So the situation is... a mess.
It may sound a cliche but I don't have a single idea what my predecessor was doing.
I mean, when I hear about founding a military-themed fortress, I do not expect to see a dwarf who's been smoothing the mountain since day one. What for? Perhaps the enemies are supposed to slip and fall on smoothed stone?
Does the fortress really need that much wood? Again, what for - to throw at enemies?
A cave that looks like it was supposed to become the main complex and a separate cave a bit far away where the farm is. Separated by a long stretch of completely open terrain, with no defences of any kind.
No weapons. At all.
No combat-trained dwarves either.
A single dog which wasn't even trained for battle.
No trade goods and no depot even though it's early Autumn.
Even exploratory mining hasn't been performed.
Oh, well, let's get this place rolling.
The very first order on Limestone, 1. "Whatever you do, STOP!"
Second order: "BUILD A DEPOT DAMMIT!"
Third order: "AND 7 CRAFTSMAN WORKSHOPS!!!"
Fourth: "AND MAKE TONS OF MUGS!!!!!"
Limestone, 11. Dwarven caravan arrived together with a trade liaison. Dwarves are making mugs like crazy.
Limestone, 27. I tried to talk to the liaison. The funny thing, I couldn't find him anywhere. Finally I looked at the units screen and zoomed to liaison. HE IS STILL ABOUT 20 DAMN PACES FROM THE EDGE! Looking at his wounds I see he has dark gray knee, foot and all 5 fingers. Looks like the caravan's road here was hard indeed. He's walking one square at a time and then drops unconscious for a day. Poor lad. But with a bit of luck I'll still be able to chat with him... sometime in Spring when he finally makes it to my fort.
Sandstone, 1. Dwarves made a damn lot of mugs and are hauling them to the Depot. Then suddenly a horrible, wicked message comes:
A thief has stolen a ({-giant cave spider silk sock-})!
First thought: Whoops, we had a thief?
Second thought: Whoops, WE HAD AN EXTRA SOCK? HOW COME?
Really. Where the hell did the sock come from? All my dwarves are fine, there shouldn't be any forbidden items lying around. I really, really fail to understand how this happened. Oh well.
Regarding trade, I want booze, food, an extra pick, some seeds, both horse cages and the regular junk like bags, barrels and ropes. And please some bolts if I have enough mugs to spare...
Sandstone, 8. An even more horrible message comes.
Stray Cat (Tame) has given birth to kitties.
We are doomed, I tell you. Truly doomed.
Sandstone, 10. Our 'Zany' herbalist really showed some courage today. With his lightning-fast reflexes he butchered both female cat and female kitten. The world is saved... for now. And the fortress now has two perfectly safe and sterile male cats, one fully-grown and another yet a baby.
Sandstone, 11. Trading completed. Caravan merchants are leaving soon. So far, the following goodies were purchased:
1. 65 units of food. This should keep the dwarves nice-fed long enough to complete the defensive projects without any need for farming ===> one extra mason. Only a couple of barrels of booze though, but lots of purchased food is plump helmets so the balance between food and drinks can be restored quickly.
2. A spare pick. 2 miners may be not enough.
3. Two bins of leather = bags and some basic armor.
4. 3 horse cages. We'll need a lot of cages for defence, and a lot of animals just for fun.
5. A few ropes, barrels and bags. There's never enough of them.
6. 1 copper bar, 1 lay pewter bar and a few pig tail threads. I never miss an opportunity to buy metal from merchants, and the threads can be made into extra ropes if (when) necessary.
7. Mule leather armor. It was looking nice and was real cheap. Besides, it was the only thing I could buy with the remaining mugs.
The merchants received 18 screens of mugs, all of regular quality. They must feel really lucky. I mean, I could just disassemble the depot. ;-)
P. S. Liaison's average speed seems to be 35 squares per month. He still has to cover approximately 140 squares. Estimated Time Arrival: February 11th. If you are reading this, please wish him luck. He needs it. Really.