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Ahem... No. It was not completed. The first thing I did during my term was cancel all dig orders and undesignate the massive areas of planned excavation that were tying up our few able bodied workers.

But speaking of Magma... we do have a Magma forge and several Magma smelters and even a glass works, etc. They're just hard to find. They're even not that far off the central stairway leading into the depths... just go down really far.

And no, the goblins are not building destroyers. I dismantled the bridge myself rather than figure out which lever operated it and which lever flooded the fortress. Wasn't much of a problem for me, though it does make ambushes a little interesting. Hence why I built traps in front of our entrance.

Oh, and keep in mind that technically that scorpion can path into our fortress since it wasn't walled in. The section of the underground where the dogs were has a staircase that pops out on the surface inside the secondary walls but outside the main enclosure. Which is the second reason I didn't bother putting up a gate on the outside walls. It's the inside walls we should defend. Still, those batmen rock! Taking on not one but two forgotten beasts... wow.

One option for people that simply aren't responding is that you just sideline them indeterminately. You just put them on a wait list and say their character is off doing something. If they never come back... no biggie but it makes way for more active players. Personally I'm more inclined to give them a few days or turns and then kill them off, but that's just me. 

Hey, I'd be willing to have another go at this somewhere down the line. Depending on timing of course. It took me a while to get used to things and the caverns didn't help, but it was very ... interesting. I've never seen a tantrum spiral in my forts and cleaning up after one and the presuing attacks was amusing. Let's just say "He doesn't care about anything anymore" would be appropriate. Oh, look. Another seven dwarves died. Ok. Well, I guess I should make more coffins eventually.

Seriously though, FPS is much more doable now than it was before. So let's keep things rolling... even if it's downhill into our subterranean lake!

Help fix the damage to the wagons and get the caravan moving again, keeping an eye out for other predators.

(Do the slain even carry loot? I thought they dissappeared in a puff of smoke.)

1st of Granite 594

It's over. I'm done. Praise be to Doren.

What's better still is that I'm alive.

The humans came to trade and I took useful items from them, mostly some metal, weapons, food and drink. Not that we particularly need it, but it doesn't hurt. Same with the dwarven traders that came later in the fall. The mayor was able to speak with them and I've persuaded Iden to request more... useful items. I mean, honestly, do you really trust someone else's prepared crundle lung? I can barely manage to choke down my own, much less something that's been handled by someone else. Of course, anything is palatable if I can wash it down with enough prickle berry wine. Tart's a good word for it.

This place is finally beginning to shape up, though, organized it is not. Far cry from it in fact, but hey, you can only do so much with what you've been given. Of the original batches of dwarves I have no idea how many are left, but it's precious few. Considering the ninety odd coffins out front I can't imagine too many are still around. I even had a pet cemetary installed around the corner for Edem. She was moping around for months because her pet dog died and she was unable to bury it. Well, we got to it eventually I dare say.

After some difficulty with the power system for the pumps we finally managed  get those working and divert the river enough to wall off the entrance to the underground caverns, which will stop the flow of water to them. Who knows how many cave systems we've destroyed by flooding them. We even lost one of our named wardogs. Twas it that finished off the second blind cave ogre. Shame.
Anyways, it's all sealed now and the river's running along it's proper course. I've torn down the pumps and power systems to use elsewhere if needed, but it wasn't until afterwards that I realized that our well will need to be moved over two paces. Had to have someone dig out a small piece of wall to access the pit that the river still flows into, so we'll always have water there, but the well will still need to be made.

Had a few more weapon traps installed to cover the entrance. Hope that helps keep down the goblin ambushes. We can always fall back to the inner layer of traps if need be. It's still a work in progress. I even requested five stone floodgates made to use as a proper gate instead of a silly old bridge, but haven't gotten around to installing it. Ah well, I'm sure the next guy will take care of it. Which brings me to the 'next guy'.

So, sometime in mid fall I wake up on the floor of a craftsdwarf workshop, holding in my hands an exquisitely carved toy boat, down to the rigging and sails. It seemed like it was made from pure gemstone and glinted when held to the light. Chrysocolla I believe and the blue-green surface was fabulously shiny. On the wall written in blood (cow by the smell of it) was it's name Zamoth Nothok, or the Venoms of Obeisance in the common tongue. I don't know what or who possessed me, other than perhaps the spirit of some poor sap who recently died around here. Pretty boat though.

Apparently I annoyed Fikod Gladglazed though. I'd dabbled in gemcutting in my youth and knew a bit about it, but with the creation of my toy boat she'd been heard storming through the fortress shouting that it was her job, that SHE was the gemcutter here. (Not like I've let her do any of it, mind you. Heh.) So, not a month or two later she decides to do a piece of her own.

It's pretty. I suppose. Arrogant bi... I mean, um. Am I allowed to write this in here? Anyways, my boat was valued at 4800 DB while hers, since she cut a perfect emerald was valued at 96000 DB. Sure if I had known it was a competition I'd have used some of the diamonds... But she's gained insight from her piece that I have not, so I guess it's back to the butchery for me. Not that I mind it.

Means I get the best cuts of meat before anyone else does. MMMMmmmm ... tenderloin of crundle anyone?



Here's the save:
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=2385

(Zipped of course. For the next overseer's turn you may want to consider beefing up entrance defenses a bit. I ran out of weapons to put in the traps. Also please not that under (o)rders most of the dwarves have almost everything disabled, as turning everything on at once would overload the job queue. Best of luck to you. Also, Jordrake, your son Drake is alive and well.

So, things are reasonably stable, we're fairly secure though IF we want to access the outer slopes again the walls will need finishing. Lots of holes in those still, but I worked on them somewhat. We have 28 dwarves around, many of which are children, despite my attempts to let snatchers get away with Drake and his crew. Except for the four or five ambushes and a half dozen thieves it was really quiet. Of course we had no reason to send dwarves anywhere particularly dangerous and we're still very short of weapons and armor. So best of luck to the next guy.

Now that I've played the new version I find it interesting and I'm looking forward to trying it out some more. Squads are complex, but you can set them up to do an awful lot, which is cool. I do have one questions still, everytime I saved the game to exit the program crashed. Every time! But only after saving my progress, strangely enough. Anyone seen this before?)

(I understand. Glad you posted again though!)

*I'll collect the light quickly for my fairy.*

(Is the whole Sight of Light thing a skill or a temporary status effect?)

Mid-spring

Blutwurst cracked his knuckles loudly  and reached his blood covered fingers for the tablet with his next work order on it. He'd been the butcher here at Cavebrands for long enough and the work orders he received were always pouring in. It'd been months since he'd bothered to even look around the place other than to stagger from his workshop to his bedroom, with occasional trips to the dining hall for a drink. The sheer volume of meat he had processed was staggering but lately he'd noticed that things were beginning to pile up. His hand came up empty and he realized that for the first time there was nothing to butcher. It was almost a disturbing thought but his gaze swept across the counter top of his workshop. A counter top that was loaded with bones and gibbets of putrid meat, in addition to a neat pile of cut meat off on one side. Even some of the pieces near the bottom were starting to turn a little grey around the edges. Would no one come and take them away?

He stuck his head briefly outside his workshop and saw a gaggle of kids, one of them apparently giddy and shouting. "Hahah, I'm in charge now! No more shall dwarves suffer!"

He'd gone on for some time while Blutwurst cleaned his fingers with one of his skinning knives that he always kept on his person. It wasn't too long before Cheddarius himself swung around and cuffed the lad strongly upside the head.

"No more of that talk! Let the rest of us get on with business."

He looked around and spotting the butcher watching strode over to him. "You! You're now appointed leader of this little hole, may the gods have mercy on us."

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Log of Blutwurst

And I thought my butcher's shop was bad! The amount of rotten meat in this place is absolutely disgusting, makes my shop look like a neat little bistro or something.

I took a quick trip through the place and I must have seen the mouldering corpses of at least two score dwarves! What by Armok's beardless chin happened here?

On second thought, I think I have some good ideas. Some of the previous overseer's must have been inept. Or daft. Or something. The northern half of the brook's bone dry and they've diverted it all into one of the underground caverns without realizing that eventually, it could flood our entire fortress. Sure it might take five or ten years or so, but still.

Another daft project was the upper walls, left sadly unfinished, and even those sections that are done are woefully unsecure. Just about anything could traipse up through the gaps left.

I suppose I spotted some of the culprits lurking outside our shut gates and slaughtering our animals. A pack of goblins. Nasty brutes.

Well, I'm taking over for now. Let's see if there's not something that can be done. First things first... who the bloody he... No. Just no. I'm re-assigning work orders. There will be no new digging, no smoothing of floors under the rotting corpses. And ... Grrrr... Lady, and I had words. She told me she's got responsibilities. I told her my skinning knife would work on her just as well as any other beast around here. I think she got the point and she's now helping to clean up this mess. Looking over our stockpile records it seems we've got more than enough food for now so I've order the farms idled as well. Those that I could find. Our farmers were perpetually sneaking off trying to plant Lor knows what down in the hidden farms in the depths.

I've designated coffins to be built so we can at least begin to clean up this charnel house.

No one in their right mind would ever want to come here with it looking li...

Holy... migrants being chased over the hillsides by the goblins.

We opened the gates. Didn't know which lever to use so we just tore them down for now. The whole entryway will need redesigning anyways. It seems the goblins charged towards the breach but after a few were struck down by our traps the rest fled just in time for the migrants to make the fortress. Well, with a few apparent exceptions, may their souls find peace.

Our population is up to thirty something now and things are beginning to get done.

Anyway... What? WHO BY THE STONES HAS BEEN PUTTING ALL MY HARD WORK OUT IN A FOOD STOCKPILE DIRECTLY IN THE SUN? NO! Aargh... food stockpiles belong indoors where it's cooler. No wonder those plants have been wilting and my meat's gone all rancid!

21st of Felsite

Ok, I've had a few good drinks now and I'm feeling a little better. I'm not sure if I should curse or pity the former overseers. At one point I'm sure this place wasn't so messed up. I've no idea what happened. Or when, but let's try to move on. Let's see... defenses...

Apparently our only forges are in the depths. Currently blocked by a beast of a blind cave ogre that has been slowly but surely decimating the dog/dwarf population of the place. Rinularban. That name sends shudders through half the fortress. One of our minders, Thob I think, or something like that, has been crying out in the stairwell but has fallen strangely silent. The ogre couldn't find him but he dehydrated because none of us could reach him. Strangely, once he was dead Cheddarius went to see what he could do about it. He almost bested the beast, scoring significant hits.

Before he had his head crushed in.

That drew the attention of some war dogs in the area who went to help out. They did more damage before one of them had a leg torn off and was then ripped in half.

It was around then that the ogre decided he'd (or was it a she?) had better finish us off if it wanted to have any peace at all. Up the main stairs it came terrorizing the fortress. As a mass the dogs lept on it and we, sheepishly followed suit. I think it took nearly a full score of us to finally lay the beast low, at a loss of many dogs, and two more dwarves, Urist and ... uh... some migrant lass. Don't really know her name. Can't be bothered to look. It'll go on a coffin somewhere I'm sure. I hardly care at this point.

The slaying of the ogre was a high point of the season since it allowed us to return to our forges and finally claim the adamantine weapon and armor that had been laying trapped down there.

I shall begin sealing off the myriad entrances into the underground caves in the hopes that that will not be a repeat. Cutting a dwarf off from his forges and gear is bad news.



((I'm working on this, but it's slow... real slow. Looking at ways to solve the river issue, but it may take a while and, to be honest, security is almost non-existant. Besides, the whole squad thing is annoying as tarnation and I can't seem to get guys to equip stuff. Sigh. I miss the old system I was familiar with. So don't expect a lot of military stuff to happen, if I can get away with it. Tons of stuff I've never seen too. But things are soooooo cluttered. Seriously... has no one heard of bins?

You know... large wooden boxes that you pile crap in?))