Hello everyone, this is my first attempt at a Dwarf Fortress story; I'm not sure how long this will go on for, I wanted to try something interesting with this fort as I've been getting a little bored lately with some of the more "normal" forts, we'll see how it goesFrom the journal of Ral Ilidalath, leader of Gishdistzimkel Onor.Blast this damn cold, who in Armok thought this was a good region to build a fortress in? We've been travelling for what seems like weeks now without sight of anything but snow and ice, the mountains loom on the horizon but barely look any larger as the days go on. It's been two weeks since we lost contact with the second wagon in a fierce snowstorm; we can only hope they've fared better than us. Most of our supplies were with them, we've only got food and the meager supplies we've carried on our backs. We fall asleep at night to the sounds of wolves howling in the distance and the wind whistling in our ears.#$^!*, this journey gets worse every day; the wagon broke a wheel and I don't know if we can fix it. The carpenter was with the other group; Mosus, our mason, is taking a look at it but night is falling soon.Mosus, labored away this morning trying to fix the broken wheel but only succedded in shattering it; the cold is doing no good for anyone.We heard more wolves last night, they seem to have been following us; we even caught sight of one this morning prowling about. With a broken wagon, wolves closing in, and nothing on the horizon we have no hope but to do what dwarves do best, dig in and hope for the best.I've taken inventory of our supplies and it doesn't look good; the only tools we have are 3 picks. There is some good news though, we've got enough food & booze to last for a while and a sword. I've given the sword to an old caravan guard, at least he knows what to do with the thing. I've ordered the miners to dig a moat around the wagon to try and ward off these wolves; they've also begun to dig down where they've finally hit stone. We'll have some shelter there and we can move the food inside soon; hopefully that'll keep us safe from the cold and wildlife.Those wolves got adventurous yesterday and approached in a small pack. The dogs spotted them first and intercepted them before they could pounce on the miners still digging the moat. The dogs barely lasted a minute before they were torn to shreds though. Zon was off getting drunk and scrambled up when he heard the dogs warning but couldn't find his sword, the wind had burried it in a snow drift and he couldn't find it before the wolves closed in and sent everyone running. He bravely charged the wolves though and somehow managed to hold them off strangling a couple and scaring the rest off; he barely had a scratch on him too, praise Armok. After the battle we found his sword and I promptly lashed it to his side so he doesn't lose the damn thing again.The nights are cold and we still fall asleep to the sounds of wolves. At least we have fresh meat now; I've ordered a butcher's shop promptly built above ground to process the corpses. I've ordered immediate excavation of some rooms to store the food so it doesn't spoil, or freeze solid. We still see wolves prowling about during they day, they're planning something, even more reason to finish this moat and get underground quickly.The wolves attacked again but this time we were prepared. The moat is solid but doesn't offer much protection yet, the miners should finish digging out the sides soon and I've ordered a wall constructed to prevent the wolves from jumping up the side and to keep out the blasted wind. Zon managed to spot the wolves first and had his sword drawn before they reached the moat, he charged out after them hoping to redeem himself. By the time I reached the surface, as I was underground surveying the digging, I saw but a lone wolf being hewn asunder by Zon's sword. He was standing there covered in wolf blood, the blade splattering blood in arcs over the fresh snow; four more corpses lay behind him. More fresh meat, at least we won't starve out here.It's amazing we've managed to last this long in this frozen wasteland. Zon has fended off another attack and we haven't heard much from the wolves since then. The wall is nearly finished now, hopefully this should protect us against those wolves when they come back. Everyone's been complaining about sleeping accommodations so I've ordered some rooms dug out and the wagon torn apart to make some beds. The wood was doing no good there anyways, the wagon has been battered by the wind and had begun falling apart.The livestock has taken to wandering just outside the walls, no ones tried to keep them inside after one of the miners got a kick in the shin a while back and since there's been no sighting of wolves it wasn't seen as being urgent. That and no one seems to want to work, they just stay hudled up downstairs trying to stay warm. The miners still dig though, they say it keeps them warm. So far they've found gold and copper; for all the good it does us, we've got no means to do anything with it. Well, yesterday a monster appeared and began chasing the horse around outside. It appeared to be made of pure ice and sent the horse in a frenzy galloping wildly around the perimeter. Zon finally gathered up the courage to approach it before it killed the livestock. He was scared at first but managed to slay the beast easily, he loped off its head in one quick slash; this must be what's been keeping the wolves away. The fool was exhausted though and feel asleep on the spot, maybe I've been working him too much; he's been keeping watch above ground most of the time.I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday when I laid sight on three figures on the horizon; I had no idea what to expect out here but was pleasently surprised to see three of our companions from the second wagon approaching. The figures were solid white, their clothes and beards encrusted in ice; how they managed to survive I don't know, they avoid talking about what's happened to them. We quickly ushered them inside and filled them with beer and meat. Everyone slept well last night finally having something to feel good about. I keep thinking about what's to come though, our food stores are getting smaller and there have been no more wolves to fill the stockpiles; even worse the beer is quickly running out. All everyone does is sleep and drink booze; I may have to impose rations here but I fear causing a riot, all they have is their booze.