1 Moonstone
Winter sets upon the fortress, and I, Urist Tegiraban, take up the quill and parchment. I must attempt to record the history of this hallowed place, so that the death of our leader does not go unremarked.
I do not speak of Evan, that blathering fool. He "leads" us, perhaps; to our doom! No, I mean that first of our order who was struck down so cruelly many months ago. I have taken up leadership of what is left of our battered sorority in her stead. Recent months have seen a rare calm; the hallways are purged of snakemen and goblins, and peace reigns in our quarters and markets. May freemasonry see this condition persist!
3 Moonstone
At the urging of the sorority, Evan finally constituted the Royal Guard today. The entire fortress knows that it is a farce; if the goblins make it through the gates, then some piddling royal servants will be of little help. But the nobles demand it, if only to remind themselves that they are worth protecting.
14 Moonstone
The butcher is finally being moved. Just down the hall, but a location nearer the refuse stockpile will allow for better... butchering.
16 Moonstone
A kobold thief was stopped at the entrance. He tried to escape, but the Circular Lanterns targeted his pancreas, and he fell unconscious trying to flee. It was probably a sugar overdose.
1 Opal
Exploratory mining has recommenced. Nothing of interest has yet been found, although several existing veins have been more thoroughly explored.
5 Opal
The new butcher's shop is being inaugurated with some of the animals. So many are pets, though, that it seems the halls will remain quite clogged.
7 Opal
The meeting with the human guild leader was today. I saw him striding about the halls; he did not seem at all perturbed about the atrocities wrought upon his kin in this place. Perhaps he is from a different clan.
19 Opal
It seems that several of our killsmiths have been concealing serious injuries to their nervous system. The fortress guard will suit them well; they are not reliable enough to grace the front lines.
20 Opal
Alas! Addled though he may be, Eshtan still insists that Champions need not serve in the guard. "It is for low-lifes," he mutters. I suppose he has been quite good at standing guard in the hallway. Perhaps a bit too good.
5 Obsidian
The statue garden is filled with vomit. Evan claims that it balances out the colors.
25 Obsidian
Rakust Lisidmelbil, one of the novice craftsdwarves, has claimed the clothier's shop. An offbeat choice, but he is an offbeat sort of fellow.
1 Granite
Spring has sprung. The fortress runs smoothly, humming with the sound of sloshing booze and sparring wrestlers. May the coming year be so peaceful.
3 Granite
The craftsdwarves insist that skulls are not sufficient for their work; they must have bones. The fool peasants can't seem to tell the difference, though; mountains of skulls clutter the stockpiles. The freemasons are concocting a re-education campaign for the poor half-wits; their bones will populate the pile if they can't sort it out!
4 Granite
A baby thrall is born! Give him sixteen years, and he'll be hauling just as well as his da.
9 Granite
Rakust has finally completed Izeg Kal, The Apes of Smiling. It is a cloth mask, encrusted and burdened with so many stone accouterments that I must conclude that it is purely decorative. The centerpiece of the mask is an image of a cat, crafted from cat leather. Twisted genius; his fellow craftsdwarves mutter behind his back.
No matter, though; he now refuses to work but in the clothier's shop. Half of the dwarves in this place are running around in rags anyway, so I welcome the change of profession.
14 Granite
I am engraving the entrance to the tombs with art fitting for the resting place of great dwarves. I have completed a tribute to Benjamin.
15 Granite
A large force of goblins was spotted moments after the Elven caravan. With luck, they will make it inside the walls...
17 Granite
The Elves have made it inside, but the goblin force is larger than first anticipated. Over two dozen have been counted, a horde proper. We will see what our newly trained marksdwarves make of them.
18 Granite
Two more squads been spotted. Our marksdwarves have picked off several, but the hordes are nearly at the gates. Soon the battle will truly be joined.
Fully half of our melee forces believed that this would be a good time for a nap.
20 Granite
We have won the field! Praise the warriors, there is not a scratch on them. Although the blood will take weeks to soak out of their armor.
Evan was distracted enough by the battle, giving a hearty "Huzzah!" everytime the marksdwarves loosed their arrows, that I have managed to commence trading with the elves without his noticing. I don't think he is paying them much mind at all; their lives depend upon this.
23 Granite
The fool elves! They come all this way, and then when we attempt to trade with them, they shout angrily about desecration and leave at once. We should have closed the gates and left them to the goblins.
27 Granite
In response to the elven fiasco, Evan has banned the export of earrings. That sort of no-nonsense economic warfare will certainly bring them to their senses.
9 Slate
A few immigrants have trickled in. Apparently, tales of the complete modern comfort and safety of Phantomdaggers have not yet permeated the collective dwarven consciousness. We still managed three new nobles, though; I am scrambling to accommodate them.
19 Slate
The miners have struck a vein of tetrahedrite, most versatile of metals. May it run long and deep.
9 Felsite
The entire fortress is playing some sort of cruel mind game. It involves ignoring the vast dining room with its massive array of tables, and complaining that there are no tables to eat at. I can't imagine what purpose this serves, but it seems to amuse the thralls; they snicker every time they walk by.
5 Hematite
Native platinum! It seems the directive to greatly expand exploratory mining was quite justified.
19 Hematite
The humans have arrived. I have arranged for Evan to be taken on a tour of the exploratory mining progress, which should take long enough for them to escape another flooding.
20 Hematite
As if on cue, a horde of rhesus macaques has descended upon us. They are stealing all of the goblin clothing still strewn about the entrance. The human guards have scattered all about, hunting them down.
23 Hematite
The skill of our craftsdwarves (and the value of raw adamantine crafts!) is on fine display. Half a dozen finished goods bins were worth everything the humans had.
They carried a wide assortment of food, drink, cloth, leather, barrels, wood, and other basic necessities. I also purchased eight or ten iron anvils, and a large assortment of iron weaponry, which we can melt down.
25 Hematite
Despite the miners' furious digging, the jewelsmiths have pulled ahead, at least for the moment. They have exhausted every gem in the fortress, no small feat at all. A well-deserved rest is in order for the trio.
4 Malachite
We have too much food! Several plentiful harvest seasons combined with an onslaught of traded goods have left our stockpiles bulging. I have recommended that the miners dig out an adjunct storage area, and that everyone eat a lot.
16 Malachite
Evan is utterly drenched in blood and mud. He seems to enjoy it, really; he ambles about, whistling.
28 Malachite
Again with the "cursed death trap"! Their ignorance disgusts me.
9 Galena
The word in the great hall is that the fortress is collectively worth ten million dwarfbucks. Komut be praised! The fool immigrants don't know what they're missing.
14 Limestone
Our fellow-dwarves from Ezum Cenath come to brighten our halls! Let us see what they have for exchange.
20 Limestone
A veritable smorgasbord of armor, weapons, food, and every sort of store imaginable! Our friends from the outer reach have not let us down. Even though they brought enough for six wagons, we were still able to trade finished stone goods for the lot of it.
22 Limestone
Evan demands still more piccolos; his urging of the craftsdwarves echoes down the halls. There is much grumbling; he may just have to make them himself.
25 Limestone
The hammerer is wearing a dress, bless him. His new fashion is the talk of the fortress.
28 Limestone
Owba Cobinaquuv, the human guild representative, has tied up the mayor in meetings for days on end. Today he ingratiated himself among us masons, however, by helping to pave a section of road travelling out of the fortress. With this addition, it is almost to the river.
17 Sandstone
I happened upon Estan in the dining hall today. He had some ale in him, and seemed talkative enough, so I greeted him warmly: "Tell us a war story, champion!"
"Well," he said, "It all began in the summer of 40..."
Six hours later, the barrel of booze was empty, but Estan was still talking. "Now Osta Devilzeniths, he was a cunning one! Nearly cut me beard off, he did! Surrounded by his pals, of course. They always come on so tough, surrounded by their foul-named pals. He wasn't quite so cunning when his friends deserted him. Kind of lost his head, he did. And his arms too! Har har har!"
It would be rude to walk out on a war veteren, of course, so we stayed. It seemed that half the fortress had gathered to hear the gruesome tale. It took Estan three days to talk himself out, from Utes Monstrousfails right down to Asno Idlestolen. Finally, he took his ale a bit too quickly and dozed off. We scattered quickly, but as the last of us left the hall he awoke, crying, "But wait! I haven't even gotten to the rhesus macaques!"
1 Moonstone
I must give up the pen for a time; masonry beckons. It has been a calm year, but a hearty one, and we begin the winter with enough stores to withstand a two year siege. The miners have delved deep and found many treasures, the fortress guard is finally up to snuff, and our roads pour forth shining goods from the mountain home. Phantomdaggers prospers!
No comments:
Post a Comment