magma.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1st Granite, 86

Happy New Year, Truthdoors! Today we've proved we have more beard between us than all of our predecessors. We've survived a whole year! Break open our finest ale!
Work continues on our trap. Soon, migrants will pour into Truthdoors, presuming migrants continue to be stupid. To greet them and anyone else who wants to come tour this place (Come see the dead grass! The zombies! The bloodfall!) I've ordered the construction of giant wooden spiky balls.
Also, apparently it's the wet season. I haven't seen it rain once here, so that probably doesn't mean squat.

Incidentally, our two miners have fell in love. Good for them. Maybe they'll have children and this fort's population will increase.

12th Granite, 86

Curses! This godsdamned sedimentary layer is only 3 z-levels deep! Why must you taunt me so, Armok!
At least the engraving's good here. Every image seems to be about necromancy, dead migrants or running away. Looks like we have our priorities straight.

10th Slate, 86

Apparently the fort attracted no migrants this season. Guess they have their priorities straight too.

12th Felsite, 86

We've dug out a new area for the cutting of precious stones. If we have to live in hell, we'll have fancy, fancy possessions.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A group of high-elves arrive to trade. They are promptly slaughtered. A bunch of wood-elf thieves had apparently been tailing their convoy. They are also slaughtered. Seriously, why do people keep coming here. At least the migrants realized it's a deathtrap.

1st Hetmatite, 86

Seeing as we're not going to get new migrants any time soon and we need a lot more wood, I'm focusing on getting a defensible entrance to the caverns online.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I have some other plans. The farms are currently more than fulfilling our needs, but fertilizer could be produced and stockpiled for future use. Soap making is also a priority. And we could all use a new set of cloths. Not that anyone's complained; they're all happy as clams. Well, actually happier than the clams we get here, 'cause we're inside and they're in a river full of undead carp.

17th Hetmatite, 86

Problematically, we stumbled upon another cavern while digging our cavern entrance. It was promptly sealed off; we'll have to make the pit shallower. *sigh*

24th Malacite, 86

Still no migrants. They're getting wise to us.
Our entrance to the cavern is nearing completion; though I should remember we'll have to furnish it more thoroughly with traps. Training of war dogs is also under way to guard woodcutters.

12th Sandstone, 86

Well, this is the end. One of the miners managed to dig his way outside, and before I could react the dead invaded the fort. We must flee; I see no other way out.
Maybe someone will come back here. I wish them well; I tried my best to make this site habitable. Maybe they'll succeed where I failed.


So trap production is ongoing.
Chickens are fornicating. Probably the Miners are too.
Iron ore is too goddamn scarce ye gods.
The zombie population is 76.
I really, really wish I could savescum away that stupid error... 

[darkrider2]

This is awesome. Keep it up.

[Timeless Bob]

In dwarf Fortress, 13th time's the charm!

[MDFification]

That was just such a dumb error. Weh.

Episode IV: A New Hopelessness

Well then. Truthdoors. I thought that place had died.
I was very surprised when his his eternal majesty demanded I become its new overlord. Some fellow named Erib had got it off the ground, he said, but he'd made some kind of mess and now he wanted me to take over.
I select six hardy dwarfs to accompany me.

1st Granite, 87

The condition of this site is wholly unacceptable. I mean, all the overworld plants are dead, for starters. Secondly, there's debris everywhere. Thieves flock for the pickings. Third, the sheer amount of dangerous wildlife this place has appears to mildly warp spacetime. Finally, everything here that dies becomes undead; undead migrate into the map; basically there's an exponential rate of undead production here.
Also, there's no iron ore that I know of. We'll look; I ain't seen none.

It appears the last expedition is dead. Poorly constructed tunnels allowed zombies into the fort. Well, that's kind of a lucky break for me. Those poorly constructed tunnels are currently the only way in. I order the dwarfs to grab the supplies and head into the fort's interior.

14th Granite, 87

The masons have sealed us in. Time to take stock of our surroundings.
I don't think there are any undead in the fort, although I can't be certain. Much of this structure remains unknown to me; I'll let the dwarfs and animals explore it at their leisure.
I could go to the bunker the last overseer dug by the surface and live there, but I don't think I will. I read some of his old notes I found. Bloke had some pretty decent ideas trapwise, and we'll need the wood found in the caverns. It'll be inefficient to live where the last group did when we're exploiting the caverns on an industrial scale, so I think I'll dig a whole new fort.
The only thing is farming. We have significant supplies as it is, but it'll take time to make the new fort self-sufficient. I'm currently favoring irrigation via bucket.

4th Slate, 87

We've managed to close the entrance to the caverns. It's not quite ready, and there are batmen blowgunners out there.
Temporarily using the farms and food stockpile of the previous expedition has lead to a large surplus of food. Just as planned.

5th Felsite, 87

We've finished irrigating the new farm. Armok, that was tiring. At least we'll be able to farm down here now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is the begining of our gradual retreat to the caverns. I want to make the cavern entrance defensible; then I can focus on creating a secure exit to the surface for traders.


That's all I'm going to play for now. I come back to this later today or tomorrow.
New fort in the caverns will be rather limited in space, so we'll probably expand back to above the cavern when population expands/when it's convenient.
Cavern Settling > Cowering in the surface bunker.
EDIT: I have to remember to replace the raws with this mod's newest version.

[MDFification]

Chapter 7: Spring Cleaning (also digging)

12th Felsite, 87

Noticing we do not have enough storage containers for our food supply, I figured now was as good a time as any to begin salvaging the useful materials located in the fort.
Surprisingly good pickings, considering the scavengers have clearly been over this place and moved everything around. Although why they'd do that is beyond me. There's plenty of old junk on the surface, and there are probably sites this lucrative that don't require having your flesh peeled off slowly by a horde of zombie parrots. We got us some weapons, furniture, and a wide variety of useful items.
... also we found a lot of eggs. I mean, we'll eat them for variety. But they have been sitting around in this dump for several months. And our cat managed to get eaten by a zombie recently, so the vast amount of vermin living in here continue to multiply.
It's like this fort was designed to test one's dignity.

23rd Felcite, 87

Well, I should have realized this was going too well for this to be Truthdoors. A ghost has risen and paralyzed one of our miners (our mechanic was also briefly paralyzed). Will these effects be permanent? I don't know. I quickly order the dwarfs to re-purpose an apparently pointless slab to satiate this fell spirit.
Until we can free poor Edzul, we'll have to keep giving her food and drink. Damn ghostly pervs.

3rd Hetmatite, 87

We put the ghost to rest. Edzul unsurprisingly doesn't want to talk about being held captive for a week.
Feeling like moral could improve, I order bedrooms constructed. The dwarfs thank me loudly profusely before going about a kilometer to haul their beds down from the surface bunker. Good underlings. Maybe now I'll dig them out a dining hall. It will probably reuse furniture too.
At this point one of the engravers who came into contact with the ghost prior to it being put to rest claims he is paralyzed. I personally don't buy it, but what are you going to do. At least he's "paralyzed" in our food stockpile.

... Armok, Edzul's paralyzed again. Maybe ghostly ectoplasm has spread onto her, and is causing these effects? Maybe we have a plague of week-long paralysis in this fort?

25th Hetmatite, 87

Migrants arrive. I let them in through the door. All bar one make it.
Other than the mysterious paralyzation pandemic, I'm starting to wonder why other overseers found this fort so challenging. It might have something to do with the majority of our resident undead being tied up in permanent struggles with our resident giant, unkillable blobs. If the undead needed to breath they'd all have drowned by now.
The migrants are all useless, of course. Although we got a farmer, and lord knows we could do with more haulers. Also, our masons are currently overtasked; they'll have certain duties removed methinks.

Also we finish the underground farms. No more inefficient trips to the old farms for us. And by us I mean the farmers. Hah.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also we're making good progress on the dining hall.


I have 3 dwarfs right now that occasionally stop what they're doing, declare they can't find a path to equipment they're holding in their hands and spamming cancellation orders. None of them display any symptoms that I can detect right now other than their strange paralysis.
The thing is I have no idea how they got it, unless that ghost can now deliver a syndrome. There weren't any syndromes on the map in the previous playthroughs (even though we're in a terrifying biome). I also can't find any message that relates to their paralysis. 
There are also nine giant sponges on this map. I am afraid. I am so very very afraid.

[MDFification]

Chapter 8: Dwarfs run on Google Maps

16th Malachite, 87

I've begun to notice a pattern here.
I noticed one of our migrants from after the ghost's presence became paralyzed in exactly the same spot the in our food depot. So, this confirms it. Somewhere, there is an invisible contaminant that temporarily paralyzes my dwarfs.
Who knows how far it's been spread all over the fort by now? I presume it is located on the barrel the dwarfs touched (also on the chair the first dwarf touched... man, I wish I hadn't reused and forgot about that) since it couldn't get through our shoes otherwise. Maybe I could weaponize this in some way. Like, tricking invaders to touch the barrel. Although invaders really don't matter at this point because they'll just be eaten by the horde of zombie elephants that just showed up.

26th Malachite, 87

Attempting to seal off a cavern entrance we accidentally dug while preparing the trap for the main exit, I noticed that for some mysterious reason, the dwarfs believe they cannot be accessed. Despite, you know, they being possible to access while they were dug. And connected to one of our main stairs. And not being specially designated in any way.
This is actually quite mysterious. Theres nothing I can see that makes the staircase undesirable. Miners will traverse it. Previously built staircases all seem to work. But the dwarfs just refuse to build my hatch there.

19th Galena

The mysterious refusal to traverse parts of the fort continues. Other things to note; there is a bat man tribe in the caverns with us. They keep mostly to themselves, but I don't think we should approach them. They seem to have a corpse with them that continuously reanimates and is struck down.
At least during famine times we could kill them and take their food supplies. But I suppose that would result in corpses in the caverns. We'll want to avoid that at all costs.

5th Limestone

Everyone has just been killed by a giant cave spider. Really. I'm out of this dump. It's just too stressful. The survivors and I are going to go find wherever it is the survivors of the other forts went.


Well then. Truthdoors.
I'm going to re-gen the world to update it, find a similar site, and reembark. This fort is pathfinding hell. Also, the framerate is starting to get bad from the sheer number of zombies.
If anyone wants I can make the save available.

[MDFification]

SO BEGINETH TRUTHDOORS THE SECOND

So, we have your salt water. We have your aquifier. We have your terrifying biome. We have 7 idiots ready to be the newest test subjects settlers of a fort they call Truthdoors... a name that even in another universe inspires thoughts of incompetence and death.
They bring with them only their wits, some supplies, a few tools, and breeding pairs of dogs, cats and chickens.
They are doomed.

Chapter 1: We cannot escape the Sponges

1st Granite, 251

'ello guv. Me name's Melvil. Me and me mates 'ave been deported for the crime 'o being poor. Also the crime 'o public sobriety. There are other crimes we won't talk about.
This place ain't much to look at guv. It's large expanse 'o dry grass, studded with trees and boulders. A river rolls lazily down the middle. I didn't know why the folks back home were so afeared 'o this place until I saw the sponges.
Giant sponges. Men in the shape 'o sponges. So when they said the river'd be safe for drinkin, they lied, guv. Not that we want to drink water.

2nd Granite, 251

Well, we dismembered the wagon. All 'o us were sick 'o the thing. TAKE THAT, GOVERNMENT PROPERTY!
Since there's no hill to dig into, we started to dig into the ground.
One 'o me mates is a clerk. Fancy bloke, though fallen on hard times as of late, being deported with us and all. Says there's an aquifier here. Bugger, that'll make it hard fer me to get stone! We find it just two layers into the dirt.
I notice a bunch 'o wild boar men. Bloody pigs followed us here, no doubt. Good thing they're on the other side 'o the river.

7th Granite, 251

One 'o the miners decides to breach the aquifer and ends up drowning. The other one decides to find out what that blubbing noise was and also promptly drowns.
Well, now we got no picks, bugger me sideways. We're leavin. I ain't gonna live above the ground. Send me actual miners next time, mountainhomes.


Bleh, I hate this new map.
Should I try to go with this, gen a new map, or try to make the old map playable again with DFhack?

[BlackMuffin]

Go ahead and use the old world. You didn't seem to hate it as much, so I think it's worth a shot.