Journal of Endok Monangbesmar:
1st Hematite, 1064:
The last few weeks have been quite exciting! Finally, the fish caught by the carp trap have been brought to the main fortress for further taming! Surely this calls for some sort of celebration!
It also turns out that these fish will be more difficult to train than I had originally envisioned. My standard techniques have thus far made little progress, but I'm still confident that soon we may have these wondrous creatures swimming beside us in the swimming pool. I have heard of the elves having such pools, "Koi Ponds" as they call them, so surely such a marvel is well within our capacity as dwarves.
Meanwhile, progress on the abbey is strong. Valter estimates that the foundation excavation should be completed by the onset of the dry season, which will mean pleasant working conditions for the workers as they begin to lay the cornerstones of the great project.
Still, there are a couple problems to be solved. First, there is a veritable network of tunnels weaving around the foundation pits. Valter insisted that these be added after he got himself stranded a week or so ago and had to dig his way out. The tunnels provide access to our workers as they dig, and later construct the foundation, but I fear that once completed, these tunnels will prove to be a perfect habitat for rats, as well as their larger kin, kobolds. These aren't nearly as friendly as elephants or carp. The second problem is how we will construct the great windows, for what abbey is complete without giant stained glass walls? Alas, we do not have any known source of sand, and although there are indeed areas that remain unexplored, there is a very good chance that we will have no sand whatsoever within a reasonable distance. Valter suggested that we use cut gems for the windows, and showed me how they might be worked to produce results of great beauty, but both of us have doubts as to how we might aquire such quantities of gems as will surely be required.
