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[Paulus Fahlstrom]

Year end report- Fortress records- year 15 9

It has, without a doubt been a full year. Only one of our number still remains injured, though we've lost one as well to the incessant attacks. Our liason Tekkud still works on bringing himself back into the fortress proper and refuses any assistance, the stubborn mule.

In late moonstone two avar ambushes were spotted to the north of us, running afoul the undead mountain goats that infest this place like cats. Ok, maybe not quite like cats, but still. Better them then us.

The goats that is. That makes three full squads of avar and unicorns we've spotted here recently. We've declined to engage them at all, for obvious reasons, though one of the avar, a scout, presumably, did approach some of our recent external excavations. In light of our recent opening of the forges we miners have unearthed some of the exposed veins in the slopes of the valley to our immeadiate south. Just two veins netted us over a hundred bars worth of gold ore as well as a few odd gems, like red zircon and amethest. A smaller cluster of supposed ore turned out to be merely a small deposit of pyrite, though it too is pretty enough.

Needless the say the scout was quickly chased down. I didn't appreciate his interference and took the time I needed to tell him about it.



The end of the year passed quietly enough, with the usual festivities, but without the usual bloodshed.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

17th of Felsite

We have received immigrants!

Well, really, it's just one. And really it's just Der Kartoffel. Apparently he had set out with a small group from Onol Lened, nearly five of them, but it seems he's the only one that survived the dangerous journey. He was made welcome here and seemingly embraced the worship of Mondul before coming. He's taken over Fath's place as Fre's assistant, since he worked in the food industry previously. That and she's been needing someone.

It's still a shame we lost Fath. We thought she might pull through for a while when Led recovered her. Oddbodd even offered to work on a spring-loaded stool for her to use while keeping an eye on the tavern for Fre, just in case someone got out of hand. But some things just don't quite work out as expected. I guess the five that left with Der Kartoffel learned that lesson as well.

[sneakey pete]

((how on earth did you manage to get one migrant? any other time i've got a low popcap set, yet come in under it I usually get full sized immigration, depending on the situation of my fort (20 migrants if its a boomtown somtimes)))

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

((To be honest Pete... I have no idea. I was actually hoping for a few more. I'm well familiar with the, oh I need one more for my pop. cap, oh look, here comes an immigration wave of 27! (My current record high) Still, it's one more and I'm sure we'll have another death here eventually that'll trigger another immigration. I was really hoping for more male immigrants and to be able to start introducing more characters and story with the increase. Ah well. Perhaps I'll bump up the cap here in a while and see how badly my FPS get's hit. It's around 40 right now, on a fast computer. 25 on my laptop. Of course, you'll see some of the reasons for that in the post below.))

Journal of the High Priest. Summer, year 10

I was, of course, saddened by the loss of so many of our followers as they travelled en route to this place, but have interviewed Der Kartoffel and find him to be a strangely calm and deliberate dwarf as it regards worship. I looked into the food supply he would find a new niche in and found out some very interesting things. In our chats I came to realize the exact state of food affairs. With the number of dwarves we have we currently have drink to last us nearly 10 years and food enough for the same. We also have little to no room to store it. Though we've got farms, they're not really needed at the moment and our animal breeding program has gotten somewhat out of control. We have chickens, sheep and horses tied up by the dozens or caged as exhibition animals. We've got nearly a hundred creatures. They already outnumber us five to one! This will end. I can understand a few, for food purposes, but with the existing pets it should be sufficient. I'll be working on eliminating the animals as soon as I am able.

Draconius seemed eager to serve Mondul and I've asked him to take care of the elves this year. Or should I say elf. Singular. After their incarceration one of them went bezerk and slew every other living thing in the room, animals included. When Draconius stepped in the elf was madly gibbering to himself. Until he brained it in the head. It wasn't much of a fight but it occurred just in time to get the place cleaned up for the human caravans, who are used to us having piles of things lying around.

Work on the temple has been somewhat slow of late. Everyone has been busy bringing in the mined out veins lately, and then clean-up and trade preparations, not to mention getting the forges running. I'll have to prod Glacies to get her crews back to work. I'm told the miners have nearly finished the outside of the quarry and will only need to 'carve out' the temple from the underside for it to be finished.

We've also had a few incidences with intruders again. At one point we nearly had a squad of avar run into a ambush of insectoids to our north but unfortunately for us they managed to avoid one another. Just barely. I'd still have put my money on the insectoids. Even if they were outnumbered 2.5 to 1. Kolok remains abed, though he's the only one, not including that idiot of a liason. I've half a mind to wall him in while he's unconcious.

Lor has been happy with his discovery of how to milk the tame large red-backed spider we have and I've allowed all the goblin thieves to be turned over to him for that use. In any case, they've probably got the bones and chunks cleaned out of the butchery by now so it's time for me to get back to work. As soon as that is done I'll get to processing the unused bone inventories. That is what I really long to get back into.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

Journal of the High Priest, summer, year 10

I've got a few minutes again to jot down the occurances lately. It seems that the insectoid ambush spotted earlier was the back-up force for several insectoid spies that have been trying to infiltrate our home. I still don't know what to do with them all as they're quite dangerous and we've now got nearly twenty of them.

On the bright side the human traders have arrived again, and though their liason is still here it's always good to see them. I've asked Thesaurusaurus to handle trading this time around, though from what I saw in their wagons they had little useful. We certainly don't need more food right now.

Speaking of which, I've finally cleared out the back-log of butchery orders and have taken care of our animal infestation problem. We now have only the five or so pets, the tamed Cougar, Black bear and large red-backed spider and about four dogs in case we need a little additional defense. I'll ask Kolok to train them properly once he's up again.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

Oddbodd whistled as he worked. He was ecstatic to be working on his invention and that he had authorization to pull from the clan talent pool helped tremendously. The workshop he now stood in had, in fact, been carved out of the living stone by Sarah and Ragnar to his exact dimensions. Paulus had helped to fashion bins and bins of mechanisms, varying by size and gear ratio which lay, stacked in bins near the entrance. Lor, the stonecarver, had been busy as well, and would remain so for quite a while helping him create exactly what he needed. He looked at his unfinished work. There remained so much to be done still.

The rudimentary fashionings were already there though the four gear trees upon which all his calculations and designs hinged had already been constructed. There remained connecting everything and testing it out, section by section to ensure that the results were what he wanted. He'd need to test turn speed, size and weight ratios of the measuring beads, shear force of the gears so they wouldn't be accidentally stripped, and half a hundred other things. But he was doing it. He'd seen the work of other mechanics before, including the half-mad creation of the waterbore. But this was his first true creation and he felt in it a certain pride. A certain sense of being able to come up with an idea and actually creating it.

A long thin sheet of worked iron lay coiled loosely in one corner. There was the key to it all. He'd heard of such things before, but as he had no other power source available to him at the moment he'd have to settle on clock-work devices. They had their advantages. But also their disadvantages. They would have to be continually kept up and wound and he'd never before created such a large mechanism involving one before.

Still, it was a challenge. Better yet, it was his challenge. And one he felt would be worthwhile.

He selected another gear from the bin, yes, a microcline one. He knew few appreciated the peculiar hue of the stone, but behind the walls no one, except those that dared enter the guts of his creation would see it. And the stone itself held many desirable qualities. Reasonably lightweight, yet hard enough to not crumble. Obsidian, of course, had the opposite problem. It was extremely hard but also tended to be overly brittle and had issues with shattering if it was struck just wrong. All of these things he would have to take into account.

Carefully he consulted his sketchings and placed it in position, fetching another one, and then a third before connecting them in series. He tamped them in place with a leather covered wooden mallet, ensuring a snug fit and spun the first of the series. It turned, albeit slowly, while the last gear, owing to it's smaller size spun much faster. Exactly ten times faster according to his calculations, but he made a chalk mark on one of the tines of each and timed it exactly, for no less than a thousand revolutions. It was off a little, but not by much and he made a quick note on one of his drawings. He would have to pick out the right mechanisms later to account for that error. There was so much to be done still but he would finish it. It would work, he knew.

He'd get this thing working, or die trying.

[ousire]

gotta love the mad science

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

Lor grinned as she tightened her chain shirt in place, cinching it around her waist with a leather belt, just below that of the chain pants she also wore. It wasn't often that civilians were required to don such protective gear, but her line of work had taken on a surprising addition.

Silk manufacture.

She walked through the doors in the back of the second hall, past the butchery, dump and additional food storage rooms. A small orthoclase door led to a surprisingly large room, with sandy walls, floor and ceiling. The roof of the room sloped gently upwards, domed and supported with curved beams anchored to supports on the sides. The floor around the edge of the room had dozens of ropes attached to metal spikes, driven into the floor. Only four dogs occupied the entirety of the structure now, where once horses, chickens and sheep had overbred. Those animals were, even now, being prepared as foodstuffs. The meat had been salt-cured and packed in barrels. The salt trade was heated in the area, with local salt barons set up near the sea, or occasional deserts with salt-pans.  A dwarven fortress, built by a different tribe, had purportedly set up a salt mine somewhere deep in a jungle, and most of the salt the dwarves used came from there, either directly or indirectly.

Lor strode calmly through the dogs, who lept up at her vying for her attention. But it wasn't for these that she gird herself. Another small door tucked into the back of the enclosure, just beyond the dogs led into a much smaller room. One that had only a single lever in it, aside from another door opposite where she entered. She passed through that portal as well, entering a mid-sized room. A sudden chittering sound filled her ears as she entered and a large red-backed spider advanced upon her. It slowed as it got closer and she stood still, letting it's front legs paw her momentarily before the spider seemed content that she was a friend. She breathed a sigh of relief at that. It Had been elven-trained after all. She locked the door behind her and placed the key on a shelf next to the large stone-frame loom that rested in the corner. A goblin thief stood alert in a cage in the other corner but, ignoring him, she calmly untied the spider from it's stake.

The spider had another rope around it's neck just in case, but she doubted now that it would be needed. She rapped on the door twice and the faint scuffling of feet on sand could be heard beyond the door before a grinding filled the room. The cage sprang open and she charged the goblin before it could get it's bearings. The spider was almost faster. It too charged and in a flash sprayed the corner of the room with a sticky web, catching the goblin unprepared. Lor pounced on it and the two fought, with occasional interruptions from the spider who continued to spray webbing over them and, from time to time, lunged in to bite at the goblin. The poison and struggle found their mark soon enough and the goblin died with Lor's hands wrapped around it's throat. Whether by poison or suffocation it was hard to tell.

Lor stood slowly, careful to not disturb the sticky webbing more than necessary and gathered in a handful, heading towards the loom. She cautiously patted the spider on it's hairy abdomen and left it then to it's feast. No reason to waste fresh food. She continued to gather the webs until the room had been cleaned of them and a small pile of -large red-backed spider silk cloth- lay carefully folded on the floor next to her. It was tiring work and she needed sleep but she wouldn't change her vocation for the world.

[sneakey pete]

((eww, redback spiders. Good thing dwarves don't have outdoor toilets for those things to hide in I guess))

[ousire]

hehe. goblin wreslin for fun and profit!

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

15th of Malachite, year 10. Mid-summers day

Paulus tramped up the steps, squinting slightly at the bright light streaming from the entrance to their home. It was warmer up here than below, or at least warmer than most of the rest of the fortress. The forge-hall was heated, even up through four floors so that the crafts rooms were consistently warm. The forge area itself was always sweltering hot, and it wasn't uncommon for Pete, Khain or Oddbodd to emerge from the depths glistening with sweat. Had there been children they might have played a game of helping with the forges before running as fast as possible outside and diving in the snow. They'd done that back at Dorenemal. But then, Dorenemal had been a family-friendly fortress, a place for a people to call home and feel welcome and secure. Geshud Osod had no such inclination. A place of death was rarely a place you want to raise a family. Besides, there were no couples, and no children here. And with so few men around those that had lovers tended to be very discreet.

Paulus shook his head again as he approached Fre, standing watch at the entry.

"Ho there. How're things?"

"Hai Paulus. You're early. My shifts still on for another hour at least, not that I've checked too much. This blasted heat always gets to me when I'm wearing so much steel."

"Heh. I understand. It's been unseasonably warm lately. I see you've got the Hammer with you today."

"Oh, aye. If I were above I'd have me bow, but here I've got little distance and besides, I figure I could use a little practice bashing things with something designed for it."

Paulus merely nodded. "Any activity?"

Fre shrugged. "Little. Had an insectoid spy pop up a little while ago. One of the pets came close enough to smell it. Darn sheep began bleating. Must have scared the creature off. Lucky it didn't kill the critter before-hand though."

"It's not like we need more of them in our cages."

"True, but it's not very exciting just standing watch."

Paulus nodded. He knew well enough. He'd stood more than his fair share here at the entrance, but with the merchants below there was always an increased risk that something had followed them in. They heard footsteps behind them coming up the stairs and both turned to see who it was. Morul appeared, and headed to the animal stockpile to re-organize the cages in preparation for an internal wall to be built. A loud crack brought their attention back around and they had just enough time to see a stone swinging downwards from the floor, an Insectoid squad leader trapped within.

"Ambush!" Fre called out, drawing her hammer as she spotted another of the creatures entering through the gates. Paulus too drew his and they advanced on it, meeting it just past the cage traps. The bug managed to get in a wicked slice on Fre before her hammer caught it in the side, shattering it's arm. Her chainmail shirt protected her from the worst of it, though it tore through a few of the links and left a shallow stinging cut on her side. Paulus' thrust caught it in the chest, knocking it up a few inches before sending it crashing into the ground. It was hurt but not out and Fre moved in for a more decisive blow. She swung in hard as it rose from the ground chittering and it connected with it's upper torso flinging it into the air spinning away from them to skid to a stop, unmoving near where the sun played across the smoothed stone of their entrance.

The pair regarded it cooly and returned to their positions, just as another pair of creatures popped through the side doors. They advanced instantly on the dwaves but only one made it that far as the other fell, into another pit trap beneath it. The second was set upon by Paulus and Fre, now somewhat warmed up and after a feeble defense Paulus' blow reduced it to a quivering pile, ichor oozing out through a half dozen cracks.

Their defenses relaxed somewhat as no more enemies appeared.

"Think there's more?"

"Should be, that's only four right?"

"By my count. The others must have been lagging behind, or searching another section of mountain. Anyone outside?"

"No one that I can think of."

Morul, having heard the commotion decided it was safe enough to begin clean-up and headed out to the entrance to recover the body of the first one. Seconds later she was being chased back inside, three more insectoids rapidly gaining on her. Fre and Paulus responded as quickly as possible catching one mere feet from Morul, who continued to run on. The first blow to the insectoid crippled it's leg, a wide sweep that seemed to catch it off guard. It struck back forcing Fre a step back and inflicting another minor injury to her leg. The other two insectoids sprinted past the fighters towards Morul, and found themselves being chased by Paulus. Suddenly the ground opened up beneath them as they sprang the last line of traps and they disappeared from view.

Paulus stopped as they disappeared and began turning back when he heard Fre call out:

"Heads up!"

He turned, just in time to see a large bug flying towards him. They collided, going down in a tangle of limbs but Paulus rapidly thrust the creature off of him, raising his hammer. It didn't move. Fre approached laughing out loud.

"Oooooo, should have seen the look on your face!"

"Hmph. A little more warning next time would have been nice."

Fre merely grinned.

"Well, I'm ginnae check on Der Kartoffel below, get myself a drink and relax a bit. I think it's your shift now. Don't have too much fun."

Paulus merely snorted as she headed below.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

21st of Malachite, Fortress log - in the hand of the High Priest

What with the surprise ambush and everything else going on lately I'm afraid we missed our opportunity to trade with the humans. The merchants packed up and left before I could get down there to trade with them, but by all accounts they had little useful anyways. At this point were almost self-sufficient. We trade more to increase our stockpiles against eventualities than out of actual necessity.

The challenge of Tekkud has also had significant impact on this. With the liason incapacitated the dwarves have come to trade with us but there's been no order, no requests. It's been ... a long time, I'm not sure exactly how long. We see that he get's food and water but he outright refuses any other assistance of ours. I wonder if this has something to do with our ongoing disagreement with the nobles of Shellhelms. The merchants have been somewhat sour as always, but without the requests from the liason they mostly bring useless junk.

It is a quandry we find ourselves in. I'd say the humans have been lacking patience as well, but it simply isn't true. The human liason has been idling away his time in Fre's cantina waiting for his turn. If it weren't for protocol I'd meet with him first, but that would be such an insult to our kinsmen that they might never return. I shall have to try a few things, perhaps I can see Tekkud on his way quicker were we to build him a proper house and I were to tend to him for a while. At the very least we could meet while he was concious. Though in his state I doubt very much he'd make the journey back.

Do I consign him to Mondul?

[sonerohi]

-

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

((Nope, it's mid-summer. Dwarves come in the fall. Speaking of...))

It was the second day of fall and the warmth outside was somewhat abnormally hot. The air in the mountains seemed almost stagnant and no wind stirred. That only made work outside more unbearable and perhaps it was because of that that Kolok found Paulus at his desk working on inventory reports.

"Hi there."

Paulus looked up, a startled expression on his face, and then broke into a small smile.

"Kolok! Good to see you up and about! It's about time."

"You're telling me."

"Any longer and I'd have to start accusing you of milking the system. Relaxing in bed, getting fed Fre's food while the rest of us do the work."

A slow smile spread across Kolok's face, stopping quickly on the damaged side. "Aye, well. I heard you took a vacation yerself that way. Wouldn't be the first then."

Paulus took the good-natured ribbing in stride.

"I guess you're hear for your work requests..."

"No, not really, just wanted to say hello and let you know I was up." He began making for the door but Paulus' short cough cut him off.

"As I was saying..." He pulled out a thick sheaf of papers from his desk, setting them on the surface next to him.

"You're our best and only carpenter, not to mention woodcutter. Fre's requested another doz... er... two and a half dozen barrels now it seems. She's been making do with the store-room floor."

"I'll get right ..."

Paulus plowed on. "And Pete's been clamoring for more bins. Seems that all the gold ore they've been processing needs to be stacked properly and it looks like he'll need at least another score."

"Oh, su..."

Paulus gave him a level look. "And don't forget to finish clearing that section of land you were working on. We're running low on logs, what with trade being hampered, and the wood-burners haven't been running in at least two seasons.

Well... off with ye. Them logs don't cut themselves."

Kolok snorted and began heading out of the room, unsure if he should feel scolded or indignant. A quiet voice met him as he left.

"And Kolok, ... it's good to have ye back with us."


((And for the first time in nearly three years no one is injured, which means no one is traipsing half-way across the entire freakin' map to fetch water in a bucket only to decide half-way back that they're thirsty, or hungry or tired and that they need to drop the bucket in order to hurry back. Which bucket then get's picked up by someone else, emptied out and put back in the furniture storage. I swear, getting a drink of water in this place is about as quick as ice-sculpting with only your hands. But there are no other sources that aren't frozen in winter.))

[sonerohi]

((No cave river yet/at all? Also, I swear on Crush's grave that you had a line about how trade with the humans went poorly, shortly after the line about the humans leaving without trading.))