Dwarven Fortress FOFC

[tanglewood]

dola

Good dynasty. I'm off to try out this game myself now.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally Posted by tanglewood

Lucy Lawless aka Xena.

Har! Good one! Xena it is.

*gets back to writing*

[Abe Sargent]

Feh, I would've chosen Lynda Carter.....

[Godzilla Blitz]

Year 1051, Summer: The Incompetents, Part I

By early Summer, Sachmo is deep within the mountain, digging with an intensity driven by the thought of oncoming winter. Finally, in late June, he hits water! Fortunately, the river does not overflow immediately, and Sachmo hurries off to begin another digging job in another section of our expanding fortress.

Our next task is to set up a farm next to the river, but this is a complex task involving floodgates and control rooms and such. But there is no alternative, so we get busy. Our lives depend on it.

Sachmo and ntndeacon are called to the river again and start excavating a large farming room and a control room for the levers. Anxiety starts working on some mechanisms for the floodgates, which we had CoffeeWarlord build already in the spring. We realize we need a door for the control room, which we set CoffeeWarlord to making. To do this we have to interrupt his throne making, which still proceeds at a snail’s pace.

In the meantime, Natalie continue to make goods that we can sell, Scarlett begins hacking away at a new section of the forest, and Qwikshot gets back to making even more barrels for storage.

While this plan sounded good on paper, it had one problem: CoffeeWarlord. Coffee, for whatever reason, didn’t see fit to get back to work on the control room door. He sleeps all the time, then gets up and starts hauling stones back and forth through the mountain. Then he hangs out “on break” with Natalie Portman in the dining room for hours on end! Argh. Frustrated, we ask Qwikshot to try his hand at the masonry table. He gets right to it, and shortly we have a nice door, but by now most of the summer had gone by. Right after we get the door done, Coffee gets up and builds…a door. Gee, thanks, there, partner! Just in time!

Things go from bad to worse. Sachmo puts the floodgate in the wrong place, which blocks off the access to the river. We’ve got to dig around it, which delays us even more, because Sachmo and ntndeacon are off digging at the other end of the fortress, and by the time we get them back to the river they are too exhausted to continue and have to catch up on sleep. To top it off, while they are sleeping, we suffer two massive cave-ins. Sachmo and ntndeacon dug some rooms too large! The first is disastrous, as it is in--yes, you guessed it--the farming room. The second hits a currently unused storage area. Fortunately, no one was in either room when the collapses occur, but we’ve got to clear the damn farming room before we can resume trying to get the floodgates installed and working.

The end result of this incompetence is that early and mid-summer come and go and we still don’t have any seeds planted, nor do we have the floodgate properly installed, nor do we have the lever mechanism in place. However, little did we realize that our seven-member fortress would be in for a change…

One late August day, a stocky figure with long dark hair comes wading through the river to our west and approaches our fortress. As she draws near, we can see she is carrying a big ass anvil with her, and is one mighty woman. She introduces herself as Xena and tells us she was sent by the king to help us out. She claims she’s a novice metalsmith, metalcrafter, and furnace operator. And with that, Xena becomes the eighth member of our merry band of dwarfs! Not one to mess with, dwarves! Welcome to the family!

But back to our heroes’ endeavors to getting our farm up and running….

Once Sachmo and ntndeacon recover from their exhaustion they get busy clearing up the cave-in. Once that is done, we set a new floodgate in place. On the very last day of summer, we hook up the levers, get set, and pull the switch…

Nothing happens. The room doesn’t flood. Damn it. Maybe we need a channel? Who knows. As our dwarfs stand on the barren farming plot, fidget nervously, and wonder what to do, summer comes to a close…

With the autumn chill setting in and winter around the corner, big, dark questions lurk ahead of us. Do we have enough food to survive the winter? Can we somehow get a farm up and running in the fall for one quick harvest? If we can’t do that, how much food can we trade for with all the stone toys, mugs, and instruments that Natalie has made? If that’s not enough, do we start butchering the horses? The dogs? The cats? CoffeeWarlord?

So many questions, answers coming…

[mrsimperless]

My understanding of flooding a room is that you actually need two floodgates for it to work. You need to create a small channel leading from the farming area to the river. Put one floodgate seperating the farming room and the channel. Put the other one seperating the channel from the river. You hook them up to the same switch and then when you pull the lever it is supposed to flood. Don't ask me why you need two of them, I don't completely get it. Of course, I've never tried this either and it may not even work.

Good luck!

[mrsimperless]

Dola.

Don't forget to make sure the door to your farming room is closed when you flood it!

[Abe Sargent]

Sir, I'd recommend that you send me back to fishing, in the hopes that I can get us some extra food.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by mrsimperless

My understanding of flooding a room is that you actually need two floodgates for it to work. You need to create a small channel leading from the farming area to the river. Put one floodgate seperating the farming room and the channel. Put the other one seperating the channel from the river. You hook them up to the same switch and then when you pull the lever it is supposed to flood. Don't ask me why you need two of them, I don't completely get it. Of course, I've never tried this either and it may not even work.

Good luck!

Dola.

One floodgate to pull the water into the channel, and another floodgate to pull the water out of the channel and into the room.

REMEMBER TO HAVE THE DOORS INTO THE ROOM LOCKED!

[Coffee Warlord]

Ahem. I know my priorities.

Doors < Natalie.

[sachmo71]

7x7 is the max room size...without supports. Also, you can build the farm right next to the river and avoid the whole canal thing.

[mrsimperless]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

7x7 is the max room size...without supports. Also, you can build the farm right next to the river and avoid the whole canal thing.

My understanding was that 7X7 was NOT safe. You need to avoid 7x7's and keep a support or some rock there to avoid it. At least that's what I've been doing in the "convention center". =)

[Neon_Chaos]

6 x anything is the borderline.

but you can create a 13x13 room with a lone unmined pillar in the middle as safe.

[mrsimperless]

Yeah, what Neon said. =D

Here's a screenshot of my convention center. That's what I meant to say at least. I keep supports in to keep 7X7 from happening. I haven't had any rumblings of cave-ins whatsoever, so it seems safe.

Best of luck GB!

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by mrsimperless

My understanding was that 7X7 was NOT safe. You need to avoid 7x7's and keep a support or some rock there to avoid it. At least that's what I've been doing in the "convention center". =)

Yes, you are correct. I misread it. Thanks.

[Neon_Chaos]

Here's my general design, just to show how I implemented the 13x 13 concept...seperate rooms, 13x13. A general workshop area, foodstuff reserve, finished goods, ore, crystals, rocks... I also have more rooms full of bars, furniture... etc.

[mrsimperless]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Here's my general design, just to show how I implemented the 13x 13 concept...seperate rooms, 13x13. A general workshop area, foodstuff reserve, finished goods, ore, crystals, rocks... I also have more rooms full of bars, furniture... etc.

That is a mess, sir. A bloody mess. I love it =D

So where's the neon dynasty? I wanna see some Filipino dwarves.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Autumn: The Incompetents, Part II

Well, one of our cats has given birth to kittens! How cute. Anyone know how many calories are in a kitten? There are three of them running around. Our main hall is like a zoo, as our assortment of dogs, horses, cats, and donkeys seem to like it in there, and at any given moment there are a half dozen animals wandering around the room.

Perhaps the kittens bring us good fortune, for our luck turns as the leaves begin to turn color. A couple of days after the kittens are born, the mountain shakes with a deafening roar and water surges onto our farming plots! Within a day or two it resides, and we have a fine layer of farming mud on top of our rock floor! Success! We quickly designate the area as a farming plot, and decide to plant our plump helmet, which apparently gives us the best return on food.

The very next day we spot the trading caravan arriving from the west! This is both good news and bad news. Good in that we can now trade the mountain of trinkets that Natalie Portman has made through the summer. Bad in that we don’t have a trading depot built yet and haven’t moved the goods into the depot. Yikes.

Fortunately, ntndeacon comes to the rescue. He drops his pickaxe and starts whipping together a trading depot out of pumice blocks. He frantically builds the depot as the caravan slowly fords the river and makes its way over bumpy ground to our fortress. Ntndeacon gets the job done, though. As he is driving the last nail into the depot, the caravan pulls up. With that, nearly all our dwarves spend the next few days scrambling to move the ton of trinkets from the fortress to the depot. It’s a hectic couple of weeks, but when all is said and done, we’ve traded away everything that Natalie made for some giant bat meat provisions, some elephant meat, some giant mole meat, and some cave fish. We also get some animal hides and other sundries that I have no clue what to do with.

In the midst of this busy time, we have more additions to the fortress. Our horse gives birth to two foals, and one of our dogs gives birth to two puppies.

Finally, we wrap up the trading and turn our attention back to our farm. D’oh! We forgot to plant the helmet! We were so busy trading for food that we only planted two measly sections of helmet. Argh! We get almost everyone into the act as we race to get some seeds in the ground before it hardens for winter. Damn it, this is not good!

And to make matters worse, while we do that, our cats get into our food storage room before we can barrel up the newly acquired food. Scat! We lose some of our precious fish and meat before Sachmo can install a door on the room and make it pet-proof.

During this blinding frenzy of activity, the clear lines between jobs fade away and everyone has been pitching in at the most pressing emergency. Through the mid and late fall, this continues as we work at a breakneck pace to get a bunch of helmet planted. As we draw into late fall, things seem to settle down a bit and order starts to take hold again.

With mining operations slowed down, Sachmo has spent much of his time with Qwikshot and Scarlett Johansson down at the helmet farms. Ntndeacon, who has grown tremendously in strength, has started excavating individual bedrooms on the north side of our fortress. CoffeeWarlord--perhaps because Natalie Portman no longer takes breaks with him--has become more proficient at masonry and is cranking out doors at a reasonable pace. Natalie goes back to spending most of her time alone, crafting toys, mugs, and instruments. Xena and Anxiety have been busy porting in the trade goods and toting stuff around the fortress as we sort out items and living spaces.

In the final month of fall, we make quite a bit of progress on getting individual bedrooms set up. Before the end of the final month, we have two finished, with doors and beds installed. We give Natalie Portman--whose energetic stonework earned us the large portion of meat that may save the fortress this winter--the largest bedroom. The second bedroom goes to Scarlett Johansson, who so often was out chopping down trees while the rest of the dwarfs slept peacefully.

As fall draws to a close, we see the precious helmet seeds sprout into edible helmet, but unfortunately, most of our dwarfs were busying catching up on sleep or eating when this happens. Only CoffeeWarlord was astute enough to realize the importance of getting the plants out of the ground before it froze. He manages to get three plants up before the ground hardens. All the remaining helmet dies. Yes, as an exclamation point to our incompetence, nearly 80% of our helmet crop freezes into inedible husks.

As we head into winter, where supposedly dwarfs eat more vigorously, we’ll have the following provisions to survive on:

Meat: 37
Fish: 4
Plant: 8

Once again, questions abound. Do we have enough food? Will our dwarves slowly starve inside their rock fortress? Will we ever see the spring?

Our dwarfs get set for the long, hard winter ahead…

[Godzilla Blitz]

Anxiety: We can make the next hardy dwarf Lynda Carter. If we ever get another hardy female dwarf, that is.

mrsimperless: Thanks for the tips on the floodgates. I was reading that it often works with one, but sometimes you need two. I was hoping for some luck with one floodgate, because we were so short on time.

Anxiety: Yeah, in retrospect we probably should have sent you fishing. I've still got to figure out what the steps are for processing fish. I think we need to clean it at a fishery, perhaps. Got to build us one of those.

Neon_Chaos: We'll work on that floodgate setup for the spring, if we're still alive. I'm hoping that it will work this time, as we'll need some food pretty fast.

Coffee: Doors < Natalie < Staying Alive! Might be worth it, I'll give you that much. But it appears as if she isn't interested anymore. She doesn't go near you now.

Sachmo, Neon, mrsimperless: Thanks for the tips on the room size/design. Believe it or not, I acutally knew about the 7x7 being too large when I started, and I've got a few rooms with supports in them to prevent cave-ins. I just got excited and forgot in the excitement of finding the river.

[Abe Sargent]

I think my fisher can fish the cave river during winter

[Godzilla Blitz]

Year 1051, Winter: The Dwindling Refrigerator…

Well, with little to do with regards to the food situation except hope for the best, our dwarfs do their best to push away the fear and keep busy over the cold days and dark nights.

Sachmo and ntndeacon, both of whom are becoming highly proficient digging machines, make rapid progress with some of the expansion projects we set up for the winter months. By mid-winter, the entire bedroom complex is cleared out and work begins on a blacksmithing area, an expansion to our dining hall, and several expanded storage rooms.

We start work on a furnace, forge, and smelter for Xena. We’ve had a peaceful existence so far, but one would think that at some point nasties will come knocking, and we are woefully unprepared to defend ourselves. We’ll want to get her anvil in use as soon as we can.

With the fishing shut down for the winter, we build a still and kitchen for Anxiety to see if he can turn some of our plump helmet into wine, and cook up something for us to eat other than raw groundhog meat.

Coffee, Natalie, Qwikshot, and Scarlett continue at their basic jobs. Scarlett gets out and starts obliterating a new section of the forest. Qwikshot makes beds for the bedding complex, a storage bin for the fine crafts, and more barrels for general storage. Natalie starts cranking out more toys. Coffee builds another floodgate and then gets to work on building a supply of doors.

The fortress bustles with activity as our dwarfs work away diligently.

As winter drags on, it appears that our food situation is going to be ok for the winter. That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be ok, as it looks like we’ll start the spring with just a little food.

Things actually turn out fairly well for us this season. Anxiety makes some fine batches of wine from the plump helmet, and this greatly improves morale in the fortress. By the time we get to late winter, all our digging projects are complete and work begins on building a road from our fortress.

Shortly after that, our bedding complex is complete. Each of our dwarfs has their own room now, and this too boosts morale. Except for Coffee Warlord, who can no longer sleep in the same room as Natalie.

We also get a second floodgate and a channel installed on the farming plot, get Xena’s blacksmith area complete, and complete nearly a total reorganization of our storehouses.

As the snow begins to melt to start our second year, the fortress is in excellent condition, except for one small detail: we’re desperately low on food. We have only 16 meat provisions and 5 wine provisions left. We’ll need to take ferocious measures to rectify this situation in the spring. One big step forward would be to have the floodgate system correctly installed, as that would allow us to get a head start on spring planting.

The birds begin to chirp outside our fortress, and the second year begins….

Before we continue our story, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at our fortress and get an update on our dwarfs’ current skills.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

I think my fisher can fish the cave river during winter

You know, I didn't think of this when I played the winter round, but I believe you are correct. That would have been helpful for us. Every little bit would be helpful.

[Godzilla Blitz]

The Fortress Vaboskat, Spring 1052

Overview

Our Dwarfs

CoffeeWarlord, Mason
     Mason                          Novice Stone Crafter
     Dabbling Grower

Sachmo, Miner (Agile, Tough)
     Taleted Miner                  Dabbling Mason
     Dabbling Grower

Anxiety, Fisherdwarf
     Fisherdwarf                    Dabbling Building Designer
     Dabbling Mechanic              Dabbling Grower
     Dabbling Brewer                Dabbling Cook
     Dabbling Mason

Qwikshot, Carpenter
     Carpenter                      Dabbling Mason
     Dabbling Grower

ntndeacon, Miner (Agile, Strong)
     Adept Miner                    Dabbling Building Designer
     Dabbling Mason

Natalie Portman, Craftsdwarf 
     Novice Wood Crafter            Novice Stone Crafter
     Dabbling Mason

Scarlett Johansson, Peasant 
     Wood Cutter                    Dabbling Grower

Xena, Metalsmith
     Novice Metalsmith              Novice Metal Crafter
     Novice Furnace Operator        Dabbling Wood Burner
     Dabbling Grower                Dabbling Mason
     

CoffeeWarlord’s title changes to reflect his new skill as a mason. Although he took a lot of flack for his performance in the fall and spring, once he got better at masonry, he has done solid work. Anxiety is a jack-of-all-traits, and did an admirable job of filling in where needed. Both our miners, Sachmo and ntndeacon, have developed well, and they have added other traits (srong, agile, etc.) during the course of the past year. Qwikshot and Scarlett have lost their “novice” tags at carpentry and wood cutting, respectively. Xena and Natalie are the only two dwarfs whose highest abilities rank at the “novice” level.

Our Floorplan

Here’s a look at our floorplan as we head into spring. Major areas are noted:

[Godzilla Blitz]

Whoa, things are a changing...

I've got AStott and Neon_Chaos in line for the next dwarfs, but we need one more as well.

And you'll like this...

We need eight more female names! I'll take Lynda Carter as one, and that leaves seven more. Any suggestions are fine. I'll pick names off of Kodos' Hot or Not list if we run short of suggestions.

[gi]

I'll sign up

[gi]

I'm still in love with Kaylee from Firefly, so if you have anything that needs fix'n, I'll nominate Kaylee as a name.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Welcome, gi! You're in.

And Kaylee can be one of our new female dwarfs. I think there was a mechanic in the bunch. That should work for her.

[Abe Sargent]

Female names? Can I suggest another?

Sarah Michelle Gellar

[Fonzie]

Good stuff as usual, GB! I'll volunteer for the next male dwarf that becomes available!

Oh, and for female names I've always liked Nancy Pelosi.

Jessica Alba works just as well, though. Of course, if Fonzie becomes a dwarf name I think we must have a dwarf named Pinky Tuscadero.

[sachmo71]

Where is the lever room for controlling the floodgates, GB?
And another woman who should join us would be Elisha Cuthbert.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Great suggestions on the women! I'm going to add the next two hottest women from Kodos' Hot or Not polls, and we'll be back on our way. That gives us:

1. Lynda Carter
2. Sarah Michelle Gellar
3. Nancy Pelosi
4. Jessica Alba
5. Elisha Cuthbert
6. Kaylee
7. Anna Kournikova
8. Kate Beckinsale

Fonzie: Thanks, and I'll add you to the list.

Sachmo: The control room is supposed to be the small room to the southwest of the farming room, but I screwed up when I placed the lever and couldn't figure out how to undo it. The lever sits near the southeast corner of the square room that is just inside the entrance to the fortress. It is really far away from the farming room. I'm wondering if that's why it hasn't worked yet.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Eek. More immigrants! Even with Fonzie in and Pinky Tuscadero in, we need another two female names and one more male volunteer...

But you may not last long...only the brave should apply.

[mrsimperless]

Add my name to the list.

And good luck feeding all those extra mouths! I'm still only at 8 dwarves, but I'm sure that will increase once winter comes to a close.

[ntndeacon]

how bout Uma?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Great! Welcome, mrsimperless! We'll need your experience.

ntndeacon: Uma? Yuck. But ok, whatever the masses desire! Uma Thurman will join us as well. Come to think of it, she might make a good warrior.

I'm going to drive on, so I'll add in the next female name from Kodos' list of beauties to fill the last spot:

Salma Hayek

[ntndeacon]

well Sharapova wouldn't be a bad one to see either when it comes up again.

[Godzilla Blitz]

dola...

Would either AStott or Fonzie like to volunteer to be a hunter? I understand that the job is a bit dangerous, but I think we need to take the risk.

ntndeacon: Ah, Sharapova will work for the next one. Good one. She and Anna can do battle with tennis rackets.

[Fonzie]

I'm always up for a good hunt. Danger means nothing to me.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally Posted by Fonzie

I'm always up for a good hunt. Danger means nothing to me.

Way to go there, Fonzie. You are the man!

You'll also be closer to Pinky, by the way.

[Fonzie]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

Way to go there, Fonzie. You are the man!

You'll also be closer to Pinky, by the way.

That's hot.

[fantastic flying froggies]

I would like to join the tribe whenever possible.

And if you ever need a female cook, I would like to nominate Roseanne...

[Godzilla Blitz]

Fonzie: Oof. I just looked up Nancy Pelosi. That's some kind of nasty, especially when I imagine her as a dwarf. *shudder*

Fantastic Flying Froggies: Hey there! Sure thing. Welcome. I'll add you to the list.

[Coffee Warlord]

This mason work is so beneath me. I want ART! I want to construct things that others will loook upon and immediately weep in joy! I want the dwarves to raise their mugs to my work and toast the badassness of it!

I want Natalie back in my bed!

[AStott]

Thank goodness for Fonzie. I have no desire to be a hunter.

[Airhog]

Sign me up. Ole Stoutbottom is ready to do the job

[Fonzie]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

Fonzie: Oof. I just looked up Nancy Pelosi. That's some kind of nasty, especially when I imagine her as a dwarf. *shudder*

On the plus side, you don't really have to stretch your imagination too far!

[Raven Hawk]

I'll stand in line also if you need more dwarves. I'm enjoying the read, keep up the good work, GB!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Year 1052, Spring: Operation Survival

With great trepidation, we pull the lever on the farming plot. If it works, we can get a headstart on the planting, and given our dire need of food, this could be critical. We crank away…

…and water fills the farming room! It worked! We pull the lever again, the water drains out, and we are left with a perfect muddy surface to work with for farming. With that, we assign nearly everyone to start preparing the ground and planting seeds.

Unfortunately, our dwarfs must have been stressed by the whole lever situation, because they all promptly go off to sleep for a few days. Half a month goes by before they start moving their butts down to the farming field and start planting. Another unfortunate situation here is that none of our dwarfs has farming expertise. The work goes slowly, and the dwarfs are sloppy planters. It takes a half the spring before even half the plots are planted with helmet. Our first plot however, produces a plant, but it’s only one provision. Argh. Two months in to the spring, and we are down to 8 meat provisions and 1 helmet provision. Grow! Grow! Grow!

And then, the totally unexpected happens…

11 more dwarfts show up to join our fortress. Oh, shit. Eight females, three males, and a dog make their way towards us in the latter part of spring. With only nine provisions left, I hope they don’t get hungry for a while.

Before they even arrive at the fortress, five more immigrants make their way out of the western forest towards us. Oh no. I have a bad feeling about this. Two males and three more females. This makes 16 immigrants and 16 more mouths to feed. We will need to get some food fast.

With the frenzied pace of planting going on in the farming room, there isn’t much time for introductions, but here’s a quick look at our new members and their professions:

Lynda Carter, Miner
AStott, Miner
Fonzie, Miner
Anna Kournikova, Carpenter
Mrsimperless, Carpenter
Neon Chaos, Carpenter
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mason
Gi, Trapper
Pinky Tuscadero, Trapper
Jessica Alba, Craftsdwarf 
Nancy Pelosi, Fisherdwarf
Kaylee, Mechanic
Elisha Cuthbert, Peasant
Kate Beckinsale, Peasant
Selma Hayek, Peasant
Uma Thurman, Peasant

Unfortunately, we do not get any experienced farmers in the bunch, but two experienced trappers and another fisherdwarf are big plusses on the food end of things. Sarah Michelle Gellar is also interesting as she is a novice engraver. With all these bodies around, we might be able to put her to work beautifying the fortress. Jessica Alba is also talented: a novice glassmaker, stone crafter, and leatherworker. Four of our newcomers, Elisha Cuthbert, Kate Beckinsale, Selma Hayek, and Uma Thurman, come to us with no skills whatsoever.

The addition of so many new dwarfs sure changes the situation quickly. In addition to feeding 24 mouths instead of simply eight, we’ll need to make bedding, tables, chairs, and rooms for all our new inhabitants. We’ll also need a lot more space for new workshops, bedrooms, and farms. We should probably get some weapons and armor in production as soon as possible, too. So many things to do. We establish a plan, called Operation Survival, that is designed to concentrate on both getting enough food for our new numbers and rapidly expanding our fortress living quarters. We take quick stock of the situation and designate work as follows:

Sachmo, ntndeacon: Mining the new areas needed to accommodate our new community
Natalie Portman: Stone Crafting for the fall trading caravan
Coffee Warlord: Building the new doors, tables, and thrones
Xena: Figuring out how to make weapons.
Scarlet Johansson, mrsimperless: Cutting wood for the new beds and additional storage
Qwikshot, Neon Chaos: Building the beds, storage bins, and other wooden products we’ll need.
Lynda Carter, AStott: Farming in the short term. Long term either animal training or military service.
Fonzie: Hunting for food for the short term
Sarah Michelle Gellar: Engraving the walls of the dining hall. The help to morale might make a difference?
Gi, Pinky: Trapping for food.
Jessica Alba: Leatherworking
Anxiety: Fishing
Nancy Pelosi: Cleaning the fish Anxiety catches
Kaylee: Mechanic
Elisha Cuthbert, Kate Beckinsale: Farming/Cooking/Brewing
Selma Hayek, Uma Thurman: Farming, for ever
Anna Kournikova: hauling stuff around for now

And with that, the fortress hums with activity. We keep a close eye on our food situation as the spring moves forward. Providing immediate hope are the actions of Gi, Pinky, and Fonzie, who hunt a bonobo pack and a warthog pack and make several quick kills. Shortly they are each hauling back carcasses for butchering. We have Qwikshot set up a butchery and pull Fonzie off of hunting duty to make him our full-time butcher. Likewise, Anxiety starts pulling fish out of the river, and Nancy Pelosi starts processing them into food. And just in case you didn't know what a bonobo was:


Makes a great soup

A few days later, with our new farmers swarming over the helmet plots, we begin a solid harvest of helmet. Things go well enough here that we can shift AStott over to full-time brewing, as we have no alcoholic beverages at the moment.

By late spring, it looks as if we may have pulled through on our food shortage: as our dwarfs start to consume meals, we have 13 provisions of meat, 5 provisions of fish, and 19 provisions of helmet. Excellent work, dwarfs! We aren’t safe yet, but we’re getting there.

Elsewhere, things move on fairly well. Sachmo and ntndeacon dig out another farming plot and begin excavating more future bedrooms to the north. CoffeeWarlord and Qwikshot start pumping out doors and beds and tables for the new members. Scarlet and mrsimperless hack down tree after tree. Natalie keeps cranking out goods to sell.

In the blacksmithing, Xena makes stuttering progress. Apparently we have the materials to smelt silver, which in turn can give us silver weapons. However, Xena makes a number of mistakes in learning her skill, and by the end of summer we have little more than some silver bars to show for her efforts.

Interestingly, Sarah Gellar, who was detailing a storage room to build up her skills before starting in on the main hall, goes into a strange mood one day. She stops detailing the storage room, runs into Natalie’s stone crafting shop, kicks her off the workshop, and starts making something strange. A few days later it is done. She has made something called Atolgast Alud Eges, which is some kind of Moonstone earring. Outside of the fact that it probably goes on someone’s ears, we have no idea what to do with this. Sarah will definitely be one to keep an eye on, however.

Things run smoothly for next few weeks, with the exception that we don’t get any beds made. Our carpenters were running a backlog of orders, and just got around to it as the spring comes to a close. Our newly arrived immigrants, with the exception of Fonzie, Sarah Gellar, and Jessica Alba, have to spend their nights on the floor in the barracks.

Speaking of sleeping, that barracks is pretty crowded, and well, some suspicious sleeping arrangements are noticeable. Mrsimperless is sleeping beside Selma Hayek. Uma Thurman is apparently spending nights on top of Elisha Cuthbert. The big winner, however, may be AStott, who sleeps beside both Lynda Carter and Jessica Alba. These arrangements, outside the the Uma/Elisha one, may just be from a lack of space. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the individual bedrooms get finished.

Late in the spring, there is some strangeness however. A strange purple miasma cloud invades our main hall and our stone crafting/ore storage area. In both cases, the miasma doesn’t seem to do any damage, and evaporates after a few days. Bizarre. It does seem to make our dwarfs unhappy, however.

And with that, summer arrives. Operation Survival ends with 24 meat provisions, 2 fish provisions, 35 helmet provisions, and 11 wine provisions safely tucked in our food warehouse. We may have turned the corner here. Good job, dwarfs!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Coffee: Natalie was never in your bed to begin with. You've got to get out of the fortress more. And you are making art! The dwarfs just don't toast it, they plop their butts down on it. But I'm afraid your chance for art may be over. Something incredible has happened to Sarah Gellar.

AStott: Brewing good for now? All hail the dwarf brewmeister!

Fonzie: Yeah, that's true. Doesn't take much imagination at all. I actually stumbled onto a bikini picture of her that was downright frightening. She might be useful if we need to scare off lizardmen.

RavenHawk, Airhog: Welcome aboard, I'll add your name to the list! Glad you like it.

[gi]

emmm...monkey...drool.....

[Abe Sargent]

Yay for the fisher whos fishin it up!

I don't like my cleaning partner