More screenshots!
A view of the southeast quadrant of the dome, which is mostly open air all the way to the cavern floor/underground lake. Several pillars are visible in this picture. Bear in mind that the placement of each one was dictated by the layout of the original cavern layer.
For reference, here is the cavern at about the time when I began excavating. The outline of the dome's 'equator' is designated here, mostly for my own reference at the time.
Compare the previous picture to these, which show eight out of the nine guild locations present in the fortress. There are two per building, mostly occupying vertically opposite ends of the structures. Each guild 'controls' (in my mind, there's really no in-game effect) a communal guildhall, containing a table and chair assigned to each member dwarf. Each dwarf additionally has their own bedroom, which includes at least one chest and cabinet (more, if that dwarf has many possessions). Additionally, each guild has a leader, who has a separate suite of two or three rooms.
When the dome was initially flooded (with magma), it took a while - a couple days of real time, if I recall correctly. When it was finished, I was amazed at just how much magma it took to fill the damn thing.
Then, I drained it into the second cavern layer. That took a while, too.
When the fortress was still above-ground, the duke resided in quarters that had been carved out from the inside of the volcano's caldera. Each 'room' was merely a furnished ledge, exposed to the open air, connected to the other 'rooms' by seven z-levels of stairs. In these pictures, you can also see part of the caldera rim, as well as some of the lower parts of the old fort.
An interesting note - during the founding decades of Weatherwires, many engravings were made of a legendary beast named Usu Wavedpearl the Murky Deer, the mountain titan. Usu - a gigantic theropod composed of crystal glass - attacked the fortress in the summer of 151. I thought it fitting that Kib Waxpaddled, leader of my marksdwarves, and mayor at that time, should deal with the beast, seeing how he had been demanding crystal glass items for some time now.
A passing knifedwarf (part of a side project at the time; getting dwarves to be competent at using large daggers) by the name of Vabok Earthenfins killed the beast instead. The next year, I received this message:
In 152, a plains titan arrived and was slain. The incident passed without much notice (I was more concerned with the dumping of all magma-proof stone into the volcano). In the spring, I was notified that the world had passed into the Age of Heroes. And so, the dwarves of Weatherwires thrust the world out of myth, give it a swift kick in the pants past legend, and into the hands of heroes.
Concerning the fort itself:
I am currently sealing up the various side passages out of the dome, including the cavern layer itself. There will be various doors, operated by levers, which can seal the dome off completely. At that point, the lake can be drained (this is already in place), and allowed to dry. Then, the dwarves can be restricted to their burrows (safe inside the buildings, which are designed in such a way as to be entirely magma-sealed), and the dome can be flooded with magma once more.
This constitutes the last stretch of the second-to-last goal I had assigned myself with this fort. The final part will be to allow the fort to run its course, with the dwarves living out the rest of their natural lives, sealed away from the surface world forever. Hopefully the bug will break, and the dwarves will become fertile once more. If not... well, thus will end the tragedy and legend of Weatherwires.
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Topic: The Saga of Weatherwires: Children of Dwarves (spoilers + image heavy) (Read 161072 times)