Twilightstorm, The year of 10511st GraniteIt's the 1
st of Granite. My 6 companions and I have left civilization behind and have finally arrived in the middle of scenic nowhere to try and make a name for ourselves.
I, Tyson, am the resident mechanic. Don't mind the name, my parents, like all dwarfs, were drunk at the time. I'm in charge of leading our party for the first year of the expedition, after which I will hand off that responsibility to another.
There is much to be done, so I must go.
11th SlateWe have built a ramp deep into the earth for the trade depot. It is surrounded by lever controlled bridges, complete with dug out channels to prevent anyone from the outside world from reaching them. It is reminiscent of an airlock, allowing us the ability to trade without ever exposing the fortress to the outside world.
The trade depot will be the entrance to the fortress and now that it's complete, we can start moving what little remains of our supplies indoors.
6th HematiteI've built a small cistern underground for water. It is controlled by a pressure plate, which will close off the floodgate connecting it to the river on the surface when it is full. The cistern is in turn linked to another floodgate to allow irrigation to the underground farm we're currently in the process of building.
9th MalachiteSeven immigrants arrived today.
One of them was a fisherdwarf. As I have a strong distrust for the surface world, and would prefer as few dwarfs up there as possible, I've reassigned him to stone detailing duty. Hopefully he'll have our dining hall nice and shiny by the time my rein is over.
Speaking of the dining hall, I've had a well built in the center of it. I was so proud of it, I had a second built. No, not a second well, an entire second dining hall. Although they do each have their own well.
20th GalenaA kobold thief broke in today. It would seem that the gates I built do no good if they're left open. To prevent future repeats of this, I have ordered the construction of a large automated drowning trap for thieves, attackers, and should the need arise, undesirable immigrants.
Some of the others are complaining, and have suggested that our time would be better spent building bedrooms, proper workshops, or maybe building crafts to trade in the coming autumn, but they're fools, unable to see the bigger picture. If we don't act now, all our work could be undone! This trap must be given top priority.
27th LimestoneFive more immigrants arrived. Unfortunately, they're all freeloaders, sitting around, drinking our ale, and don't even have the proper skills to help with my trap project. I ordered them killed, but was informed that that we're still in a civilized society, and that I can't have them put to death unless they wrong me in some way first. I'm confident I could have engineered a proper excuse to have them killed, but that would have taken time I can't afford to waste.
17th TimberThe Liaison arrived. I requested some glass and cave lobster, just in case somebody around here gets moody. I'm assuming I can get shells from lobster. In exchange, he said he'd pay us extra for any armor, legwear, headwear, handwear, plants, and figurines we might trade next year.
Can't he see I have more important things to do?
In any case, I never bothered talking to the traders. Having not created anything to trade, there was little point.
19th OpalThe trap is finished! It is a beautiful mess of screw pumps, floodgates, and pressure plates, powered by two windmills.
A waterwheel would have been a more obvious choice for a flooding trap, but I decided against it. Who knows what kind of evil dwarf eating fish could be living in that river? They, like everything else on the surface, are to be avoided at all cost.
For bait, I have chained up a horse one of the immigrants brought, and set up a tiny stockpile to attract any thieves. I'm not sure if the horse is smart enough to recognize a thief, so we might have to replace it with one of our much more intelligent dogs later.
Unfortunately, the river has frozen over, so I can't test it to make sure it works. Since I apparently have some free time now, I guess I'll let the brewer set up a still and start brewing those plump helmets that are starting to pile up.
9th ObsidianThe river has thawed, and my trap seems to be working for the most part. It leaks slightly when resetting, but the horse didn't seem to mind getting a little wet. If only my fellow dwarfs were so dedicated to my cause.
Only time will tell if it works on a real live invader, but I remain hopeful.
1st GraniteIt's spring, and that means my rein is over. The other dwarfs for some unimaginable reason seem quite happy about this, and have the crazy idea that the sooner they kick me out, the sooner they can get someone to build proper sleeping quarters for them. The fools just don't appreciate what I've done for them.
Well, if the next leader is going to do that, they'd better build a place for the workshops as well. I was in such a hurry to get my work done, I had them setup in the hallways.
I also forgot to turn off the pump connected to my trap resetting lever. It will need to be turned off, or the trap won't activate. I'd do it, but it's no longer my problem.
I was however nice enough to put little stickers on each of the levers scattered around the fort, to give the next leader an idea of what floods what.