Slate 23rd,
I've arrived at the famed outpost of SparkGear today. It isn't at all what I expected.
My entire party made it inside without incident; although the terrifying beat of the dancing lavender-scaled monkey in the caverns alongside the entrance shaft had us more than a little nervous. And the fact that we increased the population by 50% doesn't bode well for our long term survival.
But disaster struck as soon as we were inside. Just as the retracting bridge was activated, a couple of citizens made a dash for the surface. The bridge retracted out from under them. Amok was with them today, they were both able to grab onto a ledge. Any other spot and they would have fallen hundreds of meters into the underground lake, where I'm sure they'd be eaten faster than they could drown. The locals were all too busy to care, so I went down and built a rescue drawbridge myself. The lever is diagonally below the lever for the other bridge, should any future generations need to perform a similar rescue.
As a reward for my fast thinking and faster bridgebuilding, the locals have made me their temporary leader. It seems they replace leaders at the drop of a hat around here. One wonders if such frequent and chaotic regime changes have anything to do with the high mortality rate...
Felsite 1st,
I don't understand what the previous administration was up to. It seems almost none of the citizens were producing food, trade goods, or fortress necessities, and there was no fortress expansion going on either. The dwarves were split into just three work crews, Gem Cutting, Floor Engraving, and Wood Crafting. Fortunately none of the ten wood crafters were actually doing any work, their laziness has preserved our lumber supply. I've reassigned everyone into more useful jobs, over the whining protests of two thirds of the fortress who prefer laziness.
Looking at my new roster, I realize I've gone a bit heavy on the miners, masons, and mechanics (the Three M's), but I have a couple projects in mind.
First things first, let's get that trade depot a hundred levels or so below ground. Between the walking distance and the complete lack of security I don't know why they've been walking around up there all these years. And we've been lucky so far, but I'd like to avoid any diplomatic incident under my tenure: according to the original Articles of Fortification, it seems we don't actually own this land. The fortress exists on a technicality that land ownership extends only one mile down from the surface. The enormous, dancing, lavender monkey is enough to deal with, I don't want a war with the elves on my hands.