Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.02 Moonstone 82The newcomers need beds, so I’ve decided to expand our living quarters a little, and dig out an actual barracks for our militia.
While we do have some extra beds sitting in the stockpile, I’ve also asked Lyra and Uvash to make a few more. Maybe that will keep Akrul out of my hair for a few days.
06 Moonstone 82I went down to help Airith build the pumps and saw the most amazing sight.
Someone has time to clean around here? I sent him over to the crafters’. He can make himself more useful over there, and a little mud never hurt anyone.
08 Moonstone 82We have an embarrassment of riches, as the ancients would say.
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11 Moonstone 82Well, there’s one thing one of these slackers definitely knows how to, and that’s make good wine. Akrul thought, nursing a mug of her favorite durian wine as she walked back to her meager little chair.
Now I need to—.
She stopped short, staring at the mess that a short time before had been neat stacks of paper. “What happened?”
Dr. Urist was working intently in her library, and Akrul crossed over and rapped sharply on the edge. Dr. Urist jerked upright. “What? What?”
Gesturing over her shoulder, Akrul asked, “Did you see what happened?”
“Huh? Oh, that? I was out of paper and needed some in a hurry. You should be more organized.” Dr. Urist frowned.
Akrul gasped. “Me? It was organized! The blank paper was in the pile to the right and behind the chair.”
“Ah. Yes. I looked there last.” Bending back over her illegible scribbles, the last word was an afterthought. “Sorry.”
Akrul stood for a moment, gaping like a fish. “Was that supposed to be an apology? Hey!” She rapped on the table once again.
“Stop that, I need to concentrate.”
Akrul scowled, and went to rap it again.
“Keep that up and I’ll call Imic.”
And that dwarf doesn’t like me at all. Akrul thought. She turned back to stare at the mess.
This is going to take me hours to clean up. She couldn’t have been, I don’t know, a little less thorough?Scrabbling through the papers, she found a blank sheet. Across the top she wrote:
TO-DO LIST
1. MAKE PAPER!15 Moonstone 82Balancing a pile of logs destined for the stockpile, Tun picked his way gingerly over the as-yet-unfamiliar ground. Suddenly, a screech from above brought his hair to attention. Peering over the top of the pile, he saw a green ball with a wicked beak diving straight at him.
The armful of logs exploded into the air, as Tun bolted for the safety of the palisade.
“Run! Run for your lives!
High up on the ramparts, Mooney aimed his crossbow. “Yep, them keas’re back.”
Ustuth pointed to the south. “And this time, they’ve brought reinforcements.”
Mooney squinted, then nodded. “Go down and let Imic know, if he doesn’t already. Then find Besmar and tell him to get his ass up here. I don’t care what needs he needs.”
With a lackadaisical salute, Ustuth trotted down the nearest stairs. Behind her, she heard the
sssshhh-sproinginging as Mooney sent his first bolt flying.
19 Moonstone 82
“…And so, there I was, holding an armful of masterly-worked cloth that I certainly was
not going to drop, facing the Dread Kea. And all of a sudden, one of NCommander’s war dogs comes out of nowhere, and starts snarling at the kea.
“But, there was a tree in the way. The kea hit head-first. I think that dog is still worrying the corpse.”
The other dwarves clapped and cheered, as Sodel bowed.
One of my best yet.From her chair across the room, Akrul said, “Not bad. But if you’re done, go back to work. The amulets are behind schedule.”
With rude gestures that Akrul seemed not to notice, the dwarves filed out. To work? Maybe.
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Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.25 Moonstone 82
He promptly went racing out to his leatherworks, where he puttered for a bit, before charging into the butchery. What’s put a bee under his cap?
26 Moonstone 82Having spent all day yesterday gathering three good-sized pieces of aurochs leather and a mudstone boulder, Olon’s started working on something.
I’ll have to find some way of diverting Akrul’s attention from him for a while. Hmmm, maybe Lorbam could tell her the stocks appear to have been miscounted, and she needs to help him do a fortress-wide recount? With the right approach, she could easily insist on doing most of it herself. I
know she views us as barely-civilized hicks.
Oooh. That’s worthwhile in its own right. I’ll get Lorbam on it right now.
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01 Opal 82
“Stop cancelling jobs! They’re just birds! Scary, but completely harmless!” Akrul threw her hands up, frustrated at the dwarves darting forward, falling back, picking up a log and dropping it, constantly panicked by the dive-bombing birds.
Airith peered unobtrusively around the corner of the workshop. This new plan was working very well.
And Lotu will be happy, because it doesn’t need even a hint of law bending. Hi-hi-hi.Akrul stomped up the stairs to the ramparts. “Mooney! Can’t the Pillars of Ink
do something? You have crossbows, use them!”
Calmly, Mooney aimed his crossbow and fired, only to have the bird dodge at the last second. “Cain’t get ‘im ever’ time. They like t’dodge.” He finished loading another bolt, took aim, and fired. This time, he barely managed to clip a wing.
Watching Akrul stalk off in a fine fury, Mooney allowed himself a slight smile.
’Course, ‘twould never do t’let on that we’re missin’ on purpose. Nope. That wouldn’ do at’ll.______________________________________________________________________________
Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.03 Opal 82We all agree, Olon has outdone himself.
He has proven himself a master of his craft. Even Akrul was temporarily impressed.
08 Opal 82This has gone on long enough. I admit, it’s nice to get our own back sometimes, but we
have got to finish that quota. So I went to have a word with Mooney.
17 Opal 82After a week of killing keas, Mooney has finally gained enough experience to be classed as Elite, much to Imic’s dismay. But, Mooney does have 25 kills, more than all the rest put together. I consoled Imic with the fact that birds are unfair opponents for an axedwarf. Of course such a cowardly enemy can only be brought down with ranged weapons. After all, he proved himself in single combat with a monitor lizard. Not even Mooney can top that.
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22 Opal 82Sutdying the numbers, Akrul smiled.
That’s both the shields and the spears complete. Things are looking up, now that those dratted birds have been killed.“Oof!” The numbers suddenly blurred before her eyes.
“Watch where ye’re goin’!” Akrul leaped to her feet, as wine ran down the page, blurring her neatly written columns of numbers.
“Sorry!” Airith pulled a greasy rag from her back pocket and started wiping at the wine, coincidentally rendering the sheet illegible.
“Stop. Stop! I’ll take care of it.” Akrul rescued the soggy paper, and looked down at it forlornly.
All that work. To be re-done.She found her to-do list.
2. Order new office dug. Somewhere far away from the common room. Pausing a moment, she then added,
And with a lockable door.______________________________________________________________________________
Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.23 Opal 82
Excellent! Rigoth is now an adult and old enough to work. I’ve assigned him to Imic, to learn the fine art of chopping trees.
Imic immediately gave him his first adult task. To forge his own axe.
27 Opal 82With nothing to do while Airith designs the final pumps, I went to the crafters to satisfy a few needs that I’ve been neglecting.
I’ve also been thinking. Airith is spending a lot of time on various architectural and machinery projects. Maybe I can assign one of the new immigrants to the masonry? It would certainly free her up for more important things, like pumps.
Yeah, that sounds good. Now which of the two fisherdwarves…?
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Early Obsidian 82
The militia, loitering around the entrance, were the first to spot the beast.
OOC: I have the axedwarves defending the entrance, with the marksdwarves covering both entrance and ramparts, during the first ~1/2 of each month. If nothing attacks by then, I deactivate them all to chop/craft/haul/eat/drink/sleep. So far, it seems to work.
They were quick to spread the word. Besmar and Mooney raced down from the ramparts, and all civilians were called back behind the walls. They gathered in the common room, ready to pull the drawbridge lever if the militia failed to subdue the cursed creature.
Only NCommander was brave enough to stay above and watch. “Someone has to know if the lever needs pulling.” She insisted to Lotu. “And I have the war animals to slow that thing down long enough.”
Lotu nodded.
And your husband’s the one leading the charge. I get it.NCommander climbed up on the wall above the drawbridge, watching the militia bravely move forward. Later she would tell the story with a wide variety of emotion but, at the time, all she felt was a mixture of fear and pride. Fear, not for herself, but for the dwarf who held her heart, and who at that moment was striding forward without hesitation to meet one of the most dangerous creatures in existence, and surely toward his own death. And pride, for the same reason.
There goes a dwarf. She thought.
There goes my dwarf.THE FIGHTImic and his dog, Libash, were the first to reach striking distance of the Dread Werelizard Suque Wisholir. The dog, eager for battle, charged forward and latched onto the left arm. Snarling, the werelizard managed to shake the dog off. Libash slid across the ground and lay for a moment, stunned.
Screaming its fury, the werelizard struck out with his other arm, but Imic dodged to the side, shoving the pommel of his axe into the beast’s chest as he went. Off-balance, the creature fell back a step. Circling each other, the creature reached for the dwarf, but Imic slapped the arm away with the flat of his axe.
Shaking himself back to his feet, Libash charged back in another attack, drawing the werelizard’s ire. Growling and snarling, the two came together in a cloud of flying fur, blood and spittle.
Imic, Lokum, Mooney and Besmar went to work. The two axedwarves struck whenever they could avoid the dog, while Mooney and Besmar got their single bolts off just before the clash. Studying his empty quiver for a moment, Mooney then shrugged and waded into the thick of things, bashing the lizard with his wooden crossbow. Besmar hesitated but a moment before following suit.
Not even the surviving soldiers could ever sort out exactly what came after. The only thing they could agree on was that the werelizard continued to focus on the dog, allowing the dwarves to attack with impunity.
Which they did.
The end, when it came, was sudden. With a single blow, the newest recruit cleaved the beast’s head from its body.
“When did you get here?” Lokum panted.
“Just now. I didn’t think the blade was sharp enough, so I did that first.”
“Tcch. Lucky strike.” Imic had wanted the kill for himself.
“Not bad, for a newbie.” Udil had come along in time to see the final blow land.
Besmar and Mooney each landed a heavy slap on the youngster’s shoulder, then headed back to refill their quivers.
Imic continued to study his new recruit. “Yer form needs work. Wait for me in the training area.” As he spoke, he walked over to examine his dog. “Ye poor thing. Come on, Libash. I’ll get ye patched up. ‘s th’ leas’ I can do, since ye kept all of us from getting’ so much as a bruise.”
Carefully, he picked up the lacerated, bleeding animal and headed back to the palisade where his wife could care for the dog.
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Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.09 Obsidian 82That was…a rather more exciting start to the month than I could have wanted. I don’t know if we were lucky or….
No. We were definitely lucky. And I now have the ammunition I need to convince Akrul to make armor a priority once we have some good quality steel. With only leather armor…things could so easily have gone very badly.
10 Obsidian 82I have some plans for that werelizard corpse. But for now, I’ve put it on display right in front of the depot, as a warning to others who might think we’re easy pickings.
It’s been joined by the sloth it killed on its way to us, and some random keas left over from earlier in the winter.
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13 Obsidian 82A sudden shriek followed by a thud caused Lotu to pull himself up from the corner wall he was building. Akrul sat on the lowest stair, rubbing her knee and glaring upward at…nothing.
“You OK?” It was only polite to ask.
“No! You need to do something!”
“About what?”
“Them!” Akrul jabbed her finger upward.
Lotu raised an eyebrow.
“They won’t stop! First they make a mess of my papers, then I find we’re out of durian wine when I
know we had almost 50 servings.
Then Airith ‘accidentally’ trips and spills wine all over my notes! And my bed got messed up! And my spare clothes vanish! And—!“ Akrul sputtered to a halt at Lotu’s disbelieving expression.
“First, there is no law that says a dwarf can’t have the kind of drink they want, as long as it’s available. Maybe you miscounted? Second. Most of that sounds like kids. No dwarf that I’ve ever known has managed to control kids.”
“That’s as may be. But I
know someone pushed me down these stairs just now.”
If anything, Lotu looked even more skeptical. “You sure you didn’t just step wrong and slide? This clay is tricky. It absorbs the dampness in the air and gets really slick if you don’t pay attention to where you put your feet.”
“Yes, I’m sure. I
didn’t trip!”
“Well, do you know who did it?”
Akrul had to admit she didn’t.
“Then I don’t know what you expect
me to do.”
“Dig out an office. And a bedroom. And a dining room/food storage room for me too. And I want doors on them. With locks.”
“Tha’s not very neighborly of you. And I’ve got this to deal with first. You’ll have to wait a bit for all that.”
“No, you’ll dig it out now.”
“If you want me to do that, you’ll need to let me deal with the aquifer first.”
“You dug out a new barracks! What’s another couple of rooms?”
Lotu pointed out the obvious. “Those were for the military. Trust me. You don’t want Imic
mad. And I think the squads have earned their own quarters after what they've dealt with over the past several years. Let alone that werebeast last week.”
Akrul didn’t have a comeback for that.
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Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, expedition leader.17 Obsidian 82I finally just flipped a coin. As won the toss to become our first full-time mason. In honor of the occasion, he has asked to be called “Another.” Is he particularly vulnerable to the local version of insanity?
Airith gave As a quick tour of the masonry, and then pointed to the pile of mudstone we’ve been pulling from the aquifer. He’s started making blocks out of it, under her occasional supervision. I’m sure we’ll find a use for cheap blocks of stone, and at least he’ll have time to learn which end of the chisel to use.
Was that distant yell from him?
23 Obisidian 82I’m not sure if this is a good sign, or a bad one.
I have to work with the woman, so staying friendly is necessary. But for Dr. Urist to actually befriend her? Well, I guess that might be useful.
28 Obsidian 82Fortunately, the rest of the month has been quiet.
The Dragon LadyAkrul insisted on meeting with me to go over our current production numbers.
She spent most of the meeting yelling at me about the craft numbers. I finally kicked her out with “
You’re the manager!
You deal with it!” God, that felt good to say. But I think I’ll go have a quiet word with the crafters anyway. Who knows what Dodok might decide to inflict on us next.
OOC: Bitten animals don't become werebeasts, right? At least, I don't recall ever having one turn on me. So, I think we're safe, for now, since the dwarves have a nice collection of bruises but nothing worse.Current character list:
Olin (Lyra) Coppertargets (carpenter) -> Lyra (alive)
Catten Fencedlearned (bowyer) (alive)
Zutthan Paddledact (thresher/spinner/shearer) (alive)
Lorbam Clawdike (bookkeeper/manager/woodcrafter) (alive)
Minkot Bannerthrone (planter) (alive)
Mebzuth Cudgelleaves (glassmaker) (alive)
Ast (Lotu) Sizzlediron (miner)-> Dame de la Licorne (alive)
Kadol (Airith) Helmflashed (architect/mason) -> TheImmortalRyukan (alive)
Sodel Stockadecharmed (weaver/clothier) (alive)
Erib Razordrinkers (butcher/tanner/planter) (alive)
Logem Laborgirders (gem cutter/woodcrafter) (alive)
Olon Worshipglazed (leatherworker) (alive)
Ushrir (NCommander) Anvildimples (woodcrafter/animal trainer) -> NCommander (alive)
Vutok (Spriggans) Pleatsteels (wood burner) -> Spriggans (alive)
Ral Scalemerchant (brewer) (alive)
Uvash Toolsport (carpenter) (alive)
Mestthos Stafftown (furnace operator/papermaker) (alive)
Edzul Lanternnotched (cook) (alive)
Kogsak (Imic) Stokerblocked (axedwarf/woodcutter) -> Imic (alive)
Lokum Weaksilvers (axedwarf/woodcutter) (alive)
Udil Roomrouts (axedwarf/woodcutter) (alive)
Rigoth Tinchant (axedwarf/woodcutter) (alive)
Likot (Mooney) Tongsgirder (marksdwarf/herbalist) -> MoonyTheHuman (alive)
Besmar Minepink (marksdwarf/herbalist) (alive)
Ustuth Shieldfences (marksdwarf/herbalist) (alive)
Urist (Dr. Urist) Drilledhatchet (doctor/engineer) -> Gwolfski (alive)
Akrul Glazeletter (manager) (alive)
Sarvesh Mirrorsling (shearer/spinner) (alive)
As Mirrorstockade (mason) -> Another (alive)
Tun Staffpacked (fish cleaner) (alive)
Rith Vesselglaze (bone carver) (alive)
Aban Ransackedmansions (carpenter) (alive)
Ingish Blockadesound (child) (alive)
Nil Goldenname (child) (alive)
Medtob Boatsmessiah (child) (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)
Thikut Doorpattern (child) (alive)
Endok Glacierpaddle (child) (alive)
Rovod Claspedlearns (child) (alive)
Goden Keytooth (child) (alive)
Litast Factionmountains (child) (alive)
Avuz Loverknife (child) (alive)
Lokum Tangledattics (child) (alive)
Tayldis (kobold thief)
Logem Echoworked (outpost liaison)
Dodok Charmedmirror (king)
Bomrek Whiptrailed (Swordgangs leader)
Meng Baldarrow (Swordgangs trader/Bomrek’s assistant)
Dastot Brimsrelics (dwarven caravan lead trader)
The Master
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