Order from Chaos

138, 19th Timber
Unemployment is over 50% and I have assumed command of the fort by popular demand. 34 of 53 dwarves were idle when I took the key to the fortress. It's not hard to find the reason why. There were no fewer than eleven dwarves competing for a handful of spinning jobs. Similar situations exist in most 'industries'.

Rampant unemployment might be the solution to some other problems. The living spaces are what my grandfather used to call coffin lodges. Barely large enough to hold a bed and a chest of drawers, they're not proper accommodations for hard-working dwarves. Of course, we're also short of hard-working dwarves, so maybe that's deliberate.

As I take over the drink supplies are almost nonexistent. There is exactly one alcoholic beverage left in the fort. Food is somewhat better, with almost four hundred total rations remaining, but is still untenable in the long term.

The military situation is little better. Only three active duty soldiers, one of them my predecessor. They have some steel arms, but are insufficiently armored. Front line defenses are sufficient to keep an enemy from easily breaching the complex, but we have almost no ability to repel a siege. Hell, the military is insufficient to even allow proper fishing and hunting in the surrounding hills.

The large amount of free time has caused a remarkably large number of friendships to form. Several dwarves have also demonstrated leadership and counselor abilities. Foremost among these is Adil 'Adie' Eralolor. She's been toiling as a woodcrafter, but I think her talents are better used elsewhere. She will be my right hand as I reorganize this outpost.

Military discipline is lax. I have ordered that all soldiers now be addressed by their proper title, 'ezar'. ('Ezar' is dwarven for 'soldier'.) I have also relieved them of all civilian duties so that they are able to train whenever they are not active. We will need to more to ensure proper security though.

My priors also seem to have had a love of staircases with no railings (up/down [i] stairs instead of up [u] and down [j] stairs) I find this to be a dangerous state of affairs. New construction will be to higher standards and we will replace the old stairs as we are able. (Dwarves can fall through multiple z-levels through up/down stairs, which makes involuntary movement in the fortress especially dangerous, whether through flows or combat.)

I give my dwarves nicknames based on their profession. Fer means beast, so Fer Kubuk and Fer Shorast are the new nicknames of our trappers/animal trainers. We probably don't need two of those, but hey.