1st Granite 267Our yearly meeting was rather disappointing. The three main leaders of the fort, Jesus, Arkania, and Zorgoth all had bad news to say.
Firstly, Jesus spoke. His was the best report of the lot. He was happy that we had discovered magma, as that meant that we could make almost limitless iron. Unfortunatly, as far as he knew so far, we still don't have enough iron to make the steel hull of the boat. Our food supplies don't look promising either, 4 units of meat, 10 of fish, 47 plants, and 11 prepared meals. That will last us 7 years apparently, however, so long as we don't have any more children, and don't brew anything. But we have 350 units of booze, which is nice!
Zorgoth said that he was ripping up the ENTIRE previous trap system, taking us back to square one. However, he said, the new trap system is about a third of the size of the previous one, easier to expand, and easier to defend with Elizar as well! But we could be as much as two years behind schedule.
Finally, Arcanya was worried, as she always was, about the ever-growing work schedule. In order to break into the magma pipe, she had decided that we wouldn't move the pipe an inch... instead we will cap over it, and work on the top of the pipe. To do that, we need to kill the fire imps and fire men, and she was not willing to sacrifice anybody to do that... instead she wanted us to train *40* war dogs, and release them all at once, and send in Arcanya if they still don't move...
Although this would kill the Fire Imps, the resident magma man would still be a signficant problem.
At this time, Elizar spoke out... which was scary, as she was all the way at the top of her snipers nest. With a yell of 'Ambush!' the meeting disbanded, and Elizar moved to the northern wall to defend. This time, the ambush had two bowmen, so it was up to her great marksdwarf skills!
However, this ambush was petrified of us. All that was needed was to cripple one of the goblins, and then shoot and kill the bowman leader: Atu Doomstraps, the Aching Relic of Hexes. I think the goblins are missing one of thier leaders...
13th Granite 267Yet another ambush... but this ambush came at exactly the same time as an elven caravan arrived!! This is worrying, but Elizar is ready...
14th Granite 267EMERGENCY!! Three people are trapped on the roof of the fortress: Arcayna, Roger, and Arrkhal!! They are at the mercy of the goblin archer.
19th Granite 267Elizar could never get a good shot at that cursed bowman, but finally today, it has been killed. Unfortunatly, it killed two war dogs, but thankfully it didn't even scratch any of the three other dwarves. It took three entire sets of ammunition, but the bowman is finally killed... That was a scary couple of days for everyone, we didn't want to lose more dwarves to the goblin menace!
Elizar scored four more kills, including Bax Scourgedoor, the Ambiguous Alliance of Hurricanes. She is killing more and more legendary goblins. Hopefully our presence will damage the goblin presence on this continent enough to finally wipe them out. If we survive..
20th Granite 267Another ambush, and this time, for some reason, Arcayna didn't fire at the goblin!! The melee dwarves are already in the fortress, as the outer gates have not yet been closed...
Thankfully, everything died, although Elizar decided that she would practice hitting goblins with maces...
But we have lost 6 war dogs ALREADY!!
We have tons of armor just outside the depot, so we are leaving the doors open, and ordering EVERYONE to move them inside...
22nd Granite 267Yet another ambush... the fourth for the season. We can't keep this up for much longer...
However, this time, Elizar is now a legendary marksdwarf... a champion!! However, over the past two battles, she has racked up no less than *10* goblin kills, including Ago Clenchedmenaces the Eater of Permanencies. She has 34 notches on her bed...
10th Something 267Jesus finally traded with the Elves today, and managed to get a couple more wooden weapons for our traps, but nothing else. We do have a little bit of trade goods, however, which is OK.
15th Hematite 267
The Humans have came over, and we are planning on trading armor. But just as we started moving things to the depot, three ambush parties attacked the caravans. Elizar was told to defend as fast as possible, but was too slow.
17th Hematite 267A fourth ambush party has been found in the north
18th Hematite 267And a fifth. We CAN'T HANDLE THIS MANY AMBUSHES!! Especially when all the human caravans were wiped out themselves. So there goes our wood supplies for another year...
But Elizar managed to pull off another 4 kills, and we only lost one dog today
4th Malachite 267Today the Human diplomat left. I don't know how he will respond to the slaughter that was the trade caravans of the humans...
Today, I asked him an important question... the most important question you could ask when you have fought of 9 ambushes in 2 seasons.
"Will the Humans remember us?"
The Human diplomat, Wur Olumgigol stared at me for a second. Then he replied: "You are not human... so... your stories will be rare. But there are great tales of bravery... some of them will continue on throughout history. I don't think any settlement of just six beings has ever become so rich and successful."
I was confused. "8... dwarves. 9 if you count Digit."
It was Wur's turn to be confused. "Digit? Who is he? I knew Arcanya had 3 children, one whom had been captured by goblins"
I shook my head. "Digit... died in early in the second year. You probably wouldn't have met him. He died... hunting for our food."
Wur shook his head. "I don't think his legacy will continue. In fact... I think the only tales which will be remembered would be Arcayna founding this settlement, and Elizar killing ... what was it, 30 goblins?"
"38", I said. "It has been a tough year."
Wur smiled. "I am starting to like you stout dwarves. Enjoy your goods, you are the richest non-noble people on this continent. Enjoy each day as it comes... and don't give up. The day you stop fighting is the day when the goblins finally break through."
I have asked Jesus how much wealth we hold in our fort. He smiled. Apparently, we have 82,000 dwarf bucks of goods, shared amongst the eight of us. I like the idea of having 10,000 dwarf bucks of goods each.
20th Malachite 267I spoke with Elizar. She seems more and more dejected. She is refusing to accept any more war dogs ... but is concerned about the amount of ammunition remaining. In the main ammunition stockpile, there are only 50 iron bolts...
1st Limestone 267Zorgoth has organised a party in the massive dining room...
Everyone is planning on going. It will be great for morale... except Elizar... who still stands stoicly on the balcony, warm, humid air blowing in from the west. Always ready to kill more goblins, to protect us.
17th Limestone 267It has happened... our first kobold ambush...
They are really busy slaughtering all of Jesus' cats. All of them. All those that were left outside
4th Sandstone 267Elizar has killed two of the kobolds, but two more bowmen just are standing just outside of our fort, and Elizar isn't attacking them. But they are not attacking back, so it is OK... So far. We still have 6 months before the elves come...
But Jesus is not taking the loss of his cats very well.
23rd Sandstone 267The Kobolds are ripping apart our productivity... so we have opened up the gates. Hopefully, this will cause Elizar to start shooting back.
23rd Sandstone 267I just heard Jesus scream at the wall... our forts first, extremely fast, tantrum.
28th Sandstone 267We opened the gates, and Elizar killed the bowmen... and what would you know... another ambush, the TENTH for this year, has been detected...
10th Timber 267Jesus calmed down, but only after fighting with one of the animals. This fort is breaking apart.
Oh, did I mention that both the outer AND inner doors are BOTH jammed open? Yeah...
15th Moonstone 267I have decided to start cooking a bit more food, as we are running low, and Jesus is now almost perpetually depressed, so I will cook him something nice
17th Opal 267We have completed another 30 spiked wooden balls. Our trap hall is rather long, and Zorgoth *thinks* we can fight off any major goblin ambush with the traps alone. Which gives us a good safety margin. I hope.
8th Obsidian 267Our traps have caught thier first victim... one of our war dogs. They hit with so much force, that the only thing we can identify is his left rear leg!
23rd Obsidian 267Another Kobold Thief came. This time, Elizar managed to get one shot in, hitting him in his lower leg. This slowed him down enough for the other war dogs to pounce, and slaughter him.
1st Obsidan 268Another year over. Our eighth year has been completed...
But if we have another year like that again, we won't be capable of surviving another year. Our gates are locked open, we are running low on war dogs, and we haven't traded with the humans for a second year in a row (although we have seized thier goods... so long as the doors are locked open.
The outside fort is complete. The one good news.
Happy new year everyone. Everyone except Jesus, that is...
Stats
TallyUltra-Mighty
Very Agile
ToughTalented Butcher
Skilled Tanner
Skilled Leatherworker
Grower
Legendary MinerAnimal Trainer
Proficient Animal Caretaker
Bone Carver
ZorgothExtremely Strong
Perfectly Agile
Superdwarvenly ToughLegendary Wood CutterProficient Axedwarf
Competent Carpenter
Competent Grower
Competent Clothier
Novice Butcher
Legendary MinerSkilled Mechanic
DermonsterStrong
Very Agile
Extremely ToughTalented Brewer
Professional Cook
Novice Grower
Dabbline Mason
Competent Miller
Novice Mechanic
Competent Wood Burner
Novice Furnace Operator
ArcaynaStrong
Unbelievably Agile
Very ToughGreat Grower
Proficent Herbalist
Skilled Bone Carver
Competent Carpenter
Novice Stone Crafter
Competent Mason
JesusExtermely Strong
Very Agile
Superdwarvenly ToughExpert Carpenter
Legendary AppraiserNegotiator
Persuader
Flatterer
Intimidator
Grower
Judge of Intent
Accomplished Record Keeper
Novice Mason
ElizarExtremely Strong
Very Agile
Extremely ToughAdept Grower
Proficient Herbalist
Legendary MarksdwarfNovice Bone Carver
The Trap room (not quite complete). It will allow constant access for hostiles to enter... but it isn't easy
And the final image of Merchantswims. There will be no more 'improvements'. Enjoy!! (First major above ground structure complete!! Yay!!
http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-7824-merchantswims