-7- [Dashedarrows] (3) The breach
Previous report of year 2 by starfighterpilot
[[I suggest (impose) that we each pick a dwarf and name it as we play. I've taken the liberty of naming two of the dwarves after the previous leaders of this fine establishment. Eral Uzolmeng is Square_One and the master miner Dishmab Thobothsin goes by the name starfighterpilot. For myself I've claimed Monom Arbandoren. It'll probably start off quite slowly as I queue up a million different orders for the poor fellows to complete. Hopefully there will be !!FUN!!]]
Introduction My adventures have brought me to a place called Dashedarrows. The dwarves here have another name for their fort. They call themselves the Fuck-Ups for reasons I can not quite understand, maybe it has something to do with the vomit and dwarf corpses that litter the valley below. Walls surround the entrance to the fortress and there is even a roof above which seems abundant given the surrounding wild life amounts to a single Giant Toad. But I do not mind, it keeps the sun out of my eyes.
Shortly after I arrive I meet a dwarf named Eral "Square_One" Uzolmeng. Everyone seems to hold him in very high regard. Once I enter his meager office I see an extremely fat dwarf sitting at the desk with paper and other supplies scattered all over the room. After a short talk with Eral I've found out he's under big pressure being the expedition leader, the militia commander, the manager, the chief medical dwarf, the broker AND the bookkeeper of this fine fort. He has asked me to take over some of the administrative roles so he can focus on keeping track of our supplies and other records. He must be desperate, appointing a random newcomer as the manager.
I'm ordered to keep a journal of everything to make it easier for the next dwarf to take over.
1st Granite, year 253 (early spring) With my new position as head-dwarf of Dashedarrows I decide to survey the surroundings from the roof. As soon as I get up to the roof I find it filled with cats and kittens. Cats! I immediately order the butchering of five kittens. I also note that the refuse and corpse stockpiles are situated outside the fortress walls. Not a bad decision considering the stench but if we ever happen to have a necromancer visit we might be in trouble, but I only agreed to take care of this place for a year so I will leave the garbage to someone else.
When I get back down to the meeting hall the trader Morul Kensakzul has organized a party. The trader of what I wonder, there's nothing to trade around here. I shall keep an eye on her, if she keeps slacking off I will send her down to the mines. As the new manager I will require a more adequate bedroom with an office, I had been eying this large room in the lower living quarters but it apparently turned out to the be hospital. I will get the miners to expand one of the smaller rooms at the end of the corridor.
9th Granite, year 253 (early spring) Kittens squealing can be heard from the butchery. Maybe I should install some doors. Meanwhile Olin Asennomal has given birth to a girl. Excellent, more crying babies...
11th Granite, year 254 (early spring) After hearing stories about Eral and how he is the sole survivor of the initial groups of dwarves I'm a bit worried. Our fort has no defense except for a few hunters with crossbows. I would not trust them with defending the fort against anything stronger than that Giant Toad lurking around out there. We do have some traps set up however. Eral has notified me that we're almost completely out of bolts for our hunters. Maybe they wouldn't be able to handle that toad after all. I order the production of wooden bolts to begin immediately. I've also begun constructions on fortifications on the roof.
18th Granite, year 253 (early spring) The meeting hall is very crowded, they are having another damn party! Meanwhile the construction of the fortifications advance at a elven pace. I appoint some of the slackers as masons. I hope the fortifications are finished soon. Our fisherdwarves complain about the scenery way to the river. Apparently the rotten, vomit-drenched corpses of their fallen companions does not cause happy thoughts. I've talked to our architect about a crypt deep beneath the fortress. I also took the opportunity to order the miners to dig deeper while they're down there. With some luck they find magma without falling into it. Hopefully they strike gold soon, we'll need it for the crypt.
25th Granite, year 253 (still early spring) The keas have returned! One of them went straight into our fortress. Kel Esmullikot the hunter quickly fires a few bolts and the dogs attack. One less kea to deal with. The other keas constantly harass my minions. I'm baffled, dwarves are afraid of a bunch of damned PARROTS. They have managed to finish the fortifications however. I've appointed another dwarf as our militia commander and conscripted a few dwarves to form a small squad of marksdwarves. The trader Morul Kensakzul is among them. Here is to hoping she does not organize a party in the middle of the battlefield. Construction of the barracks and an archery range has begun. Meanwhile the unequipped squad chase down some of the keas.
6th Slate, year 253 (mid-spring) There is a bloody battle on the roof where some poor dwarves are trying to build the archery targets, they are under constant harassment by some keas. The corpses of our fallen have been moved to the crypt causing everyone to be relieved.
10th Slate, year 253 (mid-spring) Praise the miners! We have struck raw adamantine! Finally I can get some decent statues for my bedroom. Shortly after a bunch of immigrant scum arrive. They just keep POURING in! 37 of them all in all, 12 of whom are children. I think I need something to drink... At least some of them are competent marksdwarves.
15th Slate, year 253 (mid-spring) A weaver has been taken by a fey mood. I immediately begin construction of a loom. I hope we have the right kind of thread lying around somewhere. The dwarven trading agreement has finally been finished but the only thing they want of note is refined coal, which we have none of anyway. Excellent! At least Square_One is rid of the annoying dwarven liaison that has been following him around since I arrived at the fort. The kea harassment seems to have died down, although there are still a few of the damned parrots flying around. They make excellent target-practice for our marksdwarves. Another baby has been born. I might have to look into birth-control soon. The butcher has been ordered to catch a few of the stray kittens.
22nd Slate, year 253 (mid-spring) Apparently the weaver with the fey mood did not want a loom. I order it to be tore down and construct a clothiers shop in its place. I hope I did not realize my mistake too late.
27th Slate, year 253 (still mid-spring) Our miners have struck warm stone. In hopes of getting magma smelters up, even though we have nothing to smelt, I order it dug out immediately to find the magma seas. I've also created a second squad of marksdwarves, these are actually somewhat competent. I need to make sure we have enough crossbows and bolts though. I have also been told the damned weaver is screaming for tanned hides. The tannery is under construction. I'm sure he will go crazy before I can get him the fucking hides. I have installed some doors to the kitchen after an accident caused quite the miasma outbreak.
25th Felsite, year 253 (late spring) The weaver has finished an artifact; Iltang Tecak, The Fork of Sweetness, a cavespider silk short skirt. The elven caravan is here. I hope they won't be have a fit over the lack of trees around our fort. Square_One, our broker and diplomat, tells me we have very little to offer them since most of our crafts are made out of wood. I suggest we trade them a bunch of rock doors. Ha! The kitchen still stinks.
[[ The next two days contain what I have later learned to be spoilers, I'm sorry! I have tried to edit out the spoilers. It should be relatively safe to read even for new players. Do avoid the images though if you have no idea what's going on! ]]
7th Hematite, year 253 (early summer) Disaster. While digging out a room in preparation for the magma forges one of my miners have gathered a bit too much candy. Horrifying screams can be heard from the bottomless pit. I immediately order the breach to be walled shut. My worker in the area finds this as good a time as any for a nap. The hole is still gaping. Time to panic ladies and gentledwarves, Armok save us all.
8th Hematite, year 253 (early summer) My two miners are being chased by all kinds of burning clouds, clowns, clowns and other unspeakable clowns. I've prepared the stairs to be sealed as far up as possible. Three out of four stairways are closed, leaving a path up for my two precious miners (well, their picks). Our sad excuse for a military have been positioned above the stairs. We wait and hope the miners make it out before the monsters catch up.
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Posted Apr 24, 2012, 6:43 PM UTC · edited
(( the story continues ))
9th Hematite, year 253 (early summer) The two squads have been stationed at the stairs for over a day now and still no word from the miners below. I fear the worst. Wait! Here they come! They seem in good spirit, but mention an accident and a few unfriendly fellas on their way up. I quickly order the stairs to be sealed and thankfully there are masons around to carry out the task quickly. Hopefully nobody has been trapped below. Apparently a few cats were strolling about in the mines. Highly unfortunate. The only real loss is access to the crypts. I will leave it as a mission for a future leader to clear them out.
20th Hematite, year 253 (early summer) Another wave of beloved migrants have arrived. I didn't bother counting them. I bet they were mostly children anyway. We are now over a hundred dwarves. All in all the fort is doing nicely, the whole mining accident hasn't been mentioned in days and you can barely hear the horrifying screams. Quite a few cats and kittens have gone missing the last week. Most likely lost in the mines. Too bad. We might be mentally ready to start a second mining-shaft soon. The chefs keep leaving the doors to the kitchen open which has resulted in a huge miasma cloud in our dining room. A clever architect has designed a way to combat this and keep the miasma contained in the kitchen.
5th Malachite, year 253 (mid-summer) Well fuck! One of the immigrants turned out to be a mayor. I only found out because he has mandated the creation of three leather armors. And we have no leather at all because there has been a constant production of leather equipment for our marksdwarves. Screw that, I will try to get him some decent quarters at least.
Shortly after the keas return. I station one of my squads on the roof of the fort and bolts start flying everywhere. Dead keas litter the roof. Maybe that will keep some of their friends away..
27th Malachite, year 253 (mid-summer) Shortly after I manage to scramble the leather armors for the mayor he promptly mandates another three leather armors. Praise Armok for he has brought us such a great leader! We currently have 26 dwarven children by the way. At least there is plenty of alcohol. I've ordered the caged keas to be butchered but nobody seems to be willing to bring the damned things to the butchery. I bet the foolish dwarves are still scared of the poor parrots.
It has also come to my attention that the drawbridge is actually not hooked up to any of the two levers in the meeting hall. I ordered one to connected to the bridge and the other lever is to be removed to avoid confusion in the event of a siege.
18th Galena, year 253 (late summer) Ustuth Nunokvabok, our weaponsmith, has been possessed. I was hoping for an epic weapon of some sort but to my great disappointment he claimed the jewelers workshop. Fuck. At least he seems to have found all he needs, construction has begun.
1st Limestone, year 253 (early autumn) Square_One has decided that autumn is here! What do I know... I have begun a new mineshaft and designated a few tunnels to be dug out in search of new ores. So far we have only struck more Galena ore though. Highly unfortunate since it only produces lead and sometimes silver. My miners advised me to dig out the tunnels in one of the upper layers, above the first caverns. They mention native gold and then I sent them off to dig without further discussion. I just hope they won't accidentally breach the old sealed staircase. That would be highly unfortunate.
9th Limestone, year 253 (early autumn) Wherever I go all I hear are babies crying and screaming. Latest child-count was 31. Out of 114 dwarves!! We might have to craft clothes for the children soon.
2nd Sandstone, year 253 (mid-autumn) Just when I though things were slowing down a bit and I had poured myself some of our fine dwarven rum. Another damned wave of slacking migrants are at our doorstep. They do seem to have some knowledge of weaving though. I have decided to build a few more farms to get some pig tails growing for thread. Maybe we can have clothes for the children soon.
4th Timber, year 253 (late autumn) Life at Dashedarrows is starting to look up. Cloth is being woven and from that we are creating clothes. Hopefully the children will get dressed so we do not have to listen to their constant whining. I am starting to think the miners lied to me about that gold however. They only find more galena wherever they go. I wish we would find some gold or iron soon. Or maybe the dwarves will bring some for trade. The marksdwarves need more crossbows for their training and defense of the fort. Luckily no enemies have been sighted except for a stray goblin thief here and there. Two of them have been captured and sit trapped in our store room. I'll leave it up to the next leader to handle them.
21st Timber, year 253 (late autumn) The dwarven trade caravan has arrived and their goods are unloaded at the depot. I've requested a bunch of iron and other some other metal bars along with some ore for next year. Let us hope they brought plenty of iron this year.
After examination of the goods I found the iron supply quite lacking. After some bartering they grew tired of my proposals even though our broker promises me the profit margin was well over ten percent. They told me to stop playing around and promptly packed up their wagons and left. They muttered something about their leaders wanting to import blocks, armor and cloth. I hope a terrible accident befalls them on their way home. I guess we will have to make do with wooden crossbows...
10th Moonstone, year 253 (early winter) My miners keep finding that useless Galena. A stray horse has starved to death. I've heard rumors going about that the general population are unhappy with my leadership. I order the meeting hall to be engraved and stuff a few statues in there in hopes of gaining their favor.
I have ordered them to dig straight down in a new attempt to find other minerals. They've found adamantine again and they managed to open up another cavern, Armok be damned. Luckily I had it sealed up before anything could find us.
13th Opal, year 253 (mid-winter) My tomb has been finished. One of the engravings depict an event early in the history of Dashedarrows. Hopefully it will stand empty for a long while but I'm starting to doubt. The dwarves around the fort have started to ignore me and the orders I give. Maybe I should step down and let someone else lead this sorry bunch of pretend-miners before I upset someone enough to get into and "accident".
After a quick visit to the surface I found quite the mess in our "courtyard". There is a dead horse and a yak bull lying in the pasture. I guess they ate all the grass. The next leader might not have that many animals around but either way that pasture should probably be redefined.
1st Obsidian, year 253 (late winter) The mayor has mandated more leather armors to be created. I have begun the search for someone to replace me.
13th Obsidian, year 253 (late winter) I have managed to find a place for our magma smelters. I have also designated channels for the magma to flow and one of my stone detailers is about to breach through the magma by carving a fortification. Hopefully she and her baby does not burn to death.
Well that was unfortunate. My stonecarving mother dropped her baby while attempting to run away from the flowing lava. They both burned to death instantly along with someones bunny who happened to be around at the time. The room is full of smoke and it stinks of burned flesh down there but we have a magma smelter now! With nothing but galena to smelt in it.
20th Obsidian, year 253 (late winter) I have found someone to replace me. He will arrive on the first day of spring. I am mostly just passing the time drinking and ordering people to build random stuff. The marksdwarves don't seem to train at the archery range, maybe they have no crossbows... Someone should look into that!
1st Granite, year 254 (early spring) My replacement, HeadrushReaper, is finally here! I think I did a decent job of not fucking everything up too much. I hand him this journal and a list of records showing the state of our fortress.
Living quarters - The mayors room is at the northwest corner and my quarter in the northeast. Workshop area - The kitchen has been filled with miasma ever since that first mention. The workshop area is still a mess but it works. The stockpiles are a bit far away though, might want to set up some stairs at the north end of the workshop area to the stockpile right above.
Full album
For the record; the dwarves Square_One, starfighterpilot and bjorngylling are alive when I hand over the save!
Recap (TDLR version) Begun the creation of a militia consisting of marksdwarves. Plenty of migrants and children. Butchered some kittens. Buried the initial six dwarves in a crypt below the fortress. Had some FUN. Lost access to the crypts (and the therefor the bodies of our initial heroes) due to MONSTERS. Managed to seal up the stairs leading up to the rest of the fort. Constant miasma issue in kitchen, contained with diagonal-wall-abuse. Had a mayor migrate here. Fucked Up* trading with the dwarves so still zero iron. Built a tomb for my dwarf, to the following leaders, I suggest you do the same! Lost a dwarf and her baby to magma while building the magma forge.
Wonderful write-up, fun is being had! It's quite interesting to watch a (completely fucked up) fortress I was part of evolve the way it has.
I'm just glad you finally declared war on those fucking keas.
Post was too long to fit in the initial post. Sorry about the god damn essay...
I had to do the same. Thanks for the detail and pictures. The effort was appreciated :)
Record Keeper's notes:
cats parrots garbage paragon bolts candy feys screeches horrifying baby breach --commercial break-- seal circus rotten meat dead cats dead baby dead mom screams circus no candy crypts lost