Fath Clobberedhammer was one of the lucky few dwarfs not particularly affected by the regular visits of Death and his brother Destruction to Doomforests. She immigrated some time after the first great depopulation and founding of Astville, and because of this she felt comfortable amongst the bloodied halls. Fath was an accomplished, even legendary miner - her skills with the pick were the best for leagues. Her preferences were that of a dwarf who had once lived by the ocean: she liked to eat ocean sunfish and cuttlefish soup.
She was married to one Udib Inkylords, another miner. Their only child had stayed at the mountainhome, and when asked why she would leave her offspring behind it becomes clear it wasn't Fath's decision: forced immigration to Doomforests wasn't applied to children. A sad story, perhaps, but as Fath toiled away constructing aimless passages and endless tombs she was secure in the knowledge that her child was safe. So when a powerful, commanding spirit took over Fath's body and soul perhaps she wasn't entirely unwilling. The spirit, having long awaited this opportunity, utterly replaced Fath's individual presence.
What did this spirit call itself?
Salmeuk.
What did this spirit want?
Power.
How did this spirit plan to get it?
By the first skill any dwarf learns: digging.
What follows is a third-hand account from an unknown dwarf's personal journal, recovered at a later date by the famous historian and tomb-raider Cog Blackpick. Perhaps you could take a moment and join me in appreciating the gory history of Salmeuk's second reign, 1056 - 1057.
8th Moonstone
Senshuken, previous possessed by an ethereal urge to craft, completed his work today: a giant olm bone crown. It is worth a fairly surprising amount (49200 urists!), apparently Senshuken had swiped some gold from the foundries and the resulting studs boosted the value.
10th MoonstoneMinkot Beachbook stopped talking today.
Not that he ever really talked, but he's really shut himself away this time: his eyes are glazed and he wont take food. While certainly not a good thing, losing an unskilled woodcrafter certainly doesn't change much about the current state of the fortress. Perhaps I should remind the masons to keep churning out those coffins.
11th MoonstoneI ran in to Fath today, our best Miner. Having watched her mine before I can attest to her legendary renown: she knows just the way to hit the rock to flake it away in huge chunks. Even gabbro! It's like watching a brewer mash plump helmets, the way she goes about crumbling rock. With fire in her eyes, she said she was headed to the office of Mate888, our current overseer, and walked away rather urgently after that. Perhaps the discovery of a new cavern?
13th MoonstoneThe rumors were true: we have a new overseer. Fath Clobberedhammer was chosen by Mate888 as the new dwarf in charge of job oversight and project management. She called us all down to the dining room to discuss, in her words, "The dire state of Doomforests and what the future may hold."
Sitting amongst my fellow workers was quite the experience - never had we all taken the time to meet together like this. All 41 of us, not including the two children, crowded amongst the piles of clothing. We made the grand room feel awfully small.
Fath outlined certain problems with the fort. Most agreed with what she outlined:
1. Too many dwarves are assigned too many tasks, leading to a lack of specialization.
2. The jobs being given priority are non-essential to the future survival of the fortress. Engraving stone storage rooms should be secondary to, well, just about everything else.
3. The amount of useless materials and items is enormous, to the point that it gets in the way of basic fortress function.Fath made it clear this wasn't our fault but that of the previous overseers. Even then, she said that the sort of "beasts and plagues" they had to deal with made such disorganization inevitable. She then opened the discussion.
"What are we to do? In our current state progress is impossible, and while we might scrape by eating mashed plump helmets, that is not what the founding Seven imagined. This land is as rich as ever, and our bodies young. No more excuses can be made. . . What Are We To Do?"
I won't write out the hours of discussion that took place that night, but our ultimate conclusion was this: we had to move on. Leave behind that which confounded our forefathers and strike fresh earth. The stink would never be scrubbed from these halls, so why even try when fresh stone awaits?
After the meeting, excitement filled the fortress. Fath, along with a few previous overseers and masons, had met to plan our new fortress. The rest of us could only wait and dream of what was to come.
OOC:
This was what greeted me after viewing Minkot's thoughts:
wait what?
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE POOR BASTARD?!?
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Topic: The Hastening of Doomforests (Read 452258 times)