-14- [Trampledooms] (4) : The Adamantine Must Flow

9th Obsidian, 253

My reign as overseer begins in the middle of a crisis in the fortress. I take stock of the situation:

• The population of Tangathmosus, or "Trampledooms" as we are known to the humans, is currently at 117 dwarven souls.
• Our food and drink supply are plentiful, but I intend to increase our alcohol and meal stocks by at least 100% by the end of the year.
• The military is adequate.
• The above-ground portion of the fortress could use some improvements. As the fortress' head mason, this is my top priority. Dwarves we may be, but that's no excuse for sloppy wall work.
• There are a myriad of superfluous fortress elements. Staircases to nowhere, awkwardly placed bridges, random hallways, etc. It will likely take a while to streamline the operation of the fortress, but I intend to do what I can.
• The demons unleashed by the previous overseer remain contained, for now. I don't intend to disturb them during my mandate.

With those things in mind. I begin my turn.

First order of business. Expanding the staircase which leads to the magma furnaces, deep below the fortress. I designate them to be 3x3 where possible.

My miners quickly get to work. I also designate space for more farms, along with new 3 brand new stills and kitchens.

18 Obsidian, 253

I begin the monumental task of streamlining job assignments. The miners are up first. As they possess one of the most important skills in the fortress, I make mining their primary mission. With the miners freed from other tasks, I anticipate that digging efficiency will increase by at least 50%.

Next are the brewers, the heart of any true dwarf fortress. I choose the top three brewers in the fortress and free them from their other tasks. With them churning out high-quality alcohol for my thirsty dwarves, productivity will increase by an estimated 33%.

21 Obsidian, 253

In preparation for the expansion of the above-ground walls, I move all the animals in the fortress into the pasture on the northern side of the compound. I'll need to take stock of the available livestock in order to determine how much space will be required to hold them.

22 Obsidian, 253

The first casualty, the mason Likot Nomaltathur was slain in an ambush orchestrated by kobolds. He was the first to exit the compound upon lowering the drawbridge. Two squads were deployed topside to deal with the vermin.

23 Obsidian, 253

Although the military arrived quickly, the danger rooms had clearly not prepared them to face actual combat. Several animals were slain, along with a few dwarves. Once the smoke clears they will receive a proper burial.

1 Granite, 254

Spring has arrived. The dwarves are in the process of improving the entrance and central stairwell.

9 Granite, 254

Next profession on the list, masons. If we're going to get any of the new construction completed this year, then my fellow brother and sister masons are going to need to focus their efforts.

15 Granite, 254

In the spirit of preparing for future fighting, I have designated the dwarf Id Duthnurdastot chief strand extractor. She will be responsible for extracting adamantine strands for wafer creation.

25 Granite, 254

Nearly a month into the year. Farmers are now free to focus on growing crops, rather than hauling goods around the fortress.

13 Slade, 254

Some migrants arrived, 32 in all. I quickly reassign them so they're useful, and get back to overseeing the progress of the fortress.

I temporarily disband the citizen militia. This is in order to determine which jobs are held by military members that could be better assigned to civilians.

28 Slade, 254

A dragon has arrived. Unfortunately, the walls are still under construction, so it looks like it's time for the military to earn their pay. A war dog was crushed by the closing drawbridge, but no one seems to notice.

No trouble from the dragon, after issuing forth a gout of flame, which did not faze any of the soldiers, the rangers let loose a flurry of bolts before the infantry closed in to hack the beast to death.

9 Felsite, 254

The fire sparked by the dragon has finally died down. It burnt nearly the entire courtyard to a crisp. I've designated a large area to be dug out on the food production floor in which to pasture the animals. They will have to subsist on moss from now on.

15 Felsite, 254

An Elven Caravan has arrived. Unlike my predecessor, I intend to peacefully trade with them. There is no reason to provoke their civilization when most of the military is clad in mere copper.

19 Felsite, 254

The Elves must have been followed. Just a few days later a goblin seige arrives. The walls are still incomplete, so it is once again up to the brave soldiers to fight off the assault. It only appears to be a single squad of Gobling bowmen, so I don't anticipate any difficulties.

23 Felsite, 254

The goblins have all been killed or fled. The Elves seem impressed with the prowess of the military, and will likely rethink any plans of attacking. The additional diplomatic gesture of protecting their merchants will certainly improve relations.

1 Hematite, 254

It is now summer. Things are moving well, albeit slowly. The biggest slowdown at the moment is mining speed, and it may be necessary to assign some new miners.

8 Hematite, 254

One of the soldiers went berserk and had to be killed. I guess the military life was too much for him.

17 Hematite, 254

A new mayor has been elected. Hopefully there won't be any unfortunate accidents.

22 Malachite, 254

Some more migrants arrived, twelve of them this time. I get them situated into their new jobs.

2 Galena, 254

The miners have discovered another vein of adamantine, I'll approach this one with caution. The other vein is still being mined while and the strands are being extracted. I plan on leaving a surplus of adamantine wafers for the next overseer.

17 Galena, 254

A human caravan has arrived. As autumn rapidly approaches, I've removed hauling labors from the smiths. If I'm going to get enough adamantine smelted, I'm going to need as many dwarves as possible working constantly. Almost like clockwork, a goblin ambush arrives. The military quickly dispatch them, and trading begins.

9 Limestone, 254

Finally the broker arrives at the depot, and I'm able to sell of a quite a bit of junk. I trade away gently used clothing, training weapon, and some other odds and ends. In exchange, I secure leather and cloth, surface crops, and cheese. You can never have too much cheese. In the end, the humans leave with a more than 6000 Urist surplus, and they're ecstatic with the trading. Perhaps next year they'll bring more useful items.

In other news, we now have a war leopard and war jaguar. I've assigned them to myself for now, for protective purposes.

6 Sandstone, 254

One of the smiths created an adamantine crutch. Not the most useful item in the fortress; still pretty though.

20 Sandstone, 254

More migrants arrived. Only eleven this time. I assign them to their new jobs. Highlights include a new carpenter, mason, and jeweler.

18 Timber, 254

The Outpost Liaison has finally arrived with the dwarven caravan. Finally I can purchase some useful items.

1 Moonstone, 254

Winter is upon me. As I enter the last quarter or my term as overseer, I begin to prepare the fortress for the next one. I start wrapping up projects and start stockpiling equipment. Most important, is producing as many adamantine wafers as I can for the next year.

10 Moonstone, 254

I just realized that one of the other adamantine spires was hollow as well. Curse my luck. Luckily only a single demon was waiting on the other side.

14 Moonstone, 254

The fortress is once again safe from denizens of the underworld. After the military took care of the single demon which had emerged from the tube, I personally oversaw the sealing of the hollow portion of the spire, even going so far as to emplace the final stone myself. Now I will task the miners with attempting to excavate what they can from the spire without breaching the hollow center.

15 Opal, 254

The last portion of the new great hall has been engraved. This new massive dining room can house man more dwarves than the previous. The old dining room has been converted into a statue garden.

27 Opal, 254

The dwarven liaison has recommended we become the mountainhome. Though i'm flattered, I must reject his proposal, as I would not want to place that burden on subsequent overseers.

17 Obsidian, 254

The goblins have decided to launch a final attack before the end of the year. One of the dwarves, a doctor who was gathering some material outside the walls, was killed before the military could respond.

The axedwarves swiftly dispatch the enemies, and I begin preparing my report to the council of overseers.

1 Granite, 255

My term as overseer has come to an end. I leave the next overseer with a bustling fortress of 176. In addition, I have stockpiled nearly 90 adamantine wafers, for whatever purpose the next overseer deems necessary.

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