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[Sphalerite]

Sphala's Journal:  End of Year entry

Wow, hard to believe a year's gone by already.  It's been a real ride.  Getting that food shipment out really made everything worth it.  There will be no more starving dwarves thanks to what we've done here.

 I don't know if they'll need us to keep supplying them with food, but the farm complex and food storerooms are finlly finished.



I would have like to make them bigger, but there just wasn't time.

Oh, and the residential wing is also finally finished!  Every adult dwarf has a room there now.  Of course, we're going to have to expand it soon with all the children that are around here now.  My kids alone are going to need their own circle of rooms.



We're turning the old living area into tombs.  I hope we'll never need them, we still have plenty of room in the old tombs, but it's always good to have beforehand just in case.  Besides, after the haunting, that hallway's been all creepy.



I wish Arzun could be happier about all this.  He's been so grumpy lately.  Last time I spoke to him, he told me to tell the metalsmith to make a tin throne, for his tomb!  He's got a perfectly good throne as it is, and what good is a throne in your tomb anyway?



Besides, we haven't a single bar of tin in the entire fortress.



Well, I just got some news that should cheer him up.  I'm saving it for the big announcement tonight.


It is the end of the year.  A holiday has been declared, in celebration of the fortress's founding.  Fine food - the best of what Icemachine's cooks can make, set aside and not exported - is being eaten, and booze flows freely from golden barrels.

In the cramped yet elegant dining room, the lady mason known as 'Sphala' stands and addresses the crowd.

"My fellow dwarves!  My Fellows!  Hey!  EVERYONE LISTEN!  Thank you.  I have three special announcements to make on this occasion!  Everyone listen, this is important!"

"We just got a note back from the Liaison!  He made it to the mountainhomes, and sent back a message.  Everyone listen to this!"



"Arzun's a count now!  You all better be extra nice to him.  Where is Arzun anyway, anyone seen him?"

"Ok, the second announcement is a historical thing.  Remember that Bronze Colossus we killed this year?  The Liaison mentioned that to some record-keepers, and they looked him up, and it turns out he was some kind of historical figure!  With him dead, they're declaring it a new age!"



"So that's pretty good news!  Now we just need to get that Mountain Titan, and it'll be the Age of Icemachines!"

A raucous cheer passes around the room.

"Now my third announcement."  Sphala takes a deep breath.  "I. NEED. A. BREAK.  I can't do this anymore!  It's all work, everyone needing me to tell them what to do every moment of the day!  I have a family to take care of!  I had a baby this year and barely noticed, I was so busy!"



"I'm putting Paladin Mitch in command.  Anyone know where she is?  Off fishing again?  Good, then she can't stop me.  I've got all the papers signed, just need someone to witness it.  Are you all good witnesses?  Great.  Then it's settled.  Now someone give me a drink."


While the celebration rages on, Shorast the Cook is one of the few still at work in Icemachines, making sure the storeroom under the dining hall is well-stocked with food and drink.  He pauses a moment to admire a fine stack of polar bear meat roasts, one of his finer works.  Then, a sudden flash of inspiration.



Shorast turns and runs back up the stairs to the larder.  Urist McHuman's workshop is here, freshly carved bone bolts stacked aside it.



Shorast sweeps aside some chips of bone, then heads out to collect materials...

[Sphalerite]

That's it for me.

Here's the save:

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=4947

Mitchewawa is up next.

[Sphalerite]

Notes to the next overseer:

There's a lot of unmined adamantine down there.  Be really really careful in mining it.  Leave any and all 4x4 squares untouched until after you've cleared out all the side branches.

There's also a lot of unmined gold ore too.  Since we seem to be using that in place of wood, we should mine some more out, for furniture and barrels.

We should probably set up a jail.  I've ordered some gold chains to be made.

The Icemachine is all set, but has yet to be tested.  I leave you to try that.

There's some kind of flying fire-breathing leech thing hanging around the first level cavern.  I don't think it can get in, but be careful.

The second level cavern is opened to the fortress with only a door and some traps.  Watch out for fishmen.

Although I didn't need it on my turn, the hospital could use expansion.  The dining hall is way too small.

We have ammo now, but I think our marksdwarves have yet to fire a single shot.  Also, we need an archery range.

I really don't think the military is optimized at all, I mostly left them to their own devices this year.  Not all of them have adamantine armor yet.

There are two gates at the surface now.  The inner gate is the old one, between the stairs and the trade depot.  The outer gate is the one beyond the cage traps.  Both gates are controlled by levers in Arzun's office.  This setup lets you trade in safety, locking the outer gate when the traders are at the depot, and opening it when it's time for them to leave.

[The Master]

I'm going to post icemachines' history so far using Legends Viewer. I'll have the data shortly.
EDIT: Just about done. Man...screen grabbing things into Paint and stuff sure is long and annoying...
EDIT 2: the pictures are ready, now I just need to upload them to image shack, then I'll just post them here!

[Mitchewawa]

Anyone mind if I use a graphics pack? Or is it time i dwarfed up and learnt the default?

E: Screw it, time to dwarf up.

[The Master]

Here it is, I Left out a few things on purpose, but only because they were unimportant.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Orangebottle]

Count Arzun's Personal Journal:

Ah, the things this group of dwarves has accomplished. Under Sphala's leadership, we have not only come much closer to the goal of our mission, but we have prospered in every way imaginable.

Well. Except for the fact that now that i'm an actual noble, people are going to have to take my mandates seriously. Give me that tin throne, damnit! I don't care if we don't have any tin, ask the humans for some! Melt down some of those tin items I think we bought a few years ago! I want my throne!

I took a tour of the larder today. And I came back five pounds lighter. The food stockpile is massive! By my count(heh), we should be able to complete our mission in two or three more caravans if the farmers can keep production up.

Oh, if only my family were to hear of my swift ascent to nobility. I can only imagine the shocked look on their faces when they hear that I, Arzun Loderr, have righted the wrongs caused to my family's name by the bitch that sits apon a throne of bluemetal. I'll have our warriors teach that damn general a lesson too. Nobody strikes Arzun and lives to tell the tale!
Sphalerite:
There is a jail. If I remember correctly, there are a number of cages set up for use as a jail.

The unmined gold is damp and difficult to mine because of aforementioned dampness.

Marksdwarves suck.

[Mitchewawa]

First log as overseer, Paladin Mitch, Chaplain of Icemachines.
2nd of Slate

Apparently Sphala couldn't handle the stress, which is strange considering how good of a job she is doing. I was fishing when she officially quit; a dwarf I hadn't seen before interrupted me and scared the fish away. I right nearly punched his lights out.

"Sphala has left the position of overseer. She has asked that you lead the people-

I interrupted him back, and I shouted just so I could scare him like he scared the fish, "OI. I had a feeling that this would happen. Why didn't she pass the role onto me herself?"

He nearly reeled into the water behind him, which would be most unfortunate because he would have drowned in the well. "Something about drinking babies and overworking. I wasn't paying too much attention. Anyway, here are the documents."

I smiled and sent him on his way. Seemed like a nice lad, too drunk to care about politics. I looked over all the documents, and within was a set of instructions and her old overseer's diary. My eyes widened to all of my work coming at me all at once. There was even a manual to some machine that I didn't quite understand. Apparently it captured enemies in ice, though a solid warhammer to the face I believe would have a similar effect.

I see that there's a giant mass of gold barrels. How we've managed to get this much barrels with only one magma smelter is beyond me. I've set out a larger area in which to... smelt things... magmally...

I've also noticed an anomaly of stockpiling. Where the bars are taken I'll never know, but I know that it's nowhere near the ONE smelter. I set out another area for bars to go. There's a lot of work to do.




Didn't get much time to play. Screenies will be up later, and another update coming soon.

[The Master]

ENGRAVER POWERS, ACTIVATE!

Engraved on the wall is an image of a dwarf and a cow. The dwarf is in a fetal position. The Cow is striking a triumphant pose. This image relates to the BURNING OF EVERYTHING ON THE FUCKING PLANET!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Di]

I just love how every picture of trade depot features a blood trail from the very beginning of the fortress

[Mitchewawa]

Second log as overseer, Paladin Mitch, Chaplain of Icemachines.
1st Felsite.

I hate Felsite. The name sounds wicked. This entry encompasses a few months of work, and goes something like this.

I started to walk around the fortress, just exploring. You'd be surprised how large and confusing this place is, dearest diary. It was also my only free time I've had since I became overseer. Now all of the sudden I am the solver of everyone's problems! While back in the mountain home I did often have to mediate disputes, the amount of work I do in a month there I do in a day here.

For some reason I saw Peregar walking around in the nude! As he was strutting down the halls of the furniture stockpiles, waving his member in the faces of nearby women, the hairs on my face stood on end. I walked up to him and punched him in the nose from behind. I ordered him to cover his shame! He's a soldier for Atrid's sake! He had a surprised look on his face, I suppose he didn't think a lady like myself could knock him on his ass. He promptly stood to attention, his member doing the opposite, saluted and scrambled off to put on some armor. I don't know what got into him but if we had a jail I'd have him put in it.



As I was looking through the fortress I looked through the bookeeper's latest tallying.



A grim look spread across my face; our lack of miners disturbed me. Considering our food surplus I figured we could use less farmers and more miners, so I added mining duty to some of the more... useless specialities of farmers. Many were displeased. I also noticed a complete lack of meat and fish; we were running on nearly 99% plump helmets. I ordered some of our vast supplies of adorable animals sent to be made into my favourite food; indistinguishable animal stew!.

And I figured we had no fish because I was the only fisherman and that my fish were so good everyone ate them immediately. My beard sense found it was late outside, so I retired to my quarters. While I'm not one to consider myself better than my fellow dwarf, I feel I deserve a bit more privacy to conduct overseership. I ordered a bedroom and tomb in the levels above the common dormitories. Again, not the same circular design; something inspired from the symbol of the church of Atrid.


The humans stole this symbol for their own religions.

After my rooms were built (the other side rooms are going to be statue gardens for the peasents. I have yet to properly mingle with the people here), I decided to flick through Sphala's overseer notes.

'First order of business', Sphala's notes tell me, 'There's gold lying around and seeing as though our entire food industry rests on it we need it mined.' So I sent miners to do that.

'Second, we need a jail.' I made a reminder to myself to correct Sphala personally; it appears all that masonry got to her head. We have a jail, a really brooding one at that, with rows upon rows of cages cramped together in a plain room. Although it could do with some fixes (such as adding food stockpiles to prisoners don't starve to death), the reason it didnt seem we had one is because we do not have a captain of the guard. This is for the best.

'Third, we need an archery range.' So I set one to be carved out. It's not quite the circular design the previous overseers seemed...  eager to follow, but it's an archery range. Our marksdwarves won't be trying to curve arrows mid-flight. And if they did I might drop them into the Icemachine for witchcraft.



After all of this I remembered I still needed to go to sleep. I decided to pocket the notes and save it for another time. My new bed calls to me... and as I stumbled to it in a sleepy stupor my mind wandered. I feel into unconsciousness before immediately being woken by a terrifying howl.


Tune in next time, the great Icemachine will be tested!

E: Note to self 495.

Anyway, comments on the storytelling?

[Orangebottle]

I like it. Keep it up!
Arzun's Personal Journal:

I don't like this new overseer.

Firstly, she doesn't enjoy the aesthetically pleasing shape that a circle provides. Secondly, she punched Peregar, a defender of our home, in the face. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, she's trying to make a room like mine. Augh! The nerve of some people! What, does she think she's the newest noblewoman of the fortress!?

I guess I'll just have to make a few more ridiculous mandates. Who knows what I'll come up with next? Oh, right, I do. I'll probably ask for a pair of adamantine statues. Just because.

Well, Mitch is doing some good, even if she's a paladin. The metal industry of this place has been lacking since it was started. It's about time we sped it up a bit.

I wonder how our small army is doing, and if Mitch will produce some adamantine armor and weapons for our warriors.

Things to talk to Mitch about today:

-Main stockpile is very full, we should probably mine out a larger one or expand the current.
-Soldiers need to be outfitted with the recently-mined adamant ore.
-Mitch should read the manual for the Icemachine that Sphala left behind.
-Mandate: Engraved walls and floor in Room.

[Sphalerite]

You guys need to start saving the world from obesity.

That'll be the sequel:  Excercisemachines.  It'll be a fortress full of screw pumps, where every immigrant is assigned pump operator duty and set to work.

[Sphalerite]

Sphala's journal-

So enjoying spending time with my darling husband and delightful children!  This break from running the fortress is just what I needed.

Mitch seems to be getting the hang of the place, walking around and yelling at everyone.  That's most of the job of the overseer, looking like you know what you're doing.  Oh, she's ordered some more room mined out.  That' for the best, it's still too crowded here.

Oh, it turns out we did have a jail after all.  Silly me!  Nobody ever was put in it, so I'd not even noticed it was there.

[Roboboy33]

Can i have a fisherdwarf? Preferrably a new migrant if any come. A male named Nimote