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[Timeless Bob]

That's interesting, Sanctume.  In the init file, I set the name replace screen to replace the entire name, rather than just one part of it, so we'll see if Legends mode shortens it or not.

[Timeless Bob]

4-01-02: Dradubis the Kobold briefly visits Whitecastle once again (skulking filth!)

4-01-19: Noble positions appointed by the RNG:
   Expedition Leader: Iteb Roadarmor
   Militia Commander: Kosoth Whitecastle
   Sheriff: Mrs Rakust Groupedlance
   Hammerer: Mrs Kubuk Bridleurns
   Manager: Mr Edem Towercrests
   Chief Medical Dwarf: Miss Thob Channeledapex
   Broker: Miss Ushat Chuckcrafts
   Bookkeeper: Miss Tulon Whitecastle

We must get these new nobles housed according to their station as quickly as possible!  What we need is a whole team of masons cranking out stone blocks - the one we have just isn't keeping up with the supply!  Queen Geshud has decided to move to the Mead Hall of the former Queen in Glovedburns proper, called formally "The Rough Climate" - our other nobles may very well follow her if we are unable to provide them with the property that befits their stations.  Time will tell.

In other news, our own Miss Kadol Machinebeak broke into uncontrollable tears and rushed into the The Outrageous Supper, refusing to do anything other than eat, drink and listen to the stories of the various visitors that are entertaining there.

In Glovedburns, Queen Geshud has appointed Lokum Fondledlashed (Created Dwarf) to the positions of both Co-General and Diplomat, while Miss Melbil Picksquash has been appointed Baroness of Glovedburns, Outpost Liason and Co-General.  We hope the goblins do not attack our Queen once again, since they also claim Glovedburns, calling it in thier gutteral tongue: "The Distinct Malice".

4-03-01: Mrs Kubuk Bridledurns gave birth to a healthy baby girl.  She is named "Datan"

4-03-12: Miss Kadol Machinebeak died of thirst today.  She'd been sitting in one of the chairs of The Outrageous Supper for several days straight, not blinking or moving.  Her body will be interred in the Catacombs with the others and a statue erected to commemorate her passing.

4-04-22: Three single dwarven women arrived to join our crew.  They were welcomed quickly at The Outrageous Supper before being sent to help build the new expanded mason's workshop next to the Entrance Ramp of the Fortress.

4-06-14: Minkot Rackdwellings completed an artifact armor stand today, naming it "Warnedmob, the Cradles of Riddling".  A decree from the Gods is written on the armor stand: "Build and equip a security tower, or your own mobs will destroy you!"

Minkot has become Minkot Warnedmob, the first dwarf to be bestowed with an Artifact Clan name!  Congratulations, Minkot!

4-07-17: The Whitecastle Gaurd is formed and installed into the tower built for that purpose at the base of the Entrance Ramp. Later that day, the caravan from Glovedburns proper arrived, hopefully bringing lots of wood! (Oddly enough, the Outpost Liason is not with them.)  Indeed, they did bring wood!  We traded our carved shell trinkets for their wood, also for several metal cages (which the Sheriff is relieved to see), and a single bucket, which we presented to the well-digging society with solemn ceremony.  They thanked us and began building the well that now graces the front of the Crafting Tower. 

4-08-04: More Dwarves have arrived, ready to add their skills and meager treasures to the ones stored at Whitecastle.

4-09-20: Mrs Kubuk Brideledurns completed an artifact dacite scepter today: "Anguishedtribe, The Danger of Sorcerors.  On it is written a decree from the Gods: "Build a locked treasure-house for your trade goods and encrust them with gems, for Sorcerors are plotting to steal them, bringing anguish for all the dwarves of Whitecastle!"

Mrs Kubuk, her husband and her child have formally taken "Anguishedtribes" as their family name, and have become the second Artifact Clan in the world.

As the first day of Spring dawns, it finds the Whitecastle Single Dwarf Suites nearing completion, and the first level of walls in the Fortress itself, also nearing completion.  There's a well in front of the Crafting Tower and an Entertainer's Dormitory around in back of it, (for visiting performers who have petitioned to stay at Whitecastle long-term.)  All the dwarves sigh in pleasure as they begin the Rites of Spring once again...

Whitecastle, Year 4

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[Timeless Bob]

The "Small World" save file is updated on the first page.  Legends mode sees the goblins who attacked last year getting their noses bloodied by some humans from "The Realm of Sides" this year.  So, while Queen Geshud did move over to the Mead hall off-site, she has remained safe and sound.

[Fleeting Frames]

So I guess those animals you bought are now all out of cages.

The house heights look low in that visualizer.

Unusual entrance, did you channel out the mountain? Very roomy, this was 6x6 map right?

Armor stand and scepter...Eh, I suppose the first is so-so.

[Timeless Bob]

So I guess those animals you bought are now all out of cages.

The house heights look low in that visualizer.

Unusual entrance, did you channel out the mountain? Very roomy, this was 6x6 map right?

Armor stand and scepter...Eh, I suppose the first is so-so.

The animals might be out of the cages, but probably because the site was retired more than any action I've taken for myself. 
The vertical on the Stonesense visualizer does squash the cubes a little, making them look like a kind of 5:5:3 ratio box rather than a strict 1:1:1 cube.
I did channel the mountain.  Having a bunch of stone nearby to construct the stone blocks for (eventually) a massive brooding castle with a long ramping road leading up to it.  I almost went with a series of switch-backs up the slope, but having that deep "moat" channeled down also allowed the doorway to the Catacombs to be situated off in the depths, which gave it a suitably "gate to the underworld" feel.  As the years go by, I'm hoping a suitably big host of invaders comes along and attempts to siege the place, or maybe the nearby militant kobold civ decides to use the Rites of Spring to infest my dungeons with their thieving spawn, and maybe if the site is successful enough, the Dragon may pay a visit - it would need a suitable place to hole up as a Lair, so some crevasse far in the back of the moat, leading into a carefully sculpted cave system where we'd chain the critter up before retiring the site for a Rite of Spring and letting it loose to wreak its revenge... Ah, good times.

As to the embark itself, I used DFHack's "embark everywhere" to situate a 5x4 embark inside the borders of the capitol city, Glovedburns.  If you go into Legends mode and check out that city, you'll see that some of the events from Whitecastle are mirrored in that site entry as well, and this is why Queen Geshud was able to migrate out to the Mead Hall last year.

[Fleeting Frames]

Yeah, they should be more like 2:2:3 boxes, taller than they're long.

Never brothered much with embark anywhere on top of existing sites (did only once to check what 500 elves were doing in dwarven fortress). So (complete?) overlapping with a hillocks allows citizen to leave your site to other major sites in the world? Or was that just during retiring?

I've heard reports of currently attacker being always victorious, so if you're sieged right before/during rites of Spring you could lose the fortress.

[Timeless Bob]

I figure dwarves are about half as tall as humans, but just as wide, so the "Entertainment Dorm" is two z-levels open inside, but the door is still one z-level high.  (I guess the humans have to crawl in and out of their dormitory through the dwarf-sized door.)  Anyway, I figure that's why the boxes seem to be four feet high and six feet wide.  Of course, that makes a single sock placed in a six by six area just as ludicrous, but them's the breaks with this game.

The queen left after retirement, but that's part of the reason I wanted the Rites of Spring to be a part of the game - during regular fortress mode there is rarely any emigration away from a site, which isn't true for any other site when they're retired.  So, entertainers can come and go but not fortress citizens and that seemed weird to me.  Setting up a yearly "Rites of Spring" allows dwarves to marry, emigrate, immigrate and any armies who are attacking to do so, leaving the Fortress in a slightly different place than it was before but also integrating it with the rest of the world every year.  (Well, that's the experiment, at least.)

[Timeless Bob]

No one got married during The Rites of Spring.  For now we just have our four Families: Groupedlance, Anguishtribe, Towercrests, and Blowingpage.

5-04-28: Five migrants have decided to join the Whitecastle today.  A farmer, his wife and their son (the Blowingpage family), an unmarried metalsmith and a common laborer.

5-07-06: Dodok Grouplanced, Sherrif Grouplanced's eldest and only son, suddenly burst into a killing rage after realizing that the wood shortage would mean that he would never be able to complete the artifact that has had him holed up in the crafting shop for the past week.  He began toppling hives in the new Honey Farm and the angry insects stung him to a stupor. Fikod Whitecastle was there as the boy breathed his last breath.  How horrifying!  Dodok will be interred in the Grouplanced tombs under the Grouplanced Mansion.

5-08-11: More migrants arrived today. A set of six single dwarves, bound for the laborer's houses.

5-08-25: Our own expedition leader, Iteb Roadarmor, has completed an artifact vulture bone earring today.  He's named it "Stesokrab" and has taken that name as his own according to Tradition.  On the earring is written a decree from The Gods: "You must find the Fountain of Molten Glow, for there is where the Dwarves will find true greatness!"

Quest:

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Seek out the "Fountain of Molten Glow", then return and tell Iteb Steskorab where to find it.

5-11-26: Worker's housing is coming along too slowly.  The weather has turned harsh and snowy, which has made us create
temporary housing for the dwarves whose homes are not yet ready so they don't freeze to death in the streets.  We stuck the
currently homeless dwarves in a room above the offices of the bookkeeper and manager.  I'm sure those two will be able to
look after them just fine until their more permanent abodes are finished. 

  The well has frozen again this year, so those citizens of Whitecastle who wish to wash the grime of the day's labors off of their bodies have to travel quite some distance to the east before the river ice is thin enough to break through.  Obviously, this isn't an ideal situation, so a simple "sewer system" has
been mandated to be excavated, to be expanded upon as Whitecastle grows.  Sheriff Groupedlances has finally laid her poor son's soul to rest, erecting a statue above his grave in the Family catacombs.  The oubliette below the entrance to the eventual site of Whitecastle itself has been finally completed and the small dungeons behind the guard tower will soon get their lever-locked doors installed.  Also, we've found a use for all those brimstone blocks: A yellow brick road that extends north of the bridge, south between the male and female sides of the worker's housing complex, and terminating at the base of the entrance ramp to Whitecastle.  It looks quite cheery!

5-12-07: We've been plagued by a flock of vultures who've decided to dive bomb our farmers as the emerge from the growing tunnels.  Yet another irritant to the citizens of Whitecastle that will soon be a worry of the past.  The sewers have been planned and begun to be excavated, giving our industrious masons yet more material to work with.  Each living area will have added to it a "privy" to increase cleanliness. A small room with a grate that drops "filth" directly down into the sewers, to be washed away by the river when it unfreezes.  Obviously, the well will be upstream from that effluvia, making sure that no "filth" ends up in our drinking water!

5-12-24: Morul Plaitdyes, one of our tireless miners, just finished an artifact siltstone throne.  He has named it "Miredscald" and on it is written a decree from the Gods: "You must create a shrine to the Gods decorated with a totem made from the skull of The Dead Vulture to show your veneration for your deities!"
In time honored tradition, Morul has taken the surname "Miredscald".  Congratulations, Morul!

Quest:

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Bring the skull of Tikis Fatalfilth "The Dead Vulture" to Whitecastle and give it to Morul Miredscald, telling him how you slew it.

6-01-01: The Rites of Spring are upon us once more! Whitecastle has certainly grown quite a bit in the last year.  Three of our
four families have their own mansions, (Blowingpage House is still under construction.)  The new sewer system and yellow
block road have both made a good start and two new decrees from the Gods have shown up as well.  Just as we were preparing to celebrate this
annual tradition, our Hammerer, Mrs Kubuk Anguishtribe, dodged a dive-bombing vulture and fell three stories, knocking out
several of her teeth.  I'm sure she'll be back to celebrating in no time!

Whitecastle, Year 5

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[Fleeting Frames]

Hm, lack of wood? Hope it was woodcrafting mood. Even then...I'd probably have headed for caverns, useless as the result may be. Bit soft, perhaps.

Quest1 is basically an adventurer quest to find the volcano on the world  map, I take it?

Not sure if grates themselves are sufficient for cleansing. I recall a magma-cleansing system using a grate done by either Sphalerite or Loud Whispers in the past (not sure which).

A legendary miner...Will he ascend to military?

Though Quest2 seems harder.

Nobody left during Rites, I take it?

And lot of fog on some of the pictures.

Huh. You assign all of them individually? Thought you just reassigned couples. Nice patience.

What's that in the cellars, rock pots?

[Timeless Bob]

Hm, lack of wood? Hope it was woodcrafting mood. Even then...I'd probably have headed for caverns, useless as the result may be. Bit soft, perhaps.

Once they find the underworld exists, I'm sure they'll be supplied with plenty of wood.  (But also probable incursions from the Deeps.

Quest1 is basically an adventurer quest to find the volcano on the world  map, I take it?

I'm sure it could be interpreted that way.  Of course, if that were to be the case, it would set up a number of embarks to pave a way to get there, which in turn would probably create yet more quests...

Not sure if grates themselves are sufficient for cleansing. I recall a magma-cleansing system using a grate done by either Sphalerite or Loud Whispers in the past (not sure which).

Ah yes, the "magma mist" showering system.  The grates are less for washing then a substitute to the conspicuously missing dwarven latrine. If I was any good at modding, I'd have them be 1x1 specialty wells built from a throne, a bucket and a mechanism, that produced a type of immobile vermin called "<race> feces" and a good thought every time they were used. "Urist McRelieved enjoyed using a <quality> latrine."  The "<insert race> feces" would drop into the hole below the workshop where they could either be collected for burning into potash in a kiln or be washed down through the sewers.  Eventually, it would produce miasma and rot away.  Heck, if I was an even better modder, I'd just mod every creature to produce <animal> feces every once in awhile anyway, and it could be a regular feature of the environment that could attract flies and produce "stench" for hunting purposes.  It could even be used as kiln fuel like some cultures used cow feces...

But I'm not a very good modder, so a grate above a flowing sewer will have to do.

A legendary miner...Will he ascend to military?

That's not a bad idea - he has been chosen by the Gods after all...

Though Quest2 seems harder.

Yes, it could be more difficult.  However, the object of the quest might be surprisingly easy too - only one way to find out...

Nobody left during Rites, I take it?

No.  Although with each re-embark of the retired game, the list of "ruins" grows longer, so the World is still in quite a bit of turmoil.  Perhaps Whitecastle is currently the safest place to be for this culture of dwarves.

And lot of fog on some of the pictures.

Yes, that's part of the Isoworld viewer program, the higher the viewpoint in z-levels, the foggier the lower z-levels are.  Not quite sure how to turn that off.

Huh. You assign all of them individually? Thought you just reassigned couples. Nice patience.

Thanks.  Each dwarf gets my tender attention, from the highest Nobility to the idiots who want to suicide because there's no wood in the stockpiles.

What's that in the cellars, rock pots?

Rock pots and lavish meals.  The best thing to keep dwarves happy and healthy.
[/quote]

[Timeless Bob]

6-01-23: After a polite discussion with a local rival, Miss Pimra Crestrite (Human), has claimed the position of Guild Representative of  the coastal hamlet of Beeclosed to the North. The Trade federation that rules Beeclosed is named "The Union of Dying"

6-05-06: Thirsty after a hard week's excavation of the Whitecastle Town's sewers, Miss Tulon Whitecastle joined her fellow miners in drinking from an aquifer
they'd found.  According to her horrified fellows, she passed out from her exertions and drowned before anyone figured out what was happening.  Her body shall
be interred in the Public catacombs with a statue raised in her honor.  She will be missed.  Expedition leader Iteb Stesokrab will be holding interviews during the
Rites of Spring to fill the now vacant Book-keeper position.

6-05-20: More migrants have arrived to swell our numbers.  A Shearer named Rith Leaderboards and a Merchant named Miss Vucar Languagegolds.  A stray
kitten travels with them as well, either as a companion or in some other role...

6-07-16: The caravan from the Connected Castle was sighted on the horizon today.  Perhaps they will bring news from the Queen!  Sadly, they had nothing to
report other than "The world is the same as it ever was".

6-08-09: More migrants arrived after the caravan had set up camp next to the site of the Castle for a day or two already. This time, it was a group of six
dwarves: two males and four females, all unmarried and the first of their kind.

6-08-15: Fikod Whitecastle has built an artifact dacite and amethyst bed, naming it "Sabreconflicts".  On it is written a decree from the Gods:
     Appease the Mother of Screaming, for if you do not, She shall bring great grief to the Dwarves.

Quest:

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Find out who "The Mother of Screaming" is, then find out what she wants.

6-12-20: Mr Domas Anguishedtribe has just completed an artifact gold ore coffer named "Serpentoar".  On it is written a prophecy from the Gods:
     When the Fountain of Molten Glow is discovered,
        "The Hammers of Shouting" will come to claim it
        They will build a fortress encompassing it. 
        And that Fortresses' name shall be "Serpentoar.

Mr Domas Anguishtribe will now change his Family name to "Serpentoar" as Tradition requires.  We congratulate the Serpentoar Family
on their new status.

7-01-01: Another year has finished, and the Town of Whitecastle grows yet again.  Three more humans, including the lovely Guild Representative of Pimra
Crestrite has petitioned to become permanent residents of Whitecastle, winning beds of their very own in the Human Dormitory.  This year has brought two
messeges from the Gods and enough wood coming in on the Caravans that some has been diverted into making coal.  As a result, some of our gold ore has been
smelted into beautiful gold bars to be placed inside the treasury along with our other treasures: our artifacts.  The sewers have all been excavated and most of
the latrines sport their own roofs - within the next year, we will have full housing for up to seventy people.  Some of the single dwarfs have been agitating for a
"local pub" in the workhouse section.  That seems reasonable enough...  Anyway, time enough for all of that after the Rites of Spring have come and gone,
ushering in a new year.

Whitecastle Year 6

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[Fleeting Frames]

Drinking from an aquifer resulting in death? Worrying. Dodging on a busy area, I take it?

Artifact bed....Hm. I wonder, what material I'd most want to for artifact bed? Not exactly replicable, so must be a standpiece.

Pretty scaredy-cat gods. Your typical RPG adventurer would take her all instead - her belongings, her companions, her life.

Are you going to make volcano erupt?

Fort seems more symmetrical now.

I notice catacombs are far better positioned for access than sleeping areas.

[Timeless Bob]

Drinking from an aquifer resulting in death? Worrying. Dodging on a busy area, I take it?

Oddly enough, she just fell in asleep and drowned. Her body is still down in the bottom of the aquifer although for appearances, she has a coffin and a statue in the Catacombs proper.  There's a little surprise down by her body though - a memorial set up by her mining buddies so that anyone who came across her waterlogged corpse would know who she was, and a little about her history.

Artifact bed....Hm. I wonder, what material I'd most want to for artifact bed? Not exactly replicable, so must be a standpiece.

It'll be good to have for the Baron or other nobles that eventually occupy the Castle.  The Spiral Stair has hit a few layers of granite, so unless some marble or other true white stone shows up, that's going to be the material with which we finally build the "white" castle.

Pretty scaredy-cat gods. Your typical RPG adventurer would take her all instead - her belongings, her companions, her life.

Maybe the Gods are just pragmatic - look at how many of the other Quests have had people volunteering to take them.  However, I imagine eventually there will be some people reading this who'd like a chance to fulfill some of these Quests with an adventurer.

Are you going to make volcano erupt?

Sounds like that could be fun.  First, we'll have to find one, then have to path over to it with a series of road-building embarks.  Of course, I have a feeling that the Quests will keep piling up year upon year as more artifacts (and artifact families) are created. It will also be interesting to see what happens if any of these embarks encounters resistance along the way from civs, necromancers, were-creatures or even the dragon...

Fort seems more symmetrical now.

I notice catacombs are far better positioned for access than sleeping areas.

Yes.  While the Caravan actually paths along the Yellow Block Road, that does make the Worker's Housing a defensive line from any aggressors who wish to path toward the Castle (or away from it, in the case of Cavern denizens eventually coming up from below.

[Fleeting Frames]

White stuff, in amounts large enough for mass-construction....Other than white stone, there's porcelain blocks (if you embarked on kaolinite) and, perhaps most attractively, soap. Hmm, soap castle, what does that signify story-wise....

And of course, white trees/metals if you're willing to wait arduously. Silver (and copper) are common enough, typically, that smaller stuff can probably be built straight from (sterling) silver....of course, this necessitates magma with the lack of coal.

Could use all of those, of course, but I think all white stuff has light gray as secondary color, leaving only building that I've noticed as different being door for wood/metal/stone/glass (crystal glass) [albeit i have exactly gone through buildings to check].

[Timeless Bob]

I suppose I could mine the stream for ice during the winter and make an unmelting Ice Castle relatively easily. <facepalm> Why didn't I think of that before?