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[Snugglebear]

Should have this taken care of by some time Monday evening if not earlier; today is fantasy baseball draft day for me and some friends from college.

I do hope Akroma can manage to wrangle a turn at some point.

First impression: Nice job so far.  I think that's going to fall into the chasm if it gets much bigger, but maybe I've just had bad luck with construction before now (which is bad news given that I will apparently be doing a lot of it!).  I will endeavor to enlarge things a bit.  Now, into character!

[ March 16, 2008: Message edited by: Snugglebear ]

[Snugglebear]

Journal of Avoz Uzolguz, Engineer

28th Granite:
"Welcome to Chambergrave!" is not exactly the sort of welcoming message a new Overseer wants to hear.  I'm told we are adhering to a divine mandate to construct a fortress within the local chasm; so shall it be done.

The good news, apparently, is that in the month before I arrived they managed to trade with the elves for some food, booze, and other supplies.  The bad news is that I was part of a group of about 20, including two children, and this fortress doesn't seem equipped to feed all of us.  Fortunately we brought along a large complement of fisherdwarves and I've sent them to the river.  Most of the other immigrants have been assigned to food-related tasks, or to masonry.  I've ordered the entry tunnel enlarged and am filling the expanded space with the surplus beds that were laid in by the last Overseer.

I'm concerned that my predecessor seems to have decided to try to build from the top of the hole downwards.  Past experience has shown me that this is not usually the way to go; perhaps his experience in carpentry has colored his judgment.  I am planning a system of supports and cantilevered construction, beginning near the nadir of the chasm, which should be a lot sounder from an architectural perspective than praying to Sirab.  I do have to admit that seems to have worked for the locals thus far, however.  Designs for project "We All Fall Down" are currently largely theoretical as the miners' labor is needed elsewhere.

22 Slate: Good news! The last of the chasm vermin has fallen to our marksdwarves, backed by the new swordsdwarves I equipped with weapons made of the local obsidian.  Work on the base for the fortress could be going better; we seem to be having some supply issues as far as obsidian goes.  I've rearranged some stockpiles.  A giant eagle has elected to roost in the chasm but so far has not caused any trouble.

22 Felsite: I've assigned the record-keeper an office (in the diggings that led to the death of the ratmen) and built several additional workshops outdoors.  Among them are a kennel and a second still.  I was startled to notice that Zan Febdeg, our animal trainer, had withdrawn from society following his work turning the mutts that the original immigrants brought with them into war dogs.  He seems to be building something harmless, however, so I am not terribly concerned...

13 Hematite: The humans have arrived, perhaps attracted by rumors of the legendary wooden bracelet that Zan turned out to be working on.  Rock crafts for food, booze, and a bin full of leather; nothing exciting here.  One of the new guards has died in a sparring accident; I've ordered him buried near our chasm home.  The four supports are being constructed: the west of Gabbro, east of Granite, and the North and South of Obsidian.  I set the miners to digging a path towards the magma; the south support seems a likely place to attempt to bring industrial magma into the fortress from.

A design note: I've improved on the construction scheme for corners devised by my predecessor: floor grates used as scaffolding offer sufficient support to construct a wall and can be removed once the task is done.  Waste not, want not.

Work continues.

14th Limestone: Yesterday there was a sudden outburst of snatchers and thieves near the farms.  There's not much of anything to steal there, so I am not too concerned.  My predecessor and Zan Febdeg have distinguished themselves by subduing several.  The damned things appear to have been saboteurs, however; a cavern collapse claimed a miner and a mason by means unclear.

The merchants from the mountainhomes have arrived, also without wagons; something needs to be done about the boulder-strewn expanse outside the gates if we want to profit much by trade.

26th Limestone: I've traded the thieves' goods for an anvil, some silk, and a good deal of meat; an offering to the king has been dispatched.  I requested picks and chainmail as it looks as though we won't have a forge any time real soon.

6th Sandstone: Our other woodcrafter has been posessed.  A disturbing trend, these spirits' need to work at wood carving instead of an honest trade like masonry.

17th Sandstone: A wooden crown was completed.  How useful.

3rd Timber: A marksdwarf arrived at the eastern outskirts of the fortress, leading a small band of immigrants.  Most were conscripted into the military or assigned to the farms, as their skills were not terribly useful.  We now number 47.

11th Timber: Miasma is rising from the chasm; some mysterious creature in the nether depths needs a bath.

9th Obsidian: Work goes well, though a minor collapse occured today after one of our masons got too ambitous about working with scaffolding.  She'll recover.  I've comissioned my memorial engraving; the most notable piece is a depiction of the giant eagle now roosting in our chasm.

26th Obsidian: I am prepared to hand the reins to the next in our line of rulers!  Here are some sketches of the current layout, with captions:

Our current status.  Note that we are short of booze but two stills are in operation at the moment and the situation should fix itself.

The base of what will surely be a glorious fortress.  Work did not go as fast as I would have liked, but these should be useful as both weight-bearing structures and stockpiles.  To the south, a fourth support is as yet incomplete because I intended it for a magma basin.  Whoever designs the forges can complete it.

In addition to a burying-ground and mine, the several supports are, or should be, attached to the lever pictured below.  While I was unable to complete Project "We All Fall Down" I am sure those that follow will understand the occasional necessity of dropping an entire fortress into the unfathomable abyss beneath for security reasons.

I am amazed that this hasn't fallen into the chasm yet but I have expanded it into a barracks.  I'd suggest that this level be used primarily for defensive constructions such as catapults (you'll find parts in the stockpile) and housing for soldiers.  A drawbridge reaching to the south end of the chasm wouldn't be a bad idea either.

[ March 17, 2008: Message edited by: Snugglebear ]

[NPComplete]

alt+printscreen to just take a pic of one window.  I have a graphics set installed (Dystopian Rhetoric, IIRC)

[Snugglebear]

Doesn't seem to be working out - I can't find screenshots saved anywhere after trying it.  I may have to export and crop when I get done.

[NPComplete]

Oh, right.  It would help if I gave you complete instructions!

alt+printscreen, then open something like mspaint and CTRL-V

[Snugglebear]

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=67

Year two is complete.  Rock out, Dopefish, and be sure to finish my "collapse the entire fortress" project so I can go back in adventure mode when we get done and knock this sucker down.

I'll hop back into the queue after NPComplete, and I renamed his narrator, and mine, to us, with "First/Second Overseer" for job titles.  Might as well hearken back to the legendary Boatmurdered.

[ March 17, 2008: Message edited by: Snugglebear ]

[Dopefish]

Alright, will hopefully have the first half of my turn done sometime tonight.

[Dopefish]

It's uploading to the file archive now.  Unfortunately my connection is being a little spazzy tonight, so whether it'll succeed or not remains to be seen.  Here's hoping.

EDIT:  And, here were are. http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=69

Also for your perusal, my diary of events taken throughout my turn.

-----------

Mafolmondul overseers' log for the year 1053.  Presiding officer, 'Dopefish' Elbelzefon.

Spring-Summer

1st Granite: Spring arrives on the calendar, and with it, rain.  It also brings a change in leadership, namely from the last bloke to me.  I'm not much of a dwarf for books, neither reading nor writing them, so I would appreciate it if my successor were to forgive me for being terse.

I spent most of my first day going over the plans and notes my immediate predecessor, 'Snugglebear' Uzolguz (with a nickname like that, they either got beat up a lot as a kid, or are utterly, utterly fearless) had made.  Intrigued by one particular project they mentioned an inordinate amount - the 'We All Fall Down' or WAFD project - I took a trip to the depths of what will one day be our permenant home.  In previous months, I had often wondered what the purpose of the lever on the top floor was, the one that seemed to menace with spikes of more and more mechanisms as the days wore on.  On seeing the flimsy looking pillars with corresponding mechanisms there in the depths, holding up the foundations of the fortress, my curiosity was not so much sated as violently quashed.  I've opted to avoid working on this particular project as much as possible during my reign, as I'd far rather forget I ever saw that lever and those pillars...

The rest of my predecessor's plans were fairly sane, however.  So I opted to continue construction of the foundations of the fortress, paying particular attention to the magma forges.  Also, so that traders can in future bring wagons to our fortress, I have set myself and my fellow masons the task of smoothing a path to our trade depot.  More on those in the days to come, I expect.

One final thought before I get to work.  We're disgustingly low on booze.  This is an issue which must be fixed.

2nd Granite

No sooner had I got out of bed today than that odd fellow, 'NPComplete' Bomrekostar rushed by, screaming at the top of their lungs about "inspiration" and a "dream project".  Fearing another WAFD, I retreated to the relative safety of the farms, only to be informed an hour or so later that NPComplete had claimed a carpenter's workshop, followed by gathering a pair of logs from the furthest corners of our territory.  This could be interesting, dangerous or, hopefully, both.

9th Granite

After some days working constantly, NPComplete emerged from the workshop holding aloft - with alarming ease, I should add - a palm door they called Kobelmasos Mengthulsavot.  I'm told by one of my more scholarly colleagues that this translates into the human tongue as "Summittalked the Inconsiderate Stance".  Ah, those wacky humans and their words.

Our booze situation is slowly improving, which is a start.  To expedite matters, I assigned a Potash maker I found sitting around picking their nose to the second most noble of all professions - brewing, of course.  As for myself and my cohorts over in the most noble of all professions, masonry, we've come to a compromise with the road building.  For now, we're just going to smooth over the worst of the boulders in the wagon's path.  Actually smoothing vast swathes of mountainside can come later.

11th Granite

The elves arrived today.  I'm rather hesitant to express happiness about this fact here, as I have noticed that more ambushes seem to take place when traders are around.  No doubt the kobolds and goblins just follow the elves up the garden path, so to speak.

13th Granite

...That was odd.  One of our miners suddenly stood bolt upright, dropped the box of goods he was hauling to the depot and announced he, Besmar Sakzulishlum and the Woodcutter Atir Isanrigoth were to be married immediately, and celebrations would commence at once in the dining room/living quarters.  Not one to turn down the offer of a party, I dropped the box of goods I was carrying, and wandered off to get my party on, as I believe the kids say.

18th Granite

Someone just told me a goblin appeared near the farm, then rapidly buggered off without nicking anything.  Just as well.  With Atir and Besmar's wedding celebrations still continuing, I'm in no fit state to do anything about it.

19th Granite

According to NPComplete, the elves came carrying a couple of woodwind instruments, a bunch of their own dirty laundry and more cloth than Armok himself would know what to do with.  We gave them some of our shiny carved pebbles for two bins of the stuff, and told them to be on their way.

??th Granite

i cAnt fEeeel mY bEArd______

1st Slate

Now that was a good party.  At least, I assume so.  It all went a bit hazy after they uncorked the 1011 Avuzshorast Swamp Whiskey, and Atir did that wonderful impression of a carp eating an elephant's head.  Good times.

Back to business. Now I can sort of, kind of see again
, I can tell that the first phase of our road building project is complete.  I set the engravers to work on part two, and then retreat to the depths of the fortress to lay down plans for the first floor above the foundation, which will - I hope - house the stockpiles.  It seems a little unsafe, keeping all our trinkets out front where the lungfish slobber all over them.  As we also seem to be running pretty low on raw stone, I ordered the excavation of parts of the cliff face near the entrance.  That should keep us in obsidian for the rest of my reign.

26th Slate

Some migrants arrived today!  We have, as follows:

1 Stoneworker
2 Metalsmiths
3 Peasants
1 Brewer
1 Clothier
1 Woodcutter
2 Children

That pushed our total population to 58.  Where they'll sleep I'm not sure, but apparently NPComplete has been churning out beds ever since I took over here, so that may be a part of it.  Also, apparently Besmar Sakzulishlum is now our Mayor.  Can't say I remember voting for him though.  To keep him quiet, I've ordered some rooms dug out from the cliffside for his (temporary) use.  He then hefted his pick and used it to carve the rooms out himself in about half a day.  Another person whose bad side I must stay away from.  I have to admit though, he was rather pushing his luck when he declared he'd use NPComplete's artifact door as the one to his personal quarters...

13th Felsite

Mayor-boy just banned all export of silver items.  Since I'm fairly sure we have none to export as of yet, this sits just fine with me.  Also today, after noticing just how tired NPComplete was looking after running back and forth across the site for wood all day, I designated a wood stockpile near to the workshops that need it.

Summer-Autumn

1st Hematite

All seems well here as summer arrives.  The path to our Depot is almost complete so we can finally get some hot wagon action, work has begun on what will eventually be the magma pond for the forges and everything is, in general, going quite swimmingly. Still got a good bit of booze around, and with the promotion of the first peasant I saw walking by to head cook, we may even reduce the number of barrels we need for all our food.

9th Hematite

Sweet spinning Armok on a stick!  An ambush!  Run for your lives!

13th Hematite

I need some time to collect my thoughts...  A lot happened in the past couple of days.

The humans arrived almost immediately after the goblins, bringing with them the wagons we had coveted.  Sadly, they didn't lend any military aid to the swirling melee breaking out nearby.  In the end, we lost two of our number.

The woodcrafter Besmar Ingizborush, creator of Ubas Arosh, was the first to fall.  She perished at the hands of a goblin lasher.  She leaves behind her husband and two daughters...  There's little more I can say about that.

In a fit of rage at the felling of his friend, the marksdwarf Amost Idenar charged forward ahead of his squad, his crossbow spitting bolts like... Well.  Something that spits a lot.  Like my father, I guess.  In any case, he went on without backup and slew three of the five goblin pikemen before being overwhelmed.  For a moment, it looked like he could have been saved, but just as the last spearman hit the ground with a bolt through their throat and the lasher that had been leading them fled for his worthless life, Amost breathed his last.  He is survived by his wife and infant son, both of whom were present on the battlefield when he was killed.  He will be sorely missed - nearly everyone in the military regarded him as a good friend.

This is somewhat depressing.  Hopefully the next entry will be a little more optimistic.

18th Hematite

So much for optimism.  No sooner had I put my quill down than another ambush arrived, this time with maces and a hammer.  This time, however, we were prepared and they were cut down effortlessly.  I took great joy in watching the recently widowed Ilral Akmammosus bludgeoning a wounded maceman to death, even still with her babe in arms.  That child is going to grow up very, very fast indeed...

With that behind us, we were finally able to trade with the humans.  I personally bought a sample of their iron, just to see how their smelting technique differs from our own.  The rest was mostly food, booze, cloth, leather and about seven anvils.  At some point in the future we're going to have one heck of a metalsmithing industry.

27th Hematite

Someone new has been elected mayor, and the first I knew of it was when they ordered us masons to build three statues.  I'd been rather preoccupied during the goblin attacks, so I hadn't even noticed his election campaign.  Zas Kedgoden is his name, and I think I remember him from way back in school.  Only vaguely though.  In any case, he got elected sometime around the time of the second goblin ambush.  As for his statues, I told him I'd get started on them as soon as I finished carving the coffins for those we lost in the siege.

At around the same time, more migrants arrived.

1 Armourer
1 Hunter
1 Peasant
1 Clothier
1 Puppy
1 Engineer
1 Lye maker
1 Cheese maker

I think I'm going to set a few of them to masonry duties. We need loads more rock blocks.  The hunter can go into the military to replenish the marksdwarf squad, and the peasant can join the wrestlers.  If the goblins step up this campaign, we're going to need many more, though.

10th Malachite

Seems we're a little behind on our burials, so I built another two coffins.  Now all who have died here are finally at rest.  Admittedly, their tomb is the same area as those peturbing pillars I mentioned earlier, so perhaps at rest is not entirely appropriate.

25th Malachite

So much for the peace I was hoping for after the traders left.  Endok Lolokost, one of our Armourers, has started running laps around the living quarters, insisting that he has the right workshop built for him.  Unwilling to lose anyone else this year, I ordered a magma forge built over the nearby magma pipe, so he could build whatever he has in mind this time.  Unfortunately, he didn't go and claim it.

17th Galena

Besmar Sakzulishlum, legendary miner has been pretty badly wounded by a fire imp attack after he tried to build a smelter in the desperate rush to figure out what our posessed armourer actually wants.

Autumn-Winter

1st Limestone

Huh.  Turns out he wasn't interested in the magma forge.  Just wanted a plain old coke fired one.  Guess there's no accounting for taste.  Here's hoping he gets everything he needs before he takes a turn for the worse.

12th Limestone

Dwarven caravan arrived, armourer nicked my iron bar and a gold bar and started working on whatever he's making, can't talk, gotta work.

17th Limestone

Got a bit more time to write now.  The military is on high alert this time - we're not going to be caught out by ambushers again.  That armourer finished his project.  Came out with an iron high boot he called Megidrerith Nazom Dakal.  Though since it was made out of human smelted iron, we think it more fitting to refer to it by its translated name - Slidechaos the Dreams of Skirting.  It means nothing to any of us, but it sounds stylish.  Looks it too.  Iron boot, encircled with bands of gold with a little picture of two oaks in iron.  Wouldn't mind having that for myself, especially after NPComplete valued it at somewhere in the region of 65,000 Money.

As for the work on the fortress, that was kind of why I didn't have time to write last time.  I was trying to get caught up on the various projects I've started and not quite finished due to one thing or another. My negligence here has at least allowed our stockpiles of blocks
to flourish.  We've got a truly massive amount now.  Thankfully, the project I have nearly finished is one quarter of the indoor stockpile.  I think putting the blocks there is probably the best place for them.

6th Sandstone

Remembered the caravan was still there, so traded some of our crap for theirs.  Given that they took a whole lot of goblin and kobold junk, I think we came off much better than them.

21st Timber

Work is going well on the magma reservoir for the forges.  Might even be finished before my reign ends.  In the meantime, I've commissioned my engravings.  I'll write again in a few days to state what they turn out as.

25th Timber

Engravings are done.  Nothing too terribly interesting, so I won't note here what they are - the truly curious can look at the third row of engravings from the entrance.  I guess this is what I get for doing them on the cheap.

Winter-Spring

1st Moonstone

Winter has arrived.  I'm quite looking forward to getting a break after all this work.  In case any future overseer is reading this, I'd rather like a posting where I can talk to folk a lot.  Y'know, make a lot of friends.  It'd be nice.

4th Moonstone

Gods, I knew this wouldn't end easily.  Two dwarves - a fisherdwarf and stonecrafter - just got killed by a fire imp wandering far from its vent.  Thankfully, a wrestler was passing by and managed to break its neck before it could hurt anyone else.  I just pray that the rest of my time here is quiet.

15th Moonstone

Another day, another posession. A stoneworker this time.  What is it with this place?

19th Moonstone

He claimed a mason's workshop, unsurprisingly.  Also, the mayor asked nicely for another statue to be built, so I obliged.  Please and thank you go a long, long way.  As do simple mandates...

22nd Moonstone

After grabbing two sets of silver nuggets, some camel leather, kobold bones, silk cloth and logs, he's working on something.  I'll keep you posted.

26th Moonstone
A silver cabinet!  It even menaces with silver spikes, my favourite!

8th Opal

As the final touches were put to it some time ago, I decided to actually make use of the storeroom I built in the first floor of the tower.  Not for stone as I earlier said, but for food - after all, at the moment if the goblins come in force, we have nothing inside to weather a siege with.  The next overseer should probably see about moving farming into the chasm full time, using the surface stream for irrigation.  Providing some more chasm based accommodation would be a good idea too.

30th Opal

The forge area is as finished as it's going to get without molten rock to fuel it.  That's a job for an overseer far more skilled than I, I'm afraid...  I keep getting nightmare visions of activating the magma flow and having it bubble up through the base of the forges.  I'm sure someone more intelligent and less suspicious than me would be able to set me right on that, though.

1st Granite

And with spring rolling back around, it's time for me to rest.  Best of luck to the next person to try to run this madhouse.

------------

I'd rather like to get back in the queue for another turn.  That was fun.

[ March 18, 2008: Message edited by: Dopefish ]

[Snugglebear]

quote:
I spent most of my first day going over the plans and notes my immediate predecessor, 'Snugglebear' Uzolguz (with a nickname like that, they either got beat up a lot as a kid, or are utterly, utterly fearless) had made.  Intrigued by one particular project they mentioned an inordinate amount - the 'We All Fall Down' or WAFD project - I took a trip to the depths of what will one day be our permenant home.  In previous months, I had often wondered what the purpose of the lever on the top floor was, the one that seemed to menace with spikes of more and more mechanisms as the days wore on.  On seeing the flimsy looking pillars with corresponding mechanisms there in the depths, holding up the foundations of the fortress, my curiosity was not so much sated as violently quashed.  I've opted to avoid working on this particular project as much as possible during my reign, as I'd far rather forget I ever saw that lever and those pillars...

The rest of my predecessor's plans were fairly sane, however.  So I opted to continue construction of the foundations of the fortress, paying particular attention to the magma forges.  Also, so that traders can in future bring wagons to our fortress, I have set myself and my fellow masons the task of smoothing a path to our trade depot.  More on those in the days to come, I expect.

I am disappointed in you, but at least you've got the forges going and a road built.  I'll have more Overseer Emeritus feedback tomorrow, perhaps, if I get around to DLing the save.

[Dopefish]

quote:Originally posted by Snugglebear:
<STRONG>

I am disappointed in you, but at least you've got the forges going and a road built.  I'll have more Overseer Emeritus feedback tomorrow, perhaps, if I get around to DLing the save.</STRONG>

Yeah, sorry about that.  The real, out of character reason for not continuing the project during my turn was that I didn't want to mess the whole thing up.  Granted, that's rather the point of a succession fortress, but, damnit, I want to see a fortress full of dwarves disappear into the chasm at the pull of a single lever.

[ March 18, 2008: Message edited by: Dopefish ]

[ March 18, 2008: Message edited by: Dopefish ]

[Snugglebear]

quote:Originally posted by Dopefish:

Yeah, sorry about that.  The real, out of character reason for not continuing the project during my turn was that I didn't want to mess the whole thing up.  Granted, that's rather the point of a succession fortress, but, damnit, I want to see a fortress full of dwarves disappear into the chasm at the pull of a single lever.

No sweat.  Basically it is down to just continuing to dig that z-level out pretty widely around the chasm and putting in enough supports that it doesn't QUITE fall down... and then hooking them all to the "do not pull" lever. ;p

[ March 19, 2008: Message edited by: Snugglebear ]

[Kogan Loloklam]

Ya, he's a coward  

If Nahkh doesn't finish it, I will, no worries. Then I'll do something insane of my own. Good thing the physics of this game doesn't register weight properly, because I'm sure whatever the support on the bottom, it isn't enough to hold up a real life structure.

[Snugglebear]

quote:Originally posted by Kogan Loloklam:
<STRONG>Ya, he's a coward  

If Nahkh doesn't finish it, I will, no worries. Then I'll do something insane of my own. Good thing the physics of this game doesn't register weight properly, because I'm sure whatever the support on the bottom, it isn't enough to hold up a real life structure.</STRONG>

No kidding.  I STILL don't know how the level NPComplete started is staying up;  something weird is going on there.  As far as the stuff I built, it's going to be sort of ridiculous once the burial cavern / fallaway supports are all done (and things go on top), but for the moment it's at least vaguely plausible in my opinion, though you couldn't build it without cranes and scaffolding.

I think the whole fortress qualifies as an insane project, really, though if you're more willing to stick two dozen people on masonry than we have been thus far (though I bet it's getting close) it would probably go quicker.  If you want a REALLY crazy project, I have a couple of ideas I might try once this thing is airtight.  Think steam.

[Kogan Loloklam]

Actually I can come up with insane ideas on my own, thank you very much.

And yes, when it comes to major projects, especially large construct projects, I am willing to do what it takes. The only reason I WOULDN'T have everyone on masonry is because I want something in particular that requires me to not do such. However, since I am getting it so late in the fortress, Food and Drink system should be pretty stable. We'll see what I do when I get it.

[Snugglebear]

Didn't think you would come up short on crazy ideas.  Just had one or two that seemed particularly cool to me.

Having taken a tour of the fort at the beginning of 1054 just now, I have some concerns about the construction of that magma chamber.  Someone who knows more about which stones melt and which don't would have a better idea if that's a safe set of materials to have used... and it really shouldn't be open to the main stairwell, though I bet you were going to fix that.

Our fort is actually wider than the chasm at several points along its expanse, including the next z-level up from what Dopefish has done such a good job with.  The place looks great, but something will have to be done about that; we might need more miners.

Armok's bloody nails, that is a lot of booze.