Utterly Mad

Screenshot:

Spoiler (hover to show)

Let's see your precious artifact weather the power of a drawbridge, motherfucker!

Screenshot:

Spoiler (hover to show)

Now, to leave the worthless vermin to their fate, while I keep trying and FAILING to find some motherfucking copper or iron. However, with the help of my telepathic spy duck, I can use the exiled dwarf to scout the passage linking these caverns.

In the meantime, it seems there might be a cave ogre in the caves. Gee, no shit. Might mean this exile's brief period of usefulness is at an end.

Screenshot:

Spoiler (hover to show)

Evidently, the passage is a dead end. No matter. We can continuing exploratory digging unhindered then. If I can only hit a single node of iron, this foolishness is worth it. But it is the final month, and I suispect that the others have had enough of my claiming to explore caves via psychic pets.

They found the deepest reachest of the caverns. But no sign of any metal. You can't be serious! If we go deeper...

Apathetic gave me a whole lot of shit over what he figured out when he kept following the mining plan. Says he hit literal rock bottom, some rather soft, warm stone. Said he doesn't think it's even possible to go deeper.

Spring has arrived, and I'm so close to redeeming this worthless pile of sand we've settled on. But...no, I should take a break. Resume my training, let another handle the task. And figure out what to do now that we've clear-cut the whole desert.

Screenshot:

Spoiler (hover to show)

---

Save is here:

Notes:
* We have plenty of food, booze, and fuel.
* We are OUT of wood and metal! Well, we damn near never had metal in the first place. D:
* First cavern has a cat roaming around in it, and has an access point that's almost ready to use. Use the second zoom hotkey.
* Guy that made our second artifact is exiled to the second cavern layer. Let him diiiie. Also there's a duck down there stuck in a tree.
* We've hit semi-molten rock but no sign of any useful metals. Garnierite in the first cavern layer, cassiterite in the second, and that's it.