Dikbut's Log:
1st of Granite, 1509My arrival at Rurkûbuk, "Runlance" was ill-timed.
What was supposed to be an easy
con-job assignment, has since become a matter of the most dire of circumstances.
The fortress, upon my arrival, was in the midst of being besieged by a force of the Nako Musor at 194 undead strong. Most of invaders are intelligent, and wearing full armor. Several failed experiments fight alongside them. The entire fort was and continues to be under total lockdown.
The fort itself, with its complex passages and automated defenses, had thus far prevailed at keeping the invaders outside the fortress walls. However, the intricate labyrinth of machinery, its arcane stone mechanisms, and indefatigable twisting rods and large rotating gears, which worked night and day, all intertwined and connected to a multitude of various levers, which were concentrated in either hub rooms, or placed seemingly at random in various corridors and hallways. Upon my initial survey of the first fortress, I inquired with the local citizenry as to how the complex system operates, and what each of the levers do. To my surprise, none of the dwarves could say. I asked these dwarves who had been running this fort, and most of them immediately shrugged and walked off. Fortunately, one dwarf was able to direct to me to an updated list of the fort's key persons that was maintained by the scholars of the library.
On the way to the library I discovered that a particular hallway intersecting with a main bus of the fortress, was awash with crundle blood, as well as live wild crundels. Surprisingly, none of the dwarves were concerned about the crundles, or knew how they had even entered the fortress. The crundels evidently kept to themselves at the end of the hallway, which didn't connect to anything important. And so the crundels were allowed to remain.
We arrived at the library, the last bastion of any competence in this fort. As my eyes fell upon the list, and I became ever more elucidated to the grizzly & daunting task that lay before me. My plans for
ransacking the fortress of its gold a mundane temporary assignment of strategic military oversight would have to be put on hold, for there was much work to be done, and to do this work, I would need men, dwarf-men, people in general really, even crundels honestly! We are quite desperate in our situation, and these desperate times call for, well... anyone that is going to bother showing up, honestly. The first of the two names on the list was the mayor, and that was next person I intended to speak with.
I found the "mayor" of the fortress at the bar/inn. Unsurprisingly, I found there to be no bartender, no inn keeper, that resided there. Instead, "patrons" simply hopped over the counter, got what they needed, and vaulted back over, and complained to a wooden barrel with a smiley face drawn on it. But it was here, in this lonely cesspit, that I found the fort's mayor. And the mayor was very drunk, and alone. Crying in frustration and anger over a great many of seemingly reasonable complaints, such as having to witness the body of his friend decompose in real time. And that his only companion and piece of owned furniture was a glass cabinet.
Emergency enlistment for main offices took only a fortnight. Tossing whoever was even remotely competent at their designated assignment.
The military was also in shambles. Most units were without commanders, and the units themselves were a bizarre mishmash of different training schedules, and uncoordinated uniforms
(if you could call them such.) This gross military incompetence was immediately corrected... mostly... I mean, we made due with what we have.
(What very little we have) Training is now nine months a year for all units. Each major training session will last 3 months, followed by one month for R&R before soldiers return for further training. This ensures that our dwarves develop their military prowess competently, without over-burdening them with the stresses of a brutal never-ending training regimen, the stress from which would otherwise cripple our dwarves in terms of their combat effectiveness, which is the only reason were not doing that.
Our military units are now thus:
One dwarf evidently had nearly gone insane by the time of my arrival, and kept screaming about needing bones. So bones were acquired, and the growing peacock problem in the fort were simultaneously taken care of.
The end result of the mood was thus, and I have absolutely no idea how you play it:
I still can't make any damn sense of this fort's infernal layout and design. There are a million gold statues laying around, but other than normal bedrooms, I can't find any furnished offices for any of the former officials, or metalsmithers.
I do not have time for this. I have decided upon an emergency reallocation of two unoccupied rooms to serve until they are no longer required, as they have been seemingly abandoned after being covered in strange random engravings, these will do well to satiate the demands of the mayor and the newly appointed captain of the guard. Unfortunately, we're in a bit of a hurry, so the two of them are going to have to share.
I have also upgraded the office of the bookkeeper from the janitor's closet they had been using to a small cubby I had carved out next to the new manager's office. Their response can be described nothing short of pure jubilation.
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Dikbut's journal
Summer of 1509Finally, work has begun on my modest temporary ramshackle living quarters from which I shall stoically endure alongside the good dwarven citizens of our fort.
I have commissioned the forbidden copper armor to be melted down to produce copper bars, and to have vast quantities of rose gold produced for the small quantity of limited furnishings for my humble barren abode.
Work continues slowly, as our new metalsmithing dwarves train their skill in producing the new rose gold statues I have commissioned.
The invaders still seem intent on continuing their siege. Out of boredom, I decided to engrave humorous etchings taunting the invaders.
The living area of the dwarves has been expanded.
The endless supply of glass cups that was being produced has been halted.
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Dikbut's journal
Fall of 1509Summer turns to fall, and still the siege will not let up.
Several artifacts are produced, and the work on my lodgings continues.
Overall nothing of importance happens during this season, except that one of the dwarves made a piss colored mug.
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Dikbut's journal
Winter of 1509Everything happens.
*cough ahem* my plan works perfectly, and the Etin attacks does battle with the invaders on our behalf.
Upon closer inspection the composition of the enemy forces is quite strange. Intelligent undead frost wizard gorlacks doing work, apparently.
Our Etin friend, Etog Gusnongore Ostranusgoz, whose name shall never be forgotten, and is now memorialized just outside our fortress, who fought most valiantly, on our behalf, is slain in battle.
5th of Moonstone.
The last of the invaders have retreated, having been bested by the great strategic military mind of yours truly.
No, no thank you's are required, all in a year's work for this humble servant. All I require is the tiny pittance sum I am owed for my all my humble service to the fort over this long year.
(A sum whose total amount has never been formally specified.. hehe)Now that the siege is over, I would like to open the front gate, especially seeing as how we've gotten our first migrant wave in what very well could be years. Also, we have run out of wood, and one of the leather workers is on the verge of going insane with log lust, due to the fey mood they were struck with during the siege. For now, the migrants will have to wait outside while I figure out which lever opens the front gate (and verify which ones don't flood the entire fortress in the lava that can be seen being pumped throughout the fortress.) This state of affairs works just fine however, because not long after the migrants arrived, this happened:
The giant, Slong.
Fortunately an elf cold one visitor, who very obviously wasn't a spy, happened to be waiting outside out gates of our fortress and vanquished the fell giant handily.
Somehow, after enough tinkering with adding mechanisms to things, pulling the same levers multiple times, the front door opened. We modified the default burrow to allow the dwarves to leave the fortress.
Both the Etin and the Giant left our fort various artifacts. Most are worthless legendary jute hats, worth anywhere up to a whopping 250 in currency. However there are a few good artifacts theres a steel axe and an iron hammer.
Oh. And one very interesting new addition for the library...
A library that has now been renamed "the library of evil." I leave the the future of the fortress and the decision of what to do with the newly found artifacts to his discretion.
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End:And now, I retreat to my humble modest lodgings, for some much needed R&R in the humble lodgings, and personal vault treasury, that I have filled with the tiny sum of gold collected from the fortress for my invaluable service to the fort over the past year.
Your most loyal and faithful servant,
General Dikbut
For reference these are my personal lodgings, whose lobby now serves as a monument for our forts dead, and is consequently a taboo for others to disturb or rob from, is now this:
And a message to my would be successors:
Keep out.
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Current save file; date: (1st of Granite, year 1510)
https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15809
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Topic: The Tales of Runlance - Year 1511 - OVERSEERS NEEDED! APPLY INSIDE! (Read 29334 times)