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[GentlemanRaptor]

This is one of the more awesome things to happen to this fort. Dwarven Marines! HOOAH!

[EmeraldWind]

SEMPER EB!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Short for semper ebrios.

[Velard]

This is genius. Flood the demons, then send specially trained shocktroopers to defend our position, AND attack in the confusion. I've never seen such beautiful dwarven stratagem. How exactly will we reclaim the HFS after it's been flooded, though? Demons don't need to breathe, but we do. We'd be at the long-term disadvantage. Then again, this is so dorfy that none of that matters! To victory, C.A.R.P.!

[NCommander]

This is genius. Flood the demons, then send specially trained shocktroopers to defend our position, AND attack in the confusion. I've never seen such beautiful dwarven stratagem. How exactly will we reclaim the HFS after it's been flooded, though? Demons don't need to breathe, but we do. We'd be at the long-term disadvantage. Then again, this is so dorfy that none of that matters! To victory, C.A.R.P.!

Hell itself won't specifically flood. Water will either flow off the edge of the map or into the eerie glowing pits. The end result will be a aqueduct sprawling the roof of hell, with bridges that trigger as the dwarfs pass through the aqueduct*. If I can generate enough soap, large portions of the aqueduct will be built out of it to create suds.

As the dwarfs emerge from Via Purifico, the drainage gates on the aqueduct will open, creating several waterfalls in hell, obscuring the demons vision with mist. Just picture it. As the demons stand confused, the CARPs attack shrouded in the haze. The standing 1-3 level water will protect them from dust and demon sickness nullifying the demons worst attacks as they get hacked to pieces. Our marksdwarf will lay down covering fire either from the Hellbunker, or a new underhanging passage built under Via Purifico.

It will be glorious.

(Writing up remainder of spring update/beginning of summer. Release weeks at work leave little in terms of free time :-/)

* - might need to be replaced with a lever pull depending on if pressure plates work underwater.

(and as an aside, how do we not have a TVTropes page?!)

[AnimaRytak]

(and as an aside, how do we not have a TVTropes page?!)

I can fix that.

Fixed

[NCommander]

OOC: Will try and finish summer tonight/tomorrow. In addition, I noticed at least half the buckets in Deathgate are suffering from the lye/water bug, making them unusable for anything. Can I run drybuckets from dfhack to fix the glitch? I don't believe their is an ingame way to fix it sadly ...

Journal of Id 'NCommander' Matulcog
28 Slate 777
===

Construction on the Areltulon continues at good speed. A squad of four miners, lead by NRDL have dug through 47 layers of stone and are now directly above the third cavern layer. At their current rate of progress, I expect them to reach Z-90 in a little less another month. Meanwhile, construction efforts below continue a breakneck pace. Even the children have decided to join in!



After more deliberation and consultation with some of the more engineering minded members of the fort, I've made slight modifications to the magma pouring system.


Instead of having magma drop through a corner tile, a diversion has been installed above to move the magma through the center, allowing constant access to all the necessary pouring sites; the end result will be a 3x3 tower with a molten magma core, perfect for heating the Areltulon's cleansing waters.




The pour hatch, masonry walls, and activation lever have also been successfully installed, and I've received reports from our miners that all the necessary channeling has been completed.

We are ready to begin casting the tower. I must admit that I've never heard of tower construction being done in such a fashion, and some of my fellow dwarfs suspect that the attempt will fail. However, we have come to far to abandon, nor will I unnecessarily risk any dwarf in the Areltulon construction. I have yet to have a fatality on my watch, nor shall I allow one now.


1 Hematite 777
===



To think it is already summer. I went and reviewed our CARPs progress ...



Satisfied with their progress thus far, and tired of the constant complaints for food, water, and sleep, I've released them from their watery dungeon.



With that task aside, I reorganized the military into those who have undertook stage one of CARP training, and those whom haven't, and prepared the second batch to be thrown into the trade depot once it has been drained and reset. Based on our progress mining progress thus far, I've decided to re-instate NRDL back into the CARP program; I believe the remaining three miners will be sufficent.

Knowing that I must also be submersed for at least a  month, I've laid out the remaining construction plans for the next several months, and any remaining orders. I will be able to relay additional orders through the airhole at the top of the depot, so I am not concerned about appointing a successor to rule in my absence. Before I go under though, I must ensure that the obsidian casting begins.

I give the order to pierce the magma sea ...



And now all I can do is wait and watch ...

2 Hematite 777
===

As I slept, the hole was successfully punched through the magma sea, and our miner escaped out of the emergency stairwell I had constructed



That is not to say that everything went according to plan. Due to the limited room to construct the bend for the flowing magma, some has, from time to time, spilled onto the floor directly above. For the moment, it is not a concern, but the situation must be carefully watched less we end up with !!dwarfs!!.



However, peering down into Hell itself, I can already see that a nice layer of magma has spread over the surface of Hell. Now for the moment of truth. I ran upstairs, grabbed a bucket and filled it from the nearby well. Racing down to the pit, I grabbed the bucket and threw it over the side. I could see the water glisten through in the air for a moment until it hit the magma below. Instantly, a cloud of steam formed, and my vision was obscured. 

Several long seconds passed in silence ...



and then ...



SUCCESS!!

I quickly gave my final orders to begin casting the tower one level at a time. For the moment, things seemed like they might turn out alright for a change. I must now join my fell squadmates in the trade depot and undergo CARP training. While I'm unavailable, I've asked others to update this journal to report on their progress and various doings throughout the fort.

P.S.

I almost forgot to mention it, but progress on the gym has come along nicely. I also believe the missing pump for the BATTERY has been installed, and will look at activating the device in the coming months.



I look forward to using it once I've recovered from my aquatic training. Now I must truly go ..

---

(That night ..)

Id 'NCommander' Matulcog,  Overseer Cancels Station: Resting Injury
Etur 'Scaliper II' Mebzuthudar,  Sldr:Spr Cancels Station: Resting Injury

[Urist McDwarfFortress]

Whats this?  Dizziness!  Oh no!  A dreaded cave spider attack!

Oh, they're unconscious as well.  And his arm is broken.  Oh thats good then, maybe its just demons!

[NCommander]

Whats this?  Dizziness!  Oh no!  A dreaded cave spider attack!

Oh, they're unconscious as well.  And his arm is broken.  Oh thats good then, maybe its just demons!

Both of those would be relatively easy to fix :-/.

At least I have a general idea of what happened now.

(also, I added the DG logo to the TVTropes page)

[AnimaRytak]

I encourage everyone to add and edit to the Deathgate page on TvTropes.

I want it to be an epic page!

[NCommander]

Finally figured out what happened ...

Doren `The Mad Fool` Ulåshorast
Chief Medical Dwarf of Rashinod Okbodgeshud
6th of Heminate, Year 777
===

My, my, my. Its been so long since my hospital has seen any new patients, and what an interesting case they bring with them. Three dwarfs, all of them healthy suddenly fall over and collaspe across the fort at roughly the same time. What an interesting enimga we have before us.

The first subject is Id Matulcog, female, and sometimes known as 'NCommander'. She was the first one to be discovered collasped just outside the farms by the trade depot. I carried her myself back to the hospital for experimentation. The fortress records have her listed as born 3rd of Limestone, year 679, she is ninety-seven years old. Subject #1 has copper eyes, wrinkled cinnamon skin, and bares scars on her left upper arm from when I previously treated her. Her records also indicate she is seige engineer by trade, a professional marksdwarf, and Deathgate's current overseer. According to witnesses, she was enroute to the trade depot for some sort of specialized training. At first glance, there are no physical adomatities that I can see ...




Second in my hospital is Etur Mebzuthudar, better known as Scaliper II. Subject is male, 95, born on 25th of Granite, year 681. He was discovered collasped on one of the main ramps leading into lower Deathgate after completing whatever crazied training Overseer Matulcog ordered him to. As with Id, he has wrinkled cinnamon skin, though possesses unusual taupe hair with some gray. A carpenter by trade, and a speardwarf in our military, he was the previous overseer before Matulcog overthrew him. My assistants helped patch him up after a his run in with a demon some years ago. As with Matulcog, he shows no outward sides of illness aside from being unconscious ...



Stranger, and stranger still, yes ... so many INTERESTING possibilities. Upon closer examination of the subjects and removal of their armors, I have found small blisters forming on the bottom of the feet on both subjects. It seems that both of these dwarfs were exposed to demonblood that runs rampant through Deathgate.



The question is how were they exposed. From those I spoke with, neither victim was in the visincity of the Hellbunker. It seems so unlikely that these two, both overseers of Deathgate, would fall to random chance, one right after another, yes ...

This however, presents an opportunity, yes indeed it does. I have so longed to have one of those demon carcsises to disect, but the previous overseers have consistantly denied me the request. With the current overseer incompatitated however, I may finally be able to get my hands on one of those corpses, or at the very least, the demonblood itself. These two are in stable condition for the moment, and they will be none-the-wiser should I leave for a bit.

7th of Heminate, Year 777
===

Success! Outside the trade depot, I located a large pool of blood, no doubtly created when the waters in the depot were released.



I took a sample back to my lab, and was finally able to isolate the demon's extracts present in the tainted blood. It would seem someone or another coated one of the CARP dwarfs armor in demon extract, and waited for it to wash off, allowing it to poison not only our current overseer, but destory our military in one fell swoop. What a delightly evil plan, there only a handful cunning enough in Deathgate to enact such a plan, only to be stopped because my intellectial cunning and greatness, oh yes!

Acting in Id's steed, I've ordered the spot to be a restricted traffic zone, and will have a floor installed to cover the poisons after I collect more samples. Whomever designed this cunning trap shall rule the day they minced minds with THE MAD FOOL!

Oh, and it seems another is now being brought into my hospital, how delightful ...

[renegadelobster]

So...have I been Dorfed yet?

[kefkakrazy]

Wait...

You serious? You managed to give a sizable chunk of our military a demon extract bath?

That's the best thing ever. I was sitting here grousing about how we can't have horrible things because of careful overseers, but my complaints are now rescinded.

[NCommander]

So...have I been Dorfed yet?

Not yet, need to sit down and go through all pending dwarf requests.

Wait...

You serious? You managed to give a sizable chunk of our military a demon extract bath?

That's the best thing ever. I was sitting here grousing about how we can't have horrible things because of careful overseers, but my complaints are now rescinded.

Well, it wasn't my intention, but it seems to be the case :-/. Fortunately, while the extract was in the depot's waters it didn't infect anyone; it only got people who stepped through the blood after it was expelled. Does prove though that having a shower system in hell will make things far more even and it seems once a dwarf is infected, they become immune to future biological warfare ...

I can't decide if this is a "Gone Horribly Right", or "Gone Horribly Wrong" case though ...

(the vast majority of the military has it. I'm debating delibrately introducing it to the rest so they can't be infected later; Scalliper also got really far into the fort after leaving the depot which suggests the damn thing has an incubation period. When it strikes, it leaves everyone dizzy and unconscious; prime demon fodder.

[NRDL]

I'm assuming the victims eventually recover, right?

Also, thanks for training up my dorf. 

[ThatAussieGuy]

Considering I built the Trade Depot/swimmming pool in the first place, it's probably partially my fault.

Wait... then that means my works continue to have no benevolent value and are only good for evil!  MY LEGACY CONTINUES!