---+ Journal of Acting Overseer Moldath Ikudlibash – Autumn 104 +---Alright, the alarm was sounded, better do a headcount. Six, seven, eight… Where’s the bloody overseer!? Damn ghoul was always so sluggish from sobriety. Guess I’m in charge for now.
Oh wait, here he comes now. Took long enough, ya ugly bastard! I was afraid I’d have to be the one stuck babysitting these morons!
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===+ Journal of the Undying Overseer – Autumn 104 +===_______________________________________________________________________________
3rd LimestoneBroken arm… torn knee… severed spinal cord… I’d say I’ve earned my title. I barely managed to get away from that human, but it seems Weevilmessiah has not yet seen fit to end my service.
That wasn’t just dumb luck, something drew her and the rest of the horde away. But what could be so fearsome as to distract an entire undead army?
Well, whatever it is, we can’t rely on it to occupy them forever. Thikut counted 35 undead soldiers, and I can only guess how many animals that necromancer raised. That’s at least two full cycles of our trap hall. Salmeuk is just finishing up the zombie crusher now, but I doubt we’ll be able to clear the surface in time for the caravan. Looks like another year without trade.
10th LimestoneThe sounds of fighting continue to echo down from above. If the army doesn’t take the bait and walk into our traps, we may be trapped down here for a long time. Several undead animals stumbled into the halls and almost overwhelmed them, but they were caged, and the halls secured once more.
Salmeuk is insisting on making me rest until my arm heals. I’ve told him that it’s not necessary, but he won’t take no for an answer.
Infuriating issues with stockpile orders abound, but I believe I’ve sorted them out. Productivity is still low but improving, and I convinced Salmeuk to allow me to work after he gave me a splint for my arm.
17th LimestoneIteb has started carving out the grand memorial hall. A good thing too, as the corpse stockpile is nearly full. Lokum’s been doing a bit better, but I don’t expect him to get back to normal until all the bodies are properly interred.
We’ve also begun tearing down the log walls around our stairwell to replace them with stone. With no way to get more, we need to ration every bit of wood we can.
22nd LimestoneThikut has contracted the vile swamp fever thanks to some goo that was washed down by the temporarily opened aquifer. She’s also been trying to reload our cage traps, only to realize that we
still have no empty cages. Link up the zombie crusher first and then you’ll get your damn cages!
3rd SandstoneMoldath’s on his way to begin tossing zombies into the disposal chamber. This could be dangerous, but he should be able to deal with an escaped zombie, provided it isn’t an echidna.
6th SandstoneThe first load’s in without issue. Now then, let’s finally put this contraption to work.
That was satisfying. Salmeuk won’t be happy about the echidnas, but we need the cages, and no one was willing to see what would happen if they were all packed into a single cage. He can have his pick of whatever’s locked in the forbidden hallway once this is over.
24th SandstoneLokum is becoming a serious concern. Right now, he’s going on a tantrum. He destroyed our plump helmet field and harassed one of our roosters. If he keeps this up, I’ll have no choice but to enact disciplinary measures.
4th TimberThe trap hall is open once again, but the zombies are certainly taking their time getting over to it. Setting aside the group still battling in the distance, I can hear two distinct clumps slowly shuffling their way closer. Hopefully if we capture enough, the rest will retreat. And oh, what’s this?
I think I’ll hold onto you. We could use someone to throw at the beasts down in the caverns.
1st MoonstoneThe season ends the way many do in Smallhands, with us inching toward an elusive vision of a better future.
The zombie soldiers have been frustratingly obstinate in their refusal to enter the trap hall. They mill about the surface, cutting us off from the outside world. Even sending Moldath to the entrance was not enough to goad them in.
In more hopeful news, Lokum has shown marked improvement since his outburst. He is still on edge, but not nearly so haggard as he was a few months ago.
Finally, our memorial hall has been completely carved out and is ready to put our poor lost souls to rest. It has been designated as a temple to Lish, “The Wicked”, goddess of peace, death and murder, and the one who first brought this plague of undeath to the world. May she have mercy upon this gods-forsaken fortress.
The northern wall is to be reserved for the dead founding dwarves and former overseers. But the first memorial to be completed is dedicated to Olon. An appropriately named silver statue depicts her eternal struggle against Roastedscaled. It is said she still grapples with the beast in the afterlife, subduing it so that its demonic spirit may never possess a body again.