Played two and a bit months because I was focusing on the construction; probably no update tomorrow!
2 HematiteManaging work orders can only keep me so busy, and I've read all of the trade agreements (including historical ones) between various nations several times over, so I've been spending more time hanging around at the well, and I've had a chance to meet some of the newcomers. Urist McDoc introduced me to a gem cutter, Tholtig Aran, who's been training to help out in the hospital. We started to have a conversation about all the distractions there can be in the hospital, but they kept losing track and staring off at the ceiling, before catching themselves and asking what we were talking about.
10 HematiteAnother of the newcomers, a strand extractor who calls himself the Silver Hammer, asked when we planned to dig out the adamantine. I told him it would be a while yet, as we've got plenty of wealth from the mountain of gold we've dug up, so he asked if he could train with Carl and Oglokoog, and requested (surprisingly) a silver hammer. You never know when the Squashed Monsters will turn up, and we've plenty of silver, so I agreed. It'll give Andreus a nice break from forging endless copper corkscrews, too!
12 HematiteAndreus came up to show me the fine hammer he'd crafter for the Silver Hammer. It was exceptional indeed, but as I admired it and asked questions about how he'd managed to detail it as he had, he grew increasingly quiet. I asked him what was wrong, but he just asked that I deliver the hammer and scurried off.
The dwarves working the furnaces informed me that he'd stopped churning out corkscrews and had brought down a chunk of bronze. He'd glance around before scratching a line into it here or there, and mime a few hammerstrikes.
13 HematiteApparently, Andreus has started hitting his bronze for real, now.
16 HematiteAndreus finally emerged from the bowels of the fortress. He climbed into a table in the great hall and held up an incredible crossbow for all to see.
Then he returned to making corkscrews, although they seem a lot more deadly now than ever before.
22 HematiteSo much for getting a lot of time off now! Andreus finished making corkscrews, and we've starting building a system of pumps to extract magma from the belly of the land and bring it up closer to the surface, to keep us warm and to facilitate the processing of metal ores. I spend nearly all of my time overseeing its installation.
9 MalachiteThe pump system is about halfway complete, now. Mainly through efforts by Zon Fernbusts, we have a room full of levers and pullies that will allow us to control the flow of magma via some complex series of mechanisms. I leave the detailed implementation to her.
20 MalachiteAs I watched Biff install one of the pumps, there was a horrible groan from below, and a great crash - several of the other pumps had collapsed, sending their components about the place. It gave me a hideous fright! A few blocks and screws are lost, but most of it can be reclaimed. We're set back a couple of months on the project, but at least nobody's been hurt. We'll just have to be more careful from now on.
11 GalenaHumans have recognised us as a valuable source of trade! I finally got a break from the pump project - I think everyone working on it is glad for the momentary reprieve.
We took from them some cloth, plenty of meats, some booze (sure, we have plenty, but you can never have too much!) and a few other odds and ends. Perhaps this is a good sign of our growth, and maybe the minotaurs will see fit to come to us in the Winter. I'm sure Andreus will be interested in seeing some of the unusual weapons they wield, and they're famed for providing interesting creatures to inhabit one's labyrinth. If their goods impress I might be tempted to actually build a labyrinth! But I get ahead of myself; perhaps they're too busy warring with the Squashed Monsters.
25 SandstoneOn the page are various holy symbols and runes of worship.O' Rithzâm, please let us finish this pump system soon.
13 TimberI received a note under my door today asking for a glass furnace to be set up, without a signature. Still, it's a nice idea to get some glass around the place, so I've ordered one be built to take advantage of the magma channel that will soon be flowing.
14 TimberJoyous, blessed day! The pumps are all safely in place, and all safety checks have passed! The magma stack is ready! We pulled one of Zon's levers (wouldn't have been the first to do so, ha ha ha!) and the channel filled with glorious, delicious magma!
I received another note, much like the one from yesterday, asking for one that wouldn't need magma, and written in a much less steady hand. I talked to one of our workers, who'd worked with glass in the past, and they said it'd be harmless. When I went to the dining hall to eat, I found a furnace set up, occupied by a dwarf who 'furtively' slipped every passerby a note asking if they had any glass. I sighed, and asked some others to make a few pieces of cheap glass. They said they'd need bags for sand, yada yada yada. I asked Urist McCoy, who happened to be at hand, to take care of it.
3 MoonstoneApparently the dwarf who'd been yelling for glass was in some sort of mood; McCoy told me how he'd taken him in for something called 'psychologging' or some such. I wondered what glass had to do with trees, but knew better than to ask; Rith is in a much more sane state, and has started construction on some item he claims will blow our minds.
Current State of the Fort:Sorry; I took all screenshots this time in 8x12 instead of 12x12, so things are a little distorted.
Even more of a total mess this time, but we're almost ready to move it all inside and start constructing the first pillar, which will sit over the entrance. There are about 17 z levels above ground, which means the pillar will probably be 8 tiles across at most.
Farms are on the backburner for now because, as you can see from the status screen, we've got more than enough food/booze for at least a couple of years. Once workshops are set up we'll be growing thread/dye crops, too. I should remember to deconstruct those beds and put them downstairs next time.
Don't mind the glass furnace. Got enough tables set up, but will be forging more out of gold, and adding some statues for the hell of it.
The well is more popular than ever, but I'm going to rebuild it soon with a golden bucket, courtesy of our legendary blacksmith, and a masterwork mechanism by Zon. Hospital still hasn't had to be used, which is a good thing, so it's acting as a dormitory for dwarves who don't feel like claiming rooms.
Currently only a central power lever and a magma-related lever room, but will be expanded for various different sets of levers. Will be adding a few traps and chained war animals in the corridor outside, in case gremlins think it's funny to try to pull the 'flood-the-world-with-magma' lever. I consider it a simpler solution than constructing a set of levers that, only in the right combination, will cause something to happen. Although that's cooler, and conceptually trivial (pump onto a pressure plate, several gear assemblies), so I've added it to the long-term goals list.
Each floor is linked together by these stairs dotted around, to minimise craftsdwarves' journeys to stockpiles. The central area is going to be various stockpiles. Every other layer currently doesn't have workshop space, only stockpile space, because there's never enough of that. This floor in particular is the magma-level - 3 forges, 5 smelters, 2 glass furnaces, 2 kilns.
Simple magma delivery, with loop for asthetic value. The room in the centre will be a metal ore stockpile for the smelters above. Pre-installed floodgates on the left to allow for easy expansion. Note: the magma fills up
very fast, until it temporarily drains away its source.
Goals:let eagles out so they can get busy- organise the military better, and get some basic defenses in case goblins show up
trained a good few war animals - workshop/stockpile space (dug, needs clearing/setting up)
- barracks/civic library
- set up remaining cage traps
- finish furnishing bedrooms and dig a few more
- finish furnishing dining room
- build the Pillars of Equality - several gigantic stone columns that surround the map. Each one should have a different internal feature and a different external stone colour.
- build a magma pillar (possibly one of the Pillars of Equality), that spurts magma from various holes on its sides
- build a 'password' lever system to flood the world with magma
- build a gigantic, 3D pair of weighing scales out of solid gold
Retro, Miner:
Carl, Grumbling Swordsdwarf:
- +3 armor (+7)
- +3 shield (+7)
Biff, Mason
Andreus, Death Consultant
- !!+13 weaponsmithing (+18)!!
Zon Fernbusts, Sexy Mechanic
Samwell, Radical:
Urist McDoc, Not Really a Noble:
Oglokoog, Axedwarf:
Urist McCoy, Chief Medical Officer:
DanceWWerewolves, Brewer:
The Silver Hammer, Hammerdwarf: