Ducimonnag 5 - Cleansing the Surface

Credit for the illustration featured in this report goes to my talented sister!

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Hematite, Year 252

Another artifact has been created in our fortress. It is a tetrahedrite table known as Rasotlisid or "Raptorclash." It is covered in marvelous panda leather purchased from the humans and jewels excavated from our land.

With only filthy cavern water available for our soldiers so badly injured they couldn't even accept booze we prepared to send the Cobalt Tribes to deal with the lingering enemies. A hunter and a clothier were hurriedly enlisted into their ranks, and after a short preparation  the doors were unlocked. For some unfathomable reason a large portion of our civilians refused to wait for an all-clear from the soldiers. The papermaker Goden Neruzol was among them, and while the others were quickly called back by my hurried orders, multiple goblin zombies fell upon him and tore him apart before the Cobalt Tribes arrived.

Once they had arrived the brave soldiers of the Cobalt Tribes easily dispatched with the goblin zombies, leaving only a handful of other zombies lurking on the other side of the river and several magpieman zombies flitting out of reach above the trees.

The Cobalt Tribes hastily positioned themselves across the river while they waited for a bridge to be constructed, but our two new overly-eager recruits decided to ignore the commands of their superiors and ford the dangerous river. Luckily they resisted the pull of the river that could have sent them careening over the waterfall, but they found several goblin zombies waiting for them. Hearing of the situation developing I rushed to the scene. I shouted for the commander to take the veterans across and save the recruits, but he refused, citing the rivers danger. 

We were left to simply watch in horror as the foolish recruits were slaughtered by the vicious zombies. The hunter fled in terror, stumbling farther away from the river. He did not make it far before he too was dragged down and devoured. The zombies, now hungering for more flesh, began to stumble across the river. Both were beaten to death by the hammers of our vengeful soldiers.

Seeing a magpie man harassing a group of bedraggled civilians the Cobalt Tribes swooped in and mobbed it, killing it with ease. Alone against the combined strength of our veteran soldiers these stumbling corpses are easy pickings.

The Cobalt Tribes had now been fighting for days, and all but one headed below ground to rest and eat. One soldier lingered momentarily, making doubly sure that the area south of the river had been secured. Just as she was turning to join the others another goblin zombie leaped from behind a tree and bit her neck, opening a vicious wound. She survived and killed the zombie, but was forced to retire to the hospital. With the loss of first the recruits and now one of the veterans the Cobalt Tribes are looking dangerously under strength.

Luckily it appears we avoided another confrontation by trapping a loathsome blind cave ogre in one of our cage traps underground.

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Limestone, Year 252

One of the magpieman zombies dived down to attack the civilians. Before the Cobalt Tribes could arrive and fend it off it managed to kill a mechanic and injure a metalsmith. Pictured above is our militia commander slaying the creature. It was drawn by our fortress' best artist according to eyewitness accounts.

As short while later the last besieger, a magpie man zombie landed and attacked Onul, one of our soldiers. Surprised and isolated she was badly injured before her comrades arrived. With so many soldiers out of action it is good that the siege is now lifted and it is possible for migrants to arrive.

With the bridge finally completed the soldiers crossed and methodically cleared out the remaining zombies. One of them noticed while crossing the bridge that one of our fortresses beloved giant sponges had been punctured with even more holes by those bastards arrows and killed. Yet another reason to hate these foul creatures. One must be truly evil to slay a defenseless sponge.

Our cook has become incredibly skilled, making the dull plump helmet diet slightly more palatable.

None of us wish to face the horrors of a siege such as this again without adequate protection and preparation. Using slate blocks an enormous wall around our fortress' entrance has begun construction.

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Sandstone, Year 252

Our first caravan in many a month has arrived.

With so many excess goods stockpiled we gave them an excellent deal, hoping to entice them to spread good news of our fortress and direct migrants our way. 

Whenever my attention has not been needed to oversee the military operations I have been busy drawing up plans for our new fortress. If we gain new workers and a measure of prolonged peace we may yet become the greatest settlement of the eastern lands.

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If you have any questions, criticisms, or suggestions please comment. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

Resources for Getting Started with Dwarf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress is famously difficult to get into. To help newcomers get started the community has created many useful resources that pare down the difficulty curve significantly. Here I will collect a selection of the best of these resources to hopefully help those of you who are looking to get started with DF but don't know where to start. I have used all of the resources here at some point in my DF journey and can attest to their quality.

Firstly I will say that the thing most important to keep in mind when starting DF is that you will lose. Since DF has no set win condition it is guaranteed that you will lose eventually. With this in mind it is imperative that you follow the community's motto of "losing is fun" and learn to enjoy this inevitable collapse of all your hard work. I still fondly remember when my first fortress only a few months in was brutally dismembered by a vicious werehorse.

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For your very first fortress I would suggest following along with either a video tutorial or a written walkthrough, several of which I have collected below.

Kruggsmash Youtube Tutorial

Kruggsmash's beginner walkthrough is an excellent, brief overview of the absolute basics that is only 1/2 hour long. While it was made 2 years ago it is not out of date as all the gameplay areas it covers have been relatively unchanged in recent updates. I watched this tutorial myself when I was getting started and highly recommend it for its high production quality and easy to follow structure.

Nookrium Youtube Tutorial

This video tutorial by Nookrium is a bit more recent having been released this year. It runs a bit longer than Kruggsmash's tutorial at just under 45 minutes and is thus slightly more in depth.

DF Wiki Quickstart Guide

The quick start guide on the DF wiki covers almost every important topic you will need to know starting out. It describes everything from how to defend against sieges to trading with merchants. This is a good place to look if there is a specific area you are struggling to understand. In general the wiki is your best friend when getting started with DF and will likely remain so even when you are a seasoned veteran. You should always have it open when playing DF, as it details pretty much everything there is to know about the game.

PeredexisErrant's Walkthrough

This walkthrough which I think we can safely assume was written by PeridexisErrant is a great alternative for someone looking for detailed explanations of a variety of Dwarf Fortress' mechanics and systems.

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In the process of learning to play DF you will inevitably come across a specific question that cannot be answered by these sources. There are two main places where you can ask questions regarding DF; the subreddit and the forums.

DF Subreddit

The DF subreddit hosts a bi-weekly question thread that is the perfect place to ask any and all DF related questions. In my experience the community surrounding the subreddit is very helpful and welcoming to newcomers.

DF Forums

The DF forums have been around since the game first began development and are frequented by many knowledgeable DF veterans. The gameplay questions forum is teh prefect place to ask your question, just remember to check if a previous thread has already answered it.

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Hopefully you found this set of resources helpful. If you think that this post could help someone you know get into DF direct them this way. If you have any questions, suggestions, or criticism don't hesitate to comment.

Ducimmonag 4 - The Second Invasion

Opal, Year 251

I have ordered the rapid production of shale blocks in the cavern layer. If we can construct some manner of defense above ground we will be able to set aside the ever-looming threat of necromantic invasion and work on the improvement of the fortress. I have begun to draw up plans for the new, far grander fortress we will construct below. If only a new wave of migrants would arrive. Perhaps the merchants scared them away with tales of the desolation following the dark zombie Semthab's rampage.

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Obsidian, Year 251

It seems there is no rest for the weary. Just as I had begun to hope that we would finally recover we are once again besieged by those unholy creations, pawns of their malevolent masters in the necromancer's tower to the north.

An immense horde of them streamed up the hill towards us. In total 52 of them had arrived to besiege us. Roughly half were simple goblin zombies, but the other half were dark zombies, with mixed origins from human to magpieman to grasshopperwoman. It only took one of those beings to decimate this forterss the last time, how will we ever repulse them?

Even worse, one of the human dark zombies appears to be an axelord, possessing legendary skill. Our soldiers could never hope to take on such a foe.

The dark zombies who seem more intelligent than their rotting goblin counterparts took up camp around the entrance to our fortress while the rest scoured the landscape slaughtering every living thing they could find. With the entrance locked and every dwarf below ground we are safe for the time being. I will have to come up with some plan to drive them away, for if we are cut off from the rest of the world by this siege we can't receive merchants or migrants and our fort will wither away. That is, if they don't find some way inside in the meantime.

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Slate, Year 252

Preparations or the coming battle are under way. I will not make the same mistakes as my ancestor and send unskilled, unsupported soldiers to their deaths. Especially not against such overwhelming numbers. Despite the enemies above us life seems to continue. A shale quern artifact was created by Zuttan. It is more elaborate than our previous artifact, a true masterpiece. It menaces with spikes of eagle leather and marble and depicts an elf being killed by a vile ogre in the White Fields 160 years ago.

Another fortuitous event has occurred, as our first child has been born in the fort.

Now the time has finally come to strike back against those foul abominations who have brought us such ruin.

Over the course of the last four months we have been toiling away at a colossal trap with which we will dispose of the invaders. The invaders will stream down the ramps at the right side through the cage traps implemented above and encounter the masses of cage traps and weapon traps armed with wooden spikes along the main hallway. At each side of the path are deep pits, and the hope is that the zombies will dodge teh weapon traps and fall to their deaths. Near the stairway at the far left the Cobalt Tribes will be stationed to deal with any stragglers who make it through.

The Cobalt Tribes now number six and are far more skilled and better equipped, armored as they are in our best copper mail.

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Felsite, Year 252

The battle began with brave Lorbam Tulunsulon taking it upon himself to mine out the ramp allowing the undead to enter the trapped hallway.

Soon the undead were streaming into the hallway, charging towards the openings from all across the surface. Their first wave entered the hallway and was captured in the cages. As zombie after zombie flooded into the hallway I realized my mistake. The cage traps were efficiently dealing with the attackers, but the spike traps were having little effect. With none of those how originally fought the zombies in the previous siege still alive, we had no one with direct experience. If we had we might have realized that the spikes were extremely ineffective, as their piercing attacks had little effect. Only crushing, bludgeoning force can slay a zombie. 

One zombie was killed by the traps, many were captured, and several fell into the pit, but still they attacked and several goblin zombies reached the Cobalt tribes. Luckily I was correct in my assumption that the regular undead would be far weaker, and they were quickly dispatched by our soldiers. At this point all the intelligent dark zombie that could fled, leaving the walking goblin corpses to meander in bewildered directionless circles.

The Cobalt Tribes quickly ran to the bottom of the pit to engage an injured fallen Dark zombie before it could recover and escape. Despite the far increased quality of our troops and the six to one odds it was a brutal melee. Finally the zombie was slain, but one dwarf was seriously injured and another stumbled only a few paces before collapsing dead. A magpieman skeleton charged in and was easily dispatched, but otherwise the remaining leaderless undead seemed content to meander about the surface. With the Cobalt Tribes injured as they are I ordered that the finishing off of the siege be postponed until replacements could be trained, and we once more sealed the fortress.

On the whole I count this as a crushing victory., as the majority of the undead force has been slain, captured, or routed. This proves that these monsters can be killed, can be beaten. Workdrilled will not be defeated.

Ducimmonag 3 - The Year of Three Leaders

Malachite, Year 251

    

My formidable wounds have yet to heal and I am still bedridden, but I am of hardy stock and have little doubt that my recovery is on its way.

The human merchants have arrived. Unfortunately the recent turmoil of the long siege has left us with little time to prepare trade goods. The few crafts we have from before that monstrous creature's rampage are only enough to buy us a few platters of whale meat. We are all sick of plump helmet biscuits.

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Galena, Year 251

   

Thank armok, some migrants have finally arrived. With myself and two others badly injured only six dwarves have been able to work until now. Those freeloading monster hunters sure haven't been helping harvest plump helmets.

It seems I still have some luck left in me. My wounds are still not healing well and they are beyond our limited medical knowledge to fix, but it seems that among the new migrant wave is Zuttan Stigazzuglar, a greasy haired individual who is a skilled surgeon. Our population now totals 24. Although two of the migrants were peasants and two were children it is still a potent good omen.

For the past several months we have been regularly interrogating that malicious dark creature. It is entirely uncooperative, and the only information we have been able to pry out of it is its name; Semthab.

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Moonstone, Year 251

Our previous expedition leader Ducem died of his wounds two months prior. I, Monom Stakudetesh, am the new expedition leader and record keeper, making me the third leader this year. While by all accounts he was lacking in intelligence he did have a particular plan in place that I have decided to continue.

When our gem setter Mebzuth "Hallcrazy" became possessed I immediately ordered the construction of  a jewelers workshop. These strange moods that occasionally take hold of dwarves frequently lead to the creation of great artifacts.

My assumption was correct. Directly following the completion of the construction Mebzuth claimed the jewelers workshop.

Soon his artifact was complete. Lacking any distinguishing features it is nevertheless a marvelous thing to behold. A fortress' first artifact should be treasured, and rightfully so. Under my leadership I hope to see this small hamlet becoming a towering monument to the industrious power of the dwarves.

As winter gripped our fortress an increased amount of creatures began to stream into the caverns. The first of these was a massive cave troll with charcoal black skin and long, matted grey fur. Without warning it began to barrel towards the stairway to the fortress. With the amount of dwarves in the caverns at that time mining and working on my project inherited from Ducem I couldn't risk letting it through. Hastily I assigned two peasants who arrived with me in the last migrant wave and a thresher to the Cobalt Tribes. Bravely they rushed forth. There was no time to gather equipment so they fought it barehanded. The troll gored the recruits violently with its horns, but eventually with the of the human monster hunter Usmok it was slain, with the killing blow going to the thresher Ustuth. Both Ustuth and one of the peasant recruits were injured severely enough to be sent to the hospital, and they have only just recovered the month of this record.

The onslaught continued as a vicious giant olm nicknamed "leapedstalks" by the populace for its tendency to lie in ambush and leap upon its victims killed a hapless human monster hunter before retreating back into the caverns. Luckily the human axman Usmok who is becoming quite popular managed to track teh menace down and slay it.

Nore recently a group of four pond grabbers has been sighted south of the main cavern area in the large subterranean lake. Pond grabbers are evil creatures with four clawed tentacles, a beak, and blue skin. They will happily drag dwarves to their deaths if they can, but so far they have stayed away from the fortress. Despite this I will remain vigilant and I have ordered the monster hunters to report to me if they come any closer. Many of the dwarves still remaining from before the siege are extremely stressed. Another death in teh fortress could be disastrous.

Both dwarven merchants and migrants have recently arrived. The migrants brought our population to 29, making us larger than the initial population before the siege. This time we had a much greater quantity of trade goods and were able to get a good variety of food and drink. Hopefully this will help improve the mood.

Finally the project initially started by Ducem is complete. In the caverns we have excavated a deep pit at the bottom of which is imprisoned the detestable dark zombie Semthab. Windows crafted from smooth gemstone allow us to look down at him, but he is completely unable to escape. A lip at the top prevents him from climbing and the passageways used for the mining of the pit have all been blocked. Let him stand as a reminder of our past failures.

From here the fortress needs to expand, and prepare. With our population readily growing I plan on constructing a new, greater fortress deeper in the earth. Our current abode was always intended as a stopgap after all. Our growth is evidenced by our newly established farming guild, the aptly named "Guild of Vegetables" requesting a guild hall. There is much work to do.

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I would like to remind everyone, remember to save your game! I forgot to save and when the game mysteriously crashed lost 3 in-game months of progress. If you have any questions please ask, and any criticism or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Ducimmonag 2 - The Long Siege

 Obsidian, Year 250

    All of us have been so preoccupied with the invaders besieging us that I have neglected my duties as fortress record keeper. Once the alarm was raised I immediately ordered that everyone retreat below ground and lock the doors to the main stairwell, thus preventing the invaders to gain entry. A farmer who had been hauling wood outside once they appeared informed of the nature of our enemies. Three human necromancers as well as six of their terrible necromantic creations are arrayed against us. The necromancers soon left, seemingly satisfied that their minions would be capable of dispatching us. And so we found ourselves facing the dark zombies, five of human origin and one dingowoman. The farmer claimed that they were covered in immense bulging muscles, had dark brown skin, and strange pure white hair. Each of them wields a copper crossbow or a longbow in the human style. Several dwarves who peeked through the cracks in our locked doors believe that after mercilessly slaughtering a peaceful giant beetle the invaders settled down, pacing in never-ending circles. 

    I count us lucky that we are assailed by only a small handful of pitiful zombies. Nevertheless we did not yet have a military, and so I immediately focused the fortresses efforts upon smelting the plentiful tetrahedrite ore found in the caverns.

    Soon we had a new squad, the Cobalt Tribes, with five new recruits each armed with a silver warhammer and a copper helm. With no time to mine out a proper barracks they set to work training in the caverns. While I would dearly like to through those abominable creatures from our soil as soon as possible I realize that we would risk the lives of our recruits if they were thrown into battle before being properly prepared.

    A month into their training a troll slipped through the guard of our monster hunters and was approaching the stairway to the fortress before it was quickly dispatched by our brave soldiers. If we can dispatch a fearsome cave troll with such ease I have no doubt those zombies will fall like rotting plump helmets before us. I will order the attack soon and detail it in my next installment to these records.

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Slate, Year 251

    

    Ilral will no longer write these records. I am the new expedition leader and I will take on this task. I am Ducem Taramtobul. I write this while lying on a blood-soaked bed in our makeshift dormitory turned emergency hospital. I can hardly move, my spine fractured and bruised, my leg and hands mangled. All because of our former expedition leaders foolish arrogance. If I, with my immense strength and presence had been in charge, perhaps things might have turned out differently. Still, I am glad I was not assigned to the cobalt tribes. Even this crippled state is better than certain death.

    The attack upon the invaders began inauspiciously as the militia commander could not be roused for some time, so deep was he in sleep.

    Finally he awoke and joined his four subordinates in the stairwell, waiting behind the locked doors to the outside. Then with a roar they charged heroically out into the sun which none of us has seen since the siege began. The dark zombies must have been expecting us, for the cobalt tribes charge was met by a withering hail of arrows, injuring Domas by bruising her leg and tearing her neck. Immediately the bulk of our forces converged on a single dark zombie crossbowman, perhaps overtaken by adrenaline, leaving only poor brave Tulon to engage the rest.

    

    The lone dark zombie crossbowman chased by our squad ran towards the fort, suffering only a few blows at the hands of our soldiers. Seeing that Tulon was isolated and in trouble Domas turned and ran to help her. Before he could reach her she was shot dead. Domas, enraged, continued to charge towards the main group of dark zombies, only to meet with the same fate as Tulon, torn to pieces by inhumanly powerful and accurate shots.

    

    Meanwhile the militia commander along with his two remaining soldiers were in hot pursuit of the dark zombie crossbowmen, following him back downwards into the fortress. Halfway down the stairwell the cobalt tribes managed to herd him into the small farming level, where a fierce melee broke out. One hammerdwarf as well as an unfortunate sow were killed. Somehow the crossbowman seemed even more dangerous in melee than at range. His inhuman muscles allowing him to strike with such strength that entire limbs would explode into gore. The soldiers did land some lucky hits upon him, but these failed to slow him down at all.

    Soon the fight had moved to the main fortress level and had spilled into the hall and stockpiles. Seeing the dwarves plight two human monster hunters, a pikeman and a lasher joined  in. Together they completely surrounded the dark zombie, but to no avail. His endurance and power seemed to have no end. It was not long before both remaining soldiers were killed.

    We would not learn this until after, but for some unknowable reason the dark zombies on the surface had elected to retreat, abandoning their comrade below. At this point that coward Ilral Roldethsolon began to frantically scream for everyone to retreat downwards to the cavern layer, but in the panic his orders were not heeded.

    

    The lasher and pikeman continued to valiantly attempt to hold back the monstrous undead creature, and for a moment it looked as if they might be able to succeed. However it was not long before each in turn was bashed to death by the cold, almost mechanically efficient creature. Ilral, realizing that if nothing was done we would all be killed by this rampaging monstrosity, shouted for the miners, Bomrek and Fikod, to attack. A pickax is better than bare fists after all. Bomrek headed his call and rushed in, only to be effortlessly struck down. Following this the dark zombie began advancing down the hallway to the other stockpiles. Ilral, fool that he was, was trapped down this direction, continuing to shriek hysterical, ineffectual orders. Fikod, attempting to save Ilral, rushed forwards. This also was to no avail, as both Ilral and Fikod were brutally massacred.

    Now all semblance of organization completely disintegrated. The dark zombie began to kill and destroy unchecked, tearing through the fortress. At this point I was wounded, although I was luckily able to crawl down the hallway to safety. A defenseless child was slain, along with two of the fortresses cats. By now I was the only one remaining on the main fortress level, and so the dark zombie charged down the stairways towards the others. Then, in a stroke of luck, it stumbled into a cage trap intended for the cavern creatures. With that a deathly silence fell upon the fortress. 11 of our number had been killed, along with three humans. Only nine of us remain, and three including myself are too badly injured to work. I wonder if we will ever recover.

    Momuz in particular is nearly comatose with grief. She won't even accept booze. I have half a mind to knock some sense into her. For some time the entirety of the fortresses remaining labor pool has been focused on putting the dead to rest and cleaning up the remains of the terrible battle. Once this is finished I will have much to do. I will not make the same mistakes as my predecessor. No, this will be a new chapter for Ducimmonag. The lean stakes will rise again under my glorious leadership, and we will pay those undead abominations back tenfold for every dwarven life they took.

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    I hope you enjoyed this installment of my fortress report for Ducimmonag, workdrilled. It's events like this that remind me that losing is fun! It's been quite a while since I've had such an exciting, shocking turn of events. Any suggestions or criticism are appreciated! 

Cethire Chantroots the Snarling Crab

    This is a story I wrote and posted to the Dwarf Fortress forums a year or two ago that I thought I would put here. It is based on one of my largest fortresses brush with death. I hope you enjoy it!

 Original Post

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   It was the age of the Roc and the Mountain Titan and the dwarven nation of the Humble Stockade was experiencing a dramatic resurgence under the growth of the Fortress Othildastot, Weakenswords.

    For 139 years dwarves had been absent in the Bold Land, driven deep, deep underground by the combined force of the rapidly growing powers of the Goblin civilization of The Strange Demon and the elven civilization of The Palm Island of Sweltering. Then in the year 250 a small party of seven outcast dwarves resolved to found a new fortress in the uninhabited savage grasslands of the Somber Plains. There, far from the corrupting influences of the sneering Elves and grinning Goblins these seven dwarves began the long and arduous process of rebuilding a civilization. They soon appointed a new queen, who would eventually defy the early deaths of her predecessors and become the longest reigning monarch the Humble Stockade had seen in 200 years.

    These intrepid dwarves delved quickly and deeply far into the heart of the Earth. They set up a small, temporary outpost when they struck a layer of caverns densely carpeted by all manner of fungal growth. Here they would bide their time while more and more dwarves from all around the world flocked to their banner. Unfortunately, when dwarves (a species long since thought to be extinct by the other sentient races of the world) were seen emerging from their miserable hideaways in the Eastern mountains and marching to the far South-West grasslands, others could not help but notice.

    Some were friendly and sympathetic to the dwarves plight. Human trade caravans arrived regularly to bring news and goods to the dwarves of Weakenswords. The Goblins appeared occupied in their own petty squabbling and infighting, and the kobolds had long since been eradicated. However, the immortal elves had not forgotten the wars of ages past. The War of Cudgels, begun in the year 102 and responsible for the destruction of the last few dwarven Citadels in the East, continued to this day. The elves marched from their great and populous forest retreats of the North in great hordes, bent on once again snuffing out every last dwarven hearth. They marched with numerous exotic and frightening war-beasts in tow; Grizzly Bears, Jaguars, Camels, and other such abominations dredged from their forests and "natural places" that they loved so. However, the dwarves of Weakenswords were not like the weak and tired dwarves of the past. They had prepared for this occasion and steeled their minds against the possibility of ever letting dwarvenkind return to the torturous lows it had already suffered through. Their honor demanded it.

    So, when the elven war host numbering in the hundreds began the assault on Weakenswords their war-beasts and great numbers did nothing to aid them. As the dwarven scythe cut through their ranks their war-beasts fled in terror. Their unnumbered hordes of wood-clad recruits trampled each other in their desperate attempt to escape the fast-approaching slaughter. Those who were not shredded instantly by the mechanically precise and readied dwarven fighting Machine were captured in cages of iron and transported to a prison deep underground, beneath the Magma Sea so that they would never again lay eyes upon their beloved nature.

    And yet, the Elves did not relent. Year after year, season after season, Eves poured forth eternally from their innumerable hideaways. The burden of these constant pressures grew so great that although each Elven siege was in its turn slaughtered, the resolve of Weakenswords began to flag.

    It was now, when the strength of the dwarves was already beginning to decay, that an ancient force of nature journeyed from its lair in the mountains to attack Weakenswords. Not even the mystical sages and prophets could know what had prompted the beast to awake from its slumber. Perhaps it had some ancient link with the elves? Perhaps it resented the dwarves relentless tunneling into the ground? More likely it was simply an unquenchable lust for blood. Either way, it did not matter. For the Mountain Titan Cethire Chantroots the Snarling Crab had come. A great quadruped with enormous folded wings, he was unlike any natural creature that presisted to the modern day. He was believed to have been instrumental in the Gods creation of the world, and his power was so great that he had been recognized in the very name of the current age. The very ground seemed to warp and twist where he stepped, as if it was recognizing the primal sway that the Titan had over the natural world. After loosing a great howling roar the Titan took off into the air and rocketed towards the main entrance into Weakenswords. 

    The Captain of the Guard and the Militia Commander quickly conferred on the appropriate course of action. After a brief moment off hurried discussion it was decided that the Titan must be confronted in the secondary entrance, where greater abundance of traps and defensive fortifications might aid the defenders. The cry rang out: "Shut the main gate! All soldiers of the squads the Tufted silver and the Ends Crafts reports to the central staircase!" Prompted by this order a great flurry of action began. Civilians flattened themselves to the wall to allow the expedient passage of the soldiers who were rushing up from the main fortress to a position closer to the surface. The Queen herself broke into a sprint and charged towards the lever that would close the main gate. With all her strength she tugged on the heavy diorite lever and forced the creaking mechanisms into movement.

    The gate slammed shut just before the Titan reached it. With an angry snarl the Titan turned and barreled towards the secondary entrance. The soldiers watched from a secure position as the Titan approached the lines of traps. They gasped in horror as it deftly evaded them and continued on its way. They all now turned to the leaders of their squads, their expressions hardened and resolute. They must confront the Titan directly. The front line charged the Titan, and the front line fell. Ensnared by clinging strands of web shot from the Titans gibbering mouth they were helpless as one by one the Titan dispatched them. Seeing the carnage ahead the Captain of the Guard rallied the last two soldiers remaining and hastily retreated down to the fortress. As the Titan prowled restlessly above, destroying furniture as it pleased and slowly working its way ever closer to the core of the fortress.

    When the Captain of the Guard and the two remaining soldiers returned to the grand meeting hall and relayed the horrible news to the crowd pandemonium ensued. This horrific defeat was made worse because each of the lost soldiers had been a master of his or her chosen weapon, legendary in skill. These had been Weakenswords greatest heroes who had slain countless enemies in the past, adding to the honor of their illustrious squads. Who in Weakenswords was left who could possibly match their bravery and skill?

    The Captain of the Guard took charge of the situation and issued a flurry of orders. The Queen was rushed away deeper into the fortress by the fawning, swirling group of courtiers that surrounded her perpetually. A small group of brave masons shouldered diorite blocks and hurried up the central staircase where they hoped to construct a wall between the core fortress and the Titan. One dwarf –a miner in fact- stood silently and calmly in the corner of the room sipping a mug of ale, thinking.

    The small band of masons knew that they would have to move quickly, for if the Titan were to make it into the core fortress, none of the dwarves would escape its wrath. They employed the full extent of their skill in their trade as together they assembled the wall at lightning speed. They were just expending the last of their concerted effort to heave the final block into place when a rumbling, popping laugh echoed down the stairs from above. This galvanized the steadfast masons to pour the entirety of their strength into the endeavor. They were just sliding it into position when the Titan appeared, twisting and barreling downwards and around the central column of the stairway. Before they could finish sealing the block in place the titan had slammed into the wall. The Titan howled in pain before pressing its eye to the wall. The masons, thrust into this position as they were, lost all cohesion. Some fled in terror back down the stairway, and others simply stood their staring transfixed at the enormous menacing milky eye staring through a crack in the wall. The Titan used the claws on its front legs to further gouge the imperfections in the unfinished wall and pry it apart. The wall soon shattered and fell to pieces under the unstoppable strength of this primeval monster. Those Masons that had stayed behind soon fell to the whirling, chaotic, unthinking rage of the Titan. Their mutilated corpses did not amuse it for long.

    Hearing the screams of the doomed masons above a senseless terror swept across the assembled population below. Even the Captain of the Guard seemed lost and aimless in the wake of the extraordinary calamity and consequence of the situation. Amidst the swirling madness of the terrified crowd, one Dwarf left her brooding position in the corner of the room and decisively climbed atop the enormous diorite table in the center of the room. This Dwarf silenced the room by thrice slamming the handle of his pickaxe firmly into the table. “Silence! Quiet your whining cowardice! We must not allow this monster to destroy all that we have carved from the earth here! If we are to fail, all prospect of a future for the dwarves will be lost. Follow me and we will deliver wrath and ruin to this beast or die and join our ancestors in the presence of the gods. Our deeds here will be forever recorded in the illustrious history of our greatest heroes! Come, to our destiny!” She raised her pick and rushed up the stairway towards the rapidly approaching sound of the Titan with a bellow of vengeful fury. Those able-bodied dwarves present joined their voices to hers in a unanimous expression of their courage and intention and charged upwards to her side.

    These suicidally brave dwarves had no training in the arts of war, most had nothing but their bare hands with which to confront the juggernaut ahead. With a crash the Titan was in the midst of the impromptu dwarven army. The thrashing intense madness of the combat left many Dwarves broken and dying on the steps of the bloody stairway. In this enclosed space the Titan was unable to utilize its formidable webs, leaving the battle to be decided purely by sinew and bone. Even as their comrades fell among them, even as their limbs and weapons shattered, even as they were slowly pushed ever down the stairway by the unmatchable might of the Titan, the dwarves fought on, until eventually green Titan ichor began to mix with the dwarven blood and run in streams down the stairway. The situation seemed hopeless. Summoning the last of her failing strength she threw herself upon the titan pickax in hand. She struggled valiantly with it before she found that it moved no more. The many scratches, bruises, and gashes across its body had bled the beast to death.

    The stunned dwarves stood silently, staring at the mountainous corpse. They could hardly believe that they had felled the beast where highly trained soldiers had failed to even land a hit. Cethire Chantroots the Snarling Crab was dead, and the Age of the Mountain Titan was over.

    For many days the dwarves rejoiced, praising the bravery of the dwarves who had dared to challenge the monster. The miner who had rallied the dwarves to the cause of slaying the beast was forever after known as the Savior of Weakenswords and venerated for her heroism. The loss had been great, for more than 25 honest dwarves were interred in their ancestral tomes that day, and many more left with life-long crippling injuries. The dwarves of Weakenswords would have to work hard to recover from the rampage, but they would recover and face again their many foes.

    When the hated Elves returned, they would find the dwarves imbued with a new sense of boundless purpose.

Ducimmonag 1 - Strike the Earth!

     Before I begin I would like to say thank you to those who developed and update the texture pack Phoebus and the utility Dwarf Therapist both of which I use in this game.

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 Hematite, Year 250

       As expedition leader and the most learned member of  our group, I, Ilral Roldethsolon, have taken it upon myself to keep records of our fortresses foundation. While we are still only a small outpost I hope that in time we will become a sprawling mountainhome. My six friends and I have been assigned by royal decree to establish a new fortress for our great civilization. We have been sent far from our homes to the White Fieldss, an area of grasslands directly east of the terrifying southeastern mountain range. Our fortress will be built beneath the site of two brooks meeting and descending downwards in a spectacular waterfall. Other than two giant sponges lurking menacingly in the water we are alone here. The closest town is many days march to the north in the eastern human lands so news will be hard to come by, but at least we are far removed from the filthy warrens of the goblins. I have included a rough map of our location above.

    After careful consideration my compatriots and I decided to name our group "The Lean Stakes" and our fortress Ducimmonag, or "Workdrilled." Upon reaching our location we immediately began to work, and have not ceased since. Carving a home out of this untamed wilderness is brutally difficult work. We dug a staircase a short ways downwards and upon reaching a shallow layer of  phyllite began to mine out a simple prelude to our fortress consisting of a main hall, a workshop area, several modest rooms, and room for stockpiles. In the layer of soil higher up we have begun work on a small plump helmet farm and an area to hold our pigs. With so few to cover so much work we are all eagerly awaiting the arrival of migrants from the mountainhomes to ease our load.

    Before closing off this entry into the records I will describe us few hardy individuals  that currently make up the lean stakes and how we have been getting on in this wilderness retreat. First there is Lobram Tolunsolon, our resident mason. He shares my love for parties and merrymaking and we are good friends. Bomrek Onulrur is our most skilled miner, although like myself she has been stressed lately due to the lack of time off. Fikod Amasalath is our second miner. An odd dwarf he claims to highly respect plants and the natural world. Personally I find him and his elfishness unsettling. Rakust Idnisgak is our brewer and cook. A friendly sort he is nonetheless rather dull, although I would never tell him that for fear of being cut off from our meagre supply of booze. Ducem Taramtobul is one of our farmers. I talk with him little as he spends most of his time sitting completely still staring off into space, apparently lost in thought. Finally there is Rith Gemeshas, another farmer who is know for her cleverness, impatience, and out of her hearing range for her many rolls of fat.

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Moonstone, Year 250

   

        Winter has now descended upon us. In the time since my first record we have made great progress. Above is a map of our main fortress levels current size. It was not long after I finished that first record that our prayers were answered and a small group of migrants arrived to assist us in our labors. Eventually we would receive another wave of migrants swelling our number to 20 and qualifying us as a hamlet. We have expanded our stockpiles and workshops as well as our farms.

    Several months earlier our miners pierced an enormous cavern layer far below our main fortress. Knowing well the potential dangers posed by the monstrous begins dwelling in their forgotten layers I ordered that many cage traps be constructed around the doorway to prevent anything from getting inside. Soon after several monster hunters petitioned for residence here, which I readily granted. It was very fortunate that I prepared our defenses as quickly as I did, for those monster hunters have reported sightings of a troll in the distant reaches of the caverns. Luckily it has not attacked anyone yet.

    We were also visited by a merchant caravan from the west. As we had no qualified dwarf available in took on the position of broker and traded many of our stone crafts for cloth and rum. I am beginning to become sick of plump helmet wine and the rum provided a welcome change. I hope that soon I will have a break from this menial drudgery and be able to devote myself to the artistic ventures I crave.

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    Frantic shouting wakes me. What is going on? A messenger rushes into my cramped room to deliver the news. As the color drains from my face I offer a silent prayer to Armok. We are not prepared for this. What will we do?

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    I hope you enjoyed this writeup of my DF playthrough. Expect more posts soon. Any suggestions or criticisms are welcome.