My first genuinely interesting Fortress, I felt like writing about it, unfortunately, no screenshots until I get to mid-winter
First Entry: Strike The Earth! (Spring to Summer)Kel Unibzalud
That's my name, and I'm the leader of this expedition into perhaps the most dangerous part of dwarven territory that our leaders have documented. We have recorded events of the caravans that have passed through them (More the remains of said caravans, but I digress), they spoke of an incredibly deep chasm where beasts inhabited, remains of other caravans had been seen at the bottom of it. legions of troglodytes and batmen attacked anything dumb enough to set foot within ten yards of it, and legends also spoke of a massive spider, dubbed 'Cinderplayed', or Sudirtitthal.
Now we're gonna build a fortress on it...
After a bit of debate, we've agreed to call it Workedadmired or Ducimnébel, after disassembling the wagon and digging ourselves a few levels down, I ordered the building of a couple of deep rooms, future bedrooms, hopefully. Then I ordered a few very large rooms built, they shall be the farm plots and dining room, hopefully.
One of the cats wandered off today, it hasn't returned, I don't expect it will. However we have yet to encounter a single of the 'horrors' reputed to live here, I wonder if it was all just an excuse for the caravans to arrive late...
...The cat has been found, or at least, some of it. I was off fishing and saw a skull lying on the ground next to some spiderweb, a cat's skull. I am now much more tempted to believe those tales told by the caravans, especially about that spider.
Found the chasm, again, it was just me. Cerol, our head miner, keeps telling me not to go out alone, but I'm a fisherdwarf and the nearest water is miles away from the original site, besides, its not as if I don't know how to defend myself. The chasm was deep and I heard chattering come from down there, the echoes were quite creepy, to be honest.
I asked for them to build some kennels, and trained some war dogs to protect the place. The farm plots have been built and we're tending them carefully. The dining room/meeting hall has been built and so has the kitchen, still and most of the workshops. We have quite a large workload for just seven dwarves, but we're handling it. I commend my comrades' abilities, most of them are quite skilled in a large amount of things.
Entry Two: Early Danger (Summer to Autumn)Another cat got lost today, the perfect way to introduce the Summer to us, I guess. The bedrooms have been built, which is good news since I have been getting tired of waking up in the mornings with beetles all over my boots...
...spoke too soon, these wooden beds are hardly any more comfortable and it seems that any attempt to escape having the entire outpost's bug life congregate on your socks just enrages them, I still don't think I've found all the bugs in my shirt yet, let alone my boots.
On a slightly happier note, we've struck a large amount of materials, of particular note are malachite, some variety of agate and some diorite. I have also ordered the hollowing out of some new tombs, six, to be exact. Hopefully one of the original seven will survive, even if the others end up dead. But this thought of death is a bit dampening on the spirits, we've had a lot of dwarven wine made and I fancy trying a bit.
That wine was a bit strong, but the tomb space has been complete. In a slightly unnerving turn of events, the others have been placing bets on whose gonna kick the bucket first, and how. Cinderplayed, that mythical spider, appeared quite often in the bets. Cerol, the miner, made the largest bet of 10 skins of wine on me getting killed by Cinderplayed. I felt rather offended, I wondered if it was his way of telling me once again that I shouldn't go out unescorted.
Entry 3: Touch of Death (Autumn to Winter)Well, the journal of expedition leader has changed hands. I am Cerol Lúkcilob, the lead miner on this expedition.
This Autumn saw the dwarven caravan approach our borders, the Liaison conducted a 'behind-closed-doors' meeting with Kel, and then he was called to the depot to trade with our brethren. I ventured up there to see how things were going and Kel seemed to have bartered out half their caravan, it seems the journey here shook them up a bit and made them a bit more agreeable. At least, that's what Kel had said to me later on over a drink of wine.
In all we had got a few animal cages with occupants, and a few weapons that we were able to dedicate to traps that were built near the outpost entrance. Traps that I believe would probably dice up anything stupid enough to set them off, and anythin that survived that would be too slow to avoid the cage traps that I helped set up right after it. I am half-hoping we can lure that wretched spider into them, to see what will happen.
We organised a sing-song down in the dining hall, or at least, Kel did. I insisted on digging out a little bit more of the tomb area because I am convinced there is a lot more malachite down there than we believe. I must admit it was quite rejuvenating hearing six dwarves above me singing a rousing song to go along with my digging, probably one of the best days since we arrived there.
Disaster has struck. Kel went out today like he usually did, but we suddenly heard screams coming from where he had gone. I pushed through the undergrowth and came upon him wrestling a batman, I readied my pick and was about to surprise the wretched creature from behind when I saw something much larger approach them, my breath escaped my lungs when I observed the sheer size of it. Cinderplayed, the giant cave spider.
The two fighters, far too absorbed in their own fight to hear it approach, were both sprayed with web. Then I witnessed with horror as it leapt upon Kel, tearing him limb from limb and spraying the webs with gore. Then it turned its attention to the batman, mortally wounding it and nearly ripping it in half. Then it seemed to spot me in the undergrowth, I quickly retreated back to the outpost.
We grieved over the fallen expedition leader, Tulon the Woodcutter suggested we retrieve the corpse and bury it, but I disagreed, saying that the only remnants of Kel consisted of his upper body, his head and his right arm, added to that the ratmen, batmen and troglodytes that wander the landscape, then add in that infernal spider, and going out there would be purely suicidal.
Entry 4: The New Year(Winter to Spring)Well, after that unexpected loss and the surprising chills of winter, we're hoping we can get to the new year with a minimum of losses...hopefully
I have made a sketch of the fortress as it stands now:
The top level: Trade Depot, entrance to fortress
The first level: Bedrooms, farms, cage area and dining area
The second level: Mausoleum
Tulon has been monitoring that spider's activities recently and it has hardly moved all month, I'd love to take it by surprise and try to kill or capture it, but I can't risk any more of the party getting killed before migrants arrive.
Later that day, Tulon walked out some way from the outpost to chop down a tree, troglodytes must have been lying in wait for him as at least five overpowered him and began to brutally beat him. Thankfully, the war dogs we had been training attacked the troglodytes, I was initially worried since it was 3 against 6, but amazingly, the dogs succeeded and killed all of the troglodytes. But it was too late, Tulon bled to death moments later, and the dogs don't seem to be in good shape either.
Now we are down to five, I wonder if this expedition is doomed to failure now...
I have just found out that the dogs had slain a well-known troglodyte, Nulominal. The name doesn't seem to mean anything, but it is a slightly redeeming thought, maybe the troglodytes will become disorganised now...
We had tried to retrieve Tulon's corpse for burial (Mainly because it is still whole) but a fierce snow storm has set in, making it too cold to go outside for anything more than a few minutes. However the dogs seem to be enjoying going outside and staying out there for a good few hours. I have begun beautifying the place by smoothing and engraving the rooms, if, or when, we bury Tulon, I'll engrave his tomb. He deserves it.
Entry 5: Death Stalks The Land (Spring to Summer)The new year is upon us and greets us with more tragedy, Goden, the resident trader and jack-of-all-trades, has been killed by that damn spider. We're now 4 dwarves, and Gudon had a lot of our equipment with her. If we survive to see Summer, I'll be surprised. Its just me (Cerol), the miner and new leader of this seemingly-doomed expedition, Eshtan, the other miner, a good friend of mine, I hope he doesn't become the next victim of our surroundings. Then there's Likot Likoturvad, another woodcutter and farmer, he's a fine man with an odd obsession with cow cheese. Finally, there's Ingish, the farmer, perhaps the most vital part of our fortress since crops will be the only source of food we'll be getting for a while.
Written by Likot LikoturvadThat damn spider! Me and Cerol went out to try and retrieve Goden's body for burial, we were almost there when I caught my foot in some webbing. Then the spider charged at us, Cerol did the bravest thing I have ever seen a dwarf do and threw himself directly in front of the beast's charge, he was instantly killed when it collided with him, torn in half. But he had given me the time to get away, and I took off with the spider in pursuit, but I lost it as I neared the outpost, perhaps it is afraid of civilisation?
It is a very girm time, the human caravan is weeks away and we are down to 3 dwarves with very little supplies to share between us. We have a stack fo crossbow bolts and one bow, however, and a large herd of goats nearby. Unfortunately the spider seems to hunt the same targets and any attempt to hunt for food would surely be met with a slow and painful death. We must rely on the crops, and the seed count is dangerously low, as is the booze. I am considering abandoning the place and fleeing with Eshtan and Ingish now, while we have the chance.
Salvation! We have butchered the beasts we had hanging around, horse and cow meat for all!
Written by EshtanWell...this is probably it, unless a miracle occurs. That spider claimed Likot today, all we could see was it rip off his arms and we could hear his screams...its just too much, I've got to kill that damn spider...
Written by IngishOk..I'm the last one left, Eshtan went mad and tried to kill the spider, haven't seen him since, but I do have all the supplies to myself, which is something of a consolation.
Had a close encounter with that spider today, it chased me all the way back to the outpost and tried to get in, I'm getting too scared now, and the hallways are just...dead, devoid of any life, the only living things are the dogs in the cage area, I may just free a few for company.
The crops are getting neglected, the human caravan is at least a week away, I may starve...I just don't know anymore
ARGH! I am just so mad right now, I actually picked up a rock and hit one of the war dogs, hurt it badly, but it felt relieving. How could they all do this? Cerol? Eshtan? Kel? Likot? Tulon? Goden? My friends, allowed themselves to be killed by that monstrosity out there!
I've named it. The spider, I've called it Cinderplayer the Celebrated Trails.
Elves...
I wait this time for humans and on come elves! Rude ones at that, they sniffed at any attempt I made to trade with them...though I have got a bit more meat from the slaughtered animals, plus a bit more drink from the spare seeds, I just hope migrants get here quickly, otherwise I'm liable to go insane...
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Topic: Tales from the Deepest Depths of Workedadmired (Read 785 times)