MetalMourn Year 1!

==Spring==

Granite 1:

We’ve finally arrived. The icy winds bite the flesh like daggers carrying snowflakes around us to attack any exposed flesh that a dwarf might have exposed through their heavy fur coats. We all grew up in this Frozen land, but that didn’t prepare us anymore for the journey. The Dwarves of these land live in the mountainside, and for good reason… many perished along the way to frostbite and hypothermia. After months of trekking through the snowy wilderness we have arrived at our new home. I’ve dubbed it “Metalmourne”. The Stalwart Dwarves are hungry and tired, but this is none time to rest. This is a savage land, and we need to carve out a home in the mountainside before the elements claim the rest of us. This mountain will be an outpost for the Grand Kingdom The Clear Ship, and we intend to have a warm Hearth for the Merchants from home when they arrive.

Granite 24:

It feels good to finally be underground again. We carved out a little piece of the Mountain to sleep in, while its little more than a cave it is much better than being outside! The wind is whistling outside the cave; however, we are cozy next to the fire LugganathFTW has made. Come to think of it… I’m not sure how he got such a strange nickname… but it stuck. All of us are huddled together to keep the precious heat in. Anyways… here’s the plan for now: Once we have made a small home for ourselves we will begin forging weapons for the Dwarves using the magma of the volcano where we are making our home. Our other objective is to breach the cavern layer as soon as possible, so that we can have Farms and Wood! There is no naturally occurring mud in the Glacier so we have to dig for it!

Slate: 2:

One of our Miners came to me to inform me that he had found hematite ore exposed on the mountainside while he was out taking a shit on the mountainside! What luck! While I never knew why that guy always had to go so far out in order do his business, right now I can’t complain. I have ordered it to be dug out immediately so that I can create armor and weapons for the Dwarves! We will need it when we reach the caverns…

Slate 15:

I ordered some of the marble in the mountainside to be dug out in order to be used as a flux stone for creating steel unfortunately I realized afterwards that we were lacking the necessary ingredient of coal... oh well. Inside we are constructing a dining hall and a pantry for when we get migrants. Someday I plan to put another much more grand hall deeper in the fortress, but this will do for now.

Slate 23:

More of the preperations are coming along for the dining room I ordered the miners to smooth out the walls that they dug out in order to make them look presentable. I don’t know why they didn’t just dig them out smooth in the first place… I asked one of them and he told me I was an Idiot who knew nothing about mining. I’ve cut his rations for the week. Who’s the idiot now? In the meantime I’ve started doing what I do best! Forging Armor! Unfortunately we are currently limited to Iron but it will have to do.

Felsite 8:

The Pantry in the dining hall was just Finished! I’ve ordered all of the food to be moved into the pantry. I don’t think I’m the only one sick of eating frozen plump helmets.

==Summer==

Hematite 1:

The Meeting Hall is finished being smoothed out and we’ve moved some tables and chairs in! The Warrior still likes eating off the Floor however. Says its manly. Whatever. In the meantime I’ve also ordered my miners to start digging through to the cavern layer. The mud of the caverns will provide arable land for with which to grow crops, which is good because we’re starting to run low on food. Seeing as how I’m the leader I’m worried that if we do run out they might try and eat me first… That farmer has the look of a cannibal and I wouldn’t put it past him after the things I’ve seen him do. I will spare you the details and not write about that here.

Hematite 5:

Sooner or later we are gonna have to slaughter the Yaks that pulled our caravan here. There’s no grass here so there’s nothing for them to eat so I think its best we put them out of their misery. Come to think about it im surprised they haven’t starved yet considering its been over a month since we’ve got here.

Hematite 25:

One of the Yaks finally starved to death right in the middle of the floor in our meeting hall. It was there for a few days before I forced the farmer to carry it outside. When I told him to butcher it though he refused, said something about how he was part of a union or some nonsense. He didn’t mind butchering the other one though.

Malachite 13:

Some Goat-brained Dwarves arrived today. Why anyone would trek hundreds of miles through the snow to get to this little slice of hell is beyond me. Other than us of course, that made total sense at the time. Among them they have a Bowyer, a Carpenter, a Cheesemaker, 2 children, and a glassmaker. I choose to call them all “Haulers” however.

Galena 3:

Our miners broke through to the caverns today! I was up on top of the mountain forging spears when they informed me! I’ve ordered some farms be constructed and for some wood to be chopped. A few carpenters workshops are being put in as well so that the wood can go to use!

Galena 14:

I’ve created enough armor for now, so I guess Im going to join some of the less skilled dwarves for some hauling action. Great.

Galena 16:

A kobold thief came by today and stole some of the greaves I made. Imagine lugganath’s surprise when he discovered that he didn’t have any greaves to wear! He came running into the fortress with nothing covering his sensitive parts and asking for us to help him look for them! I don’t hardly blame him it is freezing outside after all. It didn’t take long for us to realize that a Kobold had come by based on the footprints in the snow. I’ve ordered the armor be relocated into the entryway (for now) so that they don’t take anything else (hopefully).

Galena 18:

A Giant Olm came writing into our fields today, and it scared the piss out of our farmer. It wasn’t much of a threat for the military; however.

Galena 25:

Meltob Zulbanoddom, went missing today. One of the other dwarves found him (or what was left of him anyways.) A cave crocodile came by and ripped him to shreds. I’m glad it wasn’t me. Poor Bastard… I’ve ordered the construction of some walls so that we hopefully won’t have to worry about this sort of thing in the future.

==Autumn==

Limestone 7:

That bastard crocodile killed our farmer (I’m kind of relieved because I think he was going to chop me up and stuff me into his next helmet roast! Still, This means we are short a farmer. The good news is our militia stabbed that bastard crocodile to death with their spears! In order to try and lighten the mood of our dwarves I’ve ordered that some new bedrooms be dug out! I’ve also ordered the Haluers to help with the cavern walls so that they will be constructed in a timely manner.

Limestone 21:

So there’s been something of an emergency... we are out of booze. I keep telling the dwarves to drink the cavern water but they refuse. I’m ordering the construction of a brewery immediately!

Limestone 28:

You know what really brings light to a Dwarf’s day? Rotting corpses in the hallways. Seeing as how that’s the case we are in luck because this is happening everywhere. On a serious note: I need to do something about that… rotting crocodile isn’t the scent that Dwarves like when they are eating. The Carpenter is also constructing beds for our new bedrooms now! Excellent! Now we won’t have to sleep on the floor!

Sandstone 8:

More Migrants! Hopefully they didn’t bring any crocodiles with them! We have a Carpenter, a Furnace Operator, a Weaponsmith (who isn’t nearly as talented as I am), a glassmaker, a farmer, an herbalist, a presser, and a soap-maker. I put them to work immediately.

Sandstone 10:

The Bowyer Died of Dehydration today. For some reason he refused to drink cavern water and he was so stubborn about it that he chose to keel over and die instead. I wish I could get inside of the mind of someone that dedicated to not saving their own life. Then again maybe I don’t.

Sandstone 15:

I was dealing with the latest Giant Olm with a death wish decided to come running through our fields, when a growling noise started echoing through the caverns at what appeared to be a 300 foot tall crocodile. Armok knows I love Crocodiles apparently. The Good news is the section it came from has already been walled off so it can’t get in the fortress!

Sandstone 24:

All three of my miners died of thirst right in a row. One of the other dwarves also filled me in on the fact that they were apparently identical triplets as well. Who would have thought? Anyways a few dwarves started tantruming around the fortress breaking things because of the lack of booze. I need to figure out what the holdup is here and fast.

Timber 1:

We have booze in the fortress but the two children decided that it was their time as well. Oh well, they weren’t really helping anyone and now we have less mouths to feed. I’ve designated a few new dwarves to be miners. Hopefully it won’t take them too long to learn.

Timber 4:

The Bedrooms are being furnished now (finally). We no longer have to sleep on the floor. My back is thanking me right now.

Timber 8:

The increase of rotten corpses in the hallway is too damn high. I’ve made a stockpile and some tombs for the fallen. Hopefully that way we can avoid any sort of ghosts haunting the Fortress. I’ve also ordered the miners to start digging out an area for our workshops. For too long they have been scattered around the fortress!

Timber 19:

A Dwarven Caravan Arrived. Fat load of good that will do us considering not only do we not have a trade depot, but we also don’t have anything we would be interested in trading them. We could use supplies, but I’d rather keep the things that we have.

Timber 23:

I set up the bedrooms to be communal “dormitories”. We simply don’t have enough wood to make any more, and that beast is still out there. Some Dwarves have expressed concern that they might walk in on some other dwarves “doing the nasty” but I’ve developed a code of putting a sock on the doorknob in that situation. It’s a little unsanitary sure, but I think the other dwarves and I are in agreement that we’d rather not sleep on the floor.

==Winter==

Moonstone 1:

One of the Dwarves has informed me Tun Likodel went stark raving mad! I’m pretty sure he was mad before, but he’s been repeating the phrase “NorgeeDorgeeHorgeePorgee” for the last three days solid. I still don’t really believe he’s changed at all though.

Opal 2:

The Workshop are is complete. Sort of. I’m sure it will get bigger as we add more workshops, but for now it’s fine. Our food stores are a little low, so I’ve started reorganizing the food stockpiles to get it to run more smoothly. Hopefully that helps.

Opal 7:

We’re starting to get a little more food, and we’ve also got a few mason workshops working in the workshop area. Now Lugganath doesn’t have to work outside!

Opal 19:

We had a few lazy haulers sitting around so I’ve drafted them to help plant seeds for the springtime. Hopefully we will have a big enough harvest that no one starves or dies of dehydration next year. In the meantime I’ve also ordered the construction of a gate to cover up the entryway of the Fortress so that no undesirables get in.

Opal 28:

The Madman Died. Also one of the dwarves claims that a ghost of one of the children is haunting the Fortress. I’ll take ghosts over crocodiles any day of the week.

Obsidian 8:

The Dwarves are trying to get me to step down as leader of the Fortress. I’m staying at least until the end of the year though. In the meantime they are electing a new leader. I’m pretty sure that this is a conspiracy against me; however, they insist that this is some sort of tradition in the mountainhome. I never payed attention to the politics their so maybe they are right... A sneaky Kobold somehow managed to steal a piece of armor today so as my last order I am moving the armor and weapons to the workshop room. I also plan to make progress burying bodies and planting enough crops before I step down.

Obsidian 31:

This is my last day in office. While at first I was irritated to be stepping down, now I’m relieved. Maybe now I can spend my time doing what I do best: Forging. Overall the fortress is a little rough around the edges but this are going decently well at the end of my term. Most of the Dwarves are happy and fed (the ones that aren’t dead anyways), and theres enough food to last for a little while with some more on the way. Here is where I will leave some notes and recommendations to my successor. I hope he does marginally better than I did:

Notes and Recommendations:

-Front door bridge isn’t hooked in to a lever

-You may want to Deal with the Forgotten Beast

-Were rather Short on food and drinks though there should be enough to get started

-I haven’t designated anything but plump helmets to be planted so far

-Forges on top of mountain – you should probably move them inside

-You might want to consider moving the meeting hall to be closer to the rest of the fortress.

-There are a few bridges in the caverns that open them up. The lever is in the cavern – keep them closed though because the Forgotten Beast will get in if you don’t!

-there aren’t any major stockpiles right now so you can definitely make some if you feel like it

-bedrooms are designated as Dormitories instead of individual rooms. If you can get more wood you might want to make more beds

-We are low on wood and its going to be difficult to get more

== imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/8LqNI ==

== map file: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zp9zx9b7hmquid2/rT0hu7edef ==