Setting up a new house

So we walked for 3 days before we came to the location that we where supposed to set up in. the first location that jumped out to us was fairly defensible with only an entrance and an exit. the ore deposits included iron, gold, and flare steel. however, the walls were covered in a moss that would explode on contact with bright light. we passed up this area in favor of more exploration. personally I would have liked to stay and pick up some more. but we have to appreciate more than just the stone when choosing a location. as my mum always said; if your head is full of rocks you will sink when you try and cross the rivers of life.
 
the second location was less suited for building right off the bat. but it had some readily available stone and a river flowing through it. with 5 exits including the two for the river, it was less defensible. but with a vein of iron and silver, it was okay on the ore. there where some glowy mushrooms for foliage and some leather plants in the river. I think the river was the selling point as we can make a water wheel and automate some of our future work. but this was the location we decided on.
 
before a solid set up we wanted to scout the surrounding area. leaving the river for later myself the paladin and the lizard with excellent taste in scale color, moved to look at the other two paths leading down. the first lead to a very large open cavern that had the look of a zap steel playground. but the farther in we got the more it looked like a troll habitation. and before long the floor gave out entirely and there was a vast expanse. open and deeper than I could see. the elf with keen eyes picked out a set of claw marks that where concerning. perhaps an unwilling cave diver. the land bridge that crossed it was more that we wanted to chew on for the moment so we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
 
the second route we took lead to a large spiral downward. we had a small run-in with a land shark and sent it to our coffers after removing its head to use as a pseudo door. once we got back the caravan fellows unloaded and started their trek back. work started almost immediately. the strike of steel to stone gave me shivers as the first day was used to make a drying apparatus for the meat, creating a defensive berm for the east gate, and a somewhat crappy door for the north gate. the south is where we came from and it is simply guarded. during the night nothing happened other than a xorn snooped around our treasure. the flashy red guy insisted that he wanted to make friends but I want to make a strong box. he can keep his grubby mitts off my gold... now if he earns it then I have no problem paying for a job well done. but I'm hard-pressed to think of how I could use him at the moment.
 
I have a known source of flare steel and a definite source of zap steel that is not to far away. that makes two metals for comie's hammer he wanted. should need about 3 pounds of each, 2 for comie's hammer and one for my own. that leaves putrid steel, slicky steel, frost steel, hush steel, boom steel, sun and moon steel, black steel, and the very very rare arcane steel. see my extended notes for rough drafts for the hammer. I will have to employ that elf scriptwriter once she advances her skills some more.