GitP Dwarf Fortress Succession Game 4: Dwarves on Patrol

[iyaerP]

2nd of Timber: Opened up the drawbridges today in anticipation of the fall caravan while work was progressing on the other bridges. Grif, unsurprisingly, was interrupted by the dead. We put an end to it quickly enough. I ordered the body tossed into the deeps and a slab carved so that the restless spirit doesn't raise as a ghost to haunt us like its body already does. I also ordered bone armour crafted, as for the time being it looks as if we will lack any proper metal with which to make it. While far from adequate, it is better than nothing.

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13th of Timber: Finally! The merchants are here! I order our meager supply of goods moved to the trade depot so that we might finally get booze again. While the wagons are proceeding in good order to the entrance tunnel, the outpost liaison is running around in circles being chased by one of the dread zombie ravens. The caravan guards seem to be ignoring this problem, and as they are much better armed and armoured than we are, so the liaison will be on his own for the moment. And as I write this, the guards just opened up with a crossbow, so it looks like that raven is going to go down and our liaison will be safe after all.

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The macedwarf who moves in to support the marksdwarf learns why we fear the surface as the foul beast brakes his shoulder and would have slain him outright were it not for his fellow the axedwarf. What I wouldn't give for some of that armour though. Strangely, the guards leave their fallen comrade on the field, and as I see more undead close in on him, I have no choice but to order the gates closed. I do not care to think of how we will face an undead dwarven warrior armed with the finest iron weapons and armour.


14th of Moonstone: While the trading did not go as I would have hoped, we ended up with almost 100 drinks worth of alcohol, several dozen plants that are brewable, some iron bars, a steel helm for the military, and a couple of cloth bins for clothing and bandages assuming we ever get an immigrant doctor, something I will be sure to have Gnoman mention in his meeting with the liaison. Although our "expedition leader" has mostly recovered from the shock of encountering the undead, and has been a pretty good sparring partner, we both know he is still a figurehead right now and I am the one getting all of the real work done. Once I feel that we are more militarily secure, I might hand power back into civilian hands, but for the time being, it seems as if we are bouncing from one crisis to the next with no respite. Speaking of which, as the merchants were preparing to leave, it had come to my attention that the poor macedwarf who had been abandoned on the surface had crawled his way to the entrance and was pounding on the drawbridge when the ravens finally caught up with him. Rather than let him raise as an undead horror, I immediately ordered the bridge lowered, crushing the dwarf and undead both. A slab will be erected for him. Our trade agreement with the mountainhomes is as follows:

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17th of Moonstone: PRAISE THE MINERS! While digging what were to be exploratory shafts for iron or other economic metals, they broke through to a third cavern layer which contained a magma pool, a shaft to the great magma sea, and most importantly of all, raw adamantine. My only worry is that we lack any strand extractors of a smith experienced enough with the crafting of arms and armour to be worthy of working such material. Even worse, we don't even have any fuel for the forges that we haven't built. I don't know if I should laugh or weep. I have ordered it to be dug out where it is safe, and a drawbridge constructed to wall off our stairways from the cavern beasts, should they grow bold.

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16th of Opal. A gremlin has come up from the caverns, attacking the dwarves in the great hall. This is precisely why I ordered the bridge built. Sadly, it was still under construction and this little fiend must have slipped past. While I personally led the charge to slay the little beast, it quickly slipped back down to the deeps from whence it came.

14th of Obsidian: A terrible roar was heard from below today, a roar that shook the entire fortress from the deep diggings to the icy glacier above. A horrible beast was seen in the darkness of the cavern. I fear for all of our lives, and have ordered that layer of the caves sealed. We can't hope to defeat such a monster.

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25th of Obsidian: Tradition dictates that each overseer only serve a yearly term, and my year is almost up. The horrible beast is walled away from us, and our fortress is secure. Unfortunately, the adamantine ore had to be abandoned when we raised the protective bridge in the bottommost caverns. Should my successor require access to it, the levers that control it and the other bridge are all labeled quite clearly. While I do not think I was the leader that Domainstaves would have wanted were it to create great projects and grand constructions, I was the leader that we needed to found our fort here at all. We are a long ways from a year ago when we cowered in a hole dug in the ice, wondering if we would survive at all. The crisis we have faced and bested are testament to this, and while I do not think our future here will be an easy one, we at least HAVE a future. I gave us that much. For now, I shall command the Artifacts of Creation, and see who the populace wills to lead them next.

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ooc: okay, save is here: http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=6920

and Holy beard of Armok. cavern layers ALL right on top of each other, adamantine, a forgotten beast both in the first year. This map is NUTS.