MireholePersonal Journal of ImagoDeo, Reluctant Overseer9th Granite, 305My plan to isolate the nearest group of husks has not succeeded. At least, not entirely.
The trade depot prevented the miners from digging a ring all the way around the beasts. I'm having the masons construct some ramps so we can finish the isolation. Not entirely sure it'll work, but it's better than nothing.
In other news, the crusher works just fine. Apparently the 'Under Construction' sign above the control lever was a joke someone stuck up there to keep me from using this wondrous tool. I singlehandedly massacred a squad of crossbow goblins with the device, which now has my full approval.
My attention now turns to the system of food production. (I've run out of gutter cruor.)
22nd Granite, 305This place is a nightmare. I've gotten precious little sleep in the last two weeks, what with the masons panicking about working in such close proximity to husks, to the miners insisting they had to go ALL THE ARMOK-DAMNED WAY AROUND THROUGH THE BLOODY CRUSHER in order to hack through the sod aboveground, to the migrants that just showed up.
In Armok's name I don't know how we're going to get them inside. Theoretically they'll head for the smasher, but I'm pretty damn sure they need to go by at least one set of husks to get there, and I highly doubt their decision-making skills. Gnorm will put a pick in their heads if they have hunters among them who decide to take pot-shots at the horses, and then everything would spiral out of control.
The food production is a mess, by the way. We have enough stocks to last a while, but there are farms scattered here and there, far too large for a fortress of this size; there are animals pastured randomly; there is a massive underground space for trees to grow, which I ordered cut for lumber; there is a horrific mess of a kitchen area with tanneries and butcher shops occupying nearby slots under thirty feet of earth. The stink is awful and the flies - well, we'll not speak of that. Nobody liked Gnorm's cat anyway.
Merciful Armok! Just give me a bottle of cruor and a bed! But no, I must push on.
23rd Granite, 305Our military is a chaotic mess of troops, most of whom don't know their sword hand from their arse. (Not kidding. I saw one guy
*the rest is blacked out*) Admittedly, that's the worst of it, but such displays of criminally incompetent and awe-inspiring physical uncoordination are by no means the largest portion of the problems with these drooling idiots.
Most of them are ten times as useful as masons or haulers than as warbeards. In fact, we have an entire squad composed of marksdwarves who are all far better suited to hauling, engraving, and other activities than to shooting a crossbow. When I get things reorganized, I'll make some notes as to the general structure of the squads. Maybe future overseers can follow a guide I establish. Oh, you didn't think I was going to keep at this forever, did you? HELL NO! Give it one year, and if I can't have this fortress whipped into shape - or maybe even if I CAN - I'm getting my beard out of this and retiring to a life of engraving. See, I like simple things like cobaltite, spears, and goats. Not fortresses and overseeing. Those run me ragged and leave me with terrible headaches. Oh, the headaches...
Eh. Back to the business at hand.
For now, I'm dissolving our military. We can use the extra working hands. Sooner or later, I'll put together a strong axedwarf corps and get them all training together in pairs or triplets. If they get together in larger groups, I have a hunch they just sit on their asses and drink liquor while one of them does a "Striking Demonstration" that's really just
*the rest is blacked out*.
The migrants are still on their way in. I'll write something when they all get inside... or die trying. I'd bet a bottle of cruor on the latter.
25th Granite, 305They're all inside and safe. All 25 of them. Notably, we have two skilled doctors to join our ranks, several skilled axedwarves who will go into the militia as soon as I get everything else sorted out, and two or three good mechanics. A few clothiers, some weavers, a good woodworker, and a bunch of dithering beards who have no idea how to do anything useful. They'll go to work hauling stone around the fortress for the next thirty years.
The fortress' stockpiles should really be my first task, even before the food production setup. In fact, the latter is kind of dependent on the former, so it would make sense to do it first. I've ordered the carpenters to build a few minecarts.
Late Granite, 305
Oh, great. No doubt he'll make another stone toy hammer or some garbage.
9th Slade Slate, 305ARMOK DAMN YOU AUBURNSEALS
ARE YOU A TREE-EMBRACING ELF?! WHAT THE GOBLIN-SUCKING HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING UP THERE? HOLY ARMOK, THE STUPIDITY! IT BURNS...
*tear-stains on the page* where's my gutter cruor
12th Slate, 305
She finally wandered inside through the crusher entrance after she heard my shouted directions to go around. She is likely the stupidest dwarf I have ever met. Every time she saw the husks, she'd freak out and run back to the south, but then forget they were there and head back toward the depot to get underground again. I CAN'T EVEN-- No, breathe, breathe... I... I need some cruor. And a vacation.
In other news, I managed to rearrange the military into some semblance of order. Not everyone has been happy with the changes, but it's all for the better, whether the ingrates realize it or not. Axes will always be of more value to us than some silly wrestling corps. And they're disappointed that they can't slack off on training duty. Hah! I'll show them. They'll all be mythical fighters by the time I'm through with them, capable of cleaving goblin skulls like tissue paper. THEN maybe I'll get some thanks.
As it stands, we have:
-1 Squad of 3 - Shadowhammer, Batdorf (the Militia Commander), and Karma.
-4 Squads of 2 - miscellaneous axe-skilled individuals who were just standing around.
All axedwarves. Further military additions should probably follow the same pattern, but for now those 11 will form the core of our forces. I'm confident that they'll one day be able to repel sieges, husks, and beasts alike.
I had everyone begin the horrendous process of reorganizing every stockpile we own. It's going to take all year, no doubt, but it's a start. All of the logs have been moved into one pile; the stones are on the move, too, thank Armok; most of our blocks have been consolidated; and all of the furniture that had been lying around is on its way to a fourth pile. That's just a start; we still have gems, armor, weaponry, and other kinds of trade goods to fix.
I need to start thinking about the autumn and the caravan that's bound to arrive. It wouldn't work out very well if the caravan ran into a pack of husks... I need to accelerate my plans to deal with the monstrosities.
-ImagoDeo, Reluctant Overseer
Author
Topic: Mirehole, the Great Succession Fortress in the Swamp (Read 23498 times)