Ho, sorry to keep you all waiting so long, it's been an eventful year so far, and the FPS leaves a bit to be desired here! I'll see if I can finish out the year tomorrow, but in the meantime, let's see what Maolagin's been up to:
Grandma Ustuth!
I hope this missive finds you in good health. There's been no official word yet from the liaison, but we've heard rumors of a goblin army overrunning Rimsprayed. Please do let us know if you hear anything at all from cousins Athel and Ilral.
Matters here in Nevertaxed have been, I'm sorry to say, quite taxing. I took this position with the hope of better securing our fortunes through applying some well-considered management to various matters, and indeed I think my efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Yet, the toll has been far higher than I would have wished.
I feel that I acquitted myself well in our first calamity, though. Not three days after I took on the assignment, a sizable force of goblins arrived without warning. They marched on our village without pity, but with little discipline, taking time to wander aside and slaughter our animals grazing in the fields nearby. No matter, we rallied the squads and ushered everyone else into the relative safety of our tavern, and our soldiers were able to repel the invaders by force of arms. I can only call our safety relative, though, for our foes did bring trolls with them, and the brutes are quite capable of smashing down the doors of our refuge. I've no doubt we have among our number engineers capable of raising impenetrable defenses worthy of the Mountainhome, but I've been told the precarious legal status under which we exist forbids certain techniques on which others may rely.
One of those techniques is the simple expedient of defensive walls. Apparently it would be impossible to assign legal ownership of such a structure, and thus nobody here has the authority to simply order one built. That will cause us sorrow, I fear, and sure enough it has already caused us some considerable grief. This spring a monstrosity fell upon us out of the woods, and so fleet was it upon its paws, that it was in the center of the village before most dwarves had gone ten paces. It bore a curse that spreads by biting, and those affected are periodically afflicted by a terrible urge to bite indeed! The curse is now contained, but some good dwarves now rest forever in our shrine.
But enough complaining, I did not write to add weight to your shoulders! All in all life here is glorious, make no mistake. I am running a weavers shop and, below these majestic trees, have been crafting the finest bolts of rope reed cloth you ever saw. My renovations to our tavern proceed apace, and even if they are mostly cosmetic the improved aesthetics are most striking. Even our squads of fighters, the ostensible reason for my appointment, are much improved both in number and in skill. And you, my dear grandmother, now have three great-grandchildren here as well. Truly we have found a good home.
Your caring granddaughter,
Maolagin of Nevertaxed
Well, Maolagin's sure upbeat, isn't she? Here's where we stand as of early summer.
As I mentioned, there was an invasion. The goblins have been quiet since then, but it's only a matter of time. We now have three squads, including one of marksdwarves, and they're set to train. Congrats PsychoAngel, you got promoted to commander of your own squad!
The wood shortage is well in hand now that we're gradually replacing wooden structures with stone. Looks nicer, too. Also, the carpenter shop will no longer be making doors and coffins on repeat. Seriously, we have a wood shortage here!
The first mood of the year was just a possession, sadly. I have no idea what a conical helm is. There's no such thing in the raws, so maybe artifacts are now choosing random shapes as well?
Meanwhile the rest of the population puttered around building and removing constructions, making room in the refuse stockpile, things like that. The elves showed up and I got Koreg a present: a pet giant kangaroo of our own. It's pastured in the middle of town to make sure everyone gets a good look at it.
Then real trouble arrived.
Like Maolagin said, this guy was FAST. The militia was pretty useless, he zipped right to the center of town before they could get out of the barracks or wherever they happened to be. Now a wereraccoon isn't as destructive as some larger werebeasts might be, but as we know the dwarves killed in battle aren't the real problem. We had one death but two bites before he turned back, and I guess his human form is slower because that's about when the sworddwarves caught up to him and finished things.
So I went about getting some containment set up, but unfortunately I waited too long to set the burrows and the bite victims didn't make it in. The one that changed in the Plum wasn't too bad, he was pummeled almost immediately by outraged civilians. But the other one transformed in the middle of town and put up quite a fight. As far as I could tell, five dwarves were bitten but survived, including some notable names around town. By this time the "sanitarium" was set up, so in they went. Around the date of the next moon I locked the hatch cover and watched to see what would happen. Sure enough, half of them transformed, but from the ensuing battle the only survivor was Tekkud the Carpenter Wereraccoon.
Yeah, we'll call that a basement asylum. HugoLuman graciously volunteered his house, and now he gets to admire a nice conglomerate hatch and try not to dwell on the monster under his bed. As for the list of casualties:
Bembul Olongebar, Lead Spinner has been found dead.
Onul Zoncerol, Dwarven Child has been found dead.
Catten Athelsokan, Miner has been found dead.
`Zubb2' Rosatsibrek, Mechanic Industry Bitten has been found dead.
`Beneviento' Kosothgubel, Lead Clothier(renter) Bitten has been found dead.
Tulon Taremnish, Brewer Bitten has been found dead.
As you can see, we've got some holes to fill now. Zubb2 and Beneviento, what do you want done about your successors?
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Topic: Nevertaxed: Dwarven Village Bloodline (Overseers Needed!) (Read 54353 times)