Spoiler


Here's that same image with some labels to tell you what you're actually looking at:

Spoiler

Our expedition sets out for the colony site tomorrow. I should be sleeping but I find myself restless. I'm sitting at my claystone desk, a map of the Eternal Realms spread before me, with the Infamous Jungles of the far north heavily marked with notes and pins.

The plan is to establish a colony in the small mountain range that looms over the canopy of that steamy jungle, spreading the influence of The Polished Ring to the northernmost mountain in all of the continents.



The ancient and crumbling maps we have of that region identify the mountains as the Ageless Towers. If the maps are accurate, a small brook has worried away at the southwest face of the mountain, separating the Towers from a smaller peak. It is there that the royal prospectors have deemed we should establish ourselves, a site which the mysterious ancients labeled as "Ablel Ishlum," the Bust of Nuts.



I pray that the king's trust in their advice is not misplaced.

Spoiler
We've arrived at the Bust of Nuts.
The southern mountain of the Ageless Towers looms just south of our camp site. I am immediately struck by how small the mountain is compared to the mountainhomes from which we hail. This singularly tiny peak will undoubtedly be too small for our fortress's future expansion. We will need to burrow under this soft soil to extend our range.

Fortunately this vast open range affords us some safety with a clear view of any enemies who might be approaching from the jungle. The landscape appears silent and peaceful, though the men report hearing some strange hoots and screeches echoing from high on the mountain.



I immediately set the men to work scraping out a shelter in the mountain. I was upset to discover that the majority of this mountain in fact appears to be yellow sand, likely deposited eons ago by the now tiny brook. While hollowing caves out of the sand was easy work (and likely good practice) for my unseasoned miners, sand is no place for a dwarf. I urged the men deeper into the heart of the mountain, and was relieved when they finally struck schist.

I decided to use the sandy outer rooms as warehouses for now, knowing no self-respecting dwarf would want such a room as his or her quarters.

While the dwarves went about their work, I noticed a strange creature literally hovering around our camp site.



Thankfully, this creature left us alone (for now). ...Though I can't help but wonder what else might be lurking in the Infamous Jungle. I haven't seen any other creatures, aside from quite a few lungfish flopping about on the jungle floor, but they seem harmless enough.

Spoiler

Some progress to report, and also a noteworthy sighting.

We've finished a carpenter's workshop and have begun building beds. No more sleeping on rock floors for me. We've carved out some meager lodgings that will do for now. I've laid plans for a dining hall entirely within the schist core of the mountain, just waiting for doors, tables, and chairs.



My thinking is that the sleeping quarters should not be overly distant from the food and drink. Hence the residences on the east, the dining hall in the center, and kitchens and storage on the west. I've begun moving the food out of our temporary storage in the northern sand warehouse so that it'll be closer to the kitchens and farther from skulking thieves.

I've discovered the source of those strange hoots and screeches we noticed on arrival. We seem to be sharing the mountain with a family of owlfolk! Though their appearance is certainly disconcerting, they seem content to stay on the mountain's peak, aside from their hunting excursions on the north side of the river.



Time will tell if the owlfolk are bothered by our presence.

SpoilerHad a frightening encounter today with a giant wolverine. Although it made as if to attack our hunting dogs, it seemed to think better of its plan once it saw our camp, and the monstrous thing fled northward through the brook.

Spoiler
Noticed some strange birds today (which is saying something in a place populated by owlfolk). At first I could scarcely believe my eyes.


Yes, the ever present lungfish appear to be capable of flying! I hope they don't all take to the skies… my cats are rather fond of them.

SpoilerSummer has arrived, and with it a pair of louse women!

They dashed past our camp and continued on their way, oblivious to us.





The wildlife in this place never ceases to surprise me.

We've built a craftsdwarf's workshop and used it to construct some stone nest boxes for our ducks. I've taken the liberty of tunneling out a modest bedroom and office for myself. We've converted the northern sand warehouse into a large farming plot, though I'm a bit concerned about its relative exposure to this strange wilderness. With security in mind, I've ordered the construction of a simple security wall around our entrance, and appointed a novice axedwarf to security duty. We'll set up a trade depot out there too while we're at it.

We may be needing armor and weapons soon, so I'm carving out a few more rooms for storage and workshops.

SpoilerOur first batch of migrants has arrived!











I was shocked to learn that Rakust and Sazir brought their two children! I warned the parents that this outpost has by not been child-proofed by any means.





Despite the somewhat unwelcome introduction of children in this wilderness, as I peruse the immigration papers I'm pleased to see that every new adult immigrant has at least some level of combat training. Establishing a militia should be relatively easy.

I'm going to expand our residential capacity, and make it more family-friendly by installing a few more doors.

SpoilerRakust Worthybolted, our fresh new hunter, has begun testing local the wildlife. She seemed unfazed by the swarm of giant thrips that flew over our valley, and indeed decided to use them for target practice.





I wonder if I shouldn't find some other job for her to do, lest she bring the wrath of this jungle upon us…

SpoilerAutumn has arrived without major incident. I thought I saw a poisonous serpent in the jungle, but it was just a harmless kingsnake.

Rakust has managed to take down a giant louse. I watched her drag its ragged corpse back to the fortress with a growing sense of disgust. I guess we won't be going hungry, if only due to lack of appetite.

Spoiler I'm still a bit worried about security, so I've ordered the dwarves to construct a mechanic's workshop. Once we have some mechanisms, we can build some traps and drawbridges to keep out the denizens of the jungle.

Spoiler
Word of our success here must be spreading. More migrants arrived today.









Not a terribly impressive crowd. It's kind of fitting that they also brought a kitten and a lamb with them.

SpoilerI've put the new migrants to work burning lumber down to charcoal. We'll use that to smelt some of this tetrahedrite we've found, which should give us some copper and silver. Not generally ideal metals for making weapons and armor, but the silver could be useful for hammers and maces.

Spoiler I want to have the dining room improved with some engravings, but I know that none of my citizens are particularly skilled at engraving just yet. To give them some practice, and get some practice myself, I decided to have my bedroom engraved.



Looks pretty good, if I say so myself.

Let's see what the others have engraved…



Oh.

I guess there are images of roaches carved into my bedroom floor for eternity now.

Wait a second, what are these?



MOON SNAILS?!



MOON SNAILS!!!

SpoilerGIANT CAPUCHIN ATTACK!

Ten monstrous primates have stampeded out of the jungle and thrashed their way directly into our logging operation. These giant capuchins immediately attacked two woodcutters in an excessively violent fashion.



As the capuchins ripped off Fikod's foot, I hesitated. Was it already too late for the woodcutter? Should I hole up all remaining dwarves in the fortress and wait for the monsters to pass?

In the end I decided that I could not abandon Fikod, no matter that she engraved roaches on my floor. I assembled the militia as quickly as I could.



Unfortunately, it seems the troops in their zeal did not take the time to arm themselves...

Or if they remembered to grab a crossbow, they failed to grab ammunition.



I called the militia back to safety, but it was too late for most of them.

In the end, the giant capuchins had killed Sazir the Marksdwarf, Kogan the Speardwarf, and Sibrek the (moon slug-loving) Axedwarf, and Fikod the woodcutter was unconscious on the ground with a missing foot. To make matters worse, the most lethal of the giant capuchins decided to hang around immediately outside the door of the fortress, toying with the discarded clothing of her victims. She was so terrifying that the dwarves named her Timnargongith.

SpoilerTimnargongith has wandered away, and we've taken the opportunity to collect our dead and our wounded. I've begun carving fortifications into the walls around our entrance so that we can fire our crossbows from safety if such an attack should occur again.



As we were bringing poor Fikod inside for medical care, a dwarven caravan arrived. I only hope that when they report back to the mountainhomes they don't mention all the corpses.

To make matters even worse, before the merchants had even arrived, we spotted a kobold thief attempting to infiltrate the outpost.



We chased the thief away before the merchants could notice it.

SpoilerWinter has fallen, and the merchants are still getting set up at the depot.

To care for Fikod's wounds, I chose a fishery worker named Fath to become our full time medical dwarf. While he's performed admirably by bringing Fikod inside to bed, evaluating her condition, and cleaning her wounds, he doesn't appear to be doing a good job bringing her food and water.

In fact, as soon as Fikod had regained consciousness, she crawled out of the barracks, past the bemused merchants, and to a stagnant pond for a drink.



What a gal!

I also tunneled out a room to serve as a hospital in the south east, although Fikod seems to be a difficult patient.

SpoilerAs the cooler winter breeze began to blow, I finally met with the merchants, but they were less than impressed with the few measly bonecrafts I had to offer. They left with most of their goods in tow.



I've begun excavating a crypt along the eastern face for our three fallen warriors.

Fikod, despite missing a foot, is up out of bed and actually helping to haul things around the fortress. Although it takes her quite a bit longer to get things done (since she's crawling on the floor) I have to admire her spirit and resolve. She does seem to be a little down in the dumps about losing her foot, having her husband get killed by giant capuchins, and then having a miscarriage while recovering from the attack. I've made a note that I should do something nice for her.

I've started probing downward in the western wing of the fortress, hoping to construct a well.

The merchants depart, leaving me a grocery list of the items they would like next year.



Oh yes, yarn bracelets. We dwarves are truly known for our love of yarn bracelets.

SpoilerThe crypt is complete, and the freshwater well is almost finished.



Regrettably, the well is located in one of the unfortunate sandy areas of the mountain, which means we won't be able to embellish it with engravings to make it look more attractive. Maybe it'd be worth constructing another well closer to the hospital.

Fikod is back to work, crawling around outdoors and chopping down trees. I am sure she is as much an inspiration to the others as she is to me. I've never before seen anyone cut down a tree while prone.

I put a silver statue in her room as a reward for all her hard work and dedication.



Construction of the defensive moat has begun. The land that it encircles has begun to look rather miserable and sandy due to the water buffalo's over-foraging. In the interest of keeping the territory looking nice, I've ordered the water buffalo to be butchered. It ought to taste better than all that giant louse meat we've been living on anyway.

SpoilerAnd now that the long cold (actually pretty warm and humid) winter has ended, my assignment from the mountainhomes is complete. The outpost has been successfully established, with only uh, relatively minor issues encountered… three deaths notwithstanding. A messenger has informed me that a new administrator is due to arrive shortly, and will assume my tasks. I shall be retiring to the role of broker unless the new administrator deems that my time would be better spent elsewhere. Perhaps in my free hours I'll take up engraving...



I regret not having the time to complete all of the construction that I started; especially in the southern wing, where unfurnished bedchambers lie cluttered with dust and stone debris.

The murderholes that I started to add to the eastern wall after the giant capuchin attack have not been completed in their entirety, although hopefully the new moat will keep the jungle at bay.

I've made plans for a bridge along the northern edge of the moat, such as would allow the trade caravans to enter. It has not been constructed yet, so our dwarves are coming and going via the sandy ramp on the eastern edge. I'll have to remind my successor to remove the ramp as soon as the bridge is constructed.

I conclude this log with a survey of the area at the time of our arrival:

And a final glimpse of the land as I pass its fate into the next ruler's hands:
Stand strong, Bust of Nuts!

SpoilerAgain sorry about the wait and the... minor disorganisation.
I really didn't expect so many dwarves to arrive at once and it took a very long time to get them all doing what they should be!

I usually build my fortresses around a big staircase but that wasn't how we started so I decided to just keep on going until it got a little bit out of hand

Spoiler3rd Granite

Dear Diary:

Upon looking over the newly-submitted records, I've discovered something ghastly! We are dangerously close to being short of precious drink! I won't have this fortress going the way of that poor, stupid almost-administrator. I immediately ordered the construction of a second still, as close to our stockpiles as possible, and have guardedly-but-helpfully assigned an unimpressive waxworker to be our second brewmeister. He'll grow into the job, I'm sure of it.

I've also discovered something unsettling:

There's a party, and only children are invited.

On the one hand, it certainly frees their parents' time up.

On the other, what are they planning?

I will watch these developments closely.

6th Granite

Dear Diary:

A tick man has encroached on or near our territory! It hasn't actually done anything violent yet, but I figured it was as good a time as any to test our military might and my own tactical prowess. The Free Furnaces will fall like a hammer on this disgusting, disgusting animal. Man. Thing.

Update: It appears I sicced marksdwarves on the tick man. What a silly waste of resources! I'll be sure to use the right squad next time I decide to pick off wildlife for being nearby in the wilderness. I don't like this giant wolverine very much...

Further updates: Oh goodness!


27th Granite

Dear Diary:

I have decided this fortress is entirely too... Shallow and gemless. I will have to begin work to correct this. Perhaps... There are opals in these hills?