Welp, I was AFK for a while there. Now that the new update is out and about, I have a tale to share...
Ingtakkebul Sastres Aroth is a burgeoning metropolis established in the early spring of 125 by the Magic of Friends of the Avalanche of Spikes.
For some unfathomable reason, the intrepid pioneers decided that the side of an active volcano, with an aquifer layer thrown in for some additional *fun* and ☼games☼, was the ideal place to start their new grand fortress.
This decision, together with an initial bout of mismanagement (Hey, it's been a while since I last played, and little details like farm plots are so very easy to overlook! Besides, managing labors without Dwarf Therapist is a pain.), wereskink raids, and the occasional giant or minotaur poking around, has led to the hottest production items in the metropolis of Twilightsparkle the Princess of Magic being coffins, caskets, and memorial slabs. The default mood for the inhabitants of the venerable deathtrap is perpetually traumatized. But hey, at least the ghost population is on the decrease! The first five or so years consisted of little but dwarves covering in horror and doing nothing, when not going berserk and beating each other to bloody pulp or flinging somebody's favorite cat into the crater in a tantrum. (Fortunately, the giant didn't enjoy the fields strewn with corpses any more than my dorfs, who proceeded to use the panicking monster as a punching bag / archery target.)
For whatever reason, migrants still kept coming, (Imagine how horrible the other forts must be for people to actually want to migrate here!) and eventually, the mood stabilized enough for things to actually start getting done. A timely cargo of food from the Mountainhomes kept enough workers alive and sane to start cleaning up the mess.
Although the refuse stockpile still isn't a sight for the faint of heart, what with the dozens of dwarven skeletons mangled to various degrees, we have now undertaken the task of excavating a grand feast hall to properly celebrate the magic of friendship!
P.S. Allowing somebody to adopt that tame hamster you pitted into the volcano? Bad idea. Vermin are immune to lava, dorfs are not...
Urist McPetOwner cancels Recover Pet: Animal inaccessible. x 9001