Journal of TheCheeseMaker15 Granite, 100We arrived at the location today. It’s…pretty much exactly what I was expecting. Almost all the plant life is dry and withered. There aren’t very many trees for wood, and what little there is will most likely be clear cut in order to provoke the elves into an attack. You know, because fighting the elves has worked out for us so much in the past.
Regardless, there is one very important flaw in the area, one that could kill us all.
This is 16 levels below the top of the waterfall.
A waterfall exists on the site. Such an evil contraption will (will!) kill dwarves if it is not dealt with very, very soon. I remember my father telling me the tale of a group of dwarves who tried to live near a waterfall, and, well…
We must prevent that here. Anyway, when we asked our
resident hippie expedition leader what we should do first, he began a long tirade about the evils of war and revenge, and how that it’s better we die here than become violence-craving monsters.
So we asked Gwolfski what to do next. I realize that she’s not a very hard worker, and that she’s not skilled at anything, but she is still a competent military leader and generally knows what she’s talking about. She told us to wait and she would consider what to do. In the meantime, we are just to go about our business. I believe that Gwolfski can lead us competently, if she put her mind to it.
20 Granite, 100Alright! FIVE DAYS IS LONG ENOUGH! I’ve had it with these idiots. Normally I wouldn’t mind so much, but there are rumors of a necromancer tower nearby, and I don’t exactly want to watch everyone being eaten by a zombie (I wouldn’t die, of course, because I’m invincible, apparently).
I ordered brendsmalls and Alath to begin mining, then I ordered Gwolfski and Rakust to begin military training. I will help with the mining, and the other two dwarves will do odd jobs, for the time being. As of right now, I am in charge of Tanglestaves.
26 Granite, 100We strike hematite in the side of a cliff. That’s good, because when we get attacked, steel should at least stave off the inevitability of our ultimate destruction (for some reason, living through four losing wars and attacks from various monsters has not left me that optimistic).
Meanwhile, Gwolfski and Rakust have formed a squad called The Abbysal Stakes. You know what? It’s a better name than Tanglestaves, so I’m going to let it go.
4 Slate, 100The waterfall has claimed its first victim. A poor, innocent stingray was swimming through the river when, suddently, the waterfall came out of nowhere. The stingray fell and literally exploded into multiple pieces on impact with the ground. If we don’t work quickly, a similar fate will befall the dwarves here too. I will not rest until we are safe from that freak of nature.
1 Felsite, 10When I was sleeping, I had a nightmare. Normally I forget what happens in my dreams, but the one I had recently was clear as the noonday sun. This was less a dream, though, and more a memory. I was in Faintedsteel. By this point there were only about thirty-five of us left in the entire kingdom. The wars had claimed the rest.
Some people think the dwarves unwise to build their entire fortresses connected to the caverns. Most dwarves think the others are ridiculous. I mean, every once in a while a giant monster comes and eats a few people, but that’s an acceptable risk compared to all the rewards of having an open cavern fortress. Rewards like…
You know, maybe it is a little stupid. Either way, a forgotten beast showed up at the entrance and, without saying anything, started killing. Some humans and goblins grabbed weapons and began to fight the monster, but not the dwarves. There were only seven dwarves left in the entire fortress, so we found each other to decide what to do.
After a short debate, we decided the best course of action was to fully embrace the values of our goblin overlords, and we ran away, leaving everyone else to die. On the way, we ran into a goblin named Adil Diamondclouds, and the eight of us abandoned the fortress, the last stronghold of the Razors of Calm, the last barrier between the survival and destruction of the kingdom. It died with those we left behind.
OOC: If you notice, there aren't actually any other dwarves living at the fortress, which means by the time of this attack, goblins and humans had completely displaced the dwarves. Should I have stayed behind and helped to fight? Maybe, but I was too busy not dying to do that.
18 Felsite, 100We have finished digging out each of the basic workshop layers, as well as some farms and a basic stockpile room. I want every single fortress function underground as soon as possible. That way if the necromancers attack we can completely seal ourselves off from the surface.
1 Hematite, 100Summer has arrived. I’ve taken a break from mining and instead have begun working with architecture and mechanisms. I want to be able to build a bridge which will easily cut off the fortress from the aboveground world.
25 Malachite, 100Haha! It took two months of intense labor, me ignoring the functioning of the rest of the fortress, and a few minor mental breakdowns, but guess what? The bridge over the waterfall is completed.
Totally worth it.
No longer will the evil forces of nature be able to destroy us. We, the dwarves of Tanglestaves, are the masters of nature, the rulers of earth, the greatest race to ever live! Dwarves: 1; Insentient, Inanimate River Formation: 0.
28 Malachite, 100It’s possible that I ate something that I shouldn’t of, after the victory celebration. Maybe somebody snuck a hallucinogen into the plump helmet I was eating, or something, because whenever I count the number of dwarves around me, I see eight others, not six. I’m probably hallucinating, or something.
1 Galena, 100Alright, it’s possible I’m not hallucinating. When one of the unfamiliar dwarves came to me to ask for orders, I laughed at the funny looking hallucination to go away. So he punched me in the face.
He told me his name was Goden Clubwind, sent here to assist with the creation of the new fortress. When I asked Goden who sent him, he looked at me and smiled.
“Imo Upnalduqueh,” he said, “Queen of the Razors of Calm.”