An interesting past few months in Waterspear.
The humans sent a five squad siege and actually built campfires when they started to settle in.
One squad camped right beside one of the outer drawbridges. Said squad withdrew after half of it got atom smashed or trapped in an outer pasture and then shot to pieces by a marksdwarf squad. One bold rider tried to ride the length of the fortress from south to north to go out another gate. He got 2/3 of the way there and then took an iron bolt to the head. Adventurous, but eventually futile.
The squads to the west were engaged by marksdwarf squads in the archery bunkers. The one human elite archer took a toll with his copper arrows. Two dwarves killed, three wounded, and one of the wounded died in the hospital. The archer's squad and their mounts absorbed a lot of return fire, along with the two other cavalry squads in their camps.
The humans eventually withdrew after suffering a dozen killed including two squad leaders and numerous wounded. A few mounts were processed for the fortress larder.
Following this Waterspear undertook it's long-standing project to deal with the denizens of the Underworld. A hole was made and the howling horde appeared and entered a carefully prepared gauntlet that led them upward and into a hallway of lever-operated steel spikes and a complex bridge-based trap (one of the infamous "checkerboards"). The spikes proved very effective as only *four* heavily wounded demons out of over 100 reached the final area. They were sealed in to be dealt with later while an expeditionary force headed downward. (The spike traps were slow to build and wire, but appear to have been worth the effort.)
Waterspear now has a base camp and walled in access stair to the lowest level. As well as multiple layers of defenses to protect the fortress core from another invasion. The work has not been without danger. A group of guard crocodiles were pounded to pieces by a snow demon, and a marksdwarf came home in an urn after being hit by a fireball. At this point brick stockpiles are being shifted in relative safety into working areas before efforts get underway to start gaining better control of the area and to complete a survey of the newly discovered terrain.
How to effectively guard workers is going to be an issue. Though since most of them carry crossbows all the time a few have already successfully protected themselves.
We are also considering closing gates in a season or two and seeing if the elves can be convinced to exit via the cellar.