We're now into our third year, and the amount of migrants has gone from a sporadic trickle to a nonstop flood. The miners, carpenters, and masons are working like mad to to get enough bedrooms made for everyone. In addition to that, we have a mayor and captain of the guard demanding sumptuous accommodations for themselves.On a more positive note, we have converted the old meeting hall into a hospital (complete with soap, beds, splints, crutches, traction benches and a chief medical dwarf). Our militia has swollen to seven, two of whom are noteworthy. The first is "Iron Fist" the planter. He got the nickname after beating a wolverine to death in the strawberry garden with his bare hands. The other is a newly arrived hunter who has already roused my ire. Before I assigned him to the military, he took to hunting opossums near the stream with his crossbow. That was perfectly fine, but one day he decided to bring down a wild mare. In this endeavor he succeeded by killing just such a horse. However, an enraged stallion chased him away before he could collect the corpse for butchering. The image of a dead horse rotting in the sun doesn't sit well with me. Equine symbols have become synonymous with the fortress. There are five such statues on display outside, and countless stone figurines of horses have been traded to merchants in exchange for goods...this may well be an ill omen.
We have three more artifacts, two of which are rather unimpressive (a hatch cover and a bone amulet). The most recent one though is a nice leather shield. I gave it to Blue Bell...may it guard her well. There would have been yet another artifact in the fort if not for a lack of desired construction materials. The dwarf in question was a wood burner who, due to excessive obtuseness, went nuts and attacked our poor bookkeeper while he was on the way to his office. Another dwarf tried to intervene and suffered a serious leg injury for his trouble. Eventually, the human hammerman put the berzerk dwarf down for good with a blow to the noggin. I don't have anyone officially appointed to the position of Hammerer, but it seems this human has preemptively assumed the role. Overall, the incident was a bad bit of business with two dwarfs now in the hospital and a third dead one consigned to our tombs five z-levels down.
All the new rooms have been carved out so I decided to have the miners do a bit of exploratory digging. Thus far, the only metal I've found that can be smelted out of all this rock is zinc. I really need to get some better equipment for my militia so that they'll be ready in the event of a...what's that?
Oh no! Get everyone underground! Hurry! A group of ten goblins has arrived outfitted with iron armor and weapons of iron and silver. I call out the militia while the goblins are preoccupied with a couple of water buffalo we have (correction, had) in a pasture outside. Now, here is where I make a serious tactical blunder. Thinking that the stream will be difficult for the goblins to cross in their heavy armor, I send out the militia to attack while their forces are split on either side of the waterway. My spur-of-the-moment plan doesn't work at all. The archer goblins on the far bank let loose volleys of their deadly arrows, hitting one dwarf in the leg (dropping him before he can even swinging his weapon). There is a brief clash...and my dwarfs are massacred. Even Iron Fist is helpless against the goblin onslaught...but what's this? There are only five dead dwarfs. Where is Blue Bell? Where is the Beekeeper?
As it turned out Blue Bell was engaged in her favorite off-duty pastime, hauling huge boulders in the mines far below. She heard the alarm, but for some reason didn't drop the big rock she was carrying. Hence, she missed out on the disastrous initial skirmish. As for the Beekeeper...he overslept. In fact, right after his companions-in-arms were slaughtered he stumbled out the front door (sleepy-eyed) toward the goblins. I ordered him back inside, but he ignored the command and instead continued his slow advance as surprisingly ill-aimed goblin arrows flew past all around him. Closing in, he entered a martial trance and hacked left and right as he drove right through their center. Sadley, the blows from his copper axe couldn't penetrate iron armor. Even so, two of the goblins were injured by the shear ferocity of his blows. Then it happened...an arrow hit the Beekeeper in the arm causing him to lose his grip on his axe. More wounds follow and he perishes after being impaled by a goblin spear...twice! Poor Beekeeper...he had the heart of a warrior.
The situation has become dire to say the least. I've ordered the doors locked, but we have no hope of repelling the siege. With more than seventy dwarfs still inside (including a baby and six children) we have no choice. The fort must be evacuated. The question is, how do we get out? Remember that this fort is built into one of two hillsides with a stream between them. My miners have managed to dig a tunnel under the flowing water to the other hill. All they need to do is clear a little more dirt and we'll have a way out.
We've broken through to the surface, and the dwarfs are fleeing out the exit in single file. The human bard has agreed to lead them to the safety of her hometown not far to the south. The goblins, who were milling around the front entrance, take notice. The exodus is taking too long because there are so many dwarfs. We need more time. I ask Blue Bell to do the impossible; she must fend off the goblins. In a bit of comradery the human hammerman joins her. The goblins approach and many blows are exchanged. The hammerman goes down despite a heroic effort. Blue Bell, with bronze spear in hand, strikes down one goblin...then another. The fighting rages on for awhile, but she is pierced by many goblin arrows...dying much like Boromir in Lord of the Rings. Her noble sacrifice was not in vain though, the dwarfs have escaped...and while the fort is lost, as long as they survive things can begin again someplace new. Strike the earth!
Epilogue
So concludes my first attempt at Dwarf Fortress. Not a bad run, all things considered. I learned a lot and have already begun a new fort in another world utilizing what I learned from my first try. Incidentally, I did go back to the fortress in adventure mode to properly entomb the remains of Blue Bell and the Beekeeper. I figured they deserved that much, at least. I also found the artifact earring, amulet, and hatch cover, but couldn't recover the leather shield...possibly because the ASCII icon for it looks exactly like any other piece of leather clothing. While I was looking around near the stream outside the fort, I happened upon a wandering bard. After chatting for a bit, I gave him the hatch cover. I didn't have any use for it, but perhaps it will inspire him to share the tale of this fort and the dwarfs that once dwelled within.
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