Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Salmeuk]

Spring of the Second Year

The solstice has passed us and the year begins anew! These spring mornings bring a chill air that drifts down through the stone and into our chambers, waking us rudely from our dreams. The invading cold is much appreciated, however, since many of our outpost have contracted a mysterious and tenacious illness that warms our blood and sours our moods. At this time it is unknown whether or not this fever poses a threat, and as one of the principle carriers of the illness I am eager to learn more. Too, I want to help Bim, who is my lover, and Del, the since they are both suffering from the fever. Del has recently granted me the role of manager and overseer of Smallhands and I intend to put that power to good use.

What other project to begin with than the one I have fantasized about for many months now? It has been my dream to explore the deep stone and surely discover the great caverns beneath. What riches are to be found? As I understood it, the Queen wanted good news from this outpost. Well, by the justice of Tâmol, let us find some good news!


Exploratory staircases were dug west of the workshops.

A few days in to digging, Momuz found a gigantic cluster of red zircon and a rich vein of tetrahedrite. Both are valuable, but I was hoping for something more. There has to be something good about this place.

After more digging we find some cassiterite, meaning a source of tin. If we work that with the copper at a controlled temperature, we can start to cast bronze. Which can then be hammered into a razor-sharp edge. A lot can be done with a bronze axe!

The next day, Momuz hit a cavity in the stone.


Finally, a cavern, with silver veins crossing the walls and blue garnets glinting in the torchlight.

Modestly sized and choked by passageways, this cavern isn't immediately useful. No water in sight, either. Later, I might have plans for it, perhaps when summer arrives, but for now we will just wall off the staircase and continue downwards.

----

When I'm not busy directing our miners and masons, I like to spend my time in the tavern. I get some drinks and take a seat and just let the time pass. I listen to the poetry and the stories and lose myself in the words. Most recently, a goblin traveler names Smunstu has taken to our outpost. She is quite the performer, with her twirling dances that leave me dizzy and amazed. Unlike dwarves, goblins are much skinnier and more flexible, and frankly they are much better at dancing - if they try to be, that is. Most just try to kill us.

I sketched her dancing in my journal:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yes, this picture of a dancing goblin really is that small. I thought it would be funny to make a small drawing of a small creature for a small fortress. Now I'm having second thoughts.

----

We finished the staircase to the floor of the first cavern layer, when something odd happened. Smunstu, upon hearing that we had opened the staircase to foot traffic, immediately packed up her things and descended to the new opening, and then waltzed right into one of the dark passageways like there was nothing to it. Soon enough we realized she wasn't coming back. Well, I'll miss her dancing. I hope she finds the way out soon. Bim was telling me that goblins, like pigeons, have an innate sense of where home is at all times, and that they can easily find their way through thick jungles or tightly-carved passageways. They are certainly an interesting race, though I am still not at all fond of their ethics. I'm not sure if I could have a goblin friend. If I did, it would be someone like Smunstu, a traveler and a free-thinking individual.  These thoughts filled my head as we completed the staircase walls.

Upstairs, I pushed for some remodeling. We needed a proper tavern, after all, and now that we had a good idea of the space available for digging (18z levels of solid stone) we could give it the space it deserved.


On the right is space for worship.

It rained, and then the elves came, so we traded them some of our stone crafts for a leopard and some berries. Typical elf business. The rain washed away some of that purple goop, and I could see that the plants underneath were unaffected by the slime. I noted this in my medical record, it could be important later.


Even the lightest rainshower washes the goop right off the plants, and as it drips away the bowed leaves spring back into shape.

Our food supply proved steady. The baby chicks finally hatched. We discovered a sapling growing in the black surface sand, a surprising and odd indication that the surface was viable for farming. So I hatched a plan, and after a heavy rainstorm we ran outside and quickly nabbed a few local seeds from the southeastern forest, making sure to avoid the plants still laden with goop. A great success! But, we will save these seeds until we can construct a properly defended farm. There is no great hurry to diversify our food sources.

---

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My character's name is Logemzursul, translating to "Paintchewed." Hopefully the house he grew up in was constructed after 1978 . . .

[delphonso]

Love the tiny art, Salmeuk! And really nice tileset.

Definitely not excited to eat gooey food, but hey - to each their own.

[Quarque]

Salmeuk, do you have a link to the new save file?

edit: just realized this was only the first season of your turn! Loving the tiny pic, too.

[Salmeuk]

Late Spring of the Second Year

In the dead hours of the night, when most were asleep, our fortress was 'attacked' by a 'giant' mole!


The mole was punched many times in quick succession by many different
dwarves. The mole did not survive this.

We have decided to build a gate to prevent further incursions.
----

I ordered some new rooms dug for future nobility. Should they be finished before the real nobles arrive, and lie vacant and unused, some poor soul might have to bear the burden of occupying them, you know, to ensure their comfort and design and overall splendidness.



We also finished excavating the new temple. In the far corner, the miners discovered a perfectly formed node of variscite gems.



These will be left in place and engraved. The gods are surely in favor if Smallhands, and have blessed us so!

----



Migrants arrived. They pounded on our front gate for a day straight before we noticed them.



A miller, a weaver, a stonecrafter, a dissector, and a swordfighter.



Only the swordfighter was any good, so the rest were told to forget their professions and help out the metalsmiths and masons. I also instructed them to avoid the vile goo on the surface lest they wish to suffer from fever.

Nish the Swordfighter was introduced to Del, and the two seemed to get along well as they discussed military matters. Later, the three of us met over a meal of roasted panda meat (thank you elves) and talked strategy.

"Nish has brought word of goblin hordes roaming the forests north, hordes which were only narrowly avoided on the way here."

Nish spoke up. "They seemed to be searching for something. I'm worried they know about Smallhands. Goblins don't sleep, you know, and they can search through the night.  It's only a matter of time before they find us."

Del continued. "It would be prudent to begin training our strongest dwarves in weapon handling and shield-work."

This was too much too early, I thought. Barely a year later and goblins are already searching for us.

"Fine, but it will have to be part-time. There's too much work to be done to spare even a quarter of our dwarves."

I paused, then asked, "What equipment will you need?"

"Whatever you can get us. I am most experienced with axes, while Nish has only ever fought with a sword. We need shields and helmets. Armor can wait."

"I'll talk to the smith. Our forges are cold. It will take time to form the charcoal and mine the copper, but it will be done."

----

Summer has arrived.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Here is a .gif of our first cavern:



Despite playing at a high FPS, I am going slow with this one due to work getting in the way. Expect more soon.

[delphonso]

Definitely need a military with undead and goblins around us. Hopefully the little squad can keep us limping.

So - uh - what do we think about the baby-riding bug? Supposedly, if you can trap the pair on a food stockpile, the mother won't starve to death. Likewise, if you exile them, they'll be immune to starvation but will exile once their pathing is better. I think you can also arrest the mother and that'll make her drop the kid. Any ideas?

[Quarque]

My idea would be to set the child growth to 0:0 until an update is released that fixes the bug.

[auzewasright]

Definitely need a military with undead and goblins around us. Hopefully the little squad can keep us limping.

So - uh - what do we think about the baby-riding bug? Supposedly, if you can trap the pair on a food stockpile, the mother won't starve to death. Likewise, if you exile them, they'll be immune to starvation but will exile once their pathing is better. I think you can also arrest the mother and that'll make her drop the kid. Any ideas?

Launch the mother using a drawbridge. If she survives, she'll be knocked free from the baby. If she dies, we'll be free of the baby and also lose the baby producer as a bonus.

[delphonso]

I'm in favor of launching the mother. That seems more...dwarvenly. The issue is getting the baby to path over there...

Quarque, you're probably right. But I think any edit to the dwarven raws wouldn't take effect unless we re-genned the world.

I guess it's just up to whoever's in charge when it happens.

EDIT: bug fix version was just released. Wanna give it a shot?

[Quarque]

No need to edit the raws. You can set BABY_CHILD_CAP to zero in the init file, even after starting the fort.

Either way, if there's a new version let's go with that.

[Salmeuk]

Summer of the Second Year

The humans arrived quickly this year. Our craft production had stalled, and so we traded some stoneware for a few vegetables and that was pretty much it.

A few migrants trickled in, bringing us to 18 dwarves. A mechanic and an animal caretaker, and at least the mechanic can be put to work immediately.

----



Five days ago, Bim went missing. Today, the search was called off - we aren't going to find her.

When I first noticed her gone, I honestly couldn't remember the last time I had seen her. I get so caught up in the work here in my office, looking over various reports and auditing our trade receipts, that I sometimes forget to leave. Often Bim would find me asleep at the table with my head buried in papers. So, when I finally decided enough was enough and that it was time I take a break from this work, I went to the dining hall and then promptly fell asleep in my room. All this time, never having seen Bim. Once I awoke, I thought it would be best to check up on her, and that's when I found her room empty and her workshop untouched. So I asked around.

"What, Bim? Oh, she's just out for a walk or something. I think I remember her telling me that."

"Huh." A walk would be very unlike Bim. "When did she leave? Don't you think she would tell me something?"

"Well shouldn't you know? You spend the most time with her!"

Others started asking me questions, like it was somehow my fault that she was missing.

"When did you last see her? Was she acting out of character? Did you two have an argument or something?"

After agonizing minutes they came to their senses and we began a frantic search. It soon became clear we were not going to find Bim. Smallhands is, well, small, and there are very few places to hide. We even checked the cavern tunnels, which had been entirely sealed, but maybe something happened and she was trapped out there in the moldy darkness.

And just like that, Bim was gone. The worst part is I don't think many others care. She wasn't the best at making friends, she was always busy with her work, and I think her impersonal leadership style rubbed a few people the wrong way. But to hold a grudge like that against some who could be dead? That's insane.

People held elections, and Meng the Smelter was elected expedition leader. She is a newer arrival here, yet people seem to trust her already. Those same people have already forgotten Bim.

As long we find no proof of her passing (how I dread that day, if it comes), I will have to stay vigilant for her. Perhaps she was kidnapped, or lost while fighting some goblin scouts, or maybe took a wrong turn in the caverns and is lost, just out of sight, waiting for help to come. .

It is dreadful.
----

The next week, Unib the carpenter was ambushed by a giant olm. She was the one who volunteered to take the first steps into the caverns, in search of wood. Did I mention we ran out of wood? Anyways, this poor soul. . . Ilral watched the whole thing go down.


why, Unib, why did you let this happen?


She fought as best he could, but the Olm landed a number of bites on Unib and was slowed considerably by the pain. The militia were called, and it was a race against time as Unib's strength gave out.



The olm then landed a huge hit on Unib's lower body, so painful that Unib was sick and lay gasping on the cavern floor, and then . . a miracle! The olm backed away and fled into the dark tunnels. Something had spooked it - or perhaps it just had second thoughts on eating dwarf that night.

Unib was carried to the waiting hospital bed, thoughtfully constructed by Del during the first year of Smallhands. Acting as Chief Medical Dwarf I personally attended to her diagnosis and care. Internal bleeding was the most dangerous issue, and that was treated with a herbal tea that stimulated the clotting of dwarven blood. However, her external injuries took many laborious hours to properly clean and wrap. She has a punctured lung and may never breath the same again.

Autumn is near. With the freezing wind, the traders will arrive, and hopefully bring an anvil because we don't have an anvil.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

why don't we have an anvil? lol

Also, where tf did Bim go?? Honestly can't even find a trace. There's no corpse in the stocks list, or body parts, and she is still listed as 'missing' in the unit list. Luckily Salmeuk doesn't seem to care so much, just yet. I chalk it up to the stoic nature found in many doctors and surgeons.

This is a shorter post. I'm playing RIGHT NOW and I should be able to post again in a few hours.

I will also update to the newest version.

Anyone want to be dwarfed? The swordfighter is a real bosssss

[delphonso]

Oh yeah. Sorry - anvil is my fault. I usually don't embark with them and pick them up from the first caravan. Forgot this time...

Weird. Did she get atom-smashed? Or maybe got built into a wall - that happens with statues sometimes. Sorry to hear about Bim. It was inevitable.

[Salmeuk]

Autumn of Year Two

The merchants arrived on the 17th of Limestone. As agreed to last year, they would strike our stone gate five times, signaling their arrival. Olon the Diplomat was first out the front gate, and hurriedly talked with the nearest tradesman, chatting about this or that gossip from the capital. Del followed close behind, hoping to confirm the cararvan brought us an anvil or two. Turning the corner, Del saw nothing strange about the scene, but as he walked closer to the arriving wagons he saw something horrible!



A ragged corpse, clothed in tattered leather, rose from the sand and flung itself at the last wagon! Surely it can't be moving?

----
Time for a short history lesson.

That swollen corpse, what used to be Abli Luretome the human, was turned necromancer only after living most of his life. Born to unknown parents, not much happened until in his 23rd year of life he earned a position as a low bureaucrat. You might think that would keep him off the battlefield, but so often was his home of Cactushexes attacked by marauding necromancers that he pretty much fought for the rest of his mortal existence.

During this fighting, he unwittingly made friends with secret organizations dedicated to spreading the knowledge of undeath. How ironic.

Every year, the resurrected hordes would assault Cactushexes. Every year, Abli and the rest of the town's population would fight off the creatures, using all manner of improvised equipment and weaponry. After, when the enemy had broken, a call would sound from the darkness and the husks would immediately stop their fight and drag off any corpses they could. Abli would be celebrated for his heroism, Cactushexes would be repaired, and life would return to normal.

Until the next year, when the husks would return, and this time their ranks were reinforced with those who died the previous year. Abli would often move to attack a husk climbing the walls, only to look at their maggoty face and recognize, beneath that rotting flesh,  an old friend or a past lover who had been dragged off into the night.

Abli did this for thirty years before breaking. He slowly became jealous of the power these necromancers wielded, and longed for an end to the hopeless nightmare that was the neverending siege of Cactushexes. And so Abli turned.



----

Del acted quickly, despite failing to comprehend the situation fully. "CLOSE THE GATE!" he shouted down the staircase. The safety of the outpost was above all. "Get inside the gate or there's no saving you!" he yelled to those on the surface.

Meanwhile, the necro closed with a hapless caravan guard. And then kept running past him. This necro was an absolute coward, it turns out, and whatever strength of character Abli had when he was alive was lost in the transformation. So he ran off into the desert, dropping bits of skin and bone. He did scare the heck out of a few camels.



Once they stopped laughing at the ridiculous situation, they again knocked five times and we hesitantly opened up the gate, weapons at the ready. As soon as we saw it was clear, it was like nothing had happened and we started bringing up the summer's craftwork for trade.



We traded for an anvil (thank god!) and also a steel sword for our swordfighter Nish.

Later, Del pulled me aside.

"Let's just keep this on the down-low, alright? I don't want anyone else to freak about what I saw up there."

"Well, of course. .  . but do you think he will be back?"

"It's possible. We just have to keep the gate shut, waiting for those five knocks. If we're smart, nothing will get in."

----

In other news, we discovered a gigantic cluster of rubies! Our miners carefully extracted the gemstones, only to discover a precious star ruby amidst the others.



Unib is on her feet now, but isn't quite %100. I don't have enough experience to say whether she will fully recover, but at least she can lend a hand with the simpler tasks.



Oh, and my little experiment with surface farming proved a great success:



Life goes on, and I can't help but wonder: why does Fate tease us so? To narrowly avoid catastrophe, with the knowledge of how close we came to a horrible death, is a punishment in it's own right.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I should finish up my turn today, it's finally my weekend

[Laterigrade]

Sign me up please!

[delphonso]

Oh boy. I can't wait until that necromancer becomes a real threat. What's our population at these days, anyway?

Cactushexes, I believe, was the target of a bug. It seems like every single civilization declared war on it every year. I had no idea the necromancers did as well - I just know the dwarves, humans, and elves all attacked it about once per year.

Sign me up please!

Added to the list, my friend.

[Imic]

I might request a Dorf, and perhaps a turn as well.