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[Ganondwarf]

So yeah, I'm starting a surface fortress (sorry, NOT A SUCCESSION GAME), and I'm writing about it for three reasons.

1. I think it will be interesting, and on the off chance that it is, I want to have written about it so you can all enjoy it.
2. Hopefully writing about it will encourage me not to rage quit. 
3. I've got other DF story ideas, so I need to practice my role-playing...role-writing? Story telling! There we go.

So the rules are pretty simple: I can not dig. That is the only rule. Two reasons I'm doing this (yes, I know this is my second boring list in one post):

1. I want to, because it will be hard.
2. I've never played a joyous wilds biome, and this world has only three that I've found. The other two are a glacier and a swamp. This one is a forest, which I think is ideal for a surface fort, so I might as well kill two birds with one stone.

Here's the map

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

If you're wondering, the world was genned large with a very short history. That is all.

I really don't want to let too much of my life go to waste on this project, so I'm only going to post updates to the story ("chapters", if you will) once a week, probably Sunday. I'll play through the week, and try to respond to any posts, but I'm only going to write chapters on Sunday.

Again, this isn't a community game. Sorry guys, but one of the reasons I'm writing about this fortress is so I finish it (without just quitting in an unspectacular fashion). However, I will absolutely name dwarves if anyone's interested. If you ask for a profession, however, you will have to wait until I assign a dwarf to said profession...so don't ask for a miner or engraver because that will NEVER HAPPEN. 

If you want to be in on the initial 7, the jobs are:
Carpenter
Carpenter
Grower/Brewer (above ground farming)
Herbalist
Wood Crafter/Bone Crafter
Wood Cutter/Hauler
Wood Cutter/Hauler

...yeah...not a lot of interesting jobs there, but that's part of the challenge of this fort--all the usual jobs are gone!
I'll post the first chapter Sunday. Oh, and yeah, the fortress is named Lolumbom, Woodhome. Obviously not random.

[Slax]

Hopefully some legendary swimmer elves will come and pay you a visit.
They'd be piiiiissed!

Sign me up as the herbalist, would you?

[Ganondwarf]

Will do.
Btw, one of the carpenter's is the expedition leader, and hence is named Ganon. That leaves five spots for anyone else interested.

[Ahra]

one of the woodcutters, preferably male.

[Sheb]

I'll take the other woodcutter.

[shadenight123]

i'd like to be the wood crafter bone crafter...moody dwarfs makes fun things. uhuhu. >.> 

[Haika]

This looks interesting. And since you have clay, I'd like to go out on a limb and choose a potter. Doesn't have to start with that skill, but whomever you might like to give it to. Clay makes a nice above ground building material that never runs out. Name em Ghost when you do. 2 points for whomever catches that reference.

[Slax]

The spirit of Patrick Swayze's going to visit you tonight. Just sayin'.

[Ganondwarf]

This looks interesting. And since you have clay, I'd like to go out on a limb and choose a potter. Doesn't have to start with that skill, but whomever you might like to give it to. Clay makes a nice above ground building material that never runs out. Name em Ghost when you do. 2 points for whomever catches that reference.

Seriously?!? I can use clay to build stuff? Your dwarf is going to get such an awesome roon. I was worried about running out of trees. Seriously, the elves are gonna kill me and my whole family in my sleep.

Shadenight123...should I call your dwarf Shadenight123? Or can I just call him Shade/Shadenight?

Anyone else who wants a dwarf, there are a LOT of carpenters and wood cutters.

[Haika]

Yes indeed. You need non-wood material to make a kiln, but once you have one, you can make others, and each kiln can send a dwarf out to gather clay, and clay works like a piece of stone for constructions. I like to think of it as Adobe type buildings. Also, unlike furniture or anything else made in the kiln, constructions don't need fuel to be made.

Bonus tip: If you start getting messages about 'clay source dissapeared' that means your clay gathering area probably had grass grow over it. A simple dirt road helps keep a good spot to gather from. You also should be able to gather from clay walls, if you have any cliffs or non-ramped hills.

Well I tried this, but I think I'm going to start over. 4 levels of dirt in a rocky wasteland really makes the mining slow. I did have clay however.

Here's some screenshots:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

-1 z level from the wagon's spot. I've only managed to start to channel out one z level. Though I have a pit down to check for stone. Made four supports for the 'castle/tower/thing' as well as five kilns to keep clay production up for building while the miners go at it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Main z level, 1 up from the ground level of the to be spire. Dorms to the left, food stockpiling, poultry and food workshops to the right.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Next level up(+1z) I have a hospital to the left, and barracks/archery to the right, with fortifications to shoot from(maybe). Thinking about putting a stockpile in the middle there. Maybe weapons, armor and ammo for now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Top floor at the moment. Still under construction. Possibly a furniture stockpile if I keep going.

My issues with this fort come from it being rather large, a 4x4 embark, and completely flat. I have only 16Z levels above that it lets me go(might expand as I get higher? but I doubt it. Not sure how that works). And with so much soil to dig through it makes for mining very difficult. This has taken me 3 years. I have 7 legendary miners from the first group, and the first migrant wave of 4 is making good progress. But we don't have any sort of dining hall, and I'm lucky that the only dangerous thing I've gotten attacking has been a bunch of camels. granted, I've only got 27 dwarves, as channeling in dirt and building in clay really kills the value of things making migrants less enthused to join.

when I restart, think I might try and get a 3x3 around a volcano, and just channel down the sides of the magma. So when I decide to destroy it, I can unleash hot fury. Not going to abandon this, it's just really slow, so going to try in another world.

That's all from over in the general discussion about a surface mining project I started. Almost all of that building is made from clay.

[shadenight123]

call him Shade, surnamed "of the night"

[Ganondwarf]

Everyone's been added.
I think I'm definitely in line for elven assassination. I've cut down about 900 trees so far. 

[elitetaco3519]

If your still naming them ill be the brewer.
And sweet idea!

[Ganondwarf]

I might not have time tomorrow, so I'm going to start writing posting the first chapter today.

Chapter 1

We were betrayed, by one of our own. There's no other way they could have discovered us.
Allow me to explain. I am Ganon, of the Free Carpenters (parody of the Free Masons), a secret society of dwarves who practice arts some deem "dangerously elf-like". Well as you can probably imagine, the Nobles were none to happy with this, and we were sentenced to Hammering. However, I was able to plead with them, and when I mentioned that some of our arts, such as the black magic of "Surface Building" might actually be of use to the Mountain Home, we were able to get our fate changed. To something potentially worse.

We've been exiled to the Island of Containing, in the middle of the ocean, where we will demonstrate our "Surface Building" art on an unmatched scale. The conditions of our sentence are simple--if we can survive, our service to the Mountain Home will buy our freedom. We have also bought a chance at freedom for all other Free Carpenters in our civilization, who will now have the opportunity to immigrate to our fortress, rather than sustain a Hammering. Lolumbom, Woodhome, will have all the rights of a usual fortress, including trade caravans and a liason, and may one day play a central role in the war against elves.

These are the dwarves who will form our embark team, my brothers who were condemned with me.
Myself, Ganon: Carpenter
Shem: Carpenter (still available for naming!!!)
Elite Taco: Grower/Brewer
Slax: Herbalist
Shade: Wood Crafter/Bone Carver
Ahra: Wood Cutter
Sheb: Wood Cutter

Profiles

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ganon

Shem

Elite Taco

Slax

Shade

Ahra

Sheb


These pictures were taken at embark, before I started naming dwarves.
You may also notice my slight editing: Dwarves are fond not of drink and industry, but of blood and revelry.

Since this would be an entirely Surface Built fortress, we were able to leave a lot out of the usual embark kit: Picks, subterranean crop seeds, rope for a well, an anvil...we even decided to forgo stone, since everything we would need could be made from wood anyways, and stone was heavy. Instead we brought extra food and booze, and two copper battle axes, one more than usual.

1st Granite, Year 7
Well, we've arrived. I must say it's actually a beautiful island. Our map assured us we would be surrounded by joyous wilds, and indeed there is not a single beast to be seen thus far.
We immediately started clearing a section of forest, and began constructing two carpenter's shops. We're still not sure how we will layout the fortress--we might just build a large, encircling wall to give us plenty of room to use later.

19th Granite
Our walls are going up nicely, and we're about to begin construction of a roofed bedroom wing. Our first farm has also been built. Unfortunately, Slax hasn't found any above ground seeds yet. I addition, our butcher's has been constructed, and we just placed our first bed. To celebrate, we're slaughtering the two horses we brought. Both were male, so we haven't lost out on any breeding opportunities.

25th Granite

27th Granite
We've set up a craftdwarf's shop, and Mebzuth is carving the bones of the recently slaughtered horses. Meanwhile, Elite Taco is brewing up the plants Slax gathered. Hopefully this will yield seeds for our farm.

14th Slate
Oh Armok save us! There are 7 unicorns just south of us and I do NOT like the look of their horns. Hopefully they'll just prance on by...yes, good. In other news, we have whip vine seeds! Hooray!

20th Slate
Ugh...what a headache.... Okay, so since everything is above ground, refuse will never generate miasma. This refuse includes the organs and hair of two dead horses, encrusting the entire area of the butcher's shop, making it impossible to work in. However it does not smell, meaning that none of these lazy bums are willing to lift a finger to clean it. So instead, I ordered them destroy the butcher's shop, after which they will build a new one on top of it. Well, we are dwarves, after all. :/

3rd Hematite
We continue to clear cut the forest to build our walls. Slax has voiced concern over the possibility of legendary swimmer elves coming to besiege Lolumbom, but I'm not worried. Elves can't swim...can they? The irony is that we've been banished for "Dangerously Elf-Like Practices". I wonder how they get their wood, if not by cutting down trees?

19th Hematite
In order to speed up construction, I've asked Slax to leave plant gathering for a while and try his hand at carpentry. Currently the wood cutters are providing wood faster than we can use it, and I would like this to change.

28th Hematite
A racoon has gotten into our "fortress". I put fortress in quotes because the walls aren't even half finished, and it was no surprise something got in. Our wood cutters have been dispatched to kill it, or at least scare it away.

28th Malachite
Finally, migrants have arrived! Welcome, fellow Brothers of the Free Carpenters! Hm...it's too bad. Although we do practice Surface Building, many of our fellow dwarves actually have subterranean skill sets. For instance, we have here a gem cutter (we have no gems), a potash maker (we have no stone for a wood furnace) who at least has some meager medical knowledge, a mason (...), a farmer and a clothier. Everyone but the farmer is now a carpenter. What can you do without digging, right? I suppose we've brought this on ourselves, but we'll pull through okay.

9th Galena
Construction is moving smoothly. Organizing it...not so much. We're almost done walling off the ground floor, but we don't really know what to do with all the space. And we're already planning on building a floor above. We'll probably just build the shell of the fortress, a giant square tower, and fill it in with rooms as needed. We've also built two training axes for cutting down more trees, and given them to Slax and the new clothier. Even though our carpenters can't build fast enough to keep up with the wood, the wood cutters can't cut wood fast enough to keep up with the plans.

Ground Level

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Roof Level

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

19th Galena
Finally built a roofed and furnished dining room! Hooray!
I've also just ordered every damn tree on this level cut down. This is fun! I just hope the elves don't find us...

20th Galena
Slax was slaxing off (sorry, I had to. ), right next to an axe and refusing to pick it up. Well he was already in the military so I stationed him somewhere nearby, as a soldier, you see. So he finally went and picked up his axe, as per his military uniform...and put it back down when I then asked him to go back to wood cutting, the lazy bastard! And then he went and started cutting trees with another axe! The state of his mind boggles my own...

24th Galena
Uh...there's a moose in the fortress.... A really big one. I'm going to send the militia...no I'm not. Even that racoon back in late Hematite did damage to Sheb, our militia commander. Granted, he chose to drop his axe and fight unarmed...

27th Galena
Okay, a moose is one thing, but Giant Badgers? 8 of them? Hopefuly they'll just...pass us by...right through our fortress. Build those walls faster damn it! This is looking less like a paradise every week.

28th Galena
Two of our dogs have given birth. We are slaughtering the males. We are also building a kennel. In the absence of all but two metal weapons, we will need our dogs to fight for us.

11th Limestone
I just realized...building a roof above the ground level will in all probability require more trees than we currently have on the whole island, never mind within our embark region. So...yeah. That project may take a while.

4th Sandstone
More migrants! Yay! I don't even care what they did back home, they're all carpenters here.

12th Timber
What a fitting month...to get a trade caravan!
Let's just hope we have enough bone crafts to get something useful...well, in a pinch we can certainly trade food and alchohol, Armok knows we have enough for 10 years...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And all this from one farm plot with no fertilizer. Incredible.


16th Timber
Unfortunately, it turns out we do not have many crafts. Fortunately (?) it turns out the merchants have little of use to us! Their wares consist almost entirely of cloth and food, neither of which we need. They DO have a steel battle axe...for $3000. We have traded for some stone blocks, however, and are already building a wood furnace with it. Soon we will be able to fertilize our farms! Though already I question why we would need to, or why we would want to spend the wood. We are also in the process of obtaining an anvil and hopefully some brass.

24th Timber
I met with Momuz, our Liason from the Mountainhomes today, to write up a trade agreement. Our requests were very simple--any kind of wood, cheap stone, or metal. Their's were...more difficult for a fortress in our situation. Don't get me wrong, it's been great out here on this paradise island...better than a Hammering anyways. But that the Mountainhomes would have the gall to not only banish us, but then ask us to make windows for them? We actually had to trade for the merchants' sand so we could at least try to meet this demand. Ah well. Anyways, plenty of work to do, I must get back to that.

18th Moonstone
Seems we weren't able to get quite as much stone as we needed. We can build a metalsmith's forge...if we use the only fire-proof material we have left...which is the brass bars we intended to craft AT the forge. Oh, the iron-y (and the puns). Well...I think we'll just hold onto that brass until...next year then. :/

4th Opal
Raccoons have been causing trouble recently. Honestly, I don't know why the other carpenters don't just kick the stupid things when they walk by. Oh wait...they have rabies...and are half our size...okay, deploying militia!

8th Opal
Wow...I'd better stay on Sheb's good side. I just found out, he actually killed those raccoons...WITH HIS TEETH.
He dropped his axe, grabbed the raccoon, and bit into it like a bacon cheezburger. Yeah.

--

Well, hope you all found that entertaining. So yeah, like I said earlier I think I've already cut down about 1000 trees. Seriously, I'm building my roof in 10x10 sections. I will post again next Sunday, anyone who's interested can definitely still ask for a dwarf (we will ALWAYS have carpenters and wood cutters available, other professions will come too ).

[Ahra]

awesome.