Bloodline:Ironhold Year 1053B

Year 1053, Universe B, of the fortress Datankegeth, also known as Ironhold. The records of "Sorenson" Tithlethzag, steward of Thikenlorbam and Her Grace Queen Atis Teskomlitast

Preface

In honesty, I am beginning to somewhat regret offering my services to Her Grace in regards to the management and development of Datankegeth. While I mean no disrespect to the brave souls who risk bank and beard in the name of expanding our mighty kingdom, they cannot deny that they have developed something of a bad reputation for the troubles they experience - not so much that they are besieged by beast and barbarian, but rather that the majority of those assigned to oversee its development have either dissipeared completily or failed to make the journey for one reason or another. So much has this reputation grown that even Her Grace herself has taken an interest - a rather *annoyed* one, at that - and now nary a soul seems to dare volunteer to oversee this cursed land. I myself would have excused myself long ago were it not for my curiosity at just what of Ironhold makes it so repulsive against management, and then, of course, there stands the prestiege and influence of having overcome the Ironhold Curse, as some have come to call it. With Her Grace's eye upon me, to succeed would all but guarentee an ascension to even greater assignments, and perhaps even enough influence to begin forming expedition parties proper instead of the seven-dwarf teams that are the usual lot.

I leave for Ironhold in the morn and shall hopefully make enough speed to arrive by the new year. If nothing else, let this record show that I perform my duties to the utmost of my abilities, and that it is only by great calamity that my efforts should cease.

In the name of Her Grace, "Sorenson" Tithlethzag, steward of Thikenlorbam

New Year's Day, 1053

I've no doubt in my mind now that there be some mysterious mechanism at work against Ironhold's administration. Whilst en route, some fool took it into his head to sneak a bit of a smoke in the back of one of the wagons - which, as it would have to be, caught fire and nessecitated a frantic bucket brigade and several days' worth of repair before we could continue. The rest of the caravaners have him shackled in the last cart 'til we find an outpost with a more permenant jail or, as some are hoping, a Hammerer. In any case, I can only hope that the delay does not slight those of Ironhold [i]too[/i] much.

Spring, 1053

I've been pondering what to write for nearly half an hour - given the state here, what *can* I write - and have decided to simply forego the traditional formalities and simply go straight to the details.

If nothing else, Ironhold is at least well-prepared aggriculturally: there is ample amounts of foodstuffs, enough to supply twice or perhaps thrice its current population, and the climate and the seeds obtained by the previous leaders have expanded our capabilities to include surface crops as well, inferior as most of them may be. If nothing else we could use some of the alcohol produced by these for cooking - I've heard Strawberry Wine is *fantastic* as a glaze for meats and such.

And then there is the matter of everything else.

First and foremost, even more pressing than the security gaps, is the fortress' organization. While I hold nothing against the brave men who had to administer for the first and second years of the fortress, there are certain things that are simply baffling about its design. For example: whilst I understand the need for flowing water in the case of the injured and potential alcohol disasters, was it nessecary to dig out such a large, multi-story-in-some-parts channel to run to the center of the living quarters to do so And what of the placement of the workshops and their respective stockpiles? And the mishmash placement of farming plots? These are all things that I should hope to rectify by the time year's end has arrived or that whomever should follow in my stead shall complete.

Next there is the matter of security, or rather the extrordinary lack of one. We are open to infiltration from at least *three* different points throughout the fortress, and the most that has been done to address such is the placement of some traps and the chaining of dogs nearby. Were this some den of the lesser species, this would be acceptable, but our inevitable rise to wealth and fame shall draw our enemies to us sooner or later, and we must be prepared to face this fact - or rather, to fortify ourself within our soon-self-sufficient fortress and allow the invaders to starve and succumb to whatever the wilderness should throw at them. For this I have already ordered the construction of a hardened bridge across the stream near the enterence, and once construction is finished the traps placed within will decimate anything that dares to enter - if they even manage to breach the gate I've ordered at the bridge's head.

Third is the matter of labor within the fortress - whilst I know that the first few years of any outpost can be a hard time given the lack of labor diversity one tends to see, one must also ensure that the work spread on some of the outpost members is not too thin - too many dwarves doing too many tasks means too many with misleading claims to their titles and too few who specialize in the more sought-after professions. I'll have to go through the roster and change assignments accordingly.

Other than these three, any other gripes I have are mostly trivial, and it is these three that I vow to concentrate upon the most (alongside the development of Ironhold into a glorious, profitable outpost of our nation, naturally).

In the name of Her Grace, "Sorenson" Tithlethzag, steward of Thikenlorbam

Granite

3rd of Granite

Things are off to a start, though perhaps a bit slower than I expected (literily - perhaps there is something in the air?). Asides from suspending some of the masonry being done (statues and blocksfor trade, I'm afraid) it turns out there was a Fey that had slipped under the radar until recently - Eden, the leatherworker, who just completed his masterpiece, Rirmishos. A leather...

...buckler.

And people wonder why I hate the Fey so much.

12th of Granite

And writing of the Fey, the elves have arrived. I'd been hoping I could get some extra crafting done, but so much for that - I don't even know if we've anything the High And Mighty will even touch with a pole, let alone trade for. Even the *fish* don't like them - as they were crossing the stream on approach a lungfish took a grand sacrificial leap out of the waters and struck one of 'em square in the face. That'll do, fish. That'll do.

13th of Granite

I've always disliked the notion of having children in a fortress - the young babe Rith being an example of why. The poor thing is crawling about in a thirst and there isn't a single soul helping her.

Or rather, was, until one of the other children...Obok? Damn these smudged records - up and drenched the poor thing with a bucket of water.

19th of Granite

And it seems the High and Mighty won't even touch items of an animal extract nature - I offered them some of the silken goods from the invaders who struck last year and they turned up their noses and prattled on, as always, about our lowliness. As I'm sure was expected of me, I've siezed the goods we wanted and hopefully they'll be out of the province by the end of the week.

21st of Granite

Just my luck. As soon as I feel things are beginning to get on track with the fortress, one of the children decided to throw a party in the lower floor of the living quarters. I've a good mind to tear down all the statues currently standing about the fortress - they should be for demonstrating the splendor of our grand people, not an excuse to go prancing about more drunk than usual with a bucket atop one's head!

Slate

1st of Slate

Things have been quiet, which is always a good note in my book. Work progresses on the bridge - one wall has been completed already, as is the gate, and someone is currently setting up some levers to control it and another I'd like to set up later on.

17th of Slate

Huzzah! The bridge is finally complete! Naturally, the next step is to laden the thing with traps - cage traps, specifically. While there is certainely something to be admired about a trap that can turn a goblin into a fine red-and-green mist, the cage trap lets us turn them into *money*. Man and dwarf alike are always in need of extra labor, and I've heard there's excellent money to be made in the slave trade - and if nothing else, we'd have some fodder for the recruits to sharpen their swords on.

24th of Slate

One of the workers reported seeing migrants incoming. Hopefully they're *useful* migrants - in particular a mechanic, since we're in dire need of mechanisms and someone dedicated to setting them up.

Leatherworker...child...soap maker?...ranger...dyer and his pets...stonecrafter...planter...hunter...milker...jeweler...child...child...metalsmith...peasant...cheesemaker...thresher...peasant - Armok, how many *are* there? - clothier...carpanter...peasant...cow...horse...carpanter.

• Crap.* 53 hands total in this fortress, and not a dedicated mechanic amongst them. Still, we've at least got the peasants

28th of Slate

Our smelting and forging capabilities aer woefully inadequate, primarily due to our reluctance thus far to tap into the nearby volcano's magma. This is about to change.

The plan is simple, but efficient: a stockpile of smeltable ores to the north, with a chain of smelters down to the south, followed by a stockpile of smelted bars and with the forges proper at the south end. A nice, clean, and efficient production line, though it'll be at least several months before the area is excavated and the magma channels dug to the volcano itself.

Felsite

1st of Felsite

We've run out of wood - I suspect our earlier reliance on wood-fueled forges played a grand part of this. The woodwoerkers have been given the orders to start clearing out whatever trees they can find, and hopefully we can get a decent stock by the end of summer.

5th of Felsite

It had slipped from my mind that eventually we shall have to begin dealing with the accursed nobles if we wish to truly rise in power among the fortresses. While we have more than enough rooms for ordinary citizens, those that cater to the more...empowered amongst us are lacking, and I've ordered several sets of chambers built that will hopefully sate them when they arrive.

30th of Felsite

And spring thus draws to a close. The fortress stands stable, generally speaking - the work on the magma channel is going nicely, and I've called for a reorganization of some of the stockpiles (mainly the food ones) to help streamline things a bit. The humans will be arriving soon, and the crafters are busy at work as ever cranking out items as per the trade agreement we have. Other than that, just business as usual.