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[Kamudo]

Grimsledge, of course you can join in! As long as you don't mind waiting for your turn. =3

Imp, I think your posts are funny and entertaining. Good job.

[Imp]

5th of Hematite (early summer)


My work is done.  I am blessed and beyond blessed that Lilar sent my great work to me during this time, aiding and encouraging my oath to grow our peoples' wealth.   I have made The Trite Artifact, a short skirt shaped mostly from emerald-dyed rope reed and am especially proud of how I managed to catch with bands and decorations of more rope reed cloth each dappling of shadow I had envisioned.

On the right hip is a broad design of a rat weed, for sewer brew is the closest taste to beer I've had in over a year now.  And in sparkling bits of aluminum over all the rest of the skirt I have shaped the faces of each of our clan, including myself.  Solon Kamudo is shown starting to shave her own beard.  Our broker says the skirt has a value of 58,200.

I feel far, far more agile now and much stronger; and can only hope Solon decides to brawl with me again soon - this time I suspect it won't be me pinned down by the sideburns.  And I believe I am a near master of crafting clothing, so have forbidden anyone else to work cloth but for myself.

While I was working, 19 more migrants slowly arrived.  Most of them seem more haggard than I remember myself feeling when I arrived, but all of them are in agreement that we need a standing, training, time and profit wasting military.  I've put them to work hauling stone and tending to plants, as well as the various other things that need doing.

Since there's 70 of us now, there's a few more beds to make and it is time to seriously expand our alcohol production.  I've ordered a large walled area to be made for above ground farms, so we don't have to worry about uprooting shrubs before they've set their fruit.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

edit: Screenshot switched to imageshack, hope it opens for the people who couldn't see it before.

[Lucied]

@_@; For some reason the postimage site wants me to post an image, not view it ._  I was able to see the entrance and my own OCD kicked in and it's not following the path that I made  Dx

[Imp]

15th of Hematite

Suddenly there seems more work to do than even through the busy months of spring.  Our exploratory mining has located additional veins of aluminum, iron, and copper ores, but we have not yet found any gems and I continue to direct the search to expand.  The aboveground farming area is walled away and the tunnel to it is finished, though the ground has not yet been furrowed for the plants, as there's yet another argument about who does, or rather does not have to do that unpleasant work.

I am very displeased with the state of our stored alcohol, and have just directed several more breweries to be built, though for the most part more and more wine is all we will be able to make.  The pigtail seedlings are just poking through the soil, but we only had five pigtail seeds to plant, so that is not going to make a real difference for us even after they are harvested.  We do have a great many aboveground plant seeds to work with - if any of these grunts can stop shouting and get to planting.  After all, there is no water here.  Brew or die, me mates, which means plant or die unless each think our helmet wine is sweet enough to be our only drink.  I for sure do not.

I'm working on socks at the moment, as even with our need for planting my efforts with stitching hold more value.  There are more than a hundred other hands that should be poking and patting that soil under the cruel sun, and not one of them can do what I can with a piece of cloth.

And there's shouts that the human caravan, and their liaison, have just been sited.  Excellent, I do hope they brought things worth trading for my clothing and our other goods.

17th of Hematite

Some of our newest arrivals, when there is no work to do (or they claim they didn't notice the job), remain fond of returning to the place where they entered our territory.  None of them will tell anyone why that spot is so important to them, but one of the new peasants was standing there when a goblin ambush found him.

It is completely untrue that there is no work to do - there's goods to haul to the tradepost, farms to build, stone to stockpile, breweries to build and wine to brew, as well as a dozen or so more minor tasks that need doing as well.  Not surprising that fool is unskilled, if you won't work you cannot learn anything.

Several grunts are up on the mountain watching the peasant run for his life, and I can hear shouts behind me from those who didn't go to watch.  Seems someone called for an election, and Solon Kamudo has been re-elected.  No one asked what I think, but I suspect Solon's friends were all waiting for something like this goblin attack to distract most of us, so they could call a rigged election right then.  Just like Solon to pull a trick like that.

20th of Hematite

So the peasant angled through the mountains, closer and closer to our entrance, and managed to outrun most of the goblins, save for one quick wrestler.  So we shouted at him to turn and fight, and he did.  The goblin was tricky, and when it started to lose it twisted away from Mafol and started to run back towards the rest of the goblin squad.  Mafol was looking a bit battered, and he was almost safely back with the rest of us, so we shouted at him to turn and run the rest of the way to safety.  Not sure his back will ever be quite the same, but he's not really that injured, considering.

The sods who want an army are insisting this is proof of why we need one.  My arms are tired from shaking our Journal as I shout back about how this is proof that if you don't work you might as well just die, because you're useless.

[Imp]

@_@; For some reason the postimage site wants me to post an image, not view it ._  I was able to see the entrance and my own OCD kicked in and it's not following the path that I made  Dx

How weird!  Is anyone else having this problem?  Lucied, is your browser somehow stripping the last part of the link when it directs you there?

Are these all the same page for you, and is the address changing for you when you are on the page?

http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsoLVm0 (smallish size image)

http://s2.postimage.org/oLVm0-05698b5b6851a0cf1715566833eb534c.png (full size image)

http://www.postimage.org/ (The actual website, where you post your images)


All of these are opening different pages for me, and I can see the pictures on the first two links.


As to the path and the entrance, yes and I am sorry!  I am sure that later players will tear down part or all of that wall I added there.  I expect this and welcome it, and I'm sorry it bugs you.

[Imp]

23rd of Hematite

It's a dark day for us today.  There's a hill that overlooks the walled farm area, and the single archer with the goblin squad perched there, raining arrows down on the workers there until his quiver was empty.  Four died, a soap maker, an animal trainer, a tanner, and a fishery worker, and two others, a trapper and a brewer, have broken or mangled limbs so both are almost certain to soon die as well.

Many of us are deeply distressed, and for once there is near silence in our halls as the coffins are made and the dead laid to rest.  There are seeds planted now in the aboveground farm, but they are well watered with dwarven blood and broken arrows.  The exploratory mining has just uncovered galena and alexandrite, but there is no joy in anything today.

Once all the arrows had been fired, the goblins continued down the hill and were intercepted by the human guards, well before they reached our line of traps.  The humans slew them easily.

Days ago I was threatening death to these shouting laggards for the work they were so reluctant to do.  Everyone works now in silence.  The height of the wall will be extended, that's easier than removing all the hills within range of bowshot, but I feel the blame for these deaths as strongly as if I had fired the arrows myself.

13th of Malachite (mid summer)

We concluded our trading with the humans today, receiving several bars of various sorts of metals, numerous logs, a good number of plants and barrels of brews, some of their meat and fish, most of their cloth, and some of their leather.

The humans were asking an outrageous price for their picks, but with the ores we have mined or the cheaper metal bars we traded for, we could make our own for a very reasonable price.  I would have liked to traded for the cow and donkey they brought, but I'd not made quite enough socks.  As was, we offered them a fifty percent profit on a value of 6164 worth of goods.  Their traders looked ecstatic and will surely return with many more wagons in the years to come.

The liaison was offered a slightly better price for wood, all sorts of metal bars, plants, brews, and pets except mules and cats.  And a premium for turtles, as there's no other way for us to gain shells should anyone need them for a grand design.

The wounded have been complaining of thirst as well as pain.  The brewer has a mangled leg, and it's clear that he cannot balance well enough to drink from a barrel, but we were able to force the trapper from his bed and marched him to a barrel, as he only has a broken arm.  The brewer is looking worse each day and I believe his death will come soon now.  The coffins line some of the walls of the hall where the parties most often had been held.

We've had to start trapping the firesnakes, as the cats don't appear to be hunting them anymore, if they ever were.  And a would be goblin thief has fallen into the entrance traps, and even now a small battle is finishing near the entrance against a kobold who snuck past the traps.

27th of Malachite

Another dwarf died, having ran into a goblin thief out in the wild on some errand or other.  He tried to fight and was winning, then the goblin managed to stab him through the chest, skewering his heart.  The goblin died moments later from bloodloss, but so did our poor sod.

[Imp]

12th of Galena (late summer)

The trapper finally died today.  He had been almost constantly in tantrum for the last days before his death, and almost no work has occurred for a week, with most everyone just going to check the cracked and empty ponds for water for him several times a day.

14th of Galena

The burial was interrupted by a tremendous shout of joy, as a peasant, Tun Kubukamen sprinted towards the workshops.  He claimed a craftsdwarf's shop and is working with stone and cloth.  We finished the burial and return to our labors, but the feel of our cavern is easier.  I thank Lilum for this god-touched interruption, but also Tustem Saintloved, the patron of happiness, who the blessed worker follows.  We poor grunts have been starved for happiness for weeks now.

20th of Galena

Tun has finished his masterpiece, an andesite crown he has named Skewerhollows.  He's decorated it with extensively engraved bits of that stone and stibnite, and used rope reed cloth to design an image of our historic leader Veiledoar ascending to the throne long ago, year 87 of our history.  Our broker values it at 7,200.  Tun says he feels able to engrave masterworks from any sort of stone now, so I've ordered that only he shall work to smooth and carve upon our floors and walls.

[Kamudo]

-Gives thumbs up-

I enjoy reading this. It's funny how my Dwarf is still mayor. >.>;

If our dwarves are still alive by the time my turn rolls around again, I may continue this rivalry. >.>;

[Imp]

-Gives thumbs up-

I enjoy reading this. It's funny how my Dwarf is still mayor. >.>;

If our dwarves are still alive by the time my turn rolls around again, I may continue this rivalry. >.>;

Please do, please please do!  I lurve lurve lurve non-lethal aggression, play on    And if it's gotta be lethal, so be it... but that means it's over, I prefer the perpetual cold war 


I'm trying pretty hard to keep all the named ones, and any legendaries alive.  The rest... sob... are starting to feel unavoidably expendable.  And my narrator's under enough stress these days, she hasn't much energy to spare for hating your narrator, though there's the occasional dig at Solon still, as you will see.

17th Limestone (early autumn)

Time has been passing swiftly, and I was startled to hear that our caravan and liaison had been spotted approaching.  A week or so ago I finished work on all but a saved two dozen of the lengths of cloth we stored, and between the need to keep the blokes working to fell more trees, keep our wounded butcher moving when he needs to drink, and dealing with a troop of caged monkeys while enlarging more storage space and scraping the earlier, poor quality engravings from the floors, I've barely noticed the passing days.

The feel of the caverns is much different since the deaths.  There is less arguing and fewer grunts just standing around.  Even Solon Kamudo's been less of a problem, though she did just suddenly announce a couple of days ago that should we gain any electrum, exporting it would mean someone else would be needing a coffin.  Longland beer's not the same as dwarven beer by any means, but it's a good taste closer than sewer brew, and I've felt a bit appeased.  And with luck, these merchants have brought us twenty barrels of it, or more, and enough cave wheat seed that we never lack beer again.

1st of Sandstone (Mid autumn)

A second goblin ambush happened a couple of days ago.  Again armed with bows.  Several sods had been felling trees or bringing in lumber, and it was there that the attack started.  Everyone nearby was mobilized to run and help.

There were seven more deaths, all simple grunts not especially talented at anything.  And two crippling leg injuries, both of whom I am sure will die as well.

We continued the trading despite this.  Our caravan brought us a small selection of various sorts of metal bars, a single gem, and a lot of dwarven wine at outrageous prices.  There was some overpriced beer, ale, and rum as well, which I purchased, but as far as seeds went, there were bags and bags of more plump helmet spawn, which we do not need at all, but only a single bag of pigtail seeds and, inside a giant cave spider silk bag, a few rock nuts.  Terribly expensive, those rock nuts, but I selected them.  A great deal of leather, mostly bear and fox, and a tremendously overpriced large quantity of cave spider silk.  I couldn't resist that, even though I am not certain that we will gain that much profit from it even after it is worked by my hands, and I selected all the leather as well, as whomever takes this journal after me may wish to make a great deal of armor or other things with it, I do not know.

There was also a large amount of greatly overpriced food, which I did not purchase much of - food we have in plenty now, and with some decent variety.  I would have bought every turtle they brought, but they had not brought even one.  I did select a few reasonable picks and the large quantity of wood the wagons had brought.  All told, we traded for 36,518 value worth of goods, giving a generous fifty percent profit to our honest merchants.

Not a single cave wheat seed in the entire caravan.  That's a terrible thing to consider, another year without good beer.  I suppose it's better then considering the line of coffins the mason shops are still working on.

[Imp]

Welp, so much for my plans to keep all the named alive

4th of Sandstone

There is finally shouting again within our halls, of the worst kind.  Two of our poor sods, a carpenter and a planter, suddenly went babblingly mad.  Others have started throwing tantrums.  I'm none to happy myself, but I am ordering people to stop work and talk to each other, hoping it will be possible for... I cannot call a party.  I may not, must not, by my vow to Lilar.  But if there is a moment to stop work and simply be the poor sods we are and just comfort each other, it is now.

11th of Sandstone

Everything is chaos.  I've taken myself and the journal down one of the exploratory mining shafts, after Solon Kamudo started chasing me during a tantrum.  I lost her and watched her start smashing chairs in the dining room before I decided it was time to hide or maybe just start throwing things myself.  And as I turned away, I heard her laughing and babbling insanely.  At least she's not chasing me still.  But I can hear shouts and insane sounding cries from several places.

14th of Sandstone

I'd made my way outside of the fortress in time to see another goblin ambush attack at the gates.  The caravan guards were there, and one died charging at the goblins, but then the goblins charged and the traps caught some of them. The rest ran away.  The diplomat is leaving, as Solon Kamudo is unfit to continue negotiations.  I offered myself in  her place, and showed him the journal, but he thrust himself past me and is hurrying away.  Things are still terribly bad, with fistfights breaking out everywhere and shattered buildings scattered throughout the fortress.

[Imp]

23rd of Sandstone

I threw the Journal and I beat someone up, but I feel a bit calmer now.  Found the Journal again.  There's still 55 of us alive, but several are hurt.  Cruelly, the sky bleeds with rain, but it is still so hot that the drops evaporate even as they strike the ground.  No hope for water from the sky, no hope for us, no chance at all.

The caravan is gone now.  Before they left, their guards cut down one of our violently insane ones.  Now that they are gone, another, a cook, has gone viciously mad.  Two of our own took him down as he went for a pet cat.

8th of Timber (late autumn)

Some migrants have come into the madness, seven brave sods who surely were not expecting this.  Before they arrived, 49 of us remained alive, though perhaps 8 or so had killing injuries and another 10 or perhaps 15 are doomed from their craziness.  There is still one dangerously insane sod charging about in the wilds, but I believe many of the rest of us may survive.  There was so much chaos, so much savagery.  I'm not actually sure of everything that happened, for so much was happening so fast.  We gathered and consoled each other, and the dogs tore apart one of us, at least one, as she went insane and started to attack.

So many fights, so many tears and blood.  Maybe it is over now.  I've ordered coffins to be placed.  Some of those who died earliest in the chaos have started to rot.

[Imp]

18th of Timber

We were still gathering our dead when a peasant abruptly turned away without a word.  I'd thought we'd lost another to melancoly - so many with dead eyes wander our halls still - but no, this was not dispair.  Rakust Udibken has claimed a mason's shop for her own.  I suspect she works to make a coffin, but I cannot tell as yet.

20 of Timber

While Rakust gathered materials, and most of the rest of us gathered the dead and began to attempt to return the fortress to health again, one of our own ventured into the wilds to retrieve perhaps a corpse from there.  He was attacked by a giant cave swallow swooping from the sky.  From the wall I watched him try to run, but the bird was far faster, so I shouted at him to turn and fight.  It took him apart, another of our own dead.

But as they fought, the dangerously insane blighter was running up from behind the bird, and moments after the bird slew our fish dissector, it was beheaded by the mad dwarf, who then charged Solon Kamudo, who wandered still babbling slightly outside the entrance to our cavern.  For some small measure of safety, I've ordered everyone inside.  There's still much to put to rights within in any case.

As I wrote the words above, our clerk Lucied interrupted me to let me know that Rakust had started work.  With some stones and a chunk of iron ore, two rough alexandrites and a fragment of turtle shell that must have been unearthed sometime in the chaos, I know not where from.

And as I wrote of Rakust's work, word has come to me that Solon has fallen.  I cannot find it in me to hate her still.  It's true that I have lost an annoying acquaintance to tragedy recently (This be a quote from Tun's thoughts, indeed), but I still feel as if I have lost a friend as well.

[Imp]

21st of Timber

Many loved Solon Kamudo far more than I.  Tantrums have begun again, and another down in the sleeping area has gone dangerously mad.  Mostly everyone down there has crippling injuries and were doomed anyway, but I fear for the sanity of their friends, and indeed all of us.

22nd of Timber

The dogs managed to reach the new danger before the mad one could kill more than one of the injured, and they ripped the blighted sod apart.  Rakust still works on his creation, though some lost pet horse has somehow led the murderous mad grunt far from our gates again.  Everyone is very upset about the corpses, so I am allowing people outside to gather what they feel they must.  Maybe once that is done we can calm each other again and finally move past these tragedies.

23rd of Timber

One of our wounded died of thirst this morning, a fate that surely comes for all of them.  And this noon Rakust finished his work, an alunite armor stand.  He has named it Soakedfinger the Honorable Society, and he used the hematite ore to make an image of a crescent moon.  Our broker values it at 62400 worth.  I think I now agree about the place of a military in an oath.  It is as if Lilar speaks to me through it, and I feel much regret.  I meant well, and not chaos, and hope that Lilar will have mercy and bless this cavern even though I may have failed in my honor.

[Kamudo]

Awww! D=

Solon Died. ._.;

Seems like you're having trouble with the fort. >.>; That's alright, though, considering the fort was in a pretty.. bad place. >.>; If it fails, what then? @_@

[Imp]

I'm trying really hard to save it, as a community even if I cannot save all the player characters chosen so far .  !

It's so great having something like a grudge to write about, for me it's those little details that fuel and fill variety and keep my interest.  I've not allowed myself to save scum this fort at all, but I wanted to save Solon so badly and nearly did when she died.

The fort may survive - I've never actually played through a tantrum spiral before.  It's a lot of frustration, and I think I'm going to just do a holding pattern for the rest of the turn, as far as actions I try to get the dwarves to do - right now they are in 'therapy', just sitting together idle.  Dangerous that some get hurt from tantrums, but helpful in that there's a constant and constantly repeated chance to cheer up for everyone involved.  Once the doomed finish dying... well.  Then those that are not dead will almost certainly have a chance to survive.


So, what's next?  Up to us all.  We can continue if it is possible to and anyone wants to.  Those who lose dwarves can choose another if they want?  Another fort can be started (and I can keep my fort-losing hands off of it if wished  ) if people want?  Dunno, as the OP, you have a huge amount of power here - even if this fort is lost or abandonned, it can also be reclaimed.