Minotaur!!!

A massive humaniod with the head of a bull appeared in the fall of 1057, coming by land through the mountain range and entering the lands of the Daggervale at the foot of one of the twin daggers. It's massive bull head a site the behold.

The military was scrambled. But weapon shortages & dwarves refusing to equip the proper gear meant half the dwarves in the squads lacked gear. Add to that, by the time the beast had reached the far side of the dagger span only a fraction of the squads were assembled.

But for one dwarf that mattered not. Sodel Dastotamid approached the beast with the military captain Rigoth Uzollerom close on her heels. Rigoth wielded a masterwork obsidian blade. One handed down through the ranks from his predecessor, who met an untimely fate in the caverns below the fortress to a poisonous beast. But it was not the Uzollerom who achieved victory. The beast had just charge into a mountain goat attached at the entrance of the span damaging it's neck when Rigoth got there. His blade swinging wildly, somehow missing the beast.

But Sodel had no problem. A veteran of the earlier battle of the serpent-men clearing from early in the fortress, she had experience & still a scar on her arm from that battle. Though she had seemed to misplace her puny war hammer it mattered not. She simply used what Armok provided her, hands. It's not clear what happened as it was so swift. But the tales that seem to stick speak of Sodel jumping on the back of the beast & grabbing it by the horns, twisting it's thick bull neck so fast it snapped.

By the time the rest of the squads arrived, there was nothing to see. Just a massive dead Minotaur and Sodel standing above it. And a military captain who no doubt was still trying to pick his jaw up off the ground.

Dusting off her hands she turned to the soldiers and asking if anyone was up for some Fisher Berry Wine. It is her favorite...

Blue Steel!!

The miners finally struck the mother load. Adamantine. Blue Steel. Get a processing center set up.

Glory to Daggerbell!!!!

Mine Flooding!!

While trying to mine down to the adamantine there was an accident. Damp stone was discovered, but based on the ramblings of the Spirit of Abel, the miners though they were below an underground lake & continued to dig. they were wrong. They broke into the bottom of a massive three z-level lake that was part of the deep & dangerous third level cavern system.

Water started flooding into the tunnels. Exposing the entire mine area to not only the water, but whatever hellish monsters might live in the lower cave system. Thinking quickly, the miners quickly ran back to a near by magma tube they'd mined around & cracked into the side of it. Causing a torrent of magma to come rushing out. The miners just barely got out of the way in time. As the magma went crashing into the water, plugging the hallway with obsidian.

Digging Deeper

The mining on the first cavern area had been going quite well. The Magma Smelters were running near constantly turning gold nuggets into Gold Bars & Hematite into Iron Bars. But the natural resources were starting to dry up, so another exploration was sent out & they cracked into yet another set of caverns before finding any good veins to mine. There was concern this new set of caverns could be the ones that housed the Flaming Jackel that the Ghost of Adil Sigunidok spoke of. But when the ghost was asked. His simple answer was no, because it didn't contain the light blue sparkling...

The Ghost was speaking of Adamantine!!!

Much time was spent speaking with the moaning specter before the dwarves had a good idea where this "sparkling light blue" was at. And then a great project was set about to get to it. The attempt would be to avoid the cavern system with the Flaming Jackal & instead dig around it & come from beneath. But still, an elaborate "plug" would be designed, using water & magma that would seal the hallway down, should anything... unexpected happen.

Rumbling from Below...

There was a rumbling from below & the ghost of Adil Sigunidok moaned out a warning...

Below the known cavern system lays another cavern, a darker land full of more strange fauna, such as blood red trees & shrubs. And a beast has come to that hidden cavern system. Some kind of great jackel composed of flame with large mandibles & a gaunt appearance. Beware!!!

Dormitory Waterfall

Many dwarves seem sad due to the losses in the caverns below the City of Daggerbell. Fortunately the new Dormitory Waterfall appears ready to test out. With all it's piping done, if successful it should bring water from the river above down through the main entrance hall of the Main Dormitory & dump it out in the underground cavern lake. So all the non-noble dwarves that wake up or go to bed can travel past the waterfall & be comforted by it.

Another Forgotten Beast Arrives!!

Coming in from the east through the underground cavern system, a great eyeless tapir arrived. It was massive, with a knobby shell & skill which undulated. It also oozed poisonous vapors. It was known as Dunem Mobmubazsa Doto Kulur, The Mirrors of Night. It wondered around before the closed doors the dwarves had earlier erected to help block incoming monsters before casually smashing them open. The mechanics rushed to get cage traps installed but were too late & scattered before the massive (and almost cute looking) beast.

Members of The Short Sabres rushed to action. The squad that was nearly decimated by the earlier Eel knew well the terror they faced & were reluctant to go alone. But the new militia commander, Shorest knew well the error her predecessor made. Though these beasts are strong, against even poor iron & obsidian weapons they fall without much difficulty. So why flood the area with fresh dwarf bodies to die to the poison vapors when a few "volunteers" will likely do the trick.

So with that in mind, Shorest sent off The Short Sabres to face the creature.

They arrived right as a couple mechanics were fleeing in terror, having abandoned their cage traps. Minkot Niraldomas, the Militia Captain of the squad was first to land a blow, coming around a corner & supprising the creature, he avoided the poison fumes & managed to crack the outer shell & damage the lower body. Behind him were two fresh recruits who joined in, landing blows on the front legs.

The good luck ended there. The beast belched forth more poison, quickly enveloping Minkot causing the Captain to fall unconscious, with wounds to all his body. Then the beast turned to the two recruits who had both continued to damage it & it quickly struck down one of them, ripping the poor dwarf apart.

At this time the rest of the squad was arriving & the sound of battle filled the cavern.

At first it started well. The beast took many wounds. But none seemed to stop it. It's poison belched all over the squad members. There inexperience as sworddwarves did not help them. They did manage to mangle part of the beast, but in the end, they all succumbed to the beast. The last, squad leader Minkot, managing to get a deep lower body wound in, before he finally was struck down. Shorest's plan was all for not due to the inexperience of the first dwarves.

Then the beast continued on & found the mine workers who were working on some Iron veins that ran through the cavern system. The call was placed, all civilians retreat to the fortress. Shorest was still reluctent to send the full Militia down. So she called on The Gloved Chances. Hoping their performance would be better then their last failed attack on a forgotten beast.

The Gloved Chances arrived & the beast immediately closed with the lead two dwarves. They got a couple shots off before being overwhelmed by the beast's stink. However, the beast, wounded as it was continued to mill about the first two dwarves, poisoning them, but not finishing the kill. And another 3 dwarves stayed at range, firing bolt after bolt at the beast. The Mirrors of Night eventually finished of the first two dwarves & moved on to another two. But at the same time the rest of the squad arrived, firing more bolts into it continuing to rack up the injury count on the creature. Until eventually Marksdwarf Asob Solonalath got a shot through & with a great roar the beast finally fell. The sounds of battle ended and the cavern system returned to it's eerily quite self.

The death toll was great. 4 dwarves from The Short Sabres and another 3 confirmed dead from The Gloved Chances & 2 more suffering the insidious poison which would likely be a death sentence. However, compared to the earlier beast, it was much better.

Fresh Recruits

More immigrants have arrived, the fools!

Come on in!! Welcome to Daggerbell. Smell? Oh it's nothing. Just some um... underground gases from the volcano, yeah, that's it. Hum? Oh that's the hospital. Yeah, there are a lot of screams, but it's just some lingering injuries from the... um, cave gas.

Well, that room right beside the Hospital is the Hall of the Dead. We just like putting coffins in there. What? No, they're not "all" full. Some are still empty, you know, just in case... Nevermind. Just report to Shorest & grab a weapon.

You're part of the Militia now soldier!

Bring out your dead! pt. 4

More death. Another two fine dwarves fell to the poison including a squad leader. The halls are chocked with the odor of decay.

Bring out your dead! pt. 3

Death fills the halls. Another 3 dead. Bringing the total to 7. The fortress is restless. Unhappiness abounds. Already 2 dwarves had to be locked in the recently constructed jail for disobeying the noble's orders. Even the Captain of the Guard is angry...

Bring out your dead! pt. 2

Oh the smell. Death still hangs on the air. Another three soldiers have succumbed to the poisonous infections they suffered while fighting the hellish Eel of the caverns. Lor Amlogem, Kubuk Mishakled, Dobar Uthirdeler will all be resting in the house of the dead. Pour out an ale in their memory...

New Commander

Shorast Idenuker has been appointed Militia Commander. She was already a squad commander after her daring antics against the Serpent-Men camp in the caverns. And now she'll be commender of all the Militia.

Bring out your dead!

The new health system wasn't quick enough. The glorious Military Commander, Litast Dodokigath himself, had already succumbed to the infection. The fortress will be in morning while a new commander is selected.

The Smell of Death & Healthcare Issues.

The legendary monster from the depths left behind a "surprise". It's poison slowly infects & kills dwarfs. Due to a dwarfs tenancy to lay in their own filth chief medical dwarf Mosus Onshenustuth has had a hard time dealing with the infections. Soon the smell of rotting flesh filled the halls of DaggerBell. The stink was horrible. It hung everywhere, the infected dwarves would stagger around leaving a vapor that smelled of death in their wake. Rumors of forced baths floated around & finally the manager, Morul Lolorlogem, commissioned the construction of a Soap Maker. Some new immigrants mentioned this "Soap" thing that helped keep down infection & a couple knew how to make it. Apparently it amounted to rubbing fat all over ones self.

Work was quickly done to get this Soap in use. Some spare animals were killed & their fat was processed with Ash from the Wood Burner's. Doctor Mosus started cleaning all his patients with it. But the layout of the hospital was causing problems. Patients were being disturbed while being transported from their beds to the surgery table. Something about Doc Mosus's cold demeanor appeared to scare them, so they'd wake up & stop resting. The hospital was redesigned so the ol' Doc could surprise ambush the resting dwarves & get them onto his table. Also, the Doc was a bit overwhelmed. So a couple of haulers were assigned his personal Nurses to help him out.

Elven Slavers!!

The Elves are SLAVERS!! The last caravan came with caged "tamed" tigermen. Intelligent creatures of the wild, apparently enslaved by the so called "noble" race. Pfh! The slaves were immediately purchased & set free. They will roam the halls of Daggerbell as free creatures from this day forth.

Also, the elves brought different kinds of Apes as well as more Lepords & even a Lion. Fine new pets for the fortress. Also, there has been more talk of a possible Arena...

The Fall of Oozephantoms

The forgotten beast was a great fight. The beast was by rights an Eel, though, it's ability to freely move across the ground was quite frightening & made it more like some hellish frog. For a while it wondered the remains of the serpant-men camp. Most likely smelling the long ago rotting death that filled the area. But then it moved on into the great lake by the dwarf made entrance to the underground cavern. Slithering just out of site below the waves. The plan devised by the Milita Commander, Litast Dodokigath, was to assault from a beach head on the far side of the lake. Where they had more room to maneuverer. The plan was to have the Gloved Chances make a ranged attack & force it up where the other three squads could engage in melee.

When the time came to make the assault, the Gloved Chances got confused & instead of moving out, they milled around the barrack. Apparently Ale is more important that Orders.. All the while, the foot soldiers in The Fenced Salves advanced into the caverns below DaggerBell. They reached the underground pool but instead of waiting back for The Gloved Chances, some wondered forward and alerted the beast to their presence. It struck quickly. It leap from the previously still cave water. Onul Rinulonul, a Sword Dwarf of The Fenced Salves was the first to be attacked. He was grabbed by the massive Eel & pulled into the pool. His fellow soldiers ran to the shore & attacked the Eel as it wrestled with the poor dwarf. After a couple blows, the Eel let go of Onul & turned to the dwarves still on shore. It's massive head raised up from the pool & belched forth a cloud of poison choking the dwarves in the vapors before it returned to it's pray still sputtering in the water.

It snapped at Onul injuring the dwarf and belched out another cloud of poison, causing the water in the area to turn a sickly green. However, somehow Onul pulled himself out despite the assault. But the beast would not let it's prey get away so easily. The beast quickly followed him to shore, it's massive form glittering on the lights hanging in the cavern. Small cuts and scrapes already adorned it's body from it's earlier struggles. It bit into Onul & suck the poor dwarf like a doll. All the while the other dwarves stabbed and slashed at the massive Eel. The Eel crushed Onul to death and dropping his corpse on the cavern floor before turning to the other dwarves. But before the hideous creature could let loose another torrent of poisonous vapors, the axe dwarf, Mafol Nomaltatol leap on top of the creature & slammed his axe into the beast, imbedding the blade deep in the skull causing the frame of the monster to shudder before slumping into a pile next to poor Onul.

Though the creature was finally defeated, one dwarf lay dead on the cavern floor & many others had wounds that needed tending. The cavern beneath Daggerbell still needed much taming before it would be safe. Assuming it could ever be safe...

Forgotten Beast Arrives!!

The massive beast, On Akkung Uzobusnos has come into the underground cavern!! A huge three eyed shrew with two horns, gray hair and emaciated. Beware it's poisonious vapors!!

Call the militia! Seal the cavern entrance!!!

County!!

Another year passes and the outpost liason comes with great news. The king has elevated our lands to the status of a county. The legend of our great jungle fortress is spreading throughout the court of the king.

Another Siege...

Another assault on the fortress. This one cost the lives of two sword dwarves. And three war dogs. One of whom held a horde of 6 goblins & 2 trolls on the span before falling. Including the leader of the siege. The faithful hound gave the bridge operator enough time to plunge all the scum to their fate. Let the "Good" Volcano take their filth. Another three dwarves lay in the hospital. We need to construct some ballista to help protect against these constant assaults.

Also, a half dozen of the scum were caught in cage traps and we need to do something with them. Perhaps we could combine our excessive number of goblin prisoners with the need for some grand form of entertainment. The dwarves have been restless of late...

Diplomat Arrived!

Catat Sanauthros has arrived at our fort. The law-giver of all of The Speechless Union. And she came here to speak with us! Clearly we are a great fort of importance if such an important human would come to visit with us. If only we had some great works to show off. We only have trade goods, we need something grander. We must redouble our efforts!

The Baronny of Daggerbell

It is official. The paperwork along with a new seal came from King Atir Inodlokum today. This day Daggerbell shall be known as an official barony of The Rack of Fights. Long Live King Atir.

And Long Live Baron Udil Asmeltastrod!!

Haunting!!

Strange sounds have been heard around the fortress. Some whisper it is the spirit of Adil Sigunidok...

Dwarf Down!

We lost a dwarf in the newly explored underground cavern. A cave bat ambushed him & drained him of his blood. We need to get a militia squad to guard the underground cavern.

Exotic Pets

A trade caravan from the elves arrived. Apparently they've fully adopted to this wild jungle & have begun training the wild animals. They brought a cougar, a jaguar and an ape. We quickly traded for them. Unfortunately the did not have any more, so we can't breed them ourselves. But, we could attempt to capture some ourselves. Something worth considering. Especially since the sounds from the jungle indicate there are plenty of candidates...

Underground "Fun" part 1

The serpent men are becoming a problem. There was a push to build a bridge out into the lake near the main underground encampment to give access to the rich minerals our dwarven miners can see in the far reaches of the cavern. But the serpent men keep standing on their beach or occasionally swimming near by & try blowing poisoned darts at the dwarves. Many strategies were employed, trying to put up walls or walkways, but it was to no avail. The serpent-man continued to plague any construction project that lead into the center of the underground lake.

So a decision was made to carve a path around the parameter of the Good Volcano to eventually move soldiers into position & ambush the serpent-man clan. The route to their beach camp from the north was a set of winding tunnels with lots of twists, where ranged weapons would not work. So, as the last of the mining was finished & the dwarves broke through to the cavern on the far side of the lava tube, a sloping passage was discovered & a troll came out of it. The miner fled & the militia was summoned. But just as the first militia dwarf arrived & began fighting, a manual labordwarf, Shorast Idenuker arrived trying to collect stone. Why she travelled as FAR way from the stone stockpile as was physically possible is unclear. Most likely she was just showing off her strong neckbeard tenancies & wanting to do things the hard way, but in the ensuing struggle between dwarf & troll, she got in the way and was pushed off the ledge & into the underground lake. Her fate appeared to be sealed. The militia-dwarf, once reinforced by more dwarves quickly dispatched the troll.

Dead Troll:

Somehow despite falling into water, going unconious & almost drowning, she managed to get past the first serpant-man stationed underwater & make it up into the beach containing the serpants. Barely having time to shake off the water from her obviously quick large neckbeard, she ran RIGHT THROUGH the camp. Dodging poison darts on the way. And not only that, in the process of trying to shot her with their giant cave spider venom soaked darts two blowdarters managed to hit EACHOTHER instead causing immediate dizzyniss.

Running wet dwarf:

The militia stood dumbfounded at the sight. Leaving a wake of wet foot prints & no doubt some sort of drag mark from the extra pair of dwarf balls she somehow got, the dwarf broke free to the other side of the camp. The militia rushed through the now open passage & made their way around the back of the volcano to reach this crazy wet dwarf and her "friends". Leaving a squad of crossbow dwarves to stand guard by the entrance & potentially take pot shots from the half finished construction area.

Still fleeing dwarf:

So amazed by this feat of true dwarf-ness, another hauler, Erush Shorasstangath, who arrived on the scene late (still foolishly hauling stone as far as possible) gave birth to a baby girl right then & their. Now, it can not be confirmed, but it's believed that most likely she not only got pregnant from this female embodiment of all dwarf-ness, but also brought the baby to term before delivering it. Or else maybe it was just coincidental.

Baby girl:

While this bizarre event was unfolding, Shorast so some lovely spider silk. She had lost her stone in the fight & by Avuz's name, she was not coming back to the fortress empty handed. So she stopped briefly to pick some up before resuming her trip. A quite angry spear wielding serpent-man ran after her as she came stumbling straight into the middle a pack of Draltha. The large bovine fungus eaters looked up in utter shock at this crazed wet dwarf that came running through their midsts.

Underground Cows meet mad dwarf:

The spear "man" behind her fled as the large cave cows ran around in confusion, clearly realizing he was no match for such a crazy dwarf running wild through a herd of now very worked up animals.

By this time, the militia was in position. Two serpant-men were still staggered & dizzy from their own poison. And almost all their darts were gone. Inspired by the crazy Shorast, the dwarves let out a holler & charged the serpent-man camp from the small tunnels behind the beach. The serpant-men were caught unaware.

The first serpent lost it's tail before quickly getting a tooth knocked out & going down to a chest wound dealt by a masterwork obsidian blade. Another serpent-man staggered from a gut wound before enraging.

The one enraged serpent-man attempted to attack but it was no use, he was savagely beaten down as two others of his kind fell before they could even react. Then another fell, this time to the deadly unarmed attacks of Sodel Dastotamid. Sodel entered a martial trance as she fell the one beast & turned her attention to two others still cowardly tried to blow darts at her. Sodel made quick work one, crushing it's skull. It's friend fell to the same obsidian blades that ended the enraging spear"man" just moments before. As the militia looked around at the carnage they wrought, it was clear that one serpent-man fled into the water to hide with the other coward beneath the gently lapping surface.

Carnage:

The squads fell back for a moment, hiding in the tunnels when one of the serpant-man returned to shore. Then they charged back out & slew him. The remaining serpent tried to shoot out from the lake, but was shot repeatedly by the members of The Gloved Chances, the crossbow dwarf squad left to cover from the half finished construction site.

Finally the serpent camp by the newly named Lake Shorast Idenuker was destroyed.

Time to partake in the spoils, the first cave lobster goes to Shorast of course!

Barony!?!?!

The outpost liason Urdim Rigothushrir came today. She wanted to know if our outpost wished to become closer to our homeland. She spoke of making this an official barony. And she wanted to know if the Mayor had anyone he could recommend. Zan spoke with Morul at great length about this. They came to a decision & recommended Udil Asmeltastrod.

One of the original seven, Udil was the original farmer & brewmaster. He also created a legendary earing recently, Barbumigest. It detailed the rise of Lokum Findrough to the position of King of The Rack of Fights back in 879. Clearly rulership was on his mind. Also, he is confident under pressure, candid & sincere in his dealings and is willing to compromise with others. All in all a great ruler. Let us hope the King accepts our recommendation.

Another Siege...?

Well, the goblins from the first siege apparently left and another wave arrived right after. The trolls were the first to arrive, only a quarter of their number managed to make it across the span. We've begun to time when to pull the lever & have got quite devastating with the retracting bridge. Old Adil's spirit is pleased no doubt.

The handful of trolls that got through were no match for our guards. Somehow the trolls are even more poorly equipped than our militia. One goblin lasher did make it through, but he fell surprisingly quickly. A well placed blow from Doren Melbilstat stunned him which let Doren & the rest of The Fenced Salves squad make quick work of the foul little creature. Ah how our war dogs love goblin bone. Some of the pooches did get hurt but nothing too serious.

And after doing a vary small amount of damage to the attackers they left. Perhaps our defenses are getting better. Now, if only we could get some ballistas installed & perhaps some iron weapon traps set up.

The Siege continues

The siege continues unabated. But the feast hall is finally complete so let the goblin filth lotter in on the mountain top & in the sweltering jungle. Us dwarves have a massive hall and plenty of ale.

Feast Hall:

Underground Cavern!

The mining expedition found a massive underground cavern, full of Serpent People and other odd creatures. The walls are encrusted with gems & other rare elements. But best of all there is Hematite. Soon the iron smelting will begin!

Serpent people with their own food supply of cave fish:

The siege continues...

The goblins refuse to advance toward the Span. They stay hidden on the mountain sides with their monstrous mounts. We might as well make the most of it. We need to forge weapons & armor for the troops if they are to have any chance at dislodging this siege. And perhaps in the meantime, the useless filth will just leave. The ringing screams of their troll friends no doubt way on them.

Another Siege!!

This time it was twice the number of goblins before, many mounted on all sorts of foul beasts. And they brought trolls! The trolls were the first to arrive, they rushed forward half falling to their doom as the Span bridge was removed from under them. Those that arrived met dwarf strength & fell. But the goblins, mounted on their war mounts patiantly waited watching the scene unfold.

SEIGE!!!

The draw bridge was retracted right as the commander of the goblins was on it at the time, riding his mount, an Elk Beak. As were 3 of his soldiers. They all went tumbling down into the bubbling cauldron. Adil Sigunidok sends his regards goblin scum!

Goblin commander goes to meet his fate:

Goblins burning in the hell fires of the Volcano:

But no!! The hunter Mebtob as well as a hauler, Id Sezukmafol with her baby Olon Gatewave. They ignored the order to stay inside!! What are they doing!

Reluctant to tackle the horde of goblin crossbowman knowing their likely fate against such well equipped & trained foes, the militia attempts to lure the goblins onto the bridge to kill more of them. But as soon as the bridge lowers Id & Mebtob rush for it. Fools!

Three goblins get across the bridge, two die as the bridge is retracted. Mebtob still back from his hunting returns fire at the goblins to no effect & as the bridge raises again starts fleeing back into the jungle, firing off arrows as he goes. But Id gets caught with many more arrows & staggers before eventually falling.

The militia charge the three goblins that passed the span. Up 'til now the goblins had yet to see any real defenders & must have thought it would be easy after crossing the span. They were wrong. One goblin fled past the defenders down to the trade depot. But before the reserve militia could be activated, the guards of the human caravan came to the rescue. Shots of "Long live King Erdapgil!" filled the trade depot. May the alliance between the Rack & the Speechless Union last forever. The combined might of the militia & caravan guards made quick work of the three goblins who made it across. But sadly Id AND her baby were killed. Mebtob tried to save them, but as both he & his goblin opponents ran out of ammo & turned to melee, the inexperienced Hunter fell. They killed a proud dwarf, a mother AND a dwarve-ling. Now it was time.

With Rakust Oslannanges, a mother herself, operating the Span bridge she sent two goblins to their fate while the soldiers & caravan guards lay in wait, ambushing the goblins as they entered the fort. The sound of battle raged. Yet again, despite the standing order, as soon as the Span was re-connected, a horde of dwarf civilians went running outside. Clearly Manager Morul will need to be reprimanded for poor leadership skills.

Ambush:

With the deaths of all but two the defenders expected the goblins to flee. But they milled about near the remains of Id & her child. Taunting the dwarves. So the dwarves charged across the span howling in rage, their war dogs fast on their heels & they crashed blade & fist with the last remaining goblins.

Last Battle:

The last goblins fell to the dwarves. Though the goblins were all wiped out, it was costly. Three lay dead including a baby. Three militia men suffered moderate injuries during the fighting. And the caravan guards also suffered some minor wounds. The need for established trap defenses became all too clear this day. The Span can not fully protect our people...

SEIGE!!!

NO!! A group of a dozen goblins arrived today. The came fast on the heels of a human trade caravan. The caravan master swears he knows nothing about them, but still the timing is odd.

We've had no time to prepare. Almost no traps are set up near the span & the militia remains woefully ill-equiped. Retract the bridge & get some traps set up!!

Magma Forges!!

The Magma Forges of DaggerBell are set up. Now if only there were some good sources of metal aside from all this lead that's laying around. Perhaps some exploratory mining is in order.

Year In Review

Another year comes to a close. Many more immigrants have arrived and two babies were born, bringing the fortress population up to over 80. The massive feast hall is nearing completion and a massive 6+ story dormitory full of private rooms have been constructed to house all the dwarves.

The aqueduct system was started but there was a slight miscalculation on pressure which nearly resulted in some flooding, but it was stopped in time. Some more work will be done before it's turned back on.

The ground work for the magma forges is in place and soon they will be completed.

And due to the size a mayor has been elected, it was the captain of the guard, Zan Nunoknomal.

Loose Elephant!!!

An Elephant entered the fortress and stormed through the hallways scaring dwarves far & wide. The still newly formed and underequiped militia set out to put down the beast. There was a brief scuffle on a side access hallway next to the mason's workshop before the creature fled into the still under construction aqueduct system. The beast, bleeding from it's leg wound lead the band of 5 dwarves & their war dogs repeatedly up & down the length of the system (most likely with Yakety Sax playing in the background). But finally it was cornered in the unfinished cistern below the hospital. After many attacks the Elephant fell under the repeated blows of the dwarves & their trained war dogs.

The poor porter, Aban Semormosus, will have a heck of a time dragging the remains to the bucher, but the fortress will be eating elephant meat for a week!

Elephant Chase Location:

Elephant Remains being dragged off... slowly:

More Artifacts

Another crown. This one detailing the rise of Lolor Sealrelease to queen of The Rack of Fights back in 601.

And a Scepter. Made of willow with leather bands and spikes of willow, mahoany & rocky gabbro.

Rulership is clearly on the minds of many dwarves in the fortress.

It's a girl!!

Our first birth in the fortress. A baby girl, Unib Asizmorul, daughter of Alath Shipcrested & Rakust Oslannange. May the Wild Strawberry Wine run free tonight.

The guard barrack located by the trade depot interest has been completed and a new squid of soldiers has been formed out of some new immigrents. Welcome to Daggerbell soldiers!! We'll have real weapons for you sometime soon...

Finally the span across the "Good" Volcano is complete. It took over a year & cost the fortress the life of one of it's newest members, but this choke point will undoubtedly save many more in the days to come. And a small memorial has been placed at the rim of the volcano, to remind us of the sacrifice of that one brave dwarf.

Span:

Also the exterior walls around the pasture & farm land are finally complete. Now any goblin theives will have to risk the Dagger Span of Adil Sigunidok to get to our goods.

Pasture Land:

In addition another artifact was created, Thedakmelbil Clantomes, an Obsidian Crown. On it are images of giant eagles and the legendary human from the Speachless Union, Thothil Tributeflights. It relates to the taming of the giant eagles of The Tooth of Trammels in the early summer of 1047 during the Journey of Thothil Tributeflights when the legendary explorer ventured into the jungles. It should make a sutable gift to our ally, the King of the Speachless Union, Catet Sanauthros. For it was largely the legends told by Thothil that brought our people here.

Accident!!!

There was a horrible accident. One of the new immigrants, Adil Sigunidok was working on the Span over the volcano. He wasn't experienced in masonry and instead of building from the safe side he went out on the unsupported end by the bridge. And after trying to secure the new stonework it gave out and he fell. Oh the screens!! They still ring. He fell straight down into the "Good" Volcano and the screams fell silent to the relentless gurgling of the "Good" Volcano. The jungle sounds barely even paused during the horrible screams. What kind of land is this...

Morul took responsibility. There will be a full report. Until then all work on that end of the span will be suspended until the more firmly supported side is complete.

Span Accident Site:

Diplomatic Incident

An Elven caravan from Icamoobe arrived, travelling through the wild jungle. But stormed out shortly on arrival when they saw us depositing wooden boxes of stone crafts. Apparently something about the "Trees!!" What's odd, they carried there goods in wooden bins too...

Also, a Goblin Thief was spotted!! Apparently the remoteness of the outpost has not stopped the goblins. Where there's one there will be more...

A Dwarven Child withdraws from society.

A strange mood passes over Atir Stakudsom, one of the dwarf children that arrived in the second wave of immigrants. Claiming a craftdwarf's workshop, the child scratches out pictures of stacked leather in between rocking back & forth in silence. Once the butcher slaughtered a goose & the leather worker tanned the hide, Atir rushed off to collect & finish his project.

The first artifact of the Daggerbell outpost.

A cacao wood figurine of dwarves, which related to the foundation of Daggerbell by the Dagger of Vales of the Racks of Fights in the early spring of 1051.

One year later

At the end of the first year the outpost of Dagger Vale is growing slowly. The food supply is up, but now immigrants are needed. The construction projects so gloriously envisioned by Morul still lag. The defensive span across the Good Volcano is still unfinished & the above ground farm land remains exposed to the wildlife of the jungle.

The only good news is the mining efforts below ground are going much quicker than expected. Already the foundations have been laid for a massive set of water piping to bring fresh water into the underground fortress from The Untamed Lion and a massive dormitory with personal rooms is being sited for excavation. Soon the location for the Magma forges will need to be picked. If only the wall building on the surface could go so well.

Oh and there's plenty of Ale, enough for Morul to host a party celebrating the new year in the small part of the Feast Hall that has been finished. Let the Sewer Brew & Whip Wine run free tonight.

Leopards, Bilous & Elephants oh my!

Wildlife continue to be a problem. A leopard ran right through the pasture & farm land scaring the animals, another heard of elephants ran through the valley between the Founding Stone & the Twin Daggers and a weird ape creature, a Bilou repeatedly scared poor old Atir from his fishing runs. For a second the old dwarf thought that was his end, but the Bilou darted away each time. Clearly more interested in some fish than the old dwarf who caught them.

Trade!!

A caravan from the mountain home arrived, it risked the journey from the regular trade routes through the Union's territory & made it to our outpost. And we just finished up a couple crates of instruments. We didn't get much, but at least we got an anvil as well as some seeds and a few cave lobsters, nothin' like some cave lobsters to brighten a dwarfs day.

Moving Underground

The first couple tables & chairs are set up in the small wing of the feast hall & much engraving has been done to the walls & floors. It is finally time to take down the trusty wagon that the original seven came with.

Feast Hall:

Also, the distillary ajacent to the feast hall has been set up. And farming, both above & below ground is starting up. The rich red clay loom soil is serving the underground plump helmets quite nicely.

New digging efforts are to establish where the future garrison will reside, near the trade depot & main entrance of the new outpost. And the beginnings of a mighty fortress entrance are taking shape. A walkway with a bridge is beginning to be constructed out over the top of the Good Volcano.

Entrance:

And another round of immigrants have arrived including a full time brewer as well as a craftsdwarf to start making stone instruments. And one child was brought along. Hopefully now the stone walls will ring with the laughter of children. Though, those roars from the jungle sound pretty close. We'd best get those walls around the pasture up soon...

Immigrants!!

Already a wave of immigrants have arrived!! Fortunately the dormitory was just finished in time to house them. But the grand feast hall still has much work to do and the distillery & farm plots have yet to be set up save one small plot near the pastures, exposed to the jungle creatures. Much more work needs to be done. Let's hope the Ale doesn't run out...

Dormitory & great feast hall progress:

The couple immigrants are Udil Zuglarbekar who has no real skills & will take over the much needed post of bookkeeper. And the farmer, Kib Atheldast who will go to work getting more farms set up.

Construction Begins

The dwarves set to work quickly to begin building. They stacked out a set of jungle land that would do as a pasture for their small livestock they brought with them. And sized up the base of the Founding Stone for mining. They quickly dug out an entrance with a winding set of ramps for future trade caravans to use as well as a quick access stair well. In addition, they started setting up the pasture lands.

The plan envisioned by Morul was to make the pasture lands walled off & only accessible via an underground route. So mining began both at the entrance at the base of the founding stone as well as in the pasture lands. Immediately Galena was found which if the forges could get set up would provide some Lead works as well as the possibility of Silver...

As the construction continued, the first set of rooms to be built would be the future site of the trade depot as well as the future offices of the manager, broker & record keeper. Also, the first real encounter with the wild life happened. A small herd of Elephants roamed between the base of The Twin Daggers. The dwarves ran away at first, but then just tried to continue working. Spending extra energy to get some fortifications up to keep out such massive creatures.

Trade Depot storage & office layout as well as unfinished connecting hall to pasture access stairway:

Dwarves continued to fall asleep on the job & the connecting of the pasture to the entrance via underground was taking too long. The dwarves needed beds to sleep on. So the tunnel construction was suspended & a dormitory as well as a woodworkers shop were sited.

Once the carpenter's workshop & dormitory got sited, a feast hall location & distillery location were picked for construction, as the alcohol was starting to run low and that became the top priority.

The Founding

The dwaves arrived & did not find what they expected. They hoisted their wage to the top of a small ridge & surveyed their new lands.

The Good Volcano wasn't a volcano!! At least not what they imaged a volcano to be. It was no more than a gurgling spring in the ground. Only instead of water, it was molten hot earth bubbling up. Though, that did make it good, that it wasn't likely to errupt and come spewing down the mountainside. There were 5 "mountains" in this area. Though only two were truly mountains. At least as far as the former residents of The Tall Spire were concerned. The Twin Daggers is what Minkot called them & the name stuck. The next largest one was simply called stubby as it looked small & squat next to the Twin Daggers. The rock the dwarves halled their wagon onto was named the Founding Rock. For it was there they founded the new fortress, Uristrith: Daggerbell. The last, was the same sad height as the Founding Stone and was the source of the small brook, The Untamed Lion, so they dubbed it the Lion's Source.

But for all the unexpected nature, the brook was full of fresh water, there were many ponds scattered around & much lush vegetation. Though... there was the occasional roar in the distance.

The Founding Stone:

The Untamed Lion:

The Good "Volcano":

The Original Seven

The Dagger of Vales company consisted of seven stout dwarves.

There was Morul Lolorlogem, the expedition leader. She was a sturdy dwarf of 77 years, a bit "thick" through the middle, with double braids of golden hair. But she still could mine quite well.

The carpenter was Minkot Astisnish, a 51 year old dwarf and the youngest in the expedition. In addition to carpentry skills, she was also capable as an axedwarf having served briefly under the armies of General Ushat Oshuralath back at the Mountanhome.

The resident Mason/Architect was Zaneg Asolkadol. She, like Morul was 77 years old. She also had a knack for mechanical devices.

The Metalsmith was Bim Zansonglolok. A dwarf of 53 years of age, he was quite eager to forge using legendary magma forges. Fortunately, he was also a miner, as that would be needed to safely get the forges set up.

The Doctor was Mosus Onshenustuth. At 61 years, he was only a mediocre doctor, but he also had some skills at stonecrafting. Which would be needed should trade get established.

The Farmer, Udil Asmeltastrod, was 57 years old. He was quite stout and adept at both farming & brewing of strong dwarf ales.

The Fisherdwarf was Atir Onulniral. At the ripe old age of 86 he was the oldest of the expedition. He by trade was a well known siege engineer, but he was ready to retire and fish. And what better place to fish that a brand new stream that no dwarf had ever tried before. Also, possible death in combat sounded like a "funner" end to him. And this expedition had FUN written all over it...

The Beginning

Within the southern reaches of the Misty Land region of the World of Tempests lies the dwarf civilization The Rack of Fights. The Rack lived in fear, hiding in the protective peaks of The Tall Spine mountain range. Afraid of venturing out, for beyond the Spine was The Revolting Walls, a truly sinister expanse of mountains.

But the dwarves did have some allies in the Misty Land. Including The Speechless Unions, a expansive human empire that lived far to the south. The Union's main holdings were located along the border of the badlands known as the Scorching Desert and the rolling hills of the scorching tropical savanna that is the Branded Hills. The Union's only water are the near dried up lakes like the foul Blueness of Disembowelers that dot the region and the small stream known as The Fold of Blots & it's sad small tributaries. Eventually the Fold joins up in the east with the much larger Orderfondle The Sooty Lonely Starvation, well past the terrifying Malicious Dunes that guard the Fold's northern border.

But to the south east, well below the Fold's joining with the Orderfondle and the elven lands of The Beloved Veneration, where the scorching Branded Hills give way to the leafy foliage of The Veiled Jungles was the legend of the Good Volcano. The volcano, nestled in the southern reaches of The Tooth of Trammels, a small mountain range, overlooked the tropical moist broadleaf jungle landscape. Add to that, there was legend of a small brook, The Untaimed Lion, that left the The Tooth of Trammels & headed south to join up with the Tinteaches The Itch of Belches a stream that headed further south out of the Misty Lands to other regions uncharted. It is this land the Union told the Rack about as a possible location to resettle to.

So, in the year 1050, during the Reign of Atir Inodlokum, a small band of dwarves, The Dagger of Vales, headed out to this otherwise unknown land, to tame it's wilds and claim it for the The Rack of Fights. These are their stories.