Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[FearfulJesuit]

Out of character: do people care much about which dwarf they get?

The Diary of "FearfulJesuit" Ralīton, Expedition Leader, 15th Granite, 125

Since time immemorial, the legends said, the breeding of livestock was a holy mystery about which mere dwarves could do nothing. Cows became pregnant, hens laid eggs. In the spring, the calving would take place. This was a secret of nature. When the gods wished to bless dwarves, they would grant them calfs and lambs; when they wished to curse them, they would grant them kittens. In these matters we could do little but pray.

So the legends went.

We received word in the Mountainhomes that a mad necromancer- seeking to understand the secrets not only of life's destruction but also its creation- had discovered the secret of the circle of life and devised a way to prevent it. We could raise cats and never have kittens. We could raise cows which never calved.

Some said it was madness. Some said it was a perversion of the natural order of things.

Some wanted to know more.

We have been sent here by king Id- who, being a shearer himself, is naturally curious about all things animal- to look deeper into these mysteries. "If you can send us back a legendary gelder," he told us, "the farmers and animal handlers of dwarvenkind will be forever grateful."



It is Spring, 125. It is the first day of the settlement known as Breedblades.



I'll admit I'm pleasantly surprised by our surroundings.



Despite worries that we'd still be snowed in in mid-Granite, the landscape must have thawed some time before we got there, and we're enjoying the cool breezes and bright sunshine of early spring. Fruit trees line the stream in whose water otters play. The landscape rises slightly to the south of us, and Deus Asmoth, one of the miners, tells me that the chalk pebbles that litter the ground are about as good a sign for productive mining as anyone could hope for. I order him and Domas to start digging out space underground.

I'm not so concerned about getting the gelding started- we need a large number of animals before we can really start work on that, and nobody who wanted to come was too thrilled about learning to geld. They promise they'll send a potential apprentice in a migrant wave this year. In the meantime, we have more mundane concerns to take care of.

The Diary of "FearfulJesuit" Ralīton, Expedition Leader, 15th Slate, 125

Things are going swimmingly. SlyStalker is already planting seeds in our underground farms on the first level below the surface- we have three 3x7 farm plots on seasonal rotations. We also have a food stockpile with a still and kitchen and a wood stockpile with a carpenter's workshop. I've received word from the miners that the space being dug out for our stoneworking level will be finished by the end of this month, and Helgoland finished the first mason's workshop was finished just yesterday.

To be continued...

[FearfulJesuit]

Seems I, uh. Kind of forgot to dorf people. We don't really have much in the way of anyone with animal experience, and I gave the expedition leader the bookkeeping- so I've dwarfed OrangeWizard as the doctor, and Flabort as the brewer/cook. (That's sort of the closest we have at the moment). Everyone else didn't have preferences, so I've given Helgoland the carpenter, Deus Asmoth one of the miners, and SlyStalker the grower/herbalist. If anyone wants to change this or postpone their dwarfing, let me know and I'll just sneak into the writeup and change the names retroactively. I apologize, everyone :\

[flabort]

Cool. Close enough for me.

[FearfulJesuit]

The Diary of "FearfulJesuit" Ralīton, Expedition Leader, 1st Hematite, 125



As spring draws to a close, I have to say I'm pleased with the current status of Breedblades. It's still fragile- every fortress is two and a half months in- but it's a paragon of industry and development. Though we may be low on wealth, we're hardly starving:



On the surface animals frolick around the wagon, while Orange- who, thank Armok, has no patients to attend to- works on a small chalk structure to house a dormitory and dining room.

The farms are bountiful and more than sufficient for a fortress of our current size,



and we are well-stocked with food. (The small office in the left of this diagram is my temporary manager's and bookkeeping office. We'll have it moved out by the end of the year and replaced by a millstone).



Further below the surface, Helgoland- who was sleeping at the time- turns lumps of chalk into unadorned but serviceable blocks for building purposes.



Still, life goes on. I wonder if the chosen one will arrive this summer...

The Diary of "FearfulJesuit" Ralīton, Expedition Leader, 20th Malachite, 125

As summer continues, work progresses. We were held up for a while by Helgoland going on break for a few weeks, but he's now back to business. The "town hall" (as I've taken to calling it) is going up at a rapid pace, and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to start on the hospital in early Autumn. We're holding steady at 70-80 booze.

Today, something we've been waiting for most of the summer happened...



We have an adequate cheesemaker married to a novice hunter, a novice tanner/cheesemaker/milker and her adequate organizer husband- great, I'll have someone else to do the managing- with a two-year-old son, a cow, and a male donkey foal. It's not exactly the skill set I'd hoped would arrive, but we need more labor- and what dwarf doesn't want to learn a new skill? With Helgoland specializing in masonry, I'll relieve him of his carpentry duty- the adequate cheesemaker can take up the woodworking. As for the novice tanner/cheesemaker, she'll become our new stonecrafter- we need nest boxes. I'll probably have the organizer learn mechanics- if he's good at managing work orders, he's probably got a head for numbers.

I prayed to Kovest tonight for guidance. I do not think the Chosen One has yet arrived. We shall wait until autumn. In the meantime, work beckons.

The Diary of "FearfulJesuit" Ralīton, Expedition Leader, 11th Limestone, 125



And about time, too. Fall hasn't gotten off to a great start- we've had a bunch of grey langurs attacking us. They're nothing more than a nuisance, but everyone keeps canceling jobs because of them, and we haven't even started on the hospital yet. They did knock out one of Flabort's front teeth, though. Some war dogs have been chained in front of the depot, stairs and town hall to keep them away.

Also, it's been a busy fall for the animals- one of the guinea pigs, a rabbit and a cat all gave birth yesterday. This bodes well for the chosen one...

We don't have much to trade- Flabort's been busy- but more booze and food is never a problem, so I buy some.

As for requests, I ask for booze, food, wood, rabbits (though we have so many already), cavies, various metal ores, and seeds. They're willing to pay over double for prepared meals next year (), so make sure to ramp up production for that- I'm already ordering Flabort to get started on it.

[Helgoland]

Neat, I got the mason!
Seriously though, try to get some cave crocs. Litter size is about 70! And they can be caught on the first cavern level - just set up some cage traps and see what happens.

[FearfulJesuit]

I'll try. I'm trying to find the first cavern level right now so I can get underground pastures to put the explosion of rabbits and guinea pigs in.

The Diary of "FearfulJesuit" Ralīton, Expedition Leader, 22nd Sandstone, 125

Fall has been highly productive. We'vestarted work on the hospital, and the second level of the town hall is already complete, with a statue installed on the first floor. It's a cheap chalk statue of a donkey, but, hey, at least we have somewhere to hang out that isn't the wagon.

Kovest came to me in a dream last night.

Wise FearfulJesuit?

Yes, goddess.

You have done well by Breedblades. The Chosen One will appear tomorrow. He will have neither wife nor child and come in the form of a woodworker. As long as he lives, Breedblades cannot fall.

As you say, goddess.

There was a long silence.

Try not to kill the fortress while he has work yet to do, will you?

I shall do my best, goddess.



He has arrived. Breedblades must fulfill its destiny.

Many others came, mainly farmers and fishermen. We are now up to 25 dwarves.

The Diary of "FearfulJesuit" Ralīton, Expedition Leader, 16th Timber, 125



Whatever. Too bad he's possessed, though. He's claimed a craftsdwarf's workshop.

Work continues.

21st Timber

He made a chalk amulet. Idiot.

[FearfulJesuit]

The Diary of "FearfulJesuit" Ralīton, Expedition Leader, 2nd Moonstone, 125

On the second day of winter, Breedblades suffered its first casualty.



I really should ban hunting...I'll have him buried in a coffin somewhere, although I really don't know where. We'll have to build a third building to bury the dead in. For the meantime, I have placed his casket in the dining room.

12th Moonstone

It looks like we'll have finished work on both the hospital and the town hall by the end of the year- I was worried.

In addition, I have ordered the gelding of all adult male animals. The Chosen One has started work.

1st Obsidian

One month until 4maskwolf takes over. I'm relieved. We've got a month to rush the town hall and hospital to conclusion. It looks like it'll happen, but it will be close.

[flabort]

Cool, battle scars . And I'm useful, yay!

[FearfulJesuit]

And that's it! Nothing much of note took place in the last few weeks of winter. We've finished the hospital- except for traction benches; we need chains to make those- and the last of the town hall's roof is being placed. There's a dormitory on the third floor.

We're all right on food, although we'll probably need to do more brewing before long. The Chosen One is a novice gelder so far. We need to find one of the caverns, so that we can get pastures underground. We can put rabbits and cavies there; they barely eat anything. We'll also need to start slaughtering them once they're gelded. They don't produce meat, so a side industry in bone crafts may be lucrative.

We do have 162 prepared meals, so I'm not worried about the caravan. We do need to start thinking about defense. Not a bad year, all in all. The save is here. Happy gelding.

[4maskwolf]

Save is being downloaded.

Edit: Also, the effing things only produce skulls, as I learned in the past, so...

[FearfulJesuit]

I'm just imagining a fortress that exports guinea pig skull totems by the thousands. Prepared meals are a much less creepy export.

[4maskwolf]

I'm just imagining a fortress that exports guinea pig skull totems by the thousands. Prepared meals are a much less creepy export.

Heh.

Also, somehow I got missed in the dwarfing, fixed it by dwarfing myself as the other miner.

[FearfulJesuit]

I'm just imagining a fortress that exports guinea pig skull totems by the thousands. Prepared meals are a much less creepy export.

Heh.

Also, somehow I got missed in the dwarfing, fixed it by dwarfing myself as the other miner.

Sorry. 

[4maskwolf]

I'm just imagining a fortress that exports guinea pig skull totems by the thousands. Prepared meals are a much less creepy export.

Heh.

Also, somehow I got missed in the dwarfing, fixed it by dwarfing myself as the other miner.

Sorry. 

No no, it's fine, we can't expect you to remember everything for us.

[NAV]

Dorfing please!