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[Quietust]

That's because we had dwarves vacating the fisheries and kitchens to attend parties thrown by Quietust and some random kids, leaving food to rot!

"Everybody's spooked by the eerie glowing pit and its contents (and rightly so) - I'm just trying to cheer them up. It's not my fault that you don't have enough haulers to clear out the workshops..."

[KenboCalrissian]

Oooh.  In hindsight, setting 5 of the 6 peasants in my fort to miners and then designating a ton of mining work might not have been the brightest idea I've ever had.  Whoops!

[Heliman]

Great stuff as always Kenbo! Keep up the good work!

[KenboCalrissian]

12th Timber, 210, Late Autumn
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In hindsight, setting 5 of the 6 peasants in my fort to miners and then designating a ton of mining work might not have been the brightest idea I've ever had.  This place reeks of miasma.  I set the new miners to also carry food and items, just to make sure the work gets done, and I even take the picks out of two of their hands.

What the...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We have a legendary peasant?  How interesting... At first, I guess he must be a legendary comedian or a liar or something, and I'm set to validate another thirty iron statues just for the sake of refusing the workers the time to get to know each other - it's safer that way, in the event the pit of horrors drives us insane.  I investigate, and find that Ineth Tongscloses is the son of 'Legon', all grown up, and is actually a legendary Bonecarver who has chosen not to give himself a title.

Wait... Ineth.  Oh, right!  This was the child who had a bit of a temper with one of our soldiers, and carved a bone crown out of spite, isn't he?  Wonder why he's reluctant to relieve himself of his binds of peasantry.  Must have picked up a touch of laziness from 'Legon,' always lying around on his crippled back.  Great captain of the guard, that one!

The quarters for the next duke consort are coming along well.  The floors and walls are almost entirely engraved with images of demons we've released from the abyss, along with the occasional kobold slaughtering and giant bat mauling.  Sounds like a wonderful room to sleep in.  Should I be jealous?

On a non-fortress related note, my cat Olin Olonlathon is going to bed without dinner tonight!  I gave him a shad bone, and he scratched my hand quite badly when I later tried to take it away from him.  I now have three deep scratches on my index finger, right hand and my middle finger, right hand.  It's not bad, but... it's annoying to have to work with your hands all day with cuts like this!

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)

Yeah, my cat really did this, except it was a cat nip toy.  Bad Lucy!

[Quietust]

For reference, this documents when Ineth made his artifact turtle shell crown (not bone) and became a Legendary Child. Seems he was about ten years old at the time.

[KenboCalrissian]

((History's full of incongruencies ))

6th Moonstone, 210, Early Winter
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Aside from dumping some excess stone, we've finished Imush the blind marksdwarf's new quarters.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In hindsight, I shouldn't have sketched in the smoke... Here, I'll draw a blueprint instead.

Code: [Select]

╔════════┼══╗
║▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪+▪▪╬
║▪=Food====▪╬
║▪=====ӨX==+╬   Burning, smokey death machines
║▪=Drink===▪╬
║▪====Ammo=▪╬
║▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪+▪▪║
╚════════┼══╝

Imush will be locked in his room with all the supplies he needs to survive for weeks, maybe months.  His only duty will be to shoot at the archery target, and to do that he will have to put his back against the fortified wall.  Channels are dug most of the way around the room so that he can collect his stray bolts via a stairwell just outside of his door, which will remain locked most of the time so that the only thing he can do is shoot at the target.  I don't expect him to hit the target often, in fact I'm counting on him missing.

More than a third of his stray arrows should go through the fortifications into the smoldering pit of untold nastiness, and some of those stray bolts should occasionally hit a skulking demon.  Maybe Imush will be able to reveal what's inside, or with several lucky shots, manage to kill a few himself!

I was going to keep this a surprise until I actually set it into motion, but seeing as many of my plans tend to keep failing, maybe I should explain what I'm trying to do in the likely event the fortress is set to flame and I'm unable to document this feat of dwarven ingenuity in the near future because my hands have been charred into +dwarf tallow biscuits+.  Seems I'm already on track for failure... I had everything set up, locked him in the room, and watched him just stand there.  It took me half an hour to realize that he wasn't training because we had brought him only iron and steel bolts, and he wasn't about to start training with those!  Not to mention I fear he might suffocate to death in that smoke during one of his narcoleptic spells on the ground.

We've finished engraving the crypt and new chambers for the next consort, and are building furniture to go with them.  I might temporarily assign those quarters to someone just so they can tell me what grade the room is in, since these consorts keep wanting Royal everything.  I'm going to have to increase the size of the crypt for the next one, there's no doubt about it.  The more engravings we can squeeze in there, the better.

We had another child taken by a mood.  Tosid Zozgoden ran off to a craftshop and started slapping things together.  What a waste of potential... I'm waiting for a legendary adamantium left low boot to go with Leshalmamot, the platinum right low boot worn by Olin Fortressash the Slick Smiles.

Oh, and we had requests for 3 picks and 2 trifle pewter bars go in.  Whatever.

[Argonnek]

Update! Yay!

But I was under the impression that bolts only hit what they're aimed at, and stray bolts are harmless. I could be wrong, though.

[KenboCalrissian]

Has it ever been tested?  Against stealthed enemies, or specifically demons?  Who knows, there's a slight chance it might work.

[Di]

This story is marvelous.
Can I get a dwarf, please?
I believe the blind marksdwarf is still available? Otherwise I'll be happy with any siege operator in that ballista battery.

Though, in which direction eastern two are going to shoot? They're pretty much obstructed.

[KenboCalrissian]

13th Moonstone, 210, Early Winter
-------------

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Great.  A piccolo.  Just what we need, something that makes more noise."

"Come on, Zon!  A master artist like you ought to be able to appreciate the underlying meaning of Tosid Ponderrope's work!"  Asob chirped merrily.

"Tosid's a child, he's not capable of 'underlying meaning.'"

"I think not!  He named his artifact 'Savantspited,' and notice how the piccolo menaces with spikes.  If anyone actually tried to play this instrument - particularly, a savant - they'd be spited by the cleverly placed spikes ready to prick their fingers!  And look!  He put an image of the Deified Furnaces on the instrument in perch bone - he mocks the extravagance of making a buckler from adamantine by recreating its image in humble fish bone!"

"Extravagance??  A buckler made of adamantine is entirely practical!  There's no material better in the world for keeping a soldier safe from harm!  Freaking Asėnites and your 'underlying meanings...'"

"Actually, Tosid is a worshipper of Kovest, same as you."

"Oh, good, so Kovest mocks me still.  The nerve of that guy!"

It was about that time when Imush the blind marksdwarf stumbled by, covered in soot and ash.

"Imush!"

"Di."  Imush looked in the wrong direction.  Actually... well, what do you call it when a dwarf has no eyes, but turns his head to address you?  It's not exactly 'looking' anymore...

"You should be pleased to know that we're crafting many stacks of bone bolts so that you and the other marksdwarves can resume practice.  I see entirely too many 'marksdwarves' without a single 'elite marksdwarf' amongst the ranks."

"It's Di."

"Oh no, not you too."

"'Imush' was the name of the stumbling peasant who did her job day after day in constant fits of narcolepsy.  Now that I'm back to marskman duty, I've taken on a new life - a new purpose - a new name!  Also, the voices I hear in my new room told me it was a good name."

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Her?  I had it wrong all along... My eyes must be failing me.  Or maybe I've just been too horrified to look directly at her eyeless face.  "So, now you're a marksdwarf who does his duty in constant fits of narcolepsy and probably can't hit the broad side of a mountain.  Wonderful, glad to hear it."

Di coughed.  "Oh yeah, I think there's a problem with my room.  I was admiring my new door, see, and--"

"Wait.  How do you admire a door with no eyes?"

"...It has a nice texture."

"Oh.  Right.  Go on."

"...Anyway, I noticed there seems to be a lot of smoke in my room.  Could you maybe check the walls and see if there's a crack or something?  I'd find it myself, but it also seems like there's a channel dug all the way around my room, so I can't reach the walls.  It's kind of hard to breathe in there."

"Oh, um... that's your fireplace!  Yes, we thought you'd like it!  No one else in the entire fortress has their own fireplace, you know!  If you don't like it, I guess we can take it out..."

"Oh!  In that case... no, I think I'll keep it, but... could you check the chimney?  I think it might be blocked.  You ever get smoke in your empty eye socket?  It causes a lot of pain, you know?"

"Sure, sure.  There should be some stacks of bone bolts ready by now, I should think!  Why don't you start practicing to take your mind off of it?"

Di left.  Asob frowned at me, but said nothing.  Loyal to a fault, she's become.  Even when my cruel lies bother her, she doesn't seem to speak up about it anymore.  That's all well and fine... considering my mission here, it's best that I really don't care about anything anymore...

...except for admiring my own fine seat lately!  Hello there, gorgeous!  What have I been eating to set you right?

[The Architect]

Haha! Well-made joke. Enjoying the updates! Any news on the main mission?

[KenboCalrissian]

We're close to Spring, so we shouldn't be too far from a score update soon   It's been slow for the usual reasons.

[Skorpion]

Wow, this is still going.

I'm stunned.

[KenboCalrissian]

16th Moonstone, 210, Early Winter
-------------

"Horrors!  Demons in the deep!"

Oh dear it's happening again what do I do what what what what WHAT WHAT WHAT........

...Oh dear... Well, can't erase what's already been chiseled in this tablet... I sort of lost track of the past few hours between bouts of sobbing uncontrollably and drowning my fears in plump helmet wine.  Asob had to draw me back to my senses by letting a lizard run free in my beard.  I absolutely detest lizards!!

Anyway... No harm has been done... yet.  Tulon Workswelters was picking up some of the steel bolts from the Imush-- I mean, 'Di' experiment room, and somehow spotted... something.  She claimed she saw a face through the smoke, and when she met its eyes, the name 'Artum Shornbraved' seared itself into her mind, and she can't get it out - as though the very name itself is gnawing at her mind.

The first thing I noticed when I came to was that I was still alive.  Next, I noticed the fort wasn't burning to embers all around me, though everyone is very worried.  I've ordered a thorough investigation of the walls surrounding those chambers.  So far, we don't see any cracks or accidental passages through which the demons could enter the fort.  Tulon wasn't attacked - fire didn't shoot out through the wall at her or anything like that... I suppose she just spotted one of the lurking monsters by random chance.

That said... I might as well consider the marksdwarf experiment a failure here and now.  Now that everyone has heard that they can see a demon through the fortifications in that room, nobody will go near it... which means all of the goods stored there are pretty much lost, too.  I've forbidden entry to the room as a precaution, in case somebody wanders in and that thing gets the idea to throw a fireball at us.  'Di' has been demoted back to a hauler... well, I guess a 'Pump Operator" as she'd prefer to call it.  That's all well and good, too... I'm sick of smelling miasma.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A thief got as far as the entrance to the fort before bumping into a pair of marksdwarf guards.  Good night, kobold...

...Hm, something is amiss... I'm getting random reports of job cancellations all throughout the fort.  Dwarves are claiming they're being interrupted by a 'Spirit of Fire,' which I assume is what they've started calling that demon, but they're nowhere near its chambers, or in any sort of immediate threat.  I don't know what to make of it, but if this keeps up, it's just going to make things extremely difficult...

Speaking of oddities... King Minkot issued a strange demand today.  He wants a door in his bedroom.  A door... what?  He already has two!  Where's he want it to go, into a wall?  He didn't even specify what KIND of door, he just says... 'door in Bedroom.'  Weird...

Whatever, Minkot.  You want a door?  I'll give you a door.  In fact, I'll even throw some walls up in your bedroom to put it on, how about that?  Right in front of your bed, so you'll have to use this precious door each and every morning.

...This actually kind of works out in his favor, to be honest.  The engravings on the floor where I designated the new walls are pretty bland.  This way, he'll get new, better engravings.  Hey, maybe they'll engrave images of King Minkot and the Spirit of Fire Artum Shornbraved, and the Spirit of Fire is striking a menacing pose while King Minkot is making a plaintive gesture.

[Di]

Did the dwarves develop ability to see through walls even without fortifications? 
Also, how often does blind dwarf pass out?