12th Obsidian
So, there I was, minding my own business, when the king told me that he had a little project for me. I was supposed to go manage a fortress for a year, to make sure I had everything down. Apparently, he had grown a bit tired of my mad science experiments, and wanted me out of the mountainhomes for a while. The King's orders aren't something to be disobeyed lightly, so I packed up my things and headed out the next day. I should arrive just in time for spring!
1st Granite
Well, I got myself here. Looks like they are having a bit of an Orc problem at the moment. Maybe that's why the king sent me, since I have gotten something of a reputation for dealing with them well. Slipping past them was no problem: They may be large and strong, but eyesight and brains were never their strong point. I need to fix that eventually.
The orcs were my first priority: they should be driven off before any potential traders arrive. Ah! right here, next to the entranceway, is a lever. That must be for this fort's deathtrap entrance!
Ah, no, my mistake: That's the bridge that lets the snipers into the fortress.
But, we seem to be doing rather well. The previous fortress ruler seems to enjoy marksdwarves. Though we're listed as having 30 of them, we've actually only got 10 or so, since most of them are in the fortress or royal guards. 10 should be enough, though. He's got a very nice defensive position set up.
I see, though, that there is a giant blind spot to the front. I'll have to fix that once they leave. In the mean time, though, we seem to be giving a rather good account of ourselves:
We lured the orcs to the gates, and killed them with
fire iron. By my count, 16 orcs down. With the number of marksorcs that we killed, I think we came out ahead, ammunition-wise, and we definitely did if you could the bolts we can make from their bones.
In the middle of that battle, the countess came up to me saying that there was an elf ranting about how we were desecrating the trees. I told her I had ordered no tree desecration during my reign here, and she went off, seemingly satisfied. I also noticed that her husband wants us to make some trifle pewter items. Since we have neither tin nor copper, I'm not sure how we are to accomplish that.
I also had a dwarven liason show up, though I'm not sure how. We had our usual little talk; I requested some metals, coal, valuable leather, weapons, and armor. I have no idea why he was still around. He asked us for a bunch of stuff that I wasn't really paying attention to, but I did notice both prepared meals and drinks. We've got plenty of those, so we should be fine.
Shortly after the orcs fled and I had ordered the peasants out to clean up the mess, the elves showed up. I wasn't sure of the fortress's usual conduct towards them, so I played it safe and gave them a bunch of the stuff we had dragged off of the orcs. They seemed happy with it. We got a variety of interesting new animals for our menagerie in trade, including a leopard and a grizzly bear. This fortress certainly seems to have a lot of animals running around, so I'm sure the new additions will be appreciated.
As is inevitable whenever a bunch of peasants are running around outside, the goblins decided that now was the perfect time for an ambush. Twice, actually. Fortunately, we only lost one dwarf (a farmer), two dogs, and a horse. In exchange, we killed a total of 10 goblins: 5 wrestlers, two speargoblins, two macegoblins, and a marksgoblin. I know that there was a note left that I shouldn't order Thob into combat yet, but I've always said that live combat training is the best way to figure out which end of an axe to hold. He performed admirably, killing a total of seven goblins. He suffered one wound, when the marksgoblin shot him in the left third toe, but he'll get over it. For his bravery in combat, the count dubbed him "Thob Bodicewalls the Hot Kindnesses." I'll try not to think too much about what he might have been implying.
Lastly, on the 23rd of granite one of the carpenters was possessed by unknown forces, and is standing in his workshop even now screaming for a shell. We've got a turtle shell, but it's in a cage and he apparently can't be bothered to go get it out himself. Someone will get to it eventually.
I've decided that if I can accomplish nothing else during my tenure as fortress ruler, I'll get the army into shape to the point where it can go toe-to-toe with the orcs. I've organized them into proper squads, and told them to carry food and drink so they don't run off in the middle of combat, and given them a barracks to spar in. I've also drafted some of our 26 farmers as a squad of swordsdwarves, equipping them with the leftover equipment we've got lying around. 26 farmers, really. I also noticed that we had 28 children. I would have drafted them too, but apparently that's not allowed. I swear, on their twelfth birthdays, it's going to be sword and shield in hand for each and every one of them, if I have anything to do with it.
So, that's the end of my first month of rule: we've killed some orcs, I've organized our military, and there is a carpenter raving about his laziness. I can see the King has a sense of humor. But I'll get this fortress organized and working, even if I have to go off and do everything myself!