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[MDFification]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This image is quite impressive; did you draw it yourself? Also, may I pin it to the original post?

Go right ahead! As for the drawing, I stole that; it's a recolored dwarf with an added hammer and pickaxe tattoo cut from a DnD manual.

[Gnorm]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This image is quite impressive; did you draw it yourself? Also, may I pin it to the original post?

Go right ahead! As for the drawing, I stole that; it's a recolored dwarf with an added hammer and pickaxe tattoo cut from a DnD manual.

Ah, whatever the case. I'm no artist myself, as you have probably seen by now.

[fractalman]

Oh, the tantrums finished up around late august. 
as for semblance of order...well, I'd like to think that steelhold 2.0 is much, much more organize than the old one, though the defenses are still a bit shoddy. 
I grabbed the shift+f keys for it.

journal entry:
early winter.
Lost about three dwarves to goblin ambushes.  At least the trader's guards helped us out. found out what happened to moisturizer: one of the levers in the lever room locks up the lever room.  Oops. 

One of the trader's wagons deconstructed, so we now have...a "wagon wood".    go figure! it has been incorporated into one of the windmills.
Roughly half the fort is helping to build my windmill array.  Emdief thinks I could do with much less flooring, but oh well. should be able to just barely get them finished before he takes over.

I may need to pop emdief in as mayor to get the mandate to expire...

[MDFification]

Oh, the tantrums finished up around late august. 
as for semblance of order...well, I'd like to think that steelhold 2.0 is much, much more organize than the old one.
I grabbed the shift+f keys for it.

But... how can the fort be stable without propaganda posters? Do you have any idea how much crimethink is going on as we speak?
... wait, I'm fairly sure crimethink is the only think Steelhold has.

[Gnorm]

Oh, the tantrums finished up around late august. 
as for semblance of order...well, I'd like to think that steelhold 2.0 is much, much more organize than the old one, though the defenses are still a bit shoddy. 
I grabbed the shift+f keys for it.

Perhaps, though -- after Jackal's turn -- the original "Steelhold" game was probably most stable during Modi's reign, as the prisoners were too scared of her to do anything.

EDIT: Once Fractal achieves his goal of powering the portal, will he travel to another dimension, thus ceasing his presence in this world?

[MDFification]

Perhaps, though -- after Jackal's turn -- the original "Steelhold" game was probably most stable during Modi's reign, as the prisoners were too scared of her to do anything.

Jackal, Modi and Rhaken were all stable, with few deaths and little to no tantruming. Jackal doesn't really count though, because if you get tantrums and deaths on the first year you've really goof'd.

[fractalman]

Oh, there's plotting going on...but the dwarves still take orders from me. even maskdwarf is lending a hand-he/it realized that helping me was very much in the best interest of both him and his "true gods"


2nd opal: midwinter.

I'm running short on time.
However, the windmill array is....roughly half done. There's enough supplies sitting around I can cut way back on farming, cooking, and brewing. Found a bunch of dwarves hauling wood to the wrong stockpile, probably a result of Emdief's plotting. Either that, or it's just an old stockpiling order I missed.
My speech went as follows: "dwarves: bear with my insanity for just two more months."
It went over well enough. 
Emdief's political movement grows stronger.
All according to plan.  For it does not grow stronger too quickly. 
Only question is whether I should make myself a raw-adamantine coffin or not...
_______

EDIT: Once Fractal achieves his goal of powering the portal, will he travel to another dimension, thus ceasing his presence in this world?

I *could* just open up an (raw) adamantine tomb for myself on top of the portal to represent that...


________________

12 opal, midwinter:
Roughly 1/4th of the actual windmills are in place now. Power is begining to flow into the portal, though it's not yet enough to begin repairing the damage to other dimensions.  Wonder if I'll get the chance to make myself a nice adamant coffin before it's all over...
24th opal: midwinter:
discovered that petrified wood makes an acceptable mechanism.  Or perhaps rediscovered; there are a few gaps in my memory that refuse to repair themselves.
24th opal: entry 2.
The elves are not going to like this...We ran out of wood, so I ordered what little is left of the forest...to be chopped down.
________
1st obsidian: late winter.
we might just make it. if I have time left, I'll have an adamantine coffin made up for me. tehe!

9th obsidian:
It....it is done.
The elves are NOT going to like this one bit:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

All that remains is to try and convince emdief that, with my most important goals accomplished, I could care less what he does...or, well, that I'd work for him like any other dwarf. with his magic-phobia, that may prove difficult.
I must rest for a long, long time before I feel like jumping through dimensions again.  That will happen faster if I have a body.

17th obsidian:
goblin ambushes.
However, this time, we had cage traps up all over the place. casualties were minimal:only one dwarf died.

[fractalman]

well THis is a hoot.
Emdief, you've claimed a mechanics workshop. HEH HEH HEH!
19th obsidian: emdief claimed a mech workshop. he's not talking. 
21st obsidian: I've gone back to making bone crafts...and slaughtering animals.  Das Ebal still has cracks in it, and it'd be better to repair them than to not repair them.  they're not a threat to the fort or anything, as I am no longer drawing upon it. 

Emdief's begun his construction. a mechanism, some stone, a gem, and a bit of iron...
could he be making a new thaumometer?
odd. i thought he didn't need a thaumometer anymore...

25th obsidian:
workshops are done.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Regretably, most of the bedrooms are at best half finished.  ah well.

No doubt emdief's going to claim a lot of the credit for stabalizing the fort.
can't be helped.



1st of granite:
Your move, Emdief...
As soon as you're done building...whatever it is you're building.
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=8286

[MDFification]

Your move, Emdief...
As soon as you're done building...whatever it is you're building.
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=8286

It's an artifact revolution. It menaces with spikes of people's tribunals. It's decorated with hanging rings of the will of the people and is studded with rhetoric. On the revolution is an image of the old order and Emdief Twiceborn in dwarf leather. The old order is in in a fetal position. Emdief is bestriding the world like a colossus. This relates to the seizing control of the fortress Steelhold by the Marble Revolution in whatever-year-this-is.


Introduction: Les Miserable Dwarfs

So. It begins.
Fractal seems to have realized his days in command are numbered. His overtures of peace, however, come too late. Already things are in motion. The people have be ready and eager to rise for the past few months - they never needed much prodding in the first place. All they needed was a leader. And even if he refuses to leave his workshop for a while, they'll follow Emdief Twiceborn to hell itself at this point.

Throughout the night the yells and chants of the revolutionaries resounds throughout the fort. I hardly notice when they drag the Overseer before me. He's thrown in a cell, one that's actually locked, for now. They managed to take his book from him in the scuffle. I'd rather not touch it. I order it thrown in that portal of his. Enjoy the void between worlds, Swordthunders!

His fate will be decided eventually. There are more pressing matters at hand before I resume my work. I call upon Corley, Melek, Jovus, Rhaken and the various commanders of the military.
The first meeting of the Steelhold Council begins. It mainly consists of appointing the members of that aforementioned council. Rhaken takes over as manager - there's only one more qualified, and none dearer to the seperatists. Corley becomes our mayor - a popular choice amongst the younger members of our revolution. Jovus gets a seat to appease the (very few) socialists he leads within the fort. The militia commanders obviously get their own votes - we need our military. Finally, in lieu of Asmoth, Melek shall be the representative of our Chief Medical Dwarf on the council.

And so my reign begins. Let the magic users beware. Their days are numbered.

[MDFification]

State of the Colony - Clusterf*ck and a Half

1st Granite

Well then. Time to survey my new domain. And by Armok, we've got problems.
The new entrance is defended only by cave traps. It can't even be sealed with a bridge at this point. There's also many, many cage traps placed seemingly at random around it, but in places intruders are not likely to go. The windmill platform and the new entrance in general allow the the fort to be accessed by anything that flies, be it dragon, titan or buzzard. I hear elves occasionally ride giant eagles into battle - I'd rather let those in the fort.
The old entrance has been "sealed" by removing one of the bridges that allowed access to the trapped corridor. However, the main gate is still wide open, with only two doors stopping the invaders from comming straight into the fort, pausing to kill our marksdwarves along the way! Speaking of which, the archery towers are utterly insufficient for the purposes of pincushoning our foes. That will have to be worked on.
In the meantime, I've set Corley up in his father's office. It was being used by random dwarves to throw wild parties. Thankfully they didn't touch any levers or nothing, or we'd all probably have died. I've dismantled Lenehan's machine for good - no point in letting it be used against me.
Also, today I met my husband! Which is the first I've heard of my new status as a woman. Damn magic users couldn't bring me back in a body with a winkie, could they? I hadn't noticed since this body is enormously fat. This merely reaffirms my desire for vengeance. Fractal's fate will be decided later.

In summary, in case another leader needs to finish what I start - our defenses are more full of holes than +purring maggot cheese+. Both of our entryways provide access to the fort from the air, neither have simple drawbridges to allow the fort to be sealed in case of emergency, and both will need to be renovated. Once the problem of Fractaldwarf is solved, of course.
I noticed he'd prepared an adamantine coffin for himself. Seeing as he desecrated a previous overseer's tomb for his project, I decided he won't be needing it. If I can find my old body and stuff it in there, it will be victory enough for me.

It has come to my attention that not only are our defenses wholly inadequate - we have a gaping hole in them in our magma forges! Seriously, and creature of the magma sea can just waltz right into to our fortress and kill our smiths. Unacceptable. I'll have the holes plugged as soon as I can find the dwarves to haul the buckets of water down - we don't seem to have any idlers at the moment. Securing this fort is a huge engineering feat that really can't wait, but everyone's busy doing armok only knows. I suspect attending seances with the masked dwarf.
A new propaganda poster was issued on the commands of Jovus. We already have enough booze (Fractal managed the stocks well, although you won't find anyone on the council who'll admit that) so I don't understand why it's necessary, but why not?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Er... all of our valuable, egg laying animals are pastured outside where the goblins can get at them. Someone explain this to me. Go ahead. Make my day.
I've decided to establish priorities. They are as follows;

1. Secure our main entryway (and seal off our new entryway from the ground). Rebuild the old trade depot.
2. Secure the magma forges.
3. Reform the military. Build a better archery tower system.
4. Get all valuable assets outside, inside.
5. Secure the new entrance/above ground farms (OOC: A mini-megaproject in its own right. I might not have the dwarfpower to see it through)
6. Deal with the dwarves responsible for this nightmare.
7. Train the military on the hundreds of prisoners we have in the fort, and strip them of valuable materials.

The revolutionaries cry out for blood. I'm appeased them so far by having Fractal imprisoned, but I don't think that will be enough. I know that he puts our reality at risk. I think I can fix it. The portal anchors him here - it can send him back to whatever hellhole he came from. A crowd-pleasing execution device and saving the space-time continuum. Don't say Fractal didn't do anything right. Unluckily for him, he's part of the old order that needs to be swept away.

One day of Overseership and I'm already afraid of imminent death. Again. I thought if we got rid of the magic users, the for would be fixed - it turns out years of mismanagement means this colony will be lucky to survive the year. Any plans I had of turning over power to another member of the council are now gone.
I'll bring Steelhold to security and independence, or (likely) die in this desert.


OOC: Seriously guys, we could crumble if any flying megabeast/titan comes along or we get an infestation of magma crabs. Everyone's wandering around in old cloths, too, so they're perfectly ready to tantrum. I'll try to get a cloths industry running to try to relieve that pressure, and fix up our defenses, but damn. I have no idea how we've survived this long - we've had unclosed holes in our defenses since at least Lenehan, at most Sarrak.
I'm tempted to just wall off Fractal's megaproject to seal the holes there, but I'd like to renovate it an use it as a surface farm. (Fun fact: If a tile has seen the light once, it can grow surface plants even in total darkness. DORFS!) It's also a huge FPS drain at the moment, with tons of power being used to... well power his portal, but other than that nothing useful that I can tell.
I haven't found the vampire yet, but I think that's because he's currently one of our militia captains. Speaking of which, our army is a mess. Most of our positions are empty, our equipment follows no logical pattern, there's valuable ammunition scattered around the map, and we haven't managed to produce any adamantine gear yet.
Tl;dr : We are doomed.

[Rhaken]

Days have been bleeding through my fingers. It takes me great effort to keep track of time. What seemed like yesterday turns out to have been last month, the inbetween a muddled haze punctuated by brief passages of clarity. Thus passed the first several months of the year after I feigned my death. I do not recall how the fortress inmates took the news. I do not recall how my wife took the news. I recall my burial, and my exhumation, and they feel like memories of a long-gone youth.

What am I doing now? I think I'm in my office. I see the top of my desk and little else. Sounds of military activity, though feint, as if my ears are filled with rope reed. It takes me tremendous effort to move my own gauntleted hand into view, even more to clench it into a fist. It seems to take an hour. Could this be a rare lucid moment?

I recall... reading a report my lads copied from Asmoth's notes. Corley was clever, but he hadn't figured out all of this on his own. But why was I reading this? Ah yes, the fake death serum. Looking for side effects. Wasn't much other than what Corley had said. I think? Yes, that was it. And none of it explained my current condition.

Onul walks in. I muster the will to look up at her. She cups my chin in her hand, asks me something. I have a hard time comprehending my own birth language, but I think she asked how I'm feeling. I try to say 'better'. A groan escapes my lips. I try to say 'I love you'. Another groan. My head sinkks into her lap before it can hit the desk. Groan groan groan.

She hugs me, whispers a melody. I remember this. We used to sing it to our kids. We sang it to Sibrek every night because she was scared of the dark. My warped mind takes this in, and a single tear falls from my eye. I try to thank Onul for putting up with me. Another groan.


Emdief is shaking me by the shoulder. Did he always look like this? I don't remember, but I think not.

"Rhaken, are you listening? Come on, dammit, you're in there somewhere! I'm going to need you on the Council!"

I don't know how long it has been. I thought the fractaldwarf was in charge after my death. I just know that the sounds clashing metal outside my office have been getting dimmer and dimmer over the - what was it? Days? Months? Years? I don't remember.

Emdief - it's him, I know it is, even if he's not the same dwarf - calls for Melek, who takes some time to examine me. I try to move in any way that can help her, but fail. It's just not a good day.

"I don't get it," Melek says, brow furrowed. "I've studied the effects of valley herb products on the dwarven mind, and nothing like this ever came up. Not even the drugs are known to do this, much less the fake death serum. Maybe it's an undocumented side effect."

"What if it wasn't the serum?"

Melek turns to eye the engineer. "You heard Onul. He hasn't taken anything else that she hasn't tested for poison."

"What if it's not something he took? What if it was one of the magic users, like Fractal or the Maskdwarf?"

Maskdwarf...

Anger. Betrayal. Revelation. In that very instant, I am struck once again with the last truly clear thought I've had in a year - I know it's been a year.

Ilral Inkeyfierce is Ilral Lockedgears, the vampire responsible for all of this. He lives in Steelhold.

And the masked one is his partner's slayer.

Melek turns back to me to found me clenching my fists, teeth gritting. She begins to ask something, but I don't give her time. I stand up, and she takes step back. Emdief reaches for his crossbow. I lift my gaze from the floor, staring him dead in the eye.

"I need a situation report. I've been out of it for a year. What happened to your face?"

I'm back.

[MDFification]

Beware the Ides of Granite

2nd Granite

A thieve rushed into our gaping open entrance, grabbed something from the pile of valuable goods that marks where the old trade depot was, and ran off before anyone could respond. This is the first of many security breaches, I fear.
Rhaken seems to have recovered his former vigor and mental faculties. I brushed him off at the time, telling him he has a lot to catch up on. Someone else will have to bring him up to speed - I don't have the time. Between running this fortress and my personal project, I really can't do politics. Hopefully he'll realize what remains of his organization is mine now, and cooperating with the new regime is the best way to achieve his objectives. Hopefully I'll find someone I can trust in him. I can't save this fort alone.

Here's the current state of the fort's supplies:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

3rd Granite

Supporters of Fractal let him out of his cell today. He was promptly put right back in. I'm allowing him to do labour, under heavy supervision. The dwarves constantly yell and throw things at him, but he doesn't seem to notice. Just keeps grinning manicly. You could hardly tell that he'd almost led a revolution like this himself a year ago.
I've given up securing his expansion of the fort for now, because it simply can't be done in the near future. After I've dealt with him and his blasted portal can be safely shut down, I'll fix it. Hopefully.
I say, there's a lot of cripples in this fort. Asmoth isn't the miracle worker she's chalked up to be, I guess. Well, she does things that aren't possible to a dwarf of regular skill, but miracles are traditionally benevolent.
I honestly can't find any workshops in this mess, so I'm having new craftsdwarf workshops built. I need nest boxes. We're also going to butcher a lot of the uneccessary animals before they eat the remainder of our pasture. The leather will be used to cloth dwarves who currently wear tatters and the bones will be made into sub-standard ammunition for target practice.

4th Granite

The entrance trap was repaired today. Also, the cage traps caught a new goblin snatcher. The cage traps inside our fort, that is. Which just goes to show that a single siege right now could probably wipe us out.
Today, we finally executed Fractal. The crowd went wild as they flung him into his portal, which we then proceeded to tear down to prevent him from accessing this world again. If the path to security and propserity for Steelhold is paved with bodies, so be it.

5th Granite

I've finished my project - a mechanism more beautiful than any I've ever seen. Hardly knew what I was making, actually. Just needed to keep my hands busy.
The dwarves have dug an area in a gold vein this they say will be my tomb. I didn't order it, but I'll accept it graciously - better to reward their enthusiasm than risk losing the mob. Once you've harness the power of revolution, you have to keep moving forward or it turns on you.
Work has also commenced on a tree farm. I hope to massively increase our tree production and grazing area by hollowing out a large space under the dunes. Some of the wood, hopefully, can be used to repair Lenehan's tomb. Using cavern wood is rather symbolic of his rehabilitation into a symbol of Steelhold's independence, anyway.

8th Granite

A new area is dug for the future egg production facility. The gates at the old entrance (soon to be only entrance, if I have my way) are finished. They'll be hooked up with a lever in the mayoral office.
I notice that we have a few very unhappy dwarves running about. Namely, our champion, a planter, and shining, who lost a child to tragedy during Fractal's reign. They'll be placed on watch - if one of them throws a tantrum, it could spread. The discontent in the fortress with the current state of affairs could result in total anarchy and, by extension, all of our deaths.

11th Granite

The entrance has been secured, and is in the process of being linked to the mayor's office. In addition to this, the surface farms are no longer open to the outside world. In 10 days, we've brought ourselves to the point that we can survive a siege, got Rhaken back, and rid ourselves of 50% of this fort's magic users. This calls for a drink. Hail to the marble revolution! I wish I knew why it is we've decided to call it that.

And, since this calls for a drink, there's a party going on. Good thing - we could all use something to cheer us up. In the meantime, we've begun to secure the magma forges. I'm ordering dwarves to pour water down the unnecessary/dangerous entrances to the magma sea. Hopefully, this will create a barrier of obsidian through which the denizens of the magma sea cannot penetrate.
Do we really only have 179 dwarves remaining? We've taken quite a beating since the start of Rhaken's reign. Hopefully the mountainhomes will send us more settlers.

14th Granite

The plan to secure the magma forges has failed, and we may have damaged them in the process. It turns out the magma sea is deeper than I'd suspected, and those gaping open holes were actually the only power sources for the forges any way. Conclusion: Magma forges poorly design. They'll have to be rebuilt, this time drawing their power sources through secure channels.
I'm not sure when these were built, but I'm fairly sure it was during Sarrak's reign. Figures - her ghost tells me she's a bloody butcher (hah) not an engineer.

This is when I notice something appalling in our stocks:

WE HAD BLOODY JABBERERS, ONE OF THE MOST FEARSOME WARBEASTS AROUND, A RAPIDLY REPLENISHING RESOURCE DUE TO THEIR FAST MATURATION, AND WE USED THEM AS A FOOD SUPPLY?!

(OOC:MDFification cancels play dwarf fortress: Throwing tantrum)


OOC: Whoever wasted those jabberers, you're a bloody fool. They're an insanely valuable and productive source of meat, lay 2 eggs a year, mature rapidly, are war trainable and are more dangerous than a bloody elephant in battle. All I can see in the caverns now are pond grabbers.
 

[Rhaken]

Wouldn't have done us any good. It was a goblin mount - therefore, untameable. Untameable and delicious.

[Gnorm]

Hopefully, you will be able to achieve order in the fortress before handing it off to me. Also, how exactly was Fractalman disposed of?
Corley's Log:
Steelhold Council
--
Apparently, the clever dwarf leading the whole "revolutionary" business was Emdief this whole time. More so, he -- I say this out of habit, even though Fractal seems to have made him a lass -- has taken the entire fortress under his command and has ousted Fractal out of power. Smart dwarf, I say. It seems that he wants to achieve great order, hence the propaganda posters about the fortress. Also, he wants to actually have a council, and has a seat prepared for me. How could I refuse such an offer; this only aids me in the grand scheme of things. Apparently, my seat also comes with the position of mayor! Father would most certainly be proud of me.

As for the actual council, I'll attend the meetings when they occur, but I'll tell Emdief that he should probably commission a council's chamber or something like that for us to meet in. We can't have our private discussions be heard throughout a dining hall, that's for certain.
Corley's Log:
Mayor of Steelhold
--
Well, I'm now the mayor of Steelhold. My father held such a position at one point of his career, and he worked in this very office. This room is dark, and it doesn't let much light in. The eerie coincidence I just outlined makes it even spookier. I suppose I'll need a few cigarettes and a flask of fisher berry wine in order to get through the first day or two. Hopefully, the job will get easier as I get used to my surroundings.

To take my mind off the office, I have begun to think about my clothing. I have nothing particularly clean or mayoral to wear during my working day; all I have to put over my dirty forge clothes is my old jacket. I suppose this will have to do for now, I just wish that I didn't have to wear the symbol of Emdief's regime on my lapel.

[MDFification]

Wouldn't have done us any good. It was a goblin mount - therefore, untameable. Untameable and delicious.

Well ok then _{why jabberers why}


Urist and Catten's Excellent Adventure

19th Granite

The time has come for our military to get reorganized. I see we have two marksdwarf squads. I assume the original idea was to have one of the two training at all times. However, the first squad's appears to have been decimated at some point (it's positions are filled seemingly at random, and it has no commander) and morale is low enough that I'd prefer both kept off active duty for now. We have just enough marksdwarves for a full squad under my command - which promptly takes to calling itself the revolutionary guard.
Speaking of that squad, there's no reason for them to be decked out in only leather when we have metal armor available. Anything that helps stop a bolt is useful.
Rhaken being back to normal means his gang will continue on as they currently stand, although they're 3 members short of a full squad.
Our remaining melee squad has 4 soldiers but no commander. Our champion also has no underlings - he appears to hold the position of champion and militia commander. I'd put them under his command, but perhaps later - the confusion might hurt morale worse than it already has been.
Also, I'm ordering the ammunition scattered around the map collected. We can use that ammunition. At the very least, it can be melted down and used to train our weaponsmiths before we start smelting adamantine gear.

I'm also starting to plan upgrading the military to steel armor first. This will provide valuable training for the armorsmith. Other than that, no new jobs! We have too many jobs. There are mass engraving projects that likely won't end till my reign if over. Unneccessary smoothing is canceled until further notice.

20th Granite

Is it just me, or are our medical facilities far too small? I appreciate that Asmoth's work has taken place in what is also her office, but I don't see how this design is efficient. A new hospital will have to be built, one that can both meet higher numbers of patients (ours can currently only house 3, put 1 in traction and do surgery on 1) and has more efficient means of storage.
(OOC: This is also a good way to prevent the hospital form using adamantine threads in suturing, which is really annoying when you start adamantine production, let me tell you)

21st Granite

I've ceased production of rope, because armok-be-damned we have a lot of ropes already. More ropes than we could ever use for practical matters. All for the sole purpose of decorating our cells.
I have a plan, you see. The moutainhomes doesn't care about the conditions in Steelhold. It's a penal colony, not a dungeon. Being sent here is a life sentence. The desert is our jailer - after all, even if we tried to escape how long would we last? We have no domesticated wagons here, and without such mighty beasts of burden we'd never make it back to civilization. So I say, once you enter Steelhold, you're a free citizen - unless you commit further crimes against the colony or try to leave. From now on, no more fooling the inspection. I figure they can't really punish us if they want to, anyway. Bringing an entire army across the desert just to deal with a few convicts you're never going to have to deal with again if you leave alone doesn't seem like something that would be popular back in the mountainhomes.
So, all those restraints could be taken our of our cells bedrooms and put in a stockpile where they can be used in various projects. Although we'd probably never run through out supply. Anyway, the dwarves seem to like them (I never stop hearing about how they admire the fine craftsmanship on the ropes) and it's almost a matter of civic pride at this point. No more will be installed, but none will be removed yet.

22nd Granite

A kidnapper has made off with one of our children! Disaster! I don't know why I haven't chained up one of these animals to stop the enemy from just waltzing into our fort. The parents will be upset. Probably nobody else though, because if there's anything this fort produces in surplus it's children.
I've decided also that the construction of the new fortifications can be worked into a partial solution for this. If the pillbox is large enough, then my marksdwarves can train in it; training will double as being on watch. Efficient.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The new fortifications's foundation under construction)

I'm also informed the party really isn't worth attending, serious man, just go hit up a bar instead.


24th Granite

Migrants! The first migrant wave in years! I'm informed they arrived "despite the danger" which basically just means the queen doesn't care what happens to there poor murderers and thieves.
With this wave, we get many much needed haulers. We also get four pre-trained marksdwarves, which is rather convenient. Deserters and poachers, most likely, but trained in dodging, ambushing, archery and armor use. They'll make fine additions to the second marksdwarf squad, which has just been reinstated! We also get two competent soldiers (wielding swords and axes, respectively) who are promptly drafted into Rhaken's gang. I'd rather field one full-strength squad and let the soldiers watch eachothers backs than field two smaller squads.
This brings our population up to 200.
Corley gets in on the martial spirit of things and mandates the construction of 3 bucklers. Good thinking, Corley! Bucklers are lighter than shields and pretty much as effective in terms of blocking.

27th Granite

A werelizard has come! Judging by the lenght of the name, a pretty famous one too. Fortunately, even lizards twisted into humanoid form have a natural aversion to crossbow bolts.
However, before we can kill the beast, it savages a metalcrafter to death, transforms into a cave fish man, and runs away. I'm glad to see it gone, and glad it didn't kill anyone too valuable - like a smith - but it's still a tragedy.


As with other posts, this one will grow more as I play. Let me tell you about our military. It's insanely disorganized. It's also small and could use a lot more training! I'd expect better by year 8, but of course we lost almost all our old military on year 4 and our numbers have fallen considerably from what they were in Rhaken's day.
Once the magma forges have run out of things to do, I'll redesign it. We could use more than on forge, for starters, although I like the number of smelters. Also, they should be powered by placing an impassable building tile over the magma - that way nothing can path into our fort. Currently anything in the magma sea can. Also we've dropped a lot of ore down those shafts by accident, I seen it.

Some random musing; we seem to get a lot of job cancellations from dwarves far away from the food stockpiles deciding to go get a drink. Maybe that can be fixed with smaller food/booze stockpiles in strategic positions? We could certainly do with one down at the forge level...