Hey guys! Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I decided to start writing a little journal for my Dwarf Fortress game and thought I'd share it here. I hope you guys enjoy it, I had a blast writing it! Keep in mind, some of this information is obviously added lore, but I think I found the right balance between made up lore and gameplay. The Cyclopean Dimension. Boldoxah in the Human tongue, and Ngutegkar in that of the Dwarves. A relatively young world still in its infancy, where magical beasts of colossal scale and mythical beings, like Dwarves and Elves, still roam the land. One such civilization, called The Roughness of Vines (No doubt after its location in a relatively forested area near a mountain), called The Trampled Continent home. It was neither the largest nor the strongest civilization of dwarves, but what they lacked in military or economic strength they more than made up for in audacity. It was this civilization that sent a group of seven dwarves, mere peasants without much of a name for themselves, to found a fortress at the doorstep of their rival Dwarven Civilization, The Gold of Culmination, so named for its mineral wealth. They called themselves "The Buff Quakes"- an ironic nickname. They were anything but mighty. Still, though they lacked muscle, they had guts, and thus they unanimously agreed to name their fortress Kurelosal, or Lionsong, for one day bards will sing tales of the deeds done by these brave dwarves. The flag of Kurelosal was quite simple- on a green background was emblazoned a golden lion rampant, a symbol of Dwarven bravery. The exact names of the dwarves who founded Lionsong are the subject of much scholarly debate. In her book titled The Lion's Birth, Tista Astanata, an expert in the field of Dwarven Archaeology, writes that the names of the seven peasants who founded Lionsong are impossible to guess as any primary source was lost when Lionsong itself fell to ruin. All except one, of course. A statue, presumably of the first expedition leader, made of brittle chalk, was unearthed in the ruins of Lionsong. It was engraved with the name Ushat Zonnish, alongside a date: Granite 15, 125. ~~~ Ushat lay in his wooden bed. His was a room like that of the other forty-five citizens of Kurelosal- small, cramped, and dug out into the dirt. The roof leaked when it rained, splattering everything with mud, and the door creaked every time a dwarf passed by his room through the long hallway connecting the other rooms. He was the one who designed this hallway. Indeed, he was the one who designed the layout of most of the upper floors. Still, for all its faults, and there were many faults, Kurelosal was home. He thought back to when the king himself had rounded up him and his fellow peasants from the nearby Dwarven Hillocks and personally asked them to found a new settlement. It was easy for the king to take dwarves from their homes and throw them into the wilderness with nothing but a wagon containing the bare necesseties because the king had never suffered an ounce of hardship in his life. Ushat sighed. He fought back the urge to go back to sleep and got up. The dwarves of kurelosal had little in the way of textiles and thus slept with the very same clothes they worked in. It had been two years since the founding of Kurelosal, and their clothes were already starting to wear away, but as that did not present an immediate threat Ushat elected to cross that bridge when they got there. He walked by dozens of rooms before entering a circular room with a flight of stairs heading both upwards and downwards in the center. This had been his idea, to first dig out a circular room on every floor in order to have a centralized staircase. For the most part, it had worked, and it had the added bonus of giving the dwarves some time to small-talk while they traveled from their rooms to their work stations in the morning. While Ushat had much to do, he decided to stop by the temple complex before anything. It was always wise to make sure the gods were happy. The temple complex had an enormous hall, which at the moment was rather barren, as well as seven chapels connected to the hall. These seven chapels were to the gods of The Roughness of Vines. The centermost chapel was Rosat Onol, The Chapel of Mountains, dedicated to Sirab Bouldergranite, god of mountains, volcanoes, earth, and caverns, as well as the chief god worshipped in Kurelosal. Such was his importance that the carving of a magnificent statue in his honor was one of the top priorities after the temple complex was finished. The chapel to the right of Rosat Onol was Rosat Limul, The Chapel of Gold, where Limar, goddess of wealth, was worshipped. To the left of Rosat Onol was The Chapel of Fortresses, where the god of Fortresses was worshipped, the third most important god in the Kurelosal pantheon. In the other three chapels the gods/goddesses of jewels, poetry, and nature were worshipped, though they had a significantly smaller following. The last room, the one situated South of the Chapel of Trees, was empty. It was the area dedicated to Shulmik, the trickster god of treachery. No dwarf worshipped him, though for fear of his influence many temple complexes left a room empty to appease him, lest he inspire plots and schemes the likes of which have led to the fall of many a civilization. Connected to the temple complex was the mausoleum, a building that housed the corpses of Kurelosal's fallen, though for the time being it only housed two- a dwarf who had lost all hope and ended his life after a bout of melancholy, and a dwarf who had lost his life in a Wereskink attack. Their coffins were engraved with images of them in life, as well as messages from their loved ones who remained in Kurelosal. They were now with Sirab Bouldergranite, feasting in his enormous mountain-hall. After praying for Sirab's guidance, Ushat visited his dearly departed friends, then walked up the flight of stairs into The Angry Lion, Kurelosal's Tavern. Many a book has been written of the drunken revelries that took place in The Angry Lion, fueled by Kurelosal's thriving alcohol industry. Performance troupes and lone bards traveled from distant lands, from the Human Kingdoms and the Domain of the Elves, to tell tales, recite poetry, and get unbelievably drunk. Connected to The Angry Lion by a long hallway were the two Food Wings- the Eastern Section (Ushat's favorite) was dedicated to alcohol, with barrels of intoxicating substance filling the large storage room connected to three fully functional stills. The Western Section was dedicated to the production of food, which was also a thriving industry in Kurelosal. Stews and Prepared meals of the finest quality were prepared there and served to ravenous guests at The Angry Lion. South of the tavern were the Stone and Woodworking areas, again separated into two sections, the Eastern Section for stone and the Western Section for wood. While most of Kurelosal's wood was put to use domestically for objects such as beds, chairs, and tables, the abundance of chalk, a valuable flux stone, under the fortress meant stone crafts produced in the fortress could be sold for a higher price. Thus, their main export was stone crafts, which included crowns, statues, slabs, scepters, and even stone earrings. Kurelosal-made stone goods have been found almost everywhere, even in distant continents by way of trade networks. Ushat found a seat in The Angry Lion and ordered a Dwarven Ale, his favorite drink produced in Kurelosal, brewed from Plump Helmets, a type of mushroom farmed in the upper levels. He grabbed a pint and chugged it down almost immediately, then slammed his wooden mug on the table. The performance troupe of elves that had taken residency in The Angry Lions began one of their famed songs and the dwarves present began to dance away. While there was certainly much more to be done, Ushat could afford to push back his schedule a bit. After all, there was no telling how long the elves would stay.
