I got inspired by the take a walk option.
Obvious attempt to influence the vote is Obvious
It is almost certainly non canon is obviously terrible, I haven't got the characterization right the word choices are off but I had fun.
Enjoy
Take a walk
Dark clouds chased each other overhead, disappearing across the early evening sky. Long grass rippled, driven by chilled winds whispering to an empty world. This illusion was broken by the muffled complaints of a pair of apprentices pushing an overloaded cart.
"Keep up beardlings." your gruff call echoing across the hills. "Do you think it is going to be any easier when you are journeying without my supervision? I've half a mind to send you back to the beginning to make you work up some muscle if you can't push a simple cart like this."
Two quick calls back of apology and a redoubling of effort followed.
Beardlings, a little grumble and they jump. Really they were putting in a commendable effort, not that you would tell them that. The cart was cunningly designed that unless you pulled it in precisely the right manner, the axles would bind. That would increase the pulling resistance and hence effort, significantly. Suitable for exercising overconfident apprentices and help them build stamina, certainly not for entertainment value of elders watching beardlings.
Your thoughts turn more pensive as you consider the reasons you are out here among the hills, following a hint in one of your master's journals. Some uninterrupted training time for your apprentices and away from those bickering dwarves.
The new Karak for the survivors of Karag Dum wouldn't be finalised for years. To hear some of those beardlings speak unless they got the right door handles for the residential district yesterday then the entire venture would collapse.
What those survivors really wanted was some time from an elder reassuring them that it would really be alright. That the quarrels and disagreements that they had bottled up over the years and decades could be shown without drawing death on themselves and anyone around them. It took an elder's delicate touch to calm them enough that you could direct them onto the right dwarves to help. That they came to you first was the price of being the unstoppable hero of their rescue.
Dealing with traumatised dwarves was never easy and required patience and compassion. Still, there are only so many times you can be interrupted until you need some time away to restock the stone bread that you snuck into their pockets. It's not that you didn't want to help. Your body ached with the need to set things right, but there was only so much time for any dwarf, and they needed to learn that there were other options.
Besides all their worrying was making your apprentices nervous. Karstah and Nain had enough on their plate helping with the planning and equipment for the new karak without having to be guides and councillors too often. Yes they would likely be asked to do so in the future but poor tempering makes a blade sharp and brittle, prone to breaking and your apprentices are showing the first signs. So you took a walk and them with you. Not that you left the survivors alone or any of those other beardlings trying to help, you made sure they had some suitable supervision.
Hinting to Otrek that you would appreciate significant help with the matter was a fair use of the afternoon before you left. The look of relief on his face that he could do something to help you was well worth it too. Maybe you had built up a few too many favors with him. BAH. He should have known what he was getting into with you around. If it wasn't you, well he should have known that he would get stuck with this kind of trouble by volunteering to lead. That's why you avoided it by lumping him with the job all those years ago after his performance after leading the battle with the original greedy troll. Thoughts turning dark and clenching your fists at the memory, No, forcing yourself to calm that grudge was avenged, the trolls leaderless and easily slain. The monster's heart now beats in time with yours in the blue pulses running along with your armour.
The light distracted you for a moment bringing your thoughts on a more positive path. Heh, that was a fun trade with Valma. You might have overheard one of your hearth guards who had heard of one of Valma's dwarves that she had looked over the notes for your runes and promptly got very drunk indeed.
So the story went, she had come to the conclusion that the runes that she had worked so hard to discover, you unravelled even as the trade was taking place, Their secrets revealed to you by her mere discussion of effects. That was supposedly why you felt you had to give her so many runes in recompense. Several drinks and the Bryggeroot Matron running the bar made the mistake of handing Valma a mug with the silver prosthesis you had made the matron. Valma had grabbed the matrons prosthetic arm looked at it for a long moment and then threw herself sobbing into the matron's arms. Wailing loudly that you had just been humouring her and know all the tricks already. Apparently, the matron finally got her to stop making a scene by promising her stone bread cookies if she washed up now and went to bed. Valma apparently said "Yes Mother" wiped her eyes and drunkenly followed the instructions.
A rocky hill in the distance briefly catches your eye. A quick assessment is made, not defensible enough. Well, it would be if all you were doing is camping overnight. But otherwise, there isn't a seam of impressive enough ore nearby to take the risk of a extended stay. Perhaps the location Yorri mentioned might make for a better Karak that the location on the coast. Shaking the thought off, you continue to survey the rolling hills and the mountains in the distance as you wait for your apprentices to catch up. Either way, The Survivors of Dum would have a new home this you swore. To do more than stockpile supplies while the question of location was still in the first year of consideration was pure beardling foolishness. To give advice without knowing facts when as much worth was held in your words was criminal. The solution was this little scouting trip yourself so you could make an informed decision.
Another gust of cold air and the minute shivers of Karstah caught your eye. That was your Dau… Chil.. Apprentices limit for the day. A little ahead of where you thought she'd be but then you had lost a few years from that Things spell in the Dark of the lost karack. They had only your other apprentices around for guidance, and lesson plans to follow, a surprise that she'd done so well but a pleasant one nonetheless.
"Come on beardlings we are going to make to that outcropping tonight and camp there for the night. Now remember Folgi's chant of Northern Sky Fire, no don't repeat it, think it. It is also a map of the path he took north. Why am I bringing it up now? Think beardlings, line four. Now, look at the face of that mountain…"
That gleam in their eyes when they understood a new concept, Grasping the facts and understanding, was better than all the adulation as a returning hero. A brief break in the cloud cover resulted in a shaft of evening light hitting the top of your intended camping site turning it gold.
High above a Brana called to another briefly interrupting your lecture on the chant. You felt your muscles relax slightly at the distant call of your avian allies. All was not well, but with good allies and hard work, it could be put to right.
