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[DarkMagnus]

"Weapon traps?!" scoffs Ragnar. "Waste a' perfectly good trainin'! Cage traps, says I. Easy t'make, and then we get plenty 'a gobbos to carve up in the barracks, aye?" The dwarf turns to Aardvark with a grin. "And th' next time we go paint the fortress red, h' bout a gentledwarf's wager? I'll gut more gobbos than ye, says I. Winner gets th' first crack at the leader, aye?"

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

25th of Opal

Fre pulled me aside today as I was loading some traps.

"I know ye ordered the third building sealed but I figured I'd check it out before Steele got around to it. I asked him to put it off a tad so I could get have a look see. There were quite a few of the buggers there, and I got a look at the so-called leader of theirs. Big cuss, tough looking too. Had a scar on his neck that looked like it ran all the way down his arm. Carrying a rather large iron bow too. Oh, and he had a bodyguard with him. I thought you'd want to know before we sealed them in."

I was initially surprised. I had thought the building long since sealed. However, if Fre had been in and seen the leader perhaps it was indeed time to do something about it. An iron bow? The goblin's choice of weapons seemed strange to me. I thought about it some more before calling Ragnar, Aardvark and Fre to me.

"Thanks for coming you three. It seems Fre has showed some initiative and checked out the third building."

Aardvark showed some a mix of surprise and concern but Ragnar merely nodded grimly.

"I think it's time we cleaned the place out. Make a sweep of the whole place as it were. Aardvark, how's the smelting going? Could you make an axe for yourself?"

"Ach, it's going well enough. I've been making charcoal, iron bars and pig iron bars. I've even managed two bars of steel. It should be enough for an axe. Why?"

"I've thought about how best to deal with the goblin leader. Fre suggested some ways to neutralize him but after her scouting report I'm convinced those precautions won't be necessary. According to Fre the goblin is wielding a large wicked looking Iron bow."

Fre nodded her accord.

"Ragnar, Aardvark you remember that goblin on the roof you found with an iron bow? Recall that he didn't fire at you even though he had enough time? I'm convinced the weapon is purely used for intimidation within their own ranks. Goblins aren't tall enough to properly use such weapons. That's why Fre couldn't use the bow also. We're all just too short. The leader has little more than a large iron club."

I grinned wide.

"So I want you three to go teach him a lesson. I'm sending all of you to minimize potential problems and injuries. I want this done quick. I'll go get Steele to seal up the building on the south side when you're done and then have the miners open it up on the north side inside our wall. That will give us access to it without having to worry about intruders. So Aardvark, get that axe made and then you three can clean out the building. And be careful. It may still just be a large iron stick, but that goblin didn't get his rank by being weak."

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

28th of Opal

Hopefully the last day of the goblin occupation of Dorenemal. It was still early morning as I carefully followed Aardvark, Ragnar and Fre across the frozen ground outside our structure. The grass crunched as we walked on it, but little other sound was heard in the cool air. Winter was coming to an end, and all of us were eager to finish our first year here well. It had only been about 6 months that the goblins had know of us, and by then it was too late to do anything about it. We had separated the goblins on the cliffs above from those beneath. Now only the final structure lay before us to be cleansed.

I noted the smoothed obsidian blocks framing the entrance way, leaving only just enough space for us to slip in. The structure had appeared to be five or six stories from the outside, taller than our own building, in actuality. Fre had already been through the place and assured us that the first three floors would likely still be empty. They were. At least of the living.

On the second floor we noticed the first corpse. A goblin, still reeking strongly of their unnatural wine. He had four bolts sticking in him. It appeared that Fre had pinned his arms to his body before shooting him in the neck. A single broken bolt to one side told me that she hadn't missed much.

A floor up we found two others. A second drunk. though equally dead. This one only had two bolts in him. One buried deep in his chest, apparently through one lung, and possibly the heart. A second had caught the creature through and eye socket. Apparently it had moved a little after being hit, but not much, and had likely bled to death in a matter of seconds. Two bolts lay shattered against the far wall.

A few rooms over we found a dead guard. One of the bolts had shattered on his shield, leaving part of it embedded in it. Three others lay embedded in the guards body. One in the torso, opposite the heart, but still likely through a lung. He must have staggered to one side after that shot and had exposed his left side as he also had one through his arm and a second in his calf.

By the time we reached the fourth floor my anxiety was mounting. I wasn't a soldier, but I couldn't help coming to watch. I wanted to see what we would possibly be facing in the future. As we neared the area where Fre had spotted our enemy a few days ago we heard sounds of movement from ahead. Ragnar and Aardvark silently approached an corridor, one on either side as Fre pulled a few pebbles from a pouch at her belt and motioned for me to be quiet. She pulled out a small handful and after listening carefully sent a few small ones scattering down the corridor. The sound of pebbles bouncing on smoothed obsidian seemed almost inaudible to me over the beat of my heart in my ears, but something must have heard it.

The goblin turned the corner and began coming down the hall. We could hear it approaching, the soft clink of metal, the quiet incomprehensible muttering. As it appeared Fre loosed a bolt but it went wide, striking the ceiling before deflecting harmlessly away. The goblin saw us and charged right as Ragnar stepped out to greet it. The goblin barreled into him, leading the way with it's hammer as Ragnar too led in with his axe. In a second the two of them lay on the floor. Ragnar stunned and struggling for breath, it having been knocked out of him by the hammer. The goblin hadn't been stunned but hadn't escaped unharmed either. Ragnar had opened up a gash on it's lower left leg. As the goblin stood Fre nailed it in one hip with a bolt and Aardvark opened up it's side with his new axe. From there it was a matter of seconds before Aardvark had laid it open from leg to jaw with two massive strokes, slamming it against the wall near the corridor.

We went silent for a few seconds. We heard nothing moving. Complete silence. I had expected the goblin leader to come charging down the corridor, but nothing. Had he noticed?

Aardvark helped Ragnar up, but I could tell Ragnar was still struggling for breath some and looked considerably paler than normal. I insisted he return lest he do more permanent damage and to my surprise he didn't complain. Simply nodded and went. He was rubbing his chest still. I hoped he wasn't too badly injured.

After waiting what seemed like an eternity we pressed on. Aardvark leading, Fre behind him crossbow at the ready and me following behind. A near silent observer. The hallway ended at one side of a very large room. Easily three wagons wide and maybe twice or three times that long. A dim light filtered down from the other side of the room, indicating the presence of a staircase there possibly. In the darkness I saw him for the first time though. Stasost Usbunguzo the goblin bowman. The irony struck me there. He noticed us and charged, brandishing his bow like a cherished weapon but making no move towards the quiver at his hip. The thought 'I had been right' echoed like the crack from Fre's bolt as it shattered against the far wall, missing him. My goodness he was big. And fast. Fre managed to put her second bolt into his right thigh as he ran towards us. Aardvark assumed a defensive position in front of Fre, shielding her bodily but allowing her room to fire.

Fre's third bolt caught Stasost in the right arm, rendering his shield arm injured, he was still coming and didn't appeared much fazed by the bolts. It wasn't until the fourth bolt took him in the other leg at nearly point blank ranged that he showed shock. A deep ichor rose appeared even through his leather and quickly began to spread. He made a swipe at Aardvark with his bow which was quickly caught and blocked by the axe. Aardvark countered but the goblin sidestepped just as Fre shot, causing her to miss as well. Stastost swung again with his bow, clipping Aardvark on the side of the head, dazing him slightly. But rather than sieze the opportunity he quickly sized up the situation and did what most goblins do at some point. Ran for his life.

Fre's last bolt caught him in the upper arm and knocked him down. Aardvark was sitting on the ground, still slightly dazed as Fre walked over to the prone goblin. He appeared to not be moving. I caught a slight whisper from her as she crushed the goblin's throat with her boot. "That's for Aardvark."

And so died Stasost Usbunguzo, the elite goblin bowman who couldn't use a bow.

I pulled Aardvark up as he shook his head to clear his vision, before going over to check on the goblin. Fre passed me, concern in her face as she went to check on Aardvark who was slowly coming as well. The goblin was dead. Undeniably so. I was quite relieved it had been so simple.

Turning back around to comment I was shocked to see my two friends bloodspattered with goblin gore but fondly embracing. They kissed. Not the friendly peck on the cheek mind you, but one that appeared quite practiced, and more active. I felt warm and awkward at the same time and felt some strange desire to go to the roof to see if it had started snowing yet. Perhaps it was cooler there.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

1st of Granie 1052 Early spring

Only two animals had come with us when we arrived. The ox that had pulled our wagon and a stray two-humped camel we had picked up on our way here. They had been content to be moved indoors and mulled around without purpose for some time. We were all too busy to consider taking them on as a pet, not that I'd want a beast like that as a pet mind you. But today I put the camel to good use. Today marked our one year mark as a settlement. The camel was part of the intended feast. Fre did the honor of butchering and cooking the creature for us, and we rolled several barrels to our new tables and chairs that designated our common area.

We had accomplished much in the first year of our stay here. I said as much in our toastings.

"All right, quiet down.

Thank you.

Now, we're here to commemorate the end of our first year here. Thanks to the intrepid and bold moves of all present the goblin fort known as Omospoxxo is no more. In it's place is now the dwarven hall of Dorenemal, our home!

It is the first holdings officially of our clan now, since each settlement is required to survive the one year mark, officially, before being considered as a holding. The Fahlstrom clan, the Wall of Zeal now has a home!

I wanted to thank you each individually for your contributions. So let's raise our mugs in toast to Mafol and Medtom, our miners, who have cleared this place and made it suitable for dwarves, in addition to providing us access to the wider world. Cheers!

To Steele, our mason. Without him this drafty place would have been unbearable this winter and who busies himself fortifying our new home, inside and out. And who incidentally made these fine tables and chairs for us. Cheers!

To Aardvark, who tirelessly hauled stone, wood and the like without complaint while he waited for us to build him his forges. And who has begun turning out weapons of high quality, both metal and craftsdwarfship as his new axe well attests. Cheers!

To Ragnar who tirelessly hews trees to keep us warm and fuel our forges, and who with equal zeal hews both kobold and goblin, thief and guard alike. Without his skill we well may all have died penniless at the hands of the kobolds. Cheers!

And to Fre last of all, but certainly not least. Without her we likely would have starved thrice over this past year. She who prepared raccoon in ways I would not have thought possible and who provided us with the feast now before us. It is her I wish to thank for the slaying of the goblin leader and for her many many talents. Because of that I wish to present her with an item I found atop the third goblin structure. Cheers to her!"

Pulling the flawless fist-sized yellow-green heliodor (masterwork large Heliodor) I handed it to Fre. (Do with it what you would like Fre, put it as a trinket in your room or future tomb (I'll place it and mark it as forbidden) or trade it to some caravan for an item you'd really like. I'll continue to reward the most active and useful dwarves yearly. Additionally you may all feel free to post in character about anything past that has happened. Or any plans you would like to have happen, but no guarantees there. I'm writing this as I play it.)

Needless to say there was a considerable amount of drinking that night. Which was just as well. We had done better this year than I could have possibly hoped for. And while there remained much to do, I felt confident that we could manage it.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

17th of Granite Early spring Butt-freezin' Winter

We had our second merchant caravan show up a few days ago. Elves from Lapamanecalo, wherever that is. I wasn't sure what they were doing here. Or why they came, but apparently they sensed profit and braved the snow, forming a line for their mules in the deep snow drifts. At least once they made it to our valley they were relatively safe. I'd heard something about their squemish nature when I was at Kilrudmorul. Apparently the elves had been showing up for years before we ever managed to successfully trade with them there. They kept being offended and leaving for the smallest things. Apparently they didn't like being traded goblin gear made of leather. Apparently killing animals was against their beliefs. Ugh... vegetarians. Just slightly better than goblins if you ask me. Also they refused to trade in weapons. Also pacificts. Their deities must either be very very different from ours or there are some gods up there that are laughing themselves drunk over the elves as a race. In any case, it was a welcome relief from the cold and we had a few things I thought wouldn't offend their sensibilities. We had some wooden crafts I could have sold them but I wasn't sure if that would bother them or not,since I recalled their love of trees as well. In the end I sold them the Nickel-silver earrings the kobold and raccoons had tried to make off with and a few obsidian mechanisms I had made. The earrings went better than I had thought, nearly a thousand ingots. For some earrings a goblin had pilfered years ago probably. In any case we got some berries and flour to supplement our again dwindling food supply. Several barrels of drink, a little funny tasting but strong enough. Some basic supplies like empty barrels, rope, cloth and thread for patching clothes and the like. Oh, and some cages. Ragnar would appreciate that. Sure, they could be used to trap animals to tame and make them into pets like the elves prefferred, or they could be used for goblins and combat training like we preferred. In either case we now had three.

Apparently sometime while I was busy trading Ragnar encountered two more kobold thieves trying to sneak their way past him in the forest. He made with the axe and there were two less kobolds in the world. He didn't even bother reporting them until that evening. Ah well, two more copper daggers for our collection. Dorenemal 6 Kobolds 1. I'll probably just have them melted down for the metal.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

2nd of Felsite 1052

We had a surprise today. Steele was out working on a defensive wall I'd mapped out when a dwarf popped out and nearly got brained with a masonry trowel. Said he was the first of the new crew he'd brought once he'd heard the place had been cleansed of goblins. Apparently he was one of the original miners that prospected the area and tried to settle here. When word got around that some poor fools had gone out to clear out he goblins he'd gotten his hopes up and begun gathering some friends. When the outpost liason had returned and given the official report that went public two months later he had jumped on the chance. Several of the poorer class and some of his family and friends had been persuaded by him to make the trek here. He reasoned that if we could defeat the goblins we must have been talented and well-equipped. He was right on the first count at least.

But he had brought with him 21 others, two of which were children, with little more than their tools of trade and the clothes on their backs, relying on our supplies. 22 people total. Oh, and a bloody donkey that was the pet of their cook! I've taken the time to meet with all of them quickly to appraise their talents. Oh, and inform them they'll be sleeping on the floor for a while. I didn't know what we could do but accept them. Half of them are useless, but can be put to useful tasks. I can't help but wonder if some of them are spies sent by Agna to see what we're doing. I'll have to interview them carefully and ask plenty of questions.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

12th of Felsite

I've finally finished meeting with all of the newcomers today. I've had each one swear the customary oath of induction into our clan, but I still have my doubts. The Miner was the only one apparently from his original party that wanted to have anything to do with us. But there were plenty of others. I've noted them below:
1 Miner (F)
5 Peasant (F) May assign to Road crew or military
1 Woodcrafter (M) I've told him stone is more durable and have convinced him to switch to Stonecrafting
1 Thresher, 1 Planter (F/M) Useful once we get farms going come the thaw. For now, gathering plants to augment our food supply
1 Potash Maker (F) I've made him our new Woodburner... same idea as before
1 Gem cutter (M)
1 Fish Cleaner (M) Fine come the thaw, mason/engraver for now I think
1 Soap Maker (M) we use wet sand to scrub with. I think Aardvark could use a hand at the forges though so he'll be assigned there
1 Butcher (M) I'll have to relieve Fre of that duty. She'll probably be glad.
1 Lye Maker (M) Same as Soap maker. and same assignment. We'll be getting ore to smelt soon enough
1 Glass Maker (F) Great. Now where did I put those designs for the glass kiln?
1 Fishery Worker (F) Same as fish cleaner for now
1 Bowyer (M) I'll relieve Ragnar of his carpentry responsibilities and make this guy our carpenter. All proper weapons should be iron... but preferrably steel.
1 Brewer (M)
1 Cook (M) + 1 donkey we can't eat but probably should. I'll have to ask Fre where she'd prefer to be assigned.

As a side note while I was talking briefly with the children one of them mentioned that he had seen one of the peasants playing with a gold coin. That didn't seem quite normal to me. Must investigate.

P.S. I've found the peasant the child was talking about, one Rith Nomoddom by name. While he was asleep in the common room I checked his belongings real quick. There was a rather hefty purse in his possession, that looked to be filled with gold coin. Dwarven coin. I'm not quite sure what to do with him. Perhaps I'll speak with Ragnar about it. If this Rith is a spy or plant from Agna no good can come of it, to be sure.

(Anybody that wants to can feel free to claim a dwarf. Genders and basic professions are provided.)

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

15th of Felsite

The summer thaw came as predicted this year. Nice to know you can count on nature to run it's course. Unfortunately one of our dwarves was out on the ice of a lake when a warm spell hit and he broke through. We tried to rescue him but were unable to do so in time. Rith Nomoddom has perished by drowning. A regrettable and avoidable loss. Had he decided to listen to me he might have lived. We weren't even able to recover his corpse as of yet, and that created quite a commotion. Few wanted to traverse near the lake where he lay.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

12th of Hematite

Work continues well. We've finally got beds for everyone, though were still designated into a common sleeping hall. Once defenses are in place that shall be the first thing that needs to be addressed. Some of us greatly desire privacy, and I know I'm not the only one.

The first human traders arrived today. Unfortunately we're still clearing the path to the existing trade route so the heavier wagons couldn't make it through. Pity, we could certainly have used their goods. I've redoubled the manpower on those projects. Hopefully they'll be ready by fall when I expect the dwarven caravan to come.

Still, as the dwarves predicted last year the humans were more than happy to trade for slightly used goblin equipment and we were able to obtain several good ropes, barrels, some cloth and leather but most importantly... food. Mostly seafood and cheese, though some drink was to be had. And all for gear we bled little for. Very handy not to have to spare the labor for craftsmen.

Our newest gemcutter appears to be taken by some strange secretive mood. He abandoned his work and went to the common area where he began muttering to himself and making drawings. I've seen such things happen before and thankfully knew to try building some workshops for him. Being a gemcutter I figured making a workshop for such things would be sufficient. Once built he quickly claimed it and began demanding uncut gems. I've got our miners working on it now.

PS

While the humans were yet with us Fre came across a kobold trying to sneak it's way in. She dealt with it in true dwarf fashion. By pummeling it to death. I've heard some complaints about the vermin and pests, particularly around the garbage dump. Perhaps I shall have to move it to a more discrete and enclosed area.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

14th of Malachite

Our gemcutter began working on some so-called magnificent construction of his own design a few days ago and already finished. I'm impressed with his speed and efficiency but his design skills could use some work.

Our miners had managed to remove some nice deposits of Grey chalcedony which he used to make an artifact window. He's named it Lukavog Alnis Ud, which is quite a mouthful even for me. It's named Insightdredge the war of Harvesters. I wondered at first what he meant by it since we haven't even planted farms yet, technically. He assured me it was referring to the war between us and the goblins and that their souls had been harvested fully. To comemorate said reaping he engraved an image of the scene on the window. I looked at it but didn't see any engraving until my nose was mere inches from the pane.

Right there in excrutiatingly minute detail were dozens of flies engraved on the artifact window.

In all fairness I suppose he did arrive right as all the goblin corpses and kobolds were rotting away.
I'll have to get that garbage dump built here before too long. I don't want a fly being declared our fort mascot.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

25th of Malachite

I've finally finished meeting with the human guild liason. Apparently he slipped into the half-drained pond that Rith the spy perished in and was stuck up to his waist in muddy water next to a corpse for nearly a week. Lucky for him he had a pack with food with him. Lucky for us it was his own fault and he wasn't too mad at us.

In any case we know what they'll trade the best for. Food (which isn't going to happen), cloth, windows (I wondered briefly if we could foist Lukavog off on them, but I didn't want to start a riot amongst ourselves),  and spears. Perhaps we could accomodate them on the spears. And maybe even the cloth. The elves tended to arrive once the heavy winter storms let up. We could get cloth from them and resell it to the humans. I'll have to look into that.

In better news, our farms are now fully functional. I've connected the door to the upper lake to a lever so we can refill our pond from below, and a second door will flood the food chambers with fresh mud from time to time.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

15th of Limestone Autumn 1052

Half the fortress was out working in the rare sunshine when the dwarven caravan arrived, our liason Vabok with them. The masons were working on the defensive wall that would limit passage to those visiting us. The road crew of peasants were doing good work as well. Ragnar was busy ensuring that no trees grew in the pathway and so we were glad to have the caravan show up at such an opportune time. They were even able to bring wagons! I was a little dissappointed at their showing however. Only one wagon of material.

As soon as they showed up I began designating items to be brought to the trade post. And though the merchants were in a hurry again, they waited long enough for us to get what we needed to barter with them. While the others were bringing up the supplies to trade I got some brilliant insight into what our mountainhome needed. It needed vision, a goal to achieve. We could achieve perfection as a group. Our home would be perfectly organized. With these thoughts in mind I began imagining things as they should be, our home extending into the roots of the mountain itself, carved out of living stone. I saw paved roads leading all directions. A place of safety and refuge for those lost or seeking such places. I saw vast workshops filled with skilled craftsdwarves. A resplendant dining room complete with waterfalls. Impenatrable walls and strong defenses, siege engines and a military clad in quality steel armor and weapons. Those were my visions. I needed a symbol for that though. Something that would inspire our clan to strive for that vision. Something that would represent our efforts. The dwarven heart, stone and metal and fire and blood. A perfect machine.

I had an idea. One that penetrated my being. That made me rush down to my workshop. My workshop. I began furiously working on the image in my mind. Gathering the supplies I needed. The stone that we won by blood. This would be the heart of our fortress.

When it was finished I sat exhausted on a workbench next to my creation. It was indeed flawless, smooth, black and shimmering slightly in the dim lighting. I named it Sirablimur Idithkor, the wellspring of warmth of the systematic cavern, or Warmthnadirs the Systematic Cavern. It would be the heart of our home, the guiding vision.



I needed a drink.

I'd been working for five days without even realizing it and the merchants were getting eager to leave. I'd better get above and see what happened in my absence.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

26th of Limestone Mid-autumn 1052

Trading went well with the merchants. They were unable to bring more supplies or so they said. When the head merchant told me this I noticed a satisfied smirk on one of the other merchants there and some shaking of heads on the part of their guards. I would have to look into this. Still they brought us some of the goods we had requested. Lots of metal bars. It should give us plenty to do once we get fully functional metalworks running. They thankfully also brought plenty of drink. Rum, ale, wine and beer. That should make everyone happy. Unfortunately they brought almost no food. A few turtles that looked like they had been caught recently. And some seeds. But little else.

They took all of the trinkets and craftsgoods we had, and plenty of goblin equipment. They wanted more than we gave them, but after having spoken with the humans about their values I knew now what I was dealing with. We kept most of our best pieces and told them if they wanted them they'd have to bring more next year. They grumbled at this but didn't have much choice.

During our negotiations we were surprised by the alarm that was sounded. One of the merchant caravan guards had spotted a goblin sneaking in and shot it dead. The corpse of a second one was found seconds later lying perforated and bleeding near the entrance to our fort, not twenty yards from where we were bartering. Nice to know the obsidian weapon traps worked. Not only kobold thieves now, but goblin thieves as well. They must have gotten word we were here. That was not good news.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

26th of Limestone Mid-Autumn

The merchants had just informed me they would be heading out soon before the snows came when the alarm was sounded to the east. A group of goblins had arrived on the road. I immeadiately ordered Fre, Ragnar and Aardvark to gear up and guard near the entrance while I went to check things out from the roof of the neighboring building. (We've opened up a shaft to it underground.)

Things looked bleak when I got up there. Medtom and Mafol had been working on cleaning up a cliff next to the road and had apparently been surprised by the group. An axegoblin and four hammergoblins. Our miners led them on a merry little chase before splitting up, Medtom heading back towards our entrance where Fre, Aardvark and Ragnar were. Mafol unfortunately heading the other direction, to the cliffs where he might be trapped.

The Axegoblin had been in hot pursuit of Mafol and had nearly cornered him when Mafol turned and with a fierce look engaged the goblin. He blocked a shot or two before putting his pick through the goblin's legs. That slowed the axegoblin down. The hammergoblins seemed hesitant to take up the chase after that though. It seems they weren't expecting a fight. Mafol ran them in a small circle and in his departure from the cliffs took another shot at the axegoblin who was still prone, smashing the goblins hands making him drop his weapon. Mafol then began running back towards the entrance.

It seems the leader was the axegoblin and he apparently decided he had seen enough. He fled the area and the two hammergoblins near him went with them. The other two hammergoblins seeing themselves outnumbered tried to run as well. One was cut down near the corner of the north building by Aardvark, the other made it as far as the cliffs before being surprised by Mafol who was heading back. He stopped long enough for Ragnar to cleave him in two from behind.

The merchants seemed somewhat taken aback by the attack and counter-attack and left in a hurry after that and without speaking to us.

[Paulus Fahlstrom]

25th of Sandstone Mid-Autumn Early winter

My meeting with Vabok went well. He congratulated my on all our work. Said the place was coming along well, beginning to look like a real mountainhome already. It was an interesting conversation.

"Ah, Paulus. Yes, good to see you again. Well, my report last year was received with mixed feelings. It seems the initial report generated some shock. It seems that," he gave me a small wink "the King's advisor Agna nearly burst a vessel in his forehead when I told him you were all still alive and hadn't suffered a single death. He also said my appraisal was worthless because the structures I'd appraised weren't made by you but rather were goblin built. Seems to me that this one has been refitted quite nicely, though it still needs work."

I didn't know quite what to say. That Agna had his hand in things appeared to be without a doubt. I let Vabok continue.

"Now, he's put my reputation on the line because he said you wouldn't be able to produce anything worthwhile, nor be able to hold the place against any goblin incursion. I'll claim otherwise of course. Seeing the defensive wall you've erected and other preparations you've made maybe it's time I made a wager with old Agna. In any case, keep up the good work. I've evaluated this place again for soundness as a clan holding and will submit my report when I get back. I've brought the forms to officially make this a holding of the Fahlstrom clan, the Wall of Zeal. Once it takes effect it will be retroactive to the beginning of your second year, and all immigrants will officially be recorded as pertaining to the Wall of Zeal. Now, how has the last year gone? Any occurrances I should be aware of? I've already made note of the goblin patrol that showed up while I was here."

"No, it's been a strangely quiet year. We've gotten much done. We did recieve twenty two immigrants in mid-winter this past year. They were half-frozen when they'd arrived but they're doing well enough now."

"Twenty-two you say? that'd bring your head-count to twenty-nine" Vabok mentions as he records a quick note muttering to himself "Seems like a large number to come so quickly and in the middle of winter. Usually it takes a bit longer once the report is made public.

Of course with the fiasco your report made I'm not too surprised."

"What do you mean fiasco?"

"Well, my initial report was filed with the outpost office that makes it public after one month. The outpost office posted my original report as I provided it. But within days it had been removed and modified, stating your value as nearly negligible and the area as infested with goblins. It caused quite a disturbance at the outpost office, the head liason went to see the King himself about it. But apparently Agna convinced the King that he was right and the altered report stayed."

"Ah, well, you win some you lose some. We did have one death though. A peasant by the name of Rith Nomoddom."

"Hmm. Cause of death?"

"Drowning. He broke through the ice and we were unable to save him in time."

"Unfortunate. What steps have been taken since then?"

"We've drained that particular lake. In part to recover the corpse, which was buried with his possessions in a proper coffin."

"Very well, anything else to report?"

"Not this year. Is it possible for me to send a message to my brothers in Kilrudmorul?"

"I'd ask the merchants about that, I'm not headed out that way. If there is nothing else I should go, I'm looking forward to delivering this report when I get back to Sazirgeb."

The meeting went well. And was reasonably informative. Agna had been causing problems for us back in the mountainhomes. There were reports of goblin raids on settlements and mountainhomes all up and down the range, but they were mostly minor. Rumors of some human settlements being torched by goblins had been received but not confirmed as of yet.

Oh, and the merchants wanted weapons for this next year. Specifically Crossbows, shortswords and battleaxes. Leather and hides for armor and the usual trinkets that were in style. This year it was amulets, idols and crowns. Some other items made the list but weren't significant.


PS

As Vabok was leaving a small ragtag band of immigrants came in on the road. Only seven of them. It looked as though Agna's alterations had worked. It was for the best I suppose. We didn't have that many supplies. A quick count for now, I'll interview them all later:

1 woodworker/carpenter/woodcutter F
1 Fish Dissector F I'll probably ask her to train as a mason/engraver
1 Peasant M Newest road crew addition
1 Milker M Milk what? New farmer
1 Gem setter F
1 Wood Burner F
1 Engraver M I'll have him double as a mason too