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[Linthar]

Here's the second part of the year, and in what's probably going to be a trend for me it's lengthy as well.

10th of Limestone:
Welcome news. Our wardogs have given birth. We now have six puppies running around the fortress, brightening the news. In the years to come they may become a formable part of our defenses.
   
26th of Limestone
This morning I awoke to a shout. “The caravan has arrived! The caravan has arrived!”
   I shouted back “We’re lost you idiots! No caravan is going to know where to look for us.”
   But the outcry didn’t quiet down. I trudged outside, and amazing enough two merchants were approaching the fortress.
   
       I knew that they were carrying vital supplies, but I despaired, because the supplies would not come cheap, and I had nothing to trade. Or so I thought. I had been ignoring the stonecarver in our group, due to a lack of skills useful to the fort’s survival. Apparently he had spent the last six months carving one cheap trinket after another. I hurried out to the trade depot.
   The merchants were quite happy to take our variety of worthless stone rings, amulets, specters, and more. In exchange I acquired more food, a few seeds, and some cloth and silk incase any of my fellow dwarves were stricken by the strange moods are kind are sometimes stricken with.
   As I traded I talked to the merchants. “How did you find us? We’ve been lost for months”
   “Lost? We just followed our map.”   
   I looked at their map. Windleopard was very clearly marked. The map was made in the winter of 1550. Something very wrong was going on here.

3rd of Sandstone:
Today I met with Olin our fortress’s Liaison. I asked, for an assortment of small items. Seeds to expand our farming situation, a few small gems for decoration, and of course lots and lots of alcohol. He then gave me a list of items he was hoping to buy from us on his next visit. There was no rhyme or reason to them, but that was to be expected given that he selected them by drawing pieces of paper from a hat.

     Still it gave me something to think about if I ever was to expand our operations. On the subject of how he knew where to find us he was strangely mute. He only said to keep up the good work running this place, and gave me a sealed envelope that was to be opened at the start of the new year.

17th of Sandstone: The caravan has left.  This fortress is no longer lost. We are no longer struggling for survival, now we have a new job. To make our home the finest in all the world.  

23rd of Sandstone: Batmen. Everyone is complaining about a batman hounding them the second they step outdoors. The only Batmen I have seen are half a mile away by the chasm. My fellow dwarves will not listen to that. They keep complaining. I keep looking, and see nothing. Since I’ve yet to hear of invisible batmen, everyone else must be insane.

1st of Moonstone: Morons. Imbeciles. Colossal idiots. For over a month no one has been willing to do the smallest of tasks outside, because of the apparently invisible batman, and they insist on telling me every single time the non existent creature strikes.

25th of Moonstone: A mysterious thief has made off with a silk cloth careless left at the depot. I’m ordering all the remaining goods outside to temporarily be put in the entrance hall.

7th of Opal: More thieves. This time they were spotted, but they still escaped with pig tail cloths. The vile fiends were raccoons. The solution is clear. Their forest home must be destroyed. I ordered more trees to be cut down.

13th of Opal: The batman is real. I saw it flying in the sky. This still doesn’t excuse my fellow dwarves. It was high above us. It’s to far away to be scared off unless you’re complete cowards, like everyone else in this stupid fortress.

25th of Opal: The batman turned out to be strangely considerate. Not only was it nice enough to mysteriously drop dead, it even landed in our own refuse pile.
   
(ooc: I have no idea what happened. One minute I was getting job cancellation messages, then the next there was a batman corpse in the refuse pile, and the messages stopped.”

5th of Obsidian: My fellow dwarves have gone even madder. They’ve naming the batsmen. So far we have Raglash, Shafttour, and Gorgecarnages. I fear that soon more batmen will have names then we have dwarves.

1st of Granite. Remembering my instructions I opened the envelope the Liaison gave me. A scrap of paper inside said “Greet the dwarf at the front door and follow his instructions”. When I went to the front door, a Dwarf I never seen before wearing an outfit entirely colored black was standing there. He mutely handed me a piece of paper that read “As you may have figured out by now, your group was never actually lost. This all was just a test we had devised for you. You are now ordered to leave the fortress immediately and follow the enclosed map to a secret destination. A replacement will be provided for your fortress immediately”.
   I don’t know what’s going on, but orders are orders. I’ve left immediately. My days of dealing with crazy cowards, and blasted batmen are over. My future’s uncertain, but that’s a worry for another day.

OOC: Now for a brief summary of WindLeopard for whoever takes over.
The Good: WindLeopard is the perfect site for making steel. There are more trees then you can count, an entire layer of flux, and plentiful iron. In fact I mined out an entire vein next to to front gate that should last a while, and theres many more ready to be mined. I have a forge set to build as soon as a metalworking job is enable, and I've left about 8 steel bars as a gift for who ever takes over.

          Supplies are also high.

The bad: It's going to be nearly impossible to get a human merchant wagon to a trade depot. There are too many trees
        Also while there is a brook, it's a fair distance from the fortress. This isn't a huge problem as long as there's drinks, but it might be troublesome if any dwarves are injured.

The ugly. Flying things. I believe my fisherdwarf currently is set not to fish as I got tired of interrupted by giant eagle messages. And my dwarves were trapped inside for months by the batman I ranted about so much. I doubt the next  one will drop dead for no reason, so I highly recommend you train marksdwarves for when the next one comes.

And in case anyone wonders there's no namesake in the fort, because storywise my dwarf has left so I can torment him at the next fort. And of course the Map.

[ January 25, 2008: Message edited by: Linthar ]

[Blacken]

First Turn Map of Hammerpants

The First Administration of Hammerpants, 1051-1053
by Blacken Laboredhero

Contrary to the usual method of Dwarven expansion, our caravan did not get lost and did not leave home unprepared. Under the oversight of Blacken Laboredhero, the dwarves brought a surplus of food, seeds, and as much alcohol as could be allocated. A lack of available anvils aided this process, as the dwarves could pack more provisions.

The area chosen was rather fortuitous--while no magma was reported by advance scouts, ample trees, good flux, and good prospects of metal ores. Upon arrival, Laboredhero's group--who chose, for the name of their new home, "Hammerpants"--immediately located an aboveground vein of platinum and a large surface cluster of magnetite. Laboredhero hefted a pick and tunneled into the nearest cliffside! Unfortunately, being terrible at mining, he soon tired and let the two experienced miners do the real work.

The first two seasons were largely uneventful. In autumn, however, the first wave of migrants--and the first caravan--arrived. Within a day of their arrival, the new metalcrafter, Ingish Orbsguilds, fell into a mysterious mood--and without an anvil or materials, soon descended into madness, becoming the first dwarf to die in Hammerpants--in her case, by starving in the tunnels beneath the bridge to the outside world. The grief was short, however, and Ingish's body was quickly stuffed into one of the dolomite coffins lining the front entrance of the fortress.

This was not Laboredhero's first assignment, however, and he was well-known as a sound defensive tactician. Above the courtyard of Hammerpants he ordered built fortifications stretching across the top, but narrow enough to still shoot into the fortress should worse come to worse. The drawbridge system was more modest than in his previous fortresses, but still sufficient to seal the fort off from any aggressors.

The human caravan in the summer of 1052 brought an anvil, which the dwarves quickly put to use. However, their use was perhaps less than prudent--Laboredhero, who shall go down in history as one of dwarvenkind's most notable narcissists, ordered a lavish tomb built for his final resting place. Later records show that Laboredhero demanded eight iron statues, two platinum statues, a wooden dais about his platinum sarcophagus, and two each of iron armor stands and iron weapon stands. Given the well-stocked larders and exceptional trade goods of the fortress, perhaps this is an excusable bit of narcissism. Beneath his tomb he began the catacombs for the burial of other, lesser dwarves, though during his tenure the coffins remained outside in the courtyard.

Near the end of his second year, the dwarves acquired enough charcoal and flux to begin making steel bars, as well as put to use some of the platinum chiseled from the rock. Laboredhero ordered a back entrance to the fortress constructed, tying it to the water system which diverted from the nearby brook. A fortification above the exit was in the last stages of construction when Laboredhero mysteriously handed over the reins to another dwarf, though he remained mayor in title. Some suspect that he disappeared to attend to another fortress within the empire; others believe that the copious amount of sunshine he had been drinking finally rotted his brain.

OOC: This fortress is essentially failure-proof, I believe. The fishing in the area is spectacular, there's enough plants both in the farms underground and picked by herbalists to make enough booze to drown the fortress, and while the military sucks (two Expert Marksdwarves), the availability of steel and excellent static defenses should render the fortress relatively safe from megabeasts (pull the levers, raise the drawbridges, and emergency-train some dwarves). The food supplies are excellent and should keep you stocked for a full year at least without any external reliance.

While waiting, I think I'm going to start a new fort--"New Atlantis". Minus the Baconian brainfucking, at least.

[ January 26, 2008: Message edited by: Blacken ]

[Blacken]

I added Stravitch to the game because he emailed me and asked directly.

The emails are sent out, and the script I use borked and didn't fill in <othername>, but the emails are correct. You'll send your fortresses to the listed emails (both mine and the next player's).

Thanks!

-Ed

EDIT: I can't figure out how to link specific posts, so it'll be sufficient to link the page of this thread with your journal.

[ January 26, 2008: Message edited by: Blacken ]

[Skanky]

Oramtun, "Worlddoor", 1051 - 1052
by Skanky Kadolasiz

Ungrateful. Thats what they are.

It started off promisingly enough. Ceril and Adil, the miners, were only too happy to start digging into the sandy clay loam. Better than solid rock, they said. I'm glad I had sent Kadol and Kivish off earlier to smooth stones far to the south, as they would surely take offense to such a comment. Even Rigóth, the carpenter, started off happily building beds and then wooden doors. I, of course, was busy chopping down trees after sketching a rough layout plan in the sand for Ceril and Adil. I kept Lorbam busy training the dogs we brought how to fight and defend themselves. At least it gave him something to do while waiting for the food storage and farming areas to be dug out. Yep, all in all, the beginning of "Oramtun" was certainly promising.

Then when the group came back together for drinks, the grumbling started. "Why must I keep making doors?" "Why is a stonemason in a fortress that doesn't even have stone?" "A craftsdwarf is supposed to make things from stone, not destroy stone boulders!" "When can I start planting seeds?" I'll be the first to admit that I'm not good with stress, but under such pressure can you blame me for cracking? I grabbed my axe and stormed off. There is something so soothing about chop.. chop.. chop..

11th Hematite
The others are grumbling constantly. I just know it.
The workshop area was dug out a few days ago and we have been busy installing the workshops. I ordered Kivish to find some sharp bits of obsidian to stick into wood and install as a trap. He didn't seem too enthusiastic, but started working eventually.

16th Limestone
Hooray! A caravan from the mountainhomes is here! Finally something to distract the others from mess they are living in. I forgot to make bins before, so looks like we will have to carry the mugs to the depot individually. Surprise surprise, I am hearing more complaints from the others over this. I'll request an anvil while I have the opportunity.

8th Slate
Immigrants have arrived. 19 of them. Thankfully I had ordered rooms built for them quite some time ago, so everyone has been allocated a room of their own. A few thanked me for my forethough, some grumbled about the size of their rooms. Honestly though, this kind of stress could really send a dwarf to their grave early. In related news, my tomb has finally finished being decorated. Rigóth did a wonderful job.

4th Hematite
Kivish insisted that he make an instrument right away, almost as though he was possessed. It ended up worth about 2400 - not too bad for a stone piccolo I guess, but I don't think he was too inspired. He didn't even bother gathering material to make the thing, just used whatever was in the workshop already! I wouldn't be surprised if it was partially mug-shaped. In unrelated news, I have finally authorized construction of a really large dining room, complete with a "surprise". That'll teach them dwarves to complain!

1st Limestone, Autumn
My surprise was finally unveiled, but the news was met with the standard reaction - complaints. Now every time the dwarves enter and leave the dining room, they will get drenched with water! How do you like them plump helmets?! I called the water-machine "Umiman"; the others called a meeting. They all met in the dining room (proabably dripping wet) and decided that they would be better served under someone else's leadership. They graciously allowed me to stay on as mayor and broker, mostly because they realised the next caravan to arrive would be the elves. The day-to-day running of the fortress will be left to someone else. I tried my best, and I just couldn't please them. Ungrateful, thats what they are.

OOC: All dwarves, including children, have rooms. There is an additional level of rooms being made, enough beds and doors have been ordered but not yet authorised by the manager. Room for a kennel is being dug out. As of yet, there is no barracks at all which should probably be corrected. Tables and chairs are still being produced for the dining room - eventually you will need to turn these off. Despite my story's roleplaying, the water / mist is a good thing. That machine should work without any further work needed. There is food aplenty. The entrance is well-trapped with more weapons being produced. At some point I got two anvils off the human caravan but forgot to document it. Have fun!

[Skanky]

Apologies for the length. I'll try to keep the next one a bit briefer.
Also, coffins are being produced to give the trade depot that "dwarvey" feel.

[TotalPigeon]

No, keep them long and as funny as possible. It'll make the thread a lot more fun. Also, I found a good site this time - big aquifer again but I have a much better way of getting through this time.

[Firemage]

I have a question about the deadline: Does midnight in the night between saturday and sunday still count as saturday or already as sunday?

I don't have written the report for the second year...
Anyway, I'll post, what I have:

Year 1
Year 2

1st Granite 1051
Here we are. In the middle of nowhere, in an armok-damned forrest as if we were some of those tree-hugging longears... Why did the king choose me of all people to found the new Royal Smithy? The only good thing is, that there really should be lots of iron and Limestone beneath our feet. And the trees will be gorgeous in black...
*sniff* How I miss the mountains... The worst thing is, that I forgot the anvil at home. I really thought, I saw somone packing it into the wagon... yet still, there is no anvil! Seems like we have to ask our friends in autumn for one, or those bigshoes next year.
We probably have to get our farms running anyway. It's jus no fun to smith some axes, when there's no beer to drink...
Ok guys! Let's get this thing running!

12th Felsite 1051
Huzzah! We found Magnetite! I knew, this place was iron-rich, but these vast amounts were beyond my imagination. Where is an armok-damned anvil, when you need one!

18th Hematite, 1051
I have to correct myself: This is not enough iron to arm our mountainhome - it's enough to arm all dwarfhood!

22nd Limestone
What do they think we are doing here?!? Do they really think, we can't make food ourselves? Our friends from our mountains brought food - lots of it. As if our larder wasn't bursting already!
And of course they forgot the anvil too. What happened to dwarfhood for armoks sake?
But at least they brought some cloth and leather, so we can make some bags. Our furniture will look pretty with glass.

3rd Timber, 1051
I have the dim feeling, Armok uses me for his entertainment - by torturing me! This will be the armor smithy for our mountainhome. Everyone knows that! That's why we were sent to this undwarven place!
Ok, from the beginning: My good for nothing nephew 3rd grade Ilral Koganmonom arrived here with a bunch of his useless friends. Said he was a weaponsmith. By my beard he is! What do you think he forgot? You guessed right: the anvil, what else! How by the name of armok are we supposed to make those damned weapons?
This is getting to get bad for my health, I tell ya!

16th Granite, 1052
Huh? What are you longears doing in front of my door? What?!? It's spring already? And you want to trade?? Dammit! That means, my successor is coming soon! And the smithy is still not running. Not even close! And that all, because nobody thought to bring that damn anvil. Some dwarves are we...
Err... right, you wanted to trade. Your cloths look fine, those will make some good sandbags for our glass making... What? No, we don't 'butcher' trees for making glass. You know, we rub the sand so fast, it smelts itself into glass!
Back to your cloths. What do you want for that? - Noooo, nononono... That's our finest craftsdwarfship! I won't give that to some tree hugging elf! - Noo, don't leave! It was just a joke! Of course you can have them. I just want to keep this ring. That's a heirloom from my paternal grandmother!
And now be gone!

Better.
I don't know how much time I have left, before my substitute comes, but I'll use the time, to finish as many projects as possible.

EDIT: Year 2:

28th Granite, 1052
Time to start the most important project: defense. We don't need to let any pesky goblin in, don't we? At least not, if they aren't behind some bars!
There is so much open space here, it makes me sick - literally! Let's see, if we can make our guests at least walk a bit more, to get in. And if they are uninvited, we'll have some nice surprises for them!

8th Slate, 1052
It would be funny, if it wasn't so sad... His majesty has sent a couple of smiths and furnace operators to work in His Royal Armoury - and we still have no bloody anvil! And needless to say, they didn't bring one with them either! Oh Armok, what evil games are you playing with me?
Another thing is, that we don't have enough room for everyone right now. In fact, we still have to endure each others snores... Oh well, this means overtimes for me and our carpenters... Will the fun ever stop?
And were is my substitute? Wasn't he supposed to be here a month ago?

24th Felsite, 1052
A few days ago, Urdin Dastotunol began to behave strangely. He asked anyone he saw, if he could get some hides or leather. But not a single scrap could be found in the entire fortress. He went to the workshop and waited, and waited, and waited. He didn't even come to eat with us anymore! I began to worry about him, and so I went to visit him in the workshop. by my beard, I will never forget this bloodthirsty look in his face... I slowly backed out, and ordered to lock up every door to that workshop.
Today he was found in the pond, drowned. We found out, that we had forgotten, that there were stairs leading directly out of the workshop. I've ordered to build another door to make the stairs lockable... Poor chap. May his soul rest in peace...

14th Hematite, 1052
Ah, finally! There are the bigshoes! Hey, why don't you bring your wagon with you? Where are the anvils? Oh no, don't say, you left them in the wagon...
Stupid bigshoes and your frail wagons, can't even go over a stupid stone! Am I imagining it, or is Armok really laughing at me?
Anyway, back to business: What do you want for all this cloth and the hides? You greedy bastards! Our crafts are worth twice as much as yours! If you don't have a better offer, you can turn around and go! -
Noo, wait! I didn't mean it! How about I'll give you 3/4 of what you were demanding? Sounds fair? Good!
Damned bigshoes...

12th Malachite, 1052
Now we have 38 mouths to feed. Luckily we have no food problem. But we do have a housing problem... More work for us to do, but more hands, who can work. Oh, well...

12th Limestone
An anvil! Finally an anvil! Guys, let me kiss you! Uhh... never mind. Now we can finally do, what we were supposed to do: smithing! My prayers have finally been heard!
On a sidenote, we have another death to bemoan: Reg Oltarbidok suddenly began to shout something about "shells". Unfortunately we had no eatable turtle anwhere and thus no shell ready. We locked him up in the workshop, but strangely he escaped and drowned himself, just like Urdin. And I'm sure, I haven't forgotten to order to lock the stairs this time... Strange things are happening here...

8th Sandstone
What's happening at home? Is there a famine? Where do all those people come from? Anyway, the more the merrier, I guess... When I imagine, that we were 7 at first... and now we are 46!

1st Granite, 1053
At last, my successor has arrived! One year too late, no less. Better late than never, I guess, but still... That were some torturing 2 years for me, but I think everything turned out well in the end. I'm nevertheless glad, that I can put all the responsibility on other shoulders. But I'll come back, when I'm needed.

[ January 27, 2008: Message edited by: Firemage ]

[Stravitch]

Moonboots can be seen after its 2 year start here

Unfortunately, I'm not a literary artist so I'm just going to play for as long as I last :-P

[Blacken]

quote:I have a question about the deadline: Does midnight in the night between saturday and sunday still count as saturday or already as sunday?

If you haven't mailed it by 11:59PM EST on Sunday, you're out. That's all there is to it.

[apache1990]

Rocktomb - 1054

I overkilled it, but I really wanted to make sure it was ready for the next person.

(Is it ok if I write the journal after I send it away?)
Never mind, just read that part in the email.  I'll write a summary though, so who's next knows whats going on with the Fort.

[ January 27, 2008: Message edited by: apache1990 ]

[Firemage]

quote:Originally posted by Blacken:
<STRONG>If you haven't mailed it by 11:59PM EST on Sunday, you're out. That's all there is to it. </STRONG>

11:59 is way less ambigous than "midnight". Thank you for clarification! ^_^

[superninjabeast]

I hate to do this but a lot of stuff came up and the next weeks look pretty bleak.

I'm gonna have to drop out  

[UltimaPhantom]

Journal Entry by Phantom, Intensebanners.

Ahh, leading this fortress was incredibly fun, though booze did run dry once.
Our status now is fairly stable.
I'm eager to leave though, visiting different places and leading them to glory is my job afterall.
I wonder how greatly my successor will be able to lead this fort...

Anyway, my Journey targets now fortress called Guiltybeers The Ageless Busy-Tools... What a weird name, I've never fancyed long names at all.

((Fortress is in DFMA, url http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-1950-intensebanners-ultimaphantom  ))

[Blacken]

quote:Originally posted by superninjabeast:
<STRONG>I hate to do this but a lot of stuff came up and the next weeks look pretty bleak.

I'm gonna have to drop out   </STRONG>

That sucks. Good thing I grabbed an extra person.  

Apache1990, I'll forward your fortress this time to Firemage and send you his email for next week.

[TotalPigeon]

Okay, here it is, just over one and a half years getting through a bloody aquifer while being accosted by zombies. And here is the DFMA Map. Enjoy.

--

I've been captured. Rebel dwarves appeared from nowhere as travelled back to my home in The Mysterious Walls, capturing my wagon and dragging me into their encampment, a horrifying ugly wooden building in the forest, poorly built and badly designed, nevermind that it is built outside. The dwarves informed me that they were bandits, and that they had acquired my services for the moment, for the construction of a new fortress nearby from which they will launch their raids. I am, of course, Tap, the famous Dwarven Architect, designer of such fortresses as Kironugosh and Vabok Etar. Sadly, Kironugosh was destroyed when a horde of demons appeared in the deepest depths and Vabok Etar was dismissed as, while a fine specimen, very small and uninspiring, but both were fine accomplishments. With deep thoughts in mind regarding my next fortress, I had been travelling across the land towards the Shining Blades to recruit more dwarves for my next expedition. It seems that fortune is on my side, as the dwarves intend to allow me to continue with my joyous hobby. I had thought I would have to wait almost an entire year with the Shining Blades to comply with fortress settling regulation 12A: Intial settling at a fortress may only begin on the 1st of Granite.

25th Obsidian: I am tied down in the back of the wagon as we move from the edge of the forest towards our destination. I only assume they expect me to try and escape at the first opportunity, which is understandable. However, I am not particularly skilled with weapons, and if the rumours of Forests of Gristle are true, travelling alone through it in my situation would be akin to suicide... By Armok, I swear I just heard something howl, and I doubt it was one these puppies currently slobbering on me. Honestly, these bloodthirsty bandits have brought some strange supplies.

26th Obsidian: It seems we are approaching our destination, as I hear excited voices from the front of the wagon. I have taken careful note of all the current supplies in the wagon, and it seems we are woefully underprepared for settling a fortress. All we seem to have is meat, booze and weapons.

27th Obsidian: We have arrived! It seems a group meeting has been held, and the following decided: The fortress will be named Soshoshstigil, JackalJaws, I will be acting leader as the most experienced at designing fortresses, and I will never be able to escape by myself with all the dangerous wildlife, so I am allowed to go free again. While I don't like the name, as I trip on my own tongue trying to say it, I'll readily agree to everything if I can go back outside. So, I can finally get out of this wagon... Oh Armok, where the hell is the mountain?! Do they think I am a Hill Dwarf?

1st Granite: Finally, the 1st of Granite has arrived and work can begin. We have looked around the area and found that there are lots of trees, a river and a magma pit. I am considering jumping in one to spare me the company of these idiots. Still, I have designated somewhere for digging to begin. We have nothing to plant, so someone is off gathering shrubs in the hope that something worth eating grows around here. Another is using his axe to get us some wood. The rest are unloading my wagon. And it appears that some Zombie Foxes and deer are in the area. Wonderful.

7th Granite: Our plant gather is proving incompetent. First she brings me some vicious plant called sliver barb, and asks me if it is edible. The name alone probably tells you enough. I don't think my insides would survive a bite. Then she brings me some blade weed, and asks the same thing. Armok save me from these idiots.

           

15th Granite: Our rooms are complete, to my specifications. It can probably be guessed which is mine.

18th Granite: She finally finds something edible. Rat Weed. The horror. I hope something more pleasant is still laying undiscovered. And also, finding one meals worth of food every 18 days is not exactly great going.

20th Granite: We have struck an aquifer... damn. It appears there will be some difficulty acquiring stone. However, on second thoughts, we do have a magma vent nearby. I imagine we can use that to make a hole.

           

3rd Slate: We spotted something alive in the area, a cute fox. Pleasant as this is, we need food, and as our plant gatherer Olin is producing no significant results, Asen, the ex-marksdwarf, went out and shot it dead. I suppose will take care of butchering it, as none of the others seems to be demonstrating any great skill for working with food and I don't believe we can afford to waste anything now.

5th Slate: It appears a number of deer have entered the area, and also Olin has finally found something worth eating - wild strawberries! It looks like we probably won't starve!

11th Slate: These deer are cunning indeed, leading Asen straight into two zombie foxes which were in the area. Asen easily killed them and one of the deer, but used over 20 of his bolts in the process. We will have to make more if he is to continue like this.

17th Slate: I just had the worst drink of my life today. I asked Olin what he brewed, and he told me the sliver barb plant he had found earlier. I can't believe he kept it.

28th Slate: A choked houl crossed the land yesterday. A zombie cougar has appeared to the north. We will try to avoid it, but seeing a monster like that has increased my worries about this place.

29th Slate: Every time I have been to eat since arriving, I have been forced to eat such wonders as stringy goat meat and the vile rat weed. However, the rare wonder that is Olin finding strawberries has set me to thinking. We have several seeds left over. Possibly we can bend our effort to growing more. So, now Olin will split his time between hunting for any plants and actually planting the edible ones.

6th Felsite: I spoke to Mistem in passing today about his plans for this fortress today, and found out that we are expecting more members of the bandit gang to arrive, probably with stolen goods to trade. I hadn't know this. I suppose we had better prepare something, though all we have to work with is wood and bone. Maybe the bloodthirsty bandits will appreciate some skull totems.

9th Felsite: Today we begin our plan to penetrate the aquifer using the magma vent. Mistem has prepared two holes, one down to the aquifer and another to store magma. We'll let it through a little at a time, if all goes well.

           

10th Hematite: I woke up today to find Asen asleep in the food stockroom, draped over an empty barrel. Either he just had his first taste of that drink Olin keeps making from the sliver barb, or being out amongst those zombie animals must be getting to him...

           

1st Malachite: Our initial plan to penetrate the aquifer has failed. It seems that a) a wooden wall will hold back a lava flow, and b) that we cannot tip water fast enough to seal off a stream of lava. Honestly, while I was sceptical about the latter, I had strong hopes for the lava bursting through the wall and turning to obsidian against the water we had carefully prepared. Alas, we will have to devise some method of dumping a larger quantity of water to seal the other side, and for that we will need to carefully extract some obsidian from the edge of this vent into the ground for mechanisms.

12 Galena: Some fire imps have burst out of the magma vent! I'm not sure what the danger is in our situation, so Asen has grabbed his crossbow and some bolts, and is watching them carefully.

14th Galena: Asen has killed one of the fire imps, taking just one shot. They don't appear to be very dangerous...

15th Galena: Sweet Armok, Asen is dead. The last fire imp threw a fireball at him just as Asen loosed a bolt. Both of them died instantly. The horrors of this area are overwhelming me again. I can only hope that there are no more creatures like those in the vent, for if they were to ever attack with intent to kill us, I doubt we would stand a chance.

20th Galena: My fears were well justified, as now Mistem has perished to another creature alike the imps, a fire man. Attacking our work area, it hit him with a fireball then finished him off with its bare hands. Our woodcutter, Momuz, then rushed over, dodged another fireball and killed the creature with one blow. The dwarves have named the creature Udtinan.

9th Limestone: We have prepared the method for sealing off the main flow.

           

13th Limestone: Success, the rear end of the flow has been turned into obsidian. Now we will turn an area of the first level of aquifer into obsidian so we can bypass it. I've told our resident mason, Sibrek, to have a go at mining, as he isn't currently doing much.

           

20th Limestone: The aquifer has been sealed. Also, the bandit caravan has arrived. Hopefully they have something to eat. We have ordered leathers, food, metal.

14th Sandstone: It seems like the dwarves have stolen a lot of steel armour this year. We can't actually afford any of it... and they have no food either. Great. We trade all the totems I have spent the year making for one barrel of rum. Fantastic.

6th Timer: For reasons that are entirely unknown to me, Sibrek just dug away a wall of obsidian, leaving a thin chunk suspended slightly above his head as he worked through it. Then, when he dug out the last wall and the top collapsed on him, acted surprised at his numerous injuries. I can't believe I'm going to waste food and drink on this idiot while he recovers. In fact, I'm not even going to give him any alcohol while he's like that. Maybe that will make him think twice (once?) in the future.

21st Timber: We have a slight problem. Sibrek has slipped into a deep sleep. He won't eat or drink, and he isn't recovering from his injuries. He also has a deadlock on the only pick. I am worried that our only option will be to release him from this world.

1st Moonstone: Sibrek has made a miraculous recovery, breaking out of the strange coma back into the slightly less dim existence I imagine his life to be. His body seems to have healed slightly, so while I have little hope of a full recovery now, he may be back on his feet within the year. He still won't let go of the pick, mind, though I'm not even sure I want to let him try his hand at mining again.

4th Opal: With a sudden shock, I realise that we still haven't buried either Asen or Mistem. I search for their bodies, but they seem to have vanished. And with all the zombies around, I don't really want to know the truth.

15th Opal: A zombie fox has destroyed the wooden door to our water dispenser. The little bastard. Now we need Sibrek even more, as... well, I hesitate to say because he is a trained mechanic, as the real truth is, none of us can figure out how his device possibly works and how to link it up up another door.

5th Obsidian: I took a peek at our food stockpile today, and it seems that we have about 40 sliver barbs in there. More than anything else. I really am not looking forward to drinking it all.

20th Obsidian: A zombie deer appeared between us and the entrance to our home. Momuz happily disposed of it with a swing of her axe.

1st Granite: The fortresses first year has been and gone. I can't believe I've been living in a room with soil for walls for a year. I also can't believe I've not had an intelligent conversation for a year.

15th Granite: Some elves appeared in the area. They approached us and asked to trade. I looked at their goods, decided I would like some of the alcohol they have brought...though I have had enough experience with trading to the elves to know that they will not be pleased by my deer bone bolts and skull totems, when suddenly the other dwarves surround them and demanded that they hand over everything. I can only assume the bandit instinct took over. Naturally, I was slightly concerned, but I suppose we have no other way of getting anything from these elves. I wonder if they will be back next year.

28th Slate: Some migrants have arrived. 19, to be precise. Holy crap. The caravan must have bullshitted these guys massively. We've barely achieved anything. However... it seems our luck is in. We have another guy with a pick here. Work on the aquifer can continue. I guess the rest will just have to stand around for now.

11th Felsite: One of the bandits has started screaming randomnly. Dear Armok, I hope this isn't an indication of the level of intelligence of the new crowd. Ah, wait, he's screaming for a clothes shop. I wonder why? - Turns out the fellows name is Libash Luzattobul, and he used to be a clothier before becoming a bandit. It seems he has had some inspiration for something over the years.

19th Felsite: Having grabbed some silk cloth and some bones, Libash is setting to work.

24th Felsite: Libash has created a silk right mitten! Encircled with bands of fox bone. So, one glove which is ringed with bands of bone, such as to make flexing ones hand impossible. Fantastic. It is very well made, I suppose, just lacking slightly in the design area.

27th Felsite: A zombie grizzly bear invaded the area today. It advanced on the campsite while our new ranger, Datan, fired bolt after bolt at it. It just kept on coming, as parts of its rotten body peeled off in sprays of ichor. It seemed unstoppable, until just as it reached Datan, a frantic bolt pierced its skull.

7th Hematite: A zombie fox started causing trouble around the magma vent again. Rather than let it destroy another linked up door, I told Lor, the guy who brought the pick, to carve it into chunks.

10th Hematite: The zombie fox and Lor are still fighting. I can't believe how incompetent this guy is, he's pinning a dead fox down, holding a big spiky thing in one hand and can't hit it straight. I really can't be bothered to wait any longer for the two, Datan has been sent over to put a bolt in the damn fox. Or maybe Lor.

22nd Hematite: Some goblin thieves have come and had a go at our young. Luckily, the clumsy thing ran into Dodok, our metalsmith, who took the opportunity to skip work and spent the best part of the day mangling the thing.

8th Malachite: Two zombie deer came near the magma vent now. Lor and Datan handled the job again.

15th Malachite: The next level has been penetrated. Unfortunately we used rather too much magma and will need to cool off the rest before we can continue digging, hopefully into some stone.

18th Limestone: Finally! We have finished digging through the aquifer. Now we can begin the main fortress using stone. I can't believe I've been deprived of a real stone room for so long. I think I will have to get properly drunk, even if it is Olin's Gutter Cruor. Lets celebrate!

The, the twenty somethingth... so much pain... I think.. I think I had too much Gutter Cruor. Aargh... I think... I think I'm going to have to let someone else run this thing while I sober up. Oh Armok, the pain... how long can a hangover possibly last?

[ January 27, 2008: Message edited by: TotalPigeon ]