Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

Porcupine

2018-08-25T14:54:43Z

Xvareon: Fixed 'than than' to 'than'.

{{Quality|Superior|11:39, 18 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{creaturelookup/0
|spine=1
|lung=2
|intestines=1
|liver=1
|tripe=1
|brain=1
|skull=1
|fat=7
|skin=hide
|meat=7
|bone=4
|contrib=no
|wiki=yes
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

'''Porcupines''' are small, solitary [[creature]]s found in a wide variety of [[biome]]s. They are entirely benign and spend their time roaming your surroundings aimlessly, being easy prey for anyone who attempts to confront them. Their bodies are covered in spines which, while not actually harmful to the touch, do provide them with more insulation than most other animals. A newborn porcupine is called a ''pup''.

Porcupines can be captured in [[cage]] [[trap]]s and [[Animal trainer|trained]] into exotic [[pet]]s. Due to their small size, they provide few returns when [[butcher]]ed, less than even [[dog]]s, making them poor targets for a [[meat industry]]. Butchering a porcupine will also create a single unusable spine which serves only to occupy space in your [[refuse]] [[stockpile]].

Some dwarves [[Preferences|like]] porcupines for their ''quills''.

[[File:Porcupine-BioDome.jpg|thumb|center|400px|Admired for its ''quills''.]]

{{D for Dwarf}}
Some porcupines are found with red fur, and a lot of dandruff, they also fear everything, and some of them die horible deaths. Anyone for skiing?

{{gamedata}}
{{creatures}}

Calcareous ooze

2018-08-22T16:58:31Z

Xvareon: Changed a comma to a period.

{{Quality|Superior|19:20, 16 August 2017 (UTC)}}
{{soillookup/0|wiki=Pelagic sediment}}
{{av}}

'''Calcareous ooze''' is one of the several types of [[soil]] that can be found on the floors of deep [[ocean]]s. Not surprisingly, such layers occasionally contain an [[aquifer]].

Calcareous ooze is a type of [[soil|pelagic sediment]]. It is formed by particles of [[flux|calcium carbonate]] , as opposed to [[siliceous ooze]], which is formed by the silica in diatoms and other microorganisms.

{{gamedata}}

{{DF2014 soil}}

Ashery

2018-08-22T01:09:44Z

Xvareon: Noted what milk of lime is used for when made from the Ashery.

{{Quality|Exceptional|09:11, 9 August 2010 (UTC)}}
{{Workshop
|name=Ashery
|key=y
|job=
* [[Potash maker|Potash Making]]
* [[Lye maker|Lye Making]]
|construction=
* [[Block]]
* [[Barrel]] (empty)
* [[Bucket]] (lye/milk-free)
|construction_job=
* [[Potash maker|Potash Making]]
* [[Lye maker|Lye Making]]
|use=
* [[Ash]]
* [[Lye]]
* [[Quicklime]]
* Empty [[Bucket]]
|production=
* [[Lye]]
* [[Potash]]
* [[Milk of lime]]
}}{{av}}

The '''Ashery''' is a [[workshop]] used to make [[lye]], [[potash]], and [[milk of lime]]. To build an ashery, you need a [[block]], a [[barrel]], a [[bucket]], and someone with the [[potash maker|potash making]] or [[Lye maker|lye making]] [[labor]] enabled.

Lye is one of the main ingredients for [[soap]], which is used for [[cleaning]] [[wound]]s and the fortress, while [[potash]] is used for fertilizing [[farm plot|farms]], allowing an increased output of [[plants]]. Milk of lime is used to make [[parchment]] [[sheet]]s out of raw animal [[skin]]s for the [[paper industry]].

==Menu==
'''Ashery'''

*{{k|l}} Make Lye
*{{k|p}} Make Potash From Lye
*{{k|a}} Make Potash From Ash
*{{k|m}} Make milk of lime

==See also==

:*[[Soap]]
:*[[Farming]]

{{Workshops}}

Cherry

2018-08-21T16:06:03Z

Xvareon: Cleaned up the text a bit. Likened the cherry blossom clouds to mist.

{{Quality|fine}}
{{Treelookup/0}}
{{av}}

'''Cherry''' is one of the many genera of trees found above ground. Like the vast majority of aboveground trees, cherry [[wood]] is brown and produces brown products.

They of course produce cherries, which may be eaten raw, cooked, or brewed into [[alcohol|cherry wine]]. In the Summer season, cherry trees are unique in that they produce white clouds of cherry blossoms around themselves as they shed their flowers, which can easily be mistaken for [[mist]], syndrome-causing clouds, or a cave-in. In Autumn, the trees drop their fruit en masse.

Some [[Dwarf|dwarves]] [[Preferences|like]] cherry trees for their ''blossoms'' and their ''fruit''.

[[File:Black Che.jpg|thumb|center|300px|Admired for its ''fruit''.]]

{{gamedata}}
{{Plants}}
{{Category|Surface trees}}

Glumprong

2018-08-20T03:59:17Z

Xvareon: Added note about hauling glumprong with wheelbarrows. Also added a bit about using it for trap components.

{{Quality|Exceptional|09:46, 8 August 2010 (UTC)}}
{{Treelookup/0|wiki=no}}
{{av}}
'''Glumprongs''' are a type of [[above ground]] [[tree]]. They are found only in [[Surroundings#Evil|evil]] regions, and are notable for their unique purple color and high density [[wood]]. Because of this high density, they can be detrimental when used to make items that need to be hauled frequently; they are however prime material for your [[ballista]] bolts.

If embarking in an evil biome, glumprongs can provide an early and enticing source of wood to the practical player and purple to the purple-loving player. However, they are so slow to haul that any dwarf tasked with dragging a felled glumprong to the wood stockpile is in a prime position to be attacked by [[beak dog|beak dogs]] or [[Undead|worse]]. To mitigate this, a player may wish to provide a wood [[stockpile]] with several [[wheelbarrow]]s handy for carrying glumprong, which will greatly speed up hauler dwarves.

The impressively high density of glumprong wood makes it an attractive material for certain [[trap component]]s that can deal blunt-type damage to take advantage of its weight and mass, such as the spiked ball. While quickly outclassed by metals like [[iron]] and [[steel]], glumprong may be easier to mass-produce in an evil biome, and thus ideal for stuffing hallways with cheap 'filler' weapon [[trap]]s.

Incidentally, glumprong wood also happens to be the most sensitive material for [[Minecart#Capacity and weights|empty minecart sorting]].

Some [[Dwarf|dwarves]] [[Preferences|like]] glumprongs for their ''living shadows''.

{{gamedata}}
{{Plants}}
{{Category|Surface trees}}

40d:Sliver barb

2018-08-20T03:40:06Z

Xvareon: Reverted earlier change after I realized 'sliver' was intentional. My bad. I did change 'sliver dye' to 'black dye', though, as that's the color of dye produced.

{{quality|Exceptional|18:28, 8 November 2010 (UTC)}}
{{40d plantlookup/0|uses=
* [[Alcohol]]
|other_products=
* [[Sliver dye]]}}
{{av}}

The '''sliver barb''' is an aboveground crop that can be brewed into [[gutter cruor]], which is a low value [[alcohol]], and can also be milled into black [[dye]] at a [[mill]] or [[quern]]. Sliver barbs are present only in evil [[biome]]s, and since friendly civilizations won't spawn in evil areas, this means that the only way to obtain sliver barbs is to embark in an evil area.

* Grow time: 300
* Plant value: 2
* Drink value: 1
* Mill value: 20
* Dye color: Black
* Seasons: All

==See Also==
*[[List of crops]]
*[[Textile industry]]

{{gamedata}}
{{Plants}}

40d:Sliver barb

2018-08-20T03:37:52Z

Xvareon: Fixed misspelling: "sliver" to "silver".

{{quality|Exceptional|18:28, 8 November 2010 (UTC)}}
{{40d plantlookup/0|uses=
* [[Alcohol]]
|other_products=
* [[Sliver dye]]}}
{{av}}

The '''sliver barb''' is an aboveground crop that can be brewed into [[gutter cruor]], which is a low value [[alcohol]], and can also be milled into silver [[dye]] at a [[mill]] or [[quern]]. Sliver barbs are present only in evil [[biome]]s, and since friendly civilizations won't spawn in evil areas, this means that the only way to obtain sliver barbs is to embark in an evil area.

* Grow time: 300
* Plant value: 2
* Drink value: 1
* Mill value: 20
* Dye color: Black
* Seasons: All

==See Also==
*[[List of crops]]
*[[Textile industry]]

{{gamedata}}
{{Plants}}

v0.34:Cross-training

2012-07-25T19:58:35Z

Xvareon:

{{quality|Fine|20:28, 24 August 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Cross-training''' is the process of training your civilian dwarves in military pursuits, or vice versa, and can offer several benefits. First and most importantly, it can be a good way of raising attributes, leading to stronger, tougher, faster dwarves. Secondly, it provides a handy pool of recruits for when your military takes a beating or gives your civilians a halfway decent chance of defending themselves. Thirdly, it can provide useful replacements for when your legendary mason accidentally blunders into a troll and gets all his limbs broken. Finally, it's a more productive use of time than standing around idling.

There is nothing saying you have to use only one of these ideas; they are all various approaches toward addressing these areas.

==Cross-training (starting a reserves program)==
The biggest thing to remember with a reserves program is that if you're going to go, you go all the way. Don't institute something "just for a little while" and come up with a handful of novice reservists; they will not get significant stat increases and you'll only waste time. Time is not something you have a heck of a lot of in a reserves program, typically. Remember that after you draft them, most dwarves are going to need about a year of sparring or training before they're ready for heavy combat. You might not have that much time if you are getting sieges regularly.

===Different Programs:===

====Gym ([[pump operator]])====
The Gym is the most basic sort of reserves program; it merely consists of building a bunch of [[screw pump]]s connected to nothing in a room that's close to [[food]], [[bed]]s, and [[drink]]. After the pumps are built, order them to be pumped manually, then turn on [[Pump operator|pump operating]] for your reservists.

'''Pros:'''
*Easy and extremely cheap to set up;
*Requires no continuous oversight on your part.
*Beneficial for fps, air-pumpers consume, produce and move nothing.
*Somewhat fast training; legendary in under a year (if other responsibilities like hauling are minimized).
*Very convenient; gyms can be placed anywhere in your fortress with no issues. 
*Inactive marksdwarf squads can operate pumps to cross-train and be activated at a moment's notice - boost attributes without using bolts.
*If desired, you can arrange your pumps so they power one or more indoor [[waterfall]]s or other water-powered devices.
'''Cons:'''
*Generates nothing useful other than the increased attributes of the trainee.
*Tons of cancel job spam. Every time a reservist exhausts himself and goes to satisfy his basic needs, you'll see "Urist McScrewpumper cancels Operate Pump: Exhausted."
*If you have any pumps around that actually DO need to be operated every so often (refilling your [[well]], for example), it could be a serious pain to juggle the useless gym pumps and the ones that are actually useful.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Toughness, Endurance, Willpower, Kinesthetic Sense

====Artillery proving ground ([[siege operator]])====
Mass-produce some catapults, line them up near a quarry, and fire away. Works well to dispose of stone from a gulag (see below). 
'''Pros:'''
*Trains a skill that's reasonably useful, and provides a place to put all the sub-par siege engine components your [[siege engineer]] will doubtlessly create if you're going for superior-quality engines.
*Harasses the wildlife, which is always fun. 
'''Cons:'''
*Very slow to train (2+ years for legendary).
*Fairly space-consuming to set up a well-designed and usable proving ground.
*Can be dangerous depending on the biome (especially when [[elephant]]s are present. If they get winged by a stray boulder, you can bet they're going to be coming straight at you).
*[[Siege operator]]s are civilians, and will run in fear when an enemy approaches them.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Toughness, Endurance, Analytical Ability, Focus, Spatial Sense

====Internship MkII ([[manager]])====
Much like bookkeeping, assign a new dwarf to manager, queue several hundred jobs, and rotate a replacement in as soon as he becomes legendary. For bonus points, queue jobs which need to be repeated anyway, like "Prepare Raw Fish" or "Mill Plants", or jobs for which there is no workshop, like "Make Wooden Bow" or "Make Soap". 
'''Pros:'''
*Requires no extra infrastructure at all.
*You need a manager anyway!
*Mostly safe; a manager spends basically all his discretionary time snug in his office, or doing his other assigned jobs.
'''Cons:'''
*Only employs one dwarf at a time; not useful when you have 15-25 candidates for the reserves.
*No announcement when the current intern reaches Legendary status means you can lose time on rotation easily.
*Produces little to no useful attribute gains
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Analytical Ability, Memory, Focus

====Gulag ([[miner]])====
The gulag is basically a strip mine that is located far away from your main fortress (so you don't have to worry about accidentally screwing up your own building plans; if you are careful in planning, it may be placed closer to your fortress). Take a big square and start leveling it; it's really no more complicated than that. Since [[pick|picks]] can actually be used as weapons, it's worthwhile to give the reservists who will be working in the gulag picks made out of [[bronze]], or, if you are really living large, [[iron]] or even [[steel]]. Note that you will have to turn your usual mining corps (the civilian miners who are already experienced with mining) off or designate separate mining [[burrow]]s for this setup to work properly. It might be convenient to use a locked door to isolate the gulag from the main fortress, once a batch of trainees are inside. 
'''Pros:'''
*Soldiers can be equipped with picks from the military skill, and use the Miner skill in combat - militia squads of highly-skilled miners can provide a decent defence from early threats
*Toting a pick for close-quarters support might make a legendary [[marksdwarf]] more useful, since the pathetic bludgeon damage of his [[wood]] and [[bone]] [[Weapon#Dwarf-manufactured Weapons|crossbows]] are less important.
*Can be quite useful for producing stones you might not have access to normally, or uncovering veins of precious metals.
*Levels quite fast in sand.
*Relatively little oversight from you.
*An overland hike to the gulag will fight [[cave adaptation]] in your military candidates.
*Can easily be transformed into a [[Caverns#Vegetation|underground tree farm]] on suitable maps, providing a safe and replenishable wood source.

*Mining trains all military attributes, so it's perfect for military training too
'''Cons:'''
*Juggling your real miners and your reservists when there's real work to be done on the fort can be a chore.
*Hard to keep dwarves in the gulag for too long; they'll inevitably get hungry, thirsty, and tired and start hiking back to the fortress proper. Could be solved by (temporary) [[burrow]].
*Can be dangerous, depending on the biome.
*Does require some amount of oversight from you, especially when your reservists start getting better at mining and run out of work more quickly.
*Surplus stone and mining in general are suspected to promote [[Maximizing_framerate|lag]].
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Toughness, Endurance, Willpower, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense

====Renovation ([[stone detailing]])====
Another convenient way to buff up your dwarves, assigning your reservists to mass [[stone detailing]] duty increases your fortress' architectural wealth and makes the place look nicer. While they may clutter the halls somewhat, it doesn't require any special allocation of [[food]], [[Bed|beds]] or [[drink]]. Just turn on [[stone detailing]] for your reservists and mark up as much of the fortress as you like for renovation. 
'''Pros:'''
*Even easier to set up; just assign your dwarves and an area and you're good to go.
*Increases your fortress' value and general happiness.
*Requires no continuous oversight on your part.
*Very safe, if you only assign areas inside the fortress.

'''Cons:'''
*Wealth overflow may bring too many [[immigrant]]s.
*Serious conflict with [[engraving]] assignments; trying to engrave with poorly trained engravers wastes a lot of wealth that essentially comes from nothing. To avoid this, have periods when you only designate stone smoothing, followed by periods where you only designate engraving.
*Careless designation of smoothing areas may have your dwarves trying to smooth walls too close to [[magma]] or a [[river]].

'''Attributes Trained:'''

Agility, Creativity, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense

====Sweatshop ([[mason]])====
Make one or more [[mason's workshop]]s in an area with a bunch of junk stone you don't care about, or that you're actively looking to clear. Change the workshop settings to allow only your reservists to use it, then tell the workshop to churn out crafts, junk furniture, stone blocks, and trade goods that you can trade en-masse. Alternatively, forbid your reservists from working in your real mason's workshops, order lots of stone constructions built, and pray that your real masons stay too occupied with the workshops to intrude. Works well in conjunction with a gulag. Alternate ideas for sweatshops include a [[mechanic's workshop]], [[craftsdwarf's workshop]], [[Kiln|magma kiln]], or a [[Glass furnace|magma glass furnace]] to train [[mechanic]], [[Stone crafter|stonecrafter]], [[potter]] and [[glassmaker]] respectively. ''Note: Do NOT try this with the [[carpenter]] skill unless you have a large supply, or any other resource you don't have in near-limitless abundance. Sweatshops will consume huge amounts of their associated resources, and if you run out mid-way you have probably wasted your time. This includes [[coke]] or [[charcoal]] used in the normal (non-magma) [[glass furnace]].'' 
'''Pros:'''
*Quantitatively turns a profit. The inferior trade goods can be dumped on the next caravan for more useful commodities like bags, seeds, and logs. Logs are especially useful, since you'll inevitably stamp out lots of bins to support the trade good output.
*Mass-producing blocks makes your constructions higher value.
*Unlike many other training programs, Sweatshops train a skill that is very useful.

'''Cons:'''
*Slow to level.
*Hard to keep the reservists on task, since they'll need to do plenty of hauling to keep their workshop from becoming chokingly cluttered.
*Can be a logistical nightmare; making bins and organizing hauling for the finished goods can be insane if you're working from a gulag.
*Can be dangerous depending on the biome and location of your sweatshops.
*Note also that stone blocks cannot be made into furniture or stone crafts. This may or may not be an issue depending on where you're putting your gulag.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Agility, Endurance, Creativity, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense

====Dwarf Powered Mill ([[grower]], [[cook]], [[miller]])====
Start off by creating a surplus of [[longland grass]], [[cave wheat]], and/or [[whip vine]] and some bags. Create multiple [[quern]] all close to the food stockpile which contains the millable plants. Next to this area make a [[kitchen]] assigned to an experienced cook. Enable milling for the dwarves you wish to cross-train and order the cook to make lavish meals. As long as your growers provide a steady supply of millable plants and your cook can empty out bags quick enough, the milling jobs will continue. 
'''Pros:'''
*Produces a lot of wealth as flour is a high value ingredient
*Produces high amounts of food
*Sustains the training of non cross-training dwarves such as the cook and growers

'''Cons:'''
*Requires a surplus of millable plants to ensure continuous milling, thus you may need to increase the number of plots/growers
*If you don't have enough bags and your cook decides to go on break you may end up having job cancellations for the millers
*Dedicated haulers will be required to keep all workshops clutter free
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Agility, Endurance, Kinesthetic Sense (grower and miller)

Agility, Analytical Ability, Creativity, Kinesthetic Sense (cook)

====Clear Cutting====
As long as wood hauling is turned off, dwarves will move from one tree to the next without stopping to bring the wood back. On a heavily forested map, this means that dedicated wood cutters can skill up very quickly.

Of course, this training strategy isn't going to endear you with the [[elves]].

'''Pros:'''
*Works quickly
*Trees regrow
*Provides useful lumber to carpenters, charcoal makers, etc
*Can cause problems with elves
'''Cons:'''
*Can cause problems with elves
*Map dependent
*Unless care is taken to only designate a small area for cutting, trainees and haulers can be spread out across the map while, making them vulnerable to creatures and ambushes.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Agility, Endurance, Willpower, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense

====Dwarf Scouts ([[ambusher]], [[hunter]], [[marksdwarf]])====
Marksdwarves are an important part of any military. A bum rush of low level marksdwarves is good, but not as effective as an elite backup squad! Here is what you can do:
Draft a comfortable amount of dwarves to hunting, give them all cheap crossbows. Your dwarves should hunt as usual. But you are really training an elite squad of assassins, that will one day hunt goblins instead of groundhogs.

'''Pros:'''
*Easy to start.
*Lots of meat, bones and leather around.
*Aforementioned bones can be recycled to make new bolts.

'''Cons:'''
*Doesn't work on some maps.
*Hunting is dangerous!
*evil areas may result in the deer your dwarves bagged, waking up and ripping your hunter's face off!
*Not as economically productive as some other methods.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Agility, Focus, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense (ambusher)

====Charm School ([[Social skill|Social skills]])====
(Note: Inspired by [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=47533.0 milaga's Real Wagon experiment], details of this technique are still being investigated.)
This approach is less useful in the new version, as social skills will only produce "Soul" attribute gains. However, teaching your dwarves social skills is useful for training replacement Brokers, and can possibly reduce the chances of tantrums in the fort (more dwarves with high Consoler and Pacifier skill).

Set up a small space with food, booze, and a few beds/chairs/tables. Next define a burrow encompassing said chairs tables etc. and assign only your intended trainees to the burrow. (Be sure to turn off all of their labors and use the building options menu of a table to designate it as a meeting place.) With no labors enabled and nothing to do, they'll chat and party and quickly buff up their comedian, flatterer, conversationalist, &c. skills.

'''Pros:'''
*works on any map
*easy to set up
*trains many dwarves at once
*requires almost zero player oversight
*easily scales to any size of immigrant wave
*requires no resources the dwarves would not already be consuming (food, beds, &c)
*very safe
*no conflict with existing workshops or skills, unlike gulag or sweatshop

'''Cons:'''
*dwarves gain no professional skills during this time, and their existing ones may rust
*lowers physical attributes due to rust
*produces no trade goods or useful items for the fortress
*produces many romances and tight-knit friendships, which [[Tantrum#Tantrum Spiral|put you at risk]] of suddenly having lots of [[losing#General Unhappiness|Fun]]
*inter-dwarf personality conflicts can produce early misery and tantrums. This can be prevented with quality furniture and food, and the risk is eliminated once friendships and relationships are formed and producing happy thoughts.

====National self-defense training====
''Note: with the new military system, proper self-defense training is somewhat more complicated to set up, but allows much more effective reservist training once it's running. Make sure you're familiar with the [[Scheduling]] system before attempting this.''

This is the process of training all your civilians in a basic military skill - or at least, most of them. Any time a dwarf is activated into the military, and they do not have at least Novice level in some combat skill, they get a bad thought. The easiest way to do this is to assign every new [[migrant]] to dedicated training [[squad|squads]], and assign that squad a barracks. Then, schedule these squads to Train one or more months in the year, and set all other months to "No Scheduled Order". Then go to the Squads menu and set the squad to "Active/Training". One month in six or one month in 12 will ensure skills don't get too rusty, as well as ensuring all dwarves reach a basic level in soldiering. To increase the rate at which dwarves gain skills, you can place one experienced soldier in each squad, which will make demonstrations much more valuable. It is worth setting the "Train" order in the schedule to less than 10 minimum; this allows dwarves to take time out to eat, drink, sleep...

Then, if they ever get caught where they don't want to be (maybe they bump into a thief coming around a corner, or a flying critter jumps them, or you need to urgently order them out of the path of a magma flood, or send them to the [[Lever|control room]] - anything), not only can you activate them with no bad thoughts, but every dwarf has a better chance at not-dying - which can only be a good thing. Moreover, idle dwarves will now go to "Individual Combat Drill" rather than standing around timewasting.

Note: if you're feeling cheap, training squads can be set to "No Uniform". This will teach wrestling. However, it's probably a better idea to churn out some training weapons, wooden shields and leather armour, as this will allow dwarves to gain the shield user and armour user skills.

===Overview===
*The charm school can cross-train many dwarves in the many mental attributes, but produces no useful items, trade wealth, or professional skills. The method is also still being refined and potential pitfalls may still be uncovered.
*Artillery training can give you some siege operators, which will be useful if you have ballistae.
*The internship only trains up one dwarf at a time. Your stocks could also lag behind if you are unlucky.
*The gulag requires planning, and your dwarves in the fortress proper may run all the way to the gulag to grab a stone for some crafts, a chair, etc. It does, however, train your dwarves in mining quickly, which is always a useful skill.
*Renovation is hands-free, but may bloat your fortress wealth too quickly.
*The sweatshop creates a large amount of goods, which can be traded away to keep traders happy. It also increases your wealth by quite a lot, which can be good or bad depending upon your situation. The goods are also difficult to manage.
*National self-defence training is easy to manage when set up and lets you give your civilians clothes and light armour to keep them safe. However, it can take valuable workers away from their job if the training is too frequent.

Note that the artillery training and internship don't take away [[strange mood]] potential (you can give those dwarves dabbling in anything you want and that's how they'll get theirs), while the gulag, renovation, and sweatshop do.

{{Military FAQ}}

{{Category|Military}}
{{Category|Fortress defense}}

v0.34:Cross-training

2012-07-25T19:57:29Z

Xvareon: /* Clear Cutting */

{{quality|Fine|20:28, 24 August 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Cross-training''' is the process of training your civilian dwarves in military pursuits, or vice versa, and can offer several benefits. First and most importantly, it can be a good way of raising attributes, leading to stronger, tougher, faster dwarves. Secondly, it provides a handy pool of recruits for when your military takes a beating or gives your civilians a halfway decent chance of defending themselves. Thirdly, it can provide useful replacements for when your legendary mason accidentally blunders into a troll and gets all his limbs broken. Finally, it's a more productive use of time than standing around idling.

There is nothing saying you have to use only one of these ideas; they are all various approaches toward addressing these areas.

==Cross-training (starting a reserves program)==
The biggest thing to remember with a reserves program is that if you're going to go, you go all the way. Don't institute something "just for a little while" and come up with a handful of novice reservists; they will not get significant stat increases and you'll only waste time. Time is not something you have a heck of a lot of in a reserves program, typically. Remember that after you draft them, most dwarves are going to need about a year of sparring or training before they're ready for heavy combat. You might not have that much time if you are getting sieges regularly.

===Different Programs:===

====Gym ([[pump operator]])====
The Gym is the most basic sort of reserves program; it merely consists of building a bunch of [[screw pump]]s connected to nothing in a room that's close to [[food]], [[bed]]s, and [[drink]]. After the pumps are built, order them to be pumped manually, then turn on [[Pump operator|pump operating]] for your reservists.

'''Pros:'''
*Easy and extremely cheap to set up;
*Requires no continuous oversight on your part.
*Beneficial for fps, air-pumpers consume, produce and move nothing.
*Somewhat fast training; legendary in under a year (if other responsibilities like hauling are minimized).
*Very convenient; gyms can be placed anywhere in your fortress with no issues. 
*Inactive marksdwarf squads can operate pumps to cross-train and be activated at a moment's notice - boost attributes without using bolts.
*If desired, you can arrange your pumps so they power one or more indoor [[waterfall]]s or other water-powered devices.
'''Cons:'''
*Generates nothing useful other than the increased attributes of the trainee.
*Tons of cancel job spam. Every time a reservist exhausts himself and goes to satisfy his basic needs, you'll see "Urist McScrewpumper cancels Operate Pump: Exhausted."
*If you have any pumps around that actually DO need to be operated every so often (refilling your [[well]], for example), it could be a serious pain to juggle the useless gym pumps and the ones that are actually useful.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Toughness, Endurance, Willpower, Kinesthetic Sense

====Artillery proving ground ([[siege operator]])====
Mass-produce some catapults, line them up near a quarry, and fire away. Works well to dispose of stone from a gulag (see below). 
'''Pros:'''
*Trains a skill that's reasonably useful, and provides a place to put all the sub-par siege engine components your [[siege engineer]] will doubtlessly create if you're going for superior-quality engines.
*Harasses the wildlife, which is always fun. 
'''Cons:'''
*Very slow to train (2+ years for legendary).
*Fairly space-consuming to set up a well-designed and usable proving ground.
*Can be dangerous depending on the biome (especially when [[elephant]]s are present. If they get winged by a stray boulder, you can bet they're going to be coming straight at you).
*[[Siege operator]]s are civilians, and will run in fear when an enemy approaches them.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Toughness, Endurance, Analytical Ability, Focus, Spatial Sense

====Internship MkII ([[manager]])====
Much like bookkeeping, assign a new dwarf to manager, queue several hundred jobs, and rotate a replacement in as soon as he becomes legendary. For bonus points, queue jobs which need to be repeated anyway, like "Prepare Raw Fish" or "Mill Plants", or jobs for which there is no workshop, like "Make Wooden Bow" or "Make Soap". 
'''Pros:'''
*Requires no extra infrastructure at all.
*You need a manager anyway!
*Mostly safe; a manager spends basically all his discretionary time snug in his office, or doing his other assigned jobs.
'''Cons:'''
*Only employs one dwarf at a time; not useful when you have 15-25 candidates for the reserves.
*No announcement when the current intern reaches Legendary status means you can lose time on rotation easily.
*Produces little to no useful attribute gains
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Analytical Ability, Memory, Focus

====Gulag ([[miner]])====
The gulag is basically a strip mine that is located far away from your main fortress (so you don't have to worry about accidentally screwing up your own building plans; if you are careful in planning, it may be placed closer to your fortress). Take a big square and start leveling it; it's really no more complicated than that. Since [[pick|picks]] can actually be used as weapons, it's worthwhile to give the reservists who will be working in the gulag picks made out of [[bronze]], or, if you are really living large, [[iron]] or even [[steel]]. Note that you will have to turn your usual mining corps (the civilian miners who are already experienced with mining) off or designate separate mining [[burrow]]s for this setup to work properly. It might be convenient to use a locked door to isolate the gulag from the main fortress, once a batch of trainees are inside. 
'''Pros:'''
*Soldiers can be equipped with picks from the military skill, and use the Miner skill in combat - militia squads of highly-skilled miners can provide a decent defence from early threats
*Toting a pick for close-quarters support might make a legendary [[marksdwarf]] more useful, since the pathetic bludgeon damage of his [[wood]] and [[bone]] [[Weapon#Dwarf-manufactured Weapons|crossbows]] are less important.
*Can be quite useful for producing stones you might not have access to normally, or uncovering veins of precious metals.
*Levels quite fast in sand.
*Relatively little oversight from you.
*An overland hike to the gulag will fight [[cave adaptation]] in your military candidates.
*Can easily be transformed into a [[Caverns#Vegetation|underground tree farm]] on suitable maps, providing a safe and replenishable wood source.

*Mining trains all military attributes, so it's perfect for military training too
'''Cons:'''
*Juggling your real miners and your reservists when there's real work to be done on the fort can be a chore.
*Hard to keep dwarves in the gulag for too long; they'll inevitably get hungry, thirsty, and tired and start hiking back to the fortress proper. Could be solved by (temporary) [[burrow]].
*Can be dangerous, depending on the biome.
*Does require some amount of oversight from you, especially when your reservists start getting better at mining and run out of work more quickly.
*Surplus stone and mining in general are suspected to promote [[Maximizing_framerate|lag]].
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Toughness, Endurance, Willpower, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense

====Renovation ([[stone detailing]])====
Another convenient way to buff up your dwarves, assigning your reservists to mass [[stone detailing]] duty increases your fortress' architectural wealth and makes the place look nicer. While they may clutter the halls somewhat, it doesn't require any special allocation of [[food]], [[Bed|beds]] or [[drink]]. Just turn on [[stone detailing]] for your reservists and mark up as much of the fortress as you like for renovation. 
'''Pros:'''
*Even easier to set up; just assign your dwarves and an area and you're good to go.
*Increases your fortress' value and general happiness.
*Requires no continuous oversight on your part.
*Very safe, if you only assign areas inside the fortress.

'''Cons:'''
*Wealth overflow may bring too many [[immigrant]]s.
*Serious conflict with [[engraving]] assignments; trying to engrave with poorly trained engravers wastes a lot of wealth that essentially comes from nothing. To avoid this, have periods when you only designate stone smoothing, followed by periods where you only designate engraving.
*Careless designation of smoothing areas may have your dwarves trying to smooth walls too close to [[magma]] or a [[river]].

'''Attributes Trained:'''

Agility, Creativity, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense

====Sweatshop ([[mason]])====
Make one or more [[mason's workshop]]s in an area with a bunch of junk stone you don't care about, or that you're actively looking to clear. Change the workshop settings to allow only your reservists to use it, then tell the workshop to churn out crafts, junk furniture, stone blocks, and trade goods that you can trade en-masse. Alternatively, forbid your reservists from working in your real mason's workshops, order lots of stone constructions built, and pray that your real masons stay too occupied with the workshops to intrude. Works well in conjunction with a gulag. Alternate ideas for sweatshops include a [[mechanic's workshop]], [[craftsdwarf's workshop]], [[Kiln|magma kiln]], or a [[Glass furnace|magma glass furnace]] to train [[mechanic]], [[Stone crafter|stonecrafter]], [[potter]] and [[glassmaker]] respectively. ''Note: Do NOT try this with the [[carpenter]] skill unless you have a large supply, or any other resource you don't have in near-limitless abundance. Sweatshops will consume huge amounts of their associated resources, and if you run out mid-way you have probably wasted your time. This includes [[coke]] or [[charcoal]] used in the normal (non-magma) [[glass furnace]].'' 
'''Pros:'''
*Quantitatively turns a profit. The inferior trade goods can be dumped on the next caravan for more useful commodities like bags, seeds, and logs. Logs are especially useful, since you'll inevitably stamp out lots of bins to support the trade good output.
*Mass-producing blocks makes your constructions higher value.
*Unlike many other training programs, Sweatshops train a skill that is very useful.

'''Cons:'''
*Slow to level.
*Hard to keep the reservists on task, since they'll need to do plenty of hauling to keep their workshop from becoming chokingly cluttered.
*Can be a logistical nightmare; making bins and organizing hauling for the finished goods can be insane if you're working from a gulag.
*Can be dangerous depending on the biome and location of your sweatshops.
*Note also that stone blocks cannot be made into furniture or stone crafts. This may or may not be an issue depending on where you're putting your gulag.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Agility, Endurance, Creativity, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense

====Dwarf Powered Mill ([[grower]], [[cook]], [[miller]])====
Start off by creating a surplus of [[longland grass]], [[cave wheat]], and/or [[whip vine]] and some bags. Create multiple [[quern]] all close to the food stockpile which contains the millable plants. Next to this area make a [[kitchen]] assigned to an experienced cook. Enable milling for the dwarves you wish to cross-train and order the cook to make lavish meals. As long as your growers provide a steady supply of millable plants and your cook can empty out bags quick enough, the milling jobs will continue. 
'''Pros:'''
*Produces a lot of wealth as flour is a high value ingredient
*Produces high amounts of food
*Sustains the training of non cross-training dwarves such as the cook and growers

'''Cons:'''
*Requires a surplus of millable plants to ensure continuous milling, thus you may need to increase the number of plots/growers
*If you don't have enough bags and your cook decides to go on break you may end up having job cancellations for the millers
*Dedicated haulers will be required to keep all workshops clutter free
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Agility, Endurance, Kinesthetic Sense (grower and miller)

Agility, Analytical Ability, Creativity, Kinesthetic Sense (cook)

====Clear Cutting====
As long as wood hauling is turned off, dwarves will move from one tree to the next without stopping to bring the wood back. On a heavily forested map, this means that dedicated wood cutters can skill up very quickly.

Of course, this training strategy isn't going to endear you with the ''elves''.

'''Pros:'''
*Works quickly
*Trees regrow
*Provides useful lumber to carpenters, charcoal makers, etc
*Can cause problems with elves
'''Cons:'''
*Can cause problems with elves
*Map dependent
*Unless care is taken to only designate a small area for cutting, trainees and haulers can be spread out across the map while, making them vulnerable to creatures and ambushes.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Strength, Agility, Endurance, Willpower, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense

====Dwarf Scouts ([[ambusher]], [[hunter]], [[marksdwarf]])====
Marksdwarves are an important part of any military. A bum rush of low level marksdwarves is good, but not as effective as an elite backup squad! Here is what you can do:
Draft a comfortable amount of dwarves to hunting, give them all cheap crossbows. Your dwarves should hunt as usual. But you are really training an elite squad of assassins, that will one day hunt goblins instead of groundhogs.

'''Pros:'''
*Easy to start.
*Lots of meat, bones and leather around.
*Aforementioned bones can be recycled to make new bolts.

'''Cons:'''
*Doesn't work on some maps.
*Hunting is dangerous!
*evil areas may result in the deer your dwarves bagged, waking up and ripping your hunter's face off!
*Not as economically productive as some other methods.
'''Attributes Trained:'''

Agility, Focus, Spatial Sense, Kinesthetic Sense (ambusher)

====Charm School ([[Social skill|Social skills]])====
(Note: Inspired by [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=47533.0 milaga's Real Wagon experiment], details of this technique are still being investigated.)
This approach is less useful in the new version, as social skills will only produce "Soul" attribute gains. However, teaching your dwarves social skills is useful for training replacement Brokers, and can possibly reduce the chances of tantrums in the fort (more dwarves with high Consoler and Pacifier skill).

Set up a small space with food, booze, and a few beds/chairs/tables. Next define a burrow encompassing said chairs tables etc. and assign only your intended trainees to the burrow. (Be sure to turn off all of their labors and use the building options menu of a table to designate it as a meeting place.) With no labors enabled and nothing to do, they'll chat and party and quickly buff up their comedian, flatterer, conversationalist, &c. skills.

'''Pros:'''
*works on any map
*easy to set up
*trains many dwarves at once
*requires almost zero player oversight
*easily scales to any size of immigrant wave
*requires no resources the dwarves would not already be consuming (food, beds, &c)
*very safe
*no conflict with existing workshops or skills, unlike gulag or sweatshop

'''Cons:'''
*dwarves gain no professional skills during this time, and their existing ones may rust
*lowers physical attributes due to rust
*produces no trade goods or useful items for the fortress
*produces many romances and tight-knit friendships, which [[Tantrum#Tantrum Spiral|put you at risk]] of suddenly having lots of [[losing#General Unhappiness|Fun]]
*inter-dwarf personality conflicts can produce early misery and tantrums. This can be prevented with quality furniture and food, and the risk is eliminated once friendships and relationships are formed and producing happy thoughts.

====National self-defense training====
''Note: with the new military system, proper self-defense training is somewhat more complicated to set up, but allows much more effective reservist training once it's running. Make sure you're familiar with the [[Scheduling]] system before attempting this.''

This is the process of training all your civilians in a basic military skill - or at least, most of them. Any time a dwarf is activated into the military, and they do not have at least Novice level in some combat skill, they get a bad thought. The easiest way to do this is to assign every new [[migrant]] to dedicated training [[squad|squads]], and assign that squad a barracks. Then, schedule these squads to Train one or more months in the year, and set all other months to "No Scheduled Order". Then go to the Squads menu and set the squad to "Active/Training". One month in six or one month in 12 will ensure skills don't get too rusty, as well as ensuring all dwarves reach a basic level in soldiering. To increase the rate at which dwarves gain skills, you can place one experienced soldier in each squad, which will make demonstrations much more valuable. It is worth setting the "Train" order in the schedule to less than 10 minimum; this allows dwarves to take time out to eat, drink, sleep...

Then, if they ever get caught where they don't want to be (maybe they bump into a thief coming around a corner, or a flying critter jumps them, or you need to urgently order them out of the path of a magma flood, or send them to the [[Lever|control room]] - anything), not only can you activate them with no bad thoughts, but every dwarf has a better chance at not-dying - which can only be a good thing. Moreover, idle dwarves will now go to "Individual Combat Drill" rather than standing around timewasting.

Note: if you're feeling cheap, training squads can be set to "No Uniform". This will teach wrestling. However, it's probably a better idea to churn out some training weapons, wooden shields and leather armour, as this will allow dwarves to gain the shield user and armour user skills.

===Overview===
*The charm school can cross-train many dwarves in the many mental attributes, but produces no useful items, trade wealth, or professional skills. The method is also still being refined and potential pitfalls may still be uncovered.
*Artillery training can give you some siege operators, which will be useful if you have ballistae.
*The internship only trains up one dwarf at a time. Your stocks could also lag behind if you are unlucky.
*The gulag requires planning, and your dwarves in the fortress proper may run all the way to the gulag to grab a stone for some crafts, a chair, etc. It does, however, train your dwarves in mining quickly, which is always a useful skill.
*Renovation is hands-free, but may bloat your fortress wealth too quickly.
*The sweatshop creates a large amount of goods, which can be traded away to keep traders happy. It also increases your wealth by quite a lot, which can be good or bad depending upon your situation. The goods are also difficult to manage.
*National self-defence training is easy to manage when set up and lets you give your civilians clothes and light armour to keep them safe. However, it can take valuable workers away from their job if the training is too frequent.

Note that the artillery training and internship don't take away [[strange mood]] potential (you can give those dwarves dabbling in anything you want and that's how they'll get theirs), while the gulag, renovation, and sweatshop do.

{{Military FAQ}}

{{Category|Military}}
{{Category|Fortress defense}}

v0.31:Goblin

2011-11-18T17:26:59Z

Xvareon:

{{Quality|Fine|07:54, 9 August 2010 (UTC)}}
{{Creaturelookup/0
|contrib=no
|death=nobutcher
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

Goblins are intelligent, mean-spirited humanoid creatures that live in mountains. They often establish settlements in Dark Fortresses within regions touched by evil, though it may be hard for some to imagine that goblins are capable of building those obsidian monoliths. They are also playable as adventurers. They are a constant threat to any fortress.

Goblins will start harassing a fortress early in its life, first with babysnatchers and ambushes, and later with {{L|siege}}s. Goblin babysnatchers carry a bag for their purpose. Their soldiers are commonly armed with {{L|copper}} and {{L|iron}} {{L|armor}} and {{L|weapon}}s. Defeating a majority of an attacking force usually sends the rest of them running.

Goblins show the least concern of {{L|ethics}} out of any race in game, with the sole exception being that treason is punishable by death. It appears that goblins do not enforce punishment, and instead simply ignore crimes and leave any punishment to be determined by the parties involved. It is because of their acceptance of controversial acts that goblins become enemies with nearly every other race. For example, goblins find the torture of animals, the butchering and consuming of sapient beings, oath breaking and torturing for fun acceptable or consider it a personal matter. Invading goblins are always willing to attack other goblins lounging around at your fortress.

In {{L|Adventurer mode}}, "goblin" settlements will sometimes be completely goblin free, having been displaced by the descendants of children that were captured in ages past. In this respect, whilst they're a goblin ''faction'', they're populated purely by prisoners and mindwashed humanoids.

Goblins are notably cowardly. Whilst they're brutal and sadistic, they will not hold the line against a superior force and are more than willing to sacrifice their wounded comrades in a badly organised retreat. Their strength generally comes in pure numbers, as they're usually weaker than a dwarf one on one (A notable exception is their weapon lords and masters, who can be VERY talented in warfare.)

If a Goblin siege attacks you with mounts and with a flashing Goblin "General", it will be the last time they come on mounts. Since the general is the one who trains all the mounts, as soon as he dies in your fort (or disappears off the map{{bug|2892}}) there will be no more mounts.{{bug|3442}}

{{D for Dwarf}}
Despite their bloodthirsty and cruel nature, goblins are also recognized as a benevolent and merciful race in some aspects. Goblin Baby-Snatchers claim moral superiority by "supposedly" rescuing innocent lives from the slavery of making {{L|useless crap|rock trumpets}} until they are eaten by a {{L|giant cave spider}}. Goblin {{L|Siege}}s are considered to be a form of mass mercy killings, as a fort can die in the most horrific of ways, such as {{L|tantrum spiral|social disagreement}}s, an infestation of {{L|Noble|parasitic organisms masquerading as dwarve}}s, or worst of all: a visit from the circus.
{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Races}}
{{Category|Humanoids}}

40d:Activity zone

2011-02-18T02:18:46Z

Xvareon:

{{quality|Exceptional|15:44, 30 September 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Activity zones''' are areas in which {{L|dwarves}} are instructed to perform specific tasks, such as {{L|fishing}}, {{L|dumping}} objects, or collecting {{L|water}}. While activity zones are necessary for the performance of certain tasks, such as collecting {{L|sand}}, they can also be used to help to keep dwarves out of danger and greatly increase the efficiency of some of their {{L|hauling}} behavior.

Activity zones can be placed in any {{L|revealed tile}}, including in {{L|open space}} (over the {{L|chasm}} or a {{L|river}}, for instance), or on top of a {{L|building}} or {{L|stockpile}}. (If any tile is impassable or unreachable, however, that portion of the zone will go unused.) They are placed in the same manner as stockpiles, by designating a rectangular area using {{K|Enter}} from within the Zones menu ({{K|i}}).

The location of a zone is only visible while in the Zones menu, and any object lying on the ground will hide the presence of a zone tile. {{L|Building}}s, {{L|stockpile}}s, {{L|construction}}s, and even rock walls will not obscure zone tiles, even though they may sometimes make them inaccessible.

Once an activity zone is created, tasks can be assigned to it by hovering over it with the cursor while in the Zones menu. When hovering over the activity zone, you may tap {{k|a}} to enable or disable the zone. Disabling a zone will not cancel any existing job that involves that zone, but no further jobs related to it will be created while it is disabled.

==Water Source==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|w}}
{{L|Water}} source zones are areas in which dwarves will look for water to fill {{L|bucket}}s, {{L|waterskin}}s, or to drink. If there is no water source zone, dwarves may attempt to get water a great distance away from the fortress.

To define a water source, place a zone next to a constructed or natural {{L|murky pool}}, {{L|river}}, or {{L|channel}} full of ''{{L|Water#Salt_Water|fresh}}'' water. If the water is fresh, each ground tile within the zone adjacent to the water is considered a water source tile, and that number of water-tiles will be seen in the sub-menu - if you see none, that water is not fresh. Thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone to be used as a water source, place the zone onto a ground tile adjacent to the water, not onto the open space above the water. Water sources can also be placed over {{L|grate}}s and floor {{L|bars}}, as well as directly on top of a {{L|brook}}.

==Fishing==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|f}}
Fishing zones are areas in which dwarves will attempt to {{L|fish}}.

To define a fishing zone, place a zone over ground tiles adjacent to an [[ocean]], [[murky pool]], [[brook]], [[stream]], [[river]], or [[lake]]. Fishing may also be done at artificially-created ponds. As with a water source, each ground tile that is adjacent to the natural water source is considered a fishing zone: drawing a single tile of fishing zone on top of the water will accomplish nothing unless it is on top of a {{L|brook}} tile or above a {{L|grate}} or floor {{L|bars}}.

If you do not designate fishing zone(s), any dwarves with the fishing {{L|labor}} enabled will still go off to in any fish-bearing body of water, although they may choose to fish in an area very distant from the fortress, which may also expose them to dangerous wildlife. Note that a fishing zone is required for dwarves ordered to "{{L|Captured live fish|Catch live fish}}" from a {{L|Fishery}} - if no zones are present, they will simply stand around and do nothing.

== Garbage Dump ==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|g}}
Garbage dump zones are areas in which dwarves will throw items specifically designated by using {{k|k}} then {{k|d}} for single items at a time, or {{k|d}}, {{k|b}}, {{k|d}} to designate a larger area to be dumped (or use the mouse to point and click). Garbage dumps are not the same as {{L|refuse}} stockpiles, which can be designated to accept any specific type(s) of refuse-type item, such as animal corpses or bones, and then are randomly filled by haulers as the items become available on the map.

Garbage dumps:
:* Only accept items that have been marked for dumping.
:* Require dwarfs to have {{L|refuse hauling}} {{L|labor}} enabled.
::* Are subject to refuse orders (''{{k|o}}: Set Orders and Options -> {{k|r}}: Refuse Orders''). Most notably, dwarves will not dump items that are outside unless you allow them to ({{k|o}}->{{k|r}}->{{k|o}}).

To place a garbage dump, trace a zone on either a relatively empty plot of land or adjacent to a cliff face or hole. If a garbage zone is designated beside a {{L|cliff}} or hole (both natural or dwarf made) garbage will be thrown off/in the z-space. Each ground tile within that zone is considered a garbage dump tile; thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile (optionally adjacent to a cliff or {{L|Activity zone#Pit/Pond|pit}}), not onto an {{L|open space}}.
Items dumped into a {{L|chasm}} or {{L|magma}} (provided they are not {{L|magma safe}}) will disappear permanently. Otherwise, any number of dumped items will fit even in a 1x1 square{{version|0.28.181.40d}}; this can be used for {{L|stone management}}.

Once items are dumped they are automatically marked as "forbidden" however they will not dump items that are also forbidden. If you wish to use dumped items, you need to reclaim them. Press {{k|k}} to view the item and {{k|f}} to toggle forbid status. You may also use the reclaim {{L|designation}} to reclaim simultaneously all of the items dumped by using {{k|d}}, {{k|b}}, {{k|c}} and tracing the designation over top of the objects.

Dumping can be used as an effective siege defense tactic in an entirely above-ground fortress, since ordering dwarves to stay inside will have no effect - when you get a siege, make a large dumping designation on those useless stones of yours then just reclaim them if you need them back.

If a garbage dump is located next to open space, dwarves will always stand on a garbage dump square when throwing ''into that open space'', even if it could potentially be done more efficiently. If a garbage dump is located next to multiple tiles of open space, the seem to prefer the one farthest to the northwest. If a tile to the north and a tile to the west are the only tiles available, they will throw to the west. Since falling objects do not hurt dwarves, such garbage dumps can be a very efficient method of moving materials to the lower levels of your fortress.

Dwarves seem to throw dumped items in the nearest available garbage dump, although this is probably not reliable given that they don't always use the nearest available item to make things at workshops. If a nearer zone becomes available as they are traveling to a zone they will ignore it. Also, they seem to prefer dumps that allow them to throw things in to open space regardless of how far away they are.

Note that Dwarves will actually ''destroy'' cave spider {{L|silk}} webs instead of hauling it. Webs need to be gathered by a job generated at a {{L|loom}} using the {{L|weaving}} labor.

==Pit/Pond==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|p}}
Pit zones are areas that dwarves can be instructed to fill with specific {{L|creatures}}. The zone will only ever be used if you specify an animal manually to be dumped into the pit. Be wary that merchant guards will attack dangerous creatures that are on their way to be pitted, regardless of the creature not being able to attack back. So wait for merchants to leave before pitting anything.

Pond zones are areas that dwarves can be told to fill with water, using buckets. If the zone is active, the dwarves will continue attempting to fill the pond until it reaches a 6/7 state.

To place a pit/pond zone, trace a zone directly over top of open space you wish to use as a pit or pond. Unlike most of the other activity zones, the ground tiles are not used to determine the zone: a single-tile pit/pond zone is placed on top of the open space, not on the ground tile adjacent to it.

After defining the zone, hover over the zone then use {{key|P}} to open a menu which allows you to toggle whether it is a pit or pond with the key {{key|f}}. You may also specify {{L|animals}} you would like to throw into the pit or pond by selecting them with {{k|+}} and {{k|-}} and hitting {{k|Enter}}; a {{Raw Tile|+|#0f0|#000}} symbol denotes those animals which have been selected.

If you wish to fill a large pond faster, you may place multiple pond zones side by side, one for each tile of the pond accessible from the shore. Each individual zone will generate its own Fill Pond job. Likewise, you may define multiple pit zones side by side, and may thus toss several animals into the same pit simultaneously by specifying different animals for each pit zone.

It may also be advisable to disable the hauling of furniture from the {{L|Orders}} menu while filling a pond, as otherwise the buckets used to fill the pond will be immediately tasked for storage in a stockpile, resulting in numerous task cancellations.

It is possible to designate a pit/pond zone over a hole covered by a {{L|bridge}} or floor hatch; oddly, dwarves will still be able to drop monsters/water into the pit, despite the barrier present. This can be useful when pitting numerous dangerous creatures, as dwarves will otherwise cancel their tasks when they see the other hostile creatures already in the pit.

There is a small bug / glitch where dwarves pitting a hostile creature will cancel their task and run away after releasing the hostile from their cage. The only way to avoid this is to not stockpile / build cages that contain the creature you want to pit. Therefore, after capturing a creature with the cage trap, leave the cage where it is if you want to pit the captured creature.

To the above mentioned bug, there is also an alternative. You can build a cage and as it asks you to select a cage, press x to "expand" the list. This way it should show all the information of a cage - i.e. Kobold Cage (Pine). After placing the cage in your desired location, link a lever to the cage and pull it to release the creature. This is a good idea for a large "prisoner" battle.

==Sand Collection==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|s}}
{{L|Sand}} collection zones are areas in which dwarves will search for sand when ordered to gather it. Sand is used for {{L|glassmaking}}.
Unlike water source and fishing zones, dwarves won't find sand by themselves if you don't define a sand collection zone. To collect sand, build a {{L|glass furnace}} and queue up "collect sand" tasks at the building or using the {{L|manager}} screen.

Sand collection zones must be placed either on top of or adjacent to a floor tile containing any type of sand - (normal) sand, yellow sand, white sand, black sand, or red sand. Sandy clay, sandy loam, and the like are not sufficient. It's worth noting that sand collection zones can be placed on top of stockpiles or even {{L|farm plot}}s.

==Meeting Area==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|m}}
Meeting area zones are areas in which dwarves and animals will congregate, similar to {{L|meeting hall}}s.

Additionally, {{l|immigrant}}s will collect here until their "migrant" status wears off. It is a good idea to have at least one Meeting Area, of one form or another: it allows you to make off-duty dwarves and animals gather in an area where they are not vulnerable, such as within the fortress. Also, if you don't have a Meeting Area zone or other type of {{L|meeting hall}}, migrants which arrive will wait at the edge of the map until "migrant" wears off. A meeting area filled with {{L|On break|idle}} dwarves rubbing shoulders quickly increases the {{L|social skill}}s of idlers which may give them {{L|attribute}} boosts. It makes idle dwarves a little less idle, and makes selecting a replacement {{L|broker}} (if the old one dies) easier.

There are several ways to designate a meeting hall. The preferred method is to use an Activity zone; type {{k|i}}, set up a zone, and mark it both "active" and "meeting". {{L|Statue garden}}s and {{L|zoo}}s are intrinsically meeting halls, as are rooms defined from a {{L|well}}. However, you can also create a {{L|Meeting hall|Meeting Hall}}.

Because every dwarf will gather at the meeting hall every so often, it is an ideal place to site objects that give them happy thoughts. Interesting animals in cages perhaps designated as a {{L|zoo}}, a waterfall with {{L|mist}}, and high-quality {{L|statues}} and other objects can each improve the quality of life in your fortress. A meeting hall placed in a place with sunshine will ensure that dwarves do not become {{L|cave adaptation|cave adapted}}. Your starting {{L|wagon (embark)|wagon}} will serve as a meeting hall until you establish an official one or it is disassembled.

Be warned that having dwarves socialize will result in them becoming {{L|friend}}s. This is often considered negative due to the extreme happiness penalties implicit in having a friend die, and can make your fortress much more vulnerable to {{L|tantrum}} spirals.

40d:Activity zone

2011-02-18T02:16:34Z

Xvareon:

{{quality|Exceptional|15:44, 30 September 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Activity zones''' are areas in which {{L|dwarves}} are instructed to perform specific tasks, such as {{L|fishing}}, {{L|dumping}} objects, or collecting {{L|water}}. While activity zones are necessary for the performance of certain tasks, such as collecting {{L|sand}}, they can also be used to help to keep dwarves out of danger and greatly increase the efficiency of some of their {{L|hauling}} behavior.

Activity zones can be placed in any {{L|revealed tile}}, including in {{L|open space}} (over the {{L|chasm}} or a {{L|river}}, for instance), or on top of a {{L|building}} or {{L|stockpile}}. (If any tile is impassable or unreachable, however, that portion of the zone will go unused.) They are placed in the same manner as stockpiles, by designating a rectangular area using {{K|Enter}} from within the Zones menu ({{K|i}}).

The location of a zone is only visible while in the Zones menu, and any object lying on the ground will hide the presence of a zone tile. {{L|Building}}s, {{L|stockpile}}s, {{L|construction}}s, and even rock walls will not obscure zone tiles, even though they may sometimes make them inaccessible.

Once an activity zone is created, tasks can be assigned to it by hovering over it with the cursor while in the Zones menu. When hovering over the activity zone, you may tap {{k|a}} to enable or disable the zone. Disabling a zone will not cancel any existing job that involves that zone, but no further jobs related to it will be created while it is disabled.

==Water Source==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|w}}
{{L|Water}} source zones are areas in which dwarves will look for water to fill {{L|bucket}}s, {{L|waterskin}}s, or to drink. If there is no water source zone, dwarves may attempt to get water a great distance away from the fortress.

To define a water source, place a zone next to a constructed or natural {{L|murky pool}}, {{L|river}}, or {{L|channel}} full of ''{{L|Water#Salt_Water|fresh}}'' water. If the water is fresh, each ground tile within the zone adjacent to the water is considered a water source tile, and that number of water-tiles will be seen in the sub-menu - if you see none, that water is not fresh. Thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone to be used as a water source, place the zone onto a ground tile adjacent to the water, not onto the open space above the water. Water sources can also be placed over {{L|grate}}s and floor {{L|bars}}, as well as directly on top of a {{L|brook}}.

==Fishing==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|f}}
Fishing zones are areas in which dwarves will attempt to {{L|fish}}.

To define a fishing zone, place a zone over ground tiles adjacent to an [[ocean]], [[murky pool]], [[brook]], [[stream]], [[river]], or [[lake]]. Fishing may also be done at artificially-created ponds. As with a water source, each ground tile that is adjacent to the natural water source is considered a fishing zone: drawing a single tile of fishing zone on top of the water will accomplish nothing unless it is on top of a {{L|brook}} tile or above a {{L|grate}} or floor {{L|bars}}.

If you do not designate fishing zone(s), any dwarves with the fishing {{L|labor}} enabled will still go off to in any fish-bearing body of water, although they may choose to fish in an area very distant from the fortress, which may also expose them to dangerous wildlife. Note that a fishing zone is required for dwarves ordered to "{{L|Captured live fish|Catch live fish}}" from a {{L|Fishery}} - if no zones are present, they will simply stand around and do nothing.

== Garbage Dump ==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|g}}
Garbage dump zones are areas in which dwarves will throw items specifically designated by using {{k|k}} then {{k|d}} for single items at a time, or {{k|d}}, {{k|b}}, {{k|d}} to designate a larger area to be dumped (or use the mouse to point and click). Garbage dumps are not the same as {{L|refuse}} stockpiles, which can be designated to accept any specific type(s) of refuse-type item, such as animal corpses or bones, and then are randomly filled by haulers as the items become available on the map.

Garbage dumps:
:* Only accept items that have been marked for dumping.
:* Require dwarfs to have {{L|refuse hauling}} {{L|labor}} enabled.
::* Are subject to refuse orders (''{{k|o}}: Set Orders and Options -> {{k|r}}: Refuse Orders''). Most notably, dwarves will not dump items that are outside unless you allow them to ({{k|o}}->{{k|r}}->{{k|o}}).

To place a garbage dump, trace a zone on either a relatively empty plot of land or adjacent to a cliff face or hole. If a garbage zone is designated beside a {{L|cliff}} or hole (both natural or dwarf made) garbage will be thrown off/in the z-space. Each ground tile within that zone is considered a garbage dump tile; thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile (optionally adjacent to a cliff or {{L|Activity zone#Pit/Pond|pit}}), not onto an {{L|open space}}.
Items dumped into a {{L|chasm}} or {{L|magma}} (provided they are not {{L|magma safe}}) will disappear permanently. Otherwise, any number of dumped items will fit even in a 1x1 square{{version|0.28.181.40d}}; this can be used for {{L|stone management}}.

Once items are dumped they are automatically marked as "forbidden" however they will not dump items that are also forbidden. If you wish to use dumped items, you need to reclaim them. Press {{k|k}} to view the item and {{k|f}} to toggle forbid status. You may also use the reclaim {{L|designation}} to reclaim simultaneously all of the items dumped by using {{k|d}}, {{k|b}}, {{k|c}} and tracing the designation over top of the objects.

Dumping can be used as an effective siege defense tactic in an entirely above-ground fortress, since ordering dwarves to stay inside will have no effect - when you get a siege, make a large dumping designation on those useless stones of yours then just reclaim them if you need them back.

If a garbage dump is located next to open space, dwarves will always stand on a garbage dump square when throwing ''into that open space'', even if it could potentially be done more efficiently. If a garbage dump is located next to multiple tiles of open space, the seem to prefer the one farthest to the northwest. If a tile to the north and a tile to the west are the only tiles available, they will throw to the west. Since falling objects do not hurt dwarves, such garbage dumps can be a very efficient method of moving materials to the lower levels of your fortress.

Dwarves seem to throw dumped items in the nearest available garbage dump, although this is probably not reliable given that they don't always use the nearest available item to make things at workshops. If a nearer zone becomes available as they are traveling to a zone they will ignore it. Also, they seem to prefer dumps that allow them to throw things in to open space regardless of how far away they are.

Note that Dwarves will actually ''destroy'' cave spider {{L|silk}} webs instead of hauling it. Webs need to be gathered by a job generated at a {{L|loom}} using the {{L|weaving}} labor.

==Pen/Pasture==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|n}}
As of v0.31.19, Pen/Pasture zones have been implemented. Pen/Pasture zones are areas where you can select specific animals to be restricted; sort of like a {{L|burrow}} for animals. Once you've selected your creature(s) to be penned, a Dwarf will eventually come by, drag the animal to the zone and release it. The animal will remain within that zone indefinitely, although {{l|cow|some animals}} must still eat. Grazing animals will eat any grass in the zone, though it has been hinted that certain Evil biome grasses may be poisonous.

It is also possible for grass to grow in dug out areas in soil underground, without needing light. The muddy floor of some {{L|cavern}}s also grows a wide variety of fungus, all of which grazing animals can consume.

Grazing animals aside, Pen/Pasture zones are a perfect way to restrict the movements of animals, so they don't wander around your Fortress and spoil your framerate.

==Pit/Pond==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|p}}
Pit zones are areas that dwarves can be instructed to fill with specific {{L|creatures}}. The zone will only ever be used if you specify an animal manually to be dumped into the pit. Be wary that merchant guards will attack dangerous creatures that are on their way to be pitted, regardless of the creature not being able to attack back. So wait for merchants to leave before pitting anything.

Pond zones are areas that dwarves can be told to fill with water, using buckets. If the zone is active, the dwarves will continue attempting to fill the pond until it reaches a 6/7 state.

To place a pit/pond zone, trace a zone directly over top of open space you wish to use as a pit or pond. Unlike most of the other activity zones, the ground tiles are not used to determine the zone: a single-tile pit/pond zone is placed on top of the open space, not on the ground tile adjacent to it.

After defining the zone, hover over the zone then use {{key|P}} to open a menu which allows you to toggle whether it is a pit or pond with the key {{key|f}}. You may also specify {{L|animals}} you would like to throw into the pit or pond by selecting them with {{k|+}} and {{k|-}} and hitting {{k|Enter}}; a {{Raw Tile|+|#0f0|#000}} symbol denotes those animals which have been selected.

If you wish to fill a large pond faster, you may place multiple pond zones side by side, one for each tile of the pond accessible from the shore. Each individual zone will generate its own Fill Pond job. Likewise, you may define multiple pit zones side by side, and may thus toss several animals into the same pit simultaneously by specifying different animals for each pit zone.

It may also be advisable to disable the hauling of furniture from the {{L|Orders}} menu while filling a pond, as otherwise the buckets used to fill the pond will be immediately tasked for storage in a stockpile, resulting in numerous task cancellations.

It is possible to designate a pit/pond zone over a hole covered by a {{L|bridge}} or floor hatch; oddly, dwarves will still be able to drop monsters/water into the pit, despite the barrier present. This can be useful when pitting numerous dangerous creatures, as dwarves will otherwise cancel their tasks when they see the other hostile creatures already in the pit.

There is a small bug / glitch where dwarves pitting a hostile creature will cancel their task and run away after releasing the hostile from their cage. The only way to avoid this is to not stockpile / build cages that contain the creature you want to pit. Therefore, after capturing a creature with the cage trap, leave the cage where it is if you want to pit the captured creature.

To the above mentioned bug, there is also an alternative. You can build a cage and as it asks you to select a cage, press x to "expand" the list. This way it should show all the information of a cage - i.e. Kobold Cage (Pine). After placing the cage in your desired location, link a lever to the cage and pull it to release the creature. This is a good idea for a large "prisoner" battle.

==Sand Collection==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|s}}
{{L|Sand}} collection zones are areas in which dwarves will search for sand when ordered to gather it. Sand is used for {{L|glassmaking}}.
Unlike water source and fishing zones, dwarves won't find sand by themselves if you don't define a sand collection zone. To collect sand, build a {{L|glass furnace}} and queue up "collect sand" tasks at the building or using the {{L|manager}} screen.

Sand collection zones must be placed either on top of or adjacent to a floor tile containing any type of sand - (normal) sand, yellow sand, white sand, black sand, or red sand. Sandy clay, sandy loam, and the like are not sufficient. It's worth noting that sand collection zones can be placed on top of stockpiles or even {{L|farm plot}}s.

==Meeting Area==
:''Shortcut'' {{k|m}}
Meeting area zones are areas in which dwarves and animals will congregate, similar to {{L|meeting hall}}s.

Additionally, {{l|immigrant}}s will collect here until their "migrant" status wears off. It is a good idea to have at least one Meeting Area, of one form or another: it allows you to make off-duty dwarves and animals gather in an area where they are not vulnerable, such as within the fortress. Also, if you don't have a Meeting Area zone or other type of {{L|meeting hall}}, migrants which arrive will wait at the edge of the map until "migrant" wears off. A meeting area filled with {{L|On break|idle}} dwarves rubbing shoulders quickly increases the {{L|social skill}}s of idlers which may give them {{L|attribute}} boosts. It makes idle dwarves a little less idle, and makes selecting a replacement {{L|broker}} (if the old one dies) easier.

There are several ways to designate a meeting hall. The preferred method is to use an Activity zone; type {{k|i}}, set up a zone, and mark it both "active" and "meeting". {{L|Statue garden}}s and {{L|zoo}}s are intrinsically meeting halls, as are rooms defined from a {{L|well}}. However, you can also create a {{L|Meeting hall|Meeting Hall}}.

Because every dwarf will gather at the meeting hall every so often, it is an ideal place to site objects that give them happy thoughts. Interesting animals in cages perhaps designated as a {{L|zoo}}, a waterfall with {{L|mist}}, and high-quality {{L|statues}} and other objects can each improve the quality of life in your fortress. A meeting hall placed in a place with sunshine will ensure that dwarves do not become {{L|cave adaptation|cave adapted}}. Your starting {{L|wagon (embark)|wagon}} will serve as a meeting hall until you establish an official one or it is disassembled.

Be warned that having dwarves socialize will result in them becoming {{L|friend}}s. This is often considered negative due to the extreme happiness penalties implicit in having a friend die, and can make your fortress much more vulnerable to {{L|tantrum}} spirals.

v0.31:Troll

2011-02-18T01:57:41Z

Xvareon:

{{Quality|Fine|08:24, 12 August 2010 (UTC)}}
{{CreatureInfo v0.31
|name=Troll
|symbol=T|color=0:0:1
|biome=
* {{L|cavern|Subterranean cavern}} (Depth 1 - 2)
|wiki=no
|contrib=no
|death=nobutcher
}}
{{av}}

:''A huge humanoid monster with coarse fur, large tusks and horns.''

'''Trolls''' are large, predatory, dangerous subterranean creatures that often appear under the command of goblins during sieges, noted for their "terrifying features". They are {{L|building destroyer}}s, and will path to your buildings simply for the joy of sheer destruction. During sieges, they act as battering rams so {{L|trap design|design your defenses accordingly}}.

Trolls that show up during goblin invasions may have non military professions due to their [CAN_LEARN] tag.

Goblins can take trolls as {{L|pet}}s to start a fort. As of version v0.31.19, Goblins can shear Trolls for their fur, similar to Sheep.

Trolls have light blue blood.

{{gamedata}}
{{creatures}}
{{Category|Humanoids}}

v0.31:Kobold

2011-01-10T02:31:55Z

Xvareon:

{{CreatureInfo v0.31
|name=Kobold
|symbol=k
|color=6:0:0
|biome=
* Any
|butcher=no|wiki=no
|contrib=no
|death=nobutcher}}{{av}}{{Quality|Exceptional}}

:''A small, squat humanoid with large pointy ears and yellow glowing eyes.''

Kobolds are small creatures adept at thieving that try to infiltrate your fortress and try to steal valuable items. They will run away once discovered. Kobolds arrive at your fortress in sneak mode, meaning you and your Dwarfs cannot see them. Previously in 40d, a creature had to be right next to a Kobold to spot them, this is not the case anymore; it is now based on how high a dwarf's {{L|observer}} skill is, the higher it is, the farther away it will be spotted. They can go through locked {{L|door}}s and they are not affected by {{L|trap}}s.

If the kobolds are successful in multiple thieving attempts, they will grow bolder and send squads of armed kobolds to attack your apparently defenseless fort. These squads also arrive in sneak mode and will ambush any dwarves and traders on the map. In the past, kobold {{L|weapon}}s were made of inferior {{L|metal}}s (generally {{L|copper}}); however, kobolds in version 0.31 are observed to have access to '''all''' metals, including {{L|steel}} (seemingly due to a fallback which triggers due to them not being given access to any metals at all).

Kobolds are commonly known to congregate in small to medium sized groups, primarily inside {{L|cave}}s, though recent studies [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=74802.0] have shown they may also camp outdoors, living exactly as they do in caves, in a large group with piles of random jewelry and gems around them. Assuming you can get past the Kobolds, their wealth is all for the taking.

{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Humanoids}}
{{Category|Races}}

v0.31:Burrow

2010-07-23T22:48:55Z

Xvareon:

{{AV}}
{{Quality|Fine}}
Burrows are part of the new organization of fortresses, user-defined areas in your fort where selected dwarves live and work. You can assign these areas like zones and assign one or more dwarves to them. You may assign the same dwarf to multiple burrows, if desired. Dwarves will only use workshops, dig walls, use rooms, etc. in burrows they are assigned to, though dwarves not assigned to any burrow will still use workshops etc. even if they are located in a burrow assigned to some other dwarves.

== Defining a new burrow ==

To enter the "define burrow" mode, press {{k|w}}.

You'll be presented with a list of all of your existing burrows. Change which burrow is selected with your secondary selection keys.

To add a new burrow to the list, press {{k|a}}. The new burrow created this way starts with no tiles and a default name.

To configure a burrow, select it and press enter. This is where you'll be able to set the burrow's name, define what tiles it encompasses, and add or remove individual dwarves. Defining the burrow's tiles can be done using rectangles much like other mass-selection or mass-designation situations elsewhere in the game, or you can paint with the mouse. Unlike other area selections, burrow selections can take place over multiple z-levels, meaning that you can select cubes, rather than rectangles; also unlike most other area selections, they may overlap. Press {{k|r}} to set whether you're adding or subtracting tiles from the burrow. You can also set the colors and symbols used for different burrows to help tell them apart. A burrow may span multiple Z levels, so long as a means of getting from one Z level to another is within the Burrow zone.

Unlike {{L|activity zone}}s, burrows can also be extended through not-yet revealed tiles, thus allowing to designate "mining zones" for differently {{L|skill}}ed miners.

== Defending and restricting burrows ==

''Full article: {{l|Scheduling}}

Burrows are one of the ways you can give passive orders to {{l|squads}} and civilians during {{l|Scheduling#Alert levels|alerts}}. Under the squad schedule menu (Press {{k|m}} {{k|s}}) you can add an order to any particular month for the chosen alert with {{k|o}} or edit their existing orders with {{k|e}}. On the Give Orders menu, use {{k|o}} to cycle through the orders given to squads. The order "Defend Burrows" '''cannot''' be given without first creating burrows to assign defenders to. Under a "Defend Burrows" order, dwarves in the squad are stationed in the specific area and will defend it proactively.

Similarly, civilians may be set to only operate within a burrow or set of burrows. They will only leave these burrows when they are dying of hunger/thirst. This is a nice way to ensure your dwarves will work in the mini-fortress you dug out for them (a bed, table/chair, and smelter near magma for example).

==Pathfinding Problems==
In {{version|0.31.01}} pathfinding problems can cause a variety of problems. A common symptom of a pathfinding problem is to see a large percentage of your dwarves suddenly go idle. This can be caused by a single dwarf that is '''stuck'''. There may be other things that will cause pathfinding problems as well. This subject is not terribly well understood just yet but here are some steps that may prove useful in resolving any issues that arise.
*save, exit, and reload your fortress clears many pathfinding issues. This is believed to be due to some sort of caching behavior with pathfinding.
*deleting all burrows can also be a solution when dwarves get '''stuck''', once they are fixed you can attempt to recreate your burrows if desired.
*stripping all labors from a dwarf that is '''stuck''' may help shut him up long enough to rescue him.

Most (all?) pathfinding problems have been fixed in {{version|0.31.03}}.

== Burrows as Dedicated Workshops ==

A nice little trick you can do with burrows is to create one encompassing a workshop such a Mason's Workshop and a small pile of raw material to work with, then assign the Dwarf you want to that burrow and order the items you want made at that shop. Only the items and shops inside the burrow will be used for tasks, so it can be used to produce items like furniture for individual Dwarves. Let's say a Dwarf likes a particular rock, you can create a small stockpile to only accept that rock near a shop, create a burrow around the two and assign a mason to it. Then produce various items of furniture. All of them will be of that one type of rock. This can also be used with a stockpile of furniture and another one of gems to only encrust the items you want with gems. Very useful to raise happiness of individual Dwarves by sprucing up their rooms with items they like.

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-14T16:39:36Z

Xvareon:

First off let me apologize for any issues with pictures or story... This is my first time I've ever uploaded any and the first time I've ever dealt with a succession game. I don't even have the pictures uploaded yet, trying to figure that out right now. Issues with file types, won't accept bmp's. I'll deal with it later though.

Text in ( and ) brackets is personal notes rather than parts of the journal, so pay attention.

--------------------

1st Granite, 206, Early Spring

What the hell was that? First some lunatic with a crossbow screams at me over and over if I brought wood, then I nearly get brained by a stone-fall trap. They must really be paranoid over here or something. I finally got admitted inside where its at least somewhat warmer than outside, damn glad I finally didn't have to deal with all that sun anymore. I haven't the slightest idea why well over a hundred Dwarves would come to this Armok-forsaken arctic hellhole in the middle of nowhere, and I don't think even they know that much. But for the time being, we must live with it.

I asked for a drink while I look over our reports and stockpile records. We've got plenty of food for now, seems most of the military use crossbows. I reached for my drink... And for a moment there, I thought it was the most watered-down, tasteless booze ever made, but it really WAS water. Is that what we've been drinking down here for six years? That's getting fixed immediately, even if I have to shorten down our number of mouths to feed. I'll take a good look at our infrastructure and workshop placement and the like also, see if anything can be improved. Things aren't too bad, I guess, and we have magma available... But no one seems to have managed to use it on any kind of scale... I mean, most of our military and guards don't have full suits of armor, and most don't even have weapons. And it's been six years. We're going to work on that too.

For safety reasons first thing I did was have a look at the various levers we have... Not one of them have a note on them, no way of telling exactly what they're supposed to do. While I can make some educated guesses I'm gonna test a few of them out to see what they do.

And I nearly got two of our marksdwarves squashed. Some moron built a drawbridge too long and covered what was NOT open space. I'm going to have that fixed too, and consider moving our trade depot further inside because someone obviously put all these ramps here for a reason.

[[File:Elven_Diplomat_Happy.PNG]]

An Elven diplomat showed up earlier. I think he's insane because there isn't a tree for miles around in all directions. Still, if it makes him bring us more wood, what's the harm, right?

5th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Tearing_down_fortifications.PNG]]

Armok help me. The previous rulers of this place built the fortifications wrong. I had to order most of them torn down and rebuilt, but it looks like plenty of dwarves are willing to help. (Fortifications HAVE to sit ON A WALL to provide the extra protection bonus for creatures behind them. If they're on open space the enemy can just shoot through the little crack between them and the wall.) I drafted a few of our more non-essential dwarves as masons, though there's a bit of a joke going around about whether a dwarf that carves ice should be called a mason or a sculpter. No complaints, though, so we'll have those fortifications back in no time. Rather surprisingly, some nobles and even the tax collector showed up to help renovate.

16th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Engraved_Dining_Room.PNG]]

I ordered our dining room to be engraved since I noticed we have plenty of Dwarves who know how. Dodok Amostidos, one of our more skilled engravers, took on the room and began engraving masterpiece after masterpiece in a whirlwind of efficiency. This should really improve things. I knocked out a few more unnecessary walls to streamline traffic in certain areas. Also having our engravers work on the common housing block.

Also today the Elven traders showed up. I guess they now consider us some of their best friends or something for not killing all their precious imaginary trees. Isn't it kind of funny that they go batshit on anyone who cuts down trees but they bring wood themselves in caravans? Oh, well. Won't hear me complaining. People going crazy hoping they brought wood, the aforementioned lunatic and his buddies are on the roof too, hope they don't accidentally shoot them....... Ugh, what am I saying...?

25th Granite, 206, Early Spring

Nine days after they show up they finally manage to get inside. They came while we were just building the new drawbridges so we had to finish those before they'd even get close. Hopefully we can make a deal before they get frustrated and leave.

In other news, the magma that was supposed to make it all the way to our shiny new forges the last overseers built refuses to go any further. Apparently, the pipe was too long and now it's just evaporating. The only thing down there now is puddles of magma, burnt rock and blood gnats. I'm going to have to make the forges alot closer than that. This REALLY pissed off the pump operators who stormed into my office later that evening, demanding I widen the channel, put in floodgates or do whatever it takes to give that magma a leg up. I guess they were pissed 'cause they'd been practicing using pumps for a while now just for that. I told them if they want it widened they should go grab a pick and do it themselves. And who knows? They just might. I'll keep an eye on them, but for now, I'll consider plans for a great forge works, closer to the magma source.

27th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Trading_with_the_Elves.PNG]]

Met with the traders today. They brought quite a bit of wood, though they could have brought more if they had the balls to make some wagons. Ethical works, indeed... We traded off a bunch of finely made stone goods for all their wood, a handful of berries and several bins of cloth. Not a bad deal. A bunch of our Dwarves are being lazy and the drawbridges aren't all done yet so I ordered the military to guard for a while.

Fuck.

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_1.PNG]]

I immediately rallied the military. Our man out there somehow managed to dodge getting killed instantly but no telling how long he's going to last. One of our squad captains was asleep so another dwarf took over, damn glad someone else has a take-charge attitude around here.

Never again will I doubt the power of anyone who fights barehanded.

[[File:Rigoth_Pwns_All.PNG]]

Our military cleaned up the rest of the goblins without too much trouble. I must admit I'm slightly terrified by them. One of them actually carried her baby into battle. Recalled military and everything is fine now--

2nd Slate, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_2.PNG]]

DAMMIT!! How did they get so close?! TO ARMS!!

3rd Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:Goblin_Battle_1.PNG]]

The stupid goblins tried to attack one of our kittens who ran away with a damaged tail, a marksdwarf shot several of them and the Mayor thinks this is a wonderful time to worry about paperwork. The rest of the goblins gave up and ran shortly after with dogs and marksdwarves in hot pursuit. Rigoth showed up, bulled past our men, and caught the last goblin right before he got away and ripped him to shreds. This hellhole must really toughen dwarves up. Hopefully now we can finally relax.

5th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Unbelievable. Water somehow found its way into the spot where I'd wanted to put the new forges. I'm pretty sure we've struck an underground aquifer, and now people are going batshit. Ordered doors put into that hall, but I think we might have a flood on our hands. Armok help me. We got one of the doors in in time, the guy hauling the other one dropped it and ran like a kobold once his feet got wet.

10th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:General_Report.PNG]]

Here's a general report of our progress so far. Might have to get more food production in but it's stable right now. We aren't drinking water anymore, praise Armok. I've got a lot of work to do yet.

17th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Oh, hell no. More... migrants... And LOOK, they brought another useless noble with them. 'Wise Sarvesh something something" the Philosopher. One of our dogs got mauled by a bunch of ice wolves which then chased after a cow... Muxaun and another dwarf ran out to grab the corpse I guess, I sent Rigoth and his team out to fight the wolves and of course Rigoth got there first and mauled them all to death.

19th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

2 days later and the migrants are STILL coming. They still haven't all got in the fortress yet. Thankfully they brought a miner, axedwarf and a hunter with them, someone who's useful. I'm a bit worried about just how far our food stocks are going to stretch, though... Looks like we'll need to lay in more farms. Either that or get more brewers/cooks in. (Framerate is KILLING me right now, thanks to all these Dwarves... Might have to take measures.)

26th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Led Endoktekkud, one of our metalcrafters got a fey mood today and headed for the magma forge. In other news, I noticed our setup for farms and food stockpiles is terribly inefficient right now, so I decided to move our main food stockpile to right above the food workshops instead of where the farms are. Space was being wasted where the farms were concerned as well, so I had a bunch more soil areas excavated and removed stockpiles on the soil (We can't afford to waste space here, people.). Gonna have that prepared for more farms soon, so we won't have to worry as much about food. Oh, and the last of the migrants is finally inside. This brings us up to 161 dwarves. I also had some more beds put in the barracks; We're getting a lot more wounded from sparring accidents than I'd like, and who the hell got the idea to NOT equip the royal guard with armor?

8th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Things are really starting to get interesting now. Led is still grabbing stuff for her 'mysterious construction', we're clearing out a space to put the new food stockpiles, new farms are being put in, and I've had a catapult built so we can train and get rid of some of this stone in the process. Muxaun is putting up two very nasty looking weapon traps near the gate behind a row of cage traps in case anything gets through. I guess legendary mechanics need a challenge once in a while, but that should help defend pretty well. I've had a roof put over the keep/trade depot to stop our dwarves throwing up on the goods when we head out to trade. Cave adaptation is a bitch. Things are looking good so far, though.

12th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Led has apparently managed to find everything she needed for this little project of hers. Everything from felsite blocks, silver bars to giant cave spider silk cloth is in there. We'll see what comes out. In the meantime, new farms being laid in, main food stockpile being moved closer.

16th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

[[File:Silver_Toy_Axe.PNG]]

And she has created... A toy axe. Wonderful. Now if it were a real one I would have probably given it to Rigoth and had her smash goblin heads with it, but... It IS fairly valuable, I'll admit, though (approximately 78000 dorfbucks! ka-CHING!). In other news, our military is WAY too big. Managing them isn't a problem, but equipping them is. Not enough armor to go around. Plus, without the magma forges we're pretty much stuck. I'll need to fix that soon.

12th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1.PNG]]

Lookouts report a goblin siege force just arrived. Looks like they're coming from two ways, most of them have swords and maces, some are unarmed and a couple have bows. I've ordered everyone to get the hell inside so we can lock the fort down. Thankfully they showed up just as I had completed the basic structure of a soon-to-be siege weapon bunker... But we'll see what happens.

HAHAHA!! Success. I had miscounted the number of goblins a bit but no matter. We took a fair number of them prisoner in cage traps in the first wave of lashers, the rest managed to make it to the stone-fall traps and try to get the muskoxes tied out front. Our military burst out of the doors screaming bloody murder and doing the same to them. Their archers, including one elite bowman, heard the noise, ran around the corner -- straight into melee combat with our champions. Needless to say, the battle was quick, and we ripped most of them apart right there on the bridge, but the rest ran off only to be chased down and wiped out by our far faster and superior military.

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1.PNG]]

I count four groups of goblins now. The first one was lashers and wrestlers, which got ripped apart in the first wave. Their archers got killed on the bridge, only a few of that group got away... The master lasher, more lashers and wrestlers got wiped out by our forces, and that leaves the maceman, swordsmen and wrestler group.

CHARRRGE!!

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1-2.PNG]]

20th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1-2.PNG]]

That group was wiped out without any casualties on our end. I miscounted again and we found a fifth group of goblins; This one is just wrestlers, spearmen and swordsmen. I formed up the rest of the military for one last slaughter, but that group broke and ran for the hills rather than face certain death at the hands of our superior forces. We ran down a few of them but the rest got away. I count five groups of goblins defeated now, and the end of the siege. In an eyeblink, their dreams of conquest were so many dead corpses littering the gates of the Fortress. We have four dead from this attack; Two champions died from the bowmen, and a mason and her baby who were caught outside by the lashers. Damn beasts. We're already preparing funerals for our dead, and I've canceled the alert so we can cleanup all these bodies. We have several prisoners we took from the goblins as well, probably execute them in the magma or something later. I gotta say, though, if our military is this effective unarmed, what will they be like with weapons?

Cleanup underway from the siege. Finally sited a perfect place for the great forge works, just a little bit south of the tombs. I'm going to tap the very bottom of this magma pipe and funnel it northwest to the new forges. Got lucky and hit yet another vein of silver while digging out the site.

12th Galena, 206, Late Summer

[[File:Great_Forge_Works.PNG]]

The forge works is done, all the smelters and forges are in place. (All that armor you see lying around is goblinite -- unuseable iron armor for melting.) We even smoothed the walls and floor over and are in the process of removing alot of this junk rock. We're just waiting for the magma to arrive through the channel now. I hope it does arrive, rather than just evaporating like the last one did... My design favors a much more direct path, however. I gotta admit I'm surprised how fast we got that job done. We have very skilled miners and stoneworkers in this fort, hellhole though it may be, and we may just make something out of this yet. Drink is still stabilized for now, but we need a lot more barrels than this... Soon as the magma arrives, though, probably start making cheap metal ones. Who needs wood? You don't know where its been.

1st Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Turn of the season at last. With winter fast approaching, we're digging out a proper barracks and storage area for arms and armor north of the new forges. With drink stocks dropping fast, I've decided to take measures. More food preparation areas being renovated and more dwarves as brewers. We have enough plants but we just don't have enough barrels to put the booze in. The problem is as soon there's an empty barrel someone puts food in it. Going to cut off food production for now and focus on drinks. (Also got a message saying the fortress attracted no migrants this season. Thank Armok.)

10th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Titan_Arrives.PNG]]

Armok help us all. A titan was just seen on the outskirts of the fortress today. We'll see what happens, but I've ordered everyone to stay the hell inside for now. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to be worried about going naked in the middle of a freezing tundra... Tough skin, I suppose.

12th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

That was almost too easy. The titan went after the muskoxes tied out front and blundered straight into our cage traps; A human diplomat arrived right after that happened, not a moment too soon. I guess he wants to talk about trading and such, humans usually do. Here's hoping he doesn't get scared by the caged titan and run off... Seriously, though, that was just too easy. I'm gonna figure out some use for this one later, maybe cage it in a spot for all to see to demonstrate the power of the Dwarves... Whatever. We'll figure something out. I also need to figure out what to do with these damn goblins. I think I know just the thing, though...

14th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

ARMOK be PRAISED, the Dwarven caravan arrived today. And they brought wood. LOTS. OF. WOOD, (almost *150* units!!!) and also barrels and piles of food and drink for us. Apparently they also brought animals, but due to the harsh climate, every single one of them died during the journey. Balls. Oh well, we can still butcher the corpses for meat. But seriously, with this kind of wood we should easily be able to recover from this drink shortfall. This fortress is well on its way to becoming something great.

18th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Strange accident today. Unib Semorlibash, one of our metalsmiths, died of thirst. I have no idea why, since we still have plenty of booze to go around, and access to a well... In other news, finally decided to execute the stupid goblins. All of them have dirty clothes and narrow, iron armor no one can use. I don't even know why we bother to stockpile this crap, but whatever. We'll melt down the iron weapons and armor into more dwarven implements later. Recalling the issue we had with the magma channel being too long and thus overextending its reach, I had a buffer floodgate installed in the new magma channel to allow it to build up so it can keep moving.

26th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Thob_Begins_Work.PNG]]

Thob Nolethsazir, one of our clothiers began to channel the powers from above today. He's claimed a clothiers shop and began gathering up items. If this is anything like the last time we'll have yet another insanely valuable item on our hands.

3rd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Idrathobok_makes_Duchy.PNG]]

(w00t w00t!!!) Today we got a visit from a representative form the mountainhomes, who informed us that Treasurepillar and the surrounding lands have been made a duchy. This raises our fortress to Metropolis status, effective immediately. I'm well past wondering why the nobility wastes time on this fortress; It's completely self-sufficient now, has its own military, burgeoning farms and craft industry, and high population with several prominent noble figures. Apparently we're no longer just a fringe outpost in the middle of nowhere, but a full-fledged mountainhome. Rejoice, and beer all around!

The next day...

Excellent. Looks like I won't have a berserk dwarf on my hands after all. (was a bit worried 'cause he was taking so long to get the items he needed) Second buffer floodgate is in the magma channel, linking it now. Also, just to flaunt our newfound status as a mountainhome, more surface projects are underway. Trying to build a paved road out of aluminum bars, since we have so many of them. We'll see how far I can get before it's time to switch to marble.
NOTE: (Because we're now a duchy, we're eligible to receive the King. We have more than enough architectural wealth, but he wants 'road value' and 'offerings' whatever that last part means. If the king doesn't show up in my turn it's up to you guys.)

8th Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Thob_Finishes_Work.PNG]]

Thob has finished his work. A rope reed chausse, whatever that is. It seems to have an image of a dog bone battle axe on it... Thinking back on it, we do have a dog bone battle axe in this fort. A superiorly well-made one (artifact) someone made a while back, I know it's the same one... But what does sea nettle jellyfish have to do with it? Oh, well. Personal quirks, I guess.

Speaking of that axe, one of Rigoth's team apparently grabbed it earlier and ran out to slaughter Werewolves. Here's hoping he doesn't get ambushed. (Actually, I accidentally gave the axe to him because I was equipping our military with weapons and by random chance, he grabbed the axe. I can't get it off him 'cause dwarves *never* drop artifact equipment, so I'm training him on wild animals rather than fellow dwarves.) I have faith in him, though; The man could probably slaughter an entire troop of goblins all by himself.

22nd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Migrants_Arrive.PNG]]

Word gets around fast these days. MORE migrants have arrived. Thank Armok we have all that wood for barrels to store food and drink in now. Still, this was only 7 migrants... This brings us up to 166 dwarves.

1st Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Winter_is_upon_you.PNG]]

Winter just arrived. Days are colder than usual now, but we've managed to stay warm with hearty booze and plentiful warm clothing. Not to mention all the scrumptious meals coming out of the kitchens. I put the titan in the zoo for all to see and the last of the goblin prisoners has been executed. Here's a look at the road being built outside, also having our marksdwarves on top of the keep for defense. Most of the military is now training with (silver) weapons and our drink stocks have skyrocketed. The magma also hit the next buffer floodgate, getting ever closer to the forges. Exploratory mining has revealed nothing so far but a few veins of cinnabar and cassiterite (tin), as well as a few clusters of gems. Another bit of good fortune today as one of our champions gave birth to a boy. Congratulations to her, and once more, beer all around!

[[File:Roadwork.PNG]]

(This happened too. I guess Momuz finally realized that he did have that bronze door he's been wanting since I came into office after all.)

[[File:Momuz_forgets_demand.PNG]]

17th Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Goblin_siege_2.PNG]]

''Guided by the promise of loot and slaughter, the cruel and rapacious Goblin army advanced on the Fortress. It was not quite the capital of the Mountainhomes yet, but it was nonetheless a very powerful fortress, isolated though it might be. It's name was Idrathobok, Treasurepillar, and it had stood for over six years on the top of a massive glacier, unexpectedly prospering in vast, underground caverns the Dwarves had dug out for themselves. It had played host to several battles, large and small, fought against those who would despoil it. Long has it stood, it's defenders ever vigilant, for any sign of danger. The ice and tundra all around was littered with blood and bones, discarded armor and cruel implements of torture as well as war, as the Goblins always favored. It was said that the Dwarven King himself favored this fortress, both as a strong, prosperous settlement, and a strong reminder of the strength of the Dwarven people, young and old, who have proven that they can survive in even the harshest of conditions, weather the strongest of assaults and produce the finest of wares. Hoping to break their spirit, they marched with evil mien, all gird in frightening garments and spiked armor, onto the glacier. And finally they saw it; A rather plain, small building carved out of ice, sitting on the top of the glacier. Grinning evilly, they raised their weapons for slaughter and charged.''

''A noise like a thousand screaming madmen split the air. The doors of the fortress burst open, spewing forth Dwarves with gleaming steel armor and white swords, to meet the tide of darkness. The battle erupted in flame and bloodshed. Sword rang against shield, spears shattered like kindling, bolts flew through the air to impale green throats, and hammers sent Goblins flying like rag dolls. So strong were they, the defenders of the fortress, that none of them received a single scratch in the carnage. Even those that had children could still hold their child in one hand, and accurately shoot a crossbow with the other. Blood ran in rivers on the ice, skulls were smashed underfoot like eggshells, until not a single evil creature remained on the field of battle. One group that remained, who had witnessed the carnage, broke and ran for their lives rather than follow them into suicide. It is said that for years beyond counting after that day, that the plains around the Fortress are littered with blood and bones, covered with snow.''

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_2.PNG]]

''Idrathobok, Treasurepillar.''
''Idrathobok, The Field of Bones.''
''Idrathobok, The Eternal Fortress.''

-- Xvareon Nirmektun

3rd Obsidian, 206, Late Winter

[[File:FlyingHurts_gets_possessed.PNG]]

Interesting. FlyingHurts, one of the former rulers of this place, got what seemed like one of those 'strange moods' people talk about. Seen a few myself, this makes three this year. As I was getting a drink he suddenly ran past us with a strangely blank expression on his face and out the door. Curiously I followed him; He ran into the Jeweler's Workshop, then into the room next into it, grabbed a clear zircon (not even a cut one either), and began working on it. He keeps mumbling the word 'Ecemelis' over, and over... Hope he'll be alright in there. Anyways, dug out a soon-to-be jail block near the new forges and installed a few more cage traps. Work on the roads isn't making very fast progress, but we've got some of it done. The magma has hit the final buffer floodgate before the forges and is building up, soon we'll be able to get our metalwork done. We've used up about the last of the wood for barrels, now have (about 1600 units) plenty of booze to last us through the rest of this year and most of next year.

7th Obsidian, 206, Late Winter

[[File:Perfect_gem_1.PNG]]

FlyingHurts has finished his work. He took a single rough zircon and cut it perfectly, more beautiful than any jewel I've ever seen in my life.

-----

Epilogue

Armok curse them all. You remember those stupid pump operators from way back when? Apparently they finally got tired of having nothing to pump and staged something in the nature of a revolt. With most of the military thinking this is a GREAT time to eat, drink or sleep, they caught me while I was going to get a drink, dragged me outside and tossed me onto the ice. They practically chased me all the way across the glacier until they gave up. May goblins wear their skin for a cloak! By insane chance I stumbled upon an escorted conveyance to the Mountainhomes, so I'll probably be staying there for a while until I can figure out some way to return. For rest assured, I will be back. They have not heard the last of Xvareon Nirmektun.

-----

Well folks, my turn is over. Thanks for taking the time to read my report!

Notes for the next overseer; Very important, the new forges are located 1 Z-level above the very bottom level. 11 magma smelters and 8 magma forges total. Have at it, folks. We have plenty of food and drink for a while now thanks to that HUGE wood influx, but can always use more. Never forget to order wood from the caravans. Most of our military I've equipped with silver weapons now, including guards. Goblin sieges are easy to beat now because they usually only bring one group of bowmen; The second siege I fought I killed off all their melee and their ranged got scared and ran without firing a shot. Try to avoid conflict with enemy bowmen unless you're behind fortifications. That's good advice any day. MAKE SURE you regularly check the new forges. They aren't powered yet, still need magma in there. It's reached the last floodgate, but I wanted to give it some time to build up before I open it. The red lever on the forge floor opens that gate. The current magma level at the end of the channel is now on average 3 to 4. I'll leave when to open it up to you, but make sure you do sometime. Also, check the notes. I laid some information around the fortress mostly on levers but also to denote floors and the like. The new jails I installed need metallic chains, another incentive to get that forge going. The King will need more road value to arrive, about 7500 or so, we have roughly 3 to 4000. Make roads out of expensive materials like silver, aluminum or what have you. Also found out what Offerings are; Offering goods to a caravan for free rather than trading them. Next time the Dwarven caravan arrives, give away 5000 dorfbucks worth of goods to tidy up that third objective.

Anyhoo, that's where we stand. Good luck with the fort now, and I look forward to seeing what you do with it! Here's the end of the year report.

[[File:Endgame_Report.PNG]]

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-14T16:36:09Z

Xvareon:

First off let me apologize for any issues with pictures or story... This is my first time I've ever uploaded any and the first time I've ever dealt with a succession game. I don't even have the pictures uploaded yet, trying to figure that out right now. Issues with file types, won't accept bmp's. I'll deal with it later though.

Text in ( and ) brackets is personal notes rather than parts of the journal, so pay attention.

--------------------

1st Granite, 206, Early Spring

What the hell was that? First some lunatic with a crossbow screams at me over and over if I brought wood, then I nearly get brained by a stone-fall trap. They must really be paranoid over here or something. I finally got admitted inside where its at least somewhat warmer than outside, damn glad I finally didn't have to deal with all that sun anymore. I haven't the slightest idea why well over a hundred Dwarves would come to this Armok-forsaken arctic hellhole in the middle of nowhere, and I don't think even they know that much. But for the time being, we must live with it.

I asked for a drink while I look over our reports and stockpile records. We've got plenty of food for now, seems most of the military use crossbows. I reached for my drink... And for a moment there, I thought it was the most watered-down, tasteless booze ever made, but it really WAS water. Is that what we've been drinking down here for six years? That's getting fixed immediately, even if I have to shorten down our number of mouths to feed. I'll take a good look at our infrastructure and workshop placement and the like also, see if anything can be improved. Things aren't too bad, I guess, and we have magma available... But no one seems to have managed to use it on any kind of scale... I mean, most of our military and guards don't have full suits of armor, and most don't even have weapons. And it's been six years. We're going to work on that too.

For safety reasons first thing I did was have a look at the various levers we have... Not one of them have a note on them, no way of telling exactly what they're supposed to do. While I can make some educated guesses I'm gonna test a few of them out to see what they do.

And I nearly got two of our marksdwarves squashed. Some moron built a drawbridge too long and covered what was NOT open space. I'm going to have that fixed too, and consider moving our trade depot further inside because someone obviously put all these ramps here for a reason.

[[File:Elven_Diplomat_Happy.PNG]]

An Elven diplomat showed up earlier. I think he's insane because there isn't a tree for miles around in all directions. Still, if it makes him bring us more wood, what's the harm, right?

5th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Tearing_down_fortifications.PNG]]

Armok help me. The previous rulers of this place built the fortifiations wrong. I had to order most of them torn down and rebuilt, but it looks like plenty of dwarves are willing to help. (Fortifications HAVE to sit ON A WALL to provide the extra protection bonus for creatures behind them. If they're on open space the enemy can just shoot through the little crack between them and the wall.) I drafted a few of our more non-essential dwarves as masons, though there's a bit of a joke going around about whether a dwarf that carves ice should be called a mason or a sculpter. No complaints, though, so we'll have those fortifications back in no time. Rather surprisingly, some nobles and even the tax collector showed up to help renovate.

16th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Engraved_Dining_Room.PNG]]

I ordered our dining room to be engraved since I noticed we have plenty of Dwarves who know how. Dodok Amostidos, one of our more skilled engravers, took on the room and began engraving masterpiece after masterpiece in a whirlwind of efficiency. This should really improve things. I knocked out a few more unnecessary walls to streamline traffic in certain areas. Also having our engravers work on the common housing block.

Also today the Elven traders showed up. I guess they now consider us some of their best friends or something for not killing all their precious imaginary trees. Isn't it kind of funny that they go batshit on anyone who cuts down trees but they bring wood themselves in caravans? Oh, well. Won't hear me complaining. People going crazy hoping they brought wood, the aforementioned lunatic and his buddies are on the roof too, hope they don't accidentally shoot them....... Ugh, what am I saying...?

25th Granite, 206, Early Spring

Nine days after they show up they finally manage to get inside. They came while we were just building the new drawbridges so we had to finish those before they'd even get close. Hopefully we can make a deal before they get frustrated and leave.

In other news, the magma that was supposed to make it all the way to our shiny new forges the last overseers built refuses to go any further. Apparently, the pipe was too long and now it's just evaporating. The only thing down there now is puddles of magma, burnt rock and blood gnats. I'm going to have to make the forges alot closer than that. This REALLY pissed off the pump operators who stormed into my office later that evening, demanding I widen the channel, put in floodgates or do whatever it takes to give that magma a leg up. I guess they were pissed 'cause they'd been practicing using pumps for a while now just for that. I told them if they want it widened they should go grab a pick and do it themselves. And who knows? They just might. I'll keep an eye on them, but for now, I'll consider plans for a great forge works, closer to the magma source.

27th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Trading_with_the_Elves.PNG]]

Met with the traders today. They brought quite a bit of wood, though they could have brought more if they had the stones to make some wagons. Ethical works, indeed... We traded off a bunch of finely made stone goods for all their wood, a handful of berries and several bins of cloth. Not a bad deal. A bunch of our Dwarves are being lazy and the drawbridges aren't all done yet so I ordered the military to guard for a while.

Fuck.

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_1.PNG]]

I immediately rallied the military. Our man out there somehow managed to dodge getting killed instantly but no telling how long he's going to last. One of our squad captains was asleep so another dwarf took over, damn glad someone else has a take-charge attitude around here.

Never again will I doubt the power of anyone who fights barehanded.

[[File:Rigoth_Pwns_All.PNG]]

Our military cleaned up the rest of the goblins without too much trouble. I must admit I'm slightly terrified by them. One of them actually carried her baby into battle. Recalled military and everything is fine now--

2nd Slate, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_2.PNG]]

DAMMIT!! How did they get so close?! TO ARMS!!

3rd Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:Goblin_Battle_1.PNG]]

The stupid goblins tried to attack one of our kittens who ran away with a damaged tail, a marksdwarf shot several of them and the Mayor thinks this is a wonderful time to worry about paperwork. The rest of the goblins gave up and ran shortly after with dogs and marksdwarves in hot pursuit. Rigoth showed up, bulled past our men, and caught the last goblin right before he got away and ripped him to shreds. This hellhole must really toughen dwarves up. Hopefully now we can finally relax.

5th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Unbelievable. Water somehow found its way into the spot where I'd wanted to put the new forges. I'm pretty sure we've struck an underground aquifer, and now people are going batshit. Ordered doors put into that hall, but I think we might have a flood on our hands. Armok help me. We got one of the doors in in time, the guy hauling the other one dropped it and ran like a kobold once his feet got wet.

10th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:General_Report.PNG]]

Here's a general report of our progress so far. Might have to get more food production in but it's stable right now. We aren't drinking water anymore, praise Armok. I've got a lot of work to do yet.

17th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Oh, hell no. More... migrants... And LOOK, they brought another useless noble with them. 'Wise Sarvesh something something" the Philosopher. One of our dogs got mauled by a bunch of ice wolves which then chased after a cow... Muxaun and another dwarf ran out to grab the corpse I guess, I sent Rigoth and his team out to fight the wolves and of course Rigoth got there first and mauled them all to death.

19th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

2 days later and the migrants are STILL coming. They still haven't all got in the fortress yet. Thankfully they brought a miner, axedwarf and a hunter with them, someone who's useful. I'm a bit worried about just how far our food stocks are going to stretch, though... Looks like we'll need to lay in more farms. Either that or get more brewers/cooks in. (Framerate is KILLING me right now, thanks to all these Dwarves... Might have to take measures.)

26th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Led Endoktekkud, one of our metalcrafters got a fey mood today and headed for the magma forge. In other news, I noticed our setup for farms and food stockpiles is terribly inefficient right now, so I decided to move our main food stockpile to right above the food workshops instead of where the farms are. Space was being wasted where the farms were concerned as well, so I had a bunch more soil areas excavated and removed stockpiles on the soil (We can't afford to waste space here, people.). Gonna have that prepared for more farms soon, so we won't have to worry as much about food. Oh, and the last of the migrants is finally inside. This brings us up to 161 dwarves. I also had some more beds put in the barracks; We're getting a lot more wounded from sparring accidents than I'd like, and who the hell got the idea to NOT equip the royal guard with armor?

8th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Things are really starting to get interesting now. Led is still grabbing stuff for her 'mysterious construction', we're clearing out a space to put the new food stockpiles, new farms are being put in, and I've had a catapult built so we can train and get rid of some of this stone in the process. Muxaun is putting up two very nasty looking weapon traps near the gate behind a row of cage traps in case anything gets through. I guess legendary mechanics need a challenge once in a while, but that should help defend pretty well. I've had a roof put over the keep/trade depot to stop our dwarves throwing up on the goods when we head out to trade. Cave adaptation is a bitch. Things are looking good so far, though.

12th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Led has apparently managed to find everything she needed for this little project of hers. Everything from felsite blocks, silver bars to giant cave spider silk cloth is in there. We'll see what comes out. In the meantime, new farms being laid in, main food stockpile being moved closer.

16th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

[[File:Silver_Toy_Axe.PNG]]

And she has created... A toy axe. Wonderful. Now if it were a real one I would have probably given it to Rigoth and had her smash goblin heads with it, but... It IS fairly valuable, I'll admit, though (approximately 78000 dorfbucks! ka-CHING!). In other news, our military is WAY too big. Managing them isn't a problem, but equipping them is. Not enough armor to go around. Plus, without the magma forges we're pretty much stuck. I'll need to fix that soon.

12th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1.PNG]]

Lookouts report a goblin siege force just arrived. Looks like they're coming from two ways, most of them have swords and maces, some are unarmed and a couple have bows. I've ordered everyone to get the hell inside so we can lock the fort down. Thankfully they showed up just as I had completed the basic structure of a soon-to-be siege weapon bunker... But we'll see what happens.

HAHAHA!! Success. I had miscounted the number of goblins a bit but no matter. We took a fair number of them prisoner in cage traps in the first wave of lashers, the rest managed to make it to the stone-fall traps and try to get the muskoxes tied out front. Our military burst out of the doors screaming bloody murder and doing the same to them. Their archers, including one elite bowman, heard the noise, ran around the corner -- straight into melee combat with our champions. Needless to say, the battle was quick, and we ripped most of them apart right there on the bridge, but the rest ran off only to be chased down and wiped out by our far faster and superior military.

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1.PNG]]

I count four groups of goblins now. The first one was lashers and wrestlers, which got ripped apart in the first wave. Their archers got killed on the bridge, only a few of that group got away... The master lasher, more lashers and wrestlers got wiped out by our forces, and that leaves the maceman, swordsmen and wrestler group.

CHARRRGE!!

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1-2.PNG]]

20th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1-2.PNG]]

That group was wiped out without any casualties on our end. I miscounted again and we found a fifth group of goblins; This one is just wrestlers, spearmen and swordsmen. I formed up the rest of the military for one last slaughter, but that group broke and ran for the hills rather than face certain death at the hands of our superior forces. We ran down a few of them but the rest got away. I count five groups of goblins defeated now, and the end of the siege. In an eyeblink, their dreams of conquest were so many dead corpses littering the gates of the Fortress. We have four dead from this attack; Two champions died from the bowmen, and a mason and her baby who were caught outside by the lashers. Damn beasts. We're already preparing funerals for our dead, and I've canceled the alert so we can cleanup all these bodies. We have several prisoners we took from the goblins as well, probably execute them in the magma or something later. I gotta say, though, if our military is this effective unarmed, what will they be like with weapons?

Cleanup underway from the siege. Finally sited a perfect place for the great forge works, just a little bit south of the tombs. I'm going to tap the very bottom of this magma pipe and funnel it northwest to the new forges. Got lucky and hit yet another vein of silver while digging out the site.

12th Galena, 206, Late Summer

[[File:Great_Forge_Works.PNG]]

The forge works is done, all the smelters and forges are in place. (All that armor you see lying around is goblinite -- unuseable iron armor for melting.) We even smoothed the walls and floor over and are in the process of removing alot of this junk rock. We're just waiting for the magma to arrive through the channel now. I hope it does arrive, rather than just evaporating like the last one did... My design favors a much more direct path, however. I gotta admit I'm surprised how fast we got that job done. We have very skilled miners and stoneworkers in this fort, hellhole though it may be, and we may just make something out of this yet. Drink is still stabilized for now, but we need a lot more barrels than this... Soon as the magma arrives, though, probably start making cheap metal ones. Who needs wood? You don't know where its been.

1st Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Turn of the season at last. With winter fast approaching, we're digging out a proper barracks and storage area for arms and armor north of the new forges. With drink stocks dropping fast, I've decided to take measures. More food preparation areas being renovated and more dwarves as brewers. We have enough plants but we just don't have enough barrels to put the booze in. The problem is as soon there's an empty barrel someone puts food in it. Going to cut off food production for now and focus on drinks. (Also got a message saying the fortress attracted no migrants this season. Thank Armok.)

10th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Titan_Arrives.PNG]]

Armok help us all. A titan was just seen on the outskirts of the fortress today. We'll see what happens, but I've ordered everyone to stay the hell inside for now. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to be worried about going naked in the middle of a freezing tundra... Tough skin, I suppose.

12th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

That was almost too easy. The titan went after the muskoxes tied out front and blundered straight into our cage traps; A human diplomat arrived right after that happened, not a moment too soon. I guess he wants to talk about trading and such, humans usually do. Here's hoping he doesn't get scared by the caged titan and run off... Seriously, though, that was just too easy. I'm gonna figure out some use for this one later, maybe cage it in a spot for all to see to demonstrate the power of the Dwarves... Whatever. We'll figure something out. I also need to figure out what to do with these damn goblins. I think I know just the thing, though...

14th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

ARMOK be PRAISED, the Dwarven caravan arrived today. And they brought wood. LOTS. OF. WOOD, (almost *150* units!!!) and also barrels and piles of food and drink for us. Apparently they also brought animals, but due to the harsh climate, every single one of them died during the journey. Balls. Oh well, we can still butcher the corpses for meat. But seriously, with this kind of wood we should easily be able to recover from this drink shortfall. This fortress is well on its way to becoming something great.

18th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Strange accident today. Unib Semorlibash, one of our metalsmiths, died of thirst. I have no idea why, since we still have plenty of booze to go around, and access to a well... In other news, finally decided to execute the stupid goblins. All of them have dirty clothes and narrow, iron armor no one can use. I don't even know why we bother to stockpile this crap, but whatever. We'll melt down the iron weapons and armor into more dwarven implements later. Recalling the issue we had with the magma channel being too long and thus overextending its reach, I had a buffer floodgate installed in the new magma channel to allow it to build up so it can keep moving.

26th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Thob_Begins_Work.PNG]]

Thob Nolethsazir, one of our clothiers began to channel the powers from above today. He's claimed a clothiers shop and began gathering up items. If this is anything like the last time we'll have yet another insanely valuable item on our hands.

3rd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Idrathobok_makes_Duchy.PNG]]

(w00t w00t!!!) Today we got a visit from a representative form the mountainhomes, who informed us that Treasurepillar and the surrounding lands have been made a duchy. This raises our fortress to Metropolis status, effective immediately. I'm well past wondering why the nobility wastes time on this fortress; It's completely self-sufficient now, has its own military, burgeoning farms and craft industry, and high population with several prominent noble figures. Apparently we're no longer just a fringe outpost in the middle of nowhere, but a full-fledged mountainhome. Rejoice, and beer all around!

The next day...

Excellent. Looks like I won't have a berserk dwarf on my hands after all. (was a bit worried 'cause he was taking so long to get the items he needed) Second buffer floodgate is in the magma channel, linking it now. Also, just to flaunt our newfound status as a mountainhome, more surface projects are underway. Trying to build a paved road out of aluminum bars, since we have so many of them. We'll see how far I can get before it's time to switch to marble.
NOTE: (Because we're now a duchy, we're eligible to receive the King. We have more than enough architectural wealth, but he wants 'road value' and 'offerings' whatever that last part means. If the king doesn't show up in my turn it's up to you guys.)

8th Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Thob_Finishes_Work.PNG]]

Thob has finished his work. A rope reed chausse, whatever that is. It seems to have an image of a dog bone battle axe on it... Thinking back on it, we do have a dog bone battle axe in this fort. A superiorly well-made one (artifact) someone made a while back, I know it's the same one... But what does sea nettle jellyfish have to do with it? Oh, well. Personal quirks, I guess.

Speaking of that axe, one of Rigoth's team apparently grabbed it earlier and ran out to slaughter Werewolves. Here's hoping he doesn't get ambushed. (Actually, I accidentally gave the axe to him because I was equipping our military with weapons and by random chance, he grabbed the axe. I can't get it off him 'cause dwarves *never* drop artifact equipment, so I'm training him on wild animals rather than fellow dwarves.) I have faith in him, though; The man could probably slaughter an entire troop of goblins all by himself.

22nd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Migrants_Arrive.PNG]]

Word gets around fast these days. MORE migrants have arrived. Thank Armok we have all that wood for barrels to store food and drink in now. Still, this was only 7 migrants... This brings us up to 166 dwarves.

1st Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Winter_is_upon_you.PNG]]

Winter just arrived. Days are colder than usual now, but we've managed to stay warm with hearty booze and plentiful warm clothing. Not to mention all the scrumptious meals coming out of the kitchens. I put the titan in the zoo for all to see and the last of the goblin prisoners has been executed. Here's a look at the road being built outside, also having our marksdwarves on top of the keep for defense. Most of the military is now training with (silver) weapons and our drink stocks have skyrocketed. The magma also hit the next buffer floodgate, getting ever closer to the forges. Exploratory mining has revealed nothing so far but a few veins of cinnabar and cassiterite (tin), as well as a few clusters of gems. Another bit of good fortune today as one of our champions gave birth to a boy. Congratulations to her, and once more, beer all around!

[[File:Roadwork.PNG]]

(This happened too. I guess Momuz finally realized that he did have that bronze door he's been wanting since I came into office after all.)

[[File:Momuz_forgets_demand.PNG]]

17th Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Goblin_siege_2.PNG]]

''Guided by the promise of loot and slaughter, the cruel and rapacious Goblin army advanced on the Fortress. It was not quite the capital of the Mountainhomes yet, but it was nonetheless a very powerful fortress, isolated though it might be. It's name was Idrathobok, Treasurepillar, and it had stood for over six years on the top of a massive glacier, unexpectedly prospering in vast, underground caverns the Dwarves had dug out for themselves. It had played host to several battles, large and small, fought against those who would despoil it. Long has it stood, it's defenders ever vigilant, for any sign of danger. The ice and tundra all around was littered with blood and bones, discarded armor and cruel implements of torture as well as war, as the Goblins always favored. It was said that the Dwarven King himself favored this fortress, both as a strong, prosperous settlement, and a strong reminder of the strength of the Dwarven people, young and old, who have proven that they can survive in even the harshest of conditions, weather the strongest of assaults and produce the finest of wares. Hoping to break their spirit, they marched with evil mien, all gird in frightening garments and spiked armor, onto the glacier. And finally they saw it; A rather plain, small building carved out of ice, sitting on the top of the glacier. Grinning evilly, they raised their weapons for slaughter and charged.''

''A noise like a thousand screaming madmen split the air. The doors of the fortress burst open, spewing forth Dwarves with gleaming steel armor and white swords, to meet the tide of darkness. The battle erupted in flame and bloodshed. Sword rang against shield, spears shattered like kindling, bolts flew through the air to impale green throats, and hammers sent Goblins flying like rag dolls. So strong were they, the defenders of the fortress, that none of them received a single scratch in the carnage. Even those that had children could still hold their child in one hand, and accurately shoot a crossbow with the other. Blood ran in rivers on the ice, skulls were smashed underfoot like eggshells, until not a single evil creature remained on the field of battle. One group that remained, who had witnessed the carnage, broke and ran for their lives rather than follow them into suicide. It is said that for years beyond counting after that day, that the plains around the Fortress are littered with blood and bones, covered with snow.''

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_2.PNG]]

''Idrathobok, Treasurepillar.''
''Idrathobok, The Field of Bones.''
''Idrathobok, The Eternal Fortress.''

-- Xvareon Nirmektun

3rd Obsidian, 206, Late Winter

[[File:FlyingHurts_gets_possessed.PNG]]

Interesting. FlyingHurts, one of the former rulers of this place, got what seemed like one of those 'strange moods' people talk about. Seen a few myself, this makes three this year. As I was getting a drink he suddenly ran past us with a strangely blank expression on his face and out the door. Curiously I followed him; He ran into the Jeweler's Workshop, then into the room next into it, grabbed a clear zircon (not even a cut one either), and began working on it. He keeps mumbling the word 'Ecemelis' over, and over... Hope he'll be alright in there. Anyways, dug out a soon-to-be jail block near the new forges and installed a few more cage traps. Work on the roads isn't making very fast progress, but we've got some of it done. The magma has hit the final buffer floodgate before the forges and is building up, soon we'll be able to get our metalwork done. We've used up about the last of the wood for barrels, now have (about 1600 units) plenty of booze to last us through the rest of this year and most of next year.

7th Obsidian, 206, Late Winter

[[File:Perfect_gem_1.PNG]]

FlyingHurts has finished his work. He took a single rough zircon and cut it perfectly, more beautiful than any jewel I've ever seen in my life.

-----

Epilogue

Armok curse them all. You remember those stupid pump operators from way back when? Apparently they finally got tired of having nothing to pump and staged something in the nature of a revolt. With most of the military thinking this is a GREAT time to eat, drink or sleep, they caught me while I was going to get a drink, dragged me outside and tossed me onto the ice. They practically chased me all the way across the glacier until they gave up. May goblins wear their skin for a cloak! By insane chance I stumbled upon an escorted conveyance to the Mountainhomes, so I'll probably be staying there for a while until I can figure out some way to return. For rest assured, I will be back. They have not heard the last of Xvareon Nirmektun.

-----

Well folks, my turn is over. Thanks for taking the time to read my report!

Notes for the next overseer; Very important, the new forges are located 1 Z-level above the very bottom level. 11 magma smelters and 8 magma forges total. Have at it, folks. We have plenty of food and drink for a while now thanks to that HUGE wood influx, but can always use more. Never forget to order wood from the caravans. Most of our military I've equipped with silver weapons now, including guards. Goblin sieges are easy to beat now because they usually only bring one group of bowmen; The second siege I fought I killed off all their melee and their ranged got scared and ran without firing a shot. Try to avoid conflict with enemy bowmen unless you're behind fortifications. That's good advice any day. MAKE SURE you regularly check the new forges. They aren't powered yet, still need magma in there. It's reached the last floodgate, but I wanted to give it some time to build up before I open it. The red lever on the forge floor opens that gate. The current magma level at the end of the channel is now on average 3 to 4. I'll leave when to open it up to you, but make sure you do sometime. Also, check the notes. I laid some information around the fortress mostly on levers but also to denote floors and the like. The new jails I installed need metallic chains, another incentive to get that forge going. The King will need more road value to arrive, about 7500 or so, we have roughly 3 to 4000. Make roads out of expensive materials like silver, aluminum or what have you. Also found out what Offerings are; Offering goods to a caravan for free rather than trading them. Next time the Dwarven caravan arrives, give away 5000 dorfbucks worth of goods to tidy up that third objective.

Anyhoo, that's where we stand. Good luck with the fort now, and I look forward to seeing what you do with it! Here's the end of the year report.

[[File:Endgame_Report.PNG]]

File:FlyingHurts gets possessed.PNG

2010-05-14T06:47:52Z

Xvareon:

File:Perfect gem 1.PNG

2010-05-14T06:47:32Z

Xvareon:

File:Endgame Report.PNG

2010-05-14T06:47:07Z

Xvareon:

File:Great Forge Works.PNG

2010-05-14T06:46:17Z

Xvareon:

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-14T06:45:41Z

Xvareon:

First off let me apologize for any issues with pictures or story... This is my first time I've ever uploaded any and the first time I've ever dealt with a succession game. I don't even have the pictures uploaded yet, trying to figure that out right now. Issues with file types, won't accept bmp's. I'll deal with it later though.

Text in ( and ) brackets is personal notes rather than parts of the journal, so pay attention.

--------------------

1st Granite, 206, Early Spring

What the hell was that? First some lunatic with a crossbow screams at me over and over if I brought wood, then I nearly get brained by a stone-fall trap. They must really be paranoid over here or something. I finally got admitted inside where its at least somewhat warmer than outside, damn glad I finally didn't have to deal with all that sun anymore. I haven't the slightest idea why well over a hundred Dwarves would come to this Armok-forsaken arctic hellhole in the middle of nowhere, and I don't think even they know that much. But for the time being, we must live with it.

I asked for a drink while I look over our reports and stockpile records. We've got plenty of food for now, seems most of the military use crossbows. I reached for my drink... And for a moment there, I thought it was the most watered-down, tasteless booze ever made, but it really WAS water. Is that what we've been drinking down here for six years? That's getting fixed immediately, even if I have to shorten down our number of mouths to feed. I'll take a good look at our infrastructure and workshop placement and the like also, see if anything can be improved. Things aren't too bad, I guess, and we have magma available... But no one seems to have managed to use it on any kind of scale... I mean, most of our military and guards don't have full suits of armor, and most don't even have weapons. And it's been six years. We're going to work on that too.

For safety reasons first thing I did was have a look at the various levers we have... Not one of them have a note on them, no way of telling exactly what they're supposed to do. While I can make some educated guesses I'm gonna test a few of them out to see what they do.

And I nearly got two of our marksdwarves squashed. Some moron built a drawbridge too long and covered what was NOT open space. I'm going to have that fixed too, and consider moving our trade depot further inside because someone obviously put all these ramps here for a reason.

[[File:Elven_Diplomat_Happy.PNG]]

An Elven diplomat showed up earlier. I think he's insane because there isn't a tree for miles around in all directions. Still, if it makes him bring us more wood, what's the harm, right?

5th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Tearing_down_fortifications.PNG]]

Armok help me. The previous rulers of this place built the fortifiations wrong. I had to order most of them torn down and rebuilt, but it looks like plenty of dwarves are willing to help. (Fortifications HAVE to sit ON A WALL to provide the extra protection bonus for creatures behind them. If they're on open space the enemy can just shoot through the little crack between them and the wall.) I drafted a few of our more non-essential dwarves as masons, though there's a bit of a joke going around about whether a dwarf that carves ice should be called a mason or a sculpter. No complaints, though, so we'll have those fortifications back in no time. Rather surprisingly, some nobles and even the tax collector showed up to help renovate.

16th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Engraved_Dining_Room.PNG]]

I ordered our dining room to be engraved since I noticed we have plenty of Dwarves who know how. Dodok Amostidos, one of our more skilled engravers, took on the room and began engraving masterpiece after masterpiece in a whirlwind of efficiency. This should really improve things. I knocked out a few more unnecessary walls to streamline traffic in certain areas. Also having our engravers work on the common housing block.

Also today the Elven traders showed up. I guess they now consider us some of their best friends or something for not killing all their precious imaginary trees. Isn't it kind of funny that they go batshit on anyone who cuts down trees but they bring wood themselves in caravans? Oh, well. Won't hear me complaining. People going crazy hoping they brought wood, the aforementioned lunatic and his buddies are on the roof too, hope they don't accidentally shoot them....... Ugh, what am I saying...?

25th Granite, 206, Early Spring

Nine days after they show up they finally manage to get inside. They came while we were just building the new drawbridges so we had to finish those before they'd even get close. Hopefully we can make a deal before they get frustrated and leave.

In other news, the magma that was supposed to make it all the way to our shiny new forges the last overseers built refuses to go any further. Apparently, the pipe was too long and now it's just evaporating. The only thing down there now is puddles of magma, burnt rock and blood gnats. I'm going to have to make the forges alot closer than that. This REALLY pissed off the pump operators who stormed into my office later that evening, demanding I widen the channel, put in floodgates or do whatever it takes to give that magma a leg up. I guess they were pissed 'cause they'd been practicing using pumps for a while now just for that. I told them if they want it widened they should go grab a pick and do it themselves. And who knows? They just might. I'll keep an eye on them, but for now, I'll consider plans for a great forge works, closer to the magma source.

27th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Trading_with_the_Elves.PNG]]

Met with the traders today. They brought quite a bit of wood, though they could have brought more if they had the stones to make some wagons. Ethical works, indeed... We traded off a bunch of finely made stone goods for all their wood, a handful of berries and several bins of cloth. Not a bad deal. A bunch of our Dwarves are being lazy and the drawbridges aren't all done yet so I ordered the military to guard for a while.

Fuck.

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_1.PNG]]

I immediately rallied the military. Our man out there somehow managed to dodge getting killed instantly but no telling how long he's going to last. One of our squad captains was asleep so another dwarf took over, damn glad someone else has a take-charge attitude around here.

Never again will I doubt the power of anyone who fights barehanded.

[[File:Rigoth_Pwns_All.PNG]]

Our military cleaned up the rest of the goblins without too much trouble. I must admit I'm slightly terrified by them. One of them actually carried her baby into battle. Recalled military and everything is fine now--

2nd Slate, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_2.PNG]]

DAMMIT!! How did they get so close?! TO ARMS!!

3rd Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:Goblin_Battle_1.PNG]]

The stupid goblins tried to attack one of our kittens who ran away with a damaged tail, a marksdwarf shot several of them and the Mayor thinks this is a wonderful time to worry about paperwork. The rest of the goblins gave up and ran shortly after with dogs and marksdwarves in hot pursuit. Rigoth showed up, bulled past our men, and caught the last goblin right before he got away and ripped him to shreds. This hellhole must really toughen dwarves up. Hopefully now we can finally relax.

5th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Unbelievable. Water somehow found its way into the spot where I'd wanted to put the new forges. I'm pretty sure we've struck an underground aquifer, and now people are going batshit. Ordered doors put into that hall, but I think we might have a flood on our hands. Armok help me. We got one of the doors in in time, the guy hauling the other one dropped it and ran like a kobold once his feet got wet.

10th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:General_Report.PNG]]

Here's a general report of our progress so far. Might have to get more food production in but it's stable right now. We aren't drinking water anymore, praise Armok. I've got a lot of work to do yet.

17th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Oh, hell no. More... migrants... And LOOK, they brought another useless noble with them. 'Wise Sarvesh something something" the Philosopher. One of our dogs got mauled by a bunch of ice wolves which then chased after a cow... Muxaun and another dwarf ran out to grab the corpse I guess, I sent Rigoth and his team out to fight the wolves and of course Rigoth got there first and mauled them all to death.

19th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

2 days later and the migrants are STILL coming. They still haven't all got in the fortress yet. Thankfully they brought a miner, axedwarf and a hunter with them, someone who's useful. I'm a bit worried about just how far our food stocks are going to stretch, though... Looks like we'll need to lay in more farms. Either that or get more brewers/cooks in. (Framerate is KILLING me right now, thanks to all these Dwarves... Might have to take measures.)

26th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Led Endoktekkud, one of our metalcrafters got a fey mood today and headed for the magma forge. In other news, I noticed our setup for farms and food stockpiles is terribly inefficient right now, so I decided to move our main food stockpile to right above the food workshops instead of where the farms are. Space was being wasted where the farms were concerned as well, so I had a bunch more soil areas excavated and removed stockpiles on the soil (We can't afford to waste space here, people.). Gonna have that prepared for more farms soon, so we won't have to worry as much about food. Oh, and the last of the migrants is finally inside. This brings us up to 161 dwarves. I also had some more beds put in the barracks; We're getting a lot more wounded from sparring accidents than I'd like, and who the hell got the idea to NOT equip the royal guard with armor?

8th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Things are really starting to get interesting now. Led is still grabbing stuff for her 'mysterious construction', we're clearing out a space to put the new food stockpiles, new farms are being put in, and I've had a catapult built so we can train and get rid of some of this stone in the process. Muxaun is putting up two very nasty looking weapon traps near the gate behind a row of cage traps in case anything gets through. I guess legendary mechanics need a challenge once in a while, but that should help defend pretty well. I've had a roof put over the keep/trade depot to stop our dwarves throwing up on the goods when we head out to trade. Cave adaptation is a bitch. Things are looking good so far, though.

12th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Led has apparently managed to find everything she needed for this little project of hers. Everything from felsite blocks, silver bars to giant cave spider silk cloth is in there. We'll see what comes out. In the meantime, new farms being laid in, main food stockpile being moved closer.

16th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

[[File:Silver_Toy_Axe.PNG]]

And she has created... A toy axe. Wonderful. Now if it were a real one I would have probably given it to Rigoth and had her smash goblin heads with it, but... It IS fairly valuable, I'll admit, though (approximately 78000 dorfbucks! ka-CHING!). In other news, our military is WAY too big. Managing them isn't a problem, but equipping them is. Not enough armor to go around. Plus, without the magma forges we're pretty much stuck. I'll need to fix that soon.

12th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1.PNG]]

Lookouts report a goblin siege force just arrived. Looks like they're coming from two ways, most of them have swords and maces, some are unarmed and a couple have bows. I've ordered everyone to get the hell inside so we can lock the fort down. Thankfully they showed up just as I had completed the basic structure of a soon-to-be siege weapon bunker... But we'll see what happens.

HAHAHA!! Success. I had miscounted the number of goblins a bit but no matter. We took a fair number of them prisoner in cage traps in the first wave of lashers, the rest managed to make it to the stone-fall traps and try to get the muskoxes tied out front. Our military burst out of the doors screaming bloody murder and doing the same to them. Their archers, including one elite bowman, heard the noise, ran around the corner -- straight into melee combat with our champions. Needless to say, the battle was quick, and we ripped most of them apart right there on the bridge, but the rest ran off only to be chased down and wiped out by our far faster and superior military.

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1.PNG]]

I count four groups of goblins now. The first one was lashers and wrestlers, which got ripped apart in the first wave. Their archers got killed on the bridge, only a few of that group got away... The master lasher, more lashers and wrestlers got wiped out by our forces, and that leaves the maceman, swordsmen and wrestler group.

CHARRRGE!!

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1-2.PNG]]

20th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1-2.PNG]]

That group was wiped out without any casualties on our end. I miscounted again and we found a fifth group of goblins; This one is just wrestlers, spearmen and swordsmen. I formed up the rest of the military for one last slaughter, but that group broke and ran for the hills rather than face certain death at the hands of our superior forces. We ran down a few of them but the rest got away. I count five groups of goblins defeated now, and the end of the siege. In an eyeblink, their dreams of conquest were so many dead corpses littering the gates of the Fortress. We have four dead from this attack; Two champions died from the bowmen, and a mason and her baby who were caught outside by the lashers. Damn beasts. We're already preparing funerals for our dead, and I've canceled the alert so we can cleanup all these bodies. We have several prisoners we took from the goblins as well, probably execute them in the magma or something later. I gotta say, though, if our military is this effective unarmed, what will they be like with weapons?

Cleanup underway from the siege. Finally sited a perfect place for the great forge works, just a little bit south of the tombs. I'm going to tap the very bottom of this magma pipe and funnel it northwest to the new forges. Got lucky and hit yet another vein of silver while digging out the site.

12th Galena, 206, Late Summer

[[File:Great_Forge_Works.PNG]]

The forge works is done, all the smelters and forges are in place except two we don't have anvils for yet. We even smoothed the walls and floor over and are in the process of removing alot of this junk rock. We're just waiting for the magma to arrive through the channel now. I hope it does arrive, rather than just evaporating like the last one did... My design favors a much more direct path, however. I gotta admit I'm surprised how fast we got that job done. We have very skilled miners and stoneworkers in this fort, hellhole though it may be, and we may just make something out of this yet. Drink is still stabilized for now, but we need a lot more barrels than this... Soon as the magma arrives, though, probably start making cheap metal ones. Who needs wood? You don't know where its been.

1st Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Turn of the season at last. With winter fast approaching, we're digging out a proper barracks and storage area for arms and armor north of the new forges. With drink stocks dropping fast, I've decided to take measures. More food preparation areas being renovated and more dwarves as brewers. We have enough plants but we just don't have enough barrels to put the booze in. The problem is as soon there's an empty barrel someone puts food in it. Going to cut off food production for now and focus on drinks. (Also got a message saying the fortress attracted no migrants this season. Thank Armok.)

10th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Titan_Arrives.PNG]]

Armok help us all. A titan was just seen on the outskirts of the fortress today. We'll see what happens, but I've ordered everyone to stay the hell inside for now. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to be worried about going naked in the middle of a freezing tundra... Tough skin, I suppose.

12th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

That was almost too easy. The titan went after the muskoxes tied out front and blundered straight into our cage traps; A human diplomat arrived right after that happened, not a moment too soon. I guess he wants to talk about trading and such, humans usually do. Here's hoping he doesn't get scared by the caged titan and run off... Seriously, though, that was just too easy. I'm gonna figure out some use for this one later, maybe cage it in a spot for all to see to demonstrate the power of the Dwarves... Whatever. We'll figure something out. I also need to figure out what to do with these damn goblins. I think I know just the thing, though...

14th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

ARMOK be PRAISED, the Dwarven caravan arrived today. And they brought wood. LOTS. OF. WOOD, (almost *150* units!!!) and also barrels and piles of food and drink for us. Apparently they also brought animals, but due to the harsh climate, every single one of them died during the journey. Balls. Oh well, we can still butcher the corpses for meat. But seriously, with this kind of wood we should easily be able to recover from this drink shortfall. This fortress is well on its way to becoming something great.

18th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Strange accident today. Unib Semorlibash, one of our metalsmiths, died of thirst. I have no idea why, since we still have plenty of booze to go around, and access to a well... In other news, finally decided to execute the stupid goblins. All of them have dirty clothes and narrow, iron armor no one can use. I don't even know why we bother to stockpile this crap, but whatever. We'll melt down the iron weapons and armor into more dwarven implements later. Recalling the issue we had with the magma channel being too long and thus overextending its reach, I had a buffer floodgate installed in the new magma channel to allow it to build up so it can keep moving.

26th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Thob_Begins_Work.PNG]]

Thob Nolethsazir, one of our clothiers began to channel the powers from above today. He's claimed a clothiers shop and began gathering up items. If this is anything like the last time we'll have yet another insanely valuable item on our hands.

3rd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Idrathobok_makes_Duchy.PNG]]

(w00t w00t!!!) Today we got a visit from a representative form the mountainhomes, who informed us that Treasurepillar and the surrounding lands have been made a duchy. This raises our fortress to Metropolis status, effective immediately. I'm well past wondering why the nobility wastes time on this fortress; It's completely self-sufficient now, has its own military, burgeoning farms and craft industry, and high population with several prominent noble figures. Apparently we're no longer just a fringe outpost in the middle of nowhere, but a full-fledged mountainhome. Rejoice, and beer all around!

The next day...

Excellent. Looks like I won't have a berserk dwarf on my hands after all. (was a bit worried 'cause he was taking so long to get the items he needed) Second buffer floodgate is in the magma channel, linking it now. Also, just to flaunt our newfound status as a mountainhome, more surface projects are underway. Trying to build a paved road out of aluminum bars, since we have so many of them. We'll see how far I can get before it's time to switch to marble.
NOTE: (Because we're now a duchy, we're eligible to receive the King. We have more than enough architectural wealth, but he wants 'road value' and 'offerings' whatever that last part means. If the king doesn't show up in my turn it's up to you guys.)

8th Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Thob_Finishes_Work.PNG]]

Thob has finished his work. A rope reed chausse, whatever that is. It seems to have an image of a dog bone battle axe on it... Thinking back on it, we do have a dog bone battle axe in this fort. A superiorly well-made one (artifact) someone made a while back, I know it's the same one... But what does sea nettle jellyfish have to do with it? Oh, well. Personal quirks, I guess.

Speaking of that axe, one of Rigoth's team apparently grabbed it earlier and ran out to slaughter Werewolves. Here's hoping he doesn't get ambushed. (Actually, I accidentally gave the axe to him because I was equipping our military with weapons and by random chance, he grabbed the axe. I can't get it off him 'cause dwarves *never* drop artifact equipment, so I'm training him on wild animals rather than fellow dwarves.) I have faith in him, though; The man could probably slaughter an entire troop of goblins all by himself.

22nd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Migrants_Arrive.PNG]]

Word gets around fast these days. MORE migrants have arrived. Thank Armok we have all that wood for barrels to store food and drink in now. Still, this was only 7 migrants... This brings us up to 166 dwarves.

1st Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Winter_is_upon_you.PNG]]

Winter just arrived. Days are colder than usual now, but we've managed to stay warm with hearty booze and plentiful warm clothing. Not to mention all the scrumptious meals coming out of the kitchens. I put the titan in the zoo for all to see and the last of the goblin prisoners has been executed. Here's a look at the road being built outside, also having our marksdwarves on top of the keep for defense. Most of the military is now training with (silver) weapons and our drink stocks have skyrocketed. The magma also hit the next buffer floodgate, getting ever closer to the forges. Exploratory mining has revealed nothing so far but a few veins of cinnabar and cassiterite (tin), as well as a few clusters of gems. Another bit of good fortune today as one of our champions gave birth to a boy. Congratulations to her, and once more, beer all around!

[[File:Roadwork.PNG]]

(This happened too. I guess Momuz finally realized that he did have that bronze door he's been wanting since I came into office after all.)

[[File:Momuz_forgets_demand.PNG]]

17th Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Goblin_siege_2.PNG]]

''Guided by the promise of loot and slaughter, the cruel and rapacious Goblin army advanced on the Fortress. It was not quite the capital of the Mountainhomes yet, but it was nonetheless a very powerful fortress, isolated though it might be. It's name was Idrathobok, Treasurepillar, and it had stood for over six years on the top of a massive glacier, unexpectedly prospering in vast, underground caverns the Dwarves had dug out for themselves. It had played host to several battles, large and small, fought against those who would despoil it. Long has it stood, it's defenders ever vigilant, for any sign of danger. The ice and tundra all around was littered with blood and bones, discarded armor and cruel implements of torture as well as war, as the Goblins always favored. It was said that the Dwarven King himself favored this fortress, both as a strong, prosperous settlement, and a strong reminder of the strength of the Dwarven people, young and old, who have proven that they can survive in even the harshest of conditions, weather the strongest of assaults and produce the finest of wares. Hoping to break their spirit, they marched with evil mien, all gird in frightening garments and spiked armor, onto the glacier. And finally they saw it; A rather plain, small building carved out of ice, sitting on the top of the glacier. Grinning evilly, they raised their weapons for slaughter and charged.''

''A noise like a thousand screaming madmen split the air. The doors of the fortress burst open, spewing forth Dwarves with gleaming steel armor and white swords, to meet the tide of darkness. The battle erupted in flame and bloodshed. Sword rang against shield, spears shattered like kindling, bolts flew through the air to impale green throats, and hammers sent Goblins flying like rag dolls. So strong were they, the defenders of the fortress, that none of them received a single scratch in the carnage. Even those that had children could still hold their child in one hand, and accurately shoot a crossbow with the other. Blood ran in rivers on the ice, skulls were smashed underfoot like eggshells, until not a single evil creature remained on the field of battle. One group that remained, who had witnessed the carnage, broke and ran for their lives rather than follow them into suicide. It is said that for years beyond counting after that day, that the plains around the Fortress are littered with blood and bones, covered with snow.''

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_2.PNG]]

''Idrathobok, Treasurepillar.''
''Idrathobok, The Field of Bones.''
''Idrathobok, The Eternal Fortress.''

-- Xvareon Nirmektun

3rd Obsidian, 206, Late Winter

[[File:FlyingHurts_gets_possessed.PNG]]

Interesting. FlyingHurts, one of the former rulers of this place, got what seemed like one of those 'strange moods' people talk about. Seen a few myself, this makes three this year. As I was getting a drink he suddenly ran past us with a strangely blank expression on his face and out the door. Curiously I followed him; He ran into the Jeweler's Workshop, then into the room next into it, grabbed a clear zircon (not even a cut one either), and began working on it. He keeps mumbling the word 'Ecemelis' over, and over... Hope he'll be alright in there. Anyways, dug out a soon-to-be jail block near the new forges and installed a few more cage traps. Work on the roads isn't making very fast progress, but we've got some of it done. The magma has hit the final buffer floodgate before the forges and is building up, soon we'll be able to get our metalwork done. We've used up about the last of the wood for barrels, now have (about 1600 units) plenty of booze to last us through the rest of this year and most of next year.

7th Obsidian, 206, Late Winter

[[File:Perfect_gem_1.PNG]]

FlyingHurts has finished his work. He took a single rough zircon and cut it perfectly, more beautiful than any jewel I've ever seen in my life.

-----

Epilogue

Armok curse them all. You remember those stupid pump operators from way back when? Apparently they finally got tired of having nothing to pump and staged something in the nature of a revolt. With most of the military thinking this is a GREAT time to eat, drink or sleep, they caught me while I was going to get a drink, dragged me outside and tossed me onto the ice. They practically chased me all the way across the glacier until they gave up. May goblins wear their skin for a cloak! By insane chance I stumbled upon an escorted conveyance to the Mountainhomes, so I'll probably be staying there for a while until I can figure out some way to return. For rest assured, I will be back. They have not heard the last of Xvareon Nirmektun.

-----

Well folks, my turn is over. Thanks for taking the time to read my report!

Notes for the next overseer; Very important, the new forges are located 1 Z-level above the very bottom level. 11 magma smelters and 8 magma forges total. Have at it, folks. We have plenty of food and drink for a while now thanks to that HUGE wood influx, but can always use more. Never forget to order wood from the caravans. Most of our military I've equipped with silver weapons now, including guards. Goblin sieges are easy to beat now because they usually only bring one group of bowmen; The second siege I fought I killed off all their melee and their ranged got scared and ran without firing a shot. Try to avoid conflict with enemy bowmen unless you're behind fortifications. That's good advice any day. MAKE SURE you regularly check the new forges. They aren't powered yet, still need magma in there. It's reached the last floodgate, but I wanted to give it some time to build up before I open it. The red lever on the forge floor opens that gate. The current magma level at the end of the channel is now on average 3 to 4. I'll leave when to open it up to you, but make sure you do sometime. Also, check the notes. I laid some information around the fortress mostly on levers but also to denote floors and the like. The new jails I installed need metallic chains, another incentive to get that forge going. The King will need more road value to arrive, about 7500 or so, we have roughly 3 to 4000. Make roads out of expensive materials like silver, aluminum or what have you. Also found out what Offerings are; Offering goods to a caravan for free rather than trading them. Next time the Dwarven caravan arrives, give away 5000 dorfbucks worth of goods to tidy up that third objective.

Anyhoo, that's where we stand. Good luck with the fort now, and I look forward to seeing what you do with it! Here's the end of the year report.

[[File:Endgame_Report.PNG]]

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-14T03:37:16Z

Xvareon:

First off let me apologize for any issues with pictures or story... This is my first time I've ever uploaded any and the first time I've ever dealt with a succession game. I don't even have the pictures uploaded yet, trying to figure that out right now. Issues with file types, won't accept bmp's. I'll deal with it later though.

Text in ( and ) brackets is personal notes rather than parts of the journal, so pay attention.

--------------------

1st Granite, 206, Early Spring

What the hell was that? First some lunatic with a crossbow screams at me over and over if I brought wood, then I nearly get brained by a stone-fall trap. They must really be paranoid over here or something. I finally got admitted inside where its at least somewhat warmer than outside, damn glad I finally didn't have to deal with all that sun anymore. I haven't the slightest idea why well over a hundred Dwarves would come to this Armok-forsaken arctic hellhole in the middle of nowhere, and I don't think even they know that much. But for the time being, we must live with it.

I asked for a drink while I look over our reports and stockpile records. We've got plenty of food for now, seems most of the military use crossbows. I reached for my drink... And for a moment there, I thought it was the most watered-down, tasteless booze ever made, but it really WAS water. Is that what we've been drinking down here for six years? That's getting fixed immediately, even if I have to shorten down our number of mouths to feed. I'll take a good look at our infrastructure and workshop placement and the like also, see if anything can be improved. Things aren't too bad, I guess, and we have magma available... But no one seems to have managed to use it on any kind of scale... I mean, most of our military and guards don't have full suits of armor, and most don't even have weapons. And it's been six years. We're going to work on that too.

For safety reasons first thing I did was have a look at the various levers we have... Not one of them have a note on them, no way of telling exactly what they're supposed to do. While I can make some educated guesses I'm gonna test a few of them out to see what they do.

And I nearly got two of our marksdwarves squashed. Some moron built a drawbridge too long and covered what was NOT open space. I'm going to have that fixed too, and consider moving our trade depot further inside because someone obviously put all these ramps here for a reason.

[[File:Elven_Diplomat_Happy.PNG]]

An Elven diplomat showed up earlier. I think he's insane because there isn't a tree for miles around in all directions. Still, if it makes him bring us more wood, what's the harm, right?

5th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Tearing_down_fortifications.PNG]]

Armok help me. The previous rulers of this place built the fortifiations wrong. I had to order most of them torn down and rebuilt, but it looks like plenty of dwarves are willing to help. (Fortifications HAVE to sit ON A WALL to provide the extra protection bonus for creatures behind them. If they're on open space the enemy can just shoot through the little crack between them and the wall.) I drafted a few of our more non-essential dwarves as masons, though there's a bit of a joke going around about whether a dwarf that carves ice should be called a mason or a sculpter. No complaints, though, so we'll have those fortifications back in no time. Rather surprisingly, some nobles and even the tax collector showed up to help renovate.

16th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Engraved_Dining_Room.PNG]]

I ordered our dining room to be engraved since I noticed we have plenty of Dwarves who know how. Dodok Amostidos, one of our more skilled engravers, took on the room and began engraving masterpiece after masterpiece in a whirlwind of efficiency. This should really improve things. I knocked out a few more unnecessary walls to streamline traffic in certain areas. Also having our engravers work on the common housing block.

Also today the Elven traders showed up. I guess they now consider us some of their best friends or something for not killing all their precious imaginary trees. Isn't it kind of funny that they go batshit on anyone who cuts down trees but they bring wood themselves in caravans? Oh, well. Won't hear me complaining. People going crazy hoping they brought wood, the aforementioned lunatic and his buddies are on the roof too, hope they don't accidentally shoot them....... Ugh, what am I saying...?

25th Granite, 206, Early Spring

Nine days after they show up they finally manage to get inside. They came while we were just building the new drawbridges so we had to finish those before they'd even get close. Hopefully we can make a deal before they get frustrated and leave.

In other news, the magma that was supposed to make it all the way to our shiny new forges the last overseers built refuses to go any further. Apparently, the pipe was too long and now it's just evaporating. The only thing down there now is puddles of magma, burnt rock and blood gnats. I'm going to have to make the forges alot closer than that. This REALLY pissed off the pump operators who stormed into my office later that evening, demanding I widen the channel, put in floodgates or do whatever it takes to give that magma a leg up. I guess they were pissed 'cause they'd been practicing using pumps for a while now just for that. I told them if they want it widened they should go grab a pick and do it themselves. And who knows? They just might. I'll keep an eye on them, but for now, I'll consider plans for a great forge works, closer to the magma source.

27th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Trading_with_the_Elves.PNG]]

Met with the traders today. They brought quite a bit of wood, though they could have brought more if they had the stones to make some wagons. Ethical works, indeed... We traded off a bunch of finely made stone goods for all their wood, a handful of berries and several bins of cloth. Not a bad deal. A bunch of our Dwarves are being lazy and the drawbridges aren't all done yet so I ordered the military to guard for a while.

Fuck.

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_1.PNG]]

I immediately rallied the military. Our man out there somehow managed to dodge getting killed instantly but no telling how long he's going to last. One of our squad captains was asleep so another dwarf took over, damn glad someone else has a take-charge attitude around here.

Never again will I doubt the power of anyone who fights barehanded.

[[File:Rigoth_Pwns_All.PNG]]

Our military cleaned up the rest of the goblins without too much trouble. I must admit I'm slightly terrified by them. One of them actually carried her baby into battle. Recalled military and everything is fine now--

2nd Slate, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_2.PNG]]

DAMMIT!! How did they get so close?! TO ARMS!!

3rd Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:Goblin_Battle_1.PNG]]

The stupid goblins tried to attack one of our kittens who ran away with a damaged tail, a marksdwarf shot several of them and the Mayor thinks this is a wonderful time to worry about paperwork. The rest of the goblins gave up and ran shortly after with dogs and marksdwarves in hot pursuit. Rigoth showed up, bulled past our men, and caught the last goblin right before he got away and ripped him to shreds. This hellhole must really toughen dwarves up. Hopefully now we can finally relax.

5th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Unbelievable. Water somehow found its way into the spot where I'd wanted to put the new forges. I'm pretty sure we've struck an underground aquifer, and now people are going batshit. Ordered doors put into that hall, but I think we might have a flood on our hands. Armok help me. We got one of the doors in in time, the guy hauling the other one dropped it and ran like a kobold once his feet got wet.

10th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:General_Report.PNG]]

Here's a general report of our progress so far. Might have to get more food production in but it's stable right now. We aren't drinking water anymore, praise Armok. I've got a lot of work to do yet.

17th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Oh, hell no. More... migrants... And LOOK, they brought another useless noble with them. 'Wise Sarvesh something something" the Philosopher. One of our dogs got mauled by a bunch of ice wolves which then chased after a cow... Muxaun and another dwarf ran out to grab the corpse I guess, I sent Rigoth and his team out to fight the wolves and of course Rigoth got there first and mauled them all to death.

19th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

2 days later and the migrants are STILL coming. They still haven't all got in the fortress yet. Thankfully they brought a miner, axedwarf and a hunter with them, someone who's useful. I'm a bit worried about just how far our food stocks are going to stretch, though... Looks like we'll need to lay in more farms. Either that or get more brewers/cooks in. (Framerate is KILLING me right now, thanks to all these Dwarves... Might have to take measures.)

26th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Led Endoktekkud, one of our metalcrafters got a fey mood today and headed for the magma forge. In other news, I noticed our setup for farms and food stockpiles is terribly inefficient right now, so I decided to move our main food stockpile to right above the food workshops instead of where the farms are. Space was being wasted where the farms were concerned as well, so I had a bunch more soil areas excavated and removed stockpiles on the soil (We can't afford to waste space here, people.). Gonna have that prepared for more farms soon, so we won't have to worry as much about food. Oh, and the last of the migrants is finally inside. This brings us up to 161 dwarves. I also had some more beds put in the barracks; We're getting a lot more wounded from sparring accidents than I'd like, and who the hell got the idea to NOT equip the royal guard with armor?

8th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Things are really starting to get interesting now. Led is still grabbing stuff for her 'mysterious construction', we're clearing out a space to put the new food stockpiles, new farms are being put in, and I've had a catapult built so we can train and get rid of some of this stone in the process. Muxaun is putting up two very nasty looking weapon traps near the gate behind a row of cage traps in case anything gets through. I guess legendary mechanics need a challenge once in a while, but that should help defend pretty well. I've had a roof put over the keep/trade depot to stop our dwarves throwing up on the goods when we head out to trade. Cave adaptation is a bitch. Things are looking good so far, though.

12th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Led has apparently managed to find everything she needed for this little project of hers. Everything from felsite blocks, silver bars to giant cave spider silk cloth is in there. We'll see what comes out. In the meantime, new farms being laid in, main food stockpile being moved closer.

16th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

[[File:Silver_Toy_Axe.PNG]]

And she has created... A toy axe. Wonderful. Now if it were a real one I would have probably given it to Rigoth and had her smash goblin heads with it, but... It IS fairly valuable, I'll admit, though (approximately 78000 dorfbucks! ka-CHING!). In other news, our military is WAY too big. Managing them isn't a problem, but equipping them is. Not enough armor to go around. Plus, without the magma forges we're pretty much stuck. I'll need to fix that soon.

12th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1.PNG]]

Lookouts report a goblin siege force just arrived. Looks like they're coming from two ways, most of them have swords and maces, some are unarmed and a couple have bows. I've ordered everyone to get the hell inside so we can lock the fort down. Thankfully they showed up just as I had completed the basic structure of a soon-to-be siege weapon bunker... But we'll see what happens.

HAHAHA!! Success. I had miscounted the number of goblins a bit but no matter. We took a fair number of them prisoner in cage traps in the first wave of lashers, the rest managed to make it to the stone-fall traps and try to get the muskoxes tied out front. Our military burst out of the doors screaming bloody murder and doing the same to them. Their archers, including one elite bowman, heard the noise, ran around the corner -- straight into melee combat with our champions. Needless to say, the battle was quick, and we ripped most of them apart right there on the bridge, but the rest ran off only to be chased down and wiped out by our far faster and superior military.

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1.PNG]]

I count four groups of goblins now. The first one was lashers and wrestlers, which got ripped apart in the first wave. Their archers got killed on the bridge, only a few of that group got away... The master lasher, more lashers and wrestlers got wiped out by our forces, and that leaves the maceman, swordsmen and wrestler group.

CHARRRGE!!

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1-2.PNG]]

20th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1-2.PNG]]

That group was wiped out without any casualties on our end. I miscounted again and we found a fifth group of goblins; This one is just wrestlers, spearmen and swordsmen. I formed up the rest of the military for one last slaughter, but that group broke and ran for the hills rather than face certain death at the hands of our superior forces. We ran down a few of them but the rest got away. I count five groups of goblins defeated now, and the end of the siege. In an eyeblink, their dreams of conquest were so many dead corpses littering the gates of the Fortress. We have four dead from this attack; Two champions died from the bowmen, and a mason and her baby who were caught outside by the lashers. Damn beasts. We're already preparing funerals for our dead, and I've canceled the alert so we can cleanup all these bodies. We have several prisoners we took from the goblins as well, probably execute them in the magma or something later. I gotta say, though, if our military is this effective unarmed, what will they be like with weapons?

Cleanup underway from the siege. Finally sited a perfect place for the great forge works, just a little bit south of the tombs. I'm going to tap the very bottom of this magma pipe and funnel it northwest to the new forges. Got lucky and hit yet another vein of silver while digging out the site.

12th Galena, 206, Late Summer

The forge works is done, all the smelters and forges are in place except two we don't have anvils for yet. We even smoothed the walls and floor over and are in the process of removing alot of this junk rock. We're just waiting for the magma to arrive through the channel now. I hope it does arrive, rather than just evaporating like the last one did... My design favors a much more direct path, however. I gotta admit I'm surprised how fast we got that job done. We have very skilled miners and stoneworkers in this fort, hellhole though it may be, and we may just make something out of this yet. Drink is still stabilized for now, but we need a lot more barrels than this... Soon as the magma arrives, though, probably start making cheap metal ones. Who needs wood? You don't know where its been.

1st Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Turn of the season at last. With winter fast approaching, we're digging out a proper barracks and storage area for arms and armor north of the new forges. With drink stocks dropping fast, I've decided to take measures. More food preparation areas being renovated and more dwarves as brewers. We have enough plants but we just don't have enough barrels to put the booze in. The problem is as soon there's an empty barrel someone puts food in it. Going to cut off food production for now and focus on drinks. (Also got a message saying the fortress attracted no migrants this season. Thank Armok.)

10th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Titan_Arrives.PNG]]

Armok help us all. A titan was just seen on the outskirts of the fortress today. We'll see what happens, but I've ordered everyone to stay the hell inside for now. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to be worried about going naked in the middle of a freezing tundra... Tough skin, I suppose.

12th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

That was almost too easy. The titan went after the muskoxes tied out front and blundered straight into our cage traps; A human diplomat arrived right after that happened, not a moment too soon. I guess he wants to talk about trading and such, humans usually do. Here's hoping he doesn't get scared by the caged titan and run off... Seriously, though, that was just too easy. I'm gonna figure out some use for this one later, maybe cage it in a spot for all to see to demonstrate the power of the Dwarves... Whatever. We'll figure something out. I also need to figure out what to do with these damn goblins. I think I know just the thing, though...

14th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

ARMOK be PRAISED, the Dwarven caravan arrived today. And they brought wood. LOTS. OF. WOOD, (almost *150* units!!!) and also barrels and piles of food and drink for us. Apparently they also brought animals, but due to the harsh climate, every single one of them died during the journey. Balls. Oh well, we can still butcher the corpses for meat. But seriously, with this kind of wood we should easily be able to recover from this drink shortfall. This fortress is well on its way to becoming something great.

18th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Strange accident today. Unib Semorlibash, one of our metalsmiths, died of thirst. I have no idea why, since we still have plenty of booze to go around, and access to a well... In other news, finally decided to execute the stupid goblins. All of them have dirty clothes and narrow, iron armor no one can use. I don't even know why we bother to stockpile this crap, but whatever. We'll melt down the iron weapons and armor into more dwarven implements later. Recalling the issue we had with the magma channel being too long and thus overextending its reach, I had a buffer floodgate installed in the new magma channel to allow it to build up so it can keep moving.

26th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Thob_Begins_Work.PNG]]

Thob Nolethsazir, one of our clothiers began to channel the powers from above today. He's claimed a clothiers shop and began gathering up items. If this is anything like the last time we'll have yet another insanely valuable item on our hands.

3rd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Idrathobok_makes_Duchy.PNG]]

(w00t w00t!!!) Today we got a visit from a representative form the mountainhomes, who informed us that Treasurepillar and the surrounding lands have been made a duchy. This raises our fortress to Metropolis status, effective immediately. I'm well past wondering why the nobility wastes time on this fortress; It's completely self-sufficient now, has its own military, burgeoning farms and craft industry, and high population with several prominent noble figures. Apparently we're no longer just a fringe outpost in the middle of nowhere, but a full-fledged mountainhome. Rejoice, and beer all around!

The next day...

Excellent. Looks like I won't have a berserk dwarf on my hands after all. (was a bit worried 'cause he was taking so long to get the items he needed) Second buffer floodgate is in the magma channel, linking it now. Also, just to flaunt our newfound status as a mountainhome, more surface projects are underway. Trying to build a paved road out of aluminum bars, since we have so many of them. We'll see how far I can get before it's time to switch to marble.
NOTE: (Because we're now a duchy, we're eligible to receive the King. We have more than enough architectural wealth, but he wants 'road value' and 'offerings' whatever that last part means. If the king doesn't show up in my turn it's up to you guys.)

8th Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Thob_Finishes_Work.PNG]]

Thob has finished his work. A rope reed chausse, whatever that is. It seems to have an image of a dog bone battle axe on it... Thinking back on it, we do have a dog bone battle axe in this fort. A superiorly well-made one (artifact) someone made a while back, I know it's the same one... But what does sea nettle jellyfish have to do with it? Oh, well. Personal quirks, I guess.

Speaking of that axe, one of Rigoth's team apparently grabbed it earlier and ran out to slaughter Werewolves. Here's hoping he doesn't get ambushed. (Actually, I accidentally gave the axe to him because I was equipping our military with weapons and by random chance, he grabbed the axe. I can't get it off him 'cause dwarves *never* drop artifact equipment, so I'm training him on wild animals rather than fellow dwarves.) I have faith in him, though; The man could probably slaughter an entire troop of goblins all by himself.

22nd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Migrants_Arrive.PNG]]

Word gets around fast these days. MORE migrants have arrived. Thank Armok we have all that wood for barrels to store food and drink in now. Still, this was only 7 migrants... This brings us up to 166 dwarves.

1st Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Winter_is_upon_you.PNG]]

Winter just arrived. Days are colder than usual now, but we've managed to stay warm with hearty booze and plentiful warm clothing. Not to mention all the scrumptious meals coming out of the kitchens. I put the titan in the zoo for all to see and the last of the goblin prisoners has been executed. Here's a look at the road being built outside, also having our marksdwarves on top of the keep for defense. Most of the military is now training with (silver) weapons and our drink stocks have skyrocketed. The magma also hit the next buffer floodgate, getting ever closer to the forges. Exploratory mining has revealed nothing so far but a few veins of cinnabar and cassiterite (tin), as well as a few clusters of gems. Another bit of good fortune today as one of our champions gave birth to a boy. Congratulations to her, and once more, beer all around!

[[File:Roadwork.PNG]]

(This happened too. I guess Momuz finally realized that he did have that bronze door he's been wanting since I came into office after all.)

[[File:Momuz_forgets_demand.PNG]]

17th Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Goblin_siege_2.PNG]]

''Guided by the promise of loot and slaughter, the cruel and rapacious Goblin army advanced on the Fortress. It was not quite the capital of the Mountainhomes yet, but it was nonetheless a very powerful fortress, isolated though it might be. It's name was Idrathobok, Treasurepillar, and it had stood for over six years on the top of a massive glacier, unexpectedly prospering in vast, underground caverns the Dwarves had dug out for themselves. It had played host to several battles, large and small, fought against those who would despoil it. Long has it stood, it's defenders ever vigilant, for any sign of danger. The ice and tundra all around was littered with blood and bones, discarded armor and cruel implements of torture as well as war, as the Goblins always favored. It was said that the Dwarven King himself favored this fortress, both as a strong, prosperous settlement, and a strong reminder of the strength of the Dwarven people, young and old, who have proven that they can survive in even the harshest of conditions, weather the strongest of assaults and produce the finest of wares. Hoping to break their spirit, they marched with evil mien, all gird in frightening garments and spiked armor, onto the glacier. And finally they saw it; A rather plain, small building carved out of ice, sitting on the top of the glacier. Grinning evilly, they raised their weapons for slaughter and charged.''

''A noise like a thousand screaming madmen split the air. The doors of the fortress burst open, spewing forth Dwarves with gleaming steel armor and white swords, to meet the tide of darkness. The battle erupted in flame and bloodshed. Sword rang against shield, spears shattered like kindling, bolts flew through the air to impale green throats, and hammers sent Goblins flying like rag dolls. So strong were they, the defenders of the fortress, that none of them received a single scratch in the carnage. Even those that had children could still hold their child in one hand, and accurately shoot a crossbow with the other. Blood ran in rivers on the ice, skulls were smashed underfoot like eggshells, until not a single evil creature remained on the field of battle. One group that remained, who had witnessed the carnage, broke and ran for their lives rather than follow them into suicide. It is said that for years beyond counting after that day, that the plains around the Fortress are littered with blood and bones, covered with snow.''

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_2.PNG]]

''Idrathobok, Treasurepillar.''
''Idrathobok, The Field of Bones.''
''Idrathobok, The Eternal Fortress.''

-- Xvareon Nirmektun

File:Winter is upon you.PNG

2010-05-13T21:14:35Z

Xvareon:

File:Migrants Arrive.PNG

2010-05-13T21:13:38Z

Xvareon:

File:Roadwork.PNG

2010-05-13T21:12:33Z

Xvareon:

File:Goblin siege 2.PNG

2010-05-13T21:11:50Z

Xvareon:

File:Momuz forgets demand.PNG

2010-05-13T21:11:23Z

Xvareon:

File:Goblin Siege Defeated 2.PNG

2010-05-13T21:10:37Z

Xvareon:

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-13T21:09:11Z

Xvareon:

First off let me apologize for any issues with pictures or story... This is my first time I've ever uploaded any and the first time I've ever dealt with a succession game. I don't even have the pictures uploaded yet, trying to figure that out right now. Issues with file types, won't accept bmp's. I'll deal with it later though.

Text in ( and ) brackets is personal notes rather than parts of the journal, so pay attention.

--------------------

1st Granite, 206, Early Spring

What the hell was that? First some lunatic with a crossbow screams at me over and over if I brought wood, then I nearly get brained by a stone-fall trap. They must really be paranoid over here or something. I finally got admitted inside where its at least somewhat warmer than outside, damn glad I finally didn't have to deal with all that sun anymore. I haven't the slightest idea why well over a hundred Dwarves would come to this Armok-forsaken arctic hellhole in the middle of nowhere, and I don't think even they know that much. But for the time being, we must live with it.

I asked for a drink while I look over our reports and stockpile records. We've got plenty of food for now, seems most of the military use crossbows. I reached for my drink... And for a moment there, I thought it was the most watered-down, tasteless booze ever made, but it really WAS water. Is that what we've been drinking down here for six years? That's getting fixed immediately, even if I have to shorten down our number of mouths to feed. I'll take a good look at our infrastructure and workshop placement and the like also, see if anything can be improved. Things aren't too bad, I guess, and we have magma available... But no one seems to have lifted a finger to use it yet. And it's been six years. We're going to work on that too.

For safety reasons first thing I did was have a look at the various levers we have... Not one of them have a note on them, no way of telling exactly what they're supposed to do. While I can make some educated guesses I'm gonna test a few of them out to see what they do.

And I nearly got two of our marksdwarves squashed. Some moron built a drawbridge too long and covered what was NOT open space. I'm going to have that fixed too, and consider moving our trade depot further inside because someone obviously put all these ramps here for a reason.

[[File:Elven_Diplomat_Happy.PNG]]

An Elven diplomat showed up earlier. I think he's insane because there isn't a tree for miles around in all directions. Still, if it makes him bring us more wood, what's the harm, right?

5th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Tearing_down_fortifications.PNG]]

Armok help me. The previous rulers of this place built the fortifiations wrong. I had to order most of them torn down and rebuilt, but it looks like plenty of dwarves are willing to help. (Fortifications HAVE to sit ON A WALL to provide the extra protection bonus for creatures behind them. If they're on open space the enemy can just shoot through the little crack between them and the wall.) I drafted a few of our more non-essential dwarves as masons, though there's a bit of a joke going around about whether a dwarf that carves ice should be called a mason or a sculpter. No complaints, though, so we'll have those fortifications back in no time. Rather surprisingly, some nobles and even the tax collector showed up to help renovate.

16th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Engraved_Dining_Room.PNG]]

I ordered our dining room to be engraved since I noticed we have plenty of Dwarves who know how. Dodok Amostidos, one of our more skilled engravers, took on the room and began engraving masterpiece after masterpiece in a whirlwind of efficiency. This should really improve things. I knocked out a few more unnecessary walls to streamline traffic in certain areas. Also having our engravers work on the common housing block.

Also today the Elven traders showed up. I guess they now consider us some of their best friends or something for not killing all their precious imaginary trees. Isn't it kind of funny that they go batshit on anyone who cuts down trees but they bring wood themselves in caravans? Oh, well. Won't hear me complaining. People going crazy hoping they brought wood, the aforementioned lunatic and his buddies are on the roof too, hope they don't accidentally shoot them....... Ugh, what am I saying...?

25th Granite, 206, Early Spring

Nine days after they show up they finally manage to get inside. They came while we were just building the new drawbridges so we had to finish those before they'd even get close. Hopefully we can make a deal before they get frustrated and leave.

In other news, the magma that was supposed to make it all the way to our shiny new forges the last overseers built refuses to go any further. Apparently, the pipe was too long and now it's just evaporating. The only thing down there now is puddles of magma, burnt rock and blood gnats. I'm going to have to make the forges alot closer than that. This REALLY pissed off the pump operators who stormed into my office later that evening, demanding I widen the channel, put in floodgates or do whatever it takes to give that magma a leg up. I guess they were pissed 'cause they'd been practicing using pumps for a while now just for that. I told them if they want it widened they should go grab a pick and do it themselves. And who knows? They just might. I'll keep an eye on them, but for now, I'll consider plans for a great forge works, closer to the magma source.

27th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Trading_with_the_Elves.PNG]]

Met with the traders today. They brought quite a bit of wood, though they could have brought more if they had the stones to make some wagons. Ethical works, indeed... We traded off a bunch of finely made stone goods for all their wood, a handful of berries and several bins of cloth. Not a bad deal. A bunch of our Dwarves are being lazy and the drawbridges aren't all done yet so I ordered the military to guard for a while.

Fuck.

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_1.PNG]]

I immediately rallied the military. Our man out there somehow managed to dodge getting killed instantly but no telling how long he's going to last. One of our squad captains was asleep so another dwarf took over, damn glad someone else has a take-charge attitude around here.

Never again will I doubt the power of anyone who fights barehanded.

[[File:Rigoth_Pwns_All.PNG]]

Our military cleaned up the rest of the goblins without too much trouble. I must admit I'm slightly terrified by them. One of them actually carried her baby into battle. Recalled military and everything is fine now--

2nd Slate, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_2.PNG]]

DAMMIT!! How did they get so close?! TO ARMS!!

3rd Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:Goblin_Battle_1.PNG]]

The stupid goblins tried to attack one of our kittens who ran away with a damaged tail, a marksdwarf shot several of them and the Mayor thinks this is a wonderful time to worry about paperwork. The rest of the goblins gave up and ran shortly after with dogs and marksdwarves in hot pursuit. Rigoth showed up, bulled past our men, and caught the last goblin right before he got away and ripped him to shreds. This hellhole must really toughen dwarves up. Hopefully now we can finally relax.

5th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Unbelievable. Water somehow found its way into the spot where I'd wanted to put the new forges. I'm pretty sure we've struck an underground aquifer, and now people are going batshit. Ordered doors put into that hall, but I think we might have a flood on our hands. Armok help me. We got one of the doors in in time, the guy hauling the other one dropped it and ran like a kobold once his feet got wet.

10th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:General_Report.PNG]]

Here's a general report of our progress so far. Might have to get more food production in but it's stable right now. We aren't drinking water anymore, praise Armok. I've got a lot of work to do yet.

17th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Oh, hell no. More... migrants... And LOOK, they brought another useless noble with them. 'Wise Sarvesh something something" the Philosopher. One of our dogs got mauled by a bunch of ice wolves which then chased after a cow... Muxaun and another dwarf ran out to grab the corpse I guess, I sent Rigoth and his team out to fight the wolves and of course Rigoth got there first and mauled them all to death.

19th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

2 days later and the migrants are STILL coming. They still haven't all got in the fortress yet. Thankfully they brought a miner, axedwarf and a hunter with them, someone who's useful. I'm a bit worried about just how far our food stocks are going to stretch, though... Looks like we'll need to lay in more farms. Either that or get more brewers/cooks in. (Framerate is KILLING me right now, thanks to all these Dwarves... Might have to take measures.)

26th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Led Endoktekkud, one of our metalcrafters got a fey mood today and headed for the magma forge. In other news, I noticed our setup for farms and food stockpiles is terribly inefficient right now, so I decided to move our main food stockpile to right above the food workshops instead of where the farms are. Space was being wasted where the farms were concerned as well, so I had a bunch more soil areas excavated and removed stockpiles on the soil (We can't afford to waste space here, people.). Gonna have that prepared for more farms soon, so we won't have to worry as much about food. Oh, and the last of the migrants is finally inside. This brings us up to 161 dwarves. I also had some more beds put in the barracks; We're getting a lot more wounded from sparring accidents than I'd like, and who the hell got the idea to NOT equip the royal guard with armor?

8th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Things are really starting to get interesting now. Led is still grabbing stuff for her 'mysterious construction', we're clearing out a space to put the new food stockpiles, new farms are being put in, and I've had a catapult built so we can train and get rid of some of this stone in the process. Muxaun is putting up two very nasty looking weapon traps near the gate behind a row of cage traps in case anything gets through. I guess legendary mechanics need a challenge once in a while, but that should help defend pretty well. I've had a roof put over the keep/trade depot to stop our dwarves throwing up on the goods when we head out to trade. Cave adaptation is a bitch. Things are looking good so far, though.

12th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Led has apparently managed to find everything she needed for this little project of hers. Everything from felsite blocks, silver bars to giant cave spider silk cloth is in there. We'll see what comes out. In the meantime, new farms being laid in, main food stockpile being moved closer.

16th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

[[File:Silver_Toy_Axe.PNG]]

And she has created... A toy axe. Wonderful. Now if it were a real one I would have probably given it to Rigoth and had her smash goblin heads with it, but... It IS fairly valuable, I'll admit, though (approximately 78000 dorfbucks! ka-CHING!). In other news, our military is WAY too big. Managing them isn't a problem, but equipping them is. Not enough armor to go around. Plus, without the magma forges we're pretty much stuck. I'll need to fix that soon.

12th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1.PNG]]

Lookouts report a goblin siege force just arrived. Looks like they're coming from two ways, most of them have swords and maces, some are unarmed and a couple have bows. I've ordered everyone to get the hell inside so we can lock the fort down. Thankfully they showed up just as I had completed the basic structure of a soon-to-be siege weapon bunker... But we'll see what happens.

HAHAHA!! Success. I had miscounted the number of goblins a bit but no matter. We took a fair number of them prisoner in cage traps in the first wave of lashers, the rest managed to make it to the stone-fall traps and try to get the muskoxes tied out front. Our military burst out of the doors screaming bloody murder and doing the same to them. Their archers, including one elite bowman, heard the noise, ran around the corner -- straight into melee combat with our champions. Needless to say, the battle was quick, and we ripped most of them apart right there on the bridge, but the rest ran off only to be chased down and wiped out by our far faster and superior military.

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1.PNG]]

I count four groups of goblins now. The first one was lashers and wrestlers, which got ripped apart in the first wave. Their archers got killed on the bridge, only a few of that group got away... The master lasher, more lashers and wrestlers got wiped out by our forces, and that leaves the maceman, swordsmen and wrestler group.

CHARRRGE!!

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1-2.PNG]]

20th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1-2.PNG]]

That group was wiped out without any casualties on our end. I miscounted again and we found a fifth group of goblins; This one is just wrestlers, spearmen and swordsmen. I formed up the rest of the military for one last slaughter, but that group broke and ran for the hills rather than face certain death at the hands of our superior forces. We ran down a few of them but the rest got away. I count five groups of goblins defeated now, and the end of the siege. In an eyeblink, their dreams of conquest were so many dead corpses littering the gates of the Fortress. We have four dead from this attack; Two champions died from the bowmen, and a mason and her baby who were caught outside by the lashers. Damn beasts. We're already preparing funerals for our dead, and I've canceled the alert so we can cleanup all these bodies. We have several prisoners we took from the goblins as well, probably execute them in the magma or something later. I gotta say, though, if our military is this effective unarmed, what will they be like with weapons?

Cleanup underway from the siege. Finally sited a perfect place for the great forge works, just a little bit south of the tombs. I'm going to tap the very bottom of this magma pipe and funnel it northwest to the new forges. Got lucky and hit yet another vein of silver while digging out the site.

12th Galena, 206, Late Summer

The forge works is done, all the smelters and forges are in place except two we don't have anvils for yet. We even smoothed the walls and floor over and are in the process of removing alot of this junk rock. We're just waiting for the magma to arrive through the channel now. I hope it does arrive, rather than just evaporating like the last one did... My design favors a much more direct path, however. I gotta admit I'm surprised how fast we got that job done. We have very skilled miners and stoneworkers in this fort, hellhole though it may be, and we may just make something out of this yet. Drink is still stabilized for now, but we need a lot more barrels than this... Soon as the magma arrives, though, probably start making cheap metal ones. Who needs wood? You don't know where its been.

1st Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Turn of the season at last. With winter fast approaching, we're digging out a proper barracks and storage area for arms and armor north of the new forges. With drink stocks dropping fast, I've decided to take measures. More food preparation areas being renovated and more dwarves as brewers. We have enough plants but we just don't have enough barrels to put the booze in. The problem is as soon there's an empty barrel someone puts food in it. Going to cut off food production for now and focus on drinks. (Also got a message saying the fortress attracted no migrants this season. Thank Armok.)

10th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Titan_Arrives.PNG]]

Armok help us all. A titan was just seen on the outskirts of the fortress today. We'll see what happens, but I've ordered everyone to stay the hell inside for now. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to be worried about going naked in the middle of a freezing tundra... Tough skin, I suppose.

12th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

That was almost too easy. The titan went after the muskoxes tied out front and blundered straight into our cage traps; A human diplomat arrived right after that happened, not a moment too soon. I guess he wants to talk about trading and such, humans usually do. Here's hoping he doesn't get scared by the caged titan and run off... Seriously, though, that was just too easy. I'm gonna figure out some use for this one later, maybe cage it in a spot for all to see to demonstrate the power of the Dwarves... Whatever. We'll figure something out. I also need to figure out what to do with these damn goblins. I think I know just the thing, though...

14th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

ARMOK be PRAISED, the Dwarven caravan arrived today. And they brought wood. LOTS. OF. WOOD, (almost *150* units!!!) and also barrels and piles of food and drink for us. Apparently they also brought animals, but due to the harsh climate, every single one of them died during the journey. Balls. Oh well, we can still butcher the corpses for meat. But seriously, with this kind of wood we should easily be able to recover from this drink shortfall. This fortress is well on its way to becoming something great.

18th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Strange accident today. Unib Semorlibash, one of our metalsmiths, died of thirst. I have no idea why, since we still have plenty of booze to go around, and access to a well... In other news, finally decided to execute the stupid goblins. All of them have dirty clothes and narrow, iron armor no one can use. I don't even know why we bother to stockpile this crap, but whatever. We'll melt down the iron weapons and armor into more dwarven implements later. Recalling the issue we had with the magma channel being too long and thus overextending its reach, I had a buffer floodgate installed in the new magma channel to allow it to build up so it can keep moving.

26th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Thob_Begins_Work.PNG]]

Thob Nolethsazir, one of our clothiers began to channel the powers from above today. He's claimed a clothiers shop and began gathering up items. If this is anything like the last time we'll have yet another insanely valuable item on our hands.

3rd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Idrathobok_makes_Duchy.PNG]]

(w00t w00t!!!) Today we got a visit from a representative form the mountainhomes, who informed us that Treasurepillar and the surrounding lands have been made a duchy. This raises our fortress to Metropolis status, effective immediately. I'm well past wondering why the nobility wastes time on this fortress; It's completely self-sufficient now, has its own military, burgeoning farms and craft industry, and high population with several prominent noble figures. Apparently we're no longer just a fringe outpost in the middle of nowhere, but a full-fledged mountainhome. Rejoice, and beer all around!

The next day...

Excellent. Looks like I won't have a berserk dwarf on my hands after all. (was a bit worried 'cause he was taking so long to get the items he needed) Second buffer floodgate is in the magma channel, linking it now. Also, just to flaunt our newfound status as a mountainhome, more surface projects are underway. Trying to build a paved road out of aluminum bars, since we have so many of them. We'll see how far I can get before it's time to switch to marble.
NOTE: (Because we're now a duchy, we're eligible to receive the King. We have more than enough architectural wealth, but he wants 'road value' and 'offerings' whatever that last part means. If the king doesn't show up in my turn it's up to you guys.)

8th Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Thob_Finishes_Work.PNG]]

Thob has finished his work. A rope reed chausse, whatever that is. It seems to have an image of a dog bone battle axe on it... Thinking back on it, we do have a dog bone battle axe in this fort. A superiorly well-made one (artifact) someone made a while back, I know it's the same one... But what does sea nettle jellyfish have to do with it? Oh, well. Personal quirks, I guess.

Speaking of that axe, one of Rigoth's team apparently grabbed it earlier and ran out to slaughter Werewolves. Here's hoping he doesn't get ambushed. (Actually, I accidentally gave the axe to him because I was equipping our military with weapons and by random chance, he grabbed the axe. I can't get it off him 'cause dwarves *never* drop artifact equipment, so I'm training him on wild animals rather than fellow dwarves.) I have faith in him, though; The man could probably slaughter an entire troop of goblins all by himself.

22nd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Migrants_Arrive.PNG]]

Word gets around fast these days. MORE migrants have arrived. Thank Armok we have all that wood for barrels to store food and drink in now. Still, this was only 7 migrants... This brings us up to 166 dwarves.

1st Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Winter_is_upon_you.PNG]]

Winter just arrived. Days are colder than usual now, but we've managed to stay warm with hearty booze and plentiful warm clothing. Not to mention all the scrumptious meals coming out of the kitchens. I put the titan in the zoo for all to see and the last of the goblin prisoners has been executed. Here's a look at the road being built outside, also having our marksdwarves on top of the keep for defense. Most of the military is now training with (silver) weapons and our drink stocks have skyrocketed. The magma also hit the next buffer floodgate, getting ever closer to the forges. Exploratory mining has revealed nothing so far but a few veins of cinnabar and cassiterite (tin), as well as a few clusters of gems. Another bit of good fortune today as one of our champions gave birth to a boy. Congratulations to her, and once more, beer all around!

[[File:Roadwork.PNG]]

(This happened too. I guess Momuz finally realized that he did have that bronze door he's been wanting since I came into office after all.)

[[File:Momuz_forgets_demand.PNG]]

17th Moonstone, 206, Early Winter

[[File:Goblin_siege_2.PNG]]

''Guided by the promise of loot and slaughter, the cruel and rapacious Goblin army advanced on the Fortress. It was not quite the capital of the Mountainhomes yet, but it was nonetheless a very powerful fortress, isolated though it might be. It's name was Idrathobok, Treasurepillar, and it had stood for over six years on the top of a massive glacier, unexpectedly prospering in vast, underground caverns the Dwarves had dug out for themselves. It had played host to several battles, large and small, fought against those who would despoil it. Long has it stood, it's defenders ever vigilant, for any sign of danger. The ice and tundra all around was littered with blood and bones, discarded armor and cruel implements of torture as well as war, as the Goblins always favored. It was said that the Dwarven King himself favored this fortress, both as a strong, prosperous settlement, and a strong reminder of the strength of the Dwarven people, young and old, who have proven that they can survive in even the harshest of conditions, weather the strongest of assaults and produce the finest of wares. Hoping to break their spirit, they marched with evil mien, all gird in frightening garments and spiked armor, onto the glacier. And finally they saw it; A rather plain, small building carved out of ice, sitting on the top of the glacier. Grinning evilly, they raised their weapons for slaughter and charged.''

''A noise like a thousand screaming madmen split the air. The doors of the fortress burst open, spewing forth Dwarves with gleaming steel armor and white swords, to meet the tide of darkness. The battle erupted in flame and bloodshed. Sword rang against shield, spears shattered like kindling, bolts flew through the air to impale green throats, and hammers sent Goblins flying like rag dolls. So strong were they, the defenders of the fortress, that none of them received a single scratch in the carnage. Even those that had children could still hold their child in one hand, and accurately shoot a crossbow with the other. Blood ran in rivers on the ice, skulls were smashed underfoot like eggshells, until not a single evil creature remained on the field of battle. One group that remained, who had witnessed the carnage, broke and ran for their lives rather than follow them into suicide. It is said that for years beyond counting after that day, that the plains around the Fortress are littered with blood and bones, covered with snow.''

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_2.PNG]]

''Idrathobok, Treasurepillar.''
''Idrathobok, The Field of Bones.''
''Idrathobok, The Eternal Fortress.''

-- Xvareon Nirmektun

User:Xvareon

2010-05-13T21:01:54Z

Xvareon:

I prefer familiar routines when I build fortresses, and try to maximize efficiency as much as possible. My forts may not look epic like some, but I prefer substance over style. That doesn't mean I can't build some interesting things, though. I prioritize keeping my fortress secure, and my Dwarves as happy as possible.

My current goals are to establish a working fountain to take advantage of the happiness bonus from [[mist]], and to capture and utilize purring maggots for their incredibly valuable milk and cheese. I'm also helping a bit with word corrections for the wiki and putting in some of my own info.

I'm currently in the Arctic Hellhole succession game. I'm open to play any succession games if you want me to.

== Contact Information ==

My E-mail address is authorityblade@yahoo.com

File:Titan Arrives.PNG

2010-05-13T02:22:29Z

Xvareon:

File:Thob Finishes Work.PNG

2010-05-13T02:22:00Z

Xvareon:

File:Thob Begins Work.PNG

2010-05-13T02:21:29Z

Xvareon:

File:Idrathobok makes Duchy.PNG

2010-05-13T02:19:10Z

Xvareon:

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-13T02:18:19Z

Xvareon:

First off let me apologize for any issues with pictures or story... This is my first time I've ever uploaded any and the first time I've ever dealt with a succession game. I don't even have the pictures uploaded yet, trying to figure that out right now. Issues with file types, won't accept bmp's. I'll deal with it later though.

Text in ( and ) brackets is personal notes rather than parts of the journal, so pay attention.

--------------------

1st Granite, 206, Early Spring

What the hell was that? First some lunatic with a crossbow screams at me over and over if I brought wood, then I nearly get brained by a stone-fall trap. They must really be paranoid over here or something. I finally got admitted inside where its at least somewhat warmer than outside, damn glad I finally didn't have to deal with all that sun anymore. I haven't the slightest idea why well over a hundred Dwarves would come to this Armok-forsaken arctic hellhole in the middle of nowhere, and I don't think even they know that much. But for the time being, we must live with it.

I asked for a drink while I look over our reports and stockpile records. We've got plenty of food for now, seems most of the military use crossbows. I reached for my drink... And for a moment there, I thought it was the most watered-down, tasteless booze ever made, but it really WAS water. Is that what we've been drinking down here for six years? That's getting fixed immediately, even if I have to shorten down our number of mouths to feed. I'll take a good look at our infrastructure and workshop placement and the like also, see if anything can be improved. Things aren't too bad, I guess, and we have magma available... But no one seems to have lifted a finger to use it yet. And it's been six years. We're going to work on that too.

For safety reasons first thing I did was have a look at the various levers we have... Not one of them have a note on them, no way of telling exactly what they're supposed to do. While I can make some educated guesses I'm gonna test a few of them out to see what they do.

And I nearly got two of our marksdwarves squashed. Some moron built a drawbridge too long and covered what was NOT open space. I'm going to have that fixed too, and consider moving our trade depot further inside because someone obviously put all these ramps here for a reason.

[[File:Elven_Diplomat_Happy.PNG]]

An Elven diplomat showed up earlier. I think he's insane because there isn't a tree for miles around in all directions. Still, if it makes him bring us more wood, what's the harm, right?

5th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Tearing_down_fortifications.PNG]]

Armok help me. The previous rulers of this place built the fortifiations wrong. I had to order most of them torn down and rebuilt, but it looks like plenty of dwarves are willing to help. (Fortifications HAVE to sit ON A WALL to provide the extra protection bonus for creatures behind them. If they're on open space the enemy can just shoot through the little crack between them and the wall.) I drafted a few of our more non-essential dwarves as masons, though there's a bit of a joke going around about whether a dwarf that carves ice should be called a mason or a sculpter. No complaints, though, so we'll have those fortifications back in no time. Rather surprisingly, some nobles and even the tax collector showed up to help renovate.

16th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Engraved_Dining_Room.PNG]]

I ordered our dining room to be engraved since I noticed we have plenty of Dwarves who know how. Dodok Amostidos, one of our more skilled engravers, took on the room and began engraving masterpiece after masterpiece in a whirlwind of efficiency. This should really improve things. I knocked out a few more unnecessary walls to streamline traffic in certain areas. Also having our engravers work on the common housing block.

Also today the Elven traders showed up. I guess they now consider us some of their best friends or something for not killing all their precious imaginary trees. Isn't it kind of funny that they go batshit on anyone who cuts down trees but they bring wood themselves in caravans? Oh, well. Won't hear me complaining. People going crazy hoping they brought wood, the aforementioned lunatic and his buddies are on the roof too, hope they don't accidentally shoot them....... Ugh, what am I saying...?

25th Granite, 206, Early Spring

Nine days after they show up they finally manage to get inside. They came while we were just building the new drawbridges so we had to finish those before they'd even get close. Hopefully we can make a deal before they get frustrated and leave.

In other news, the magma that was supposed to make it all the way to our shiny new forges the last overseers built refuses to go any further. Apparently, the pipe was too long and now it's just evaporating. The only thing down there now is puddles of magma, burnt rock and blood gnats. I'm going to have to make the forges alot closer than that. This REALLY pissed off the pump operators who stormed into my office later that evening, demanding I widen the channel, put in floodgates or do whatever it takes to give that magma a leg up. I guess they were pissed 'cause they'd been practicing using pumps for a while now just for that. I told them if they want it widened they should go grab a pick and do it themselves. And who knows? They just might. I'll keep an eye on them, but for now, I'll consider plans for a great forge works, closer to the magma source.

27th Granite, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Trading_with_the_Elves.PNG]]

Met with the traders today. They brought quite a bit of wood, though they could have brought more if they had the stones to make some wagons. Ethical works, indeed... We traded off a bunch of finely made stone goods for all their wood, a handful of berries and several bins of cloth. Not a bad deal. A bunch of our Dwarves are being lazy and the drawbridges aren't all done yet so I ordered the military to guard for a while.

Fuck.

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_1.PNG]]

I immediately rallied the military. Our man out there somehow managed to dodge getting killed instantly but no telling how long he's going to last. One of our squad captains was asleep so another dwarf took over, damn glad someone else has a take-charge attitude around here.

Never again will I doubt the power of anyone who fights barehanded.

[[File:Rigoth_Pwns_All.PNG]]

Our military cleaned up the rest of the goblins without too much trouble. I must admit I'm slightly terrified by them. One of them actually carried her baby into battle. Recalled military and everything is fine now--

2nd Slate, 206, Early Spring

[[File:Goblin_Ambush_2.PNG]]

DAMMIT!! How did they get so close?! TO ARMS!!

3rd Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:Goblin_Battle_1.PNG]]

The stupid goblins tried to attack one of our kittens who ran away with a damaged tail, a marksdwarf shot several of them and the Mayor thinks this is a wonderful time to worry about paperwork. The rest of the goblins gave up and ran shortly after with dogs and marksdwarves in hot pursuit. Rigoth showed up, bulled past our men, and caught the last goblin right before he got away and ripped him to shreds. This hellhole must really toughen dwarves up. Hopefully now we can finally relax.

5th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Unbelievable. Water somehow found its way into the spot where I'd wanted to put the new forges. I'm pretty sure we've struck an underground aquifer, and now people are going batshit. Ordered doors put into that hall, but I think we might have a flood on our hands. Armok help me. We got one of the doors in in time, the guy hauling the other one dropped it and ran like a kobold once his feet got wet.

10th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

[[File:General_Report.PNG]]

Here's a general report of our progress so far. Might have to get more food production in but it's stable right now. We aren't drinking water anymore, praise Armok. I've got a lot of work to do yet.

17th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Oh, hell no. More... migrants... And LOOK, they brought another useless noble with them. 'Wise Sarvesh something something" the Philosopher. One of our dogs got mauled by a bunch of ice wolves which then chased after a cow... Muxaun and another dwarf ran out to grab the corpse I guess, I sent Rigoth and his team out to fight the wolves and of course Rigoth got there first and mauled them all to death.

19th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

2 days later and the migrants are STILL coming. They still haven't all got in the fortress yet. Thankfully they brought a miner, axedwarf and a hunter with them, someone who's useful. I'm a bit worried about just how far our food stocks are going to stretch, though... Looks like we'll need to lay in more farms. Either that or get more brewers/cooks in. (Framerate is KILLING me right now, thanks to all these Dwarves... Might have to take measures.)

26th Slate, 206, Mid-Spring

Led Endoktekkud, one of our metalcrafters got a fey mood today and headed for the magma forge. In other news, I noticed our setup for farms and food stockpiles is terribly inefficient right now, so I decided to move our main food stockpile to right above the food workshops instead of where the farms are. Space was being wasted where the farms were concerned as well, so I had a bunch more soil areas excavated and removed stockpiles on the soil (We can't afford to waste space here, people.). Gonna have that prepared for more farms soon, so we won't have to worry as much about food. Oh, and the last of the migrants is finally inside. This brings us up to 161 dwarves. I also had some more beds put in the barracks; We're getting a lot more wounded from sparring accidents than I'd like, and who the hell got the idea to NOT equip the royal guard with armor?

8th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Things are really starting to get interesting now. Led is still grabbing stuff for her 'mysterious construction', we're clearing out a space to put the new food stockpiles, new farms are being put in, and I've had a catapult built so we can train and get rid of some of this stone in the process. Muxaun is putting up two very nasty looking weapon traps near the gate behind a row of cage traps in case anything gets through. I guess legendary mechanics need a challenge once in a while, but that should help defend pretty well. I've had a roof put over the keep/trade depot to stop our dwarves throwing up on the goods when we head out to trade. Cave adaptation is a bitch. Things are looking good so far, though.

12th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

Led has apparently managed to find everything she needed for this little project of hers. Everything from felsite blocks, silver bars to giant cave spider silk cloth is in there. We'll see what comes out. In the meantime, new farms being laid in, main food stockpile being moved closer.

16th Felsite, 206, Late Spring

[[File:Silver_Toy_Axe.PNG]]

And she has created... A toy axe. Wonderful. Now if it were a real one I would have probably given it to Rigoth and had her smash goblin heads with it, but... It IS fairly valuable, I'll admit, though (approximately 78000 dorfbucks! ka-CHING!). In other news, our military is WAY too big. Managing them isn't a problem, but equipping them is. Not enough armor to go around. Plus, without the magma forges we're pretty much stuck. I'll need to fix that soon.

12th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1.PNG]]

Lookouts report a goblin siege force just arrived. Looks like they're coming from two ways, most of them have swords and maces, some are unarmed and a couple have bows. I've ordered everyone to get the hell inside so we can lock the fort down. Thankfully they showed up just as I had completed the basic structure of a soon-to-be siege weapon bunker... But we'll see what happens.

HAHAHA!! Success. I had miscounted the number of goblins a bit but no matter. We took a fair number of them prisoner in cage traps in the first wave of lashers, the rest managed to make it to the stone-fall traps and try to get the muskoxes tied out front. Our military burst out of the doors screaming bloody murder and doing the same to them. Their archers, including one elite bowman, heard the noise, ran around the corner -- straight into melee combat with our champions. Needless to say, the battle was quick, and we ripped most of them apart right there on the bridge, but the rest ran off only to be chased down and wiped out by our far faster and superior military.

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1.PNG]]

I count four groups of goblins now. The first one was lashers and wrestlers, which got ripped apart in the first wave. Their archers got killed on the bridge, only a few of that group got away... The master lasher, more lashers and wrestlers got wiped out by our forces, and that leaves the maceman, swordsmen and wrestler group.

CHARRRGE!!

[[File:Goblin_Siege_1-2.PNG]]

20th Hematite, 206, Early Summer

[[File:Goblin_Siege_Defeated_1-2.PNG]]

That group was wiped out without any casualties on our end. I miscounted again and we found a fifth group of goblins; This one is just wrestlers, spearmen and swordsmen. I formed up the rest of the military for one last slaughter, but that group broke and ran for the hills rather than face certain death at the hands of our superior forces. We ran down a few of them but the rest got away. I count five groups of goblins defeated now, and the end of the siege. In an eyeblink, their dreams of conquest were so many dead corpses littering the gates of the Fortress. We have four dead from this attack; Two champions died from the bowmen, and a mason and her baby who were caught outside by the lashers. Damn beasts. We're already preparing funerals for our dead, and I've canceled the alert so we can cleanup all these bodies. We have several prisoners we took from the goblins as well, probably execute them in the magma or something later. I gotta say, though, if our military is this effective unarmed, what will they be like with weapons?

Cleanup underway from the siege. Finally sited a perfect place for the great forge works, just a little bit south of the tombs. I'm going to tap the very bottom of this magma pipe and funnel it northwest to the new forges. Got lucky and hit yet another vein of silver while digging out the site.

12th Galena, 206, Late Summer

The forge works is done, all the smelters and forges are in place except two we don't have anvils for yet. We even smoothed the walls and floor over and are in the process of removing alot of this junk rock. We're just waiting for the magma to arrive through the channel now. I hope it does arrive, rather than just evaporating like the last one did... My design favors a much more direct path, however. I gotta admit I'm surprised how fast we got that job done. We have very skilled miners and stoneworkers in this fort, hellhole though it may be, and we may just make something out of this yet. Drink is still stabilized for now, but we need a lot more barrels than this... Soon as the magma arrives, though, probably start making cheap metal ones. Who needs wood? You don't know where its been.

1st Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Turn of the season at last. With winter fast approaching, we're digging out a proper barracks and storage area for arms and armor north of the new forges. With drink stocks dropping fast, I've decided to take measures. More food preparation areas being renovated and more dwarves as brewers. We have enough plants but we just don't have enough barrels to put the booze in. The problem is as soon there's an empty barrel someone puts food in it. Going to cut off food production for now and focus on drinks. (Also got a message saying the fortress attracted no migrants this season. Thank Armok.)

10th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Titan_Arrives.PNG]]

Armok help us all. A titan was just seen on the outskirts of the fortress today. We'll see what happens, but I've ordered everyone to stay the hell inside for now. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to be worried about going naked in the middle of a freezing tundra... Tough skin, I suppose.

12th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

That was almost too easy. The titan went after the muskoxes tied out front and blundered straight into our cage traps; A human diplomat arrived right after that happened, not a moment too soon. I guess he wants to talk about trading and such, humans usually do. Here's hoping he doesn't get scared by the caged titan and run off... Seriously, though, that was just too easy. I'm gonna figure out some use for this one later, maybe cage it in a spot for all to see to demonstrate the power of the Dwarves... Whatever. We'll figure something out. I also need to figure out what to do with these damn goblins. I think I know just the thing, though...

14th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

ARMOK be PRAISED, the Dwarven caravan arrived today. And they brought wood. LOTS. OF. WOOD, (almost *150* units!!!) and also barrels and piles of food and drink for us. Apparently they also brought animals, but due to the harsh climate, every single one of them died during the journey. Balls. Oh well, we can still butcher the corpses for meat. But seriously, with this kind of wood we should easily be able to recover from this drink shortfall. This fortress is well on its way to becoming something great.

18th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

Strange accident today. Unib Semorlibash, one of our metalsmiths, died of thirst. I have no idea why, since we still have plenty of booze to go around, and access to a well... In other news, finally decided to execute the stupid goblins. All of them have dirty clothes and narrow, iron armor no one can use. I don't even know why we bother to stockpile this crap, but whatever. We'll melt down the iron weapons and armor into more dwarven implements later. Recalling the issue we had with the magma channel being too long and thus overextending its reach, I had a buffer floodgate installed in the new magma channel to allow it to build up so it can keep moving.

26th Limestone, 206, Early Autumn

[[File:Thob_Begins_Work.PNG]]

Thob Nolethsazir, one of our clothiers began to channel the powers from above today. He's claimed a clothiers shop and began gathering up items. If this is anything like the last time we'll have yet another insanely valuable item on our hands.

3rd Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Idrathobok_makes_Duchy.PNG]]

(w00t w00t!!!) Today we got a visit from a representative form the mountainhomes, who informed us that Treasurepillar and the surrounding lands have been made a duchy. This raises our fortress to Metropolis status, effective immediately. I'm well past wondering why the nobility wastes time on this fortress; It's completely self-sufficient now, has its own military, burgeoning farms and craft industry, and high population with several prominent noble figures. Apparently we're no longer just a fringe outpost in the middle of nowhere, but a full-fledged mountainhome. Rejoice, and beer all around!

The next day...

Excellent. Looks like I won't have a berserk dwarf on my hands after all. (was a bit worried 'cause he was taking so long to get the items he needed) Second buffer floodgate is in the magma channel, linking it now. Also, just to flaunt our newfound status as a mountainhome, more surface projects are underway. Trying to build a paved road out of aluminum bars, since we have so many of them. We'll see how far I can get before it's time to switch to marble.
NOTE: (Because we're now a duchy, we're eligible to receive the King. We have more than enough architectural wealth, but he wants 'road value' and 'offerings' whatever that last part means. If the king doesn't show up in my turn it's up to you guys.)

8th Sandstone, 206, Mid-Autumn

[[File:Thob_Finishes_Work.PNG]]

Thob has finished his work. A rope reed chausse, whatever that is. It seems to have an image of a dog bone battle axe on it... Thinking back on it, we do have a dog bone battle axe in this fort. A superiorly well-made one (artifact) someone made a while back, I know it's the same one... But what does sea nettle jellyfish have to do with it? Oh, well. Personal quirks, I guess.

Speaking of that axe, one of Rigoth's team apparently grabbed it earlier and ran out to slaughter Werewolves. Here's hoping he doesn't get ambushed. (Actually, I accidentally gave the axe to him because I was equipping our military with weapons and by random chance, he grabbed the axe. I can't get it off him 'cause dwarves *never* drop artifact equipment, so I'm training him on wild animals rather than fellow dwarves.) I have faith in him, though; The man could probably slaughter an entire troop of goblins all by himself.

v0.31:Caverns

2010-05-10T02:31:44Z

Xvareon:

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}
'''Caverns''' are ''huge'' natural underground tunnel systems, inhabited by strange and dangerous creatures. They go up, down, left, right, and about anywhere else. Vanilla worlds provide three cavern layers. Number, size and z-position can be altered in the {{L|world generation}} parameters.
The caverns will usually have open map edges, allowing all sorts of {{L|creatures}} to migrate into and from the cavern. By exploring the caverns in adventure mode it is possible to travel large distances below the surface - the caverns effectively connect all sites that access them.

Upon reclaiming a fort, all mud in the caverns is removed.

''In subterranean biomes, Chasm, water, and lava mean land, water (pool), and magma (pipes) respectively.''

==Geography==
The top of the first cavern usually resides about 10 z-levels below the surface. {{Verify}}
Each cavern layer spans multiple z-levels, and is filled with {{L|water}} to a certain degree. This can range from a few pools at the bottom level to the whole layer being submerged, forming a gigantic underground sea, including {{L|fish}} and possibly camps of {{L|olm man|olm men}} and other {{L|fun}} aquatic creatures.

The average amount of water cavern layers feature depends on your world generation settings, specifically

[CAVERN_LAYER_WATER_MIN:0]

[CAVERN_LAYER_WATER_MAX:100]

Beneath the third layer lies the {{l|magma sea}}.

==Other Features==
Exploring the underground world, you may find a variety of special geographical features. When your dwarves discover a feature, an announcement window will let you know of it.

'''Deep pits:''' deep pits are... deep pits, they go from one cavern level to the next, and they are a fixed shape, when they hit the next cavern level they end up 'merging' into it (''no other way to explain it''), and the top z-level, the z-level it hits the next cavern level, is un-muddied rough rock floor where the the normal space of the deep pit and the random rock spires of the cavern collide.

'''Magma pools:''' Magma pools (despite the name, they are not actually pools) are tubes extending from the {{l|magma sea}} and their shape is fixed, it's really random if you find one, it could extend to the top cavern, or even just a few z-levels.

'''Passages:'''
Passages are natural tunnels connecting two layers by ramps and short, twisted tunnel sections.

==Vegetation==
Caverns will, from the topmost to the deepest, feature the following vegetation:

'''Level one''': a benign (or as nice as caverns get) level, it has shrubs, {{l|Tower-cap}}s, and {{l|Fungiwood}}(s).

'''Level two''': a level filled with, in addition to the above, {{l|Goblin-cap}}s, {{l|Spore tree}}s, {{l|Black-cap}}s, and {{l|Tunnel tube}}s.

'''Level three''': a level lacking the trees the first level had, while still having those the second introduced, also has, {{l|Nether-cap}}s, and {{l|Blood thorn}}s.

Removing a layer will prevent any trees that come from that layer since it doesn't exist.

Plants from recently discovered layers will also start sprouting in your artificially muddied areas (but not on the already muddied areas that the caverns are generated with).

Muddied areas, artificial or natural, cannot have any vegetation if in a ocean biome.

==Dangers==
There are many, many dangerous {{l|animal}}s in a cavern, including {{l|bugbat}}s, {{l|giant olm}}s, {{l|troll}}s, {{l|giant cave swallow}}s, and others.

Cavern level one is as good as things get, and the following levels will {{l|Cave Dragon|only}} {{l|Voracious cave crawler|be}} {{l|Magma crab|worse}}. If you can't stand level one, you wont be able to stand level two or three.

{{l|Giant cave swallow|Flying creatures}} can {{l|Fun|ruin your day}} if your main stairwell leads directly into the cavern (the bottom of up-down/down stairs can be passed by flying creatures).

Also, any cavern of sufficient size will be inhabited by {{l|giant cave spider}}s, which can be both {{l|Silk|benefit}} and hazard.

One thing you really have to watch out for is having your main stairwell lead into a cavern. It doesn't have to be so walking creatures can get in, but just so there's an open hole. Any hostile creature sitting under your open stairway will spook any dwarves trying to use it, causing a flood of job cancellation messages as they keep trying to reach their destination. When this happens it can lead to all your dwarves starving themselves to death. Only build stairs on the side, preferably with a hatch.

==Benefits==
Caverns provide ever regenerating resources in form of underground forests, animals to hunt, and fish.
On breaching a cavern layer, a variety of ores and gems lining its walls will be revealed.
The cavern floors are always {{l|Farming#Underground Farming|muddied}}, providing soil to a variety of underground {{l|plant}}s.
Also, underground caverns and the water they provide can be used in constructions and traps. Throwing your prisoners into a damp hellhole filled with ravaging beasts is a nice addition, too.

===Creatures===
If you care to spend the time, filling the caverns with cage traps. You can get some nice pets. Though you will need a {{l|Dungeon Master}}. Still, it's worth the thought.

==When should I start exploring?==
[[Image:Cavern.png‎|thumb|right|A cavern found underground.]]
You should have a working military. The first cavern usually has few hazardous monsters, apart from the occasional giant olm or toad, but just one giant bat can destroy an early fort and uninvited guests will wander in sooner or later. The subsequent caverns will become increasingly {{L|fun}}, so don't dig too deep without making adequate preparation. You can handle what tries to attack, presuming you don't have a {{L|siege}} to worry about.
You can of course explore a cavern without a military, but you will likely get a bunch of dwarves killed.

Not all parts of a cavern are immediately visible; A good portion of a cavern is revealed once you breach it, but other parts remain hidden until your dwarves explore them. Since you often don't know what you'll find in a cavern, they can be exciting places, but also very dangerous.

==Methods of Exploration==
There are many different methods of exploring, some safer than others.

'''Dwarf team''': The most '''FUN''' method, you can have dwarves manually explore the cavern by foot. This can be done by ordering your {{l|squads}} into the cavern with move orders. If you use this method, it is recommended that you equip your dwarves well.

'''Fortifications''': as dwarves can see through fortifications, you can carve out a fortification near the edge of the explored area to safely discover more of the cavern. This prevents wildlife and megabeasts from entering your fort, as an added benefit. This method does not work for exploring the magma layers - or rather, it ''does'' work, but for a very, very brief time during which there is much [[fun]].

'''Digging and walling''': Instead of smoothing a wall and then carving a fortification, it can be quicker to just dig out the wall and then blocking off the opening with a constructed wall. The disadvantage over the fortification method is that if any dangerous creatures are lurking unseen near edge of the explored area they might get to your dwarf before the wall can be put up.

'''Digging from above''': The only method that works in the magma layers, this method requires you to dig a hole from above the caverns into the cavern. It is advisable to seal the hole afterwards if you wish to prevent flying or magma creatures from entering your fort.

'''Autonomous Dwarven Cavern Rover''': Pit an animal into the cavern through an access tunnel above the cavern floor, walling it up afterward if you wish. The animal will wander the cavern, revealing more of it, and possibly stumble across things you would prefer your dwarves not encounter unaware. Use a female animal when you have a male of the same species somewhere in your fortress to produce a population of self replicating rovers.

'''Suicide mission''': Ideal for exploring the bottom of a deep pit or magma pool. Knock a dwarf into the pit, and they will rapidly plummet. Despite being unconscious, they will report everything they see for as long as they are alive. Nobles make excellent geonauts.

==Adventurer Mode==
You can enter a cavern with an {{l|adventurer}} and explore it. The dangers are obvious; Nasty creatures, pitfalls, etc. But you also have to watch out because you can't fast-travel underground. That means no easy healing, so you have to be very careful. Make sure you stock up on food, water and (if you use it) ammunition before you head in, though, as caverns are quite massive and it can be difficult to find your way back. Luckily, there are tribes of animal men underground; They are your friends. Camps almost always have food, and usually some other items as well, though probably less useful. Since you can't fast-travel, you have to rely on sleeping to heal, which can be dangerous due to the {{l|Giant Cave Spider|nature}} of caverns. If you sleep in a camp, the tribe will try and protect you from {{l|Forgotten Beast|whatever}} {{l|Troll|shows}} {{l|Blind Cave Ogre|up}}.

{{Category|World}}

v0.31:Known bugs and issues

2010-05-09T20:11:13Z

Xvareon: /* Military */

{{AV}}
{{Quality|Fine}}
'''PLEASE SUBMIT BUGS TO THE OFFICIAL BUG TRACKER - THEY WON'T GET FIXED IF THEY ARE ONLY LISTED HERE.''' 
'''[http://bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/ Dwarf Fortress Bug Tracker]'''

*Please link to the mantis tracker issue as well as the forum post if possible.

As the version is new, and we're still discovering what bugs are, obviously a lot of unverifiable information is going to get added to this thread. Recommend that new entries be added with "'''(confirmation needed)'''", and that people can document each bug on the discussion page. Once we have 2+ instances of a bug with some specific description of what's occurring, we can remove the parenthetical, or alternately, we can discuss removing unconfirmed bugs if there are issues in recreating them. People can also link relevant posts and threads from the forums here to help document the bugs. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 08:58, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:Please also read the 'Not Actually Bugs' section before adding bug reports! --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 09:00, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

==Not Actually Bugs==
*As megabeasts no longer die during world creation, the standard world creation will run until 1050 (Dwarf-Rapture) unless stopped. -- Andrei901, 2 April 2010, someone else check this please
::Not a bug. World creation is *supposed* to run until 1050... --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 08:50, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:::If you 'create world with parameters', one of the parameters which can be altered is the end year; you could lower the value to have world generation run more quickly, though the resulting world will potentially be less rich with history, legends and trappings of civilisation. [[User:Oddtwang of Dork|Oddtwang of Dork]] 16:10, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
*Tilesets in png format don't work? Just a black display.
::Tilesets must be in .bmp format, <strike>as they always have had to be.</strike> The .png format only works for the d# series. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 08:50, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:::A d## merge is in progress, .png will be supported soon.--[[User:Ar-Pharazon|Ar-Pharazon]] 01:32, 4 April 2010 (UTC)
*When choosing material for a squad item(cloak in this case) there are hundreds of "forgotten beast leather" to choose from.
::That's because there are lots of different forgotten beasts. Somewhat annoying? Yes. Working exactly like every other source creature for leather? Yes. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 08:50, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
*Making a adamantine cloak -sometimes- results in "Urist McArmorer, Armorer cancels Forge adamantine cloak: Needs 10000 adamantine cloth." Also needed 15000 strands to make wafers. Update: this happens if you don't have enough cloths, I had 4 adamantine cloths in this case. If you have enough it works nicely. (The actual required number is much less than 15,000. It's closer to something like 10 adamantine strands. This is probably due to the fact that cloth can be consumed "in pieces" now for medical purposes).
*"Clothier canceled construct silk bag: needs 1000 cloth": http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123552#msg1123552
::This is working as intended. Cloth is now measured in smaller units than individual pieces. If anything, the bug is that the game isn't telling you how much cloth each cloth item represents. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 08:52, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
::Using two different units of measure (a count of each, and some unspecified unit of measure) counts as a bug. [[User:AngleWyrm|- AngleWyrm]] 03:37, 1 May 2010 (UTC)
*Cats and Dogs - Including kittens, puppies, and War/Hunting variants - are similarly listed twice.
::They're listed twice because they separately list males and females. WAD. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 09:05, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
*Weird red C in top left corner - "''' C '''" means new combat report, "''' H '''" means new hunting message, "''' S '''" means new sparring message. Feature, not bug: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=52514.0
*No option for magma in the finder, this is because [[magma]] is guaranteed everywhere now.
*Corpses sitting in refuse piles turn into skeletons rather than piles of bones, in fact in the 2+ years I started my fort I haven't seen a single bone or shell in my refuse stockpile and yes, we've been eating fish too. I think bones are gone or something. Haven't tried butchering animals yet, though, so confirmation please...
::Arena Mode allows skeletons to be butchered into bones and a skull. Fortress Mode should be the same
::Dwarves automatically take skeletons, partial skeletons and limbs from the refuse stockpile and butcher them to produce only bones and skulls. (confirmation needed)
::They don't, while a few dwarfs have nothing but butchery enabled.
:::Only butcherable are accepted for turning skeletons into bones. This seems to mean that goblins and the like cannot be harvested for their bones anymore. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 12:58, 15 April 2010 (UTC)
*{{L|Wrestling}} will take much longer than combat using any kind of Weapon (unlike in 40d), this is due to the fact that a wrestler will have a very hard time making an opponent either bleed to death or have their brain destroyed. A single wrestler, completely untrained, can take on a pack of 5 Crawls in about 20 minute (at 50fps) if Urist McWrestler goes into a martial state. But a Dwarf with an Adamantine battle axe, even if completely untrained, can cut through 5 Crawls in about 5 minutes (at 50fps).
::I would reword that as "uberpowered wrestling is gone and has been nerfed, so that it is as useless as it should be" :)
*Copying an empty order causes an immediate crash. See http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=83 -- '''Fixed''' {{version|0.31.03}}
*Going to the schedule grid of the inactive group causes an immediate crash. See http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=156 -- '''Fixed''' {{version|0.31.03}}

== Embarking ==

*You can embark with some rather unrealistic prepared foods (such as the aforementioned fly brains, which in real life go at about 900 thousand brains to the pound). This may be related to further issues involving vermin's organs.
*All fish are mentioned 2x. See http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123220#msg1123220
*I find that I am unable to add items or skill points to my dwarves on the embarking screen. I'm using Mayday's graphics pack. I'm not sure what the cause of this is or if I'm just missing something obvious. (Explanation/Confirmation needed)

: ((signing your posts helps, and it just means you need to free up expedition points (cancel an item)))[[User:Kenji 03|Kenji 03]] 11:32, 5 April 2010 (UTC).
::I thought it might be that I needed to free up points too, but the counter shows that I have points-a-plenty. I'm also unable to subtract items from my embarkation list.--[[Special:Contributions/67.166.145.39|67.166.145.39]] 02:51, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
::I can confirm this. It happens in vanilla too apparently. Hit "esc" and go to you custom binds and rest your + and - keys. Do the same for the */ keys.
:::I use an external NumPad with my laptop, and toggling NumLock on it can change the behaviour of keys like these. [[User:Oddtwang of Dork|Oddtwang of Dork]] 16:14, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:::: What are you guys talking about? I've had no problems, nor have I seen any complaints about this on the bug tracker which I have been watching actively. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 16:29, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
:::::I guess they are talking about not having a US keyboard or being on a laptop. The first hurdle for me a long time back with DF was figuring out what actual keys work ;) Now that we have keybinds this is all easier, but we need to tell people more that they can change any key they want. --[[User:Confused|Confused]] 20:29, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

*After embarking with items that was listed two times in list game crashes.{{verify}}
:Unconfirmed, though people on [[DF2010 Talk:Embark]] say that this is false. [[User:Garanis|Garanis]] 23:30, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
:I believe this one to be false, they are probably crashing for a different reason. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 16:25, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
*Cannot seem to quit from embark screen. Esc. does nothing, is this a bug? Also, had to hunt down process to quit. [[Special:Contributions/72.152.246.212|72.152.246.212]] 14:48, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
:Possibly the menu key has become bound to something other than Esc? [[User:Oddtwang of Dork|Oddtwang of Dork]] 16:14, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:Confirmed, You cannot quit once you press "Dwarf forteress" until you've actually embarked. [[Guest]] 8 April 2010
:This is accurate. Much as I hate this one, it could be argued that this is a design choice. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 16:27, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

== Sites ==

*Magma pipes in volcanoes extend to the top of the map, past the mountain itself.
*Magma tubes remain the same shape and size the whole way down and may be square. See http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=52412.0 (for the above as well)

== Buildings and Zones ==

*Can't farm on dry soil underground. See http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51951.msg1123336#msg1123336
*Construction and/or deconstruction can occasionally force some dwarves to idle. See: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123250#msg1123250
*Dwarves raid elf (all?) caravans for cloth (maybe thread as well) for the hospital zone. (confirmed. Won't happen if your hospital zone has no room in it's containers for the items, though). (confirmed to raid dwarven caravans as well)
** They also try to eat elf food at the Depot, but realize their mistake halfway and stop... then try again... you can see where this is going.
*Emptied murky ponds refill much faster than they used to. A decent sized pond that's been mined into can now flood your fortress if it starts raining (confirmation required)
**I believe that this is because rain will now fall at different rates, or so I've observed. Meaning you'll either get a downpour or a light sprinkle, or somewhere in between, and It will fill pools accordingly.
*There are currently no (or occasionally very few) fish. This includes brooks, rivers, oceans, ponds, lakes (underground and otherwise). You may get a few turtles sometimes. No known workaround: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=52217.0
**[http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=232 Known bug] that is confirmed as resolved by toady on the bug tracker. Should be fixed in 31.04

== Combat ==

*Some combat maneuvers have no effect. See: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123104#msg1123104
**Attempting to grab a bodypart with a weapon leads to "you grab *** by *** with your *weapon* but nothing is grabbed
**Attempting to "pinch" various body parts shows "you adjust you grip on***" and nothing else.
*Alligators can wear armor (same post as above)
*Non-alive creatures (like bronze colossuses, zombies and blizzard men) cannot be destroyed (possibly because they can't bleed to death nor have their brain destroyed). However arena testing has revealed that [[dragonfire]] can melt bronze colossuses. See http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123220#msg1123220
:: I had the same problem with skeletal animals. Even a skeletal groundhog fought on without nearly every limb or organ. But they can be killed: A 16 z-level drop does do the trick. --[[User:Doub|Doub]] 11:13, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
*Shield-bashing has no effect with a wooden shield: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123499#msg1123499
*The default settings are such that your military dwarfs will train, train, train, and possibly starve in the process. See {{L|Military/Guide}}, "Getting your squad to do something", for details.
*Dwarves will continue to train in barracks even after being removed from a squad. (Because they are completing the task they started before they will move on to something else, changing your alert helps here as well).
*[[Thirsty]] and [[Hungry]] tags are guaranteed to appear for any soldier (as they are when a dwarf does anything else in this release) because Dwarves will now try to complete a task before they eat/drink. (While I have yet to have a wrestler pass out due to not eating/drinking, they will be wrestling in combat until they kill their target)[[User:Kenji 03|Kenji 03]] 11:44, 5 April 2010 (UTC).

== Labors ==

*Hunting Issues. See: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123228#msg1123228
*Miners now cancel mining designations when they can't reach them: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123272#msg1123272
**Fixed in 31.03.
*Metal goblets are always iron, regardless of input: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123533#msg1123533 (Not true; I've made tons of copper goblets using copper bars)
*Manager screen doesn't show you materials for traction benches: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123533#msg1123533
*Workers are too dedicated, dehydrate themselves: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123599#msg1123599
*Cooking with alcohol is buggy: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123702#msg1123702
*When crafting shell crafts, craftsdwarves never actually produce a shell craft, but instead sit forever with the same shell, with their skills increasing. (confirmation required)
*Dwarves take orders to prepare meals with liquid ingredients like dwarven syrup, wine, and rum, but almost never do it and instead dump the liquid inside the kitchen where it sits cluttering it up and can't be moved... Because it's liquid.
::Using dwarven syrup works just fine for me, but my cook always grabs at least one solid ingredient. Ie, 3 stacks of syrup + one stack of cheese -> finished and edible meal. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 17:54, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
::The liquid seems to be underneath the kitchen. If you remove the kitchen, some dwarf will come along and clean the spill. Then you can remake the kitchen. I'd recommend simply disabling all cooking of booze. --[[User:Greycat|Greycat]] 00:24, 26 April 2010 (UTC)
*Making Rock Short Sword results in a wooden short sword. Especially annoying when making an adamantine sword! (multiple reports)
::Is this before or after setting the rock to be allowed for non-economic use in the 'z' screen?
*Wood cutter. Tried to upgrade his axe to a steel one, never cut another tree in his life after being forced to dump his copper battle axe. It's like wood cutting had a seperate profile and he was the only one excluded; Sure enough, turned one of my jewelers into wood cutter and it worked fine for him.
*Woodcutters can chop down trees with (wooden) training axes.
*Immigrants arrive with only peasant labors enabled, even if they are legendary jewelers or whatever. They may sometimes have weird labors enabled. (Stonecrafting master lye makers) No known workaround, manually check each immigrants labors.
*In the {{k|o}}rders menu, there are options (in {{k|W}}orkshops) for auto {{k|b}}utcher, auto {{k|k}}itchen and auto {{k|f}}ishery. All three of these respond to {{k|b}} only, {{k|k}} and {{k|f}} do nothing.
*Parties never end, sometimes eating up half the labor force.
::You ever waited for parties to actually end in .40d? Just undesignate the statue garden or whatever and the party ends =)
::That's the workaround I took, except I had to get rid of the dining room. In any case, it's still a bug.
* Soap-making task is missing from the workshop. Issuing work order through the manager does work.
**Also with cutting clear and crystal glass.
* Making waterskin in leather works results in a weird item called "flask" (simply that, no mention of leather or whatever) that is never used and stays forever in the workshop. Those don't seem to cause clutter in the workshop either. (A metal variant (Ex. Iron) is now capable of being created at a metal smith, probably causing this bug. Soldiers will carry an Metal Flask).
*Miners will sometimes dig into underground seas (magma) with no "Damp Stone" ("Warm Stone") notification prior to that.
*Dwarves will occasionally go exceptionally out of their way to get a material while a giant stockpile is sitting beside them (I saw my carpenter travel half the map to get a log while there was a stockpile of 20 logs beside him)
:This will happen if the stockpiled items are already reserved for another task (sometimes happens en masse if you're designating constructions from the material). If this still functions as it did in 40d, dwarves will count the number of tiles to an item 'as the crow flies' rather than checking the actual pathfinding distance, meaning that they regard items above or below their workshop as being very nearby even if the travel distance to reach them is substantial. [[User:Oddtwang of Dork|Oddtwang of Dork]] 16:20, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:True, but I wasn't using wood for anything, only had 2 carpenters active and the wood was on the same Z plane as my workshops. The usual explanation doesn't fly for the one event I saw.
*Cancelling a job at the metalsmith can jam the shop if the item was being actively produced at that time (cancelled job to stop untrained armorer from working on an adamantium plate armor, shop jammed and no other orders ever went through. Ordered deconstruction and then halted deconstruction to clear this up).
*Adamantne plate armor takes only a single waifer to make and is worth considerably less than an adamantine battle axe at par crafting value. This is despite claiming to need 3 material to produce 1 plate armor.

*When told to make Shell Crafts, your craft dwarf will go through the action of making something, but no product will be produced.--[[Special:Contributions/216.93.146.229|216.93.146.229]] 20:32, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

== Moods ==

*Fey moods can request body parts (!!!): http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123573#msg1123573
**Animal bones satisfies the body parts request.
**Animal parts (Remains, "body parts", & corpses) that appear in the stock menu will NOT satisfy this request. Skulls & "Bones" found via the {{k|k}} menu will also NOT satisfy this request. (See save file on [[User:Kenji_03|my userpage]] page)
***Same situation here. I have tons of bones, sculls, hoofs, horns, hair, cartilages etc., none of this seems to satisfy my moody dwarf. Maybe he wants something like shells (which is impossible to get due to the lack of fish) or ivory/tusks or something else I can't get, but it needs to be more specific anyway.
***Here too, and had one gem setter go mad when I couldn't fulfill his demand for "cut gems," despite having hundreds of different cut gems in a stockpile right outside the shop. Apparently moody dwarves can sometimes be much more finicky about exactly what item they will accept; I've had one demand requesting "body parts" be satisfied with a mule hoof and a wolf skull from my refuse heap, while another wouldn't be satisfied with anything but turtle shells. Quantities are also impossible to determine, all different demands "blink" at the same frequency, no matter how many are desired. Filled demands that have already been gathered remain listed as well, but you can at least use the {{key|t}} command to view the contents of the shop the moody dwarf has occupied and see what he's already gathered.
**This can mean bones OR shells, possibly more.
*Fey moods can request "rock bars." Upon further review, this means "metal bars"
**Not necessarily. Has been seen to ignore all metal bars, ores, other rock, and rock blocks, all at once. --[[User:Aescula|Aescula]] 09:01, 24 April 2010 (UTC)
**Seconded.--[[User:Nimblewright|Nimblewright]] 09:43, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

== Creature Data ==

*Descriptions sometimes take strange objects ('She likes to consume she'): http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123533#msg1123533
*When iron men and Bronze Colossuses die, the statues that make up their corpses adopt images of creatures (I.e: Statue of a dwarf 1) and events. - feature; the molten metal falling from them will make statues out of any corpses below where they died (tested and confirmed)
** In addition, the statues are quite tiny compared to the colossus itself - about the size of their noses.
*Giants and giantesses are mapped to the wrong gender.
*Unicorns give birth to elk fawns.
*Mountain goat fawns are called "Stray Horse foal", although having all the features of a mountain goat.
** Confirmed, this is due to what is assumed to be a copy/paste error in the raws - The raws list "Mountain goat kid" as well as "Horse foal" as possible child names, so it randomly picks one.
*in BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_HEAD_POSITIONS both eye lids are around the right eye and clean the left eye
*not so much a bug as a quibble. Prepared monarch butterfly brains were being sold by a local human caravan to me. Does this strike anyone else as... a tad unfulfilling?

== Stockpiles ==
*Problems with categorization. (Stone is considered metal) See http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123178#msg1123178 http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=157
*Custom stockpile options don't seem to always work: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123474#msg1123474
*Dead vermin never seem to rot: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=51953.msg1123731#msg1123731
**Dead anything for that matter...
***Actually, dead creatures/humans and butchered animals DO rot.--[[User:Egregius|Egregius]] 05:11, 28 April 2010 (UTC)
*"Take from stockpile" is broken: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=52126.0
* There is no category for wood blocks. As such, wood blocks can not be removed from carpentry workshops. http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=439

== Arena ==
*Graphics mode does not work with arena.

== Military ==
*Dwarves who are assigned to squads seem to be permanently affixed to the soldier life - changing schedules, training options, switching out dwarves, disbanding the squad: nothing works. All they do is eat, drink, sleep, Individual Combat Drill and take Kill orders. (multiple reports, bug incidence somewhat inconsistent, deconstructing assigned barracks sometimes helps)
*Similarly to the issue above, squads can also get into a "permanent civilian life" and will never go into "recruit mode" unless ordered to "station" or "Kill a target", upon canceling this order they will go back to civilian mode. (Although they will perform individual combat drills, but in civilian garbs unless you replaced their equipment)((Confirmation needed))[[User:Kenji 03|Kenji 03]] 11:54, 5 April 2010 (UTC).
:You mean they're supposed to not be civilians while training? Oh... yeah maybe that is a bug, never seen anything else personally - foarl 10:19, 09 April, 2010
*Bolts assigned to a squad that is then disbanded do not free up for use by other squads automatically.
*Dwarves will sometimes equip two weapons in the same hand, this seems to cause them to be unable to attack with either weapon. --[[User:Fransbal|Fransbal]] 13:46, 16 April 2010 (UTC)
**I found the problem too be related to the right hand, dwarfs would equip 2 shields and 2 axes in one right hand. think it might be caused when dwarf upgrades previous right hand weapon to a better one. It grabs the improved weapon but it doesnt drop the old one. After that they just keep grabbing new items.
**Supposedly this is caused when a uniform is applied to a soldier more than once. Often they will double up on all sorts of equipment. I had a dwarf with 3 axes, 2 shields, 2 mail shirts (with a breastplate), and so on. It doesn't seem to be an 'upgrade' issue because they will occasionally double-up on equipment with exactly the same material/quality. -- Hams
*I had a huge forge works hammering out iron bars, which in turn became weapons and armor, and tried to equip my military with them. They didn't show up in the equip list. All I saw was a few scant pieces of armor like leather, wooden armor, leather gloves, copper swords etc. I have all these lovely high-grade weapons and armor but I can't equip dwarves with them. I had equipped my previous military with said copper swords and leather before I found iron, maybe that had something to do with it. -- Xvareon

== Injuries ==
*Dwarf with compound fracture and mangling on his toe's nail and skin never recovered, surgeons performed "surgery" on said dwarf for years but nothing ever healed. (confirmation required)
**Confirmed. Red-coloured third finger of the left hand was operated on several times, up to about a month. After that, the surgeon wandered off to see to his needs, or the patient was given sustenance, thus breaking the operation.
*Surgeon provided constant "suturing," each time using up thread. May be related to above problem.
*blood that never seems to dry. I have a small spattering of blood from combat that happened in my first year that has turned the entrance of my fortress into a nearly constantly spreading wave of blood (high traffic area, keeps getting smeared). Also, killed a giant scorpion in year 2, as of year 4 I got unlazy and told my dwarves to dump it down my trash shoot leading 155z levels down into a lava pit. Even after 2 years of not being touched, I found scorpion ichor on the walls of my trash shoot.
**Confirmed. My hunters were chasing some aligators the first season I've embarked, now it's year 5 and there's blood all over the map. Same goes for goblins/trolls/whatever. On one tile in front of my fort, I have over 80 blood spatterings ;D [[User:Fuco|Fuco]] 15:32, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
*Specifically, any blood smear or pool can spread indefinitely. The most common problem is a pool of blood in a high-traffic area. This causes every dwarf that touches it to get blood on them. Each dwarf will then eventually wash it off, creating another pool of blood by the well, which is likely another high-traffic area. Eventually you end up with the dining room and food stockpiles all coated with several dozen different creatures' blood. Probably the best fix would be causing blood to "move" rather than "spread". [[User:Theothersteve7|Theothersteve7]] 17:46, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

== Items ==

*Eating a masterwork meal will cause the cook to suffer art defacement.
*Quarry bush leaves do not appear in the kitchen menu and the Dwarves will not cook them, rendering them useless except for trading. <s>(Resolved as of 0.31.02)</s> Still unable to cook quarry bush leaves in 0.31.03, leaves do not show up in Status > Kitchen list. Tested in multiple worlds and on multiple computers.
:They appear in the Kitchen list for me, in the fortress whose world was generated in 31.03. I'm missing all sorts of things from the Kitchen list, though, in the fortress whose world was generated in 31.01 -- all meat and other animal parts, all seeds, etc. -[[User:Greycat|Greycat]] 11:37, 1 May 2010 (UTC)
*Obsidian does not appear in the accounting stone menu
*Reclaim mode, some items recovered become immobile, even when claimed instead of forbidden. Buidling on the area they occupy is impossible, dwarves won't move the item.
**Workaround: Make water wash the item into a river, or somewhere it'll be destroyed.

==Nobles==
'''When a new mayor is appointed, all your nobles spots will come back. To speed up this process, set the population required for mayors to '1' in the raws (raw>objects>entity_default.txt).'''

*My dwarves had a bit too much [[fun]], dying down to the last 4 dwarves, my nobles were killed and so on. This resulted in the Nobles-list to be emptied of noble-slots except for military nobles.. only happened once, but I had to abandon the fortress since the list stayed empty after the population growing to 30+ without a possibilty to appoint brokers or managers.

::Confirmed. With my starting party, the expedition leader became stark raving mad, from this point the leaders noble positions disappeared from the noble screen (bookkeeping, manager, leader, etc), only military and health-related stuff remained. After he died from starvation/dehydratation, nothing changed. [[User:Jj|Jj]] 16:47, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

::Second that. Mayor/broker died, and the positions became unavailable along with still vacant sheriff slot. Manager, bookkeeper and medical/military positions remained as they were, though. --[[User:Ashmore|Ashmore]] 02:26, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

::Thirded. I've had this happen too. --[[User:Talkir|Talkir]] 11:20, 11 April 2010 (GMT)

::Don't be too quick to abandon. Once your Dwarfs elect a new mayor, the ability to appoint the other Nobles will reappear, even if every Noble position had previously disappeared. --[[User:TeDDD|TeDDD]] 11:20, 12 April 2010 (GMT

::Fourthed. Also it's been 3 full years since the tragedy happened and still no new mayor nor any other positions opened up. Not knowing how much anything is worth is a painful way to play. But its fun! EDIT: Recieved a mayor after 4 years (1 year after my population reached >50) and the noble positions opened up again.

*My old Mayors (who have been voted out and replaced) are continuing to demand accomodations befitting a mayor and making mandates. I can check their mandates by going to that specific dwarf's thoughts, but is this intended?
:I've also noticed mayors not getting demoted. My new mayor wanted his bedroom and such, but when I went to reassign the rooms I noticed that the old mayor was still referred to as a mayor in the room assignment screen.
:Seconded, my old mayor is still considered a mayor, even though I have a new one.
:Thirded, I've had multiple mayors and all of them keep their old title. I wonder if this is related to the sometimes excessive delay for a new mayor reported above.

== Graphics ==
*Arena does not work for graphics mode.
*After generating a world and embarking, you may notice missing tiles. Restart DF to fix.
*In the 'z'-status menu, there is no image for my nobles/administrators. Instead, there is an empty space where the purple dwarf should be.
*Not sure how many got this, but all military dwarves show as masons.
-------
Currently updated through post 77 of the .31.01 bug thread, except for Arena bugs

== Saves ==
*Renaming a save (ex. "Region2-spr-1050" to "Region2") will invalidate the save, even if you give the save it's original name back. If you must back-up a save manually, putting it into a zip/rar file seems to preserve it's ability to be reloaded. ((Confirmation needed))[[User:Kenji 03|Kenji 03]] 11:56, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
:I've been renaming saves at will, both manual saves ({{k|Esc}}, "Save") and auto-seasonal saves - never a problem. Because the files are larger and the game more "cumbersome", the process of saving is taking longer - betcha a dwarfbuck it's the equiv of the old Nemesis Unit crash, as described here: [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=34936.0]. When saving, do NOT rename or move or delete any file involved in the save (the source or target) ''until you are sure the save is 100% complete'' - then, knock yourself out. However,iirc, there was also a problem if the file that was ''opened'' for a game is then deleted or renamed - the game doesn't re-save the entire thing, but will "recreate" the same folder name as it opened, giving ''the appearance'' of a proper save. Migtht have changed since 40d, but might not. (Read forum discussion for complete explanation). --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 00:07, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
:+1 Copying and renaming of save folders should only be done when you are out of the game. Nowadays (though already in 40d too) the game somewhat continuously reads and writes from the folder. I have copied and renamed save folders with no prob. Because I am paranoid i also move them out of the [save] folder, but I doubt its really necessary. The zip/rar part is nonsense. --[[Special:Contributions/92.202.121.225|92.202.121.225]] 21:23, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
:Never had a problem and I rename saves all the time. I always completely close the game before renaming a save. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 18:30, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
:On Linux, I wrote a tiny script that backus the saves each time before the start of the game. Never a problem.

==forging Breastplate & Chainmail==
A metal breastplate currently only requires 1 bar of a metal to forge; however, when out of bars, the [[announcement]] seen reads
:''"Urist McArmorsmith cancels forge <x-metal> breastplate: needs 3 <x-metal> bars."''
A similar situation exists with chainmail ([[40d:chain armor]]), but with an announcement re "2 bars". Since in 40d a breastplate ([[40d:plate armor]]) required 3 bars and chain required 2, it's a good bet that this can be viewed as a bug. Tried mulitple times with copper, bronze and bis-bronze (not w/ steel or adamantine). (Conf needed, I suppose)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 00:07, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
: I can confirm this. And it appears to apply to all metals, and all metal items. An iron breastplate only needed 1 bar (I checked, there was only 1 bar in the workshop when he started working) and the job was only cancelled when (checking the stocks screen) there were no bars left, but I still got the "needs 3 bars" message. Same with greaves, except it said "needs 2 bars". It also seems to need only one adamantine wafer to produce anything, which is particularly jarring. I'm currently drowning in metal crap. Definitely a bug. --[[User:Mr Frog|Mr Frog]] 20:25, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
: Can confirm this happens with metal bins as well, needing only one bar but mentioning 3 when you don't have any. It's possible that this does *not* happen for metal barrels. Possibly connected to some jobs being titled "forge" and some "construct"? -- Narmio
:Just an interesting note on mechanics I noticed because of this bug. It bases the value of an item off the number of bars in it, so my adamantium breast plates are worth less than an adamantium axe (multipliers involved I'm sure) for any level of crafting. -Foarl

:Is this already fixed? Adamantine items seem not affected and steel greaves need 2 bars.

==Trading and Depot==

<s>Traders stay a long time. So long that an elven caravan didn't move and another human caravan already came before they had a chance to do anything like LEAVE (stupid hippies with their vast number of useless items on warthogs, seems to slow them down a lot). Never saw this in the first version.</s> -foarl
: Turns out the elves are just bugged. The human caravan came and went but the elves are still just sitting there a full season later. I'm contemplating killing them with my military to see how the adamantium platemail holds up with the new combat system.
: (Probably reproducible, but I have not done thorough testing) If a depot is assigned for dismantling while caravan arrives, a diplomat leaves unhappy. While this might be pretty normal, the diplomat will continue leaving unhappy every year regardless of the depot.
:: This behavior is believed to be caused by a bug in the wealth calculation. In some cases it will "find" a large amount of stuff down in the underground areas adding a very large number to your wealth which results in traders coming with truly absurd amounts of trade goods. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 18:32, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
:Forbid your depot ({{k|t}} - {{k|f}}) and they'll begone! -Manslay
:: Personally, I think this may not be a bug, but rather an odd way the pack-up-time is calculated. If you trade an enormous number of individual objects, they seem to stick around longer. This is common with the elves because people tend to use wooden bins.[[User:Theothersteve7|Theothersteve7]] 17:49, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
:::I've seen this happen quite a bit as well. However, I don't think that is the case. I always trade individual items (why get rid of perfectly good bins?) and the human/dwarven caravans don't linger as long as the elves do.--[[User:Kuroneko|Kuroneko]] 18:14, 14 April 2010 (UTC)
::::This is because creatures that the elves come with do not have pack animal values set on them, yet elves are able to use any creature as a pack animal. For example, check what is carrying their goods when they arrive: often it'll be warthogs or something similar, which do not have trade capacity values and thus the game probably sets them to max. Which makes them carry enormous, ridiculous loads and take forever to load/unpack. [[User:Teldin|Teldin]] 18:54, 14 April 2010 (UTC)
:::::That seems more likely than my theory. [[User:Theothersteve7|Theothersteve7]] 17:49, 15 April 2010 (UTC)
:A workaround: with the game paused and the depot in view, designate treecutting {{k|d}} - {{k|t}}, and just hold down the mouse button until the depot display no longer flashes between items very quickly.
:Why this works: it has been known that certain parts of the game engine keep running while the game is paused. These include cat-dwarf adoptions and the trade liaison conversation. It appears to also apply to traders loading up their goods, and probably to unloading goods as well. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 04:01, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

40d:Iron

2010-05-08T20:06:12Z

Xvareon:

{{Metal|name=Iron|color=0:7:1
|ore=
* {{L|Hematite}}
* {{L|Limonite}}
* {{L|Magnetite}}
|uses=
* Make {{L|pig iron}} at {{L|smelter}}
* Make {{L|steel}} at {{L|smelter}}
* {{L|weapon|Melee Weapons}}
* {{L|Crossbow}}s
* {{L|Bolt}}s
* {{L|Pick}}s
* {{L|Armor}}
* {{L|Anvil}}s
* {{L|Metalsmith's forge|Metal crafting}}
|properties=
* {{L|Magma}} proof
* {{L|Armor|Block}}% 100
* {{L|Damage}}% 100
* {{L|Material value}} 10
}}{{av}}{{Quality|Fine}}

'''Iron''' is an extremely useful and desired metal. It is the second best {{L|weapons-grade}}* metal, only slightly behind steel ''(and not including {{L|adamantine}}, which is in a category by itself)''. Iron has a {{L|Value#Material_multipliers|material multiplier}} of 10, putting on a par with {{L|silver}} and (approximately) {{L|black bronze}}, making it good but not "great" for producing metal objects of {{L|value}}.
:''(* Iron is also, arbitrarily, chosen as the baseline for comparison for other metals for armour and weapons - iron is "100%", and other metals are higher or lower than that.)''

Iron is predominantly used to make {{L|steel}}, or to forge {{L|weapons}} and {{L|armor}} if steel production is not possible. Iron is the most commonly used of the three metals possible* to forge {{L|anvil}}s. Iron can also be fashioned into objects such as {{L|coins}}, {{L|furniture}}, and {{L|crafts}}, when it is not being used for more practical purposes.
:''(* Steel and adamantine are harder to obtain and usually put to better uses, and while increasing an anvil's value they do not improve the anvil's effectiveness.)''

Iron {{L|bar}}s can be created from {{L|ore}} at a {{L|smelter}} by a dwarf with the {{L|furnace operating}} {{L|labor}} activated.

Much like in real life, Dwarf Fortress does not have one single source for iron, but instead has three different '''iron ores'''. These are:
*{{L|Hematite}}
*{{L|Magnetite}}
*{{L|Limonite}}

Combined, these only occur in {{L|igneous extrusive}}* and {{L|sedimentary}}* {{L|layer}}s. Since there is no iron ore in {{L|igneous intrusive layer}}s, these minerals are never found in {{L|granite}}, {{L|diorite}}, or {{L|gabbro}}, nor in any {{L|soil}} layers (unless a vein crosses partially into one from another area block - see {{L|vein}}.)

:''(* {{L|Andesite}}, {{L|Basalt}}, {{L|Felsite}}, {{L|Obsidian}}, and {{L|Rhyolite}} layers are igneous extrusive, while {{L|Sandstone}}, {{L|siltstone}}, {{L|mudstone}}, {{L|shale}}, {{L|claystone}}, {{L|rock salt}}, {{L|limestone}}, {{L|conglomerate}}, {{L|dolomite}}, {{L|flint}}, {{L|chert}}, and {{L|chalk}} layers are sedimentary.)''

Iron bars are needed to make [[pig iron]] bars, which in turn are used to make [[steel]] bars, using the following recipes:

:* 1 iron bar + 1 {{L|flux}} (stone) + 1 {{L|refined coal}} = 2 {{L|pig iron}} bars
:* 1 iron bar + {{L|pig iron}} + 1 {{L|flux}} (stone) + 1 {{L|refined coal}} = 2 {{L|steel}} bars

See {{L|steel}} for a complete discussion.

Invading goblins (or humans) often carry iron equipment, most of which is not usable by dwarves, being either "narrow" or "large". After successful fortress defense, recovered arms and armor can be {{L|trade}}d, or {{L|melt}}ed into iron {{L|bar}}s - this is sometimes referred to humorously as '''goblinite''', the 4th iron ore. This can be a reliable source of iron even when other ores are scarce.

It is also possible to {{L|trade}} for iron or iron ores.

{{gamedata}}
{{category|metals}}

File:Goblin Siege Defeated 1-2.PNG

2010-05-08T19:23:42Z

Xvareon:

File:Goblin Siege Defeated 1.PNG

2010-05-08T19:11:32Z

Xvareon:

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-08T19:11:11Z

Xvareon:

File:Goblin Siege 1.PNG

2010-05-08T19:10:07Z

Xvareon:

File:Goblin Siege 1-2.PNG

2010-05-08T19:08:59Z

Xvareon:

File:Silver Toy Axe.PNG

2010-05-08T19:07:16Z

Xvareon:

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-08T19:04:21Z

Xvareon:

40d:Elf

2010-05-06T01:54:45Z

Xvareon:

{{CreatureInfo|name=Elf|symbol=E|color=3:0:0|butcher=no|
bones=7|chunks=N/A|meat=N/A|fat=N/A|skulls=1|skin=N/A|
biome=* In their retreats, usually in {{L|forest}}s}}
{{av}}{{exceptional}}

'''Elves''' are intelligent {{L|humanoid}} {{L|creature}}s who live in {{L|Map_legend#Sites|forest retreat}}s. They are one of the races playable in {{L|Adventure Mode}}. Their retreats have no buildings, but the {{L|tree}}s in the area were named, before 3-d happened. You can just make up names for the trees. They love nature and are ready to defend it, typically with {{L|bow}}s. They may invade a fortress which violates their tree-cutting limit.

== Elves in Fortress Mode ==

Elves are a {{L|trading}} race and send small {{L|caravan}}s without {{L|wagon}}s in {{L|Calendar|spring}}. They usually bring {{L|Thread}}, {{L|cloth}}, {{L|Restraint|rope}}, various {{L|plants}} and {{L|seed}}s, {{L|wood}}en items, and some {{L|wood}}. They may also bring some {{L|tame}} {{L|animal}}s, often even exotic ones like {{L|giant eagle}}s or {{L|jaguar}}s, which are good to build up a {{L|zoo}}, {{L|arena}} or {{L|defense}}s. Be aware that these animals may arrive with injuries (or possibly dead) if they were transported through an inhospitable biome.

Elves also bring a lot of tradeables of questionable or no worth to dwarves: {{L|armor}} and clothes that are too large for dwarves to wear, inferior wooden {{L|weapons}} (that could, admittedly, be used for {{L|sparring}}), a spectrum of {{L|alcohol|booze}} both {{L|Prickle berry wine|inferior}} and {{L|sun berry|superior}}, inferior value redroot {{L|dye}}, and {{L|bow}}s and {{L|arrow}}s ''(which at least can be used for weapon traps, as long as the arrows last)''.

As their caravans do not include wagons, it is very common for them to bring nothing but bins of cloth, resulting from the way in which caravans load up their goods - they attempt to load all of their bins of cloth onto their pack animals before sending other useful goods, often running out of room entirely. This behavior can be prevented, to a degree, by limiting the profit they receive from your trades and by limiting the rate at which your own wealth increases; once this behavior starts, though, the best way to revert it is by making them unhappy, whether by seizing their goods or by outright slaughtering their merchants.

They are very picky about what they will accept in return: Elves will accept anything except items made out of or decorated with any wood. This includes clear and crystal {{L|glass}} items ''(due to the {{L|pearlash}} which comes from {{L|ash}} which comes from {{L|Wood burner|burning wood}})''. Even offering them something wood-related will make them unhappy, potentially causing them to immediately pack up and leave.

{{L|Metal}} items are acceptable, even when {{L|charcoal}} is used in their production. Items made from {{L|silk}} are acceptable, as are all non-wooden plant-based products such as {{L|plump helmet}}s, seeds, and ☼Dwarven syrup biscuits[45]☼. Dairy products, such as milk and cheese, are currently acceptable. You can also transport your goods to the {{L|trade depot}} in a wooden {{L|bin}}, as long as you do not try to sell the bin. In order to sell food and booze, however, your {{L|barrel}}s will need to be made of metal. Living {{L|animals}} are acceptable, as long as the {{L|cage}} or {{L|trap}} is not made of {{L|wood}}. They also no longer mind purchasing blood-soaked items.

Although {{L|tower-cap}}s are giant mushrooms, they are considered {{L|trees}} by the elves and thus are not acceptable.

Elves are also known to completely ignore "menaces with spikes" {{L|decoration}}s when considering the value of your trade goods - such goods should be traded to other races instead.

Elves may send {{L|diplomat}}s, independent of their {{L|caravan}}s, to warn you when they feel you are cutting down too many trees. Typically, this diplomat will appear out of nowhere, tell you that you are cutting down too many trees, then waltz off. This diplomat may also attempt to negotiate with you and form an agreement on how many trees per year you can cut down. There is a huge loophole in this system; If the area you settle in has no trees, such as a glacier, you can't cut any trees down. As a result, they will be absurdly pleased with you for not cutting down their imaginary trees.

=== Living among them ===
Living with Elves is pretty much the same as living among {{L|Humans}}, but they don't build houses, {{L|furniture}}, or anything else that uses wood. So basically, it's just like living anywhere else, but with guards.

== Elven society ==
The ethics of elven society are substantially divergent from other races; {{L|liar|Lying}} is punishable by exile, the killing of plants is an unthinkable crime, and eating the corpse of one's opponent in battle is socially acceptable, even if the opponent was also an elf (and would otherwise be considered cannibalism). The elven leaders are referred to as druids, not kings.

Elves currently never settle outside their initial elven retreat's forest. If not for this limitation, the world would quickly overflow with elves because they are immortal.

== Elves in Adventure Mode ==

Elven forest retreats are represented by yellow symbols in {{L|forest}}s on the world map. They do not have any {{L|shop}}s, but they seem to have a great amount of elite marksmen to recruit. The leader and quest giver of a retreat is called the "druid", who can be found wandering the forest floor with the other elves.

Elven characters start with a wooden {{L|weapon}} and a set of basic wooden {{L|armor}} that lacks protection for the torso. This limitation often leads to a quick death. They do have some advantages, however: they're one {{L|size}} larger than {{L|dwarves}}, which makes them hit harder and absorb more damage, though they also have a natural armor penalty which causes them to take slightly more damage than normal. Their main redeeming quality is their speed, being roughly 20% faster than the other playable races.

Those that live among other races may have metal or leather armor fitted for a narrow frame, though elven shopkeepers in human towns will still only sell human equipment. These Elven shopkeepers will also not accept coins, you must trade actual goods with them. Elven adventurers may equip any metal weapons or {{L|shield}}s they come across, just like any other.

Elves are at peace with wildlife, which means they won't be attacked by most animals (verify if most or all). In addition, they can talk to the animal-man races (such as {{L|snakeman|snakemen}} and {{L|batman|batmen}}) and even get the most excitement-seeking ones to join their party.

{{creatures}}
{{Category|Races}}
{{Category|Humanoids}}

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-06T01:43:13Z

Xvareon:

v0.31:Caverns

2010-05-04T18:10:35Z

Xvareon:

{{av}}
{{human}}
'''Caverns''' are ''huge'' natural underground tunnel systems, inhabited by strange and dangerous creatures. They go up, down, left, right, and about anywhere else. Vanilla worlds provide three cavern layers. Number, size and z-position can be altered in the {{L|world generation}} parameters.
The caverns will usually have open map edges, allowing all sorts of {{L|creatures}} to migrate into and from the cavern. By exploring the caverns in adventure mode it is possible to travel large distances below the surface - the caverns effectively connect all sites that access them.

Upon reclaiming a fort, all mud in the caverns is removed.

''In subterranean biomes, Chasm, water, and lava mean land, water (pool), and magma (pipes) respectively.''

==Geography==
The top of the first cavern usually resides about 10 z-levels below the surface. {{Verify}}
Each cavern layer spans multiple z-levels, and is filled with {{L|water}} to a certain degree. This can range from a few pools at the bottom level to the whole layer being submerged, forming a gigantic underground sea, including {{L|fish}} and possibly camps of {{L|olm man|olm men}} and other {{L|fun}} aquatic creatures.

The average amount of water cavern layers feature depends on your world generation settings, specifically

[CAVERN_LAYER_WATER_MIN:0]

[CAVERN_LAYER_WATER_MAX:100]

Beneath the third layer lies the {{l|magma sea}}.

==Other Features==
Exploring the underground world, you may find a variety of special geographical features. When your dwarves discover a feature, an announcement window will let you know of it.

'''Deep pits:''' deep pits are... deep pits, they go from one cavern level to the next, and they are a fixed shape, when they hit the next cavern level they end up 'merging' into it (''no other way to explain it''), and the top z-level, the z-level it hits the next cavern level, is un-muddied rough rock floor where the the normal space of the deep pit and the random rock spires of the cavern collide.

'''Magma pools:''' Magma pools (despite the name, they are not actually pools) are tubes extending from the {{l|magma sea}} and their shape is fixed, it's really random if you find one, it could extend to the top cavern, or even just a few z-levels.

'''Passages:'''
Passages are natural tunnels connecting two layers by ramps and short, twisted tunnel sections.

==Vegetation==
Caverns will, from the topmost to the deepest, feature the following vegetation:

'''Level one''': a benign (or as nice as caverns get) level, it has shrubs, {{l|Tower-cap}}s, and {{l|Fungiwood}}(s).

'''Level two''': a level filled with, in addition to the above, {{l|Goblin-cap}}s, {{l|Spore tree}}s, {{l|Black-cap}}s, and {{l|Tunnel tube}}s.

'''Level three''': a level lacking the trees the first level had, while still having those the second introduced, also has, {{l|Nether-cap}}s, and {{l|Blood thorn}}s.

Plants from recently discovered layers will also start sprouting in your artificially muddied areas (but not on the already muddied areas that the caverns are generated with).

==Dangers==
There are many, many dangerous {{l|animal}}s in a cavern, including {{l|bugbat}}s, {{l|giant olm}}s, {{l|troll}}s, {{l|giant cave swallow}}s, and others.

Cavern level one is as good as things get, and the following levels will {{l|Cave Dragon|only}} {{l|Voracious cave crawler|be}} {{l|Magma crab|worse}}. If you can't stand level one, you wont be able to stand level two or three.

{{l|Giant cave swallow|Flying creatures}} can {{l|Fun|ruin your day}} if your main stairwell leads directly into the cavern (the bottom of up-down/down stairs can be passed by flying creatures).

Also, any cavern of sufficient size will be inhabited by {{l|giant cave spider}}s, which can be both {{l|Silk|benefit}} and hazard.

One thing you really have to watch out for is having your main stairwell lead into a cavern. It doesn't have to be so walking creatures can get in, but just so there's an open hole. Any hostile creature sitting under your open stairway will spook any dwarves trying to use it, causing a flood of job cancellation messages as they keep trying to reach their destination. When this happens it can lead to all your dwarves starving themselves to death. Only build stairs on the side, preferably with a hatch.

==Benefits==
Caverns provide ever regenerating resources in form of underground forests, animals to hunt, and fish.
On breaching a cavern layer, a variety of ores and gems lining its walls will be revealed.
The cavern floors are always {{l|Farming#Underground Farming|muddied}}, providing soil to a variety of underground {{l|plant}}s.
Also, underground caverns and the water they provide can be used in constructions and traps. Throwing your prisoners into a damp hellhole filled with ravaging beasts is a nice addition, too.

===Creatures===
If you care to spend the time, filling the caverns with cage traps. You can get some nice pets. Though you will need a {{l|Dungeon Master}}. Still, it's worth the thought.

==When should I start exploring?==
[[Image:Cavern.png‎|thumb|right|A cavern found underground.]]
You should have a working military. The first cavern usually has few hazardous monsters, apart from the occasional giant olm or toad, but just one giant bat can destroy an early fort and uninvited guests will wander in sooner or later. The subsequent caverns will become increasingly {{L|fun}}, so don't dig too deep without making adequate preparation. You can handle what tries to attack, presuming you don't have a {{L|siege}} to worry about.
You can of course explore a cavern without a military, but you will likely get a bunch of dwarves killed.

Not all parts of a cavern are immediately visible; A good portion of a cavern is revealed once you breach it, but other parts remain hidden until your dwarves explore them. Since you often don't know what you'll find in a cavern, they can be exciting places, but also very dangerous.

==Methods of Exploration==
There are many different methods of exploring, some safer than others.

'''Dwarf team''': The most '''FUN''' method, you can have dwarves manually explore the cavern by foot. This can be done by ordering your {{l|squads}} into the cavern with move orders. If you use this method, it is recommended that you equip your dwarves well.

'''Fortifications''': as dwarves can see through fortifications, you can carve out a fortification near the edge of the explored area to safely discover more of the cavern. This prevents wildlife and megabeasts from entering your fort, as an added benefit. This method does not work for exploring the magma layers - or rather, it ''does'' work, but for a very, very brief time during which there is much [[fun]].

'''Digging and walling''': Instead of smoothing a wall and then carving a fortification, it can be quicker to just dig out the wall and then blocking off the opening with a constructed wall. The disadvantage over the fortification method is that if any dangerous creatures are lurking unseen near edge of the explored area they might get to your dwarf before the wall can be put up.

'''Digging from above''': The only method that works in the magma layers, this method requires you to dig a hole from above the caverns into the cavern. It is advisable to seal the hole afterwards if you wish to prevent flying or magma creatures from entering your fort.

'''Autonomous Dwarven Cavern Rover''': Pit an animal into the cavern through an access tunnel above the cavern floor, walling it up afterward if you wish. The animal will wander the cavern, revealing more of it, and possibly stumble across things you would prefer your dwarves not encounter unaware. Use a female animal when you have a male of the same species somewhere in your fortress to produce a population of self replicating rovers.

'''Suicide mission''': Ideal for exploring the bottom of a deep pit or magma pool. Knock a dwarf into the pit, and they will rapidly plummet. Despite being unconscious, they will report everything they see for as long as they are alive. Nobles make excellent geonauts.

Bloodline:SL Xvareon Arctic Hellhole/Year206

2010-05-03T18:44:24Z

Xvareon: