Editing User:Shades

==The Numbers Game==
*4 sweet pod seeds - costs 4
*1 Proficient Grower will average 3 pods per seed, so 12 pods
*1 Thresher turns 3 pods into 15 syrup, so 60 syrup in 4 barrels worth a total of 1200
*1 Proficient Cook takes 4 barrels and makes, on average, a single superior stack of meals worth somewhere in the region of 10000

So from 4 points (plus the grower and cook skills I tend to take anyway) I've created 10000 in worth.
Scaling up to around 50 seeds (which seems to be what the grower can plant before the first seeds grow and provide more) means you end up 125k of worth in the first season. It's possible to get 4 harvests in spring and summer so half a million by the time the caravan arrives.

Now imagine if you start with 5 growers instead of one, and you train up your cook with easy meals while waiting for the first pods to grow so it can handle the output. I wonder what the upper limit for migrations is.

==ASCII Art Rewards==

===29 October 2007===

  @@+,@\D/.+@

  Fire seared the sky as the dragon circled, driven by madness and the
  promise of gold held deep within the dwarven tunnels.  Standing on the
  battlements of the stone façade built over the entrance to the
  fortress, Danrik the marksdwarf took aim at the evil target, his heart
  thumping slow and steady.  He waited two more beats and pulled the
  trigger.  An instant later a dozen marksdwarves let fly and a hail
  bolts pierced the smoky air.
  
  Most of the bolts bounced harmlessly away, but Danrik's well-aimed
  missile found the monsters skull, shattering the brain.  The dwarves
  cheered as the beast fell from the sky.  The smile fell from Danrik's
  face as the great corpse fell closer -- it was coming right at them!
  Dwarves climbed over each other, making for the stairs.  Other risked
  jumping from the wall, breaking their arms and legs as they landed.
  Danrik stood fast.
  
  As the dead dragon slammed into the fortress's stone wall the dwarves
  were flung into the air.  As Danrik flew, he damned the dragon with
  all his might, his foul words ripped away by the wind.  With a sudden
  crash, all went dark.

===24 July 2008===

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  "He's awoken," came the cry.  "He has awoken!"
  
  Pain came as Danrik opened his eyes.  A crowd of gaudily-dressed
  dwarves danced and sang in celebration of their hero.  It had been a
  week since Danrik had fallen.  His comrades slapped him on the
  shoulders.  One brought him a chalice of wine.  The dragon was dead.
  Every day since had been a celebration, but with the awakening of
  Danrik, the party had really begun.
  
  The mighty warrior made his way out of the bedroom, supported by two
  lusty dwarf women.  The masons were hard at work restoring the wall
  that the dead dragon had crashed through.  The dwarf led Danrik to the
  courtyard.
  
  "Speech!" cried the dwarves, "Speech!"
  
  "Oh," said Danrik, "Well…"
  
  A dark shape appeared in the gap between the walls, large and
  menacing.  The dwarves grew silent as it cast its glowing red eyes on
  the dwarf hero.
  
  "Yes," said the creature, "tell us how you slew the dragon, mighty
  dwarf, how you saved the day!"

===5 December 2009===

  +@/+@@@+@@@@@@@

  Dwarf hero Danrik called for his battleaxe.  A dwarven squire ran to
  him and put the weapon in his hand.  The dwarf held the weapon high,
  but collapsed, steadying himself on the hilt.  The demon laughed.  It
  had congealed into the form of a man wearing a dark cloak, horns upon
  his head, a nightmare lord of the underworld.
  
  “If this is the best you can you can do, you have clearly lost,” said
  the demon lord.  “You will bring me one maiden every season.”
  
  The nightmare lord looked over the cowering dwarves.  He pointed at
  the gasping form of Danrik.  “Start with that one’s sister.”
  
  Danrik watched helplessly as Andra, his lovely sister, was brought to
  the demon’s side.  The creature put its hand on her shoulder and the
  pair disappeared in a burst of blue flame.  Danrik howled with rage.
  A squire ran up to him and bowed his head.  “We will find Lady Andra,”
  said the boy.  “You can count on it.”
  
  “What is your name, youngster?” asked Danrik.
  
  “I am called Blackbeard,” said the boy.
  
  “A strong name for such a small body,” said the hero.  “You can begin
  the quest by fetching a dragon tooth from the ruins of the wall.  From
  it we will forge a mighty shank to drive into the heart of the demon
  lord.”
  
  The squire smiled and bounded away into the rubble.  It was the
  beginning of a hard recovery.  While the smiths worked in the forge to
  create the ultimate knife, Blackbeard trained the hero to walk again.
  When Danrik was able to put his fist through solid rock walls, they
  knew they were ready.  Danrik put the dragon dagger Gotter through his
  belt and stepped before the crowd.
  
  “I go now to rescue Lady Andra from the pit,” said Danrik.  “The road
  will be long and hard, to the fiery heart of the mountain and beyond,
  to the land of the dead.  Who is with me?”
  
  Blackbeard jumped up and down, raising his hand above the shoulders of
  those around him.  Though it looked grim, a few brave adventurers step
  forward.  It was not a question of whether they would reach the
  underworld, for they must reach it.  They must reach Andra, and slay
  her captors, for all great tales end this way.