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[Dame de la Licorne]

18th Timber, 216
Zuglar still hasn't forgiven me for that bridge incident even though I've sworn by everything I hold dear that I had no idea she was planning to take that particular route.  As if I would harm my only son!  Granted, she can be a bit...difficult, at times, but I am not a murderer.  I finally told her that I would see to it that Datan's temple would be completely re-done in different colored blocks as an apology.  She insisted that it be glass, instead.  I swear that dwarfette enjoys giving me the run-around!  Where will I find a dwarf with time to learn the art of glassmaking?  But now that I think about it, the girl Sazir is just about old enough to do something other than tag after her mother all day.  I'll assign her to the task, and think about what else she could do in her free time.

[OOC: Kanute, no I don't mind if you want to add Arnmod's viewpoint.  And that goes for anyone else who claims a dwarf and wants to write their viewpoint, but no one is required to do so.]

[Dame de la Licorne]

8th Moonstone, 216
I've noticed that we now have 25 dwarves, but only ten bedrooms.  This is simply not acceptable!  We are no longer refugees in this place (or at least I don't consider us to be refugees), and we will have a suitable home where no dwarf is too crowded!  One thing I don't miss from Olon Thasdoth is the ever-present crowding, where dwarves would be sleeping on the floor because there weren't enough beds in the poorest quarters, and they couldn't afford the beds in the better districts.  I am determined that it will not happen here.  I've ordered more rooms dug on the bedroom level, and Ablel has assured me that she will get around to them before the end of the winter.

[Dame de la Licorne]

17th Opal, 216
Ast decided to build a windmill, instead of a water wheel to power our waterfall.  I still think a water wheel would have been better, but Ast does have a point that transferring the power from the moat to the pump would have been trickier, particularly from a defensive point of view.  We are still too weak in dwarf-power to take foolish chances.  The new waterfall is worth it, however.  A fine mist is now present in our main hallway and every dwarf who passes by smiles at the sight.

[Dame de la Licorne]

5th Obsidian, 216
As if an odd child isn't enough, Ast has followed Datan's example and locked herself in her workshop!  She grabbed some chunks of rock and refuses to speak to anyone, nor to eat or drink, choosing to work instead.  I know I asked her to make statues using all of her skill, but this is too much!  Somehow I have to convince her to at least take a break to eat and sleep.

[Dame de la Licorne]

8th Obsidian, 216
Ast hasn't listened to me, hasn't even acknowledged my presence over the last three days.  She won't eat, she won't sleep, all she does is labor away, carving her rocks.  I was standing in her workshop today, feeling helpless and desperately trying to think of a way to get through to her when she stopped working and stretched, and then screamed, "Helmsshadows!"
I jumped and apparently she had known I was there, because she turned to me and gestured toward her project, which I could now see was a door, and said, "Helmsshadows the Impure Island.  Would you like to take a look?"
It definitely was a door, a diorite door to be precise, which I valued at 4800*.  At least a door is more useful than an earring.  And then I noticed the image.  For some unknown reason, Ast had decided to add a picture of Tritegrottoes the earring on her door.  It seems pretty clear where she had drawn her inspiration from, although I find it rather disturbing that an adult should follow a child's lead.  But at least the door will serve a purpose, where the earring serves none.

[Dame de la Licorne]

17th Granite, 217
Ithithe looked around as her elven band moved ever nearer to the dwarven settlement.  You wouldn't even guess that dwarves live here.  She marveled to herself, noting all the trees through which they moved.  Seeing a thinning of the trees ahead, she ran a gentle hand over the nose of her loyal mule, reassuring him of the safety she had always granted him.  Coming out of the forest, she was shocked to see stone walls rising to the sky on the other side of an unnatural water-filled ditch.  The forest grew right up to the edges of the water, but the stone wall blocked any further travels, even for Ithithe, a renowned swimmer among her people.  Her fellow "merchants" had stopped but a few paces behind, and one raised the question on all their minds, "What do we do now?"
Ithithe sighed in resignation, and cupping both hands around her mouth, called out.  "Is anyone there?  Helloooo!"
"Wha'cher wan'?"  A gruff voice replied, and a short squat figure appeared in on of the fortifications ringing top of the walls.
"We come in peace, good dwarf.  We are traders sent out from--"
"Traders, eh?  Well, yer've come ter th' wrong place.  Th' entrance's ove' ther'."  The dwarf said, making a lazy gesture toward the east.  "Now git off wi' yer!  An' a frien'ly warnin', if'n yer ain't bringin' som'thin' useful, Durien'll have yer hair fer a cloak!"  And with those less than soothing words, the dwarf disappeared.
Sighing, Ithithe turned back to her companions.  "Dwarves really are quite uncouth."  She remarked.  "But as we are on a mission direct from the great tree itself, I suppose we must continue on."
"Might they not suspect something?"  One of the newest recruits merchants, Nithe by name, asked.
Eletha laughed.  "Reassure yourself Nithe.  These dwarves are clearly quite stupid.  The humans might be smart enough to see through our wiles, but dwarves are only ever concerned with rock and metal.  The only thing they care about is raping Father Earth of all his bounty."  Gesturing to the nearby ditch, she added, "And forcing Mother Rain to fill their abominations."
Ithithe nodded agreement.  "In any case, we are not allowed to leave without learning something of what we came here for.  Let us travel east.  The other surviving spies insist that their depot is somewhere in the foothills of this valley.  It cannot be too hard to find, we are elves after all."

The elven caravan started forward again, following the ditch eastwards.  A short distance further, the ditch made a sharp turn and continued north, the wall remaining unbroken along the inside boundary.  After a quick consultation, the elves continued east as they couldn't see anything resembling a gate in the wall.  Ithithe soon came upon an odd tree growing in the mostly undisturbed forest.  Made entirely of wood, the tree stretched above the canopy, and its four branches rotated steadily, almost as if the light wind was causing them to turn.  She called a short break and moved to examine it more closely. 
Eletha came up and caught her breath.  "What kind of tree is it, do you think?"
Ithithe shook her head.  "I do not think that it is a tree.  Look here,"  she instructed, pointing to the nails seeming to secure the "roots" to the "trunk".  "This is a structure, a made-thing.  The dwarves must have built it out of the corpses of these trees.  But why would they kill trees simply to build one?  It makes no sense."  Ithithe shook her head in confusion.
"Then it must serve some purpose to them, for dwarves are not known for their respect towards other living beings."  Eletha muttered.  "As to what purpose, your guess is as good as mine.  We could ask once we arrive at teh depot.  The way they answer will hold information, if we are willing to look for it."
Ithithe nodded.  "Yes, let us ask.  But we must be discreet.  They may not yet be ripe."

It was late afternoon, nearly dusk by the time the puzzled elves finally arrived at the depot.  Ithithe took a moment to ask the gate guard, "Tell me noble dwarf, what is the purpose of that odd tree near the ditch?"
"Wha' tree?  Trees is trees, nuthin' odd 'bou' 'em."
"The one that was built, whose branches never stop turning."  Ithithe moved her arms in a rough approximation.
The dwarf sputtered, and then started to chuckle.  "Tha's no' a tree!  Tha's a windmill!"  With every word he seemed to laugh harder, and barely gasped out "windmill" before doubling up with laughter. 
Another dwarf, a child, pelted down the hall, yelling about the elves mistaking windmills for trees, and laughter began to ring out from beneath the ground.  The elves looked at each other, and almost as one their ears began to flush red with embarrassment.  They were unusually silent as they unloaded their four-footed friends, as far more dwarves came to watch than usual, every so often breaking into unexplained chuckles.

[Dame de la Licorne]

22nd Granite, 217
Although those stupid elves didn't bring any useful trade goods, I can't help laughing at the memory they did bring us, for free.  To think that they mistook a windmill for a tree!  This will be remembered for years to come, I'm sure.  They seemed rather put out when we refused to trade anything, but I'm sure they'll get over it.  And if they don't and choose not to return, well, that will be the greatest gift they could grant us.  I have no time for the tree lovers.  A windmill!

[Dame de la Licorne]

13th Felsite, 217
Ast and Kib came to me with a suggestion today.  Kib wants to put together some kind of milling operation, to grind some of the plants she is now growing into things like flour and sugar, to liven up our diet a bit.  Apparently the milled form supposedly lasts longer than the raw plants.  In conjunction with that, Ast wants to build a forest of windmills on one part of the hill above our entry, "as a welcome to the elves next spring."  Of course I approved at once.  Anything that makes the elves look even more like idiots can only be a good thing.

[Dame de la Licorne]

14th Hematite, 217
The humans came back, and they brought close to fifty logs!  Excellent!  It looks like scaring the liaison to death finally achieved some results.  They did bring some anvils, so I'll have to have another chat with our friend, but at least they have made some progress with regard to our demands requests.

[Dame de la Licorne]

22nd Hematite, 217
Ablel, Arnmod and Duchess Nukem fought some goblin raiders today, when they made the mistake of ambushing Ablel near the entrance.  About half of them turned tail and ran when they got close enough to recognize Arnmod, as if he were a demon, while the military took out those too slow or too stupid to run.  Duchess Nukem managed to hammer three of the remainder to death, her first kills.  She will have to do better than that to earn any sort of title, but I must say she is off to a good start, especially considering that she has not trained with a hammer for very long.  Unfortunately, Arnmod was injured by a lucky strike, which just happened to land right on his already injured lower spine.  He can still walk, but he seems to be moving more stiffly than before, and has taken to drinking even more than he used to.  He claims that it helps with the pain relief, and I don't really want to argue the point.  Injured or uninjured, he is still the best fighter we have.

[Dame de la Licorne]

5th Malachite, 217
Vucar discovered another child-snatcher this evening, and managed to kill it before Arnmod (who was doing gate duty) arrived.  However, Arnmod's report to me was rather disparaging, as Vucar promptly threw up once she had finished strangling the creature.  I suppose this explains why it has taken her sixteen years to make her first kill, she clearly isn't a military-minded dwarf.

[Dame de la Licorne]

25th Malachite, 217
I am worried for my son, Momuz, who has begun acting strangely indeed.  He is a very sensitive individual, always concerned that others will mock him, and if I find that one of the others has hurt his feelings, heads will roll.  For now he has hidden himself away in the craftdwarf's workshop, away from everyone else.  I will give it a day or so, and then see what the problem is.

[Dame de la Licorne]

2nd Galena, 217
Momuz refuses to talk to me!  Every time I try to find out what the matter is, he shows me a picture of glass.  What does glass have to do with it?  Then again, maybe he means that he will only speak to a glassmaker?  Sazir is the closest thing we have to that, even if she isn't at all skilled, perhaps she could make some headway.

[Dame de la Licorne]

7th Galena, 217
Sazir gave Momuz a piece of raw green glass she had made for practice to try and cheer him up, and he practically snatched it out of her hands.  He is now running around the fort gathering other materials, so this seems to be another mood similar to Datan's and Ast and I worried for nothing.

[Dame de la Licorne]

15th Galena, 217
Momuz used mica, the glass, a shell and a log to make...Shamefulscorch, a mug.  A mug.  Marginally more useful than an earring, but still.  And where did he get the name Shamefulscorch?  We are not living in shame!  We did what we had to in order to survive, there's nothing shameful about that!  At any rate, I value this new creation at 7200*, more than either of the other two, and I'll put it with that useless earring, deep in the fort where I can forget about them.