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[Splint]

I was debating on taking a turn myself, if only to make an attempt at sorting the militia, but good lord. The place looks like it needs judicious use of a disposal pit.

I suppose I'll go next if my dwarf is still alive come the next turn though, or at least give it a try. Seems reasonably organized.

Seems.

[QuQuasar]

Aargh! I didn't realise the place was that bad!

I'm going to have to re-read the last few turns. I remember Sanctume dying, but when the hell did we lose... [counts on fingers] [runs out of fingers]... everyone? It'd be easier to count the named dwarves who aren't deceased.

Dammit, this place was supposed to be a peaceful farming village!

[applet]

Dammit, this place was supposed to be a peaceful farming village!

Then you picked the wrong game

Also, didn't breadbowl and breakfastpit tip you off?

[QuQuasar]

Dammit, this place was supposed to be a peaceful farming village!

Then you picked the wrong game

Also, didn't breadbowl and breakfastpit tip you off?

Breadbowl lasted 9 years with minimal casualties (by DF standards) before everything went wrong, and it went wrong because a dragon arrived and burned the place to the ground. That's sort of what I was hoping for here, and why I avoided an evil biome this time around.

I was at least hoping to avoid the depressingly hopeless, lovecraftian tone of Breakfastpit, but I guess I underestimated the effect rain has on stress in the latest versions.

[Splint]

The primary cause is clearly a combination of the rain improper disposal of the dead by the looks of things, for both sides (frankly I vote DF hack to at least gather everything up in one neat pile to be carted off/sorted for proper disposal elsewhere, be it catacombs or a dumping pit out of sight from everyone with magma at the bottom or something, and more efficient reclamation of equipment/materials,) and absolutely abysmal - nay, atrocious - military training, selection, and equipment.

For the record, assuming most needs are met, I've found that barring the most extreme cases, most dwarves seem to hover around + or - 500-700 stress, with those with pets and family being by far the least affected by poor weather. But this requires intsensive care on the player's part to ensure they have friends and family and can provide pets for them, which have preferably been gelded and imported as needed.

Reorganizing the militia will take intensive combing of the populace for those best suited to the task (We need hardy souls, not strong bodies - a sharp enough sword or axe can mitigate lacking physical might,) while those deemed physically -almost assuredly due to previous service - or psychologically unfit for duty are placed in reserve units and kept away from combat if possible, since cleaning up the mess traps and soldiers make will put tremendous strain on them as it is.

EDIT: Honestly my tileset fort (Granitepanther, also built nearly entirely topside,) has hardly seen anything besides the occasional semi-megabeast, titan, or werebeast. Kind of depressing when I have a bunch of squads primed and ready to tear shit up that are longing for some kind of excitement and you guys here are getting all the action.

[applet]

I'm sorry if I came off as snarky - it wasn't my intent and I apologise.

I'm curious if the frequency of rain has an impact on dwarves thoughts - if the bad thought gets reapplied when the rain stops and starts again? I recall having a fisherdwarf going nuts with stress in a rainy area.
I'm guessing Cheesesplatter is in a frequent rain area?

By the way - if you need to reduce stress from a particular dwarf, I've found that jailing them works quite well. Have been able to reduce 100k stress dwarves to -50k in Ledpaddled (though the unstressedness is probably from high-quality furniture in the cells - not from being confined). Not sure if this works outside the justice system - I just convict the stressed dwarf of a bunch of cold cases, make sure the officer is weak and hope the dwarf survives the beating. Although sometimes it seems there is only jail time? Not sure how that works.

It doesn't remove the source problem though, but it returns a stressed dwarf to normal - which then can be kept away from stress sources, hopefully.

Maybe this is common knowledge - but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere.

[fortunawhisk]

Winter 255:
Your Majesty,
I wish I had time to convey the sheer scale of the organization we're attempting here... Every day brings fresh challenges.

-- Holidays
The temper of the citizens is a growing concern. The hectic pace of day to day life here leaves dwarves little time or energy for pursuing their own lives. Feeding the Deephold is important, but I've asked Zulban to institute a mandatory 5 day holiday at the end of each month. I'm sure we will be able to make up any labor shortfall by improving the efficiencies of carrying and production.

-- Introducing a heresy: Piles
Like the single bar of metal that turns into the stack of bolts, it is my belief that through effort, we can put more than one thing in a spot. I know this belief attracts a certain amount of shouting and disbelief, but I think my plans will silence the critics.

-- My First Forgotten Beast!
A worker spotted this through a crack in the wall. I am in no hurry to go there. While I didn't personally see it (so many meetings!), I hear it takes the form of something like a giant hairy wasp?


-- First Artifact!
Almost immediately on my assumption of manager duty's, an artifact was created that showed the fort rising up against a common enemy. I like to think that everyone now realizes we're in this together. I plan to display it prominently in the temple.



-- Organizing the fields
I've ordered the fields, stills, and kitchens consolidated into a single location. With convenient access to the food storage, this will save everyone a significant amount of time. I've ordered another unused cavern repurposed as drink storage.
We could subsist for years on the stored food and drink, but it isn't destined for us. Still, we eat like royalty while we wait for the caravan.

-- Organizing the labor
An enormous cavern just south of the dining hall is being repurposed as general storage and the site of future industry.

-- Starting non-food production
I've ordered a field set aside for growing textiles. In short order, we should be able to pride ourselves on bright colors and distinct fashions.

-- Cleaning up the bodies
In grimmer news, I've had to order some dwarves to do NOTHING BUT clean up bodies and refuse. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight for these poor souls. We've managed to build coffins and slabs for our own, but the vast number of fallen enemies is daunting.

---
OOC Notes
I realize I'm not doing a lot to coddle the high stress dwarves. I'm doing what I can to handle needs, but the outdoor nature of farming and the stack of dead bodies is against me.
I plan to move to lava disposal method for all corpses of sentients.
I'll try to preserve the bodies of animals for food and supplies.
The animal reduction is proceeding as planned, but I was initially defeated by an egg-splosion from the keets, chickens, peahens, etc.

[fortunawhisk]

I was debating on taking a turn myself, if only to make an attempt at sorting the militia, but good lord. The place looks like it needs judicious use of a disposal pit.
I suppose I'll go next if my dwarf is still alive come the next turn though, or at least give it a try. Seems reasonably organized.
Seems.

Unfortunately... military can always use help though!

I'm curious if the frequency of rain has an impact on dwarves thoughts - if the bad thought gets reapplied when the rain stops and starts again? I recall having a fisherdwarf going nuts with stress in a rainy area.
I'm guessing Cheesesplatter is in a frequent rain area?

By the way - if you need to reduce stress from a particular dwarf, I've found that jailing them works quite well.

Rain: Afaik, getting rained on leads to negative thoughts, the system chooses from the available thoughts to form memories, memories are mulled on to modify traits like stress propensity. The more bad thoughts you have, the more likely they are to make up the memories. Whether they actually have to get hit by water to get the negative thought and whether that thought stacks may require science.

Jail: This seems to depend on the dwarf. Some are deeply opposed to being imprisoned and/or being falsely accused. It's also possible to chain someone up w/o going through the justice system.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=161795.msg7287486#msg7287486

[Splint]

Welp, Splint is dead. All I can do is provide color commentary then.

I'm not one for taking another dwarf. Me is dead.

[auzewasright]

Can you list which named dorfs are still alive?

[fortunawhisk]

The following named dwarves are still alive:
Blitzgamer
Imic
Immortal-D
Lordy
SQMan

With the exception of Blitzgamer (stuck in the rain w/o friends), they are all pretty happy.

[fortunawhisk]

Spring 256
----
Spring is upon us, the elven ambush season. I have ordered that some of our innumerable tigers be chained up outside our gates. Hopefully they'll at least give us some notice if invaders approach. Though I don't know how we'd notice one more noisy beast. It'd be like a pebble on the mountain.

256.01.05
And the the elves attack! It makes my skin crawl to see them emerge like ghosts from the trees, beasts in tow. How can they move so silently through such dense undergrowth?
Our militia races to meet them, war animals loping beside them. I remember how their noises terrified me when I first arrived, hopefully it'll at least annoy the elves.


256.01.06
There's no end to them! One of our sharp eyed farmers claims he saw at least a hundred elves from the walls, and maybe half as many beasts. Every time I see our warriors disappear under a pile of elves, my heart sinks and I fear it will be the end.
But every time, they emerge victorious. So far...

256.01.10
The siege lifts! Our warriors have slain them all, down to the last beast.  The warriors themselves are curiously quiet. No celebration, no cheer. It's like they don't care anymore.
I was a bit curious about why there didn't seem to be any truly serious casualties, only cuts and bruises and the dead. One of the soldiers mentioned that it was because the elves won't use metal weapons.
Supposedly, our superior armor won't allow our brave militia to be cut, but nothing prevents them from being beaten like a rug....


I've ordered slabs engraved in honor of our fallen. They died so we might live.


256.01.11
I'm forced to consolidate our military squads after this last battle. This should make it a bit easier to allow the soldiers the downtime they deserve. Hopefully, this will be only attack this season. I also need to seek out volunteers to replace our fallen.

256.02.10
The caverns under our fort contain the strangest beasts. Even the hills are alive down there.


256.02.22
Life has definitely resumed its normal crazy pace. Another artifact!



256.03.01
No migrants this season. The extra hands would have been welcome, but I'm sure we can handle things. Still, tensions continue to escalate and I'm not sure what we'll do if the caravans don't come this year...

256.03.03
I find out what will happen. I'm cornered by a concerned citizen, and what should be a simple disagreement escalates into a fight. It's nothing serious, just a tweaked knee. Still, I'm walking with a crutch now.


256.03.10
I thought last week's fight was the worst of it, but I was wrong. I didn't even see the punch, just heard a pop and woke up in the hospital. It didn't take long for the pain to find me. Supposedly, my spine is broken. It's a gift from the gods that the attack stopped there...
Doctor Adilishash promises that she'll put these notes on my desk, as long as I promise not to exert myself. I must remember to thank Zulban for making the armor mandatory. 


I see our master brewer/broker Lordy in a nearby bed. She was recently in a confrontation as well. Fortunately, nothing serious. Maybe I should be lift barrels for a couple of years too.
Your Majesty, if you're still reading this... I may have pushed too hard for change, too fast.


256.03.11
I hear the new work area is almost complete. I think the only thing left is to set up a section for the clothing makers. Which reminds me, I need to ask the farmers about the textile fields...
<Later>
Speaking of farmers, I had a visit from one of their representatives today in the hospital. He literally asked me to make it stop raining on them! And then just left! I don't even... The rain must have washed their brains right out.
<Even later>
I realized I _could_ actually do something about the rain. One of wonders(?) of Cheesesplatter is the half completed glass roof over 'The Hole'. It's really very fascinating. It's made of very large glass blocks that interlock,
and it's still clear as lake water. It's been years since any work was done on it, but the engineering remains quite sound. I've even seen our militia practicing their drills on it. I'm not sure how they convinced the elephant to get out there, but not even a creak.
I've noticed that that plants under the glass grow just as well as anything topside, and the glass blocks the rain. Maybe if we finished the glass, our farmers would be able to grow their crops unmolested by the hateful rain. I'll check out the work
required when I can get out of this bed. If I ever get out of this bed...

256.03.23
The last festival before the summer caravan should arrive and I think everyone is on edge. I've managed to convince the doctor I'm not an invalid, so I spend my time limping around the tavern, trying to put on a brave face for my fellow dwarves. If the caravan doesn't show up...

256.03.26
For some, the past is a comfort. For others, it's just an open wound.


----
<OOC Notes>
I eventually gave up on trying to do cleanup of bodies/items outside . Once I had lava in place for a corpse disposal pit, I just autodumped the bodies next to it, burrowed the corpse disposal squad, and let them work. The items remain forbidden. The engraving of slabs is ongoing.
End result should be all the trauma of actually disposing of the bodies, far less of the dwarf years of effort walking across the whole map at 25fps.
Speaking of FPS: The slaughter of animals continues. I re-purposed the lava corpse pit as a normal pit, and threw all the birds I could in.  FPS continues to improve (very very slowly) and we're up to 27fps (from 23) on the surface.

[fortunawhisk]

Summer 256
256.04.01 - The first day of summer!
I've asked the militia to keep an eye on the fort entrances. First one to spot the caravan gets to take the rest of the day off. Everyone else is running around like crazy, trying to take care of all the last minute details before the caravan arrives.  Speaking of: Given the sheer amount of products we're go to need to unload, I've decided to re-use the depot site in the middle of the fort. Oddly, it's now surrounded by field kitchens. Fixing that means getting a experienced cook to supervise taking them apart, so I've asked a few amateurs to hold down the kitchen. When I asked them how it was going, the only instructions they'd received were 'Don't boil the soup'. Fingers crossed, that's enough.

256.04.15
I'd never thought I'd be so glad to see a wagon. When the cry when went up that wagons had been spotted, I think you could feel the fort relax. Smiles broke out, foreheads un-furrowed, backs straightened. The wagons are finally here, life is back on a schedule.
There's still lots of work to be done, but the future is possible again.


256.04.16
The human couriers were probably expecting to being more enthusiastically greeted. It took them a little longer than expected to get into the fort, so not everyone was on hand to wave them through the gates.


Once they roll into the depot, the work begins in earnest.


First up, the drinks. Here's what the wagons looked like empty.


It turns out that the casks weigh an enormous amount. Roughly 2/3 of the capacity goes to the drinks alone.


Up next, the food. We managed to pack everything we'd made over the last few years onto the wagons, but we did have to tell the dump some rocks they had intended to transport to the Deephold.  Dwarves have plenty of rocks already.



256.05.02
It's been an incredibly busy couple of weeks, but we've finalized our deals with the humans.  The couriers are euphoric, their beasts of burden probably less so.


256.05.03
It's such a weird feeling to walk through these big empty caverns. Just days ago, you couldn't see from one side to the other for all the barrels in the way. Well, we'll just have to fill them up again. Anyway, moving everything to the depot blew out our normally scheduled holiday. I've asked Zulban to schedule an extended holiday to make up for it. I think I'll use the downtime to encourage a few of our more high strung workers to take it a bit easier. The work will go slower without them, but we've already cleared the goal.

256.05.14
It sure would be nice to see some new faces around here.


256.05.19
The couriers are making their final preparations for departure. I order the military to scout the countryside, just to make sure it's safe. They report nothing but a giant slug (ugh). Safe travels!


256.05.27
The general euphoria of a successful trade has led to some pretty dubious decisions, but this is the first fatality. One of our workers thought it'd be funny to 'throw his hat into the ring' with one of the war tigers. He's dead now. Tigers aren't known for their sense of humor.



256.06.10
The couriers said they were definitely leaving weeks ago, but they're still here. I see them re-arranging the barrels on the wagons all day. While I've learned many new words for amazing and impractical(?) human acts, I hope they can find a configuration that works for them. We'll need that space for the Autumn trade delegation. Maybe I should tell them that the bobcats find humans tasty?


256.06.20
I guess I shouldn't have worried. The couriers were gone early in the day on the 20th. Finally, our years of efforts are on the way to the Deephold!
Your Majesty, I've enclosed a certain cask of something special for you.  Our master brewer Lordy says it may be one of the best things she's ever made.
----
OOC notes:
Sorry for the delay, took a few attempts to keep the murderous tantrums away from the merchants.
I was a bit worried that the caravan was actually stuck, but it finally left w/o intervention from me.

[fortunawhisk]

--- Fall 256

256.07.01
Autumn is upon us. We only have a few days to get ready for the next caravan to the Deephold. The pile of goods waiting for the caravan won't be as impressive as last time, but I think we can expect an excellent showing.
Both stills are working at full capacity and the kitchen is always active. I do wish I could convince the farmers to grow more textiles for our fort. Oh, and I need to remind the cheesemakers to have their wares ready.

256.07.02
In one of my weekly inspections of the fort, I noticed that several rooms are basically continually covered in piles of clothes. When I asked the owners why, they shrugged and said they had to either wear the clothes or leave them on the floor.
I've distributed some surplus coffers and cabinets I found in a storeroom, and I've asked our masons to produce more. A tidy fort is a happy fort.

256.07.05
When I asked some of our most obviously stressed dwarves to take it a bit easier, I didn't mean "Sit in the tavern all day"! While they may need a bit more downtime than the rest of us, they can at least do their part. I've asked them to dump all the empty barrels they can find next to the stills. I got a few angry looks, but they need to do their part! I know they're constantly complaining to Zulban about everything anyway. Just in case there is a problem though, I asked some of our more prominent citizens to discretely wear more protection.

256.07.07
Doctor Adilishash apparently doesn't know what discretely means. She's slowly clanking around in her new armor like a mine cart full of rocks.
----
OOC: And then Doren died! I've gotten twitchy with the combat log indicator, trying to see if anything neat happens for screenshots. I wasn't disappointed.
<ahem>
----
From the Office of Zulban Thadatis
---
Your Majesty Queen Iton,
It is with deepest regret that I must inform you that your emissary to Cheesesplatter was struck down in an altercation with another dwarf on the 8th of Limestone. Doren Nomallushon was a strong force for change in your name. She was instrumental in consolidating
Cheesesplatter's food and export industries. Her loss will be deeply felt among her friends and collegues. It appears that she was keeping an official journal of her tasks. I've enclosed it along with her personal effects.
 
My condolences,
Zulban Thadatis, Mayor of Cheesesplatter
-----
The attack


I'm fine, I'll just walk to the hospital...


Feeling a little dizzy, gonna lie down...




-------
Other interesting events.

256.07.15
No caravan or outpost liason.

256.08.15
No migrants.

256.09.09
A werebeaver shows up! It stealth killed a nearby human before announcing.

256.09.10
It gets put down by the militia after it mutilates a few of the free-range humans. I don't feel bad, monsters are why they're here. Only the humans and a baby tiger got bitten, and the humans died.

256.09.19
Ooh, a macabre mood. Wait... she's already in a depressed (uncontrollable) state. How will this work? As of the end of my turn, nothing had happened.


Fort stats
----
Before:


After:

----
More OOC Notes:
lol... I guess Doren's end is dramatic enough? It solves the "and then I wasn't in charge anymore" problem neatly enough. Over to the next. Fair warning, about a third of the fort's remaining population are unhappy.
I'm going to have to write a script to timeline who died and why.
Link to the save: http://dffd.bay12games.com/download.php?id=14433&f=Cheeseplatter_Winter256.zip
----

[Splint]

If there's no takers, I'd be willing to give it a go, however there's one issue I'd feel compelled to address: Religion.

Dwarves are often unhappy because of poorly handled worship on the part of their AI. Would it be against the rules to run Monotheism to address it, since the dwarves have tremendous difficulty meeting those needs otherwise? It'd probably go a long way to fixing some of the stress problems the fort is having, assuming we have all the usual facilities.