Exerpt from the journal of "DolosusDoleus" Sibrekmomuz, Expedition LeaderSo, we've finally got the food situation under control. Thank god for that.
Meanwhile, I was informed by the rest of the lads that the yak and horse corpses we're moving around or reanimating. However, I'm still not gonna open up the butcher's shop. Thing's fulla some foul odors, and I don't particularly want to deal with that.
Due to the fact that we can't gain access to trees very easily, I've decreed that finding access to a source of water and magma is of the utmost necessity. Exploratory excavations to find them are currently underway.
In the meantime, the mountain goats are back. This time with a skeletal giant eagle. Delightful.
We've also constructed a trade depot. I'm not sure if there are any civilizations nearby, or if any of them would even know where we are, but better safe than sorry.
Also, the fortress received no migrants this season. While not unexpected due to us not having much contact with any local dwarven civilizations, it still makes things a tad difficult.
A few weeks laterAutumn has come!
Our search for any underground rivers or magma deposits is going well! We've managed to cut out a large part of the underground and... what's this?
OH DEAR GOD NO
(This goes on for about eight more pages)
Uh, okay. Fuck that. We're walling that up, and I'm declaring this to be a "later" problem.
Dear god, look at this thing. Are those bottomless pits at the bottom?
Slightly after panickedly walling off the cavern, one of the lads said there was a dwarven caravan coming our way! By the gods, we are saved!
Hmmm. So, okay. These dwarves are from some civilization called Atis Thidas, which I have never heard of. After declaring that our fortress shall be called "Bridgeborn" (A pretty stupid name if you ask me, but whaddaya gonna do?), they opened up a trade deal. I asked for all the goddamn seeds and wood they could possibly send us.
In the meantime, one of the guards has been chasing around a (non-skeletal) Giant Eagle. For some reason, it isn't tearing him to shreds. I'm okay with this, as it means he won't stupidly draw it over to the entrance of the fortress.
After I spoke with the liason, I took the time to check out the cavern we uncovered. Is that a skeletal troll?
In other news, the traders made some requests for us, and there are no migrants this season either. Hopefully our discovery will soon change that fact.
And the merchants are gone! Go forth fellow dwarves, and let this strange new world know of our existence!