From Getting Started with Dwarf Fortress: Learn to Play the Most Complex Video Game Ever Made, by Peter Tyson, published last year by O’Reilly Media, Inc.

When a “strange mood” strikes, a dwarf will stop whatever they are doing and rush to a workshop, their heads filled with an idea for a legendary artifact that they would like to construct. If the dwarf is able to successfully complete the artifact, they will often become legendary in the associated skill, gain a happy thought, and your fortress will have a valuable artifact to use and admire.

It is highly likely that…