Bay 12 Games Forum

This (found at the Academy of Science) is pretty dang efficient. You might want to consider the highly effective new dwarven childcare or even training them in useful skills as adults instead, though, unless you expect your fortress to fall soon.

Happy out-of-character summer update!

Turns out the summer secret was that nothing much happened during the summer. You know, other than a handful of children going insane, a bunch of unclaimed dwarves (no named deaths! Huzzah!) dying of thirst in the hospital, where they've been hanging out for ages, an easily-broken seige, and continuing to try and shore up defenses in the caverns and on the surface. I'm also about ready to start having squads execute prisoners (fixed the aborted mass pitting project), and I've been moving industries down into the stone layers where there's more room! Oh, and the queen has gotten herself elected mayor, and I locked her into her room.

I know I've been building up to a mad-science themed execution for...certain notables...but I honestly don't know if I'll be able to make that happen by year's end. If it helps, I kind of figure that ol' Uzol "escondida" Whirlurns is the kind of dwarf who really would get sidetracked trying to save the fort and improve infrastructure, particularly since the Queen is locked safely away for now. \-:

There wasn't really anything notable to take pictures of all summer, but I have a few ready for autumn...tomorrow.

Summer's proceeding. Should have an update up tomorrow; 'til then, it's a seeeeeeecret. Whether a boring secret or an exciting one, I leave to your febrile imaginations.

It has been...quite a spring. Just as things were starting to settle down after the winter-long riots, a seige came to destroy us all. They managed to take out at least Beirus II and the Prophet (I could have missed some; the announcements were flooded with job cancellation spam as well). Benev also died at the hands of tantruming dwarves after murdering a citizen at behest of the mayor. I'm so sorry; I don't think there's anything I could've done (I don't know why the Prophet was on the surface, and Beirus II died in the line of duty). If y'all want to be redwarfed, please let me know. )-:

NCommander, I gave you a veteran military dwarf, Mistèm "N. Commander" Languagelashed the Friendly Speaker of Growths, Commander of N., swordmaster.


Oh, and the queen finally came, and she's definitely cut out to be a tyrant:

---

The following are fragments from the journals of Uzol "Escondida" Whirledurns, overseer of Harvestcoast


Improvements to fort security continute. Not all the threats come from outside; I'm constantly worried that some grief-stricken lover or friend or parent or child will tear down the doors to the caverns or the door holding the unfinished well back from the living quarters. I'm having walls put in everywhere.


-~-~

Since my assignment to this job, I have reclaimed my old job as a biological engineer and have been getting back into practice. I let everyone know that they could find me in my workshop anytime I needed to know something about the fortress's operations. I may have to rescind this policy, because it seems like every day dwarves are coming to me, shouting about how they lost the specific shale block they needed to build something. Naturally, I tell them to get another block, and then they get back to work. I just don't know why they don't think of these things themselves.

-~-~

It turns out that I was by no means the only skilled dwarf to be assigned menial tasks; many have approached me since I took office and begged to be allowed to do their jobs, their real jobs, and stop hauling and all the other asinine tasks best left to those without useful talents. Naturally, I acquiesced, as long as they could provide me proof that they could do the job they requested. A few have tried to fake it in order to get cushy jobs without hauling duty; I assigned them even more drudgery as punishment.

-~-~

Today was truly terrible. Benev...why did you do it? Gods, I just can't believe it. Today, that louse of a mayor, Led Paintlove, claimed that Goden, one of the miners, had committed treason by failing to produce enough millstones. We don't even have mechanical power here! What possible use could there be for a millstone? Benev apparently took him at his word and immediately beat poor Goden to death without even asking any questions.


In response, some nearby bystander sought vengeance and somehow killed Benev.


Naturally, I stepped in and spoke to the remaining guards about who was truly to blame: Led Paintlove. Furthermore, he's directly responsible for ordering the deaths of numerous other citizens. I also may have exaggerated his involvement in various other recent murders.


Unfortunately, it turns out that the rest of the Guard is in on it. They gave this mass-murderer a light beating, when Goden lies dead and Benev sullied his name before his own death at this fiend's behest.


There will be blood, Led. And before you die, you will suffer, I promise you that.

-~-~


It seems that people are starting to behave somewhat more rationally. I've never been happier to go to a party.

-~-~

Gods...I'm not ready. The fort isn't anywhere near ready. But here she is. The queen.


What can I do? I need to prepare. I knew she would come eventually, but I always thought I would have more time to prepare a suitable reception.

-~-~

--lic works projects continue as planned. Elitist snobs didn't even let most people have basic furniture in their bedrooms. Well, we'll see about that. I'll put statues in every bedroom before I'm done!


-~-~

Torgue just rushed into my office to tell me in grisly detail about how he single-handedly took down a blind cave ogre in the depths. If all the soldiers feel the need to share this stuff, I'm not sure my stomach can take it.


-~-~

--and the kid finally finished that big school project. Don't know why he bothered to tell me; just looked like a really nice earring.


~-~-

--have to write this up. I have to record this for whoever comes next, or for historians, or, hell, just to get this out of my system. We drove back the seige, but at a great cost. Both the child prophet and Beirus II were slain by the craven beasts. I don't even know what to say. I thought I was getting used to all the deaths, but I guess you never can.

Why not construct walls? For one thing, it'll be easier to build 'em 2+ z high, not to mention much less of a pain to designate.

One of your dwarves might be a vampire if your fort has yet to have any combat, and after a drained body has been found her thoughts read "Nil Usenlikot has been quite content lately. She took joy in slaughter lately."

I suspected her when she arrived with mace and most other combat skills of 5 and 60 kills, and was a former member of about 10 groups. But her relations list looked fairly normal and didn't include a deity. Vampires I have seen in the past always listed the deity that cursed them. Everything else about her also seemed normal and I was in need of military types, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt.

Honestly, she just sounds like a veteran who happened to migrate to your fort. Also, the multiple memberships thing is probably more common in the current version, what with refugees running all over the place and whatnot. The "joy in slaughter" thought could have come from anything (and iirc vamps don't get it from draining), such as happening to bat a kea out of the air on her way into the fort.

Is she complaining about not having had a drink lately, despite having plenty of booze; or does she have thoughts about eating, drinking and/or sleeping? If the former, she's probably your vampire. If the latter, to find the true culprit, look for dwarves who haven't had a drink in far too long; who have high social skills; and who have the appearance of someone x years old.

Oh, and mace skill is pretty worthless; get her a warhammer ASAP! It'll be well worth the additional time it takes to get her trained up.

So it's been 2 weeks since Torgue's last post, and a week since than402 and I tried bumping the thread for attention. And it's been nearly 2 months since this turn started. I'm quite willing to wait if Torgue is still interested in playing this year through to the end, but if there's still no word by, say, next Thursday (25th), should I just start the year anew? Thoughts?

Edit: Spell names correctly