The Journal of Zefon "Blahsadfeguie" Simplepainted, Woodcutter
15th Granite, 500
I'll be frank - when the King decided to send us across the sea to establish a fortress in the middle of nowhere, I was skeptical at first. We'd be cut off completely from everyone, probably never to see our families again. But apparently, the earth would be rich with gold. Upon hearing this, my ears twitched in anticipation. Perhaps too hastily, I accepted, my greed getting the better of me.
However, upon setting foot on the northwestern soil, my venture was immediately validated. Glints of golden ore peeked out from the hills, left and right! Truly this was a land blessed by Datan the Bronze Gem Herself. I could only imagine what lies beyond the surface, waiting to be unearthed and shaped into visages of beauty.
Once we had settled on a final resting spot for our caravan, we spent the rest of the night partying. It was a blur, but I have vague memories of leading an impromptu choir...
Regardless, I woke up this morning with a distinct rasp to my voice and a monster of a headache. This, sadly, was the least of my problems.
The first spot of bad news was the realization that we had feasted perhaps a bit too hard - our food stores were nearly depleted. Just a handful of meat and plants remained. Thankfully, we saved all the seeds.
The worst of it started with a deathly screech. At first I thought we were under attack, so I reached for my copper battle axe... only to find out our expedition leader, Udil Silverystopped, had had some sort of nightmare. All I remember was him raving about a beast covered in vomit, shooting webs and slaughtering dwarves. We tried to calm him down, but this dream was apparently so vivid that it caused him to step down as leader out of sheer fright.
He asked for someone called LegendaryTyper to take his place, but nobody responded. Perhaps they weren't ready to take on the responsibilities of leadership just yet... but by Armok, somebody had to do it. So, I volunteered. Nobody contested; in fact, I'm pretty sure the collective reaction was that of relief.
Their loss. If nothing else, I get first dibs.
I will forge a glorious golden fortress the likes of which the Universe of Dawn has never seen. For Tun Deg! For Datan! For all dwarfkind!
Okay, maybe not ALL dwarfkind. Just us. Those other dwarven kingdoms can find their own gold.
Census: 7 dwarves
(M) Erush Cloisteredtrance, Miner
(M) Fath Filledceilings, Farmer
(F) Morul Flashsilvers, Butcher
(F) Nish Urnequaled, Mason
(F) Rovod Glazecrews, Hunter
(M) Udil "HMetal" Silverystopped, Miner
(M) Zefon "Blahsadfeguie" Simplepainted, Woodcutter
16th Granite, 500
I've immediately ordered Fath to scavenge for edible plants in the area. Rovod didn't say a word; first thing in the morning, she grabbed a crossbow and some bolts and wandered off.
I slung my axe over my shoulder and asked the miners to start digging into the hills, laying out the foundation for our fortress. I then got to work clearing some of these trees. Blasted things... that'll teach you for obstructing my view of the gold!
17th Granite, 500
Rovod has returned, triumphantly toting the body of a bolt-riddled hoary marmot. Good to know she hasn't already gone mad after all.
3rd Slate, 500
The tunnel down is complete. Just as I thought, the walls are lined with gold and glittering gemstones! I'm conflicted; I want to mine out every square inch of it, but I don't know if I want to live in a fortress filled with ugly, misshapen tunnels.
While I'm thinking about it, I'll have all of our supplies brought in at once, starting with the food. We're grateful that we've managed to get by on what nature provides, but my next priority is setting up a farm.
17th Slate, 500
Operation Plant All These Armokdamn Seeds is underway. There isn't a soul in this fortress who isn't putting baby plants in the ground right this instant. Don't ask me how I'm writing this and planting seeds at the same time. I'm a wizard or something.
(or I'm not actually planting seeds, but don't tell them that)
27th Slate, 500
Rovod returned to the fortress today after a long hunting session, looking dejected and sweating all over. I asked her what happened.
She told me that she encountered a giant wolverine. Rovod had chased it through the trees, shooting bolts at every opportunity. She landed a clean hit on the beast's lower body, causing it to erupt into a brutal fit of retching and vomiting. But that didn't seem to slow it down, even when she unloaded a bolt into every limb. Eventually, she ran out of ammo and the wolverine got away.
She looked especially upset, so I told her not to worry about it. The farm was coming along nicely, so we'd have plenty to eat in the coming seasons. I didn't see our talk as any more than that, just simple consolation for a minor setback.
But then, she did something I could not have expected.
She hugged me.
She then proceeded to gush about how she was worried the change in leadership would ruin everything, but when I stepped forward it was "like an angel descending from the heavens". She thanked me at least 20 separate times.
It was at that point I caught a strong whiff of dwarven ale from her breath. She must take her job extremely seriously - enough that missing such a big game target was reason enough to get thoroughly hammered.
We talked by the wagon until the wee hours of the morning. Rovod, I must admit, is actually quite adorable while drunk off her rear end. I'm not sure how much of this she'll remember, but I have certainly found love tonight.
15th Felsite, 500
The past month has been dull, but easygoing. Our first crop of plump helmets is ready for harvest. We've been digging out space for a dining hall and workshops, stockpile space soon to follow.
Naturally, the dining hall is going to be massive and studded with gold and gems right off the bat. I won't settle for anything less.
Oh yeah, and I've been talking to Rovod a lot more lately. Turns out the other night was no fluke - she had been crushing on me ever since we left Tun Deg. Additionally, she worships Zas, the deity of jewels and minerals and Datan's twin sister. An interesting coincidence...
28th Felsite, 500
Spring is coming to a close, and we're only just getting started. The craftsdwarf wing of the factory floor is nearly complete, and in the summer I'll get to work on the metalworking wing so we can start refining all this gold.
My heart is racing just looking at the gold nuggets scattered around the fortress - I've never seen this much gold in all my life! I can barely sleep knowing that soon, we will be drowning in the stuff.
Or maybe that's just from three months of sleeping on hard dirt and stone floors. I tried sleeping on a pile of gold ore once... my back hasn't loosened up since. But it was worth it.
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Topic: Deathgame - A Very Insignificant Fort - LNP 42.06 (Read 71816 times)