Thrilling! book, ge7243 and I from #df have decided to set up a fortress together (because it is so much better than minecraft), hoping Ayleid would like to join us and of course, anybody else is welcome to.

A world has been generated, it is

Exsmoxslozgo, the future universe!

Parameters are here:

Spoiler. Click to show/hide


The way this works is we each play a year in controls of the fortress each, updating everyone on our progress and the amount of fun encountered and finally handing over our save to the next person at the end of the year. With only three players at the time of writing, we could be playing two or three turns each, depending on how things pan out.

As it is, with a little more experience setting up forts (because they always die), I've got the first year.

If you're interested in joining us you're very welcome, even if you've never played before. Information can be found here:

http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/
http://df.magmawiki.com
http://ayleid.net/df.html

The version we are using is May's Green Graphical 0.31.06, it's a touch older than the current (0.31.10), but the differences are negligible. If you have trouble finding a copy, here is mine:

http://www.mediafire.com/?4dmurzn9x8e8856

At this point, we are still looking at an embark point, I've shared the design parameters and am looking around, if you have any submissions please post them with a screenshot, and we can decide on which looks the funnest.

Will update once we have a few submissions (probably I will end up making them all!)

You can of course find us on irc.arloria.net#df

Oh, we have forums!

Hello again! Two dwarf lords have joined our cause, Ayleid and Sheepeep (assuming his ram isn't mad at actually having to do some work). In the meantime, I've been looking at some suitable embark spots:



Article the first! A hot, half wild woodland, half calm evil mountainanous region with a river running through the middle. No aquifer of course, and the stone looks to be igneous intrusive which means we can expect gold, silver and lesser metals, although maybe not very much iron. Also diamonds and platinum if we can find the right stone types. Flux is there as well, but there's really no guarantee on what we will find once we embark. Oh, the lower left part is about 4 and 5 height, while the upper left is 1 to 2 high.



Article the second! The first volcano. On the screen it shows the presence of an aquifer, but the volcano will have broken it and we will be able to find stone and ores recently. Igneous extrusive so we can expect gold, copper and lesser metals, as well as hematite veins and maybe a bit of obsidian. The upside is the lava will make smithing very, very easy, and the downside is the very steep terrain which will mean we have to build to suit the land, and can't do anything that will require much flat outside space. If we are lucky we can expect a couple of lava men, but other than that and a few giant eagles wildlife shouldn't be much of a problem.



You can't really see from this ill time screenshot, but this is a savage good swamp next to a brook and /without/ an aquifer, which is a rather rare thing. Again igneous intrusive, so all the things I said for the first apply mineral wise, we will have plenty of soil for easy storage (don't need to haul stone), plenty of wood and fishing space, and interesting 'good' plants that can be worth something. Creatures should include unicorns and alligators, but I don't know that much about joyous wild biomes. I picked a spot with a bit of elevation, it goes from 0 z levels to about 2, so it isn't completely flat. Mostly, the fun thing about this spot is the alignment, other than that it's a little... muddy. :/

Here's one that is actually my favourite so far. Not a lot to look at, untamed wild across all biomes, the same strata as well, one is desert, one is rocky wasteland and the third is interesting tropical broadleaf forest, which means we hopefully won't all die of thirst after embark. Hopefully with this one there is a chance of giant desert scorpions. :)

At this point I'd really like to hear feedback from everybody. Is there any embark spot you particularly like, or is there something you would like to see that I can look for? Hopefully if we can get in touch with everyone we can start deciding on dwarves and equipment for the embark tomorrow.

So, thanks to all the wonderful feedback I think it's about to get started. Before I do though, if anybody would like to make any last minute requests regarding dwarf naming and professions, or the provisions we are going to take, now is the time to do so. Barring some actual interest in participating I will begin 'our' community fortress about tomorrow, once I've sorted some things out.

After months of travel through the frozen north, we have arrived at our destination. Wetsalves, an icy forest at the end of a bitter winter shall be our new home. It's a bleak sight and there is little around but trees and hungry mountain lions, so it is up to us to discover the riches that the earth holds.

Strike the ground!









We seven represent the hopes that the lords of Arloria have of expanding the influence of dwarfity in Exsmoxslozgo, the future universe.





We get started with storerooms to get our goods out of the cold, I give our trusty miner Ayleid a hand as the others busy themselves picking berries and frolicking around like little girls.





After several days of churning through soil and loam, we've finally struck stone! Lovely blue microcline, our new home will be beautiful indeed.



** 8th of slate, 153 **
[IMG]http://i30.tinypic.com/30jnsxi.png[/IMG]
In digging a to-be moat we've discovered native silver right in the middle of our excavation site, such luck so soon! The fires of dwarven industry will soon be burning hot to extract the precious metal, or as soon as our skilled wood burner Sheepeep gets to work on the forest of Fangorn.

After on a few short months of work, my first update comes to a close. More word will be sent soon of our progress!

Having to sleep on the ground displeases our workers, we must have our fearless leader and woodworker Stav Eriksson get to work on beds immediately, but first we will need rooms to sleep in!



** 20th slate, 153 **

It is not until late spring that the thaw comes in these cold lands, but finally our rather uncouth fishermaiden can get back to her proper vocation. On the far right of the screen you can see the lumberjack book, we've taken to calling him 'woodring' because of how much he seems to like being out among the trees .





Our fisherdwarf, aka the smartest dwarf in the world has become trapped on the other side of the river and apparently can't swim, she must have crossed it when it was frozen and now can't come back. I think she may be a little soft in the head. I will personally construct the bridge that returns her safely to us!





here I am, rescuing the silly damsel! Construction of our hall is progressing at a rapid pace and I plan to get back to making it look pretty as soon as possible. Who will haul all the waste stone though?




Aevard Bearlover has a friend! Not quite a bear, but well... :/ Also this is your first look at our mountainhome taking shape before our eyes. I will explain everything better once some of the rooms and workshops are readied.

So ends my second comminuqet! Soon we will start working on a dwarf's two favourite pastimes, smithing and drinking. :)

Migrants, finally! Now we can get to work removing all the waste stone the mining has yielded from our home.






Our little settlement now numbers fifteen, plus several dogs whom Aevard insisted on brining with us 'for our protection'





Tragedy! In the process of pumping water from the river for our underground moat, the fair pump operator Crumbs was swept into the torrent and pulled to her drowning by the force of the water!

It's been some time since the last update, but my Dwarves have been working hard!

Some highlights:



Just when the workload seems too much to bear, new migrants! Among them a skilled armourer, and a siege engineer who can replace the late Crumbs as the fortress pump operator






Acutely aware of the encroaching autumn and the Dwarven caravan it will bring, I set our finest weaponsmith to work casting large serrated discs from the silver we have discovered in the earth. Corrosion proves particularly skilled!






The river freezes in early autumn and I am struck by a brilliant idea. We can recover the body of the late Crumbs for burial by digging out the river where she fell! Ayleid gets to work at once.





The caravan is here! Hopefully we have enough goods to trade for those that we need





Three kobold thieves are spotted in the space of a few short days, this could cause problems in the future, we must get to work on defenses soon.





Our woodwooker and and expedition leader starts acting strangely and withdraws from society to work on a secret project. Days later, he emerges from his workshop!



This cage is exquisite! He is now a legendary carpenter.



We have managed to trade our goods with the liason from the mountainhome for far more than expected. We have bought food and drink, cloth, several picks and two anvils as well as a few cages and sundry metal items that we can melt down to recover precious metals that we might not otherwise have access to.

Work is progressing on space for a proper masonry, and we must soon put in place proper defenses to guard the riches of our people. Those serrated discs will soon be put to good use.

My next news I fear will be my last, as the spring is fast approaching with the end of my first year in this fort. I have arranged things to the best of my ability and I only hope my replacement will do me proud.

An uneventful winter.

I get to work installing traps in strategic spots, we build some doors and chain war dogs where they might best scare intruders away. The biggest problem is still too much waste stone that isn't being hauled fast enough.



A bonecrafter is possessed, but we should have plenty of raw materials to satisfy her fell gods.



** 1st Granite 154 **

Finally the spring is come, and the year of reborn the dwarf lord is done. I leave you with a few parting shots and some vital information for my successor:





I have designed the tomb of Crumbs to be sealed in by the moat. You need only to designate the pump placed next to the river to be pumped and Crumbs II who is a pump operator in her spare time will fill the moat protecting the fort, and consecrate the grave of her predecessor. Don't forget to tell Crumbs II to stop pumping before the moat overflows! Of the two levers installed, the northernmost controls the floodgate on the lower level that keeps the flux stores dry, and the southernmost raises and lowers the fortress drawbridge. Not much of the flux is yet stored (most of it languishes in the wagon), but keep it safe as it is the only flux stone we will have access to. Other than that I have nothing more to do than wish you luck, as the fortress is now in your hands and you may do with it absolutely as you wish, may Bokbon the god of silence grant you wisdom and... circumspection.

Strike the earth.