Bloodline:Oceanside Year 2

Excerpts from the log of hmxmoss, a ranger of Bloodline:Oceanside.

Granite

One year ago, Andrew Ryan led us out to this wilderness, this seaside lowland of saltwater, trees and groundhogs. Ryan is a likable enough character; I've no grudge against him, though he speaks strangely at times.

Ryan also has a fascination with the water and longs to build an undersea fortress of glass. I am told by the engineers that it can be done, but I wonder if it _should_ be done. There is something... reassuring... about foundations of root and stone. Still, most everyone else seems fascinated by Ryan's dream, and I am not against a hard day of work, so I'll simply follow instructions as best I can.

Mostly, that means I wander around outdoors with my dogs, Zefon and Sakzul, hunting game for meat and chopping trees for lumber. Great exercise, fresh air... To me, home remains a planned and polished underground fortress to which I return, but a dwarf can still enjoy the outdoors without going completely Elfen...

...and speaking of Elves, a few come by last week to trade. Ryan made them wait a bit before coming up to trade. Really, the Elves are a pesky lot. They come with very little of use, and buy little... certainly nothing crafted from their "precious trees". Their leader saw all the lumber lying about: the work of my hands. I stood nearby, grinning proudly, as his mood darkened, though all was forgotten once they got a taste of the groundhog meat roasts we traded for some bolts of cloth. So much for their dedication to the woodlands...

Slate

I wondered about the cloth Ryan received in trade... why so much? Sure, some of the clothes being worn about Oceanside are a bit ragged, but that's to be expected of a new fortress and all the corresponding work. When I asked, Ryan told me we needed bags for sand collection, the sand for glass production.

Makes sense, I guess. I don't know the figures, but I imagine it will take 1,000 dragonsweights of glass, if not more.

Felsite

I have been quite occupied with lumber production that I haven't paid attention to much else. When I took a break a few days back, I noticed that every other dwarf looked tired. We're all pulling double shifts and double duty, which can only go on for so long.

I brought this to Ryan's attention today, which only started him on his usual speech: something about a dwarf's entitlement to the sweat of his brow... I was never much for politics, so while Ryan's a nice guy, I generally ignore his speeches. (Incidentally, I suspect that "Andrew" is really "Andrea", but I've said nothing in public; such accusations are most undwarvenly.)

In the midst of his speech, Ryan trailed off, peering at the horizon. Coming over the far hill was a few dwarves... migrants, by the looks of them. No, not just a few... two dozen! Ryan stared blankly for a moment. He then muttered something about records and stores and took off, asking me to tally the incoming dwarves. Certainly, with all these new dwarves and their skills, we would be able to accomplish more with less stress.

Hematite

At some point, a barracks was dug out, complete with armor and weapons storage and an archery range. Incidentally, this was not Ryan's idea, but mine. A few choice words whispered in the right ears and we have our first military: four speardwarves (in training). I felt this necessary; I've seen a number of goblins and kobolds creeping around on the outskirts, and there are likely to be more than the few I've seen.

Ryan, I know, would have something to say about governments and militaries, but I'm not really interested in another speech. Still, we need some defenses, however small it might be. (And I intend to keep it small for now, to keep in under Ryan's radar while he's busy with the books, traders and general dwarf management.)

Malachite

A band of humans came visiting with several wagons of goods. Ryan went out to deal with them, and for some well-cooked meals, we received a much better selection of goods than we got from the Elves: shields, bolts, leather, exotic metals... I'm happy with Ryan's decision to pick up those shields and bolts, but I wonder if he knows about the miniscule military I created? Ryan said nothing to me, so for now, I'll just keep my eyes and ears open and continue on as normal.

Galena

Comparing the start of the year to now, we are certainly better off. The extra dwarves have allowed us to increase production and make it more efficient at the same time. In addition to all the existing industries, the two new glassworkers put up a glass shop and another woodburner, and they have begun forming blocks of a muted green glass. Not the prettiest stuff, but if it's going under the water, well.... it all looks pretty murky green anyway, right?

Ryan seems rather excited; he went and joined a party in the grand dining room. Strange, for one so focused on working, he's no stranger to the regular parties that seem to go on in this place.

Limestone

One of the new glassworkers, Alåth, got into a strange mood during work. He created a green glass vial of perfect symmetry; Alåth calls it Zalud âgoth: "The Future of Competing". Bizarre name, but I didn't ask why. Seems quite valuable for a vial, but I haven't seen anyone here who would actually make use of it. Still, Alåth seems much more focused in his work now. The glass blocks he produces are incredibly precise and fit together without seams. Whatever might be said of his treasured vial, it has certainly improved his skill at shaping glass.

While Alåth was impressing everyone with his creation, Ryan was above attempting to make a deal with merchants arrived from dwarfhome. I wasn't around while the negotiations were in progress, but in the end, the merchants left without a deal. Ryan looked furious, telling me that they tried to rip us off to the n-th degree.

The next day, some of those kobolds I'd seen before made an attempt to enter the fort. Ryan was the one who stumbled upon them and, in his frustration and anger from the trading session, he slew the kobs without a thought. He did not leave the confrontation without a scratch, though... the gash across his back will heal, but I doubt that Ryan will be completely pain-free ever again. He never smiles now; he always has a scowl on his face.

Sandstone

One of the fish cleaners got a bit weird recently, running around grabbing bits and pieces of things. He repeatedly spoke the word "Othlestothsin" under his breath as he did his work in the workshop, eventually crafting a bracelet which he dubbed by this same word (which means "Scorchedbows"). Wood, bone, chalk, and a single red sardonyx make an interesting piece of jewelry, I suppose. The engravings of our arrival to this region are well done.

In the end, though, he had no memory of making the bracelet... he only said "cool" and went back to dissecting fish.

Timber

More migrants arrived this week, almost another dozen of them. I'm not sure why a milker decided to come out this way, but who am I to judge?

Moonstone

We suffered the first attack on our fortress yesterday, a small force of six goblins. They managed to sneak right up on us at the front gate, so there was absolutely no time to shut the gate and lock them out. I got word to the speardwarves to hurry on outside. I feared their training was not complete, but they were going to be our best hope for defense.

Two goblins fell quickly, but the other four split up, chasing down civilians while dividing our spear force at the same time. As I suspected, insufficient training left our spears unable to react quickly to the goblin's tactics. I had to jump into the fray, knocking down three goblins with the blade of my axe and the help of my dogs. The final goblin was eventually chased and put down by a couple of our spears.

We were lucky the goblins weren't very smart, and fortunate to lose only one dwarf in the ambush, a hunter named Led who arrived earlier this year. I've had a few words with wavecutter about spending more time in the barracks training and less time partying downstairs. After what happened, I think he's with me on this.

Andrew Ryan was completely oblivious to the whole incident, as he was in his office tallying numbers and checking inventories. I don't think I'll mention it to him... it'll just provoke a new round of speeches which I'd rather not hear.

Opal

Ryan emerged early this month with instructions for the engineers, masons and carpenters to begin creation of an ocean platform. I think he wants to begin a process of pumping and damming, to make space to build this glass under-the-water fortress he desires. I helped out here or there, but mostly chopped down trees. While trees seem plentiful here in this region, we do go through a lot of them, burning some for charcoal, building boxes and barrels with others. I even helped to craft a few windmills which will provide power for some mechanism down on the platform. I've no idea what it is, and really don't care to ask.

Obsidian

Not much exciting in this past month... just continued construction on the platform. I suspect it will take a while before Ryan's dream is achieved.