Well that makes sense, and I don't think anyone will complain. Less competition! You could always come back to it if you changed your mind.
Can't get into this stuff enough to make it any good, so this will be the last of it you see from me. It's really quite poor reading, I advise you skip it unless you're simply interested in the fort's progress.
"She doesn't really care about anything anymore."
Yes, my expedition leader is female. I'm not. Oops.
13th Opal, mid-Winter.
Dikkens "Beakbane" Odkishiton
Well, this isn't as much of a hell-hole as I was led to believe. Even a few old merchant friends gave us a visit in the Autumn. The wildlife was nothing like the reports stated, "hellish creatures and undead prone to tearing dwarves limb from limb!" However, settling here still serves our purpose. Wanted men can't be picky, and we hit a gold mine here: a reputation that would give Vulcan pause, and none of the actual danger it is so well known for! Not to mention the ground is simply stiff with mineral wealth!
However, the golden start was short-lived. We're all quite keen on living, that's true. So it's no wonder that even mostly unarmed, we were able to combat Beak Dogs, Mole Rats, and Harpies with no casualties; I don't mean to brag but I personally suffocated two Beak Dogs in single combat, breaking their necks. Don't ask me how we did it with no formal training. It's instinct, pure and simple. When it comes to saving our own necks, we don't hold back.
We celebrated well after that, too well. Overnight, we finished off the booze! Well, a dwarf gets thirsty. The miners were taking their sweet sweet time getting to the water, and we needed time to forge a chain or find a rope as well. Seeing a pack of three harpies guarding the nearest source of water, we thought nothing of it. A short skirmish, some harpy-bone souvenirs, and a nice fresh drink.
If these weren't good-for-nothing outlaw scum, I'd feel bad for them. Well, that's a lie. As it is, it's a pain in the ass for your only armed men, two skilled miners and a very talented carpenter, to fall in battle with the odds heavily on our side. Not only that, it's especially bad when they take their tools with them! Who knew those flying hags were strategists? Not caring for their own lives, they began half-lifting, half-dragging the men out over a pond and dropping them in! Of course those good-for-nothing asses cut them up pretty good, but they and two of the harpies ended up at the bottom of the damned pond.
So, no competent miners, 4 people left. Autumn, we stole what we could from the Dwarven caravan (hell, i'm broke!) and FINALLY found a tiny bit more labor. And among those we "appropriated" from the road, a woodcutter with an axe! Now I have all the tools I need, if not the labor. And the only two people with half a brain for farming are still alive, so the we won't starve.
Well doesn't work. Cistern plan fails, as these thirst-crazed idiots begin using the buckets to take water out of one side of the mostly-empty cistern and put it into another. Gods help me! they also won't go outside to drink. We dug into the heavily infested underground pool and barred it off, allowing a constant flow. If something comes crawling up out of the well on one of these half-useless new additions to our hideout, no one can help them. But I'm sure as hell not opening the gates to let them be devoured by the topsiders if they make a run for it.
What's with all these rotting lizards spreading miasma for no reason?
Author
Topic: New Survival Contest (drawing to a close) (Read 21058 times)