9th Malachite, 207, Mid-Summer
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Trading went sort of too well with the humans... I've sworn off trading the goblin items if they haven't been worked over by the craftsdwarves. Not only is it undwarfy, but it hurts our exported wealth. We did this in the early days of Severedcoils to build up a stockpile of metal bars and materials our grumpy consorts would need, but now we generate so much wealth of our own that this is no longer necessary. I've been weaning us off of narrow items pretty steadily over the years - the last two years, we traded almost none, and this year so far we have traded nothing that wasn't a product of a dwarf's work. And yet, we made so much wealth from giant cave spider silk crafts that we didn't even need the several large dwarven syrup and quarry bush leaf and cheese roasts. They're sent back to the stockpiles and forbidden - maybe the Swift Arches will want them in the autumn.
For some time, I consider building walkways over the main entryways to the fort. The purpose would be to create a square and fortify only the inside; that way, marksdwarves can shoot into this central square without harm from behind. It would also link the barracks with the guard tower, and currently they're a really long distance away from each other in terms of walking distance. The problem, however, is that this will create an 'inside' area underneath the walkways, and dwarves taking refuge following the 'stay indoors' order will end up standing along the outer rim of what would become the main battlefield. Hmm...
"Help! Why is there a cave swallowman in my room?!"Oh dear, is that Tekkud Lenodmeng, the Tax Collector? Where's he settled, anyway? I completely forgot about him.
Ooohh... I must have placed him in the baron's room in the interim! The tax collector successfully strangles the cave swallowman to death, then turns his attention to the strange door in the rear of his room.
Just as his hand touches the nob, I shout "That door is forbidden! You can't go through there, and neither can anyone's pets!"
"Why? What's back there?"
"Um..." I think a while, then recall the one thing he absolutely detests most. "Fire snakes. Hordes of them. You don't want to see it."
"Eww!! Fire snakes? Why are there fire snakes behind that door??"
"Because everybody absolutely detests them, and no one wants to get near enough to get rid of them. Why, do you want to get rid of them for us? That would be great."
"Eww, no! I won't dirty my hands for something like that!"
"Why? You killed the cave swallowman so easily, what's a fire snake to you?"
"A fire snake is the most vile creature in all of the World of Typhoons! Why, it is so low, it cannot even crawl, for Logem - of whom I'm a faithful worshipper - did not see fit to give them arms or legs!"
Sheesh. Talk about dramatic! "Oh... well, too bad. Guess the door has to remain forbidden, then."
"I'll say! Are you sure the door is low enough to the ground? I don't want any snakes slithering underneath and biting me in the night!"
Tekkud can keep the baron's death room for now. Somebody might as well be using it...
The puppy traps are reloaded with groundhog pups. I realize that dogs are more valuable as war dogs, and there really isnt any reason for us to have ground hogs in the first place. When meat runs low, we butcher horses and camels. Why in the world do we have groundhogs?
Speaking of animals, there sure are a lot running around these days... There's litters of giant eagle chicks, wolves, groundhogs, and two-humped camels on the loose right now. I'd really like to cage them, but I also want to see us get a fair number of each of these animals. Besides... an old friend from before I moved here told me she used to live in a fort that used wolves as part of a goblin trap. I'm intrigued and want to try it, but first I need to acquire a lot of wolves.
I set the furnace operators to work smelting specialty metals for the nobles. We need Trifle Pewter and Black Bronze... ugh. Two of the most worthless metals, and we need to smelt a bunch of it.
The secret hideouts are nearing completion. Furniture, food and booze in separate stock piles, and the bridges are made. Let's check the progress...
Um... oh, I guess it's not so secret anymore. Maybe carving out that garnierite vein will keep the workers guessing? 'Clearly, a noble wouldn't settle for having a big misshapen hole in the side of the room,' I'll say. I hope that works...
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Topic: Severedcoils - Consort Accumulation Challenge (Score: 5) (40d + DnD 5e) (Read 130425 times)