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[Captain Mayday]

The digging was furious. We desperately dug out the chamber in which we planned to store our food. Outside it could spoil, and it would surely be our only rations for sometime.

Surprisingly, it was easy going. Beneath the snow, mere clay. Who would have imagined, beneath the frozen exterior, the land was literally begging for plants to be growing in it.

I was sure Xotes would be pleased, she could plant some crops... when we had some seeds. I commented as such to BurnedToast, who agreed.

Her ears must have been burning, because she came running down into the shafts as we spoke. She was clearly anxious.

"We're nearly there, Xotes. No need to worry about the food. It will store well here." I said cheerfully, misunderstanding her worry.

"No, sir! There's a problem!" she blustered.

"Another one? In the same day?" BurnedToast asked grimly. As the others continued to work, we leaned on our picks, to listen to Xotes.

"Elk." she said simply.

"Elk? Isn't that good news? Something to eat. It's not a lifeless wasteland after all!" I said.

"Skeletal Elk." she continued.

"Ah." I breathed with BurnedToast in unison.

Dire news indeed.

Xotes told us there were two males and a female. I don't know how she could tell from this distance. I suspect her of lying. I must keep an eye on her!

[Captain Mayday]

We had no sooner decided to keep the Elk at arms length, than they barged in on our fledgeling shelter.

We fled in a crazed manner, but She-Axe took care of them, with the help of our previously useful beasts of burden.

Soon little was left apart from bones. It seems we had found a new source of resources. Nagash knew how to carve stone already. Let us see him learn to carve bone.

[Captain Mayday]

Captain's Log. The first summer.

One would barely know it was summer from the temperature. It isn't any warmer. It's daylight for mostly all the day outside now. That's how we tell.

I'm beginning to give up hope of salvation. We have seen nothing of anyone else, and we have used up most of our available wood.

However, we have made preparations against further elk intrusions.

We have hollowed out storage chambers capable of sustaining us for some time. We started a small farm. Xotes is pleased.

Below, we have hollowed out our bedrooms. There is not enough wood for doors, so we keep privacy as reality permits.

BurnedToast spends the days at the moment keeping track of what we have left.
Increasingly little, is my feeling. He seems tense all the time.
It may be about time to tighten the belt.

[Captain Mayday]

Captain's log. Sometime in the mid-summer.
I don't know what the date is anymore. Who can keep track?
It's high summer though, and most of our preliminary work is complete.
She-Axe forced us to participate in some basic fighting training.
I agreed with her, if we are to survive in this terrible place, we will have to know how to defend ourselves from the threats beyond our walls. The Elks.

Xotes for some reason elected to forgo the training. Instead she planted more crops. Possibly sowing the seeds of our destruction!? I shall keep my eye on her!

[Sappho]

FYI, you don't need to leave those unmined spaces in rooms anymore.  It won't cave in unless the ceiling is completely disconnected from the floor.

[Captain Mayday]

Yeah, it's force of habit I suppose?
Plus if the rule ever goes back in... well...

[Captain Mayday]

Captains Log. We are beset by Autumn Invaders!
I woke up this morning to find an unknown dwarf at the foot of my bed, hovering over me.
"ASSASSIN!" I screamed, throwing my blanket about his head, and attempting to suffocate him to death. I'd be damned if my combat training would go unused.

As it turned out, though, it was all okay, and he wasn't an assassin at all.
Instead, he was a representative from our Queen, and not bent on killing any of us in any manner at all. Well... no more so than usual.

It appears he was traveling with some traders passing through the area, and had spied our camp.
Normally I would be overjoyed at the rescue. Except it wasn't a rescue.
Instead he wanted us to stay here. Create some sort of bastion of dwarves, amid a snowy countriside.
I begged with him, I pleaded with him, I took him to the surface and smeared snow onto him. He would not relent. By the Queen's will, we are bound to stay. Indefinitely. He figured I was just the dwarf to run it.

He asked us what we would need to stay alive. The answers were simple, food, drink, and lots more wood and rock.
Finally, he had the audacity to tell me that they would pay top dollar for many things. Most of which were food!
I pointed out that we can't sell food, we're in the middle of a frozen wasteland. He told me where there's a will, there's a way. He also talked about the price of fish. Once again, I was forced to point out the logistical problem with fish and our situation.
I don't think he's a very clever man.

[LordNagash]

quote:Originally posted by Captain Mayday:
<STRONG>Yeah, it's force of habit I suppose?
Plus if the rule ever goes back in... well...</STRONG>

If the rule ever goes back in, dwarf kind will suddenly be facing tragedies on levels never seen before

[BurnedToast]

quote:Originally posted by Captain Mayday:
<STRONG>
Below, we have hollowed out our bedrooms. There is not enough wood for doors, so we keep privacy as reality permits.</STRONG>

But.... But I LIKE doors  

Also I giggle a little bit every time you mention She-axe.

By the way, the line about waking to find the liaison hovering over you was hilarious, because that's how I imagine it every time it happens. just standing there. watching you sleep.

[Xotes]

Hey, Why'd I forgoe training? Also, why are you so suspicous of me???

G-G-G-GASP!

[Captain Mayday]

Captains Log. Whenever.
The doors outside proved no resistance to the Skeletal Elk. They barged right in and kicked the daylights out of us.
We have decided to make ourselves more inaccessible to them. Without mechanisms, or the ability to make them, it will take some ingenuity.

** Also, Xotes, I basically couldn't spare you from farming.

[BurnedToast]

Did you forget to shut the doors tightly and/or lock them? I don't think skeletal elk are building destroyers so locked doors should keep them out unless it's changed from last version.

You could dig a channel though I guess that would keep the merchants out too. You could dig a channel and save a piece of wood to build a bridge when the traders come, then deconstruct it when they leave to keep us safe.

You could also just dig a quarry down past the aquifer, if it's freezing out that means the water will just freeze and then you can dig past it (be careful, if you mine out ice next to a wall it will fill with more ice, so leave an ice wall barrier between the open space and the real wall).

I hope by kicking the daylights out of us, you don't mean someone got killed or crippled  

[Captain Mayday]

Actually, I had to save scumm several times. On multiple occasions, everyone died. And the Elk didn't just come through the doors. They smashed them down then went on a rampage. Fortunately, we survived the most previous one.

So now what I have set up is a staircase each side. I deconstruct the stairs on my side when they are not in use.

[Captain Mayday]

Captains Log. 6th of Timber.
BurnedToast and myself were standing atop our wall today, surveying the nearby scene for possibilities for constructing a quarry. He suggested that, as it is freezing out, any water from the aquifer should freeze, thereby granting us passage below.

While we were there, we saw the oddest thing. A trail of dwarves coming towards us.
I wonder what they want...

Captain's Log. 6th of Timber
Migrants! Coming here!
They must all be completely mad. I can't imagine who would pick a place like this to live. In any case, I'll have to examine each and every one of them, see who I can use. The rest will have to work where needed. Waste not, want not.

From the tally so far, it appears we received the following:
1 Miner
1 Carpenter
1 Soap Maker
1 Potash maker
1 Engraver
1 Trapper
1 Metalsmith
1 Furnace Operator
1 Metalcrafter
1 Trapper
1 Weaver
1 Fish Cleaner
1 Cook
4 Good for nothing Peasants

1 Kitten
1 Mule

That's just great. I told them that they'd mostly be learning new trades. They grumbled a little but, hey, its cold outside.
Pity for them we really need that quarry.

A couple did strike my eye though. Here are their personality profiles, as examined by myself.

Personally I'm glad we also have some more people to work the farms. The more eyes on that questionable Xotes, the better!

At some point, we may also need one of the someone to actually, you know, make a weapon. Though I imagine hunting is a fairly pointless activity around here now, we may need to start shooting people at some point.

Edit: Counts were incorrect. Whoopsie.

[ November 14, 2007: Message edited by: Captain Mayday ]

[Captain Mayday]

Captains Log. 18th of Timber
Work on the quarry has progressed to the point where we now have several invalids. None of whom will die. Unfortunately this number includes myself.
I will recover quickly, as I always do, but we have a broken leg and the like. Useless layabouts, if you ask me.

In any case, having a ceiling fall on you is not fun. Nor is falling through one, plummeting a few stories. Note to self: Sand can still be hard.
We also need more beds. Our precious supply of wood dwindles every day.