From the Diary of Inod Komra
28th ObsidianThe others in this frozen hellhole of a fortress have called me "Komra" the second i set foot within their gate. i complained at first, clearly stating that my name was Inod, but they told me that i had a striking resemblance to one of the founders, who foolishly encased himself in a block of ice while trying to penetrate the aquifer. i doubt that they'll stop calling me Komra, even if i correct them every single day, so i've chosen to live with it.
1st GraniteToday Conan walked up to me, muttered something about having a guilty conscience, and then stated that i'm the "overseer" now, while he slapped a bright badge upon my chest. crap...
well diary, let's see what we've got to work with here. bah! the only defense against the hordes of undead is a wooden wall and a diorite door! now that we have access to plenty of stone i'll have to redesign the above ground defenses, which will be more secure, and more importantly free up many logs of precious wood.
then there's the pitiful excuse for a fortress below that. we've been living in dirt diary! and it seems that our bookkeeper is in the "hospital"(really just a special corner of the dorm room) with an infected leg injury.
finally, deep bleow ground (going through unsecured caverns!) we have our mining operations. this is where we were meant to live diary, amongst the rock and gemstones. and this is where we shall live by the time i'm done with it!
ARGH! THERE'S A GHOST DOWN THERE DIARY! i'm having the slab carved out as i write.
we also have two military squads, i'm not sure as to why, seeing as there's only three dwarfs in the military. i've consolidated them into a single squad "The Mountainous Furnaces" i've given them every third month off so they can actually help haul stuff around the fort.
3rd Granitei took a quick look at the puss covered stocks papers, it looks like we have about 500 stones, more than enough for now. i've told the miners to stop digging for now and help out with the construction of the above ground walls.
and since nobody seems to care about poor Tobul, dieing of infection, i've taken it upon myself to make the fort's first bar of soap. i mean you just dump the lye in the melted tallow right? or do you dust the solid tallow with lye... or maybe you have to finely mince the tallow and pound the lye into it... i'll figure it out eventually..
7th Graniteon my way to the tallow barrel, i heard Tobuls pathetic cries for water. when i asked Squid why he wasn't giving his patient water he said:
"there's only two buckets in the fort boss, first one's in the well, and you're using the second."
"well. if there aren't anymore buckets then make some!"
"Can't boss"
"and why not?"
"no wood"
ARGH! diary, i was ready to walk up to Conan and land a punch between his eyes. why would he leave us without a single log?! i then remembered that all our workshops are made of wood! i've ordered an unused craftsdwarfs workshop to be dismantled and made into a new bucket.
8th Graniteupon a closer inspection of the stock papers i noticed that we only have 9 urists of alcohol left... ARMOK DAMNIT ONLY 9 URISTS! WHAT THE CARP WAS CONAN THINKING!?! i've ordered the crafters and brewers to start producing pots and alcohol respectively.
16th Graniteit seems that this wasteland isn't completely undead, a pack of badgers has been sighted, i've dispatched the military to deal with them before they start attacking our woodcutters... Conan and Farmerbob charged the badgers, which fled... strange... i've heard of these foul beasts attacking anything within their line of sight. what is it about his place that has pacified such a volatile beast?
21st Granitethe ghostly recruit was finally put to rest today. i've also authorized another drainage channel to be dug in the caverns, closer to the water source. eventually we'll be able to contain it and rid the cavern of this wretched water!
24th GraniteAfter 3 days of fighting the current and almost drowning several times, Spoony managed to dig out two sections of drainage channel. Alas, tired of being wet and spending every other minute fighting for his life, he gave up trying to dig out the channels and went outside to help tear down the wooden wall.
Farmerbob upon hearing Spoony's story of the strong current and impossible digging conditions, decided that he'd give the drainage channel a try.
1st Slatetoday i check in on Farmerbob and Spoony, who were both mining out the drainage channel. and what a sight it was!
Farmerbob would start digging out a section, then get swept into a completed section by the current, Spoony would then come along and try to complete the same section, and he would only get a couple of swings at it till he too was swept under! Farmerbob would then poke his head above the water, gasping for air and continue to work on that exact same segment! and the cycle would continue.
This is actually quite entertaining to watch dairy, i would've stayed all day, but i've got to get that new stone wall built above ground.
4th SlateTobul has finally been patched up an is up and about, but Squid refused to clean her again, quoting some line from the dwarven medical rule book "Injured Dwarves may only receive cleaning prior to all other treatments" well fuck... looks like Tobul is on her own, though it doesn't look like the infection is doing much.
6th SlateSome migrants have arrived! Conan told me that it's my duty as overseer to meet each of them and assign them jobs. Armok damn it. now i have to stand outside in the cold... i hate the cold.
21, diary. 21 damn migrants. there's so many that i've filled The Mountainous Furnaces with a full compliment of recruits, i've rearranged the workforce, and still there's going to be many whom will have a hard time finding work in their fields.
there are now 35 of us in this little frozen hole in the ground.
i've had 10 more training axes crafted. we'll trade for some quality ones when the caravan from the mountainhome arrives.
14th SlateToday Tobul, after celebrating the completion of the new drainage channels, withdrew from the party and claimed a craftdwarf's workshop!
16th Slateafter grabbing two logs Tobul began to work on her secret project. whatever she makes it better be good, i don't want to see all that wood go to waste.
also, Spoony hung up his pick for good, and went to pursue his military career as militia commander.
21st SlateTobul ran around the fortress toady shouting "Behold Ledbunem Katthir Monang! Bask in it's glory!"
when she finally put the thing down for a second to grab a drink i took some time to examine it.
A SCEPTER!?! diary, i've decided that Tobul is going to face the first goblin ambush. alone. without armor. until then she'll be pulling double duty as our manager in addition to her bookkeeping.
on an unrelated note, the springs in the caverns have been mostly contained. the water level on our plateau has dropped enough to allow the woodcutters to harvest the trees there.
12th FelsiteELVES! what are elves doing in this wasteland? there are too few trees for them to care about, and i thought elves preferred warmer climates than this... they must be spies sent to gather information to see if we're worth invading! we'll show them what happens to spies!
Kivish walked up to the Depot and told the elves that their goods were ours now. the elves laughed at him mockingly "you and what army" they said. as the militia formed up behind the merchants Kivish simply pointed and said "that one".
the slaughter was over in less than an hour. the militia sustained minor wounds, save for one of the recruits who got his skull cracked open. we definitely need to get better armor from the next dwarven caravan, or at least real weapons from
the humans.
16th FelsiteAh, puppies, puppies everywhere... not anymore diary! we confiscated several wooden cages from the dead merchants, i've had one set up in the hall leading to the pit, and i'm having every puppy and dog in the fort thrown in there.
in other news, the shrinking of the containment area for one of the springs is going very slowly, the current keeps washing Farmerbob and his new apprentice away.
i've also replaced the old door with a quartzitie bridge. i've also had the walls expanded to include the trade depot and they now rest over top the old trench that was surrounding them. i've included a picture below.
those blue walls were constructed from some of the ice chunks we had laying around. the lever that operates the bridge is in the dining area.
also our metalsmith has taken to calling himself "Uber Pye"... strange... i'll have to keep an eye on him diary, his mind might be going.
1st HematiteSummer is here on the calendar, but you would never know it by the temperature outside.
I think i'm starting to get used of this job journal, it's not too bad actually... just so long as you keep an eye out for the stupid miners...
drinks are still at the critical level, but everyone seems to be managing.
Part 2