===+ Journal of the Undying Overseer – Final Entry +=== 1st Granite, 155Spring has arrived here in the Desert of Furs, ushering in the new year. In some ways, our situation is not much different from what it was a year ago. We once again find our handful of survivors trapped underground by an army of the undead.
But it would be foolish to assume we have made no progress. With nine fully capable dwarves, we are in a much safer and more productive situation. We reclaimed the centre of the fortress and have gone a long way towards cleaning up after the disaster two years ago.
Our efforts for these past few months have been focused on memorializing the many dwarves we lost. A coffin and slab have been constructed for each of the dead. About half of the slabs have been engraved and the coffins are being moved into a chamber behind the memorial hall.
In addition to the slab, an event from each dwarf’s life is being engraved on the wall. Unfortunately, for many of these dwarves the most memorable event in their life is being stomped to death by a zombie camel.
The zombies still shuffle around, avoiding our traps. I would say they are just too mindless to realize they can get to us, but they’re being led by ghouls and even a few living commanders. Clearly their goal here is to starve us out or at least cut off our contact with the outside world, but why Smallhands? Are we such a threat that they can devote entire armies to keeping us down?
Well, maybe we will be. My training with Moldath is going well. I’ve picked up an axe and learned some minor skill with it. I had learned a few things about fighting thanks to my time battling the zombies alongside Olon, but I’d never touched a weapon before. Salmeuk is forging two sets of bronze armour for us. Just the minimum for full coverage, we still need to be a bit frugal with our wood supply.
We’ve also constructed an archery range for Ast to practice in. Bolts won’t be much use against zombies, but we’ve still got the goblins to the south. I’m sure they’ll take interest in us eventually.
Since the zombies aren’t moving in, I’ve locked up the door to the cage trap hall and released everyone from the emergency burrow. It’d be just our luck for them to suddenly charge in and overwhelm the traps during a moment of inattention. I was also getting tired of dwarves complaining that the burrow is stopping them from collecting some
extremely important object that they absolutely need to store away now. Never mind that said object is on the surface and they aren’t allowed to pick it up anyway.
Our wood supply is much better than it was previously. Even with charcoal making, we’ve still got a full pile of the stuff from replacing those aquifer walls. I’ve also noticed that some new fungal trees are growing in the walled off section of the cavern.
That should satisfy our needs for a while. The rest of the caverns are still too dangerous to enter. That giant lizard has been tearing through everything that wanders past, turning the whole level into a bloodbath. I do wonder if the human ghoul we captured would be able to handle it. She’s caged up in our general temple for now.
Aside from our difficulties in amassing wood, we’re quite well stocked here. I haven’t been ordering new meals to be made, but there are plenty of ones from before the fall that are still edible. We’re only growing plump helmets and pigtails at the moment, so drink variety is less than ideal, but not awful.
Yes, I think we are in a good position. Smallhands is the safest and most prosperous it’s been for the past two years. The undead couldn’t destroy us when we were at our weakest, and they won’t be able to now.
I took on the position of overseer because I was the one who could survive in an impossible situation. I was the one who could make the necessary decisions for the good of the fortress, unclouded by emotion. The memorials to Laterigrade and Olon attest to that fact.
But that’s not what we need right now. Dwarves need inspiration, something to look forward to beyond mere survival. I can’t give them that. This undead form is a thing of stasis. The future belongs to the living.
And so, I step down as overseer. I will remain to assist the next one, tirelessly performing whatever duties are required of me. I know I leave the fortress in good (and small) hands.
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