Cog’s Journal, 28th of Felsite, 312Today Tin Reaper finally got good enough at using the catapult to be officially considered a siege operator.
I offered him my congratulations and asked him to keep up the good work. He’s doing a fine job of pulverizing excess stone and gaining a useful skill at the same time.
On another note, construction is well underway for our second magma tap. This time we’ll be pressurizing the magma to improve flow rates. The distance to the dining hall is quite long and this system will also eventually supply magma to our new forges.
I’ll be adding several points where the magma system can be easily tapped for future expansion using preconstructed floodgates. My designs call for lots of use of magma for decorative purposes and there will be a lot of convenient tapping points for garbage disposal.
On another unrelated note, Martini suggested that we could use some more miners to get the projects moving faster. I agree entirely and dissolved one of the hauling crews. Two new miners have been assigned to each burrow from that crew. It’ll take them some time to get up to speed but it should help.
Cog’s Journal, 4th of Hematite, 312 I think a lot of dwarves are breathing sighs of relief today. Apparently many residents don’t entirely understand water pressure and were convinced that our dining hall was going to flood. But now that the channels are full, I think everyone is convinced that our fine dining hall isn’t going to drown. I’ve ordered the gates to fill the hospital cistern opened. I’ll be decommissioning the upstairs well as soon as our new one is full.
I decided to install a selection of the cinnabar statues at one end of the dining hall. We produced so many of them when working on Derm’s request; it seems a shame not to use them.
Also, since one crew of miners is between jobs, I’ve given the orders for them to carve another 800 unit power plant adjacent to our original facility. I have a feeling we’ll need more power in the future.
Cog’s Journal, 7th of Malachite, 312 We’ve made a discovery that should absolutely thrill Derm the Soulchopper.
At Depth 0 we have the ground level of our main fortress, everyone knows that, it’s the ground floor.
At 18 floors below ground we have the ground floor of the dining hall.
At 51 floors below ground we have the first cave system we discovered many years ago now.
Our miners have been working very hard of late. At a depth of 110 floors below the surface our miners have made some discoveries.
I know Derm is itching to get exploring, but first I’ll have our miners and mechanics get things set up securely. Wouldn’t want any nasty beasts getting in here. But our miners did sketch a picture of the vista they spotted. I’ve only heard about some of these plants in legend, they certainly don’t have them back at Mountainhome.
The magma pool is an incredible touch and the miners think that the pool might be connected to the very sea of magma that churns below.
It’s a long enough walk I think I might have to establish a food and drink supply down there as well.
OOC: I’m pretty sure there are three cave layers on this map but I have no idea if this is the second or third layer. I suspect it’s the third though.
@dermonster: You certainly do like to be thorough! I think this update should answer your question regarding the caves. The miners are already preparing to dig out the defensive front line. They’re a lot deeper than I expected.
@breadbocks: Good call on increasing the mining workfroce. I’ve added two to each mining crew although they won't be a huge help for quite some time. There is simply so much to do. I really need to get the new central fortress started before I do any more surface projects. Except for expanding the wall. That will come soon.
@Urist Imiknorris: Yeah that about covers it.
@Syntic: Syntic is always so busy working he never seems to make any friends. You’ve got 8 passing acquaintances, including the Armorsmith who just went into prison.
Zasit on the other hand was a child in the fortress for many years and made friend with a huge number of people. That’s why he was elected as soon as he came of age. In terms of claimed dwarves, Zasit is friends with Rogue, Catten, Scaraban, Dragonshardz and Adker. He's an acquaintance with nearly everyone else. Oddly enough, he’s also friends with the Armorsmith he just put in prison.
@Comp112: No worries, it reads fine. Takes practice after all. Ambushes come from pretty much every possible direction; they just tend to be detected once they arrive at the fortress gate. As for the setup, it depends how much of a hermit you want him to be. I could collapse him into his own little space, but it might be good to make sure he’s got a supply of food and water before that happens. The surface is pretty barren and inhospitable; setting up a hermit home there won’t really be feasible until I bring water to the surface.
One possibility is for him to set up shop in the first cave instead. Easier to get water and food there and it’s not much more dangerous. Well except for forgotten beasts, but a small personal drawbridge will solve that problem easily enough. Lots of nooks he could carve out a little home in.