Diary found in a tomb, MurderfloodMy name is Taetrius Alathrigoth, I was born in Murderflood in 3rd Timber 205, two years after my parents settled in this new dwarven outpost.
At this time the fortress was dealing with undeads and goblins under the rule of Zuglarkun, and was yet to be protected by its mighty dyke. I noticed two child born in the fortress were named zuglar, among which one of my sisters. Father hinted it was a tribute. Now Zuglarkun (I heard there was several of them during the fort first years) is long dead, the dyke is filled, and I reached adulthood in a fortress that endures in spite of the numerous lives taken by its hostile location, goblins invasions and quite a few work accidents.
The Deadtrollslayer TriaxII, mighty champion of our fortress, resigned from the overseer position that spring, and I happened to be chosen as his successor by convoluted consequences of dwarven law. See, my mother Thob was supposed to replace the overseer, but she died against the vile beast "Allas submergedshores" last summer. Her corpse is still rotting somewhere in the caverns. The precedence brought Murderflood council to propose as overseer my father, then my eldest sister Èzum, or my brother Zaneg, or even my one year senior sister Zuglar, but all had reasons to refuse. Father is still mourning and has to raise my 5 younger brothers and sisters, Èzum is withdrawn since the dead of her lover five years ago, Zaneg is a dork much more interested in its martial prowess in Asmoth Amazons than in the day-to-day burden of an overseer, and Zuglar has only eyes for her new boyfriend these days and said she couldn't be bothered.
Being the next suitable candidate, I became overseer at 13, without any experience to rely on. I never knew why, but I was banned last year from all task except the burying of our deads
(OOC, the little guy had all jobs forbidden except burial, which is why I chose him to be dwarfed). I suppose this is a hint of what the council expect me to do: guive proper funerals to our too many lost ones. Thus I hereby declare myself as the Gravekeeper of the fortress. When Ia was younger I dreamt of being a warrior like mother, but this task appears even more honorable.
One thing bothers me: I was raised as a proper dwarf, and spent my youth away from the taint of the sun; as an overseer I will have to overcome my disgust and go to the surface to supervise work, and it might be embarrassing for others to see their new leader puking.
Spring 218 - where titans and woodcutters both like water9th Granite, 218I always found appaling the way dwarves of the Channel of Melting deal with our deads, all the most since Mother's dead. Most of them seem to consider them at best as a nuisance, not different from a cattle carcass or a goblin corpse. Something to get rid of to avoid miasma, and to leave rotting when it appears inconvenient or dangerous to recover it.
As of today, we have more than a dozen dead or missing dwarves who didn't recieve proper burial:
- soldiers who died fighting the vile beast from the dawn of time lie abandonned in the trap corridor in first cavern level ('Urist McKiwi', Rakust).
- My mother's body is nowhere to be found.
- We lost several woodcutters in the first caverns, and a melancholic dwarf ('CrAzY UrIsT' I gess) disappeared a while ago, lying somewhere in a remote corridor.
- At least three corpses lie in the second cavern level, on the way to the iron bridge that defend our western flank. One corps is even rotting right in our main stair, for Armok's sake!
- We have two resident ghosts, kept captive in this world by our neglect: Vukar the bucketmaker and Urist McKiwi. The former is around from some time now, and his pranks made him a friend for children like myself.
I'll make sure this will change: we already have quite a huge necropolis, and loads of spare coffins and burial slabs. My first act as an overseer will be to order the necropolis expansion,to show dwarves and gods we care about our lost ones. That is what make us different than filthy goblins, who let them lie where they fall, or nasty elves who are so degenerate they eat them.
As I was holdong a meeting with engineers about the necropolis layout, a dwarf came to say an Elven diplomat was spotted. I ordered Asmoth Amazons to go to the main entrance, not to protect the elf but to ensure he brought no thief, ambush or spy with him.
10th Granite218Seven dwarves in a row came to me this morning to complain about badly worn clothes: they visibly don't mind neither the vomit that cakes the courtyard, nor blood and rotting remains lying in the main stair, but a little hole in their socks bring neverending complaints to the overseer. That's sauys a lot about average dwarf priorities and hygiene.
They have a point though, and I ordrered our clothing workshops to go to work.
In the evening, I found in our records that we have only one convict in jail, a recidivist nicknamed 'Trouble'. It appears he was seized with a mood while serving his term, and is now melancholic for notbeing able to obey his urge.I don't think we will set him free, as his jails is probably the only thing that keeps him from wandering in the depths to die...
11th Granite, 218 The ghostly bucketmaker toppled a silver statue of the militia captain Vuohijumala; did he act out of revenge? Was his death caused by the captain? I think I recall something about a tragic fate for this dwarf, I must look into the archives later when I get time to spare.
One dwarf came to tell me that a woodcutter is missing. I feel it might be linked with reports about corpse feeding the fish in the cavern lakes; if I am right it might be tricky to recover the body.
As the mists from the Ungodly waters have the power to turn the deads in walking abominations seeking to destroy life, to be a proper Gravekeeper I should learn the art of putting to rest the mist husks. I thus decided to joint the Cobalt Charms sparring sessions to learn the art of the axe.
As I need to learn fast, I ordered them to train mor vigorously; I think the captain 'D' was pleased, as some of his men are not competent enough to his eyes. Truth be told, they still are miles away from our crosbowmen squads, with half of each squad barely knowing how to hold their weapon... Mother would have been disappointed by this laxist attitude.
12th Granite, 218The elf diplomat (the jerk) asked us not to cut more than 118 trees; I agreed, as I don't think these haughty buggers know what happens underground, and all our wood comes from the caverns.
Today 'Urist MkKiwi' was at last put down to rest in his grave, as people started to clean the trap corridor. His ghost will be able to join the afterlife, as he should have done seasons ago.
13th Granite, 218
The Elven caravan from Alu Ino has been sighted by a sentinel; The order of the cactus, in spite of their questionable training, was ordered to man the main entrance fortifications, as elves could attract something nasty.
I had to run through the whole fortress to find the mayor, who is our broker, and discuss with him about what we could sell to the pointy ears, and what to hope from them.
He said he intended to sell them our stock of smelly troll fur socks from past sieges, as elves seemed happyto buy them. what can they do with those socks? tea bags?
14th Granite, 218Today I went outside for the first time for years, to join the Cobalt Charms training session. As soon as I reached the dreadful fresh air I felt sick. Perhaps it was vertigo caused by the lack of ceiling, or the cruel bite of the sun.
The stench of vomit that cakes the whole courtyard, melted with reindeer and giant snapping turtles butchery remains rotting in the refuse stockpile, didn't help. I needed all my willpower to keep my (masterfully cooked) last meal.
15th Granite, 218This morning I went to the trade depot island to inspect what the elves brought with them, and couldn't help thinking the state of the place does not do justice to a mighty dwarven fortress as Murderflood.
The depot area is stained by blood and vomit, and manure produced by draft animals and horses and mules pastured in the island is accumulating.
The place needs to be cleaned, but water is unusable due to the proximity of the dyke. Perhaps we should use magma...
Also, good news:
16th Granite, 218Our bookkeeper and legendary sworddwarf from Asmoth's Amazons, 'HaerdalasII', came to tell me he just found 'CrAzY UrIsT's corpse within the cat vault.
No wonder nobody found him here before, the smell of that place can mask even a rotting corpse.
I went to recover the mangled corpse: several soft parts were missing, probably eaten by the cats, and one of them was curled within the dessicated chest of the mad dwarf. Must have been here for months. I kicked the animals and carried the cadaver to its burial chamber: that dwarf was an important member of the fortress council before madnes seized him, which is why he had his own tomb.
I must take dispositions to have mine carved, just in case... How stupid would it be to have a Gravekeeper without his own grave?
18th Granite, 218I was informed that one of our woodcutters found Urdim's tools next to eastern first cave lake, and spotted a corpse in the water.
So I was right about him: I'll send someone inspect the other lakes to know how many corpses were lost to the water, and try to make plans to recover them.
19th Granite, 218Mother's corpse was at last brought to her last home in the necropolis. I don't really know where we found her, or worse why her remains were not identified sooner. I saw father cry tonight.
20th Granite, 218Seeking for a giant war falcon in 2nd cavern, 'Haerdalas II' found the corpse of Fikod Idlashed, curled in a damp corridor beyond the trap maze. He appears to have the knack to find lost bodies, perhaps it's an archivist thing? I should learn it to be a proper Gravekeeper.
A cloud of vile mist appeared on top of the Crucible, as young dwarves call the main magma tank above the main stairs; we are lucky it did not appear at ground level!
23th Granite, 218Work as an overseer is time consuming: between training sessions, supervision of necropolis digging and endless sollicitations by various dwarves, I was not able to take notes for two days. Especially since I had to run after the mayor.
While he was supposed to trade with the elves, the fool went to sleep (out of his room, it would have been too easy to find him), took a very long breakfast and is now... picking equipment. Is he cosplaying as a flower to attract goodwill from the treehuggers?
I feel I bear the sun and outside air better, training sessions really helped me to overcome that weakness. My brother is pissed off I did'nt choose his squad to train, but I didn't consider relevant to usurp the position of a competent squad member. Moreover, Mother always told me axes were better than swords against the unliving, and I intend to learn the best way to defeat those abominations. I find deeply disturbing the fact that we keep one of these monsters in the main dining room, even if he was a figure for the fortress. But at least that thing is a good way to remind everyone of the threat of Ungodly Waters.
One of our horses gave birth to a foal! Perhaps with enough horses we could deal with our chronical lack of leather.
26th Granite, 218After a day spent reading previous overseers notes and battle reports, I ordered only seasoned warriors would be tasked for corpses recovery. Most of our lost corpses are in the caverns, and the place is dangerous: at soldiers can hold their ground if they are attacked, and hopefully survive long enough for help to come.
27th Granite, 218the clothier Goden Menshigos organized a party at the grat dining room. I guess he is proud to display his brand new masterwork socks...
We bought the elves caged animals, among which a gigantic panda and a grizzly bear, all the clothes and food they came with and a lot of splints and crutches - those are useful given our casualty rate, and our wood will be better used as bins and boxes to store our goods.
1st Slate, 218The first day of the month a dwarf started to act strangely, mumbling curious names and walking as a puppet dragged by strings, extremely weird. He claimed a craftdwarf workshop in the main workshop level and startesd collecting materials.
4th Slate, 218Another woodworker disappeared near the first cavern lake; it appears he tried to cut a submerged tree and drowned. Ithink we will try to drain these lakes to recover the poor suckers.
Upper right corner; miasma are from the late Urdim. We have a third underwater woodcutter in north lake, trickier to recover
OOC: Some previous overseer ordered to cut submerged trees, I think the dwarves drowned trying to obey, acting as lemmings (except less cute. And far more smelly)
5th Slate, 218As the fortress surroundings appear peaceful, I think it is time to recover our lost comrades in the caverns. I sent Asmoth amazons in the third cavern to assist the recovery: there is at last four corpses here, among which Vukar the bucketmaker who fell right next to the iron bridge used to seal access to western tunnels. The soldiers quickly found another corpse in a cramped passage.
8th Slate, 218a tribe of falcon peregrin men is circling above the fortress, frightening our cattle. The crossbowdwarves ran to the towers but they don't appear to shoot at them: do they fear collateral damage from falling bolts, or birdmen retaliation?
Another ghostly woodcutter was spotted: these caverns are dangerous, and corpses are still without a proper burial.
I ordered to start the digging of drainage tunnels for the two eastern lakes in the first cave, which will be connected to adamantine spires access tunnels. I think we can kill two birds with one stone, using the water from lakes to obsidianize the spires to gain access to more adamantine.
However, one of the corpses fell into a lake fed by an underground stream: to drain it we will have to plug the stream, which can be done by precise use of magma. A lot of work to do.
9th Slate, 218It has been one month since I became an overseer. Father says most dwarves are happy so far: no dangerous jobs, no huge projects, and no attacks are cheered.
14th Slate, 218I think I found a nice, safe and dwarfy solution to stream plugging issues: we will build a track network to carry magma by carts, and have them drop it in pits specifically dug to reach targetted locations.
The elegance of this design is that minecarts carry finite quantities of magma, avoiding potential issues we could have using pump-fed magma pipes. Moreover, one or two work days by engravers would allow to bring magma anywhere on the network level by correcting junctions, allowing to use the carts for other purposes (arson, pest control...).
The tracks will be designed at -12 level, as the place already has free radial corridors and a lot of space.
By the way, the keamaster threw another party in the main dining room. Seems he does not have much success though.
18th Slate, 218Migrants have arrived from the mountainhome (or refugees camps, they weren't clear about that). We have a new brewer, a butcher, a jeweller, a bowyer, and a trader with notions of swordsmanship.
More important, a bone doctor and a surgeon arrived with them, both highly competent. Murderflood really needed men of the art, and our soldiers are delighted to know their wounds would probably be treated more efficiently now that true professionnals are here.
22th Slate, 218
Olin Tabarsigund finished his artefact. A fungiwood crown. Nice... And we had to sacrifice a mule for that?
24th Slate, 218I just noticed the previous overseer ordered the whole 1st cavern to be cut: I sent a squad down here in case of attack, we can't afford to lose our woodcutters again.
26th Slate, 218
A strange and terrifying hiss echoed through the caverns: a forgotten beast m! I ordered everyone except the military to fall back to the fortress. I'm glad I sent some troops down there, they will be able to escort civilians back to the fortress.
27th Slate, 218The beast was spotted by a woodworker: it's a pink lidless lizard, incredibly tall and bloated. The beast is running for the entrance, and Shem Zontimshur the woodcutter might not be fast enough to cross the portal.
The Snarling Knives are running: will they reach the door on time?
28th Slate, 218The beast is dead: the steel spikes protecting Kastolrukalonget tore her flesh, and the Sterling Knives made an easy work of her. With crippled legs, lung and guts punctured, she didn't manage to hit a single dwarf.
First in the melee, 'TriaxxII' made the killing blow, sending the lizard head right on the door. He told me later that he moved way before the order to charge as he was thirsty and wanted to refill his waterskin...
4th Felsite, 218At last I start to understand the use of some levers, especially those linked to the third caverns. How can they work, transmitting commands without any connexion through air and rock, I wonder...
Do mechanics use the help of dwarven spirits to carry the signal between mechanisms? Is that why mechanisms can only be made from true dwarfish materials, stones and metals?
6th Felsite, 218Falcon peregrin tribe still disturbs work; we seriously need some proper archery towers to deal with flying nuisance above the fortress... The brass tower above the depot has the proper height, but is outside the dyke.
Perhaps we will have time to work later this year, for now the priority is work to seal some parts of first cavern to avoid further beast intrusions.
Armok be damned! A titan was seen at our southwestern border! Close the main bridge!
8th Felsite, 218the beast disappeared in the lake; snetinels said it looks like a giant flat worm with glodenrod scales: they also said it looks austere, but I have difficulties to understand how what is basically a giant flat snail can look, or be, austere...
I sent horses from trade depot island to the main farm, and prepared our troops to kill the beast. Ballista is loaded and ready, crossbowdwarves on the walls, and warriors gathered on each side of the inner bridge. Prepare to extend the main bridge!
Moira threw a party at the main dining room. Does she think it's really a good time for that?
13th Felsite, 218In the opaque waters of the Ungodly waters, the sand titan lurked in the lake bed, driven by an unextingible thirst of destruction. With senses unknown to men or dwarves, the beast felt the presence of a threat deep in the lake, something deeply unnatural that was defiling its territory.
The giant worm swam through the troubled water, invisible in the darknes of the cursed lake. Suddenly he felt its ennemy was in front of him and charged. His opponent jumped, barely dodging the scaly mass, and tried to grab it with its bony hands.
With unnatural speed, the titan curled on itself and tore a finger from the hand trying to grab him. No blood spread in the water: the corpse had long lost its last drop, and the unholy power of the mist was all that kept a parody of life in its rotting flesh. The unliving human, once a monster feared by humans and now a half forgotten waste from the dwarven fort, prepared for the next attack... 18th Felsite, 218We have too much things to do, and too little people to do them. We are working on every front, building a wall in the first caverns, enlarging stockpiles, building pillars for a future green glass tower opposite to the main entrance, engraving tracks...
I could release the military from their duty, but the titan is still somewhere out there and we could need them at every instant.
20th Felsite, 218A hunter saw the titan kill a giant echidna on the northern shore, before diving again in the lake. The ungodly water were already dangerous, now they are truly haunted by a monster!
24th Felsite, 218The forgotten beast killed by TriaxxII is rotting in the cavern, poisoning the damp air with its atrocious smell, and everybody is too busy to move it. On a more positive side, we just retrieved the last corpse we found in the caverns, and work on the necropolis goes smoothly.
28th Felsite, 218As summer comes the titan stays still deep in the lake, and don't seem decided to attack us. Murderflood has another dangerous resident: rumours also talk about undeads in second caverns.
left corner, quite far from the shore, appears to move from time to time
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Sorry for the delay, I didn't realize writing a narrative was so long (English is not my native language, which doesn't help...). As for the fort I am past midsummer now, working on a way to raise the dyke without flooding the fort with magma.
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Topic: 'Murderflood: (Ardentdikes IIIv3) You, there, grab this save! (Read 215890 times)