The Ranger Ushrir "Duck" Odishkol's Letter to PosterityDear Posterity,
I have come into a position of great importance at a vital period in dwarven history. I, Ushrir Odishkol (or "Duck", as my friends call me) have just been chosen to lead Granitepartners, a grand experiment in a new style of dwarven living.
It's not too surprising that I was elected leader: I'm a popular dwarf. Everywhere I go, people are constantly shouting my name.
I came late to the assembly in which we chose a new leader; I'd been out hunting and didn't even have time to put my crossbow away. But when I entered the room, I was immediately chosen as overseer by popular acclaim.
Now, let me explain something about Granitepartners: as I said, it's an experiment. We're actually trying to live
above the ground. Imagine that! As a ranger, I've always been fonder of the outdoors than most of my fellow dwarves, so I signed up as soon as I heard about the project. But since arriving here, I have
not been happy with what I found.
First of all, someone seems to have forgotten to put the corners on some of the fort's rooms:
Honestly, the new dining hall will never be popular if it is cold and drafty.
Another problem is the military. Out of a population of eighty-eight dwarves, we have a grand total of three soldiers. Three! I asked Commander Kaguro why we had so few soldiers, and he says it is because we have no equipment for any more soldiers. We also have no metal to make more equipment.
The miners, however, report that we have plenty of flux stone, iron ore, and coal, so there's no reason we can't make steel.
Now, it's not all bad in Granitepartners: we have a nice curtain wall, and a truly impressive Bridge. But I couldn't find a lever to raise the drawbridge! I scoured the fortress for instructions on how to operate The Bridge, but I couldn't find any. I found a note lying in the middle of the courtyard about 'dem floodgates,
but nothing about the drawbridge. There is a mysterious lever in the dining hall, though, so I'll have a dwarf pull it and we'll see what happens.
All these, though, are minor problems. The real issue is summed up in this sketch I've drawn:
See all that grayish-white stuff? That's water (it's frozen for now). Granitepartners is surrounded by it. That's no little brook -- that's practically an ocean.
What's wrong with water? That's where
They live.
I've tried to warn the other dwarves about the danger, but they laugh at me for being afraid of
Them. I am, of course, not afraid, for I fear nothing.
No, I don't fear
Them -- but I respect
Them.
They desire nothing short of total domination, and with most dwarves oblivious to the threat
They pose,
They could soon overrun the world, starting with Granitepartners.
That, Posterity, is where I come in. I, alone of all dwarfkind, am aware of the threat -- and lo, I have been chosen as leader of the very fortress that
They will surely attack first. I will ensure that the world is safe from
Their menace -- and until then, I shall not rest.
I will leave a record of my deeds for you, Posterity, so that if
They should ever trouble the world again, you can look to me for inspiration.
23 Obsidian, 1055:I've taken a look at our supply situation, and decided that we have plenty of raw food.
However, we don't have nearly enough prepared meals. I looked around, and we don't even seem to have a kitchen! One of the dwarves is quite an accomplished cook, so I've asked him to put together a kitchen so he can start working his magic. I've asked that the farms be left fallow for now, in order to free up laborers.
25 Obsidian, 1055:I was looking into beginning steel production, but I had a hard time finding any smelters. I finally found one quite a ways beneath the ground. While looking, I noticed that our workshops are spread all over the fortress. We cannot hope to properly arm ourselves against
Their coming with our workshops a giant, confused mess! I've ordered the construction of a new workshop district above the new dining hall. While I was at it, I asked the masons to fill in the corners. The secret, as I told them, is scaffolding.
28 Obsidian, 1055:I ran into a dwarf claiming to be the mayor today, and demanding a dining room, a bedroom, an office, and several arbitrary pieces of furniture. I'm not sure I believe him (why would a fortress need both an Overseer AND a mayor?) but he was incredibly annoying so I assigned him the rooms and put the requisite furniture in them just to shut him up. He's still a bit grumpy (his office and his dining room are, strictly speaking, the same room), and demanded some bucklers. I passed the word on to our carpenters -- once I found their workshops, that is.
1 Granite, 1056:After seeing eighteen dwarves carrying rocks around this morning, I finally inquired where they were going with them. "Why, stone stockpile number fourteen!" was the reply. I've removed said stockpile -- our dwarves were wasting far too much time carting boulders around.
2 Granite, 1056:One of the dwarves finally got around to pulling that lever in the dining hall, and it did indeed raise the drawbridge. It's a good thing we figured this out -- with the water frozen, we're safe from
Them for now, but once it melts,
They could come at any time.
3 Granite, 1056:I've ordered all our domestic animals caged -- except for the dogs, which I've ordered trained for war. They can supplement our puny military until we can equip some more soldiers.
12 Granite, 1056:On my way to the dining hall today, I tripped over no fewer than two cows, three horses, and half a dozen cats. Apparently, I misspoke when giving the orders to release the dogs and not any of the other animals. Oh well, I've ordered them all caged again.
15 Granite, 1056:The dining hall was completed today. I decided to celebrate by ordering chairs installed.
18 Granite, 1056:Today, all the world stood still while the ice melted. From now on, I must be on my guard, lest
They try to catch us at unawares.
19 Granite, 1056:I've noticed that what workshops we have are bursting with furniture, mugs, clothes, statues, and more. We have no room in the fortress for them right now, so I've ordered them placed out on the roof. That's also where we'll be putting our garbage.
2 Slate, 1056:That mayor stormed into my office again today, demanding that I produce "fine-pewter" items. I looked up fine-pewter in my copy of
Urist's Guide to Alloys, and found that it is made from tin and copper. We have neither. The mayor will simply have to make do without it.
10 Slate, 1056: We completed the workshop district today, and are filling it with, uh, workshops. There will be at least one of every workshop, except that there will not be a siege workshop (too big) or a bowyer's workshop (better to just make our crossbows from metal, since we usually use them as clubs).
I've ordered a few stockpiles set up outside the workshops, but I've ordered construction of a large stockpile area on the floor above them.
14 Slate, 1056:Migrants arrived. Twenty-two of them. Along with the usual mix of farmers, animal trainers, and cheese makers, we got a high-master armorer, a military academy dropout
and a pair of dwarves claiming to be a stone crafter and a potash maker. I don't trust those last two, though.
18 Slate, 1056:As we finally have steel production going, I've asked our new armorer to begin forging some steel armor.
20 Slate, 1056: I ordered a well dug inside of the fortress, leading to an underground water supply (which won't freeze in winter). We'll have to watch it closely lest
They use it as an avenue of attack, but we need it in order to be able to provide water to injured dwarves in all seasons.
10 Felsite, 1056:Soldiers partying? When all of dwarfkind faces an unprecedented threat? Not on my watch. I had the party broken up.
17 Felsite, 1056:Of course, they showed up on the wrong side of the lake. I ordered a bit of wall pulled down to let them through, then closed it back up behind them. They can go out across The Bridge.
25 Felsite, 1056:I gave the elves a bunch of souvenir mugs, in exchange for which they gave us tons of wood, two elephants, a grizzly bear, sand (for glass production), and several barrels of exotic spirits.
26 Felsite, 1056:The stockpile level was completed today. I've ordered dwarves to begin hauling things into it.
1 Hematite, 1056:As the new season rolls around, we have completed the dining hall, the workshop level, and the stockpile level.
We've also started producing steel bars and steel armor. No sign of
Them yet, but it is undoubtedly only a matter of time.
Edit: Spoilered images
Edit 2: Corrected spelling
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Topic: Granitepartners, an above-ground succession fortress:Awesome glitches ahoy! (Read 12262 times)