Never having played with this before, I decided to try capturing and training some of the cavern fauna. My goodness, I had no idea how prolific it was! A few giant olms have spawned triplets after triplets after triplets, and their meat is delicious and plentiful. They're all exceptionally or masterfully trained -- I wonder how many generations it will take to fully domesticate them? I also had a brood of sixty cave crocodiles, so I butchered about two thirds and have the rest pastured for eggs. They're all tame, although I'm still waiting for them to mature and start laying.
Meanwhile, the bedrooms are finally finished: every dwarf has a 3x3 smoothed room, with a masterwork door, bed, chest, and cabinet, all in bright colours in a repeating pattern; and, in anticipation of a monarch, I've finished preparing the royal chambers. All the furniture is masterwork gold, with a slew of studs and gems, enough that they've each got at least one masterful decoration as well. I sure hope that 42.06 will be save-compatible when the exported wealth bug is fixed and I can actually get a monarch.
I think my next project with this fort will be properly grooming the surface. The woods have grown thick and treacherous, and I have built neither roads nor a menacing entrance -- just a hole in the side of the hill. It is a poor overture to the grand symphony below.