the next challenge!

So, I get to make the next challenge, and I got something cool in mind.

The world is full of dark places, and not the good kind of underground darkness that lets Plump Helmets grow. No, this is the evil, nasty, *goblin* kind of darkness. The (good kind) of light must be brought to these places.

It's time for a religious mission!

You have been chosen by the king to bring the touch of the dwarves gods to an area of evil. To archive this you must build an icon to attract the gods attention, and what better then a giant statue?
The statue must be built out of walls and floors, and the better the material used, the better. However, so as to not take away from the glory of the statue no other buildings or stockpiles may be above ground. No trenches may be dug, unless you fill them with lava. In fact, if it's not directly related to building the statue, don't build it above ground.

Finally, pump up magma to surround the statue in magma or, better yet, have it pour out of the statue somehow.

Elves and humans are not worthy of the dwarven light. Seize all goods their caravans bring and if they sent a diplomat, kill them.

(Note: danger rooms are fine, as are traps (built underground) to defend the inside of your fortress)

So...

I got a message saying I won with the following song about how hard my fortressed failed.

We were told great fortunes lie

For those who brave the darkest pits

So we did down to the caves

And found the place was shit

We started out with simple things

Some beds, some farms, a stockpile of food

But then a Toad ate one guy

La di da da ditity dai!

---

Despite the death we struggled on

For the riches we could gain

Gems abounded within those walls

But they're also filled with pain

A croc attacked, we lost a dwarf

At that point I think we lost our minds

We all attacked, we went for the kill

La di da da ditity dill!

---

We chase the croc away, away

We were happy to see it go

But then the bloody toad came back

Bearing gifts of death and woe!

He joined the croc and killed us all

Until there was only one last dwarf

Mad from grief with bloodshot eyes

La di da da ditity dai!

---

So there was one last dwarf

Foaming mad and short of breath

He went after an Antmen nest

To end it all with his death.

He died of course, so listen here

If ever you're told of riches to be found

You tell them to fuck off and die

La di da da ditity dai!

---

Yeah...it wasn't a very successful endeavour.

Fortress 1...FAILED

Ok, all dwarves are dead. It also seems that DF is hanging on saves at the moment. Probably have to restart my computer before the next attempt.

Speaking of next attempt, I'm gonna try a much more militarised embark squad. Damn toads.

3rd Felsite 251

What do you do when you've only got one dwarf left that's being chased by a pack of hostile antmen?

If your me you break out the pop-corn and play Yakety Sax.

Look at them run!

19th Slate 251

Oh for fu...

The cave crocodile just killed my last miner...

That's it, everyone attacking that crocodile till it dies, and then we'll go attack the random ant man colony I found.

And then...we'll re-embark...

12th Slate 251

Ok, that worked out not too bad. The toad is dead (hurrah) and the crocodile is in bad shape and running away. I've still got 5 dwarfs left, but I'm not going to need some beds for a hospital and a medical dwarf asap.

Down to 5 dwarfs so far.

EDIT: scratch that, none of the remaining dwarfs have been injured :D

8th Slate 251

Oh crap, the toad and the crocodile have made some unholy alliance and are now attack my dwarfs together, starting with one of my miners.

Feeling desperation kick in, I've assigned the remaining 6 dwarfs into a military squad and sending them all to attack both.

26th Granite 251

Annnd... my hunter is dead. She went hunting and found a cave crocodile. So I assume she bit of more then she could chew and the cave crocodile atta...

NO WAIT. IT WAS A TOAD. A GIANT FUCKING CAVE TOAD BIT BOTH OF HER ARMS OFF AND SHE BLED TO DEATH.

What kind of dwarf dies to a fucking toad?

Ok, turns out the toad is 3 times the size of a dwarf. That'll do it. Time to build some coffins I guess.

17th granite 251

Where the fuck are these short little bastards gonna sleep? Not like I can mine out a fucking room for them.

I foresee some unhappy dwarves in the future...

12th granite 251

Started embark site, have found caverns at level -47. Started mining and expanding some open cavern areas for working and setting up some things. Setting up farm block, carpenter and stone masons firstly to get some basics going. Plenty of wood on upper levels for now bring down. lots of flux stone as well.

Decent looking embark site IF I DIDN’T HAVE TO GO DIE HAVE FUN IN THE CAVERNS.

Ok...

So this is my blog an doing the reddit.com/r/dwarffortress weekly mandates. This weeks mandate...

" The challenge this week is that you must immediately dig into the caverns and build everything inside them. You may have one depot on the surface, but other than that everything must be in the caverns, rooms, nobles, barracks, dining halls, stockpiles, everything."

Oh joy...