User:Squirrelloid/Udirthocit Urdim Datan

Fortress: Udirthocit Urdim Datan, Blackspike the Tower of Iron Group: Umommamgoz Gomath, The Dark Dragon of Legend

Goals

Turn the center of the map into a tall tower with its entrance at the bottommost z-level. Channel out everything else. Flood the map with magma.

No really, its that 'simple'. Along the way I want to extract the mountains mineral wealth.

Map and Settings

Fairly flat. There's a magma pipe (not visible from start, but its going to be the one area no pools are), flux (marble), and lots of sedimentary.

Area is 4x4, pop max is 40 (to hopefully control lag), and I'll probably use Reveal.exe to reduce lag from hidden tiles. There's no secret fun stuff, so at least one major source of lag won't be present.

Build

2 picks, axe, bunch of alcohol, food, seeds, etc... No anvil - i'll trade for one in the fall. Also some random materials for any moods I might have.

I don't normally like starting with a miner, but I figure I have a lot of digging to do before I get to where I want to live, so I'll need to have someone I don't have to worry about changing professions to miner on me. Which mostly leaves it a question of what other profession to make him. I go with carpenter as I really would like the beds to be decent quality...

Miner 5/Carpenter 5
Armorer 5/Negotiator 1/Intimidator 1/Appraiser 1/JoI 1/Pacifier 1
Brewer 5/Cook 5
Metalsmith 5/Grower 5
Mechanic 5/Building Designer 5
Weaponsmith 5/Furnace Operator 5
Metal Crafter 5/Furnace Operator 5

Yes, I know, no anvil. Do note that 6 of the 7 have valuable mood skills, and a sixth can be dabbled in one. Of course, dwarf number 1 is actually going to become a miner before he ever gets a mood - and that's actually ok.

From the start I'll rotate non-miners into the second mining 'slot' while the brewer/cook brews all the plump helmets and cooks all the food.

As I normally start with an anvil I have a crapload of money leftover to spend.. I load up on bauxite, tower cap logs, coal, and iron bars.

And absolutely no animals... unless the elves sell me something awesome like a giant eagle. There will be a pet death trap.

Rebooted after deciding sedimentary rock was necessary.

Log

Late Fall, 52: The caravan kindly chased off a pack of Rhesus Macaques for us, leaving us with an extra supply of meat. Those monkeys will be a problem in the future though, mark my words.

No migrants all year, a bad sign. But the basis of our fortress is established and the mechanic swears his mechanisms will make fine trade goods the coming year. I remain doubtful the elves will be interested.

Late Spring, 53: Goden Fikodkeskal, our miner and carpenter, was mauled and killed by a Cougar while within the very fortress. We must build traps if we are to survive. Fortunately, our metal industry is coming online now.

Early Summer, 53: Our first migrants, and quite a lot of them. We now number 25 - i must find useful work for all of them.

Late Summer, 53: More migrants? I am unconvinced there is sufficient work for so many!

Early Winter, 54: The goblins tried to ambush us, by which I mean that our first awareness of a goblin presence was a single goblin trapped in a cage splattered with the body parts of his heroically sacrificed brethren in jamming the weapon traps.

Log discontinued due to lack of exciting events. The tower is up to three stories tall however, made of pure iron, and is 13x23, which means it will use ~4875 units of iron to reach the highest z-level, not counting furnishings (also all made out of iron). Good times.

...

1st of Granite, 72: The Tower has long been completed, rising high into the air and of pure iron. We have refused immigrants for some time now, keeping ourselves small and beneath notice, but births have made our population sufficient and caused the king to see fit to declare the land a barony. No matter, our work is entering its final stages.

Our miners toil beneath the earth to create a large lake of lava surrounding the tower, and extract what wealth may be found before we destroy the countryside utterly. Only then will we have a mountainhome secure against our enemies, a place for our King to rule from as befits him without fearing for his safety. The throne room is nearly prepared, its crystalline windows of pure red diamond. Excessive bedrooms we have made ready in preparation for future growth that would accompany such an event, and our stocks are filled to brimming.

And we are ready for our enemies. A Titan did try to brave the fortress earlier this year, and was struck down by a single hammer blow from a dwarf warrior who went out to face it in single combat. If such foes fall before us, what hope can lesser evils aspire to?

Soon our task will be complete, and Borlondoren the iron crown shall grace our king's noble brow.

Amusing

"Udib Emathfeb has been quite content lately. She slept in a bedroom like a personal palace recently. She had a wonderful drink lately. She has been annoyed by flies. She ate a wonderful dish lately. She dined in a legendary dining room recently. She admired a completely sublime cabinet lately. She had a fine drink lately. She ate a legendary meal lately. She made a satisfying acquisition lately. She admired own completely sublime container lately." ... Wow, those must be some annoying flies... (yes, I bolded the only negative event listed).

Dwarves may be stupid, but dwarf children are even stupider. Three children (of a soldier) ignored an 'only soldiers may go outside' order to follow their parent into battle, where they then blithely charged directly into armored goblins instead of running away, and promptly got chopped down. They will not be mourned. The parent is still ecstatic...