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[InfiniteCastor]

Siege before the first migrant wave. This is going to be one hell of a game.

[Askarn]

Looks interesting, put me down for a turn

[Deus Asmoth]

I think that the first year invaders are a bug caused by the game no longer starting. On the first of Granite or something similar. If we get lucky, something will scare them and they'll climb into the volcano.

[Northstar1989]

I think that the first year invaders are a bug caused by the game no longer starting. On the first of Granite or something similar. If we get lucky, something will scare them and they'll climb into the volcano.

I've managed to weather several sieges (pictures coming soon) by this point, and I don't think you guys will have to worry about invaders much in the future.  The fortress now has large walls for defense, a moderate amount of enclosed low-productivity pasture (grass doesn't grow very well in the Tundra even in a greenhouse), and 42 livestock (as of this post) within the walls (most are dogs/cats/pigs).  There is also enough underground farmland to feed 4 or 5 times the current population with booze-cooking and careful management, and at least twice without.

As long as you remember to keep the bridge up most of the time, you should be fine.  In fact, as I write this post (currently in the final month of my first turn), I'm laughing at Goblin invaders running circles around my walls, and thinking about if I'll have time to kill them before the end of the month.   


Images coming soon.


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Hey guys,

Would have loved to have these images up last night, but my internet died on me...  The fortress is almost ready to be passed on (any advice on the best way to transfer the file?  As in specific file-sharing sites- I've never actually posted files to this forum before...) but I've got a few more days left in my mandate and one sudden emergency to attend to before I lay down the reins of leadership for the time being...


First of all, we got more migrants!  And the fortifications began to really come along:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

But we also got more Goblins- and lost ANOTHER Dwarf to their attacks:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Humorously though, the Goblin Hammerman who drove his hammer so firmly into the Militia Commander's skull that it got stuck there and he couldn't remove it, proceeded to panic from the loss of his weapon.  The rest of the Goblin Siege then ran off the map in a panic- not that there was any more damage they could do, as the rest of my Dwarves and livestock were safely inside the Fortress.

But we survived, and soon we had another Dwarven Caravan and Outpost Liaison:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bad news came with the caravan though, Crafteddawns- the trading fortress I established before (with a perimeter wall and 20 Dwarves, so I wouldn't really call it *small*) was conquered by the Goblin menace a few months ago!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is despite it being located so far from the Gobbos that none of them showed up on the "neighbor" screen on Embark...

I dutifully ordered up some more trade goods for next year's caravan with the Outpost Liaison.  Hopefully we get a liaison next year despite the loss of Crafteddawns...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I ordered up ores; Quartzite; and livestock (sheep, pigs, cats and dogs) for a budding meat, dairy, and wool industry



And wood!  Lots of wood...

And re-appropriated out Magma Kilns to make crafts instead of bricks in the hope of pawning off these essentially free Earthenware trinkets for valuable stuff like metals (and metal items we can melt down for free at our Magma Smelters), wood, and breeding pairs of livestock:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The caravan decided they were going to leave before I could get hardly any trade goods or my Broker to the Trade Depot though (I was rather occupied with building fortifications and expanding the fortress), so I decided to deconstruct the Trade Depot and STEAL everything they had brought to trade with us.  I don't feel great about it, but what are they going to do- siege us?  That's laughable once you see the strength of our fortifications by the end of my turn...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The fortifications continued to come along, slowly but surely.  Unfortunately, I wasted quite a bit of effort building something and then second-guessing its position and deconstructing it after completion instead of just GOING WITH IT.  But the end result was still an impressive castle of a fortress...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Outpost Liaison, meanwhile, offered us an export agreement for next year despite stealing all the Caravan's stuff.  Pay careful attention, because THESE are the goods you will be needing to sell to them Doctor McTaalik:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I recommend focusing on the windows, amulets, and figurines by producing (free) stuff at the Magma Glass Furnaces and Magma Kilns.  The agriculture-based items (cloth, backpacks, armor if you make it out of leather, and ammunition if you make it out of bone) would also be a perfectly valid set of targets to focus on, though...

And MORE migrants arrived soon after the caravan.  Our fortress population is growing slowly but surely, despite the best efforts of the Goblins...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then a Clothier was possessed.  Hmmm, I wonder what he'll make us- an artifact shirt perhaps?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Unfortunately said Clothier insisted on blindly running around without apparent purpose outside of the fortress, instead of going in and claiming a workshop.  This didn't bode well for him when a Goblin invasion arrived and insisted on hunting down everything alive they could find...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Including this Blue Peachick.  Poor baby bird...


Or this gander.  The Goblins must have some kind of bird-fetish... 

Or my poor, possessed Clothier himself.  This was shortly before he was killed...

They also managed to catch a Fisherdwarf who didn't manage to make it back inside the fortress before I threw up a temporary wall across the main gates (not visible here, as it was a couple z-levels below the main gate- which wasn't yet connected to a lever).

I survived that siege as well, though, and went back to my ordinary business, including slaughtering some livestock I had gotten (stolen) from the Dwarven Caravan:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sorry bunny-lovers.  Despite their strangely Monty-Python like prowess against super-large enemies live titans in this version (Gobbos will still eat them alive), I didn't feel like having a million bunnies hopping around my fortress and eating all the grass that could have gone to more useful animals- like sheep.

I also got some more migrants- which is good.  We're one step closer to reaching a critical mass of population where we can exist indefinitely without additional migrants (Dwarves won't marry their own brothers/sisters/cousins, so you need a population above a certain threshold to ensure multiple parallel family lines can exist.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then one of our Craftsdwarves withdrew from society in a strange mood...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And almost immediately claimed a Mason's Workshop and begun work on an artifact (with nothing but a boulder of Basalt and a boulder of Native Copper he found lying about nearby), which alleviated my fears he would fail his mood or just wander blindly about like my Clothier...

And constructed Udtomus- a basal table!  Nice!  We now have a Legendary Mason, as well as an artifact-quality table, which should be perfect for building a Legendary Dining Hall!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I quickly assigned the artifact-quality Basalt Table to the dining hall I had been laying out, and the Dwarves *immediately* threw a party there to celebrate! (I also made the Dining Hall a Meeting Hall, to try and reduce the tendency of my Dwarves to loiter around outside and get killed by the Goblins...)

It wasn't long before the Goblins arrived though- apparently drawn by word of our Legendary Table (I wonder what it'll do when magic comes out for artifacts- maybe allow Dwarves to eat without consuming the food item?)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I proceeded to laugh at them though (this was when I made my previous post).  After all- what could they do?!  All my Dwarves and livestock were cloistered safely inside the fortress walls, and I raised the main gate shortly after they arrived...   


That turned out to be a mistake though...  NEVER underestimate the stupidity of your Dwarves!   



Apparently, my Dwarves decided that this was the PERFECT time to practice their high-board diving skills OFF THE EDGE OF THE FORTRESS, INTO SOLID GROUND A HALF-DOZEN Z-LEVELS BELOW!  Or rather, I ordered the construction of an additional z-level of wall along the top of my existing fortifications, and when my Dwarves caught sight of the Goblins waiting patiently on another hill-top HALFWAY ACROSS THE MAP (since they could find no way into my fortress), most of them decided to panic and jump off the walls AWAY from my fortress rather than back inside it (two or three Dwarves with some existing points in Discipline actually ignored the Goblins, and made it safely back down from the walls after completing their assigned squares of wall...)

Three of the Dwarves are crippled from the jump, with serious spine or limb injuries, and probably won't make it back inside the walls alive (as they are unable to move- they periodically flashed white X-marks, even though you can't see it here).  The other three Dwarves, however, miraculously landed with nothing but bruises.  I'm currently torn between the need to pull them back inside the walls to try and avoid a tantrum-spiral (the loss of 3 Dwarves might be acceptable to the others- especially if they weren't well-liked; but the loss of 6 Dwarves spells almost certain doom for my fortress of just over 30 Dwarves...), and the risk of losing the rest of the fortress or additional Dwarves if I open the main gates to try and retrieve them...


News on the final result (and the save file- once I figure out how to upload it.  I'd appreciate advice in this matter), soon!  I've only got a week or two left in my mandate to resolve this crisis!


Regards,
Northstar

[peregarrett]

Just zip your whole region folder and upload to DFFD.

[Northstar1989]

Just zip your whole region folder and upload to DFFD.

Good idea, will do.

DoctorMcTaalik, your turn.  I ended my mandate three days early (on the 20th of Malachite 254, instead of the 23rd) so you'll have more time to resolve the crisis I left you- you have until the 23rd of Malachite 256 for your turn.  Nobody's going to be a stickler if you go two or three days over, but try not to.


Speaking of the crisis, I did my best to resolve it in what time I had left.  That is, after inspecting the injuries to my Dwarves (it turns out only 1 of the 6 Dwarves was actually crippled- the other two had just passed out from pain after one or both of their hands exploded in gore...) I decided to open the main gate, and trust they could find their way back in:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

First stop, the combat reports screen, to examine the full extend of the injuries:

The combat reports screen also revealed why 3 of the Dwarves were almost completely unharmed- they landed ON TOP OF one of the other Dwarves.  Apparently, this Dwarven-dogpile managed to spare all the bottom Dwarf from injury- who lost another hand thanks to the Dwarves landing on top of him...

The Potter is an example of one of the Dwarves who I THOUGHT was crippled, but had only received comparatively minor injuries, on the other hand.


Whereas the Expedition Leader is crippled, and will bravely sacrifice himself (As a Dwarven meatshield) so the other Dwarves can escape to safety.

We also lost another bird to the attackers.  I didn't wait for this bird to recover consciousness for good before closing the main gate- although it *IS* possible this bird might have been able to escape with its life if I had waited a little longer.  It's somebody's pet, so be prepared for the owner to be unhappy about its loss.  DoctorMcTaalik, you're free to try and save the bird (by pasturing it inside, and lowering the gate for somebody to run out and shepherd it back inside- note this will probably only work if the bird is conscious) if you want.  Wait to see if it regains consciousness in the next few days, and which way the Goblin invaders head.  IF they circle around the opposite side of the fortress, to chase the one panicked Dwarf who ran that way, you're free to try and safely recover the bird so its owner won't be unhappy.  Its injuries should probably be survivable, although don't quote me on that...

Here the noble Expedition Leader can be seen, waiting to make his noble sacrifice of his own life to the Goblins of the good of the fortress...  DoctorMcTaalik, I recommend appointing him as the Militia Commander before the Goblins arrive and ordering him to try and kill the first Goblin to close on him- who knows, maybe he'll manage to bite a Goblin's leg off if they close to melee. 

One of my other Dwarves to jump off the wall, as I mentioned before, decided to run off in the OPPOSITE direction from the main gate when he saw the Goblins approaching where he landed at the base of the wall.  I doubt he'll survive to make it back inside the fortress, though once again, DoctorMcTaalki, you're free to try.  Maybe we'll get lucky and the Goblin invaders will panic and run away after losing another War Hammer embedded in the head of the current Expedition Leader before they get to this guy...

Here can be seen the order for the Dwarves to raise the main gate...

And the gate has been raised!  4 of the 6 Dwarves who jumped off the wall managed to make it safely back inside the fortress as far as I can tell.  All that remains outside the walls is the Expedition Leader (who is crippled, and was probably too close to the Goblins for anyone to go and retrieve him), the Dwarf who ran off in the wrong direction from the main gate in a panic, and a pet bird.  DoctorMcTaalik, you should closely monitor the situation (I recommend pausing frequently to look around), and determine if there's any way to save the remaining two Dwarves or pet bird if possible.

I now concede leadership, for the time being.  I ended 3 days early to give DoctorMcTaalik a bit more time to form and execute a plan to try and save the remaining Dwarves outside the walls (if possible) and make sure there aren't more Dwarves trapped outside than I thought (I recommend going down each and every Dwarf in the Citizens List accessible through "u" to see where each Dwarf is located (by zooming to them with "c").

Also, this should give you a bit more time to try and come up with a plan to kill the invaders (whatever you do, DON'T try and engage them in melee combat- that would be suicide, as none of our Dwarves are significantly skilled in combat, and we don't have any armor aside from what we stole from the last Dwarven Caravan...)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I recommend some kind of indirect combat that doesn't destroy their items (i.e. NOT LAVA- you want to be able to melt down their armor for Goblinite), preferably Stone-Fall traps using Clay boulders inside a Sally Port (a secondary entrance to the fort with a long trapped hallway that you close the gate of in their face, leaving them trapped between two raised bridges to pepper the trap-survivors with crossbow bolts or drop additional Clay boulders on them from above using hatches on a lever at your pleasure...)

Keep in mind that Goblins can climb ROUGH walls to escape the Sally Port or get into your fortress, but they can't climb SMOOTH walls- i.e. smoothed natural walls or those constructed out of bricks/bars rather than raw stone boulders- which is also one of several reasons I built the fortress walls out of Earthenware Bricks instead of raw Clay boulders... (the others being that bricks have a higher value and thus attract more migrants, make Dwarves happier when their rooms are built out of them or they have to sleep on them as they count as smooth rather than rough floors/walls, and won't show up in the Stocks screen as Stones like Clay boulders will- allowing a more accurate count on the number of ores and other stones we have in the fortress, though confounding counts on the number of metal bars we have...  Walls built out of bricks also look nicer than those built out of clay IMHO.)

One last image- the status of the fortress (and calendar date) as I left it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Some advice to the next overseer (DoctorMcTaalik)

(1)  Appoint a new Expedition Leader ASAP ("Replace" through the Nobles Screen using "r").  You DON'T want the Expedition Leader to get killed- sometimes this creates bugs with the continuity of the fortress and our future ability to receive Outpost Liaisons.  I would have done this fore you, but I wanted to leave it up to your judgment who would make the best replacement Expedition Leader...

(2)  Feel free to "dorf" players as requested.  I got a number of players requesting to be "dorfed" before, yet nobody pointed out specific Dwarves they wanted to get assigned even though I showed you all screenshots of the character screens of the starting 7 Dwarves.  COME ON GUYS!  If you want to be Dwarfed, you've got to speak up about which Dwarf suits your fancy...  Or we could just assign you randomly at-will, if you'd like.  I don't like to specialize my Dwarves early on, though- so I understand you couldn't expect their profession to remain constant.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I prefer a "generalist" approach, even though it's less efficient, as it creates lower-quality goods that will attract less unwanted attention to the fortress early on *cough, MEGABEASTS*, and means that it's less of a disruption to fortress industries if any individual Dwarf gets picked off by Goblin invaders...  It also helps ensure my Dwarves are always productive- if I see an idle Dwarf, I just assign them a new labor preference, such as Masonry- as we needed literally every Dwarf in the fortress acting as a Mason when idle from other tasks in order to build the fortress walls as tall as you see them now in just two years... (only Masons can build walls/floors/stairs/ramps/fortifications/bridges out of bricks or stone, and only Carpenters out of wood or wood blocks...)

(3)  The fortifications are (mostly) finished, and as tall as they can safely be built upwards- as I just demonstrated, building further upwards has become QUITE HAZARDOUS.  If you want to engage in more surface construction, the best approach would probably be to dump several hundred Earthenware bricks outside the fortress walls using a Garbage Dump, and have new migrants build a sort of town at the base of the main fortress walls...  However whatever you do, DON'T do this by dropping the bricks over the fortress walls- this is likely to get more Dwarves killed the next time there's a Goblin invasion, and there is a much better approach:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Near the main gate to the fortress there is a sort of causeway over the approach to the gate, with an empty space not enclosed by the main gate below.  I built this space for three reasons: one was with the intention of deconstructing one of the floor tiles on the causeway above it, and building a lever-operated hatch to safely drop supplies for new migrants to the fortress.  This way, you can forbid the doors to the tower, pull a lever outside the tower, and drop the supplies with no Dwarves in harm's way... (the other reasons for this space were because I noticed gatherable plants periodically spawning around the fortress gates; and so I could shoot through the hatch at invaders below.  I figured if I left this area covered but Above Ground, I would see new herbs spawn there periodically that I could send my Herbalist out to gather in times of peace to add variety to the fortress diet...  The ceiling overhead simply means my Herbalist doesn't have to get snowed on while working, and makes the herbs easier to spot than against a backdrop of snow...

(4)  Two or three types of above-ground crops grow in the Tundra biome- Cranberries, Bilberries, and possibly Blueberries.  All should be brewable, and Cranberries/Bilberries can be farmed in the exposed Above Ground soil in the basement of the fortress (see the NOTES page for this and other hints I left around the fortress for future overseers), as well as possibly Blueberries- if you manage to gather some blueberry seeds (I don't have any, so they don't appear on my farm plots).  They're new with the 0.40.08 update, as "Garden Plants", so I don't blame any of you for not being familiar with them yet:
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Crop#Garden_Plants

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I recommend farming ALL of these crops.  Unlike the Underground crops, they will grow year-round in a covered Above Ground plot, such as in the current fortress basement- meaning you never need to leave the fields fallow to avoid seed-loss; and like Plump Helemts, they are all edible raw.  Currently, a number of Dwarves are getting unhappy thoughts from eating the same old gruel and drinking the same old drink day-after-day, as Plump Helmets have managed to flood out most of the other crop types from reaching the kitchen and stills.  Increasing the number of stone (at the Craftsdwarfs' Workshop) and earthenware pots (at the Magma Kilns) to hold booze and Prepared Meals, respectively, and increasing the number of different crops grown should both help to alleviate this problem.

You might also make some gains in dietary variety by cooking up a PORTION of the Plump Helmet Spawn in the kitchen with some of the Dwarven Wine and meat/fish/cheese, to make Roasts through the "Prepare Lavish Meal" option at the Kitchen, once the appropriate items have been enabled on the Kitchen Screen for cooking (through "Z", on a different tab than Stocks).  These Roasts also extend our food supplies (by allowing us to cook seeds and alcohol into solid foods- neither of which are normally edible as food) and make extremely valuable trade goods, if prepared by a sufficiently-skilled Chef; as well as sparing our Dwarves from chewing on Plump Helmets and guzzling Dwarven Wine day-after-day.  However DON'T FORGET TO DISABLE COOKING OF PLUMP HELMET SPAWN after this has gone on for a while, or the cooks will gladly cook up every last Plump Helmet Spawn, leaving our Farmers unable to grow more...

It's worth the risk, though- and remember that this also works with all other seed types as well, except sometimes the new Garden Plant seeds, which are currently bugged and don't always show up in the Kitchen Screen.  If worst comes to worst, and you cook up all the seeds of a given plant, just BREW SOME OF THAT PLANT, to generate more seeds, and DISABLE COOKING OF THOSE SEEDS ASAP when they show up again in the Kitchen Screen, as they will still be enabled from before...

(5)  See the NOTES page (press "N").  Before I upload this fort, I'm going to upload the save one last time and leave even more NOTES around the fortress for future overseers.

Future overseers should also use the Notes Screen. This is one of the best ways for us to explain to the next overseer what each component of the fortress was built for, and what plans we had for the future.


Regards,
Northstar

[DoctorMcTaalik]

Just zip your whole region folder and upload to DFFD.

Good idea, will do.

DoctorMcTaalik, your turn.  I might have even gone a few days past the end of the mandate in trying to resolve the crisis situation you saw before...  Speaking of which, a quick update on that:

Regards,
Northstar

Have you uploaded your save? I can't find it on DFFD.

[Northstar1989]

Have you uploaded your save? I can't find it on DFFD.

WOW, you got on this FAST.

No, not quite yet. I decided I had too many loose ends left up around the fortress, and I needed to add a few more Notes symbols, with the game paused, so that you would have a better idea what my plans/ideas were for everything.  Also, I'm still waiting for the Activation E-Mail for my DFFD account.

By the way, see my post above. I actually posted a super-short post as a placeholder, and then Modified it into a much longer and more detailed post.  So it's changed A LOT since you quoted it... (turns out I ended my mandate 3 in-game days early, rather than a few days late, for instance)


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

OK, so there's good news and bad news.

First, the good news: the Year 254 save file (the fortress was founded in 252) is now uploaded to DFFD!

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=9408


The bad news- it turns out that there are still 6 DWARVES (as well as a pet) outside the fortress walls.  Apparently, either the Dwarves didn't enter the gate before when I thought they did, or there were even more Dwarves outside than I thought.  I highly recommend trying to find some way of saving them...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

First of all, we've got two Dwarves wandering around on the opposite side of the fortress from the gate.  Apparently one of them decided to take a nap at this fatal moment:

Second, we've got this Dwarf trapped near the main gate, with Gobbo's fast-approaching:

Third, we've got this other Dwarf, also near the Main gate, and also with Goblins hot on his trail:

We've also got the Expedition Leader, still there from before.

I leave this up to you, Doctor McTaalik.  This might take EXTREME action to save the fortress.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Extreme as in, if you can't save the Dwarves outside without losing the fortress (save-scumming is acceptable here, since I passed this problem along to you...) you might need to lock up ALL the Dwarves except one or two handpicked for their lack of friends (outside of the handpicked group- that is if there are four Dwarves who are only friends/lovers with each other, that's fine...) in a separate chamber or chambers using a WALL to seal them in (tantrumming Dwarves can tear down doors), and let nature do its course...  You can get the Dwarves into such a chamber by drafting them into the military.

If you want to give those Dwarves a chance to survive, channel access openings from above after creating the chamber and sealing in the Dwarves, and make use of Garbage Dump zones to drop in food and booze (we have plenty of both).  Also zone a food stockpile within the chamber, so the sealed-in Dwarves can stockpile it there and prevent it from rotting...

The survival of the fortress has to come first.  Having one or two individual Dwarves survive a tantrum-spiral won't do any good if they destroy everything inside the fortress through tantrums and make it unlivable; murder all the livestock; and are either crippled, or too injured to work, from fist-fights they survived during the course of the tantrum spiral...


Regards,
Northstar

[DoctorMcTaalik]

OK, so there's good news and bad news.

First, the good news: the Year 254 save file (the fortress was founded in 252) is now uploaded to DFFD!

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=9408


The bad news- it turns out that there are still 6 DWARVES (as well as a pet) outside the fortress walls.  Apparently, either the Dwarves didn't enter the gate before when I thought they did, or there were even more Dwarves outside than I thought.  I highly recommend trying to find some way of saving them...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

First of all, we've got two Dwarves wandering around on the opposite side of the fortress from the gate.  Apparently one of them decided to take a nap at this fatal moment:

Second, we've got this Dwarf trapped near the main gate, with Gobbo's fast-approaching:

Third, we've got this other Dwarf, also near the Main gate, and also with Goblins hot on his trail:

We've also got the Expedition Leader, still there from before.

I leave this up to you, Doctor McTaalik.  This might take EXTREME action to save the fortress.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Extreme as in, if you can't save the Dwarves outside without losing the fortress (save-scumming is acceptable here, since I passed this problem along to you...) you might need to lock up ALL the Dwarves except one or two handpicked for their lack of friends (outside of the handpicked group- that is if there are four Dwarves who are only friends/lovers with each other, that's fine...) in a separate chamber or chambers using a WALL to seal them in (tantrumming Dwarves can tear down doors), and let nature do its course...  You can get the Dwarves into such a chamber by drafting them into the military.

If you want to give those Dwarves a chance to survive, channel access openings from above after creating the chamber and sealing in the Dwarves, and make use of Garbage Dump zones to drop in food and booze (we have plenty of both).  Also zone a food stockpile within the chamber, so the sealed-in Dwarves can stockpile it there and prevent it from rotting...

The survival of the fortress has to come first.  Having one or two individual Dwarves survive a tantrum-spiral won't do any good if they destroy everything inside the fortress through tantrums and make it unlivable; murder all the livestock; and are either crippled, or too injured to work, from fist-fights they survived during the course of the tantrum spiral...


Regards,
Northstar

I'm glad no one was dorfed yet. This is going to be FUN indeed.

[Northstar1989]

I'm glad no one was dorfed yet. This is going to be FUN indeed.

What would Dwarf Fortress be without a little !FUN! here and there?


Nonetheless, I think this can be managed.

Even in a worst-case scenario, where you have to seal all the Dwarves but one inside what I like to euphemistically call a "Darwin Chamber" to prevent them messing up the rest of the fort; there is nothing technically preventing the fort from continuing onwards...

There are no invaders inside- and tall walls to prevent that.

There is no lava flooding the halls (and if somebody, at any point, unleashes that on the fortress, I WILL be reverting this to the last good save before that.  You literally have to be trying to flood the fort to accomplish that- your miners stop mining whenever they encounter "Warm Stone".)

There are no links to the Caverns or HFS (yet) to unleash hordes of "Clowns" or Forgotten Beasts in a never-ending foot stamping on the face of the fortress (and I would ask that ANY such links be capable of being sealed by retracted bridge or caved-in.  There's simply no need to expose the fortress to such danger.)


Dwarf Fortress in not a game that defeats you because it's too hard (at least, once a properly-designed fortress has been set up), it's a game that defeats you because you run out of willpower to sort through what needs to be done when you halls are flooded with Miasma, and your Dwarves are murdering each other with reckless abandon (that is, if a tantrum spiral you didn't see coming catches you.  We KNOW there is going to be a tantrum-spiral now, so we can take steps to seal most of the fortress' population in a "Darwin Chamber" to limit the damage...)

Often the best solution to any problem is either to seal most of your population in a bunker and let them kill each other, or seal a small segment of "sane" Dwarves in a bunker (with access to plenty of stone to engrave Memorial Slabs to the rest) and let them wait out whatever is killing the rest of your fortress...


Of course, bunkers can't be dug in a day- they take foresight.  So, I propose that once this mess is over (however it may turn out), we establish a self-contained bunker to help the fortress survive future catastrophes.

Ideally, such a bunker would have access to an obsidian farm to allow unlimited slab-engraving (so murderous ghosts from the main fortress don't slaughter the bunker's inhabitants), access to a (caged or sealed) seed population of baby livestock, plenty of stockpiled (and forbidden) seeds, and access to (forbidden until activation of the bunker) picks, anvils, and new directions to expand in so that it can essentially survive and grow as a separate fortress until whatever is affecting the main fortress is at an end.

Better yet, separate a couple Dwarves from the next migrant wave out, and seal them in such a bunker *ahead of time* as "Groundskeepers".  If they're a married couple, they can keep the fortress going for at least 100 years (Dwarves live much longer then Humans).  And if we're still playing the fortress by that time, I'm sure we can divert a few migrants to marry their (yet unborn) children when that time comes...


This Fortress MUST survive.  THE FUTURE OF THE DWARVEN RACE DEPENDS ON IT (remember, this is the last major site to stand against the Goblin menace since CraftedDawns was conquered...)


Regards,
Northstar

[DoctorMcTaalik]

I'm glad no one was dorfed yet. This is going to be FUN indeed.

What would Dwarf Fortress be without a little !FUN! here and there?


Nonetheless, I think this can be managed.

Even in a worst-case scenario, where you have to seal all the Dwarves but one inside what I like to euphemistically call a "Darwin Chamber" to prevent them messing up the rest of the fort; there is nothing technically preventing the fort from continuing onwards...

There are no invaders inside- and tall walls to prevent that.

There is no lava flooding the halls (and if somebody, at any point, unleashes that on the fortress, I WILL be reverting this to the last good save before that.  You literally have to be trying to flood the fort to accomplish that- your miners stop mining whenever they encounter "Warm Stone".)

There are no links to the Caverns or HFS (yet) to unleash hordes of "Clowns" or Forgotten Beasts in a never-ending foot stamping on the face of the fortress (and I would ask that ANY such links be capable of being sealed by retracted bridge or caved-in.  There's simply no need to expose the fortress to such danger.)


Dwarf Fortress in not a game that defeats you because it's too hard (at least, once a properly-designed fortress has been set up), it's a game that defeats you because you run out of willpower to sort through what needs to be done when you halls are flooded with Miasma, and your Dwarves are murdering each other with reckless abandon (that is, if a tantrum spiral you didn't see coming catches you.  We KNOW there is going to be a tantrum-spiral now, so we can take steps to seal most of the fortress' population in a "Darwin Chamber" to limit the damage...)

Often the best solution to any problem is either to seal most of your population in a bunker and let them kill each other, or seal a small segment of "sane" Dwarves in a bunker (with access to plenty of stone to engrave Memorial Slabs to the rest) and let them wait out whatever is killing the rest of your fortress...


Of course, bunkers can't be dug in a day- they take foresight.  So, I propose that once this mess is over (however it may turn out), we establish a self-contained bunker to help the fortress survive future catastrophes.

Ideally, such a bunker would have access to an obsidian farm to allow unlimited slab-engraving (so murderous ghosts from the main fortress don't slaughter the bunker's inhabitants), access to a (caged or sealed) seed population of baby livestock, plenty of stockpiled (and forbidden) seeds, and access to (forbidden until activation of the bunker) picks, anvils, and new directions to expand in so that it can essentially survive and grow as a separate fortress until whatever is affecting the main fortress is at an end.

Better yet, separate a couple Dwarves from the next migrant wave out, and seal them in such a bunker *ahead of time* as "Groundskeepers".  If they're a married couple, they can keep the fortress going for at least 100 years (Dwarves live much longer then Humans).  And if we're still playing the fortress by that time, I'm sure we can divert a few migrants to marry their (yet unborn) children when that time comes...


This Fortress MUST survive.  THE FUTURE OF THE DWARVEN RACE DEPENDS ON IT (remember, this is the last major site to stand against the Goblin menace since CraftedDawns was conquered...)


Regards,
Northstar

The next update is going to surprise you. Or, maybe it won't.

Regardless,
DoctorMcTaalik

(ps- If you want dwarfed, post a message with your preferred gender/prof/age/whatever, and I'll do my best.)

[Northstar1989]

The next update is going to surprise you. Or, maybe it won't.

Regardless,
DoctorMcTaalik

(ps- If you want dwarfed, post a message with your preferred gender/prof/age/whatever, and I'll do my best.)

Arghhh, the suspense is killing me!

Maybe I could convince you to post a mini-update before you're anywhere near done with the save file and ready to pass it on to the next player in the list?  (I also feel like frequent updates encourage greater detail of reporting, just like longer turn-times make players feel more invested in the fortress and give a greater sense of continuity...)

By the way, if you're naming Dwarves, and the fortress HASN'T managed to descend into a tantrum-spiral (or you pre-emptively contained it), like I said is likely; then dorf me just for the heck of it (after yourself, of course).  I'll leave it up to your judgment what Dwarf would be a good choice- just don't make it some new migrant you've reserved for hauling duties...   

Simply "Northstar" will do.  No need for the 1989 part.


Regards,
Northstar

[DoctorMcTaalik]

As I failed to complete my turn, this post is considered a dream, or perhaps unhistory- an outcome that never was, but could have been. Consider it a sneak preview (in an out of character sense) of what is to come once I get my greasy pig tail fiber mitts on the fortress.
Familiarizing yourself with the Dwarven Pantheon will make my posts make a lot more sense.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

THE DWARVEN PANTHEON:
Enam, God of Happiness


Sezomkin, Goddess of Night


Ushdish, Goddess of Rainbows


Moldath, Goddess of Volcanoes


Deler, God of War

Inmast, God of Storms

20th Malachite 254-

I wept today, diary, but the tears were tears of joy. The terrible siege which until recently had us cowering in the fortress is finally over! We learned upon lowering the bridge that one of the Dwarves trapped outside, a craftsdwarf by the name of Raluksodel, valiantly risked life and limb to defend her unconscious comrades. Her merciless pummeling of one of the invaders must have terrified the superiorly armed goblins, for they quickly fled.



23rd Malachite 254-
Today, the unexpected happened. A note arrived at my workshop, from the local overseer, naming me his successor. I was unaware of the existence of the office, but upon asking around I learned that it basically means, "King", but with minor stipulations.

My first act as Overlord was to reveal unto my new subjects my true identity: Doctor McTaalik, last priest (and therefore High Priest) of Moldath, and sole survivor of the Burning of the Hidden Temple of Moldath in the Alchemical Jungles. I also took the opportunity to outline for them my plans for the future. Of course, Diary, you were in my pocket the whole time... Surely you remember my rousing speech, in which I meticulously explained each step in my glorious two year plan? I need not recount it here.

I also appointed some new nobles. (ed note: screenshots to be added)

28th Malachite 254-
The ignorance that pervades this fortress disgusts me, Diary.

It is understandable, in times of crisis, to question one's beliefs, and to call the last century a time of crisis would be a gross understatement. When I left the ruins of the Great Library for Pagetower, I suspected to find a reasonable shortage of faith among these uneducated Dwarves.

But what I found, Diary, was a spiritual famine. Of the thirty-seven other dwarves in this fortress, only four profess to worshipping Lady Moldath, and further questioning suggests they are mere "casual" believers. Moldath allowed us into her kingdom! Her earthly body warms us, and shelters us, and allows us to survive in this harsh frozen desert. We owe everything to her, and it's time we pay her our respects.