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[Keldor]

Kulettögum, or Abbeyverse is a fort built beside a carp filled river, at the location where Joyous Wilds, Untamed Wilderness, and a Terrifying region all join.

Come lead this fort for a year, where even worse than the carp, the many saltwater crocodiles and alligators drag war dogs and dwarves to their watery dooms, and even hunt the occasional ogre before being chased back into the river by the herds of elephants!  Or watch in awe as the occasional giant leopard or giant tiger stalks past.

Most importantly, ensure that Abbeyverse maintains its trade lanes, for it shall one day be the provider of salt for the entire dwarf nation!

Turn list:
1.)Keldor (Planting Seeds)
2.)Kazindir (Mandating Armor Stands)
3.)Squeegy (Devoured by Carp)
4.)Jools (Drowned in Waterfall Accident after Retirement)
5.)dresdor (Updating Records)
6.)GeneralValter (Sucked into Quicksand - Barely Rescued in time)

Turn list (second round):
1.)Kazindir (Requires 3 Short Swords)
2.)Keldor (Simple Farmer, Recently Executed for Failing to Make Something or Other)
3.)Jools (Impersonating Nobles)
4.)Aardvark (Struck by Lightning!)
5.)Omega2 (Standing on Bridge Pondering the Appropriate Price for *a large *)
6.)Sheb (postponed)

Turn list (third round):
1.)Kazindir (Putting Finishing Touches on Dwarf Drowning Chamber, or "Swimming Pool", later struck down in battle!)
2.)Keldor (Awaiting results from the carp trap)
3.)Maggarg (In his burrow, muttering about young dwarves' music with rocks)
4.)Zerox (Never arrived - I blame the carp)
5.)Jools (Hiding evidence that he ever lead the fort, just in case the Queen arrives)
6.)Omega2 (Being torn apart by carp - in slow motion!)
7.)ChazzyBurger (Assassinated by goblin hacker)
8.)Christes (His caravan was so delayed he didn't arrive until two years AFTER his leadership ended!)

Turn List (Round 4):
1.)Kazindir (Trying to retrieve as many items from the moat as possible before it fills up again)
2.)Maggarg (To busy mopping to be of any particular help)
3.)Keldor (Inspecting Foundations)
4.)Jools (Mandating large gems)
5.)Dresdor (Killed by goblins while retrieving socks for Jools)
6.)Brendan (His caravan never arrived.  Perhaps they fled into hiding upon hearing that they were to be sent to Abbeyverse?)
7.)rucksackjack (Celebration of his arrival was cut short when he fell into the moat and drowned.)

Turn List (Round Five)
1.)Kazindir (Being praised by the King Consort for his wonderful vaulted basement for the abbey)
2.)Maggarg (Napping)
3.)Keldor (postponed)

Turn List (Round Six)
1.)Kazindir (Doing mechanic work, whilst another mechanic keeps interrupting to have a meeting about the scarcity of mechanic jobs)
2.)Keldor (Calibrating Intruder Sorter)
3.)raptor (Never Arrived)
4.)Maggarg (Caught in endless time loop, reliving the (quite boring) month of Granite, 1070 over and over again.)
5.)Heliman (Heliman cancels turn:  too insane.  Heliman has gone stark raving mad.)

Turn List (Round Seven)
1.)Kazindir (Overseeing half of the dwarves tearing down walls, while the other half build new ones.)
2.)Keldor (current mismanager)
3.)Maggarg
4.)Weeaboo
5.)

Given the current size of the fort, turns typically take 1-2 months to complete.  However, we do expect updates at least weekly when it's your turn, so we know you haven't fallen off the edge of the world.

[Keldor]

I've finished my turn, and will post and write it up from my notes likely tomorrow.  It's gotten too late tonight.

[Kazindir]

I'll take a turn.  

[Kagus]

So, what's the deal?  Are you selling salt blocks or something?  Sounds fun, but how many can you load onto a caravan in order to make a somewhat reasonable transaction?

Would be fun if you could mill rock salt, but that hasn't exactly been implemented.

[Deon]

You can make a salt from in in a smelter =).

[Squeegy]

I'll join up.

[Keldor]

Well, the salt mine part is abstracted right now, unfortunately.  I guess we'll just have to sell crafts made from rock salt.

Anyway, I'm finishing writing up my turn right now and will post it a season at a time over the next hour or so.

[Keldor]

Prologue:

Excerpts from the journal of Ĺblel "Keldor" Isoscatten, First Expedition Leader and Founder of Kulettögum.

What follows is an account of the year beginning at Granite 1st, 1051, and ending at Obsidian 28th, 1051, as well as significant events leading up to this year.

12th Sandstone, 1050:

It seems that I will finally escape this wretched hole, for I have been selected as one of the 15 able bodies dwarves to go on the expedition to found a salt mine far to the south.  While labouring in a salt mine may not be the most attractive of professions, it certainly beats a life spent hauling stone.  We are set to leave sometime next month.

9th Timber, 1050:

We have spent the last month training, but now at last, we have begun packing what supplies we will need on our journey and beyond.  One of our number, a cook, fell sick and will not be able to travel with us.  Poor lass.  I hope she finds a place in another expedition, especially after how hard she worked training with us.

16th Timber, 1050:

And we're off!  I have, however, found some new doubts about this expedition.  While our weapon training for the last month seemed perfectly reasonable, given the inherent dangers of any sort of travel, something happened as we left the gates that has me more than a little worried.  We have been joined by a war dog keeper, as well as his very large pack of
dogs.  I can only wonder why we'll need so many, but one thing I know for certain is that we wouldn't have been sent with so many if there wasn't the expectation of trouble.

3rd Opal, 1050:

Our journey goes well, although our number is down to 13, as two of us fell sick along the way, and had to be left behind at a couple of the dwarven settlements we passed.  Even though it is the dead of winter, the weather is not so severe this far south.  In fact, we only have been hit by frost once, and that was half a month ago!  Our leader says that we are likely halfway to our destination, so we should arrive there before the spring.  Here's hoping that the rest of our journey is this uneventful!

27th Opal, 1050:

Today we were ambushed by goblins, seeking to raid our wagons of their goods.  Or at least, I think that was the idea.  Truth is, the war dogs literally tore them to pieces, only sustaining minor injuries in the process.  I think we will be quite able to overcome any further trouble that lies in store for us.

23rd Obsidian, 1050:

We have arrived at the last village before we enter into the wilds enroute to our destination.  Upon hearing of our destination, many of the villagers gave us strange looks and made signs against evil.  At last, however, upon showing the villagers the weaponry we had packed, and the war dogs that will protect us, they agreed to see us to the ferry over the river, 2 days travel further south.  Beyond that we are on our own.  I, along with several others of our party, tried asking some of the villagers what the matter is with the lands further south, but they answered us only with silence and fearful looks.  In any case, it is too late to turn back now.

25th Obsidian, 1050:

The ferry has turned out to be little more than a raft, but it will have to do.  We will have to make several trips across, since it is not big enough to carry us and our two wagons.  On the first trip, only 3 dwarves and the war dogs will cross.  Next, I and 4 others will cross along with the first wagon.  Next, 3 of us will cross with the other wagon.  Finally, the last two, including the dog keeper, will cross with the livestock.  I suppose the dog keeper is with them instead of his dogs because he thinks the livestock will need more supervision than the dogs.  In any case, the villagers have left us, warning not to fall in the water.  The water looks peaceful enough - I wonder what the danger is?

[ April 26, 2008: Message edited by: Keldor ]

[Keldor]

Spring:

1st Granite, 1051:

This is the first time I have had the chance to record in my journal.  It appears that I am now leader of our new outpost, Kulettögum, or Abbeyverse in the common tounge.  Perhaps I should start by recounting the disaster of the last three days.

It all started with the ferry trip across the river.  The first two had been finished without incident, but halfway through the third trip, the raft struck a stone, causing the wagon to slip from its restraints and start rolling.  The dwarves on board were unable to stop it before the shift in weight flipped the raft and sent the wagon, along with half of our supplies, to the bottom.  Perhaps things would have still turned out alright, as the three dwarves poped back up to the surface, already shouting and argueing about how to recover the sunken supplies.  Perhaps we could have even recovered some of them, and stopped the raft from floating away down the river, perhaps...

But it was not to be, for at that moment, the carp struck.

I will never forget how the water roiled, stained red with blood.  Nor will I forgot the screams of those pool souls, their calls for help that would not, could not come as the carp ripped the flesh from their bones.  Oh, how those moments will live on in my nightmares for untold time to come, until that day when I too meet Armok.  And how, even worse than the screams, the silence followed, broken only by the murmer of the reddened river as it carried shreads of cloth and bone away.

But for now we are stranded here, with much of our supplies lost.  The remaining dwarves on the far bank ran away back to the village, bringing the livestock with them, but I cannot blame them, for I fear that I too would have done the same, had I not been on the far side of the river.

Left with only a wagon, two beasts of burden, and the dogs, the rest of us, eight in number, struck out along the river bank, hoping to find some way back across.  Perhaps the raft washed ashore on our side of the river, or even that we may find a bridge.

Alas, we had no such luck.  On the second day, we discovered the raft, stuck between some rocks jutting out from the middle of the river.  Our attempts to snag a rope across it and drag it back to shore were cut short by the arrival of several alligators, which pulled one of our number into the river before we could respond.  She will be missed sorely.  In our hurried retreat, we lost the rope, as well as some other supplies, and because no one would volunteer to risk the run back to retrieve them, we were forced to continue without.

By the third day, we could go no further.  The wagon was stuck in a particularily nasty mud hole, and we were all exhausted in any case.  I proposed that we stop here and dig in, so that we could rest and regain strength to one day escape this place.  To my surprise, the other dwarves agreed with this, and asked me how best we might go about this.  I suggested that we dig down until we hit rock, and then to mine out some bedrooms, as well as places for workshops and a place to farm, so that we don't starve.  The other dwarves agreed, and it seems that I am to be their leader in this.  I pray that I will have the wisdom not to fail them.

9th Granite, 1051:

We have struck rock, and to our delight, it is rich with rock salt!  Perhaps we have not failed in our expedition after all!  Moreover, one of the miners has reported hitting a vein of lignite, which may serve us well in metal crafting, assuming we ever replace our anvil, which was lost during the carp disaster.

27th Granite, 1051:

The miners have struck a stone known as Sylvite, which has a nice golden luster to it.  While I don't know of any particular use for it, I have suggested that we dig a dining room in the body of this stone, where we might safely eat and socialize at the end of the day.

11th Slate, 1051:

Unib Rakustzim, one of our farmers, has sighted elephants!  With these bloodthirsty pachyderms about, it truely is our best hope to dig in until an army is sent to rescue us.

14th Slate, 1051:

Atír ďngizlimâr, one of our miners, discovered the remains of one of our war dogs near the river.  Judging by what's left of it, I think one of the alligators must have got it.  Thankfully, it didn't take me telling the rest of us to stay away from the river - they already know full well of its perils.

24th Slate, 1051:

Another dead dog turned up.  Apparently the alligators had another meal at our expense.

1st Felsite, 1051:

Another of our dogs is now dead.  This time, I personally witnessed the creature that killed it.  It was no mere alligator, but a huge saltwater crocodile!  Even if we had that raft again, I wouldn't dare cross the river now.  That thing could flip a raft with the flick of its tail!

4th Felsite, 1051:

Some more elephants have been sighted across the river.  Truely this place is a seat of nightmares!

18th Felsite, 1051:

As if the elephants weren't bad enough, now a pack of ogres has moved in a short ways downstream of us!  Hopefully if we stay well away from them, they won't notice us.  Otherwise, we could be in for even more trouble.  In any case, I've declared that no one is to go anywhere without at least two war dogs accompanying them.

24th Felsite, 1051:

As I stood watch not far from the river early this morning, I noticed two of those evil carp down in the water right by the shore, staring out at me.  Surely this place is cursed!

I'm taking a break from writing for now - it's taking longer than I expected, and the rest of the year only gets more eventful!

[ April 26, 2008: Message edited by: Keldor ]

[Keldor]

Summer:

10th Hematite, 1051:

Those ogres are getting a little close for comfort.  I've ordered a large cavern dug out so we have have stone to build a wall.

11th Hematite, 1051:

One of those crocodiles tore an arm off of one of the ogres before the other two finished it off, and even those ones appear to be wounded!  Perhaps the wall needs to protect against the river instead!

12th Hematite, 1051:

I caught Dodók Dodókkir, our bookkeeper and carpenter, trying to retrieve the torn off arm of the wounded ogre.  Now, I know that I've said we needed bones, but the ogres are still there!  I've forbidden anyone going near it.

21st Hematite, 1051:

Armok save us!  Another crocodile tore apart one of the less wounded ogres and is now charging toward the other two!  Amazingly enough, the one with its arm torn off still seems to be alive.  I also had to stop Endok Monangbesmar, our mechanic and mason, from running off to take the dead ogre's body.  He was muttering something about bait.  I don't think I even want to know what for.

3rd Malachite, 1051:

Today I discovered our spare axe, covered with rust, and left exactly where it had been laid when we dissassembled the wagon for spare wood!  Apparently, despite the elephants, the carp, the alligators, the crocodiles, or even the ogres, Dodók thought that it wasn't important enough to bother bringing inside out of the elements!  Well, it's inside now at any rate, and I am having Dodók personally strip off all the rust, sharpen and polish it.  Maybe he'll gain some sense.  Then again, he WAS the one that tried to bring back that ogre's arm.

9th Malachite, 1051:

I've just recieved report that our camal has been killed by an alligator.  Poor thing must have strayed too far from our "cave".

14th Malachite, 1051:  

After nearly a month of his pestering, I've told Endok, the mechanic, that it's safe to retrieve the ogre corpse now.  I still can't imagine what he wants it for, though.

18th Malachite, 1051:

One of the crocodiles was bold enough to try to attack a dwarf right in plain sight of our front entrance!  I'm sure that Unib Rakustzim, our brewer, will think twice before going anywhere near the river from now on, after the crocodile chased him several hundard feet before his war dogs caught up and killed the thing.  Alas, however, one of the dogs was killed, and both of the other two sustained injuries in the fight.

20th Malachite, 1051:

One of the two dogs just has a nasty gash on its tale, but it should recover.  The other, however, lost a leg in the battle.  Endok has volunteered to help take care of the wounded dogs, and I've ordered everyone else to do what they can for them as well.  At least one of us owes the dogs their life; if we lose too many dogs, we could be in serious trouble.

4th Galena, 1051:

After that crocodile attack, I've decided that it's time to begin construction of the wall in earnist.  Well will start with the section of wall to the north to defend from the river.

13th Galena, 1051:

I can only conclude that Endok is an idiot.  Watching him work, I can't help but notice that as he works on building the wall, that should one of his war dog escorts decide to stand on the foundation, he will just stand there with a vacant expression on his face.

28th Galena, 1051:

One of our war dogs has given birth to puppies!  Perhaps our dog population is not doomed after all.  I hope it is a sign of a brighter future.

[ April 26, 2008: Message edited by: Keldor ]

[Keldor]

Autumn:

1st Limestone, 1051:

Two more of the dogs have given birth!  With any luck, we'll have a whole new generation of war dogs to protect us.  Speaking of which, perhaps it's a good idea to delve deeper and hope we find some ore to make weapons, assuming of course that we can ever replace our anvil.

1st Limestone, 1051:

We heard a horrible bellow this afternoon.  After running outside to see what was the matter, we found the last remaining unwounded ogre in the process of being torn apart by not only a crocodile, but also an alligator!  It seems the two species have formed an unholy alliance.  Time to hasten the construction of the wall.

6th Limestone, 1051:

Upon inspection of our seven new puppies, I noticed something that might be a bad omen of times to come.  All seven of them are males.

7th Limestone, 1051:

More puppies!  At least one of them is finally female.

17th Limestone, 1051:

The dwarven merchants have arrived, and what's more, they somehow managed to get their wagons through the thick forest!  I must order what goods our crafter has made brought up at once!  It won't be much, however, since there was doubt that they would even find us after the carp incident.

22nd Limestone, 1051:

The merchants brought with them the slain corpse of an ogre that they said they had found with both its legs broken and missing an arm.  Apparently our ogre had managed to survive all summer despite these greivous injuries!  It's no wonder that ogres have such a ferocious reputation.

3rd Sandstone, 1051:

Atír ďngizlimâr, one of our miners, was ambushed by a crocodile and slain nearly instantly.  This despite the fact she was a trained wrestler, and armed with a nasty pickaxe.  She will be missed.  I've forbidden anyone going near the area, since that crocodile is still there.  I hope we will be able to recover his body one day.  In any case, we've dubbed the crocodile Azinögred, or Watchswamps.

5th Sandstone, 1051:

The traders had remarkably few items of use.  Our hopes for aquiring an anvil were dashed since they only brought a pair of steel anvils which they wanted to sell at a exorburent price.  However, we did manage to aquire some cave lobster, renownd for its useful shell, as well as a steel pick for Dôbar Libashtathur, our remaining miner, with the hope that he will be able to better defend himself than poor Atír.

6th Sandstone, 1051:

Today, Endok pulled me over to show me something.  Obliging the poor halfwit, I discovered to my great dismay two elephants trapped in cages barely large enough to hold them!  The mechanic then proceeded to ask me if he could tame them, and keep them to defend the fortress, and I must confess that I was too speachless to tell him no, my mind being as it was filled with images of bloodthristy pachyderms smashing their way out of the cages, before he thanked me and scurried off.  Armok, preserve us!

7th Sandstone, 1051:

There's been a hitch in our wall plan - a small pond lies where the wall needs to go!  I've decided that it should be drained into a underground reservoir, and used in a reserve in case we ever run out of booze, since the river is far too dangerous to drink from.  The wall will then be built across the bottom.

3rd Timber, 1051:

Imagine my surprise when Endok led an elephant right into my bedroom!  Amazingly enough, it made no attempt to tear down the door, eat me or the mechanic, or even try to blast its way out of the fort!  Rather, it just stood there, docile as our muskox!  It seems that somehow Endok really did manage to tame it.  I just don't understand it...

10th Timber, 1051:

It seems that the rest of the elephant herd has arrived at our gate.  Perhaps they want their friends back.  Oh, Endok, what have you done?

10th Timber, 1051:

Endok, seeing the elephants, actually ran outside and attemped to shoo them off.  What's more, they left without further incident!  That mechanic is either the luckiest dwarf ever born, or else has some sort of magical way with animals.  Hmm, the halfwittedness... Perhaps he has some elf blood in him!  Given the circumstances, however, I'm not about to complain.

16th Timber, 1051:

A giant leopard has been sighted near where our Atír lost her life!  Perhaps if we leave it alone, it will go away.  Let's pray so - that thing is the size of a house!

25th Timber, 1051:

It seems that we've caught another elephant.  I don't know if this is a bad thing, or, given Endok's mysterious affinity with animals, a good thing.

[ April 26, 2008: Message edited by: Keldor ]

[Keldor]

Coming soon:  The account of the first winter, as well as a map and the savegame!

[Keldor]

Winter:

9th Moonstone, 1051:

Today I was distracted from my duties by a loud rumble and crash.  Rushing outside to see what the matter was, I discovered Dôbar Libashtathur, our remaining miner, climbing out of the shaft into the partially dug reservoir.  He was covered from head to foot with dirt!  It seems that he made a misjudgement during his work excavating, resulting in a minor collapse.  Thankfully, neither he nor anyone else was injured in the incident.

10th Moonstone, 1051:

We've lost another war dog, slain by Watchswamps, the same crocodile that killed Atír.  Alas, it was the mother of some of our puppies, and one of them was slain as well.

13th Moonstone, 1051:

Today, our dwarves gathered to watch as Dôbar dug the final channel, allowing the reservoir to be filled!  I must say, it was a beautiful spectacle.  Roaring water flowed into the pit, with the morning sun rays making rainbows in the spray.  And to top it off, now not only do we have a safe supply of water should we run out of booze, but construction of the wall may proceed across the pond's bed.

I think I've been happier today than any day since we left the homeland!

16th Moonstone, 1051:

It appears we have yet another elephant.  I really hope those cages are stronger than they look.

20th Moonstone, 1051:

Watchswamps has slain yet another war dog.  I truely hope that that crocodile falls down a deep pit and dies.

28th Moonstone, 1051:

At long last, the wall surrounding our new home has been completed!  It truely is a sight for sore eyes, rising as it does out of the ground in this Armok-forsaken wilderness.  Endok has even constructed a drawbridge that is operated by a lever located safely inside the complex.  At least, that's what he said.  I haven't yet tested it for myself, nor am I sure I want to, considering who it was who built the contraption, but then again, Endok did do a amazing job with the elephants.  Perhaps I should give it a chance.

2nd Opal, 1051:

We've captured yet another elephant.

4th Opal, 1051:

Watchswamps has taken the life of another promosing puppy.  But not all news is grim!  Shortly afterword, an elephant charged Watchswamps, trampling the vile beast to its death.  We have named the elephant Desisůst, or Snarlingbreaches, though I doubt any of us will dare thanking him in person.

6th Opal, 1051:

Apparently the death of Watchswamps has done little to deter the other crocodiles from attacking us.  Another war dog, along with her puppy, were slain in today's attack.

7th Opal, 1051:

Little did we realize how apt the name Snarlingbreaches was for the elephant that slew Watchswamps, for today, we woke to discover that he had breached our wall and was stomping about in the courtyard!  Thankfully, one of the elephants Endok tamed chased him off before any damage could be done.

16th Opal, 1051:

The remaining three elephants we captured have now been tamed by Endok, and let loost to defend the fortress.  Unfortunently, the stench of elephant from their former cages means that they won't be usable in the traps again.

26th Opal, 1051:

I have finally decided that it is now safe enough to retrieve the body of Atír ďngizlimâr, our former miner, that we may lay her to rest as befits a dwarf.  Alas, we were unable to retrieve much else, since a giant tiger was sighted nearby soon after.

Another event today has been the capture of Sharlingbreaches, the elephant who slew Watchswamps.  I am unsure what to do with him, however, since Endok says he likely will never be tamable, and will remain bloodthirsty.  On the other hand, we do owe the elephant some level of thanks, as he ridded us of Watchswamps.

4th Obsidian, 1051:

After some consideration, I have ordered the construction of Snarlingbreaches' cage near the gate, so that all that pass through may stop and look with awe.

9th Obsidian, 1051:

Today at last we hold the funeral of Atír ďngizlimâr.  May her beard grow ever longer in Armok's halls.

21st Obsidian, 1051:

Things have been quiet for the last few days, as we at last have the chance to rest and recuperate.  The final crop of the year has been harvested, the fortress cleared of loose stone, and everything put neatly in its place.  

My term as leader is also rapidly ending.  Next week, as spring rolls around, Abbeyverse will see a new leader take the head.  Perhaps life here will prove tolerable after all.  Only time will tell.

At last, the chronicles of the year have been written.  The map and save will follow shortly.

[Keldor]

Here's the save:

Abbeyverse Year 1

And here's the map:

Abbeyverse map]

Kazindir, it's all yours!

[ April 25, 2008: Message edited by: Keldor ]

[Kazindir]

Downloading now.