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[nogoodnames]

===+ Journal of the Undying Overseer – Spring 104 +===


4th Granite

After some initial frustration involving a forbidden lever, Laterigrade is descending into the upper caverns to harvest the fungal trees. There is currently a single draltha wandering around down there. The mushroom-eating beast is huge, but it should remain docile.

We also have a stockpile of captured cavern animals that have been down there for Weevilmessiah knows how long. At least long enough for a captured giant rat to die, presumably of old age. The survivors include a troll, a giant cave toad and a giant cave swallow.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

In the meantime, Salmeuk is forging bronze helms using some leftover charcoal. He is surprisingly stoic despite being closest to the dead. He’s also still suffering from the same vile swamp fever he’s had since the fort’s founding. If this is the strength of the dwarven spirit, then truly we can endure anything.


8th Granite

Laterigrade clear-cut the eastern half of the cavern with ease, but I fear I may have overextended him when I asked for the last two tower-caps in the southwest to be chopped. A helmet snake sprung up directly in his path and gave him a nasty bite. I’m calling him back into the fortress. Hopefully he has the sense to run. We’re too far away to help if he tries to fight the snake.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

By the Regal God, the fool actually tried to take it on by himself…. He’s on the ground, badly wounded and unconscious. He managed some decent hits on the snake, but then the venom set in and he couldn’t keep fighting. I told Salmeuk to grab a weapon and get to the cavern entrance. I’m going to try to get to Laterigrade. I should be immune to the snake’s worst abilities; I only hope I can reach him in time.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

Too late… damn the gods, too late. The monster just shook him around by the head until his neck snapped. I was only a few paces away, but helpless to do anything.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

Barely a week into my administration and already my plans are thrown to chaos. One thing is certain, I can’t allow any injury to Salmeuk. When we had two healthy dwarves, I could risk letting one of them hack apart the echidna, but now our survival is balanced on a razor’s edge. Even a small accident could cripple us.

If only I could force myself to take on a more active role, but this curse of undeath seems to have instilled me with some kind of mental block. I cannot bring myself to take on new roles I did not have in life. Not craftsdwarf nor diplomat nor soldier. This position of overseer has been the sole exception. It is what makes Salmeuk so valuable, and what frustrated my attempts to save Laterigrade. But one thing I can do is haul, and there is a lot of wood that needs hauling right now. Your sacrifice will not be in vain, Laterigrade. Those cages are our salvation, and on my unlife they will be built.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whew, didn’t think I would be posting another update until the end of spring, but things are happening pretty fast right now.

Sorry Laterigrade, I really did try to save you. Unfortunately, the ghouls can’t be drafted and trying to coerce him over with burrows just left him standing around like an idiot. Really dashed my hopes of capturing a necromancer and training up a ghoulish militia.

I’m glad you’re enjoying the art. I’m trying something new by limiting myself to DF’s default colour palette. Hopefully we can get a cool artifact or forgotten beast before I accidentally kill the fort the end of my turn.

[Salmeuk]

I’m glad you’re enjoying the art. I’m trying something new by limiting myself to DF’s default colour palette. Hopefully we can get a cool artifact or forgotten beast before I accidentally kill the fort the end of my turn.

Hell yeah, that image of the helmet snake is the coolest thing!

Snake assassin! oh my god poor lat, right after their turn too! Since when have helmet snakes been ACTUALLY dangerous?

So I'm the last one alive, huh? Well, here we go again. . .

We really hafta get some alive migrants downstairs. DF gods, I rescind my earlier comments about "hoping for more FUN to appear." I'm full up on FUN.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

also fuck that echidna I've known it was bad news since the day I spotted it, trundling along the southern hills, acting like it was too good for anyone or anything. The goo didn't even bother it, I remember. I vote atom smash.

[nogoodnames]

===+ Journal of the Undying Overseer – Spring 104 +===


9th Granite

Salmeuk has officially claimed the position of expedition leader. Of course, the role means little with just the two of us at the moment, but it will be good to have a solid command structure for when we get new migrants.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

12th Granite

I was attacked by the snake that killed Laterigrade. It was no match for me, a single punch left it limp on the ground, struggling to move. I left it alive. It poses no real threat as long as I am the only one traversing the caverns. Vengeance would be unproductive, and its presence may ward away larger creatures that could actually harm my undead form.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

15th Granite

I had placed a coffin among the variscite clusters in our temple, intending it to be a place of honour for Laterigrade. Salmeuk, however, had other plans. He reserved the coffin for his lost lover, Bim Abanrimtar, assuming her remains are ever found. Such sentimentality will not protect us from angry spirits, but I won’t press the matter.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

We’re ready to start pumping out cages. The amount of fungiwood we gained from Laterigrade’s excursion is… less than exceptional. We have a total of 21 loose logs at the moment, with an additional 26 being used to hold back the aquifer and 1 for our still. That’s just enough to build cages for the 44 designated cage traps in the trap hall, although the designations appear incomplete. Tearing down our walls would be very labour-intensive so I would prefer to avoid it. There may be ways to make do with fewer traps.

If my calculations are correct, there are 51 hostile undead on the surface. We may not need to capture all of them to break the siege, but I’m not counting on that. Fortunately, the design of the trap hall allows for groups to be let in a few at a time and then sealed up again as long as they can’t break the doors down. We just need some way to deal with the captured undead and reuse the cages. I have plans for a holding chamber of sorts that should fit the purpose.


20th Slate

These past weeks have seen us settle into a simple routine. I bring logs from the caverns, Salmeuk turns them into cages, I bring the cages to the stockpile. The elves have so far had enough sense to avoid our fortress. The numerous corpses strewn about the surface, moving or otherwise, must have warned them off.

Just two more logs to gather and then we can start planning out the zombie containment and disposal chamber. I’m on my way to gather one of them now.

But wait… I think I see something in the dark. A shadow of movement? A slight shimmering? The caverns have been peaceful since the snake attack, what could it be?

Oh. Oh no.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

[mko]

I just want to thank for very nice log!

[delphonso]

Double check those walls by the aquifer - I might have made them with blocks. Don't remember if that was here or my own fortress...

These are amazing reports. Excellent work and god, I hope we can avoid Aztong... Loving the drawing and the style. That bit with Bim is interesting. Is that the first coffin installed?

[Salmeuk]

Double check those walls by the aquifer - I might have made them with blocks. Don't remember if that was here or my own fortress...

These are amazing reports. Excellent work and god, I hope we can avoid Aztong... Loving the drawing and the style. That bit with Bim is interesting. Is that the first coffin installed?

Now that I think about it, while I did install a couple of coffins during my turn, I never actually buried Bim! Since I never found her body, there was never a death confirmation and no burial would take place. So, I'm curious, can you now locate Bims corpse and tell us wtf happened to her?? My god the mystery is coming back to me. What happened?!

[delphonso]

Or engrave a slab in her honor - the first overseer - and see what the cause of death is.

[Salmeuk]

We also finished excavating the new temple. In the far corner, the miners discovered a perfectly formed node of variscite gems.



These will be left in place and engraved. The gods are surely in favor if Smallhands, and have blessed us so!

How naive we were. . .

[nogoodnames]

I just want to thank for very nice log!

Thank you!

That bit with Bim is interesting. Is that the first coffin installed?

Yeah. It's probably just that she was the first to die, but it's always nice to find these little narrative coincidences. Like how Laterigrade's surname was "Paperworth" and the snake that killed him got named "Drillscribe."

So, I'm curious, can you now locate Bims corpse and tell us wtf happened to her?? My god the mystery is coming back to me. What happened?!

Her corpse still doesn't show up in the stocks, but she is now listed as "deceased" in the unit list. She does have a slab in the temple, but it just says she went missing. I wonder if that will change if I engrave another one now that she is definitively considered dead...

[delphonso]

Love that Drillscribe Paperworth thing. So interesting.

It must be caverns related. Is she in a tree somewhere?

[nogoodnames]

===+ Journal of the Undying Overseer – Spring 104 +===


 20th Slate

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

That was too close. Had I noticed it but a few moments later, that beast surely would have caught me. But I managed to get through the door to the walled area and lock it behind me. I can still hear the creature stomping around out there. From the sounds of it, it’s found some easier prey.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

It’s occupied for now, but I’m certain the door will offer little protection if it sets its mind to getting in. I’m walling off the caverns. The logs are of little consequence, but we’ll be leaving our only axe outside with Laterigrade’s corpse. I’ll have to set aside some charcoal in case we need to make another. One silver lining is that since we still have access to the walled-off section of the caverns, we can reuse some of the cages down here.


24th Slate

Salmeuk asked to engrave a new slab for Bim, perhaps in the hope that the act would stir up some forgotten detail of her fate. Alas, it remains one of the great mysteries of Smallhands.

Unfortunately, I can’t continue to indulge such distractions. The tasks ahead are ones I can’t help with, and we need them done quickly if we are to reclaim the surface. With our available cages I’ve laid out a route through the trap hall that should safely capture 18 zombies before needing to be reset. An additional 4 traps guard the fort in case of overflow.

Speaking of slabs, a vengeful spirit, once Asob Atheluker, rose up and attacked Olon. She shrugged it off and resumed her battle with the echidna. We’ll need to memorialize him before he goes for someone more important.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

13th Felsite

Things are moving along, albeit slowly. I had forgotten how much time the living must devote to eating, drinking and sleeping. Any hope of clearing the way in time for human traders is diminishing, but I still intend to break free before the dwarven caravans arrive.

The upper caverns have been a bit quieter of late. I can still hear the beast moving around but it’s less active. Maybe it picked a fight with something it shouldn’t have. But now there is something stomping around in the lower caverns as well. We’ll need a proper military before we can open them up again.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

1st Hematite

Summer has arrived, and we edge ever closer to freedom. Salmeuk has finished loading the cage traps that were already constructed and shouldn’t take too long to setup the new ones. Then we’ll dig out the containment chamber and carve out a ramp to the surface. Cycling the cages as they fill up will be a slog with so many undead, but shouldn’t be overly dangerous.

[delphonso]

Awesome forgotten beast drawings, dude! Glad that Drillscribe served some purpose for the fort none-the-less.

So...thoughts about dumping undead into the caverns to fight the forgotten beasts? That echidna could probably take on both without issue.

[auzewasright]

I have a suspicion... if nobody knows about it (it explicitly states she went missing), then she probably died either locked away in the caverns or above ground. I searched in my save but couldn't find her body anywhere. There's no report of her fighting, so she probably died of starvation or dehydration. On that note, It occurs to me that since I've never bothered to dwarf myself, the best explanation is that they've just been following random instructions scribbled on the walls.

Spoiler: unrelated (click to show/hide)

[delphonso]

I believe it happened in Salmeuk's turn, but yeah, I couldn't find anything either.

I just had this happen with a named blind cave ogre who definitely died in combat. When I built a slab for it, it listed them as going missing.

[King Zultan]

I have a suspicion...

When I built a slab for it, it listed them as going missing.

*X-Files theme plays in the background*