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[QuQuasar]

So, amelioration must be made to the population. Nothing so forward as to admit there was any kind of unfairness involved, but an acknowledgment of their sodden conditions, and a promise to do better.

So Fishheads is Elysium but with a rickety pier instead of a space station and shitty -raw glass tables- instead of life-saving medical futuretech.

This'll be fun. [rubs hands together eagerly]

I've seen to it that I, Salmeuk Arrowglaze, legendary mechanic, expert fluid engineer, and amateur beekeeper, would be elected leader for the coming year of 205. Thus, I can begin my project. The New Fish Deal, we'll call it, and we'll promise every dwarf a room, a job, and a fish to eat -  by the end of this year!

Mildly surprised that you didn't pick our unclaimed legendary weaponsmith, but I suppose a fluid engineer would be better equipped to facilitate the expansion of a waterborne fortress.

Good luck with the rooms! Given the circumstances of this fort, I'd suggest keeping in mind that some bedroom designs are more space-efficient than others...

[Immortal-D]

All I can say is thank god for the moat. But damn, after 3 overseers we still only have like. . 2 completed rooms? And why 6 woodcutters?! I am confused, but shall continue to dig in as the night progresses.

I tried to add more   Honestly it's a miracle that I could throw together the 10 or so bedrooms I did, though all of them are now part of a Hospital Zone.  I am looking forward to seeing what becomes of this place now that we have a secured Cavern layer and modest surface deterrent.

[Salmeuk]

Diary of Salmeuk, Spring of year 205

I asked Lokum, head Mason, to recruit 6 new trainees. He chose Oddom, Ducim, Erush, Cog, Ezum, and Avuz. These dwarves would be responsible for processing the stone into pristine, rectangular blocks. Thus standardized, we will have no trouble hauling the material to the construction site.

A rally was held for any dwarf who needed work, down by the looms. We gave everyone a special badge, made from the engraved shell of a giant barnacle, and designated them as priority construction crew. "Much like the barnacle, we will grow our shell endlessly, layer upon layer, without tiring or giving up. Be like the barnacle!" Moving raw stone via wheelbarrow, and then lifting fresh cut blocks into their final resting places, this would be their role for the next year.

While outside, I noted that, while there is plenty of wood lying on the ground, all that wood is outside our moat. Should another siege arrive we might be starved for the stuff. I considered spending time to stockpile wood safely inside, but no, the future be damned!

To facilitate all this, a masonry was constructed, as well as a short wall to keep the surf out. A ramp to the north will provide easy access to the build site, however I do not imagine this to be a permanent fortress entrance.



***

The local geology refused to cooperate with my plans. Excavations revealed the top layers, and those most easily accessible, were made of an ugly, brown chert with the occasional intrusion of gypsum or magnetite. The magnetite was too valuable for construction, and only a fool would build a dock out of fragile gypsum.

The next available layers were a boring phyllite, which was followed by the ubiquitous granite. I noticed some microcline clusters but I never cared much for the color.

Gabbro and slate followed the granite, and these stones had more potential. They would make for a darker tone, moody, you know, evil-tower-of-the-gods sort of thing. But bedrooms? Not so much. I delved deeper.

Ah, quartzite. Not the rarest material, no, but it fractures nicely (this is not true in real life, I don't think...) and has a pure, white color that would contrast well with the deep blue waves. This would do.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

***

Then, the elves arrived. What had they brought this time?

The elves had no gigantic creatures this time, sadly, but only a small red fox that had apparently lost its mind due to confinement. It's curious how elves worry so much about the so-called lives of plants, when they have little issue capturing and controlling all sorts of beautiful, wild creatures. We traded spare shell crafts and old clothing for some berries and buckets.

This early work is slow and tedious, and full of unexpected issues. For instance, we have found that the children of Fisheads enjoy playing in the most precarious locations, which also happen to be the same spots I am attempting to remodel.





I took a walk to forget about such things, and toured some of the minor locations at Fishheads.

1. The Dwarven Water Filter

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Here, a simple dwarven water filter produces drinkable water for the population.

2. The Final Resting Place of Likot Talinnokim

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Below the dwarven swimatorium, a staircase of screw pumps stand ready to draw saltwater from below. However, this area hides a dark secret. If you stand at the lip of the lowest platform, with the sun at just the right angle, and look below, you can spot the skeleton of Likot Talinnokim. The bones are white, picked clean by the local fish population, and his skull is intact and staring straight up. Recovery is impossible, as our beards cannot lift objects when wet, and so Likot will stay.

3. The Dining Room

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Our modest dining room. Glass furnishings throughout, with two crystal aquariums in the center console, within which multiple free-swimming crustaceans flit about in an entertaining manner.



A small group of peacocks wander about (and honestly just get in the way of everyone), while smells of fried fish and steamed rice flow from the room to the north - our kitchens.  This room also contains the lever to operate the gate that encloses the trade depot.

[Salmeuk]

Diary of Salmeuk, Late Spring of Year 205

Two dwarves drowned when they tripped through gaps in the new flooring. I believe, in one case, the blocks were removed right as the dwarf was walking over them. Safety measures were put in place, AKA I told people not to do that kind of thing anymore, but work slowed as a result.

These two will be memorialized.

***





A titan arrived, a horrifying quadruped that immediately murdered two pet ganders. The gate was raised in time, and only just, but the creature literally JUMPED over the moat and right into our bustling masonry.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Luckily, it was made of salt dust and weak magic, and was an easy target for the buff masons to punch to death. Still, the sudden attack and the ease of which our moat was bypassed has me asking questions.

After some searching, I believe I have located the thin spot in the moat:



I will widen the waterway and raise the wall at this location. If I have time, I would love to heighten the entire length of wall, but we'll have to see. I predict I will finish 2 levels of bedrooms around the end of fall, barring any problems.
***



Eral, a rather interesting dwarf who was a legendary tracker, found themselves under the spell of the fey, and produced this unfortunately named artifact:



Which reminds me, we need temples! Badly.

***

Further progress on the dorms:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Finally, where construction stands as of the end of Spring:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

***

OOC: thanks for the quick fix QuQuasar, everything with the farms is working perfectly.

Our food is kinda being neglected and our drink situation is precarious.. but we have SO many animals I decided to cull the herds and bit and we're sitting at around 500 meat, and more. I retained the breeding yaks and alpacas, dogs, a few peahens and some cats. However the number of personally endeared pets is rising, and thus FPS is falling. Any opinions on what we should keep around? I think functional usually, but peahens are a nice color contrast, being very blue.

We should have 37 rooms a floor with the current configuration, and since the walls are fairly square construction is not a pain, and each floor can be theoretically built in about 3 designation sweeps - first you build the floor, then the walls, then remove the inner floor, and finally set up the roof. Since each roof is the next floor's, uh, floor, you end up with a fairly time and click-efficient method. So perhaps not as space efficient, but easy and fast.

[QuQuasar]

Two dwarves drowned when they tripped through gaps in the new flooring. I believe, in one case, the blocks were removed right as the dwarf was walking over them. Safety measures were put in place, AKA I told people not to do that kind of thing anymore, but work slowed as a result.

Yar, the sea be a cruel and unforgivin' mistress.

But hey, Staalo built us a swimatorium for that! Seriously, throw the entire fort in there. It only takes about one in-game week to get everyone up to "Adequate", at which point falling overboard is no longer a death sentence unless they're more than 20 tiles away from dry land (add a safety ramp if you're building far from shore).

I like the wrap-around design of the bedrooms. I would have gone for something more compact but hey, big valuable bedrooms means more happy thoughts for everyone.

Disappointed in the elves. I know for a fact they've got tens of thousands of giant polar bears on hand, and they offer us a fox? They're being passive-aggressive, surely.

As for the animals, a fairly streamlined number of free roaming animals would be
~10 Egg layers (domestic fowl at first, replace with something more exotic and/or productive later),
~10 Shearable animals (all shearable animals double as milk producers, so that's two industries sorted),
~10-20 War animals (assigned to fortress MVP's for protection) and
~5 Vermin hunters (cats at first, peregrine falcons if you can get them).

As for the rest, butcher all the surplus food-production animals, cage all the pets and exotic once-offs somewhere that your dwarves can appreciate them, and pasture any non-hateable vermin (eg. parakeets, peach-faced lovebirds, axolotl) in the dining hall to be adopted. Vermin pets are great: all of the positive stress-relief benefits of having a pet, none of the downsides.

[Salmeuk]

Diary of Salmeuk, Summer of 205

Our animals were whipped and crowded into the corner pasture, and then we gave the order to the butchers. Commence the culling.



It soon became apparent we would need a larger refuse pile. Also, butchering was gonna take. . . all summer at this rate? And the extra hauling was interrupting the construction of the bedrooms. What a bother!

**

The human caravan arrived, but the complained and refused to bring in their wagons. Huh? Don't we have a 3-wide bridge, and a depot. . .?



Walking out to the front gate revealed the issue. Somehow, the previous architects managed to locate the entrance bridge directly in front of a gigantic chert boulder. Honestly, its my fault for not seeing this thing . . it's gigantic! We ordered the masons to chip it into gravel, but humans being the way they are, their wagons still refused to enter. So be it.

***

We built a forge near the mines (for efficiency, you see.. ) and began churning out iron bars. The quartzite and gabbro layers have revealed many rich veins of silver, gold, garnerite, tetrahedrite, platinum, and many other interesting or colorful minerals. This map is LOADED! A dwarven wet dream.

***

The passageway across the moat was channeled and the wall was raised. Hopefully everything works as intended, at this point.

I noticed a sad-looking dwarf hobbling around the masonry. I inquired into their injuries, and they introduced themselves as "Maximum Spin," better known as our broker, and then recounted the horrible tale of last year's siege. How he saw death and violence, murder, blood, awful things, you know, war and all that. He took a blow to the gut, and retched his guts out - literally.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

When the time came to assign the bedrooms, I made a note to assign him the closest room available. Poor dwarf can barely walk..

***

Recon got that look in his eyes.



We all know where this is going. After a few days, he stumbled out of the mason's shop, holding a beautiful, legendary floodgate.



Perhaps the first useful artifact of the fortress.

***

As summer came to a close, I toured the new construction. We were ahead of schedule, probably expected to finish early autumn!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Perhaps it's the time to restart the swim lessons.

[recon1o6]

if fishheads is going to be soaked in seawater constantly, then we best have a means of keeping important things dry!

slaps open floodgate this thing can hold back so much waterrrrrarrrgh *blub*...when the gate is actually locked



good going salmeuk

[Staalo]

That apartment complex is looking great; finally our brave dwarves can sleep in actual rooms instead of burrowing in a hole in the ground like animals!

Also, nice floodgate, and I'm glad it's not made out of dwarf bone.

Good call about those swimming lessons. How many unrecoverable corpses do we currently have lying on the seafloor?

[Salmeuk]

Diary of Salmeuk, Autumn and Winter of Year 205

Deduk was ambushed by a large lizard while digging a pit. We were going to fill the pit with all the stray corpses lying about, and the smell of the rot must have attracted the creature.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Slapdoors the Black-scaled Chameleon Beast, a malformed were-chameleon, chased Deduk all the way to the bridge, but he was quick and nimble and the beast seemed. .  unused to it's own form.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Stodir, our legendary carpenter, sadly chose this moment to exit the fortress. Despite Deduk's screaming, he was quickly set upon by Slapdoors. He turned to run as the creature bit and tore at his legs. He made it just inside the gate, before turning to kick and punch the chameleon, and then quickly died of total and utter loss of blood.



The creature was now inside the gates.

In a lucky turn of events, the chameleon turned to attack the pastured animals, rather than chase our dwarfs into the bustling dockside industry. Everyone was ordered into the dining room complex and we watched from afar as the chameleon tore into the herd. Someone's pet chicken, a hen named Kadol Bomrekgemesh, was torn into pieces (or nuggets?), while one alpaca was slowly beaten into a pulpy mess of hair and bone.



Then, the carnage was done, and a vulnerable and scared looking peasant appeared out of the pile of gore. With the front gate locked, he had no where to go, and we dispatched a makeshift squad to, well, finish him off. Far too dangerous to attempt capture.



He made a dash for the waves, but was stopped when a particularly vengeful goose nipped his left pinky and stalled him long enough for the dogs to really lock him down. Then in a surprising twist, 'May' Datandeduk, our beloved bookeeper, appeared from nowhere, splashing through the knee high water, copper battle axe raised high above. The werecreature's head was cut away and the battle was over.




The beheaded corpse of Slapdoors the werechameleon is revealed by the retreating surf

In all honesty, losing a legendary carpenter is no joke. Stodir will be greatly missed, especially considering we're still making beds for all these new rooms.

The animals? Not so much, as those that died were mostly destined for the 'sausage' life. Another day at Fishheads.



Wait, whose that at the gate. . .? Oh for real, are you kidding?! We had another wagon skip our depot because of this stupid lizard. That makes me like 1 out of 3 for meaningful trade deals.. and the elves kinda don't even count.

***

Rakust, a child of little to no importance, has become depressed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My god that's a sobering personality page

I have looked into it, and the loss of his father plus the horrible conditions in which he perished (he was one of the poor souls lost below, when construction failed) have cause this poor kid to lose all hope in his future.

***


The sad, sad fate of a local giant crab:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

****

OH GOD Onul still had hunting set as a labor, and he's just shot the largest bull elephant I've ever seen in the fucking TRUNK! OH HE'S PISSED

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

oh it's ok they don't seem to mind a few silver bolts stuck in their hide. whew. huh, I guess we have plenty of elephants around. I'll make a note to tell my successor.

****

Eral, the lone remaining creep who happens to be really, really good at carving up little bones, for no particular reason at all, continues to be slightly creepy but ultimately useful.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Though, I did hear rumors Eral was discovered trying to fish up the dead bodies of the dwarves we've lost to the ocean. What she wanted to do with them, I can't say. Horrible creature.

***

Rakust, the depressive child, has lashed out in anger and seriously injured another dwarf. As 'Staalo' described it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"This FUCKING kid just walked up, murdered a goddamn turkey with his tiny child hands, then attacked me with a punch so violent, it broke my shoulder! What the hell is wrong with him?!"

We sorted it out after talking to his widowed Mother, but no one wants to be near the kid after what he did to Staalo.

***



The humans want windows. I asked why, and they claimed it was a state secret, and only the king knew of their purpose. How odd.

***

After the bedrooms were complete, I turned my attention to building a gigantic, 8z level tower dedicated to storing all the fish we've caught in the past 4 years.



As we fill the tower (the fish is up to z-level 4) we can think back on our history, as fisherdwarfs and expert clam-crackers, and rest assured knowing we can freely wax our beards with the finest fish oils, for the local bounty is so plentiful as to fill this gigantic tower.

The roof of the tower was turned into a temple, "The Oceanic Temple" by name, and our most treasured artifacts were located there. It has become a place of repose, where a dwarf can enjoy the most sanctimonious fish harmonies.

It is here that I give up these worn reins to the next dwarf in line. In this past year, I brought many improvements to the basic necessities, and thoroughly fulfilled the promises made at the start of my term. Every dwarf has a room, as seen by the many vacancies on the second floor. Every dwarf has a job. .  in theory. And finally, with a total fish count of 356, every dwarf can have 3 and a half fish! All to themselves! Huzzah!

***

I also completed another 3 levels of outer wall, constructed from a dark gabbro stone. Four separate staircases promise future expansion. At the moment, the remaining scaffolding is in the process of deconstruction, and I advise the next overseer to complete the job and remove the remaining up/down staircases.

Also, please remove this ease-of-access bridge as it is no longer needed for construction, and I forgot to move it entirely!



Or keep it and continue to build many rooms. With the current stockpile and masonry setup, you can manufacture about 100 stone blocks of your variety of choice in a couple of days, and our current labor pool allows for about 10-20 dwarves who are dedicated construction crew. Makes it very fast to build, however... let's just leave it up to the next overseer to outline my various shortcomings as overseer. There are many lol

I moved the levers to the 3rd floor, and labeled them accordingly. No more lever in the middle of the dining room (not a bad tactic, but aesthetically unpleasant) and no more front gate lever, like, 10 ft away from the front gate.

Our current brewing situation is lackluster, but there should be enough spare room to reconfigure it all to your liking. The fish tower honestly has saved a lot of space.. so think vertically if you start to build more storage.


Thanks for reading, enjoy!

https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15511

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Salmeuk]

if fishheads is going to be soaked in seawater constantly, then we best have a means of keeping important things dry!

slaps open floodgate this thing can hold back so much waterrrrrarrrgh *blub*...when the gate is actually locked

. . .  say that again?

if fishheads is going to be soaked in seawater constantly, then we best have a means of keeping important things dry!

slaps open floodgate this thing can hold back so much waterrrrrarrrgh *blub*...when the gate is actually locked

one more time?

slaps open floodgate

*enter Vabok Slapdoors, right on queue*

[QuQuasar]

He made a dash for the waves, but was stopped when a particularly vengeful goose nipped his left pinky and stalled him long enough for the dogs to really lock him down. Then in a surprising twist, 'May' Datandeduk, our beloved bookeeper, appeared from nowhere, splashing through the knee high water, copper battle axe raised high above.

This poor werechameleon. Awakens from his curse in the middle of nowhere surrounded by murderous dwarven geese and flee's for the safety of the water, only for May to rise from the waves like a tiny axe-wielding Cthulhu.

"This FUCKING kid just walked up, murdered a goddamn turkey with his tiny child hands, then attacked me with a punch so violent, it broke my shoulder! What the hell is wrong with him?!"

We sorted it out after talking to his widowed Mother, but no one wants to be near the kid after what he did to Staalo.

Those "satisfied while yelling at somebody in charge" and "satisfied while crying on somebody in charge" thoughts are suddenly much more horrifying. Nobody ever believes the kid in the horror movie...

[recon1o6]

damn, i know a lot of things i say in succession game threads come back to haunt the fort, but thats gotta be a record

thanks for the turn salmeuk, it was a good run!



that poor kid, if he keeps going like this, drawbridge therapy might be required

[QuQuasar]

No word from BluarianKnight so far. StrikaAmaru, are you available to take over if he's not available? And if not, Imic?

[StrikaAmaru]

I'm here. I'll get the save this evening.

[QuQuasar]

I'm here. I'll get the save this evening.

Sweet! Good luck, and thanks for all the fish. Keep in mind that the raws are a bit different in Fishheads, so if you're changing tilesets you might need this info:

Spoiler: How to change tilesets to ASCII or Phoebus (click to show/hide)

1. Set LNP to preferred tileset.
2. Copy Fishheads into Dwarf Fortress\data\save.
3. Copy the preferred raws from the alternate raws, found here, to Dwarf Fortress\data\save\Fishheads\raw.

Spoiler: How to change to a different tileset (click to show/hide)

1. Set the LNP and Fishheads to that tileset. This will reset the save to vanilla.
2. Install Fishing Extended v1.1 into Dwarf Fortress\data\save\Fishheads\raw.
3. Open Dwarf Fortress\data\save\Fishheads\raw\objects\plant_crops.txt in a text editor such as Notepad, and add [BIOME: OCEAN_TROPICAL] to all plants with "tropical" or "not_freezing" biomes.