First Summer -- Bloodlust under the sunGwolfsky hasn't been doing much woodcutting. In fact, after cutting down two trees he's refused any orders to chop any more of them. He cannot fish, either, because this lake is evil and the only thing to catch are undead, foul otters, seeking only the death of all dwarves. He haven't even got to fight, because the fort does not have any kind of gear or armor for now...Needless to say, he hasn't been doing much of what he likes to do. Or what he's good at.
He has, however, been building a roof.
''It's finished! At last!'' he yells, as he completes the last block tile, seconds before the mist-infused creature reaches the fortress. Not a second too soon. The hatches are forbidden, and the fortress avoids a terrible, bloody fate. The beast knocks on the roof, tries the hatches, attempts to smash the door, but the masonry and carpenting of the Channels of Melting prevail. The sailor takes a good look at his tools, and declares
''I think I need to switch my fishing rod for a crossbow!!''Thoryane grabs a few logs, and burn them, providing fuel for our temporary metalworker, Triaxx the Chief Miner. ''I'll see what I can do''
The tierce peregrin, even in his new unholy and life-opposing state, is still a deadly predator, and a mighty hunter. Many small creatures can evade the sight of dwarves. The mighty bird of prey stalking the Desert of Dreams cannot be so easily fooled. A kobold thief is spotted.
I cannot describe how boned we would have been, had this kobold reached the door and unlocked it. In a strange twist of fate, he will be our salvation rather than our doom. The vile mist husk gives chase, diving graciously from the sky. Kobolds are pretty fast. It is a close pursuit. in the end, the thief manages to escape the region unscathed, and the deadly bird follows him deeper into the black dunes. Doubtless, he will die all the same once exhaustion or luck run dry for him. To us, it means the area is clear of danger.
This is the perfect opportunity to gather things from outside. I know now for sure, sooner or later we'll be besieged by more undead, or more vile husk creatures. We'll need every ressource we can acquire from outside once that happens. I've spotted a few nearby whip vines, which can be used for brewing. Better get as many as i can. I tell the woodcutters to get some more trees down. They refuse, and simply ignore my idea. Hum, okay...
I tell our idlers to make themselves useful, and move our clay downstairs. Someone dropped a block in the doorway earlier, and I can,t have that happen at a critical moment. I've been moving things from the wagon remains in the basement, as to free our only surface building. As the floor is emptied, Gwolfsky starts to use the stoneware bricks, and creates a nice, soft and cozy flooring. Flame starts to work on a few extra chairs.
I panic for a moment when I spot a tierce peregrine on the horizon, but then calm down as I notice it is an untainted one. A few camels are spotted in the distance, but I,m unwilling to have them hunted. We don't know if they'll be revived by the lake.
It is time for an experiment...
Triaxx leaves the fort a moment, and grabs his pick. Next to the fortress, a pit is channeled. It is connected midway to the fortress by a small tunnel, and again at the bottom to let our miner out. Our engineer Zuglarkun grabs some microcline and builds some mechanisms, and designs two bridges. One seals the pit tight on the surface, the other locks the hatch leading to the inner dumping area (the midway tunnel) The area at the bottom is simply walled off. We can now dump corpses in this small pit, and seal it if something nasty comes back from the dead. The bridges should stop even flyers. A war dog is injured by falling rock chunks, but he will live.
Not a moment too soon! A new kobold appears, and i immediately tells our two axe-wielders to murder it.
Gwolfsky is messy and can't find his gear (all one item of it) so Thoryane ventures outside on her own. the kobold isn't exactly smart, so he runs toward the bay and gets cut off by the water. the millitary commander of Murderflood catches up, and simply cloves his head asunder with her copper axe, which... eww.
The creature has died very close to the lake. I'm scared. Everyone inside, quick! The corpse doesn't seem to move at first. I order it dumped in the pit. It falls to the bottom, where it seems to remain, inert. Well at least we have a good way of discarding corpses. Even if the lake's will cannot touch our dead, I'm told a few necromancers from the tower could still use them as weapons. It's better to have the corpses safely locked in a pit, than lying on our front door.
Ah, and the wagon area is finally finished! We now have a new table, and four more chairs. Everyone gets an office now, even if they don't need one. A few barrels of food and booze are placed around, making this a claustrophobic yet somewhat cozy meeting area. The stoneware brick floor and the finely carves microcline walls and roof are pleasing to my eyes.
''Tis done, lads!'' triaxx says, as he returns from the forge with his first creations, a set of two copper crossbows. Triaxx starts to give us a bunch of facts about those weapons, like their value and heat points. The more important thing is that they are made of solid metal, and could be used to shatter a undead's skull in an emergency. Gwolfsky grabs one, and head to the craftdwarf workshop where he decides to learn bolt-crafting on the fly. Thoryan grabs the second one, and adds the weapons to their uniforms.
''Make two copper shields next, and then two breastplates if we have the copper, the commander requests.
-'Fraid we don't for now, but if I expand one of the levels to create small stockpiles, i can get more I'm sure, and rhyolite!
-Please do so!
As our first two copper shields come out of the forge, a monstruous creature is spotted near the entrance. It doesn't seem too tough or dangerous, but Ghills and i refuse to go outside as long as it lives.
Thoryane grabs her axe and shield, and charges her new foe. Gwolfsky is... less enthusiastic about the order. He instead run far away in the opposite direction, and then hides behind the fort. He stays there for most of the day, cowering.
Once he notices that the beast is unconscious, he comes out of hiding and bravely joins the fight, bruising the creature as much as he can. You'd think metal could do more against a slug, but you'd be wrong. the soldiers are tired, hungry and burning from the desert heat. They collapse regularly, only to get up and continue carving the beast with their inefficient copper axes. After 4 days, the creature finally bleeds out and die. Ghills wants to butcher it, but she hasn't finished the butcher shop because a rhyolite boulder blocks the room and nobody will move it. We just toss the slug in the pit instead.
A week after the slug incident, a group of migrants make their appearance. Eight of them, along with some pets. They are glad to finally reach our settlement, after such a hot and perilous journey. There are now 15 of us, and I know food and drinks will soon be sparse. Room as well. I take some time to question the newcomers, and learn about their skills and personalities: (people waiting for dwarfing, make your pick)
Datan Theathertongues the blacksmith knows a bit about cooking and farming. He's strong and tough, and knows a bit about combat, which could come in handy here. We'll need more fuel and ores before we can make proper use of his profession. He complains that his wife had to stay home. That may be in her best interest, buddy...
As soon as I mention the undead problem, Datan comes back on his words, and announces that he lied. He in fact has no actual combat training and would make a terrible soldier.
Erith Boatsmatched says he's okay-ish at shearing, and that's about it. He has a strong mind, and seems interesting enough, but sometimes he seems a bit confused. I guess he'll be hauling bricks and blocks for the time being.
Medtop Mirrorlash knows how to make armor, which is great because we definitely need copper breastplate and helmets for our axe-folks. I greet the old, wise dwarf warmly.
Zefon Tributetheaters is an old, specialised farmer. You'll be my assistant from now on. We'll need to keep all those friends of yours fed, one way or another.
Iden Windtongs says she has burned wood once and could do it again. Thoryane is furious at this, and complains that it's the only skill she's managed to pick up so far. I tell the commander to go kill something to unwind. Or cut more wod. Because we have
no more wood, making this debate pointless.
Her husband is called
Iden Granitejade, and he's a hamlet doctor, tending to wounds and broking bones, or helping around the farm. I tell him he'll be Ghills' assistant once we get room for a hospital. After a week or two, we start refering to the couple as ''the Idens''. Apparently they have 14 children.
Old
Bomrek Paddlesyrups works with plants, gathering them, threshing them, or turning them into dye. For now she'll be on whip vines duty outside.
Nil Cittyhollows is an old fishing lady who doesn't seem all that well in the head. I tell her not to go near the water, but she doesn't seem to remember my warning after a few minutes. I tell Gwolfsky to keep her inside at all cost. I tell nil to stay inside and hum..., clean Gwolfsky's crossbow or anything. Ideally in the basement. Under a table.
I gather everyone in the fortress, and Zuglarkun takes out a large blueprint for the new building she designed. Because we have many idlers, not many ressources, and zero free space, we'll be expanding the bunker while there are no monsters outside. I tell Triaxx to go mining, to uncover more Rhyolite. We'll need tons of it, and extra storage can't hurt. Still, our priority is to expand on the surface. Flame will be building as many blocks as he can. I tell him to grab any migrant he deems worthy of being his apprentice, and build a second mason workshop. Ghills will be using old Bomrek's gatherings to keep us supplied with booze, while I'll be keeping our farms running.
The new bunker will have two phases. The first will be to expand the entrance, so that we may build two sets of farms for surface crops. As soon as we can get our hands on some seeds, I'll have Zefon plow the fields. This second entrance can also act as an extra layer of protection. If something gets in through the front door now, they won't be
right inside the fort. Once this entrance is complet and we have enough blocks stockpiled, we'll be wuickly adding a new floor above both the old and new section, providing use with two rooms we can use. then the hatches will be swiftly relocated one floor above, and locked once more. We'll be vulnerable while working on this project so speed and efficiency will be key.
Thoryane unleashes her frustration on a giant echidna. The creature is tough and large, but the fight is still fairly once sided. Our expedition leader has become quite a competent fighter, after she faced the giant slug last month. We usually need her for construction and hauling, as dwarfpower is still low around here; most of her combat experience comes from live combat with giant animals. despite the giant echidna entering a furious rage, Thoryane is able to tear it down to bits after a moment, without suffering any real damage.
Gwolfsky hardly has any time to join her fights now. As she spots a desert tortoise, she runs outside without her armor. She enters the fight with a flying punch so mighty it shatters the tortoise's paw into gorey bits. Then a powerful axe swing cuts the beast's head clean, and send it flying several urists into the air, before landing far away on a dune. She returns, whistling a happy song.
''Gwolsfky, you sure you don't wanna help her...?
-Nah man, I gotta keep this senile old lady from fishing, very important.''
Before summer is over, a new cloud of mist forms over the lake. I look at the sky and spot something potentially dangerous, a murder or crows is taking to the sky as this happens! I hurry the builders to double their efforts and install the hatches.
Armok is good, and gave the ravens some sense of self-preservation. They narrowly escape the tendrils of the Ungodly Waters, and fly southward to safety.
The members of the Channels of Melting won't take any chance, tho. Their life is at sake. The second the mist appears, they cancel their normal tasks to help with the construction. Within a short time, there are now four bunker rooms where there once was one.
It's unclear what they'll use these rooms for yet. Maybe move stockpiles, dorms or workshops to the surface? In any case, we will need many, many more buildings and houses like this one before Murderflood can be called a proper settlement. Still, this is a step in the right direction. As summer gives way to fall, I reflect on what we've accomplished so far... and also on the challenges still ahead. Various kind of undead and monsters lurk in the region. soon, the microcline bunker will reflect the sunlight across the desert, attracting migrants and invaders alike. Each new room comes at great risk and effort. Our food and drink sources are shaky at best. the caraan will be here soon, yet we lack the ressources to do any actual trading. I share my thoughts with my fellow dwarves.
''Let us remain ever vigilant and warry of the dangers to come, but also proud of what we have created together!''
* * * * * *
So I wanted to post this on Saturday, but something very annoying happened. Friday night, I fell asleep at a friend's house after an event. Someone lifted my sleepy ass back home, but didnt think to check if i had my glasses on me. I just got them back today, and spent a day and a half unable top see shit. That meant no art, and also no writing.
In the next update, we'll be scraping the farm expension project because we have no seed, and need the 5x5 area for a depot. Hard choices will be made: what to trade, what to keep, and what to get? First autumn -- Bargains under the sun oh god why should be up on Wednesday. I have a lot of things to catch up, what with being blind for a day and a half, so early surprise updates are unlikely. Winter will be up on thursday, unless like three titans and a meteor shower happen.
In the meantime, dear readers, why don't you browse over those 8 new dwarves and choose one you like for your dorfing? Dumbestdorf, I checked with therapist, and despite having several old ladies, we have no dwarf who are actually dumb, or woodcutters. Tell me if you want one of them anyway, or prefer to wait for the next waves...
EDIT: the starting seven dwarves have been added to the front page. They have a short description, following the group picture. Feel free to tantrum if you hate your description or really, really want to see the character profiles in there somewhere.
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Topic: 'Murderflood: (Ardentdikes IIIv3) You, there, grab this save! (Read 228893 times)