WINTER 128As it turned out, Winter would be most peaceful season the dwarves would have had for a long time. With their appointed overseer dead, there was little left in terms of grand projects, and the besieging parties prevented any further access to the outside of the village. After the foul blendecs finally gave up on avenging their fallen, a joint effort of frogmen and dark stranglers took their place almost immediately. Now surrounded on all sides by more than fourty invaders, and with a military still in shambles, reclaiming the countryside would have to be postponed, for now.
Meanwhile, the wave of sadness and anger was taking its toll. Three dwarves couldn't stand the loss of their friends, their lovers or their relatives, and went mad. The most tragic death, however, would be the one of the mayor. Unable to stand due to a serious injury in the battle, he was stuck in the dormitory. Dwarves were lining up to yell at him, the only remaining member of authority still alive. Unhappy and unable to calm the anger of so many dwarves, his responses were harsh, his words quick to blame others. Dwarves soon started forsaking him, until he could count not a single of the dwarves as friends. Depending on the good will of charitable soul for water and food, there was a day no-one came to bring his sustenance. Alone, in a deserted room, thirst claimed him, and his remains where placed in silence, without ceremony, in the graveyard.
Despite the current atmosphere of sorrow and anguish, a dwarf managed to find inspiration. A simple weaver made a truly magnificent toga, crafted from silk gathered once again from the dangerous caverns by brave miners. The product immediately gave him new confidence, as he began to dream of grand weaveries and thriving clothing industry. They would have to wait for new rulership, however, or at least for things to settle down. The new mayor was among the least happy dwarves, but she was calm and serene despite the cruel hardships she had suffered. Still, her miserable state was visible to all, and only in the later days on winter would she finally cheer up a little. She ordered some dwarves in the danger room, in hope that training could somehow avoid a repetition of the autumn tragedy, but kept the lockdown in effect for the rest of the season.
While silk was gathered in the cavern, a protective building was built around the central shaft, allowing the rapid sealing of the whole mines with the push of a lever. Fortifications were built on the top layer, where a bait of any kind can be put to lure beasts from below. Safe behind fortifications, dwarves could then shoot the intruders without a risk of retaliation.
As the first signs of spring started to show, the graveyard was finally completed, and most of the tombstones put in place. The last remaining pieces were about to be finished, and the area started to slowly fill with statues commemorating the feats of the dead.
A shorter update this time but nothing really happened in winter, I just did some damage control and built the graveyard and bunker. There are still a few memorial slabs missing, but they have been ordered at the craftdwarf's workshop and should be ready soon. There is also an order for statues, in case some of them depict dead dwarves it would be nice to put them near their graves. The whole place is designated as a memorial garden, so dwarves can gather and admire the slabs and statues there.
There are no more miserable dwarves, just the very unhappy mayor and some unhappy others. We are still under siege by many foes, but they are only frogmen and dark stranglers. We do have quite a lot of bismuth bronze from the foul blendecs, and a few bars of bronze available from melting other equipments, but nowhere near enough to outfit a full squad.
The save is here :
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=3960Map :
http://mkv25.net/dfma/poi-26847-entrancebridge