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[Zorromorph]

What Is This?

Herein contained is what will be a generational fort with a specific ethos that will be developed a bit as the game goes on.  A roleplaying style and multiple megaprojects are planned, but much may of course be diverted by the actual events.  Once children begin to arrive I will probably add sign-ups, so hopefully it'll last long enough to be a community fort to some degree.  Should anyone be chomping at the bit to join the ranks early just in case there's FUN with the infants once they arrive, you may be sign up and you will be dorfed in turn when a crying whiny whelp is available. 

A true generational fort in the style I attend wasn't previously possible(I've been away from DF for a year or so) due to the hardcoded migrant waves.  This is 40.14 vanilla(I was almost ready to start a 40.13 game but decided to regen after the update came out), and it is my firm intent to finally play a fort through until death by FUN or FPS -- my tolerance for the latter is much higher than most players from what I've read, but who knows how much my system will take.  I was on a different, older computer the last time I played DF. 

Why Should I Read It?

You probably shouldn't.  Goodness knows there may be better ways to spend your time.  Certainly there are better writers you could read.  For me, I write about the events of the game because DF gives such great material but more fundamentally simply because I enjoy playing more, and I play better, if I'm taking the time to write about it.  So feel free to let me know what you think, or not, at your whim. 

World Generation and Facts

I start with a Small Region(65x65) as I find this to have the best balance of enough size to have a few options, small enough to feel a sense of intimacy and familiarity with the world.  This is the seventh world I generated and the situation proved much more fitting for what I wanted than the first six, so here I stopped.





Welcome to Gethnitom, 'The Past Planets'.  More specifically, you are looking at 'The Crazed Continent' here.  Generically named, the realm consists of 30 regions.  We'll concern ourselves here in the pre-briefing with only the most important ones:

The two significant bodies of water are the light-colored temperate Mauve Oceans in the central-east area, and the darker-colored tropical Gleeful Sea that dominates the eastern border of the map.  Beginning in the northwest, we find Rufaelera, 'The Vile Finger', a moderately sized haunted mountain range.  In the NE and north central area a couple of hilly regions are known as Enafalema, 'The Cremated Hills' and Laven Sakzul, 'The Prairie of Trumpets'.  Rofelalema, 'The Fatal Hills' is an area of haunted hills in the west central and west northern area. 

Moving then to the south, Oruxebra, 'The Granite Murk' -- Forest and swampland, central-western, spans most of the area from the mountains in the west to the oceans in the east.  At least in terms of arable land, it is the single part of the Crazed Continent.  The dominant mountain range is Iskak Norod, 'The Horns of Disappearance', which can easily be seen in the west and southwest,  The mountainhomes are naturally here.  South of Oruxebra, a couple of plains regions in the south central of the map are variously described as Yeme Nisa, 'The Plain of Jaws' and Lebe Casser, 'The Plains of Dancing'.  In the extreme south we find savanna -- Ngumostbosu, 'The Dutiful Hill' -- and just to the east of it, another forest -- Shezpalesno, 'The Saffron Forest'. 

With this largely extraneous and unquestionably boring geography lesson now complete, we can turn our attentions to the civilized(loose definition of the term for certain) races of the Crazed Continent.  Humans are present to the east, Elves to the southeast, but we need not concerns ourselves overly with them.   All of dwarfdom calls the Iskak Norod home, with our capital at the Mountainhomes of Avuztilesh.   Collectively we are known as Logem Akrul, 'The Paints of Tin'.  Yes, it's every bit as stupid a name as it looks to be.  We're dwarves, not poets.

Slightly to the northwest of Avuztilesh are the homelands, to the extent they have any, of the skulking kobolds of Chukeengish.  To the northeast, the goblins of Sludadostngosp, 'The Creative Cruelty', seem intent on dominating Oruxebra.  More goblins('The Sensitive Cruelty') and more kobolds are present in the north.  In case you are need of a reminder from Cpt. Obvious, these goblins are all about cruelty.  Truly a shocking observation, that.  At least they are honestly descriptive with their names, which is objectively more than you can say for us.  The Paints of Tin?  What does that even mean?  Does tin essentially get different paints than, say, aluminum, gold, or copper?  And why a wimpy metal such as tin?  These questions, and others equally irrelevant, have not been answered and likely never will be. 


The Tragic and Mercifully Short History of Logem Akrul

It is the 10th year of recorded history, and the Paints of Tin have already seen their fair share of misery.  There is no end in sight.  Initially Sodel Deepmetal was appointed as General by the first monarch, Queen Thikut Drinkrough.  And then came the Chukeengish invasion.  Our kobold neighbors to the northwest, no longer content with raiding and a basic low-cost war of attrition, launched more massive attacks on the outskirts of the Mountainhomes.  A year later, the first fledgling outpost, Minedtrussed, was attacked by the goblins of Sludadostngosp, aka 'The Creative Cruelty', with the jackal demon Weevilbuds the Sunny Sins(we were too busy fighting them to ask what the *#&^#&#) leading the way.  General Deepmetal led the defense and the attack was repelled. 

Being the idiotic sycophants that they are, the dwarves of Avuztilesh turned to the spouse of skinless monster Melbil Fedlens as their new queen, ousting Drinkrough from her throne.  They wanted a stronger leader who would frighten our foes into submission, but one of her first attacks was to propose peace with the goblins!  After an initial rejection, it was eventually accepted.  Over the next few years, a troglodyte, a forgotten beast, and another skinless monster began to terrorize the us.  A couple more outposts were established, but still it was clear that the deal with the devil had not worked.

In the 6th year of the official reckoning, Zon Windlantern was named the first King and third monarch, settling in Mindtrussed.  Another outpost was established the year after, and four dingos declared themselves our enemies.  Year 8 was particularly busy.  A minotaur and another forgotten beast joined the ranks of dwarf-hunters.  King Windlantern married the local baronness, former mercenary Mafol Tomehole.  He's officially now both King and consort.  You figure it out.  I've given up.  Both of them found themselves defending personally against enemy assaults.  King Zon defeated the troglodyte Thunen Tournobles, while Mafol had her right lower leg ripped open by the minotaur Wive before it eventually withdrew. 

In year 9, the skinless monster spouse who is also our second deposed queen returned in war as an enemy.  A daughter was born to the crown, Iden Bravemerchants, and promptly became the third kidnap victim of Mato Stealvomits of the northern goblinic faction, Zozodostngosp, 'The Sensitive Cruelty'.  She has yet to be recovered,  under the watchful eye of their 'lady', Amxu Malignwring. 

As of the present day, the balance of race populations is as follows:

398 goblins(not counting an obscene number of troll allies)
377 kobolds
341 humans
280 dwarves
231 elves

As you can see, the odds are(as always) never in our favor.   It was at this point, with the dwarves of Logem Akrul mired in a cesspool of ceaseless bungling, incompetence, and generalized epic fail that a new, apparently inconsequential expedition was authorized ...

[Taupe]

This is a longass wall of text. Interesting, yes, but still notoriously long. Make sure you survive long enough to make it worthwile! By the way, how to you get all this info? What are the most convenient ways to grab the world history and convert it into something decipherable?

and four dingos declared themselves our enemies

And by Armok DON'T trust those dingos.

[Ambidextrous]

PTW

[cheesemcmuffin88]

PTW

[Zorromorph]

This is a longass wall of text. Interesting, yes, but still notoriously long.

You may find that I specialize in longass walls of text.  Whether this is a good thing or not I leave to the reader(or non-reader as the case may be).  As far as the history goes I just spend a goodly bit of time with Legends.  Of course it's easier when you are doing a really short history like this, I don't even want to think about it with a hundreds or thousands-years long one.  Found key figures in the 'Civilization' history, then looked them up in the 'Historical Figures' or whatever section.  I always look at the Historical Maps quite a bit to get the layout of where the various civilizations are. 

[Taupe]

That sounds like a lot of work, figuring out who is whom and which named characters were relevant to the overall storyline. So good luck to you. I'm eager to see how that turns out!

[zubb2]

Neat.
Might not watch, but neat.
I'm trying to write stuff myself. Kind of difficult.

[Timeless Bob]

From one long-winded logophile to another, I give you my kudos on this historiographical assessment.  May your history become more convoluted and therefore entertaining.

[Zorromorph]

Thank you all for participating in this thread already, especially since nothing's happened yet. 

Lotol Kebosh

Known simply as 'The Order of Zealots' in the common tongue, Lotol Kebosh is a minute faction of misfit extremists that the rest of the kingdom has done its best to ignore.  They've been around far longer than the last decade of war, but have never managed to gain any support for their radical ideas from even a remotely respectable dwarf.  As much as any factor, this is because they are nearly universally complete incompetents -- at least in the strict hierarchical caste system in which they live. 

** This caste system is of course one of their primary objections and targets for(universally failed) attempts at reform.  The dwarves of Logem Akzul have always been very aristocratic, and key positions of command and/or prestige are appointed based mostly on heredity.  Lotol Kebosh has strongly objected to this, arguing that one's ancestry is of less importance than their abilities, but this has fallen on deaf ears to a society that prizes tradition above virtually anything, common sense often included.  It has also often seemed to be a self-justifying exception:  it is easy for one who is not successful to criticize the system as a mask for their failings.

** More seriously in the eyes of some, they also have criticized dwarven society for being soft.  This has generally had the result of them being forcefully encouraged to mind their own business, or be prepared to face the sharp edge of a royal axe.  This issue arose from the (over?) reliance on automated defenses and relatively few who were allowed to serve in the military.

** All of that was child's play in comparison to the their suggestion that dwarven society should not isolate itself in the mountains.  Lotol Kebosh believed that it was a mistake to ignore the surface, that true excellence was comprised of mastery over all of the earth's riches, not just those found deep underground.  This was considered no better than rank heresy by the dwarves as a whole, and the order became known as 'surfacers' who were foolish enough to risk 'losing their connection to the stone and to their destiny'. 

And so Lotol Kebosh remained a marginalized handful of extremist losers, more or less, and were generally ignored.  Repeated requests for an expeditionary grant to Oruxebra were futile. The deteriorating situation over the decade following the Chukeengish invasion, however, caused King Windlantern to search for any potential positive, no matter how seemingly futile it might be.  He began to see authorizing the grant as a win-win situation, since the Order was of virtually no value to Logem Akzul as things stood, and to the(unlikely in the extreme) degree they succeeded they could perhaps at least slow the goblin advance, or give them pause.  Let the hammer fall on them while the mass of dwarves were preoccupied with the kobolds.

Approval of the grant came with a couple of conditions.  The requested location was north of Avuztilesh and the three outposts which were just a bit in that direction, near the end of the stream extending west.  The crown insisted however that they take the southern stream instead, to make themselves a vanguard on the eastern flank.  The north was already covered to a degree, and the cartographers showed a more defensible location with a fair number of cliffs in the area.  Lotol Kebosh much preferred the location to the north and west, but they had no real say in the matter.  They could take what they were given, or take nothing. They were also required to finance all of the expenses themselves, as all available resources had to go to defending the Mountainhomes. 

Gathering their life savings for the opportunity finally given, they set out to the east in search of the southern end of the Limp Flare, the stream which would have to be used if and when the goblins switched course to penetrate into southern Oruxebra.  No extra food or drink was taken so that they could bring with them as much variety of animal life as possible.  This would serve as a source of variety in potential food sources, and as an important aspect of their belief that a dwarf should master all life -- that which would not serve must perish.  Even so, several larger species could not be taken.  This was a source of much disappointment, but it could not helped. 

Inventory

2 picks
2 axes
2 anvils

A spare one of each was considered necessary to the long-term survival of the Order, since it was possible one could be lost or destroyed through some unforeseen circumstance. 

4 cavy
4 rabbits
4 geese
4 chicken
4 ducks
4 guineahens
4 turkeys
4 cats
4 dogs
3 goats
2 pigs

Generally two male and female of each species were taken to facilitate a reasonably high chance of breeding more once they arrived.  Overall a total of 47 animals to go with the 7 dwarves made the journey.  Imperfect though the conditions may be, the expedition had been a thing of unlikely dreams for generations -- and now it was reality.  The fate of the dwarven race likely hung in the balance.  They would do what the tradition-bound mountainhomes were unwilling to do, or they would die trying.  It is debatable which result would be preferable. 

On the 15th of Granite, in the 10th year, they arrived at Isdenorstist Zilirinod Sog, 'Watchful Recluse the Eternal Gate of Conquerors', certainly a hyperbolic name but given the effort put into this expedition, it can not only be forgiven but applauded.  A dwarf without great ambitions is, after all, not worthy of being called a dwarf at all.  It almost seemed as if they must have come to the wrong place at first ...





Snow covers everything.  Spring is late.  This could be a problem, since we can't get any food while that lasts.  Most of the surrounding area is very flat, unlike the steep cliffs the monarchy told us would be here.  Item number Urist-Infinity that they've been wrong about, but that works great for our needs.  And there is no wildlife here of any kind, also in contrary to what we are told.  Regardless, the die is cast.  We are here.  But first, a little more about who we are ...

[Zorromorph]

As a generational fort, we're going to be dealing with the same seven dwarves for quite some time.

DWARVES

Ducim Erithbomrek, 'Laborwhips'(male, 88 years old).  Ducim is the expedition leader of Lotol Kebosh.  He spent the journey 'contemplating wealth', which is hilarious given our immediate situation.  I doubt very much he'll be able to do more than contemplate it. 
Worships:  Torbul the Luxurious Irons, Emuth Silverochre the Wall of Irons(casual).  What Irons?  You see any Irons around here?  I see snow and ice, that's what I see. 
Physical:  slow to heal
Mental:  natural ability with music, very focused, very good creativity
Beliefs:  believes the truth is inviolable regardless of the cost, those who sacrifice for others should be deeply respected, negatively views those who exercise power over others
Life Ambition:  mastering a skill
Personality:  Changes his mind easily and asks others about difficult decisions, tending to accept the prevailing view.  As a result of this leadership style and his mental abilities, Ducim appears to be a good choice and it looks like the fortress will adopt a fairly democratic approach with everyone expected to do what is best for the fortess.  At least, that is the plan.
Friends:  Litast
Grudges:  None

Logem Kosathkudust, 'Palaceprinces'(female, 53).  She reminds everyone to 'Be Merry!'
Worships:  Etur(faithful), Deler(ardent)
Physical:  slow to heal, flimsy, weak
Mental:  very good sense of empathy, very good creativity, ability to focus
Beliefs:  values self-control, sees sacrifice as wasteful and foolish
Life Ambition:  creating a great work of art
Personality:  calm, greedy, envious, freely shares details of her life
Friends:  Litast
Grudges:  Adil

Adil Dalzatstukos, 'Matchrazors'(male, 56).  'I go with the flow sometimes'
Worships:  Emuth Silverochre the Wall of Irons, Ibel(faithful)
Physical:  Mighty, Flimsy
Mental:  great sense of empathy, deep well of patience, poor focus
Beliefs:  Does not care about friendships
Life Ambition:  creating a great work of art
Personality:  modest, can't help but respond to the emotions of others, avoids exciting/stressful situations, unfriendly, doesn't care what others think
Friends:  none
Grudges:  Litast

Azvtesh Avuzgidthur, 'Minegrasps'(female, 64).  Of her belongings, she says simply 'It's my mess'
Worships:  Uthgur the Drums of Safety(faithful), Emuth Silverochre the Wall of Irons
Physical:  nothing notable
Mental:  great ability to focus, feel for music, shortage of patience
Beliefs:  finds the following of tradition foolish and limiting, sees no no value in holding back complaints and hiding emotions, prefers a noisy, bustling life
Life Ambition:  raising a family
Personality:  likes to brawl, modest, quick to form negative opinions, asks for help with difficult decisions
Friends:  none
Grudges:  none

Litast Tiristurvad, 'Rimseals'(female, 80).  Doesn't have much to say, simply says she 'feels alright'.
Worships:  Uthgur the Drums of Safety, Emuth Silverochre the Wall of Irons
Physical:  Weak, clumsy, quite susceptible to disease, very flimsy
Mental:  great deal of patience, sharp intellect, good feel for social relationships, good creativity, poor empathy, very bad intuition
Beliefs:  treasures independence, values decorum dignity and proper behavior, values nature, doesn't respect a society that has settled into harmony without debate and strife
Life Ambition:  raising a family
Personality:  Despairs of anything positive happening, lives without hope, curious, incredibly calm, lives a leisurely life
Friends:  Ducim
Grudges:  Logem, Adil

Zuglar Oslanunol, Woundoul(male, 79)  Zuglar reminds us all to 'be mindful of the law'.  There are no laws, but please, let's be mindful of ... whatever. 
Worships:  Emuth Silverochre the Wall of Irons(faithful), Etur
Physical:  strong
Mental:  iron will, very good sense of empathy, good spatial sense, ability to focus, shortage of patience, poor analytical abilities, meager creativity
Beliefs:  sees merrymaking and competition as wasteful and silly
Life Ambition:  raising a family
Personality:  values friendship, yet never misses a chance to quarrel/lash out verbally.  does not trust others, very curious, accepts favors without obligation
Friends:  none
Grudges:  Ineth

Ineth Stettadmafol, 'Taxchambers'(male, 56) Can't be bothered, since he is 'concentrating on something.'
Worships:  Atul the Bearded Ram of Hawks(ardent), Deler(dubious)
Physical:  very agile
Mental:  has a lot of willpower, questionable spatial sense, poor focus, poor analytical abilities, poor kinesthetic sense, a poor memory, and poor creativity.  He's an agile idiot. 
Beliefs:  perseverance is one of the greatest qualities someone can have, finds skill with weapons and fighting distasteful.  That'll be a problem.
Life Ambition:  raising a family
Personality:  very friendly and nice, forms deep emotional bonds, very pleased with his own appearance and talents. 
Friends:  Logem
Grudges:  Zuglar

A shockingly good mix of three women and four men ensures a decent chance of long-term viability. 



DEITIES

Ordered in their current rank of favored status:

Emuth Ralnokin Adil Datan,  'Silverochre the Wall of Irons' -- female bat, caverns/mountains
Deler -- male dwarf, metals
Atul Duraddetes Akun, 'The Bearded Ram of Hawks' -- female wild boar sow, nature.  Known to have aided the jackal demon Weevilbuds the Sunny Sins ... who later attacked the first outpost of the dwarves, if you recall ... in becoming a permanent part of the physical world. Why in the name of Armok Ineth insists on worshipping such a being is far beyond my comprehension.  And 'The Bearded Ram of Hawks?'  Don't even try. 
Uthgur Talin Akast, 'The Drums of Safety' -- male dwarf, oaths/depravity/lust
Ibel -- male dwarf, war/fortresses
Etur -- female dwarf, minerals
Torbul Ertadan, 'The Luxurious Irons' -- female dwarf, jewels/wealth

[Taupe]

Your main deity is a friggin bat? That just can't end well.

[Timeless Bob]

[Taupe]

It's the deity they deserve, but not the one they need right now.

[Zorromorph]

LOL!  Well-played, both of you. 

[Zorromorph]

** Author's Note:  I've now migrated to 40.15.  This means I managed to accomplish two things in 40.14 -- worldgen and embark.  Hopefully this version I'll get more done **

Lotol Kebosh has completed their first goal(arrival, having survived the journey from the Mountainhomes).  Granted, it's not the stuff masterwork engravings are made of, but a journey of a thousand miles ...

VOLUME II:  SURVIVAL -- each volume shall be marked with the name of a specific goal, in case the format isn't self-evident. 
CHAPTER I

No matter how grand one's goals are, or how well or poorly-funded the expedition is, every single one faces the same initial question:  How are we going to survive here?  As mentioned there was no threat from the wildlife, but nature still posed a most serious threat.  How long would the snow last?  Would spring ever come, since it should have two weeks ago according to the calendar?  If it didn't, this would not be the place to forge a new civilization but a spot to hold a few unmarked final resting places for a few foolish dwarves.  There was no food, though that was solvable by killing a few of the animals with them.  There was no drink.  And almost as bad, no way to have a proper accounting of all that they did not have. 

It was important for morale for them to do something, however, while they waited for the snow which was probably just a little late in leaving.  Other than deciding where to put the few tools they'd brought(axes, anvils, and picks) and the sparse seed bags which, being underground crops would be of no use yet, the trees called out to be used in making some basic equipment.  As the time-honored saying goes, the most beautiful thing about a tree is what you can do with it when you cut it down, no matter what the elves may stupidly stammer in their ignorance.  Ducim noted that a particular species of tree, which he felt like calling a 'ginko' for no particular reason, have grown large here and were fairly plenteous -- cutting down a half-dozen or so in close proximity would give a copious amount of timber without threatening the natural balance.  There were others, but the ginkos were the largest.  He pondered this, and decided that it was as good a thing to begin with as any.

It was then that Ducim learned one of the great blessings with which Armok has blessed the dwarves -- the Power of Designation.  You see, no sooner had he decided this than the faintest brownish hue appeared on the trunks of the ginkos he had in mind, and Zuglar and Adil both reached for their axes and headed to carry out his bidding.  He didn't have to speak, point, draw something in the dirt on the ground ... he just thought it, and without realizing why or how or even thinking about it they simply knew what needed to be done.  How different this was from back in the mountainhomes where an overseer would have to come by with a instructions and a task which was deemed low enough for a member of the Order to perform. 

Almost immediately, we spotted an osprey and three wild boar sows -- perhaps this area would prove more interesting than first anticipated.  Before the first day was out, bits of grass began to poke through the white blanket here and there.  In this case the metaphor was true:  hope really did begin to spring eternal.   On the second day, the first small-ish shrubs became visible.

Within less than a week there was more work than could possibly be done.  Various plants and shrubs were the focus of any who had the time, felled ginko trees had to be hauled, and the animals milled around aimlessly.  One of the trees had fallen into the chasm above the stream, crashing into the snow above the frozen surface 25 feet down.  At least everyone was dumb enough not to throw themselves over the edge after it.  Ducim had built a carpenter's workshop and a still, built a chair for someone to sit on for accounting purposes, and was busy using the newly acquired ginko wood to put some barrels and bins together. 





All of this was very good -- except he kept staring over at that chair.  He couldn't seem to find a place for it.  Nothing seemed right.  He imagined it by an almond, a chestnut, a willow tree.  Perhaps in the middle of a clearing.  No ... what was needed was enclosure.  One couldn't properly concentrate on bookkeeping while disturbed by the elements. Peform great feats of engineering skill, never before attempted by civilized sentient, yes -- but counting, no.   There was just something about it ... he couldn't place it.  Walls and a roof were needed, and a defined space.  It would have no peace anywhere else. 

The mind of a dwarf can be a strange thing, but the impulse could not be denied.  And so Ducim set to work making blocks out of some of the wood, to be used in building a proper structure. 

22nd Granite -- Astesh decided that that the fallen tree simply could not be lost, heading south, down the slope, and north again through the river bed.  This was a decidedly unsafe idea. 





25th Granite -- It fell to Logem to produce the first locally brewed drinks ... or brewed anywhere for that matter, as there were currently none.  If she wanted everyone to 'be merry' she'd have to supply the sustenance herself.  She chose a finger millet, of all things.  A moment to be treasured in the history of Lotol Kebosh, and a finger millet.  She managed to make some kind of beer out of though, so whatever.  There were only a couple of barrels available what with Ducim hammering out blocks to make himself a shed to count crap in, but it was still something(stupid pun not originally intended, but I left it there because I was too lazy to do a rewrite)

1st Slate -- Snow still covers most of the ground.  It's supposed to be the middle of spring, and yet it endures. 

8th Slate -- A snow storm has come.  Seriously?  Ducim was just in the process of beginning to build his castle(aka, shack barely deserving the name). 

10th Slate -- The melt finally came.  It was not a gradual thaw like the humans tell of.  There was snow one minute, and the next it was gone.  Apparently Armok has deigned to give the dwarves very clearly defined seasons.  And then Ducim noticed the stream to the north.  It was just a little below the surface, and had been covered with snow.  That was nearly gone, there was just ice, and several animals and Zuglar were on the other side.  Meanwhile, Ducim was already in the lower stream chasm to the east.  If the ice melted ...

Ducim quickly ordered all plants not both south and west of the stream to be ignored, and forbade the logs in the chasm to the east to be touched by any dwarf.  Better the wood, of which we have plenty, be at the bottom of a river than a dwarf be.  Zuglar and Ducim got back in time, but the animals are still idiotically wandering a cross to the north, not all of them have been properly pastured yet, and the frozen bridge threatens to thaw into a flowing current at any time ...