((things have got a bit messy, haven't they? and gar, I don't know where that picture is from, but it's quite a good one for the situation))
A New Recruit:
No dwarf understood the importance of getting a proper burial more than Neo. He'd never had one, for example. Once they had made sure that there were no goblins left on the first floor, he had started hauling bodies, and the remnants of bodies, into the newest burial chamber. That was where Hugo found him.
"Hello! Neo, correct? Is this the place for new recruits?"
Neo looked around. There was still an armor stand in the corner, tucked away behind three coffins. He nodded. "It's the barracks, yes. Don't let all the coffins fool you. What do you need?"
"I'm here to join up, sir! I got some skills with an axe, and I want to put them to good use. Now, I'm kind of rusty, so I thought I could train up on some of the harmless cavern critters, but I wanted to tell you I was joining first... Is that wrong?"
Neo managed, just barely, to keep from laughing in the enthusiastic newcomer's face. "Yes, yes. You can join, of course. But... how long have you been here?"
"Got here just before the siege started."
"All right, come with me. I'm going to tell you a little bit about Oceanbridge, and the "harmless creatures" that live in the caverns. The first thing to learn... is that there aren't any."
"You mean nothing lives down there at all?"
"No, I mean nothing harmless."
.......................
MeanwhileRemalle didn't know where he was. He wasn't sure where he'd been either, and he was completely sure that he didn't know where he was going.
"Dig a tunnel to the other shore". That's what they'd been told. It had only just occurred to him that they had no way of knowing where the other shore was, down here. It was a small problem.
He kept digging.
....................
Next: Let's Look at the Bridge
((it's almost impossible to take screenshots while the fort is running. Bah.))