Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Vieto]

I just hope Tower caps don't clog the pipes.

[deathstar175]

Agreed, Great work so far and I love whats being done with the place.

[xpCynic]

I just hope Tower caps don't clog the pipes.

Don't constructed floors prevent this?
But anyway, very nice work, nil. Don't start up that HFS too quickly though.

[nil]

thanks guys...  played up to early winter.  got tomorrow off, so i'll prolly have a map and finished save up by tom afternoon

[nil]

I'm beginning to think there's something a little... off... about Deathy.  For one, there is the business with Rigoth the guard. It was bad enough for him to order the death of poor Lorbam, but to then deny he ever did so?  Deathy claims he only ordered a 'beating,' not a death sentence. When anyone points out that a beating from a musclebound soldier like Rigoth is a death sentence to all but the toughest of dwarves, the deskjockey does not respond.  He has officially accused Rigoth of murder, and although no punishment has been assigned I fear there will be deadly violence in the guard's future. What was merely unfortunate--the death of a young civilian due to a bureaucrat's inane desire for a worthless metal no one had--looks like it may turn into a tragedy.

Then, there was the conversation I had with him by the refuse piles.  Despite the fact that we have an incineration pit (there's a little obsidian in it now because one of the dwarves tossed a bucketful of water down it to 'see what would happen' but it should still work), we continue to pile up our garbage in the courtyard.  Eventually it rots, and while the breeze is strong enough to keep the stench down, it remains a pest-attracting eyesore.  I asked Deathy why we hadn't switched to more modern garbage disposal methods.

"The flies," he replied.

"Well, yes, they are annoying.  But we wouldn't have nearly so many if we tossed the garbage in the magma." I said, correctly.

"No, you don't understand," said Deathy.  "I like flies."

He likes flies?  Never in my life have I heard of a dwarf liking flies, let alone one in a position of power.  What vile plans might such a dwarf have for the future?  Thank Ertal, God of Wealth, for both Fort Spearpoint and my exercise regimen.  Because of them I can feel relatively secure no matter who is or is not in power.  I pity the civilians, however--they may well be in the grip of a maddwarf.  I will do what I can, however.  I have ordered the excavation of some dungeons--by formalizing the justice system, I may be able to protect the innocent from the worst excesses of those in power.

In other news, the glassmaker's aquarium is full.  I have tossed a moghopper in and ordered the fisherdwarves to capture more live fish.  Before the month of Limestone ended, wild salmon were sighted in the tank.  Perhaps they were sucked in by the pumps and just not noticed until now..?  We were also visited by traders from the mountainhome. Unfortunately, some of the construction in the courtyard had blocked the roadway and the wagons did not come.

 

Sandstone brought a trade liason.  I requested various raw materials--metal, precious gems, bolts, barrels, among others.  I've ordered external shaft extended.  Deep underground we've carved a chamber; from here I will stick to much smaller exploratory shafts until we find something interesting.  We did find some bismuth; although it is not valuable enough to be what the dowsers sense, it does remind me of Deathy--is he associated with whatever lurks in the depths?  As the colors of the trees turned during the month of the Timber, we observed a school of shad in the aquarium.  It's been far too long since we pumped in the water for them to have been lurking in there without being seen.  Although I consider myself a military dwarf for the most part, I also fancy myself something of an amateur ichthyologist; as a result, I can't help but be excited at this refutation of the "fish come from other fish" theory the eggheads back at the Mountainhome have been smugly spouting.

^{view from the bottom at the external shaft.  at the top you can clearly see the fortifications and windows of Fort Spearpoint}

[nil]

I came to realize that Deathy didn't want Spearwonders to prosper, but rather to die.  His murderous actions, his affection for pestilence--they alone would have been enough to cast suspicion. But the final piece of the puzzle, the terrible truth, had been lying in plain sight all along--his name!  His name was Deathy, like death!  Whatever his plans were for Spearwonders, they surely included ending all of our lives.

I no longer felt safe as a civilian.  I requisitioned a high quality shield and crossbow while gathering a suit of armor.  Although I had no skill with the crossbow, I was sure to learn.  If all else failed, I could just swing it like the hammers I was more used to.  I also adopted several war dogs.  Protected, I spent the winter telling the dwarves the truth of Deathy's sinister agenda.

Despite the danger posed by Deathy, I still attended to regular administrative duties.  By mid Moonstone construction was underway on a 'dust bomb' by the entrance. This experimental weapon allows a controlled cave-in at the switch of a lever, smashing a few and stunning many.  The obsidian factory was also completed around this time; by the end of the month we had two brand new, still steaming blocks of the valuable black stone. Not being familiar with this technique, I decided to let the stone cool for a month before commencing excavations. It wasn't until Opal that I realized there was a major flaw to my factory design.  The bridges I had used interfered with proper excavation, which would preclude further use. I had several ideas to correct this, but couldn't seem to get anyone to implement them. Deathy was already starting to turn the dwarves against me, although they were still loyal enough to finish the dungeon just after midwinter.

The dungeon.

Obsidian saw the completion of the first leg of the dust bomb; it remains untested.  Just before the new year a leatherworker started collecting materials for some sort of extraordinary construction.  These happenings had little to do with me, though.  In the final month of winter I did little more than lounge in my room and shoot at the odd archery target.  I no longer tried to issue orders; they were always ignored.  I even stopped telling everyone in earshot about Deathy's sinister agenda; my reasoned arguments had never garnered more than snickers anyway.  The dwarves of Spearwonders could not handle the truth. 

But I know that, some day, they will have to. Some day, they will all pay a terrible price for ignoring me. Until then, I will wait.

[nil]

save is up at http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=967 . (hope I did this right, never uploaded a save before really)

map is at http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-5515-spearwonders .

tried to leave it open ended--is nil just a crazy paranoid? is deathy actually some sort of evil bastard? both? will any of it matter once the HFS gets breached? keep in mind you have a leatherworker in mid-mood; so far he's got some interesting skins together. wouldn't mind getting back in on this, but perferably as far down the list as possible, got a busy couple weeks ahead in the real world.

oh and you need to refill the waterfall system.  use notes and the levers below the dining room, doesn't look too hard

also you'll have 4 or 5 legendary pump operators by the end of spring, summer at the latest.  I recommend giving them something more useful to do once they start blinking.

[deathstar175]

Great job nil love the dungeons I put you down for 2 years after my next run. Carcer your up next.

[Carcer]

Now its time for the caring, dutiful but probably inept Carcer to take the helm and drive this fortress onwards!.

I will start as soon as feasibly possible, which is sadly only later today.

[deathstar175]

its fine take the time you need, just keep us informed of whats happening. Also quick poll to those that are participating how much longer should we wait to breach the hfs?

[Carcer]

I managed to get to it earlier than expected, so here is the first installment.

____________________________

4th Granite.

I would like to think of myself as a humble dwarf, never asking for more than my keep and diligently doing my assigned task, which happened to be operating a screw pump. I am unsure exactly why I was tasked with operating it, not actually having anything to pump, but I saw little point in questioning my orders.

Nil, the very capable and most recent leader of the fortress came up to me during one of my shifts and started speaking to me. He spoke of the work he’d done here, how everything had gone, and asked me if I agreed that things were well.
I did agree, my own stay quite comfortable.

He clapped me on the shoulder and told me he liked me, and he would immediately go and transfer leadership to me.

Stunned as I was, I didn’t stop pumping until I realized I’d accidently pulled the handle off. I promptly went to bed.

Waking up fresh, first things first. Spearwonders has no real problems, in so far as I can see, which is good. The worst problem I could identify was that our Captain of the Fortress guard needed better rooms fitting his station, which I would soon fix.

Other than this, the only thing that Nil told me about before going on his way was something about refilling a water fall. Not knowing entirely what he was talking about,  I none the less set about this task.



He was right, it wasn’t too hard. Flush with my success, I tried to find another task.

Ah yes. As befitting my new station, I must have some grander quarters. But they must also be functional! It wouldn’t do to waste labor on a task without a purpose, which my days of Pump Operating has taught me!

As such, I have spoken with the masons and architects and drawn up some plans… but no more of this. There is work to be done.

5th Granite.

Momuz Okilnish has started work on something or other, having gone all secretive on us lately and running around collecting materials. Now only time shall tell exactly what piece of garbage artifact we get.

I have also started construction on my project. I shall have the miners dig me some chambers out until this other endeavour is completed.

9th Granite

Momuz has completed his construction.  Ho hum.



Still, at least it can actually be used.

10th Granite.

Elves. I don’t believe I have to say anything more.

20th Granite

Having ordered some exploratory mining done, we have struck several kinds of useless rocks. Having also traded with the elves, useless is a pretty much sums it up as well.

23th Granite.

A cat happened upon a thief, who was so startled at being detected that he bolted. I shall see into maybe constructing it a small medal. Or maybe not.

28th Granite.

Today is a momentous day, as a Baron, Fikod Melbilnedas, has arrived and we have become a barony! I immediately gave instructions to have quarters dug for the baron and his entourage.
Deathy seemed somewhat… annoyed at this development and asked me what I thought of it. I said I was delighted, whereupon he narrowed his eyes slightly and left. I am unsure what to make of this.

Upon meeting with the Baron, I welcomed him and spoke with him a bit, and he seemed nice enough, if somewhat aloof. I do hope his quarters get dug soon though…

Counting him, his entourage and some random dwarf that they brought along (I noticed he was carrying all their stuff, poor thing) brings out population up to 101.

13th Slate

My early success has been undone. Somehow, the waterfall in the main dining area has managed to flood the dining hall. Thankfully I spotted it before the water got high or spread, but I’m afraid that its going to be damp and soggy in there for quite a while…



Having crawled around in the mud to try and identify the problem, I believe I have. The cistern that accepts the water once its fallen through the dining area is either too small or the pumps extracting the water are not sufficient for the task.

I am however just a humble Pump Operator, and have no idea how to fix this.

___________________________________

The dining room flooding honestly caught me off guard. I only noticed once it was 3/7 and I don't think there's a way to fix it without accidently drowning someone/flooding the fortress.

I'll post up screens of how everyone is doing next time I update.

[Vieto]

if you open the doors, the waterfall will automatically correct itself, while wetting the surrounding area, of course.

I would think that the waterfall doesn't need refilling that often, maybe just whenever the water at the top runs dry.

[Carcer]

The cistern at the top really isn't large enough either, it also runs dry and stops dropping water too quickly. That I can fix easily enough.

[Carcer]

Played further, will post update tomorrow.

[Carcer]

19th Slate

The new nobles quarters are dug and in the process of being smoothed, though I have as of yet to instruct tombs to be dug for them. I’ll hold off on this for a while more so I don’t seem too eager at digging their graves…
Deathy also recently changed the prices of some goods, not that I think we actually have any shops, so I’m unsure of his aim with this.

The dining room is starting to dry up mainly by minorly flooding the rest of the fortress when anyone goes in or out, making everything terribly muddy. Poor Cog nearly had a terrible spill as he walked past carrying a door.

21st Slate

We have struck a vein of copper, which is useful. I would have preferred iron or gold, but this’ll do.

In other news, we captured a dark gnome caught sneaking about the magma vent. I can only hope this doesn’t mean some form of co operation between the dark gnomes and the fire imps…

11th Felsite

We have also struck some small deposits of the most precious metal, Aluminum! This can only increase our prosperity.

Nobles rooms nearly finished, tombs being dug. Dining room still wet.

22nd Felsite

I notice with some alarm that Deathy has been doing widespread altering of prices. Everything from goblets to roasts to pieces of leather. Again, we have no shops and I have no intention to build any, so it all seems pointless, but I doubt he’d waste his time doing this if it weren’t for a reason.

Perhaps I should speak to him about this.

3rd Hematite

Things continue to go well. Too well, perhaps. I shall redouble my vigilance to be ready when trouble strikes.

11th Hematite

My project continues to move forward, everything is on schedule. Soon, no foe will be able to evade my gaze.

In other news, the dining room is nearly dry again. I have yet to take a look at the waterfall system and see if I can improve on it though.

15th Hematite

Today, we steel ourselves for battle. Having followed a human caravan that they had been chasing, a squad of thirteen goblins led by the dreaded Dostngsop Ozadsong  found our fortress. I will be taking every precaution I can, having immediately sent orders for the marksdwarves and our champions to man their posts.
I fear though that there is little I can do for some of the humans, who in their weariness from fleeing the goblins have been overtaken. Mayhaps their remaining guards can protect them, maybe not.



I lament at my inability to foresee this before they reached our borders. Had my project been completed, I might have had more time to prepare…

17th Hematite

After fighting bravely, the human caravan has been overrun and slaughtered. They managed to dispatch a few goblins, but the bulk remain for us to deal with.





In my haste to ready our defenses, I raised on of the drawbridges and accidentally flung a trapper into the moat. He managed to get and is more annoyed than hurt.

*Unreadable*

Hmph. I appear to have over optimistically misjudged our situation. A second squad of goblins has come pouring down the northern mountain, though the humans there appear to have more successfully engaged them.

*Badly smudged*

Some dwarves have been caught outside, including a marksdwarves who valiantly engaged the on rushing horde. Unfortunately, reports from the other squads say that he’s been caught by a pikegoblin.

20th Hematite

We have prevailed. We have only lost two dwarves, the brave marksdwarf who gave his life to protect us and probably some idiot peasant tempted by a sock.  The former shall be remembered, the later shall be laughed at for generations to come.
Some others have sustained injuries, and will be cared for.

I can confirm that the dust bombs do work, though it was set off too late and only caught a champion in its blast after everything was over, it proves the theory sound.

Now though we must look forward.

22nd Hematite

The Human Guild representative doesn’t seem to care much that his comrades were slain, and is busy hammering out a trade agreement with Deathy. I sent a memo to him to request more wood, barrels, food and drink. Its not that we really need any, but we need to spend our wealth on something.

7th Malachite

Things have returned to normal. Construction on my project continues, though the lack of glass blocks has slowed it somewhat.

____________________________________

And now for the various named dwarves.