Onward to smelting these minerals! After mining it all, we should have more than enough to finish up our boilers and compressors for our machinery. I've been feeling a bit warm after overlooking the work our builders have accomplished from the highest point of our region. It could have been the sun, and all that mining. With a mini-vomit in my mouth, I decided to see how far I could shoot the last of my beer into the distance. It was impressive, until it seperated a good couple of cubits down. It hit a chipmunk; boy, was it angry. I think it even marinated a couple robin eggs. At least those chicks'll be fed when they're born.
Anyway...
Ka-CHING!!!! Holy Armok!!! I struck one hell of a silver mine. NATIVE Silver! I swear, it nearly blinded me. To explain how and why I came across it, I felt that while the ship is being built on the dock, we might as well make use, and test out the versatility of our glorious well on the ship. I finally have use for that awesome rope I got off the merchants. It should also help us fill up the boilers when they're ready. I'm going to make it a priority that all our ores will be gathered. Maybe we can make something off them. I also came across a material that seems to emit a painful bluish white glow amongst it. It wasn't as pretty as that black mineral I came across. It bothered me; it didn't make me feel warm.
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It has come to my attention that our fellow brewer hasn't been doing his work. Complaints from all over our base have been mostly of thirst. Even I've been feeling the effects. I'm getting that numbnut back to work; it seems everyone's less willing to work without some good booze. I can't agree with them more.
Ah, our glorious liaison has graced her presence among us again. Unfortunately I've been quite busy, so I can't socialize with her as much as I'd like; but that aside, she is willing, as usual, to work while I work. We've got a good system going on here.
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AMBUSH! AN AMBUSH!!! DAMN!!!! EVERYONE TO BATTLE STATIONS!!! It looks like there's a human amongst them too!
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DAMMIT ALL!!! A SECOND ONE HIT!!!! JUST AS THE FIRST ONE DID!!!! _==-`=-`-==`
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It's terrible. The casualties... The losses are far too great. We're down to 25 dwarves. In light of things, our shortage problems are no more, but on the other hand... ....
...
Onul Medtobsoloz, Woodworker
Another one of the original 7. We lost her. She fought bravely, was a great friend, and a delight to the eyes; alas, no more. DAMN! ... I think I hit the desk hard enough to draw blood. Now I have a busted hand too. And to make matters worse, we haven't made any proper deals with our old friends for something useful either; so no backup booze either, and I think our brewer was mauled in the process as well. Furthermore, I didn't get any sign of new recruits. Speaking of which, we may need some replacements for our losses; and proper warriors this time!
BTW, our guardian bear? Yeah, he's dead now. Damn thing doesn't know how to protect.
It's the middle of Autumn, and we have yet to get all the work we had planned to do so. Remind me to never plan. It always goes awry no matter what. I'm sure you'll get your fill of what happened here when the merchants reurn. Don't be surprised to see them covered in blood.
As if things aren't bad enough, everyone around me is going to be depressed and need someone to cry on. I need a new batch of clothing. Damn shame I couldn't BECAUSE OF A DAMN AMBUSH!!! GRRRRRR!!!!! I'm ready to throw this desk to just let it out. And speaking of which, one of our engineers you sent us was mauled in the ambush. Fortunately, he already established plans for the pumps that would make our boilers operate. Hopefully, our resident engineers should figure it out the rest of the way.
I wish progress could develop better so we can migrate our dwarfitinary stations within the ship. The well should be finished hopefully. But damn it all. Why? Why Armok? Why now, when we have progress to make?
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Cleanup was rough, and the corpses are being gathered of our lost comrades. The Crematoria is being loaded while we work. As well, the monument for our lost friend has been setup. In honor of our determination, I finally carved out the copper beacon atop the mount. I engraved a ballista upon it. We shall pierce the sky with our mighty bolt. We at least have our pumps ready to be built within the mid-section of the boilers, and we also have the 3rd floor being established. Things are moving slow again, but we shall continue.
That silver is cursed. However, I shall make us proper monuments when we process that silver. It's the least that we can do for the fallen. Stone will not be enough.
If the next raid is worse, and becomes a siege; milord, please send your best men to continue what we cannot. We WILL finish milord. We will.
Hang 'em High--Foreman, "Cid" Kalrethdakost
PS- I would so love to process all the silver, gold, and copper into currency, but what it may do to our project may endanger it more than we would feel comfortable about. It is not greed that we hold back, but this project is our primary goal. Yes, we could always plate the exterior with the coins, but the added weight could endanger the project. We would be foolish to do so. The ship isn't fleshed out yet. It's still a skeleton.
Be patient, this is a great undertaking.