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[KenboCalrissian]

There's at least one more update on the way.  Zulban's presented me with a challenge I can't just set aside for later.

Not sure when the next baron is coming.  If nothing happens by 15th Felsite, I'll be worried.  I hope the caged goblins aren't stalling the next one...

[KenboCalrissian]

20th Felsite, 207, Late Spring (by Zon Rimtarothil Afentumam)
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"Sheesh, I can't take my eyes off you lot for a minute!  Asob, what kind of mess did you get us into now?"

"It's not my fault!  Zulban's down at the forge screaming for adamantine!"

"Ah, geez... either we deal with an insane dwarf, or a pit full of who-knows-what.  Assign the champions down here.  Leave the rest of the military upstairs - summer is only a few weeks away, and I'm expecting a siege.  Hey, is that my dragon?"

The hammerer brushes by with Nelare Fedíofi Fonenelare, the surprisingly content dragon.  "Zon," Asob explains, "I know you wanted dearly to execute the goblins with the dragon, but this takes precedence.  The dragon could prove to be an invaluable defense against whatever's inside."

"Oh boy... how much do you think he needs?"

"From the way he's screaming about it, I estimate that Zulban needs three adamantine wafers.  Well... he has one, so I guess we need to mine out two more urists."

"Sure, two urists here, another three there, and before you know it..."

"But Zon, think about it!  If he's demanding three batches of wafers, the armor he's planning has got to be pretty good!  There's a really good chance he might make plate mail!!"

"And the chances we're going to find something we don't like?"

"Zon, I can't believe one such as yourself would get so worked up over this."

"Then why did you order the dragon to be restrained down here?  Look at you, you're scared too!  You know something's going to happen."

"Look, Zon... There are rumors, nothing more!  Still, we might as well take necessary precautions--"

"Rumors?! I'll tell you the kinds of things that lie behind--..."

"...Zon?"

"Nevermind.  The dragon and our champions are fit for the challenge.  Besides, it looks like we got lucky and started on the outer edge.  I doubt we'll break it this time.  Go ahead."

Asob - and the others standing by, for that matter - stared puzzledly at me.  Rigòth Åmbim, one of our fellow miners who originally made the journey with us to Severedcoils, stood warily with (Copper pick) in hand.  Asob nodded.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Silence.  The halls did not respond to our tools on their walls as they had oh so many years ago.  I heaved a deep sigh and relieved 'Other Grendus' and Urist Bardummon from their posts.

"Just get those to the crafts shops, then immediately to the smelters.  Cancel all other jobs if you have to.  Do not let Zulban go insane."  I set an obsidian stockpile at Zulban's feet so that when the time comes, he'll have the best stone available.  Then, I turn and leave with much on my mind.

This only hastens the need for my secret project... but the adamantine artifact, indeed, is the most important thing right now.  Asob and I both work very hard to ensure the tedious task of strand extraction is done - it takes half the month, but it gets done.  Asob herself smelts the last adamantine wafers, and no sooner does she finish than does Zulban come shoving past her - picking them up with his bare hands while they're still hot!  The aroma of charred dwarf flesh fills the forges, but Zulban doesn't even seem to notice.  This work will forever scar him - he's just lucky the chosen smelter was adjacent to his forge, and it was a very short distance to carry them.  After getting the third batch of wafers, he shoots straight for the wood pile.  Two more logs, a rough gem, and two-- alunite?!  Come on, I had the haulers specifically leave you with a pile of obsidian!  You want to use alunite?!  Ugh... such potential, such waste.

I reassign the mining jobs I had previously ordered and wait for the secret rooms to be carved out.  I try to think of a lie to tell the miners as to the purpose of these new rooms, but can't.  I just simply won't explain it at all.

Summer comes... and no new counts have arrived.  I catch King Minkot's eye for just a moment - impatience, bloodlust, murder - yep, just as I thought.  Why should I be to blame for the counts not coming?  Maybe they heard about what happened to the first one, I don't know.

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9th Hematite, 207, Early Summer
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Exactly one month since the beginning of Zulban's mood, he begins his construction.  By now, most of the fort's denizens have heard of this ambitious project.  Many of the children venture down to the magma forge to watch Zulban's work, everyone guessing at what he will eventually create.

Sibrek Kuletnitig, 'Abbeybites,' has a new demand... wait a minute, isn't that the Hammerer?!  Apparently she wants a clear glass window in her bedroom... well, what the heck is a window without anything to look at?  I think I know what a Hammerer would like to look at behind glass.

The human caravan from Pesor Siti is on its way, chasing some wild wolves away in their wake.  I have some questions for Bujit when we get a chance to speak... well, okay, that would be after Mayor/Broker Asob has a chance to speak with him.

On 14th Hematite, a roar of cheers erupts from the magma forge.  Could it be?

"Zon!"  'Barduk' the marksdwarf nearly tripped over a cave lizard on his way to fetch me.  "Zulban's completed his masterpiece!  It's... it's... it's amazing!  You've got to come look, right now!"

I push my way through the growing crowd that's rushing down the stairs to gaze upon Zulban's latest work.

"Zon!"  It's Asob, this time.  "Zon, I can't see!  Is it plate mail?  Please tell me it's plate mail!  He used three pieces, it has to be!"

"Don't get your hopes up, Asob!  For all you know, it could be a boot!"

Zulban holds up his artifact for all to see.  Oh!  It... wow!

There's a thud nearby.  I look... Asob has fainted.  'Tirin' picks her up and fans her face until she wakes up.  She looks up at the artifact again, and her eyes practically bug right out of her head.

"That... that thing... oh my... carry the 1, times... um... UM..."

"Asob, what are you going on about?"

"That thing... it's easily worth... nearly 1.5 million dwarfbucks!!!"

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Whaaat?!  No way!"

I push past the crowd to get a better look at the item.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As I look upon it, I feel both elated and heartbroken.  It's worth so much, and yet... it could have been worth much, much more.  If only we had a spare yellow diamond lying around, or we had an obsidian stockpile closer to the forges... if only more pieces could have gone into it!  I'm extremely disappointed that it didn't become plate mail... for that matter, I'm not even sure if the fact that it's adamantine makes it a better buckler.  I suppose I shouldn't have hyped it so much... it's still a really, really nice buckler.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Our created wealth also jumps thirty percent in one shot.  How do you like that?

'Archibold' is already carrying Troubledcalm, the legendary grizzly bear leather buckler, so the next appropriate champion gets it - 'Other Grendus' graciously accepts the adamantine buckler.  Let's hope she doesn't lose it!

[The Architect]

It's lighter than its components. Woot! Why didn't you consider using Raw Adamantine for the stone? Understandable if it's part of the storyline, dwarves scared of ye olde daemons and so on, otherwise it seems like an oversight to designate obsidian?

[KenboCalrissian]

Didn't have any, don't want to crack the clown car to get some?  Doesn't matter anyway, he really wanted that alunite.

[martinuzz]

Nice buckler.

In my current fort, I have one champion wielding an artefact buckler AND an artefact shield, both adamantine. He is legendary armor user / shield user / wrestler, and grand master hammerdwarf.
The odd thing is, he is still listed as 'hammerlord', even though he is a champion. I can equip him with a hammer, he will take it in his hands fine, but somehow, he does not use it. He does not gain any more hammer skill. So I just had him drop the hammer, and he fights with the buckler in his right, and shield in his left hand. Renamed him to Shieldbasher.
He is seemingly completely invulnerable to damage. My pumped up goblins (size 10, damblock 5) can't seem to hit him, he blocks/dodges everything, including bolts fired by elite marksgobbos. He is not good at propelling goblins over a long distance, like my artefact hammer wielding dwarf, but he gets the job of single handedly taking out a squad of goblins done just fine. Hurray for artefact shields / bucklers!

[Quietust]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

One of the disadvantages of discovering Adamantine - once you find it, moody Metalworkers (weaponsmiths, armorers, blacksmiths, and metalcrafters) will accept nothing else. Other moody dwarves that just want to decorate their artifacts with metal, however, will still use whatever metal is closest.

[The Architect]

That doesn't seem right. I'm pretty sure I have seen my weaponsmiths screaming for metal bars and had to force them to use adamantine as a base material just recently, and thanks to that stupid garnerierite vein I pierced the clown car without ever finding adamantine beforehand. So since year 2 of my fort, we've been in adamantine. On the other hand, I have had one guy yell his head off for adamantine wafers. Will have to come back with more info; maybe I'm wrong.

[LegoLord]

Just by being an artifact and made of adamantine, that buckler is better than any other buckler you could possibly make.  Even a masterwork addy shield might not quite beat it, though I'm a little hazy on the exact math.  It'd be close, though.

[KenboCalrissian]

That doesn't seem right. I'm pretty sure I have seen my weaponsmiths screaming for metal bars and had to force them to use adamantine as a base material just recently, and thanks to that stupid garnerierite vein I pierced the clown car without ever finding adamantine beforehand. So since year 2 of my fort, we've been in adamantine. On the other hand, I have had one guy yell his head off for adamantine wafers. Will have to come back with more info; maybe I'm wrong.

It could be that the dwarf said "I want metal," but secretly picked a preference, and adamantine happened to be that preference.  This has happened to me twice in this fort - once just now, when the dwarf walked past obsidian, basalt, dolomite, and gabbro in favor of alunite that was at least 80 tiles away, and again earlier for a dwarf that refused to use any gem other than milk quartz.

In the case of adamantine, I'd call it a bug because it's a little confusing to have "I want metal" sometimes mean "but only if it's adamantine" when there's already a specific preference for it.

[The Architect]

It could be that the dwarf said "I want metal," but secretly picked a preference, and adamantine happened to be that preference.  This has happened to me twice in this fort - once just now, when the dwarf walked past obsidian, basalt, dolomite, and gabbro in favor of alunite that was at least 80 tiles away, and again earlier for a dwarf that refused to use any gem other than milk quartz.

In the case of adamantine, I'd call it a bug because it's a little confusing to have "I want metal" sometimes mean "but only if it's adamantine" when there's already a specific preference for it.

Does the dwarf "Like Alunite"? If not, then the alunite was just closer in z-levels. DF does goofy things when choosing items, like neglecting a stockpile built against the side of a workshop in favor of items in a shop 2 z-levels above and a 15-tile walk away. I have indeed had experience with dwarves refusing to use any materials but their preferences/likes, but there are two reasons I think your stated scenario is very unlikely:
1) A dwarf with a preference for a material will eventually give in and use others in that genre before going mad; this is entirely different from "I NEED ADAMANTINE WAFERS!"
2) A dwarf can't have a preference for spoiler material.

Sorry for the lack of quote, but it didn't seem necessary as the post was right below Quietust's. In fact it was his statement that I was answering; it doesn't seem to be true in my experience that weapon/armor moods only accept adamantine as a base material once discovered.

[Pandarsenic]

I generally set up a dumping system and locked workshops so I can feed materials to moodorfs from above if they're weapon or armor moods. Anything else can work with whatever it wants to.

[Quietust]

1) A dwarf with a preference for a material will eventually give in and use others in that genre before going mad; this is entirely different from "I NEED ADAMANTINE WAFERS!"
2) A dwarf can't have a preference for spoiler material.

1. Not true - if a moody metalsmith has a preference for a type of metal, he might decide that he wants to use that specific metal, and if he's Fey, he will scream for that specific type of metal ("I must have trifle pewter bars!"); if you don't have any, he will go insane before accepting another type of metal.

2. My sources say otherwise. In fact, in my current fortress, my first Baron had preferences for both crystal glass and Adamantine, both of which were completely impossible to make (no HFS or rock crystals); sadly, he never got a chance to mandate the production of Adamantine items as he decided to start with crystal glass (and was promptly executed).

[The Architect]

Come to think of it, I have had a Countess who liked Spirits of Fire for their terrifying countenance or something like that. However, I've never, ever had anyone scream for a specific material except adamantine wafers. I have had dwarves demand cut gems and refuse anything but their favorite (which I didn't have) for nigh on a month before going to pick one up. They do give up on their favorite before going insane. Are you sure you are talking about 40d when mentioning those demands?

Supposedly dwarves can't have a preference for something you don't have or can't get by trade in this version, or at the very least cannot demand it. This is documented, the most easy source being the wiki. If you didn't have rock crystal that doesn't prove that it is not on your map, and if you can trade for it then you can have demands for crystal glass. I would suspect you had a hint of adamantine on your map if a noble had a preference, but if not then he would never, ever demand it. For instance: if you have even a single patch of sand located at the bottom of an undiscovered underground pool, you can have demands for glass items.

Edit: Sorry again for derailing your topic, Kenbo. Still enjoying the writing, keep it up!

[KenboCalrissian]

Update tomorrow.  If there's still more to discuss on the mood demands situation, please create a topic on the questions board

[Quietust]

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