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[BudTomazi]

There's an idea for a succession fort I've had for a bit, and I decided to start it up while I have some time.  The premise is as follows:

1. Each turn will last 2 years, still 2 weeks irl.
2. You will be allowed to play as normal with the fortress for the first year. 
3. For the second year the fortress will run autonomously, with no player input. No manager stuff, no workshop orders, no military command etc., just unpausing the game when it auto-pauses.  The goal is to leave the fort in a state such that it won't die during this year. 

In the interest of the fortress, however, there are some exceptions for this second year:
1. Trading - During the hands off year you can still interact with the trade depot as much as you like.  It is also permitted to manage doors/bridges for the express purpose of allowing dwarves to reach the depot.  This could be a lifeline if food is running short and hopefully this isn't too easy to abuse. 
2. Letting in migrants.  In general opening doors or bridges is prohibited, but for each migrant wave you can unlock and relock doors or open and close bridges to get them in the fort.  This is probably more abuseable, but I think forcing migrant waves to be locked out for a year or more might be unplayable with stress and hunger. 

I'll probably start playing the first turn soon, but I'd be curious to get feedback or suggestions, and see if there are any obvious exceptions I missed that would make this game unplayable.  This fort is meant to be a challenge in preparations/automation so I don't want to allow too much, but I also want to see it survive at least a few turns. 

If anyone is interested in a turn or a dorfing please let me know. 

Overseers:
BudTomazi (Current)

[EuchreJack]

Good idea!

Minor exception during sieges to pull levers?
Is military scheduling still permissible, in that the player can actually have a military?
Like, not an actual on-off schedule as much as setting a squad to always active (the default active military schedule)

...truthfully, when I play a turn in a fortress, usually a few months are automated.  Typically the last couple of months as I'm basically just waiting for the turn to end so I can hand it off.

[BudTomazi]

I think no levers, I'd prefer people have to rely more on pressure plates and traps for stuff like sieges.  And yes a military is allowed, along with any scheduling or routes as long as its done ahead of time.  The main idea is that anything you can set up in a year with any game mechanic is fine as long as you don't interact with it the second year. 

Yeah, a lot of my individual fortresses end up with me just letting time pass, so this will really put it to the test. 

[Mobbstar]

Just to clarify, trade depot is allowed and so is accute door management for migrants, but door management for traders is prohibited?

[BudTomazi]

That was my initial plan, although I could see how that may remove much of the point of even allowing the trade depot.  My main concern was that since a trade caravan is around for so long, it could give the player free reign to open bridges to wherever they wanted.  At the same time, this whole thing works on the honor system, so allowing door/bridge management for trading alone doesn't seem unreasonable.  I'll edit the original post to allow it. 

[BudTomazi]

---Overseer BudTomazi’s Journal Early Spring 202---
Today our horses decided they no longer liked pulling the wagon, and seem to have lost the ability to do so altogether.  We find ourselves in the Incinerated Jungles, certainly an apt name considering the heat. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Surveying our surroundings, we find ourselves in a river valley, with some medium sized hills on either side. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I plan to get to work quickly, as we must be ready for what is to come.  These dwarves still do not know our mission's true purpose, but they will in time.  I leave writing here as Imush is yelling about some weird blobs in the river. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

---Overseer BudTomazi’s Journal Mid Spring 202---
The last few weeks have been, taxing to say the least.  I had hoped to be underground by now, carving out a home amongst the rocks, but we have been held up.  First we encountered a light aquifer, not entirely unexpected given our proximity to a river.  This we could deal with easily enough by walling off the dripping walls quickly after we dug.
After we had pierced several layers of damp rock, we were beginning to wall it off when cries from the surface were heard.  Apparently the alligator we had seen previously, had crawled out of the river and begun to harass our citizens. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Looking around I drafted up a small squad of three dwarves, Olon the stonecrafter, and the 2 miners to deal with the issue.  This also proved to be a mistake.  Olon was already in terror from the beast, and was also the only one with a weapon.  The miners then rushed in to wrestle it unarmed.  From discussions after the battle, it seems the miners didn’t want to get their picks dirty. 

Anyways, this went about as well as you can expect, and not a minute into the fighting Inod was fighting for her life.  Thankfully one of our dogs was able to rush in and draw its attention.  The dog went on to knock the creature unconscious by scratching it in the head.  I was able to rally the remaining dwarves, and Ral, the woodcutter, killed the beast with a series of blows to the head with his axe.  Our attention turned back to Inod, who after dragging herself away from the fighting had collapsed due to blood loss.  As none of our dwarves had medical experience, I took the role of aiding her upon myself, and managed as best I could with suturing and setting.  Upon inspection we learned that her lower spine is mangled and her tongue is missing, bitten off by the alligator during fighting. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thankfully she was able to survive, and has returned to mining.  The dwarves have begun calling her “Inod the Mute”, as without a tongue, she cannot speak. 

At this point the aquifer was at the back of our minds, and upon revisiting it, found the lower level flooded beyond use.  We must now attempt to reroute our path down.  Hopefully more time has passed before my next entry, as that will mean that things are going smoother than they have until now. 

OOC:
This was a more eventful first month than I was expecting, no meaningful place to call a fortress yet.  Things should be better by next post. 

[EuchreJack]

Heh, good start! 

[BudTomazi]

---Overseer BudTomazi’s Journal Late Summer 202---
I must begin by noting that we have had the great misfortune of losing Inod the mute in these past months.  The circumstances of her death are strange, but we will get to that later. 

After the alligator incident, progress was rapid, and we have crossed the aquifer and begun mining out the fortress proper. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Along the way we breached into some underground caverns that are quite expansive.  We walled them off, but Olon got trapped on the other side.  Rescuing him was easy enough, but a cat is now locked in the caverns in his place. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thankfully the cat has been able to do much of the exploring for us, and has conveyed this information back through scratching at the wall. 

Soon after this we were greeted by the arrival of some dwarves who had ventured here on a sort of safari expedition. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This was confirmed when a clerk with them began hunting the giant kea’s that had moved into our area. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Drafting them into our workforce, we began preparing for the coming year.  Prime among these tasks was creating a farm underground with the fortress, behind the defense bridge.  We had a plan in place with floodgates and drainage to pull in water from the caverns above and bring mud with it.  We sent Inod the Mute to puncture the ceiling into the underground lake, and begin the process.  To the surprise of everyone, nothing happened.  After 2 more attempts we went to look in the tunnel, and sure enough, above us we could see into the blue lake-water.  It was floating in the gaps above our heads.  One of our mechanics tried to explain it with something called surface tension, but it didn’t really make sense. 
After some pondering, Inod went back for a last attempt.  A few minutes after she closed the door behind her, there was a tremendous crash.  In a single instant the room had filled to maximum capacity, and the reservoir along with it.  Inod was left in the tunnel, and although no corpse has yet been found, it is clear that no dwarf could have survived such an event.  I have ordered a slab be constructed in a room below the fort until such a time as we can recover her body. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

While this loss is tragic, it will not be in vain.  For already we are working to use the rooms now flooded as farmland and a source of water. 

This incident does serve to remind me that in half a year now, the time will come when all preparations of this sort must be finished, or else we all shall face our end too soon. 

OOC:
Yeah, I think I ran into a somewhat known bug with water pressure.  Puncturing the ceiling didn't work, but when I built a staircase into a wall of the lake, the entire area connected on my side instantly, filled with 7/7 water.  Otherwise stuff is going reasonably, and I don't foresee any issues in finishing preparations in the last 2 seasons.