Memorandum for General Distribution:
I would like to take a moment to address some of the tensions that I have observed recently between the dwarves in our fortress. I recognize that many of you come from many different backgrounds, many different civilizations, and you have kinsmen in many places, and in retrospect, I now realize that it may have been an act of somewhat poor judgement to order the militia to slaughter the members of the dwarven caravan that recently passed through our fortress. It is obvious now that many of you most likely had friends and kinsmen among the guards and traders in that caravan, and seeing your fellow militia members striking them down has doubtless created some confusion and some tensions. I do understand the animosity you must now feel to some of your fortressmates, but let us do our best to keep our perspective. Loyalty to fortress must trump loyalty to clan or civilization; none of us would survive long if we could not trust our brethren who chose to live with us within these walls. In that vein, I must say that these killings need to stop. It is simply not acceptable in a well-run fortress for its citizens to randomly murder each other like this. It reduces productivity and morale for everyone, and is ultimately to the detriment of what we hope to accomplish here. It creates an unhealthy and hostile work environment, where dwarves cannot feel comfortable doing even their most basic jobs. Only today I have heard at least 5 cases of dwarves having to cancel important jobs because they were afraid to go near a dwarf from a rival clan who happened near the jobsite. Think of what this will do to our bottom line in the long term if this continues. Whatever else this fortress may be, it is first and foremost a business, and tribal disputes like these are not good for business. In an effort to boost morale and improve general camaraderie I am instituting casual day on every alternate Wednesday. Dwarves may wear silk vests and caps with images on them if they so desire, provided these images are not offensive to anyone else in the fortress. Note that dwarves in the militia are still required to wear their armor at all times, but they may wear casual clothes over top of them. I am also going to encourage more social gatherings among the dwarves. I am freeing the mayor from other tasks so that he will have more free time to organize parties and other social functions. If these measures fail, I will be forced to lock you all into a room until you can find a way to settle our differences. Our grand meeting hall has more than enough space for all the dwarves in this fortress to stand with several inches of free space between them, and is tastefully decorated with weapon and armor racks and has convenient access to the food and drink stores and the armory, so I think it would be ideal for this purpose. Please do not make me resort to such drastic measures though. I am confident that you are all mature, sane, and sober enough that you can resolve this amicably and we can return to the proper business of running this fortress.
I remain your faithful and benevolent Overlord,
The Overseer
Author
Topic: Note to Urist--In which you express your frustration to your dwarves (Read 1496467 times)