Just a small thing before I begin:
Town Oddomezar - Overseer Log of Scarf, 6th Overseer of Cloisteredsoldiers
20th Timber 137So, I got up today, got dressed in my quarters, went out into the street passageway to start hauling a plump helmet to the food stock-pile, only to be stopped in my tracks by a tall, skinny, moustached, long-braided, sparse-haired person. This person, whose name I learnt to be that of Pikachu17 Keskalostar, our Overseer; and the moment he laid his eyes upon me, he declared that I was the new Overseer, that all I needed was to look over the notes and papers he'd left behind, and that I'm was not allowed a change from my usual hauling activities. Bummer. He then ran off, leaving me bewildered in my early-morning sleepiness. Still, after a while, I set out to do my job, feeling rather merry that I had received such an honor.
I made a short inspection of the fort. Firstly, while the fort entrance is comprised of a series of long passageways, leading to a stockpile and then on to the rest of the fort, giving us sufficient time to rouse and raise our armed forces, I haven't failed to notice the partial route down to our Fort from the outside, with a stair missing, happily stopping any invaders from taking that route down to our Fort... Unless they fly or fall in.
Our food stocks are good, and more alcohol is being brewed as I write. I notice that we only have a single Engineer to make mechanisms, making it difficult to produce siege weaponry, unless I pause the production of mechanisms. Our tombs are handsome. I note with concern that we seem to have very few blank scrolls and sheets for our philosophers and scribes to work with. We have six written works, as well two artifact quires, still unbound into books. I took a look at the notes left behind by the previous overseer on the execution. It chills me to my bones that we should have need of such a function; what's worse is that we not only lose the corpses, but also any apparel upon them. A waste. I also cannot comprehend the previous overseer's decision to starve children to death in their rooms. I released them immediately.
I checked the lower levels and found that our cavern entrances are all connected to a single, 1-by-3 shaft going straight through the fort to the main entrance. After the last main area, the bedrooms, the shaft continues, and there is an increasing amount of corpses, blood, body parts and dropped clothing as the shaft goes deeper. The first cavern layer (at level 37) has almost no remains. At level 32, there is what may be an unimaginable amount of wealth locked into stone. An entire vein of gold, more than thirty units long! This also the only part of the shaft that has any form of defense; ten doors to prevent any visit from the caverns. The second cavern layer (at layer -9) is a blood-bath, corpses, blood and bolts everywhere. It is also even less defended than the upper levels. Finally, the final cavern layer (at layer -18). Water; and we will have difficulty going forward. Most of our efforts have been flooded, and below is the magma sea. We will have to exercise caution in furthering our excavations. And I chill in the realization that we, despite our military prowess, are a sitting duck without a bottom to stand on nor a helmet. We need to fix this, fast. And now I have just realized there is no problem, the shaft is blocked anyway.
Not much is happening in terms of industry and production, but that isn't a priority for now. Our hospital seems to doubling as a place of worship, and we have no traction beds. We are missing gypsum powder for casts for broken bodies and bones, as well as traction benches.
I have decided that the first priority is to put in place a rock-block stockade, a few levels high, with the view that expansion will be necessary. Then, a new temple (or temples) shall be carved out, smoothed and decorated, and the hospital freed from the gaggle of earnest worshippers that could flood and distract our doctor. The two artifact quires will be bound and placed into the Library, more sheets, scroll rollers, scrolls, thread and blank quires will be produced for the Library's consumption. I shall also make sure to purchase any written works that come with the wares of the traders. I will pick another dwarf as an engineer in charge of making traction benches, siege engines, vast, complex construction etc. I also agree with the previous overseer's suggestion of culling some of our large animal population. We should either hunt for gypsum to make gypsum powder from it, or purchase some from the traders. The fort also needs a clean.
Perhaps if I manage all this, we can commence operations to haul our industry up to a suitable level of activity, and perhaps even prepare to reopen the caverns below.
OC: Sorry it's short, I just wanted to outline what I was planning to do. I'll post some spoilers of fort a bit later.