Yeah I suspected as much though I didn't look closely enough to find the offending object. Here's the rest of the year.
Journal of Korva Rinulaban6th of Malachite, 1068Tsarvash, the elder son of my squadmates Urist and Mafol, was seen running off to the workshops with the typical glee of sudden inspiration in his eyes. I wonder what he will make for us.
As we are in the process of hauling out junk to the atom smasher that one of my predecessor was kind enough to build, I have made it a priority to examine all the clutter in the hospital. One of the bedrooms contained items with dubious beast fluids on it so I ordered it locked shut. There are also two potentially tainted items square in the center of the hospital. We will build walls around them, just in case.
The reassignment of living quarters is complete, and our engravers are busy smoothing out the rooms on the eighth sublevel. While we are at it, I ordered my room cleaned of loose rock and statues of Sirab and Ritas installed there. The statues were rather crudely made by clearly inexperienced hands, but they will do for now.
14th of Malachite, 1068Another group of eight migrants have found their way to Ardentdikes. Again, none of them possess skills of special value for us, beside one talented metalcrafter if we ever feel any need for such things. Right now, it's off to join the hauling team for all of them while I see about finding them some decent quarters.
Hm. I am told Tsarvash apparently demands "body parts" for whatever he's working on. By Sirab's molten blood, lad, we have the remains of dozens upon dozens of creatures strewn about and around our home! That's not good enough for you? There's not a single useable bone among the mess? Fine, I will have someone slaughter you a cow or something. You'd better make us something good for the trouble.
27th of Malachite, 1068When I said "something good", I was thinking of a statue depicting our victories, or a weapon rack, or even a door. What Tsarvash created, though, was this:
A floodgate. Granted, it's probably the finest floodgate ever made -- our broker estimates its value at a grand total of 105,600 Dwarfbucks. And yes that is a very fine rendition of the founding of Ardentdikes on it. Maybe I or a future overseer will figure out a good use for it. And Tsarvash's now-legendary skills as a mason shall be put to use making some better furniture for our quarters.
16th of Galena, 1068The human caravan has been spotted on the horizon. I doubt they carry anything we could possibly need, but we can always pawn off some of our junk to them. I'm marching out with the other soldiers to ensure a safe arrival.
1st of Limestone, 1068Half of my year as overseer of Ardentdikes has passed now, and quite uneventfully too. There was not even a goblin ambush or even a single thief to spice up our day in the wake of the caravan. We are making progress on clearing out random clutter and rocks out of the living quarters and dining halls, at least, and the entryway to the fort is passable again without tripping over anything. I don't want any civilians stumbling over some dead goblins's trousers and falling face-first into our weapon traps.
I am not amused at trying to keep track of all the more-or-less hidden spots where our dwarves are dumping junk, though. By now I
think I have found them all and ordered the piles to be moved to the smasher instead. That contraption is a thing of genius.
9th of Sandstone, 1068While in the process of caging the animals who had accompanied this year's migrants, we heard a maniacal laughter ringing trough the halls. Dariush, our legendary miner, was gibbering to himself as he made for the workshops. A textbook case of possession! I will make sure to keep a wary eye on him till this is over. You never know what those strange spirits drive their hosts to do, and demand.
21st of Sandstone, 1068As the spirit left him, Dariush dazedly staggered out of the mason's workshop pushing a fine armor stand along:
We could put that one in our training room, but I decided to give it to Dariush for his own quarters. He deserves it after the ordeal and all his hard work.
In the meantime, I have begun sorting through our piles of armor and weapons and designating the lowest-quality gear for meltdown or dumping. Lielac, our armorer, will get busy cranking out new suits of steel armor to practice her skills.
2nd of Timber, 1068Another group of migrants came to Ardentdikes today, including a family of four. I greeted them personally, inquired as to their skills, and assigned them quarters and duties. While none of them are particularly remarkable, they strike me as proper, hard-working dwarves. And that is exactly what we need.
17th of Timber, 1068Despite the fact that the Mountainhome's trade liason is
still waiting for a word with Urist McDuck (no matter how many times we tell him it is not going to happen), the yearly caravan has arrived -- and with a good haul to boot. We do not truly have need of anything, but I had Deviled trade for all the metal bars, gems and bolts they had. Maybe a future overseer will make good use of the metal and gems in a grand project for the greater glory of Ardentdikes.
Some kobold thieves made the last mistake of their lives trying to rob from us during the trading. Ha! The Furies need only sneeze, and the pests explode into a dozen pieces. Still, I really need to get some guard animals chained up in the entryway. Who knows when a kobold might get a lucky shot in with his dagger or grab an unattended child, Sirab forbid.
16th of Moonstone, 1068While the snow and icy rains are uncomfortable to be out and about in, one has to admit that this weather has its good sides, too: it does a fine job at washing away the blood, ichor and other assorted fluids. None of us is so keen on doing that work ourselves.
17th of Opal, 1068Today we celebrate the birth of Lor Avuzostath's new daughter! Lor and her husband were among the migrants who arrived in spring, and have settled in well by now. The proud parents have decided to call the girl Zefon Ifindeler. "Hardysteels" is a fine dwarven name, and the lass looks strong and healthy all right.
17th of Obsidian, 1068As the atom smasher destroys another pile of garbage with a satisfying crunch, I have decided to give us all the rest of the month off. Everyone has been working almost non-stop over the year, and while hauling rubble and refuse is as brainless as it gets, it was hard enough work. At least now we can enjoy our quarters and dining halls without tripping over loose rock, and the stockpiles are in order as well.
30th of Obsidian, 1068And so the year ends. It was surprisingly uneventful, with no more than that cyclops, a single ambush and a few thieves to entertain us. Or I should say, entertain my squadmates. Administrative duties have kept me so busy that I didn't get a single swing of my axe in this year. Still, I am relieved that none of us came to harm. For my successor, I have drafted an overview of our resources as of today:
Some of the migrants who came to live with us this year have the makings of decent soldiers, if anyone feels the need to draft another squad (not that the Furies can't handle anything that the goblins might throw at us). Good luck. Now, I will head down to our barracks and go back to doing what I do best: soldiering.
I will upload the savegame tomorrow, now bed is calling me rather loudly. Three pointers for the next player:
1) I halted all farming since the food stockpiles are overflowing and we have a huge amount of drinks and prepared meals. Even considering that Urist McDuck has a good chunk of those supplies in his bunker, I don't think farming will be necessary for a good while.
2) I believe I found and removed all garbage dump zones, so the atom smasher should be the only active one now.
3) I left most of the population idle (or eating/drinking/sleeping) so whoever goes next can jump right into whatever crazy plan you want to embark on.
Now that I know the fort, I wouldn't mind a second turn in which to tackle some ideas of my own. That "battleaxe" in the south is just begging to be used for something, for one ...