Project Log11th Hematite
It was that time of the year again, when the humans of the Umbral Confederacy traveled south to barter their wares. In the dead of the night they did arrive, but it did not take long before the usual hubbub of conversation and trade suffused through the depot. Foreign tales of far-flung places and conflicts reached the ears of the dwarves, sometimes many years late. DDDragoni was sent for with urgency, as the humans had important matters to relay to the broker – private information, for his ears only.
Even without night vision, the humans could see the rising towers, illuminated they were by the waning moonlight. Being builders of the surface, they too marvelled at the dwarves’ work. And the dwarves said, well, wait till you come back next year. Overseer Paddle, she’s got her vision. She’s going to lead the tower to glory. And hence when the humans left, they left with much anticipation for the following year.
As for the overseer?
“I swear to Savot, we’d damn well better find a way to get those gits upstairs. And I say that for the benefit of my own knees. I’ll draw up the plans tomorrow.”
17th Hematite
I congratulated Ducim on her (once again) run-off election victory. In distant second was a cat running as Master Fluffykins.
Ducim’s job is to proffer handkerchiefs to crying dwarves and make sure they don’t off themselves by the sides of the tower (or god forbid the swimming pool). Mine is to ensure this place doesn’t catastrophically implode upon itself in a spiral of tantrum and death. I guess we’re pretty similar in that respect. Or, on second thought, not really.
No sane dwarf runs against Ducim in an election. For starters, she’s probably the only one who
likes the job, and two, she is bloody good at it. Almost terrifyingly good. Seriously, the lady listens like a vortex.
6th Malachite“Cavern 3 alarm has just blown!”
“Do you hear that?”
“You mean… that rumbling below the earth. Yes, I feel that.”
“It’s got webs, DO NOT ENGAGE!”
“Beast of the Depths!”
“Do we even have that cavern layer open?”
“To arms!”
“I repeat, DO NOT ENGAGE!”
“Ohshitohshitohshitallgonnadie”
“PULL THE LEVER!”
“Which one?!”
“Earthworms!? It had to be bloody earthworms.”
“I can’t read all these notes!”
“WHO IS PULLING THE LEVER!?”
“CAVERN 3! IT’S OPEN, IT’S O-”
Japa pushes past the crowd and tugs on a lever. Immediate sounds of grinding mechanisms marked the sealing the underground from the world above. He gives the other dwarves a wink and amicable smile before wandering off, leaving the perplexed crowd to salvage their nerves, and if possible, their dignity.
12th MalachiteNow that the builders have finally learned how to prepare a basic 4-room layout without screwing up
my design, I’m left free to deal with slightly more pressing issues. Namely, you, you and you.
Just sitting there, stinking up the pool and breeding mosquitos. My dear gentlemen, it’s time your reign of terror came to an end; for I have a plan, and it involves magma.
Over the course of spring, the pump operators had procured three carts worth of magma for this venture. It was a long and arduous process – well, primarily long anyway. Watching paint dry is nothing compared to waiting for magma to evaporate. So thank you, accursed laws of physics. I order the magma to be brought over to the pool. Carefully, because it will take us another four months to get another.
- Careful!
- Slowslowslow…
- Tip it.
- Success!
The warmth of yet another job well done. I can’t help but feel my reign of overseer has been decidedly exceptional so far. No complaints, no deaths, no injuries. I’m going to pour myself a mug of first-rate booze to celebrate.
13th MalachiteOkay we just had our first death today. Make that two.
How hard is it to dig out obsidian without drowning yourself? Apparently it’s hard, because 2 out of 3 miners can’t do it. Four months down the drain, because we’re now left with two new corpses floating around in the pool. I’ve ordered the area to be cordoned off while I figure out how to tackle this problem from a different angle. People aren’t liking it that the swimming pool is closed, but I told them to take a hike in the well if they want a bath so badly.
25th MalachiteAnother season, another batch of migrants. It was my pamphlets! yells Head Engraver Inod. The only reason he wasn’t The Only Engraver anymore is that some of the fortress dwarves have taken to smoothing the ice base as a hobby. I won’t lie; it looks nice, and small things like this are what lifts the mood of the entire tower.
So that’s six new workers, once they pick their jaws up from the ground.
2nd GalenaTaupe was always the earliest to the masonry level. She liked to start her workday afresh, combing through the work orders and finishing up her jobs by noon. Today though someone was already there, working intently at the oft-unused craftsdwarf’s. Taupe took a curious peek over the newcomer’s shoulder.
“That looks unnecessarily complicated.” she commented, scratching her beard.
“Nabrethisanabrethisanabrethisanabrethisaa….”, muttered Uvash back.
3rd Galena“Mam, another forgotten beast just appeared down in the caves.”
“Tell it to join the queue.”
10th GalenaBecause of the vastness of some of the mineral deposits, temporary minecart tracks had to be set up within the mines. The average labourer takes a whole month to drag a single gold ore up to the tower. I simply won’t settle for such a blatant waste of labor.
Keeping efficiency in mind, the forges too have had permanent minecart tracks installed. This is primarily for the use of the kilns; carts shuttle clay from a collection site nearby, but this may be adapted for sand bag transport as well.
I believe we are ready. I signal my command, and the forges roar to life.
20th GalenaPool Cleaning Attempt Two [UTTER FAILURE]I-i-i-don’t know what I just did.
Obsidianizing clearly didn’t work the first time. So I dug up this book from the nearby stash. It was called ‘Cave-Ins: The Solution To All Your Problems’.
Well now I have an even bigger problem. I currently have three corpses in the pool.
I’m going to need help.
~ End of Summer
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Topic: // Fall of the Succession Tower: Constructivory \\ (Read 278757 times)