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[Kipi]

  The dealing with merchants was done quickly. Knifeled was happy to notice that more or less everything they had ordered had also been brought. Lots of wood, several cages, barrels and especially alcohol. Lots of alcohol in fact. Knifeled had to give almost all the crafts they had produced during last year but it was worth of it. They had nearly one thousand gallons of alcohol, which was more than enough to support the fortress for a long time, not taking in the account their own production capabilities.

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[Kipi]

   It was already early winter when the equipment for military were ready. Just to be sure Knifeled checked the storage records with Ironflags, and when she saw that there was enough equipment for full squad she assigned them the uniform consisting of full steel armor and steel battle axe.

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   After the uniform had been assigned and all ten soldiers had went and graped their own set the squad was ordered to station outside the entrance, maintaining the force of five soldiers outside at any given time. Rest of the soldiers who were no on duty would be allowed to hang inside the fortress, spending time drinking, eating and training. Even helping with some minor tasks was allowed. The only regulation was that all the time five soldiers should be standing outside, ready to attack any goblins trying to enter the fortress.

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[Kipi]

Note!
From now on I use different style of writing. The old style just doesn't look pretty and clear enough, so I hope with this change I can attract more participants. If anyone wants me to return to the previous style just say so, and I will reconsider.

The fortress of Craftwaters had been running nearly two years, yet it had no official symbol of ruler. Usually such symbol was artifact of some kind, and it was clear that one was needed in Craftwaters as well. So Knifeled decided to announce competition, and the first prize of the best plan was unlimited resources and tools to finish the artifact.

The winner of the competition was one of the furnace operators, called Tombsbasins.

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Her artifact was long sceptre, with image of the great iron door artifact Veiledcarried and image which related to the foundation of the Craftwaters.

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Knifeled was very pleased about the result, though she complained that the actual sceptre could have been made of some other material than wood. Steel or adamantine were such materials which would have better suited for the official symbol of the ruler, but not everything could be as she wanted. So, 2nd of Opal, year 158 was the day when Craftwaters finally got symbol of power, the scepter of ruler, Touchbar the Drain of Trapping.

[Kipi]

It was 7th of Opal when the word came from miners that the storage area was ready. Well, not really completed yet as the area was full of loose rocks which had to be hauled away before any storages could be set up. Machineoracle estimated that there was around two thousand piece of rock littering the rooms, so it was no wonder that the task seemed overwhelming.

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Nevertheless, the clearing had to be done. So Knifeled gave the command that every spare dwarf must help with the hauling, and the project begun immediately.

While the civilians were hauling the stones the military drew it's first blood. The victim was lonely cougar, which happened to come too close the entrance, thus attracting the attention of soldiers.

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The soldiers were surprised by how much one damage one cougar could take and still try to flee, but in the end it was dead, blood splattered everywhere. The first battle of the squad was over, and no casualties nor wounded dwarves.

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[Kipi]

It took almost two months but finally all the storage rooms were cleared from the stone, ore and gems. Everybody were surprised how long it took, with population of sixty-one dwarves. Still, everybody were happy that it was finally over, and there was no sign that such task should be repeated any time soon.

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Now that the great task was done it was time for council to have new meeting.

"I, Knifeled, the leader of this fortress and this council, hereby announce this meeting begun."

Everybody sat down, silence hanging heavily around to room.

"First topic in our list is the expansion and moving the fortress. As you all know the storage floor is ready, and we have to decide where to go next. Any suggestions?"

Firecrafted raised her hand.
"I suggest we focus on the workshop floor next. The plans were to have that area just above the storages, right? I see it only natural that that's our next goal."

Knifeled nodded in agreement.
"Any other opinions?"
Nobody answered.
"I take that as no. It's decided. Machineoracle, I will give you the detailed plans after this meeting. Your task is to overseer the mining of the working areas. Now, the second topic is our defense. Three times goblin theif has tried to enter our fortress. Luckily each attempt ended inside the cage. Now, as you all know, we have half of our military squad stationed outside around the clock. Any suggestions how to improve the defense?"

Goldrouted stood up.
"My suggestion is that we build small ring of wall around the entrance, with only small gap to pass through. That way we can control the direction where the infiltration attempts come from."

Knifeled moved her eyes to Firecrafted.
"How long do you estimate it would take to build such wall?"

Firecrafted shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. Month? Two months? Depends on whether we build it from rough rocks or if we use blocks. I suggest blocks, those are more durable. With blocks, three months would be close enough."

Knifeled nodded in agreement.
"That's okay. You shall overseer the construction of the defenses outside. Besides the ring of wall, if you can think of anything else to improve the area outside you are hereby given freedom to do it. The only requirement is that it improves the defenses."
She turned her eyes back to rest of the council.
"If nobody has any other topic in mind I call this meeting over."

Nobody said anything so Knifeled stood up and left the room. She liked the way how the council meetings went. Quick and general consensus. No wasting of time in arguing. Though she feared that this state of affairs would soon be history.

[Erkki]

I use the same 5x5 staircase with a 15x15 "hall" design. Food storages in around the staircase, tables in the middle and against the walls, whole hall designated as dining room. Corridors of living quarters extending in 4 directions, forming a swastika. 

Good read so far.

[Kipi]

The wildlife near the Craftwaters was getting restless. First it was cougar, now one of the wolves roaming the countryside had turned aggressive and tried to enter the fortress.

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Again the soldiers displayed their efficiency, and the battle was over quickly, as Bombur severed the head of the wolf.

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What was causing this phenomenon? Never before had the wildlife been so restless. Were the goblins disturbing the peace of wilderness, forcing the animals to leave their original area of inhabitant and thus turning them aggressive towards any humanoid they encountered? Lots of questions, but no answers were visible to the citizens of Craftwaters.

[Kipi]

Attention!

Every entry after this point has been lost due my laptop crashing. The story continues from here on!


Another goblin snatcher tried to enter the fortress. This time it didn't get even close to the entrance when the commander noticed it. Goldrouted left his position near the entrance and rushed toward the goblin, focus on killing the intruder.

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The goblin quickly stabbed him, bruising his arm. Using the moment of shock it had caused to Goldrouted it was able to get some distance between them, and Goldrouted was never able to catch it up again.

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The damage the goblin had caused was very minor, and it was clear no diagnosis from doctors was required. Annoyed by the fact that the goblin had managed to flee Goldrouted returned to his station.

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While the chasing was going outside there was joyful event inside the fortress; one of the soldiers had given birth to a boy!

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The boy was the third child of soldiers Icesilvers and Releasedmansions and he was the very first child born in the fortress of Craftwaters. If the circumstances were different, the parents would have permitted to resign from the military to keep the baby safe, but nothing was normal in Craftwaters. So, the parents remained on duty, and everywhere Icesilvers went she was carrying her new baby with her.

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OOC: I see we have our first baby-shield! 

[Kipi]

"You wanted to see me?"

Knifeled had reached the outside of the fortress, where Goldrouted was standing with four other soldiers.
Goldrouted waved her to follow him.
"Yes, you have to see this yourself!"

They ran west from the entrance, and when they reached their destination Knifeled understood what he had wanted to show her; there was carp fighting against buzzard, and it was clear that the carp was winning.

"You know what this means?" Knifeled asked.
"The buzzard there suddenly turned hostile against that pool of carps. Never heard such thing would happen as almost everything tries to avoid those."

Goldrouted pointed to the scene of battle, where the carp had took firm grip from the buzzard and pulled it underwater. Few moments later the river was colored red by the blood and there were several pieces of buzzard floating on the surface, but actual body never showed up.

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For a moment they just stared at the scene, after which Knifeled finally spoke.
"I never believed I would see something like this. I take it as true now that the carps are dangerous to everything! Did you see how effortlessly it pulled the buzzard under thesurface?"

Goldrouted nodded, then replied.
"I'm never going near that river again given the chance of choosing so."

[Kipi]

Less than month had passed since the goblin fled from Goldrouted when another snatcher was spotted near the entrance.

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The soldiers gave it a chase, but again it was able to escape the death. But this time not everything went well; Armorpaint had taken a serious wound to her right arm, and she passed out.

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She was lucky though, as she was able to regain her conscious and return to the fortress without help. She went straight to the dormitory, where one of the doctors had already been alerted.
The diagnosis revealed the seriousness of her injury, as her right arm was smashed open and it required cleaning and medical attention. As the fortress had no traction benches yet one was ordered to be constructed immediately.

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[Kipi]

Only few days later the goblin returned. Why did it try to infiltrate the fortress while it was clearly impossible?

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Alas, the goblin escaped again. But with it the first great tragedy fell over Craftwaters; the baby of Icesilver and Releasedmansions had been kidnapped!

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Surprisingly, the family of the abducted boy cared nothing about what had happened. It was that which surprised Knifeled the most, how come they didn't feel sorrow for the loss of their youngest child? True, the child was just few weeks old, but still they should have already attached to him well enough to feel the sorrow of the loss. But no, the father and mother carried on with their lives like nothing had happened at all. The two daughters of the family hadn't even realized what had happened.

[Kipi]

The month of Slate was nearing the end when the population of Craftwaters grew again. First, one of the furnace operators gave birth to a girl. It was prayed that her fate was better than the previous newborn, who was abducted by goblin.

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Next, just one day later, new group of migrants arrived. Nineteen dwarves had left the mountainhome in hope for better life, which sadly could not be guaranteed anymore with all the restless animals and goblins around.

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Most of the migrants were farmers, but among them there were also one mason, doctor and two strand extractors. Nevertheless, everybody was welcomed to live in Craftwaters as the growth of fortress also required more dwarves to work. Also, the plan of moving the fortress deeper would mean that more industries would be set up, giving all those idling dwarves work to do, work which would make most of the citizens useful in terms of their skills.

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[Kipi]

Half of the month Felsite had passed when the soldiers reported that they had spotted elven caravan near the fortress again. Didn't those traitorous beings understand what happened to their last caravan. Goldrouted rushed to Knifeled's office, demanding the instructions of what to do. For a moment she considered the possibilites, ordered the soldiers to stand down and let the elves to enter the fortress. With confused mind the commander went and passed the orders to his soldiers.

It took the elves rest of the day to reach the fortress. It was clear that they sensed something to be wrong, as nobody talked to them, only stared them with anger and hate. Nevertheless the caravan went to the trading depot, and begun unloading their goods. At the same time Knifeled summoned the sheriff to her office.

"Madam, the elves are unloading their goods!"

Knifeled made evil grin. She replied in low voice.
"Release Erkki..."

The order was given and with evil smile Erkki charged towards the elves, who were stunned by what was happening. The first elf tried to run away, but Erkki mauled her with her mace. Blood flew everywhere and moments later the trader was down, killed by the loss of blood.

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Erkki didn't stop even to take a breath before she rushed towards her second target, who also tried to escape the incoming death. The trader was able to get out from the depot before Erkki caught him, swingin her mace with full power and severing both legs. After that it took only one solid hit to head and the trader was dead.

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Last target had paralyzed by seeing her comrades dying under brutal slaughter. It was no task at all for Erkki to reach her, severing the head with one single swing.

It took only few minutes and all three elves were down. Right after the last elf had died everybody rushed inside the depot to claim the goods the caravan had left behind, Knifeled among the first. But before any looting was done she promoted Erkki to the position of special guard, and gave her new nickname, the Mechanic Gills of Execution.

[Kipi]

With the beginning of Malachite came the time of great task; to move all the industries deeper. The only things which the order did not affect were farms and food storages, for the new storage was still under construction and the cavern had not been secured yet. But as soon as the defenses aboveground are ready the cleaning of cavern should begin.

The order was given by the council, which had gathered for another meeting. There had been other topic of discussion in the meeting as well; the voting of the first mayor of Craftwaters.

After whole day had passed the council finally managed to have consensus; Knifeled was elected. As her first task she appointed Craftedecho, to former sheriff of the fortress, to the position of Captain of  the Guard, which basically was the same position as before, just fancier name.
Right after the gathering had been dismissed she ordered the first mandate of hers, which also was the first mandate in Craftwaters; the poduction of two bucklers.
Taricus immediately took the task and ordered two iron bucklers to be forged, as there was more than enough iron bars cluttering the storages.

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One week later the outer defenses were ready, and Knifeled ordered the fortress under lockout. This order was given to release the military from their station to be able to secure the cavern, which would in turn make it possible to move farms as well.

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Few days later the miners breached the wall of cavern, and the soldiers were sent down to investigate the area.

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The only sign of life they saw were one giant olm and several plump helmet men, otherwise the cavern seemed quiet and peaceful. And from those creatures only the olm was considered as threat, so the squad went down and attacked it immediately, trying either to drive it away or kill it.

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The battle was over quickly as the giant olm didn't possess any threat against trained soldiers, and so new station point was made, just outside the cavern entrance. The order was given to seal all the passages leading to that small chamber, after which the construction of farm begun. At the same time the food storage was removed, and the moving of all the food and alcohol begun.

Right after the sealing of the cavern news arrived that another group of migrants tried to gain access to the fortress. Being cautious Knifeled ordered the military to station near the entrance, after which the bridge was lowered to let the migrants enter the fortress. Ten dwarves had arrived, though Knifeled had no time for interviewing them right away, so she ordered them to help with the moving immediately. With this the population of Craftwaters had risen to ninety-one dwarves.
As soon as all the migrants had entered the walled area outside the entrance the bridge was raised again, to prevent anything unwanted to infiltrate.

After one and half month of work all the industries were finally moved to the new location. Everything had proper storage now, and every field of industry was placed on separated sectors. All of that was planned in the way that the expansion would be relatively easy. It was time for joy! This also meant that it was time to rebuild all the other facilities, like dining rooms, bedrooms, barracks and hospitals.

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[Taricus]

Would it be possible to get a DFMA map out of you?