I'm somewhat sleep deprived, trying to drown the headache with Red Bull; I had spent 90 minutes waiting for my bus to get home; it's kind of chilly outside; a load of pink onesies is spinning in the washing machine. Perfect day for some writing.
Doctor S. Q. Mann looked around the anatomical theater; not a single student remained, only him and the dissected corpse of an old dwarven woman. The grim, stern gaze of the surgeon, for a second, turned into a creepy smile of excitement and satisfaction. "Finally, I can gather materials", he thought, "The greatest project a dwarf can undertake, and it will be realized by my hand! Limbs can be found in the graveyard, hidden in freshly buried caskets, but organs need to be fresh for the New Urist to be created."
The doctor looked closely at the insides of the corpse. "The brain of the old demented crone will not do, I need a young dwarf, preferably a man; she died of kidney failure, so these are useless; the liver is in a decent state, however I believe I can find a better one. The stomach, guts, and most importantly the heart, now dead, will soon live inside my creation. Just a few quick cuts of my scalpel..."
The door to the room were suddenly kicked open, and three burly dwarves barged in. "In the name of His Undying Majesty, you are under arrest!", one of them screamed in a high-pitched voice, "Put the scalpel down, criminal!"
"Criminal... Pray tell, constable, what is that I have done?"
"Three accounts of grave robbing, corpse desacration, theft, vandalism; there's more, but you should already know how much trouble you are in."
"Hah! You, simple people, will never understand that there are no means vile enough to justify the possible outcome of my actions. You can arrest me, but should you? Should you deny a man the chance to become a god? Deny him his right to apotheosis? My work may bring a new era to dwarfkind, age of the titans, living deities capable of creating life from death."
"The man has lost it. Tekkud, club him into submission.", the policeman ordered. One of the dwarves walked slowly towards the doctor, raising his baton. Mann decided to protect himself with his scalpel, but before he could even raise it, the police baton hit his skull with great strength, knocking him out.
I have no idea how I got here. I remember pain, talking about hammering, wind and cold, and smell of cinnamon. Livingdead, this is where I am; I don't know how I know that. My body shows clear signs of beating, so perhaps hammering did happen? For some reason I have the badge of the outpost overseer pinned to my jacket, which means...
A dwarven settlement is like a living organism, composed of many members, each with its own role, its own diseases. As a doctor, it is my duty to examine the state of the place. If nothing else, I will learn something more about my new home.
Near the entrance is a pile of various corpses and body parts, some perhaps useful, many not likely. Rotting flesh generates vermin and diseases that I would not want to see in Livingdead. I may have to take care of it, now that I am in charge.
The bulk of the town is located on a single level, just above the caverns. The basic amenities seem to be in place - food and drink production, forges, bedrooms, a temple, and a nice dining room. HOWEVER... There is no seeds for underground crops. Someone was trading for fruit and vegetables, it seems, and I cannot say we are short on food. I immediately ordered to cook all the meat lying around, because there is no reason we should eat like savages.
The gem industry in Livingdead was... vestigal. this was one of my first orders - building a makeshift storage area for gems.
I could not be allowed to work in peace, of course. Two jolly elves and their reindeer came to trade. I wonder what they brought. Someone has been making tons of giant corkscrews, probably in anticipation for a massive delivery of colossal wine bottles? I heard the corkscrews go for a lot, if those elves are not as troublesome as wood elves.
The elves did not have much. Out of pity, and because that bugged me, I had a cage stuffed with fungal crows given away for some instruments, waterskins, backpacks, clay (although we're sitting on a kaolonite deposit), and reindeer cheese.
Meanwhile, a pile of creeping rot somehow crawled into the fortress, and ripped a chicken apart! Repulsive monstrosity!
The monster fell before it could harm anybody else. It is time for my work...
The creeping rot is nothing more than a pile of rotting tissues, moving around like a putrid amoeba. I could differentiate half-liquified muscles, gelatinous fat, rubbery skin, even blackened bones, something unusual in slimes and oozes. I theorize that these beasts are not naturally occuring. A large animal might have been turned into this here monstrosity.
While most tissues could be found, I failed to locate any internal organs. Cutting open the creeping rot's body revealed only pustules full of disgusting sludge, likely the last meal of the thing, as the larger pustules are where its gaping maws lead. Curiously, the slurry seems to be a result of bacterial decay rather than actual digestion.
I had the carcass thrown out to the refuse pile. I really hope nobody tries to butcher it.
I should add that even a mask filled with perfume-soaked rags could not mitigate the smell of rot. Note to myself: conduct autopsies outside.
Well, I underestimated the creature. After the fight with the creeping rot, some of the unarmed hammerdwarves suffered a horrible illness. Bomrek's body started rotting due to the contact with flesh-eating bacteria that covered the abomination. A good doctor might be able to treat this affliction. Might, because it is difficult to make promises in cases such as this.
No, there is too much work for a single man! I'v rallied some people with basic medical skills to help with tending to patients. I also had a few chests and traction tables made for the hospital, because a well-equiped medical facility should is like a liver of a dwarven fortress.
Bomrek, unfortunately, could not be saved. It was mostly my fault; I could have called for help sooner. My patient, Kumil, is getting better, but there is still plenty of work to do before he's safe.
As it turned out, the hospital wasn't even a hospital, but rather something akin of a barrack. Go figure.
While I STILL fight the cursed infection, the new branch of industry is flourishing. Many people shun bone crafts, regard them as too morbid. I, however, greatly value the ability to turn dinner leftovers into profit.
I was... surprised, to say the least, when a crocodile-headed man came up to me and introduced himself as the lord consort of... somewhere. That would not be so strange if he didn't come here to become a mercenary. Well, he looks kind of scrawny, but he's still larger than any dwarf. Unfortunately, his weapon of choice is a bow.
The a total of 17 dwarves came. I'm not the most sociable of dwarves, so I'll let them take care of themselves.
Suddenly a stone detailer on the main level stopped working, and ran into the craftsdwarf's workshop. He rolled two mudstone boulders in, and then started giving vague signs that people interpreted as begging for some leather. I ordered to slaughter a donkey that came with the migrants.
What happens next is up to the next person who takes the reins here. I'm not cut out to be an overseer. I could not even make sense of the fortress despite having a whole year to do it. I will stay in the shadow, though, and mend broken flesh instead of broken designs.
Jeez, that was way too fast!
I accidentally went all the way to late spring, but that's not a problem, I hope. Nothing of note happened this year, and quite frankly, I haven't done all that much either. I'm really rusty when it comes to DF, so I might have done much less than I would when I was in my "prime". Eh, everyone is alive, at least. Except that one guy.
Notes and suggestions:
-The military needs outfitting. I've ordered some iron stuff, but we've ran out of materials;
-I've made an atom smasher for sentient creature corpses, but haven't put the dumping zone yet
-The mayor lives in a hovel. I was supposed to fix that, but I didn't feel like it;
-Farming needs some attention. I've made a small farm with blueberries and bilberries aboveground, but we need cloth badly (apparently it's too cold to grow hemp);
Save file here!
Author
Topic: Spookyfort IV: The Overlook - Overspookers welcome! (Read 17814 times)