Part II:Elves and Scary Birds
With spring arriving the capybaras' rest was cut short. Work had to continue.
It was the 5th of Granite when the ice thawed while Kasat was foolishly taking a shortcut over the lake. She was plunged into the cold, freezing waters of the Lake of Saturninity with logs in hand.
Fortunately capybaras are natural swimmers and she managed to get safely to the shore.
In fact, Kasat was not only unshaken by the incident, she was practically thrilled by her early spring dip.
Elves!
It was 'Brewer Bob's' goat Ònul who alerted the capybaras to their arrival with his bleating.
They were certainly expected to make themselves known at some point, but the capybaras were still caught off-guard by how soon they came.
The elves came from the south, following the western bank of the lake to the trade depot. They passed felled trees and it was as if they were saddened or shocked by the sight. Living among the dwarves had taught the capybaras that the elves were a sensitive lot when it comes to the natural world and trees.
“One should never, ever insult 'em pointy-eared pricks with a gift or trade made of wood. Them uptight bastards will come and get ya, if you ever try such a move,” a dwarf had once said at the Mountainhome, claiming to have barely escaped with his life after he had given an elf a leather coat with wooden buttons as a show of gratitude.
With that in mind, Kasat headed to see what the elves had to offer.
A kiwi cock, a groundhog and a cougar along with some sand pears was what Kasat traded from them. In return the elves got some stone crafts that 'Delphonso' had crafted in his spare time.
Kasat was pleased with the deal she made. Especially since she likes groundhogs for their ability to burrow. She was once caught saying that groundhogs and their burrows remind her of hill dwarves and their hillocks (or was it the other way around?). The dwarf who heard it was not thrilled by the comparison.
The second summer arrived to Waterlures. 'Quandale' had been honing her carpentry skills and now even the barrels for beverages were of such a quality that a dwarf would be envious.
'Quandale' was very satisfied.
As everyone else was getting drenched in the early summer rain, hauling lumber to the constructions, all exhausted and spent, 'Brewer Bob' took things easily and went fishing.
“Someone has to keep the fish on the table! Therefore, it is *my* duty to keep your bellies full with delicious fish,” he had said when Zuglar, the manager, had tried to get him to work. “Oh, an artisan, their materials and the tools to shape them!” was Zuglar's reply hinting that a proper excuse to avoid construction work would've been something else than fishing.
Miserable lout of a wombat. Wonder why we allowed the cube-pooper to join us in the first place?
Well, well, well. Who would've thought that the slacking monkey would join the wombat and “go fishing” when there was work to be done?
Summer was over swiftly. There really hadn't been any time for rest (barring those who went fishing) and no such time was to be had any time soon.
The food situation was much better than during the first year. There had been no need to go foraging for wild plants this year. The underground plots produced enough to eat and brew, while fish provided added sustenance (was it necessary though, was a good question).
As was expected, a dwarven caravan arrived in early autumn, their wagons pulled by reindeer. There was no outpost liaison among them, which was a relief to the capybaras, though it did unfortunately prevent them from asking for specific trade goods for the next year.
This year the capybaras had more to offer, but in the end there was very little need for anything from the caravan. Leather, cloth and meat for the stockpiles were the main articles traded for along with a some livestock.
It had been mostly peaceful at Waterlures, but with autumn arrived a flock of giant cardinals. The large birds, though peaceful, spooked many of the capybaras who dropped what they were doing and ran to hide.
Particularly Imush was terrified by the winged menace in the skies.
It appears that one of the many stray cats grew fond of our frightened trapper and adopted her. Good thing too, since it made her happy.
The second winter of Waterlures. Work on the current buildings was nearing completion: only the roofing of the loomery was still be done. After that would be the time for a well-deserved rest.
And indeed. The capybara men finished their work around the 20th of Opal. Zuglar, the manager, headed to the main hall and began to sing while the plump helmet man 'Avolition' appeared to listen intently. That is, if he was even able to hear.
After Zuglar's singing, it was the turn of the wombat man 'Brewer Bob' to step on the stage. He began recounting a tale of a dwarf named Unib Torchbook and how she became a baroness several decades ago.
'Delphonso' wasn't so interested in the story. He was preoccupied with his grumbling and feelings of resentment after bickering with that awful, awful witch-doctor Yawo. Well, who could blame him? Yawo was quite the character and not in a good way.
Yawo, on the contray, was exhilarated by the arguing. No wonder, since she was a quarrelsome person after all.
And so the second year came to a close as the capybaras spent most of the winter mingling with each other. Stories were told, songs were sung and dances were danced-- well, actually there was no dancing, but there was much rejoicing.
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Okay, that's the first two years of Waterlures then.
The capybaras didn't have nearly as much time to socialize as I had hoped for. I'd completely forgotten how long it takes to build aboveground and of course I began to build quite a lot of houses. Still, I'm surprised I managed to complete them all and now, in addition to some basic infrastructure, everyone has their own room. Except those who were dorfed: I saved it so that each of you can build the kind of home you want for your characters on your turns if you like.
I'll soon post an overview of the area with the save!
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Topic: Waterlures - A Capybara Man Fortress & Adventure [DF 0.47.05] (Read 83410 times)