Scortchthunder Expedition Log: Year 301
Journal of Olod Tomblashed, Fisher.

1st of Granite: The Arrival (Click to reveal)

Well, the dwarves and I have finally arrived at our destination, and I had to check the charts twice just to make sure we was in the right place. A new chapter of dwarven history indeed.... whatever mad hair struck Queen Ducimendok to send our expedition into the midst of the rutting badlands is beyond me, but it is our duty to make what we can of this place.



At least we've got food and drink enough to last us for a year or so if we ration well. There isn't much in the way of plants to harvest, but the soil underground is good, and with the Great River nearby, irrigation wont be a problem. On top of that, we left home with 2 cows for breeding, a horse and a pack-ox, a cat and a pair of dogs for sniffing out vermin and kobolds. Seems as though we attracted a good number of curious camels from the surrounding badlands to boot, which means that we wont hunger for meat once the food stores run dry.



Ah well, Mine-Foreman Kogan has unpacked the picks from the wagon, and plans to strike the earth at this site... but first it needs a name. With the hot sun overhead, naught but hills of baked red earth for leagues around, and the roar of a grand old river to the east, I've settled on naming this place Scortchthunder.

5th of Granite: Exploring the Scratchsinges River (Click to reveal)

While the others busy unloading the caravan and setting up temporary workshops, I've taken the first day to scout up and down the Scratchsinges River to the east of the expedition site. I've never seen one so grand before... it's nearly 50 cubits wide from bank to bank, and slices through the hillside without so much as a bend. So much water in a place so dry... it's uncanny.



At any rate, I've got plans for this river, though they will take much time, and a great deal of stone. I remember the stories of Humans using small rivers and streams to power their mills and other mechanical devices... but we are no mere Humans! With a river so grand, with so much raw power for dwarven inginuity to harness... just imagine the possibilities!

But aye, before those plans take shape, we first need to span the river with a bridge, and judging by our estimates, that will take nearly 150 blocks of stone. And without a proper mountain nearby, we'll have to dig a fair ways through this damnable clay to reach any.

11th of Granite: Hole in the Dirt (Click to reveal)

The miners have been working steadily on hollowing out chambers in the earth for us to work, store goods, and sleep. It's no stone hall, but at least it keeps the hot sun off while the miners dig deeper.



Senior Miner Kogan found a nice little patch of moist dirt a few cubits below the surface, and farmer Logam is laying out a plot for a proper mushroom farm. Within a few months, we ought to have our kitchens baking fresh biscuits, and our still pumping out booze enough to keep the gals and boys happy and productive.



However, I must admit that moist dirt strikes me as a might unsettling for the middle of the badlands. It could be an underground river, but if my stonesense hasn't failed me, we're likely dealing with a flooded Aquifer layer. Stone might just be out of our reach, and my plans for bridging the river might have to be put on hold until we can find a way to get at stone. There aren't enough trees, and though the woodworker assures me he can work with the Saguaro Cacti that are growing all around, I don't know if I'd trust a bridge made out of the little prickley things myself.

5th of Slate: An Old Volcano? (Click to reveal)

While scouting the banks of the river for the best fishing spots, I found what looks like a plug of volcanic glass up by the west bank. Though even a beardless baby could see that it's too old to be left by a recently active vent (the stone is much older than even this ancient river), that means there was once volcanic activity hereabouts! And that means that somewhere under this cap, there is plenty of stone for the bridge, maybe even a few gems... and if the Gods are with us here, there may still be a magma pool, or even a vent!

Kogan has been excited to hear about this, and he has dispatched exploratory miners to try and locate stone or magma immediately.

6th of Slate: Exploratory Mining yields Bats (Click to reveal)

While exploratorially mining, one of the miners had channeled into the dirt near the cap to drop a sounding line, and a flock of bats burst out! He claims to have felt a blast of hot air, and seen a fiery glow inside the pit, but no one can get close enough to check it due to the bat infestation. There must be hundreds of them swarming around the pit hunting the dragonflies over the river.

Luckily for us, the cat seems to have taken an interest in these bats, and seems to have devised a method of leaping from the nearby hills to snatch bats out of the air. It is impressive to watch... from a safe distance of course.

In a few days, I suspect workers will again be able to reach the site. All of us are eager to see just what that fiery glow may have been!

9th of Slate: Inside the Pit (Click to reveal)

The cat has proven to be infinitely useful, and has killed or driven off all of the bats. Granted the ground is now littered with tiny broken bones, wings, and blood, it is by far preferable to hundreds of tiny flying rodents getting tangled in one's beard.

Even greater than this news, however, is what Kogan found upon inspection of the pit.



An active Magma Vent!

Even with an aquifer layer keeping us from digging down into the bedrock, an endless supply of magma more than makes up for this. I've been discussing plans with Stonemason Domas (a brilliant mechanic, she is) and Foreman Kogan to construct an Obsidian Smelter utilizing the endless supply of water and magma that we have here. We could have stone enough for anything we needed, including the bridge... not to mention Obsidian crafts fetch a fair price, and Obsidian Swordblades are as keen as the finest Dwarven Steel.

3rd of Felsite: Love and War (Click to reveal)

That bearded hag Nish Spinecrypt has been giving me no end of guff for rushing the Obsidian Smelter as I have. Granted, there have been a few incidents due to the rushed pace...



...but no dwarves have been injured permanently yet, and progress is moving swiftly. Even so, after several dwarves were knocked unconscious in cave-ins yesterday, along with Kogan's beard-burning incident, I suppose that it would be wise to be a bit more careful while constructing this Obsidian Smelter... but I don't take kindly to Nish standing in the way of our progress. At least not while I'm in charge of this expedition.

At any rate, Farmer Logam has recently taken up an interest in hunting while the crops grow, and after Thob made him a crossbow, some bolts, and a quiver, has set about hunting the Elk and Camels who have been wandering about. With enough practice, he may just become the first marksdwarf of our militia.

On a personal note, and though I feel no need to go into details here, Domas the Stonemason and I have begun something of an affair, and I must say her skill with her hands is quite apparent.

13th of Hematite: Drought Strikes (Click to reveal)

Summer has arrived, and with it came evidence for how the land became so dry and barren... The temperature has risen every day, the grass is beginning to yellow, my fishing ponds have dried up to a fraction of a cubit deep, and even the flow of the mighty Scratchsinges River has slowed. I'm beginning to wonder just  how hot and dry it will get.



At any rate, stage one of the Obsidian Smelter's construction is complete, and already Magma is entering the bottom layer of the smelting chamber. I'm very eager to begin stone production for that bridge, but the magma being drawn into the lowest layer of the smelting pit flows slowly, and Domas is still working on the river Floodgate and the pump system.

Ah well, time to wait.

7th of Malachite: Monkey Business (Click to reveal)

After weeks of clear skies and hot sun, the first rain I've seen since our arrival rolled in from the south today. It was light and scattered, and dissapeared into the ground quickly, but it brought welcome relief to the men and women working out in the sun, and replenished some of the ponds. On top of this, the water-control systems are completed and installed in the Obsidian Smelter, but magma still has not filled the bottom layer to a full cubit deep. Why must it flow so slowly!

In other news, a troop of monkeys had been skirting around the settlement for the last few days, and they finally decided to take up residence in the woodpile next to the well.



They seem to have taken a special interest in Woodworker Thob's most recent (and by far his best) Saguaro Chair. All the other dwarves agree that it is a Masterpiece of woodworking, but I have to stop and wonder why anyone would sit on a chair made of cactus. Even so, Thob raised such a fuss about monkeys clambering all over his precious cactus wood that Farmer Logam grabbed his trusty crossbow and both War Dogs to chase them off, and stop him from pitching a fuss.

3rd Galena: Industrial Rock (Click to reveal)

Yes, even in a place like this, where nature gives us nothing but dirt and water, Dwarfkind prevails once again. When Dwarves can't mine for stone, they make it! The Obsidian Smelter is complete, and everyone gathered around for it's first run, which was a complete success! Already the miners are setting about chiseling blocks of warm obsidian, and stockpiling it for the bridge, with a bit set aside for Domas' Stonecrafting. I've included an Operational Diagram of the Obsidian Smelter here:



The miners have to be careful while digging out the Obsidian Blocks, since the chamber will need to be reused. Perhaps channeling down into the Obsidian from the layer above would work better in the future, but for now, Kogan and the miners are chiseling as quickly as possible. We'll work out the logistics of a controlled collapse for the thin "floor" of Obsidian left behind later.

LOG STILL IN PROGRESS >.<

A historical account of the development and progress of the Outpost Othlestamud from the mind of Nish "Spinecrypt" Luritmomuz

Early Spring (Click to reveal)

Ugh. My head is killing me. For some reason when I awoke this morning I could not remember a thing, and I had this overwhelming feeling that someone was controlling me. Regardless, I'm meant to be in charge of this little outpost. I'm going to have to dig through previous memoirs and maps to familiarise mself with it again.

I would like to make a note here that one of our fishers, Olod Tomblashed continously refers to Othlestamud as Scortchthunder. However in my investigations I have been digging through blueprints and maps of the area, and it is QUITE CLEAR (from knowledge of the Dwarven language alone) that the place is called Scorchthunder. I am getting curious about this fellow, especially with him constantly in isolation out of earshot of the outpost. My suspicions lead me to think he's a spy, I'll be recalling him from such tasks immediately.

Lets take a look at the current situation of the fort.



Okay we've got good food and alcohol stocks, plenty of see-- wait. FIVE MINERS? There's NO ROCKS HERE AT ALL. Why the hell is there FIVE miners? I can see we have a very nice sized obsidian quarry by the river, however FIVE miners? I'm going to have to completely relook at everyone's jobs in this place. Lets take a look at the current jobs.



Oh bloody hell, by Armok. Why is everyone just running items back and forth between stockpiles? This outpost is an absolute joke I swear. Near every dwarf here is either storing items in stockpiles or operating a pointless pump that does nothing short of perch dangerously over the river from a massive height. I'm going to remove all these fucking stockpiling and pumping orders immediately. Furthermore I'm going to make half these miners take up farming, change the pointless masons and hunters, get a dedicated cook and brewer, and split up the woodworkers into dedicated carpenters and woodcutters. I've also gotten rid of pointless glassblowers, as there's no sand. And don't even get me started on fishing, they're ALL gone. Immediately. Apparently there's a lack of wood here, we'll see about that.



By Armok!!! Why is the fortress COVERED in miasma? This place is disgusting. What was the previous architect THINKING? Shoving all these refuse pits inside is just stupid. I'm moving these outside immediately.



In the process of remaking the farms I've set them to harvest nothing but plump helmets. We certainly don't have the industry setup for anything greater, any a few plump helmets can easily feed our small band without much difficulty. Furthermore if we brew the plump helmets we can recover the seeds and have a renewable source of food and drink.



What the bloody hell is going on here? Why is there SO MANY GOD DAMN OFFICES AND DINING ROOMS? I'm the only one in the entire fortress that even needs an office, so why do we have 8 of them? I'm immediately redesignating all rooms as bedrooms, and bedrooms only. These dwarves will be all to happy to eat in their own rooms, they don't need them designated specifically as dining rooms as well. My room can be used as an office, dining room and bedroom for now. I've got too much things to think about at the moment, such as the complete lack of any defences in this fortress. The previous architect made a fucking awful decision of digging half the fort out with an inch thick roof to the surface, so digging out channels will be difficult. I should be able to conjure something up though.

I've also got some ideas about improving output of both the farming operations and the obsidian quarry. I'll need to put these to work immediately.

Mid Spring (Click to reveal)

An elven caravan has arrived today. Fuck the Elves. What business do they have coming here demanded we trade no products made of wood, and then trying to sell us wooden swords, shields and animals in cages? Fuck them. I've ordered every dwarf to completely ignore them and pretend they haven't noticed their arrival at all.



I noticed this by the Trade Depot whilst I was going out of my way to avoid the Elves. What the hell is a SINGLE catapult doing here, when we have nobody skilled in siege operations and only a handful of obsidian rocks to throw at the enemy? Hey Goblins, come siege our fortress! In return we'll throw extremely valuable building materials at you that you love to use to build your towers. Why don't you erect one right next to our outpost, maybe we can share our resources with each other? It's no wonder this is 'Not in use'. Fuck the catapult. This is being dismantled immediately.

We also got 21 migrants this month. TWENTY ONE. We had 16 dwarves, with rooms for 16 dwarves. We now have 21 homeless dwarves, I'm going to have to do some massive extensions to the god awful bedroom complex at once.



Kogan has been acting strangely lately. He claimed a mason's workshop and screamed repeatedly at us to get him some stacked cloth. We had no stacked cloth at all, and there was a mad rush to grow some pig tails, process the pig tails into thread and then weave some cloth. We managed to do it before he went berserk by the looks, but only just. He's started to make something but refuses to let anyone come near him.

Late Spring (Click to reveal)

The new bedroom complex is dug out and new beds are being installed immediately. We've got plenty of bedrooms for all our dwarves now, with a few empty ones in case we get any new migrants. We'll have no barracks in this fortress under my watch, every dwarf gets his own room.



Kogan finally finished his mysterious construction. Turns out he made an Obsidian throne of most exquisite quality. We all discussed how best to utilise this artifact, but I'm in charge here so it's immediately going into use in my room. Kogan strangely looked happy that SOMEONE was using it, even though he's not allowed to even look at it.

Early Summer (Click to reveal)

The first batch of obsidian under my watch has finally been installed. The previous architect made a pig's fucking ear of the whole operation, and it's taken me a whole season to rectify this. We've now got huge quantaties of Obsidian starting to seep into the fort, but not enough for my liking. I'm going to automate the pumps for the water, which should improve efficiency by a factor of 3.



I've installed some basic defences around the top level of the fortress. There's a dry moat that should keep away any pesky invading goblins (or kill any that 'fall' in), and a couple of towers for archers to reign death onto goblins from above. Should be adequate enough for now, though it may need expanding in the future.

The humans sent both a hamlet liason and a guild representative this month to us. Aren't we special.

Mid Summer (Click to reveal)

I traded a couple of high quality giant cave spider silk gloves with the humans for vast, VAST quantaties of leather and cloth. This should enable us to setup a standing militia with basic leather armour and get some new clothing for our dwarves. I've also requested nothing but iron from them for next year, so we can get even better weapons and armour.



I've provided a sketch here of the new pump system at the stone quarry. Now I've completely eliminated the dwarven factor from the pumping system and the output level has increased dramaticaly already. I've added a few dedicated stone haulers as well, and now production has reached an all-time high. We're pumping out more obsidian than we can utilise, so I think I'll design something grand for the fortress.



"There's not enough wood here". Fuck you, previous architect. We could make an entire castle out of wood with our supplies.

Late Summer (Click to reveal)

In a mere month Dodok has become a legendary champion. I guess these dwarves are easily impressed, as he's only just started to take up some basic martial arts training. The other 3 soon followed however, and now we have a somewhat defended fortress. At least a goblin thief can't sneak in and murder us all in our sleep now.

Other than that, it's been a relatively quiet month. We gained 10 new migrants however, and I only had 7 new rooms. The bastards. Will have to extend the bedroom complex even further.

Early Autumn (Click to reveal)

I've begun construction of a monument in the west of our fortress. The place is defended and self-sufficient now, but it's lacking in character. I'm going to add a little Scorchthunder to the mix.

The Dwarven caravan arrived this month. We traded away some of our enormous quantaties of food for a bunch of leather and tons of seeds. We should be able to maintain our farming operations for a good while now, and we're pumping out leather armour for our soldiers. I've also ordered wood and bone bolts to be made in order to train up a couple of marksdwarves, and started to design a new archery range.

Mid Autumn (Click to reveal)

No usable stone? Fuck you aquifer.

Seven more migrants arrived this month. I'm struggling to work out what to do with them all. I've ordered a couple more start training with crossbows, and setup even more cooks, farmers and brewers. Most of my time this season has been taken up by the construction above our fortress to the west.

Late Autumn (Click to reveal)

Oddom Deduklogem died, our first dwarven death. For some reason he thought it would be a good idea to jump into the dry moat and see if he could get out, at least that's what I'm told. Personally I think he was pushed. At least we know it works.

Stakud Mebalath has withdrawn from society and begun carving something. What he id doing, I have absolutely no idea. Child prodigy?

Early Winter (Click to reveal)

The first day of winter arrives and we're graced with an artifact. Kids these days eh? All they care about is jewellry and bling. I'm impressed by Stakud but I've ordered all further jewellry be hidden from sight from children. We'll have none of this going on again if I have any say in it.

We also finished mining enough obsidian to complete the construction above the fortress. I can only hope it finishes in time, but I'm really unsure if it'll be completed before the end of the year. These dwarves are awfully lazy, and we've had more parties this year than we've had dwarves.

Mid Winter (Click to reveal)

The wall around the quarry is completed, now the only entrance to our fortress is from the defended position. I deliberately ordered the walls made out of wood - and even built them myself - to piss in the face of the previous architect. Apparently there's not enough wood here. Apparently you're fucking wrong.



Mere days after we finished pumping out the water from the quarry for our next batch the entire river froze over. For four days. It was an incredible sight; you could literally sit there and watch the river slowly freezing and melting. Curiously an enormous iceberg formed in the south of the river, and stayed there for another week.

Mebzuth Erithgamil drowned this month as well. The idiot tried to run across the melting ice to prove his dwarfliness, and fell straight through a sheet of thin ice. Nobody is mourning the idiot.

Late Winter (Click to reveal)

It's the end of the year. The construction isn't complete, but I've shared my sketch of it nonetheless. It will become the emblem of Scorchthunder when it is completed, and will be visible from the highest mountains. (Thanks for this, you know who you are)



I've also provided the logbook of my year for people to look at the current state of our fortress. We've increased our wealth by 80,000 and have enough food supplies for The Queen Herself. There's a disturbing lack of drinks, but we've got enough plants to brew plenty more dwarven wine, and enough seeds to grow whatever the hell we want. We've gone from 16 dwarves to 56, and had our first two dwarven deaths. The jobs in the population is extremely misleading as well, because despite 7 dwarves claiming to be miners I an assure you there are only three miners in this fortress, and not a single fisher at all. Fuck the fish.