The Journal of XvareonThe roof is finally over our heads! The wooden one, anyhow; I'm almost certain I heard Reg and Ber trading jabs in the general southeasterly direction of the Elvish haven we passed on the way here, standing atop the solid mass of chopped-up almond, cherry, and pear wood logs. Clearly they'd had one too many mugs of the good stuff. We all called them back inside to share some of our cook Erush's inspired dishes, fresh from the local woods.
Seems our dinner came not a moment too soon. One of those infernal clouds billowed out over the hills; from the northeast, this time. And it came close.
In the short term, I think we're plenty safe from the giant ravens flocking about for now, as long as we're careful and go out in pairs so no one gets surprised and snatched up. Long term... these clouds are the real issue. A solid log wall and a bolted hatch in the roof should keep the bulk of it out -- despite the objections of a few of my comrades who prefer good rock to flimsy trees, bless them all -- but we still need an entrance, and just a door isn't going to cut it.
Pride. All I feel is... just pure, overwhelming pride. I haven't had many chances to really show off my masonry skills in this little hovel of ours, since we've built much of our furniture and constructions out of wood. Our carpenter's been getting much of the praise, so much so that I almost feel like we're divided into two teams; carpenters and woodcutters on one, masons and miners on the other. And now I've scored a point for the miner team. A big, bold, golden point.
Our miners didn't take long to discover that our location sits right on top of some natural gold deposits, left untouched until now. This naturally caused all of us to practically salivate with the thought that we might find even more of the stuff; but I was more concerned with what we had just found, and how to use it in a functional sense, rather than decorative. Well, the gold has so far come in very large boulders hauled up from below us, festooned with the stuff like glittering gems; that last gave our worthy jeweler some wonderful ideas, but I will get to that later.
I decided to take the boulders filled with gold, and, forgoing the long process of rendering them into metal bars, simply cut the rocks as they stood, gold and all, into blocks. Then I set them all together, and, in a feat of inspiration, fashioned a large, working drawbridge with a bit of bauxite for a lever to guard the entrance to our base. Yes, you did read that right; our main bridge is made out of
raw gold.* It definitely made me feel like King of the Mountainhomes for a day!
Barely a few days after I finished up the bridge, we had a very pleasant surprise indeed: Our first true visitor.
None of us had any idea there was a human settlement anywhere near our location. Seems they have evaded the notice of the goblins, for now; they're entrenched right along the seas to the northwest, in a cozy farming community. One of their number apparently got wind of our presence -- which I'm not surprised by, seeing how unused this land is to the grace of Dwarvish hands, making our very presence a true jewel among scrabble and rocks -- and came to see what the fuss was about. In true mountain hospitality, we shared what we had of our drink
(she took a particular liking to proper Dwarven Ale, which she may very well be the first of her kind to try), and she told us what she knew of her people. They call themselves "The Nation of Exaltation"; we discerned the names of only two major settlements, "Speakdweller" and "Bridgehush", plus what little we could of their local governments. I am also given to understand that since she heard the rumors about us and, likely against wisdom, decided to investigate, others may soon do so as well!
Excavation deep into the rocky layer of the mountainside is continuing apace. I have even taken up a pick myself to assist, both because we have little stone to work with anyway
(since we've mostly dug through soil, and I ran out of gold ore days ago), and because I just want to feel useful in ways other than keeping an account of our progress. Fikod Ogalath, our trusty miner, is quite excited by this, and never ceases talking my ear off about how he will carve out and design bedrooms, corridors, a suitable living area; and, of course, workshops. I try and keep up like the good soldier I am, of course.
Our extra work carving out living spaces came not a moment too soon. To our profound and utter amazement, a party of good hardy Dwarves came up the side of the mountain today. Five of them in total! I truly hadn't expected any additional help would make it before the year was out; I see this as a testament to how much our superiors are investing in this expedition. Urist Thizdegel, Ustuth Emenshem, Rigoth Kekimnil, Reg Enseboslan, and Logem Gembishatis; these names make up the infusion of fresh blood into our fledgling colony. We had a good laugh at their dumbstruck faces when they saw the golden bridge leading into our mine; especially since they sheepishly admitted scoffing at the primitive wooden facade we'd built up around it. It is a bit of a shame they did not bring a wagonload of supplies with them, but--
I apologize. I was interrupted. They tell me that there will indeed be a caravan coming from the Mountainhomes, and very likely before the year is out, as well! Metal, fresh picks, fresh food and fine cheeses, home-made libations; everything a good Dwarf could ask for. We make some of that here, of course, but we have so few hands to spare we can hardly afford many luxuries. Until now, at least. My fellows are already putting our new migrants hard to work, especially with regards to moving our communal beds into the fresh new bedrooms me and Fikod are digging out.
Yet... I can't help but wonder. We've been noticed by the humans, and by our fellow dwarves. Why not the goblins, yet? Have they written this place off for being on the outskirts of such an evil land? I can only speculate; and help prepare a meager defense in case of attack. There is also the constant, looming threat of those fell crimson clouds coming over the mountain on a weekly basis. None of them have reached us so far, but every dwarf who goes outside has been warned to stay sharp. There's no telling what this place might have in store for us.
* - Funnily enough, I didn't even ask the mason to do this; he just took the native gold because we didn't have much other stone, and cut that into blocks on the spot.NOTE: After discussion with the GM, I've decided to end my turn early, since I fear that I might be too good for this game. It's meant "for noobs/novices", after all. Since I'm only up to the first migrant wave and we are getting visitors, and are reasonably secure, I figure it's a good time. First trade caravan hasn't even shown up yet. Thus, I'm handing this off to the next guy in line. Good luck to them!
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Topic: The Mountain of Failiure: a succession game for "noobs" (Read 8550 times)