OOC: Enjoy some roleplay. Haven't felt like playing much today. Felt like writing, and finally found the groove. TheFlame52 - Thanks for the sciencing!Oddom Besmarlis
Chief Medical Dwarf - imarust
11th of Limestone
---Civil order in Breadbowl is breaking down. The captain of the guard has gone on a smashing spree throughout the fortress, and vandamlism is quickly becoming rampant throughout the populace. The few members of the guard on active duty have made reports of fist fights across the grounds.
Combined with the recent werebeast outbreak, I'm taking over command under the Emergency Overseers Act of One-Hundred Seventy Seven and have enacted martial law in what is possibly a vain attempt to gain control of the situation.
The first matter of business is dealing with one Urdim Ustuthuthmik who was bitten in the most recent attack. Literature on werebeasts is very lacking, mostly existing in the form of legend and myth. While hardly a definitive source, we can expect at a bare minimum, its known that the curse can spread via blood-to-blood transmission. If the outbreak was not stopped now, it could spread through wildfire through Breadbowl
At the risk of condemning a dwarf to die unattended, I had the hospital evacuated and sealed as the full moon was due to rise.
As a precaution in case others were bitten, I had the stairs between the tavern and the caverns sealed, and a new underground walkway built in their place into the base of the now disused duke's quarters.
As the full moon rose, my worst fears were realized
Fortunately, it appears no others have turned. Yet. As I mentioned before, due to the fights breaking out throughout the fort, there is no way to know if Urdim had transmitted the curse to anyone else before he was confined to the hospital. Worse, at the moment, we have no way of operating the bridge controls as the west drawbridge was lowered before the seal was completed to allow The Shafts of Fortifying to enter from their barrack.
A temporary control room has been designated near the bridge so we may regain partial control of Breadbowl's defenses throughout this crisis. A second lever has been installed near the mason's workshops to control the tower bridge, allowing the upper fort and lower fort to be sealed from one another in hopes of isolating the infection.
---
18th of LimestoneI've been studying our patient through a hole in the floor of the tavern. He shows no signs of recognition or intelligence. While transformed, his mind is of that of a rabid pig, smashing and destroying without reason. Fascinatingly, the injuries he had suffered in his melee with the original Patient Zero appear to not be reflected on his boarish nature. I'm curious to know if he will remain healed when the moon moves out of alignment
Even worse, if the curse can actually be transmitted via air or food contact, we risk infecting all of The Old Nets. The dwarven caravan is due any day, and despite the kings mandate, I've ordered a full quarantine. Nothing leaves until we know we know for a fact that this outbreak is contained.
---
19th of Sandstone
Damnination. The advanced guard of the supply cavern with a few of their pack animals arrived. For reasons that remain inexplicable, they approached through our mostly evaporated moat, preventing them from being spotted by the Watchers.
We hadn't even known they had arrived until they walked down Main Street wondering why the other bridges were raised.
Here's a hint. If a fortress looks like they don't want visitors, then maybe you shouldn't wander in through the abandoned siege entrance. That's the opening of every zombie novel ever written. These idiots are now stuck here until I'm satisfied that the quarantine can be lifted. Perhaps optimistically, they've taken residence in the trade depot, though I've told the broker to ignore them.
Even if I wanted to export food, without wagons, they simply could not take the weight so the entire export is moot for this season.
I had Cerol, who for the moment was willing to support me crawl up onto the catterwalk, and drape a black flag over the still open entrance; the dwarven sign for "Plague Here". It will do us little good at attracting migrants and visitors, but I have no choice. If I must decide between Breadbowl and The Old Nets, well, there is no answer.
To further drive home the point, I had members of the watchers take black cloth and and wave it as they patrolled the perimeter. As such, we were able to route their wagons from the contamination zone. My concern are the migrant groups that usually follow; without the protection of the cavaran guards in the wilds, they would be easy fodder. Perhaps they won't come. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
---
21th of LimestoneAs the moon begins to set, Urdim transformed back into a dwarf, naked but fully healed. He appears to be unaware of his time as a pig, and I've told him that he's in isolation as a precaution. He believes it has only been a few hours since the initial attack, and that the medication we've given him has distorted his sense of time. I do not like lying to a patient, but given his access to the fortress controls, I can not risk him doing anything rash.
It must be done. I do not like it, but it must be done.
I've asked him to raise the west drawbridge, properly sealing Breadbowl from the outside world. Next, we need to study the effects of the transformation, and its transmission vectors.
21th of Limestone, continued
---As I sat in my quarters debating how to study the werebeast transformation, I realized we needed a baseline to work from. At the moment, I believe we only have a single infectee in the fort. If we pass through another full moon without incident, I will have the quarantine lifted. I can not risk further dwarfs in studying the werecurse, but there are other ways to gather data.
In the accounts of our stocks after the Great Burn, a few war dogs and rhinos survived. These animals have never been used in fighting our animals, and we have extensive records of their health and history. We will use them as our control.
22nd of Limestone
---I had a pick tossed down to Urdim, and told him to mine the wall next to him. I've had several war animals moved into the archery range next to the hospital during the night, and the door sealed behind them. I waited for Urdim to fall asleep that night, and a brave volunteer resealed the hospital.
Urdim has gone quiet. I think he realizes something is more serious than I have let on.
23th of Limestone
---The control experiment is primed which will test both animals reaction to their werebreathen, and to see if the curse is transmittable to lesser lifeforms. My attention now turns to trying to restore order to Breadbowl.
The past year has proven we are vulnerable. The goblins, the burn, the werebeast. Something is coming, and I intend to prepare Breadbowl for it. Our military has suffered many losses over the last year, and while we have drafted more recruits, it will not be enough. Despite our temporary shutdown, our mandate has not changed, and our exports must continue.
Not counting the Watch, we have 20 full time solders; the Shafts of Fortifying, who is a mix of legendary warriors, and fresh recruits, and the Captain of the Guard who barely have any combat experience. While time and training will fix that, we can't not always count of on our military to get there in time; our military was unable to intervene in time to prevent disaster. Previous overseers have armed our populous which ultimately allowed the Slaying of the Dragon (who's corpse is now well wedged in the tavern's entrance; at least it hasn't rotted).
Given the heat, and the work required by the advantage laborer, outfitting the population with full steel is impractical at best. The weight would slow everyone to a crawl. What we do have is a small mountain of leather from the creatures we've turned into roasts. It's time to put it to use. I've had our sole leather works ordered into production, and several others constructed.
While leather will not stop a goblin's blade, it will provide protection from bites and other wildlife.
I've had six new squads formed with the entirety of the fortress's adult population drafted partially sorted by the skill set of those involved.
In addition to our full time military, two squads of reservists will train for six months of the year, and haul for the other six, providing a balance between our manpower needs and our defense needs. In a sign of good faith, I've joined the group of reservists that will begin training immediately.
A second-order civilian reserve will follow. Training for three months of the year, the theory is that they can buy time for the primary military response.
A final group, mostly consisting of nobles, and farmers who must tend of their fields 24/7 are exempt except in the most dire of emergencies. All will weild weapons and shields. I can only hope that this will make the difference for the future.
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Topic: Breadbowl: a Succession Farm [42.06] - Breadbowl Ends (Read 445121 times)