From the Journal of Charlemagne Osatis, founder of Ringkindling
1st of Granite, 501
As the 22nd eldest nephew of King Zefon, ruler of the great Empancipated Wheel, long may it turn, it falls to me to lead the expedition further into the Barb of Riders. I will construct a glittering fortress to rival the mountainhome herself! It is the opinion of many in the court that I will be siftly eaten by a carp, but I'll show them! I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!
I have recruited a team of heroes to be my first settlers. Chief amongst them is Heliti a carpslayer who informs me he is of great repute throughout the Continent of Satin and beyond! I also bring with me the beastmaster Xombis, who believes he can actually tame one of the monsters. In addition I have in my team a woodcutter, and three miners whose services I won in a game of rock-differentrock-thirdkindofrock.
I was also able to acquire a large quantity of only very slightly irregular turtles at a great bargain!
So we few settlers, The Dignified Basement, set out to settle the place where Lustfulwhisker the Barbarian of Yore meets the Barb of Riders. There's naught left to do but strike the earth!
1st of Granite, 501 - Second Entry
We've reached Lustfulwhisker the Barbarian of Yore. Already I think I can see the carp brooding in it's depths, plotting against me. I will resist them if it costs me my life, and the lives of my companions!
6th of Granite, 501
The miners are still chipping away at the courtyard, so no actual fortress exists yet as such, but construction of a statue in my likeness in complete. Morale is high.
11th of Granite, 501
We finally began construction of the fortress proper, and struck sapphire soon after! Surely we are favored by Deler, god of jewels.
14th of Granite, 501
It is taking the carp too long to make their first move. I know they are there, but their silence troubles me. Whatever they are planning must be foul indeed. I have ordered that a wall be built around the fortress courtyard, hopefully the carp can be stopped by mortal stone...
22nd of Granite, 501
I ordered the statue of myself bejewled, and now it is adorned with hanging rings of sapphire. The carp-wall is nearly complete, however I fear any opening large enough for a dwarf could easily permit passage of a carp. I must think on this.
4th of Slate, 501
I have ordered the construction of an indeterminate number of wooden spikes. I will decide when enough spikes have been made. I will line the opening with spikes, then connect them to a lever. If an army of carp beseiged Ringkindling, a mere pull of a lever and then SPIKES! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
13th of Slate, 501
The heat is tremendous. It is only mid-spring and many of the nearby ponds are drying up. Lustfulwhisker remains unchanged, brimming with our invisible enemies. Soon the spikes will be ready and we will at least be safe from these scaled horrors.
5th of Felsite, 501
Heliti swims in the water while he fishes, tempting fate. We told him that we have large stores of food and no place to store new fish, so he merely tosses his catch beside the body of water from which he retrieves it. "I don't want to get ouf of practice" he says. He is just the kind of madman we need if we're to hold off the cosmic horror of the devil fish!
Heliti has so far only engaged the twisted minions of the carp: trout and mussels. It is only a matter of time before the puppetmasters reveal themselves however.
7th of Felsite, 501
The carpenter is creating wooden spikes with insufficient haste. I am beginning to doubt his loyalties.
7th of Felsite, 501 - Second Entry
I just thought of something: Carpenter. CARP enter. I must investigate this more fully.
10th of Felsite, 501
The cats Xombis brought with him are swimmers. They have sealed their own doom.
14th of Felsite, 501
The spike initiative is not proceeding on schedule. By the time the spikes are completed we will all be feed for the ravenous carp, who even now plot our gruesome demise from their watery temple of darkness. I have decided to begin construction of a giant watchtower to protect against carp. The carpenter feels this is overkill, thusly proving his allegiance to our sworn enemy. The carps plan is beginning to reveal itself. Luckily I am two, maybe three steps ahead of the devil fish. I have begun feeding the CARPenter false information. As far as he knows, Operation: Fishy Pincushion is still go.
15th of Felsite, 501
The recent revelation of traitors in our midst has made me more aware of our many and varied security inadequacies. I have ordered construction of a private room for myself, which can be sealed off from the rest of the fort from the inside. This will have to do until I can get a bunch more spikes.
23rd of Felsite, 501
I have finished personally smoothing the stone of the entryhall. I will begin on the courtyard, so that there is somewhere worthy of displaying the statue of myself, which I feel is still inadequately decorated.
25th of Felsite, 501
Some of Heliti's catches have begun to rot, making the area around the fortress stink of rotten fish. Good. Let the carp smell what happens to fish who cross the Dignified Basement.
26th of Felsite, 501
YES! I know what my statue was missing: the bones of my enemies. Although we lack carp bones at present, their allies the turtles will do for now. I also ordered the construction of helms from turtle bone. Let us wade into battle wearing the skins of our foes!
17th of Hematite, 501
The statue of myself has finally been situated! I have engraved a protective ward around it depicting the founding of the fortress, dogs, a buckler, and myself admiring dogs. If there's anything that might ward off carp, it's images of dogs. My work done outside, I began smoothing the stone of my new room. Who knows how long before I will have to lock myself inside to escape my many enemies?
23rd of Hematite, 501
The other sapphire was stolen by a theif. Well played carp, well played. It's obvious that as long as the carpenter is around our every move is being reported to those who dwell in the lake. I may have to deal with him once and for all.
25th of Hematite, 501
After much heated argument, I relented and allowed the construction of a trade depot. We might as well hang out a sign that says "Carp disguised as merchants, please come eviscerate us!"
5th of Malachite, 501
No new immigrants are coming this season. I can't blame them, with the carp apocalypse looming and security being so lax.
9th of Malachite, 501
In order to acquire matching stone for the watchtower, interior space for workshops is being dug. Efficiency is key.
15th of Malachite, 501
The traitorous carpenter has constructed a bed for me which I ordered before I realized the extent of his corruption. I'd have to be a madman to sleep in that bed now, he's almost definately poisoned it.
26th of Malachite, 501
The watchtower is really coming along, construction of topmost layer will begin shortly. Our security situation will soon improve slightly, although we have a long way to go. Production of wooden spikes is still being intentionally sabotaged by the traitor.
14th of Galena, 501
The watchtower is all finished but the fortifications at it's peak. However, I am worried that the carp might circumvent the wall via the mountain. Therefore I am having slopes smoothed out with stone blocks, further securing the courtyard.
20th of Galena, 501
My panic room is still incomplete. I cannot remember which of my subjects is supposed to be the mechanic, and no one is fessing up. The workshop I demanded built inside the room (to aid in the speed construction of the panic room door) remains unfinished.
26th of Galena, 501
While the mechanic was constructing the mechanics workshop, I ordered the floodgate installed to seal him in. The only way he could get out way to finish my panic room. Unfortunately, the carpenter installed the floodgate and was trapped inside with him. I can only assumed that the mechanic was compromised, perhaps replaced by a carp duplicate. The panic room can no longer be considered safe (although it did come out quite nicely otherwise).
3rd of Limestone, 501
I had Xombis test the poison bed and he seems like he's still alive (note: look into possible carp connection to the undead). Sleeping on rocks has made me bold, I've decided to install the bed in the panic room and sleep there, if only to lure my enemies into a false sense of security. When the carp come to drag me off to hell they'll find it not as easy a task as they had estimated.
5th of Limestone, 501
Carpenter "fell asleep" on the watchtower. The carp are getting sloppy in their madness. No further work will be done on the watchtower, it is part of the carp's plan somehow. It would be unwise to continue construction until I know what they intend to do with it.
8th of Limestone, 501
One of Xombis's dogs gave birth to puppies. As yet, no carp connection has been confirmed.
8th of Limestone, 501 - Second Entry
Not to be outdone, one of his cats had kittens.
14th of Limestone, 501
It has started raining, and the ponds are filling up again, thusly opening up further points of entry into my lands for the carp. Much vigilence is needed.
17th of Limtestone, 501
I ordered the construction of some rock crafts in antisipation of an attack by the carps disguised as a merchant caravan from mountainhome. I am three steps ahead of the damned hellfish.
13th of Sandstone, 501
The carpenter continues to sabotage the spike production. If only he knew that his attempt to serve his dark masters was in vain, for the spikes are a decoy, a ploy to throw him off the scent. However, there is no sense in not making him at least nominally useful before I purge the traitors from our midst. The spikes will make a good, if slow in coming, secondary defense.
14th of Sandstone, 501
I have learned the names of two of the miners, Tig and NTheGreat. I have attempted to anagram the names to spell something carp related but have heretofore been unable to. So far they seem clean, but I'd be a fool to trust anyone at this point.
6th of Timber, 501
The carp have yet to send their fake merchants. The carpenter probably overheard me talking about it to the statue of myself and reported it to his superiors. Either that, or the statue has also betrayed me to the carp...
8th of Timber, 501
I have finished smoothing the stone of the courtyard and have begun work on the floor of the fortress proper. More stone is required to finish the courtyard, so construction has begun on bedrooms for the whiney traitors who infest my otherwise perfect fort like lice. You can be sure I will be closely monitoring any activity in these rooms.
13th of Timber, 501
Apparently everyone else assumed I was keeping track of the food and drink stockpiles. Long story short, I have no idea how many supplies we have. I have ordered construction of a desk and chair for myself so I might figure out where we stand. We might need to withstand a prolonged seige if the carp ever muster their forces.
18th of Timber, 501
I had my office set up directly in front of the new rooms. Let's see them try and plot my overthrow without me knowing it now! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
23rd of Timber, 501
I have begun looking into the situation of our supplies, and there are less than I previously estimated. While I was worrying about the physical security of the fort, the carp were slowly draining us of supplies. I shan't make the same mistake again, all food will now be stored inside the fort!
28th of Timber, 501
Both the carpenter and some of the other suspected traitors have been hanging around the statue of myself an awful lot. Either the statue has betrayed me, or they're using it to practice killing me. I will interrogate the statue later.
18th of Moonstone, 501
The food stores are finished, and the unrotten fish are being moved into them. I have insisted that strong doors be put in place to keep an carp sleeper agents from using the old dead-fish trick to sneak into my fort.
20th of Moonstone, 501
THEIF! The carp have hired a local tribe of kobolds to start stealing our supplies! Their final attack cannot be far off.
24th of Moonstone, 501
Despite numerous masons, no one has begun construction of the doors I ordered. Clearly the carp have infiltrated nearly the entire population of the fortress. That's why they haven't attacked yet, they plan to take it over from the inside. I should have had spikes installed outside my panic room.
3rd of Opal, 501
We have enough fish to get through the winter. It will be entertaining to see the traitorous swine forced to eat their own masters to survive the winter. That is, IF they survive the winter.
12th of Opal, 501
Double doors were installed on the food stockpile, which will hopefully keep carp from crawling out in the night and sucking my soul out through my mouth. Luckily my panic room is furthest from the stockpile, if any of the other dwarves have yet to betray me their screams will be my warning.
9th of Obsidian, 501
Heliti hasn't caught a fish in days. Clearly the carp are massing their forces for one final push. If only the carpenter hadn't been compromised and we had enough spikes we might survive. At the first sign of trouble I'm going to shut myself off in the panic room and let the traitors learn the fickle nature of their dark masters as they are consumed by the fishy horde.
23rd of Obsidian, 501
Winter is almost over, it seems that we will survive it despite the best effort of the carp menace. Next year I hope the defenses can be raised to the point where we will not need to live in constant fear of the devil fish.
1st of Granite, 502
We officially made it through the winter. I have decided that my duties as protector of the fortress will take up so much of my time that I'm passing on my petty administrative duties to Xombis, the only dwarf here who hasn't hinted at a secret alliance with the damn devil fish.
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Topic: Ringkindling: Histories of Greed and Madness (Read 2197 times)