Sorry, here's the update. Enjoy.
Well, the good news is that I was able to stay as overseer for one more year.
Now you might be wondering why being in charge of this madhouse is a good thing.
I assure you that it isn't because it's an 'honour' to be overseer or anything of that sort. I'm certain the nobles didn't see it that way either when they gave me this job.
The answer is that I can excavate some living quarters for myself, fill it with valuables, and no one will think twice about it.
I'll be sure to make it secure as well. Those military dwarves are still angry about last year after all.
In other news, We've finished placing a barricade preventing creatures coming through the gap from entering the caverns proper. Now the militia dwarves can get some
well earned rest. They might also hate me less. Also I've given them the third month of every season as a break from training.
There has been some mysterious occurrences in the caverns. Firstly, our well, which hasn't been operational since I first became overseer, has started working again.
Also, someone's arm got ripped off by a ghost. I should probably fix that.
My predecessor can rest at last. I have placed his slab underneath where we believed he wanted to build a tower of some sort.
It was a foolish idea. Eerie Mist birds would've infected the workers in seconds. Still, his idea to build a tunnel connecting us to the outside world was a good one.
Especially since the disaster in our former main entrance...
I think I still hear them sometimes, clawing at the inner gate. And sometimes I hear this whispering coming from the other side, a voice that never belonged to them in life.
It tells me of blasphemous things, hidden away in the depths of the world, waiting for dwarves who are brave enough to break down the barriers that hold them...
I haven't gone near the inner gate for a long time.
Needless to say I'll make sure I'm safe before trying anything risky on the surface. Once we've hopefully got a safe route, then maybe I can even try to make my way out of here.
There is sad news today. Our carpenter has been found dead in the main stairway. She will be sorely missed.
The cause of death is unclear, but no foul play is suspected. The best theory seems to be that she died of an infection.
Unfortunately, she doesn't stay dead for very long. I've sent in the military, so hopefully no one else need die.
A miner is able to slay the undead, but a few limbs might be at risk of coming back.
Time passes slowly below the volcano. As summer dawns, we prepare to reestablish contact with the outside. There are low numbers of undead on the surface and no Eerie Mist zombies,
so things should go smoothly. We can seal everything in case there is an emergency. The military will be stationed outside. There is nothing to be afraid of.
I'm still going to be staying inside.
Meanwhile below the caverns, our miners have dug deep, finding another spire of adamantine. I shall begin excavation soon.
I have been having nightmares about it recently. Strange, considering it protects our warriors against the undead.
Still, in my dreams I hear those same whispers from the gate...
I have ordered the breach to be made. Armok help us.
Things are going well so far. Unfortunately the dwarves won't build a regular wall too close to the designated fortress limits, so we will have to use a more
time-consuming option. Other than a skirmish with a dead nanny goat, there's been no sign of the undead.
Things aren't going... too smoothly right now, but everything is under control. This was just an isolated incident, an elk bird that died in captivity
reaninimating and somehow escaping its cage. We'll be more careful in future.
No, don't worry about our mayor getting chased across the surface by a dead owl...
Everything is under contro-
Who am I kidding, seal the gates!
The ironic part is, this is completely independent from the surface reclamation efforts.
The military arrives at last, and the threat is put down. Now we can get back to work.
Unfortunately, 3 dwarves died, with one severely wounded.
At this point Sibrek decides now is a good time to go strolling around on the surface. Not my idea of a nice place for a walk.
Kib joins him on the surface. Sibrek decides to fight a magma crab on top of the fortress, and almost dodges into the volcano.
There's clearly something going on here that I don't understand. Is it some sort of test to see how many laps of the volcano you can make?
Oh Armok they've found me get me out of here please Armok have mercyyyyyy
Thank you xkcd!
AND CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GET THESE ZOMBIES OUT OF MY FORTRESS!
The rest of the journal is covered in blood.
-=[Second] Report of the interim overseer Iden Atisaval, 3rd Malachite 204=-The position of overseer seems to have had a curse put on it. The past weeks have been fraught with trouble, most noticeably the large amount of undead murdering
dwarves in the heart of the fortress. The latest victim being... our replacement overseer. We're going to have a hard time getting anyone into the job now.
At least we are making good progress on the surface, but that hardly matters if the entire fortress dies in the meantime.
To this end I will be halting all work on the surface. My squad is urgently needed inside right now. It should however be easy to continue work at a later date.
The main cavern is currently a scene of absolute chaos. For Armok's sake, why are dwarves climbing down to the water to get killed by a hand.
Something that the overseer forgot to mention in his logs is the new farm area he was working on. Strange, seeing as that is probably one of the most useful things he did.
Speaking of farming, guess who just died! That's right, one of our legendary growers!
We have dubbed this undead hand Berdanstigaz, or Walkrasped. If we do not kill this, it may lead to the demise of the fortress.
The problem is that it's in a pool.
The miners have devised a plan that might be able to kill it. In the meantime, the main way to the central area of the fortress everyone is using seems to be...
climbing along the wall of the volcano while getting attacked by Walkrasped. Why they don't just use the perfectly usable bridge, I don't know.
Maybe all that Bitter Sludge on the surface had a toll on their reasoning abilties.
Yep, they're all climbing down a spore tree, climbing along the wall and doing a jump to land in the Blockaded Sanctuary. While they're climbing Walkrasped is attacking them from below.
The best part is that the dwarves don't even fight back.
Walkrasped claims another victim. If only it wasn't for that elk bird, none of this would've happened.
I decided to put a sign up saying something to the effect of "Use the bridge if you want to live!"
Surprisingly, it managed to get through their thick dwarven skulls and they've stopped jumping headfirst into danger.
I'm not sure why one of my comrades decided it would be a good idea to go swimming in the undead pool, but Onul did. He almost made it away before he drowned too.
Onul's corpse then reanimates, climbs onto the bridge and kills a child.
I was wondering why no miners had arrived to finish killing Walkrasped. It seems that the burrowing alert from when we were trying to secure the fortress had not been ended,
so they were not allowed to destroy an undead creature that is responsible for the deaths of 4 dwarves and the injuring of many others. Not to mention completely
disrupting all work in the fortress and causing loss of equipment.
We can finally rest at last.
This has certainly been an... unfortunate episode in our history. Hopefully it will never happen again.
Now that things have settled down somewhat, we need to find someone to dupe into becoming overseer. Someone in the fort would have to be mad to volunteer for the
position now, so we may have to give it to some unsuspecting migrant.
Hopefully we will be able to trade this Autumn. We've reopened the surface, and are going out to finish the construction of the tunnel.
An elk bird reanimates and maims one dwarf, but xkcd is able to take care of it.
A group of 5 migrants were able to make the trek here, to their almost certain demise. At least things will get done a little faster.
-=-=-Ah, we've finally arrived at this god-forsaken pit. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting to make it this far.
But my struggle has been rewarded! Yes, the dwarves of this place have recognised my greatness, and have made me the overseer of their fortress!
I'm sure that true wonders await me inside!
...
The first thing I notice are the skeletons. Strewn about in all public areas.
All of the dwarves in this place are constantly looking over their shoulders, as if they expect an undead elk bird to suddenly leap out of the shadows
and murder them. Some careful interrogation reveals that there have actually been a few incidents like that in recent months.
Unfortunately, as I am making my way back up to the surface to leave, an alarm sounds. It seems two of my fellows were unable to make it inside the fortress, and were turned into
undead mist zombies of some sort. Now I'm sealed in with the rest of these lunatics.
One of them falls, but now the other is lying in wait at the entrance. As reopening the
escape trade route is of prime importance, I will try to create a trap for them.
Someone was just severely wounded by a zombie on the main stairway. I need to get out of here. Apparently that corpse was our former mayor.
Also, the victim just bled out on the way to the hospital.
After a long and incredibly risky battle, the eerie mist threat has been put down.
Unfortunately, it cost the life of one of our soldiers. It's worth knowing that an unarmed and unarmoured one of these eerie mist zombies is powerful enough to fight
two trained warriors clad in adamantine. It also emphasizes that I need to get out of here.
Of course, the dead don't stay that way long. Momuz reanimates, but doesn't do any damage.
It's winter now. The eerie mist zombies still haven't gone away, so there's no escape just yet. Since I will be staying here,
I've decided to carve out some quarters befitting of my station. I'll be sure to include emergency supplies in case the zombies get in.
Unfortunately we don't have any skilled blacksmiths. They all seem to have perished in the past year.
Well, the surface is clear of eerie mist now. But still, when I set out from the mountains it was with several other fools. I don't know how far I'd get without them,
so maybe it is safer staying here.
A mason dies from his wounds.
My quarters are finally complete. I should be able to live quite comfortably here for a while. Maybe once a future overseer has secured the surface better I'll make my escape,
but for now I'll stay in these rooms, and make sure never to enter the fortress proper, lest a wandering zombie kill me.
My short time as overseer is over. I wish my successor the best of luck, and pray to the gods they don't let the undead in.
Here's the fortress' situation.
Now for the artifacts:
That was quite a year. It's unfortunate that I died again, but at least my third dwarf got some nice rooms.
As for the surface situation I believe all that need to be done is to link the outer bridge to a lever within the fortress (I have placed a lever for this purpose up in the old fortress)
and to pull the lever. After that we should be able to trade safely.
My dwarf is currently burrowed into some rooms above the main fortress. I've set it up so that he can continue working without leaving. Just check to make sure that food is getting delivered and try locking the door if the undead get in again.
Good luck to whoever is next!
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Topic: The Fortress Of Friendlytreason | OVERSEERS WE NEED YOU (Read 39352 times)