Editor's note: The tone might be a bit grim, but I enjoyed the first half of this turn immensely. I probably harp on the defective drawbridge too much, but keep in mind it made this year much more entertaining. All dates are fudged, but the season and relative order of events is right.
Overseer's log, Granite 1st: My term as overseer of Authoredmountains has begun with a bang. My predecessor term technically ended mid-battle, so he just walked off and went to bed, leaving our soldiers to fend for themselves. They had to drag me out of bed to give the orders. We may not be well equipped or experienced, but we fought bravely, slaughtering all the goblins and losing only the hand of one wrestler. We later discovered that a fisherdwarf on a midnight stroll had been run down by the goblins, as well. Let us hope his death does not set the tone for this year.
Granite 8th: Our new mayor, Urist, was always an odd one, but for the first time, I am starting to fear him. He knows too much; he's been speaks of places on opposite ends of the world as if he were actually there--and for once, I actually believe him. Worst of all, when he thinks no one is watching, I see him gazing at others with a certain...hunger. I don't have any legal grounds for putting him in prison, so, well, I locked him in his bedroom "for his own safety." From what, I don't know. People are already starting to ask questions, but I just have to keep him locked up long enough to show signs of dehydration... or not, if I am correct.
Granite 18th: Over the past few years, our fort has become a comfortable home, but we must not become complacent. In the name of progress, I have decided to re-open the staircase through the caverns and gain access to the magma sea. It did not take long; the staircase to the warm stone was already dug, so we just had to mine out a room for the magma forges.
Granite 23rd: Naked mole dogs got into the fort, causing widespread annoyance. Shadowhammer has begun to valiantly bash their skulls in.
Slate 12th: One of our miners made a fascinating discovery. His beardsense picked up a wall underneath the magma made of a... curious type of stone. It appears to be just a small part of a larger structure. I feel...drawn to investigate this curious structure further.
Slate 15th: The minotaur Rulac somethingsomething (I swear he had a speech impediment) has come! The beast was a terrifying foe, but his horns and fists were no match for our steel.
Slate 19th: Kumil Blockadebirds, the weaver, has demanded we build a clothery. Fine, fine, I've been meaning to get one built soon, anyways. Kumil began rushing around, gathering materials from all over the fort, and she came out with... a bag. A pretty nice one, too, with a picture of a dwarf bravely slaughtering a goblin peace emissary. Not sure what all the fuss was about, but the quality of her cloth has improved quite a bit since then.
Slate 25th: The miners have the discovered the entrance to that curious structure. They found it swarming with the shuffling corpses of hundreds of antmen, ratmen, and the like. It was truly a horrible sight to behold, but still, the structure has a certain dark elegance. I can't help but feel that this could be our true home...
Felsite 2nd: Months into his confinement, Urist still pounds the door and demands to be released. The fool never realized his ability to protest after two months proves his status as a vampire. We no longer speak of Urist. No one has even dared to claim the mayor's title from him, perhaps out of fear of retribution, lest he escape.
Felsite 12th: Almost as if called by their undead brethren, a horde of zombies has been sighted on the horizon. I would not see our military face them in open combat, so I have ordered everyone inside. We will raise the drawbridge and take potshots as necessary, then mop up the remainder with our melee dwarves.
Felsite 13rd: Oh dear.
Felsite 18th: I do not know whether it was incompetence or sabotage, but when I pulled the drawbridge lever, instead of raising to block the main hallway, it slid smoothly into the floor, leaving us totally unprepared and totally exposed. Our soldiers fought bravely, but several did not survive the assault.
Then the goblins came. Four squads appeared as if out of nowhere, most crossbowmen and bowmen, dispatching the few remaining zombies and then heading for us. Still reeling from the zombie assault, we lost most of the remainder of our military. The day would have been lost had it not been for Shadowhammer, who charged a crossbow squad and quickly bashed five skulls in. All told, we survived the assault, but thirteen dwarves were lost, all soldiers and emergency conscripts.
In all the chaos, I could not help but notice, one of the goblin squads was led
by an elf. An elf with no tongue, no less.
Felsite 25th: The enemy is gone, but our troubles are far from over. Demoralized by the double attack, some of the people have been acting out, shouting and screaming, starting fistfights, upending furniture. One or two adults have been causing trouble, but it's mainly the children who lost parents or grown-up friends.
Hematite 4th: A few have been unable to take the strain of all this sudden tragedy and have taken to wandering the halls, muttering to themselves or silently moping. I have seen this before. They have simply lost the will to live. I have tried to keep the remainder of the dwarves busy, in the hopes that work will keep their minds off the trouble. We have rebuilt the main drawbridge properly, placed new valuable furniture, and produce lavish meals. I am not sure how much it is helping.
Malachite 5th: The children will be our downfall. Since our fortress lacked proper childcare, our children have developed unhealthily close relationships with each other. It took just one child. Overcome with grief, he snapped and murdered a close friend. That child had befriended nearly every other child, and several could not bear the loss of one more friend. They, too, snapped and went on murderous rampages. And so it went again. The fortress has become a battle royale, with children murdering children and the adults getting caught in the crossfire.
Malachite 9th: Watching his beloved fort fall apart was too much for former overseer, Urvad. He has been seen moping about, sobbing. We do not speak about it, but we all know he will never recover.
Malachite 24th: While treating a wounded soldier, former overseer, SanGennaro, was ambushed and murdered by an insane child.
Malachite 27th: It is time to take drastic action. If we must sacrifice the children to save the adults, so be it. The children have been quarantined. The quarantine chamber has become known as Burrow 5.
Galena 22nd: The screams of the children have died down somewhat. I fear this is because they have torn so many of their own to pieces. One child was heard screaming the name of little Kells. Shadowhammer, promoted to militia commander after the death of his predecessor, is enjoying himself far too much.
As I walk the halls, I feel the eyes of the mothers on me. They do not protest. I fear most of them are simply dead inside.
Galena 28th: I began my tenure as overseer governing 180 dwarves. 104 now remain, and a number of the survivors have lost their minds. To think all of this was brought about by one careless architect. Nevertheless, I feel this is a storm we will weather. If we can survive tragedy on this scale, there is nothing in the world that will break us.
TL;DR: Magma forges, underground structure, drawbridge failed, 13 soldiers dead, tantrum spiral, hunger games. 40% dead.
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Topic: BLOODLINE! "Murderpaddles" (Read 34367 times)