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[SerpentStare]

Hi, I'm SerpentStare and this is my game. I'll be writing histories of it as I go.

Spoiler: SerpentStare (click to show/hide)

He is strong, but he is slow-moving and quick to tire.
SerpentStare likes Dwarf Fortress, Diablo, Cthulean themes, mechanical pencils, character development, learning JavaScript, snakes for their symbolism of immortality and the remarkable storytelling of Madoka Magicka. He prefers to consume mushrooms and hot, milky tea. He absolutely detests unrequested advice.
He has a sharp intellect, a great imagination and a way with words, but he has little patience.

I was feeling an itch to play DF again, but since I tend to get distracted and bored with most of my forts due to a lack of direction and investment long before they're really threatened, I was reluctant.
Then it occured to me over a dinner of absolutely succulent duck breast and vegetables to make this the theme of a challenge.
The first seven dwarves are named after friends of mine who helped me flesh out the idea.

Spoiler: The Challenge (click to show/hide)

Run a dwarven duck farm.
Metalworking of any kind is forbidden in this fortress; any metal items must be traded for, with the exception of one copper pick brought on embark.
Aside from above restriction, the fortress is free to run any industry to serve the resident dwarves' own needs.
The only items allowed for export are live ducks and duck products.
Prepared meals are allowed to be traded, but only if the ingredient that names the meal is a duck product, such as +duck meat roast+ or -duck egg biscuits-.
Each one of my seven starting dwarves starts with Proficient Animal Caretaker.

Oh, dear.
This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.
I swear I did not know this when coming up with the challenge...
According to the wiki...
Ducks are the smallest common domestic bird in dwarf fortress. While they produce eggs, they provide no meat, fat, skin or bones when butchered.
XD

Anyone who finds this thread interesting is more than welcome to comment, make suggestions, request to be dorfed, etc. I'm even willing to make the save game public so that others can pick up the fortress from a given point of history if anyone feels like doing so for a parallel universe succession.

Without any further ado, let the story of Lanlargomath begin...


     Chronicle of the Journey
     mid to late Granite

We are a band of country dwarves from among the villages and farmland North of The Regal Point, as far as the Hill of Sound.
I've gathered them together to forge our own settlement, far from the woes of our disparate pasts, where we might find success through trade nearer to the heartland at Strategic Point. Each of us has spent many of our years tending animals on a farm, as have most of the surface-dwelling dwarves in this area, but we have other skills too.

I bring my ambition, enough coin to fund the journey, and my skill with numbers. I have brought my ledgers with me and will track and direct our progress.

Spoiler: Serp (click to show/hide)

Starting Skills:
Proficient Animal Caretaker
Novice Organizer
Competent Leader

We have a small time doctor from one of the Northern villages. He won't tell me which one, and grumbles whenever I ask why he left.

Spoiler: Ash (click to show/hide)

Starting Skills:
Proficient Animal Caretaker
Novice Striker
Novice Misc. Object User
Novice Wound Dresser
Novice Diagnostician
Novice Bone Doctor

We have a carter who'd been running his family's humble pig farm for twenty years, driving their old wagon into town to haggle with the market stall keepers. His experience will no doubt be invaluable, and his wagon already has been.

Spoiler: Eric (click to show/hide)

Starting Skills:
Proficient Animal Caretaker
Adequate Butcher
Novice Brewer
Novice Bone Carver
Novice Appraiser

We have a vegetable farmer who can fish and has some interesting theories about the fine properties of ducks.

Spoiler: Feri (click to show/hide)

Starting Skills:
Proficient Animal Caretaker
Adequate Grower
Competent Fisherdwarf

We have a young dwarf who worked as a miner in Artificial Hill for a time.

Spoiler: Finch (click to show/hide)

Starting Skills:
Proficient Animal Caretaker
Adequate Miner

A hardy and talented woodworker who fixed up our wagon when he found us stranded on the roadside. He seemed impressed by my business sense and joined us with his two goats, Rith and Avuz.

Spoiler: Axtell (click to show/hide)

Starting Skills:
Proficient Animal Caretaker
Novice Carpenter
Adequate Wood Crafter

We have an apprentice stonemason who joined us after a long discussion over pints about trade, logistics, independence, peace, and the elegance of waterfowl. She seemed eager to leave town, citing irritation with the disorderliness of things there.

Spoiler: Sav (click to show/hide)

Starting Skills:
Proficient Animal Caretaker
Novice Mason

We plan to establish a duck farm, and make a name for ourselves as suppliers of the finest poultry and eggs across the Ashen Hill, and eventually all the way to the mountainhomes at Strategic Point. For the last leg of our journey, we have been buying the finest ducks from every farm we pass, and discussing our plans for the future.

We've finally come in sight of the tremendous Regal Point mountain range. The deep miners there are our first expected customers. The softest and juiciest of all poultry shall we offer, and we will carve out our operations here. In our conversations for the last leg of our journey, we decided on a name for our company that encompasses the beauty of our ducks and the majesty of our purpose.

We are Arelnog Nebfeshfesh Emuth!

Spoiler: Translation (click to show/hide)

Waterfoot the Brown Wing-Wing of Beaks

[SerpentStare]

      Chronicle of the Landing
      end of Granite

We traveled to the Southern end of the Ashen Hill, through hilly meadows gently shaded by the stands of Ash trees which give their name to the region, seeking a location where the earth would be safe for dwarven burrows and the surface lush for our flock.

We stopped many times in promising looking places, once Regal's tips were seen on the horizon, to test the earth. But the rituals Finch and Feri used to probe the earth convinced them that the deep layers would contain deadly aquifers, and so we moved on.

Then, trouble struck. Cresting over a series of hills, our wagon was suddenly charged by one of the most terrifying beasts of the grasslands, an enraged giant badger. With terrifying snarl and claws over a foot long, these beasts have been known to rip apart dwarves and the hardiest herd beasts with ease.

In a panic, I shouted for Eric to get us away from the threat as fast as he possibly could. He directed the panicked wagon animals with shouts and blows and the wagon flew across the hills at tremendous speed, clearing the ground completely on some lurches over the bumps as Axtell voiced fervent prayers to Atesh and the badger ran at us repeatedly.

By luck or some divine providence, the most it managed to do was claw the back corner of the wagon, but even that tilted the entire thing on its wheels and we had to hold on for dear life to avoid toppling the thing onto its side. Finally, Eric drove us down a perilously steep and rocky hillside, and the dire badger elected to give up the chase and turn its murderous eyes elsewhere.

However, in our uncontrolled descent, one of our draft animals was fatally smashed between the wagon and a stout tree. With the wagon shaken and unstable and with only one animal to pull it, our mobility was decimated.

I called all hands off the wagon, and the heaviest of our provisions, at this point composed of one dead horse, carried on foot. It was miserable, but we limped out of that rocky gorge toward flatland, and on the first morning of Slate we reached a level field of promising, fertile earth with plentiful succulent grasses.

I bid Feri and Finch to perform their mysterious dowsing ritual, and they reported the best news I could have heard. The ground was solid and the bedrock would endure dry mining. It was nothing short of a miracle to us. We had found our home.

[SerpentStare]

      Badgered
      first of Slate

I set those of us with keen eyes to study our surroundings. It turns out that in our mad rush, we had neared the Forest of Roses, and a haze of thicker treetops could be seen vaguely on the horizon to the West.

Sav reported a large tent in the Southwest of the valley. Concerning. I had thought this area largely unsettled, although it should not have surprised me that such a choice piece of land might already have some claim upon it.



But the worst news came from Ash, who directed my eye to the large shapes moving behind the trees. We had escaped one, but an entire cete of badgers the size of large bears now mull within our valley, and we do not have the speed to run from them a second time.




We must defend ourselves. We must defend the ducks! Our livelihood is ruined if these fragile waterfowl are slaughtered. We are not military dwarves; we cannot hope to win a fight toe to toe with monsters like these. While Ash sits praying to Alod that our peace in her silence not be disturbed by the roars of enraged badger, Sav came to me quite composed and with a little smile.

She tells me that giant badger leather is prized as one of the thickest and finest materials for hardy outerwear. We cannot fight them, but if we could catch them, we may feast on their flesh and build tools with their hardy bones.

Our first priority is clear. To protect our flock and ourselves, we must focus immediately on building walls and defenses. Axtell stands ready to put all his ingenuity into building cages that might restrain these mighty beasts. I set to felling trees for him myself, fueled more by adrenaline than strength.

Wait. People from the tent approach us. They are dwarves! I hope that their intentions are peaceful. We are not in any state to endure banditry.

[SerpentStare]

      Plan B
      second of Slate

The leader of the tent dwarves greets us amicably. She shares the jade eyes and tan skin seen across Akamrigoth and speaks with a mountainhome accent. She welcomes us to the valley. Seeing the value of diplomacy here, I share some of our limited supply of drink with her. To my great relief, she and her party show no hostility, and do not object to our settling here.

That distraction aside, I turn to the task of bringing down some of these trees... ... ...



This wooden axe is completely useless! I can do nothing with it!

Spoiler: Training Axes (click to show/hide)

From the wiki:
"Training axes used to be used as equipment for tree cutting, freeing up embark points for other supplies but this bug was (fixed in 0.43.03)."

I didn't know that, either.

Oh, we are doomed... We are doomed. No. I must not give in to despair. We cannot fell trees, but we can still dig. If need be, we will corral the ducks into a cellar until a wall can be built to protect them from predators. Poor things, kept away from Eges's light. But it is for their own good.

I send Finch with her pick to start digging, and assemble the rest of us to pray for the favour of the gods. Four of us pay our tribute to Alod, and the others do us the respect of mouthing their prayers in silence as well.

[SerpentStare]

      Chronicle of Development, first Spring
      late Felsite

Alod hears the faith in our silence. The giant badgers have left, for the time being, and we escaped unscathed and almost entirely unmolested.

For exceptional courage and skill, we wish to recognize the efforts of our single stray dog in fending off the badgers through violence and intimidation without suffering a single blow. Truly, the spark of Atesh lives within you, pumpkin dog. Thanks to your bravery, neither dwarf nor duck has died this season at BirdLegend.




I directed Finch to dig a spiralling ramp down into the soil, wide enough for the wagons that will some day come seeking our fine birds, until we struck solid rock, and there dig out a broad area. In the future, this will be a trading space. For now, it is a stockpile for our food. This done, we have burrowed out spaces for a few workshops. Tucked behind the bone room is hollowed a small area for me to work in, which was furnished, eventually, with a modest table and chair.



This is only a recent accomplishment. Earlier in the month, focus was on carving, hauling and building blocks from this hardy stone into a wall to surround a generous pasture, and other furnishings had to wait. We have 40 in our flock, 30 ducks and 10 drakes. We imagined they might need a lot of space, but so far they seem content to huddle together in a tight crowd. I can't blame them, of course. This wilderness can be intimidating sometimes.

A ramp was built as well in order to allow dwarfs to shoo some ducks down from the top of the wall where they must have flown and roosted when startled by the builders. The wall is almost finished now, and the ducks have been led to the shelter of their pen, rummaging busily in the dirt for insects. It's almost impressive how many small squirming creatures one can see them pull up from the same patch of ground.




Ash points out that although they have plenty of space, our ducks do not have access to a pond in which to swim, as they ought. He is right, of course. In future seasons we will work to rectify this. For the present, the priority must be safety. Inability to swim may be stressful, but it is not causing our birds any outright physical harm.

In other news, Finch has been showing great ingenuity in adapting to the responsibility she now bears, and digs with impressive skill and speed.



By the end of Felsite, a small farm complex with plump helmet plots and a kitchen and still was established underneath the duck pasture for ease of access collecting eggs. While the first harvest of helmets is slowly growing and our workshop focuses on nest boxes rather than food pots, Eric has busied himself making use of the carcass of our poor horse.



The next priority, once the pasture is finished and furnished with nest boxes, is a dining room in which to feast and toast to our success, followed by a minor dormitory, living quarters and a temple to show our gratitude for the great fortune with which we have been blessed. This season we have stared into a white-striped mask of death, but our faith never faltered, and death passed us by. I reassure Sav that if the badgers ever return, we will be ready, with ropes and knives and cages.

Tonight, though I lay my weary head against only cold, rough stone, I shall rest easily in the home we carved out of the diorite ourselves.

[Immortal-D]

Nice   My advise is to pace yourself.  You can burn out super fast when trying to maintain this level of detail in a story.  That said, I'm enjoying myself thus far.

[SerpentStare]

      Violence
      late Malachite

The pasture boundary is complete, and our ducks should be safe now within the protective walls. We've also installed a line of nest boxes, and at long last have begun to harvest the nutritious fruits of our flock's bounty.



... Why is the wall red?



But they're safe. The wall is finished. What happened?




... The pasture is huge, and the ducks are all stacked up in the Northwest corner, scrapping with one another!
How is it that after eight giant badgers crossed within a dozen yards of our entryway, this is the most violence the farm has seen since we dug into the ground?




Migrants have arrived. I will send them into the pasture to separate the ducks. I hope dearly that that will be enough.

I suppose the upside is that since the nest boxes have been finished, we have the kitchen and brewery operating, to delicious effect. I did however need to encourage Eric to use some of the other ingredients we have available.




Better.
...I will need to meet with the new arrivals and contemplate how to integrate them into the farm.

[snow dwarf]

This will be hillarious. A suggestion-build fortifications on the wall otherwise anything will be able to climb over.

[SerpentStare]

      Chronicle of Development, first Autumn
      mid Sandstone

Dividing the pasture into smaller lots has ended the fighting between our waterfowl. However, many of our ducks are permanently scarred, with feathers in disarray and will never heal completely from their wounds. Nevertheless, they still lay sufficiently well.

Early autumn was eventful. The first caravan from the mountains arrived, having heard word of our settlement here. I had ordered the construction of a marketplace to receive them some weeks earlier, but found it had not been done. One furious inquisition later, and I understood my oversight. No-one here is an architect, and we lacked the knowledge to plan it out; none had been willing to risk failing. I designated Ash our experimental marketplace designer, insisting that he make use of his creativity to come up with something that should serve. Any market was better than none, after all.

He headed off with one of the broadest grins I have ever seen at this new challenge. I'm still not entirely sure what to make of that, but within one more day, we had trade tables and pillars of commerce to welcome our first customers.

That obstacle down, I sent Eric to barter with them for our fine meals of egg. However, there was a bit of a problem with that as well.

Our produce was stored in with meat and plant dishes made from simple jerky brought from home and greenery pulled out of the mud... Eric's horse tallow roast was surprisingly decent fare for a hard working farm dwarf, I admit. But it is not the kind of fine product with which the name of Lanlargomath should be associated.

Our earlier wealth of egg meals having been so contaminated, I busied about the food stores and lectured my haulers to ensure better organization in the future, and ordered new batches of fine foods made.

Unfortunately, our only competent cook was... Eric. To his credit, he performed remarkably well under pressure, cooking up large batches of temptingly seasoned eggs and then rushing to the market to offer them, fresh and enticing, to the traders.



To my dismay, the caravan brought no functional axes with them. They did, however, bring a modest supply of wood. We will have beds to sleep on this year. Other goods of note included another pick, a pair of bismuth bronze boots, and quite a fine steel breastplate and bronze mace I encouraged Eric to procure for us.

[SerpentStare]

      Tale of Kikrost
      late Timber

Having apparently followed the caravan, six other dwarves arrived in the midst of the trade season seeking to join us. In addition, two clutches of eggs I had instructed my farmers not to disturb finally hatched, and the adorable little ducklings have been a happy and welcome sight waddling about.




Shortly after arriving, however, one of our newest citizens, a talented young tailor, got a far-away look in his eyes...



Always keen to study the unusual extremes of dwarven behaviour, Ash followed him for me to see what he was up to.



The textiles quadrant was a recent expansion. I was very pleased to think that a true artisan might establish its legacy with an inspired piece. However, after rearranging the entire workshop, he did not move from his place except to peer out suspiciously from time to time.

Nervous, I approached Kikrost. He did not seem to see me, but only muttered that he needed cloth and bricks for the beloved water.



I glanced with some concern from Kikrost to the pig tail cloth stacked by the loom nearby. I heard Ash's voice behind my shoulder, and the sound made me jump.
"He does not see them," he whispered. I could see it was true. Kikrost looked through them like empty air, just as he did through me.

Ash came to my office the next week, and advised me that Kikrost would not be persuaded to step away from the clothier's workshop for food, drink or sleep, and fought off any attempt to remove him. Someone had brought a portion of one of Eric's fine roasts to the workshop instead, but Kikrost did not see it.
"He sees nothing now but Aromarel. All else that could be done for him has been. There is only one thing left."

I dismissed Ash, with a knot in my stomach, and sent Eric back to the traders with another roast to ask after fine silks and homespun wool. It could be, I hoped, that pig tail was merely not exotic enough to catch our guest's eye.



But the merchants were gone, and I could not run fast enough to catch them up.



As a precaution, I bid my masons prepare for the worst. But I would not give up. I feared for Kikrost, sitting still and glancing around with sunken eyes as his stomach grumbled and he stared right through the food that had been brought him. He was a young dwarf, not even sixty yet, but those who had arrived with him attested to his skill at his trade and the brightness usually in his eyes. Now he seemed old and withered.

I met with Kivish and Tun, who had some experience in textiles, and begged them to see if they could make cloth out of horsehair, or any other material we had available. Kivish told me frankly that it could not be done. Horse hair is unfit for weaving, only sewing, and we have no animals here that bear wool.

I sent Finch, and another of our newer dwarves who seemed he might do some good with the new pick we'd traded for, to dig a long, long tunnel, sloping down. It would be a risk, of course, but if we could by chance find a cavern, we may find silk along with it.



I was too late.

Spoiler: Combat Report (click to show/hide)

I almost think that after that first heavy blow to the head, the madness went out of him. He seemed to fight out of fear rather than rage after that, and I think I heard him call out. But Ash had told me that a madness like this does not die once it takes hold. He knows the mysteries of a dwarf's mind better than I do.

Still, I am still the leader of Arelnog Nebfeshfesh Emuth. I take responsibility for waiting upon Kikrost's madness, and also for failing to save him. The words I had not wanted to hear ring in my ears. There is only one thing left.



There is no joy in leadership this day.

[TheImmortalRyukan]

Well, you have my attention

[SerpentStare]

      A Eulogy to the Fallen
      12th of Moonstone

Kikrost was no fighter. He did no worse harm to his executioners than knocking loose a few teeth.



Kikrost Acebanner, I do not know what dreams ever graced your creativity.
You were much too short among us.
Perhaps in another world, the sight of our halls would not have brought strange whisperings into your head. Perhaps in another world, I may have been fast enough or clever enough to save you. But now...
I only pray that Alod sings you to a sleep more peaceful than any I will know long years hence.



Amen.




It is winter.

[snow dwarf]

Do you accept dorfings?

[Dame de la Licorne]

Nice writing.  Keep it up!

- Dame de la Licorne

[Fleeting Frames]

I - hm. This is far better than expected. Novel premise, active narration, uncertain future, hope, planning, and some unusual gameplay elements. Surprised at the lack of animal trainers.

I wonder how many remains you get if you stick in a cat with all those ducks?

We don't know who your neighbours were, either. Will this be a surprise, I wonder?

And of course, there's the omlettes.

You could melt down something to make an axe in a forge, yknow. Or maybe you don't. None of  the characters picked weaponsmithing, after all.

Welp. A mood failure is always embarassing, but if you had no starting materials little you could do - perhaps only take advantage of deity cursing them into a vampire for your own use if they topple a statue in berserk rage, and that's about it.