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[azrael4h]

27th of Granite - I suppose I should have been writing a log of our current misadventure prior to this, but with the harrowing journey and the finding of Stormchannels it has been hectic.

I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Lor Cogdin, Master Craftsdwarf and de-facto 'Leader' of the expedition to find Togalcatten. I have, or rather had, a personal interest in the affair; my cousin Vabok Fencedglazes was a captain in the Stormchannels military, and her husband a 2nd Lt. I had received the last bit of news of Togalcatten 3 years ago, when she told me of her second son being born, and her plans to request a complex of rooms for herself and her family.

Togalcatten had started nearly 7 years prior to this as a trading outpost, and had grown a considerable amount. I had even considered moving there with a caravan, but the last one to return from there reported an empty courtyard.

It has taken me 3 years to garner enough support, mostly among the common populace, to mount this expedition. Most notable is my friend Udil, who is the true leader of this force. A veteran Ranger, he is currently standing in the rain near our wagon and meager supplies.

Upon arriving, it was, as reported, empty of life. The bones of various animals and an array of goods and supplies was strewn about the halls. Most of it is good. The odd part is the lack of dwarves. As of this writing, there has been only one body found, a pile of bones sunk to the bottom of a small pond inside the courtyard.

Our supplies are all but gone; about the only thing left is a large amount of seeds left over from the fortress' prior occupants. I've ordered the old farms, an extensive setup, to be started full bore in hopes of providing for us through the rest of the year.

Tomorrow I'm going down to the recently discovered catacombs, to see what is down there. Surely there will be answers there. I hope Vabok is safe...

*OOC*

I currently have 14 dwarves and no idea where I'm going with this reclaim. Feel free to claim one or two. I claim Lor as my own tiny sociopath.

[azrael4h]

26th Slate - I don't know how to make a regular log apparently.

I went down to the catacombs, as mention in my last entry. Nothing, save for two dwarves resting peacefully.

I don't know who these two were, one lay in a fine stone coffin, set into a rough alcove in a hallway full of coffins. No name was marked anywhere.

The other was a speardwarf, and apparently the first military casualty in the fortress history. She had her name etched upon her coffin, and in a masterful tomb. I hope to have a tomb like that, perhaps I should claim one of the several that were already dug out and smoothed in preparation?

Very little of the fortress' history was engraved down here; apparently the dead speardwarf hadn't even died gloriously! She died in a sparring accident! I wonder how the other dwarf died. It was obvious from the bones that he had lost a leg before dying. It had been cleanly sheared off.

To the east of the tombs was another entrance to the extensive mines. In fact, it looks like they uncovered coal when digging out the lesser tombs, and sealed it off. I didn't get far, to the far eastern stairs leading to another section of the mines. I heard some strange noises and didn't want to investigate without my axe. I'll focus my efforts inside the fortress proper before heading to the mines.

[Mook]

i've always been a fan of horror/mystery stories.  Particularly those which involve mysteriously depopulated cities/boats/etc.  I'll claim a dwarf.

Name:  Milly
Gender:  Female
Profession:  Mechanicook  (Mechanic/Cook/Grower)  - Gotta get the food stores going somehow.
Personality:  Tight-fisted with goodies, particularly in times when rationing is necessary (as in, the first few years of a fortress's founding/reclaimation).  Takes pride in her work, and likes to keep busy.

[thunderclan]

Fireheart
Male
Engraver

Fireheart joined the group so he could chronicle the history of the fortress and honor its former inhabitants in the walls of their home.

[Glacies]

Jack-of-hearts.
Male.
Archaeologist.

[Zai]

Name: Destyni
Gender preference: Female
Profession: Bone-carver/Metalcrafter

She has an obsession with bones, but realizes that it's not the most useful career, so she took up metalcrafting as well.

[azrael4h]

"Jack, take a look at this!" yelled Ineth. She was standing in front of a low hill, to the north east of the fortress proper. "What is it?"

*Thump Thump Thump* She slammed her fist against the slope hard. "Hollow?" he asked, incredulously. "So it seems. Wonder just what the bloody hell is this supposed to be?"

Jack looked at where she had struck the slop, deep in thought. Then, he went around the entire hill, checking every several feet. Finally, he climbed atop it, and did much the same up there. Shaking his head, he climbed down.

"Looks natural, but nothing natural like that'd be that hollow. No entrance either." The two veteran archeologists stared at the strange hill for a long moment. "Gotta be another entrance..."


*OOC*

I got Jack-of-Hearts and Destyni, but for Milly and Fireheart I'll have to wait for some immigrants unless y'all aren't particular on gender. Both my engravers are female, and both my mechanic and my farmer are male.

As to the hill, the entire thing is magnetite; I dug a tunnel under the brook, and tunneled underneath it; digging into it from below. I didn't want my dwarves exposed while carting in ore, so there's several long tunnels dug like this; which helped find a few veins of ore and coal as well.

After I abandoned (over a single dead dwarf, a founder) and found out my last backup was nearly a year old, I wanted to get back to this area because it is extremely rich in ore; At a glance I know there is a LOT of copper and iron and even some native platinum on the upper Z levels; well away from my established mines.

Edited story for clarity and change in characters.

[thunderclan]

Female is fine for Fireheart

[azrael4h]

10-4.

9th Felsite

Lor crept quietly through the catacombs, towards the eastern door. Today, he had his axe with him, and intended to find whatever it was making the noises he heard earlier.

Mentally he noted the remaining iron and coal down in these tunnels; there was still plenty to spare, and enough to restart a metalworking industry once cleanup had finished. Mind filled with plans for a future iron-clad army, he made it finally to the stairs up.

There was no light at the top of the stairs, yet he continued on, counting on his naturally excellent vision in such places to lead him on.

Here, the passage branched, with one headed straight north while the other continued east. He chose east.

Glancing around, he saw nothing worth mining for here. "Probably just an exploratory tunnel..." he mused to himself. Once again falling into his mind with plans for extensive housing in this area, he didn't notice that some... thing, stood before him.

Just as he raised his head, the world went completely, utterly, black.

[Mook]

Male is fine.  I'll change the name to Gaius, instead of Milly.  Same personality and professions.

[azrael4h]

Eyes burning, blinded, and terrified, Lor swung his axe across in front of him. He felt it's steel blade bite deep into some... thing... in front of him, and heard a deadly, angry hiss.

Grasping the handle in both hands, he yanked it free. It came loose far easier than he expected, and he overbalanced backwards...

Arms flailing, he toppled backwards, rolling down two flights of stairs. He slammed down at the bottom hard, blasting the air from his lungs. Battered, wheezing, and still blind, he started dragging himself away, hoping he wouldn't get lost in the mines.

Somehow, by some miracle, nothing was broken. But Lor knew he was going to feel it in the morning, assuming he made it back to the fortress proper alive.


Gaius wiped the sweat from his forehead. Will the cleaning and tagging of the fortress' remaining treasures never end? Suddenly he felt a pinch on his left buttock, causing him to jump. Whirling around, he saw iton walking briskly away, glancing back at him and giving him a lewd wink.

*OOC*

Looks like you're dwarf got a girlfriend already, Mook.

[Mook]

Awesome.  Gaius must have spent a bit of time idling.  Bring on the (inevitable) child snatchers and their valuable narrow items!

[azrael4h]

GAH!

Cleanup had progressed to the point that I was rebuilding my infrastructure, and resuming mining operations. Unfortunately, I didn't know I had an underground pool... which had one wall made up of coal I was mining out. Unusually so, I got no warning of damp stone before my miners drilled into it, which is strange. Usually i have to redesignate the area a second time.

At any rate, enter several dead dwarves, a flooded mine and residential area/tombs, and a tantrum spiral. Save-scum time!

Won't affect the story much, except that maybe the Gaius/iton romance won't happen. Maybe I'll dump them into the sensory deprivation chamber together for a while, to let them get "acquainted".