25th of Moonstone, 366
I've had little time for anything but work, but at last I've found time to record the events of the last weeks. Much progress has been made and morale is high, despite none of our problems being resolved. Due to my increased responsibilities, I restructured our military. I will remain the commander, but now, Mistem Crystalwatch has been promoted to a captain in charge of her own squad, The Sepia Dikes, which she also named herself. I was going to ask how she decided on the name, but thought better of it. Her first question was determining what uniform her squad should wear, training axes or nothing? Apparently the only approved uniforms are wooden shields with training axes or...nothing. Well, thats obviously ridiculous, so I added a basic uniform at least. We may not have any weapons or armor, but we can at least plan for the future in which we do.
Next was the design of defenses. I toyed with many different ideas, but eventually settled on a system of bridges build over pits. When the control lever is pulled, the bridges will activate, throwing anyone unlucky enough to be on them with devastating force into the air, or in our case, the ceiling. Beneath the bridges will be pits. Without metalworking or a glass industry there will be no upwards spears or spikes. Instead, the tops of the pits walls will be smoothed. If the undead survive the bridges throwing them and falling into the pits, as i believe they will, they will be trapped forever. There are three bridges lined up and will form multiple walls, should one fail to activate, it should still be impossible for a zombie to penetrate into the fortress.
On the 15th of Moonstone, we had some unexpected visitors. A few humans came to visit our tavern. I wasn't even aware we had a tavern, but lo' and behold, we have a tavern and all guests are welcome. They knock at our doors, timidly at first but louder and louder until we were certain they would rouse the dead. I allow them inside, against my better judgement and a few more ruthless dwarves grumbling that they will kill us all. Mercy seems to have been the wisest course, as the human pikeman, San Mirrortell, carries himself as only those who have mastered a skill can. The bard, Bolli Reverepages, brought a truly amazing musical instrument with him, a wispy cloth thele. Interestingly it is made from wispy cloth cloth. They don't make things of that material back in the Mountainhome, thats for sure! I pulled Riggoth aside and asked him what he would appraise the instruments value at. Without hesitation, he answered, "24,040 coins seems a fair offer. The interesting thing about trading is, it is worth whatever they are willing to accept as payment, we could give them a bunch of total cr..." He droned on and on, unaware that I was done listening. The strange instrument was worth more than some artifacts. I was enchanted by its beauty and crisp timbre. I decided then, it was staying where it belongs, here in Sombercrystals. The bard was optional.
My thoughts and schemes were interrupted with more disturbing news. It sure is difficult to have an uninterrupted thought here. As our new guests approached the fortress, the fog grew so thick they got lost. One member of their party even got separated somehow over the past few days. Everyone seemed concerned but none dared leave the fort to attempt a search and rescue. The idea of a search and rescue was totally destroyed when...
The first sign there was trouble was when one corpse went mad, raising dense fogs from the earth itself in a senseless display of power. After that it all happened so fast... a desperate cry for help, suddenly replaced with howls like that of an animal, a guttural sound of anguish and terror. When at last the fort fell silent again we all joined wordlessly in a joint effort to erect our defenses. Everyone except the miners. Until the stone is smoothed and the bridges built, they can't deepen the pits without cutting off part of the work site, increasing the total amount of time and labor required to finish the project.
Instead I put them to work expanding our industry, specifically, our masonry and metalworking industries. A small room is ordered to be mined out. This room will be where the masons and other stone dependent industries are centered. Minecarts will meet and dump stone here, metallic ores and economically important stones will be sorted and then dropped down the shaft in the north of the room to avoid hauling boulders down hundreds of flights of stairs to the magma forges. Eventually. If we live long enough to establish such industries. If my defenses aren't set up before the next migrant wave or trade caravan gets here, I know there will be many casualties.
27th of Opal, 366 Mid-winter
Work has continued mostly uninterrupted. Every dwarf is assigned relevant labor. Apparently nobody has ever worked as a mechanic before. Since our carpenter has no access to wood, he fills in as our mechanic and sets about linking the bridges with a lever. Within the next month the should be ready; the walls are smoothed, bridges built; all that remains is deepening the pit, sealing off the stairs that allow our miners access to the pits, linking the bridges to a lever and luring the undead to their doom.
In other news, my mining pit has been dug deep down around 150 stories with no losses of life and successfully avoiding the cavern layers. Praise the miners! For now it sits idle, just a pit. But I begin designing tracks, laying out hauling routes, and designating stone stockpiles. Only now I realize too late: how will I get a minecart? Damnations...at least i didn't try and use minecarts for our defenses. Perhaps I'll have to open up a cavern to harvest some lumber? Sod that, we NEED to access the surface!
12th of Obsidian, Late Winter
The work on the bridge defense system is complete. Everyone gathered in the tavern for one last party, knowing this could be our last night alive. Tomorrow, the Sepia Dikes will leave the fortress in an attempt to bait the undead into the trap. I tried convincing the humans to be the bait with every trick I had, but they wouldn't cooperate. Even when I told them that the tavern was now for citizens only and I was expelling them, they refused to move. The pikeman simply took up his weapon and announced, "Which amongst you will be expelling me?" With only two wooden shields and wooden axes to our militaries name, even a single human clad in copper armor is too dangerous of a threat to face in direct confrontation. I played it off as a drunken joke, but begin plotting their demise.
Sensing the mood shift the humans tried to sneak out in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for them, our militia captain was busy testing the undead. Apparently they cannot see thru the heavy fog either, as she easily runs to the wagon and back without even getting their attention. Yet as she was entering the fort, she saw the humans trying to leave. Hastily, Mistem locked the door from the outside. The humans began crying to be let out, which was their downfall. The ruckus alerted me
to the fact they were trouble out on the bridge. I knew now was the time to
strikeact. I pulled the lever.
For a split second, the pikeman seems to float midair. In reality, he was being slammed into an obstacle. Despite that he lands deftly 4 stories down, completely unharmed. When I ask about the bard, he seems to have disappeared completely. I have a dwarf peer down into the pit, but the bard isn't there. The door to the outside was locked and gaurded. I can't help but wonder, could he have tunneled thru the ceiling from the launch and escaped? Or could he be embedded in the earth a few levels above? Either way that bard was slicker than greased up butter to escape like that.
The ruckus attracts a duo of rotting corpses over. I call the Sepia Dikes to action; I order her to simply peer out from the doorway. The undead monsters should immediately move in to kill. When this happens, hopefully, Mistem will instead abandon her orders and flee back the way she came. As long as she's fast enough, she won't get trapped in the pit with the undead. I make sure Mistem understands not to stand and fight, and flee as soon as she gets their attention. We don't need a hero!
18th of Obsidian, Late Winter
I thought my plan was successful and yet I am being punished for it! Mistem was overcome by terror, as I knew she would be, and flees back inside. Yet after the fact she convinced everyone she felt nothing in the midst of conflict, the liar, and instead abandoned my plan and improvised her own! Two zombies still shambled into the trap. They fall with less grace than the human, but the blows are deflected all the same by their steel armor. Once they are in the pit, the human pikeman is immediately ripped to shreds. I checked the pit personally one more time...escape will be impossible for them, I am certain of it. As I triumphantly strolled back into the tavern hall, I was greeted by rough hands and hostility instead of the welcome party I deserved. Apparently the dwarves liked having a bard around, he would put on wonderful performances. They also felt safer with the pikeman around, from his confidence we knew he was legendary at something, even if he wouldn't tell us what. They blamed me for them leaving, and had evidence of the pikemans death at the hands of the undead, which was enough to remove me as overseer, despite nobody even knowing for sure what happened to the bard. Without ceremony, I was stripped of my title as overseer. They gave me 1 week to put everything into order . I do not know if I will be kept as book keeper and militia commander, they left that decision to the next overseer.
Above is my best sketch of the bridge/pit defenses that I designed and are functional. To the left is what the entrance looks like. In the center, the bottom of the pit that is underneath the bridges where two zombies and trapped with the fresh corpse of our pikeman. On the right is a picture of the lever controlling the bridges. It is located in the meeting hall, Northwest corner.
These are the most up to date records I have on the state of the fort and its last census, if you can call counting 9 dwarves a census. I did not complete any of my objectives. Two walking corpses still wander the surface, although it may be possible for a dwarf to sprint out and grab the anvil, which is still in the wagon. Tracks were not carved and routes were not designed, although progress was made. If they will be removing me from overseer, let one of them try and design such a complicated minecart scheme! The most dangerous part is done with the deep pit carved... No progress was made containing the lava or aquiring adamantium. Praise the miners indeed
. Worst of all, I outright failed one of my objectives. The bard Bolli something, and more importantly his wispy cloth thele, disappeared without a trace. It was confirmed he was on the bridges at the same time as the pikeman. Yet once the bridges were activated it was never seen again... Perhaps it was what allowed him to escape, some magical property of the wispy cloth cloth? At night I still hear its crisp timbre in my dreams...
I DECLARE I AM FINISHED.
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Topic: World of Convenience 2: Electric Boogaloo V47.04 (Read 2621 times)