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[Keita]

More awesome updates, this is fast becoming the reason I rush to turn my computer on in the morning.

[celem]

Several weeks had passed since the arrival of their wave of ‘migrants’ and the newcomers had settled into life at the camp as smoothly as could be expected.  Rith had spent much of the first two or three days answering innumerable questions ranging from ‘When do you expect that the supply caravan will arrive?’ to ‘Why havent you put up a defensive wall yet?’

Tired with answering these repeatedly he had delegated the position of expedition leader to Knarfle, who had accepted gladly.  The carpenter would be their official face to the outside world and counselor to the locals, whilst promising to consult Rith on any matters of significance.

The new members of their little community had been assigned more permanant roles as the extra dwarfpower had permitted them to expand their operations with new workshops.  Crundle had taken over work at the crossbow workshop and had produced several more weapons crafted from their stacks of gargoyle bone.  These were complemented by half a dozen more stacks of bolts made from the same material.  Rith had allocated one of these crude weapons to Kol in the hope that the dwarf would be less inclined to throw fire and had sent the guy hunting.

Game was still proving a little scarce though a new critter had shown itself just a few days previously.  Kol, who had encountered these first, had dubbed them antlions.  The name was fitting as the insectoid creatures were larger than a dog yet had a hard chitinous exoskeleton, antennae and mandibles that clattered as they scuttled to and fro across the plain.  A number of Kol’s bolts had found their mark and three of the things had been brought down and hauled back to their butcher’s shop, supplimenting the dwarves limited diet and providing shells which Gatleos was currently trying to figure out how to tan.  Once this was accomplished Zrk2 had been given the job of making the treated chitin into quivers.  Meanwhile Lupusater their newest carpenter had joined Knarfle at the little workbench and the two dwarves had turned out new furniture to replace the losses they had incurred.  The replacement shelter was also constructed as logs were hauled into camp from Rith’s efforts on the east bank, this time somewhat longer than the original to provide space for their increased population.  Two beds were setup within its rough-cut walls and the still unconscious Morul was hoisted into one of them.

But such mundane concerns as food and furniture were not the current focus of Rith’s attention.  His thoughts strayed more and more to the arrival of the promised caravan, which judging by Lorbam’s note could be no more than a week away now.  It was high time they organised a Depot and something to trade.

As Mosus dragged a table and chair into the shelter and set them by the back wall Rith sank into the chair and swung his feet up onto the table.  To his left a soft moan escaped the bed which contained Morul, the dwarf seemed to sleep restlessly in his injured state but the broken knee appeared to be setting correctly.  Rith let out a long slow sigh and relaxed further, shifting around in the chair until he was finally comfortable.  Around him squatted a number of off-duty or otherwise idle dwarves, they only had a pair of chairs and tables and the set not currently occupied by Rith were in use by MetalMilitia who was hungrily wolfing down a quick meal of antlion.

Rith was turning over the trade good problem in his head, he was having difficulty thinking of something that they could afford to part with when the traders arrived.  They had a reasonable stack of food and booze, a little leather and a rapidly dwindling supply of wood, none of these essentials could really be spared.  No, he thought, it was clear that whatever they were to sell would have to be bone, despite crundle’s desire to carve their last few logs into crowns, rings and sceptres.  The problem was that the only member of their party with any real experience working with bone in the crafts shop was the incapacitated Morul who had created most of their bolts.  Any dwarf could turn out acceptable pieces of course but the value they fetched would be feeble at best......it was a tricky situation.

“Alright..”, he said at length, breaking the silence.
“I need a volunteer to knock out some crafts from bone.”
There was more silence in response to this, no-one seemed to want to learn this trade from scratch incase they were later blamed for poor products.
“Anyone...really..”
More silence.
Rith sighed and made yet another ‘executive’ decision.
“Fniff, get over here.”
The ‘lucky’ dwarf stood gloomily and made his way to Rith’s side where he perched uncomfortably on the edge of the table.
“Really Rith, I have no clue how to work bone..” he began apologetically
Rith cut him off with an abrupt wave.
“None of us do mate, dont worry about it.  No-one will mind if it takes a while to get into the swing of it, but we really need something to trade for supplies, bone is all we got, and its you thats gonna work it.”
Fniff brightened slightly at this, it seemed that lack of future repercussions was soothing to his anxiety.
“Usual products?” he asked, “Rings, crowns, amulets and so on?”
Rith nodded, “Same stuff they sold back home, just we only got bone to work with.  Its mainly gargoyle but theres some giant leopard and antlion in there too, try some stuff out and see whats easiest to work with.  Oh....and totems, carve something pretty on any skulls that are lying around and we’ll call it a totem.”
“Ok, can do boss.” said Fniff, and he stood up, turned and headed out of the shelter.
Rith closed his eyes again, thats crafts taken care of.  What else was it he had been thinking?  Ahh right, the Depot, that would have to be wooden and would probably consume the last of their meagre supply, but there was no way around it.  He rose from his chair, which was quickly occupied by Nordak who clutched a chunk of prepared leopard meat, and headed outside.

“Knarfle, Lupusater!” he called out.  “Front and centre!”.
The two dwarves were not by their shared workbench, carpentry work had slowed to a halt since the repair of the shelter and furniture since wood was critically low.  He presently caught sight of them approaching from the east where both had apparently been fishing to pass the time.
“Whats up Rith?” asked Knarfle as they approached.
“Build me a Trade Depot.” said Rith.  “You’ve seen em before im sure, big flat floor area, couple of pillars for no good reason.  Somewhere for traders to dump their wares and for us to negotiate with em.  You’ll probably need most of the remaining logs.”
The two dwarves fell into a quick whispered discussion.  A moment later Lupusater nodded at Rith.  “We can manage that.” he said simply.
“Good” replied Rith and left them to it.

Now all we need is the caravan to arrive, he thought.  I hope Lorbam at least told em to bring a pick.
Fniff, it emerged, had a knack for working with bone.  This seemed to surprise him as much as it did the rest of them, but on the evening of his first day of efforts he proudly showed off the gargoyle crown and sceptre he had created, to much appreciation from the gathered dwarves.  It had been Knarfle’s idea to have a meeting each evening, where problems and successes of the day could be discussed by the group as a whole.  Rith approved of the idea, it made it easier to keep track of who was doing what and which tasks needed more dwarfpower.  As the company passed round the bone goods and made encouraging comments he supressed a smile at the thought that some of these dwarves had been rivals back home.  The allegiances to the old gangs seemed to have melted away as the dwarves were thrown together into a difficult situation and needed to co-operate in order to survive.
As AngleWyrm passed him the crude crown  he glanced at it, nodded and passed it on to his right.  It would do.  With a big enough pile of these little trinkets they’d have their supplies yet.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[mrbobbyg]

Awe-some

[JacenHanLovesLegos]

What am I doing?

[celem]

You are actually still on fishing duty.  Being restricted to the surface with only 4-5 differant workshops means most folks are doing whatever i can come up with to stop them idling.

Fear not.  the caravan approaches and stage 2 will soon be underway

[NotPete]

Nice!
Dorf me up to, I don't really care what profession I end up with.
You can call 'im Pete if you want.

[Tastysaurus Rex]

Out of curiosity how long's it been since you embarked? Both in-game and (roughly) by this point, since I'm assuming you're playing well ahead of what you're writing.

[celem]

not really well ahead.  I embarked and played about 3 hours the first day until the merchants arrived and i got certain essential supplies in.

its then taken me like a week to write up those first 2 months...because....well.....a lot happened and I like creative writing.  tonight im planning to play another year or so since the story doesnt perfectly follow the game.  rather i use it for inspiration and as trigger for important events

[Zrk2]

Can you upload a picture of my dorf's profile please? Also, trhis is very fun to read.

[celem]

!!crundle!!

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Zrk2

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DwarfyDwarf

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Gatleos

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AngleWyrm

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Tastysaurus Rex

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Fniff

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Lupusater

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Nordak

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JacenHan

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[celem]

Dusk was beginning to fall and Rith was headed back to camp.  His axe was slung across his shoulder and he was flanked by Rex and Mosus.  The former bore his own copper battleaxe while Mosus had a Glumprong log on each shoulder and barely seemed to be exerting himself at all.  The trio were returning to camp partly due to the onset of night, but also due to the fact that the last tree on either side of the river had been felled.  There was simply no more wood to be had.  This was preying on Rith’s mind, wood was currently their only construction resource, he fervently hoped that the caravan was close now as the group were rapidly running out of options.

As he thought this Rex suddenly gave him a sharp elbow in the ribs and pointed away to the north. “You guys see that?” he asked.  “Thought I saw a flash of light for a moment.”
The three stared off into the north where the ground rose gently to a forested ridge around a half-day’s march away.  They stood in silence for almost a minute but Rith could not see what had attracted Rex’s attention.
“There it is again!” exlaimed Rex
This time Rith had seen it too, a faint flash of light as the last rays of the sun struck some metal object right on the distant treeline.  He squinted his eyes in the rapidly failing light.
“Could that be a horse?” he asked, he was sure it was, but even as the words left his mouth he realised he could no longer clearly make out the ridge in the gloom, night had arrived.
“Lets get back, nothing about this to the others yet.” he said, and they resumed their walk.

As they approached the shelter Fniff came bounding up to them, a handful of bone crafts clutched in his hands.
“Look Rith”, he said proudly, falling into step with them and showing off his latest pieces.
Rith looked and was pleased, while by no means masterpieces the dwarf was already showing distinct signs of improvement at this.
“Aye, very good.” he said with a grin. “Those traders will love ‘em im sure.”
“I sure hope so,” replied Fniff “‘Cause we’re all out of bones now, i’ve carved everything I can unless a pack of something shows before the merchants.”
Rith nodded, he had been expecting this.  No animals had been spotted in the last few days, leaving Kol and his new hunting companion JacenHan with nothing to practice their skills on, moreover it meant that they were almost out of meat now.  Some stock of fish remained, perch, mussels and the usual leeches brought in by otherwise idle members of their group but after that they had only plants, which were in demand by MetalMilitia’s still too.
“It’ll be fine, you’ve created quite a stack of stuff now, must be more than enough to trade off against the basic supplies we need.” he said aloud.  “For now occupy yourself however you can till we come up with something else.”
Fniff gave a nod and grunt of acknowledgement.
By now they had arrived and Rith gave a low whistle to attract the attention of those nearby and hunkered down in the dirt.  Turning quickly to look they spotted him and wandered over for what had quickly become their traditional evening meeting.

“Well lads things are going well” he began as the stragglers arrived at squatted in the dust.
“We got our Depot up, we got crafts to trade.  We got a week or two worth of booze and the farm plots are churning out plants roughly as fast as we  brew them, so thats stable.  What is trickier is food, with the game not cooperating we’re low on meat, so its fish from here on.  Under no circumstances should anyone eat anything brewable unless theres nothin’ else.....but you know that.”

He paused, trying to think of what to say next.  The dwarves had proven to be smart, needing little supervision once set to tasks, even those they had little or no skill in.  What they needed from him was not instruction, but direction and inspiration.

“In preperation for the next stages of our development im forming a standing militia.  When it was just us original seven we all turned out to the fights, since the newer folks arrived the more hostile wildlife seems to have been giving us a wider berth and we’ve had it easy.  But we cant expect that to hold so im setting up a new system.”

There was looks of anticipation from the gathered dwarves, any change in their daily routinue was, he expected, welcomed.

“JacenHan is our new militia commander.  Having chatted to each of you over the last weeks it seems he’s the only dwarf here with formal military experience and an understanding of tactics.  For now he and Kol make up our ‘army’ with their crossbows.  In practice they still hunt as normal and the rest of you be ready for anything....as normal.”

The assembled dwarves nodded approvingly, several of them had felt that they were underprotected here on the rocky plain and had taken their concerns to Knarfle, who had relayed them to Rith.

“Oh and lads......we might be getting some company soon.  It’s quite possible that the caravan will arrive with the dawn.”  There was a sudden commotion at this as the dwarves became excited and began chattering amongst themselves animatedly.  Rith gave another low whistle which cut through the noise and restored silence.
“It may not be them we saw, but incase it is im gonna go through some rules.  I know most of you come from...well....lets be honest here, gangs.  In the past we’ve stolen what we wanted from anyone we could take from.  Im telling you here and now that we can NOT steal from the dwarven caravan, so if anyone was tempted put it out of your head or answer to me.  If skinny bastard elves or those arrogant humans come to trade....well we might just revisit this discussion.  But we play square with the Dastducim caravans and their liaison.  Clear?”

There was general assent from the gathered dwarves and a swift resumption of the earlier chatter.  Rith listened for a moment and realised all the excited talk was at the prospect of supplies and improving their current lot.  With a satisfied nod he rose to his feet and brushed himself down.
“Alright then, I’m gonna get some shuteye, I want at least 5 of you awake through the night, crash in shifts, at the first sign of anyone or anything approaching give a nice load yell.”
With that he wandered a short distance away to the trade depot and lay down on the ironwood boards to try and get some sleep.

[Tastysaurus Rex]

You're pretty prompt with these. And they don't look rushed either. It's actually pretty impressive.

[JacenHanLovesLegos]

I am utterly excited at being a militia commander. I get to die in battle against a horde of goblins, elves, kobolds or whatever else we may battle. Maybe werewolves.

[Tastysaurus Rex]

I am utterly excited at being a militia commander. I get to die in battle against a horde of goblins, elves, kobolds or whatever else we may battle. Maybe werewolves.

Don't forget gargoyles apparently. Which makes me want to try Genesis even more to be honest.

[celem]

It seemed that he had only been asleep for a few moments when a soft call made him open his eyes and peer about groggily.  Around him several dwarves lay in the dirt, each was now beginning to sit up, some rubbing at gritty eyes.
Overhead the sky was lightening with the first pink fingers of dawn and the air was as cold as Rith could ever remember it being since their arrival, autumn was most definatly here and winter could not be far behind.

As he stumbled to his feet he looked around for the source of the call and spotted Nordak approaching swiftly.  "Spotted movement just to the north as the sky brightened, looks like the caravan.  Definately some pack animals so I doubt its goblins or anything else unpleasant." said Nordak softly as he arrived at Rith's side.
Rith nodded and strode to the northern edge of the camp.  Just as Nordak had said a pair of pack animals were approaching, each with two attendant figures.  A little infront of them was a third figure walking alone. 
Liaison, thought Rith.

He spun and gave a whistle, the waking dwarves clambered to their feet.
"Lets get this done" he called, "Caravan is coming in, get the bone crafts to the depot ready."
The dwarves scurried off to gather armfulls of Fniff's gargoyle and leopard bone trinkets.
Rith sought out Knarfle and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Liaison is all yours mate," said Rith briefly.  "He'll ask what we want next year, dont bother with specific preferences, just tell him a little of everything.  Be nice, nod and smile and make a note of goods that the mountainhome wants us to create for next year.  Generally just keep him happy and make a good impression, alright?"
Knarfle nodded briskly and scurried off to the camp's boundry just as the sun broke the horizon and bathed the plain in golden morning light.

It was indeed the caravan from Dastducim, as they had expected.  A stout bearded dwarf upfront gave a loud call.
"Hail the fort!"  "Ducim Esdorzaneg, Liaison of Dastducim".
Knarfle scurried quickly forward to introduce himself and the pair headed for the little shelter from which Morul the invalid's snores could just be heard in the morning air.
The two merchants with their pack animals and a bodyguard each threaded their way between the piles of refuse and food and at last reached the depot where Rith stood waiting.
The taller of the two spoke first.
"Shoreb, trader from The Narrow Works.  This is Unib.  We're here at the request of the queen to trade for supplies with you, we have many wonderful items for your inspection."
His companion, the shorter dwarf introduced as Unib was eyeing the piles of bone goods with distaste.
Rith stepped forward and made to speak, as he advanced he noticed from the corner of his eye that the nearest bodyguard tensed and laid a hand on the haft of the wicked looking steel mace at his belt.  Lorbam must have briefed them, thought Rith with some resentment.
"Welcome to Titthaluzol," he said.  "We have need of certain supplies and have goods to trade, please have a seat and we can discuss it."

The trading began in earnest after the pleasentries were completed.  Rith inspected the lists of goods the tall trader furnished him with with some impatience.  What a load of crap these guys lugged around!  I mean really, he thought, who is gonna buy red steel puzzleboxes?  At length he spotted the item he was searching for.
"Pickaxe" he grunted.
"Ahhh yes" said Shoreb enthusiastically.  "A marvelous item, well-crafted from the finest iron."
Rith scanned further looking for the second thing that his plans required.  It wasnt until the final sheet that he found it.
"Anvil" he said at last.
"Mmmmm, trully a wonderful piece, wrought in Black Steel you know!" exclaimed Shoreb.
Rith gave a scowl, this wasnt in his plan at all.  In his mind he had envisioned a copper pick and copper anvil, between them cheap enough that their crafted wares would also suffice to stock up on extra supplies such as a little food and drink, perhaps some leather.  But Black Steel!?......their meagre gargoyle bone pieces may not even cover the cost of the two items they so desperately needed, let alone give spare value for further trade.  Blast these stupid merchants, though in honesty Rith suspected that Lorbam was behind this, probably laughing heartily all those leagues away as he sipped fine ale from a golden goblet.
"Well thats all we need" lied Rith and he gestured to the heap of bone.  "Here is our wares, shall we take a look?"
Shoreb raised an eyebrow archly.
"Oh....I had rather thought that you had just built your depot on the refuse pile..."
"Well I suppose we should inspect them at least." he added and nodded at Unib who stepped forward and began raking disdainfully through what amounted to the total wealth of Playfuloiled.

After several minutes Unib straightened up and whispered in Shoreb's ear.  The taller dwarf nodded gravely and turned to Rith.
"Im afraid these pieces do not quite cover your wishes.  Truthfully gargoyle bone is everywhere these days and these works are not particularly well crafted at any rate.  You have enough for the anvil alone with little left over, or the pick with somewhat more to spare......There really is nothing more?"
Rith swore softly under his breath.  If it came to it his choice was clear, the pick was far more important than the anvil, but sooner or later they needed to import an anvil and he had hoped to secure one now, so that they might begin metalworking as soon as they struck ore.
"A moment please." he said and dashed off toward the hut.

As he arrived inside he found several dwarves lounging, they glanced up, surprised to see him here rather than at the depot.  At the back wall Knarfle was deep in conversation with the liaison and Morul still snored softly in one of the two beds against the west wall.  Rith looked frantically about, a panic beginning to seize him. 

Then, suddenly, inspiration gripped him and he rushed to Morul's bedside, grasped the ironwood frame and with an almighty heave tipped the wounded dwarf onto the floor.  The rapidly assembling crowd of idle dwarves began to ask questions but Rith cut them off with a sharp wave.
"The furniture.....all of it, to the depot." he grunted and staggered through the doorway with the bed.
The dwarves behind him looked at each other for a few moments in stunned silence before bursting into action.
Knarfle and the liaison were forced to flee the shelter abruptly as the dwarves seized the tables, chairs and remaining bed.  Mosus even lifted the glumprong door bodily from its hinges and stomped off toward the depot with it.  In less than 20 seconds the hut had been completely stripped, the only item remaining on the floor was a still snoring Morul.

As Rith dumped the bed down besides their bone crafts the other dwarves came staggering up with their burdens, depositing each beside the wares.  As Mosus set the door down Rith turned again to Shoreb and Unib who were staring in silent open-mouthed amazement at the ragged group.
"Well?" snapped Rith tersely.  The maceman bodyguard edged in closer at this angry tone and Rith also noticed the guard on his other side slide a hand to the haft of a steel axe.  Rith's own dwarves had not missed these gestures and somehow managed to loom threateningly and look innocent simultaneously.  Mosus managed only the first and cracked his knuckles with a sound of splintering wood, causing the mace-wielder to back up a pace nervously.
Shoreb and Unib gave each other nervous looks and Unib once more stepped quickly forward to inspect the additions to the pile.  A few moments later he whispered in Shoreb's ear once more and the tall dwarf spoke again.
"It seems we have ourselves a deal.  An iron pickaxe and black steel anvil, traded against two dozen assorted gargoyle and giant leopard bone crafts, a pair of ironwood beds, a glumprong chair and table, the same in ironwood and one glumprong door."
With this pronouncement the dwarf extended a hand and Rith slapped it with his own palm according to custom.
"Deal" he said simply.  And with that he seized the pick from where Shoreb had laid it for inspection and sprinted off through the camp in search of DwarfyDwarf the miner.
Behind him the impromptu furniture haulers glared stonily at the bodyguards as the merchants hurridly began packing up their purchases.  It appeared that they could sense the mood, as could a blind and deaf cave ogre have done, and wished to depart as soon as possible.  Rith really couldnt give a shit, they were in business at last!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)