OOC
I just blasted out the whole year. I have to do some online computer based training for work by the end of the month, and have today off. I have used the whole damn day to just crank this out, so I did not do any art. Sorry.
/OOC
Diary of Kogan, Hammerdwarf. Early Spring
Daedalus, bless his beard, seems to have had another one of his 'visions', and handed me a thick quire of parchment with the words "FORTRESS PLANNING" emblazoned on the top. Apparently, this latest one was to give me administrative leave to make additions and changes to the fortress for the next year, then pass this folio on to another worthy member of our fortress.
So, First order of business I guess. Finishing that damned wall project.
It seems we have left a stray emu neck laying around just outside the wall. The builders complain mightily about it, but I assure them that there is nothing to worry about. Sadly, there are insufficient blocks to complete the roof at this time. I have set a task with the manager to construct 500 more slate blocks for the task. A little extra never hurt anyone. After the builders lay down what they can for now, I will seal the hatch covers, and wait for more materials.
Other tasks: I have ordered the far eastern section, just below the mines, to be carved and channeled into what will become a great water sluice, which will drive great wheels and engines to provide power for minecarts, mills, and if we should have need of them-- screwpumps. I do not think we will need pumps however; The stones near there drip water, meaning that if tapped properly, a mighty flow will descend on its own.
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Sealing the hatches was a good idea. Not long after doing so, we were inundated with fliers. Giant ravens. 6 of them. We lack the dwarfpower for that kind of assault, so we must wait them out.
Scourge has begun digging in earnest in the new sluiceway, and has hit several deposits of rusted metal. I have ordered it all to be melted down, while we await the raven menace to go on its bloody awful way, and for those damn blocks to get cut.
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It has been several weeks now. We have sufficient blocks to finish the roof, and the ravens have flown away. The stairs leading up to the roof are, however, a cause of great concern. Flying units can descend through them and rip us apart in closed quarters. To combat this, I have issued orders to build a second, smaller wall around the stairs, and placed a temporary ramp to provide access to the next level up. That will let us roof over that section. Finally, I will remove the ramp, floor over the hole, then close up the last gap in the upper wall from the inside.
I decided to try spiraling the sluiceway down deeper. If I can find another aquifer, I can reliably drain the water there, and do it safely.
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Diary of Kogan, Hammerdwarf. Late spring / Early summer
A huge glut of migrants arrived shortly after we finished the enclosure. Well, At least they got to see some dwarven masonry instead of some paltry hatch covers. They brought some livestock with them, so I assigned the enclosed area of surface as pasturage. The animals should hopefully avoid starvation up there, and with any luck, we might be able to get a breeding population going.
Among the new arrivals was another miner. Forget his name, not important at the moment, as I do not have time to memorize everyone's name, practice sparring, AND plan the fortress for this year. Be that as it may, Scourge is no longer alone in the sluiceway project, and that is good. His progress was admirable, but the extra hands will lighten the load considerably.
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Diary of Kogan, Hammerdwarf. Mid summer
Even more migrants arrived. One of the farmer types had aspirations of being a fisherdwarf, and decided that the nearby pond was a great place to catch some fish. Apparently he is either insane, stupid, blind, or all three- Not sure which. In any case, I forbade him do any firther fishing when returned with his catch. The lucky sod somehow managed to survive being on the surface with giant great horned owl corpses flying around, which my fellow hammerdwarves and myself somehow managed to put down as they tried to fly in through the open gate behind that stupid wastrel. I have given him a stern lecture about surface safety procedures, then sealed the gate again.
Most of the rusty metal boulders have been melted, thanks to there being many smelters running full tilt this whole time. Our fortress now has more than 30 residents, and I have assigned some of the more useless (seriously, fishing?) dwarves to Atir's squad. We lack the materials to assign them hammers, but they can still train in other ways. I have commissioned 10 each of helms, gauntlets, greaves, mail shirts, highboots, and platemail for the growing military, but forging the stuff takes time.
The plan to look for another aquifer to drain the sluiceway was a success. Just three levels down, Scourge found exactly what we needed. This completes the main channel of the sluice, and now it is time to plan how best to use it. Our growing population is going to quickly outstrip our capacity to grow food, so I have designated five cisterns linked to growing chambers, and one massive cistern linked to a large multi-story excavation, which will serve as a safe place to grow and harvest spore trees, since Armok knows the only trees on the surface are dead willows, and nothing new grows up there. Our new residents are going to have to sleep on the cold stone floor for awhile until the project is complete, and bears fruit, but that's what they get for migrating here in massive numbers like this. How do they honestly expect us to accommodate so many, so fast?
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Diary of Kogan, Hammerdwarf. Late summer / Early autumn
I was expecting the trade caravan to show up, so I stationed the green recruits just inside the walls, and opened the gate. Sure enough, the caravan arrived, but was then promptly scared away by a single undead racoon corpse. Said monstrosity did not even land a single good attack, instead the whole caravan just turned-tail, and ran. So much for supplies this year. Trading cancelled, I ordered the gate closed, and cancelled the station order. Everyone looked dejected, but it could not be helped. The merchant's cowardice just cost us our chance at getting more copper for hammers this year.
However, the carving of the cisterns and grow chambers is nearing completion; Sufficiently so that I have ordered the placement of levers and the construction of flood gates. There will be three levers. One will open the inlets, which will fill the cisterns and also allow them to be cut off from the sluice once they are full. The other two will control the outlet of the massive cistern, and of the 5 small grow chamber cisterns, respectively. Each grow chamber has calculated flooding to easily handle a 3x30 area, which is enough to handle three 3x10 farm plots per chamber. This should be more than adequate to feed and sate the thirst of even a mighty mountain home.
There was one small snag when constructing the large grow chamber; toward the southeast section, there was a deposit of puddingstone which was part of an aquifer. Cutting it was challenging, but not impossible. Alternating waves of channeling from above, followed by smoothing below, allowed for the incremental removal of the stone without flooding the fortress. The areas muddied by the floodwater promptly began growing spore tree saplings, a good sign if ever there was one.
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Diary of Kogan, Hammerdwarf. Late autumn / Early winter
I cannot help but feel nervous today for some reason, despite the completion and successful testing of the growing chamber cisterns, and the main spore tree chamber and its accompanying cistern.
However, such dull thoughts were chased away when I realized that whatever may come in the coming year, it would not be my problem, and the hope that next year we might get that copper we need so desperately.
The order for armor had finally been completed, and the farm plots had been put in place in the growing chambers. Many spore tree saplings were growing tall in the massive chamber I had ordered, and the sluice was gushing water from the tapped cavern lake above, and into the aquifer below, quite safely and securely. When the trees matured, there would be materials to install water wheels, grindstones, and the power infrastructure to drive minecarts. Not bad for my year at the helm. The new recruits were all painfully green still, but progressing admirably.
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Diary of Kogan, Hammerdwarf. Late winter, Early spring
At last, this year comes to a close. There are still many angry dwarves without beds, or rooms to sleep in, and they do not seem well satisfied that at least they have food, drink, and are safe from the undead. I however, know better. I am content to bear this guilt, and bear it with pride, as I have ensured that none of us will starve or go sober in all the years to come.
It is with great relief that I wrap the binding up on the battered folio I was handed this time last year, and pass it off to another. I think I will pass it to one of the dwarves most put off by the lack of beds. I think that would be appropriate-- then I can return to my training.
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Topic: Dawnthunder: !!Fun!! with RAWs (succession game) (Read 103706 times)