Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.02 Limestone 87Mafol has already earned his keep. On duty at the cavern access, he swiftly dispatched a curious troglodyte that ventured too close.
03 Limestone 87
He’s now sorting through his many bolts of cloth, muttering all the while.
07 Limestone 87Another resident wants citizenship rights.
It turns out, she grew up on a dairy farm. I’ve put her in charge of milking our various herd animals. She’ll probably end up taking over the cheese-making duties, too. The variety will make some people happy.
09 Limestone 87
Time to drop everything again.
11 Limestone 87Echoworked insisted on getting our meeting out of the way early this year. Unfortunately, Bomrek continues to retain control of Swordgangs.
I ordered some more ewes, since I didn’t buy any last year and that ram isn’t getting any younger. I also ordered steel, as usual.
Bomrek has gained another 2 dwarves, somehow, for a current total of 62. So these are the numbers I need to hand over to Akrul:
Well, other than the anvils, this should be straightforward enough. Especially since we’ve started getting fish out of the caverns. But Bomrek always has to include just
one thing.
Echoworked was also pleased to see how our menagerie continues to grow.
So overall, he’ll give a positive report, allowing us to continue in our slavery.
13 Limestone 87Amidst all the work, Sodel is visibly absent, shut away in his clothier’s.
He could have picked a better time for this. But, whatever he’s making, it’s going to have a lot of decorations.
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17 Limestone 87The dwarf’s hands shook as he read the short, abrupt missive for the fourth time.
This is a masterfully-crafted sheet of gremlin parchment. It is decorated with hanging rings of elf tooth. There is neither greeting, nor signature.
You were sent with a single purpose. A task you have so far failed to complete. Not only are all the targets still breathing, despite your numerous plans, but they have produced more targets to deal with. If proof of your continued service fails to materialize before the end of the year, you will be dealt with as your treachery requires. Kill. Them. Or you, and all you hold dear, will suffer the consequences.Crumpling the sheet in a fist, the dwarf stared morosely across the courtyard. Below, he could see the other villagers, dwarven and human, busily racing to get the quota delivered to the caravan in time. But up here, in the stillness of the trees, he was apart. As he always was, whether they knew it or not.
Yet over the months, beginning to stretch into years, the unthinkable had happened. He, who had always stood apart, ever since the dawn of time, when the Master had recruited him, had somehow made friends.
And lately, though he raged against the unfairness of the gods as each plan failed, a part of him was relieved that none had died by his actions.
But the letter changed all that. Now his mind raced as he futilely sought a way of pacifying the Master while not harming any of those he grown close to.
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Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.18 Limestone 87An artifact what?
While it is impressive, I don’t think this would be very comfortable to wear.
And a hill titan also lives around here? Let me guess. It’s going to come calling sooner or later. Great. We need to get those stone walls up sooner rather than later.
21 Limestone 87Idla is petitioning to regularize his position.
Just in time to haul! I put him straight to work. And he’s a lasher, with no other useful skills. So he’ll join the fisher crew when this is over.
22 Limestone 87I need to fortify myself before dealing with those
thieves traders again.
02 Sandstone 87In exchange for the quota, I bought some more rams, and the sows they had brought. Then I finished maxing out our import cap with their steel bars and all of the meltable steel items I could.
Before Trade: After Trade:
While I was sorting through things, I noticed several anvils. After much persuading and negotiating with Atîs Lashedround, the lead merchant, I was able to work out a deal. We bought their anvils, and then gave them right back as part of the quota. We still won’t have the numbers Bomrek wants, but we won’t be as badly short as we would have been.
OOC: I have discovered that it is impossible to specify the type of toy.03 Sandstone 87We’ve caught a giant cave swallow in the cavern traps. The last I saw, Sigun was headed down to train it. Yes! Soon we'll have progress!
10 Sandstone 87The merchants have left, with an almost fully complete quota.
I'll pray that Bomrek is in a reasonable mood.
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11 Sandstone 87Akrul summoned all adults to a meeting in the tavern. Once everyone had been supplied with a mug of their preferred form of inebriation, she launched into her
speech tirade regarding the incomplete quota.
“This is completely unacceptable!” She finally started to wind down. “We have
everything necessary on-site, yet you have failed miserably!”
The dwarves grumbled at this. None of them liked how the fruits of their labors kept getting carted away by royal command.
“I
will not allow this to happen again. Here are the following assignments. Catten, you’re on crossbow duty. We need 130 of them to be on the safe side. You’ll make them out of bone, since we have so much of it.”
“That bone’s fer
bolts!” Rith cried out.
Akrul immediately shook her head. “Nope. Ammo’s not on the list, you’re going to make horn crowns this year, and the other crafters will make up the deficit with wood. Lyra and Uvash. You’ll be making shields. And absolutely NO beds, bins, barrels, or anything else until the shields are done. We need 230 of them.”
There was more grumbling, but at least all of the citizens had their own beds now. The visitors and residents could hot-bunk for a few months.
Akrul moved on. “All iron will be used to make the 124 anvils we need.”
Lorbam protested. “We don’t have the bars for that! And we’ve already scoured the place for every single iron item we could melt to convert to steel. The most we can make is 42 anvils.”
Akrul stared him down for minute, then shrugged. “Fine. 42 anvils to start. Lotu and Ingish, you’re in charge of mining out all visible limonite veins to get more iron. All other digging projects are on hold until that's done.”
Lotu’s mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out. No one had spoken to him like that since he left Theaterknowledge to come north, and he had almost forgotten how it felt. By the time he figured out what he wanted to say, Akrul had already moved on.
We’ll dig out some of the limonite, but at our own pace. I’ve got some other digging projects that need to get done too, you know. And they’re much more important than Bomrek’s foibles.He shifted his attention back to Akrul in time to hear her say, “Fine, Mebzuth and the woodcrafters will make toy versions to mitigate the shortfall. But, all iron MUST be used for anvils before any more can be converted to steel. Steel production is to
stop, you understand? Stop until I, myself, say otherwise.” As she spoke, she jabbed her thumb into her sternum in emphasis.
She steamrolled on with her job allocations. “Mestthos, you’ll be in charge of iron production, and you’ll also take over the actual forging of the anvils. Olon, you’ll make quivers. We have plenty of leather for that.”
Olon scowled.
Yeah, with none left over for us!“Rith and the human fishery workers will provide the fish. And Spriggans? Keep burning. The rest of you are on hauling duty. Any questions? Good. Dismissed!”
The last word came out with a sharpness worthy of Imic in full-out drill sergeant mode. The civilians scrambled out, eager to find someplace far away where they could vent about the newest restrictions and labor assignments.
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Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.13 Sandstone 87A human pikeman is petitioning to stay.
Not only do mercenary petitions never get around to working, what would we do with a pikeman? He’d drink all our booze and laze around all day while the rest of us bust our butts. Absolutely not. We have enough of those already.
I told him to go away.
14 Sandstone 87I really hate to leave projects half-finished, and I came up with a way to get Akrul to let us finish this one. I simply pointed out that the quota is demanding a lot of wood, and we have a large number of logs tied up in the palisade. Completing the current stone wall project would allow us to recycle those logs. She hemmed and hawed a bit, but gave me the go-ahead.
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19 Sandstone 87The dwarf carried the newest load of paper into the library corner, placing it carefully on an empty shelf.
For once the corner was empty, save for some of the soldiers sparring on the other side of the room. Keeping one eye on them, the dwarf swiftly rifled through Dr. Urist’s notes. Finding a promising set of notations, he grabbed one of the blank sheets of paper and made a quick copy. Unobtrusively walking down the nearest ramp, he moved quickly to an abandoned section of the mines to peruse his discovery in peace.
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Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.21 Sandstone 87I’ve finished the first corner of the new moat. With an overhanging floor on the rampart level, I think this design will be climbing-proof. Now all we have to do is dig out the rest and floor it to keep trees from growing and ruining the defensive depth.
You. Elf. I’m looking right at you.
24 Sandstone 87Dr. Urist wants more shelf space. And writing desks. And storage space. And room for active experiments. And…
Her list is never-ending.
Since a lot of the scholars are visitors, we’ll build her a new library as the topmost floors in the lookout tower. That way, all visitors will be grouped into one place and easily manageable.
26 Sandstone 87As soon as word got around about the next project after defense improvements, I started getting a steady stream of folks “just dropping by”. They all wanted to impress on me how much they wanted some more reading material in the library.
Well, they’ll get shelf and writing space, but anything more will need to be copied from things visitors bring. Wait, that requires a dedicated scribe?
Great, something else I need to find someone to do. Why can’t any of the scholars ever decide to stick around?
03 Timber 87We’re continuing to hollow out the safe zone in the aquifer.
I’ve been thinking about how to use the space when we finally finish. It doesn’t really seem suitable for temple, since none of our deities involve water, and the human and elven ones seem to be focused on rivers instead of aquifers.
I think I’m going to turn it into a graveyard for our visitors. Several of them have died over the past several years and their corpses are cluttering up the pile. Most of us are inured to it, but still. We should show
some respect for the dead.
OOC: This is partly driven by a desire to try and get the personality screens to fit in a single screenshot, by getting some of the corpses out of sight.18 Timber 87A second quadrant of land is almost completely enclosed, and as I promised Akrul, we’re salvaging the wood from the palisade for conversion into quota items. There’s something about stone that is so much more reassuring than wood. It feels much more solid and permanent, somehow.
21 Timber 87A new Clan has been Founded.
They’re calling it Clan W for now. Maybe this will make Dr. Urist stop complaining about being away from family?
28 Timber 87For now, Akrul is happy.
Current character list:
ùshrir (NCommander) Anvildimples (woodcrafter/animal trainer/weaponsmith) -> NCommander (alive)
Vutok (Spriggans) Pleatsteels (wood burner) -> Spriggans (alive)
Ral Scalemerchant (brewer/cook) (alive)
Uvash Toolsport (carpenter) (alive)
Mestthos Stafftown (furnace operator/papermaker) (alive)
Edzul Lanternnotched (cook) (alive)
Lorbam Clawdike (bookkeeper/manager/woodcrafter) (alive)
Akrul Glazeletter (manager) (alive)
Feb Blockadeunion (tanner) (alive)
Sigun Pulledroof (animal trainer) (alive)
Olin (Lyra) Coppertargets (carpenter) -> Lyra (alive)
Catten Fencedlearned (bowyer) (alive)
Zutthan Paddledact (thresher/spinner/shearer) (alive)
Minkot Bannerthrone (planter) (alive)
Mebzuth Cudgelleaves (glassmaker) (alive)
Äs (Another) Mirrorstockade (mason) -> ☼Another☼ (alive)
Tun Staffpacked (fish cleaner) (alive)
Rith Vesselglaze (bone carver) (alive)
Nil Goldenname (engraver) (alive)
Ast (Lotu) Sizzlediron (miner)-> Dame de la Licorne (alive)
Kadôl (Airith) Helmflashed (architect/mason) -> TheImmortalRyukan (alive)
Sodel Stockadecharmed (weaver/clothier) (alive)
Erib Razordrinkers (butcher) (alive)
Logem Laborgirders (gem cutter/woodcrafter) (alive)
Olon Worshipglazed (leatherworker) (alive)
Sarvesh Mirrorsling (shearer/spinner) (alive)
Aban Ransackedmansions (carpenter) (alive)
Kogsak (Imic) Stokerblocked (axedwarf/woodcutter) -> Imic (alive)
Udil Roomrouts (axedwarf/woodcutter) (alive)
Rigòth Tinchant (axedwarf/woodcutter) (alive)
Cawcul Polishedautumns (human axeman/woodcutter) (alive)
Xetan Anguishedgarnished (human axeman/mercenary) (alive)
Likot (Mooney) Tongsgirder (marksdwarf/herbalist) -> MoonyTheHuman (alive)
Besmar Minepink (marksdwarf/herbalist) (alive)
Ustuth Shieldfences (marksdwarf/herbalist) (alive)
Orda Sizzledbulbs (marksman/herbalist) (alive)
Medtob Boatsmessiah (marksdwarf/herbalist) (alive)
Towhot Wavyhollow (marksman/herbalist) (alive)
Lokum (Sky) Weaksilvers (hammerdwarf) -> Skyclimber (alive)
Ino Talllistens (human hammerwoman/mercenary) (alive)
Geño Oracleclimax (human swordswoman/mercenary) (alive)
Gel Hoofshower (human lasher/mercenary) (alive)
Rigòth Dikepage (speardwarf/mercenary) (alive)
Mafol Appearedrocks (hammerdwarf) (alive)
Urist (Dr. Urist) Drilledhatchet (doctor/engineer) -> Gwolfski (alive)
Udil Lockedringed (planter) (alive)
Us Authoredglazed (human fish cleaner) (alive)
Idur Skunkpartners (human fisherman) (alive)
Vucar Labordrinker (mason) (alive)
Rith Castlemoistness (fisherdwarf) (alive)
Ciko Clangorges (human milker/cheesemaker) (alive)
Idla Rhymedfathers (human fish cleaner) (allive)
Sahthet Helpedcages (human dancer) (alive)
Sath Violentcrescent (human poet) (alive)
Masami (elf poet) (alive)
Lulo (elf poet) (alive)
Cequova (elf poet) (alive)
Oda (elf poet) (alive)
Momuz Tradevault (dwarf poet) (alive)
Perad Faithrumor (human poet) (alive)
Kivish Bentglazes (dwarf bard) (alive)
Limul Dangledtorch (dwarf bard) (alive)
Id Craftcrabs (child) (alive)
Tobul Cloisteredmoistened (child) (alive)
Litast Citystorm (child) (alive)
Solon Pageletter (child) (alive)
Stodir Hallesteems (child) (alive)
Endok Boltprairies (child) (alive)
Datan Paddledclutches (child) (alive)
Thîkut Doorpattern (child) (alive)
Edëm Glacierpaddle (child) (alive)
Rovod Claspedlearns (child) (alive)
Goden Keytooth (child) (alive)
Litast Factionmountains (child) (alive)
Avuz Loverknife (child) (alive)
Lokum Tangledattics (child) (alive)
Ingish Blockadesound (child) (alive)
Rakust Worktangle (child) (alive)
ïteb Craftsstood (child) (alive)
ònul Girdersnarl (child) (alive)
Led Ringropes (Bob) (child) -> Timeless Bob (alive)
Cilob Cloisterportals (Ryukan) (child) -> TheImmortalRyukan (alive)
Shorast Dotcudgel (child) (alive)
Sigun Goldburied (child) (alive)
Tekkud Syrupfortunes (baby) (alive)
Zefon Waxrampart (baby) (alive)
Tayldis (kobold thief) (dead, cause of death: elf, d.81)
Logem Echoworked (outpost liaison) (alive)
Dodok Charmedmirror (king) (alive)
Doren Geniusnet (queen consort) (alive)
Bomrek Whiptrailed (Swordgangs leader) (alive)
Meng Baldarrow (Swordgangs trader/Bomrek’s assistant) (alive)
Dastot Brimsrelics (dwarven caravan lead trader) (dead, cause of death: dwarven hammering, d. 83)
Atîs Lashedround (dwarven caravan lead trader) (alive)
The Master (alive)
All of our deities and their spheres (counting only those from long-term residents & citizens, not visitors):
Dwarven:
útost Inkygray (útost Likotbel) -> minerals & jewels; 20 worshippers
Urdim the Barricade of Fortresses (Urdim Tholtig Geshud) -> fortresses (duh?); 6 worshippers (including Lotu & Ryukan)
The Barricaded Silks (Tholtignesteth) -> mountains, volcanoes, fire, metals, crafts; 11 worshippers
Legon Gildvault (Legon Oltarubbul) -> wealth & trade; 6 worshippers (including NCommander & Bob)
Gorroth the Ferocious Avalanche (Gorroth Nidòstmoldath) -> chaos; 5 worshippers (including Dr. Urist)
The Tenebrous Glosses (Golastigest) -> inspiration & painting; 5 worshippers (including Airith & Ryukan)
Robek -> nightmares & the night; 27 worshippers
Usen the Good of Trust (Usen Eshon Gamil) -> truth; 6 worshippers (including Lyra)
Lisig -> the seasons; 6 worshippers
The Book of Insight (Thîkut Lûk) -> wisdom; 18 worshippers (including Imic & Mooney)
Ral -> wealth; 1 worshipper
Human:
Luth -> music, food, agriculture, the rain, nature; 1 worshipper
Upur Vinewasps (Upur Giligadoc) -> fish & rivers; 1 worshipper
Gili -> fishing & hunting; 1 worshipper
Acath -> writing & scholarship; 1 worshipper
Radir Thimblemuffins the Abyss of Snuggling -> festivals, music, the moon; 1 worshipper
Kas -> order & disease; 1 worshipper
Rakbin Glimmeredwisps the Intricacy of Wonder (Rakbin Enerulet Naspa Ashi) -> beauty, fishing, fish, lakes; 1 worshipper
Gogol Cankerfroths -> deformity & disease; 1 worshipper
Upu -> birth, pregnancy, family; 1 worshipper
Athrab -> dance; 1 worshipper
Dana the Blameless Worth -> charity; 1 worshipper
Lekla the Patterened Law -> order; 1 worshipper
The Lustful Fist (Slekac) -> valor & muck; 1 worshipper
Vicu -> lust; 1 worshipper
Eno -> metals & crafts; 1 worshipper
Kenom -> creation; 1 worshipper
Xiza the Euphoric Sheen -> dance; 1 worshipper
Elven:
Aríle -> nature & rivers; 1 worshipper
Tise -> nature & rivers; 2 worshippers
Claimed Nonreligious: Sky, Another, Spriggans
Following are updated profiles for all claimed characters in the order in which they appear on the units list:
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Topic: The Story of Atölasob (A Community Fort with an Export Challenge) (Read 62836 times)