Winter 4521 Moonstone 452Our militia has gained its first Champion today! Olin Kuletbab has finally gained the skill necessary to be counted among the greatest warriors of our race. I have spent the day so far spreading news of his newfound might at the beginning of this second winter in Shipnet.
2 Moonstone 452Dastot tells me that we have somehow managed to run entirely out of bones. Probably this is because we have had a sharply limited ability to hunt since Cerol's death, but of course I cannot be certain of this.
7 Moonstone 452Our mining operations are continuing smoothly, but in light of our limited workforce I've had to ask several of our other laborers to take up the pick. One of the volunteers, to my surprise, was Lokum, the peasant I put in charge of law enforcement. Apparently he prefers to work in the deep over policing the citizens.
He seems to be gaining an aptitude for this work rapidly.
9 Moonstone 452With our fortress entirely out of iron, I've been speaking with several of the engineers on possible replacements for the grating system I devised. It soon came out that a plain stone fortification, if constructed correctly, would be capable of surviving the heat, as well as filtering the incoming magma. I instructed them built in triplicate around the magma pool, with which Endok rapidly complied before sealing off the tunnel through which the fireblood will soon flow.
Since that process finished, I've asked érith to head down and pull the lever to open the gates. I confess, I am concerned that the some further problem far more horrible than the last ones will present itself when that lever is pulled, but alas I have no more control over the matter. Enam protect us if those Fire Imps should find their way into the magma supply.
10 Moonstone 452After the lever was pulled last night, everything appeared to be going smoothly. The floodgates opened as they were supposed to, and the magma began flowing into the fortress.
But then we saw something bubbling to the surface: the mechanisms that controlled the gates! They floated to the top for but a moment, buoyed up by the less-dense molten granite in which they floated, before it dissipated and sank back to the bottom. The process has left the mechanisms irretrievable and the gate system irreparable. We are now incapable of sealing the magma flow. I merely pray this alone is not our undoing.
14 Moonstone 452The magma flows slowly, thank Enam, and I've been able to seal off all the holes we dug in the forging room's floor before the magma reaches the floor's level, potentially letting in the fiery monsters that dwell within it. I've also had a smelter set up in the corner and walled off, just in case something should go further wrong.
I have left the edge of the wall unfinished, so that a volunteer may test the smelter without danger of being trapped inside if something attacks.
24 Moonstone 452In answer to our animal product problems, one of the migrants by the name Datan Likotsulus has stepped up and allowed us to make use of his skill as a hunter. Unfortunately, he initially possessed no skill in hunting and has needed to pick it up as he went. I've received word that he was successful in ambushing one of the mountain goats outside, with the sole result of infuriating it and getting himself badly bruised. Hopefully he'll be able to make it back inside without sustaining further injury.
4 Opal 452Perhaps my worry was misplaced in my last entry. Datan has spent the past week stalking the same goat across the entire mountain, awaiting his chance to strike. An onlooker described their combat to me; apparently Datan was able to jab it several times, stunning it, before he managed to wrestle it to the ground and break many of its bones. Finally, he won out, sustaining only a minor spinal injury. When he came back inside to drop off the goat's corpse, we asked him to come rest from his injury, but he flatly refused. I don't know precisely where he's gone, but it appears we can count on this new source of meat, leather, and bone.
8 Opal 452In light of our new supplies, I've had Ustuth demilitarize so that he can try to fill our ever-growing need for beds and barrels. He's been doing well with the mace in the meantime, though, so I'll consider leaving him as a military reserve in the case of an emergency.
16 Opal 452I've heard a report that Datan has met his match in the form of a particularly sour-tempered elk on the ridge.
The elk broke his hand, at the cost of its entire lower body, but Datan has broken off pursuit to come in and rest his wounds.
19 Opal 452In an eerie repetition of my last entry's events, our other volunteer hunter Sarvesh has sustained a broken leg at the hands (hooves?) of a second elk that was wandering at the other end of the Southern ridge. He, too, has abandoned his pursuit pending recovery from the wounds.
20 Opal 452Unfortunately, the elk problem has not been resolved as smoothly as I'd hoped. Though Datan made it inside without trouble, Sarvesh has passed out from the pain partway down the ridge. One of the farmers stepped outside the entry to rescue him, only to turn around, come back inside, and inform the whole fort -- loudly -- that (and I quote) "There are ELK out there!" For some reason this has frightened the entire fortress to the point of hiding inside and refusing to even try to rescue poor Sarvesh.
25 Opal 452My solution to our recent animal-related injuries has so far seems to be working fairly well, and that solution is Olin. For the first time I've activated the militia and ordered them to get to it. Olin has been very cooperative, immediately rushing outside to do battle with the antlered creatures that have so vexed our hunters.
Even Olin is having trouble with them, though, as the injured elk repeatedly eludes him due to his rushing out already exhausted from an especially intense sparring session. He rapidly overexerted himself when making his initial attack, and he is now just keeping up with the elk's erratic running.
This odd pursuit has gotten even stranger over the past day or so, as Olin keeps trying to eat one of the meals he packed when the elk gets too far away for him, and the elk wanders back a little way until it is once again within his range. He puts away his meal and resumes the chase, only to have the same sequence repeat itself and prevent him both from eating and from catching his quarry. The Champion seems a little frustrated to me; I'll make sure to give him several days of downtime at least once he finishes out there.
5 Obsidian 452We've had a birth! One of the engravers, Udib Otillokum, has birthed a son. She named him Tun Nikotreg ("Actionglove"), a decision with which her husband érith seems to agree.
6 Obsidian 452A second child, Goden Kolbubnus ("Wheelsscoured") was born today to Inod Thakèrith and Tekkud Nefekstinthäd! This truly is a joyous occasion, and one to be celebrated loudly and with much alcohol!
14 Obsidian 452Sarvesh has finally returned, but there seems to be some kind of dispute over the beds in the barracks. When Sarvesh got there, he just collapsed onto the edge of the bed nearest the doorway. Meanwhile, the engraver Melbil Tekkudtad has decided to take a nap on that same bed and is refusing to step over a few feet to the next available bed. The most significant problem with this is not, as may be expected, social. Rather it is medical. Sarvesh's broken leg has been wedged into the bed in such a way that it cannot heal until he is moved. I am in the process of mustering myself to deal with it.
21 Obsidian 452I was hesitant to admit it, but Endok has finally convinced me that my skill as a clerk has finally surpassed my mechanical aptitude. The stockpile records are finally up to a high level of precision (though not yet perfect, which is where I would like them), and some of the migrants have even commented on my efficiency when they've come to visit. I've decided to switch back to my purple clothes to honor the change in status... a process which was helped along quite quickly by Endok's flattering comments.
In the meantime, Cog has come back to keep me company, and I believe he may be carrying some dead vermin or other that I will shortly be required to clean up, so I need to cut this entry short.
26 Obsidian 452A new concern has arisen today. One of the miners, ònul Ashmôntun failed to report to the room he was working on, which I was alerted to by the concerned dwarves he was to be working with. It seems he disappeared from the central shaft and was seen in the main hallway mumbling something to himself.
Ustuth came into my office as ònul was on his way and got me out just in time to hear him say what sounded like "Komanthorthith" and duck into a mason's workshop.
28 Obsidian 452ònul has spent the past two days gathering materials, mostly by ducking outside the door, grabbing a rock, and ducking back inside several times over. He's collected several granite boulders and is still inside mumbling as he works on... something.
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Topic: Shipnet: For The Throne, But Against The King [Community] (Read 12426 times)