Dwarf Fortress Tales: The Exiles (Part 3)

We received a massive influx of migrants today. 21 to be exact. According to them there’s some turmoil in the capital. One of the well loved generals has attempted a military coup. I’ve never had any real hatred towards the king but that's the best news I’ve heard in years. Hopefully the old bastard dies and his grudges with him. Then I can stop looking over my shoulder all the time. Unless these migrants are all liars sent to lull me into a false sense of security...waiting to slip a knife between my shoulder blades...

I finally got around to talking to the final migrants today. I’ve assigned most of them to gather plants, chop down trees and construct the fortress. One of them is a bowyer so I plan to have him make us some crossbows and enlist the rest in the military. That will give us four major classes here: wood cutter, carpenter, gatherer, militiaman. The frozen north doesn’t seem to be too conducive to sustained living yet but our underground farm is showing promise. I’m even considering making some potash for fertilizer but I’ll have to think more about that. I’m actually pretty worried by the end of next year there won’t be many trees left to chop down (despite how mamsy-pamsy-elfy that sounds). If we can’t find a way through the aquifers by then we might be in trouble. Our only possible building material would be ice blocks and frankly I'm pretty cool to the idea of living in a glorified ice-box. For reference here’s the state of our current forest situation:

Apparently, Lolor Amkollikot has been possessed. I’m trying to find him so I can stop set things straight but whenever I ask anyone who he is they just tell me hes a “Woodcutter”. HELLO EVERYONE HERE IS A F-ING WOODCUTTER thanks for your help, idiot. God knows whats going to happen but chances are it won’t be good.

Good news! Lolor Amkullikot didn’t go insane! Hes actually working away at the carpenters shop.

Bad news! He made an alder cabinet...

9 more migrants arrived today. I’m starting to think there actually was a coup...

We finially finished an office for our book keeper. I’ve instructed him to keep our records as accurate as possible. Knowing what exactly we have to work with is essential to making sure we dont starve to death. I’m starting to get concerned about our food stores considering we more than doubled our population in the last few months.

Zuglar Kikrostmes Herbalist died from thirst today. I have no idea how he managed that considering we have a drink stores nearing 40. Oh well, we have a surplus of herbalists (13 left to be exact). I guess its a good thing, one less mouth to feed.

Not to count my chickens before they hatch (which we reminds me we should get a poultry industry going) it looks like somehow we’ve managed to establish an outdoor farm outside our palisade. We must have a cold resistant strand of prickle berry or something. Hopefully the plants actually grow to maturity we can always use more sustainable food sources.

Rumors have it that instead of storing food and drink in barrels we can store them in large pots. I’ve order the construction of some pots but I’m not sure I believe this rumor. Everyone around here is a notorious liar...

I’ve noticed our small food stock pile is being over run by seeds. I’ve ordered the peasants to dump all the seeds in another location but its going to take a while. We wont be able to fix this problem until we have a surplus of bags. Hopefully in the coming years we can get around to planting some crops which we can break down into thread.

I’ve figured out how Zuglar managed to die of thirst. Some idiot decided that he would build the bowers workshop in such a way that it trapped Zuglar into a bed room. I find it hard to feel bad for him though. That's what he gets for sleeping on the job.

A caravan has arrived. I’ve ordered some good to the depot for trade. Hopefully they brought a pick.

I met with the caravan leader. I told him we want a pick.

I was able to trade for a bronze and a copper pick today - which is good news. I’m going to have one stockpiled for later use. After our last pick mishap I don’t want to lose them both in a tragic accident. I also traded for a few bags to work on our seed storage issue. It cost us a lot of food and drinks though. Hopefully the picks were worth it.

A snatcher! I ordered our crossbowman to hunt him down and kill him. Unfortunately, he escaped.

I established our military this year. We have six crossbow men armed with some bone crossbows and wooden bolts. I’ve sent them to hunt for their training. Hopefully they don't run into any killer elk or reindeer.

For once I don’t feel like we’re in immediate danger of starving but anything could happen out here... Here's a look at our sustainable food efforts:


(note all the dead bees; 26 dwarves got themselves stung this year)



Our population actually increased by 27 this year despite us losing our second comrade in as many years. Honestly, not to sound insensitive - which I am - but I’m pretty happy with only two deaths.

This year we added some additional floors to the fortress but mostly we just sit around and twiddle our thumbs waiting for a pick so we can make some more attempts at getting through the aquifer. Here's the obligatory annual rendition of the main keep.