Journal of the First Praetor, Sandstone 20th, 264

After the tragedies of the prior few months, it has been good to live in relatively uneventful peace these last few weeks.

First, human caravan arrived, consisting only of a couple pack animals, a pair of merchants, and their two guards. Though upset at this insult to our productivity, I decided that they may have been influenced by news of the attacks on Gemclod. Perhaps the more cowardly merchants refused to make the journey this year. The merchants would not confirm my suspicions and seemed interested only in completing trading as quickly as possible.

The guards, however, were more interested in chasing down one of the big cats that stalked our swamp.



They even abandoned their charges to follow the fleet animal through the wilderness! Our militia dwarves laughed upon hearing the news- they knew better than attempting to bring down the wild cats of greater Gemclod.



Their laughs were silenced by news that the human guards had quickly succeeded in bringing down the beast. I told our warriors not to discuss the matter with the human guards, but ordered that the slain beast be butchered. No reason to let good meat go to waste.



The merchants maneuvered through our fortified entryway, scrambling around some trees that had grown since its completion. I ordered the wood harvested- it would not due to have future traders inconvenienced. I hope that the many elf corpses reassure the humans of their safety here, rather than repelling them.



The trading proceeds well. Willie Tomg, our "thief" broker offers the humans a variety of stone crafts for bars, buckets, barrels, and beer, amongst other goods. The humans appear satisfied.



I order a final gift given to the humans as they depart. Some 20 rations of the finest food Gemclod has to offer. The merchants appear confused, but gladly accept the gift, saying they will "take it to their leader." I expect them to consume the food themselves, but am glad to offer what hospitality we have to our only allies.



Following the trading, I notice for the first time in my reign that there does not appear to be a single dwarf shirking his duty. It brings a tear to my eyes, until I remember that our chief medical dwarf SHOULD always be available for duty. I find Kaboom Dragoon "on break" in his quarters. Hopefully he will not take such a leave of absence when there are injured dwarves to be treated.



More good news. On the upper level of our northeast tower, Daisyvondoom puts the final piece of masonry in place. Our defensive fortifications are now complete!



Here is what our fortress looks like on the ground level. Note that most of the workshops and stockpiles have been moved inside. All shops that are still left operating on the surface deal with surface products, but also have a companion shop built in the depths.



The second level of our fortifications. Note that most of the old outdoor "structures" have been left in place, although few retain their original functions. Their rooftops provide additional direct firing positions on the outside, albeit without the protection of fortifications.



The top level of our towers. This is where most of the work was done. The towers provide firing platforms for marksdwarves upon enemies both outside our walls and within, in addition to retreat positions for any fighters in the face of an overwhelming force gaining entry to the fortress. Enemy bowmen will be hard pressed to effectively return fire. I hope to develop at least two marksdwarf squads so that they may take up positions on the south towers during a siege. For now, we make due with Repelex alone.



Work in the obsidian cap is now the focus of my attention. I hope to solve the problem at hand by creating small tubes for the magma to rise up to its native levels in. Our miners begin the risky work of piercing the cap, then immediately rush off for drinks.



The tiny magma tubes function, but in a confusing manner. The magma seems to rise at random intervals, and occasionally recede. It means that until things are finished the working environment will be extremely hazardous. Despite the danger, we soon have some magma smelters up and running. I mandate that stockpiles of useful ores be set up around the fledgling operation.



I notice a leather shoe sitting in a pile of filth near the magma projects. Upon further inspection, it appears to be a "cave fish leather" shoe abandoned by Apocadall. Given its current state, I can't really blame him for leaving it down here.



Daisyvondoom, accomplished metalcrafter, is taken by a fey mood! She immediately claims the newly-completed magma forge. I suspect the completion of a proper forging facilities may have provided inspiration for her mood. I hope that other metalworkers find similar motivation in the coming months.



Daisyvondoom grabs a single bar of iron and gets to work.



Beneath the forges, however, things are not going well. Disaster has struck. Willie Tomg finds himself trapped after an unexpected spurt of magma rises from the final unfinished tube. We must move quickly to rescue him- another such spurt could inundate the poor dwarf with magma at any time!



Ultimately, we must compromise the Design of our magma tubes to rescue Willie. Both the tube that spurted magma before its wall could be set and the one across from it remain incomplete for the time being, but Willie comes to no harm. For now, we can at least power four smelters and two forges.



Daisyvondoom completes her project! It is an iron figurine of Gomegoth, a resident dwarf that Daisyvondoom does not even know. The piece is worth 24,000. Perhaps Daisyvondoom means only to commemorate the arrival of migrants and the success of our fledgling fortress, or maybe she is hinting that Gomegoth has some greater purpose in Gemclod. I will find proper work for Gomegoth, just in case.




I receive word that Minty has reached the level of skill required of an Axe Lord. Enzer achieved Lordship several months prior. My next move will be to reshuffle the military entirely. Enzer and Minty will be our new Captains.




Also during in this time period:
-The new infirmary, sporting six beds, six operating tables, and six traction benches. It is well-stocked with medical supplies, and more are being produced, including soap.
-A lever connected to the chains holding our watch animals in place. They may now be released in an instant should trouble arrive.
-Locomotive Breath is elected mayor. Since the position is largely ceremonial, I allow the "war peasant" to assume the role.
-A replacement is found for our late sheriff. I, Vox Nihili, will hold that position. I am prepared for the additional responsibilities.









markus_cz wrote :-

pre:



There has been a disruption in the Design!!!
      still is


The miners dug where they weren't supposed to dig! They destroyed the bases of two
pillars! The pillars now hang in the air from the ceiling and look unaesthetic! I
checked my plans, and indeed I've forgotten to draw the bases, and miners were
true to the plans, but they were stupid and should have realised such an 
unbalanced Design was an Error!     We know that already, I'm just using this old
    tablet so I don't have to waste a new one. I know you like efficiency, friend. 
Fixing the Error is difficult, though not impossible. We can't fill the gap by
bricks or loose stone – the Great Hall is all in natural mudstone, and even Bad 
Munki would notice one row of pillars is made of bricks and mortar! Also, using 
bricks and mortar would prevent us from smoothing and engraving the pillars, as 
only natural rock is worthy of bearing Art. No, we need to fill the gap with 
natural stone, and I've devised a way how to do it:  Leperfish said a collapse  
  would destroy the weak mudstone, and he was right. But I finally Designed a
By means of a cave-in!     way to overcome this problem. We need to soften the
                              fall somehow. And I already know how!

   The useless animals can soften the fall! Finally we can put them to an efficient use!
As the floor directly above the Great Hall is red sand, this means the top parts 
of the fixed pillars will be visibly red. It is but a small price to pay for 
fixing the Design! efficiency!
     First make sure the cages below the pillars are stuffed with animals. Then
Included are excavation plans. Tell miners to dig everything BUT the places in 
red. Only when they are finished, dig the red places to trigger a cave-in. 
                     EFFICIENCY!!!

                                                               EFFICIENCY!!!


YeOldeButchere wrote :-


Journal of Yeol Deabo Tcher, Armorer

Guess who's got a magma forge now, diary? That's right, after a year, give or take a few months, the leadership of Gemclod finally did something right. Actually, that's not entirely fair of me, the current leadership of Gemclod has proven unexpectedly competent, it's just that the previous overseers were so incompetent it kind of spilled over. We're talking "deathtrap magma forge" incompetent. I suspect they might have been trying to kill me. Mind you, the new magma forges/smelters aren't exactly all that great, but at least they're not going to fill up with magma. And I can forgive the imperfections seeing as quite a bit of work was put in building actual defenses. About time.

In other news, lack of real work until now has lead me to think about some things. For example, I came to the conclusion that I hate just about everyone here and rightfully so. However I'm the one who makes the armor that keeps the fortress' defenders alive. Which, in turn, keeps everyone in the fortress alive. So, basically, I'm the reason everyone in this fortress isn't dead even though not a single day passes without me wishing it were the case. Quite the paradox, right? Lesser minds would probably fail to resolve it, but I have successfully done so: keeping the fortress alive also keeps me alive, and I only do so because I am worth more than the negative worth of everyone else in this place combined! I need to keep dwarvenkind alive, because I'm part of it. Lesser of two evils.

This wasn't a bad way to spend some time, I can see why philosophers do it.

Oh yeah, also what's-her-face-metalsmith in the forge made a big lump of iron and called it an artifact. Good for her. I hope she doesn't get in my way making whatever flutes or rings she wants in her toy-forge; I've got real work to do. It's bad enough she's taking some of my metal. Squandering the wealth of the fortress and trading it for baubles. I wish the overseer would forbid that.