1st Moonstone



As I survey the dank and bitter swamp from the towers of Gemclod I suspect that the dwarven caravan did not survive.



While we have remained safe within our walls, our desperate kin have met with the full fury of the enemy. They brought but few weapons and were not prepared to face the towering war-monsters of the greenskin army.



Blood, vomit and bodyparts litter the battlefield like some pestilent rash. Though greenskins and even some of their mounts have met with death, no living dwarf remains outside of the fortress as far as the eye can see. Not even the pack-camels survive, their bodies broken and mutilated even as the goods on their backs remain untouched. The invaders want only blood.



Gemclod shall give it them. For what they have done to our people the greenskins cannot be allowed to live. The final solution is underway.



The traps are complete. The ballista is set up. The bridge must be mechanised but after that it is a matter only of luring the invaders into our corridor of death. My worry is not that the hidden blades will be insufficient to kill the greenskins and their beasts but that the enemies' sheer numbers shall jam the mechanisms and allow them passage. For that reason the military will stand by and do battle with any that proceed beyond the tunnel.

Work continues.

4th Moonstone



I inquire as to why work is not continuing on the death tunnel and it seems that our architects and mechanics sweat instead at the watermills on the surface. That is appropriate if poorly-timed. I have but three months to complete the project and so I endeavour to do so.

Already the waterwheels spin with force although their axles drive nothing. The rushing river-water beneath serves us well for it is even the water that the imprisoned Vox Nihili drinks to stay alive. I think briefly of him and his tormented incarceration for it has been many months since he has tasted alcohol. I attempt to think of how insufferable it would be but I cannot.



9th Moonstone



The expansion of the Great Hall is matched by Mehuyael's engraving of the central floor. One of his works depicts hubris and I commend him for its artistic quality.



It is named "The World of Responsibility" and I ponder over its meaning as I feed Chariot from the rum bottle. Sirocco walks past while concentrating and he carries Wringwaxed but still does not give it to me.

13th Moonstone



There have been problems with the pumps for they frequently collapse while the ones below them are built. I order pumps built from the lowest level upward but it will take longer. Patience is key but I lack it. Not much time remains.



Perfect Potato taps the magma pool under the forges and sustains only mild burns. The pumps will draw from this reservoir in bringing magma to the surface although I am still uncertain as to where it will go.

The smiths complain when the smelters lose power but I tell them it is only temporary as more magma will flood upward to fill what was taken by the reservoir. Nonetheless ZeeToo regards me with resentment.

15th Moonstone

Daisyvondoom informs me that there has been an Incident.



I had ordered walls built to stop the magma flow before it reaches the stairwell but it was neglected. Negligence is punishable but for the time being there are more serious matters to resolve.



Hot magma pours down into the Hall of Heroes and will soon envelop the buried remains of our champions unless it is stopped. There is no way to stop the flow on the upper level short of contriving an elaborate cave-in and there is no time for such things yet.



Instead I order the miners to dig under the magmafall and clear a path downward into the under-caves before channeling out the bottom of the stairway, thus allowing the magmafall to pass through the Hall of Heroes on its way further downward without destroying the coffins. It is dangerous but necessary and I order it done quickly for the magma spreads with impertinence.



As Star Guarded digs downward we lose the coffins of goatface and Pozzo to the indiscriminate magma.



Mercifully however it is complete before any more Heroes are melted into slag and even Star Guarded is not dead.



With luck the draining magma will destroy many cave-beasts. At the least this procedure gives us time to contrive a cave-in that will stop its flow altogether and allow the magma reservoir to be repaired.



Toffile comes to tell me the watermills are complete and I tell her that now is a bad time.

YeOldeButchere wrote :-

Journal of Yeol Deabo Tcher, Armorer and Weaponsmith of Gemclod

So. I'm not sure what came over me when I wrote my last entry, diary. I think the pathetic whining of everyone around here might be contagious. In any case, I'm back and ready to pound some metal into submission and all kinds of armor.

Of course it's never this simple in Gemclod. The overseer, in her infinite wisdom, decided to tap the magma pipe. Below my forges. Geez, I wonder what that did? So now I'm out of work again. This level of incompetence isn't quite sufficient for Gemclod though. It turns out that the tunnel used to funnel the magma away is leaking. Fine, so it's leaking into the "Hall of Heroes" (more like "Hell of Heroes" with that magma), which I don't care about, but the overseer made another wise decision.

Instead of letting the place flood and the remains be cremated, another tunnel was made to dump the magma into the caves. Which will never fill up. Which means the magma in the pipe will never reach my forges again. My poor, poor forges will never ever be lit up by the fiery glow of magma again, condemned to remain cold and unused until someone decides to put them out of their misery.

She'll pay for this in time.