Bloodline:Ironhold Year 1051

Year 1051 of the fortress Datankegeth, also known as Ironhold. The Diary of Sigun "hmxmoss" Avuzgeshud, a farmer...

The Prelude

Coming here was not my idea: it was my family's idea. I was content to farm the onion fields at home... But for some reason I've never really fit in with the rest of my family. It's not that I didn't like them, but I don't think they liked me. They threw a big party on the day of my departure... after I departed.

After a week of travel, my fellows and I arrived at a site that Geshud, our leader, deemed appropriate for a fort. Why she decided to stop the wagon in the middle of a river and make such a declaration there, I've no idea. I don't mind getting my feet soaked; still, the scant food we brought with us threatened to topple into the water if we didn't move it quick.

Geshud must have seen the look on my face or read my mind, because she tapped me on the shoulder and said, "You're it!" At first, I thought she was crazy to start a game of tag here... now... Turns out she was crazier than I expected: by "it", she meant I was to lead the fort for a year. Now, I don't claim to know politics and legal stuff -- I'm an onion farmer -- so maybe this is how things are done. I asked Geshud about it, and she started talking about stuffs that I've no clue about. I simply nodded my head: that was a bad idea. She took that as acceptance of the job.

So here I am. An onion farmer. In the middle of nowhere. And I'm in charge of building a fort.

And I think I'm hearing strange noises, out in the wild.

Great.

The only consolation is that, in a year, if I survive, someone else will be in charge. Then I can go back to onion farming.

Granite

1st

I asked the others to take a quick look around. Geshud says it's called a "survey", but I call it looking around. In any case, there seem to be two primary areas. North and west seems to be grasslands with some, but not many, trees. East and south are rock. We disembarked (in a river, I remind you) in the valley through which that river passes. The moutains on either side rise rather quickly, but certainly are not a problem for Dwarves with picks.

But first, I had a temporary platform set up nearby so we could get everything out of the wagon and somewhere dry. Once that was done, I considered the wagon. Since we were not going anywhere anytime soon, and wood was sparse, I had the wagon torn down to be reused later.

9th

The miners dug some tunnels nearby, over and also up to one of the flatter, grassy plateaus. In doing so, they found a bit of loam that will be quite nice for growing plump helmets. Plump helmets are so bland, so while I relented in my pursuit of onions, I did insist we grow a couple other crops, just to provide some variety.

Trees are being felled as fast as our carpenter can chop them down.

14th

The miners have dug out a large area for indoor storage. I asked everyone to pitch in and move everything from the temporary storage outside to this new area. This should keep everything closer to where other facilities will be built, and not out in the open where it could be stolen or ruined.

Additionally, two areas near the storage, in the nice loam, have been cleared so I can begin farming. While I look forward to putting seed to soil, I fear that this will be a long year, filled with interruptions.

23rd

Kivish, one of the miners, reported having struck a bit of copper. He was so excited, he seemed ready to go smelt and hammer something. I had to remind him that we had no anvil. And while we could smell that a magma vent or volcano was close, I told Kivish that we had other priorities at the moment. He seemed depressed. Still, it reminds me to tell Geshud to ask for an anvil, should traders ever come to this remote location.

I am reminded that Geshud chose this remote location far to the south... It is so damn hot. I can tolerate it, but would never choose such a location myself: it is difficult to grow onions in such heat. The level of the lakes nearby are noticeably lower, and it's still early spring. Thank goodness we have a steady supply of water from the river, should we need it. I don't expect those lakes will be lakes for much longer.

Slate

8th

Work continues on our basic needs: getting more wood, gathering plants, getting the farms going. I asked the miners about a week ago to dig out some space for workshops below storage, and they've got some space now. Today, Ineth built our first workshop for crafting tradeable goods. I told him to get started with the crafting. Hopefully, this will clear the hallways a bit of the rock that the miners never bother to pick up.

23rd

Ilral had been trying out the fishing, but I thought it better to have a kitchen and a still built. He wasn't really catching much anyway, since the lakes dried up completely.

Felsite

3rd

We now have a carpentry workshop, and another for masonry. Now we can get to building beds, bins, barrels, doors, tables, chairs... Everything a working fortress needs! Additionally, our cook and brewmaster has started using the kitchen and still.

Despite being a humble farmer, I love the sound of an active, working fortress. Maybe this job won't be as bad as I'd expected.

22nd

A couple weeks ago, I decided it would be worthwhile to get a trade depot setup. I didn't really expect traders anytime soon, but it never hurts to be prepared.

Location was difficult because of the rough terrain, and I wasn't sure whether traders would arrive from the heights or from the valley. I took a guess on the latter, and had the depot built near the river's edge and the first entrance to the fort. It seemed a reasonable location.

Geshud, in her annoying ways, came by to inspect the depot after it was done. "Y'know," she said, "human traders bring wagons. And all those boulders are in the way." She pointed eastward. I groaned internally, not realizing my mistake, but managed to turn that against her. I said to her, "Thanks for volunteering to clear a path, Geshud."

She wasn't all that happy about it, but she did do the work. I asked another dwarf to head out there and give her a hand. While it's not perfectly cleared, it should give enough room for those wagons to get through to the depot.

Hematite

11th

I think it's about time we had bedrooms; I'm getting a bit sore from sleeping on the floor. After discussing our arrangements with the miners, they set off to digging.

21st

This afternoon, I found Geshud hauling stuff around. I reminded her that we needed that path open to the depot.

Malachite

18th

Things have been going smoothly so far, with no real problems to mention. The first set of bedrooms are now finished, except doors. Our mason is dragging his feet a bit, but he got to work on those after a motivation talk.

The depot is now ready for visitors: dwarf, human or (ugh) elf. Geshud mentioned that with traders often come liasons, and she would need an office to negotiate. After making her break down boulders for a month, I figured she deserved that, at least.

Galena

2nd

I think, today, I noticed a faint smell of elephants. I've heard stories about elephants that keep me awake at night.

And cats! Damned cats are always leaving their "toys" in the storage. Some days it really stinks in there.

10th

Yes, there are elephants. I caught a glimpse of them today, far off to the north. So far, they're just wandering about up there and not approaching our fortress. And we've no reason to wander up there right now. So I think we should be safe for the time being, as long as we don't antagonize them. I'll have to keep my eyes open.

23rd

The elephants seem to have wandered out of my view, away from the fortress. One less thing I have to worry about...

And our mechanic set up his workshop to day. He started talking about gears and tolerances and weight ratios... I didn't understand a word of it.

Limestone

1st

Halfway through the year with no incidents. I won't say that it's been easy, just to avoid jinxing the place.

9th

I've noticed that the cats seem to be following Geshud around wherever she goes. She just adores them, and they seem to like her. Sadly, this means my plan to supplement our meat stocks is probably a bad idea now; she'd flip out, and that's not something I want to see.

I guess I'll just have to live with the furry little beasts. I just wish they'd stop using the farming rooms as their litter box.

14th

A few days ago, dwarves traders were spotted approaching the fort along the valley floor. Seems I guessed well with my location of the depot, and Geshud cleared away enough boulders to permit them access.

Geshud's request for an office was a good request; she's in there now meeting with the liason. Meanwhile, the traders are unloading their goods in the depot, and I've asked a number of dwarves to haul down the trinkets we've made. Geshud will be the one to do the trading, once her meeting is done and we've moved what we want to trade away.

The cats had kittens. Wonderful.

17th

Geshud's discussions with the liason is done, as is the trading.

In exchange for our various goods, we came away with a bunch of meat, seeds, bags, cloth, the anvil we wanted... and a very nice looking set of steel chain mail. From the stories the traders tell of their trip into this rocky valley, we may need it.

Still, we have no fighters and that's something I'll have to leave to my successor to address.

23rd

After gathering a bunch of local plants between seeding the garden and harvesting crops, I turned the soil for a new garden outside. While they don't have the versatility of the onion, some of these berries and grasses do make very nice wines and ales.

And the dogs today had puppies. Hopefully we can train them in the future to be formidable war dogs like their parents.

Sandstone

8th

What. The. Hell. Those damned kittens are leaving dead rats everywhere. I swear, if Geshud doesn't train them to take their toys outside, I will have them cooked.

9th

As the traders left today, they happened to run into two kobold thieves. The kobolds were quickly cut down by the swordsdwarves that protect the traders. I hope the death of the thieves will be a deterrent for the other, low-life kobolds. I doubt it.

25th

Migrants arrived today! Why they came to this remote location, I've no idea and don't really care. We could use the extra hands. Eight of them: a mechanic, a carpenter, miller, thresher, leatherworker and two peasants. And a furnace operator... I might have him polish walls for a while, since I'm not going to have him burn up our limited wood supply. Perhaps he'll be useful later, when we harness the volcano, but that will have to be taken up by another.

Timber

5th

We've dug out more space... bedrooms, another large storage area, space for more workshops...

The storage areas will probably need to be expanded again next year, though perhaps the first priority should be some organization. I've tried to do a bit of that, but I don't have the best mind for organization, aside from knowing which row has the onions and which row has the beets.

Moonstone

1st

At the request of our new miller, a carpenter and mechanic worked together to connect a millstone to a windmill on the plateau above. They did this, effectively and efficiently, without bothering me, which gives me hope for the fortress. Despite being an easy year, I much prefer working in the dirt to managing others.

Then there are those Dwarves that you have to give more explicit commands. One of the new peasants was hanging around without much to do. He'd move the occassional sack or rock, to look like he was working, but I think he spent most of his time hanging around the animals. "Since you like animals so much," I said, "Take this crossbow and go hunt us some meat." He obeyed, but with a tear in his eye. Wuss.

9th

I realized we had another peasant without much to do, so I introducted him to the loom and clotheshop, and told him we could really use bags... lots of bags. I think he's still bleeding a bit from the fingers, having stuck them several times with the needles, but he's getting the hang of it.

I was reminded at this time that we had no defenses should something un-Dwarvenly attack. I stationed our two war dogs near a couple of the entrances. We're still vulnerable, though.

Opal

19th

Finally, our "hunter" has brought in the carcass of a warthog. About time. We got a butchery and tannery setup to process it and any future catches.

22th

And we now have a community dining room, located below the workshops. I asked the mason to make everything for the dining room out of obsidian: the tables, the chairs... even the whole room is carved out of obsidian. Beautiful place to eat.

We're missing a few chairs and tables, and we'll certainly need more if additional migrants arrive...

And that reminded me... A few months ago, I mentioned offhand that it would be nice if the bedrooms looked better. Nothing terribly fancy, just smoothing the stone as a start. After getting a look at the dining room, I went down to the dorms to see what the progress was there.

The bedrooms are just getting started now, but a wonderful job has been done on the hallways. Too bad noone seems to care that there are still rocks all over the place that have to be climbed over. I find it amusing yet sad... I can clearly see that the floor under the rubble is polished smooth... Which means they had to move the rocks, polish the floor, and put the rocks back.

I wanted to ask about that, but everyone conveniently went for lunch or took a nap. Sheesh.

Obsidian

26th

This last month of my administration has been a quiet one. Things seem to be progressing smoothly, and there have been no ale fights (yet).

Ineth complained about a mountain goat, frightened to go near it. I smacked him in the back of the head and told him to stop running away, and just eat the goat.

And while I was scolding Ineth, I saw our hunter Urdim running around yelling at animals. I could see he had his crossbow, but I suspected he ran out of bolts. I suppose he's not the bright one in his family; perhaps that's why he's here at Ironhold. In any case, I suggested he try a different weapon until we could secure a supply of ammunition.

I noticed the elephants off to the north again. They're still a good ways off from the fort, so there is no imminent danger. But I will remind my successor to keep a close watch on them.

The Finale

And so we come to spring of the year 1052. My term as administrator of Ironhold is over. I can't really complain... There were no major problems and hardly any minor ones during the year. But I do prefer being a simple farmer. I can only hope that I am not picked as administrator again for a while.

Here, at the end of my journal, I leave a record to summarize the current state and possible, future improvements.

The Good

• We have a good supply of food. Lots to drink and many prepared meals will keep everyone happy.
• Enough bedrooms are available for our current population, with a few spares, though perhaps not enough for another group of immigrants.
• Basic workshops are in place and fully functioning.
• Everyone is generally occupied with work, and not just lying about.

Needs Work

• Defenses! We have none, except two poor war dogs dropped down near two of the three entrances. We have a few weapons and some armor (including one impressive set of steel chain), but no military or traps.
• At some point, we need to begin to master the volcano and the river, with whatever pumps and floodgates are necessary. I hate to imagine the poor, injured Dwarf who can't get a drink of water because nearby pools have dried up.
• Our wood supply isn't great, because trees are sparse. We have some for now, but we should build as much as we can from stone and use our wood supply only as necessary.
• Some work has been done to make sure the trade depot is accessible, but it will be hard to know for certain until the humans come.