25th of Granite, 1057.
My head hurts. I feel like I’ve been in a strange dreamworld for years. . .it wasn’t pleasent. I open my eyes, and I look around. I take in the narrow cavern that serves as my bedroom, inhale the stinking scent of seven years worth of uncleaned vommit, the cloying oder of rotting flesh and spilt blood.
This isn’t what I wanted. A peaceful little outpost on the edge of nowhere, that is what I invisioned. A quiet place where refuges from mainstream dwarven civilisation could gather together in peace and harmony. A literal hellhole wasn’t what I had in mind.
Still, I’m -me- again, thats the most important thing. My dream may have been shattered, but Exilo does not give up so easily! At worst, I can see this place cleaned up again and turned back into a habitable hostel, instead of the charnel house it seems to have become during my mental lapse.
At first glance this is an orderly fortress, then I find the stairs that lead nowhere, a sure sign of a badly run outpost. The problem is enhanced by the trails of vommit, EVERYWHERE. If I poke my head above ground for longer then a heartbeat, I fall faint for ten seconds or so as the concentrated oder of a square kilometer of dwarven bile strikes me like forgotten beast breath! Calling a meeting with the senior outpost members wasn’t exactly as productive as I’d hoped, either. A previous overseer, in his infinite wisdom, erased all their profession identifies and replaced them with little badges that read ‘STD’. After several days worth of intensive interviews, I have finally managed to get things into some sort of order. Since the demon attacks reduced our numbers to twenty-nine dwarves, there have been notable gaps in our service roster. I’ve assigned what dwarves I can back to the professions they’ve been trained as, and created a new ‘Labourer’ subgroup, members of which will dedicate themselves to hauling, cleaning, furnace operating, and all the other mundane issues that don’t really need skilled labour to perform. Hopefully they’ll gain skills in these areas and make up for the shortfall.
Next on my list was food, which we have plenty of. Nonetheless, I assigned three dwarves to cooking and brewing and commissioned two extra kitchens which will work round the clock from now on. The labour force has also begun smoothing out the living quarters to make them more habitable. A three-dwarf masonary corp has also been founded. Since we have no skilled masons, they’ll be our new from-the-ground-up taskforce. Currently they’re making doors, tables and thrones.
10th Slate 1057.
Upon examining the lower levels, I came across some unfinished magma smelters. For lack of much else to do I ordered them completed. Damage control efforts are proceeding admirably with the new labour corp throwing themselves into their work with great gusto. I think everybody here is just pleased to have some direction in their routines for a change.
The food stockpile has been expanded outwards and sideways, I’ve also ordered a large aboveground refuse stockpile to be constructed.
20th Felsite 1057.
An elven caravan has arrived – and is promptly attacked by goblins – I can’t say I care in the slightest. In other news, the magma smelters are complete and churning out iron bars. Vulcan has been assigned to practice smithing in the next-door magma forge. The living quarters are smoothed out, the farms have been expanded, and new furniture produced. Oh, I had a quern built as well.
16th of Malachite
I’ve assigned the miners to hollow out a new farming zone. Located right next to the cave river it’ll be flooded with water and controlled via three floodgates and levers. I’ve also made sure that nobody links the lever to anything BUT the floodgates, I’ve heard horrible tales of fortresses sinking into the ground after somebody pulled a random public lever that a previous overseer had linked up to a death-trap.
1st Galena
The fortress suffered a near total disaster today. A forgotten beast somehow managed to get inside the main access tunnel. Fortunately, it was a blob of water, and fell apart after a single punch from an unskilled labourer. Not surprisingly, this has greatly lifted the spirits of the rest of the dwarves. The camel the beast managed to maul now stumbles around with its pancreas hanging out.
12th Limesterin
I fel stthg...
14th Limestone
I feel wonderful! The other dwarves all tell me that one day I started muttering to myself, and maybe I did. But now, two days later, I find the strange fog has been lifted from my mind, and in my hands, a ring of unparalleled craftsdwarfship! Yes, dear friends, Exilo has joined the ranks of the legendary and gifted the world with another epic example of dwarven craft!
5th Opal
A siege from the humans arrived a few weeks ago and is loafing about on the glacier, since nobody can get into the fortress right now. My term as overseer seems positively blessed, everybody is happy, the farming project was a complete success, the smelters are running and House was taken by a fey mood and made a magnetite cabinet. He is now a legend in his own right, and I’ve set him churning out more cabinets!
10th Opal
House came to me today and suggested that he be assigned to work on the dreadful problem of quality stoneware in the fortress. The tables and chairs in the dining hall are all of utterly mediocre quality, so I set him building first-class replacements.