Yeah I pretty much started this thread because I had nothing better to do on my prep-day
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Captain's Log, Adil Asmelmad ("Merchantrein"), Militia Commander1st Sandstone, 551
I triggered the cave-in myself, as Litast ordered, so I was there. I never would have believed a dwarf could walk away from something like that... but when I saw those three, standing down there atop that thing, calm as you like without so much as a scratch, or even a speck of
dust on them... well... I used to have my doubts about Litast and Zasid's theory, and Bembul's ravings. Too much time spent under this cursed open sky was going to their heads. But when I saw that, I believed.
I called Sakzul and Kadol to me immediately, of course, and with the military on hand we escorted them out of there. They didn't make any move to resist, didn't say a word. Somehow, that was worse.
We've erected a temporary open air gaol for the demon-tainted dwarves away from our main fortress, and with the help of the military herded them there. No one was willing to simply do the deed themself. Here's hoping the exposure takes care of them so we don't have to.
Zasid has reported his efforts to identify our location has failed. Like it or not, it seems we're stuck here. We'll just have to learn to love the demon rats, phantom spiders, roving cougars, and knuckle worms.
Journal of Litast Pleatsteel, Expedition Leader18 Sandstone, 551
Blast! Adil has reported that our plug project is a failure after all! Although we successfully peirced the aquifer, beneath it is
another layer of aquifer! I have ordered the construction of another, larger plug, to breach both layers.
On the upside, it seems a caravan from the mountainhomes has reached us with supplies! Somehow word of our misfortune eventually trickled back to their halls, and though the King apparently couldn't be buggered to send help, the traders, as always, can smell desperation a world away and saw a business opportunity. I don't know what they expected we'd trade them - we haven't even had the opportunity to start making crafts.
I traded a few spare beds, buckets, some of our remaining ammunition, and lots of raw wood for enough food to get us through the winter, a bit of stone, and a few bars.
I sent the liaison back with requests for more food, and stone and metal, just in breaching the aquifer does not come as quickly as we need. I am beginning to think this diabolical curse extends not just to the dwarves in the region, but the land itself.
27 Timber, 551
Bloody pus-oozing sores of Inod! The second plug has failed as well due to minor errors in the calculations, leaving it just slightly too small for our purposes.
What's more, as I write this the damn thing is dissolving back into the aquifer. I don't know what I was thinking.
Our third plug shall be a thing of beauty. I will order it made in the greatest proportions the landscape will allow, with flood-proof walls atop, in the case it is too shallow.
Kadol has been increasingly frustrated with the very simple functions I have asked her to fulfill, as a militia captain and sheriff, and demanding all manner of furnishings and a proper office, quarters, and dining room. All while half of our number still sleep in the grass!
I'm terrified of her snapping, as the only outlet for her frustrations currently seems to be screaming at me several times a week, and I remember well what she did to those elephants. So of course I have granted her request, though it took the better part of a month. Soon I should have enough beds for the others, as well.
3rd Moonstone, 551
In our routine inspection of the holding cell, the militia found that the demon-dwarves all dropped dead quite suddenly, almost simultaneously by the look of it.
Their bodies went quite rapidly from perfect health to a drained, dessicated look, as if long deceased. I fear those who are lost to the demonic taint are merely its puppets - it seems to feel no worry about the shells it leaves behind. This is most disturbing, but it has steeled my resolve, as has the welcome news that the engraver, who has previously said little, but tried fruitlessly to draw in the sand and mud, has remembered his name:
I believe we have been stranded here for a greater purpose - to provide a safe haven for those poor dwarves who still hold our against the darkness. We shall rescue as many as we can - and damn the odds. Heedless of the fiends, the vermin, the terrible ravages of this miserable land - Oiledgod shall be their salvation, their beacon in the dark! For the glory of Inod Claspedtruss, and of Ensubdumat, the Basic Roughness!