Friesdens' Diary
Our precious is entering our parlour, said the spiders to the fly. Now to attach the precious to our precious!
Diary of Nicolta Tesla
21st Moonstone, 95
Several ponies have been complimenting me about my engravings. It appears that they have mistaken the various diagrams of death machines I have drawn on the walls for artwork. Perhaps I could use this to earn some more bits for my project.
16th Obsidian, 95
Charity told me to build some traps to defend us against the Diomedian ponies. I went to the dining room to start planning the giant magnifying glass I was going to use immolate intruders. It was there that I met Friesden, who told me to use spike traps instead as they leave the limbs unscathed. Normally, I would have ignored such a suggestion, but I am interested in possibly working on a joint project with her in the future. She's the only other pony here who cares about the advancement of ‼Science‼*1 after all.
The sound of an argument fills the air above the normal sound of hard working ponies. The sound comes from the mid-levels around the mason's shop.
"Why would you make this Pillomino!?" Shouted Charity.
"It shows the truth! Don't pretend it doesn't! Lolum was a weakling, killed by a magma crab of all things! And a fool, wrestling one with his bare hoofs without even the littlest amount of armor." Defended Pillomino.
"Lolum, was a god-damned hero. He scarified himself for those trapped ponies. And then you would dishonor his memory with this, this thing." replied Charity, anger in her voice.
"You are being idealistic! You just want to build him up into some great champion to further your own agenda! You are the one dishonoring his death by making him out to be something he is not." Yelled Pillomino.
The two ponies separated. "To think I once called her my friend." mumbled Charity before shouting at the nearest other pony. "Throw that abomination in the magma sea, get Cryptson to dig a hole and just toss it in!"*2
Pillomino was upset about the loss of one of her masterpieces, but she had many others to keep her placated, so, after a good stiff drink, and a wonderful meal, she had practically forgotten about the entire ordeal.
Charity's Journal 27th Granite 96
Well at least we know Nicolta's traps work. A snatcher tried to get in the south entrance, and after getting stabbed several times by the first trap, proceeded to try and escape out the north entrance and triggered the second trap. When the first militia pony arrived on the scene, our earth pony lasher Langgud, all he had to do was put the bastard out of his misery with a silver whip*3 strike to the head, killing him instantly.
25th Slate 96
An ambush. It was always only a matter of time. The pegasi squad is being sent to the walls, the north entrance will be closed, the south will be left open so that they can come right into the waiting ground squad. The one to first spot them was Erib the unicorn ranger. Instead of running for the safety of the walls, she lead them away, into the jungle. We were confused as to why when out of the jungle, in the opposite direction came a huge group of migrants. It seems she knew they were coming and sacrificed herself to distract the diomedians while the innocent ponies made a run for the walls.
The following ponies managed to get inside to safety: One, a male pegasus macepony/fisherman, who was immediately pressed into service. Two, a female earthpony armorer. Three, a little unicorn boy, about Venture's age. Four, a female earthpony glassmaker/carpenter. Five, female unicorn siege engineer. Six the mother of that unicorn boy, an earthpony stonecrafter. A female bone doctor and artist.
After those got in, a spearpony recruit by the name of Ramol ran out*4 to fight the enemy alone, save for his faithful pet grizzly bear. He charged a darkbolt with a crossbow, knocking a flying silver bolt away with his spear as he unleashed his battle cry. The dark bolt evades his weapon, another bolt, this one copper strikes him in the upper body, but seems to get stuck in his cloak (told Starkey we needed that cloth). He then stabs the dark bolt three times, the final blow strikes his chanform and cuts through the iron and bone, and pierces his brain. He turns and attacks a keishi pony archer, blocking another bolt with his spear. He bucks the archer in the chest and then stabs it repeatedly. At this point seeing as how he was actually holding his own, Starkey called for a charge. The airborne squad flew, under Otik orders, toward the ridge overlooking the battle, while the ground squad charged to help their comrade in arms. As his friends rushed in to help him, Ramol changed targets and stabbed, bit, and kicked the other Keishi. The other Diomodians fled for their lives, chased by his loyal bear, who limped on after them his leg bleeding from a wound, clearly in extreme pain. Khenal chases down the wounded Diomedian, dodges a copper bolt from his target, and finishes the pitiful creature. And the others scattered to the wind.
This bought precious time allowing the rest of the migrants to get inside. They included: a spear unicorn fresh from basic training, a pegasan thresher, who apparently forgot he could fly and walked around the walls. An earthpony butcher, a mace pony/cook, a pegasan siege engineer. Earthpony thresher, pegasan lye maker, Unicorn weapon-smith apprentice, another female unicorn ranger, unicorn butcher, unicorn potter, Legendary female Unicorn Glassmaker, earthpony fisher.
Charity's Journal End of Slate 96
Ramol's actions during the ambush may have been fool hardy, but no pony can doubt his results: he routed the whole group on his own. The others merely helped him mop up the already broken enemy. For his actions, he deserves some sort of reward. Perhaps he can be given better accommodations, but first, Thundersplinter needs to make a couple dozen more beds.
Excerps from the diary of ThunderSplinter:
Late Slate;
Watching the battle from the topmost part of the tower and urging the migrants to safety while watching the brave/foolhardy Ramol charge the foul Diomedians. Never before have I witnessed such selflessness - it is inspiring to say the least and deserving of reward; the very next masterwork bed I make should be his. Of course, that does mean, with all these new migrants, more beds need to be made. Fortunately, I am not alone in the carpentry workshops now, another pony works quietly in the second workshop. I haven't had much to do with him as he is a dedicated father and spends most of his free time with his family, and making more ponies as a consequence, heh.
Nicolta has demonstrated that the trap defenses are worth the effort to install them, perhaps they need to be expanded though. Maybe Charity will permit the carving of half a dozen enormous wooden corkscrews to bolster the initial defenses. I wonder if Nicolta needs assistance in the construction of traps? The business of making mechanisms does intrigue me and the air traffic tower might need some defenses from the rabid honey badger pegasi, something else that needs to be brought to Charity's attention. Should I just go ahead and do it myself? Yes, perhaps that's a better idea, shouldn't bother her with such trivial matters, what with her new foal, husband and ever-growing responsibilities.
ThunderSplinter.
Khenal's Book, Chapter 11
Last week, Cryptson discovered Adamantine! There are all kinds of legends about the metal, and the prospect of adamantine armor really excited me, then. I'm not so sure, now. Little Venture told me about a bad dream she had, and apparently her bad dreams aren't uncommon. Her dealings with Lolum make me want to take her dreams seriously. I suspect she is predisposed to magics of divination and awareness. I'll definitely need to put even more emphasis on control and concentration in our lessens. Madness is a real danger to ponies with abilities like hers.
Oh, I almost forgot: Dr. Friesden and I seem well on our way to becoming friends. Dropping in on her seems to have been a good idea. She was a little jumpy and odd at first, and she still is eccentric, but she did seem happy to have somepony to talk to. Almost all of her medical talk goes over my head, but her passion for it is plain to see.
Chapter 12
Nicolta Tesla recently finished setting up some traps at the entrances to Glitter Glen, and they've even stopped a few Diomedians. Unfortunately, they decided to attack in force today. Erib, one of our rangers, sent up the shout and lead them away from the fort. She saw the wave of migrants at the same time she spotted the ambush, and sacrificed herself to ensure their safety. A hooffull of migrants were able to dash inside while the Diomedians were distracted, but many more were still out in the jungle. One of the new spear ponies, Ramol, broke ranks and charged the Diomedians before Captain Starkey could order the charge.
My heart sank, I was certain we would witness his death in short order. However, he fell on those Diomedians like a pony possessed. The Captain ordered the charge and the Diomedians broke and fled. I finished one that Ramol had wounded, though several got away. Ramol is the hero of the day, though I think Captain Starkey is annoyed that he broke ranks and charged on his own. I'm just glad that so few ponies were hurt. Ramol broke the will of the Diomedians, but we must not forget Erib's sacrifice to ensure the safety of others.
The Journal of Cap'n Starkey
26th Slate, '96
Oh-ho-ho, so the Diomedians grew a pair, did they?
They came with a medium-sized raiding party, not an army - for which I am secretly grateful. Because if there had been many more of the bastards, Private Ramol's, ah, enthusiasm probably would've cost him his life. The moment the gate swung open to let some newcomers seek refuge, he was out the door and charging towards the Diomedian force at full gallop. It was all I could do to stop myself from ordering the charge early to save his sorry flank, but much to my surprise - and I'll admit, more than a little pride - the lad held his own just fine without us. By the time the rest of us got there, he had practically routed the raiders on his own!
I'll let Doc Friesden give Ramol the once-over just to be sure, then he gets first pick of new equipment when he gets back.
...which he will have the honor of wearing while he makes fifteen laps around the fortress walls. This fortress needs heroes son, not martyrs!
30th Slate, '96
Nothing happening today. Nothing much at all has happened since the attack a few days ago.
Last week, Head Miner Cryptson ran into an Adamantine pillar. I've had a little experience with the stuff: back in my city guard days, I got a small spool of woven adamantine thread from a curio shop, cost me most of a week's wages. I used the stuff to re-string my crossbow, and it was a wonder. I could crank her back as far as she would go, and the stuff wouldn't snap. Goddess, I had fun with that. Shame they confiscated it when - well, none of that matters anymore. All the same, It'll be nice to see what our smiths can do with the miracle metal.
Of course, there have been more than a few murmurs of concerns - apparently, my father wasn't the only one who liked to frighten little foals with old ponytales. Most worrisome is Khenal's diagnosis of the little filly Venture. Apparently she has been plagued by vivid nightmares as of late, but he believes them to be something much deeper than that. After the incident with Lolum's spirit, I'm inclined to agree with him.
Of course, now he intends to take her under his wing as his magical student or somesuch. As if he needed more work. I love the lad to death, I really do, and I trust his judgment completely, especially when it comes to the supernatural. But damn, does that boy need a marefriend. I see he took my advice about the good doctor, and they seem to be getting along well.
Friesden's diary.
Well, diary, what's happened now is quite strange. I seem to be getting along quite well with two ponies now: Nicolta Tesla and Khenal. Strange. I've got some strange memories. I think I need to rest. Night!
Friesden
WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO US?! We have the precious and our precious, why do we not fix them! We have the technology! We must do it now!
PS. Silly Friesden, trying to get back! You no can have body!
Love, Friesden!
Theropod Watcher's Journal
Entry 1
Hello Journal. I recently made a massive decision; I moved. While I loathe change, it was such a great opportunity for some quiet and peaceful engraving.
This place is called Glitterglen, and its smack dab in the middle of a hot, and miserably humid, rainforest. Luckily, my job keeps me deep in the cool and somber rock, allowing for deep thought. The more I thought, the better my art has become.
Its not all great though, we have been attacked by diomedians, and some ponies have died. There has also been talk of ghosts and spirits, I do hope the pony in charge doesn't go crazy with so called "Exorcists" like they did back home; those con artists brought such misery to those who were proclaimed "possessed".
I'm getting too worked up now, I'll go engrave some waves.*5
Theropod Watcher
Charity's Journal 11th Felsite, 96
Therleth, one of the recruits, has had a foal. and it's an adorable little unicorn filly.
I also noticed little Bubel, Ironya's first, isn't quite as little anymore. I saw him and Venture, Shigos (the unicorn pony foal from the last wave) and Peytral, playing in the water in the dinning room. Bubel's pretty quick for his size, but seemed to tire quickly and go back to mommy before the other kids where done playing, but it's good that Venture has a few ponies to play with that are closer to her own age. I latter spotted Peytral playing with Starkey's axe that he found lying in the barracks, Starkey must have been really tired to have left that lying around, he's never apart from it. I scolded him for playing with the militia's weapons and sent him home, but he didn't really seem to listen to me. Oh well.
15th Felsite 96
One of our fisherponies spotted a giant tiger while out bringing some wood to Thunder. Fortunately, no pony was hurt. I'd hate to harm such a majestic creature, perhaps Nicolta Tesla has some ideas about ways to catch it unharmed? I'll ask him over a nice pint of pegasan ale.
26th Hematite, 96
A pony by the name of Tunur Buzatadril has been made Mayor of Glitterglen. He's one of our best armorers and with our lack of materials apparently had the time to run for office while I was busy actually running this place. Damnit, I can't believe they voted for that mud pony over me. This is unacceptable, I'm going to have to do something about this.
And here comes the power trip, he's making demands already.*6
...He's just demanding the production of steel items!? We had already sent a work order for more steel arms and armor to the forges! See this is why you don't vote for some stupid mud pony, they don't even know what's going on in their own fortress!
3rd Malachite, 96
The Giant Tiger from before hasn't been seen since, but a few cage traps have been set up. Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll trigger one if it returns. If not, our militia can easily take care of it if it becomes dangerous.
5th Malachite, 96
Another group of migrants has arrived, about nine of them this time, lets see. That brings Glitterglen up to a population of 89, counting all the babies and children. Considering when we started out back in the spring of 94, we were just 7 outcasts we've really grown, I wonder if the government will try to claim us as a proper territory soon. But if they do, they'll probably start demanding we pay taxes to the princess.
Anyway 9 new ponies: one earth pony hunter, an eathpony metal crafter, an earthpony soldier, a unicorn wound dresser, A male Royal Pony architect/stonemason. A professional pegasan cook, and father of two kids, the mother didn't come with them, don't know the story there, probably don't want to ask. The kids are a pegasan boy nearly full grown, and his sister two years his younger who is an earth pony. A mechaninc, who is also a rather talented axe pony.
6th Malachite, 96
Ironya was surrounded by a strange purple glowing light today, as she was carrying some of her handy work upstairs to show the troops. She immediately dropped what she was carrying, ran downstairs, knocked the armor smith out of the forge room, grabbed a single bar of Adamantine and began to work.*7
9th Malachite, 96
Ironya has finished her work, the light has vanished, and she doesn't recall any of the experience. All she has to show for it is a large dagger, which she says is called Goodsnarled the Principle of Slowing. It is a very fine blade, and I'm sure our soldiers will all be fighting over who get's to carry it.
11th Malachite, 96
An unfortunate discovery has been made today: Cryptson, following a vein of cobalt, found a hollow area. Digging into it he found a room, connected to the fort through a crudely dug tunnel, hidden from sight behind a locked, unassuming door. In the room he saw a clear window, likely the one that went missing months before, and on the other side was a body. It seemed to be that of a male pegasus, Efim most likely, complete save for it's wings, which are missing. The body was impaled upon a copper spear, jutting out from the ground. The victim seemed to have been stabbed many times before falling. The spearing mechanism was connected to the lever in the room that Cryptson hit.
This was obviously some sort of murder, but what pony would/could do such a thing. Cryptson came to me first and together we told the mayor what he found. The three of us agreed to keep it quiet, at least until we know a little more about it. I think we need somepony in charge of protecting us from ourselves, somepony to track down and deal with criminals. I've told the mayor, and he asked me to appoint a captain of the guard, and possibly a few ponies under him, and I think I know just the pony for the job.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Charity calls Khenal into her office, and upon his arrival she explains to him the situation with the murder.
"Khenal, you are one of the most loyal, trustworthy, dedicated ponies that I know. Even Commander Starkey says almost nothing but good things about you. However, you are not fit to be a warrior; you lack the killer instinct for that. You, Khenal, are a protector, and I would trust you to protect any or all of the lives in Glitterglen, including myself. So Khenal, what do you say to the title, and rank, of Captain of the Guard of the Great Fortress Glitterglen?"
Venture's Book
Hi book. I saw Mr greywings today.
It was when we got that new ponies today. I heard that they were trapped behind some of those scarry looking ponies. I found him in the top dinning hall just leaning on the wall. I asked him if he was going to help those poor ponies, but he just shook his head and said 'nope, don't need too'. I was confused but then Private Ramol ran past to the gate super fast! He totally saved the day book! I didn't see it, but I hear it was supper awesome and stuff. Then Mr greywings said that he had to leave, and that he had stayed around for too long already. I said that I would miss him a lot, but he said that it was alright. He walked into some door I never saw before with Mr. Efim a really scared and confused looking pegasus and a cupple of other ponies I don't recognize and there was a bright light and...
They were gone.
I'm not as sad as I thought I would be. Actually, I'm sorta happy.
-
Sorry I haven't written in you for a long time book, so much stuff has been happing these days!
There's lots of new fillies and colts around now a days and it's super fun! We play all sorts of games and have adventures and all sorts of fun things. I never had this meany friends back at the town I use to live in! There are so many ponies hear! My family has to all share beads, but that's OK.
Mr. Tunur Was elected mayor too! I don't know what that means but there was a party and stuff so I guess it's a good thing. Ms. Charity wasn't happy though, but Andys' mom is always a sour puss.
Mr. Khenal has been teaching me magic, but weave been doing more boring control stuff again. He said we would try some other spells in this book he got from the last group of traders! That sounds supper cool!
-
Mr. Khenal has me doing a spell today!
It's called the 'floating illusion spell' or something. You just think of something and a shimmering image appears in the air. A lot of story tellers use it. Were starting small Khenal said, I just have to do a blue dagger. It's a hard spell, But I'm trying as hard as I can!
I know I can do it!
-
Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger Blue Dagger
* The rest of the page is made up of blue color drawings of a long dagger *
I don't think this is working book. I won't give up though! Goodness this is going really slowly!
Khenal's Book, Chapter 13
I bought another book today. No, not another Book, just a magic book. I'm not great with magic, and Venture is fast approaching the limits of my knowledge of the arcane arts. I asked the caravan to bring more books on magic the next time they came, so hopefully this one will last till then. Maybe the other caravans will have some books as well?
Chapter 14
One of the armorers apparently ran for mayor and won. Personally, I don't pay much attention to politics. I don't see why we need a mayor while we have Charity as our overseer. What does a mayor actually do? Eh, probably does paperwork so Mrs. Charity can do important things. I heard her grumbling something about steel production and right hooves and left hooves. I really should do something to let her know we all appreciate her. I wonder if Nicolta Tesla or Theropod Watcher accept commissions for engravings?
Chapter 15
Ironya just finished what is possibly the best dagger in all existence. It's made from Adamantine and is, well, perfect.
I've also seen it before.
Earlier this week, Venture and I were practicing illusion spells and she was working on making a blue dagger. I'm not sure if it's her talents in precognition or if she somehow influenced Ironya accidentally. If it's just her talent, then I think the work in concentration and control is paying off. She hasn't told me of any nightmares lately at least, which I take as a good sign. However, if she influenced Ironya, this could be very bad. I need to test this. I remember we got a caged raccoon a while ago, I wonder if it's been claimed yet? I'll try showing it to her and ask her to try to get it to dance. I really hope she fails to get it dancing; power like that is very dangerous. Not just to others, but herself as well.
Chapter 16
Mrs. Charity called me into her office today. I didn't know why. I mean, I like to think she's a friend, but being called to her office means official Glitterglen business. Maybe I did something wrong and didn't realize it? After the door was closed, she told me about a murder. I was horrified! How could anypony murder somepony? She also told me she didn't think I was cut out to be on the front lines of battle, either. I wanted to argue that point, but she wasn't finished. She said I was a protector, and there are official positions for protectors: Guards. And she wanted me to be the Captain of the Guard.
I just stared at her, dumbstruck, for a while. Then I started thinking of the various ponies in Glitterglen: Cryptson and Charity, Thunder Splinter, Dr. Friesden, Venture, Peytrel. From the founders to the ponies that immigrated just last week, all of them working hard to make Glitterglen all it can be. Commander Starkey and the rest of the military, working to protect us from foreign threats. But what about domestic threats? What about threats that come from below? Commander Starkey is the first line, but what if something get through? He can't be everywhere at once.
I told her I don't think much of the title and rank, but I'd take the position anyway. She's right about me, I'm no warrior. But I will do my best to ensure the safety of these ponies and capture the murderer. I just hope there isn't too much paperwork involved.
Friesden's Diary
Something strange is happening to me. Some times I black out. And then bad things happen. I don't remember why or how. I've got to do something.
I don't know why, but the other pegasi scare me. Khenal scares me more. I feel most comfortable with the earth ponies. Goddesses help me. It's coming again. I can feel it. Just finish this and lock my door again.
Friesden.
Friesden's diary.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH I WILL BE FREE I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE I WILL HAVE MY PRECIOUS AND MY PRECIOUS WILL HAVE THE PRECIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
Venture's Book
Hey book, I just got a supper idea today.
I remember how Mr. Khenal told me that he had a pair of wood wings, and Shigos always wondered how having wings is like. It's the perfect plan! Mr. Khenal said he left them with Ms. Friesden, so we went to her office to ask her. She looked really nervous when we asked her, but she said we could borrow them. They were so cool! They didn't even look wooden or anything! And they had real feathers on them all colored red and stuff. They smelled a little odd but still, so cool! A little string and they sit right on Shigos back! Then Ms. Friesden said she would teach us how to fly! She led us up to the surface and told us to go over to a hill out away from the fortress while she got some thing she forgot. I hope she come's back soon, I can't wait! You know sometimes when I look at her, I think I can see-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ello? Whats this?"
The two fillys look back in shock at the appearance of at the new pony. Venture quickly stuffs her book into her saddlebag. Before them stands a strange new pony.
"Dva malenky pegiez out and about I viddy*8. No, you got horns on your gullivers don't you?"
"Ummm..." The two fillies shift under the gaze of the frightening pony before them.
"Well, Beg your pardoon magntesy." The sikly colored pony preforms a mock bow to the frightened fillies. Venture finally speaks up.
"Were not suppose to talk to strangers an-"
"Me eemyas SkrillCoal. Guss I'm not a stranger-danger now am I?"
"Well, ya I guess but-"
"Say!" The pony walks closer to the two. "How would you like something to munch? My droogs and me are having a git-to-get over the way, would you like to join?"
"No thanks we-"
"Come now, I insist!"
A short scream comes from behind Venture as a shadowbolt grabbs Shigos by her newfoud wings. The pony, now revealed as a keshi, approaches the little helpless filly. In her desperation, the filly shouts out.
"Stop!"
Much to everyponies surprise, and against all reason, it actually works. The keshi stopps in in his tracks. Seeing the effectiveness of her statement, she decides to go for broke.
"Now, you, um... you leave us alone right now!"
The keshi gives a blank stare for a few moments before turning to his compatriot.
"Oy! Lets itty. These malenky sods ain't worth the trubble, lets get-gone."
Needless to say, this confuses the shadowbolt to no end, a confusion compounded by the filly in his mouth shedding it's wings and running off. The two Diomedian ponies, too confused by the whole turn of events, fail to give chase. Said foals manage to quickly make it to the safety of the fort, only to face another, far more frightening foe: A very angry looking Commander Starkey.
Charity's Journal 12th Malachite, 96
Khenal accepted the position of Captain of the Guard. I've also assigned a few ponies to work under him, including the unicorn mare ranger, and the other hunter; both are pretty good shots. Also, three others who have had very basic weapon training, in axes, hammers, and hooves respectfully. Khenal will have his work cut out for him turning them into competent guards, but I trust him. We are going to start digging out a small office for Khenal, and a little prison cell, for our murderer.
With the fate of Efim now known, I've decided to make a small memorial for him. I don't want to disturb the body just yet. Khenal will probably still want to look it over for any clues he can find.
14th Malachite, 96
Disaster, a complete disaster. As our engravers where digging little windows into the adamant, to check for the beasts of legend that supposedly live underneath the blue metal, a mistake was made and the great magma sea was breached. Three lumps of raw adamant were covered in deep magma, and a lot that could have been mined is now unsafe. Fortunately, no pony was hurt. However, this is still very disappointing. It might be possible to use magma pumps to clear the area, but it won't be easy.
Addendum:
I've had a request come across my desk for the production of a half dozen enormous wooden corkscrews to bolster our trap defenses. I've decided to allow it and will have the manager fill out the appropriate paperwork for a rush job.
17th Malachite, 96
Tislam, one of the farmers, just had a little girl. Such a cute little unicorn.
19th Malachite, 96
Khenal's office is coming along splendidly; once it's smoothed, it might even be better than mine. We decided the room needed a few statues, Pillomino made one of herself carving a cabinet. Not wanting to be outdone by her, I crafted a beautiful statue of myself, showing the day I was chosen as Overseer. Khenal seemed uncomfortable with this selection of statues for his office, but I can't imagine why? Cryptson decided to dig out five different cells, and a private barracks for the Town Guard. In each of the cells we will place a single zinc chain, a bed, a table, a chair, and two barrels, one for food, and the other for drink.
Khenal's Book Chapter 17
Ugh, the position does come with paperwork duties. Gotta suck it up, but it doesn't mean I have to like the stuff. The murder scene was a huge mess. The body was almost totally bones, which I was thankful for. After all, bones don't really have much odor to them. Death looked to have come from multiple stab wounds from my old copper spear. Damnit, I knew I should have made sure it was accounted for! The amount of blood everywhere, along with a multitude of gashes in the bones says it took poor Efim a while to die.
His wings are missing. How they were removed is a mystery. They could have been simply ripped off or removed with great care, there aren't any nicks in the bones around where the wings should have been attached. The window and lever to actuate the spear indicate we are dealing with one sick pony. Whoever they are, they watched as Efim was repeatedly impaled. Grr, I'm too angry to continue right now, my Book. I'm going to go train, hopefully work this off before meeting the rest of the guard for the first time as their captain.
Chapter 18
Goodness, was I this terrible when I first signed up for martial training? The two rangers are doing quite well, but the other recruits need serious work. I'm gonna ask Commander Starkey for advice, and to see if he can still help me in my personal training. I also need to ask the Captain of the ranged squad for advice on how to train the rangers.
The Adamantine mining area suffered a huge blow recently. Apparently, they sprung a small magma leak, and couldn't stop it before the area flooded. The blue metal still makes me uneasy, but it's hard to argue against mining the stuff. Afterall, that dagger is truly a thing of beauty.
Chapter 19
Dr. Friesden has been even odder than usual lately. She practically jumped out of her skin when I greeted her in the hall earlier today. Maybe she's worried about the murderer? I asked her to examine what was left of the body, so she knows about it. She made a whole bunch of detailed observations about the body and also the potential state-of-mind of the murderer. Most of what she said went over my head, but she did say that the wings were carefully removed. If they were ripped off, there would have been damage to the surrounding bones as well.
The new jail is coming along quite well; five cells and a barracks for the Guard. Speaking of jails, my office is coming along quickly as well. The statues are...interesting. The one depicting Mrs. Charity becoming the overseer makes sense, but the other one is just plain odd. I appreciate that it must have been a good cabinet, but does it really need a statue commemorating it's construction?
Chapter 20
Thunder Splinter spotted a wounded badgerpegasus, so the Guard was called to put it out of it's misery. That reminded me of the hunting Commander Starkey had us do to help us learn tactics and teamwork. I asked Mrs. Charity to allow me to take the Guard hunting, and she agreed. To the hunt!
Exceprt from the diary of ThunderSplinter;
Early Galena:
While checking the stability of the Air Control Tower - I am quite pleased with progress, and it just needs a few more levels to be acceptable - I noticed a wounded honey badger pony struggling away from one of Nicolta's traps, and the bored Fortress Guard was easily stirred into action.
After that bit of excitement, and installing a few more wooden blocks, I received confirmation to build wooden corkscrews which I hope will secure the fortress from invasion.
In other news, the experiment with ground up fish scales did not go well. The effect was interesting, but was more like iridescent glitter than the pearleascence I was aiming for, plus the fact that it still ponged like fish, and the fisherpony gladly supplied some dried fish, but the scales lost most of their iridescence and grinding them up just made a really fine powder that smelled like fish. Might have to abandon that avenue for a while and go with Ironya's suggestion of powdering some metal, the miners have located small depsotis of cobaltite which we might be able to make into something worthwhile.
After some tweaking in the carpentry shop, I was able to construct a passable brush by using the tail hairs of the latest batch of honey badger ponies, they have been a source of inspiration as well as filling the pantry. Speaking of which, time for some cupcakes and midnight berry wine.
ThunderSplinter.
Friesden's diary
By all the gods, goddesses, demigods, heroes and any other deities you can think of!
Some pony has -killed- another here! Watched them BLEED TO DEATH AS THEY WERE STABBED REPEATEDLY IN FRONT OF THEM LIKE THE STOP IT! Or I'll get Khenal! YOU WOULDN'T DARE, YOU COWARD! YOU DON'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO I said stop it! I won't warn you again! HA! I KNOW WHO KILLED THE PONY AND SO DO YOU! I'M YOUR ONLY CHANCE OF SURVIVAL. No, you're not! Khenal would help me! NO HE WOULDN'T. HE'S JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHERS, HATING EVERYPONY BUT THEMSELVES. BUT I CARE ABOUT YOU no you don't! You just want to do your experiments on them! But I'm telling you HE KNOWS, YOU KNOW, AND I KNOW. ONLY ONE OPTION, EH? I won't kill Khenal! No matter what, I'd rather die than kill a pony! I'LL DO IT FOR YOU, THEN. WE NEED THOSE WINGS BACK SO WE CAN FRAME HIM FOR THE CRIME I told you no! We're not killing anyone else! It'll die down soon, then I'll deal with you properly.
Charity's Journal 3rd Galena, 96
Thundersplinter called out, from the top of her tower that she's still working diligently on, that a Honey Badger Pony had been injured by the traps leading into the fortress. The Fortress Guard put the creature out of it's misery. Knowing where there is one of those things their is more, Khenal lead his squad on a merry little hunt, killed about 6 more of them. Great, more Badger Pony pie.
Addendum:
As the the ponies where returning from the hunt, and we were bringing in the badger carcasses. Something shown brightly upon the Horizon.
Gods save us all.*9
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Author's Notes
1 The exclamation points indicate that the science is on fire. Anyone who has played Dwarf Fortress knows that any science applied is almost certain to involve something bursting into flames. I could go on about ‼SCIENCE‼, but I wont. If you wish more information, df.magmawiki.com should have more than you want.
2 Masons can make statues, and will often depict things of historical significance. As you can see from the image, they are not always the most flattering. Additionally, they can receive unhappy thoughts if any of their masterworks are stolen/destroyed.
3 A silver whip might not sound like much of a weapon, but a quirk of damage calculations makes it very deadly. Whips are very fast, the crack they make is actually a small sonic boom. Silver is very dense. Combine something very heavy going very fast with the small contact area of a whip, and you suddenly have a very potent weapon. A potent weapon that makes physics weep. See ‼SCIENCE‼ above.
4 This may have been less an act of heroism and more an act of greed. At this point, the unicorn ranger is dead. When somebody dies, their stuff is up for grabs. Dwarves (or in this case, ponies) will often rush out in the middle of a battle to claim their new sock from the foot of the fallen.
5 Similar to masons and statues, Stone detailers will often carve things of importance to the fort. If they don't feel like recording history, or nothing interesting has happened, they will carve things like waves, squares, trees and animals.
6 The various actual nobles will make demands depending on their likes. These demands and mandates can range from literally impossible to laughably easy. Nobles with difficult/impossible likes tend to have unfortunate accidents. See ‼SCIENCE‼ above.
7 Few things make a player happier than a weaponsmithing mood that works on adamantine. Not only will you get an utterly divine weapon (barring warhammers...), you are likely to have a legendary weaponsmith as well. Unfortunately, Ironya didn't get the skill gain.
8 I have no idea what this means. The Diomedians here speak a dialect of English called Nadsat. I won't be translating anything they say. Partially because I think their speech gives them great character, and partially because these notes can get away from me really easily.
9 Our first Titan! Or is it a Forgotten Beast? I always forget which is which. Bronze Colossi are very bad news; being made of bronze and having no organs makes them very tough. The accepted methods of dealing with one are to either swarm it with melee fighters or apply a cave in. See ‼SCIENCE‼ above.
One final note: How does everypony like the occasional picture from the game? I don't think I'll be adding very many of them, but every so often when I don't feel like typing out the long descriptions they show.