JOURNAL OF KUBUK LILARNOKIM, 4th Obsidian, Year 4The fools that have placed themselves in charge of this fortress known as Swelteredhelms lack vision..... only 4 years ago we lived happily, albeit fearfully in our family holes, now we find ourselves under the influence of Queen Rigoth, a wonderful yet simple-minded dwarf whose love for her people is matched only in her inabilty to see that Ral Dolushastesh controls everything under her less than vigilant watch.
This cannot stand.
This fortress, carved in a godforsaken stretch of land known as Nidostled Esesh, is doomed already. Perhaps only I possess the talent and the foresight to see our people not just survive, but thrive in this harsh land. Already we are beset by goblins, Ral (the so called "General") sees fit to leave the gates open, foolishly confident in the mettle of his "warriors". Only dwarven ingenuity will see us through generations of dwarves to come, to live in safety with no fear of what the gods themselves may see fit to waylay our people.
Plans are being made.... there are a few, so few, who share my vision of a fortress built from the ground down to hold the heart of our civilization in safety. Few they may be their determination is admirable.
Queen Rigoth has seen fit to found a new outpost nearby in the mountains, to serve as a new line of defense against the goblin menace in the east. Of course this was Ral's idea, and as such it was poorly planned and I needn't take more than one look to know the location he would choose means only death to the poor souls chosen to found it.
Only I can see that Ral's plan does not come to fruition.
JOURNAL OF KUBUK LILARNOKIM, 20th Obsidian, Year 4It has succeeded.
My followers managed to sabotage the caravan prior to the doomed souls embarking to gods know where. I have used what little influence I have with Queen Rigoth to take charge of the foundation of this new outpost. Little do they know this outpost will not be a line of defense, but the new mountainhome, meticulously planned and executed. In due time Queen Rigoth will be moved there, but for now it is essential she and Ral stay ignorant of my plans.
JOURNAL OF KUBUK LILARNOKIM, 20th Sandstone, Year 4The pawns are set in place, the caravan has been loaded to ensure a quick foundation. The brave, glorious seven dwarves who have volunteered to set these events in motion have pledged absolute loyalty to the nation of The Ferocious Rack of Spinning, even should they fail they stand worthy of recognition.
Now all that remains is to wait, only a few months and they shall found this new fortress, a fortress to stand the tests of time. In a few short years I shall join them and personally oversee the execution of this grand plan.
Soon we shall find ourselves in the promised land, we attempted to brainstorm a new name for this grand place and only one name was uttered. Only one name would do for such a grand undertaking.
None too soon shall the people of this world, good or evil know this name.
PlannedcraftedLet it begin.
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Hello fellow overseers, long time lurker, first time poster, this marks my first attempt at a community world. My previous forts starting back in 34.1 have provided me with excessive amount of !!FUN!! and driven my significant others into full tantrum spirals.
Time well spent I say.
I set about to create an epic fortress, starting early in the world with the intent of creating an indefatigable stronghold for the dwarves of this world, to survive to worlds end, and perhaps beyond. What happened was an occasionally boring, and immensely rewarding experience.
As I write this, Isonrigoth idles away, it's 143 current inhabitants living a life beyond their predecessors wildest dreams, in 3 months time this fortress shall be sealed and retired, it's 25 year history paving the way for the next generation of fortresses to expand this realm of Nidostled Esesh "The Ferocious Rack of Spinning", to make safe this continent for all of dwarfkind.
Lofty goals you say? I wouldn't have it any other way.
So you ask, what makes this fortress so unique? How should this fortress succeed where so many meticulously planned and executed fortresses have succumbed to the evils of the world? Well frankly it's largely luck, this fortress has had a significantly large horseshoe situated firmly in it's egresses, there were certainly occasions where Isonrigoth found itself facing unexpected, and very deadly threats, only to have it's inhabitants show their true mettle. Legendary warriors sacrificing themselves to contain FB's poised to gut Isonrigoth from the inside were not an uncommon occurrence, entire squads lost to syndromes which left them languishing blind and paralyzed in their beds until the time came when I could only end their misery, the tombs and graveyard tell the story of the brave souls who have made this fortress what it is.
My only regret for this fortress is I did not chronicle it, perhaps it's early history is better lost in time.
Let's start with our nobles:
Queen Rigoth "Wheeluttered" KolgutidYou wish you had Ms. Kolgutid as your monarch. In 15 years she has not made a mandate, nor made a complaint. So determined was I to keep her as the lifetime monarch she is now a Legendary 5 wrestler, and Legendary 2 swordsdwarf.
Duke Kubuk "Patternedochre" LilarnokimThe mastermind and my avatar of this fort, his insatiable love of crowns, cabinets, and leather armor; while occasionally irritating, has only generated three criminals. Mayor of 22 years and Legendary broker, he too has spent years mastering combat and is currently training as an all around metalworker.
Chief Justice Edem "Conjuredwheels" TusungkolInstituted as Hammerer and Captain of the Guard a few years ago, the inhabitants of this fort look to her to keep peace and order, a job she is all too happy to administer. This legendary hammerdwarf with her Adamantine hammer has only had to dole out justice once in nigh 25 years. A fact no one begrudges. (In true Dwarf fortress style this climbed to 3 criminals while idling through the last year, still have no idea what punishment if any was handed to the other two, the first poor soul got a hammering and made a full recovery)
Champion Goden "Blushwhip the Infamous Cosmos" Umerbomrek SedishkordamLegendary 5 Wrester, Legendary 5 Axedwarf, Legendary 5 Teacher - 62 Kills. What more could you ask for?
Militia Commander Stakud "Rulersteel the Prime Pearls of Sacrifice" Iliddeler Zelerkovest EtomLegendary 5 Axedwarf - 33 Kills
Honorable Mention Edem "Roughtin the Stable Devourer of Vising" Dumatakrul Nulralnoshtath TostLegendary 5 Spearmaster - 40 Kills
Total Fortress Dead/Missing:
4829-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that you've met the nobles, let's look at some stats.
What makes a Dwarf Fortress indefatigable?
Why BOOZE of course, how much could a fort max 145 need? How about 50000 servings. Stored in blast-proof rooms well underground.
Food: Can't do without it, usually hovering around 35000 prepared meals.
Kitchens, dining hall, primary food stocks, prison level 1 and the armoryWater: Sadly necessary, the surface brook has been sealed and feeds a cistern and 4 wells, more than enough for generations.
CisternsDefences: You name it. The highly trained, adamantine clad military of Isonrigoth serves as a last line of defense. The ballista battery, magma pumps, archery tower, and adamantine bridge system have made child's play of many a goblin and troll invasion. The caverns which have been extensively explored stand sealed from the fortress, the dwarves gain great amusement watching FB's battle it out underground.
The Main GateThe Military (DFHack for simplicity)Resources: No worries, aside from a tragic lack of iron in this location. The adamantine vein discovered in cavern level 3 provided all a dwarf could ever want. Monstrous quantities of flux stone made steel manufacturing a process of goblinite harvesting and trade. Numerous above and below ground farms provide many times more plants than Isonrigoth could need and a number of breeding pairs of animals (Draltha, Goat, Yak, and Llama) provide all the meat and milk we could want.
Can't forget the half dozen birds and cave crocodile producing eggs in endless supply. And the over 40 hives keeping us in mead.
The StockpilesTHE STOCKPILESTHE METAL!Fortress Value: Not to be forgotten, the number of legendary monsters that have NOT been attracted to the fortress is surprising. I managed to sail past my ultimate goal and the fortress stands at a current value of
109,000,000 dwarfbucks.
Now for the awesome part, while building this fortress I decided to include as many megaprojects as I could, if for no other reason than to allow other overseers to have an example of how to build such things as:
An ~110 level pump stack brings magma up from deep beneath the magma sea, this provides magma for the MASSIVE magma powered foundry, and feeds the cistern which supplies the secondary pump stack which can safely flood the front gate if need be, as well as the obsidian production facility secured underground. Largely mined out, all three cavern levels had to have structures built in place to keep pumping upwards, certainly one of the more challenging engineering feats I have done in this game.
The Magma Intake (4 levels below the magma sea)Special Surprise, just in case anyone wanted an EPIC battleground to clear HFS
THE DEMONGATE
Yes indeed it is a pre-built battleground on semi-molten rock
This is powered by 11 dwarven water reactors, numerous linkages allow you to pump magma where you would like, the reactor complex is capable of running the entire pump stack, as well as EITHER the magma or water flooding mechanism at the front gate. (Yes the front gate is it's own magma-proof obsidian farm, nothing quite like turning your enemies into useable rock)
Speaking of foundries, I embarked this fortress with the intent of working with magma, which I had not delved into in DF (My previous fort was an exercise in tree farming, pump stacks, and minecart systems) The 30 Magma Forges, 30 Magma Smelters, 4 Magma Glass Furnaces and Magma Kiln crafted from obsidian and steel insist this was a successful venture.
Foundry, water reactors, awesomeAnd beneath the foundryThe barracks and a number of statue gardens are built with glass roofs to minimize cave adaptation, a lookout tower/statue garden built high above the fortress and made entirely of glass blocks ensures absolute security and nowhere for invaders to hide. My personal favorite being the Council Chamber and nearby statue garden, which allows citizens a safe view of the front gate from above, and many a dwarf has thrown a party during siege time to watch the invaders slaughtered on the doorstep while enjoying a fine meal.
The Council Chamber and Statue GardenDual dwarven atom smashers serve as the refuse piles, purposely built deep underground to minimize a necromancers ability to create undead within the fort.
A textbook mass-pitting system, two fully-stocked hospitals, the 3 z-level silver throne room, and the absolutely monstrous stockpile and workshop complex round out this fortress to be borderline, if not fully, epic.
Throne Rooms, Hospitals, Wells, Offices
Nobles/VIP Bedrooms (Can never have enough cabinets)Primary workshop complex, lots of gears 
Artifacts: Too many, six and a half pages worth of artifacts and named weapons/armor. Not one dwarf has left a strange mood incomplete. I cherry-picked a few of the best and my personal favorites such as:
Kubuk's adamantine bedA 2,700,000 DB spike (The description is the most boring thing ever)Tost Cagith
A 2,000,000 DB bracelet
And of course everyone's favorite dwarf immortalized in green glassLast but not least is the most celebrated artifact of this fortress, it's creation took Plannedcrafted from successful to legendary, behold
TORASOZONAnd to round it out a couple more impressive legendary weapons
Zozegen Lunrudfikod - Battle Axe
Kenilrom - Battle Axe
Best of all is The Fortress of Adamant, a huge creation of bauxite, glass, obsidian, and adamantine built over two decades to withstand anything I could imagine. Magma-proof and with deep foundations this tower was built to withstand the end of times, should the world find itself 30 levels deep in magma we will persevere, in comfort, underground.
*WARNING* LARGE IMAGE
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A note on DFHack: Clean was used a few times to keep FPS manageable, only Mup the beast caused nightmares with animals walking through syndrome-infected liquids, it was a FUN time for sure.
So ends the introduction, I have some ideas as to what I shall do with this world going forward, soon I shall being looking for a new embark in this wide world.
Until then, keep on dwarfing.
Save files should be up tomorrow, going to upload the primary save for those who wish to brave low FPS or explore, a world save for legends and for interested overseers to explore Cadenianenu, and if I'm feeling frisky I'll get an adventure save ready that doesn't spawn you on top of the glass tower (Not a recommended experience unless you enjoy lying unconscious on a fortress for an indeterminate amount of time)
Erumara
Author
Topic: Cadenianenu Chapter 2: The foundation of Axedanced (Read 3102 times)