4th Hematite, 257 (all previous entries were 1-3 Hematite, my term beginning on the 1st)
It seems that a couple unlucky goblins wandering around outside the Main Gate managed to stumble upon some of our weapon traps. One of the spotters reported a Giant Serrated Copper Disk tore clear through a Recruit's belly, and that the goblin now looks rather sick... I hope he barfs all over his companions- maybe that will get the vile creatures to leave Pagetower alone so the next migrant wave can begin establishing a town to the south of the main fortress in peace.
Our masons reported leaving behind all the materials needed to establish a fresh fortress there before leaving earlier- stone boulders (both loose and in the partially-built walls), fuel (both coal coke and charcoal), wood, and even weapons-grade metal bars (silver and steel). All the migrants would need is a long enough peace to finish the perimeter wall, and some seeds from the scattering of wild blueberries growing outside for farming...
You can also catch a glimpse of the beginning of the underground tree farm I am hollowing out at the top of the screen here. My first step was to dig out a few tunnels to confirm the soil layers go enough z-layers down for my purposes at that location...
6th HematiteMore and more Goblins wander onto the weapon traps. The traps even managed to make short work of a cave troll the goblins had with them...
17th Hematite, 257There are Crundles everywhere. Crundles in the nest box zones. Crundles in the corridors. Crundles in the stairwells. The other day I was about to sit down to take a dump, and guess what crawled up out of nowhere? A Crundle.
As such, I've began putting Pagetower's butchers to good use solving the problem. I call it the Crundle Organ Liberation program... (into tastes +Crundle Brain Roasts+) The idea is to slaughter the least-tame Crundles before they end up going wild... The more tame ones will eventually give birth to a new generation that will hopefully be a little easier to manage...
2nd Malachite, 257We're starting to make a dent in the Crundle population, but the other dwarves seem incredibly lackadaisical to haul them up to the Butcher Shop. Personally, I'd be herding them up there en-masse if it were my job. I'm sure we'll get the job done eventually though...
Oh, and did I mention the Magma Glass Forges are back up-and-running? (the grates protect the sand-collection zones from further grass growth) Now I just need to find the time to expand the glass forge facilities with a couple traditional furnaces to aid in sand-processing...
The tree farm is also complete- 3 Urists tall and more than twice the size of the dining hall. Yet the botanists tell me that 3 Urists is only the height of the absolute shortest fungal trees they've spotted growing in the caverns (mostly the stunted varieties in the flooded layer). So only time will tell if trees will grow, or if we will need to dig it another Urist or two taller. Also, do fungal trees have roots? I know the surface varieties do, but some of the botanists have raised this question when trying to decide if we needed to leave soil underneath the trees for their roots to grow in...
Regards,
Northstar
P.S. I've decided on a good use for them, but *why* exactly were there silver and steel bars just sitting around by the construction site on the south side of the main fortress Taupe?
P.P.S. For those of you who didn't notice the change in title, I updated the game to 0.40.12 before loading up the save. Don't worry, I made sure to replace the raws in the save files with the new ones for DF+Ironhand 0.40.12A, so there shouldn't be any issues- and I haven't noticed any yet...