5 Soldiers stationed in the main hall (25 Strength[STR])
Events of the Day
We risked too much, building our Hold late into the Stone. We barely got the keep built by Darkstone. We're starting this new Stone lean, the six remaining in the Keep sitting here hungry. Drorik's stomach growls so loud it can get hard to sleep sometimes. All this is worth it, of course, for the chances of finding the voidstone.
Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik. Tak!
I told Bjirin that he was mad not to come with us. I told him! What unbelievable luck has befallen us. We struck a deep-running vein on our first cask, not even four drums in. We'll need at least another cask to clear it out properly. What luck!
+12♥ Stores: 32♥ 20♦
We put the resources to use quickly, building up a storehouse. We'll need the extra space if we have this kind of luck over the following few casks.
"Put your back into it, old man!" Hammer strikes and pickaxes echoed through the cavern, followed by boisterous laughter. For just six dwarves, the echoes made it sound like dozens were working on the construction site. Any lingering shadows of Darkstone would surely creep back into the darkness at the sounds of the Hold opening up in the new Stone.
-15♥ Stores: 17♥ 20♦
We celebrated our new beginnings and good fortune. A new cask is done so quickly. Soon we will be back to work again.
⌈ ♥♠♦♣ ⌋
reenstone Day 2, The Kingdom of New Stone
Stores: 17♥ 20♦
Garrison
5 Soldiers in the main hall (25STR)
Events of the Day
A gentle mist filled the cavern outside our gates as the first Cask of Lichenwater rolled into its warehouse. We're getting used to Drorik's roaring stomach. It has a sort of rhythmic lilt after echoing against the cavern walls. If anything, I'm sure it keeps the shadows away from our gates. By the time the mist dissipated, we were all fed and ready to work again.
Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik. Tak!
Scattered light filled the cavern quite suddenly. While unable to light up the whole room, any crystals are good. We filled our carts with what we could extract. Several crystals shattered; maybe we hadn't rested enough. Our hands were shaking with how gentle we were trying to be with the seeds. Nevertheless, we managed to get a decent amount stored away.
+3♦ Stores: 17♥ 23♦
A medical ward would serve us well by giving us beds and a place to rest if any sickness passed through the Hold. Besides, Idrik has a knack for getting all sorts of scrapes and cuts. Daft girl, sometimes. But still good at heart.
-5♥ -10♦ Stores: 12♥ 10♦
"Get yourself to the medical ward, girl. I swear you shouldn't be trusted with an ax sometimes." Idrik slumped against the wall holding her arm against her side, head down and dejected. "I'm trying my best." Frijil sighed as he patted her on her shoulder, "I know, lass. We all see you working hard each and every cask. You're one of us." She lifted her head in appreciation of her supervisor's compliment. "Now, get yourself to the medical ward. Get that cut seen to. Can't risk infection, aye?" Idrik smiled, nodded, and turned back into the open cavern, making her way to the gates of New Stone.
Before long she was wrapped up tight in a bed, the candle by her bedside flickering. "I tell you, Ms. Idrik, you need to be more careful out there," a deep voice muffled through the face mask restraining Tyryn's beard. "It was chert! It's not as if I can control the very stone itself!" Idrik scoffed, kicking her feet under the blanket in a huff. "Now, now. No need to throw a fit!" the muffled voice retorted before continuing, "This salve will have you back in the caverns in no time. Just sit still and get some rest. You'll be out there in less than another cask, I promise." Idrik closed her eyes in appreciation before the lichen-salve's properties took over and her eyelids closed.
It won't be long before we need more dwarves in the Hold. We're lucky now, sure, but how long will that luck last?
⌈ ♥♠♦♣ ⌋
Greenstone Day 3, The Kingdom of New Stone
Stores: 12♥ 10♦
Garrison
5 Soldiers in the main hall (25STR)
Events of the Day
The Hold grows. The lichen is spreading quickly. I would very much like to see young dwarves playing on the fields of soft lichen in a few tuns. The others are readying their gear. We will go deeper.
Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik. Ting!
The brilliant light filled the shaft behind and bounced into the storeroom. A massive crystal cavern blinded us with glittering gemstones scattered all around. This is a good omen, indeed. We'll have to come here frequently to carefully extract the crystals to maximize our profits. While we haven't had a trader come by yet, we're due to have one. Having our stores filled and ready when that cask comes would be good.
"What in the name of Krygr is that light?" The dwarves covered their eyes while they adjusted to the sudden rainbow of colours that filled the freshly carved shaft. As their eyes focused, an audible response echoed from each of them as they looked into a deep cavern full of glittering crystals of all shapes and sizes. After a brief glance at each other in disbelief, they scrambled to be the first into the glittering opening ahead. Tumbling in on top of each other, the miners spread out to examine the precious goods. "We're rich!" shouted one of them, followed by an echoing agreement from deeper into the cavern. "We should be able to extract this steadily without running out for some time." They cheered in unison before getting to work bracing the walls so they could begin the next steps.
We're going to need to make room for more dwarves. With the number of trade goods coming in, we're going to be able to afford to pay more salaries quickly.
-4♥ -10♦ Stores: 8♥ 0♦
"Welcome, cousins," Frijil approached the two newcomers with his arms spread wide, "to New Stone!" They saluted their new lord in acceptance of his greetings. "We are a humble Hold still, and we are grateful for your service. Miryn!" His voice boomed as he suddenly called for the quartermaster. Before long, Miryn came jogging into the main hall. "Yes, Frijil?" "You've got some new recruits. Get them settled before we eat." Frijil gave the two new soldiers a quick pat on the back before leaving them with their new commander.
The storeroom is emptying with this rapid expansion, but I am feeling good about what's to come.
⌈ ♥♠♦♣ ⌋
Greenstone Day 4, The Kingdom of New Stone
Stores: 8♥ 0♦
Garrison
5 Soldiers in the main hall (25STR)
2 Soldiers in Level 1 Barracks (10STR)
Events of the Day
Trynik decided to experiment today by cooking with fresh lichen. It was not good. I'm sure we'll have a dwarf or two in the medical ward complaining about a sore belly throughout the next shift. He's a good dwarf, but he's not a great cook. At least we have that new crystal cavern to work with.
"Frijil, quick! To the new cavern!" Drorik shuffled his way through to the planning table in the main hall flailing his arms, leaving a trail of coloured dust behind him leading to the storeroom. Frijil dropped what he was doing, tipping a mug of ale in his scramble, as he ran past Drorik and around the corner of the storeroom to go to the lower layer and check on the cavern. He hadn't heard anything. He feared the worst but was greeted by laughter, not panicking dwarves. "What happened? What's wrong?" he huffed. "Nothing, Frijil, it's what's right!" Trynik boasted, pointing to Frijil's immediate right, causing another short turn of laughter from the others. Frijil was standing next to a heaping cart of freshly extracted gems.
+11♦ Stores: 8♥ 11♦
We'll be due for more recruits if all goes well for the rest of the shift.
Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik. Tak!
We continue to be fortunate. We're breaking from tradition with how we're expanding, not at all following the traditional patterns, but it's paying off. I wonder how long we can risk leaving tradition behind.
+14♥ Stores: 22♥ 11♦
"What's that you're working on there?" Idrik inquired as she approached the planning table. "Dorms. With our new recruits, it's time to make room for more to join our ranks." Frijil looked over his glasses at the young dwarf. "Come. Look closer." He took his stylus and pointed it towards a corner of the new room he was drawing the plans for, and the runes on the page began to glow as his stylus grew closer. "Every dwarf who carves a new Hold is given one of these styluses from the capital. They're imbued with some of the very finest dwarven magicks." She looked closer at the stylus, "So it just makes your plans glow? What's so special about that?" He chuckled softly, "Look closer to the parchment, not the stylus." She looked up at him inquisitively before following his instructions. As she examined the parchment, she could see what looked like an apparent hollow outside the corner he was working on. "The stylus can detect weaknesses in blueprints. If we built this as is, that corner would one day be a fault." Idrik gasped in disbelief before returning her attention to the mystical stone. "We'd risk everything if we proceeded with these plans. This is why every Hold Carver needs a stylus."
-5♥ Stores: 17♥ 11♦
With the new dorms finalized and underway, we'll be able to house a stronger army in preparation for what's to come. We can't have endless amounts of luck. I feel myself becoming more and more pessimistic after each shift. More paranoid, even, that the next hit into a new wall will uncover some vile and unknown threats.
"That's it, men! Swing, swing, back-step! Good! We step back to the Hold, not into our Doom." Miryn's recruits huffed and puffed, sweat dripping from their brows. "Sir," One of the recruits took a deep breath and stood tall before speaking, "I have never understood that sentiment. When we step back, we're weaker. We lose ground. Why is this the dwarven practice?" "Good question. When we step back, we are not retreating," Miryn began pacing, his hands behind his back, "Our enemy gets cocky. They make wider swings. But the closer we are to the Hold, the stronger we are. We are closer together." He paused as two new arrivals walked in and joined the ranks before continuing, "When our enemy makes one more of those wide and cocky swings, when we are at our closest, our strongest, we strike. We kill. Understood?"
-10♦ Stores: 17♥ 1♦
⌈ ♥♠♦♣ ⌋
Greenstone Day 5, The Kingdom of New Stone
Stores: 17♥ 1♦
Garrison
5 Soldiers in the main hall (25STR)
4 Soldiers in Level 1 Barracks (20STR)
Events of the Day
Coming to the end of the first pipe since we opened the doors of our Hold has us all filled with mixed emotions. We didn't work much of the crystals out of their setting at shift-start. Our minds are preoccupied with what's coming in the next pipe.
+4♦ Stores: 17♥ 5♦
Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik. Tak!
We've uncovered a wondrous thing. Some surface critters must have taken up home down here because we uncovered an actual forest in a cavern. Normally we have to wait for traders to come by to buy wood, but it looks like we may be able to supply our own to cover some immediate needs.
"What'ya mean you don't need any of my wood?" the trader sneered at the group who had gathered to barter with him. "You're dwarves! You're a new Hold! How could you possibly not need wood?" He thrashed at them in disbelief as they explained to him the underground forest they'd uncovered. "You're all stark raving mad!" He began to pack up his things as he continued to hurl insults at the dwarves, "Underground forests. Pah! I'll bet you are breaking your code and growing your own stones! I'll report you to your capital!" As he started to drag his cart to the door, continuing his insults, Frijil had had enough of the trader. Shaking his fist at the trader, he banished him from the Hold, "Go on, then! And be sure to send the regards of Frijil Hammard to them while you're at it! You'll find yourself banned from all of our Holds!"
-6♥ +3♦ Stores: 11♥ 8♦
Trinyk was talking with me earlier about a pest problem. I think it's due time we got some pest control in here. We need to tame or buy war moles from another Hold.
Moles are gargantuan mole-like creatures that, while blind, are very capable companions. Their sensitive noses can follow the faintest of smells, making them ideal for hunting down far-away lichen patches during the later Stones of the ferment. A rider and their war mole build a trusting relationship. The mole, on the one hand, cannot see. It has to trust its rider to watch for threats. On the other hand, when navigating dark caverns, the mole's nose leads them through safely.
-5♥ Stores: 6♥ 8♦
The most recent recruit arrived, bringing with them a scroll from the capital. It's from my father.
"The lords of Farve wish you luck in the new ferment. I missed you during the ferment, son. Your mother continues to pester your brothers to take your example and petition their own Carves. We're all proud of you, despite the impression your brothers might have given before you left. Bjirin stopped by two pipes ago. He asked if we'd heard from you. Good lad, he is. I think he regrets not joining you and your companions. Write to us, and good luck, boy. May Krygr watch over your Hold."
-5♦ Stores: 6♥ 3♦
⌈ ♥♠♦♣ ⌋
Greenstone Day 6, The Kingdom of New Stone
Stores: 6♥ 3♦
Garrison
5 Soldiers in the main hall (25STR)
5 Soldiers in Level 1 Barracks (25STR)
Events of the Day
We've reached the end of our first pipe since opening the Hold to delve deeper. Each and every cask brings something new to the carve. Sometimes I fear I won't be able to lead the others to prosperity. But they've trusted me to act quickly and make critical decisions. I cannot falter. We started out the shift in the crystal cavern, regretting the lack of attention we gave it the previous shift. Profits continue to come our way. Even better -- that underground forest provides us with a steady supply of goods.
+2♥ +15♦ Stores: 8♥ 18♦
Tik. Tik. Tik. Tik. Shppf!!
We could smell it even before we breached the wall. We thought perhaps it was a vein of sulfuric rock or metals. It would seem our luck is starting to run out. The eldrich waters of the swamp surely house some deadly creature. There are black frogs of varying sizes everywhere. Tyryn took some of the smaller ones to test for potential toxins. I fear these frogs aren't the only things to make a home of this foul-smelling cistern. Depending on Tyryn's assessment, we'll either eradicate the frogs or relocate them.
"They're kind of cute, don't you think?" Idrik fawned over some of the smaller frogs. "Ehhh, maybe." Tyryn was trudging through the swamp near the shore, trying to catch some of the frogs in a net. "The bigger ones look tasty." Drorik's voice chimed in as he entered the swamp, plugging his nose. "Hhmpf!" Tyryn's net swung down again, scooping up a good-sized frog. "Gotchya! Don't touch any, don't catch any, and especially don't eat any!" He trudged to the shore, climbed out, and scurried up the stairs to start his tests.
Things have been tense between the two schools of combat for so long that it's hard to remember why or how their disagreement started. Nevertheless, we must house them both in the Hold if we want to want to defend ourselves properly. Another barracks was put together. While they may share some of the space in the dorms, they'll stick to themselves well enough.
-8♥ Stores: 0♥ 10♦
Two gunners have joined our ranks. As expected, they avoid Miryn and his soldiers, but they're polite enough and keep their barracks clean.
