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[Dogman]

Since this is going to be a penal colony, would it be too bold of me to suggest building the living quarters into cell blocks, and linking all of the doors in a given cell block to a lever built into a master control room? 

[Jools]

Cool. I like the "homages" to other fortresses and the combination of a crazy building plan and a penal colony.

By my count that's all the starting dwarves claimed, so I'd like to request an immigrant.

Name: Jools
Gender: Either
Profession: Grower/Planter/Farmery type
Crime: Suspected of being an Elf Sympathiser by the McUrist Committee on UnDwarven Activities, he/she was given the choice between military service or prison. He/she chose prison. Disillusioned by both the dwarves and the elves and their hippy ways, he/she has become a servant of chaos, taking pleasure from screwing up or sabotaging the plans of good and evil people alike.

On a side note, if you'd just waited a little bit longer (technically 760 years if the calendars match, but if the tower's up it must be less than a decade), Kulettögum would have a perfectly safe and serviceable arched bridge to allow you to cross the river...

[Iituem]

12th Obsidian, 300

I have chosen and recruited my final team member, Cerol 'Arnfast' Sigunkikrost, something of a jack-of-all trades currently serving a thirty year sentence for embezzlement, writ large.  The fact that this was actually greater than the sentence imposed upon Void for robbing the Royal Treasury impressed me enough to investigate the dwarf.  He is apparently a career criminal, who had been operating under an alias for the last ten years as a minor metalsmith and records keeper for the Royal Mint.  During his tenure, he personally embezzled no less than twenty thousand stars in gold and silver currency, sold copies of coin dice to criminal fraternities and engaged in bribery and corruption on a massive scale.  His longer background implies a long history as a confidence dwarf, mostly in professions relating to architecture in wood or stone and even a spate as a machinist. I had a gut feeling that this man might be useful as a general labourer and book-keeper, even if I would need to keep a close eye on him.




"Arnfast Sigunkikrost?" Cousteau enquired, peering into the cells.  A group of dwarves were playing cards at a table, all of them wearing chains.  One of them spoke, not taking his eyes off the cards.

"What do you want, screw?" Arnfast sneered.  Of the five dwarves at the table, Cousteau noted, he was the one dwarf still wearing intact clothing.  Recently ironed, even.  She wondered how much of that money he had stolen was still around.

"Not a screw," Cousteau began, "and I'm after you.  How would you feel about a transfer?"

"Why," Arnfast asked, leaning back in his seat, "when I have all I need here?  Raise you by twenty, by the way."  He dropped a handful of little microcline pebbles on the table.

"I can get you out of prison, back to fresher air and well away from the mountains."

"I've lived here all my life, screw, I don't feel the need to stray now."

"I'll match your twenty," one of the dwarves grunted.  "Show us your cards."

"Look upon them and despair, gentledwarves," Arnfast chuckled, spreading out a perfect hand.  With a great deal of grumbling, the other dwarves threw down their cards and dumped a variety of small possessions on the table before storming out of the cell, their chains clinking noisily.

"Not going to consider my offer, then?" Cousteau questioned.

"Like I said, I have everything I need here," Arnfast repeated, scooping his winnings from the table.

"I noticed your cell doesn't have a guard," Cousteau commented.

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to buy privacy.  Maybe I should've bought it from you in advance, wouldn't have to listen to this grit."  Arnfast began shuffling the cards into a pack.

"Well," Cousteau sighed, putting up her hands in defeat.  "Sounds like you've got your world just the way you want it."

"Straight as a beryl mineshaft, screw."  Arnfast calmly drew the three aces he had hidden up his sleeves and added them to the pack as well.

"Until, that is, you meet somebody you can't buy."  Cousteau produced a pair of folded sheets from her belt and held them out.

"What are those?" Arnfast questioned suspiciously.

"I have two transfer orders here.  One of them is going to be submitted today.  In my left hand, I have an opportunity for you to work constructively on a building project with me, as a way to commute your sentence."

"And in your right hand?"

"In my right hand, I have an order that volunteers you for the reclaiming expedition-"

"That's not so bad."

"-to Boatmurdered."

"Son of a maggot."  Arnfast stared at the dwarf, then the papers, then the dwarf again, narrowing his eyes.  Cousteau continued to hold out the options impassively.  Finally, Arnfast spat at the floor, standing up and storming out of his cell.  On the way, he grabbed the papers from Cousteau's left hand.

"I'll see you in the morning!" Cousteau called after him, brightly.  She was met with a muffled torrent of abuse.  When Arnfast had turned the corner of the cell block and left sight, Cousteau let out a breath.  She unfolded the paper in her right hand, took a long look at it, then screwed it up and threw it into the corner of the room.



Later that evening, Arnfast returned to his cell in a foul mood.  Having just submitted his own transfer to some arse end of the earth, he now had to pack whatever he could carry in the space of eight hours before he was carted away.  He wouldn't be able to get back to the Mountainhomes and access his stash for months, maybe years.  Quickly, he stuffed a set of clothes into an imported rope reed bag, stopping for a moment when he noticed the piece of screwed up paper in the corner of his cell.  He frowned, kneeling and unravelling it, then let loose a great bellow of rage.



As Cousteau clambered onto the wagon, Kats looked down to her from the driver's seat with a slight frown.

"Cousteau?" he asked.  "Have you seen my rubbing of that glass statue engraving we saw the other day?  I've searched the whole wagon and I can't find the sheet."

"I'm afraid not," smiled Cousteau cheerfully.  Fortunately, she was a very proficient liar.

[Iituem]

Interestingly, now that I have created the team, the only females are Void and Cousteau.  This may require a little retroactive continuity writing!

Edit:  Including, apparently, the King.  Who is actually a Queen.

[Iituem]

13th Obsidian, 300

I just received my official charter from the Queen, as well as a map of our given location.  The site in question is literally located on the othe side of the world, across an entire ocean!  Worse, all we have in terms of actual land is this tiny tip of a cape that was granted to the kingdom in return for some sort of diplomatic favour; we are actually smack at the edge of an expansive human empire!  The Queen has provided a boat, which we are to meet at the eastern shores below the mountains.  Finally, I have taken the opportunity to read the wording of the official proclamation:

"Sodel Idenoshar, citizen of the realm, you have been hereby appointed by royal mandate as official custodian of Areldolush, outpost of the kingdom."

'Waterbore'.  Brilliant.


P.S.  The Queen has sent me a gift in appreciation of my venture.  A newborn kitten previously slated for drowning.  How cheerfully ominous.



Herein is a copy of my larger map.


From the Mountainhomes to the coast.

[Iituem]

15th Obsidian, 300

I waited until we were a good day offshore and well on our way before explaining to the crew exactly what our mission was.  All things considered, they took it rather well.


"Are you bloody mad?!" Arnfast bellowed.  "You're sending us all to our bleeding doom!"

"You know," Void growled, eyeing Cousteau darkly, "it is customary to mention small things like the location of a new fortress.  Especially when you're trying to build it in the middle of the ocean!"

"Well, it's not the middle of the ocean," Kats mused dimly, "and really we're supposed to build it under the middle of the ocean."

"Well that's just peachy, isn't it?" shouted Void bitterly before pointing a finger at Userpay.  "Why the hell isn't he surprised by all this, anyway?"

"I already knew," admitted Userpay jovially.  "I suppose it's a bit more of a shock for you chaps though, eh?"

"Why did you tell the axe murderer where we were going, but didn't feel it necessary to explain this to the rest of us?" Tormy demanded, a little less aggressively than Void.

"I didn't want a surprised and angry axe murderer in a confined space with me in it," Cousteau explained calmly in an attempt to pacify the group.  It wasn't working.

"This whole venture is lunacy," Arnfast declared, folding his arms.  "Draining the bloody ocean!"

"Well, only for a little," Dee piped up.  "Actually, I could probably modify my designs to-"

"Did anyone ask for your opinion?" Arnfast growled, causing the shy dwarf to immediately clam up.

"Or yours?" Userpay questioned in his civil, deep tones.  He gently ran a hand along the burnished steel axe that Cousteau had given him just before the meeting was called.  Arnfast eyed it uncertainly.

"The way I see it," Userpay continued, "we have an opportunity here.  Most if not all of us have very long sentences in confinement or strictly guarded labour awaiting us back in the mountains, those of us with futures at all.  Certainly, our task is..."  He paused, searching for a word.

"Batgrit crazy," Void supplied helpfully.

"Eccentric," Userpay chose tactfully.  "However we don't have a real time limit on it, so long as we can show whomever comes up to visit that we're doing some sort of work there.  We have a lot more freedom here than in the Mountainhomes."

"Think of it as a blank slate," Cousteau finished.

"Or a blank cheque," Arnfast mused.  "You said there were humans just north of the site?  Opportunity for profit there."

"Exactly," reassured Cousteau.

"It would be nice to afford that solid gold axe I always wanted," Tormy mused.

"What about you, Void?"  Void looked around the ship, finally grunting and throwing up her hands.

"Fine.  You're all bloody mad so I might as well go with it.  We're doomed, you realise?"

"Pretty much," admitted Userpay.  "Do we have a name for this group?"

"You might as well just call it what it is," Arnfast chuckled darkly.  "A bunch of doomed labourers."

"Very well then," Cousteau proclaimed.  "Henceforth, we shall be known as 'The Doomed Labours'!"

It did not receive all that great a cheer.

[Iituem]

20th Obsidian, 300

It is very cold in these waters.  The ship biscuits are starting to run out and all our beards have turned to ice.  Our ship's cargo is primarily lumber and bauxite (of which there was a surplus in the Mountainhomes) for construction purposes.  Unfortunately, this means we cannot actually burn any of it to stave off the damned cold.  It does not help that none of us are trained sailors, either, but I couldn't find a navigator in the criminal justice system.  I am praying to all the gods right now that we make it through this alive.

Map, 20th Obsidian


24th Obsidian, 300

We hit the narrow stretch of land here at the centre of the twin oceans and are preparing for the crossing.  It's bloody hot here, a stark contrast to the cold of the seas we just ventured through, and we have found a wide variety of berries here - none of which we dare eat.  We brought a set of six beasts of burden in anticipation of this.  Userpay has already cut down a number of surprisingly springy trees, from which we have created a set of rollers on which to transport the ship.  All that remains is for us to clear-cut a path for the ship through the forest.

Map, 24th Obsidian


25th Obsidian, 300

ELEPHANTS.


26th Obsidian, 300

We successfully escaped the band of pachyderms at the cost of four of our labouring animals, so every dwarf had to help pull the ship in their stead.  All said and done, as sweaty and unpleasant as the work was, it was a bonding experience for us all.  Except for Arnfast, who swore and complained throughout the whole endeavour.  I have since learned that you can use the sap from those trees as an excellent way of blocking your ears.  Now all that remains is the last leg of the journey through the Future Ocean and we will be at our destination.

Map, 26th Obsidian
Map, 1st Granite 301

[Tormy]

Awesome! Also I like my name.. Tekkud 'Tormy' Lolumkol 

[Katsuun]

I like the references 

Do you mind if I have my own journal entries in relation to the events at the time?

[Iituem]

Go for it.  Events of the first two seasons to follow later, though not especially eventful yet.  I imagine things will get more interesting as we get dug further in.

[Katsuun]

Thanks  . Well, here goes.

25th Opal, 300

Finally, for the first time since I came to Nista Arkath, my head is clear. Ever since I attempted to steal from the treasury, my life has been hell. The bloody nobles in our capital sentenced me to exile in this hell hold. The moment I was told there was no glass, I went mad. Come to think of it, it's a wonder I survived a hellish ten years there.

But now that Cousteau, or whatever her name is has recruited me, I'm finally back to normal. They tell me I nearly hurled myself off the master staircase, thank goodness they came when they did. I am MOST definitly ready for a change of scenery. I just pray to the gods that she wasn't lying about the glass...

-Kats Godennanir

[Glacies]

Glacies
Male
Mace dwarf

Glacies is an ex-mechanic with a fascination with the sea.

[Iituem]

1st Granite, 301

Our ship, the 'Painted Daisies', crash-landed on the southern-most edge of the cape we were due to land at.  Userpay, Arnfast and I have taken axes and saws to her in the hope of recovering as much lumber from her broken carcass as we can manage.  Arnfast did a quick calculation and reckons we might get eighty trees' worth out of her.  Enough for our basic constructions, if little else.  Unfortunately the driftwood in the region, whilst suitable for burning,  does not meet our standards for construction work.

I have sent Void and Tormy northward to the boundary of the cape to dig out some temporary accomodations in the sand.  I am wary of establishing our home for the next year right on the cusp of a rock-strewn beach.  Everyone else is busy hauling our possessions over to the northern end of the beach, a pain in the short term but likely to benefit us in the future.




2nd Granite, 301

It appears that the gods have taken pity on our plight.  To my great surprise, whilst digging a downward staircase for a workshop level, Void stumbled upon what appears to be a gigantic pool of magma, just beneath the surface.  She was immediately attacked by some sort of fiery flying monkey, which she smacked with her pick before quickly sealing up the hole.  Whilst this obviously tables our immediate architectural plans, it is a ray of hope in an otherwise dire situation - the unending source of heat this vent provides could well make our quest realistically possible.





12th Granite, 301

Progress moves slowly, though we are all busy hauling what we can.  Excavation of a magma supply has been similarly halted by the presence of an aquifer in the layer we are trying to dig a channel through.  We are attempting to tunnel around it.   The sheer magnitude of hauling all this lumber is seriously slowing our progress, however.


20th Granite, 301

And now it's raining,  too.


21st Granite, 301

Void has an idea.  After taking another look at the vent through the peep hole (I want that bricked up as soon as possible, thinking about it), she reckons there's an undercut we can exploit without having to dig through the aquifer.  I hope she's right, as I don't fancy digging into that exposed main chamber.  I've heard tales about molten men attacking incautious miners in such places.


1st Slate, 301

We have been here a month now and barely moved a fraction of the lumber.  This does not bode well, so I have set Kats to start immediate planting duties.  Hopefully we will have some food soon, as stocks are running low and none of us can be spared to engage in fishing.


Diary of Void Datanûz

12th Slate, 301

We've been mining for a month now and there aren't any damn beds.  Tormy and I have just started sleeping on the rock now, at least it's warm down here by the magma vent.  Cousteau had better get her act together, and soon, because otherwise she's looking at a mutiny on her hands.


Diary of Cousteau Idenoshar

13th Slate, 301

Arnfast, Void and Tormy came to me today at the ship and presented me with an ultimatum.  Either we get proper beds made, and soon, or I can find out how hard it is to carve out a dwelling on my own.

I've suspended hauling duties for Arnfast and put in an order for seven cots.  Let's all get a good night's sleep for once.


28th Slate, 301

We now have a pair of magma-fuelled glass furnaces at our disposal.  Now we just have to turn the sea's unlimited supply of sand into a gleaming glass palace.  Bit harder than it sounds, one imagines.




2nd Felsite, 301

A pack of wolves has strayed close to our camp.  Tormy, Userpay and I will arm ourselves and approach them cautiously to determine their intent.


5th Felsite, 301

The wolves have left without incident.  Nobody wants their throat torn out today.  They do keep nosing around and disrupting hauling, though.  In the long term, this may have to be dealt with by an axedwarf.


14th Felsite, 301

That kitten is getting everywhere.  We found three dead mice stinking up the larder today and hairs all over the carpentry shop.  Arnfast insists the hairs are the cat's, but he is starting to bald a little on top.


Early Summer, 301

My patience with the hauling operations ran out.  I have suspended all further construction material hauling from the ship's remains - we have enough at hand for the moment.  Furthermore, we need the glassworks up and running to provide a quick and cheap supply of furniture - wood is too precious in the long run.  Also hollowing out a dining hall and assigning a bit of work space to an office for Arnfast, who is complaining about the difficulties of trying to keep stock of everything we have without anywhere to do so.


Mid-Summer, 301

We have completed the first stage of our longer-term preparations, involving the digging out of a long access tunnel at sub-marine levels.  Dee has been looking over her plans and thinks she may have an idea, but we need the glassworks going first.  She also suggests cordoning the tunnels into several bulkheads, like on a ship, in case of flooding.



We also have our first table and chair set, blown entirely out of green glass.  Kats is thrilled.  Arnfast, less so.  He isn't terribly fond of bottle green.


12th Galena, 301

Arnfast pointed out to me today over plump helmets and wine that short of sand, we have a highly limited supply of natural resources at our disposal.  Given our proximity to a human civilisation (and a very large one, at that), he suggested we put the glassworks to use making a few trade goods.  I heartily agreed, and so we have started Areldolush's own bottle factory.  I just hope there's a vinyard or brewery in that human town on the horizon.  Given the state of our alcohol supply right now, I definitely hope that.  The pig tails haven't been growing at all well this season.


1st Limestone, 301

We have more bottles than I know what to do with.  I mean that.  We've bottled all of our wine and most of the remaining ale and rum, we're drinking from glassware constantly, and eating from glass bowls with glass spoons whilst sat on glass chairs in front of glass tables.  Everyone here is strongly anticipating a passing human caravan for some variety, because having every piece of furniture and every implement at your disposal made out of the same damned material can really get to you after a month.  We're all pretty sick of green glass at this point.

Except Kats, who is apparently in some sort of bottle-green paradise.

[Katsuun]

1st Limestone, 301

Its beautiful! Glass as far as the eye can see! Ah, the mere sight of it gives me that warm feeling inside, like that you feel after you've downed a good beer or ale. I truely made the right choice abandoning that frozen hellhole and coming here!

On a more practical note, the plump helmet farms are going well. I hope to meet with the captain in the future and take up with her about adding more farms for differing crops. I can yet make my famous plump turtle biscuit suprise!

-Kats Godennanir

You can utterly disgard my in character rquest up there. I was just doing it to add flavor.

[Dogman]

From the Journal of Dee Stinthädalåth:
1st of Limstone, 301

Green glass is very pretty, but it's no match to the wonderful multicolored sheen of Obsidian. I heard Cousteau Grumbling about the fact everything we have is made from the stuff. Glass that is. Maybe tomorrow I'll ask her if I can carve some new furniture out of the obsidian by the magma pipe.

Maybe at least some proper stone furniture for myself, when ever I have the time.