Archjoin! A Dwarf Fortress Let's Play

[Alucard]

"This is it! Perfect!"

The dwarven woman leapt from the wagon, a broad smile etching lines in her pale pink cheeks. "This is where we will make our home."

"Here?" A second dwarf climbed unsteadily from the wagon, "Are you sure this is the best spot?"

The muscular woman wheeled about and glared at her friend. "And what, my dear Aban, is wrong with here?"

Aban immediately began to regret upsetting the woman. Thikut, he was fairly confident, could crush his skull like a ripe plump helmet if she were inclined to do so. He licked his lips as his brain searched for an answer that would pacify the fuming expedition leader. "It's not that there's anything wrong, per se. It's just not very, uh, traditional is all."

Thikut's face relaxed into an amused expression. "Traditional? I thought we came out here to get away from tradition. If you want to turn around and go back to the mountainhomes now..."

A loud thwack drew their attention to a nearby tree. "If you two have enough time to bicker..." The skinny dwarf hefted his copper axe for another swing. "...you have time to work." *thwack*

"Zas is right," Thikut began, "there's work to be done. Spring won't last forever."

A dwarf came around the wagon hefting a pair of pickaxes. "That's all well and good for him," he sneered in the direction of the axedwarf, "but these woods seems to be lacking a certain...something."

The leader walked over to him, her bulky frame towering over him as she leaned in. "If it's stone you speak of, Asmel," Thikut smirked, taking a pick from the miner's hand, "you only ever need to look down. Let's go, people! Strike the earth!"



Welcome friends, to my humble fortress. What's that? Dwarf Fortress? Let's Play? These mean nothing to you? Then allow me to explain.

Dwarf Fortress is a computer game made by Tarn Adams. It randomly generates an entire world in which you take a band of dwarves into the wilderness and attempt to create a home for them to survive in. This often ends in FUN (read: horrible death) and everything gets saved, so that each fort you create persists in the world. You can then take a single adventurer and explore the darkened halls of your fortress/deathtrap. One of DF's biggest draws is the amount of minute detail it tracks, from a dwarf's favorite food to the medical history of its right middle toe.

Sounds fun, right? Well the interface is confusing at best and there are NO graphics. Colored letters and punctuation denote everything you see from a pesky k (that's a kobold, folks) to a terrifying D (dragon). I'll do my best to decode this for you as we go along.

As far as Let's Plays go, it is essentially me playing a game and posting it on the internet for your entertainment and edification. With Dwarf Fortress, this often means crafting a meta-narrative to tie things together based on the events of the game. Most of the LP will just be me explaining what's going on, with these vignettes adding flavor.

Fair warning: This is my first LP and I'm by no means a writer. We'll see how this goes.

Welcome to Archjoin

Click for map!

Here we are at Archjoin. A peaceful little place in the Steppe of Balancing. The brook which travels through the northern half of the site offers us a ready source of fresh water, and there are plenty of trees and plants for us to gather.



This is the first thing we see. The smiley faces are our dwarves, the letters are our livestock, and the brown rectangle is the wagon carrying all of our stuff. On the right side is the minimap with the X showing where our screen is centered. The map can be toggled on and off, as well as another panel which shows a list of commands for the different menus.

I should begin clearing trees and digging an entrance tunnel immediately, but before I start on that let's introduce our intrepid dwarves.


Thikut Bannerwet is our expedition leader and will also work as a miner until we can get a reasonable space carved out. She has traveled here with her old friend Aban to seek her fortune, in due reverence to Istrath Istrathlimar, the god of wealth, of course. Though typically the cheerful sort, Thikut has a bit of temper and the physical strength to let it get her in trouble.


Aban Mouthbust is our farmer. What he lacks in strength of limb, he makes up in patience and kindness. A natural friend to everyone he meets, Aban has long served to balance Thikut's impulsiveness and seems to be the glue that holds the band together.


Iden Mirrorknives is our butcher, tanner, cook, and brewer and all around in charge of making sure we're not subsisting on raw berries. An easy-going sort, Iden has always wanted to be a poet, or an artist, or anything really. Unfortunately, he's always been too afraid to let himself really try.


Asmel Gemgifts is a miner by trade and a romanticist by heart. He claims that Mostib himself, god of jewels, beckons him beneath the earth so that dwarves may delight in the beauty of his gems. His artistic side tends toward the macabre, and he is prone to fits of melodrama.


Zas Fieldglazes, our resident woodworker, is not exactly what one would call a friendly sort. He prefers to be working out amongst the trees, where he seldom is forced to endure other people. While not exactly spiteful, his stern, antisocial demeanor makes him difficult to interact with. Some dwarves take this personally, and he and Asmel have a longstanding grudge over "philosophical differences".


Ushrir Gulfsmiths is our Chief Medical Dwarf. A man of intellect, he began studying medicine less out of philanthropy than out of scientific curiosity. Fascinated by disease and infestation, Ushrir nonetheless puts his patients' wellbeing first...most of the time.


Fikod Attictell was raised in the service of Gigin, goddess of death, war, and fortresses. The only member with any sort of military ability, she will serve as our guard captain. Until defense becomes necessary, she will keep her marksdwarfship sharp by hunting the local fauna.

So let's get started!


I begin by designating an entrance tunnel just north of the wagon. The triangles you see there are ramps leading down.



I go down a layer until I reach stone, which turns out to be microcline, a pretty, bright, cyan stone.


I order a tunnel dug southwards to carve out a space which will be used for the trade depot.


The tunnel then continues south to the fortress' central shaft. A grand staircase (those Xs) will be the only means of traveling between levels, at least for now. Eventually, the tunnel there will be filled with elaborate engravings to impress and inspire migrants and visitors, and deadly traps to protect from hostile invaders. Hopefully we won't get those two groups confused.


I go back up to the dirt level in order to get our farms up and running, but I have to dig almost all the way back up to the entrance in order to escape stone. That's okay, though, as that gives us space for storehouses and workshops to the south.

Ignore the staircase(>) in the plans there. It was going to allow quicker access between the kitchen and dining halls before I incorporated them into the residential level itself.



This will be the residential area, with dining halls directly off the shaft and quarters branching off from that. I've designated four wings, but only one will be dug immediately. I can connect the others quickly to expand as needed.


Further down, I have set up room for some workshops and storage. This will be the main work floor where we will construct and craft what we need for the fortress as well as goods to trade with passing caravans.


Back up on the farm level, I have to adjust the plan for the presence of more stone. Here you can see the Buildings menu, from which I am selecting farm plots. I have set three separate plots in the room so that we can grow different crops at the same time, and the lower room will serve as a stockpile for our seeds.


Here you can see I've got a few workshops built, out of microcline for a bit of contrast. I've got a carpenter's shop working on beds so our dwarves can stop sleeping on the ground, but I'll have to wait for the rooms to be carved out before I can place them.


In the meantime, I've instructed any dwarf with nothing better to do to begin smoothing stone in our entrance hall. It keeps them busy and is good exercise to boot.

Spring ends with work moving along slowly but surely. The first year or so of a fortress tends to be pretty uneventful, nothing too exciting hap-



-pening...

[Alucard]

"Ma'am! A flock of birds has been spotted at the wagon!"

Thikut paused from her work carving out bedrooms and turned to face the marksdwarf. "Great!" She exclaimed, "Will we be having roast fowl for dinner then? If there is nothing else, Fikod, I have work to do. We don't want to be sleeping on the floor forever."

"They've stolen a copper battle axe, ma'am."

Thikut's brass-tinted eyes bulged more than usual. "What kind of bird makes off with an entire battle axe?"

"They appear to be some kind of parrot, ma'am. Shall I shoot them?"

Thikut closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes, of course. Go do what you do, huntress."

The leader listened to the footsteps trail away and grabbed her pick. She resumed her work, the pick ringing as it struck the stone walls so that she nearly didn't hear the huntress returning. Fikod stood silently in the doorway, staring at the floor.

"Well?" Thikut asked, "Are they gone?"

Fikod shook her head, but refused to make eye contact with the muscular miner.

"Well, what happened?" Thikut snapped, growing more impatient by the second.

The marksdwarf's emerald eyes glanced up to meet her leader's.



"It stole your crossbow."

Fikod nodded.

"Right out of your hands."

Another nod.

"A little bird."

Fikod returned her gaze to the floor.

Thikut clenched her fists and stomped over to the doorway. "Look," she ordered through gritted teeth, "you go and chase them away from the wagon while the rest of us try to get everything inside."

The marksdwarf released the breath she had been holding the whole time and ran towards the fort's entrance.


These. These assholes.

So, some big dumb parrots dropped by and decided to help themselves to anything just lying around. I activated my military, which consists of my single marksdwarf, who promptly decided that her hunting crossbow and quiver were not up to the task and proceeded to try to catch them with her bare hands. Needless to say, the results were less than spectacular and the keas managed to make off with my only crossbow.

Of course, I completely fail to get any screenshots of this. But there is a ray of hope! My first migration wave has arrived...and it consists of three dwarves. A single family even, husband, wife, and daughter. Let's hope they at least have useful skills.


Meng Pointoars is a great bone carver and a pretty good weaponsmith on top of that. In short, completely useless at the moment, I turn on crossbow-making so we can get our ranger back out in the field, but otherwise he'll be doing odd jobs until the forges are up and running.


Ducim Fencecrow is an...hold on, who puts "Animal Dissector" at the top of their resume? This is a fortress, not some mad science laboratory. Okay, she has a smattering of random other skills. Milking, Dyeing, Beekeeping...whatever. Grab a chisel and start smoothing the walls until we can find something useful for you to do.


Vucar Tonedtouches is the daughter of Meng and Ducim. As a mere child of two, she can, well, here's what her labor preferences look like:

Dwarven children are notoriously independent until they reach adulthood at the age of twelve. They will do certain jobs, such as harvesting, of their own accord, but will mostly just hang around the meeting halls socializing. Little Vucar will most likely grow up to be either a simple farmer or Mayor of Archjoin. I'd say 50/50.

With their help, we manage to get everything inside the fort and disassemble the wagon. Work continues on excavating and smoothing the dormitories and I order the miners to begin digging out the southern wing.


The three southernmost rooms will be the expedition leader's suite, consisting from left to right of a bedroom, office, and dining room. With these furnishings, Thikut will be able to take on the rest of the administrative roles. She shall serve as manager, broker, and bookkeeper, at least until someone more qualified comes along.

The rest of the summer passes us by and fall comes with little fanfare. While mucking about with the farms, I bring up the status screen and realize we are critically low on booze!

This will not do, but unfortunately it seems we've baked most of our brewable plants into biscuits.

In the meantime, I have forbidden the use of plump helmets and booze in recipes and ordered some livestock to be butchered to supplement our rations. Ducim, the Animal Dissector, will have the opportunity to add to her already eclectic skill set, as I have ordered her to take up cheese making. We'll need plenty of food stored up when winter arrives.



Of course, more mouths to feed. Looks like a spinner(useless), a butcher(helpful), and a blacksmith, who would be useless, but it appears he likes to fish in his spare time. If the brook can yield us any bounty, we should be perfectly fine until the caravan arrives. Better yet, each of our newcomers has some combat experience, so we may be able to start a REAL militia.


Kubuk Pickscribes is a young woman of only 17, but she is already a butcher by trade and a hammerdwarf by necessity. She left her family in the mountain halls of Igathkogan, seeking the thrill of adventure. As a girl who loves to defy convention, she ought to fit in well here.



Onget Galleymaroon and Kivish Bellmazes are husband and wife. They have travelled here with their son and daughter, although I haven't seen younger pair since the group arrived. Formerly of Fathkilrud, Kivish shot and killed four goblins at the dark fortress Stealcrowd and Onget took his mace into combat against the goblin Osnun Leakhatred in the year 301. Onget is a metalcrafer, but his fishing skills will be more immediately useful. Kivish's spinning experience will overlooked in favor of her combat skills.

Now we just have to get everything ready before the trade caravan arrives.

[Alucard]

Thikut was leading animals out to pasture when she spotted three figures in the distance. "Migrants!" she eagerly told herself, and ran out to meet them. As she drew nearer, she was able to ascertain that these were indeed dwarves, a man, a woman, and a young lady. "Hello there! Welcome to Archjoin!"

The man and woman stepped forward. "I am Onget and this is my wife, Kivish. Thank Sheced, we're finally here."

"My name is Thikut and on behalf of Archjoin, I welcome you and your daughter to our home."

The young woman let out a sharp breath, not quite a laugh. The couple looked at her, then each other. "Oh, she's not our daughter. Our children will be here with the rest of the group."

"There's more of you? Well, come inside and I'll show you around." Thikut turned and began to walk back. After a short ways, she halted; the travellers weren't following.

A woman's voice came from behind. "So the meeting hall has been prepared for us, then?"

Thikut turned and stared. "Well, the dining hall is nearly finished..."

"Oh that's all right, dear. We'll wait 'til you're ready."

Thikut felt blood rush to her face. "Suit yourself," she said through gritted teeth and stomped back to the fortress.

---------------------

Aban reviewed the ledger that Thikut had handed him. Ten more dwarves meant supplies would be stretched even thinner, and as chief farmer that weight fell squarely on his shoulders. He took a deep breath and descended the stairs to the dining hall. His worries vanished as he gazed upon the newcomers; he always loved maiking new friends.

The farmer approached a woman who appeared to be gazing approvingly at a chair. He smiled, "I take it everything is to your liking."

The woman looked up. "Oh yes. Fine, fine seats you have here." Aban stumbled back as two children chased a third between him and the woman. "You'll have to excuse the children," she continued, "they are excited to be back beneath the earth. You know how children get on long trips. I'm Erith and this is my husband, Edem." She gestured toward a scrawny, long-haired dwarf bent over a table. "Edem!"

The dwarf jerked up. "Oh! Hi! Sorry, I was just admiring the stonework here. How are you, um..."

"Aban." the farmer replied.





The children made another lap around the table and the little girl in front hid behind Erith, clinging to her mother's dress. The other two stopped for a moment, then the other girl shoved the boy and they both ran laughing to the other end of the room. The girl stepped out and looked up at the farmer. "Hi! I'm Uthat!"

Aban knelt down and smiled. "Hello, Ushat. Are you liking your stay so far?"

"It'th wunnerful! I can't wait to thow Alath!"

Edem gave a weird, tense laugh and returned to examining the table. Erith pet her daughter's head. "Run and play now, Ushat." she said softly. The girl ran to join the others, oblivious to the change in her parent's tone.

Aban fixed his eyes on the report in his hands and spoke quietly, "That is something I wished to ask you about. The documents say that you have another child."

"Alath, our son." Erith spoke solemnly, "He...could not come with us."

The farmer continued to stare at the report. "Thank you, I will update our records accordingly. Forgive me for troubling you."

Kulet Earthclashed and Onol Singesteels are the children of Onget and Kivish. Ages four and three respectively, they have a lot of childhood ahead of them. If they can avoid any number of grisly, horrible deaths until they reach adulthood, I'll probably make Kulet a soldier, as he already shows a fondness for maces. Onol could put her compassionate nature to good use as a doctor, but we'll wait and see what is needed when the time comes.

Reg Rimrope is a ninety-year-old carpenter from Usenkadol. She is also has excellent social skills, for what it's worth.

Erith Bodiceentrance is a proper fisherdwarf, I mean she's a novice fisherdwarf, but a proper novice fisherdwarf. Born in Ostarkadol, she moved to Fathkilrud where she met Edem Hamecrowns. They were soon wed and had two children. It seems that only one traveled with them, however, Ushat Landroads.

Once everyone gets settled, the new butcher goes straight to work repleneshing our food stocks. The remains will be used to make bone crafts for trading. In fact, it doesn't take long before Meng gives us our first masterpiece.





I've also instructed the engravers to carve festive images in the entry hall to impress the traders.



Alright, table-cut gems are the emblem of our civilization. That's good.



Okay...



Guys! Enough with the gems already!



Trees? Well mahogany is fun to say. Mahogany.



No, I said "festive".



GUYS! FESTIVE!



Okay, you guys are just morbid. Maybe someone else should...



Aww, Thikut loves aardvarks. You guys are alright.





Oh crap! The caravan's here and we haven't even started on the depot! Quick, who knows architecture? Anyone? Where's everyone going? I don't care if it's dinner time, the traders aren't gonna sit around out there while you stuff your faces.

Alright, so I mess around a bit activating jobs on whatever dwarves are available, only to have them promptly drop everything to go get food or go to bed. Eventually, I get Fikod to build the thing...



...and she promptly falls asleep on the smack dab in the middle of it. Well, at least it's finished and I can try to get some much needed supplies.



The traders begin to bring in their wares, but the wagons had already passed us by, or maybe the tunnel's not wide enough. Anyway, I order all our crafts brought to the depot.



Here we go, I trade for a bunch of wood, all their live animals and plump helmets, but they only had one barrel of dwarven ale, so I'll have to get on brewing immediately. They leave with a bunch of useless bone crafts, including this snazzy figurine of the queen.





The outpost liaison gives us their export requests. These are the items they will pay extra for on their next arrival. Unfortunately, items such as scepters and the oddly specific wooden earrings can't be made directly. I can only order crafts to be made and hope those are among them. Anyway, thank you Tobul Holdsilver. Have a nice trip. See you next fall.





And with the arrival of winter, the brook freezes over. I begin working on surface fortifications, a wall and moat.



And these feathery assholes are back, interrupting all my work. Maybe I can trap one or two of them, put them in the meeting hall where the kids can poke at them mercilessly. Serves them right. But first, I need something shiny for bait. Let's get the biggest, shiniest gem we can find and bait this trap.

Unfortunately, the large gem we need is a random occurrence when cutting gems, so before I manage to make one, the keas bugger off with a few wild berries.

I'll get you next time, keas...next time...