Bloodline:Outpost Ducimemal Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Diary of 'Gau' Zokunled, Cook

1st Granite, 1053, Early Spring

What a day. Well it looks I've got my work cut out for me now. All I did was mention how much easier life would be for our food gatherers if we had some farms, and everything kind of snowballed from there. All the herbalists started getting into some sort of frenzy over the idea. I didn't think much of it when it was just Zuglar and Kivish.. but when Deler got involved.. things started getting out of hand. Well, long story short, now I'm the official Outpost Manager and it's my job to build a farm. I need a drink.

5th Granite, 1053, Early Spring

Well I think I've gotten over the initial shock, and I'm ready to get down to buisness. I was really unsure of myself at first, but Dastot sat me down and we had a talk. I now realize how important my duty is. I even had a personal office constructed, so that I can manage the work orders. I've looked over the current orders, and we seem to have a problem with workshop clutter. The masons have been cutting block after block of stone for no apparent reason. I put an end to that. As it turns out, I found something much more productive for them to be doing. I've been getting requests for personal cabinets from a few dwarves, so I had the masons get started on some. Zuglar has been out scouting for good locations for the farm area. He's found a few good spots, but he has a few concerns about the safety of the farmers. With the wildlife in the area being what it is, I'll have to think of something..

13th Granite, 1053, Early Spring

Eureka! We've found the perfect spot for a farm, and at the same time I figured out how I could kill two birds with one stone! The farm is going to need to be defended, so why not build a wall with all those blocks we have piling up? I drew up some plans and set up the work orders to the masons and miners. I have a good feeling about this.

Also: the elves showed up today. I don't trust those frilly tree huggers any farther than I can throw 'em, but tha' sheriff says they might have good stuff to trade. Well I'm going to leave the diplomacy to him, I've got too much work to do to deal with it.

21st Granite, 1053, Early Spring

Sheriff Monomrakas says he's finished trading with the elves. I heard him speaking with Alath the Treasurer. Something about pawning off kobold socks for a "assload of cloth and booze". I will never understand those elves.

In other news, the new farm construction is coming alone nicely. Although the walls are still being built, two fields have been ready, and I gave the farmers their orders. I got some strange looks when I told them to plant rat weed year round. Those dolts just don't appreciate the sutble texture. The exotic aroma. I can't wait until the stills are brewing up barrels and barrels of that sweet sweet sewer brew. Such bold flavor.. hearty aromas... I must have it..

20th Slate, 1053, Mid-Spring

The farm is finally complete, and we've gotten things rolling quite nicely. Just in the nick of time it seems, the cougars and wolves have been out in mass lately, and I'm happy to see my fellow dwarves safe. I've also been doing my best to extend many of the cramped stockpiles around the place, I really hate to see all the clutter. I've had the miners dig out areas under the main workshops to expand. I don't understand why the Sheriff bought all that cloth, when we don't even have a clothier's workshop! I had one constructed and Alath eagerly got to work. Speaking of the sheriff, he also shared with me some concerns about the lack of a prison. Myself, I think the whole idea to be unnessisary... sure we don't always get along.. but throwing someone into jail? Well I'm still kind of new at this leadership stuff, so I defered to his 'wisdom' and had a jail built.

I guess that's why the Sheriff bought all that cloth ...

When I was meeting with Alath about the cloth workorders, I also spoke with him about the food supplies. It turns out with have a surplus of Blade weed and Hide root. Now any cook worth their snuff ( and you better believe I am! ) knows that those taste God awful in a stew. They're only suitable for dye making.. and we don't even have the proper facilities to mill them! No river means we'll have to rely on wind power. Luckly the area's been pretty windy, expecially up on top of the hill, so I've started construction of some windmills to power a grindstone.

This'll be great for using up all those damn mechanisms we've got lying around too!

7th Felsite, 1053, Late Spring

I knew coming here was a good idea. Teamwork and friendship at it's very best! Workedsense has it's first Mayor! Sakzul is a born leader, I always knew he was. After a large group of immigrants arrived at the fort, all the administrators had a meeting. We decided the settlement is growing and we needed to elect a mayor. Sakzul has proven himself to be capable and resourceful over the years, and so he was naturally elected. The sheriff took this oppurtunity to form his own personal squad of fortress guards. He's scouting around for new recruits, but Sakzul... I mean.. Mayor Sakzul told him that we need to start forging armor before we can start training new soldiers. The two we've already have had already been badly injured by practicing with steel axes and nothing but the clothes on their back.

8th Hematite, 1053, Early Summer

Sorry I haven't written lately journal... it's been a really busy busy week! The storage problems are starting to get better, but there's still a lot of work to do. All these new immigrants means new bedrooms, not to mention sorting through their jobs and whatnot. Lots of paperwork. I am really starting to miss working in the kitchen.

To make matters worse, Sakzul has started to develop something of an attitude. 3 days ago he instructed me that he wanted 4 full sets of armor forged. I told him it's going to take a lot of charcoal, a lot of ore, and a lot of time. He gave an annoyed look and said "Just do it". Can you believe it? He's been diferent ever since he became mayor. He's even had his own personal dining room constructed! I hope wasn't wrong about him...

It's not all bad news though, The first batch of coins I requested from the metalsmith just arrived! I'm sure the king will be very pleased with this batch of wonderful silver coins. The back side was Alath's idea. I thought it turned out real nice. I really wanted the front to be a rat weed, but the smith said it would be too difficult to sculpt. Hmf.

One of the immigrants turns out to be a fisherdwarf, so he immediatly went up on the hill and started catching turtles. I perfer a nice rat weed biscuit myself, but I guess some people seem to like eating reptiles. Well no matter, I had a fishery constructed... now I just have to find someone to work there.

17th Hematite, 1053, Early Summer

Ha! That chump Sakzul finally got what was coming to him! Turns out I wasn't the only one who was none too pleased with his little power trip. He was thrown out of office and Ezum Othtirist was elected. I don't know him very well, but he seems like a nice enough guy. Real serious though. Anyway, Sakzul was kicked out of his posh, decorated room and Ezum moved in. Good riddence.

I decided to to continue on with the former mayor's last project. The sheriff says that it is critical for the security of Ducimemal. Or something like that. Well I don't really care either way, I'm not the one who's gotta slave over a hot furnace all day. Nope. And don't think that's anything like slaving over a hot stove! Completely different!

Anyway, I heard the humans have showed up and are looking to trade. I wonder what kind of goods they brought. It's pretty exciting. Well, I'm going to head down to the new ale storage area and have a drink before I go to bed. Goodnight, diary.

16th Malachite, 1053, Mid-Summer

Today was a really great week. I got to take a break from my managing duties and do some work in the kitchen. It really feels great to get back to the old place. I had to change some of the kitchen orders around when the new stock of food came in from the recent trade. While I was down there, I got to whip up some tasty biscuits! Delish. I also spent some time over at the trade depo talking with one of the human traders. His name was Genam Pikbikda, real nice fellow. We traded rat weed recipes, turns out he's something of a connoisseur as well! Good times. Well, the humans are packing up their stuff and getting ready to leave. I'm going to miss them, that's for sure.

10th Galena, 1053, Late Summer

Damn that Sheriff! I told him the armor wasn't ready! Did he listen to me? Of course not! He went ahead and started training those new recruits anyway. And guess what happened? That's right, the new recruits are now stuck in bed resting their injuries. That's 5 recruits now that damn sheriff has hospitalized in training.

That dwarf is out of control. As if that wasn't bad enough, he's cut off the recruits ale rations until they "stop being such babies". So now I have to sent out bucket brigades to bring water from outside. Well I didn't have that huge fence built around the farm just so that dwarves could expose themselves to the dangerous beasts out there just to get water! Not on my watch. I built an enclosure for a small pool on the hill above the fortress. This will not only act as a secure area for gathering water, but it also doubles as a handy fishing hole for Olon.

I still feel bad about those recruits. I hope they get better soon.

24 Galena, 1053, Late Summer

I've been feeling a bit depressed lately. About a week ago, I asked Kivish to engrave some artwork at the dining hall. I thought some nice murals would do wonders for dwarven moral during mealtime. To my horror, he nearly filled the room with depressing scenes of our failed trading encounter with the dwarven homeland last year. I was horrified and I knew for sure I was going to be blamed for this. Amazingly though, everyone LOVES it. I've never seen everyone so damn cheerful. Eye of the beholder I suppose. The miners announced a rich vein of galena was discovered. They were very optimistic about the size and said it would provide a great deal of silver. I ordered up another batch of coins. I figure we'll offer one set, and keep one set for ourselves.

5th Limestone, 1053, Early Autumn

Oh diary! Today was the best day ever! They finally finished clearing out all the stone from the stables yesterday, and I went in to see how it looked. While I was admiring the miner's craftsdwarfship of the walls, Kubuk the mason came down hauling a cage. Inside was the cutest lit' mule ever! One look at those big brown eyes of his and I knew we would be best friends forever! I took him right out of the cage and gave him a big hug! His name is Diamondshot and he's the best mule ever!

While I was down there, I noticed we had a surplus of empty cages. I decided to order up some cage traps around the main stairwell, just in case the main siege defense doesn't work. Better safe than sorry.

Oh yea. I also saw those two recruits up and about today. Looks like they recovered fine, and are now all decked out in shiney copper armor. I feel safer already.

15th Limestone, 1053, Early Autumn

I don't believe this! Those bastard smiths had the gall to lie to me! Remember 3 months ago when I said they minted up 5 batches of silver coins? Turns out they only made 3! They've been slacking for an entire season! They tried giving me some lame excuse about "Oh we've been busy making the armor." Whine whine whine. You can imagine my horror when the dwarven caravan showed up this morning. Those idiot smiths better finish the job before the caravan gets here! The king is going to be pissed if he doesn't get a proper offering, and I am not going to take the fall for this. No way. Anyway, I saw Mayor Ezum having a meeting with the Liason Mengemen. Looks like they were ironing out a trade agreement of some sort. Maybe I could get Mengemen to put in a good word with the king for me.

Nah. You know what? First thing tomorrow morning, I am heading down to the workshops personally, and I am going to take care of this coin order buisness personally. Well. Actually maybe not first thing. Can't start the morning without a nice mug of sewer brew!

23rd Limestone, 1053, Early Autumn

Ugh! I have never been so embarassed in my whole life! Last week, I marched down to the workshops in a fit about the silver coins. I made this big speech to the metalsmiths about duty and honor and taking pride in your workmenship and not being such a lazy sack of potatoes. They just stood there, very calm, nodding at every word I said. Once I was done ranting, Dastot calmly explained that each clump of galena yields about 1/5 a bar of silver and a whole bar of lead. They didn't finish the coins because I screwed up the order! I felt so awful, but Bomrek told me it was ok and everyone makes mistakes. I've got some new respect for the metalsmiths. They are a real nice crew. They even finished up the batch of coins 2 days later! We were able to get it to the trade depo in time, I was so happy.

The king will be recieveing a few bins worth of stone crafts, and 2500 silver coins. We also managed to trade away some more useless kobold clothing for various foodstuffs and a handful of metal bars.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. I though I deserved something nice for all the hard work I've been doin', So I wrote up a job order expecially for me! A sewer brew wine cellar for my room! I can't wait.

10th Sandstone, 1053, Mid-Autumn

Not much has happened in these last few weeks, but today we had a bit of excitment. A swarm of rhesus marques ambushed the caravan eariler today. Of course, they were no match for dwarven steel. Word is that one trader guards went kind of nuts when he saw them approaching. They say he screamed like a madman and charged straight at them, scattering the group and sending monkies flying.

I haven't been outside to see the aftermath, but I hear it's quite gory. There's rumors flying around of some kind of super intelegent monkey army, poised to strike at any minute. What a load. Monkeys only mean one thing: Monkey stew! Mmm! I can't wait to eat that monkey.

2nd Timber, 1053, Late Autumn

Phew. Another busy season. The trees outside have started dropping their red leaves in preperation for winter. It's starting to get cold too, expecially in the mornings. Hopefully my cellar will be stocked before winter rolls around, I always like to warm up with a nice mug of my favorite drink.

After the monkey massacre a few weeks ago, the sheriff has been kind of on edge. While he's been pleased with the current guard, he was still worried about the safety of the fort. "My recruits are for patroling the inside! Not hunting monkeys!" he says. Sheesh. Anyway, he requested that a formal military be established so that we could actively patrol the gate when trouble comes a knockin'.

It turns out that a couple of the fellows volunteered for the job. I guess all those monkey stories have really got the dwarf blood flowin'. I went ahead and ordered up 2 more sets of copper chainmail suits, 5 leather suits, and 4 sets of crossbows and gear. An archery range was constructed above the barracks, and the new recruits are lookin' pretty sharp ( if a little inexperienced )

With all those monkey bone bolts we've been churning out, I'm sure the marksdwarves won't be green for long. Well I've got to go diary, Diamondshot needs a bath.

14th Timber, 1053, Late Autumn

Some sad news today journal. Edem, one of the original guards the Sheriff recruited, finally snapped. I'd probably go nuts too if I went a year without booze and bein' constantly berated and yelled at by that abusive Sheriff. Edem now spents his time crawling around the workshop area, babbling incoherently and throwing off his clothing. Nobody has the heart to put him out of his misery. I hope that damn sheriff has learned his lesson.

7th Moonstone, 1053, Early Winter

It's been getting a little chilly lately. I'm worried about Diamondshot. I asked the clothier to sew a nice warm sweater for him, but they just gave me a strange look.

10th Moonstone, 1053, Early Winter

As the cold air comes in, it brings in a reminder. I'm not going to be manager here forever. I'm sure a new dwarf will eventually take my place, and I'll be sent back to the kitchens. Don't get me wrong, I love the kicthens. But I am definitly going to miss this job. With this thought in mind, I decided that I would build something so that all the future managers would remember one of Ducimenmal's finest. I hope my project will be complete before spring...

17th Moonstone, 1053, Early Winter

3 goblin corpses were found mutilated at the entrance of the fort this morning. One of the more messy corpses was next to the spiked ball trap I had installed just 2 weeks ago. Good riddance. My project is coming along nicely.. the masons expect it to be complete before spring! Diamonshot is excited. I can tell.

21st Moonstone, 1053, Early Winter

It looks like Bomrek the Weaponsmith has been inspired by my construction. Or has gone crazy. Either way, he's claimed a forge, and is making something in there. I doubt it will be as grand as MY project.. but I'm sure it will be nice.

26th Moonstone, 1053, Early Winter

Bomrek has emerged from his workshop with a copper crossbow in hand. All the dwarves crowded around and fawned over it. I didn't get a very good look at it, but it seemed nice enough.

Bomrek claims that his skill has reached perfection, and he's eager to hammer out bins filled with masterwork blades. All that's going to have to wait for my project to complete however.. it's just taking too much of my time to worry about anything else!

2nd Opal, 1053, Mid-Winter

I heard that Edem, the guard that snapped a few weeks ago finally passed away. We all knew it was inevitable.. but his death hangs heavily on everyone's shoulders regardless. I can't let this distract me from my work. Diamondshot demands it.

17th Opal, 1053, Mid-Winter

Dastot the Carpenter died today. Fell 3 stories and broke his spine. He slowly bled to death. Some of the dwarves have urged me to abandon my project. They say it's too dangerous. They have no vision! It's just like what Diamondshot always tells me: "You can't make an omelette without cracking a few carpenters!"

27th Opal, 1053, Mid-Winter

It is almost complete. Diamondshot's urgings are growing louder and more frequent. I must finish soon before he does something terrible...

11th Obsidian, 1053, Late-Winter

( The handwriting here is exteremly messy and there are dark red smudges on the pages ) Soon.. soon... Diamondshot must be appeased! EVERYTHING HAS MEANING! EXISTANCE HAS MEANING! BEING ALIVE HAS MEANING!

20th Obsidian, 1053, Late-Winter

( The handwriting at this point is nearly illegable. Only one small section is readable )

There is no Gau, only Mule.

( This is the last diary entry )

Mayor Ezum Othtirst's logbook

Logbook entry: #245 Date: 25 Obsidian, 1053

Gau Zokunled's mad project has gone on long enough. This morning the fortress guard has arrested him and he has been locked in his room and stripped of his authority. Far too many dwarves have been wounded constructing his giant stone monstrosity, let alone the death of Dastot Adilvunom. If only I had done something sooner.

No. I cannot blame myself. Zokunled was a fine Manager and the fortress has prospered because of his efforts. Nobody could have predicted his slow spiral into madness. The sheriff has been trying to interogate him lately, attempting to puzzle out what happened to him. I doubt he will find out anything. His insanity will likely remain a mystery.

I have included some rough sketches of his construction, for the aid of any who might wish to investigate upon the cause of his madness. Perhaps they may be of some use. The masons refuse to tear the thing down, something about it gives them the creeps. Probably all the blood.

We must now decide what is to be done with Zokunled. Despite this tragedy, Zokunled was a good friend of mine. I feel that I would be unable to pass a fair judgement on him. Therefore, I leave his fate up to the new manager, come Spring time. I can only recommend leinency, in honor of his many seasons of honest service.

Additionally, I have included maps and diagrams for the future manager, to better aide him or her in her service of Ducimemal.

End Log Entry