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[InfiniteCastor]

Can I be dorfed? As anyone really.

Consider it done.

[Wacksonoff]

Danke

[Northstar1989]

I made a judgment decision and just decided to pull up 0.40.09 (after getting off a minor game binge that distracted me). We'll see where it goes from there. In the meantime...let's begin.

I hope you don't mind machine-gun crossbows then!  We'll all need to keep an eye out for 0.40.10 then, and update to it ASAP, as it fixes this issue.

20th Malachite

The past few days have been...stressful, to say the least. I've been given the position of Overseer, as North has finally grown weary of leadership. Given the situation I was left with, it's understandable, so I took the position with acceptance. I didn't make a journal entry on the first day because of all that was going on, but I can finally say with relief that the goblin attack has recently been routed. One of the brave dwarves trapped outside the walls came to the aid of the injured Tekkud Akirostar, Fish Dissector.



I was told to my surprise that he literally "punched the goblin's head into pieces" after severely beating it.



His heroism will be remembered, as now one more dwarf is safe and the rest of the greenskins run in fear. But soon, they will be back, and I intend to be ready for the next time that takes place. So, as my next order of business, I'm ordering a staircase carved down into the mountain.



With any luck, we'll find some good metals to make into weapons and armour. Copper will work for now, just not to be unarmed, but we are dwarves, and can always forge better. I also would like to carve more proper lodgings; one can only feel comfortable for so long in such cramped accomodations. To this end, I've reassigned a few workers with unusable labours to mining. Soon we will be able to carve out a true fortress. As well, the walls atop the mountain are having fortifications carved into them as I write this.

Not-quite-retired, Northstar, sitting back sipping a martini in his modest but quite acceptable communal bedroom, wonders why anyone would carve deep into the mountain in search of more metal when there are such enormous stockpiles of copper and silver bars in the southern Magma Smelter as for the workers to complain of it being "Cluttered", significant stockpiles of Bismuth Bronze in the main stockpile, more metal ores ordered up with the Outpost Liaison coming with the next Dwarven Caravan, and enough meltable worthless trade goods and metal cages (magma-forged glass aquariums will replace them perfectly well) made of copper, bronze, or iron to supply a fortress this size with weapons-grade materials for years to come.  All anyone can hope to find underground is more copper, anyways.

Now if one were to dig underground for WATER to stop the last Expedition Leader (poor crippled Dwarf) from dying of thirst, on the other hand, THAT would be a good use of Dwarven Labor, thought Northstar...

In the meantime, no other matters stand. Our food supplies are adequate for now. We are safe in our home, and our people work diligently.

So begins the year.

Northstar sighs, and hopes the Dwarves remember the urgent need for clean, fresh water.  And that a Magma Kiln left idle is Dwarven labor wasted.  Hoping the new overseer will remember to put Dwarves back to work on the Magma Kilns, and *QUICKLY* dig for fresh water and set up a desalinization/cistern system, he finishes the remains of his Martini and heads for a party in the Legendary Dining Hall he constructed during his term, having no real job to do until the new Overseer gets some Dwarven labor busy operating the Magma Kilns, Magma Glass Smelters, and perhaps even the Magma Smelters and Magma Forge (smelting new alloys and working new arms and armor out of the enormous stockpiles of Bismuth Bronze, and Iron freshly-reclaimed from melting down useless trade goods)


Regards,
Northstar


P.S.  I CANNOT over-emphasize the importance of securing a fresh water source ASAP, so the injured Expedition Leader doesn't perish (also, remember to re-assign his position to another Dwarf who can actually *fulfill* the duties ASAP).  All that is needed in the short term is a deep 1x1 shaft down to the Saltwater Aquifer (I already started on one near the indoor pastures to the south of the stairwell you began digging, see the Notes Screen- the miner can climb the rough walls back to the top after finished as long as you don't dunk him in the drink), a well placed on top (wells magically make salt water usable for sick/injured Dwarves- although they will not remove any contamination such as from mud or stagnant water, and may not actually desalinate it like a Screw Pump), and a small cistern dug on a z-level nearer the fortress to store the water in the longer term (make sure this cistern has a SMOOTH walls and floor- one constructed of blocks or smoothed natural stone- and is at least two z-levels deep, to minimize contamination with mud in the long run).  Further down the line, it would be worth looking into a wind-powered Screw Pump system to bring the water up to a higher Z-level automatically...

P.P.S.  Also, you might not want to carve fortifications *RIGHT UP TO THE BARRACKS DOOR* like that, as it will allow Elite Goblin Archers to shoot up through the fortifications and into the barracks in the event the door is left open (say, if an injured Dwarf were propelled backwards into the door tile- a rather common occurrence in my experience).  I would suggest smoothing or re-constructing the walls 2-3 tiles from the door, and only starting the actual fortifications after that point.

[InfiniteCastor]

Response time! I'd like to think that machine-gun crossbows shouldn't be a problem given the period of time in which my turn is progressing, but the update would be preferable, I will agree on that. Yes, I am aware of our metal stockpiles. That's why I stated that copper [and etc.] would work for now, but I've often had Legendary +5 warrior dwarves killed by mediocre enemies even when clad in steel armour, so I have little faith in anything of lesser material quality. Water is my highest priority at this point, but as you'll be able to see, it's not turning out so well.

And, in fact, the expedition leader is up and well even with his broken spine. I can't explain it, but he's working as normal right now. DF being DF I suppose.

As for fortifications, I haven't been so unlucky to have something like what you are suggesting happen to me, but given that the barracks are very soon going to be moved downstairs, the fortifications should be fine as is.

Finally, I'm still not entirely sure how it is that the conclusion was made that I was not running all of the magma kilns, but I have been keeping each one busy since the beginning of the turn.

13th Limestone

It's been a calm few months. The new housing project that I began in Galena is nearly furnished.




A Wood Furnace was built in order to facilitate for ash, lye and soon soap. The fortifications are just about done. In addition, traps are currently being laid out
about the entrance in case any invading greenskins find it wise to approach our gates.



As well, a dwarven caravan arrived today. North met with the liaison and returned to report that she had made specific requests for fuel to be used in steel production, seeds to bolster our farming and extra lumber in case of a sudden need. She added that figurines are in high demand for whatever reason and that nothing new about the world was of interest.

As soon as the traders are unpacked, we'll begin making deals.

16th Limestone



After exploding into inspired enthusiasm, he immediately went to claim a Craftsdwarf's shop and began collecting wood. What he might produce, nobody is entirely sure.

22nd Limestone

Dodok finally revealed his artifact today; a willow figurine representing dwarves, dubbed by himself as Wheelbrute the Celebrated Berries. I would sell it, but I feel that such items should be kept as prized possessions and as such it shall remain as part of the fortress' stocks. However, with the celebration comes mourning as well. Without water, Dobar Ledrag the weaponsmith fell into dehydration and perished today. It pains me that we are not killed by our injuries, but by a simple liquid. Even now we dig to levels that make it hard to breathe and still no caverns have been found. I can only hope that some exploratory mining will help to quell this problem.

7th Sandstone

Migrants arrived today, bringing our numbers up from 38 to 47. The new arrivals consist of a Cheese Maker, a Soap Maker, two Traders, a Fishery Worker, a Presser, a Weaponsmith, a Lye Maker, a Woodcutter, and one rather ordinary fellow who was still trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to do. I assigned them all tasks immediately.

***

{Right, as it should just so happen, it seems that I have gotten myself caught up in something else that immediately demands my attention. With that in mind, the save is here and if possible, I'll take the next year and a half in line.}

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=9496

[DoctorMcTaalik]

The real victim here are the dwarves who jumped down the wall in the middle of a siege... they got miraculously rescued and carried inside, then lived happily for almost two years... Only to realise that this was all just a dream induced by the blood loss. they are still down the wall, crippled and surrounded. their nightmare is far from over.

That's true. I think Northstar might have to leave upgraded suggestions to try and re-simulate what the late doctor (that's how I'm going to refer to him from now on) did to save some of them from the Goblin siege. Also, didn't Northstar say something about a possible way to save the expedition leader? Perhaps there would be a way to finesse it better?

Anyway, the whole thing just doesn't sit right with me. I don't know why he would just vanish like that once his turn started, especially with how he volunteered to help co-host this. It was only the second turn. I get the feeling something went wrong. Not much we can do about it, though. I guess the late doctor missed his chance.

If I may suggest: Alter the turn list to have discrete dates for when each Player may upload "the latest save" for their turn.  If a Player through some misfortune hasn't uploaded a link to their turn's save by the time the next turn rolls around, well, chalk the missed chance to be part of the world's history up to "a learning experience" and stick 'em on the end of the turn list for another go.  In this manner, no-one has the power to hold the entire game hostage and people who want to join can then know in advance when their turn will be coming around and be able to add that to their schedules well in advance.  The moderator only needs to add new dates to turn-takers on the list, because the game self-perpetuates until no-one downloads any more saves, naturally concluding the game. 

Those who wish specific dates (due to scheduling conflicts) may be slotted into the appropriate turn number in this manner as well.

This is not looking well. Have you been able to contact him? Perhaps something happened? I find it strange that since he was basically running this thing with you.

My sincere apologies to all of you, especially Northstar and InfiniteCastor, for basically disappearing for a week. Some unforeseen issues occurred, and I've been without internet access for five or six days. I'm relieved to see you moved on without me.

To compensate you for the lost time, I may post some non-canon bits, just for fun.

(ps- When I was dorfing players, I chose an 80 yr old male fisherdwarf worshiping both Moldath and the Earth God for myself. If you could assign me either to he, or another ardent moldathite, that would be most appreciated.)

[Deus Asmoth]

Does that make it my turn then?

[Shadow Of Fate]

My sincere apologies to all of you, especially Northstar and InfiniteCastor, for basically disappearing for a week. Some unforeseen issues occurred, and I've been without internet access for five or six days. I'm relieved to see you moved on without me.

To compensate you for the lost time, I may post some non-canon bits, just for fun.

(ps- When I was dorfing players, I chose an 80 yr old male fisherdwarf worshiping both Moldath and the Earth God for myself. If you could assign me either to he, or another ardent moldathite, that would be most appreciated.)

The late doctor speaks! I see. I guessed it had to be something like that. That stinks that you lost internet right as your turn was going on. It's probably worst for you.

[Taupe]

Well, doc's back, and at the same moment, another dwarf gets possessed. Looks like the spirit of the volcano has jumped to a new vessel.

[Northstar1989]

Can I be dorfed? As anyone really.

Consider it done.

Don't forget about Taupe or Redzephyr01

Also, I see I was dorfed as "North" the Broker, apparently?  Interesting choice.  Could you lengthen the name to Northstar, rather than just "North"?


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Response time! I'd like to think that machine-gun crossbows shouldn't be a problem given the period of time in which my turn is progressing, but the update would be preferable, I will agree on that. Yes, I am aware of our metal stockpiles. That's why I stated that copper [and etc.] would work for now, but I've often had Legendary +5 warrior dwarves killed by mediocre enemies even when clad in steel armour, so I have little faith in anything of lesser material quality. Water is my highest priority at this point, but as you'll be able to see, it's not turning out so well.

It's great that you were focused on finding water, but it shouldn't have taken that long, really.  A single dwarf digging a 1x1 tunnel straight down can easily find water in just a few game weeks- though he risks digging through the ceiling of a cavern and ending up stranded with a broken leg subject to God knows what horrors creeping around in the caverns...

And, in fact, the expedition leader is up and well even with his broken spine. I can't explain it, but he's working as normal right now. DF being DF I suppose.

That's good, I suppose...  Strange, but good.

As for fortifications, I haven't been so unlucky to have something like what you are suggesting happen to me, but given that the barracks are very soon going to be moved downstairs, the fortifications should be fine as is.

You do realize you can have multiple barracks for each squad, right?  Each is indicated by a letter in the squad screen.  Ideally the (S)leeping barracks should be above-ground, up in the archery towers (the military should be composed almost entirely of marksdwarves- there's absolutely no reason to risk dwarven lives engaging in melee combat), whereas the (T)raining and (E)quipment barracks should be located somewhere underground where there is more room.  This ensures that some marksdwarves will usually be readily available to shoot at enemies from the towers, but they still have plenty of room for training.  Also, the constant trips between the archery towers and the basement will maximize the chances of a military dwarf being present if a dwarf should break out berserk or an enemy should make it inside the main fortress.

For marksdwarves, Bismuth Bronze helmets and breastplates should be all that is required.  This will protect their vital organs and brains from being impaled by any reaction fire from Elite Goblin Archers (only the elites can shoot through fortifications without standing directly next to them), while not weighing them down nearly as much (or being half as expensive) as a full suit of armor.  The armor also comes in handy in providing protection from tantruming Dwarves.

Look up how to construct and archery range on the Wiki that allows full recovery of all fired crossbow bolts, and make sure to build one of those somewhere underground (but not too far from the surface).

Finally, I'm still not entirely sure how it is that the conclusion was made that I was not running all of the magma kilns, but I have been keeping each one busy since the beginning of the turn.

What were you occupying the kilns with? (and what plans do you have for the products?)  I hadn't heard any word of that in your updates, so I assumed they were idle.

13th Limestone

It's been a calm few months. The new housing project that I began in Galena is nearly furnished.

OH GOD!  Moldath and Armok!  What is THAT!!!!

That is the single ugliest, most useless slum of a housing development I have EVER seen.

Did you even THINK to check the room quality of the current shared bedrooms?  The two current sleeping quarters provide "Modest" and "Decent" sleeping quarters respectively.  My guess is that monstrosity doesn't even surpass "Meager".

I encourage the digging of additional sleeping quarters, but (this goes for ALL PLAYERS) if you're going to do so, PLEASE at least follow these common-sense ground rules:

(1)  Assign at least 4 Dwarves per bedroom.  This not only cuts down on the need for doors, IT ALSO DETERS VAMPIRES.  Vampires will quickly be caught if they attempt to suck blood in plain sight of 3 other Dwarves.  Make the rooms at least 4 times bigger and there will be no corresponding decrease in room quality.

(2)  Don't dig bedrooms unless they are going to be EQUAL TO OR BETTER than the quarters the Dwarves already have on the Room Quality Scale.  This ensures you don't make our Dwarves MORE UNHAPPY by moving them from a nice bedroom to a much worse one.  The best ways to increase room quality are by making the rooms bigger, smoothing/engraving natural stone, and adding extra furniture.  Please see the Notes Screen for a few pointers I left on Dwarven housing.

(3)  Use renewable materials whenever possible.  Don't use stone for doors or furniture- use green glass.  ABSOLUTELY DO NOT use wood for ANYTHING other than beds.  (I stretched this rule to get Dwarven housing up QUICKLY, before the glass-making industry was well-established, by using stone doors and furniture for example.  I expect future housing to follow this rule to the letter, however, except for housing for nobles- which can use metals for furniture to raise room value.)


PLEASE, next player in line, scrap that slum and dig something nicer (more spacious, so that the room values will actually be at least on par with the better of the original two bedrooms) and with shared bedrooms (to deter vampire, and reduce lag on pathfinding options through doors) elsewhere.  In fact, that's not a request.  I'm going to issue an order that InfiniteCastor's slum shall not stand, and if you ignore this order should be torn down by the next player to upload the save (or myself- I have no problem uploading the save between players for a mini-turn to "fix" this).

I know I promised to try and respect player projects- but there was a reason I said *try*.  Some projects are simply too detrimental to the future of the fortress to allow them to stand.  A slum like that for Dwarven Housing is a perfect example.  Housing should be higher quality than that- after all, better housing means happier Dwarves and fewer tantrums.  Consider the following thought:

"Slept in a (good/very good/great/fantastic/bedroom like a personal palace) recently."

This is generated whenever Dwarves sleep in a high-quality bedroom.  The better the bedroom, the higher the positive weight the thought is given towards their happiness.  Dwarven psychology really isn't all the hard to understand- it's all based on a points-system, and your goal is to create the highest positive totals possible as a buffer against tragedy and tantrums.  See the Wiki for an explanation and a list of all possible positive and negative thoughts:

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Thought

For the new use of the site, I suggest throwing up some brick walls and breaking it into stockpile and/or workshop space.  We BADLY need more specialized/spacious stockpiles, rather than one compact quantum general "super-stockpile" plus a few food stockpiles...  Specialized workshops fed by custom stockpiles (to allow the construction of mechanisms only with magma-safe stones without having to disable other stone types fortress-wide, for instance) are also extremely useful.

A Wood Furnace was built in order to facilitate for ash, lye and soon soap. The fortifications are just about done. In addition, traps are currently being laid out
about the entrance in case any invading greenskins find it wise to approach our gates.

That's great that you're adding to Dwarven industry, but do you actually have a wood stockpile dug out yet?  That should take priority BEFORE building more workshops that use wood, and will allow you to see where the most intelligent place is to build such workshops (near the wood stockpile and ideally to minimize distance dwarves must travel to reach the workshops from the rest of the fort).  Ideally, the wood stockpile should also be rather close to the Trade Depot, as trade is currently our only source of wood.

Also, regarding the traps, that's GREAT that you're prioritizing the defenses- but how do you plan to trigger them?  I recommend setting up a lever somewhere safely out of reach of tantruming dwarves (i.e. NOT near a meeting hall- if only we had one outside the dining hall- or anywhere else Dwarves like to congregate...) so that some schmuck with anger-management issues doesn't end up impaling a trade caravan on a bed of spikes...  You'll notice that the lever to the main gate is not only close to its target (to make it easier to find and reduce the time to link the two up), it's also somewhere Dwarves NEVER go unless they have a hauling/pasturing job, since there's nothing near the Trade Depot but a few stockpiles.

As well, a dwarven caravan arrived today. North met with the liaison and returned to report that she had made specific requests for fuel to be used in steel production, seeds to bolster our farming and extra lumber in case of a sudden need. She added that figurines are in high demand for whatever reason and that nothing new about the world was of interest.

Did you think to queue up more metal-bearing ores for the next caravan?  That should ALWAYS be one of the top priorities for any player in this fortress, as it will allow us to train up our weapon and armorsmiths making low-quality gear for export/trade.  Speaking of which, can I ask what QUALITY the armor was that was worn by your Legendary+5 warriors who were killed in steel armor?  You do realize that a Masterpiece-quality (or better yet and artifact) piece of Iron armor is MUCH better than a basic-quality piece of steel armor of the same type, right?

As soon as the traders are unpacked, we'll begin making deals.

Great.  I recommend prioritizing low-value food items (not only to be eaten raw by our Dwarves, but also to be used as fillers in Prepared Meals.  Don't forget even seeds are cookable), ANY ores/stone/wood they are carrying (except clay), and ALL METAL-BEARING ITEMS- as they can be melted down for free at our Magma Smelters (we don't necessarily need fuel to make steel- we can get plenty of it from melting down steel trinkets from the trade caravan...)

16th Limestone



After exploding into inspired enthusiasm, he immediately went to claim a Craftsdwarf's shop and began collecting wood. What he might produce, nobody is entirely sure.

22nd Limestone

Dodok finally revealed his artifact today; a willow figurine representing dwarves, dubbed by himself as Wheelbrute the Celebrated Berries. I would sell it, but I feel that such items should be kept as prized possessions and as such it shall remain as part of the fortress' stocks. However, with the celebration comes mourning as well. Without water, Dobar Ledrag the weaponsmith fell into dehydration and perished today. It pains me that we are not killed by our injuries, but by a simple liquid. Even now we dig to levels that make it hard to breathe and still no caverns have been found. I can only hope that some exploratory mining will help to quell this problem.

Darn.  Weaponsmiths are among our most important Dwarves...  I hope you're being sufficiently aggressive with the exploratory mining- I pressed the importance of finding water as far back as DoctorMcTaalik's "turn"...

7th Sandstone

Migrants arrived today, bringing our numbers up from 38 to 47. The new arrivals consist of a Cheese Maker, a Soap Maker, two Traders, a Fishery Worker, a Presser, a Weaponsmith, a Lye Maker, a Woodcutter, and one rather ordinary fellow who was still trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to do. I assigned them all tasks immediately.

***

{Right, as it should just so happen, it seems that I have gotten myself caught up in something else that immediately demands my attention. With that in mind, the save is here and if possible, I'll take the next year and a half in line.}

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=9496

Good to see more migrants.  I'm sorry you didn't have time to finish your turn... (the deadline for it is now past, by the way, but I'll see what we can't do for you later...)

I'm going to try to kick the save over to DoctorMcTaalik and let him play the next year and a half (I feel bad for what happened to him...)


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Does that make it my turn then?

Maybe.  I'm going to see if Doctor McTaalik has time to finish off InfiniteCastor's turn first.  If not, then you're free to pick up the remaining 1 and 1/2 years, plus 2 years of your own, provided you can finish it all within 72 hours from when the Doctor announces whether he'll take on the next 18 Dwarven months...


Feel free to download the latest save though, and have a look around to familiarize yourself with the layout and current issues/opportunities. Better yet, take the time to read the Notes I left around the fort (on the Notes Screen) and consider implementing my suggestions when it comes to your turn...  I've seen absolutely no move to expand underground to the northern half of the volcano, for instance, despite the multiple Notes I left InfiniteCastor suggesting this, and the large amounts of available near-surface space... (shallow z-layers are preferable because, in times of peace, you can easily dig and cover "light shafts" from the surface to prevent cave adaptation and vermin remains from generating Miasma, as well as covered pastures for animals...)


Other opportunities include:

- Establishing above-ground plant farming infrastructure in the marked (on the Notes page) area of the lit (above-ground) fortress basement.  Such infrastructure should include not only Farm Plots, but ideally a nearby Still (to brew booze from the berries), food/seeds stockpile, and Kitchen (to cook up a portion of the booze and surplus seeds).

- Establishing additional ranching infrastructure around some of the existing indoor pastures.  This basically means a Farmer's Workshop (to milk and shear the sheep), a Loom (to turn wool yarn into wool cloth), and possibly a Butcher/Tanner combo (to slaughter some of the older sheep nearing the end of their lives).  I say "sheep" because they are the only truly useful grazers for our fortress- the grass grows too slowly in a Tundra biome to support most larger grazers (besides, we have Pigs for a meat industry), and they have the lowest pasture requirements of all the shearable animals in the game...  Of course, I've currently allowed a llama and alpaca to hang around (they should still be there- assuming InfiniteCastor hasn't butchered them or allowed them to starve to death yet by forgetting to rotate them between pastures- there are already too many grazers to keep them alive on any of the small enclosed pastures w/o occasional pasture rotations) for the time being until the sheep population expands further and puts additional pressure on the very limited indoor pasture space.

- Setting aside additional tombs for coffins.  Designing/building nicer tombs in advance for our Nobles (whenever we get a Count or Mayor, if ever...)

- Constructing the "drop hatch" for supplies near the gates I talked about before, and building an above-ground "village" near the main gate (leaving a path for caravans, of course) but outside the current fortress walls using the labor of new migrants (not letting them inside the main walls, but instead dropping bricks/picks/food/drink through the causeway above the main gate and letting the migrants labor outside without endangering the rest of the fortress in a siege).  This village could/should be enclosed by an extension to the main fortress walls (built from outside them) as soon as dwarvenly possible to make it secure, of course.

- Building a "Hunter's Hamlet" on the opposite side of the fortress from the main gate using the same method.  This should be built against the mountain or fortress walls to save on construction materials, but would probably be much less secure than the village I suggested building near the main gate, and wouldn't need a path into the fortress for caravans...  Obviously, this would be designed for hunters (although it would be wise to give it a small pig-pen and cranberry/bilberry/blueberry garden as a backup food source- game is scarce).  Although I haven't seen much besides Ravens around the fortress yet, there should be plenty of herds of animals like Caribou that will eventually make their way across the map... (just be sure to not hunt any herd out completely, always let a couple animals escape- or you'll eventually reduce them to local extinction).  Building a secondary entrance into the fort connecting to this hamlet (1 tile wide and sealed with a bridge most of the time except when needed) would also allow hauling of Caribou hooves/bones/antlers into the fortress for the craftsdwarves to use for trade goods and furniture decorations (using bone/hooves/antlers for furniture decorations is a great, renewable way to increase room value) and to make more bone bolts for the hunters... (although the hamlet could also have a workshop to make its own bolts)



As you can see, my suggestions tend to focus pretty heavily on above-ground expansion.  This is for good reason- the downfall of most forts (once a surface perimeter wall is up) tends to be delving too deeply underground too quickly, and running into nasties like Forgotten Beasts, Cave Spiders, and underground ambushes (by Goblins or subterranean animal-men) before they're ready, not to mention HFS...  With proper use of hatches to drop supplies outside the walls for new migrants, there's no reason you can't expand on the surface without endangering the main fortress by lowering the gate or sending out laborers..


Regards,
Northstar


P.S.  A note on the light-shafts and covered pastures: make SURE to extend walls around the surface portion of these areas BEFORE opening potential paths for invaders into the fortress while the light-shafts and pastures are still in the process of being covered...

[Northstar1989]

My sincere apologies to all of you, especially Northstar and InfiniteCastor, for basically disappearing for a week. Some unforeseen issues occurred, and I've been without internet access for five or six days. I'm relieved to see you moved on without me.

To compensate you for the lost time, I may post some non-canon bits, just for fun.

(ps- When I was dorfing players, I chose an 80 yr old male fisherdwarf worshiping both Moldath and the Earth God for myself. If you could assign me either to he, or another ardent moldathite, that would be most appreciated.)

Glad to see you back Doctor!

If I may suggest though, forget about the shrine/temple to Moldath, at least for the time being.  Even though I'm going to kick you the save now, as it doesn't look as if InfiniteCastor was able to finish his turn in the allotted time- that is if you have time for playing now; it would be best if you focused on issues more essential to fortress survival, like establishing a dependable, clean freshwater source and increasing our food security (by digging out more food/booze stockpiles, making use of the enclosed above-ground space I set aside in the fortress basement, and expanding the fortress to the northern part of the volcano and channeling+covering more indoor pasture space...)


Regards,
Northstar

P.S.  Woot!  Post #101 in this thread!  Due to my abundance of advice, in part, of course- but still it's great to see this thread maturing... 

[DoctorMcTaalik]

My sincere apologies to all of you, especially Northstar and InfiniteCastor, for basically disappearing for a week. Some unforeseen issues occurred, and I've been without internet access for five or six days. I'm relieved to see you moved on without me.

To compensate you for the lost time, I may post some non-canon bits, just for fun.

(ps- When I was dorfing players, I chose an 80 yr old male fisherdwarf worshiping both Moldath and the Earth God for myself. If you could assign me either to he, or another ardent moldathite, that would be most appreciated.)

Glad to see you back Doctor!

If I may suggest though, forget about the shrine/temple to Moldath, at least for the time being.  Even though I'm going to kick you the save now, as it doesn't look as if InfiniteCastor was able to finish his turn in the allotted time- that is if you have time for playing now; it would be best if you focused on issues more essential to fortress survival, like establishing a dependable, clean freshwater source and increasing our food security (by digging out more food/booze stockpiles, making use of the enclosed above-ground space I set aside in the fortress basement, and expanding the fortress to the northern part of the volcano and channeling+covering more indoor pasture space...)


Regards,
Northstar

P.S.  Woot!  Post #101 in this thread!  Due to my abundance of advice, in part, of course- but still it's great to see this thread maturing... 

I don't think I'll have enough time to play the rest of InfiniteCastor's turn tomorrow, so I'm going to pass.

[Northstar1989]

My sincere apologies to all of you, especially Northstar and InfiniteCastor, for basically disappearing for a week. Some unforeseen issues occurred, and I've been without internet access for five or six days. I'm relieved to see you moved on without me.

To compensate you for the lost time, I may post some non-canon bits, just for fun.

(ps- When I was dorfing players, I chose an 80 yr old male fisherdwarf worshiping both Moldath and the Earth God for myself. If you could assign me either to he, or another ardent moldathite, that would be most appreciated.)

Glad to see you back Doctor!

If I may suggest though, forget about the shrine/temple to Moldath, at least for the time being.  Even though I'm going to kick you the save now, as it doesn't look as if InfiniteCastor was able to finish his turn in the allotted time- that is if you have time for playing now; it would be best if you focused on issues more essential to fortress survival, like establishing a dependable, clean freshwater source and increasing our food security (by digging out more food/booze stockpiles, making use of the enclosed above-ground space I set aside in the fortress basement, and expanding the fortress to the northern part of the volcano and channeling+covering more indoor pasture space...)


Regards,
Northstar

P.S.  Woot!  Post #101 in this thread!  Due to my abundance of advice, in part, of course- but still it's great to see this thread maturing... 

I don't think I'll have enough time to play the rest of InfiniteCastor's turn tomorrow, so I'm going to pass.

OK, Deus, it's your turn then.  You've got until 2:00 AM (Central Time) on August 25th to confirm you have downloaded the latest save, and until 2:00 AM on August 27th finish your turn and upload the save.


Regards,
Northstar

[Deus Asmoth]

Obtaining the save now. Might keep the ridiculously small bedrooms for children and other parasites.