1st Malachite, 265



I have ordered the construction of a siege workshop in the courtyard. Now that we have a defensible gatehouse, we shall build powerful defensive weapons to better hold our own against any invaders. TheWhaler claims greatest expertise with siege engineering and so I assign him to head the project.

Down in the forges, there is a thunderous crashing.



ZeeToo suspects it to be the work of some enormous cave monster. I believe we are safe but I order vigilance.



Nearby, TyrantSabre continues to make panicked demands even though Billon has been smelted. I mean to ask one of his friends about what he might need but that is no plan for TyrantSabre has no friends. I hope he sees reason soon.

6th Malachite

Penguingo cried to me today because there are no more traps in the Great Hall. I would please her by installing more but tell her instead that it is unsafe. She cries more and Willie shouts from the hospital in a stupor. But there is then a startled yelp from the distillery.



Somehow a giant rat has found its way into the fortress proper. It fought with Angry Ed's dog, tearing at its face and limbs until the dog was dead.



The skittering creature attempted to escape to the upper tunnels but there was a dead end. Apocadall chased it down but was slower than Enzer who cut off its head as was usual. Its presence nonetheless alarms me. I asked Arglebargle III how it could have gotten into the distillery and she did not know so I ordered full investigation of the area.



Cambrian Obelus reported some skittering, horrible creature in the food stockpiles. Tarezax suggested it was a gremlin again but I disbelieve her regardless of her station. I order a squad stationed by the stockpile at all times in case more rats attack.

11th Malachite

While I am reasonably certain that our latest migrants were not fire snakes it is possible that the next party might be.



The Welcome Room has now been completed in preparation although it must be tested to ensure that it does not fail to work. I order Skaw, Tarezax and Jabor to report inside concerning rum rations.



Gabriel Pope pulls one lever and Redeye Flight pulls the other. They do so with hesitance and perhaps because of the viewing window that has been installed in the wall.





The Room works perfectly. I unlock the doors to allow the three to be brought to the hospital although Jabor cannot move.



It seems she was a fire snake as I suspected. It pleases me that we have discovered her true identity before it was too late.



Locomotive Breath wishes for her to be buried and I do not agree but Anchors arrives first and takes her socks.

15th Malachite



Markus finishes mechanising the water delivery system. He does not ask me what it is for although with his knowledge of Gemclod's layout I suspect he knows where it leads. He is despondent but not does challenge my authority. I order the river to be tapped but before I can move to personally pull the lever there is a commotion again at the forges. Brainspawn's voice rings out.

Jabor wrote :-

So, did you hear the one about the overseer, the comedian, and the spikey deathtrap?

No?

I can't breathe...

Angry_Ed wrote :-

Journal Entry of Angry Ed Akrulison; 17th Malachite

Bastards killed my dog. That is all.

No wait, that is not all. A while back I was ordered to butcher whatever we can to keep the (ever-dwindling number of) dwarfs fed. Very well; tonight's meal...worm surprise.

(OOC: After this update I sorta envision my dwarf stalking the halls of Gemclod with a cleaver, bloodstained and having a thousand-yard stare as he goes about his work. With that in mind, what is the disposition of my dwarf at this point in time?)

nimby wrote :-

A letter from nimby Logemshed

Dear Mother, I hope this letter finds you well.

I'm afraid I was mistaken in my last letter to you. I spoke of the glories of Gemclod and how it'd be the salvation of our civilization. How Tradition has been holding us back. How a female Overseer would bring us to victory!

I was never more wrong in my life! The vile woman has snapped and her incompetence has caused the deaths and disappearances of a dozen dwarves! The last Overseer is nowhere to be found, 'accidents' have happened to several prominent dwarves and she has sent us to fight against an overwhelming number of mounted greenskins....

Don't worry Mother, I am fine. The greenskins themselves posed no threat, with their primitive non-dwarven weapons and armour. Their beasts.... I.... terrible things. We lost several good guardsdwarves that shouldn't have been lost. We are so few and yet so many more die each month.....

Just yesterday I heard some dwarves talk about the way Jabor died. There was some sort of testing of mechanisms that went horribly wrong and resulted in a trap being set off, or something. One of the dwarves commented that our Overseer might have rigged the mechanisms to kill the participants. An Overseer actively murdering the last of our once proud race.... it's too horrible to contemplate.

If you happen to meet with the King sometime in the next few months, I ask you to urge him to come to Gemclod and take over. I may not have been a believer in Tradition, but my beliefs in Female Dwarven Superiority have been so, so wrong.

Your daughter, nimby Logemshed

Anchors wrote :-

New socks? Fuck yeah!



Excerpt from The Tao of Anchors

It is not grave-robbing if they are not buried yet.

Leal wrote :-

Journal of Leal, Leatherworker

The greenskins have been fought back for now, but that is not what interests me. What interests me are the creatures they ride on, hopefully our overseer will order the skinning and tanning of these beasts so I may make shoes out of them. With the loss of Jabor that makes me the only leatherworker in the fort, everyone will have me to thank for keeping their feet dry in the swamps!

Illarkul wrote :-

Journal of Illarkul, Marksdwarf Farmhand

What sort of fortress is this? There are so few dwarves these days that you'd expect that any migrants would be a welcome sight. Not at Gemclod, it seems. Instead, I'm labelled a "fire snake" and shunned by the overseer. I've never even seen a fire snake. So why does Her Great And Powerfulness The Overseer insist that I am one? Only time will tell.

But, you know, "fire snake" sort of has a ring to it...