02 Granite 90Hmm, what next? Airith glanced over her to-do list. There were various pieces of furniture to be made…walls and floors to be built both on the surface and in the caverns…and some bridges that needed designing…the Sacred Grove’s waterfall to build…and always more rock blocks, above and beyond the ones that Bomrek insisted on stealing.
A waterfall sounds nice. I need some cheering up, I’ll work on that.Grabbing a block of phyllite, she headed toward the Sacred Grove.
I hate the rain. She grumbled as she walked.
Nasty, wet, ugh. Why did that idiotic king pick here to send us? Why couldn’t it have been, oh, I don’t know, a nice, rocky mountain?“Raahh-aahh-aahh-agh!”
The sudden cry of a draltha startled her out of her grousing, and she looked around in vain for the large creature.
“Raahh-aahh-aahh-agh!”
This time, she thought the sound came from…above?
I didn’t know dralthas could climb? Oh, wait. They can’t. Now I have to design a stairway to get her back down. There’s always something.Fortunately, Lolama was passing at that moment, and eagerly took over the stair construction, so Airith continued on toward the planned waterfall.
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Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, broker.03 Granite 90Ingish and I have finally finished hollowing out the shell of Robek’s temple.
Once the final water floodgate has been linked up, we’ll be able to start the alternating magma and water layers, to make the obsidian walls and floors so appropriate for Robek’s home here in Atölasob.
04 Granite 90Kol Toneswords found the cow moose dead when he went to butcher the oldest bull, and her only calf is male, so we currently have no breeding herd of moose. Fortunately, this past winter Sigun was able to train a breeding pair of both giant cave toads and naked mole dogs, so losing the moose herd shouldn’t be a disaster when Logem Echoworked returns in the fall to check our progress. And there’s a chance that the elves will bring a replacement moose eventually. The bull calf gives us years of leeway.
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05 Granite 90Catten Slingcleaned studied the reports piling up on the mayor’s desk.
Where do they all come from? I can see exactly why no one else wants this job. Still, I suppose I really should make a start on them.Sighing, he picked up the first sheaf. Flipping through the pages, he read complaint after complaint about all of the corpses piled up everywhere, and particularly the horrifying daily experience of seeing dead troglodytes.
Why do we keep those? And why is it that the loudest complainers are all hauling refuse?“Hey, Ryukan!” Catten waved to the boy passing the door. “I need you to deliver a message for me.”
“Yeah?” The boy didn’t seem particularly interested.
Catten scribbled a few sentences on a sheet of paper. “Put this on the door to the refuse pile, would you?”
Advisory to all Residents and Citizens: All remains belonging to forbidden beings, such as troglodytes, are to be given a proper burial in the magma sea. DO NOT store them in this pile!“The refuse pile? You mean, the one where all the corpses of our most powerful enemies are? Sure!” Ryukan snatched the sheet and took off, eager to explore a part of the fort where children were discouraged from loitering.
Blood and gore, that’s all today’s children are interested in.Turning back to his paperwork, he came across a report dated from 89, where Airith pointed out the growing amount of wear and tear on the trade depot. It ended with a recommendation to build a new one.
Why didn’t Vucar take care of this? If the depot collapses while traders are in it, it’ll be our necks!He scribbled a note to send along to Airith with the next child to wander by, authorizing the building of a new depot out of clear glass.
And while she’s at it, she can build it under a roof this time. Right below the tavern would be good. I’m tired of getting rained on every time we have to move goods for a caravan.--------------------
Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, broker.08 Granite 90After several months venturing into the caverns every other week or so, Osp has failed to return. Kara eventually reported that she had stumbled across his corpse, with a giant bat, Gugirmuk, brooding above him, dried blood on her talons. We’ll bury Osp in our growing cemetary, so Mooney is planning to send out a squad of marksdwarves to deal with Gugirmuk.
09 Granite 90Ingish and I have finally finished digging out the Eastern Magma Rail, so our resident engraver Nil and his human apprentice Sath have begun the laborious task of carving out tracks. Nil says it will likely take more than one season to complete the entire loop, which means we should have it up and running for next year’s quota.
Oh well, at least we’re getting closer.
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11 Granite 90
Catten dashed up to Lotu. “What do I send?” He was still trying to settle in to his role.
Lotu shrugged. “They seem to love trash, so I always give them the tattered rags that no self-respecting dwarf will wear.”
Catten nodded. “That makes sense. Anything else?”
So Lotu ran through a swift summary of elvish sensibilities.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Lotu shook his head and clapped Catten on the shoulder. “That’s why clothing trash is safe, see? We make all of ours out of silk, and the elves love that stuff.”
12 Granite 90Catten walked into Lorbam’s office. “I need you to add something to the work queue.”
Lorbam barely glanced up from his figures. “What?”
“Earrings. I haven’t gotten a new one in ages, and I want one that is suitable for my mayoral rank.”
At that, Lorbam did look up. “You are aware that we are making earrings, right? For the quota? And that we always make extras of those sorts of things?”
Catten shrugged. “But I don’t want one that’s Bomrek-quality. I want the finest that Atölasob crafters can make.”
Lorbam rolled his eyes as he made a notation. “Got it. One earring for Your Mayorness.”
15 Granite 90Lotu wandered into the depot, and started scanning through the various paltry offerings the elves had brought.
Unuseable seeds, poor quality cloth, and we’re already drowning in thread. I have no idea what this is. And I don't know of a single dwarf that can play that.Eventually he came to the cages, but even there the offerings were slim. Finally, with careful haggling, he exchanged a great deal of the tattered silk clothing that various dwarves had abandoned for a lion, jaguar and giant echidna.
No new breeding pairs, but at least I’ve gotten rid of quite a bit of clothing clutter.Before Trade: After Trade:
16 Granite 90“It’s all yer fault!” The roar startled Airith where she was carefully constructing the waterfall.
“Huh?” She glanced up in time to see the butcher Kol bearing down on her, the sharp dagger he used to slaughter animals raised high above his head.
“Eeeeek!” Dropping her stone and tools, Airith dashed off.
Dodging down to the roofed courtyard, she darted among the workshops, seeking to lose her pursuer. But Kol was stubborn and kept right on her heels, yelling obscenities and blaming her for everything that had gone wrong since arriving many years ago. Ducking in and out of the workshops, she was too breathless to apologize for bouncing off Mebzuth, and then tripping Mafol.
The caverns. I can lose him in the caverns.Dashing into the Central Spire, she hurried down, down, down. Reaching the entrance to the upper caverns, she paused to listen. There were no sounds of pursuit, and she collapsed back against the wall, as her breathing and heartrate gradually slowed back down.
What got into him?--------------------
Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, broker.18 Granite 90On my daily stroll around the surface enclosure, I noticed that all of the elven shrines in the Sacred Grove now have altars, though the statues are taking a while to make. Proper petrified wood is in rare supply. Each elf had the responsibility to name their Force’s shrine, and the names are odd, to say the least.
Aríle is now worshipped in the Convent of Paddling. Apparently Lulo’s homeland is centered on the banks of a mighty river, and Aríle gave their druids a vision that allowed them to grow something called a canoe. I still have no idea what kind of plant that is.
The shrine for Tise is the Sanctum of Oars. That vision sounds an awful lot like the one from Aríle, though Oda called the plant a “boat”.
Romi’s shrine is now the Sprayed Sanctuary. It sounds like Cata comes from a forest full of waterfalls.
Ithithí and Kifino agreed to name Athe Ami˙a’s shrine the Sanctum of Pelts, in honor of the animals that Athe taught their brethren to domesticate.
Lolama was just finishing up the naming ceremony for her Force, Themiyi, when I passed. And right in the middle, she jumped up and started dancing around. She’d been stung by a wasp, and accidentally named the place the Sanctum of Wasps. And apparently, it’s really bad karma to try and rename a shrine once the name has been bestowed. I’m still chuckling at her expression when she realized what she’d done.
22 Granite 90Here we go again.
25 Granite 90Unlike previous moody dwarves, Stodir went straight to the library and is now just sitting there, hugging his knees and rocking against the wall. He won’t talk to anyone, and is acting very cagey about what he’s planning to do.
It took us a while to figure out why he was hanging out in the library instead of running around, but his mechanic’s workshop is a pile of rubble. Our best guess is that someone destroyed it in a tantrum.
03 Slate 90Dr. Urist finally got around to building a mechanic’s workshop, and Stodir promptly dashed down from the library to claim it.
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05 Slate 90“It’s raining!” “It’s pouring!” “I got wet while going to the depot!” “I got rained on!” “I’m soaked!”
Catten felt as if every conversation recently had been a variant of the same theme.
Why is everyone complaining about the rain?Resolved to get to the bottom of things, he started inspecting the surface fort, from ground to top.
I can’t do anything about the military patrols, but what about everyone else?Studying each
bot, he finally found the problem.
“Hey! Get your lazy bums in gear and roof over that library!”
Who was the idiot who only roofed over the bookshelves?08 Slate 90The whittling knife slipped, knocking loose a jagged piece of wood and ruining the bracelet in his hands. It was the last straw. Stukos threw bracelet and knife at the wall. Shoving both hands into his hair, he arched backwards, screaming out his frustration.
“That stupid *&#%@&$ Bomrek!”
In a blind rage, he shot out of the workshop and stumbled into a barrel. Snarling, he hefted it and threw it aside, where it landed, worse for wear. Lashing out again, the rest of the sill’s apparatus trembled, swayed, then came crashing down.
Kivish leaped out of the way just in time. “Hey! Whatcha think yer doin’?”
But Stukos was already zooming across the courtyard. Like an out of control ball he ran into the ashey, throwing more barrels around and ripping down anything he could get his hands on, before repeating the process in the siege workshop.
Bearksie was nearest.
“Hey, now. No need for that. Just calm down, now.”
But, if anything, the words just made Stukos angrier. Striking out with his fists and feet, he broke free of the human’s hold. Turning immediately, he lit into Bearksie with the full force of his rage.
Hands on his knees, Stukos gasped for breath. Bearksie moaned on the ground, barely conscious as waves of pain throbbed from toe to finger to head.
“Hey, you look like you need some help.” Tun stopped next to the duo and reached down to Bearskie. “Come on, I’ll get ya to the hospital.”
Dr. Urist came almost immediately after Bearskie’s arrival in one of the beds, and hmmed and haahhed as she inspected the wounds.
“Most of these aren’t too bad, but that leg is going to need traction for a while. I'll get Stodir to slap together a traction bench as soon as he's done with his project. Here, drink this. It’s my own concoction, but it should help with the pain.”
Moments later Bearskie had passed out, and Dr. Urist and her team of doctors got to work.
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Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, broker.09 Slate 90After nearly a week of darting here, dashing there, and laboriously hauling huge boulders back to his workshop, Stodir has finally begun work.
All I can say is, these are going to be some interesting mechanisms.
10 Slate 90We were all shocked when the lookouts on the ramparts announced the arrival of a group of dwarves. While the mayor Catten officially welcomed them, I sat in out of curiosity. With the goblins’ steady advance in the south, Sigun has been urging his sisters to relocate here, where they will be safe. Both of them have finally taken his advice, and have brought several friends as well. With Sigun's scholar mother, Onget, a regular visitor, the entirety of Clan I can now be considered to be based in Atölasob.
Our new residents are:
• Sigun’s older sister, Sĺkzul Confuseboats, who is a natural in the kitchen, and her husband Prince Edëm the Suturer, King Dodok’s eldest son. He has taken over the leadership of Clan A. I'm reserving judgement on him.
• Sigun’s younger sister, Urvad, an engraver. She will be really useful in getting the Eastern Magma Rail up and running. Her husband, Aban, is a bookbinder. Given that the scholars are constantly running out of quires, he will come in handy.
• We also have Urdim, the marksdwarf who escorted the group safely so far north. Mooney has already added her to the Oracular Golds, for her trouble. Urdim’s husband is Reg, a fisherdwarf of some experience, and they were accompanied by Reg's fishing buddy Fath. Fath is like myself and Airith, born of simple folk rather than to one of the great Clans. No matter, here extra fishing hands are always welcome, given Bomrek’s love of fish.
• And, last but not least, we have the milker Ingish, the last surviving son of the Clan F Founders, and so he has claimed the Clan F headship from his eldest nephew, Mafol. Mafol is just as happy that he can now concentrate entirely on military matters, so everyone is happy.
The newcomers have also brought a two-humped camel calf, a puppy and a mule. Not the most useful of additions.
11 Slate 90Airith was very pleased with Stodir’s gift.
She kept raving on and on about them.
She’s already talking about all of the possible uses for them.
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15 Slate 90Mayor Catten wandered across the grass, deep in thought.
I need to cut down on the rain complaints. But how? Roofing the library only seems to have been a drop in the bucket.Glancing absent-mindedly over at the rope reed field, he suddenly stopped short, taking a double-take.
“Hey, Udil!” He hailed the nearest farmer. “Why are there no rope reeds growing?”
Udil shrugged. “No seeds.”
“What?”
“There’nt any.”
That couldn’t be right. Catten rushed down to Lorbam’s office. “What’s up with the rope reed seeds?”
Lorbam checked his records. “We don’t have any.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve plenty of the plants, but the rain keeps washing the seeds out of the planters’ hands. Same with the kenaf.”
Rain, again!Catten went to find Lotu. “I need you to dig out some deep pits that we can roof over with glass and use for surface farms. The rain is a problem.”
Lotu munched his persimmon thoughtfully, then finally nodded. “Yeah, I had planned on some of those when we first arrived, but never got around to them. I’ll start with two, one each for kenaf and rope reeds. That sounds about right.”
He finished his persimmon and hefted his pick. “And while we’re on the subject, Ingish and I’ll get some more bedrooms done for the new arrivals. And a draltha pasture, while we’re at it. Did Airith tell you that they keep getting stuck in trees?”
17 Slate 90Catten headed down to his office, a sheaf of paper fresh from the quern filling his arms, when a visiting dwarf planted himself in front of him.
Catten’s forehead bunched up.
He’s from the Corridor of Mastery, not the Figure of Diving. I’ve heard that they’re weird on the other side of the Horn of Insight mountains. And he’s a mercenary, so he’ll do what he pleases.The decision was easy. “No. We already have all of the monster hunters we’re comfortable with at the moment.”
The dwarf took Catten’s refusal well enough. Resettling his sword, he strode off to continue his journey.
22 Slate 90Kivish came to find Lotu as he worked on one of the two planned farm pits. “Lotu, I’ve been thinking.”
“Yes?”
“Sĺkzul is doing really well in the brewery, and my head isn’t in the job right now. I feel like I need some thinking time. Time to myself, you understand?”
Lotu nodded, even though he didn’t particularly agree.
“So, I was wondering something. When you’re working on a project, we almost never see you unless we go looking. And I wondered if you’d teach me some of the rudiments of mining? For meditation purposes.”
That, I can agree with.Lotu held out his pick. “Here, it’s simple. You hold this end, and you swing the pointy end at the wall. Don’t worry, you’ll pick it up fast. I’ve marked how far you need to go, and Ingish will help you if you need it. Happy meditation!”
Airith will be happy with that! Now we just have to worry about her workload.24 Slate 90
Catten came racing into Lotu’s office. “What do I do?”
Lotu wasn’t worried. “Talk to Imic about things like that. He’ll know which squads to send.”
When Catten showed up in the training room, Imic didn’t seem worried. “The Boats of Mining’re already on duty, they’ll take care of it.” And he turned away to bark instructions to his recruits.
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Excerpts from the journal of Lotu Sizzlediron, broker.26 Slate 90Ustres was collecting webs in the cavern when she came across Ulirevathi. Being an inteliigent dwarf, she promptly fled. However, the Boats of Mining arrived in time to see her war dog charge and rip the throat out.
The soldiers were disappointed, and promptly repaired to the tavern to drown their regrets with some excellent quality ale.
05 Felsite 90What! Two in a row!?
Well, Imic is used to these by now, and sent the Oracular Golds to act as long-range support for the Barricaded Charity, who are on duty in the caverns this month.
According to the tale told in the tavern this evening, Gel’s whip, Lipulopi, struck the first blow, but Masami took the kill.
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09 Felsite 90Rigňth, Masami, Gel, and Medtob struggled into the hospital, coughing up blood. Hemming and hawing, Dr. Urist and Rimtar poked and prodded, examining them from head to toe. Finished with their examination, the doctors huddled in a consultation. They quickly came to an agreement. The four afflicted had likely all been exposed to a poison while fighting the latest cavern monster, which had released vaporous dust during the fight.
Dr. Urist grabbed a vial of greenish liquid from the supply cabinet in the corner, and poured out a swallow for each of the afflicted patients. She was very pleased by the results. By the end of the day, all four of the soldiers were back on their feet, awestruck at the fruits of Dr. Urist’s constant research of extracts and poisons.
It’s useless for solving the Bomrek problem, but each new piece of research gets me closer.20 Felsite 90Sigun walked out of the training room and paused, arching backwards to stretch out some of the kinks.
That went quite well. I think I’m starting to get a feel for how to deal with these oversize salamanders.
28 Felsite 90Catten sat down with Lorbam and Akrul, ready to discuss progress towards filling the quota. It was his first time chairing the meeting without Lotu present, and he felt rather nervous.
As bookkeeper, Lorbam opened the conversation. “We’re doing well on most items, and should be able to complete them without a problem. But, the carpenters are behind, making the crutches problematic.”
Akrul broke in. “With two carpenters, we should have almost double the numbers, but all of those tantrums this spring kept interrupting them and slowed them down. I’ve already had words with Kol and Stukos and the others, but you’ll need to assign some more apprentices to help Uvash and Lyra finish up.”
Catten nodded.
Now who do we have who isn’t already working flat-out somewhere else?
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Topic: The Story of Atölasob (A Community Fort with an Export Challenge) (Read 59240 times)