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Total Members Voted: 124

[Kagus]

Yeah...

1) Don't use cages for jails.  Dwarves get locked away in them and then starve to death when inevitably no one comes to hand-feed them.  Use ropes/chains instead, and put a booze stockpile, food stockpile, and bed in the 8-tile radius around the chain.

2) Dining room.  It's all in the dining room.  Even right now, we've got what many dwarves consider to be a legendary dining room.  That by itself will soak up a huge amount of unhappy thoughts.

3) Legendary beast shell will not (to my knowledge) yield shells usable in crafting.

4) Urvad may very well have been a hunter when he came to the fort.  Hunters are, so far as I know, the only civilians that keep weapons on hand.  Considering how useful it's just proven to be, it may not be an entirely bad decision to start mass-producing crossbows and bolts with our new iron reserves and giving more dwarves the hunter designation.

[Pisano]

1) Don't use cages for jails.  Dwarves get locked away in them and then starve to death when inevitably no one comes to hand-feed them.  Use ropes/chains instead, and put a booze stockpile, food stockpile, and bed in the 8-tile radius around the chain.

Oh yeah, I had forgotten ropes and chains as restraints.

2) Dining room.  It's all in the dining room.  Even right now, we've got what many dwarves consider to be a legendary dining room.  That by itself will soak up a huge amount of unhappy thoughts.

Hmm, well our dining room is tiny and overcrowded, but that is a really good point.

4) Urvad may very well have been a hunter when he came to the fort.  Hunters are, so far as I know, the only civilians that keep weapons on hand.  Considering how useful it's just proven to be, it may not be an entirely bad decision to start mass-producing crossbows and bolts with our new iron reserves and giving more dwarves the hunter designation.

Oh, interesting point.  Yeah, it is quite possible that she was (past tense, she just bled out, presumably from the noxious fell-beast vapours) a hunter based on assigned jobs.

[lolghurt]

4) Urvad may very well have been a hunter when he came to the fort.  Hunters are, so far as I know, the only civilians that keep weapons on hand.  Considering how useful it's just proven to be, it may not be an entirely bad decision to start mass-producing crossbows and bolts with our new iron reserves and giving more dwarves the hunter designation.

Miners carry picks, while not a weapon per se, still lethal and woodcutters have either a training axe or a proper battleaxe, useful because they cannot also be hunters.

[SethCreiyd]

Unless someone cut them all down, there should be enough trees outside for new beds.  If you get a spiral, make sure you have enough coffins for the tantrum victims and you should be able to avert catastrophe.  Depending on how Camaba's venom works, all the spectators may already be doomed.

[Pisano]

On the iron pick dwarf, I thought I saw him in the military but it would make more sense if he was just a random miner.  It would also be quite funny since that means two civilians killed the forgotten beast all by themselves.

On coffins, I've been cranking them out since I started playing this fort.  There was a bit of a backlog including the graveyard stockpile that was placed in one of the down ramps, presumably so that eveyone could say hello to their dead friends as they move between levels.

[kytuzian]

Can I sign up for the next possible turn?

[Pisano]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

ooc: yeah I started cutting wood as soon as I started my turn, I managed to get a decent amount, maybe 30 or 40 pieces before I had to close the gates (see below)...

13th Felsite

Urvad, the slayer of Camaba, has mysteriously bled to death.

Many tantrums...



14th Felsite

Ral Laltosid, Animal Dissector has bled to death.  This is a usual occurence in the fort since the fell beast came calling.

After yet another dwarf collapsed from blood loss I decided it would be a good idea to take general stock of the health of the dwarves in the fortress.  A couple reported that they have lost the ability to grasp, but the most amazing dwarf is Sakzul Lanceburds, militia captain and slayer of Siga, the fogotten beast back in 867.  He has lost his sight and is scarred beyond belief. 

The newly appointed manager, Sigun, is somehow bleeding profusely from a pig tail fiber shoe that bruised her right lower arm.

Given the efficacy, or lack thereof, of the miserable chief medical bone doctor dwarf, Sigun may not be long for the world.  After these few reports I passed out from the pain again.



And as if our own troubles weren't enough...



A troop of goblins led by Azstrog Evilwhim, an axe goblin on a giant bat bellowed in a surprisingly deep voice, "I claim this fortress in the name of Utes Snos, The Spiders of Rampaging, surrender now and we may let you live out your pathetic lives as slaves to the queen."  With grease dripping from her extremely long hair the goblins advanced on the fortress. 

Kol Arrowowner, the Flowery Stale Bowel of Gulfs, was the only dwarf outside when the goblins arrived.  It should be noted that Kol has a full set of steel armor, a steel short sword, a history if killing goblins,



and



Grumbling about how he could've taken all those stinking goblins, but realizing that more than two dozen crossbowmen might've been too much for him, Kol followed orders to return to relative safety of the fortress walls.  The military was rallied to the inner gate area, and the outer gates were ordered shut.

Meanwhile something emerged from the cavern below and a lookout, consulting with the book of Forgotten Beasts declared:



It seems the towering, ravening, pterosaur had come to avenge the death of Camaba.  After the last pterosaur gained entrance the one opening to the caverns that the masons could find was sealed up.  So, in theory, we should be safe from its vengeance.  In theory...

17th Felsite, 869

The chaos inside the fortress couldn't be worse.  Dwarves are fighting in the halls, Urdim Zuglaramith has apparently gone insane and is gibbering around the main well.  Blood has been tracked all over the detailed stone floors of the main level.  Only 19 of the remaining 71 dwarves would describe themselves as 'content or happier' on the latest survey I passed around.

The captain of the guard continues to beat down anyone and everyone who tantrums.  He has been satisfied by work lately.

And the caged Geshud, that bitch who had the audacity to strike me, just went berserk.  Luckily she is caged.

Then just has the finishing touches were put on the designs for his dining room, Mosus, the captain of the guard, was struck down after tangling with the militia commander Sakzul Kubuklanlar.  Trying to dispense justice with ones fists is not wise when the dwarf on the receiving end has a steel short sword.

23rd Felsite

Population 62.  All recent deaths have been due to the fighting that has broken out.  Dwarves roam the halls, sometimes in packs,just looking for a fight.  My plea, "Fellow dwarves, we have foes without such that we cannot afford to fight within."  But it has fallen on deaf ears.  Less than a dozen dwarves remain who aren't beside themselves with grief and rage and I can do little from this hospital bed.

25th Felsite

Eclipse has died today.  Perhaps Kol Arrowowner, the Flowery Stale Bowel of Gulfs, was a poor choice for the new captain of the guard, but she was eager to see order restored to the fortress, I just didn't realize that she would use her short sword.  Suffice to say that Eclipse has fallen to her blade.

The main level is a bloody mess, literally, there is blood everywhere and some forgotten beast extract mixed in there.



28th Felsite

After killing 7 dwarves in less than two days I decided that Kol was, perhaps, a bit too effective or in the very least entirely too bloodthirsty for the job of captain of the guard.

The lye maker Likot Amlikot has gone insane as well.  Though honestly given that everyone is attacking everyone else I'm not sure how anyone can tell the difference.  I sent Kol's squad to deal with the situation.  However, the lye maker had a steel cross bow and bashed a miner in the head and then crushed a defenseless baby before help could arrive. 

I never could get details of what exactly transpired, but sadly Kol would never arrive.



Suffice to say coffin production cannot even begin to keep up.



In the cage area we have the skeletal fox, Gershud the berserk miner, and some poor slob who should probably be released from the cage before he dies of thirst.  I also had tombs for Kol and Robocorn (who is injured right now) created.  All of those other coffins are new and full already.


It is now summer...

Population 47, the military is down to 4 dwarves.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

ooc: this has been the bloodiest fort I've ever presided over, but not the most painful (Battlefailed with the 7fps easily tops that).  I'm tempted to hand it over to someone who might be able to save the place because it has gone down hill so fast and it seems like there is nothing I can do to stop it.

The only possibly positive thing about this fiasco is that an increasing percentage of dwarves have their own beds in the very incomplete housing project:




A suite of rooms next to the barracks was also partially dug out for the captain of the guard and furnished with Charred GP's silver artifact chest, but we lack the items to fully outfit these rooms and no engraver has come to smooth out the walls yet.

image coming...

edits later: flight boarding soon.

[Kagus]

We're located directly above a large water cistern.  So far as I can tell, dwarves cannot fully recognize the higher well as a proper water source, so during my time I ordered a small hole cut out down beneath us so that we'd have a "proper" zone for dwarves to wash themselves.  This might be a good avenue to look into, if the dwarves have not all been contaminated by the extract yet (luckily, sufficient clothing will prevent liquid contaminants from getting on the skin).  There may be some difficulty with soap, however...

If the bridges have been closed off, we should be perfectly safe from the goblin marauders.  However, since the leader is riding a giant bat, there is a slight possibility that she's capable of flight.  This may actually play to our advantage however, as she may hop the wall and get attacked without aid from her lackeys.  Cutting her out would likely deal a great blow to the goblin morale.

As for our own morale...  The dining room is already designated as a proper meeting room, unless I "fixed" that.  A good party or two, while cutting productivity, should help keep spirits high.

Speaking of spirits, another thing we should consider is targeting the highest-skilled dwarves for distilling alcohol and cooking meals.  High-quality food and drink go a long way towards making everyone feel better, although large stocks can actually make things more difficult by "hiding" the high-quality stuff.


Unless the fortress guard has a rapid enough response time to actually stop tantruming dwarves before they cause too much damage, it may be a better idea to disband the guard entirely for the moment.  Without a punishment system, dwarves will sometimes get the happy thought of having gotten away with a crime Scott free.  Nobles may become upset under certain circumstances, but with numbers falling fast it's better to sacrifice the few for the good of the whole should it come to that.

As it stands, it may not be a particularly good idea to lock away dwarves and have them die of thirst in prison, or get slaughtered by a beating-gone-wrong.  Just get the tantrum-risks to drop their weapons if they're miners or woodcutters, and then let them go about punching each other in the face.  It'll be good training for the medical professionals.

Speaking of which, you really should update the hospital staff a bit if you haven't already.  There is absolutely no chance in hell of one dwarf handling all this, and even just a couple "nurses" with minor duties like giving water, cleaning wounds and bandaging patients can make a huge difference.

[SethCreiyd]

I really like your update style Pisano, you're telling a fine tale of all this mayhem.  Mad dwarves killing everyone Camaba didn't get to, so Murdercloisters' name is proving to be appropriate.

I second everything Kagus advised.  Make sure to keep the sane,  happy dwarves (if any remain) as far out of harm's way as possible.

[Pisano]

I'm still alive, just got inundated with work this week.  Will post an update soon.

[magmaholic]

want to know a fun fact about the first forgotten creature?
his/her name was siga,right?
well,translate it into estonian,and you get a pig.
no wonder he/she was made of mud!
coz they have an affection to it.

[Pisano]

28th Felsite, 869

49 angry dwarves are raging through the fortress.  Blood fills the main dining hall and dwarf beatings are the only thing on the menu.

The berserk lye maker was put down by a swordsdwarf, after which the swordsdwarf threw a tantrum probably distraught by having to kill yet another dwarf.

I suggested that a nice party might calm everyone down.  The answer was a thrown stone throne thrown by one of the dwarves bathing in the blood pool that is the main dining hall.

4th Hematite, 869

Nobody listens to a word I say so I did the mature thing...



10th Hematite, 869

I knew we were lost when I watched a woodcutter mistake someone's pet goat for a tree.  I ordered the non-berserk jailed prisoners freed from their cages today figuring that things can't possibly get any worse.  One prisoner Etur Bubusiton, refused to leave the cage his reason being that he was safer in the cage than out.

42, an auspicious number and the number of dwarves that remain.  I feel like with this population we may be able to answer some of the fundamental questions about the meaning of life, the underworld and everything.

The miasma has gotten pretty bad with so many unburied dwarves and animals lying around.

[Pisano]

So yeah, I don't know what to do about the tantrum spiral.  There were definitely some good suggestions.  The main dining hall is a meeting area, but that doesn't seem to be doing the trick.  I think they might be slowing down a bit since the number of dwarves has dwindled quite a bit.  I think the overcrowding wasn't helping things.  We have a decent amount of booze ~650 for 40 dwarves, but they aren't drinking enough.  We don't have much meat or anyone to butcher it even if we did.  I never got the food stockpiles properly sorted and the butcher shop was *CLT* when I took the reins.  Anyway, I'll finish later today or tomorrow and even if I don't finish a year I'll post the save tomorrow so that someone else can continue.

[Felcis]

Huh, another fortress that is close to collapsing. It was a really good read so far and I think it is possible to turn this around, after the population has thinned out a bit. Good rooms, a good dining room and good food/drink can work wonders, as long as you somehow get all those corpses buried.

I would love to take a turn later on, if the fortress is able to survive this. Also please dwarf me as soon as the next migrants can get through. Name "Felcirius" and prefered profession Marksdwarf or some crafter.

[Pisano]

15th Hematite

Normally a dwarf stricken by melancholy would be a notable event.  Normally a dwarf vomitting in the well would be considered disorderly conduct.  And normally one would not expect to have to push through a knee-high pile of semi-coagulated blood and extract in order to get to the dining hall.





This place is no longer normal.

21st Hematite

I've ordered construction of even more coffins and reallocated some space that was to be used for expanding the workshops to be a new crypt.  I wish we could properly adorn the walls and floors, but for now it is a rough cut area with row upon row of coffins.  We now have three crypts.  The first is full and the second has plenty of space to expand, but when asked to bury their comrades several dwarves grumbled about having to do down so many flights of steps.  So the third crypt is on the main level where most of the corpses are.  If you can't bring the corpses to the crypt bring the crypt to the corpses. That might well be my epitaph.



24th Hematite

A berserk dwarven child, Tekkud, throttled one of our few remaining beasts to death today. The strength he showed was amazing.  A marksdwarf then bashed the child to death with a steel crossbow.  I guess they are out of bolts.



5th Malachite

I'm scared to even have this thought, but things have calmed down a bit.  Another 10 or so coffins have been placed and filled and these twisted twisted dwarves seem to find hauling body parts cathartic or something because there seem to be fewer fights breaking out.

The insanity has deprived us of some of the more talented dwarves, so I've asked some folks to start learning new trades.  Hopefully we can adapt.  Rigoth was taken by a mood...and has claimed a magma forge.  I guess he was inspired by my speech about everyone having to pitch in and try new jobs.

Sigh, another insane dwarf, goodbye Lor Vabokanil.  It should be noted that of the four remaining military dwarves

13th Malachite

Population 34.  Our moody dwarf has begun a construction, he has iron bars, adventurines, magnetite x2, daggerthorn logs, and juniper logs.

17th Malachite



Rigoth is now a Legendary armouror, and the happiest dwarf in the place, so that is not all bad.

26th Malachite, 869

Paaarrtttyyy... Erib Idenasteb has found something to celebrate.

Quite a few dwarves have died of thirst lately.  I looked and there seems to be plenty of booze.  I think the ones who have died this way are so unhappy that they stopped drinking.  Frankly if they have stopped drinking then it is better for them to pass on to the next life for life is not worth living without booze.  That can go on my tomb as well.

14th Galena

Population 21.  There is still fighting in the halls, but the halls are a lot emptier.

Oh it has been reported that the goblins left at some point.  We didn't even notice.  In the distance I can see the corpses of several zombie and skeletal porcupines.  They now have quills and goblin bolts sticking out of their rotten hides.

20th Galena

The crypt has been expanded quite a bit...



A group of goblins got bored of waiting for a dwarf to come outside so they've been ambushing the undead porcupines again.

Autumn has come.  27 of us remain.



I'm still bedridden and unable to walk after all this time.  Geshud, who assaulted me, died of thirst, but I was not happy at her passing.  Indeed I had ordered her released once she calmed down, but nobody ever got around to it or so I hear.  We are now few in number and the halls feel a bit emptier or they might if I could get out of bed to see them.



I will turn over the heavy mantle, no yoke, of leadership to whoever will take it.  Unfinished is the project of a larger dining hall with several food stockpiles and small statue gardens.  It has been carved out, but is largely unfurnished and entirely un-detailed.  Also unfinished is the housing project, though many more dwarves have rooms now than did when I was first asked to step up.

Postscript:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This fort was a new kind of challenge for me and I can't say that I did a great job.  I'm used to forts that are a lot more spacious than this one was when I inherited it.  There was almost no housing with something like 20 beds for 80 dwarves when I started of which 90% were in dormitories.  The military seemed well appointed and reasonably well trained.  The craft stations were too few in number for the population.  I fixed as much as I could in my short (6 month) tenure.  There are still many unburied corpses despite non-stop manufacture of coffins for the last 4 months or so, but the real danger is the smallish population that remains and the fact that 8 of the remaining 27 dwarves are miserable.  I'm handing off the fortress in hopes that someone else will have more luck pulling it out of the tantrum spiral.  Maybe building statues and placing them everywhere will do more good than building coffins?

Save is here http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=3288