(Note: I'm roleplaying an engineer with high expectations here, so no offence bralbaard)
Journal of Christes, mechanical engineer and mason - sent by the mountainhomes to govern Halltraded.
24 Obsidian 301: I have been dispatched from the mountainhomes to govern some young dwarven settlement called Halltraded. Where my fellow dwarves come up with these names, I will never know. Truthfully, I slept through most of my briefing. I heard something about a river and some injuries among the settlers. No matter, it should be like governing any other dwarven settlement.
26 Obsidian 301: We have entered a horrifyingly cursed region of woods. My coach driver insists this is the only way to the settlement. What's worse, we are passing by a river and it is filled with skeletal fish. The driver and I had a brief scare when one hopped out of the river and followed us for spell. I will sleep with one eye open tonight. I hope this jaunt through these evil wilds will be over soon so I can get to Halltraded and begin my rulership there.
1 Granite 302: In the name of Litast, THIS IS THE SETTLEMENT?!? RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A HORDE OF BLOODTHIRSTY SKELETAL FISH?!? WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD SETTLE IN SUCH A PLACE? I really should pay better attention to reports before I agree to these assignments. I suppose I have little choice now. With a knowing grin, the driver helped me with my goods and quickly left. Ah well, let us dwell on the positive. There has to be something positive about this scenario, right?
right? right? Perhaps I can put my mechanical knowledge to good use in this settlement. With a river like this, we should be able to make some nice mechanical wonders.
2 Grantie 302: When I inquired who was in charge over the last year, the dwarves pointed to a miner laying unconcious on a bed in a communal room. Small wonder...
4 Granite 302: It appears the dwarves are using a quern to mill their goods. A quern! With such a powerful river nearby, it is a travesty to use dwarven muscle power for such menial tasks. I have ordered the miners to dig out space for waterwheels near the river.
9 Granite 302: I noticed today that the dwarves have built their magma forges and smelters directly on top of a pool of lava, rather than safely channeling the lava into another room. This makes me uneasy. I am told that they have already cleared the vent of its evil denizens. I hope so.
11 Granite 302: The dwarves here seem to be putting all of their refuse into one indoor stockpile. Though it is closed off from the rest of the fotress by a door, I am uncomfortable with such miasma stinking up the place at all. I have ordered an area outside to be walled off, accessable only via stairs. The rotting waste will be put up there, while skulls, shells, and bones will be kept in the old refuse area.
18 Granite 302: No mining has been done on my project yet. It appears the previous "ruler" holds a pick and won't let go of it. What's more, a liason from the mountainhomes is still standing by his bed, waiting. Creepy.
19 Granite 302: I gave my own pick to an accomplished miner from the settlement, named ushat. Things should get going on my project now. I also just about tripped over a pile of aluminum bars today. Despite my previous criticisms, I must commend my predecessor for stocking up on such valuable metals.
20 Granite 302: Elf merchants have arrived! Having dealt with the picky elves before, I took over the position of broker from my pathetically unconcious predecessor. I realized, to my horror, that almost all of our trade goods contained wood, bone, or some other substance that would offend the elves. I immediately ordered the metalcrafter to make aluminum goblets to trade. Hopefully he will be done in time. That metalcrafter chap seems to go by the unusual name 'darksaiyan.' These dwarves are a strange lot.
26 Granite 302: Success. Darksaiyan has come through with three aluminum goblets. Though I am not skilled at trading, I manage to trade two of the goblets for various elf knick-knacks and some booze. I somehow think they got the better deal...
27 Granite 302: The new refuse stockpile has been completed. Refuse is being shifted as I write this.
3 Slate 302: Production is going forward on my project. I am seeing to much of the mechanics myself. I have also ordered the construction of pump components - blocks, corkscrews, and pipe sections. Pumps are always useful.
6 Slate 302: I noticed that the farms were not producing food, so I asked the farming dwarves why. They told me that their previous ruler ordered them to grow plump helmets in the winter, but didn't tell them what to do in other seasons. Do these dwarves want to starve to death? It's not like we can eat skeletal carp.
12 Slate 302: Things have been very peaceful so far, but someone has reported a female a zombie pike stalking the area to the northeast. I will keep my eye on her. Wait a second, how do we even know what that undead thing's gender is? The world may never know.
13 Slate 302: Migrants! By Litast's talons, there are a lot of them. I counted at least twenty. Among them are 6 peasants 3 (!) metalcrafters and 3 children, as well as copious quantities of milkers and other such useless dwarves BAH! At least this immigrant wave had a weaponsmith and an armorer - I shall try to protect them. The fortress population is now 39 - almost tripled!!!
14 Slate 302: The migrants have decided to mill about outside, around the place where they entered. Don't they know where they are?!? Hanging around outside is suicide here. Come to think of it, why are so many dwarves crazy enough to come here at all?
19 Slate 302: A group of the immigrants finally decided to head towards the main fortress. Unfortunately, this caught the attention of the dreaded undead carp and pike, who rushed the bunch as they approached the entrance of the fortress. We are unsure of the exact numbers, but there must have been at least five undead fish 'running' around in a bloody frenzy, along with one skeletal fox. It was an ugly sight. Many immigrants were struck down, as were many native dwarves. Catten Erithid, an immigrant fishery worker, heroicly held off the horde of undead fish, sacrificing her life for lives of many dwarves. All in all, 6 dwarves lay dead at the end of the end of the day, including that metalcrafter chap 'darksaiyan.' Now I'll never know where his bizarre nickname came from. I ordered his burial chamber smoothed for future engraving. (Note: sorry darksaiyan, I honestly tried to get you out of the way there, but it was chaotic as hell.)
I spent most of this time working underground on the waterwheels, but I heard the screams. They will haunt me for the rest of my life.
23rd Slate 302: It is still very dangerous outside. The Weaponsmith immigrant has been killed by an undead carp. I have ordered the armorer to not haul goods, but he insists that he must keep on going outside anyway.
25th Slate 302: My predecessor (who is still bedridden I might add) must have forseen last week's carnage as he dug out many alcoves underground for burial places. Unfortunately, the large (and still increasing) number of dead exceeds our capacity to build coffins in a timely manner. I ordered a room in the catacombs dug out as a temporary place to store the dead. It is better than rotting outside I suppose.
1st Felsite 302: My project is going through most of the fortress's wood supply. I order one of the immigrant peasants to chop wood with one of the axes left over from last month's carnage.
3rd Felsite 302: Finally good news! One of the waterwheels is finished. We now have a functional power source. More are to come.
8th Felsite 302: We ran out of alchohol - I should really watch that more carefully. Dwarves are getting slaughtered going outside to drink. I ordered more to be brewed, and also ordered a well room to be built. Finally, a reason to use pumps. We've got more than enough power now.
12 Felsite 302: Today, I was informed that Inod the jeweler withdrew from society. My first reaction upon hearing this was "who?" I've never seen this dwarf before.
Then I was informed that this dwarf was one of the original seven founders, but had lost an arm and was bedridden. I'm not holding out much hope:
14 Felsite 302: The armorer finally died after running outside one time too many - the fool. Now what will we do?
21 Felsite 302: Finally I have had a chance to view our graveyard. It is not an encouraging site. I salute those brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice to save others. Ah Hell, I also salute the stupid ones who ran out to gather pig tail socks and were killed. May Litast watch over their souls, just a surely as she watches over her chicks.
1 Hematite 302: Summer has arrived. As I look back over my leadership up to this point, I am suprised just how much has occured in the last three months. I hope the next nine months will not be so bloody. The well is almost complete. I have installed a lever that will toggle the pumps to fill the water chamber. The dwarves are refusing to construct the millstone for some odd reason. I have ordered it placed next to the construction site to speed matters.
