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[Ahasver]

Sorry for the delay, I've started now. I'm mostly trying to affiliate myself with the interesting layout right now, I'll deliver a more compelling diary later on.

 Any tips, suggestions, or requests?

[Jusman]

Yeah can you dwarf the people I forgot to.
There was something else I was going to tell you but I forget what it was, I'll try to remember I don't think it was that important though

[plisskin]

Sorry for the delay, I've started now. I'm mostly trying to affiliate myself with the interesting layout right now, I'll deliver a more compelling diary later on.

 Any tips, suggestions, or requests?

Hey cool. Only suggestions: don't get us all killed, beef our entryway defenses up a little bit and make the dwarven breeding chamber as classy as possible.

[Ale Explosion]

Hey cool. Only suggestions: don't get us all killed, beef our entryway defenses up a little bit and make the dwarven breeding chamber as classy as possible.

Classic Dwarf Fortress quote

[Jusman]

I'd suggest blue statues since we'll never need it all for armor

[Sindain]

If we ever hit 20 dwarfs have my dwarf go manage full time and get me up to legendary.

[Ahasver]

Journal entry number one is here.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The first journal has arrived, accounting the spring season at Vushcuggan Geshud Moshnun, from the 1st of Granite to the 28th of Felsite in the year 256, as told by the Engraver Ahasver.

Oi moi, it was a quick spring! For the first time I believe that I can tell the difference in temperature in these suicidal Hotsands. I hope my mountain blood never ceases to run through my veins, though.

We started out the season with a good bit of dwarven labor (but unfortunately not the kind that yields little 'uns), smoothing out some of the farthest reaches of our spiderlike fort. I didn't see good Plissken nor faithful Fath for a good month before we heard some news that I cannot say came as a complete shock. Plissken the warrior decided to name her sword, which has served as a bane to many a goblin, "Ekastiteb". This comes as a great honor to our fortress seeing as we haven't had any truly spectacular products of industry as of yet. (Though some came quite close) Because Ekastiteb wasn't built with a truly legendary status in mind, it is rather plain, despite its beautiful blade forged from the great metal of the deep. Therefore, to seperate Ekastiteb from other short swords out there, Plissken has refused to take a cloth to it.

I find it rather revolting and almost dishonoring, but Plissken is adamant (no pun intended) about the matter and insists that it won't harm the blame and will only bring it honor. Spoken like a true warrior, if you ask me. Anyway, this isn't the end of Plissken's antics.

Shortly after this it became evident that Fath was feeling a bit outmatched. On the 10th of Slade (I remember the date well, for some odd reason), after bearing the incessant beating of the buzzards wings from above the garden, he rushed at the buzzards with bloodshot eyes and crazed chantings. Embarrassingly, he didn't fell a singly bird. We noticed that after this incident...

I suppose I cannot hold this to him, seeing as he seems to have absolutely no sense, but why didn't he just go kill the two goblins who have been lugging swords around the far reaches of the area for the past couple months? Granted, they aren't much of a nuisance. In fact, they've helped us out a bit with a minor surplus of cats.

I've also noticed a bit of a quirk about my good friend Sindain. Here's the title of the official account of the second cat killing that he recorded.

Hah! It must've been his schooling. I'm glad to have gotten the opportunity to know dwarves like him.



The elves have arrived! I'm well known for not being much of a sympathizer, but there is something about a creature with two hands and two feet that sure beats staring at camels all day. While reinforcing the entrance (a small and currently unexciting project that we have taken up) we spotted them from afar. Rushing to get our trading goods to the depot in order for a speedy transaction (I must admit, we were as excited as young dwarves faced with wrapped gifts) we overheard their conversation. They claimed that Vushcuggan was a dying fortress because it had no support from a mountain home. Now this, this stirred up a nerve in all of us. To make matters worse, the elves became very uppity when Sindain offered a shirt of wooden mail by accident. How can they claim that we are tree killers when doubtless they made the armor? At this point, Tolkafox gave the go ahead to Sindain to seize of a load of goods. We didn't intend to leave the pointy eared traders with absolutely nothing to eat or drink in the middle of the Hotsands, but we took three monkeys, which Sindain refered to as Bonobos, and a creature that seems to be a fusion of a Tiger and a human.

He seems fairly civil (trust me, I know for a fact that he is a male) so we intend to release him very soon, before feeding becomes an issue. All cross breeding jokes aside, I agree with Tolkafox that it would be nice to have a little pack of Tigermen around, for just 16 dwarves can get a bit lonely. Speaking of or disposition, sometime during the month of Slade Tolkafox decided to set us to work at a new project. He said he wanted to encourage a bit of reproduction in our small group since that would be the only way we could survive, and an improved dining hall may spark a bit of necessary socialization that is an important part of the process. With this darkly realistic thought in mind, we set to work.

It's rather rough, of course, but it's only in its early stages of development. The metal crafters have been given permission to build the finest statues that we can create, and I recently caught a peek of what they've made.


Stay classy Vushcuggan,
Ahasver

[Jusman]

Do tigermen count towards population? I don't know much about them besides that they need to eat and drink.

[Ahasver]

Do tigermen count towards population? I don't know much about them besides that they need to eat and drink.

Nope, we're still at 16. I suppose they count as other animals.

[Ahasver]

Alright, I've finished the summer and fall.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The second journal has arrived, accounting the summer and autumn seasons at Vushcuggan Geshud Moshnun, from the 1st of Hematite to the 28th of Timber in the year 256, as told by the Engraver Ahasver.

The heat of the summer is over, the change of the fall is finished, and we now joke of a shortage of blankets for the winter. These 15 other dwarves I'm staying with are beginning to feel like long time friends, considering we've been through so much together. The past two seasons, however, are like a blur in my memory, but here is what I remember.

A project that Tolkafox was secretly planning was revealed and, surprisingly, nearly completed. We set out to improve the defences around the main gate and what we have here is a nearly complete maze.

It's a small one, of course, and we all already know our way through it, but some tricks and traps are being planned, and our end goal is to sleep well with the awareness that nothing stops a goblin like a mental challenge.

Speaking of goblins, we experienced two false attacks in the past couple months, both of which ended in mutiny.

 It seems as though the goblins are experiencing loyalty issues now. If it were up to me we'd let them kill themselves, but strong Plissken is annoyed by the lack of foes.

We were visited by our more pleasant neighbors, the humans, a few months ago.

They were doubtlessly friendly, but they seemed to treat us differently than last year. They heavily valued and praised our crafts and efforts, and spoke of our "wonderful and rare culture". I did not care to speculate on the matter but it is worth noting that our leader, Tolkafox, said that they were acting so because they think that soon our outpost shall fall and the dwarven race with us. We ate quietly after she said this.

On a lighter note, our new dining hall is nearly complete.

All of the statues honoring the great Dan are in place, and some of our other busts, such as that of the Snailman and the god of Dice, are to be placed soon. I have been honing my skills as an engraver and I believe that this hall will be my breakthrough piece. I see it as a sign of prosperity that we can afford to have an artist among such a small community. As soon as I finished my depiction of a certain troll from a myth that I was told as a babe, I threw my arms up in joy and declared throughout the halls the proposition for a party. I suppose such excitement was unwarranted, but I was having a good day. Everyone else was either asleep or working on the maze, so it has become a joke among our group that I enjoy wild parties with the cats while everyone else toils away. I suppose an artist must make sacrifices!

It will be the new year when I write again! I am very excited!
-Ahasver

Any suggestions/requests for features of the maze?

[Ale Explosion]

The maze looks nice, is there a similar defence setup for the trade depot entrance?

Some random ideas for the maze features:
*pressure plate that releases caged war dogs elsewhere in the maze
*a section of floor that is actually a bridge, to see if you can get the timing right and do some bridge-a-pult practice
*a particular alternate path (so not a dead end) that has spike traps linked to a repeated lever pull task (when the dwarves are safely inside first of course
*the floor of one section is actually floodgates, which when actioned drops them into a (drainable) pool of water, said drainage only leads to the outside
*a wall that is actually a bridge (perhaps just a small one) that is set for repeating lever pull, to see if the gobbos can outrun the atom smasher

I could go on and on 

[plisskin]

Pressure plates are tricky but they make for very entertaining mazes. Not like I've ever gotten a maze to work.

My only suggestion is to make some of the walls of the maze actually bridges for redirecting traffic, and to label at least some of the levers with notes.

[tolkafox]

A pressure plate linked to a floodgate at the entrance that locks poor goblins inside the maze Labyrinth of Horror

Great work on the maze, and even better work on stealing from those treacherous elves. The only requests I have are for the dwarven breeding chamber that you've already taking care of and my standing request that if I die my body be put in a gem encrusted coffin and dumped into a room of magma. Bonus if the coffin is made of gold.

(On a side note, I've been out for a week and hope I didn't miss much.)

[Ahasver]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The final journal has arrived, accounting the winter season at Vushcuggan Geshud Moshnun, from the 1st of Moonstone to the 28th of Obsidian in the year 256, as told by the Engraver Ahasver.

Ahh, finally some relative peace and quiet. We just finished up our New Years party (during which I was ridiculed for taking only sparse sips of Strawberry wine, because I can only write when sober) and we are all excited for the year 257. Looking back through the pages of my journal I am amazed that it has been a full year since I began this journal. It seems like only a few days ago I sat down to record my experiences.

First and foremost, I must report with the most exciting news. Half of our our population is now engaged in a serious relationship.

I can't help but thinking that I am responsible for all of this love in the air. I must say, when I engraved the image of Mura the ettin onto our dining hall floor, I personally felt the aura of affection emanating from the piece. I intend to remain modest, though, and perhaps be recognized as the true hero I am when I am an old dwarf mining my way through the halls of dwarven children that will no doubt soon arise.

One of us who seems a bit left out from all of the joyous celebration is Fath. I am a bit worried about him, he seems to be an uncomfortable outcast.

I do not write about him as a patronizing gossip but a concerned writer. The last thing I want to happen is for him to be lost in the shadow of Plissken's glory. It is with that in mind that document the following event.

I believe I am the only one who congratulated him. I am not a military dwarf, as you are probably sick of hearing by now, but I think that teamwork is essential to our fortress's defence, which is looking rather powerful at the moment.


Speaking of our defences, the maze was not completed before our goal date of the first of Granite.

Because of the curvature of the dunes on which the maze was built we decided to pave the entire maze, to prevent the existence any landmarks that would assist an invader in the puzzle. I suppose if we were truly dedicated to such a cause we wouldn't have built it out of a mixture of rocksalt and sylvite, but that is a problem that could be solved fairly easily over time. Aside from the existing cage traps, Ale Explosion spoke of a hidden bridge that will shut off the quickest route through the maze after an invader has stepped on it. He also spoke of a hidden tile that would release hundreds of war dogs into the maze, but I regret to say that hundreds of war dogs are not currently available. The tile was left unconnected but I am a bit excited for when it will be completed, along with many unbuilt and unimagined traps that will doubtless fill our maze in the coming years.

While I do commend the construction (albeit partial) of the maze, I feel that the hidden accomplishment of this year was the construction and decoration of the dining hall. There is something truly valuable about a table that you share with a lifelong friend or lover.

Best of wishes in the new year,
Ahasver

I ran out of time on the maze, but that only leaves something for Plissken to do, I suppose. I'll send the save shortly.

The only trigger I installed and connected was the one to the bridge just west of the pit. The pressure plate is just north of it. The other pressure plate is on the same y coordinate as the cage that it was intended to be attached to and a dozen or so spaces to the right. Have fun, but don't have too much Fun!

[plisskin]

Excellent maze. Salt is fine for a maze. Makes them thirsty for the exit.

Let me know if my tileset needs some fancy whatnot for importing the save or if I can just drag, drop and go.