15th Hematite, 260
A lot been going on lately, plan is in place to get our farm up and running, with a bit of luck and good planning we'll have a plot ready to grow some brewable crops very soon. It`s a risky plan to be sure; anything involving cave-ins is, but it`s the only way we`re going to irrigate farmland, and I`ll make sure the landing area is clear before giving the order.
3rd Malachite, 260
Just about ready to give the order; going to put in a locked door to stop the water just in case there`s more of it in that ice block than we expect, and to stop someone from wandering in and getting crushed or choking on the dust that will be kicked up. We still have plenty of plump helmets and food just in case this screws up, but I`d rather be self-dependent instead of relying on all the caravans making it to our depot every year, especially in this cold. I`m about to give the miners their orders, and I`m crossing my fingers.
5th Malachite, 260
Well that was anti-climatic, to say the least. It collapsed to be sure, but almost no water at all came out of it! What use is a piece of farmland THIS small?
(That's ALL OF IT)
We'll have to cause a larger cave-in next time, this amount of mud couldn't feed one dwarf let alone the 7 here plus whatever migrants are bound to show up soon. I order the tiny amount of usable land we have to be farmed anyway; a little bit of food is better than none.
7th Malachite, 260
As if on cue to highlight the problems with our current farming establishment, we got some migrants coming in, why though is beyond me. 4 of them, travelling in from the south.
Quick interview of the incoming folks shows that we have a brewer, bringing our competence in that category up to two dwarves, a soap maker who seemed useless at first but might be useful for a future military (again, who the hell would want to conquer this hole in the ground though?), a Gem Cutter who did that for a living as opposed to our current guy, Spaghetti7 who just cut gems as a hobby before this trip, and some joker who says his specialty is "Concentration".
This one better learn to do something useful soon, in a... unique fortress like ours EVERYONE must pull their own weight. I have trouble understanding why exactly anyone's migrating here at all, least of all why a slacker like this one would go somewhere likely to be low on food, drink and comfort...
*****
Log of Edem Dodoknugreth, Peasant and Observer-dwarf under Her Majesty The Queen Minkot Kadolottem, to be returned to Her Majesty upon Mission Completion
7th Malachite, 260
We arrived at the settlement today, and were greeted by no one. For a moment I thought that the 7 founders had made a run for it when they found out Your Majesty's clever ruse. However, soon enough one of the others was calling out for us, indicating a hole with an icy ramp going into the ground. We went down and were immediately stopped by the usurper himself, the one Your Most Finest wished to punish! He greeted us quite rapidly and explained something about cave-ins and farming and this being a bad time, before asking about our occupations. This is where I almost fumbled, but I believe that I recovered quite gracefully. I was about to say "Confirmation of Justice" when queried about my specialty, but I managed to catch myself, stating that I specialized in "Concentration" instead. This "Enigma" dwarf gave me an odd look before accepting the answer. Unfortunately, the side effect of my answer is that I shall be unable to return to the Mountainhomes with reports of the punished dwarves' success until later, so Your Majesty will not receive this log until the caravans return, and will not hear a full report in person until significantly later, if ever. For better or for worse, my fate is now intertwined with those you saw so rightfully to smite.
20th Malachite, 260
I finally managed to escape stockpiling/stone dumping duty by pretending to be "on-break". I used this opportunity to peruse the fortress stockpiles. They have a surprising amount of food and drink, and will last at least until the caravans arrive, meaning I should be able to get this log out to Your Majesty relatively soon, if not with myself included. I do not believe that the others have caught on to me, although I have heard talk between Enigma and the miners about some sort of plan to cave-in part of the fortress! I can only hope this is not some sort of clever plan to assassinate myself, but I must remain vigilant. I need to stop stuttering so much though, or they will be able to read me as easily as they would a children's book.
1st Limestone, 260
Autumn is here, and apparently the channeling is ready to be done. Over the last week or so I've learned of their plans, but still don't get the particulars; they want to crash ice into the ground to irrigate the land for farming, although why that would logically work makes very little sense to me. However, the winter caravans will soon be here, and I have a plan to escape this place, all I need to do is
*****
Journal of Edzul 'Enigma' Siknuglikot
1st Limestone, 260
Well a while back I finished up the stockpiles and have been taking rests, but still pulling my own weight, when I come across that new useless peasant guy sitting in MY chair! Think of the nerve. He was writing in some sort of book, probably "concentrating" really hard on his latest stories. I took it and threw it into the area we're about to cave in ice through for farming. I didn't tell him when we plan on caving in the place so he can't go get it, that's the best part! Teach him to slack off and write when he should be working. I catch him doing that again and he's going to be in a box before he can close his own eyes. Stupid useless migrants, at least the other guys are working.
*****
That's all for now, but I should be able to get more up relatively quickly, need to finish my year up faster now that we have a bit of a queue going.
(Note: Yes I did miss Galena; during that month I was just creating a bunch of stacked rooms for the second cave-in attempt, lots of boring stone-dumping and the like there, nothing important happened.)
Author
Topic: Cudgelpriests - Glacier Succession Fortress! (Year 4, need more overseers!) (Read 12609 times)