Dubble has stepped up and played the first season of our community Dwarf Fortress game.
What follows is his diary entry, recording the early history of our sure to be legendary fortress.
Diary of Lokum Rakustsokan: Miner, Trader and Foredwarf of this project.
It is Spring of 2007AD, and my much-dwindled crew (now numbering but 7) have arrived at the place I marked with a big golden statue on the map my father gave me.
"You were placed in charge of the management of this exhibition for a reason", he said, continuing, "to get you out of my palace before you do some damage".
I write this diary out of duty to future dwarven generations. You see, I am the son of a king and thus fated to achieve great things.
The dwarves under my command are extatic to toil alongside me, I'm sure, although they may not say it. I can see it in their eyes. They asked me to site our outpost in a temperate, wooded area with plenty of trees, and a perfect site existed just a few days' travel from our capital. I couldn't set up there, though - father wanted me farther away. So here we are.
We carted on, for weeks.. perhaps... but when I saw these surroundings I knew we'd found the right spot. The sheer variety of terrain, from frozen waste to more soggy waste, will make for excellent dog walking.
As I ordered the cart to halt so that we may dissasemble it, Richard Dimbleby (my most loyal hunting hound) picked up the scent of Skeletal Groundhog. Perfect! We'll become the centre of bone-crafting excellence before Winter! Our artisans will be reknowned throughout this barren land! Now, If only I'd brought along anyone talented in bone crafting. I think one of these guys is a wood crafter.. I overheard him mention a birdhouse he once made for his wife (long dead, at my brother's request) I brought him along because he said he'd like to get closer to my family - I like the friendly sort.
As I was feeling remarkably lucid, I decided to pragmatically place a wood stocpile overground, near the withered forest, and delegate the job of providing our crew with an abundance of wood.
I then got on to the task of carving a downward stairway into the fertile muck, carving out what I am sure will become a grand hall.It's probably a good time to mention my dogs. I like dogs. The meeting hall will serve as an excellent kennel for them so as not to have them outside, possibly running into threats.
As yet I've found no stone. Dwarves have always been over-reliant on stone, I think. This will be a fortress built on sand, a legend in our time.
Besides dogs, I'm also fond of statues. I'd hoped to construct a golden statue on this site, perhaps as my first deed. Wood will have to suffice as my construction material of choice until gold is stuck - it can only be a matter of days now.
When I was young, my father taught me that a the quality of an enterance marks the quality of a fotress. Well, I'm not so sure about that, I prefer quantity over quality. It's for this reason that I decided to build our second enterance. My dogs will warn me of any impending danger, I'm sure. Reminder : Must make sure dogs are safe and warm inside, winter encroaches.
I grow excited about the unending possibilities for ordering my dwarves to gather sand in this location.
My fisherdwarf is showing ingenuity, fishing on his own. He could be a risk to my power. Usurpers have always threatened my family. I'll watch his routine for opportunities to make a stealth kill.
I've set up a fishery to ensure our populace is well supplied with fish. I've ordered my fishmonger to begin creating fishy pets immidiately.
I've decided to create a barracks in order that my loyal workers might remain loyal and working. Father believed that the inclusion of running-water was necessary for even the lowliest of his subjects. This is a modern, progressive time, and hygine is of great import. It is for this reason that I have decided to provide my barracks with en-suite facilities, and I shall divert a medium-sized lake to such ends. This will be my first great project, but not what I will be remembered for - greater things lie ahead.
Tragedy! The barracks is flooded. No-one could have foreseen the need for doors or .. mekanisms .. to control the flow of water!As a great leader, I have made the best of the situation - we now have a public swimming pool!
My kin may marvel at (but never enter) my grand bedroom on the lower floor. It is truly a sight to behold, with all the comforts of home.
Ah, such a magical time of year! The skeletal groundhogs have begun their annual migration, and now pass by our home in their hordes. I have ordered all my dwarves overground to observe the spectacle.
My dogs have had at the groundhogs - what a mess! Skulls and bones everywhere. Someone will have to clean them up.
I've built an underground stockpile in which our most precious of bones can be stored - this can serve as a memorial to the migration that never was. Unfortunately, I can't motivate my dwarves to hop to their work. For this reason, my stockpile stands empty. Perhaps my predecessor will find a use for this 1st floor room?
I've taken on the responsibility for the training of animals. This is my honour, because I have been truly blessed with a natural affinity with wildlife. I've ordered the groundhog bones dumped in the nearby river.
After my mid-afternoon stroll, I returned back to the homestead to find my humble servants gathered outside the first enterance stairwell. I engaged them in pithy discourse:
"What-ho, lowly peons! Taking a break, are we?"
They soured to me. The fisherdwarf (curse his familyname) stepped up to me.
"We've had enough of you. We're staging a revolution"
I was pleased. Finally, our fortress would have a cocktail bar.
When I awoke, I found my beared clipped and the fisherdwarf in charge.
Thus ends the diary of Lokum Rakustsokan.
Excellent work.