Year 1; Spring: Where Great Egos Roam

Ast began to stir and grumbled for booze. A waterskin was thrust in his hand and he began to drink. He looked around groggily. His eyes throbbed. The ox must have hit him again.

It was time to get these dwarves organised, time for... oh.

 “Calm, what’s going on?”

 “You were unconscious, so I took the liberty of getting everybody started.”

 “I don’t recall naming you Great Leader.”

 “And I don’t recall you being my mother or father. We couldn’t wait around for you to wake up.”

 “Fine. What’s going on then?”

 “Kol and Alath are mining out this cliff so we’ve somewhere dry to sleep and store the goods until we can get the stone huts up and ready. Vucar is cutting some trees so we can get a palisade up to keep the local wildlife out. Shorast and Ilral are gathering plants to be brewed. Our booze will only last so long, especially if you keep passing out.”

 “Those names mean nothing to me.”

 “Hope and Mole are mining. Dullard and Fuzz are plant gathering. And... whatshername? She’s woodcutting. Better?”

 “Much. What about those other two?”

 “Ast, we are the other two.”

 “Oh.”

 “I’m going to do a quick survey of the area. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

 “Your Great Leader is full of wisdom, of course I won’t do anything stupid.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Two hours later...

Ast, as Great Leader, had to show his support and join in with the hard labour of his fellow dwarves. He stood atop a pile of precariously balanced logs and raised his arms to the sky.

 “Fellow dwarves, your Great Leader acknowledges your hard work!”

A grumble and a curse followed, and Ast clambered down from the logs.

 “That should be enough.”

Udib appeared next to Ast, making him jump. He was out of breath.

 “Ast, this is amazing, we’re surrounded by all sorts of materials and precious... oh. Ast, this doesn’t look good.

 “What?”

 “Look, over there...”

 “Oh, this doesn’t look good at all.”

 “I’ve never been too good at this whole distance thing. They’re walking away, right?”

 “Ast, they’re not walking away. It’s okay, they don’t seem to be coming any closer. No, no they’re going away now. Bloody hell.”

 “We’re going to have to keep an eye on them I think.”

 “Wait, Ast, what is that?”

 “What? Oh, this?”

 “It’s a statue, Calm. It’s a statue of me.”

 “It doesn’t look very much like you Ast, it looks quite hideous. Who did this?”

 “Hope. I asked her to make a beautiful rendition of her Great Leader.”

 “Uh-huh. Kol did this. Makes sense.”

 “Actually, Ast, I think it looks just like you. Keep up the good work.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Late Spring...

“The Fuzz has been working on the palisade, and our goods are safely stored away inside.”

“Spring is coming to an end, Ast, now that we’re safely holed up in the cliffs, what is our next move?”

 “We need plenty of stone to set up our homes.”

 “I’ve checked out the nearby stone, a lot of it is full of useful metals or coals. However, there is a lot of microcline that we could easily use for the huts.”

 “Brilliant. Well you see that cliff over there?”

 “Yes?”

 “Take that down.”

 “Ast, it’s a very, very wide, very tall mass of rock. That’s going to take some time.”

 “That’s okay. I can supervise. Oh, we need to keep proper track of our goods. I’ve put you in charge of that.”

 “Your great leadership never ceases to amaze me, Ast.”

With that, Udib left, grumbling to himself. Ast looked upon the palisade.

 “Roadshoot. That’s not bad. Now where did I hear that?”

Ast absentmindedly scratched the back of his head then shrugged, carrying his thin frame over to the supply of Dwarven ale.

[End of Season Notes]

The Wolves seriously scared the crap out of me. I’d only done so much as chopped a few trees and dug a few holes and there was already a pack of five of them bearing down on me! Luckily they stopped nearby and wandered right off the map.

The other dwarves didn’t really get any screentime this season, mainly due to very little happening. Now the initial settling has been done, the real dwarf fortressing can start.