-1- [Ringfed] (4) When it rains...

Posting my report now, I'll come back through in a couple of hours to cleanup when I'm not working around work firewalls. Images at imgur.com/a/8yHV7

20 Obsidian 183 Beekeper... By Armok, why a beekeeper? They're almost as bad as elves, frolicking around in the bloody sunlight. Serves us right what happened to us. Well, after Katringa's little experiment with the dining room, we're out a whole level of living space, and all of our exploratory mining efforts! How the hell am I supposed to fix this? And don't get me started on the babies. I guess when everything looks bleak between glacial titans, goblin raids and beekeepers, you gotta do something to take your mind off things, but haven't these dwarfs heard of what you can do with sheep intestines? At least the fort is well provisioned, and the mud seems to be mostly scraped out of the dining hall. Let's get to work. I noticed that there were over a hundred statues sitting in the storage room. I love a statue as much as the next dwarf, but it seems to me that we should probably use the ones that have already been built before we carve more. The bodies of those caught in the flooding are lost to us. I have ordered the construction of memorial slabs to be constructed in the tomb in hopes that their spirits may find some rest. With the loss of the lower apartments, there are not enough rooms for everyone any more. I have ordered the digging out of 86 individual caverns in a more efficient and expandable layout on the western wing of the remaining apartments. There are enough beds and doors to outfit half of them as bedrooms right away, the other rooms stand ready for the construction of more beds and doors. The livestock are being allowed to run rampant. There are so many puppies in the dining room I can't even eat a helmet without one of them begging at my side. I've assigned them to a pen on the surface, and told the trainers to start training the adults for hunting and combat. The remaining animals I ordered placed into a pasture so that they might be kept alive in the event that we find ourselves in need of more food.

5 Granite 184 I've ordered the construction of a well in the apartments pulling water from the flodded chambers below. How does the saying go? When life gives you lemons you make lemon grenades! I think I got that wrong but I like it.

10 Granite 184 One of our fisherdwarves was struck by fey inspiration and hijacked a craftsdwarf workshop. We await the results eagerly... a wooden scepter. The beekeeeper elf wannabe must have rubbed off on him. Thanks chump.

4 Slate 184 The last of the slabs have been placed and the ghosts no longer roam our fortress. Now I can get some sleep, finally.

21 slate 184 I don't know what kind of rumors are spreading back in the mountainhomes about our prosperity, but fourty-nine migrants arrived today. Looks like a good time to put these new slaves... err... energetic workers to work on a proper defensive entrance. I'm planning a standard short/long entryway, with bridges to allow access to the trapway for goblinite removal. I hope we can get it up in place before something bad happens.

9 felsite 184 I just noticed that the militia has no armor assigned. It's a bloody miracle that they brought down the titan without more than two casualties. I have told them to grab whatever metal armor they can find, we'll get to work making more once we are more secure. A caravan from the elven lands arrived today, just in time for our wise mayor Ushrir to ban the export of crowns. Imagine my joy.

19 Felsite 184 The hunters spotted an incoming goblin army as they approached to lay siege to Ringfed. Twenty-five goblins riding gigantic rats and cave swallows! To make things worse, they brought trolls along for the fun! I came to this backwater little fortress to escape the horrors of the wars I saw as a younger dwarf, I guess it is time to put my legendary marksmanship to work. I've drafted a marksman squad led by me from anyone who had held a crossbow before. We stationed ourselves at the top of the ramp into our tunnels, with the mixed melee squad arrayed in front of us and hunkered down to wait the incoming siege.

23 Felsite 184 We wait, they wait. Armok, what are they planning.

25 Felsite 184 OH ARMOK! They came over the walls! The sparrow riders flew over the west wall of the fortress and began firing on us as we were watching the rat cavalry to the north. We are mounting an attack on the rat cavalry to try to draw the flyers away from the fortress and to thin their numbers while the rest of the fortress can be armed to pincer the flyers from within the fortress. I will write again after the battle.

20 Lodestone 184 I arrived to join my father at the newly established fortress of Ringfed, his last letter spoke highly of his fellow dwarves fighting off an attack by a glacial titan, and invited me to join him as soon as possible. Like him I am a metalworker, though he concentrated on armorsmithing, and I am more of a generalist. I never expected to find what I did. One of the survivors told me that my father led his marksdwarves well, doubtlessly due to his experience in the goblin wars when I was a child. He fought valiantly until the end, when the foblins finally overwhelmed him. The fortress has suffered massive destruction. Blood and body parts everywhere. It appears that though the siege was broken, the remaining dwarves were driven mad by the deaths of their friends and families. Those who survived the siege began to turn on each other, slathering the half-constructed keep above with blood, and filling the caverns with an unbearable miasma. When the human caravan arrived in the fall, the remaining dwarves attacked the caravan savagely. Forcing the guards to kill several of them before the wagons could retreat. By the fall, the ghosts of those who died fighting the goblins began to rise, further terrorizing an already much traumatized fortress. It appears that some attempts were made to bury the dead, but the arrival of a flock of giant parakeets hindered the process, and they have run out of coffins to finish the job. The demoralized survivors have thrown their support behind me, as my father appeared to be a great inspiration to them. I hope I can pull them out of their melancholy. I have ordered the masons to complete the walls that they were attempting to build when the goblins arrived, but a giant sponge in the river appears to be menacing them. 

20 Timber 184 The caravan from the mountainhome has arrived. I hope they like statues, there's over 100 down in the storage room. I just hope they can bring enough cheer to this Armok-forsaken place. Right as the wagons came into sight, one of the dogs started going ape. It appears to have spotted a goblin ambush. Just what we need right now, thanks assholes. 

24 Timber 184 The goblins slaughtered some of our herdbeasts, no big loss, then turned and attacked the wagons. They've scarred off our only connection with the mountainhomes. This isn't going to be good for morale. In a repeat of the last stand against the siege, every able-bodied dwarf in the fortress has been pressed into the militia and ordered to hunt down and kill the remaining goblins. My relief can't get here soon enough. 

Obsidian 184, Final report When I arrived, I found a fortress on the brink of self destruction, and not much has changed. Though I am starting to see the magma glow at the end of the tunnel. The fortifications on the surface are almost complete, all that remains is to finish the cleaning access bridges and the main access bridge. Once those are done and linked to levers, we will be able to force future invasions through halls filled with traps loaded with the weapons recovered from previous attacks. Construction of coffins has begun, and will accelerate now that the walls are not a distraction to our mason. Slabs have been constructed and await engraving for those whose bodies are unreachable. Hopefully my successor, Valent1ne will be able to lead us well in the new year.