Surgeon's Journal: AutumnOur hunter skillfully avoided the foul green smoke, so that was one mini-crisis avoided. Captain Sanctume dropped by shortly afterwards and reminded me of the sole symptom of the smoke that knocks you unconscious for a brief period. Since no one had ever been admitted to my ward for diagnosis, it had slipped my mind.
First order of business for the Autumn was to drain the moat. Several ogre corpses are floating around and would cause issues down the road, as well as how long it delayed the resolution of the siege we had in the summer while everyone waded through the moat instead of pathing into the barracks. Quite a few items in the moat had previously been marked for dumping, so I had to reassign the designations for all useful items we could recover to prevent unnecessary losses.
The various quarries we have dug out have quite a few spider webs accumulating in them, so I released those dwarves in the quarrantine that felt back to normal and allowed them to resume their normal jobs, as well as web collection. I reserved the 3 looms here for our best weavers to create masterwork cloth, while the others solely collected the raw materials.
On a happier note, Lor's body was given back to Armok by encasing it in obsidian. With the aquifer water purified, the second well was reopened. No more waiting in line for baths or fetching water.
Sanctume finally decided on a name for his shield and rushed to show it off to everyone. Confuselathers he calls it; why that name is still a mystery to me. While he was pointing out the finer parts of its craftsmanship, he reminded me that the Wild Child was tabbed for military service once he comes of age, and should have a bedroom near his. This request was sensible enough and easily granted.
Perhaps due to the failed invasion earlier, the goblin's decided to try a different tactic.
When the goblin bastard was strolling out, he couldnt help but brag of their evil deeds.
I know diplomacy will never lead us anywhere with them. They are going to keep coming and coming for
me us. We must prepare and keep vigilant.
Shortly thereafter, the dwarven caravan and liason arrived. I was quite pleased to see the new barracks depot entrance working as intended.
Unfortunately, the caravan wasn't the only new arrival to Breadbowl. A sinister hum resonating through the first cavern announced a visitor.
I had the citizenry start hauling our foodstocks to the depot and asked the Assaults and Shafts assemble by the door leading to the caverns. Once he came close enough, LordBrassroast lead the charge to engage the mighty beast.
After a short but fierce battle, the bee lay lifeless on the cavern floor.
No one wanted to claim credit for the kill; they said it was a team effort. Regardless, the caverns were safe once more. Given the astounding number of webs reported therein, I left the caverns open for web collection and corpse retrieval.
Meanwhile, the food and drink were finally finished hauling to the depot.
The total output was
8376 Prepared Meals and
2023 Drinks. We took all the stone, bars, leather, and cloth from the caravan. Most disappointingly, they did not bring a single bag of gypsum plaster. We will be extremely short of supply on casts until the next caravan comes. The abundance of leather was a nice touch, and May has been put to work crafting more clothing for the citizens.
Quasar's meeting with the dwarven diplomat was considered a success in my books.
Pig iron bars, steel bars, raw platinum, some specialty leather, and gypsum plaster were ordered. Everything else is easily obtainable with our natural resources on hand. The diplomat seemed pleased with the overall output of food and drink, yet reminded us just how far away from our expected output it was. Regardless, we are making progress and that is what counts in my book.
A small cheer went up as the magma was finally dumped into the refuse pit, allowing permanent removal of all unwanted items. No more accumulation of stress due to corpse piles! With this, the haulers were sent out to collect all the ogre corpses and begin the cleansing process. Yet this joy was quickly forgotten, for on the horizon came a sight that the people would not soon forget.
I find it ironic that out of all of the changes to Breadbowl during my tenure, for better or worse, that this will be what my stewardship is remembered for. Rhinos provide a substantial amount of meat when butchered, and breeding them will do wonders for our prepared meal output.
Not to be outdone, Murky had finally settled on a name for his axe. The Tongue of Passes. It's probably for the best that I not ask him why.
Dwarven life is never short on strife for long however. Eshtan, one of our new woodcutter migrants, was gathering up skeletons in the second cavern for incineration when he was cornered by a group of molemarians. I had ordered the Watch and the Shafts into the caverns for support when they were first sighted, but the distance was vast.
Unfortunately, none would arrive in time to save poor Eshtan.
Helpunites and his 2 molemarian brethren must die, no mercy!
Likot of the Watch was the first to engange, and held them off while the Shafts approached to reinforce. Likot took a bit of a beating, but all the molemarians were vanquished.
A silver lining to the tragedy: a giant cave spider was engaged in a battle with a giant olm, then wandered into one of the cages in the caverns immediately after the battle. This will be a boon to our silk industry and should eliminate the need for us to remain in the caverns.
Autumn has come to an end while I wait for Likot to arrive in the hospital. My thoughts lie with Eshtan and his encounter with the molemarians. It could have been any of us in his shoes. Threats to
me us can come from all directions. Renewed vigilance is called for; they will not get me. No one will!
Subject 1: StressOnly 4 dwarves remain in quarantine. Bearskie in particular was most pleased to return and has attended 2 parties already this season. With the magma refuse chute, accumulated stress due to corpses should diminish over time.
Subject 2: Clothing & Equipment IssuesSilk and leather clothing production continues. The GCS will require a constructed collection pen, which should be finished in early winter.
Subject 3: MilitaryBolt stocks are low and being resupplied. The recruits are responding well to the new training regiment and will be quite proficient fighters by the time the goblins strike again.
Subject 4: PasturesThe giraffe grazed its pasture down to clay by the end of the season and has been relocated to a larger pasture. Rhinos are ravenous creatures and will require a huge pastureland soon. A new set of pasture designations will be necessary in the immediate future.
Subject 5: Medical ScienceDatan underwent the clinical trial once more with minimal results. The modifications to the system will be completed in early winter and improved results are expected soon.
Subject 6: StocksSoap supplies continue to rise. One more set of 30 bars should suffice for quite some time. Leather is in sufficient quantities now, so the only really critical issue that remains is gypsum plaster. With no natural gypsum available to us, the only option is waiting on the caravan next autumn.
Winter is upon us and my tenure as overseer will soon be at an end. Hopefully I can accomplish the remaining plans I have in this timeframe, but time waits for no dwarf. Regardless, safety precautions must be put in place.
I We will not be subdued!