The Land of Vittles and Steel - 1060 Early Spring by Fedor

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Points of Interest

• Δ Vittles
  This is the agricultural center of Spinaxes: almost 90% of what we eat and drink comes from here. A floodable farm with just under half a grid of cropland per dwarf more than suffices for the raw feedstocks. It, all stockpiles except the liquor store, food processing, and the Great Hall are all in close conjunction with enough walk space to handle rather more dwarves than we have.
  
  To our left (just offmap) is the main liquor depot. It's big, but we're a thirsty bunch. Because we spend an inordinate amount of time tippling, the liquor is near the fortress "center of density" (where most dwarves are most of the time) and positioned for easy access.
  
  Two smaller liquor stashes serve the gate and magma areas. We occasionally set up stashes elsewhere to speed up work distant from the fortress center, but have run into the problem of dwarves running half way across the map to share.
  
  We have eight skilled farmers; of them, six actually do food-related work nowadays (the other two used to, but were swapped out a couple years ago in favor of new recruits to build up a reserve in case we lose key dwarves). All of the six plant as needed. Two also brew, two cook, one butchers, and one threshes in the farmer's workshop. Together, planting and processing keep them busy about 80% of the time; the rest they spend cross-training, operating siege engines, or hauling.
  
  The Great Hall is furnished with exceptional-quality (but still undecorated) brass furniture. The statues are gold. We have further plans for development here, but - as always - lack of labor is keeping things from progressing as we like. - Fedor
• Δ (upper barn area)
  To the west of the food processing center is a multi-purpose barn. It's served many purposes over the years, including the earliest noble housing (you can still see some of their old furniture lying about) but of late it's settled down to handle silk, clothing, shells, and liquor.
  
  Just to its left are two rooms. The upper is the somewhat worry-wortedly well-guarded lever room. No gremlin's going to flip MY switches! The lower is the sum total of the Hammer's personal possessions. I treated him terribly when he first arrived - locked him away so often and so long that he once had to hunt vermin to survive - but of late have relented. He has a couple of chains (he loves chains) to play with in gratitude for not clobbering anyone yet. He's also a musician. Or at least HE seems to think he is.
  
  - Fedor
• Δ Apartments - middle-class
  South of the Great Hall are the first permanent apartments built in this fortress. They are an amusing contrast of total dedication to space efficiency inside the building, and pretty near complete flouting of that principle outside. Yeah, this fortress is a little weird - never claimed it wasn't. ;-) - Fedor
• Δ Apartments - quality (1)
  We built the barn-room south of the main corridor for no particular reason, and never did find a real use for it. Until now: here's plenty of space for luxury apartments! There are a lot of Legendary dwarves in this fortress (almost half the population, in fact), and they deserve their creature comforts. A little catering to taste, some brassware and engraving, and we have some very, very happy dwarves indeed. - Fedor
• Δ Apartments - Quality (2)
  Legendary dwarves deserve some special creature comforts. Comforts like a masterpiece steel armor stand, or a room furnished with nothing but masterpieces in moonstone. - Fedor
• Δ Bridges and flood management (1)
  The main cave river bridge and the nearby floodplains are relatively unchanged since year one. We're quite paranoid about drownings, so both cave river bridges have safety walls and the floodplains nearest the main corridor are walled in (this will probably change eventually because of our need for limestone).
  
  The main bridge has been rebuilt. The original got destroyed by our mason, who tantrumed because a masterpiece statue got washed into the river. The six riverside doors are new: They are of marble, worked with gold and bronze, and combined are worth about 18,000.
  
  Just below and to the left of the main river bridge is our new wood stockpile. Until very recently we had all such operations outside the gates to save on haulage, but we (accidentally) overshot our tree-chopping quota and expect elven unfriendliness soon. Arrows and unarmored dwarves ... not a good combination. - Fedor
• Δ Bridges and flood management (2)
  To the south of the main bridge is our tree farm and the flood plains that provide most of our silk. Most of the area is fully secure from flooding thanks to riverside doors and dividing walls. After three major lizardman raids and the loss of a dwarf it is finally also a little more secure from attack.
  
  However, much of the river is a open floodplain (very dangerous!). Access to these areas is controlled by lockable doors. Before a flood hits, we must remember to lock three key entanceways to prevent sand or silk-gathers from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. - Fedor
• Δ Jail and Captain's Quarters
  We use cages instead of chains in our lockup. The great advantage of chains is that they seem to be considered a more severe punishment by law enforcement officers, so they often take the place of beatings or even (sometimes) hammerings. The biggest disadvantage is that dwarves cannot sleep in cages (the beds you see are useless). Happily, this hasn't been a problem yet, despite a couple of full-brown tantrums and a lot of failed labor quotas.
  
  Above the jail is where the Captain of the Guard lives, works, and dines. He's very fond of iron furniture and I've catered to that taste using melted-down goblin armor. To my annoyance, the Captain has also been stealing meltable armor for decoration.
  
  To their left is a platinum bridge over a waterfall. You might not think so, but this is actually one of the more dangerous parts of the fort. Sooner or later, some sand-gatherer's going to get hit by a flood and knocked right into the river. I really need to set some safety bridges built... - Fedor
• Δ Jeweling
  Ignore the uninteresting housing in this area; it's pretty gems that merit a quick look here.
  
  Some years ago, a novice jeweler became a legendary gen cutter through a strange mood. During the time he hasn't spent in a jail cell for not fulfilling production quotas, he's been churning out gemware needing only a good jeweler to turn into extremely valuable decorations. In order to save hauler time, he's deconstructed and rebuilt his green glass workshop a dozen times; gems and glass are piled on the floor 20 deep.
  
  The reason why we have so many nice metalworkers through strange moods in this fort is extensive prior training. So, we're now training peasant haulers to novice jewelers by having them encrust over-abundant rock doors and goblin clothes with green glass. Maybe this will work - and maybe it won't! - Fedor
• Δ Lion Guardians
  The paired lions are an early (and somewhat primitive) attempt to translate ASCII art into something that jazzes up a dwarven fortress. The bodies are of brass, shadowing and manes of bronze, the bellies are of silver, eyes are of iron, and claws are - you guessed it - of steel. Each lion has about 70,000 in metalware.
  
  Estimates of the amount of labor required to haul ore to the furnaces, smelt the metal, make the chains, and install them one by one, are uncertain but high. Very high. - Fedor
• Δ Mausoleum
  There're a lot of not particularly impressive bits in this fortress, but the mausoleum is an exception. We're worked hard here and it's beginning to show. The coffin in the center is reserved for our King or Queen and has so far been decorated to the point where it's worth just under 10,000. Masterpiece marble statues and other furniture are lying strewn around and will get some attention when time and labor permit.
  
  We've just learnt that values for engraved light and dark stone are probably buggy - it's a lot less than it should be and added to the wrong category. - Fedor
• Δ Mausoleum - Deaths
  We've lost an embarrassing number of dwarves. Nineteen lie in the mausoleum:
  
  Thora Thorakasp, Marksheroine : Died to extreme tactical errors (over-optimism, compounded by unfriedly interface) during the second goblin siege. We miss her sorely.
  Mesm Senapan, Cemir Talus, and Atlel Thrurathran : All died due to deliberately failed Possessions. There's a darker side to getting "lucky" with strange moods; they are it.
  Thakom Ebethil and Ongu Letousmen, both wounded in the first siege who could not get recover due to lack of bedrest.
  Uja Asriebe: Became our first (and thus far only) member of the Fortress Guard, decided to chase wild animals, slew something like 15 deer and foxes with her bare hands, and eventually mouthed off to a werewolf.
  Conu Quispepthrebe, Ari Stalcongel, and Uzin Irnatomud : Haulers slain by the goblins during the third siege.
  Leto Spishabmater : Fell into the chasm during an antmen raid
  (unknown name) : Drowned (we don't know where or why).
  Three more dwarves (not sure which) got killed by werewolves, and one by Foul Blendecs.
  The second lizardman raid accounted for a dwarf.
  Two dwarves died to other causes (now forgotten - most probably wildlife).
  
  We also have two gravely wounded dwarves who probably will never recover:
  
  Palath Lomothzomuth, Hammerdwarf, legendary engraver, and a potent fighter: Red wound to upper arm that refuses to heal. Fought five Foul Blendics alone until Olith the Champion raced 240 grids to rescue her.
  Uthret Hejudurpul, Marksdwarf, legendary miner, and the fourth or fifth best fighter at the time : Red wound to upper arm that refuses to heal. Stopped a pair of *iron arrows* in the same fight that claimed Thora ... it took three years for someone to pull the foul things out. - Fedor
• Δ Metalbashing and Glassworking
  We've produced millions worth of metalware in the forges so far, and we're just getting started here.
  
  At the top is a semi-enclosed decoration area; the current project is trimming what will become the masterpiece onyx and jet tombs of legendary dwarves with silver and bronze. A much larger project is to decorate the furniture of the noble palace with gold and platinum.
  
  The center is devoted to off-and-on armor and weapon forging (we're mostly done kitting soldiers up) and the mass-production of metal bars by our two legendary smelters.
  
  The south is the glassmaking area. We have a lot we want to make from glass, starting with clear glass doors for all the main rooms in the central fortress, but we have no legendary glassworkers and long walk times and quick workshop cluttering is slowing down training annoyingly. Nevertheless, if we get lucky or just simply persevere, glass is going to be big!
  
  Both metal and glass are major operations that chew up a lot of hauler time - so much so that expanding the fortress or even improving existing areas goes but slowly. Twice our current population would not be too many!
  - Fedor
• Δ Military : Dwarves in Drag
  Despite being on a Terrifying map within sight of a couple of dark fortresses, we have failed to set up anything like what a reasonable fortress would consider adequate fixed defence. Light on the traps, no moat or siege passage, no lava, no outside protection - the list goes on. Even the siege engines are recent.
  
  This was deliberate. We like to give the werewolves and goblins a sporting chance. Instead, we've trained up a large and capable military. There are only six Heroic or Champion-level dwarves, true, but they are backed up by about 25 extremely capable fighters, each massively beefed up in attributes (most are legendary in a civilian trade), usually cross-trained in crossbows, hammers, and wrestling (the exception's a speardwarf - his job is hurting megabeasts if we ever see one), and each with (at least) a full set of exceptional-quality steel chain-level armor. Most are currently off duty and are helping with haulage. Another 25 dwarves capable of defeating a typical goblin warrior are also available at need. - Fedor
• Δ Military : Gateway Defences
  The objective of this fortress's front entrance is threefold: Provide space for efficient trade and civilian industries, defeat any siege through firepower rather than fixed defenses, and protect dwarves wandering around near the entrance.
  
  The most innovative feature is the gatehouse. It's not just that it's a fortified position for marksdwarves with nearly unlimited ammo ready to hand. More: Any dwarf inside can be locked in. No running off for food or drink, boys - you'll fight 'till we tell you different! The gatehouse (and the interior doors) also protects the main corridor from direct missile fire, a vital consideration as dwarves WILL wander about in the combat zone. There's more we can do to help prevent wandering civilians catching an arrow, but this setup is a good start.
  
  On both sides of the gatehouse are flanking fortified positions for additional marksdwarves (trainees often get stationed here as a backup). Inside them are ballistas, all at least superior quality (most are exceptional). We've learnt some things about siege engine operation in the last siege and the current layout design reflects this.
  
  Firstly, siege engines only fire directly in front of them, so if you have one bridge to guard, you need to layer your engines deep, not scatter then wide. Secondly, siege engine operators are civilians and thus cannot be finely controlled. We therefore conscript more than enough, march them to the ballistas, lock them inside with their wartoys, and - at just the right moment - turn them back into civilians and have them open fire, working from the rearmost ballistas forward. Thirdly, siege engines take a long time to load but almost no time to fire. It's therefore much better to have lots of siege engines than to have a large ammo stockpile. The layout could be further improved. A tight-packed 3x3 setup, centered directly on the only way across the river, would be much more effective then what we have here.
  
  South of the gatehouse is the trade center. After a rather nasty surprise with the second siege we moved the trade center out of the direct battle zone to a safer position. A bridge can be raised to keep anyone inside the trading area safe from missile fire (until a troll gets interested).
  
  North of the gatehouse is a barracks/archery training center which is ideally placed to keep our military personnel available for werewolf raids and sieges.
  
  Above and below the gateway are empty channels. We had some thoughts about a moat but have decided against it. The existing channels will be decorative lakes when we get around to building channels to them.
  - Fedor
• Δ Military : Sieges (with movie)
  We've had four sieges.
  
  The first consisted of 30 goblins in two squads. We sent out six marksdwarves and wiped them out. However, due to some tactical failures and an error in health care (failed to make sure that wounded dwarves were actually resting ON a bed rather than "underneath" it we first got two good dwarves wounded, then lost both of them to lack of sleep and consequent berserk rages.
  
  The second siege had a squad of trolls and two of goblins. We sallied out to kill the trolls before the goblins could march to support them, watched in horror as our advancing dwarves scattered to the four winds right in front of the rapidly advancing goblins, and lost our second-best warrior, shot clean through exceptional-quality steel armor by bowgoblins who got lucky. Another dwarf was badly wounded; he's been bedridden with a red wound to his upper arm for at least four years now.
  
  The third siege started badly and got better. We lost three haulers early due to their running for the gate across the path of the advancing enemy (lesson learnt - conscript your dwarves and make them run for the mountain and THEN for the gates). We were hard-pressed to get enough soldiers to the gates quickly enough, but we did, and slew 40 goblins and trolls with firepower between the river bridge and the gatehouse with no additional dead or wounded.
  
  The most recent siege was a slaughter. We mobilized, got the civilians safe inside, and let the enemy approach our very well-prepared defenses. Once the nearest were at the river bridge, we tested some exceptional-quality ballistas and moderate-quality wooden ammo on them. Result: Ballistas can be DEVASTATING. They can only hit what's right in front of them, but seeing a round cleave through close-packed goblins is a beautiful thing.
  
  Unfortunately, the goblins were of a different opinion. They froze in place (even the ones still far from the gates) and refused to enter our free fire zone. Miffed, we gathered ten superb soldiers and wrecked havoc: Something like 60 goblins and trolls lay dead when we had done and we had no dead or seriously wounded.
  
  The movie of that siege (rather long, but shows mobilization, the firing of the ballistas, mustering, and lots of combat). - Fedor
• Δ Mining
  We're strip-mining deep in the mountain, greedily seeking ever more valuable ores to turn into metalware. Some day, some dark day, our delving will be the death of us.
  
  We estimate that we've used up about 20%-25% of most metals (more of gold and platinum, less of bronze), but as much as a third of the total limestone, which is going to be the limiting factor in how much steel we can forge. We've been very careful not to lose very much limestone to floods, but it will likely run out before anything else.
  
  After much experimentation, we are testing a new pattern for strip-mining: three grids apart horizontally to expose everything, nine apart vertically to improve traffic and ease return trips to extract exposed valuables, and a couple of wider corridors to allow heavy hauler traffic in and out.
  
  Openings to either the chasm or the magma are closed off with forbidden doors. Entrances to the strip mines from the main are few enough to be controllable. We are (belatedly) sowing traps for extra safety. - Fedor
• Δ Noble Palace
  The place where all but two of our nobles live, work, and dine. Most of the furniture is exceptional-quality brassware, but the real value is in the engravings now, and will likely come from decorations in a couple of years' time. Each room overlaps many other rooms, but so great is the cost of what's already here that it really doesn't matter. The total worth of this only partially-furnished room may be half a million by now, with each of the seven gold-trimmed masterpiece platinum statues near the center being worth either 13500 or 15600. We're just getting started here: We intend to give our King a room that rents for a cool million, even with overlapping penalty! - Fedor
• Δ The Chasm
  Left of a still-empty room is the chasm. It is crossed by the same bridge we threw over it back in year two, with the exception of replacement safety walls made of gold a while back.
  
  There is one place, and ONLY one place, where the chasm is not closed in and that is the refuse chute. We've fought an awful lot of antmen here (bastards apparently hate free gifts cascading on their heads...) and - after seeing a dwarf trip into the chasm! - have added some safety measures in the form of locked doors.
  
  This leaves only the two safest grids open. Unlocked doors used to secure these points also, but we've just removed them in favor of a couple of animal traps baited with cat meat. We want Purring Maggots!
  
  One of the two fortress wells is also in this area. We're really paranoid about wells (and with lizardmen and cave crocodiles about who can blame us) but want a backup in case the liquor ever runs out. - Fedor
• Δ Training up
  This is a vast, architecturally dead-boring part of the fortress that's still worth a moment's glance, as it is where a number of dwarves got the attributes to become truly powerful warriors.
  
  We're still trying to figure out what to do with all the stone. Turning it into trade goods didn't work very well... We'll probably sic the siege engine trainees on it - they're good at stone-clearing. - Fedor
• Δ Unfinished park
  So much left undone. This area southwest of the noble palace wants to be a park. It had better not hold its breath, because we're likely to be busy elsewhere for a while! - Fedor
• Δ Yeah, we just cram it in...
  Having built a bunch of pretty rooms near the fortress center, one really ough to come up with an actual use for them. After some pondering, the room south of the food processing center became a shopping center clad in marble and glass, while the room south of that proved an ideal armory and weapons stockpile. Steel armor, steel weapons, and silver training gear are all enclosed behind lockable door (which HAVE had to be locked quite a lot to dress ourselves in the right gear...).
  
  But that is not all. O, no, that is not all.
  
  It should be clear by now that elegance is not this fortress's strong suit, and here, right here, is proof that we just cram it in wherever.
  
  Was it strictly necessary to stuff the livestock into a single cage? "Why yes, it was. My computer can't handle the load when they're loose and I'm too lazy to juggle a cage for each."
  
  Why put the cage here, of all places? "Seemed as good a place as any, and I'm NOT letting them out now to move them!"
  
  Why put a butcher's shop here? "Look, kittens taste good, OK?" - Fedor

Related Maps:

The Land of Vittles and Steel

• 1060 Early Spring [R]

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Related Movies:

• Siege and consequences: The Rough Wooing

Map details:

• Fortress Name: The Land of Vittles and Steel
• Map Year: 1060 Early Spring
• Author: Fedor
• Submitted by: Fedor
• Date Added: 20/10/2007