EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/gKHBDZa.png)
Chronicles of Ralkåtâk, 1st year.
Journal of Urist Atîslolor, Expedition Leader
1st of Granite
Finally our travel from the mountainhomes in Nuralmoldath has ended. As we arrive on the site of Ralkåtâk, I take a look at the surroundings to try and determine a location to establish a temporary outpost.
There's a river southwest from our location and hills to the northeast, those should be a good spot for us to dig a few rooms to sleep and work until the first migrants arrive.
+ Show Spoiler [Map] +
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/veuQlvP.png)
A tribe of Otterpeople lives in the river, as well as a giant sponge. Hopefully they won't cause no trouble.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/nTSR0pO.png)
The giant sponge actually tried to attack Vabôk when he went to drink from the river...
We'll also need wood, I order Reg to go chop down a few trees while I start digging out our temporary outpost with the help of Vabok. Logem also wanders off to gather plants for food and booze. Meanwhile the others start to unload the cart.
The hills are made of sand, which means we won't be able to get stone as we set up our outpost, hopefully we'll be able to find some without having to dig too deep. Wood will have to do until then.
5th of Hematite
Summer has come, and our little outpost is shaping up. We set up basic workshops and living facilities, farms for food sustenance and a wall to secure the area, also built a trade depot in case a few merchants show up but we dont have much stuff to trade yet though.
+ Show Spoiler [Outpost Plan] +
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/txWrkjM.png)
Now that we're in good position, we only need to find stone and ore to set up our metal industry and it will be time to start to plan the building of the actual fortress. Hopefully migrants show up soon, we're in dire need of arms with all the diggin' and crafting that is to come. My mind would also be a lot less worried with a military. The wildlife has beed peaceful so far but it's hard to predict if they're stay like that, goblins will most likely end up sooner or later and rumor has it that a there is a Necromancer Tower not that far away.
23rd of Hematite
Migrants have come, praise Armok. Six adults and one child, they also brought a goat and a duck with them. Their skills are a bit lacking though, beside a great woodcrafter they can't do much with their hands. I draft three of them to the military, and the two remaining ones will serve as a stronecrafter and a miner, they better learn fast.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/XBGDPTx.png)
Well at least they brought only one baby...
Meanwhile we started channeling out what will become the moat of the fortress.
24th of Limestone
We're now at the start of autumn and 4 new migrants have arrived, a baby and 3 dwarves with no useful skills. I draft two to the military and send the remaining one to help diggin' Ralkåtâk.
Oh by the way, the moat is done and linked to the river, with a temporary bridge set up to access the middle. Things are going great, and we can now start digging down until we hit stone.
+ Show Spoiler [Moat] +
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4UmZy2o.png)
We also added a barracks to the outpost for our brand new military to train in.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/EIKsfJb.png)
Our army training hard.
The wildlife around remains calm and a group of Wren people has been sighted recently as well as a few buzzards. The Otterpeople have left, but the giant sponge is still here. Things better keep going this way because our "soldiers" are as inexperienced as a group of babies.
16th of Timber
Our liaison with the mountainhomes has arrived. We dont have anything to trade but we'll have a few requests for next year.
As the merchants started to unload their goods in the trade depot, a Kobold thief tried to sneak in but Ral, commander of the Gilded Bridges, punched him to death, bringing our military its first victory in battle.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/9Q0BAPy.png)
rekt.
11th of Moonstone
As winter comes, the merchants are preparing to leave. They asked us what we needed for next year and I told them to bring us metal bar and weapons, in case we would not be able to set up our industry until then.
Digging has slowed down a bit, we have started working on the first level of the fortress, which will include the trade depot, as well as the main hall and the military quarters, but stone is harder than the sand of the early layers.
+ Show Spoiler [First level of the fortress] +
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/atxC9yQ.png)
The giant sponge keeps annoying the dwarves that go near the river but I'm not sure how we coult take it down without ranged weapons, it'll have to wait for now I guess.
15th of Obsidian
As the year is closing out it's time to look back on it. We established a temporary outpost from which we were able to initiate the digging of Ralkåtâk. Our metal industry is just starting to function with the tetrahedrite ore that we extracted from what will be our main hall. Our population now counts 18 dwarves including 2 children and 5 soldiers.
Next year probably won't be as peaceful as this one, and we will have to get our metalsmithing industry running at full capacity to strengthen our military. Our food and alcohol stocks are also running a bit low and I'll have to take a look at our food production to get it up, as migrants volumes will most likely increase, bringing us more mouths to feed.
Lastly, I hope that we will be able to fully move to Ralkåtâk and abandon the temporary camp before the end of next year. The main hall is fully dug out as well as a few bedrooms, and this goal shouldnt be too difficult to achieve.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/W8VvcdY.png)
Frufukujrombis, Kobod Thief and only dead thing this year.
+ Show Spoiler [Closing thoughts] +
Phew, I didn't really expect to write this much :o
First year was fairly uneventful, and maybe I should have embarked in a bit more dangerous biome (this one is untamed wilds) as we literally had no fighting outside of the one kobold thief and the giant sponge that kept interrupting the dwarves that went near the river (like wtf how does a sponge attack someone :x). Oh well, I don't doubt fun will come, it always does
Also any feedback is greatly appreciated, as it's the first time I do this kind of stuff
Thanks for reading !
