Journal of Laularu Kyrumo, Overseer, Late Spring 103
Well, thank Armok for paperwork. Looking over the documents, I was able to determine that, apart from the lever I personally installed that operates the crematorium, the unlabeled lever was the only one in the fort. Surmising that it locked the front gate, I immediately ordered it pulled, sealing the invading forces off. Unfortunately, I forgot about one little mishap. Remember I mentioned that I was starting preliminary excavations on a greenhouse? Well, the whole group of miners was inside at the time! And it was open to the outside. I quickly had them dig through the wall and put up a new one in its place, after getting the miners through to safety, and I heard the thump of a troll running headfirst into the wall just as it was finished. I hope this thing holds them out.
Unfortunately, Bembul and one cat were not so lucky. They chose the path that I had already sealed off, and were caught by a whole squad of trolls. Needless to say, they did not survive. I will have some of the new slabs engraved with their names in memorial.
As far as food goes, I looked over the stocks. Total stores clock in at 730, of which 474 of those items were seeds. Most of which I have ordered to be cooked into some edible form. We have only a few prepared meals, as they are being eaten by the briefly starved populace faster than they can be made. Luckily, we have 50 units of meat, and I have forbade cooking of them, so that they may last longer. Booze stocks are about 150, and so I'm not concerned there--as long as we can get farming up and running before everyone starves, we should be able to wait this out until the goblins go home. I do NOT want to engage them.
God. I can't even begin to tell you how long I've been in the kitchen lately. I remember when I would cook up masterpieces just to please the others. Now I'm mashing up seeds and throwing in spices and drowning them all in booze, as fast as I possibly can, just so I can keep the others from starving. It's so stressful... and Harper's really showing it. Poor guy. We got him the backpack he wanted, and he turned around and immediately ordered three more. I know how much they comfort you, but seriously, we need to conserve our resources if we're going to make it through. Luxuries are not going to put food on the table, and we certainly aren't going to convince the goblins to go away with a bribe of backpacks.
Though perhaps if we give them all the babies that keep popping out. It scares me to say this, but I've honestly considered butchering one of the young ones, just so we don't all starve. I know I'd be exiled or worse, though, and as much as the idea of sending our military to suicide march against the goblin storm scares me, the idea of having to escape all the goblins myself--or worse, fight them off--is even worse.
I need a drink.
Journal of Laularu Kyrumo, Overseer, Summer 103
Summer is my favorite time of year.
Why? Pig tails are in season, that's why. Sure, they're "technically" in season during autumn, but if you plant them then, there's no way they can mature before winter comes and kills them all. So you gotta plant 'em when it's hot out!
Speaking of plants, guess what we don't have in this fortress? Plump helmets, that's what. Yeah, I know, dwarves aren't often fond of eating nothing but, but they're an extremely reliable source of quick food, which we desperately need. Sadly we'll need to wait until the next caravan comes along, and buy out their stock. Good lord, I doubt we'll even GET a caravan, thanks to those bloody fantastic goblins blocking our way. Last count, there were no less than 8 trolls, 6 Goblin swordsmen mounted on cave crocodiles, 9 Goblin swordsmen on Giant Olms, 5 goblin axemen on cave crocodiles, 10 goblin axemen on Giant Olms, and a pair of master lashers, one on a croc and one on an olm.
Oh. And ten Giant Thrips and a giant badger. The thrips don't do anything, but I'm hoping the badger will get cranky (as they are oft to do) and take out a few dirty invaders for me. Not going outside as long as the number of goblins is at least twice the number of militants, and that's going to be a while.
At least the creative spirit is alive and well. Check out this goodie, produced by our new legendary clothier. Yes, we now have two of them.
Yeah. Because that's necessary. Also, note the first image. Let it be known that Bomrek is a
child. Thanks a lot, Degel, thanks for promoting child labor in our history. I hate you. Go make me some masterwork bags and shut up.
The food stores are lowering every day. With so many dwarves, the food is eaten faster than it can be produced. I'm hoping the crop of incoming plants can save us all, cause otherwise, we're gonna have to go out in a blaze of glory...
Good news is, while I was excavating the food stockpile to make room for more stuff (if we ever actually get some), I found veins of gold, iron, lignite... If we survive, then we're gonna be set. I'm also ordering the whole floor that used to be the stockades to be dug out, and I'm going to turn it into a massive farming complex. We will not starve this day.
And even then, you don't actually have to put the suckers IN the coffin, I think.
