EFFORTPOST Mostibkun, "Orangecat" - an rDrama succession fort: Chapter 9, "The Wrath of Carp"

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BEGINNING

As I start my yearlong overseer shift, I reread the old chronicles once more. Our fortress has flourished, mostly, though the masons have cut many coffins as well. We have grown so much since I last served. Still we can only endure, not repel, the sieges of the undead, but last year we reached the precious Adamantine, and we must exploit it. We must delve deeply and greedily, where treasures and fiends sleep in the stone. The danger and distance mean mining this wondrous substance inefficient, and here I hope to improve our industriousness.

As for myself, I am hale and strong. I have fought for our fortress, and I have been made Hammerer, dispenser of final and fatal justice. In all the hustle and bustle of our fortress' great expansion, no dungeon to deliver justice has yet been built. That can be an initial goal.

2 Granite

I have ordered the chains and cages made. Settling into my role as overseer, I find the office of Sheriff has passed into obsolescence because of our growth, and I must consider who to appoint as Captain of the Guard. My task is only to perform executions, and the Captain must apprehend wrongdoers and deliver them for punishment.

I have ordered a few more pockets of Adamantine mined, and set @StarSix , captain of the Cudgel, to stand watch over the Adamant veins for now.

3 Granite

@60horsesinmyherd has ordered me not to export any of our wondrous new battle axes. A wise order, if unnecessary.

Going over the old journals I saw dreams of the fabled pump stack, the mighty shaft to bring magma within easy reach. It would also be an ultimate solution if even Adamantine-armed and -armored dwarves are not enough to take on the dark hunters. I think we can build this, but I expect construction to outlast my year as overseer. For now I have ordered digging of the body of the shaft, well over a hundred levels.

Starting a pump stack shaft

8 Granite

We found an enormous cavern! For later in the year I had considered exploratory mining to find such, but the pump shaft breached it. There is fertile soil, and many spiders. A spot of good luck - with a little shoring up of the cavern walls our pump shaft can continue straight on its current path down.

13 Granite

The adamantine miners unearthed another ancient evil. A fiend of vomit. @Cream_a_da_crop of the Cudgel is on guard nearby and rushes to aid, but the thing is already on the miners. @EskomSePoesOfficial dodges a cloud of boiling vomit while @60horsesinmyherd strikes a pick blow - and the fiend dissipates into a puddle of vile regurgitation. Perhaps it was too foul to have any formidable substance.

17th Granite

Another treasure in the depths!

When we had to rearrange the Adamantine access in order to mine it, miner @Paragon decided to sleep down there instead of wait a few hours for a stair to be carved. Now @Paragon is upset about their decision. They can complain to the Mayor, not me.

22 Granite

Migrants arrived. We are now 118. Thankfully there are plenty of bedrooms from the foresight of previous overseers.

24 Granite

That wasn't all the migrants. 130! So far.

25 Granite

Our hunter @uwu has gone into the caverns to hunt something called an Elk Bird and chased it upwards. Luckily it doesn't seem to be particularly ferocious. I admire the audacity, but I need to finish re-sealing the cavern lest something more dangerous arrive.

6 Slate

I've been told these Elk Bird hides will fetch an especially high price from the trader later on.

12 Slate

With the pump shaft sealed off from the cavern again, I've ordered the start of a separate stairwell for cavern access.

18 Slate

Again we have unearthed evil near the Adamantine veins. A phantom of fire, named Bisekmomuz.

Annoyed by her own smoke

19 Slate

Grim tidings. The thing Bisekmomuz killed the miner @Paragon and the stationed Cudgel member @frick . Dwarven courage and steel could not fight fire. The flames left nothing to bury. The bridge is raised. We are cut off from the Adamantine, as well as two treasures. Bisekmomuz lurks.

20 Slate

I have appointed @sirpingsalot and Ducim as replacement miners.

3 Felsite

@frick and @Paragon are memorialized on slabs.

A large rat scurried into the fortress from somewhere - I took the privilege of killing it myself.

5 Felsite

There is water in the deeps - the miners working on the cavern access passage must work around damp stone.

6 Felsite

I saw a snake, an adder, and felt compelled to attack it. It fled before my onslaught.

9 Felsite

@IslamWasWrongAboutGays is taken by a mood and compelled to craft!

11 Felsite

The Dungeon is complete! To have a fully functional justice system, I have appointed Ral Regshadmal as Captain of the Guard. I chose her for her weakness - Let killing wrongdoers be reserved for me.

14 Felsite

All the raw Adamantine taken before the coming of Bisekmomuz has been processed. It was a slow process.

17 Felsite

@IslamWasWrongAboutGays has created a legendary sheep bone crossbow, but hoarded it to themselves. If that is how it will be, then have hunting duty assignment to make use of it.

2 Hematite

I hear the outcry - SNATCHER! Protect the children - three goblin kidnappers have come. The Cudgel has the kill order.

4 Hematite

The goblins fled before our fighters, never getting close to any children. Two got away, but @StarSix caught the last one with just one blow, our fortress' first with an adamantine weapon.

9 Hematite

A human caravan is arriving for trade.

16 Hematite

The human traders wanted to sell us a scroll titled "Against the Dwarf". I considered slaughtering them all for this insult, but decided we don't need the trouble it might bring. Instead I just traded, though they didn't have much of interest - some exotic drinks and bins of cloth. I also bought the offending scroll to learn what lies they are spreading.

To my surprise, it is written by a self-hating dwarf. A dwarf writing in the name of "labor", writing about their own previous writing, depressing ideas about "Mountain Halls for Everyone." I think I have heard of this nonsense before - it's called communism - but at least I don't think the humans have anything against us.

17 Hematite

@60horsesinmyherd is re-elected Mayor and once again bans me from selling our axes.

18 Hematite

The pump stack shaft has breached a second cavern! This one is full of water and mushrooms. The shaft must route around this one.

4 Malachite

The Livid Guild of Rangers has petitioned for a guildhall, and I will comply with their wishes.

15 Malachite

A few more migrants.

18 Malachite

We now have 4 Adamantine axes. To replace the late @frick I have given one to @_wo_ManBearFridge and appointed them to the Cudgel.

4 Galena

The Elk Birds tend to come upwards into the fort when the cavern is open, but they are more annoyance than danger. One of our dogs decided on its own to take a bird down.

Get 'em!

5 Galena

Ordered 100 iron pipe sections and enormous corkscrews for the future pumps. We'll need a bit more than that, but it's a start. Ordered more iron smelted, too.

21 Galena

The Livid Guild Hall is completed, with a fine legendary scepter on display for the admiration of the Rangers.

All this time, Bisekmomuz waits motionlessly

1 Limestone

THE DEAD WALK! Again under siege. We're used to it.

Once again!

4 Limestone

Everyone is inside. There are 36 of them, with several dark hunters. I don't think it's time to try to take them on directly yet.

There's moss growing on our dirt floor upper levels. Spores must have spread from the caverns. Larger fungus is even beginning to grow in a few places. We can work on laying down an actual floor while we're stuck inside.

Filthy

8 Limestone

As the besiegers approach it becomes clear that there are living humans and disgustingly, even living dwarves, fighting alongside the shambling undead. Sadly, they kill a few stray cats outside the walls.

20 Limestone

The siege force waits outside our "backdoor". I have ordered the chaining of a beast for bait to lure them in to the KOMPAKTOR for KOMPAKTION.

23 Limestone

@CourtneyGears is taken by a fey mood. I can only hope there's no need for anything from the outside.

25 Limestone

@FBIshill , the dwarf we all call "Carp", has fallen into a severe depression. It's not entirely clear why - some unspecified trauma from last year.

6 Sandstone

No one wanted to chain up a hen or dog as bait - it turned out they considered my order to hide inside more important. I told them to consider the KOMPAKTOR "inside" for these purposes. We were able to smash a few invaders - the timing of the smashing is tricky, and we actually accidentally caught one enemy with the outer gate.

@CourtneyGears was able to find everything they needed and start work - I don't have to worry about them going insane.

10 Sandstone

They created a beautiful mechanism, which I have paired with the one already on display in our gathering hall. This one is more splendid; it actually portrays the history of our people.

13 Sandstone

Managed to draw in five foes, including a dark hunter, for KOMPAKTION.

16 Sandstone

I received notice two prophets were attempting to visit our besieged fortress, in a display of exceedingly poor foresight.

17 Sandstone

Mayor @60horsesinmyherd has demanded the construction of 3 battle axes - again putting me at ease by just asking for what I am already doing!

21 Sandstone

The "leader" necromancer Imbo Pebuer is visiting the area. They don't seem immediately hostile, but it is foreboding. Rumors say Imbo has been associated with many places, peoples, and faiths over the years - why are they here now, at our place?

27 Sandstone

Terrifying!

A horrible beast has arrived in the cavern! The Cudgel rushes to the defense.

28 Sandstone

The new recruit @_wo_ManBearFridge , barely trained with their axe, and the Axelord @tempest are first to reach the beast. They meet it in the cavern access stairway. It badly wounds a pet cat, but then they are on it with their axes. Half their strokes sever parts of the beast - one foot, the stinger, another foot, and then @_wo_ManBearFridge removes its head. The beast landed no hits on the dwarves. A great victory!

2 Timber

7 of the siege force, including a dark hunter, submitted for KOMPAKTION this time. Only one dark hunter left.

3 Timber

Depressed dwarf Carp is throwing a tantrum! Embarrassing. Carp assaulted several dwarves and domestic fowl before going to the Mayor for a crying session.

Somehow a human zombie made into our fort. I was the one to engage it, and did so quite handily. I chopped off one hand, then the arm, both legs, and finally chopped the body in two. Cleft in twain, as they say. More troubling than the fight is that we don't know how it made it in.

9 Timber

It is finally time for our justice system to act. Several dwarves have filed charges regarding Carp's tantruming. I have ordered Captain Ral to interrogate Carp for thoroughness, though the guilt is clear.

Good citizens report the misdeeds

14 Timber

Carp readily and foolishly confessed to the tantrum.

Convicted. 19 days in prison, drinking from a bucket of WATER.

Cat visits are allowed

19 Timber

The Elk Birds that came up from the cavern continue to annoy working dwarves. The hunters don't always persevere enough to kill them, and they seem to heal quickly, so I put the Cudgel on them.

25 Timber

The annoying Elk Birds are all dead, getting butchered and tanned.

27 Timber

Very deep, not many levels above the magma, the pump stack shaft has breached a third cavern! We'll have to construct the body of the shaft ourselves.

Level -92

28 Timber

Carp is throwing a tantrum even while imprisoned. Pathetic.

1 Moonstone

More foolish foreign guests tried to reach our besieged fortress and succumbed to the undead hordes, but it seems like they destroyed two zombies first.

The undead have not gone for the KOMPAKTOR trap recently.

3 Moonstone

Better-armed or skilled foreign guests have actually killed or driven off the last dark hunter! One live enemy dwarf and nine assorted shambling corpses remain.

5 Moonstone

Four enemies entered the trap. The bait dog was doomed in any case, but their blows essentially exploded its jaw before the KOMPAKTOR came down on everyone.

Tooth explosion

The Cudgel sallied forth and tore apart the remainder without injury.

Victory!

The siege is lifted once again!

17 Moonstone

There have been three babies born in the past few weeks!

18 Moonstone

The Mayor has prohibited the export of figurines. Fair enough, if hard to understand.

23 Moonstone

A strange creature called a Gorlak came up from the caverns. One of our dogs didn't like it very much and killed it.

24 Moonstone

Carp, out of prison, throws a third tantrum and hits a cat.

5 Opal

Twelve witnesses reported Carp's criminal attack on the cat, and Carp's own confession upon interrogation makes thirteen.

I have ordered the stone of the prison to be engraved, in the hopes that greater exposure to our illustrious culture will have a salutary effect on Carp and any other future prisoners.

11 Opal

Sentencing decisions are not in my hands - instead of prison, this time Carp is sentenced to a beating from Captain Ral.

Ral leaving Carp's room after delivering the punishment.

I selected a physically weak Captain of the Guard for good reason - there was only a small blood splatter and one broken bone after Ral was done.

The results of the beating

12 Opal

Peaceful, for once

Carp reports to the hospital to heal after justice. Podiatric surgery is required. Even in the hospital bed, Carp throws a tantrum - at least tantrums in hospital or prison seem harmless.

The initial order of 10 Adamantine axes is complete. There are a few Adamantine wafers and spools of thread left - getting more of the raw stuff seems quite a challenge with Bisekmomuz waiting ever-patiently. Over the year the Cudgel has switched over to Adamantine battleaxes, those more used to spears training up in the new weapon.

13 Opal

The baby boom has continued. Our population now numbers 141.

17 Opal

Id Nomalisen the Prophet, who stupidly visited us during the siege, has risen as a ghost. Somehow it's our duty to memorialize them or be haunted.

22 Opal

Even more migrants have arrived. We are over 150 now.

28 Opal

Momuz the Farmer stole the legendary scepter "Ethbeshtaron" from the Livid Guild Hall. Momuz was spotted by @MerrySwishmas and will be interrogated. Momuz seemed to consider fleeing the area but thought better of it as Captain Ral approached.

4 Obsidian

A human named Kuda wants to reside in the fort "for the purpose of eradicating monsters". A human in a dwarf fortress is rather irregular, but I can't argue with the goal here, and have accepted them.

5 Obsidian

Momuz gave up nothing in the interrogation. We can still convict them. One month in prison, and in the cage, not on the chain. The scepter, last seen in Momuz' possession, is nowhere to be seen. There are rumors a visiting necromancer left with it. Did they bewitch Momuz? Perhaps when it seemed Momuz was fleeing they were handing off or hiding the scepter. I put some finely crafted but obsolete steel battleaxes on display in the Livid Guild Hall to satisfy their need for a suitable hall.

6 Obsidian

Yet again, Carp throws a tantrum, knocking over a lever and statue, and destroying the plump helmet field.

8 Obsidian

66 witnesses reported Carp this time. Back to prison!

Carp and Momuz locked up

For further edification of the prisoners, I later placed a legendary cage on display, so they can look at it and think about how much nicer it is than their own cage or chain.

25 Obsidian

Another monster of vomit, coming from the third cavern this time.

27 Obsidian

That was quick

And with the defeat of this forgotten beast of vomit, my yearlong shift comes to an end, and I hand the fortress over to @StarSix.

• Found three caverns.

• There is a cavern access shaft to the first cavern w/ drawbridge to secure. This first cavern has cave spider webs, of which a bunch have been gathered I believe, and muddy floors good for farming.

• The second cavern is sealed off.

• The third cavern is open to the pump stack shaft.

• Drawbridge to secure the pump stack shaft is being constructed - will need its lever!

• The body of a pump stack shaft is dug to the third cavern, about ten levels above the magma. Probably makes the most sense to just construct the shaft through the cavern. About half the doors are emplaced. Pipes and corkscrews are being constructed. It remains to dig the channels between levels and place the pumps.

• We are cut off from the known Adamantine by the Fire Phantom Bisekmomuz. I don't know if it's a thing we can fight. I don't even know if magma would kill it.

• We have 10 Adamantine axes, 7 in the hands of the Cudgel.

• Carp is pretty continually tantruming. All I saw was the vague "trauma" from the past year. I don't know if continual punishment is the best for it but since my dwarf was made hammerer I went with a justice focus.

• Fort operating smoothly overall. Iron production seems a bit jammed up and might need workshop settings adjusted?

Players, in order of succession:

@60horsesinmyherd

@Cream_a_da_crop

@s_a_n_t_b

@StarSix

@searcher

@BFBugleberry

@Rankine_911

@Yasharn

@Ninjjer