No comment on the charred surface? Or has that grown back already?
Only wish to comment on stuff dwarves would find unusual.
Entry 2.
Expedition Commander Zanzetkuken III, Year 1057 Overseer of Boarpaints.
Felsite 01, 1057.
Early Spring.I am leading a pack of complete and utter idiots. Despite orders to not enter the fortress through the main gate, I have lost two dwarves, and nearly more, to the absolute most idiotic of reasons. Dolosus III was lost when they decided to attempt to dig a tunnel through from the other side, inside the fortress, and Zas was lost when they went into the fort to...I can't even comprehend it. Cleaning bloodstains? What the fuck. What's worse is that another dwarf tried to do the same thing, another ran into the fort to catch fish and then went back in multiple times to get the fish he caught after being scared of an Antman. Who sent these people!? At very least, Dolosus IV is not displaying the same level of reckless intellect as his brother.
It should be noted that the incursions of these individuals did actually bring something fruitful. A collection of the logs of the prior overseers, such as they were, had been gathered. Interestingly, quite a few mentions of unicorns plaguing the fortress have been mentioned. While there was a close encounter early on, Mr. Frog II has quite frequently been driving them away past that point. In fact, when he had temporarily passed out in the woods, none even bothered to come anywhere close to him. I do not know the reasons they fear him, but I do enjoy the results. I do not know if it is notable that he is a 'down-state' individual like myself, but considering the lack of information upon the meaning of this, I feel it should be noted.
With the above developments, I have decided to take a different route than retaking the old fortress. The tunnel is to be expanded into an operations base to prepare for breaching the old fortress. The old will be sealed up for the time being and caravans will be redirected south to the operations area.
No concrete information has been gathered from the individuals from 'up-state'. The logs seemed to indicate that some dwarves from 'up-state' have managed to migrate from time to time. May be possible to get more information from them at a later time. A surviving entry from the first overseer is to be added upon the next page does hold a fair amount of information of the initial arrival, and I advise any 'down-state' individuals to read the account. It may help the decisions you make.
Account I am referring to is the entries in the OP's Prologue.