WARNING, HUGE EFFING UPDATE AHOY
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The following are excerpts taken from the journal of Pruvan Lūkimush
10th Malachite, 204Greetings, my name is Pruvan Lūkimush. If you're reading this journal it means you've taken an interest in the history of Speargroove, which also means this journal will have survived and its purpose is being fulfilled. I was chosen as temporary supervisor for this young thriving fortress because the previous supervisor has apparently forsaken his duties in favor of his own personal gains. I was chosen to lead next because the people have faith in me. I can only hope I'll be able to live up to the expectations. I am but a humble blacksmith now chosen to control the fates of my brethren and our home, thus I shall try to take decisive yet calculated actions to ensure the safe progression of our lives.
17th Malachite, 204After seven days and seven nights I have finally managed to struggle my way through the numerous scrolls, documents, maps and work orders that make up our disorderly infrastructure. How anyone ever managed to keep track of the fortress' going before me is beyond me. There is a lot of work to be done but I've managed to break down a few key tasks that I hope will be accomplished by the end of the second winter to come. I will list them here, in somewhat right order, for future references.
1.Get rid of all the stones laying about.
The amount of stones that clutter up our fortress is astonishing, and the fact that no one's bothered to store them properly is beyond me. Right now our brethren are struggling to make their ways towards their beds because of the dozens of stones blocking up the hallways. The amount of space required to store these stones will be huge compared to the area our great leader has restricted us in, but I have a somewhat foolproof plan to take care of this.
2.Put the animals out of their misery.
This grotesque scene is, again, beyond me. All of our animals are stuffed inside this one cage and forced to live under horrible conditions. They have been traumatized up to the point where the only way to help them now is to put them out of their misery. It's cruel, but it's the lesser of two evils. If I could find the person who did this I'd throw him in a cage personally and store him in the deepest, darkest part of our fortress.
3.Get fundamentals of a better organization going.
Right now it's hard to tell heads from tails in our fortress. By the end of my reign I hope to have all workshops and stockpiles somewhat better organized. If not better, at least somewhat more logical up to the point where supervisors to come will be able to jump-start their way into helping our fortress progress further.
4.Move important things deeper underground
Some important items like all of our weapons, armor and ammo (!) are being stored pretty much outside at our front door. All the enemy has to do is move in, grab whatever they want and be off before anyone knows what happened.
5.Create a proper smithing area deeper underground.
Being a smith myself, I'm worried that our exposure so close to the enemy is dangerous to important dwarves like forgers and smiths (if I may say so myself). I plan to create a proper smithing area, magma fueled of course, much deeper underground.
6.Build a proper meeting hall.
The above drawing speaks for itself I believe. Not to mention the amount of people who have complained that the serpent is giving them nightmares (me being one of them).
7.Create a solid defense at the fort's entrance.
Right now the people guarding our front door consist of 6 unorganized wrestlers, some wielding weapons they're barely skilled in. How we managed to survive for so long is beyond me.
8.Reposition farms.
Our farms are tiny at best and awkwardly located. I hope to have them positioned better as well.
9.Get people's rooms properly furnished.
Right now everyone has a room to speak of, but little more than a bed in most cases. Giving everyone at least a coffer for belongings and a cabinet for clothes is something that seems only rational to me.
10.Provide power to the fortress.
Right now the only thing that needs powering is a millstone outside, but in the future power may be needed for grand scale projects of unspoken purposes. It's a less important task but I shall try to fit it in my schedule as well.
11.Construct something memorable
Any fool's dream of course. To have something to be remembered by... This has the lowest priority of all tasks ahead. But we shall see what we shall see...
18th Malachite, 204Time to get to work!
I've ordered the entire area in the above drawing to be mined out and used for storing all the cluttering stones in. The miners gave me an odd look, but I ensured them I knew what I was doing. I also ordered the small openings that were being used for drawbridges covered up, since they are no longer being used for said purpose. The area wasn't being used for anything, so for now it shall serve this purpose. If at any point the number of stones in our fortress diminishes, this area can be rewalled for other uses.
I've grouped our... 'military' into one squad and ordered all of them to equip crossbows. We have plenty lieing around so it shouldn't be a problem. I tried to put the Captain of the Guard in charge of the squad but the elite wrestlers refused to serve someone beneath them in skill. It's odd if you think about it, but I've no time to argue with them since they're the only ones keeping us safe. I've stationed them at the front door for now. Whether or not they'll be able to hold back any invaders is something I don't want to dwell on for now.
I've created a new refuse stockpile and ordered everyone to stop gathering filth from outside. The amount of turtle bones and shells we have is daunting.
Unfortunately I won't be having any time for trading. I've enough work already and quite frankly, I wouldn't know what we need anyway.
It's sad, but it has to be done. I assigned someone to do the butchering.
21st Malachite, 204
The mining is going faster than I could have hoped! At this rate we'll have that stone stockpiled in no time.
25th Malachite, 204
The area has been cleared and can now be used to store stones! I've ordered everyone to start hauling immediately. I'm hearing a lot of complaining behind my back, but in the end it'll be worth it.
25th Galena, 204A month has passed, and progress is slow. But we'll get there eventually. Nothing worth mentioning has happened this past month. A handful of snatchers foolishly trying to make their way in, but quickly getting disposed of. Things should start picking up once the stones have been stored.
1st Limestone, 204Autumn has come. And we're still alive. I'm doing better than I had anticipated!
9th Limestone, 204
Just an example of one of the felsite guardians being released and put out of its misery. He was missing an entire hand. The stump was infected and rotten from lack of care. Those poor bastards...
15th Limestone, 204
One of the merchants sounded the alarm when he spotted a goblin raiding party. Let's hope our defenses can take care of them...
19th Limestone, 204
By Armok... What a bloodbath. Not only were the goblins' numbers far greater than we anticipated, but a group of violet xelics attacked us from behind at the very same time! If it hadn't been for the merchants' bodyguards we would've been mercilessly slaughtered...
Only Olga, a former supervisor, and a single wrestler managed to survive the onslaught. Because they managed to get away in time. What little military we had is now broken and our fortress lies in the hands of whomever decides to protect us, which is a group of friendly traders at the moment. I'll assign some new dwarves to our poor army and hope we will have no more encounters to speak of until we have a proper defense going.
One of the dwarves busy burying our fallen was suddenly taken by a fey mood somewhat later this day. He probably figured now's as good a time as any to be inspired. A little macabre if you ask me.
25th Limestone, 204
The weaver has finished her masterpiece. She seems to have gotten some awkward inspiration from the coffins she was passing. I decided not to ask any questions. I hope none of the little girls in our fortress will have to wear this skirt.
10th Sandstone, 204
The merchants regretfully told me that they had to depart again. I begged them to stay but they told me it wasn't their call. Which means the only thing standing between us and death is a poorly thrown together army of dabbling marksdwarves. I have little faith at the moment.
Progress on stone stockpiling has been slow, due to the lack of arms. No explanation needed. We're going to need more graves if this keeps up. My brethren aren't blaming me for what happened, but still...
17th Timber, 204
All of the traumatized animals have finally been disposed of. I ordered the butcher to start hauling stones as well. We're almost there. There have been no more sieges so far. I'm still holding my breath.
1st Moonstone, 204Winter is upon us. We have plenty of food and drinks to make it through. The guards outside are finding it rather chilly, but we're giving them booze to keep them warm. The stone piling draws ever closer to completion. Once everything's been moved out of the way we can focus on other tasks at hand.
6th Moonstone, 204
Our stockpile is almost full... And there are still more stones lieing about! I get the feeling we're going to need a little more space still...
9th Moonstone, 204
Armok does not seem to smile upon us this year. And just when we've almost finished hauling the stones too. The stockpile is full but I've ordered another small stockpile deeper down. My prayers are with our marksdwarves, no merchants are around to save us now should things go wrong... If this should be my last entry, let it be known that Speargroove did not surrender itself without putting up a fight. I go now to support my brethren. Let's hope Armok may yet smile upon us in our darkest hour...
12th Moonstone, 204
We are still alive, but for how long I do not know. One of our marksdwarves was shot and killed in the fight. The enemy wave has retreated for now but whether or not it was just a scouting party is yet to be revea
<< The journal entry abruptly ends here as if the author was interrupted while writing >>
18th Moonstone, 204
Another raiding party ambushed us and overwhelmed our guard. Olga fought bravely to try and defend us, but with only three or four dabbling marksdwarves as backup was quickly overwhelmed and struck down. But not without taking down a handful of enemies as well. The enemy marched on our doorsteps and all seemed lost, until Dain, our founding father, in a glorious act of desperation gathered all our brethren and led a counter offensive against our foes! With no weapons or armor to speak of, we formed what seemed to be a giant iron fist of courage and valor and smashed our enemies into bloody pulps. Yet our victory only lasted so long, a second raiding party arrived shortly thereafter and took us in the middle of celebration and recuperation. Our founder quickly assembled everyone and charged once more, but his willingness to die for his fortress finally got the best of him. Rushing forward in advance, he was quickly surrounded by a group of bugbears and brought to death. Knowing no honor they charged him from all sides, a great armed many against one unarmed dwarf. An unfair fight that was impossible to win... Before the others could arrive it was already too late. We took down every single bugbear we could find with all the fury in our hearts combined, but alas. A great many of us had already fallen in battle and this time there were no celebrations. Both Dain and Olga had fallen in battle, along with countless of others. Those of us who survived are now left with little faith in our existence.
Nevertheless let it be known henceforth that Speargroove will never fall into enemy hands! Not while at least one dwarf in Speargroove is left standing! Armok was truly in all of us this day, even those who now lie dead died knowing their death was not in vain.
19th Moonstone, 204
Burial ceremonies were had. I wish we had a grander burial chamber for Dain... But in his humbleness he never provided one for himself. Udil, another previous supervisor has taken it upon himself to fill up some positions that were vacant after the slaughter. I thanked him for his kindness. We haven't elected a new mayor yet and there's no need for a captain of a non-existent guard. We're all a bit shook up, and a lot of us are still demoralized... But we must press on. Especially now. We can't let everyone have died in vain.
22nd Opal, 204
With the stones out of the way I've ordered the construction of the new smithing area. I haven't been sleeping well and it's hard to focus on my tasks at hand but I have to pull through.
26th Opal, 204
We found a small lace agate vein. Some joy after all I guess. I've been having nightmares for several nights in a row now...
7th Obsidian, 204
I couldn't take it anymore, I've issued a lock down. No one goes in or out without my order. I need to be able to sleep at night knowing I won't be dismembered and see our fortress burn when I wake up. Until we are ready for the unexpected all contact with outsiders is prohibited. This includes traders.
26th Obsidian, 204
One of the children was taken by an odd mood today. Normally these sort of things only happen when one has come of age. I'm intrigued as to what inspired him and let him do his business.
1st Granite, 205Spring has arrived and new year celebrations were had! People are starting to live up once more. With a new season come new beginnings. Let's hope this year will be blessed by Armok.
6th Granite, 205
Nomal, the child who was taken by a strange mood some days ago, just finished her grand construction. A beautiful looking crown. There's a picture referencing to the foundation of Speargroove on it. Dain himself would've been proud to see our youth grow so skilled so quickly! She may become a grand crafter one day.
22nd Granite, 205
Rovod, formerly a leatherworker, was elected as the new mayor today. Let's hope he leads us as well as Dain once did. I don't really know him, but others say he'll do the job fine so I don't care much. Work on the smithing area must continue.
3rd Slate, 205
I'm already beginning to dislike our new mayor...
13th Slate, 205
Creamcornicussomethingorother, the supervisor that came before me and has some sort of extreme self-esteem about himself, kept nagging my ears off that I had to spent more attention to him. I gave him what he wanted for now (to shut him up mostly).
24th Slate, 205I've ordered all hallways, rooms and others (except for the working and unused areas) to be smoothed out. It'll give our fortress some well-deserved sex appeal. The smithing area is nearing completion, but because of the smoothing it's on hold for a while. Nothing to worry about though.
6th Felsite, 205Found a lot of stuff today, strewn around the fortress randomly and no one dared touch it. When I asked my brethren about it they said they were forbidden to do so. I'm at a loss as to why this was so, but nevertheless I've ordered them to store it as well. Who knows when you might need some extra socks!
14th Felsite, 205I counted today and we have 54 rooms... And only 28 dwarves to live in them. It's sad if you think about it. Still, I hope to furnish as many of them as possible. It should take care of the ridiculous amount of stones we have as well.
25th Felsite, 205The magma furnaces and forges are in place! Now for the stockpiles...
26th Felsite, 205
We struck copper! Ironically right in the middle of our smithing operation. Armok smiles upon us once more!
1st Hematite, 205Summer has come, and all is well. Construction is proceeding according to plan. We haven't had any more raids either.
14th Hematite, 205Had to make another temporary stone stockpile for the newly dug stones. But our smithing area is almost finished! (How many times have I written that already?)
18th Hematite, 205There's a lot of fighting going on outside. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do to help the merchants without risking the lives of our entire fortress... I feel somewhat responsible but... Ah,
<< There are some scribbles on this page, but they have been crossed out and made illegible >>
25th Hematite, 205
Another one of us is taken by a strange mood. I think it's the stones and lack of fresh air...
8th Malachite, 205
Another small artifact to add to our collection. Most impressive I say.
15th Malachite, 205Just found out my work orders weren't being put through because Udil was afraid of a raging camel outside. Ordered a marksdwarf to take care of it. Things should pick up again soon.
15th Galena, 205
At long last, the smithing area is officially finished and open for business (better late than never)! All weapons, armor, ammo and metal bars are being moved to their new home now. I made myself an office near the furnaces to ensure everything goes right and no one does anything stupid around the magma. We can now take on some other organizing, notably the cloth and leather sections (among others). I still have roughly half a year so things should work out according to schedule.
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Topic: (Succession) Speargroove nano fortresss, (Read 72663 times)