Here's how it works.
I'll find a fairly fun embark, and start a year. At the start of each year, you (not me) must assign each dwarf a number and randomly pick one. I don't care how you do it- use dice, use a random number generator, observe which atoms in a lump of uranium decay after an hour, I don't give a damn. You must then find a way to kill this dwarf by the end of spring. Because, really, isn't random, pointless death for its own sake the whole point of this damn game? We're not being cruel, but in Breakfastcudgels, we will come closer to the true nature of Dwarf Fortress than any succession game yet: random killing with no mind as to number of friends, utility to the fortress, or potential for !!FUN!!. The dice gods tell us to sacrifice your legendary swordsdwarf who's singlehandedly driven off two FBs and an entire goblin siege? Do what they tell you.
(Exception: if you try to kill him in some way that no dwarf could be expected to survive- as in, he survives a fall off a 20-z tower and survives-he is too badass to die. Sacrifice the most useless dwarf in the fortress instead; he's exempt from all succeeding rounds of Russian Roulette.)
Obviously there's going to be an honor system implicit in this... if you rolled the dice, and the gods want you to kill Urist McNoviceLyeMaker, who has no friends, nobody can prove that they didn't tell you to kill Urist McLegendaryMiner, who also has 30 friends, and you just rerolled. However, I flatter myself I know this community. We've been through rampaging elephants, Operation Fuck the World, mermaid genocide, carp attacks, giant badger intrusions, and magma floods, and I think I can safely say we wouldn't risk a humdrum fort by killing a lonely cheesemaker when there'd be a lot more !!FUN!! involved in killing the mayor.
Let me find a sufficiently fun spot to embark. I'm getting impatient, so we stop at year 235.
Here's the embark- and actually, it isn't incredibly fun, but it doesn't have an aquifer, so I'll be able to dig down at least.
(http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/1051/embark.jpg)
Our embark points are divided as follows.
2 x +5 miners (get us started down below early)
1 +3 grower/+3 herbalist/+3 brewer
1 +5 cook/+2 woodcutter (in the first year, our emphasis is on getting good living quarters going, and running jewelry will take time. Much easier to cook food and sell the best of it. He'll also function as our woodcutter.)
1 +2 stonecrafter/+2 mason (can't live without doors and walls, and why waste our wood on barrels when we could make us some pots?)
1 +2 carpenter/+3 furnace operator
1 +2 weaponsmith/+2 mechanic/+2 appraiser/+2 butcher/+2 tanner (our broker, and will make us some traps for defense. In his spare time he can keep our animal population under control and process their more time-sensitive byproducts. He'll also be dorfed as me. Oh wait, he's a girl. Never mind, the difference between the genders is non-existant.)
16 each of plump helmet, cave wheat, pig tail and sweet pod seeds, and 11 rock nuts
25 each of dwarven beer and ale
3 copper picks 1 stone, 3 copper nuggets, and an iron anvil.
15 each of turtle, duck egg, plump helmets and prepared mountain goat lung.
10 sheep wool cloth
15 cave spider silk thread
1 maple training axe for the woodcutter
5 sheep wool ropes
5 female and 1 male dog. They may cost us some embark points now, but we'll never want for lack of food. I also brought along a male cat to get rid of the vermin, 2 guineahens and a guineacock (best egg producers in the game, I think), a breeding pair of chickens (as an alternative), and a breeding pair of sheep (wool and milk. Don't kill any ewes, because they're valuable. Rams can still be sheared, but they're not as valuable and in a pinch they're fair game for butchering.)
Sign up and be dwarfed! Let's have some !!FUN!!.
Turn list
Finished
In Progress
Next up
1. dhokarena56
2. Elderont
3.futility
4.savolainen5
5. Crazy Cow
The turn list is now on Futility's first post.
OK, Melkor didn't ask to be anybody in particular, so he's now the mason/stonecrafter. Futility will be the cook.
The Diary of dhokarena56 Hoodletters, Continued
23rd Felsite: It looks like we might actually survive- futility's cooking up some practice meals, and the miners are working hard to get stockpiles and stuff in. Melkor, the expedition leader, says that we're likely to get a few immigrants in a couple months. I can't wait.
1st Hematite: It's now summer, and we struck some bituminous coal. Unfortunately, Elderont doesn't think we have any flux, which is too bad- we could definitely use some.
12th Malachite:
(http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/7787/migrants.jpg)
20th Galena: We've got the bedrooms set up. There's room for a bed and a future cabinet in each. We assigned Sigun to train up engraving by smoothing out the bedrooms.
20th Sandstone: It's been two months since my last diary entry, but then again, I've been busy. We've got the dining room set up. Right now it's just a room with 3 tables and as many chairs, but that's enough to eat our meals on. They're good meals, too- Futility's training fast. We got Tholtig Bridgeveils, a gem setter, Minkot Castleguild, a novice metalcrafter, Eshtân Tatoobust, an adequate lye maker (yeah, he's going to work on gem cutting), another lye maker named Etur Inchworks (our new thresher, and for the time being, bookkeeper), and... that's it.
13th Timber: Here comes the caravan, as the Mountainhomes promised. Well, I'm the broker, so it's my responsibility to trade with them. Melkor asks them for leather, cloth, gems, seeds, booze, and glass for moods; I buy their leather, cloth, and food.
27th Timber: Well, we didn't find any flux stone. But we did hit the magma sea, with some cotton candy.
3rd Moonstone: It's getting chilly out there. The miners have recruited a lye maker to join them, and we're going to make a tree farm, flooded from an aquifer that's just found at one corner of the fortress.
Right, the save is here: http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=4354. Elderont, you're up. Try and get us some defenses, and don't forget to kill somebody- roll the dice as soon as it opens up.
The Notes of the Overseer Elderont, First Miner and First Warrior in Battle
Finally, the control of the Fortress is entirely mine. One of dwarfs gave me a big chain to put around my neck, he said it was a symbol of my new position in command. I said it was as heavy as fuck, but he didn’t care and just said something about a death and random numbers. I didn’t listen.
So let me see what I got here. I can’t… This chain is a freaking burden and gets me tired just of walking. I elected someone to be my eyes and ears everywhere, his name is Goden, he is some sort of metal smith. The first thing he tells me is “Sir, it appears that an aquifer was breached and it is flooding a section of the Fortress”.
Fuck.
…
Turns out the aquifer had a lever controlled floodgate. I just ordered it pulled and everything (including time) went back to normal.
Now let’s see how the Fortress is organized. Goden started to tell me where stuff was. It seems this place is a HUGE FREAKING MESS. The workshops are all scattered around, along with the stockpiles and living quarters. Everything was excavated just a few steps from the main stairs (which I shall say, will need some rebuilding in the future). I started to issue some orders. First, butcher the animals. I can’t walk before running into one.
(http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/1317/33898604.jpg)
Ok. Now let’s get some sleep…
Strange… In my dreams the gods appeared to me. They demanded a sacrifice. Igoth, The Coincidental Yearling, goddess of fertility, gambling, games and luck, spoke to me directly. She said the Fortress would need random death to prosper. It would be built upon the blood of the fallen. And so I listened to her message, paying attention to every single word. When I woke up, I had a plan.
I could count 15 dwarfs among us. I had two 4 faced dice in my hands. Turns out that if you roll both dice at once there are 16 possible different outcomes. And so I got a chisel and started engraving names next to numbers. Each one in the Fortress had a number, I was (1.1). Therefore, if I rolled two “ones” I would be sacrificed. I also decided that (4.4), the only number without a name, would make me reroll twice, and sacrifice two dwarfs to the gods.
And so I started playing.
The first number to come out was 4. I rolled again.
The dice started jumping. It went from stone to stone until it got out of my bedroom, and then to the stairs. I followed it 20 levels down, until it stopped in a dirty tile of the caves (yes, the caves are open).
The last number was 4.
I felt it as a blessing. Two sacrifices would make the Fortress grow in a magnificent rate. At my room, I rolled again. (2.1) and (2.2) were the outcomes. Goden, my assistant, and Minkot, a metal smit, were the chosen one.
I started planning the killing machine…
__________
Note: I dind't fudge the roll. The first one was really (4.4).
Note²: The second dice really went out of my bedroom, I had to chase it around the house a bit.
Note³: This is funny already.
The Notes of the Overseer Elderont, First Miner and First Warrior in Battle (Part 2)
17th Granite
Let’s talk about design.
I felt like the Fortress was missing space. The workshops were poorly placed, so I decided to dig a new section. When done, it will be able to hold both the workshops and the stockpiles.
(http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/3915/84637930.jpg)
Also, soon after I started digging looking for more minerals, I found a cassiterite vein. I ordered it mined along with one of the bituminous coal veins. I plan on producing bronze very soon and then we may organize a military with proper weapons and armor.
(http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/586/67251764.jpg)
19th Granite
The construction of the killing device has begun. The dwarfs ask me what it is, but I can’t tell them the truth. I say it will help us with defense, and that’s all they need to know. It’s a pretty simple design, but it will be efficient.
8th Slate
I needed to reorganize the entrance. It was wide open and defenseless, but we couldn't afford it that way. Goblins will be showing up soon. The masons started building an emergency wall and the engineers put some simple cage traps in the entrance. That will do for the moment, but I plan on also building a bridge there soon.
(http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/6924/99631943z.jpg)
13th Slate
(http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/2615/60422829.jpg)
That’s great! Our population is now of 38 dwarfs.
Most of the newbies are useless, so I put then on hauling duty.
10th Felsite
The new workshop area is ready! I ordered the stones cleared and designed the new stockpiles. Melkor, one of the stonecrafters, was ecstatic about his new working place. He then said something about blocks and the urge to produce then. Gods… We give them the hand they bite for the whole arm…
(http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5953/55104341.jpg)
5th Hematite
SNATCHERS!
(http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3854/18767939.jpg)
(http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3854/18767939.jpg)
Good thing our awesome cage traps got then. That reminds me, we now have BRONZE! I immediately ordered some armor made. And the plans for the bridge are already in development.
And that’s what happened in the spring.
The Notes of the Overseer Elderont, First Miner and First Warrior in Battle (Part 3)
28th Hematite
And we have begun the construction of our magnificent gate house. I ordered it build out of Andesite for the first layer and then Granite for the second. Then something great happened. I was out in the open, commanding the workers, when I saw our Trade Depot. It was made of a strange red stone I’ve only seen a couple of times. I have decided our bridges would be made out of it too. Red is a great color to put fear in the heart of our enemies, and it’s also the color of blood.
(http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/6928/91282527.jpg)
23th Malachite
(http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/3807/87170262.jpg)
Shit! Shit! Shit! MY LEG!
We were removing some walls for … WATCH FOR THE FUCKING LEG! … For the Gate House. There was some kind of building above and … WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE NO HOSPITAL? PUT SOME FREAKING BEDS TOGHETER! … It all went down so fast. A giant peace of stone smashed my leg against the floor and some other poor fella … HEY! HEY! YOU IDIOTS, DON’T LEAVE ME HERE IN THE DUST! MOTHERFCUKERS! … The other guy, he was hit hard, but I think he’s alive … THANK GOD FOR THAT BED YOU MORONS, NOW MOVE ME THERE AND CALL FOR THE DOCTORS! AND WATCH FOR THE DAMN LEG! … Two months?! Two months in this bed resting my injuries until you crazy bastard stop drinking and fix my bones? GET TO IT FAST!
26th Malachite
We got a new wave of immigrants. The bookkeeper told me we are now 45 living dwarfs, minus the other two who are going to get killed. By the way, my death machine had a little setback. Turns out water defrosts here too soon, sooner than I expected. So let’s say the next year will begin with a big surprise for us all.
1st Galena
Goden told me some freak went crazy and got possessed by the gods! Our first!
(http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/1734/88003939.jpg)
(http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4204/95567930.jpg)
He got three granite boulders and went back to his shop, working on some great shit we will never put to good use. And yes, Goden! I’m still mad because of my leg. NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND GO CHECK ON THE GATE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION!
That bastard doesn’t even know what’s coming to him…
13th Galena
(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8793/56533032.jpg)
Traaaders!
I don’t know why, but we had a bunch of high value clothing standing around. And some metal crafts too, those we’re really expensive and I think it’s in the Fortress best interests to trade then for supply and stuff.
27th Limestone
New immigrants: 57 and reaching for more.
Finally! Yes! The doctor put some wooden thing in my leg and now I can walk. Not as I used to, but at least I’m out of that haunted bed. I first went to the workshops to supervise the bronze production and guess what?
(http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/104/80691068.jpg)
(http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/8889/24226578.jpg)
Completely useless, but at least it pictures our great king.
3rd Sandstone
Our Gate House is complete! I feel like we are truly safe now! Soon Goblins will come and we can now finally count on some heavy walls!
(http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/1466/87728723.jpg)
I call the main bridge the Red Gate and the two secondary ones the Red Twins. Pretty intuitive, but it’s still AWESOME! They are linked to two levers you can find in the Meeting Hall. Oh, who am I kidding, let’s take the day off and get some beer you fuckers!
While cleaning out an old office space, the dwarves of Breakfastcudgels come upon a small vellum book filled with scratchy, near-illegible writing. They go to the current overseer, CrazyCow, and have that poor dwarf sort through the mess. Here is what Crazy Cow deciphers:
3 Granite
By Rilem Buddedfuture, that is simply a delectable prepared cougar intestine roast! Now, where were we? Ah, well, it's been 3 days since the last overseer stepped down. I guess I have as good a chance as the rest of these sheep to take control of this fortress. It's decided!
5 Granite
I've done it. The fortress is mine. In honour of this accomplishment, I hereby cast off the name of Edzul Amlikot, Leatherworker, and take the name of Savs, High Arbiter of Breakfastcudgel.
6 Granite
While on my inspection of my fortress, I came across a thoroughly injured axedwarf, one Goden Uduzol. Her upper arms were both mangled beyond recognition, yet nobody had taken her off of the military. We can't have dwarves such as these being sent to die at the hands of the filthy goblins. Rilem Futurebudded simply will not allow it.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC1.jpg)
No, she will be saved for later. In the meantime let her rest.
10 Granite
Incompetent fools ruled, no, merely directed, before me. I shall overshadow them all and go down in history as the legendary High Arbiter. The idiots had poorly organised their trading system. No more, as a stockpile has been created for easy access to the depot.
3 Slate
Construction has begun on the temple. Crafted of Obsidian and Gold (as well as other worthy materials), my temple will dwarf the fortress. Pun intended.
11 Slate
A militia captain, Cog, of the squad Chances of Theater, has given birth to a boy. I prayed to Rilem Buddedfuture and to !goth.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC2.jpg)
Both counseled me to allow Cog to keep the child. With their powers, the child will be protected, provided that his name be a mix of his two guardian gods-- Rilgoth. He is Protected.
25 Slate
Good, more migrants. More servants for Rilem Buddedfuture. On the remarkably competent advice of some previous fool of this fort, I drafted some 6 of them into the military, so as to protect the servants of Rilem Buddedfuture.
16 Felsite
The Elves have arrived. We will trade our useless trinkets for what little of use we can get from the dirty pointed-ears.
28 Felsite
Summer is just around the corner, and that damnable idiot who passes for our broker is too busy drinking and partying to do his job.
=============
// Well, that was a short one. No pictures because there's nothing as of yet to report. Don't worry, the random death is coming. ;)
CrazyCow, having successfully learned how to read the near-illegible handwriting of Savs, returns to the transcription after a rest to his eyes, rendering the thoughts of this dwarf accessible to the rest of the fortress.
5 Hematite
Summer, the second favorite season of Rilem Buddedfuture. The yokel broker dhokarena56 I instructed through the grace of Rilem Buddedfuture to procure as much wood as possible. It seems all we had to trade them was one of our nice gold figurines, and they practically dropped everything we wanted at our feet as their eyes quivered, like babies, and drooled, also like babies, over this figurine. Those idiots will probably build a small hut for it and worship it as their god or something. Apparently they know nothing of Rilem Buddedfuture. I also had the broker take all of their barrels and alcohol, because we have not enough (ever) of the former, and everyone knows that the servants (unknowing as they may yet be) of Rilem Buddedfuture need their alcohol, lest their bodies and labours go to waste.
18 Hematite
Some of the dwarves reported to me a series of high-pitched roars coming from one of the caverns. The idiots couldn't decide on anything more concrete than that. Whatever it is, we're safe from it. We're not exposed from any of the caverns.
22 Hematite
Several dwarves wandered up to the fortress today, slack-jawed and staring at the temple under construction. They almost wandered into the weapons traps. UnFortunately, one of the masons stopped them from getting themselves killed. Still, I suppose it's not all bad. All deaths should be for Rilem Buddedfuture, who will ensure a bright, prosperous future for the fortress. Especially once the temple is complete. I had Elderont select a couple of dwarves to be drafted into the military.
15 Malachite
It seems some idiot dwarf recently ran babbling to the forges. That's not unusual. The others claim it is some kind of otherworldly possession. There can be no possession except through Rilem Buddedfuture. That must be it! This is so momentous an undertaking, that the possessed dwarf has claimed a forge for his own. The dwarves tell me that he will produce a work of great value, an artifact. Such an item gains a life of its own. Very well, Rilem Buddedfuture is telling me that another dwarf's life must be put into this artifact in order for it to gain that life. I've long been preparing for such an occasion. I will consult the list of dwarves and let fall my piece of obsidian. The one which is chosen, as ordained by !goth, shall be our sacrifice.
Long did the piece of obsidian roll before it came to a stop over the name of Athel Nunurmonom, Woodcrafter. Let us reopen the magma pit of old, such that the spirit of Athel, when he has been sacrificed, may escape into the artifact.
16 Malachite
After sleeping on it, I decided that it would be too suspicious to use the old one. I will build a new magma sacrifice system for Athel. Neither he nor any other dwarf will think twice to pulling a random lever so close to the magma.
20 Malachite
It is complete! It is quite clumsy, yes, but I have hardly the sharpest tools, that is, dwarves, to work with.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC3.jpg)
21 Malachite
The sacrifice went more or less as planned! Athel was killed by the magma, and the very same day was finished the artifact.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC4.jpg)
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC5.jpg)
Organtunnel the Dispersal of Teachers is a decadent silver toy hammer, worth 164400 urists by my estimate.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC6.jpg)
Verily, the sacrifice of Athel was the key to the project, which was long delayed by the lack of a spirit. It shall be the centerpiece of the alter in the temple.
15 Galena
Humans have arrived to trade. Let us see what they have to offer. And let us hope that the yokel broker doesn't get something stupid like armour that is too large for the dwarves...
18 Galena
Acting on instinct, I assume, our yokel broker bought all the meat, fish, and cheese he could, as well as all the wood. There is no shortage of that now, I expect.
23 Galena
With autumn just around the corner, progress on the temple has slowed. I'm concerned that I will not be able to finish it for the coming of spring. It seems more sacrifices are in order.
==============
// Hmm... Well, that was the most inelegant magma sacrifice in the history of the world. I've ruined the whole apparatus through lack of thought and experience. Ah well.
Let's see... I need to think of other ways to sacrifice. And also, I think the way the temple's gonna work out is that dwarves will fall from its top to the ground, and most likely be impaled on spikes. I have NO idea how to do that yet... Suggestions?
CrazyCow has now reached the half-way point in the vellum book. He notices that the handwriting is becoming increasingly frenetic and hard to read.
22 Limestone
It has been quiet this month, praise be to Rilem Buddedfuture. The building of the temple must have pleased her and !goth, the Trickster, who have kept at bay the goblins and kobolds. I have redoubled my efforts to build the temple. I have committed many more dwarves to masonry and metalcrafting (that gold doesn't smelt itself!), and I hope to finish by the end of the year now. Already, the central column is nearly finished!
24 Limestone
Our idiot mayor, who is also the yokel broker, dhokarena56, has decreed that the fortress must produce two "hungry head" leather items. Whatever a hungry head is, I doubt that we will ever see one, as nobody in the fortress has heard of them, and the idiot mayor refuses to even tell us what the thing is. Well, the idiot mayor IS an idiot. There's no harm in ignoring him, I'm sure. Though he HAS complained about poor living conditions lately... I'll order a few gold statues in each of his rooms.
27 Limestone
Excellent! More migrants are arriving! More labourers and servants for Rilem Buddedfutures. I will enlist in the military those that show aptitude, and the rest will be committed to masonry and metalcrafting for the temple's construction!
28 Limestone
Here, near the apogee of the fortress, I will make a record of our great military might.
The first squad, the Liberties of Theater, has two dwarves, and is headed by Elderont, Swordsdwarf.
The second squad, the Helmed Banners, has seven dwarves, and is headed by Asmel Rakustsazir, Axedwarf.
The third squad, the Chances of Theater, has nine dwarves, and is headed by Cog Akrulgusgash Al Niles, Hammerdwarf.
The fourth squad, the Gilded Tips, has five dwarves, and is headed by Dishmab Udkol, Axedwarf.
Our military thus stands at 23 dwarves strong, who train year-round to be better defenders of the fortress and of Rilem Buddedfuture.
15 Sandstone
Rilem Buddedfuture blessed us today with a baby boy, born to woodworker Zas Akumcatten. This baby boy, Logem Alathniral, is a Blessing. Soon after, Rilem Buddedfuture spoke to me. "My Esteemed Faithplanter," she said to me, "This baby, the Blessing, he will be the gauge of this fortress' goodness. For so long as he lives, alive and well, I will allow no harm to come upon the dwarves of Breakfastcudgels. But beware, Faithplanter, for if he should be wounded or even killed, my wrath will be great, and your downfall will come swiftly and mercilessly." I prostrated myself even lower and vowed to protect that baby with my life. I will train some war dogs and assign them both to the mother and to the child.
15 Timber
The caravan from the Mountainhomes has arrived! I will personally oversee the trading this time, to ensure that our yokel broker makes no silly acquisitions.
18 Timber
At last! Rilem Buddedfuture has sent for me a test. It took the caravan guard three days, but they finally managed to inform me that a large force of goblins trailed them to the fortress. I will muster the troops!
But first, the trading. At my command, the fortress traded two bins of metal crafts for the following: all the metal bars, all the flux stone (some dozen pieces), all the wood (about three dozen logs), all the empty barrels, all the alcohol, some milk, all the weapons and armour, and all of the meat, fish, and cheese that was brought.
Now then, let the defenders of Rilem Buddedfuture go forth to battle!
The Invasion
The first squad of swordsgoblins approached with a master speargoblin at its head. Two of the caravan guards and Elderont rushed out to meet them. The first guard fell with the opening swings, and the many traps at the entrance disabled a number of the invaders.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC7.jpg)
Elderont cried for the rest of the military, who came streaming out of the fort to fight. A squad of a half-dozen trolls joined the fray, but were quickly scattered before Elderont's ferocity, along with the swordsgoblin squad.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC8.jpg)
The renowned hammerdwarf, Cog Tinstokers the Pinnacle of Snapping let loose a warning call as she saw two squads of crossbowgoblins approaching from the northwest.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC9.jpg)
Elderont, fearing the worst, ordered the troops back inside. "Leave the fleeing goblins! Our lives are at stake!" However, not even he was unable to resist the temptation of the witless, fleeing goblins. Cog, seeing this, ordered the squads to her. As I watched from the temple above, I feared that the defenders of Rilem Buddedfuture would suffer heavy losses.
As the rest of the militia filtered out of the fortress, the first bolts were loosed at one of the new recruits, Medtob Ablelkab, a dwarf who I was later told had only picked up his iron battle axe earlier that day.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC10.jpg)
Medtob dodged dozens of bolts, taking only a few glancing blows, as he charged to meet his first opponent. Behind him came charging Cog, Elderont, and the rest of the militia, heedless of the wall of metal death they faced. Soon, another new recruit, Zas Zuntirkekim, fell to the ground with a head wound that even from my high perch I could see. I prayed to Rilem Buddedfuture to preserve his life.
Meanwhile, Medtob was still locked in mortal combat with a foe much superior to him. Yet neither was able to land a blow on the other for several, long seconds. Suddenly, he broke away from his opponent and charged the crossbowgoblins, who turned their attention to him. This bought the rest of the militia precious time to cover the remaining ground between them and their victims.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC11.jpg)
I saw Medtob dodge a hail of bolts and slice off with his new iron battle axe an entire arm of a goblin. In the next few moments, however, his opponent, a master lasher, tripped him, ending his wondrous dodging, hacking spree. He became a pincushion and took no fewer than 6 bolts to his body before one punctured his head through his helmet. So passed Medtob the Great, new recruit and Hero of Breakfastcudgels. I have accorded him a special place in the catacombs, which I have since ordered expanded.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC12.jpg)
And I ordered them expanded for a reason. The defenders of Rilem Buddedfuture did not fare well in the battle. As the first squad of crossbowgoblins began to flee, the second charged at the much-weakened militia. They however, did not put up a strong fight as the rest of the militia finished them off.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC13.jpg)
The aftermath was a gruesome mess of blood, goblin limbs, and gored dwarves.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC14.jpg)
Final count:
4 Dwarves dead, including the other Guard commanded by Elderont.
Almost two dozen goblins killed, and six trolls.
Cog and her Protected One child, Rilgoth, survived unharmed, a testament to the protection of Rilem Buddedfuture and !goth. Now let the cleanup and burial begin.
25 Timber
In the midst of the cleanup, another godly possession occurred. This one to a weaponsmith. He claimed a forge and now sits there, muttering about wanting bars of metal. This can only be a possession by !goth, the Trickster, for there are no fewer than 500 bars of assorted metals sitting just a few floors above in the stockpile.
26 Timber
The hospital is quite full. I had better order the soapmakers to get to work, as there are many wounds to clean. The defenders of Rilem Buddedfuture did well.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC15.jpg)
27 Timber
With winter along the corner, progress on the temple has been slowed due to the invasion clean-up. I hope to have that finished in the next week, such that my glorious temple to Rilem Buddedfuture will be finished in time for her favorite season of Spring. When it is finished, the celebrations will be... raucous.
==============
//Well then, that got very interesting very quickly. I'm amazed that no dwarves died of directly being made into a pincushion! That first herodwarf made it easy for the rest, even though half the military's in the hospital now.
//Also, sorry for being so flaky and saying I'll post and then I don't for another three days! I've been surprisingly busy for having nothing to do... Still, I'll try to get winter done ASAP! This will be the season of random death, trust me on that. I REALLY wanted to make a Caruso (or however you spell his name) pun from CSI: Miami and then talk about my character putting on obsidian shades and some random dwarf yelling "YEAAAAAAAAAH" outside the office. That'd'a been priceless. But I couldn't think of any good, relevant puns.
//Finally, I'm a little worried about the latest possession. Is this one of those weird glitchy ones? I mean, seriously, there're some bars just two or three steps from where they guy is, yet he won't take 'em. What's going on?!?
With the account of the invasion read, CrazyCow comes to the final chapters of the vellum book.
12 Moonstone
By Rilem Buddedfuture, it has been a quiet winter since the end of the siege. Work on my temple is drawing to a close and soon it will be ready for dedication! I need only to order--
Roars within the fortress? What's going on?
Rilem Buddedfuture protect us! It is Siga the Shock of Oozes!
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC17.jpg)
Quickly, muster the militia! We must contain the threat before the monster kills any of the servants of Rilem Buddedfuture!
No! It's made it into the housing section! Where is the militia?!
Thank !goth, the Trickster, for Cog and Dishmab, two militia captains, were able destroy the monster with no civilian casualties.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC18.jpg)
It did, however, kill one war dog and seriously maim two others.
Now, how in the world did that thing get in here? It must have swum through the well, for there are no other openings. Well, there's nothing to be done about that. Let us pray to Rilem Buddedfuture that there will be no more monsters.
24 Moonstone
That !goth possession that was begun before the invasion has finally begun to bear fruit! After going to great pains to make sure that all metals were available to him, the dwarf has finally begun construction! This demands a sacrifice at the nearly-finished temple! I will drop the obsidian piece once more upon my list.
Stukos Abanvel, Hauler, has been chosen. He is a faithful worshiper of Rilem Buddedfuture, but since !goth is associated with her, I do not doubt that this sacrificial dwarf will be acceptable to him.
26 Moonstone
Our idiot mayor came to me blubbering about royalty and realms. I asked the liaison, who was still around, and also apparently more in charge of his faculties than dhokarena56, who said that he was empowered to raise the realm to a barony. I agreed, and decided to recommend an elevation based on chance. I once more let the obsidian fall on the list. For a moment, it looked as if it might stay on my name, but then it fell on Erush Tuloncatten, Pump Operator. Unfortunately, he is not a worshiper of either Rilem Buddedfuture OR !goth, but !goth works in mysterious ways.
The liaison, turning away from the mayor, who had become distracted trying to catch an acorn fly with his stubby hands, asked me what requests I had from the Mountainhomes.
I asked for some wood, all the steel and iron bars they would bring, a better assortment of weapons, some armour, especially gauntlets, greaves, and high boots, alcohol, some meat, plenty of fish, more flux stone, barrels and sand.
27 Moonstone
How about that sacrifice? Why is he not moving to the appointed place? Too busy eating?
28 Moonstone
Success! The sacrifice has come and been sacrificed!
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC19.jpg)
He has been impaled on the favourite metal of Rilem Buddedfuture, silver. And even greater success, the possession artifact finished!
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC20.jpg)
Elderont asked for the weapon, but he has no experience with it. I will let the militia take it at their choosing, for they are ALL the defender of Rilem Buddedfuture.
5 Opal
Some of the dwarves who are more in possession of their puny mental capacity not worshipers of Rilem Buddedfuture or !goth have been grumbling about the sacrifices. "Perfectly healthy, useful dwarves," I hear. "Insane overseer," others say. But they are drowned out by the rest of the idiot dwarves, whose intelligence is comparable to that of giant earthworms.
8 Opal
A new child was born today. Despite my prayers and prostrations, neither Rilem Buddedfuture nor !goth would comment on this child. It seems likely that, if she should survive, she will grow up to be an idiot, like the majority of the fortress.
20 Opal
The temple finally nears completion! I will prepare a sacrifice to ensure that all goes well. This time, I will not drop the obsidian piece. There was in the spring a useless dwarf in the military about whom I'd written. Goden Uduzol's time has come. But she will not go willingly. I will go into the hospital with my obsidian piece, and knock her unconscious. She will be brought up by the arrangement of other followers of Rilem Buddedfuture.
Alas, the sacrifice failed! Goden is mortally wounded, and may yet die in the hospital, but the plot has been discovered. One of the other dwarves who was on the surface heard her screams as she woke up while falling, and went to investigate. He saw me on the top of the temple.
I have ordered the hospital locked, and have bribed the medical staff with golden trinkets.
5 Obsidian
Today it was made official. Breakfastcudgels is now a barony. Erush Tuloncatten must have her quarters prepared.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC21.jpg)
Today also the temple was finished! I must make at least one more sacrifice! But there are more grumblings after the episode with Goden.
20 Obsidian
I have made my decision. Let one more sacrifice be made! It shall be... Edem Solozsazir, Weaponsmith. And THEN I shall include the plans of the temple.
NO! Edem has survived as well! I will let him stay out and die at the whim of Rilem Buddedfuture.
Very well, !goth seems to be having his fun. Let him have it. My temple is a success and Rilem Buddedfuture has told me so! Now here are a few plans.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC22.jpg)
Here she is. Built of obsidian and the most finely wrought gold in the whole world!
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC23.jpg)
Here we have something like a cross-section, where you can see the spiral ramp in the center, with its golden core.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz147/Savolainen5/BC24.jpg)
This is the bottom floor of the temple, and it can be seen where it was added to the fortress.
26 Obsidian
In these last days of winter before the Great Rebirthing, the Spring of the year 240, a goblin ambush has come! They avoided the trap and penetrated the fort! But only in a trickle, fortunately. The militia has been mustered and will destroy the enemy!
Alas, a metalsmith caught outside was slain, much to the chagrin of Rilem Buddedfuture. The goblins were driven off, but some of the militia were injured.
And soon thereafter, Spring arrived! Now that the temple has been completed, I will retire to my duties of prayer and devotion to Rilem Buddedfuture. Let some other fool try to manage these idiot dwarves with their idiot mayor. They won't even notice that I'm gone, I imagine.
=============
// Well, that was very interesting! Sorry for taking so long with this all!
//I was going to have myself sacrificed, but I didn't have time. Maybe CrazyCow, you can continue the random death and also make my character pay for his weird devotion to Rilem Buddedfuture.
//The save is now available here (http://www.mediafire.com/?bwdw9bo0mf53mmj).
There is no doubt that Igoth is pleased with our sacrifices. While other forts struggle to find a single vein of metal, our fortress is so blessed that we build our furniture from gold. I spent the last year constructing gold furniture for billybobfred's tasteless microcline and gold ore house (of course, one of my first goals this year is to show him how to build a house that is tasteless, gaudy, and megalomaniacal enough to suit the overseer of a fort that practices dwarven sacrifice).
It seems that Rilgoth the Protected was taken by a strange mood. We must make sure that he has what he needs, lest doom befall our fortress.
(http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/4444/rilgoth.png)
23 Slate
We found sand, so we should be able to set up a glass furnace
(http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/6791/23slate.png)
16 Felsite
It seems that the reason Rilgoth was unable to find gems was that we didn't have a gem industry. Looking through the stockpile, I quickly abandoned my plans for glass windows in favor of a more colorful solution.
With cut gems, Rilgoth was able to complete his artifact.
(http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/2581/16felsite2.png)
24 Felsite
I had the Gilded Mechanisms sortie into the caverns to cover the opening of a new magma channel
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8848/24felsite.png)
1 Hematite
Well shit
(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/7015/1hemae.png)
3 Hematite
We managed to seal off the magma. We lost one miner, and this has set back progress on the sacrificial chamber. Fortunately, the magma didn't reach the forges.
(http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/3259/3hemae.png)
11 Galena
(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/892/11galena.png)
12 Galena
(http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/8505/12galena.png)
22 Galena
We were attacked by a massive goblin siege. I counted at least two squads of crossbowmen, a squad of lashers, a squad of swordsmen, a squad of ogres and a squad of trolls. Our forces rallied behind the twin bridges. Disaster struck when the squads broke formation and charged the enemy, removing our advantage. We lost a good number of dwarves that day.
(http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1737/22galena.png)
24 Timber
I ordered coffins build into the walls of the dining hall for those who died during the siege. We were also able to set up memorial slabs for the three ghosts haunting the fortress.
27 Timber
We are now a duchy
1 Moonstone
Winter is upon us, so it is time to please Igoth with a new sacrifice. The assumption chamber has been cleaned and completed. The chamber will flood with water, then be coated with magma, causing the sacrifice to immediately become one with the mountain in front of a crowd of worshipers.
(http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/4475/22moonstone.png)
15 Moonstone
I bowed down in front of the sacred lever and prayed to Igoth. Like billybobfred, she connected me to the elemental plane of random numbers, and the number forty was burned into my mind.
16 Moonstone
Yet another artifact
(http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/1280/16moonstone2.png)
18 Moonstone
I located the great book of units in the bookkeeper's office, where the name of every large creature at Breakfastcudgels is written down. I counted forty names from the top. Our sacrifice is to be our duchess, Erush Tuloncatten.
23 Moonstone
I ordered Erush to pull the sacred lever, locked the door, and invited the dwarves down to observe.
(http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/8485/23moonstone.png)
From here on out, the journal is almost illegible. It appears that the chamber failed three times: first due to water pressure not moving through stairs, then by the dutchess finding a way to swim out through the water feed, and then through the duchess finding a second flaw in the feed. After the third attempt, the machine was broken beyond repair. It was clear that Igoth had rejected Duchess Tuloncatten. It appears that the overseer had a nervous breakdown over the event, perhaps due to the curse of Igoth, or perhaps due to his own personal failure. Either way, he would have to step down from his position.
Am I dead?!
Nope. You're pretty grizzled though.
(http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2689/elderont.png)
Did those chains get made yet?
I think that they have been made but not yet built
So is it four days until my turn then? ::)
It's your turn.
Map: http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-10521-breakfastcudgels (http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-10521-breakfastcudgels)
Save: http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=4546 (http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=4546)
The chamber failed, as most batman-esque over-elaborate deathtraps are wont to do. I began building a wall around the fortress to help prevent goblin attacks. I initially used alunite for the walls and cinnibar for the towers, but I eventually realized that any self-respecting doom fortress is made of ice and obsidian.
Nice downloading now :D also on an unrelated note here's a photoshop I did for some random thread
(http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/9784/unled1rt.png)
What, why am I dead?
Well when looking for you and everyone else I just searched "has nickname" on dwarf therapist, billybobfred and also nothing like it was there so I presumed you had died during microline's turn
I can confirm this. Looking back at my save files, it seems billybobfred was one of the many dwarves to die during the battle with the goblins at the twin bridges. I found him resting in a bed after the battle with a fractured spine and fractures and cuts on his right arm and left leg. This is what I can find from the combat logs:
(http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7552/part1e.png)
(http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/575/part2y.png)
Well the battles been and gone, my hammer did it’s job well, this guy Id - he took it a wee bit hard though ::)
(http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/7933/murderu.jpg)
Well someone was bound to be in a bit of a tiddle, can’t be helped, us captains decided to have a wee bit of a completion and see who cracked the most skulls in the battle, I came in second with five next to Dishmab
(http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/3639/elderontpt1.png)
(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/3736/elderontpt2.png)
(http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/7434/dishmabpt1.png)
(http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/1263/dishmabpt2.png)
(http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/6532/godenpt1.png)
(http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8352/godenpt2.png)
(http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/5537/morulpt1.png)
(http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1154/morulpt2z.png)
(http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/9339/zefonpt1.png)
(http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1305/zefonpt2.png)
Also all the exterior walls have been built, all that needs doing now is for the pumps to be assembled to get the magma flowing, Ashton seems to have completly lost it at this point though, all his orders are deliverd through Elderont who does most of the running around here now, the most recent order is that liquids contained within the walls are not to be able to reach the fortress or outside world... goodness knows what's going through his mind, getting from the fortress to the courtyard now involves a ruddy long walk climbing one tower of the gatehouse down the other, more corridor to walk down and then out the door, the main drawbridge has been sealed as well now... hmm I wonder if this is all these constructions are to do with some kind of master plan?
You guys are bieng kinda slow to catch on to my plan :P , also next guys it's time to pick a dwarf each or I'll give you one for each of the next four turns...
And as futility is away at the moment I've taken it upon myself to PM the next overseers until he returns