Crimsonhold has really become crimson thanks to a single forgotten beast (beware its fire!)
All was well for the Ashen Crux of the Kingdom of Ash. The militia was forming, the first wave of stupid mongrel Beak Wolves was held off by the moat and gate, and weapons and shields were almost (key word ALMOST) ready to be forged.
"The forgotten beast Urast Shurldrast has risen! A giant skinless alligator, it undulates rhythmically. Beware its fire!"
'No problem, i have a wall, right? Oh god, my door! That thing'll break it down!' Thankfully, as this particular fort is abour 50% aboveground, I have several dwarves on mason duty, and they manage to seal up the door before it can arrive.
'I'm safe now, right?'
"Urist McScaredyCat cancelled Store Item in Stockpile: Interrupted by forgotten beast"
Multiply that by a hundred, and that's what flashes through my fort every minute or so. See, I forgot to fill in the walls ABOVE the main one, so dwarves climbing down my stairwell to the magma forges can't actually pass because they have line of sight on it. I have ten dwarves in full iron, why not just kill it?
Magma forges are my only forges. I have no spare anvils. My militia has armor, but no shields or weapons. Shields wouldn't be an issue, but the part with the GIANT BURSTS OF FLAME make going out without one more suicide than pitting a year 2 militia that's been established for a grand total of five weeks (in game) against a FB already is.
I gave them all the equipment I could, drafted my miners, and sent them out and began to remove the wall.
"Urist McRandom cancels Remove Construction: Interrupted by Forgotten Beast!"
Crap. Well, I suppose I may as well just dig a way around. But then, out of abso-freaking-lutely nowhere, the single child in the fort runs up to the wall and takes it out (another reason to hate the little buggers). He's immediately killed by fire, followed by the returning militia, followed by the rest of my fort.
I savescummed, I'll admit. The Fort was just too good to lose. It was the first one in around twenty-five to have iron, first of all, and it also had:
-Copper for shields
-Nickel for crafts
-Plenty of gems
-A legendary bone carver for bolts
-Did I mention the stupidly scarce iron that showed up in abundance here?
-Oh yeah, and a metric beard-ton of native gold for more expensive crafts
-Abundant candy
-The most perfectly-defendable spot for the actual fort
-A booming metal industry