The Queen had given the settlers of Alegate the name “The Brave Drinks” and bestowed upon them  an official coat of arms: a spike of barley striking a menacing pose.

Party at the Drowned Langur

The dwarves of Alegate hollowed out a tavern in the bones of the mountain, and called it The Drowned Langur, after a battle they had fought against a seige of thieving langurs in the first year of the fort. The walls had a natural mix of blue microcline, pale limestone, shining galena and deep smoky quartz. All these walls were polished to perfection by the master mason, Hana. The center of the chamber was taken up by thrones and tables of bright red cinnabar, crafted by Hana’s assistants. The floors were polished to perfection.

Hana had carved masterful scenes into the polished walls, engraved as has been described elsewhere. The engravings took most of a year to complete, and glinted in the lamplight.

When the citizens of Alegate had free time, they were often found drinking, eating, singing, and telling stories in this grand tavern. Some travellers were fortunate enough to arrive in the late winter, and witness the very last chisel-strikes shape the mountain’s bones into the shape they would hold for ever after.

The routines of Alegate changed as soon as The Drowned Langur was carved out. Even before the walls were polished or the furniture built, citizens began to spend their free time in this place and get to know each other better. Below is an image from those early days. Escott, the smithy-master (upper left with pickaxe) was singing “We See Sect.” No instruments were available, so a couple visitors helped by simulating instruments. That’s a goblin bard (purple “g”) simulating an oshok and a human hammerman (purple Ü) simulating a duto. As Escott and his beatboxing band held forth, others enjoyed the show. That brown figure to the right of the tables, surrounded by a dogs and puppies (the “d”s,) is Thornbeard.

It is tradition among dwarves to find the old dwarven name for things. There was no exact translation of “drowned” or “langur”, but they could get pretty close; “submerged” and “monkey”. In old dwarfish, that’s “Rûlvankåb”. But to the locals, it’s called “The Drowned Langur.”

Fark’s Annex

Rooms were dug out in the clay around the hospital. In one, a well was dug to the aquifer, and then a stable floor of baked bricks put in place. The well itself was a wonder — it had an exceptionally crafted willow bucket, a superior quality copper chain, and was architected by Hana himself. But the part that really caught all the dwarves’ eyes was the block and tackle. It was made with the legendary-quality mechanism created in this fortress in 1050. Any dwarf who had reason to use this will would take a moment to appreciate the fine construction, and walk away happier for it.

Beyond the well, there was soap conveniently placed for any who bathed at the well, or for any doctor who needed to fetch soap to clean a wound. Farther in, there was the rock nut facility. Building this took many hands — carpenters for the screw press, masons for the orthoclase quern, and an experienced thresher to build the rest of the workshop there. Now that work is done, and the first batch of quarry bushes grown. Soon fine herbal soap will be produced, to eventually replace the more primitive tallow-soaps.

Migrants and Travelers

Waves of migrants arrived from the northeast in the summer and autumn, bringing the total number of dwarven citizens in the fort to 70. This greatly increased the number of hands available, and council members no longer found themselves bogged down with all the miscellaneous hauling, planting, smelting, threshing and other jobs that needed doing. The were logistical challenges, like the time when the brewers had no ingredients for two months, or when the archers were forced to train by gesturing and making “pew pew” noises because the weaponsmith didn’t have enough charcoal to make crossbows. But Books worked out the details, reassigned workers and expanded workshops as needed. More dwarves are needed to really get all the work done, but more migrants will come — unless something bad happens in Alegate and the next wave of migrants chooses to bypass Alegate for another settlement.

Seventeen travelers from all around the world visited The Drowned Langur (see “Books’ Lists” below.) Many were from other nations, and some weren’t even dwarves. Inn rooms had been prepared near the tavern to serve these visitors.

Most visitors stayed briefly then left on their journeys. Three asked permission to stay:

• Ubbul, dwarven marksdwarf from Evildwells
• Cog, dwarven poet from Evildwells
• Ecroh, goblin bard. Ecroh has a particularly colorful past, told elsewhere.

Permission was granted. The marksdwarf is a mercenary, and will stay and serve with the archers in exchange for food and drink. The bard and poet will serve as performers for a year or two, and eventually may ask to become full citizens. If they become citizens, they will serve in whatever way the council decides, be that to continue as entertainers, or to take on other duties. The council will have to decide what the policy is, regarding long-term residents becoming citizens.

Defences

Dastot, 12 years old and the first child to become an adult in Alegate, was apprenticed to Ted the siege engineer and helped build traps. Three clusters of cage traps were set in the forest. One west of the west bridge, one east of the east bridge, and one in the space between the rivers in the north. If anything larger than than a blue jay happened upon one of those traps, it would be caged. Friendly people would be told about the traps, so that they did not stumble into them.

Once more migrants arrived, Maltose gave new orders to Meng, the militia commander and ender of brawls. The militia was disbanded (they were all skilled workers, and had other jobs to do.) Meng became the commander for the heavy infantry, and began training the first two members of the heavy infantry. This would be a full-time military unit.

There was some iron and copper equipment left over from the militia, but the forges now had steel. Escott’s people produced a few each of battle axes, swords, spears, and warhammers. The troops got to choose their own weapons from this bounty. Armor for the infantry and archers would be made as more steel came out of the crucible.

Thieves and Worse

Three times, small groups of kobolds tried to get into the fort. They would approach from the southwest, and a dwarf would see them and raise the alarm. The archers would rush to the surface, but by then the kobolds were long gone, fleeing to the southwest. The last time, in the winter, one of the kobolds got over the bridge before he was spotted. This particular kobold was Jlagobis, known to have stolen many things in past decades. He has a particular reputation for carrying off gems and jewelry.

Worse than the kobolds was the child-snatcher. In the summer, just one day after the first group of kobolds had been chased off, a goblin was spotted sneaking toward the fort with a large, empty bag over its shoulder. That image is enough to chill the blood of any parent on The Planet of Cyclones. The snatcher who came to Alegate is known as “Nguslu”, and hails from the hot jungles to the south, beyond the elven ruins. He is said to have taken 73 children for The Flighty Hex so far. Nguslu fled south before the archers could assemble. Fortunately, the children of Alegate had been playing below-ground that day.

Traders

In the summer, two wagons arrived from The Vigorous Confederacy. They came from the northeast. One cart was pulled by a pair of water buffalo, and the other was pulled by a pair of camels. This vastness of this human empire was clear from the volume and range of goods available. As has been written elsewhere, Alegate had prepared for this. The small fort had enough booze and crafts to acquire a great collection of seed and fruits, vastly expanding the plants available to the farmers of Alegate (see Books’ lists below.) There were so many other exotic things for sale, though — armor made of giraffe hide, parchment made of basking shark skin, and meat and cheeses of kinds never before seen by the dwarves. There were books written in distant lands, toys, instruments, and a dozen other classes of items. Perhaps next summer, when the caravan returns, Alegate will have grown enough to trade for more of these exotic goods.

In the autumn, a pair of wagons arrived from the mountainhome, again from the northeast. With it came the familiar face of the Queen’s outpost liaison, Bathru. Argus met Bathru west of the fortress, and Bathru shared news from the homelands. The Granite Abbey was continuing to send out missions to reclaim old strongholds.

Langurs!

Ted the siege engineer was out in the forest setting traps when a troop of langurs arrived. There were perhaps half a dozen of them, running every which way. Ted ran after the langurs, and was soon engaged in an ugly brawl with a group of them. She had many minor injuries, there was langur blood and teeth all around, and she was struggling with a langur while perched precariously at the top of the chasm. There was a langur struggling in the waters at the bottom of the chasm, having somehow fallen during all this.

Meanwhile, a wandering marksdwarf happened to arrive, and began chasing langurs through the woods, shooting bolts all around.

This was in the summer, before the heavy infantry had been established. So it was the archers, militia, and council who were summoned to help. Ted was rescued before she toppled over the edge. After a long and complex battle involving bands of armed dwarves running around the forest trying to herd monkeys into corners, most of the langurs were slain. Despite much action happening on the cliff tops, no dwarves fell. Which is fortunate; even a dwarf who can swim (most can not) will be stunned by such a fall, and drown.

The Council fared particularly well in this fray, with their axes and shields. There are details available if desired.

One langur escaped — the one who had fallen in the chasm. It managed to climb out of the chasm and flee into the forest.

Two langurs were caught in cage traps. The caged creatures are now sitting in the general stockpile in the clay delvings. There was talk of target practice — but we’ll leave it to the Council to declare (or reaffirm) what they would like done with these thieving beasts.

Ted walked herself to the hospital and got sewn up. A few days later she had a baby. Good thing she kept her balance!

Oh, and the kitchens’ and tanners’ stocks were looking pretty good afterwards.

The Unreasonably Violent Dog, Again

As the puppies of the Unreasonably Violent Dog grew to adulthood, they were trained as war dogs and assigned as pets to archers. Three have been assigned in this way so far.

The two hunting dogs were officially made Thornbeard’s pets, and they made excellent hunting assistants. They would sneak along with their master, and after thornbeard fired the first shot, would run forward to harry the turkey (if it survived.) This system produced much game for Alegate. But then there was an unfortunate accident. A turkey had managed to catch the Unreasonably Violent Dog with a solid blow to the mouth, and knocked out the dog’s teeth, before Thornbeard could put a bolt through its noggin. The scarred-up k9 has not slowed down, though. He continues to accompany Thornbeard, attacking with his paws instead of his face.

Violent Visitors

There was a pack of dingoes in the woods. Which sounds dangerous, until you get an idea what Odi the pikedwarf can do. It is not clear who attacked who first. The dingoes could not pierce Odi’s bronze and copper armor, but Odi’s pike was very effective. Odi did not limit her attacks to the pike. She was also punching and kicking, to serious effect. At one point, she bit one of the dingoes.

That was all happening in the southwest, when something even more deadly appeared in the north:

No were-creature should be taken lightly, but this one was much greater than the werelamb seen in 1050. This human had been a high priestess, before managing to get herself personally cursed by a human diety. The details will not be listed here, but suffice it to say she has a long, long kill list.

Again the dwarves fled underground, and they sealed the gate. The weresheep swam across the northern river and ran straight to the livestock. She quickly tore apart a yak bull, a cow calf, and a lamb, and left the pieces scattered across the pasture. The yak had been killed when the weresheep bit its head, then shook it around like a dog with a rodent.

Fortunately for Odi the pikedwarf (or maybe for the weresheep,) the weresheep ran out of livestock while Odi was still fighting the dingoes. The weresheep-turned-human fled north.

The dwarves will not be interested in eating the animals killed by the werebeast. Those dingoes, though, quickly wound up in the kitchens.

Odi stayed at the tavern for a while, but did not ask to stay long-term. Perhaps we will see this skilled warrior again.

New Artifacts

Lolor the blacksmith, one of Escott’s assistants, was struck by a secretive mood. It was inspiration! He constructed an artifact-quality floodgate, and gained legendary skill at metal craftwork (as opposed to weaponsmithing or armorsmithing.) We should find some oft-seen place to put this, as the quality of the item is sure to please any dwarf who walks by.

Lorbam the tanner was taken by a fey mood, and produced an artifact-quality leather shield. He came out of the experience with legendary skills, but not at leatherworking! He is now a legendary tanner.

 

Wrap-Up

Instead of posting the entire profile for each character this time — most of which does not change — I am posting each character’s mood and thoughts. The mood is a summary of how the character is feeling. The thoughts give specific mood-affecting thoughts the character has had recently.

• Argus, brawler – mood – thoughts
• Escott, metalsmith – mood – thoughts
• Fark, surgeon – mood – thoughts
• Hana, architect – mood – thoughts
• Maltose, brewer – mood – thoughts
• Thornbeard, ranger – mood – thoughts
• Fortress status here

Books’ Lists

Books kept many lists. Here is a sample:

[spoiler title=”Fish spotted in river”]

• shad
• rainbow trout
• perch
• salmon

[/spoiler][spoiler title=”Small forest creatures (some having been dragged in by cats.)”]

• blue jay
• bumblebees
• rat
• cardinal
• sparrow
• swarm of mosquitos
• damselfly
• cardinal

[/spoiler][spoiler title=”Larger creatures spotted in woods”]

• ravens
• tiercel peregrine
• turkeys

[/spoiler][spoiler title=”Visitors to the tavern in 2051″]

• Ulo, human axeman
• Atir, marksdwarf
• Kivish, bowdwarf
• Nil, bowdarf
• Erod, swordsdwarf
• Ecroh, goblin bard
• Menung, goblin swordsman
• Odi, pikedwarf
• Cog, poet
• Ubbul, marksdwarf
• Avuz, poet
• Momuz, bowdwarf
• Logem, swordsdwarf
• Sarvesh, speardwarf
• Aso, human spearman
• Soneg, human hammerman
• Shibbi, macedwarf

[/spoiler][spoiler title=”New ores uncovered”]

• sphalerite – zinc, which mixed with copper makes brass
• yellow spessartine – semi-valuable gem
• violet spessartine – ditto
• lace agate – low-value gem

[/spoiler][spoiler title=’Mothers having babies in Summer through Winter 2015′ style=’default’ collapse_link=’true’]

• Hode the miner
• Moldath the farmer
• Vucar the fisher
• Lorbam the tanner
• Ted the siege engineer

[/spoiler][spoiler title=’New plants available’ style=’default’ collapse_link=’true’]

These are all surface plants, either found in the forest by Thornbeard or purchased from the human caravan. Most can be brewed or cooked. The rope reed can also be used for making thread, and the blade weed, while inedible, can be used to make emerald dye. We will use the seeds to plant more. Some may not grow in this climate. We’ll see!

• blade weed
• rope reed
• cassava
• radish
• white yam
• asparagus
• alfalfa
• prickle berries
• beets
• fisher berries
• strawberries
• garden cress
• lettuce
• muck roots
• rhubarbs
• grapes
• horned melons
• spinach
• cranberries
• raspberries

[/spoiler][spoiler title=’Depth of the Delvings’ style=’default’ collapse_link=’true’]

• layer 0 – surface
• layer 1 – bottom of tributary
• layer 2 – clay delvings
• layer 3 – aquifer, limonite (iron) mine
• layer 4 through 6 – mines
• layer 7 – stone delvings (brewery, tavern, kitchens)

[/spoiler]

Notes To The Players

Too long a turn again! This was 3 seasons. Next turn will be one or two seasons.

The dwarves are building up friendly relationships with each other and the migrants, now that they have a tavern in which to relax. No romance yet.