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[NCommander]

Welcome to Scorchedgravel - Home Of The Final 7
===

So, I've been inspired to try doing a community fort with a twist. Is it possible to survive/revive as a civilization with only seven dwarfs, no migrants, no trading, and enemies all around? Let's find out.

We're in a badlands volcano with access to all ores, but we're a dead civilization, and the game has been modded to prevent any trading of any kind. We're currently on 43.03, and I will update as new DFHack versions become available. Our goal is to survive, birth the next generation, and perhaps reclaim our greatness in the world. I plan to play until this story gets a satisfying conclusion, either win or loose. I may retire the fort and run adventurers depending how the plot goes or what not.

I will also take dwarfing requests, though with so few, its first come, first serve and RPing is welcome. That being said, let's not recycle names, unless its in a bloodline (i.e., NCommander II can only come from the parents of NCommander I, and I'll be using nicknames shown in the "middle" in d_init.txt

If the plot requires it, I will use DFHack to make things happen in addition to bug fixing. The save has already been DFhacked to make sure dwarfs will marry (as generated, I got six straight dwarfs who won't marry, and one bi dwarf who would marry That's been changed into six dwarfs who will marry, and one bi dwarf who would marry).

Table of Contents
 - Introduction (this post)

Year 550-560
 - The Final Seven + Breeding Mechanics
 - Caverns
 - Survival Plan
 - Towards Winter
 - Marriage Among Buzzard Problems
 - The Next Generation
 - Of Forgotten Beasts and Hammerdwarfs
 - Road to Atlantis
 - The Swimmaster
 - Digging The Future

Prelude
---

This is a masterwork dog leather journal owned by Kogan 'NCommander' Kelnakuth. On its covered is adored images of seven dwarfs. The image related to the founding of Scorchedgravel, the last Dwarven settlement.

---
1st of Granite, 550

Rigoth keeps bothering me to fill this stupid thing out since he found it, since as our leader it's my duty to leave records. Do I look like a record keeper? I'm a weaponsmith for Usen's sake. Or at least, I was before we fled.

Yes, Rigoth, I'm filling it out, yes, I know you can read over my shoulder. Fine, I'll explain how we got here. _{Micromanager ...}

Let's backtrack, in our world, there were four sentient species. Dwarfs (that's us), humans, tall upright apes driven by ambition and greed, elfs who the legends tell us fought to protect the woodland, and goblins, who worshipped the demons below.

My grandfather told me that in the years before the blight, humans, elfs, and dwarfs for the most part got along. Sure, we had our differences but we could trade, mingle, and let bygones be bygones. Dwarfs lived in mountains, humans claimed the planes, and the elfs had the forest. We all fought the goblins. We had balance.

About two centuries ago, something changed. The elfs said the rythem of the world had changed. Those of us close to the earth, well, we called it The Blight. As my dad taught me, evil can only take root where there is discontent, hatred, or worst of all, ambition. As such, when the Blight began to sweep the plains, it found the most fertile soil of all: the human heart.

What had been cities and keeps began dark pits, and towers. Wars began to rage across the land. The elfs were first to go, slaughtered down to the last man, woman, and child. Then they came from us. As hillock and hillock began to fall, we tried to fight back, we thought our dwarven steel would be no match for human's copper and iron weaponry. We were right, but for every human who fell, two more took their places.



Faced with an unwinnable battle of attrition, our last king, Urist Othilmorul, had the entrances to our last mountainhall collasped, in the hope that we could hide and protect ourself. For over half-a-century we remained buried under tons of stone. Our enemy however was willing to dig us out.

The attack came early in the morning when human miners breached the cavern layers from above. None of us had known what was happening. In the confusion, I ran deeper in the cavarns and hid. When I finally came back, all I found were humans and corpses. By the grace of Usen, I was able to grab some supplies, and snuck off. By chance, I stumbled upon a tunnel built by the Roads of Roaring before the blight. That's where I met Rigoth.

Rigoth was a mason from the fortress of Grapemachines. They had been attacked at nearly the same time we were. Appartantly the humans had coordinated their strike to wipe us all our in one fell swoop. Although I would not find this out until much later, he was a distinct relative of our current king, a trait that would be helpful later.

As we moved away from Grapemachines, we found others who fled the attacks. Some had supplies, another had a wagon. Knowing that no existing fortress was safe, we ventured into the uncharted depths beneath the earth. At our height, we were over 30 dwarfs.

Repeated attacks by forgotten beasts, jabberers, trolls, and other horrors have dwindled our numbers. After a month, we were down to just 12. We eventually found a natural cave to the surface. I argued that the caverns would kill us. We took to a surface that I hadn't seen since I was a kid.

Using old charts, we've headed south, away from any known settlements. I think we're close to the edge of the continent.



In the year since we've gone topside, we've lost five more. Only seven remain.

I fear we may be the last of our kind.

15th of Granite, 550
===

Disaster! As Solon tried to navigate around a sunken volcano, our one wagon cracked and broke! The wagon began to slide down the hill before falling into Armok's sweet embrace.



Rigoth and Solon proceeded to having a shouting match over this stupidity that I had to eventually break up. I don't know if it was her fault or not, but yelling is not going to help. Both sides are still rather angry.



Until someone goes through our supplies, I can not say for sure much we've lost, but I can tell that our sole anvil, as well as both a pick and an axe survived. I do have an accounting of what we had before the wagon went over though ...



Wherever we are, we're going to stay ...

[Gwolfski]

Can I be dorfed as the jeweler please?

[NCommander]

Meet the Final 7 & Breeding Requirements
---



So, here's a primer on how dwarf breeding mechanics work. Only married heterosexual couples will pop out kids. Dwarfs will only marry someone within 10 years of age of them, and both dwarfs have to want to marry as their orientation. I've DFhacked anyone who would only romance into marrying for plot reasons. That doesn't mean they will marry, just that it becomes possible (in theory, I should have modified the raws to fix this in advance, but whatever).

Assuming they're capable of marriage, I believe dwarfs will marry anyone they like that not a direct relative of (they should be willing to marry cousins. I think.). As such, I need a minimum of two couples to get more than a generation. After that, it should be "open season". I've got about 75-years before the Final 7 keel over from old age. Anyway, let's meet them.

Solon Kosothbungek - Miner/Doctor
--
She is a worshipper of N shas Cavemined. 
She is a citizen of The Roads of Roaring.  She is a member of The Uncertain Hammers.  She arrived at Othlestas‰n on the 15th of Granite in the year 550. 
She is sixty-three years old, born on the 8th of Timber in the year 487. 
She is very fat.  Her ochre eyes are slit.  Her nose is quite long.  Her hair is wavy.  Her very long hair is tied in a pony tail.  Her nose bridge is convex.  Her somewhat tall ears are extremely narrow.  Her head is very short.  Her eyebrows are extremely long.  Her eyelashes are quite long.  Her hair is black.  Her skin is ecru. 
She is very rarely sick and strong, but she is flimsy and very slow to heal. 
Solon Kosothbungek likes siltstone, sterling silver, green diamond, giant peach-faced lovebird leather, cabinets and scrolls.  When possible, she prefers to consume giant hyena, lungfish and sewer brew.  She absolutely detests leeches. 
She has an iron will, a good kinesthetic sense and the ability to focus, but she has poor empathy, a poor memory, next to no natural musical ability and a lousy intellect. 
Like others in her culture, she holds craftsdwarfship to be of the highest ideals and celebrates talented artisans and their masterworks, has a great deal of respect for the law, greatly prizes loyalty, values family greatly, believes that honesty is a high ideal, really respects those that take the time to master a skill, deeply respects those that work hard at their labors, respects fair-dealing and fair-play, values cooperation, finds merrymaking and partying worthwhile activities, values martial prowess, values leisure time, values knowledge and finds nature somewhat disturbing.  She personally finds art offensive and would have it destroyed whenever possible, is somewhat put off by trade and commerce and finds friendship burdensome.  She dreams of raising a family. 
She almost never feels discouraged.  She accepts favors without developing a sense of obligation, preferring to act as the current situation demands.  She often feels lustful.  She tends to make a small mess with her own possessions.  She prefers to present herself modestly.  She is a friendly individual, and she is burdened by this tendency because she dislikes the idea of friendship.  She can easily fall in love or develop positive sentiments.  She is not particularly interested in what others think of her.  She needs alcohol to get through the working day.  She likes working outdoors and grumbles only mildly at inclement weather. 
--

Sodel Rulbim - Carpenter
She is a faithful worshipper of Avuz Deepsteels the Gravel of Rocks. 
She is a citizen of The Roads of Roaring.  She is a member of The Uncertain Hammers.  She arrived at Othlestas‰n on the 15th of Granite in the year 550. 
She is sixty-seven years old, born on the 28th of Slate in the year 483. 
She is short.  Her ochre eyes are slit.  Her ears are extremely narrow.  Her eyebrows are extremely long.  Her eyelashes are quite long.  Her hair is wavy.  Her short hair is neatly combed.  Her hair is black.  Her skin is ecru. 
She is very agile and quite durable, but she is quick to tire. 
Sodel Rulbim likes serpentine, pig iron, harlequin opal, candlenut wood, water buffalo horn, backpacks, reindeer for their large herds and the sight of The Earthen Gem.  When possible, she prefers to consume giant hyena, long yam plants, papaya wine, goat's milk and sorghum seeds.  She absolutely detests large roaches. 
She has very good intuition, very good focus and a sum of patience, but she has an iffy sense for music and next to no willpower. 
Like others in her culture, she holds craftsdwarfship to be of the highest ideals and celebrates talented artisans and their masterworks, has a great deal of respect for the law, greatly prizes loyalty, values family greatly, sees friendship as one of the finer things in life, believes that honesty is a high ideal, really respects those that take the time to master a skill, deeply respects those that work hard at their labors, respects fair-dealing and fair-play, values cooperation, finds merrymaking and partying worthwhile activities, values martial prowess, values leisure time, respects commerce, values knowledge and finds nature somewhat disturbing.  She personally doesn't care about art one way or another.  She dreams of raising a family. 
She likes a little excitement now and then.  She is quite polite.  She likes to keep things practical, without delving too deeply into the abstract.  She tends to make a small mess with her own possessions.  She is grateful when others help her out and tries to return favors.  She generally acts with a narrow focus on the current activity.  She tends to be passive in discussions.  She is often nervous.  She is somewhat fearful in the face of imminent danger.  She isn't particularly curious about the world.  She tends to form only tenuous emotional bonds with others.  She isn't given to flights of fancy.  She is moved by art and natural beauty, and she is troubled by this since she dislikes the natural world.  She tends to think before acting.  She enjoys the company of others.  She generally acts impartially and is rarely moved to mercy.  She chews her cheek when she's bored.  She needs alcohol to get through the working day.  She likes working outdoors and grumbles only mildly at inclement weather.

Rigoth Othilmorul - King/Mason/Brewer
He is a worshipper of Avuz Deepsteels the Gravel of Rocks. 
He is a citizen of The Roads of Roaring.  He is a member of The Uncertain Hammers.  He is the king of The Roads of Roaring.  He arrived at Othlestas‰n on the 15th of Granite in the year 550. 
He is seventy-eight years old, born on the 20th of Obsidian in the year 472. 
His sideburns are clean-shaven.  His very long moustache is neatly combed.  His very long beard is braided.  His very long hair is arranged in double braids.  His wide-set ochre eyes are slit.  His quite long nose is extremely narrow.  His nose bridge is slightly convex.  His eyelashes are quite long.  His hair is black.  His skin is ecru. 
He is rarely sick, but he is weak. 
Rig•th Othilm”rul likes chromite, billon, amber opal, ash wood, the color eggplant, gizzard stones, water buffalos for their water wallowing, the words of The Flute of Berries and the sound of The Sienna Shafts.  When possible, he prefers to consume sailfin molly and river spirits.  He absolutely detests brown recluse spiders. 
He has meager creativity and very little patience. 
Like others in his culture, he holds craftsdwarfship to be of the highest ideals and celebrates talented artisans and their masterworks, has a great deal of respect for the law, greatly prizes loyalty, values family greatly, sees friendship as one of the finer things in life, believes that honesty is a high ideal, greatly respects artists and their works, really respects those that take the time to master a skill, deeply respects those that work hard at their labors, respects fair-dealing and fair-play, values cooperation, values martial prowess, values leisure time, values knowledge and finds nature somewhat disturbing.  He personally strongly believes that a peaceful and ordered society without dissent is best, values independence, is somewhat put off by trade and commerce, values peace over war and sees merrymaking as a waste.  He dreams of raising a family. 
He is quite polite.  He doesn't mind wearing something special now and again.  He can sometimes act without deliberation.  He likes to keep things practical, without delving too deeply into the abstract.  He is grateful when others help him out and tries to return favors.  He doesn't often feel envious of others.  He rarely feels discouraged.  He has a tendency to go it alone, without considering the advice of others.  He tends to consider what others think of him.  He generally acts impartially and is rarely moved to mercy.  He  becomes very rigid when he's angry.  He inhales sharply when he is angry.  He needs alcohol to get through the working day.  He likes working outdoors and grumbles only mildly at inclement weather. 

Mistem Tishislogem - Herbalist/Metalsmith/Broker
She is a dubious worshipper of Avuz Deepsteels the Gravel of Rocks. 
She is a citizen of The Roads of Roaring.  She is a member of The Uncertain Hammers.  She arrived at Othlestas‰n on the 15th of Granite in the year 550. 
She is seventy-five years old, born on the 19th of Granite in the year 475. 
Her slightly wide-set ochre eyes are slit.  Her nose is extremely long.  Her ears are narrow.  Her hair is wavy.  Her very short hair is neatly combed.  Her eyelashes are quite long.  Her hair is black.  Her skin is ecru. 
She is susceptible to disease and very weak. 
Mistˆm Tishislogem likes gneiss, rose gold, sunstone, ramie fabric, the color dark green, long swords, gauntlets, coffins, donkeys for their stubborness, giant bluejays for their coloration, the words of The Flute of Berries, the sound of The Bewildering Queen and the sight of The Deep Mines.  When possible, she prefers to consume cavy and tomato wine.  She absolutely detests moon snails. 
She has an amazing memory, a lot of willpower, a natural inclination toward language, an ability to read emotions fairly well and a good feel for social relationships, but she has a questionable spatial sense. 
Like others in her culture, she holds craftsdwarfship to be of the highest ideals and celebrates talented artisans and their masterworks, has a great deal of respect for the law, greatly prizes loyalty, values family greatly, sees friendship as one of the finer things in life, believes that honesty is a high ideal, greatly respects artists and their works, really respects those that take the time to master a skill, deeply respects those that work hard at their labors, respects fair-dealing and fair-play, values cooperation, finds merrymaking and partying worthwhile activities, values martial prowess, values leisure time, respects commerce, values knowledge and finds nature somewhat disturbing.  She personally respects perseverance.  She dreams of crafting a masterwork someday. 
She is not driven and rarely feels the need to pursue even a modest success.  She is a perfectionist.  She almost never feels discouraged.  She likes to brawl.  She is somewhat quarrelsome, and she is bothered by this since she values friendship.  She tends to be swayed by the emotions of others.  She is assertive.  She likes a little excitement now and then.  She likes to keep things practical, without delving too deeply into the abstract.  She does not often feel lustful.  She is curious and eager to learn.  She has a greedy streak.  She needs alcohol to get through the working day.  She likes working outdoors and grumbles only mildly at inclement weather. 


Kobuk Kelmesir - Gem Setter/Potter
He is a worshipper of Usen.
He is a citizen of The Roads of Roaring.  He is a member of The Uncertain Hammers.  He arrived at Othlestas‰n on the 15th of Granite in the year 550. 
He is sixty-five years old, born on the 9th of Limestone in the year 485. 
His sideburns are clean-shaven.  His very long moustache is arranged in double braids.  His very long beard is arranged in double braids.  His long hair is arranged in double braids.  His wide-set protruding ochre eyes are slit.  His nose is quite long.  His eyelashes are quite long.  His hair is black.  His skin is ecru. 
He is rarely sick and slow to tire, but he is flimsy and weak. 
K–buk Kelmesir likes anhydrite, bismuth bronze, rose quartz, crossbows, bucklers, quivers, chains, yaks for their shaggy hair and the sound of The Bewildering Queen.  When possible, he prefers to consume giant wombat, sole and plum wine.  He absolutely detests mosquitos. 
He has a great musical sense, a very good feel for social relationships and a good intellect, but he has little willpower, a poor memory and poor spatial senses. 
Like others in his culture, he holds craftsdwarfship to be of the highest ideals and celebrates talented artisans and their masterworks, has a great deal of respect for the law, greatly prizes loyalty, values family greatly, sees friendship as one of the finer things in life, believes that honesty is a high ideal, greatly respects artists and their works, really respects those that take the time to master a skill, deeply respects those that work hard at their labors, respects fair-dealing and fair-play, values cooperation, finds merrymaking and partying worthwhile activities, values martial prowess, values leisure time and finds nature somewhat disturbing.  He personally finds those that engage in trade and commerce to be fairly disgusting, finds romance distasteful and doesn't see the attainment of knowledge as important.  He dreams of creating a great work of art. 
He tends to be a little tight with resources when working on projects.  He rarely feels discouraged.  He doesn't focus on material goods. He can sometimes act without deliberation.  He can occasionally lose focus on the matter at hand.  He is somewhat uncomfortable around those that appear unusual or live differently from himself.  He sometimes acts with little determination and confidence.  He has little interest in joking around.  He enjoys the company of others.  He often feels lustful.  He can handle stress.  He tends to ask others for help with difficult decisions.  He needs alcohol to get through the working day.  He likes working outdoors and grumbles only mildly at inclement weather. 


Kogan 'NCommander' Kelnakuth - Weaponsmith/Cook
She is a worshipper of Usen. 
She is a citizen of The Roads of Roaring.  She is a member of The Uncertain Hammers.  She is the expedition leader of The Uncertain Hammers.  She arrived at Othlestas‰n on the 15th of Granite in the year 550. 
She is sixty-five years old, born on the 2nd of Felsite in the year 485. 
Her wavy hair is crinkly.  Her long hair is arranged in double braids.  Her very wide-set protruding ochre eyes are slit.  Her nose is quite long.  Her ears are narrow.  Her eyelashes are extremely long.  Her nose bridge is slightly convex.  Her head is somewhat broad.  Her hair is black.  Her skin is ecru. 
She is mighty, but she is susceptible to disease and very quick to tire. 
Kogan Kelnakuth likes andesite, lead, sunstone, weasel leather, the color pine green, high boots, doors, toy hammers, coyote men for their howling, pomelo trees for their fruit, the words of The Trim of Framing and the sight of The Silkiness of Butterflies.  When possible, she prefers to consume sorghum beer.  She absolutely detests toads. 
She has a great kinesthetic sense, a lot of willpower and good intuition, but she has a shortage of patience and a questionable spatial sense. 
Like others in her culture, she holds craftsdwarfship to be of the highest ideals and celebrates talented artisans and their masterworks, has a great deal of respect for the law, greatly prizes loyalty, values family greatly, sees friendship as one of the finer things in life, believes that honesty is a high ideal, greatly respects artists and their works, really respects those that take the time to master a skill, deeply respects those that work hard at their labors, respects fair-dealing and fair-play, values cooperation, finds merrymaking and partying worthwhile activities, values martial prowess, values leisure time, respects commerce, values knowledge and finds nature somewhat disturbing.  She personally believes that peace is always preferable to war and sees sacrifice as wasteful and foolish.  She dreams of crafting a masterwork someday.
She only rarely feels strong cravings or urges.  She actively avoids exciting or stressful situations.  She is not readily moved by art or natural beauty, and she is conflicted by this as she values artwork and its creation.  She generally acts with a narrow focus on the current activity.  She doesn't mind a little tumult and discord in day-to-day living.  She thinks she is fairly important in the grand scheme of things.  She is assertive.  She tends to make a small mess with her own possessions.  She has a noticeable lack of perseverance.  She is quick to anger.  She is grateful when others help her out and tries to return favors.  She can sometimes act without deliberation.  She tends to hang on to grievances.  She has a tendency to go it alone, without considering the advice of others. She  rolls her eyes when she's exasperated.  She needs alcohol to get through the working day.  She likes working outdoors and grumbles only mildly at inclement weather. 


Udil Cattenolin - Armorsmith/Grower
She is a worshipper of Avuz Deepsteels the Gravel of Rocks. 
She is a citizen of The Roads of Roaring.  She is a member of The Uncertain Hammers.  She arrived at Othlestas‰n on the 15th of Granite in the year 550. 
She is sixty-one years old, born on the 17th of Moonstone in the year 489. 
She is short.  Her hair is wavy.  Her very long hair is arranged in double braids.  She has a very broad chin.  Her ochre eyes are slit.  Her nose is quite long.  Her somewhat tall ears are extremely narrow.  Her somewhat broad head is short.  Her eyebrows are extremely long.  Her eyelashes are quite long.  Her hair is black.  Her skin is ecru. 
She is rarely sick, but she is very quick to tire. 
Udil Cattenolin likes limestone, nickel, amber opal, gigantic squid leather, the color moss green, rings, ballista parts, elk men for their grace and the words of The Trim of Framing.  When possible, she prefers to consume giant buzzard and barley wine.  She absolutely detests mussels. 
She has a questionable spatial sense, an iffy memory, an iffy sense for music, little patience and a lousy intellect. 
Like others in her culture, she holds craftsdwarfship to be of the highest ideals and celebrates talented artisans and their masterworks, has a great deal of respect for the law, values family greatly, sees friendship as one of the finer things in life, believes that honesty is a high ideal, greatly respects artists and their works, really respects those that take the time to master a skill, deeply respects those that work hard at their labors, respects fair-dealing and fair-play, values cooperation, finds merrymaking and partying worthwhile activities, values martial prowess, values leisure time, values knowledge and finds nature somewhat disturbing.  She personally values loyalty, is somewhat put off by trade and commerce, finds introspection to be a waste of time and sees competition as wasteful and silly.  She dreams of mastering a skill. 
She is dour as a rule, and she is conflicted by this as she values parties and merrymaking in the abstract.  She seeks out exciting and adventurous situations.  She doesn't mind a little tumult and discord in day-to-day living.  She does not easily fall in love and rarely develops positive sentiments.  She tends not to reveal personal information.  She is quick to anger.  She tends to think before acting.  She is quite polite.  She lives a fast-paced life.  She tends to form only tenuous emotional bonds with others.  She rarely feels discouraged.  She tends to be a little tight with resources when working on projects.  She has a sense of duty.  She chews her lips when she's angry.  She needs alcohol to get through the working day.  She likes working outdoors and grumbles only mildly at inclement weather. 

[Imic]

I'll take the king. Neme him Imic, with the title of last king of the dwarves
He wants to see the dwarves returned to their former glory.
FOR SCORCHEDGRAVEL!!!

[NCommander]

I'll take the king. Neme him Imic, with the title of last king of the dwarves
He wants to see the dwarves returned to their former glory.
FOR SCORCHEDGRAVEL!!!

Done, though I'm not doing custom professions yet; I'm using those to keep track what gender and age everyone is. I deleted the kings mandate's and room requirements. In my head, the title of king is more taken as a tounge-in-thing (you got the title the moment I unpaused) than its taken serious. I may restore it when we get the first generation of dwarfs.

Can I be dorfed as the jeweler please?

Done. You got the bi dwarf, so you might be the odd man out on forming a clan.

[NRDL]

Could I please be dorfed as the miner?  Named Nix. 

[Imic]

I'll take the king. Neme him Imic, with the title of last king of the dwarves
He wants to see the dwarves returned to their former glory.
FOR SCORCHEDGRAVEL!!!

Done, though I'm not doing custom professions yet; I'm using those to keep track what gender and age everyone is. I deleted the kings mandate's and room requirements. In my head, the title of king is more taken as a tounge-in-thing (you got the title the moment I unpaused) than its taken serious. I may restore it when we get the first generation of dwarfs.

Can I be dorfed as the jeweler please?

Done. You got the bi dwarf, so you might be the odd man out on forming a clan.

He's just going to act as a morale raiser. You know, last king of the dwarves and all that...

[NCommander]

This is a masterwork dog leather journal owned by Kogan 'NCommander' Kelnakuth. On its covered is adored images of seven dwarfs. The image related to the founding of Scorchedgravel, the last Dwarven settlement.


16th of Granite
---

We're not going anywhere. Before the wagon upturned, we had enough food and drink to last us several years. Now we only have enough for a few months at best with rationing. Given our surrounding, I told Solon (who prefers to be called Nix) to grab the remaining pick, and dig straight down. Our one hope is the caverns.



She immediately picked a spot and headed downward. Getting her out of sight will likely prevent Imic (Rigoth's nickname), and I from murdering her in her sleep. I don't really like the idea of going below ground after all the losses we had before, but I'm not seeing an alternative. We're in the middle of a badlands, very little grows here. I've sent Mistem to pick what she can in an attempt to buy time but the situation is not good.

I'm trying to rationalize myself why we need to go down:
 - We've got a bunch of grazing animals with us who we were able to gorge full of food before we entered this rocky wastes. As it stands, we don't have enough grass to feed them here.
 - We need plants. Mistem has gotten pretty good at picking them over time. She can run into the caverns, get what we need, and get out.
 - We need wood. A few fungiwood trees would let us rebuild and get rolling again.

I'm uneasy about this, but I don't see an alternative

16th of Granite
---

I've set to work replacing our lost supplies. We had mined out some tetrahedite a few days ago. Sodel cut down a tree and we got some charcoal going. Given our last volcano suprise, I really rather not send anyone close to it as of yet.



20th of Granite
---

Our surface workshops are operational while we're here.



We've got eight bars of copper already, now being forging into shiny new picks. I spotted some hemaite while walking along the dig site which will get us a spare anvil or two.



I hope Nix hits the caverns soon.

25th of Granite



We found the caverns ...

Nix ran up, and told me I wasn't going to like it. She's been making herself scarce since we arrived, and Imic is still cross with her. I'm really worried they're going to punch each other's lights out. But the "thing I won't like"



The cavern is flooded. Nix tells me there's likely dry land somewhere where we can reach, but for her to mine to it could take months. As it stands. We can't get to the wood or pasture our animals. I can see Fungiwood trees just out of reach; we've either hit the first or second layer. I tell her to dig exploratory shafts every 10 levels, and keep going down. If this is the second cavern, then we have hope. If not, then we're more screwed than I would care to admit.

10th of Slate
---

No additional caverns have been located. I'm worried.

18th of Slate
---



Nix broke through the ceiling earlier today.



Lifeless, or nearly so. No trees that we can see, though at least its dry ... I'm unsure what to do ..

[NCommander]

OOC: Ok, I'm in a writing mood tonight ...

This is a masterwork dog leather journal owned by Kogan 'NCommander' Kelnakuth. On its covered is adored images of seven dwarfs. The image related to the founding of Scorchedgravel, the last Dwarven settlement.

I held a meeting over our makeshift stockpile and got everyone around us. I knew what I was going to say. The last thing we needed after everything was for folks to loose hope. So, I started with the bad news.

"Ok folks, no easy way to break this, here's the situation, our hope of getting out of here quickly is flooded under several million liters of water, and the second cavern layer is looking lifeless at best. I can't send anyone the caverns as it stands in good conscious and there's nothing for Mistem to pick anyway. Trying to find the third cavern at this point is a death sentence. Summed up, we're stuck."

Predictably, the reaction to this proclamation was overwhelmingly negative, but I cut off the objections before they got going.

"Instead of focusing on what we don't have, let's review what we need and look at what we do have."

I took a stick and drew on the ground:

"Most importantly, we're going to need crops, both for food and for booze. Beyond that, we're going to need a way to transport liquids. We can't use wood, so that's out. Third, we also need a way to feed our animals. The llamas are grazers, so we need grass or something a close approximation of. Forth, we've got easy access to magma."

I turned over to Nix, partially to extend an olive branch, and to remind others she's been hard at work.

"Nix, you've had a good look at the stone levels around here, what can you tell us?"

Nix flustered, and stumbled her words before getting going.

"W-w-we've got several layers of fire clay, and pete near the surface. Deeper down, we've got marble, cassiterite, some obsidian, bunch of other ores and rocks."

Someone, Imic, I think, whistled. It was a lot of good ores ...

"OK folks, that's where we stand, what can we do with it?"

Udil spoke up first.

"Given the volcano, that pete and clay should be saturated with volcanic ash. Even without direct access to water, I can probably get some of our seeds to grow, though without a way to make potash, we don't have a way to make fertilizer. It would also take a better part of a season to get anything usable ..."

Gwolfski stepped up next.

"Hrm, fire clay? We could use that to make earthware. Won't have to glaze it or not, but we'd need a way to cook it. Could do it with a magma klin, if we could get the magma somewhere more useful."

I nodded, "Anyone got any ideas on our llamas?"

Mistem stepped up next. "Well, it won't last long, but we do have a little grass up here. If we keep moving the pastures, it might buy us time." Sodem jumped in, "well, we've breached the caverns right? We can get some of the soil down there and mix it with what we have up there. That should get fungus growing no problem, assuming we have a large enough area. I can run down, grab it, run back up."

I nodded. "Ok folks, sounds like you got a plan. Nix, get your pick, and dig out some farming areas and a grazing area. After that, get some of the ore that's lying around. I want to make sure we have some
Sodem, grab one of the spares and join her; I hate to say this, but I don't think we'll need a carpenter much in the near future. Gwolfski, start gathering clay for now. Everyone else, glue your heads together, and figure out a way to safely tap that volcano. We're going to need the magma for Gwolfsk's klin."

I exhaled. Before everyone left, Imic brought up one final question.

"If we're going to be here for awhile, someone should think of a name for this place! First local beer is one me to the winner!"

I could only smile as I walked away.

[Derro]

Can I have the herbalist/metalsmith/broker? I'll probably be playing her as a hopeless optimist, so that ought to be fun.

Name... let's just go with 'Derro'.

[Fleeting Frames]

What local shrubs did you already pick up?

With them being Scarce, you should pick up the local crops for seeds before they're trampled. "Not Freezing" covers quite a wide variety of things, though I'd guess "Any temperate" is too specific for temperate badlands.

I'm also curious what worldgen parameters did you use? I see no mention of z-levels and depths. Though speaking of depths, I spy several pillars through which to go deeper from underwater seaworld =) That could provide a natural defence for visitors from above.

It'd be nice to get an image of the whole embark as well for a sense of where the things are. Any featherwood trees?

What else does Sodel Rulbim have skill in other than Carpentry? Nothing?

[TheImmortalRyukan]

Dorf me as Airith Headmistress (when custom professions are in play).

I really think this fort will survive, given your work in Doomforest and Breadbowl.

IS RPing allowed?

[Gwolfski]

Yes, I think

[Derro]

Dorf me as Airith Headmistress (when custom professions are in play).

I really think this fort will survive, given your work in Doomforest and Breadbowl.

IS RPing allowed?

The first post says it is.

I will also take dwarfing requests, though with so few, its first come, first serve and RPing is welcome.

[Tournesol]

Isn't there still one Dwarf left? Dwarf me please and I shall do some RP.