So, my turn to rule has come again. You know, I've been just so wrapped up in my Art that it's like I hardly know the place. Even where my work is rampant, I feel like a stranger.
It's very disturbing. I need something to calm me down. And that something shall be...
A FOUNTAIN.
But not just any fountain. A DWARVENLY fountain. That'll relax me!
3rd Granite: I've talked it over with Don. He doesn't seem to understand *why* I want a fountain, but he's humoring me. A fountain is going to require a lot of pumps. Pumps means wood. It'll also require power. Power means more wood.
I direct the digging of channels so that we have access to more trees. By Armok, Navi is a fast miner! I also order the construction of walls around our power source upriver. For the moment, this means that our fortress is open to attack, but my peace of mind is worth the risk.
9th Granite: Elves arrive. Sigh. I don't care about them or anything they may have brought...as it is, we're already drowning in cougars and cougar babies. They can rot outside for all I care.
11th Granite: Kobolds ambush Navi and Keyan while they were walling off the power source. However, unlike when Keyan lost his eye, these kobolds are dispatched without incident.
(In fact, a number of undead beasts also harass those people walling off the power source or whatnot. These are omitted for the sake of brevity; no injuries are sustained at any point by anyone.)
13th Granite: A thief is discovered inside our fortress! Quickly dealt with, but worrying. Hopefully, we won't need to keep the bridges open too much longer.
Postscript: Actually, it was *four* thieves. That's even more disturbing. None of them stole anything, however.
1st Slate: Why is nothing getting done? I mean, I've done my part, which is why I'm relaxing here at this party with Don, and Apple, and Keyan, and Talak...wait, is *anyone* working?
Oh well. After the party.
19th Slate: Our new areas are fully secure! Just as we're closing up the bridges to make the fortress safe again, Keyan decides to run across it for some godawful reason...and goes flying through the air! Luckily, he lands on part of the as-yet-unchanneled-brook, and so after getting his wits about him, just walks back into the fortress. Truly a lucky star shines on him, but we have to have a talk about "when it's not safe to go outside".
11th Felsite: Migrants arrive, despite the danger! Whatever. Skeletal horses charge in on them before I can even explain to them that their role is to "patrol the border", and three are killed...but, my goodness, there's a lot of them! They outnumber us three to one, at least!
And, horror of horrors, they've found a way into the fortress! Woodcutting operations inadvertently created a hole where a tree used to straddle the channel. Migrants begin streaming in! As quickly as possible, they are ordered back out, to patrol the wastes. We must make haste to seal the breach!
15th Felsite: In a moment of pity, Keyan rushes out to drag one of the wounded migrants back in, taking the invader all the way to one of our old bedrooms. We have to have a conversation about that; I mean, I understand that it can be hard watching a dwarf die out there, but this is simply prepostero...oh, there goes Gord, too. Sigh.
By the time the conversation can be had, our old bedrooms are filled with wounded migrants. When no one's looking, I lock all the doors. Someone has to take a stand.
12th Hematite: Zombie mountain goats get ambushed by goblins. Why would goblins want to attack zombie mountain goats? What's the advantage? I have no idea.
15th Hematite: Humans arrive to trade. I continue to not care, because I have little enough time as it is to devote to my fountain. They can wait.
19th Hematite: A squad of seven migrants died fighting off the skeletal muskox who wandered too close to the fort. They fought gallantly, some even gaining proficiency as I watched. Experience is indeed the best teacher. It would've been more impressive if after they had all been gored to death, Navi didn't walk out and kill the muskox with one good hit. But she did, and so I revised my opinion considerably more towards "unimpressed".
12th Malachite: *Finally* the fortress is once more secure. Truly. This time for sure. Just to wait for those sick migrants to die, now. Oh, and sigh. The human liaison somehow wandered into our fortress and is now trapped. I don't want him in here any more than he wants to be here.
14th Malachite: *More* migrants arrive, despite the danger. If by "danger" you mean "certain death". At least the fortress is closed up tight. The human liaison out was let out, and now everything's locked down. They're not getting in, and they can wander around outside playing with the skeleton elk for all I care. Given the rate of progress, it is obvious that my fountain shall not be completed this year, but the time has come to at least begin Project: More Power!
27th Malachite: All of the *last* wave of migrants who were "recuperating" in our beds have died of dehydration. I'm glad I went the extra step and installed all that soundproofing, so that no one would be tempted to unlock the doors and help them.
2nd Limestone: I proposed to Navi and she agreed! We're getting married!
8th Timber: Construction of Project: More Power! goes slow, due to the undead. They can't reach us, but it's still unnerving when you're installing a pump and you see some skeletal elk just looking at you. Watching. Waiting. Luckily, some more migrants have shown up to deal with that problem, in their own inimitatable way.
5th Moonstone: Our first birth! Talakin gives birth to a bouncing baby boy! We haven't given him a proper name just yet, but have taken to calling him Cilob for the time being.
Cilob Okiloddom has been quite content lately.
He is the son of 'Talakin' and 'Keyan'. He is a casual worshipper of Keshan.
He is a citizen of the Closed Oar. He is a member of the Sunny Pillars.
Cilob Okiloddom likes Loamy sand, Bismuth, Clear diamond, coral, menacing spikes and cows for their haunting moos. When possible, he prefers to consume Dwarven ale and dwarven milk. He absolutely detests cave spiders.
He is very comfortable in social situations. He occasionally overindulges. He can handle stress. He tends not to openly express emotions. He likes to try new things. He needs alcohol to get through the working day.
He seems very taken with the menacing spikes throughout the fortress. Talakin thinks he's going to be a craftsdwarf when he grows up.
(OOC:
Save:
http://www.walkingshadows.org/cmcguigan/founders/founders-210.zipThe pumps aren't hooked up to anything and don't do anything (there's no outflow), because they're quite unfinished.
Diorite is the only stone turned on for non-economic uses. It took me a bit to realize that the same thing happened to me with Marble, so, heads up.
I didn't rename the kid yet, so the next person can do that.
Nothing much else. Sorry for the brief update. Holidays and all.)