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[Darkgamma]

So, hello everyone.

I've just decided to test my skill to see how well I'm doing, embarking for the first time in an evil biome without prior knowledge of what was in there. Shortly put, it was hilarious.

I've embarked in a terrifying biome with multiple shallow and deep metals and a river with an aquifer.
It was pleasant to discover that there was at least some green in it in addition to the dead shrubbery. It wasn't really terrifying at first.

Three axedwarves, one broker, two miners and a mason. Each was a proficient swimmer, just in case the aquifer decided to play foul. I brought bronze axes, two picks, an anvil, some drinks, meat and seeds, two war dogs and a few buckets. I specially made it so that I picked as diverse food and drinks as I could to maximise on the free barrels I got.

First fifteen minutes were pretty pleasant. I made a squad consisting of the three axedwarves and stationed them in front of the future entrance to my future fort. The dwarves already started beside a cliff, so I dug in and made an up/down staircase. The ground was solid stone. I began with a mason's and a carpenter's workshop, and two complementary stockpiles; I noticed that there was no woodcutter, so the broker became one with a snap of the fingers.

I sent him out to cut some wood.

A few thrones and tables later, I noticed that my broker-turned-woodcutter didn't bring back wood, even though he had like ten trees to chop down. Pressing "z" revealed that I was magically down to six dwarves.

A few minutes later, I was notified that he had been missing for a week. Gee whillikers, I wonder why.

I would have to do without beds.
A farm plot was set up by manual pumping from the aquifer which was three z-levels below. One miner, one farmer/cook, one mason and the military.

And, then, a bog troll thief. I was also very pleasantly notified that a bog troll was there. The axedwarves took care of him, but one lost his left lower arm.

And then the fun started to happen.
We found the lost dwarf, and put him in the same... uh... same resting place as the bog troll. It all happened in 30 minutes.

The danger's over, right?

Nah.

First, it started raining human blood, and the grey-green landscape became bloody red, and the already murky pools were now with a "pool of human blood". Wonderful.

Then, as I dug below the aquifer, I struck an amazingly expansive cave which prevented further digging. Then the miner rose from the dead, shortly followed by the bog troll.

I ordered everybody outside as soon as I could, when a "cloud of dust" swept over us.

Three zombies (woodcutter/broker, axedwarf 1, bog troll), and five thralls (axedwarf 2, farmer, mason, the dogs). To add insult to injury, a migrant wave arrived... on the other side of the river, and they were promptly thralled and began making their way to the remaining two dwarves.

I've now walled off a (very, very) small part of the fort, namely the unearthed aquifer zone. Two (somehow) frostbitten dwarves, 2x3 space surrounded by solid walls and a moat channel, no booze.

I'm considering abandoning fort.

So, shortly, hilarious.


I really think I should do this again some time, but I need to bring more seeds and more more weapons.
Any tips?

[LumberingOaf]

Bring your own wood and get underground fast. No aquifer will help.

[Darkgamma]

Yes, that ought to do it. But how am I supposed to get rid of corpses?

[Cheesoburgor]

!!Quess!!
also slaughtering corpses of cave creatures is a bloody good idea

[Darkgamma]

Makes for lots of fun, that's for sure.

[DTF]

You brought axedwarves to a reanimating biome?
You sir, are either very brave or very silly. If it isnt the former: Stop that! It's silly!


Anyway, I prefer hammers over axes in evil biomes - less severed body parts possibly rising from the dead.
Also, just wall yourself off the surface asap. Bring wood at embark (only 3pts per log), wall off or make a ditch around your wagon and hope no undead birds will spawn. Strike the earth! ... and dont come back!

Do your survivors have a pick? If so, either dig around the aquifer or punch through it via cave in and settle in the caverns until you have an ample supply of seeds to make your own farms somewhere safe.

[Darkgamma]

You brought axedwarves to a reanimating biome?
You sir, are either very brave or very silly. If it isnt the former: Stop that! It's silly!


Anyway, I prefer hammers over axes in evil biomes - less severed body parts possibly rising from the dead.
Also, just wall yourself off the surface asap. Bring wood at embark (only 3pts per log), wall off or make a ditch around your wagon and hope no undead birds will spawn. Strike the earth! ... and dont come back!

Do your survivors have a pick? If so, either dig around the aquifer or punch through it via cave in and settle in the caverns until you have an ample supply of seeds to make your own farms somewhere safe.

Your generalised plan is very good, and I really feel stupid because I didn't know that the chopped off parts would come back to attack me.
The specific plan is shoddy, though, because my dwarves are surrounded by aquifer. I think I'll flood the caverns and then get the dwarves to jump in, that would be my best bet. I just hope that the vomitmen and mudmen don't go too berserk.

[Shininglight]

I go with macedwarves in undead biomes, though my last one was killed by a reanimated Yak corpse after fighting a raven zombie for 2 months.

[(name here)]

I like axedwarves for fighting undead because dismembering them seems to be the best way to put the larger corpses down quickly and the fragments aren't nearly as dangerous as the full-sized corpses.

[Nathail]

The frostbite is probably from the blood rain. Never let your dwarves out during a blood rain. Sometimes it does nothing, sometimes it seems to do nothing, and sometimes your dwarves will spontaneously undergo bodywide hemorrhaging and die instantly. You should only have to deal with one blood-born syndrome unless you settled on the divider between two evil biomes, but knowing this sort of thing is important. Never forget; in Dwarf Fortress, knowing really is half the battle. The other half consists of ducks that have left their assigned area and migrants.

[(name here)]

Blood rains are syndrome-bearing? I thought that was only the pungent slush or whatever that does that.

I once embarked on an evil biome that constantly rained slush which knocked dwarves unconscious.

[Darkgamma]

Lucky you. I'd trade this for raining slush any time.

[megahelmet]

Good job giving it a go! I lost my fort in the terrifying tundra in under 30 seconds.  Undead muskoxen. Attempted to frantically complete a small trench. Miners ran away scared. Drafted all but one into the military to buy some time. Nope. They smashed the militia...which immediately got back up and hunted down and ate the poor miner's face.

[Darkgamma]

It's the little things that count <3

I've embarked once more, this time without an aquifer, fled underground quickly.
I'll see where this goes.