PreludeThe mayor summoned me to her office today.
"Here," she said as she hauled a huge stack of papers up onto her desk.
"I need someone to take over as temporary overseer again, no one wanted the responsibility this year so I have to take care of things in the interim. But I've got all these scheduled appointments with Tobul the bonecarver, so....""So?" I remarked.
"So I need you to help me out a bit here." she said as she motioned to the stack of papers.
I took a quick perusal of the papers stacked upon the table. It was a bunch of mandates stamped as 'Overdue'.
The Queen wants more bolts.
The Outpost liaison demands a swanky room and accommodations.
Immortal-D mandates the production of a crap ton of colored blocks, pump components and a power generator before his contractual term as overseer begins.
DDDragoni demands that the goblin traitor in disguise be found and brought to justice.
The citizens demand more beds and clothing.
The Queen demands a magma pumpstack to be built.
The-"Well screw this, I'm out.""No, you can't. You are contractually obliged to comply." The mayor said as she barred the door. She then took out the overseers cap and carefully placed it snugly on top of my helmet.
"Read the fine print in your last contract." she said as she pulled out the papers and motioned to the inscrutably tiny print on the bottom of the tattered pages.
"But I was half drunk when I signed this contract! Besides-" I made to argue but was cut off.
"-Well, you shouldn't have made a bet with Immortal-D in the first place. Worse still, you made the bet and lost.""Now wise up before I'm forced to invoke clause 11." She said as she patted me on the head and gave me a knowing wink.
I took a quick look at the fine print and shuddered at the thought.
Overseer Shipcats Log - 1st Granite 58A stray cat has been reportedly found dead. Well, it ain't the only dead thing around here, there are dead bodies laying about everywhere!
I've ordered our former citizens to be respectfully buried. The inner bridge also laid broken in shambles, so I ordered it reconstructed. It won't do to have the ENTIRE FORT traffic through Immortal-D's bedroom. Must be part of his plan to gather power and influence, he has been rather cross at me after my term as overseer, I wonder what I did to upset him?
With efficiency I took a gander at our defenses. The 2nd and 3rd caverns lay open and exposed. Scouting reports show that there don't seem to be any immediate threats. So, I order the 3rd caverns deforested in order to increase the charcoal stocks for making more pump parts. But I ordered the second caverns closed, there be no sense in stretching our defense lines too thin.
Somehow, the outpost liaison was assigned the bed that was in Sanju's rooms. I don't think that is a good idea. Besides it was way too meager for his liking.
Tantrums were thrown! Tobul the bone carver beats up Iden the milker, whom is chained up and helpless to defend herself. Tobul then attacks Iden the carpenter, but Iden leaps off the bedrooms on the top floor down one level to safety, bruising her head. I would have lain down dwarven justice but Astesh our hammerer refused to use the ceremonial adamantine warhammer, preferring to use the silver warhammers the military squads used.
I will have to speak with her at length about this later.
With all the recent bout of injuries, McBarsky was swamped with doctor work. Kadol finally checks herself into the hospital by her lonesome after noticing no one was going to rescue her. Poor child.
2nd Granite 58Fisherdwarves report there is nothing to catch in the northern swamps. Of course there ain't nothing to catch from a swimming pool, unless you are fishing for dead bodies you twits!
3rd Granite 58The execution of Ago went on without a hitch. There were some that worried that the bonds would not hold and the prisoner would escape, but this was not the case. That goblin was lucky I didn't order his execution, otherwise I would have sent him to Sanju's chambers to be interrogated. As precaution though, I sent in the still in training marksdwarves squad as insurance against any foul play.
The horns sounded, a goblin siege was spotted approaching from the northwest.
Ago shouted,
"Hah! My brethren are here for me! You are all-"and he was cut off as he plummeted 17 stories down to his-
oh wait he survived.
No matter, I have a squad stationed nearby that will speed him on his way.
Alright everyone! To the defense of ConstructIvory!
4th Granite 58endlessblaze was the first to arrive at the Northwestern slopes, littered with the fallen arms and armor of battles past. Meanwhile, the goblins summoned more of their forces from the northwest, as trolls entered the battlefield. Leading the pack was an odd sight, an elf axeman, an elf recruit and a human recruit.
"Can we be considered as Barad-dûr yet?" remarked one of the military.
"Oh shut up."Ngebzo the human recruit leads the charge. But is quickly cut down by Heretic with a stab to the head with
Mebzuthlolum, the steel short sword. The elf recruit comes over to avenge his comrade but gets his head cloven asunder with a stab.
A melee battle unravels as both our forces jockey for better position. Heretic, endlessblaze and Zasit the Hammerlord act as the vanguard, plowing a path through their forces for the rest of our troops. The rest of the troops and I act as the mop up, cleaning up those unfortunate few that are still alive after being mangled by our vanguard. This second engagement goes well, and the goblins are quickly swept away before they can gather.
Battle proceeds up the slopes as I make my way to the front of the fray, eager to notch some kills of my own. Trolls come up to reinforce their numbers but are again too late to prevent the onslaught already taking place. The elf axeman that has been directing the battle from the back of the lines flees to the north.
But Reg our military captain of the spear squad, the Patterned Ropes gives chase and cuts off his path of retreat.
Zasit the hammerlord takes out the last 2 survivors but receives a bruise to the arm. We are victorious! 71 of their number lie piled up in the snow.
5th Granite 58Logging proceeds in the caverns. the woodcutters were startled by the discovery of a hungry head skeleton. It was entangled in the spore trees and came crashing down with it when they chopped the spore tree down. Is there someone or something down here with them?
With the new influx of orders, everyone was busy working on their tasks. Regimentation and discipline is the key to progress! We have way too many animals for my liking, so I'm having them gelded and will select a few to be preserved for breeding stock in the future. The rest will be butchered.
9th Granite 58An elven caravan has arrived from the east border. I got the dregs to haul ass to the depot and trade away all this crap that has been littering the battlefield.
13th Granite 58The queen sends a reminder to make bolts. Yes, I know my responsibilities as overseer, no need to remind me.
16th Granite 58Zasit the hammerlord has bestowed the name Istraththazor - The Bejeweled Discovery upon his steel shield! I check in on the state of our law enforcement. Sanju is now pretty competent fighter, Astesh our hammerer is finally equipping the adamantine warhammer after some convincing with a steel axe, and Taupe has been a good samaritan; feeding the prisoners.
21st Granite 58With most of the hauling done, the dregs turn to hauling the beds I designated.
Not even a season has gone by, and already I have made more beds, I wonder what the rest of the previous overseers were thinking?
Lord Brassroast
(what an odd name) creates a masterpiece kaolinite mechanisms. Meanwhile, DDDragoni traded for some clay, barrels and fruits from the elves. In return the elves got a good supply of large clothing, troll fur clothing, and arrows. I am sorely disappointed that they did not bring any wood.
Many dwarves are becoming unhappy due to the recent hauling that exposed them to the corpses of the recently fallen goblins, something needs to done. I perused the fortress registry and the various records before announcing a one time amnesty exemption from corpse hauling for those dwarves that seem most prone to stress. Hopefully they will make a full recovery, but I doubt it. It seems Mobrules is among those listed... Well that explains everything!
I ordered the old and now
dry wells to be removed from the kitchens.
25th Granite 58The dwarves of the lucid figure now know a few facts about coyote training.
I rubbed shoulders with one of the miners hauling up rocks from the quarries underground. A glint caught my eye as he passed.
Adamantine strands sewn into the right shoulder? I had a foreboding feeling. So I paid a visit to the hospital.
No wonder healthcare was so expensive! Soap is scarce, and we use adamantine strands for medical care! Someone is going to have to answer for this!
In the meantime, Zefon our outpost liaison does some bridge building. I'll get the mechanics to work on linking it up later.
2nd Slate 58Ustuth is taken by a fey mood!
5th Slate 58More naming. Olon our milita captain has bestowed his silver war hammer with the name of Kulinudist - Palmpleat. That's certain to be a euphemism for something, right? The butchering of the coyotes and various other animals is underway.
I did some tinkering with the military uniforms and assignments. Urvad the Avenger is promoted to military captain. She was the only one in her squad anyway. I've drafted Mebil, one of the jewelers into the swordsdwarf squad.
Elk birds were sighted in the caverns, loitering near our logging operations. I hope they do not get too feisty and try something funny, though they seem to be as terrified of us as we are of them.
Meh, I can't be bothered with this.
The elves have left after packing everything up. Oddly, one of them loiters around and goes by a roundabout route to escape from the caverns. I asked one of the squads to keep an eye on him, mighty suspicious behavior... as if scouting out our defenses...
26th Slate 58HIGH ALERT! EVERYONE HIGHTAIL IT OUT OF THE CAVERNS!
With feline quick reflexes, DDDragoni was able to pull the lever shut after the last of the hauling crew escaped, shutting out Uja. Unfortunately, one of the cats got flung by the raising bridge. It was only slightly hurt, but Uja soon took care of that.
Meanwhile, Uja has taken to chasing the elk birds around. Good, this gives me time to put things into action.
28th Slate 58"Is everyone gathered?" I remarked as I looked around trying to take the headcount.
"Ok, looks like everyone is present. Time to storm the caverns and take back what is ours!"With a sickening thud, the cavern gates slammed down. The thunderous sound echoed in the silence of the caverns.
"Spread out and search the perimeter, shout if you spot the beast!" I shouted.
"Where is the beast anyway?" muttered one of the crew.
Unbeknownst to us, Uja had taken to hiding beneath the surface of the cavern lakes, underneath the shade of a spore tree growing out of the lake bottom. It was awaiting a chance to spring its trap.
"Zasit, take point. The rest follow me." I motioned to the others.
"Where could the bugger be?" muttered endlessblaze.
*bubbling noises*"What was that?" said Heretic.
*SPLASH!*Suddenly, Uja leapt out of the waters, barreling towards the north of our position. It seemed that it was after a giant rat that had crept nearby and was scared away by our presence.
"There it is! Don't let it escape!" pointed Goden.
While Inod the Axelord engaged Uja, Endok the spearmaster came up and stabbed the beast in the leg, felling it. Inod went for the finishing blow with a fierce kick to the head, caving in the beasts skull.
Henceforth, Inod took the name
Inod Phantomstakes,
the Mysterious Skin.
Just as we took down Uja, another roar sounded faintly in the distance.
"Did you hear something lads?" I said as I looked about.
"Nope nothing," muttered Heretic.
"Alright, lets get out of here.""Hold up, since we're here already, lets just push on a little further and explore more of the caverns." said Inod. I trusted my sparring partners judgement, so I led a squad along with the marksdwarves and the speardwarves to explore further.
2nd Slate 58Meanwhile, back near the entrance, a reacher interrupted the wood hauling and was punched for its trouble.
We came to a clearing where there stood an ominous looking magma pool. But we pushed on ahead, hoping to find where the boundaries of the caverns laid.
"This is a dead end isn't it?""Hold up, what's this?""Do you smell that?""What? The gorlak corpse?""No. Smells like smoke.""Hold up, I think its coming from there.""Where?""Up there.", Inod pointed.
Meanwhile, in the cavern level above us...
3rd Slate 58Zasit has bestowed his silver warhammer with the name Uzolsober - Oilrelease!
Meanwhile, silliness ensues as the reacher manages to out heal all the wounds given to him by 5 flailing dwarves, and all of them lie in a heap on the cavern floor; overexerted, unconscious and exhausted. Kogsak, uberpye, Atis, Iteb and Sodel military captain of the 2nd marksdwarves squad laid there with the reacher, like the aftermath of some kind of high speed mine-cart crash of sorts occurred.
*Back at the secret passage*"Captain, I want you to take your squad with you and scout ahead, we'll stand by here just in case." I said as I beckoned to my trusted 2nd in command.
8th Slate 58Finally, the dog-piling ended when Sigun the craftsdwarf went into the dog-pile of now 10+ dwarves and crumpled the reacher under her fists of fury.
The Captain and her squad member returned to report. I pondered over the significance of this discovery.
"Commander, what shall we do with the passage?" Enquired Inod.
"I think it would be best to seal it up while we still can. Otherwise our position will be sorely compromised." I ventured.
"I'll leave a few squads to station here in case of any eventuality, the rest of you may go back and recuperate for now." I said as I dismissed the others.
15th Felsite 58"Captain, I can't stand this waiting to rush and rushing to wait. Also, did you hear all the ruckus going on up there?""Hush! Good for you if you can hear it. Just stay quiet. We don't want to attract any attention to ourselves.""But its driving me insane!""Better insane than dead! Now shush!"22nd Felsite 58"I can smell the smoke wafting down from here, the cunning beast surely must have sensed our presence by now and is trying to smoke us out from our position!" muttered Goden
"Then let us take the fight to it!" replied Heretic.
"Wait, you hear that?" said Inod,
"I think its coming for us instead."The fight was over quickly in the dark passages beneath the second cavern layer. A grim light shone in the tunnel way leading upwards as Tath emerged from the tunnels, showing its flaming visage. It immediately poured forth its deadly forgotten beast fire. But Goden who was with one good arm and Inod the Mysterious Skin weren't the least bit impressed. Goden jumped to the side, avoiding the blast of flame while Inod gave a hard left body blow to the amorphous beast, which broke apart its connective tissues and tore it apart from the inside as its fiery innards burst apart with a loud pop. Little was left of the beast apart from its shell.
Inod remarked,
Thereafter, there was little of note for the rest of the season. The workforce was preoccupied trying to finish up the designations for the pump stacks as well as hauling the corpses off the fields. I did not look forward to the tedium of another 3 seasons of tenure.
It is now summer.
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Topic: // Fall of the Succession Tower: Constructivory \\ (Read 278803 times)