To my great relief, we have successfully moved all equipment underground into a large hall, which will suit our purposes for the moment. It required quite a bit of hauling, but the distance was shortened due to a staircase in the middle of the hall which came out right to our wagon. After everything was carried down, Dresdor built up a wall where the staircase used to be. It is now nearly impossible to see the old entrance from the surface. Agercus may not be good with paperwork, but he certainly does well with fortress design. Even though this space is quite massive, it is only a temporary home, as we will tunnel further in order to hide ourselves from the goblins. However, we will try to keep an entrance open as long as possible, in case any other unfortunate souls happen upon this place.
Stocks remain high: we have over 130 logs and enough food and drink to last us at least another year, if not longer.
On a personal note, I was quite pleased by this location, as it is home to the incredibly useful feather tree. Being a carpenter by nature, I cut down as many as possible near our entrance; they have all been transferred inside, and I can’t wait to change them into something incredibly useful. Light weight bucklers are a possibility, but I will have to see to that later. I definitely want more experience in carpentry before I attempt to work with such a valuable wood.
It has been two months since my last entry. In that time, we all have been very busy carving out a suitable living space for the seven of us. We now have a food area which will hopefully be enough to sustain us for quite some time. It includes a small field, a kitchen, and a still. Agercus has taken it upon himself to be our farmer, brewer, and cook. It may be quite a load, but he seems able to handle it. The rest of us have begun hauling all the food from our temporary hall into the new pantry, next to the kitchen.
Thurin Oilspit has come up with an interesting idea for a trap. It assumes that the destructive nature of the goblins will rule out their common sense (if indeed they have any.) It’s quite simple, really. Place a weak-looking pillar in open ground, and let it support a heavy roof, made of stone. The goblins will hopefully destroy the pillar, which will then cause a cave in, on top of the fool’s heads. It sounds like a good idea to me, and he and Dresdor have begun constructing it in an out of the way place. We won’t willingly reveal our exact location, simply to try out a trap design.
Stocks remain nearly the same. Food is holding out well, and we still have over 130 logs of wood, though I used up some for the seven beds we needed.
Incidentally, we still don’t have private bedrooms. It is rather disappointing, but we do have a decent barracks where we all sleep. At least we don’t have to sleep in the dirt anymore. Best of all, we have a very nice dining room; it certainly does wonders for moral around here. Arkaim has done a very nice job at smoothing the floors, and the furniture by Dresdor isn’t too bad either. Speaking of Dresdor, I feel it necessary to note that he has become quite obsessed with the idea that we should have statues in the dining room. While I can’t say I disapprove of the idea, there certainly are more important things to be doing now, aren’t there?
18th of Malachite, 1051
We had our token of bad luck today. A thief was sighted far out near the local chasm. I consider it fortuitous that it was not discovered by us, but instead by a giant bat, a resident of the chasm to our south-east. The kobold didn’t stand a chance. He (or perhaps she, we couldn’t tell from our distance) was nigh instantly ripped apart. For some odd reason, Dresdor and Thurin wanted to go out and collect the deceased’s belonging. Why would you risk your life for a copper dagger and a dirty leather loincloth? Agercus agreed with my logic and forbid them to go outside.
Originally, I had thought that this area would be particularly dangerous, what with the cave “Vomitscars, The Depths of Attics” (don’t ask), a chasm open to the surface, and a magma pipe filled with fire imps likely as not. There was also rumors that the hydra Oñec Ocgiebbak, ( Oñec Guardbranded in the common tounge, named for the scar given to her by a human guard whom she devoured) was seen in this area. However, the local monsters have given us no grief, and provide a suitable means of detecting sneaking enemies. I can only hope that the Enders do not drive them out, only to discover us hiding in their midst. Then again, perhaps a hydra would be able to kill at least one Ender.
12th of Galena, 1051
Another kobold was spotted today. This one got close enough to see the entrance to our new home. He was discovered by our faithful donkey which we have tied at the entrance. I can only hope that he does not tell of this discovery to the goblins, but even they have a hard time finding hidden kobold caves. Still, it is troublesome to know that two kobolds have visited us within a month. Perhaps they already knew?
1st of Limestone, 1051
We have finally finished the secondary living area. It is connected to the first by a long tunnel. Agercus had the brilliant idea of fooling the goblins into thinking that we had abandoned this place. At nearly the end of the tunnel, we dug out a small tomb and filled it with coffins. A wall was placed next to the tomb, and can be sealed up the moment we hear the mule’s death screams at the hands of the green menace. The goblins will move down the tunnel, only to find an abandoned cavern with a tunnel that leads to a tomb. With any luck, they will assume that most were killed off, and the rest left. There’s only one problem; the coffins will be empty.
Supplies are still plentiful. There has been no wood use, there remains plenty of fish, and our first crop of plump helmets was harvested over the past week.
Agercus is becoming a competent planter, which oddly enough, is better than most of his other skills. Still, I should not belittle him; he is our leader, and a good one at that. I’ve been closeted in my small office off of the kitchens, keeping track of our stocks, but I’m sure he’s still doing a good job. Dresdor is still rather interesting, though. He set up a new mason’s workshop in the dining room. He says it will help clear out the loose stones lying about. Personally, I have no problem with a few rocks, but the statues Dresdor has been making would make a nice addition to our fortress.
25th of Limestone, 1051
Wonderful news: a trade caravan has found its way to our doors! They have brought all sorts of wonderful goods, including anvils! Now, we might be able to set up some semblance of a smithing operation. Also, it will be wonderful to have some new faces in our fortress. Our population has doubled overnight, and the new goods are worth about half our fortress. This is possibly the best news we have had in our time here at Adilmezum.
On a personal note, I find that there is a true beauty among the merchants, by the name of Tulon Staigazkikrost. I wasn’t much for socializing back home, but I think I’ll try to talk to her. Maybe we’ll have something in common? I hope so, she is extremely attractive. As she walks about, unloading her goods, I can’t help but stare at her graceful movements. Her eyes…
My apologies, these are official documents, and here I am rambling like a love-stricken youth.
2nd of Sandstone, 1051
I can’t believe it. I went to talk with the merchants today, only to find them preparing to pack up and leave. I tried to convince them to stay. If they leave, it is almost certain that the Enders will find and kill them. I told them as much, but they just shrugged it off. Evidently, they had never seen an Ender army.
The seven of us got together for a meeting in the dining hall. It was decided that we cannot allow the merchants to leave, for their own safety. Therefore, our drawbridge (compliments of Thurin) was raised, forcing them to stay. Simply put, we will make them stay, whether they like it or not. We simply cannot abandon them to the horrors of the Enders. Their deaths would be on our hands if they were slaughtered after we allowed them to go. This is a place of safety, a refuge for all dwarves, and Armok dammit, we will keep them safe!
3rd of Sandstone, 1051
I went to talk with the merchants again today. Apparently, they were quite angry at us for closing off the exit. I explained to them our reasoning. They didn’t listen, and said that we were keeping them prisoners. Fools! We are keeping them alive. I guess they don’t appreciate that. I told them that we would keep them here as long the Enders are still around. That may be forever, but at least we will be alive.
12th of Sandstone, 1051
Yet another thief was sighted today. This one was discovered and devoured by Oñec the hydra. A more gruesome death I couldn’t imagine. Ripped apart to shreds by the seven pairs of teeth. Again, Dresdor and Thurin wanted to go and get the foul creature’s belongings, and again, Agercus forbid them from doing so. Not that they could get out anyways, the drawbridge is up.
I must say that I commend Thurin for such a fine drawbridge. The bridge, when raised, is designed to look like part of the rock wall’s face. If I had not known where it was, I seriously doubt I would have noticed the fine crack which runs along its side. There’s also a ditch which the bridge crosses when down. It was badly planned, because the ditch had fallen directly into our original hall. However, the area open to sunlight was walled off, and by now looks like a simple muddy ditch. Hopefully, these measures will be enough to fool the goblins into leaving us alone. Though it hasn't worked against the kobolds...
10th of Timber, 1051
There was a ruckus in the opening hall today. One of the merchants snapped and went berserk. The others quickly put him down. I guess the tomb will not have to be fake after all. It is a sad day in our fortress.
I’m worried about the mental state of affairs for our newest members. Several of the animals seemed to have gone stark raving mad, and poor Tulon, the merchant I had been smitten with, has been stricken by meloncoly. She won’t eat, and will only drink a little of the booze we give her. I fear that her time on this earth is short.
I talked to Agercus about letting them go, but he was adamant; he said that we mustn’t allow them to choose their own destruction. When I told him that I thought they wouldn’t last much longer, he said that that was their choice. Even though this is rather conflicting logic, I will go along with him for now. Still, it saddens my heart to see a dwarf maiden waste away like that…
[ June 10, 2008: Message edited by: Frelock ]
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Topic: Adilmezum, Flight from Evil (Community Fortress) (Read 3898 times)