Welcome one and all, short and tall to . . .
Here be a fortress run by both you and me (a bit more me than you however). This fortress shall be told here, from its beginnings to its end(s). This little gem was created both as a means to excessive my creative muscles as well as an interactive thank you to such a wonderful community. The finer details of that can be found here:
Now many great stories have been told throughout the Dwarf Fortress forum, and here is one more, but this one in rhyme. With a tinge of comedy (or perhaps stained in it). I play dwarf fortress on and off. I would personally rate myself as a beginning player. Above novice, but still much to learn. I will be using 40.19 until I get access to an internet service that
I can download a newer version.
You may be dwarfed if you like, just say so with what name you want and what if any job you prefer. If you do not put a name, I will likely use the one provided via your forum name. The next migration wave with a dwarf of the corresponding job will be given a name. The only exception is if there was someone before you who wanted to be dwarfed as the same job. I to will make a customized dwarf name: "Ykcud".
There will be three main segments. The first being "Pressing issues". This one is of choices and notable developments of the fortress that the community shall have a hand in. Issues such as should our uniforms be blue or red? (there likely to be red anyway after we slew our enemy and the blood sprays on the warriors. Am I right?). I will make as many of the forts decisions as reasonably possible up to the community.
Second is the "Notable Dwarves" where all of those who were dwarfed are listed as well as there current status.
And lastly is "Strike the Parchment!" where our fort's events are written, in poetic verse. I will be doing so in the form of a sonnet, which is a b a b rhyming scheme. I will do a season, and write of the events transpired.
Who wants to take a look at the fort? First come first serve. I am curious how it looks to a more experienced eye. Just say you want to look at it here.
So long as we still have migrants coming in, you will be dwarfed.
Feedback is always welcomed. Also do not be afraid to discuss what is on your mind. I enjoy conversions.
Wolfy: Cook and Bookkeeper - Deaceased (Was a fan of werelizards. Werelizards were not a fan of him)
Arod: Hunter - Deceased (Tried to make friends with a giant. It ended in tragedy)
Maxcat: Axedwarf - Deceased (Was drunk and heard "Make em' croak!" as "Tell em' a joke!" so he approached the werelizard and said "Why did ye lizard embark on a diet? He was too big for its own scales!" and was prominently eaten. May he rest in piece.)
rumpel: Ranger - Deceased (Is dead. Very dead)
-Pre April 3rd 2015-I Ykcud and my crew are but humble dwarven folk
We hail from Astel the great city
Our party journeyed through mist thicker than black smoke
We are tired, stout and without pity
Dear reader, please allow me the privilege to introduce us
Wolfy is a fine chef and one to keep books
But is prone to baking his stories and making a fuss
He is known to hum fine tunes when he cooks
Good ol' Uzolmasos Cheesecake
He to is a cook of fine skill
But do try to keep him awake
For he is not one for a thrill
When I introduce Wheeljack I often cringe
You see he tends to make everything explody fun
Last time I found my eyebrows in a very neat singe
when I scolded him for it, he just exclaimed "I won!"
Arod the wonderful crossbow huntress
And a fine one she most certainly be
Yet we haven't but a few bolts I stress
So don't go and stick them in a tree!
Ere Maxcat will be required
For she is a fine ax wielding maiden
Her ax skills are well admired
Give her the tool and wood we be laden
And Then there's Shipcat the engineer
As well as an architect of some savvy
As soon as she's done making a gear
Please do not make them too frail and shabby
And lastly there is me
I am a miner and merchant
Or so I may just be
As my hopes of living are scant
Our trek has finally ended
The Lone Chartreuse Forests we found to be
I find it rather splendid
For vicious wolves might feast on us you see
It is the 15th of granite and we find ourselves a stones throw from a stream
The forest is quite thick and the air somewhat warm
I feel rather dazed as if I have just awoken from a lucid day dream
The area is untamed and far from the norm
Our bearded folk started by cutting the ginkgo and cedar trees
We also made an entrance into a nearby tall hill
Arod and I hastenly mined through the earth with relative ease
We both moved soil like a well oiled industrial drill
Arod had felt she was a fully fledged miner after making her first swing with a pick
Shortly after she lost her ax while mining
My hopes for her is low and I consider her on the same cognitive level as a brick
But now is not the time to be soar and whining
After finishing the entrance we made our depot from wood
There are many ginkgo trees short and tall
We found many of those swaying trees and chopped them where they stood
One by one that is how the trees will fall
We pressed on by deciding the layout of our home
A vast kitchen, bedrooms, storage lots and several work shops
A sizable lot of which one could for long days roam
But before we continued I made a spot for our crops
After the design was decided we started with the large working room
Almost immediately we struck tetrahedrite and magnetite
If we can acquire some iron in haste mayhaps this will not be our tomb
Granted we can perhaps make our bearded selves as clad as a knight
The first work area made was for our mechanic
We then made her work for what will likely be the rest of her life
She will certainly become rather tired and manic
As she feasibly will be working even under bloody strife
After the sweatshop was done we went on to make the rest of the cave in equal parts
This has resulted in nothing being completed and will not be for a time
Once it is finalized however, we shall then smooth the walls and in them carve fine arts
Sweatshops, perpetual mining and the likely hood of death looms and will only climb
Despite the cave not nearly close to completion, everyone managed to stay busy
The miners have no end to there part and our mechanic is a slave
Those not of the mentioned trades will be planters and growers until they become dizzy
But when death comes knocking at our poorly prepared door, we shall be brave
All is going well and fine
We shall Work while Summer is looming near
Deeper and deeper we mine
I did not make a trash pit it would appear
Summer has only begun
Our slave Shipcat has made the first masterpiece with fine siltstone
It's heavy and weighs a ton
It will be put in the first stock pile of our very own
During this period Cheesecake has plugged away at carpentry
She has made numerous sturdy cages, chairs and beds
It's too bad we do not have anywhere to place them earnestly
A sever lack of chairs is going through our heads
Platinum our miners gleefully struck
As we have also received our first migration
But only four of them by a lack of luck
Our community has started its creation
We began the first line of defense
This consists of two bridges at the entrance to our home
Now I can be just a bit less tense
Although I think siltstone is only just stronger than sea foam
Here's a joke for you all
A craftsdwarf, a fishworker and two fishdwarfs walk into a fortress
There dwarfs so kind of small
Not quite sure where this is going so you can finish the joke I guess
Oh wait I think I might know!
Two are named Aslandus and PsychoAngel respectively
One steps on the other's toe
And he turns quickly, stares jagged darts and yells objectively
-April 3rd 2015-The sweet air flows brisk and thickly as it is now Fall
The hanging leaves are dropping and the bitter wind chill is setting
Cheesecake changed jobs no less than five times I recall
He has yet to be a fisherdwarf as I have hid the netting
Business was as usual when the first trade caravan arrived
They all hailed from Doren just as we did
Our goods were however somewhat deprived
But at least our own kin we were amid
Almost as soon as they unloaded they said they were leaving
After the odd conversion they stayed trice as long
Its a Doren thing when you just arrive to be deceiving
But this is a new place and I think that is wrong
Interestingly I found they REALLY wanted crowns
"Is there a surplus of royalty?" I wonder
"It would be best not to ask" I thought on those grounds
"Doing so would be an enormous blunder"
Most of our cut gems, siltstone and jade mechanisms were traded
I collected much of there alcohol, and food
The scant amount I received made me ponder if they should be raided
But there guards weapons made me think I would be screwed
The vast majority of my cut gems were jets
I thought these would be worth considerably more
Cutting them en mass has left me with some regrets
It unfortunately was a worthless chore
-April 4th 2015-
When the caravan did leave we started placing cage traps
All of them finely lined in a very neat row in the only way in
I am making sure to not leave any cracks, holes or gaps
If any enemy is caught they should begin playing a violin
It was this time when more migrants appeared
There was eight, children made half of the group
"Do they think we are a day care" I feared
How low could this small community stoop?
The rest were two pheasants, a milker and a weaponsmith named Endlessblaze
And as it would seem two very tiny puppies with question
I suppose we are currently in the "lets let anyone in" phase
One of the pups has an "overcome by terror" obsession
On the bright side we almost have the storage area finished
This means we can then finish the bedrooms
The amount of rants and general discomfort will diminish
All the while the chill of winter looms
It is cold and Winter has hit
Wheeljack is now gone and considered missing now
Did he just decided to split?
At least I can let the hair grow back on my brow
I have found just where he went
He seems to have drown
Classy way to go, that gent
Always such a clown
In Wheeljack's honor I do plan to build a short bridge over his body
The other dwarves have yet to see his decaying corpse despite fishing feet from it
With any luck this bridge will be strong and not shoddy
Should it be shoddy I am certainly going to blame him a little bit
About a hundred mussel shells lay on the bank near this
I am likely to use these for protection
To avoid having as many small holes as a fine swiss
I do hope no one has any objection
The storage has been carved out along with the dining area
The small bedrooms are all that remain
They all need completion before we all get mass hysteria
Else all our minds will leave this domain
The smelting of ores and creation of weapons began
The first of which was a silver mace
To not die shamefully and in agony is the plan
Doing so would be quite a sad disgrace
-April 8th 2015-
The air is soft and warm as it is again spring
That magical time of year when the flowers bloom and voracious badgers fight our youth
A caravan has been sent by the elvan king
But our trader was too preoccupied with taking breaks and letting booze pass every tooth
The glorious bridge over Wheeljack's stinking body has hit some difficulty
Shipcat is horrified when she brings the materials to the spot
Walking back then running away being horrified once more is her specialty
Alas the bridge, it will not be completed as it is all for naught
Speaking of completing things we have many weapons finished
We can desperately flail our arms with weapons at enemies when they come
Else our dwarf population will have greatly diminished
We shall fight gallantly and drunkenly while hitched up on ale, wine and rum
-April 9th 2015-
We have survived thus far to our second summertime
It is quite humid and oh so hot
Our dwarven population grows and has made a climb
As eight more migrants join our lot
Lowly dwarven Farmers are punching giant hamsters to a slow death
All the while a human caravan hailing from Bugiomon made their way
One of the humans asked "Why are they doing that?" with a curious breath
The other pleaded and sighed "Please, please do not ask, I do not need this today."
There travels were all for naught as I only had a single piece of petrified
poop wood for trade
It was worthless and perhaps should have been given away
But more over Endlessblaze in battle has lost one of his eyes to a black bear's claw of a blade
When he saw the bear perhaps he should not have chose to stay
-April 10th 2015-
We have started our military in light of these attacks
Maxcat is the leader as she has the highest combat skills
Perhaps she can swing her large ax and make the enemies skulls have cracks
When they try to charge and engage us from the farthest or nearest hills
Wheeljack's epic corpse bridge has somehow been finished and built
All the while a child became possessed
He made a tetrahedrite ring while humming a lilt
I am not sure if he was just cursed or blessed
Because many of the dwarves were too lazy to do anything, I made them smooth stone
But they were voting as Eral Inethletmos became mayor
Its turns out Physoangel has an odd leatherworking passion I have never known
As he works, shapes and stitches the animal's tanned furless skin layer
Another cool Autumn is here
Another dwarven migration wave has appeared
Wheeljack's ghost we must now endear
All this weighs heavy on my mind as I stroke my beard
The fine dwarven folk from Doren Astel came back
This time I had much more to trade
It turns out I was storing my gems in a pack
At least this time I will get paid
-April 11th 2015-
It is now apparently the coldest winter yet as for the first time the stream has frozen over
It is worth noting that this is the first time it has happened
Also the giant "Fepiri Nafiafuni Alotha Eti" come stomping through grass and clover
I suppose I should be very glad it was not a dragon
Our militia squad "Those who die first" came rushing to the battle field
This included one who held a mace in one arm and a baby in the other
It seems apparent to me that she must have been using it as a shield
I must say hats off to this heroic and wondrous drunken dwarven mother
In the middle of the attack a child withdrew from society
The toll was one injured and five dead and Arod was among them
I thought it would be much more and did gave me a bit of anxiety
But it does seem the dwarfy fortress home I will still need to hem
It should be noted that the killing blow to the giant was made by Endlessblaze
With a very mighty swing from his iron mace he slew the baby stomper
And then the drunken dwarves could stumble out and the farm animals once again graze
As Endlessblaze is hence forth considered a tough mace wielding giant stopper
In the aftermath wheeljack's body got buried
Despite this he still haunts us
I find his trivial haunting rather harried
It is causing quite a fuss
The treehuggers from Ceca came back
We had very much to trade this time
Its too bad their wares were a bit slack
I guess the wealth is starting to climb
We traded for many goods
A giant emu was a favorite of mine
I shall put her in the woods
I hope the choice will not be poor nor benign
We had one of our largest migration waves as yet at about twenty-five
They were mostly quite a surly bunch
I found the fortress with puddles of vomit making me question how they survive
They cant keep down there ale or lunch
We have started the construction of a panic room
It will be huge and defensively fortified well
It will be used when we look and see approaching doom
It shall be somewhere we can for quite a long time dwell
We find ourselves in brisk Autumn once more
Not a whole lot has happened in the seasons omitted
Finishing the panic room has been a chore
But there soon in the fortress will be two wells permitted
-April 12th 2015-
We were offered to be officially part of our homeland
We reflected momentarily on the important question granted
It was decided to kick him into the pit from where he stand
"Madness? . . . THIS IS TASHEMEDEM!" was loudly chanted
Despite refusal, we have a baron to claim
Meng Nobleceilings has inherited the position
We really should have simply known from the name
Sadly to comfort him is now our greatest mission
-April 13th 2015-
We have three jaguars courtesy of the treehuggers
This includes one female and two males
The militia will be pleased to add these meat tuggers
I hope they will not make too many fails
A treehugger diplomat visited and took a tour
He was not very pleased with the amount of trees chopped
I thought my attack jaguars had a bit too much allure
It is possible the peace with the elves has stopped
The baron has recently been appointed to a squad
This is in the vain hopes he will die horribly soon
Perhaps a giant lion will come and he will be clawed
Instead of mandating windows he will change his tune
It has come to my attention that there may be invisible trees
Or at the very least roots magically float in the thin air
Observations taught me they will not come down even with a brisk breeze
I am not sure if I should or should not take notice or care
-April 14th 2015-
While the massive well water tunnels were being excavated, a lone dwarf got in and stuck
Instead of using the destinations bestowed upon him, he stayed in the hole for a season
I left an outside destination for anyone who wished him to live and bring him out of the muck
For several hot days no one seemed to care but soon someone did in fact dig him out, within reason
The elves have made a request for me to fell less than one-hundred sixteen trees
since I have yet to fell half of this, I find the request odd
I can most definitely fulfill this baffling task with relative ease
If it wernt for those jaguars I would find them rather flawed
One of our dwarfs have become restless due to getting good rest
Yes you have indeed read that right
I feel monitoring this suspicious dwarf would be best
I do not understand her odd blight
The well has been finished after much work
The crisp mountain water however flows slowly
Having a fine well will be a nice quirk
I hope it does not flood by being too holey
We will soon be digging our way further underground
Before we do so, we are making a defense for below ground fun
This is granted our wells do not flood and we be drowned
In the case of danger, the first line of defense is to simply run
Its engraving time!
Now that all the walls have been made smooth
It will be sublime
After these dwarves failures, this may soothe
-April 15th 2015-
The water in the well was turning to mud
It was decided to smooth the stone inside
I suppose we needn't fret about a flood
As it seems all the well water simply dried
We beardy dwarves have begun our journey to making fine steel
Endlessblaze became possessed and made a legendary mace
Seeing how I was saving the metal, I am not sure how to feel
But at least he didn't make something useless like a vase
I have chosen to do all of our tree felling for the year in the presence of the tree huging elves
I intend to make them cry while we trade
I find while trading almost solely wooden goods and all the same against using wood, full of themselves
Perhaps a sad understanding will be made
-April 16th 2015-
We have made steel weapons for all of our dwarven militia folk
We have also begun mining for useful minerals and rocks
If we do not mine, eventually we will be destitute and broke
Upon success this fortress will be as safe as any Fort Knox
We mined for only a few meager hard rock floors
We then discovered a vast underground expanse
I am hopeful this will not lead to any wars
But if it does, at least we may just stand a chance
Upon exaiming this open vast expanse, I am put on alert
There are remains from many ghastly giant creatures as well as a dead, bloody pond grabber
At some point, blood will most certainly jet and spurt
Ready the axedwarfs, the bearded sword holders, the drunken hammerers and the spear jabbers!
Our sordid fears were met!
Ladgigiqe the werelizard has stumbled upon our land
We cast on our peace debt
Go now and shed your hot blood, Meng Noblecielings militia band!
It appears the baron has been slew
This would be quite good news
But the baron card another drew
Now we all have the blues
We have encountered a buzzard of endless craze
It attempted to attack our war grizzly bear
Perhaps it was under a disillusion haze
I imagine its tiny body bursted like a flare
I have just learned there is a troll in the under earth
I am very glad I have set up some cage traps just in case
We hope the cages can accommodate its large girth
Or we will have to strike its skull with that legendary mace
-April 17th 2015-
The vile werebeast infection spreads!
Alas not all the news is ill or bad
The royal lines have been cut like threads
The fate of those infected will be sad
In my morbid hospital many lay in pain
A full moon dawns and I have all soldiers ready to strike
One of them is infected, and will be slain
This is the ill fate of all those infected and the like
We have rid our fortress of the blight
But alas we have lost a good many
Both wolfy and Maxcat put up a fight
With there help we killed just under twenty
-April 18th 2015-
Now that, thats out and done with, lets move on to the next concern
"We are under siege by a werechameleon m' lord!
Alas I am thrown back into the battle I seem to return
Drunk Dwarfen folk, raise your hammer, ax, mace or sword
The werebeast killed many before the military gathered there gear
It ran away before it was able to be slain
It may return on the following full moon in opal I fear
When the creature is found it will be cut in twain
-April 19th 2015-
Alas, as it turns out, sadly one dwarf was nomed on and infected
He was bitten, and I did not want to take a chance
We brought him to an atom smasher to assure we were protected
He was smooshed good as soon as he entered a moon trance
Author
Topic: With Pen and Ink, Strike the Parchment! (Read 6978 times)