15th Limestone, 265

Willie is dead. The Fortress grieves, and I do also, for I shall have no more children by his hand. Penguingo and brute_force are both young, but I suspect even they understand the tragedy that they have endured.



Brute_force cries more and punches me harder than is usual. Penguingo does not cry but she is secretive. I suspect she grieves for her father privately also.



I consider briefly the appropriate punishment for doctors who have let their patient die of infection (I ordered it checked if soap was available and it is). But nonetheless Brainspawn, Atomikus and Tarezax rest with treatment and they are not dying. It is Willie's fault for contriving to battle poorly and not the fault of ObMeiste as I suspected.

17th Limestone



When he hears the news, the mayor Locomotive Breath demands buckets and I do not question his reasoning. Regardless only he and I remain of the original five. An oath is sworn and nobody hears.



Though the loss of both Willie and Bad Munki makes our stock management challenging, I have John Dough do a count of our food supplies and he does so quickly. I offer him the recently-opened position of fortress broker. He was hesitant then I told him it was not a question. He asks for a desk and I tell him he does not need one.

The count shows our alcohol supplies begin to run low. We have surplus plants to ferment and so I order more to be brewed before winter comes.



Meanwhile it seems TyrantSabre finally stops moving. He lies face-down in the Great Hall and has no clothes. I order him carried to the graveyard but the dwarves are hesitant to touch his flesh.

22nd Limestone



The immigrant Sirocco has been concentrating for some time. I did not know on what he concentrated but I now have some idea.



He contrives to labour at a single gemstone with his chisel. I came near to ask what purpose he had and he said only "Ulzestrithlut".



24th Limestone



The humans that were left to the under-caverns are nowhere to be seen nor heard. Though for a while their soft footfalls were audible from the tunnels above, now only the scurrying of cave beasts remains. I do not believe they are dead but rather that they attempt to navigate their way out of the caves. Should they meet greenskins or their war-pets they shall learn of the pain that we feel.



Through the drain the corpse of a single caravan guard and a pack-animal can be seen dimly, but nothing else. Work continues.



Sirocco's toil reaches completion. It is a ring.



Rather than being set in metal or stone, the entire piece is carved flawlessly from a single gem. It is beautiful and he does not give it to me.

Meanwhile my own toil nears completion.



27th Limestone

Willie's cold body begins to give off smells as it lies in the hospital bed. I inquire as to why and it seems the Hall of Heroes fills to capacity as my predecessor did not expect so many Heroes.



I order it enlarged and in both directions. All will know Gemclod for its many Heroes.

Vox Nihili wrote :-

Wow, that's bizarre. Looks like Siroccodwarf is pretty clever. A full moon on a ring, named "wringwaxed." Full moon = waxed.



The sun has definitely set on Gemclod at this point.

ObMeiste wrote :-

Diary of Obmei Tobulurmim
15th Limestone, 265

Things have been very hard since the loss of Enzer.
She was the one person who I thought would be able to keep us safe amidst all of this and now she is gone just like Vox.
And that is not all.

In addition to the tiring work on Boing's projects, the tending to the growing amount of wounded is exhausting as well as disheartening.

We lost Willie, despite our best work, we could not treat him.
As a result Boing came down herself to investigate how things were being run in the hospital. I wanted to meet her gaze in defiance as she yelled at us, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I ended up simply staring at the floor and nodding at the overseer's words.

Boing decided that we would not be punished in the end, as she saw the others in our care were responding well to our treatments. She then left, carrying on in her duties as we were left to our own.

If only I had the strength in me, I would have told her that if she allowed another dwarf to get hurt, that I would hurt her in turn. But in the end, I did not.

I suppose though, it is better with wounded dwarves being brought here, than dead dwarves to the halls of heroes.