I am playing my first fortress that isn't guided by a tutorial. I have come up with a clever way of embarking that works well. I first embark with a squad of workers who will simply carve the basic fortress out, get furniture and other basics set up, and bring many expensive weapons, equipment, etc. in lieu of food. Then, another embarkment will liberate the prepared fortress and start at an advantage. So, I do this, mining out the layout of my fortress and get the basics set up.
I am about to abandon the fortress and bring in my real settlers when the sudden desire to explore underground hits me. I take one miner, Sazir Othilkol, and bury him underground by digging a ramp and removing it. I proceed to dig underground, expecting to get to the first cavern, see what one actually looks like, and get eaten by something. Instead, Sazir digs down a total of 150 levels, through three more caverns and surviving on mud and spiders he caught with his bare hands. He finally hits warm stone, and I think to myself, "by Armok, he's found Hell itself!" Going down the final level, I find the Sea of Magma, and get not one, but two messages praising the miners for finding adamantine. Keep in mind that this is the first fortress I have founded without the help of a tutorial. This is a big, big event for me.
Searching the walls, I find no adamantine. A good part of the lava, however, is cut off, making me think I need to explore further. As of this moment, Sazir digs around scalding-hot lava in the hopes of finding this legendary metal. Now would be the best time ever for one of the Draltha hovering around to come and eat my miner.
EDIT:
Y.
E.
S.
Before technically even starting my fortress, I have access to adamantite. My nerves might be frayed to breaking point and Sazir might be dying of thirst, but I did it.
By the way, it turns out that every tile above the Sea of Magma is warm. It makes sense, but when I had to manually force Sazir to mine one warm wall at a time, I was expecting my hard work to end in the traditional dwarfish way; hotly. But I found a vein of adamantite and plan to mine it thoroughly. I'm also going to save and then breach Hell, just for the hell of it. I wonder how long wooden grates will hold them back?