Autumn 156
+Journal of the Gravekeeper+
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As I walked the rough limestone halls of Smallhands' residential quarters, passing clusters of gems, bauxite and jet, I stopped and stared intently into a rose quartz cluster. The echoes of activity found their way down the halls to me. More than 30 dwarves worked their crafts and practiced their arts under a mountain of sand and bones.
Truly, the fortress of Smallhands had prospered under my stewardship. I have been a fine overseer – Overkeeper? I'll do my best to make sure this place prospers before my year is done. Perhaps Sigun was joking when the responsibility was given to me, or perhaps not, but either way, he looks at me with respect now. And, in some way, I him. The dwarves here are of a unique stock. Tempered by the horror of the outside, and warmed by the beauty of the interior. Here, below the bones of a hundred animals and near the graves of a hundred dwarves, wrapped around hallways filled with undead, you can still see a smile. Perhaps I was wrong with my first impression of the place. Perhaps it has a good reputation for a good reason.
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Enough waxing poetic for now. The dwarven merchants have arrived. Wagons full to bursting with goods, and armed to the teeth with guards, they've been here before and were ready for whatever the Desert of Furs would throw at them.
Perhaps they're a bit too jumpy – they've taken to trying to kill every buzzard in the area. This violence and the bolts flying through the air has disturbed several of our dwarves. We hauled a few goods – mostly made of bone – to the depot. I sent a gift back to the mountain homes first – a pile of goose bone crafts. Then, auze began the real negotiations.
Auze walked in with such a grin on his face – a hard bargain was pressed and he'd succeeded ridiculously. Wood – easily 30 logs, steel bars, food and drink, and he got them to throw in some clothes for free. All for just some rotten rags. Incredible, truly.
I spoke to the liaison and was disturbed to hear that the mountain homes didn't have access to certain goods. Notably, bituminous coal or lignite. Without that, and without it nearby, steel may be merely a dream. That can be a problem for the next overseer, though.
I guess auze made too good of a deal. One of the merchants is wandering around with their ox and look really depressed. A macedwarf is doing their best to keep him safe from buzzards but I can tell the fellow is totally crestfallen.
Well, I seem to have discovered what happened to Stinthad. Seemingly, she locked herself behind a wall while we were building our trap. I knew I should have triple checked the area afterwards, but I must have been distracted by bees or something. Damn. Well, it's my duty. I'll bury her myself.
Zuglar was working on some mechanisms when he stood bolt upright and dropped the stone he was chipping away. His face contorted to look similar to that of Del. I recognized him from my dream. Possessed, he ran through the halls looking for wood, leather, and stone. Another artifact was in the works. The rest of us continued to work in silence, quietly contemplating that artifact each of us carries in our souls, wondering when our own would come out.
The silence was broken by the slopping noise of 6 gooey migrants coming down the stairs. Our total is now 38 – I double checked the bedrooms and ensured we had space for at least 48 dwarves. Out of respect for Sigun, I ordered his room to be smoothed, then his office, then all the bedrooms on the upper floor. With only a few engravers, the work will be slow, but it is of little importance.
My summation of the migrants is as follows:
Olin Dentrings and Avus. Olin is a beekeeper, mechanic, and quite a good appraiser. He might apprentice under auze for now. Avus is a weaponsmith, and a skilled one at that. She'll be useful in equipping the military.
Olin Endedroom is a craftsdwarf, which may prove useful, and Kol is a metalsmith with a powerful build.
Aban and Iton are both unskilled farmers and again, Iton has no life's dream.
The two of them pushed the numbers over, though, allowing us to establish a farmers' guild. I sent Kol to Moldath and Iton to Nogood as recruits. From what I hear, the military is just starting to get some experience. If they can start sparring this year, we'll be in a very good position.
Zuglar dripped with sweat, he carried with him a weapon stand unlike anything we'd ever seen. The Obscure Battles – the name alone a reference to my trap. The beautiful details reveal an image of a previous baron. Perhaps, in time, Smallhands could become a barony? But a weapon rack – that means we must fight to get there. I place this with the Rainbow Raptors. Best not to imagine too much when it comes to prophecy.
Mateusz, not to be outdone, wrote a book at this time. It was so interesting, I've already read it twice! The book details Mateusz's time as an overseer, and when Sigun was given the role of manager. I might read it again to see if there's anything worthwhile about overseeing that I can learn from it.
I also didn't want to be outdone, so I finished the trap. I dub it “The Goo Hive.”
I explained it to the dwarves three times already, but they're not really getting it. I've put together a guide with diagrams which hopefully will make it sink in.
I promoted Mateusz to the scholar of the entire fort, and replaced him with Lokum in the library itself. Lokum remains in a sour mood, and I haven't been able to shake him out of it. He seems to want to do a lot of stuff, but isn't doing much of it. Poor fellow. Perhaps he would appreciate the art of beekeeping.
The desert sands turn cold at night. Winter is upon us. The gate is closed and the fort is warmed by the distant magma. Work continues.
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OOC:
No idea if Mateusz will continue to write books as the fortress scholar. If not, I'll move you back to the library.
Neverweathered was placed in front of the library/museum, as that's where I'm mostly sending upset dwarves, I figured it might give them good thoughts to walk through it. I might move it to a more high-traffic area, though. If I had more time, I'd actually use it to build year-round access to bees with an indestructible door. Nice drawing, nogoodnames - very menacing.
Orthoclase is still being used for crafts, we should have enough and can supplement with glass, of which we can have infinite. I put a few down by the magma for safe keeping, though - just in case.
The Goo Hive instructions coming soon - gotta do some image editing first...
Author
Topic: Smallhands - nearly 40 years and still tiny! (Read 407073 times)