Chapter 41: From the journal of Sibrek Atheltat
__________________________________________________
4th Limestone, 1053, Early Autumn
I've been informed that I shall be serving as outpost liaison to the fortress known as Reveredtour. This is a direct order from Ishlumfeb, who claims she is too "busy" to visit the fort this year. Obviously she just doesn't want to go there again, but I'm not going to even bother pointing this out. It would do little good, and I would just end up heading to Reveredtour anyways. Not that I mind either. I take my job seriously, and unlike others will not hesitate to do what is expected from me.
29th Limestone, 1053, Early Autumn
I suppose I should reflect on my current opinion of Reveredtour before arriving there. Reveredtour has become well known in the capital, as it has become a thriving fortress despite its unfavorable location. Of course I feel that most of the reports on this fort aren't entirely accurate, mainly when it comes to its design. From what I can gather, it's an above ground fort. That alone is enough to bring about a whole list of OSHA violations, but I've heard that the fort is also built over the ocean. I'm struggling to think of how this is possible, but I'm guessing Reveredtour is a safety inspector's nightmare.
17th Timber, 1053, Late Autumn
Well after a long trek it seems that I have finally arrived. Initial inspections of the fort from the distance answer a few questions about its design. It's anchored into the side of a cliff, and has some supports holding it up on the shoreline. Of course it looks far from stable, and I'm not sure what's holding the end of it up. I'll have to examine it more closely when I get a chance.
Also the dwarves seem to have finished digging out a moat surrounding the fort. A sensible move from a defensive standpoint, however the moat has yet to be filled. This is a clear problem, as the measly drop is not enough to even substantially injury any trained combatant. A foe could potentially survive the drop and then run around in the moat harassing civilians for weeks.
19th Timber, 1053, Late Autumn
Okay, that moat is the least of this fort's problems. After inspecting the fort from below, I realized that about half of it is being held up by nothing. The only reason it hasn't fallen apart is because it's connected to the rest of the fort, but you'd think that gravity would have a problem with that. Seriously, I'm worried that half of this place is going to plunge into the ocean at any moment.
If someone were to remove those two tiles, the entire left half of the fort would collapse. This is one of the most glaring OSHA violations I have ever seen. How they managed to get away with building a fort like this is a testament to why more funding needs to be diverted to building inspection. I don't think this fort has ever received an inspection from a trained professional due to its distance from the capital.
20th Timber, 1053, Late Autumn
My initial impression of Reveredtour continues to grow worse. As I entered the fort itself, I was greeted with the sight of several dwarves hauling bleached skeletons and severed body parts out of what appears to be a massive pile of dead dwarves. Because evidently, whoever runs this fort thought the first thing every visitor wants to see are dead bodies.
I asked where the bodies were being hauled to, and fortunately was greeted with a sensible answer; a graveyard, which has only just now been built.
Stonesense Version [http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/6541/graveyardsense.png]
Technically there's nothing wrong with this graveyard, however I did notice one thing about it that bothered me; it's built on top of the fort's hospital. I'm sure this must violate some kind of moral guideline, though I doubt anyone foresaw the potential for such disrespect for both the dead and living.
21st Timber, 1053, Late Autumn
I managed to track down the leader of this fort. It's Stinthad Kekimtobul, which honestly surprises me since I figured she would have been overthrown due to incompetence by now. But apparently she's done a good enough job to be elected for mayor. I don't know what kind of standards the dwarves living here have if they find her to be an acceptable leader. Also she's the fort's only doctor, a fact made even more distressing when you realize she has no formal medical training. I don't need to explain the problem with that.
I'm hoping to get this meeting done as soon as possible. My opinion about this fort as a violation of common sense and basic morals is already set in stone.
24th Timber, 1053, Late Autumn
Stinthad led me into her "office", which is actually just a chair in the middle of the fort's dining hall. It's hardly a suitable place to work in. For some reason this dining hall was also coated in layer of dried blood and had several vulture skeletons lying around. Why? I have no idea, and wasn't about to ask. I'll just mark it down as another public health violation.
Atheltat: "Alright, last year you requested a large quantity of...giant serrated disks?"
Stinthad: "Hey, I didn't want those! Goden did!"
Atheltat: "Whatever, do you want to continue that order?"
Stinthad: "Well Goden does so yes, however I also want to import something else."
Atheltat: "And that would be?"
Stinthad: "Sugar!"
Atheltat: "...sugar?"
Stinthad: "Yes, sugar! That's one of the things Reveredtour is missing! Our cooking is great, but it does lack some ingredients. Mainly, sugar. Speaking of which, do you want to try some of Reveredtour's specialties? Rovod just made a fresh batch of elephant sweetbread roasts, stuffed with cave kraken tallow!"
I declined the offer of food that is most likely infested with a dozen different parasites. Stinthad merely shrugged and got herself a few pieces, tearing into the disgusting meal with no hesitation. Though the majority of food she brought was feed to her massive pet cave crawler, which devoured every piece whole.
I'll avoid the chance of catching a foodborne illness and stick with a diet of plump helmets.
1st Moonstone, 1053, Early Winter
These past few days Kekimtobul hasn't been able to meet with me, as she has been "assisting" the dwarves in the hospital. Judging by the screams, she won't be done anytime soon. So I decided to take a look around this fort. I'm not sure why, maybe I want to further horrify myself with its clear disregard for safety. Speaking of which I saw some dwarves entering a tunnel outside the fort itself so I decided to see what they were doing. Upon entering the tunnel I was nearly swept away by a torrent of water.
Looks like they're using this tunnel to fill the moat. They have also neglected to put up any warning whatsoever, meaning that some curious dwarf could wander down in there only to find themselves caught in the water and brought to certain doom. This fort is a death trap.
2nd Moonstone, 1053, Early Winter
Not only is this fort a hazard to your physical health, but I'd say it's dangerous for your mental health as well. Because many of the engravings in this place are disturbing, to say the least.
This one in particular has some unfortunate implications behind it. Apparently all the engravings here were made by Goden Ducimtathtak, which explains the insanity. She's also evidently the sheriff of the fortress. So in case you weren't comfortable being led by an incompetent fool who is also your only doctor, the law of the fortress is an insane engraver.
3rd Moonstone, 1053, Early Winter
One of the dwarves is running around, claiming that he has the greatest idea ever. He keeps asking if certain materials are available, and were he can find them and a vacant workshop. Obviously he's experiencing a strange mood, thankfully of the more rational variety.
However, I doubt this fort has what he needs. I'm willing to bet he will go insane before the year ends. Fortunately I won't be around to see the results of that.
9th Moonstone, 1053, Early Winter
An opportunity finally presented itself for me to finish my meeting with Stinthad. We sat back down in the grime covered dining room to finalize the trade agreements. It was difficult to find a place to set down the documents that wouldn't cause them to be stained with vulture blood. Stinthad brought some disgusting meal with her. I couldn't even figure out what had been used to make it.
She asked if I wanted some, an offer which I immediately declined as I'd hardly consider this slop to be fine cuisine, let alone something remotely edible. Instead I decided to focus on getting this meeting over with.
I informed her of the capital's current demand for backpacks, and subsequently the demand for leather to make more backpacks. She said she would see what she could do, but told me that all leather in Reveredtour was reserved for building bucklers. She seems obsessed with the things for no reason. It's like there's something in all the food here that deteriorates the brains of the dwarves and there's them into a bunch of senseless loons.
And with that I am finally done with this wretched place. I can see why Ishlumfeb got me to go here instead of her. This fort is horribly designed, disorganized, filthy, and liable to fall apart at any moment. The leader can't even fill a moat, let alone keep a population of over 60 dwarves safe. But sadly nothing can be done about this mess. Any normal fort would be shut down due to the horrifying list of OSHA violations, but Reveredtour is "special". It's a pet project of the general, and he won't let anyone interfere with it. If he wants to keep this idiotic mess running that's his problem, but nobody better expect me to come to this nightmare again next year.
__________________________________________________
