Zamnil "Samuel" Bugman and his famous Brewery

I started a new fortress in a heavily wooded 3x3 area of wilderness with a nice river. I decided the build an above ground village, Bugman's Brewery, and the fort has been running quite smoothly for over a decade now.

My starting group consisted of a Zamnil "Samuel" Bugman, Head Brewer, the manager/brewer of the outpost and novice in mining and woodcutting; a female cook/doctor, who would eventually become his wife; plus 5 farmers that had additional farming-related skills. (I had to reembark once to get the genders right). Right from the beginning I made Samuel dig underground cellars for food and booze storage, and then made him cut down most of the map's trees. The rest started gathering plants and building wooden buildings.

The dorfs began to grow all types of non-dorfen plants I could gather and trade for. An elven caravan brought the rare sunberries to Samuel's attention; they are now the most precious drink that Bugman's Brewery can offer to thirsty travellers from lands far away, and barrels of this fine liquid are reserved for the Original Seven (new inhabitants only get to taste this delicious drink on special occasions).

By trading away high quality alcohol, Samuel Bugman made his Brewery famous throughout the mountains, and the outpost was quickly bolstered by waves of new immigrants. Fearing goblin ambushes, Samuel realized he needed an army to defend the Brewery. Thanks to the hard work of the five (now legendary) farmers, food was aplenty, and all of the immigrants could be assigned to military duties. The military's strength has varied over the years, but it now consists of four marksdorf squads of five sharpshooters, three eight-dwarf squads of able wrestlers, two small teams of combat engineers and artillery operators, and a team of three medics, who recover the wounded, perform first aid and help the doctor in the hospital. From time to time, a "boot camp" squad under a legendary wrestler is formed, so that new recruits learn the basic minimums in hand-to-hand combat and swimming in specially constructed training areas. The only one wielding a metal weapon, Samuel Bugman himself, rarely takes part in combat, but he is still a respected and skilled master axe dorf and legendary in the art of wood cutting, and is as tough as steel and quick as lightning.

The Brewery has become a large village, surrounded by a sturdy wooden rampart, with at least two squads of marksdorfs guarding it constantly. The gate to the Brewery is always open, should any weary, wandering hero require a pint of golden booze to quench his thirst. The gate is guarded by four bears, so that the military in the nearby barracks, armoury and shooting range can be quickly alerted. There is also a grand tavern attached to the main facility for brewing, a mansion for Samuel and his wife, some houses for civilian workers, a small hospital with a bath house near the town well, and a chapel next to the cemetery. The cemetery sadly requires constant enlarging, as hordes and hordes of goblins attack the Brewery, jealous of the skill the Head Brewer possesses, and are then repelled by the stubborn defenders. Needless to say, the wrestlers, who are armed with nothing more but their strength and bravery suffer most of the casualties. The marksmen usually fare better, but can be picked off by skilled enemy archers if luck isn't on their side. It is quite easy to see who's a veteran of many battles and who is green; the eldest, battle-hardened, scar-covered longbeards have only their body hair and patches of goblin vomit covering their privacy - their clothes having rotten away long ago. Nevertheless, the brave warriors of Bugman's Brewery are taken care of, and the survivors of battles are always able to feast on delicious alcohol in the Grand Hall.

Samuel and the doctor fell in love and got married some five years after the foundation of the Brewery; their marriage was the first occasion when the commoners were allowed to taste sunshine, the finest alcohol available. The doctor gave birth to a girl, and later, to a baby boy, which made Samuel glad as he now had a suitable heir. The boy was named Josef, and aye, he is a fine young lad, now six years old, skilled with his words, partying like there's no tomorrow, and already requires booze to get through the working day.

There is one notable event of the Brewery's early history that must be recounted. This happened shortly before Josef's birth, during the month of Felsite in the spring. Samuel one day awoke to find his wife in a macabre mood, and having heard from his friends what could happen to perfectly good dorfs under such a condition, he to his horror realized the village did not the have the required remains of beasts available. The village had only a single pair of bears for breeding, and Samuel did not wish to see them butchered. He quickly arrived at the trade depot to consult the Elven merchants' opinion, and hoping to buy animals from them. Sadly, they had none with them, and Samuel's mood turned grim. Aware of the dire need to help his beloved wife, he did the only possible thing he could think of. Without saying a word, he started hacking the Elven merchants to pieces with his trusty axe. The merchants were no match for him, but his axe was jammed in one of them. Samuel proceeded to fight the Elves with his hands and teeth, ripping off various body parts, throwing them around the market square. As the military hurried to help their master, they saw Bugman strangling the last poor Elf with her eyes gouged out, and they quickly finished her moans of pain with well-placed wooden bolts.

Samuel was standing in silence atop the corpses of the slain when his wife came to the depot, picked up a corpse and claimed a workshop. Seeing that she now had finally started her work, and that all was well, Samuel spit an Elf nose off his mouth and walked to the food stockpiles. He picked up a fisher berry wine barrel and drank from it for a long, long time.

In the summer, the doctor revealed what she had been working on. It was a legendary pair of Elf leather mittens. They weren't expensive, but they were made with love. The Elves have now joined the goblins in the war against the Brewery; but with the help of the stalwart dorf military, commanded by Samuel Bugman wearing Elf leather mittens, the village stands strong.

One day, Josef Bugman will inherit this all.