Another year has come. I plan on getting this fort in some kind of order. more bedchambers and maybe a proper militia to compliment the bone mill. speaking of the bone mill, I just had the dubious pleasure of watching an entire group of about eight or nine skeletal badgers walk single file into it. honestly I found the spectacle hilarious.
*sigh* hard day journal, we got more migrants, but they arrived on the opposite side of the river, because of the nature of this area, we haven't been able to build a bridge over it. I sent one of the miners out on a mission to get them across through a narrow tunnel under the river. before he could get there though, the meat grinder showed up and killed five of the migrants. when the tunnel was finally finished most of them escaped to this side, while some stayed to try and fight off the wolves, they did well until the giant badgers arrived. three more dwarves died on that side. the militia was sent out to escort the rest, but due to our races almost suicidal obsession with the property of the dead, nine more of us were slain. the elven merchants showed up, I had the goods outside the fort forbidden, and raised the emergency wall. this was a disaster...
especially since we lost Hugo in the attacks. not even on that side of the river either. he put on his bronze plate and helmet, but neglected to bring his axe, he barreled down the slopes of the hill bellowing Anan's name. he managed to crush several wolves and a couple of badgers before they overwhelmed him and his squad... sad day. sad day. especially since out finest warrior has lost the ability to stand. Ill get around to treating him eventually.one of our number was elected mayor today and I was relieved from my position as expedition leader. his first act as mayor was to mandate the creation of mail shirts. a good idea, we could really use some armor.
Lots of ghosts out in the hills. we need to start making headstones for the dead. I sent the miners to dig a secondary entrance, so any more migrant who come in on the other side of the river will have a quick way into the fort, in doing so we hit the aquifer and flooded the tunnel we were going to use for that purpose, the attempt the miners made to bypass it led them into a cavern. ive heard stories of what can be found in the caverns, we will have to be careful, for now ive ordered to opening to be sealed up for now.
of all the places to find precious metal. the gold we had found were just small pockets, but today the miners found a rather large vein of platinum while expanding the metal works. this is a good find, we can afford to get more supplies from the caravans. so far though, weve managed to get by on the gem trade.
the humans came back. frankly im surprised, they seemed a bit perturbed by the local wilddeath last time. I hope they brought lots of food and booze. we've got enough, but it never hurts to have more! when I went up to meet them I noticed all the children throwing wild parties centered on the cougars we got from the elves.
I should tell them to stop before the cougar decides to eat them, thats the kind of thing that keeps beardlings in line.the parties they keep throwing seem to be getting the goblins attention, another snatcher was spotted, but he was promptly smashed upside the head by the bone grinder.
I dont know why the humans take the clothing and armor we make, they are too big! unless they are giving these things to their children? certainly a small human would fit into the clothes we make very well. but what about the armor? autumn has come to kegbolts, but it might as well be winter. weve started memorializing the dead, a simple stone will have to do for our legendary dwarves until I can get a proper burial hall built.
while looking for volunteers for the militia today I noticed one of the other doctors was quite skilled with a sword. her name is Highmax, I called her in to my office (the dining room) and we discussed the possibility of having her join the military. she said she would, but it would get in the way of her other jobs. I mentioned that her other jobs wouldn't matter when the badgers were bashing down out walls to get at us. again and again, the bone mill has proven its worth. as long as we have no reason to go outside, these abominations just walk into it. it does get a bit boring though.
today one of the others was eating when suddenly she stood up, sprayed her drink all over Ablel, and ran off to claim a workshop, all while still clutching her baby. I hope she makes something worth while, also I got the injured sword dwarf back on his feet today, just had to get him a crutch. im such a great doctor.
the dwarf who was acting strangely finished her project and came up with a bone bracelet. certainly breaking new ground there I guess. the mayor has also prohibited the export of mail shirts. I dont know why that would be a problem, we need each one we can get.
speaking of arms and armor, ive ordered our small militia to begin training. this will be good for them, as with goblins about and the undead abominations, we can use tempered well disciplined soldiers. the only ones not practicing the art of war are the marksdwarves, when I asked them why, they said they didnt have any targets! why in my fathers day, they just shot at bricks on the keeps walls! ah well, ill have some real targets made up.
ah! a caravan from the mountainhomes! and there are more merchants this year. its a good thing too, because we are running pretty low on booze and no one seems to want to make it. one thing I noticed though, is that the axes the merchant guards have seem to be very effective against the badgers. Ill have to start having the militia use similar weapons. also as much as it hurts me to have to rely so much on the mountainhomes for protection, ive had to buy new armor from the merchants. thats alright though, it will lessen the strain on us. getting wood for coal is dangerous, and as such, Ill order some coal from the liaison. we also got more dogs and quite a lot more booze. good, we are secure in our stocks once again. we've begun putting up fortifications on the roof, but the work is slow, as the mason try to build the scaffolding for the job, they get startled by the badgers that walk by. really, its a huge pain.
bah! highway robbery! its a scam! it appears that the merchants will not bring coal of any kind to any fortress or settlement. they have absolutely no problem bringing ores of gold, platinum, or any number of valuable gemstones, but they will not bring us bituminous coal or lignite! I guess we will have to make due with ordering charcoal and coke. I also put in several barrels of lye. as a doctor I find that having a few barrels on hand is good for when you need soap, or when you need to dispose of a body.
snow! I know its not a big event journal, but it hasn't snowed out here since we arrived, and its only rained twice in this whole four year period. heh, I forgot to mention, winter has come and is almost halfway done. it will be 4 years since I came here with all my friends. four years since all except Ablel were killed. well, to be honest I didn't really know any of them except Asob. Asob was a good dwarf though, if a bit shaky at times.
lately Id noticed the miners loafing about when they had jobs to do. Ive had these plans for an exploratory shaft dug on the slate for quite awhile. when I asked about it, they said they couldn't get to the work site because I had ordered the shaft blocked up! that was preposterous, so I checked and indeed, I had had the shaft sealed up. in my haste to block off the caverns we had found, I had ordered the wrong staircase sealed. bah, I feel like a fool journal. after I had the seals torn out and moved to the right place, digging recommenced and we immediately dug into another cavern! another one! as we were walling up this section of cavern, I saw something nasty. it was some kind of long armed humanoid creature. *picture missing, it was a reacher* just like everything in the wilderness topside though, it was just as dead. I GAH! ITS IN THE FORT!
thank Anan for Highmax, when the thing showed it ugly skull in the mine shaft, Highmax was on the spot and ready, she distracted the monster while the citizenry pummeled the thing to death. they must be as tired of the monsters as I am. in the confusion a huge skeletal rat tried to get by, but highmax was on the case, hacking and smashing with her iron short sword.
hurrah! today the miners struck a thrid cavern, what did they find inside journal?Ill tell you!
]
two whole veins of it too! soon after, just under the cavern layer we hit just what we needed!
a long day. winter is just about done, the magma works are well under way, I just need to get some good mechanisms made up and a few other things to keep the magma under control. I just hope we can get them quickly. the militia is training well, the only trouble is getting the bolts for the marksdwarves to practice with. when the magma works is done, the smiths can REALLY start churning out the metal, but for now I need a few more things. one of the others got so excited about it all that he ran off and claimed one of the forges, I hope he makes something good. meanwhile I was startled by what looked like a huge plump helmet in the second cavern layer. what was I doing there? cutting wood. there is good, easier to get wood. the militia practices, highmax is probably our best fighter, he is quite adept with his blade. Im hoping some of his skill will rub off on the other dwarves. I remember Hugo was quite good too, a shame really.
not exactly what I was expecting, but still its very nice. the fey dwarf created something useful! it is called "Ostukthad Romekbobet" or "sneakcrowded, the long trifles." and iron crossbow.
whats odd is that on the item are two pictures of itself. now what the heck is that about? either way, he is now considered a legendary weaponsmith, so ive ordered him to start crafting weapons for the fort.
tragedy! one of those walking plump helmet things came up from the caverns through the door someone left open and clubbed a child to death! the cowardly thing ran but the earthen dimensions (the militia) caught and tortured it.
GOBLINS! goblin archers to be exact, and a few hammer men, several of them came at the fort only to fall to the bone mill. alot of them were bashed about and knocked unconscious, the only losses (I think are two marksdwarves and a few animals. I dont know where he got it, but one the commander of the earthen dimensions appears to have gain a -<<steel battleaxe>>-. no idea where the thing came from, we didn't make it, and we certainly didnt buy it... well, we did manage to repel that group of greenskins, but ive ordered the retracting wall to be extended. this should keep them out. winter is over, spring has sprung, and things are about to get serious.I guess we will have to see what next year brings us.
*woo, this year started ROUGH. got a ton of migrants in, but they were trapped on the wrong side of the river. the wolves and badgers showed up pretty quick and made mincemeat out of them. managed to save a bunch of them, but now Ive got clothing and corpses littering the countryside. the worst part of it was when Hugo got killed. he went out with his armor but left behind his axe, got completely overwhelmed and mauled. jayzuz. that was bad. I finally got around to looking for magma, found it, and found two candy spires, very nice. im not touching that stuff yet though. started putting in more fortifications on the battlements, got the memorial hall done, (forgot to take pics, will do it next time) and saw the first goblin ambush. I still have no idea where the steel axe came from, but im pretty sure it saved its owners life, and helped him to put down all the unconscious goblins. Highmax started out as a novice sword dwarf, but somehow managed to get up to adept with his sword very very fast. currently he is the strongest of the fighting dwarves. was fun to watch him cut apart the plump helmet man one little piece at a time. just gotta get better armor going.
and so ends the 4th year (4th year? 4th year) Highmax28, are you still interested? Ive got an intro in mind if you want to take the reigns for a bit, and ill upload the save as soon as you, or someone else is ready.
Author
Topic: Kegbolts undead badgers hate you. (Read 1877 times)