Erith’s Diary

Chapter two:

The Journal of Erith Dakurvad

Excerpt’s From The Book Of Erith 22:5

2nd slate. 1051, Mid spring.

After a brief and somewhat subdued ceremony, we dubbed our new home Edem Rimtar, the fortress of the key, in honor of our lord and master, for it is by his grace alone that we have made it here safely. Although we are all somewhat daunted by the sheer magnitude of the task at hand, morale is high at finally arriving safely at our destinations end.  Although we seek ever to greater the glory of armok through grand works and sacrifice, our immediate goals for the coming year are in fact modest.  After the ceremony, we set about at once finding a suitable site to serve as our temporary shelter; a defensible position out of the elements with fresh water and room enough to store our dwindling stocks.

Eschewing the river valley as too exposed, we climbed a shot distance up the steep mountain side, there we found a small spring of fresh water  next to a outcropping of rough tsavorites clinging to a sheer  mountain wall.  Taking the precious gemstones as a sign, we put to and in short order had four medium sized burrows carved out. After a few feet of soft loam, hard mica was encountered, and embedded in it were more gemstones which were put aside for later use.

Fearing the onset of night, the wagon was then broken down and  the timbers used to construct makeshift beds by  Zulgar.  While all this was going on,  I busily cut and shaped  some rough doors out of the larger mica chunks, and some crude cabinets to store our prized positions in.  As evening set in, The last of the goods from our wagon were packed into the newly dug srorerooms and we all huddled in tired, hungry, but hopefull. We have arrived! All glory to the blood god.

The Vital stats of Erith

[Given that for many Dwarves, their entire existence is spent working to improve the beauty and functionality of the fortress, it seemed to me fitting that the most prominent and revered position one could aspire to in Dwarven society would be the architect, as who else has greater power to change the lives of his fellow Dwarves. I chose Erith to be the religious and moral leader, and great lawgiver of her people, and most of our explorations of the fortress will be conducted through her.  It is a weak point in my story that the chief architect would be so unskilled in, you know, architecture… but barring editing her character out of game, I can only work with what the game gives me.]

The fortress so far, many of these early diggings are considered by the Dwarves only temporary, and as such take on an almost immediate rambling, unplanned quality.

Next: settling in