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[DenBjornen]

Out of Character:
This my first attempt at documenting the progress of a fortress.  Generally, I will attempt to tell the story  from the perspective of the dwarves, probably focusing on the starting seven.

World: Emeteyo, The Eternal World

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Dwarven Civilization: Katthirrakust, The Nourishing Tombs

Embark Group: Kulsimcog, The Superior Boot

Fortress Name: Istratheral, Jewelvessels

The Starting Seven:
Momuz Avuzaral(F) - Expedition Leader & Farmer

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Ast Uzolas(M) - Brewer & Cook

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Tosid Delerimesh(F) - Hunter, Butcher & Tanner

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Dastot Oddomiton(F) - Mason & Stonecrafter

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Zulban Thabumkilrud(F) - Carpenter

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Tun Eshtandeleth(M) - Miner

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Vucar Mistemgamil(F) - Miner

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OOC Ends

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~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Expedition Leader~

Year 100, the 15th of Granite
Why? Why did they pick me? I was recruited for my skills as a broker and I ended up being chosen as the expedition leader. Maybe I really am the most qualified. This area looks nice enough.  By order of our Queen, Dumed Nethas, we have been sent to establish an outpost on the edge of The Desert of Bridging. Thankfully, we were not sent to the heart of the desert.  Surveyors suspect that the the area is rich in minerals and the stream will provide us with water if (Armok forbid) we run low on alcohol. Some of the others have spotted sturgeon and snapping turtles in the stream that can serve as an early food supply. Vegetation is sparse but we should be able to procure sufficient wood from a few of the large trees. Ast is out felling trees as I write. Tun and Vucar are digging into the earth and the others are gathering wood into a stockpile near what will become the entrance to our outpost. There is much work to be done.  I'd better go help with the hauling.

[DenBjornen]

~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Expedition Leader~

Year 100, 1st of Hematite

Summer has begun and our outpost is well underway.  I will act as the broker when trade caravans arrive, though we have been far too busy to even think about trade goods.  This is a daunting endeavor for just the seven of us.  The mountainhome promised to send migrants within the first year though none have arrived thus far.  We could use the extra hands, especially with the palisade we are building.  The surveyors seem to be right; in our early excavations the miners have struck a vein of of native gold as well as kimberlite, which we are told may contain diamonds. We have been fortunate not to encounter any hostile wildlife. Just a couple alligator snapping turtles that spooked the livestock.  Nonetheless, I fear it is only a matter of time before our little outpost draws unwanted attention. Everyone is starting to tire of sleeping in the grass and eating straight from the food stores.  A dormitory and dining hall area have been excavated to remedy the problem. We don't have time for individual rooms yet. Two simple offices have been set up. I have assigned Tun Eshtandeleth, one of the miners, as the bookkeeper. He is a lazy lout and perhaps counting our stocks will teach him some discipline. Vucar Mistemgamil, our other miner, will manage work orders.  It should give her something do when she's not digging.  These positions are all tentative, of course. I'll gladly hand them off to someone more qualified. I've been tending the underground farm plots and we just harvested our first batch of plump helmets.

Below are some sketches of our outpost thus far:
Surface

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Entrance Hallway

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Farming & Storage

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Workshops

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Offices + Dormitory and Dining Hall (in progress)

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[DenBjornen]

~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Expedition Leader~
Year 100, 2nd of Galena
This is absurd.  Eight migrants have arrived. Two of them are children and the eldest among them is a mere 22 years old!  What are we supposed to do with a 15 year old SIEGE ENGINEER!?  I suppose I can re-assign them to some more practical tasks.

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...
Year 100, 28th of Galena
With the extra help we've finished the palisade.  The dry moat is in progress.

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~Overheard in the hallways of Jewelvessels~
"Did you hear about our 'great hunter' Tosid?"
"Yeah, she can't even finish off a camel.  The poor thing is riddled with nicks and bruises and she's running in AGAIN to fetch more bolts!"

[DenBjornen]

~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Expedition Leader~
Year 100, 23rd of Limestone
The outpost liaison and the trade caravan from the mountainhome came on the 15th of Limestone. We hadn't prepared many trade goods, but we brought a pile of mechanisms to the trade depot in hopes that we could procure some supplies.  With some haggling I got us some barrels of alcohol and a couple bins of cloth.  For next year I requested leather and cloth: we are lacking in livestock at the moment and Tosid has proven woefully ineffective as a hunter.  I also requested gypsum plaster for our future hospital as it is hard to come by out here.
The liaison gave me a list of production requests.



6th of Sandstone
Seven new migrants arrive

~from the diary of Dobar Eturanan, Farmer~
Year 100, 6th of Sandstone
After days of travel here we are finally here in Jewelvessels! I've always wanted adventure in my life. Perhaps here I can become a warrior in the Fortress Guard and face the wilds!

[DenBjornen]

~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Expedition Leader~
Year 100, 25th of Sandstone

Something strange happened with Tosid, our hunter.  She got this crazy look in her eye and she marched over to the leather works.  She kept murmuring for more leather and one of our new migrants, Dobar Eturanan, obliged her by slaughtering a couple turkey hens. When I confronted him he told me that he had seen this behavior before back at Toolearth, his former residence.  He personally witnessed something very similar to this circumstance.  The dwarf in question claimed a workshop and barked demands for materials.  Eventually he turned violent and the guards were forced to strike him down. 

"It's for the best that you give her what she wants, for her sake...
and ours."
That's what Dobar told me.

Once she received everything she was looking for, Tosid began to work feverishly.  In the end, this is what she created:
A pair of leather leggings with an image of grisly killing of a human by a minotaur. I hope this isn't a prediction of things to come.

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Oddly, Tosid seems to bear no memory of any of this.

[SlyStalker]

Nice documentation so far, but what is the goal of this particular fortress?

[DenBjornen]

@SlyStalker
Not quite sure.  A new overseer may take the next year, pending.  'Goals for the next year' post incoming.
~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Expedition Leader~
Year 100, 10th of Obsidian

Yet another strange mood. This time it was a young woodcrafter named Bim Kilrudbudam.  This is what he created:

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Unlike Tosid, Bim suddenly became a master!  His skill will prove valuable for trade goods.

~excerpts from "The State of Jewelvessels, First Year" document~

Wilderness Report

Wildlife spotted:
Ravens
Eagles
Alligator Snapping Turtles
Two Humped Camels

Minimal threat expected from surrounding wildlife.


Incident Report
Year 100, 20th of Opal

A pair of kobold thieves were spotted just south of the outpost's entrance.  They quickly fled after being discovered. Nothing was reported stolen.

Ongoing Projects

Mausoleum

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*Area already excavated
*Smoothing to be finished at a later date

Well, Cistern and Floodgate System
Well in place. Levers to floodgates linked.

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Cistern cleared of debris. Walls smoothed.

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Final connection to system to be channeled

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Housing
Standard individual rooms
*To be smoothed, more rooms to be added

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Noble suites
*One suite excavated, smoothing in progress

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Stocks, Wealth, and Population

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[SlyStalker]

With the normal rooms, why don't you excavate the blocks that you would excavate in a 2x3 room? Your dwarves would get one extra block of space!

[DenBjornen]

With the normal rooms, why don't you excavate the blocks that you would excavate in a 2x3 room? Your dwarves would get one extra block of space!

I normally make 2x2 rooms.  I guess I designated an extra little hallway for each room accidentally.

[SlyStalker]

It could be

Code: [Select]

WWDW
WS SW
WS SW
WS BW
WWWW

W = Wall
S = Space
B = Bed

And nothing would change

[DenBjornen]

OOC
I will be getting back to this. As you might imagine, the end of a semester is quite a busy time for a grad student.

~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Expedition Leader~
Year 101, 1st of Granite

That Dobar fellow volunteered to lead a militia here at Jewelvessels. I admire his enthusiasm, but we have yet to encounter any metals suitable for forging weapons and armor. For now, all we can provide are wooden shields and training weapons.  I honestly don't know much about military matters, so I told the others to do what it takes to get him what he needs to get a simple barracks up and running.
~from the diary of Dobar Eturanan, Farmer~
Year 101, 1st of Granite

The expedition leader is letting me start a militia! So many things to do! The carpenter needs to make some shields and training axes. Of course, I need a sparring partner.  I can't believe it. I can't wait.

[DenBjornen]

~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Expedition Leader~
Year 101, 6th of Slate

A large group of migrants arrived today, about 30 in all. This more than doubles our population.  I've ordered the miners to excavate more rooms in the housing floor.  For the past few weeks, I've had the miners digging out exploratory tunnels in the hope that they can find military-grade ores.  No luck so far.
~from Vucar Mistemgamil's Exploratory Mining Report, 9th of Slate~

While digging in the exploratory tunnels today, I broke through a wall into empty space. Below I could see a magma pool and parts of a cavern.  The cavern seemed to have no significant fungal growths, but I saw numerous spider webs.

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~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, MAYOR~
Year 101, 19th of Hematite

A couple days ago, I was declared mayor of this settlement. If they want to call me mayor, then I suppose I need accommodations to match my position.

Today, human merchants came to trade.  I offered them wood and stone crafts in exchange for leather, cloth and thread. I also picked up a few barrels of alcohol and food to add some variety to our diet here.

I don't think we are ready to act on the magma issue yet. I'm cautious about opening ourselves up to whatever roams the caverns before we have a better prepared militia.

~from the diary of Dobar Eturanan, Militia Commander~
Year 101, 26th of Hematite

What a glorious day! My dearest Unib gave birth to our 8th child! We named her Zon.  I hope we can provide for her as well as we did for our other children back when we lived in Toolearth.

The militia work has kept me busy. 
So far I've found three recruits: Goden Stinthadgemsit, Iton Stinthadthedak, and Minkot Uzolrilem.  They are all quite young. None more than 20 years of age. We could really use better equipment. Unfortunately the miners haven't found any veins of copper or iron yet.

[DenBjornen]

~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Mayor~
Year 101, 19th Galena

My quarters are now officially outfitted with furniture and adornments worthy of my position. Dastot even carved a masterful statue of me and placed it in my private dining room. I suppose I'm starting to sound vain, but they chose me. I deserve it.

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~from Vucar Mistemgamil's Exploratory Mining Report, 7th of Sandstone,101~
We have struck a vein of silver.  While following the vein, I broke into yet another section of cavern.  This cavern isn't bare like the last one. There are huge fungus trees and other vegetation as far as I can see.
~from the medical notes of Zulban Thabumkilrud, Chief Medical Dwarf~
Year 101, 24th of Sandstone
Patient: Cog Egebral, Hunter
Notes: The patient suffered minor injuries from an encounter with a wild camel. He was bitten on the left hand, tearing the skin, but causing no permanent damage beyond minor scarring. The animal kicked him, breaking the patient's third toe on the right foot. He's lucky the hoof didn't meet his head. He'll be fine.
~from the diary of Dobar Eturanan, Militia Commander~
Year 101, 5th of Moonstone

Great news! The miners finally found a source of iron ore in the form of hematite.  Now "The Savage Axes" can finally upgrade to real weapons and armor.

[DenBjornen]

End of Year Two

~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Mayor~
Year 102, 1st Granite

We have completed our second year here at Jewelvessels.

A hospital and a barracks have been set up and the well is fully functioning.

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Dobar and his recruits trained a great deal in these past few months. With the supply of iron ore the miners discovered, we are on our way to steel production. Quite a step up from simple wooden training gear! The magma tube is surprisingly close to the surface, at least according to Vucar.  In the coming months we can have a full range of magma forges.

The housing floor has been greatly expanded and we are working on creating a grand dining hall.  Much of the area still needs to be smoothed by the engravers.

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Our population now stands at 86 due to a large influx of migrants and births this year.

[DenBjornen]

~from the diary of Dobar Eturanan, Militia Commander~
Year 102, 10th of Granite

Limul Sakrithkeskal has gone missing.  I'm in charge of the search party. What could have happened to him?
~from the diary of Momuz Avuzaral, Mayor~
Year 102, 14th of Granite

Elvish traders arrived yesterday.  They had little of interest.  Wooden armor? Really!? We can't use this junk.  They didn't even have any exotic animals for sale.  I traded some stone crafts for fruits and vegetables and clay, so it they weren't completely worthless.
~from the diary of Dobar Eturanan, Militia Commander~
Year 102, 19th of Granite

We found Limul drowned in the river. He must have fallen in while fishing. Unfortunately for the family, we have no way of safely recovering the body. I think the fisherdwarves will stay closer to the fort entrance for now on.