Nephilim III's Journal8th Malachite, 260: This and the following entries shall be written to serve as a permanent record in the likely event that I and a great number of us do not survive. May they serve the reader well as a warning of the dangers of exploiting the metal of the gods.
During the past few months, we had greatly expanded our mining of adamantine. Production of vast arsenals made of the material would, I had thought, allow us to reconquer our Dwarven lands which had fallen to the enemy with relative ease. All throughout the mining process we thought we were being careful to not breach the center of the pillar, an action that was rumored to bring death to even the mightiest of fortresses. As more and more adamantine was mined without incident, however, we grew increasingly careless. One layer was shaved off of the pillar, and then another, and another, until a few days ago one dwarf struck his pick where he shouldn't have. Suddenly horrifying screams, worse than any goblin or beast from the caverns, came from the depths of the fortress, loud enough to be heard on the surface. Immediately the whole fortress knew that we were going to suffer the penalties whispered of in legends.
At the time Tonnot was in Lower Goldsilver, in charge in adamantine production. I had given him strict orders to seal of the entrance to the area in the even that anything went wrong in the upper levels. I trust that he was fast in carrying out my orders.
The dwarves down there should be safe for a while. The forges were greatly expanded both to accomodate an expanded workforce to increase metal production and to provide a bunker for the electorate to survive in the event that the upper levels of the fortress fall to an outside enemy. The bunker cannot be of much help to most of the electorate now as the stairs are unusable, but there is ample food for Tonnot and the others who are stuck down there.
On the surface, an expeditionary force was quickly put together consisting of all soldiers from all units who were available at the time. They would face whatever was coming for us in the caverns to buy us the time we needed to seal off the caverns and mines from Upper Goldsilver.
Fighting could be heard until yesterday. Whatever sort of horrors now roam down there likely made short work of the expeditionary force. The smoke and miasma which wafted up the stairs was incentive enough to finish blocking off the stairs, completely separating Upper Goldsilver from the lower sections of the fortress.
Lucky and ChaosPotato are missing; it is almost certain that they did not make it out of the mines in time and are now dead. Jecowa led the expeditionary force to defend the lives of us who are still alive. These three dwarves alone are worth avenging, to say nothing of the others who have died. I began this year thinking that I could reconquer hillocks to the south, but now I will have to reconquer Goldsilver. Upper and Lower Goldsilver will need to be reconnected somehow, and large squads of
very well-equipped dwarves will need to be trained. Either we will retake the fortress or we will all die trying.
