Spring 169It has been deemed that I, Kesp "The Hammer" Ran, shall take the rod of overseership for the next two years. The fort seems in good shape and most dwarves are content.
Migrants arrive, swelling our numbers to 80. Some are conscripted into the military.
We discover the master of the local goblin civilisation in a cage trap outside, and install her in a dingy dungeon.
It seems Stozu was only installed as leader last year, as Maloy's relentless purge made her an endangered species.
Population: 80
Summer 169Elves attack in great numbers. I have no idea yet how the drowning chamber works, so we meet them in force.
60 elves are slain, to a loss of 5 useless bards. There are a dizzying number of levers in this place, relics of past overseers fiendish traps? I am loathe to pull any lest I flood the fort or worse.
Pawn is taken to the hospital, badly injured and unconscious. A bard brings them water. Spider monkey children look at her pityingly.
Pawn has her neck, arm and knee wounds sutured and is cleaned with elephant soap. She is soon back on duty.
The forges run hot night and day melting the crude iron armour and weapons of the goblins, and churning out yet more coke for the furnaces.
Steel armour and arms are made for a new squad, lead by Tirist Steelcrown. This strange dwarf comes from a foreign land, and claims to have slain titans and giants. He is also the father of the second dwarf born in Earthenjungles.
New Vegas claims a clothier workshop, and begins working furiously.
Population: 76
Autumn 169We beging digging deeper, in search of magma. Foolhardy? Time will surely tell.
New Vegas unveils his masterpiece - a headscarf. The pinnacle of his life's work.
Several ghosts start haunting the fortress. These appear to be the poor souls slain by elves in the early summer. Slabs are carved for Agnus, Cyclops, Drolnogard, Ezum Stukonsolon and Sarvesh Logemsosh.
A caravan arrives from Lorbam Egul, and with it an Elven outpost liaison! We trade them a pile of useless trash for some dogs, for some reason. A training area for wardogs is set up. We seem to have more horses and llamas than any fort could possibly need.
A handful of migrants arrive, along with a few poets.
Population: 81
Winter 169Magma! Praise the miners indeed. We have carved a deep channel to the core of the world, starting from one of the tomb complexes, and now bathe in the glow of the earth's lifeblood.
Veins of gold and platinum are hewn from the narrow spire, and we begin to assemble magma forges in earnest.
A strange sensation comes over me. I feel paranoid, secretive. This fearless hammerlord withdraws from society with the intent to craft some wondrous bauble from wood of all things.
I finally emerge, having crafted a gingko wood amulet. I have no recollection of this.
I have a strange thought. I order all the caged goblins and elves to be hauled to the drowning chamber. It is finally time to work out how to use this contraption.
What better time than when we are not under seige by goblin filth?
Neat little rows of cages, full of naked goblin and elf prisoners... and with a sudden roar, the river is unleashed into the drowning chamber.
This did not have the desired effect. The drowning chamber filled quickly with water. The goblins, elves and even an angry leopard remained untouched in their seemingly waterproof cages. There was absolutely no sign of drowning of any sort.
Sigh. I guess I will need to link all of the cages to a lever, then open the cages once the chamber is full? No. Too much hassle. The cages are thrown into the trash compactor, still containing their terrified naked prisoners.
A human dancer is spotted stealing an artifact! The captain of the guard immediately viciously beats the human, sending her to the hospital. When she regains consciousness, she is expelled from the fort. Good riddance.
Before the pathetic wretch leaves the hospital, she is set upon by the militia. As she is longer a resident, they have no qualms removing her head. Dwarven justice.
Population: 84
Spring 170Spring arrives once more, and with it as usual the elves. A warband of three score treehuggers and many war leopards is fought back quickly by the brave hammerdwarves.
We lose only one citizen - the elite wrestler Cerol Umerkogan, and a war dog. A handful are injured, including young baby Salmeuk. The doctors get to work. He'll survive.
Thegraywolf, militia captain, is injured. It appears he has lost a lower leg to a vicious leopard, but he will fight anothter day. Samurai Jack the mace-elf fares better with only a cut eyelid to show for his troubles.
Kadol the bard is taken by a fey mood, and claims a metalsmith's forge. Let's hope he makes something spectacular. Perhaps a steel crutch for Thegraywolf? Nope, it's a copper chest.
A couple of migrants arrive, despite the danger.
Mouseshy the miner is convicted of violating a production order, for the crime of not producing a ballista part for the new mayor Limul Tostsigun. He is angry after being confined. It is only then I realise we don't appear to have a seige workshop.
The magma forges are at last set up, and the old-fashioned charcoal-burning smelters and forges are dismantled.
Thegraywolf finally leaves the hospital, a novice crutch walker.
Population: 83
Summer 170Mayor Tosid is re-elected and moves into their mayoral palace. Nobody has yet figured out how to construct ballista parts for their increasingly frequent mandates, given we have no ballistas.
Urvad Gorgecrowns is jailed for disorderly conduct, having punched a goose. She feels pleasure next to a fine restraint.
The new siege workshop is completed. Mayor Limul bans the export of ballista parts. A pededstal is installed in the mayoral palace upon which ballista parts are heaped.
A fire breathing forgotten beast, Slevina Witchmurk, arrives in the lower caverns in a boiling cloud of steam. A towering winged gopher. He is the new lord of the caverns, slaying the previous incumbent Warosp.
Some bards and poets return bringing rumours from abroad.
Thegraywolf is a legendary crutchwalker. Either he is a fast learner, or the leg injury was not new. After being miserable for months he is finally feeling good again and is happily leading a biting demonstration.
Urvad Gorgecrowns the bard, rusty novice armorsmith, is taken by a fey mood. Perhaps her time contemplating life while in jail for assaulting a goose has provided her some divine inspiration?
Elves attack in great numbers. We finally manage to operate the drowning chamber to great success.
A few leopards and bobcats manage to make it as far as the trap hall before being slaughtered. Sadly, this was very poor timing for Urvad, in the middle of gathering items for their masterpiece. Forbidden from collecting the items they needed by the civilian alert, they go berserk and set upon their brethren.
In a cruel twist of fate, they are torn apart by a duck.
Population: 88
Autumn 170A copper perimeter wall to better defend against elves is created, funnelling them throuh a trap hall towards the drowning chamber. A mighty troglodyte stalks the caverns, slayer of a forgotten beast. Let us hope that Goregrotto never finds a way inside our fort.
Autumn passes uneventfully.
Population: 88
Winter 170Atir, a weaponsmith, is taken by a mood. The first since the bird-bothering bard was slain by a vengeful duck. Hopefully no elvish raids will interrupt him becomeing a legendary weaponsmith.
Disaster! A Roc attacks. Abli Championwhiskered the Scaly! It immediately flies into a cage trap. Now this could be interesting! Roc omelets for breakfast? Alas, it is a male.
Atir finishes his artifact - a steel spear! I will install this in the newly minted metalsmith hall, within the semi-molten rock at the heart of the world.
A new forgotten beast arrives to challenge the flame-breathing gopher Slevina. A hairy snail with deadly blood. This immediately starts a huge cavern fire in which the snail burns to death. Slevina remains king of the cavern.
Maloy, legendary war leader, has decided to become a scholar under the watchful eye of the naturalist Erush Koluvar.
Population: 88
Spring 171"Past-Expiration" Cademanlar the human poet has died of old age. How apt. May they rest in peace. The new trap hall is complete. The roc attack has spooked us somewhat - we remain vulnerable to the air. Putting a roof over all of the remaining exposed areas may take some time.
Would be a good use of all the useless copper we have lying around though.
The roc is installed in his personal pen. If we ever find a female...
With predictable timing, the elves attack from the west once more, straight into a corridor of giant axe blade death.
Time to activate the water wheels and fill the chamber - I wonder how many elves will survive the traps only to get drowned?
The traps seem very effective. It is raining elf chunks. Sadly it seems someone got crushed by the merchant bridge as they retreated into the burrow - it is too early to tell who has been slain.
Argh! The sneaky knife-eared bastards! A pack of war-leopards has snuck into the fort from the north, through the water wheel machinery. How is this possible?
Ah! They are coming in through the shallow river itself! As the water is pumped into the drowning chamber, the flowing river slows to a trickle allowing the river bed to be walked upon. I summon the militia to deal with the beasts, as the war tigers leap into battle. Our only war-grizzly is torn apart by leopards.
And with that the siege is broken. Only a single unconscious elf remains, lying in the blood-slicked corridor amongst the corpses of his brothers and sisters. He is quickly finished off, and the corpses and wooden junk tossed in the trash pile along with many caged terrified elves.
Not a single elf made it to the drowning chamber, but it is clear the river entrance will need to be scrutinised. A butcher shop and tannery are hastily constructed lest the slain leopards go to waste.
Tonnot98, hammerlord, appears to be the sole military injury. Their left foot is badly mangled by a war leopard. I am sure it will heal. It appears the citizen crushed by the bridge is a poet named Melbil. In a way I am glad it was not someone more .. useful.
A necromancer monster slayer has turned up, armed with a crossbow. This could be interesting. I am glad they did not arrive a few days earlier into the madness of the trap hall.
And with that, my time as overseer has come to an end. With the new spring, crops can grow once more. We are a little low on booze, and need to focus on that.
I have shored up the sneaky leopard entrance in the waterwheels - I think - but that might worth looking over again.
The main progress of my turn is the establishement of the magma forges - I did not attempt any conquest. Three elf sieges were crushed, and not a single goblin turned up.
We have a semi-wild male roc chained up, on the offchance a female is caught. The caverns remain sealed off. The trap hall and drowning chamber are very effective. I think we are in a good place to look at military expansion!
Good luck to whomever is next.
Population: 87
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Topic: Longnight the Umbral Souls: Building the largest world conquest fort series (Read 32475 times)