From the Journal of Kush Ringvoices22 Sandstone, 153
By the unholy beard of Holistic Detective, I have never had a worse trip. I went back for the mushroom. I shouldn't have, I know, but the rambling pages before this entry detail the wages of my sin. In my hallucination the orcs overran us. It was... terrifying. Horrendous. I will not allow that to happen. I am sealing us in.
10th Timber
Work continues, though with few raw materials many dwarves complain of no work. I hope to abate this soon. In other news, our stonecrafter Kol Tangledoil has claimed a workshop for the construction of an artifact. He is demanding stone and metal. I don't know what to tell him.
16th Timber
An osman caravan has arrived. I dare not open the walls to trade with them. If my vision holds true, it would risk all our lives for little more than useless cloth.
17th Timber
The caravan from The Coal of Love has arrived. They have stone we badly need, but the orcs... they will all die. I have seen it. Armok has made me a prophet, but in his judgement I must fall short, for they will not heed the warnings I shout from our walls. I beg them to flee, but they flex their whips and brandish their swords and call me coward.
23rd Timber
Praise Armok! The ambush came, as I foresaw, two of them - but they were mere goblins, not orcs, and the merchant guards destroyed them. I can only think this was the reward for my careful preparation. I am pleased beyond words, and will open the walls for a short time during this respite that we might trade for much needed supplies. One of the more artistic dwarves created a moving picture of the battle out of several sheets of pressed grapeskin, which I have stored in a
safe place for later review.
We aquired three metal shields and two scourges from the goblin corpses. There is more iron there when we can melt it down, but for now I have left it where it fell.
24th Timber
I traded some roasts and white wine for a piece of granite, another of marble, and a bar of billion. It was all we could afford, and all the merchants could carry. I had thought Deon had begged them for stone, but they brought only two pieces. Still, I have ordered voluminous amounts of material for next year. I pray we survive that long.
24th Timber, Later That Day
Kol took one look at our few meager purchases and grabbed them all, along with several pieces of silken cloth. I tried to stop him but he snarled at me like a feral dog. He has begun making... whatever it is, but if we must wait another year for another piece of stone I fear we will become elves, or some other horrific fate.
4th Moonstone
Kol finished his work today. He calls it Violentglimmer, a marble scepter. Deon told me it was worth 19200, but that we cannot trade it for more goods. I understand. Despite our dire straits, this is truly a magnificent artifact, and it must be kept for our children's children. It is encrusted in granite and sports menacing spikes of marble and billion. He decorated it with silken images of mountains and the scepter itself. An interesting artistic statement. He is ecstatic, and I am glad for a small bit of happiness. Perhaps my governance will not end in death and madness after all.
11th Opal, 153
FINALLY!!!!!
The worst is past, I have completed the aquifer breach, and before year's end as well! The layers below are dry, and we have rock! Bauxite, chalk, and coal! This year has been a sore trial, but in accomplishing this I feel truly gratified. There has been sorrow and triumph, and now there is satisfaction. I shall still feel the bite of my failures, but in this I know I have truly accomplished something of value for the fortress. The dwarves around me give me grudging nods of respect; they too know that no great achievement comes without sacrifice. This is only the beginning for Angkor Vath.
8th Obsidian
We have begun producing mechanisms and rock crafts. When next year comes, I expect our fortress to be able to trade, and to be well protected. There is a smart, talented dwarf who has begun calling himself "Krimson", and Deon tells me he will be taking over my responsibilities come spring. I will be well pleased to turn them over. This is my last entry, journal, as director of Angkor Vath. I'm going now to have the miners build me a bedroom.