Well I have locked my fortress. Just after, what happens ? Ngalak, a great feathered spider ! It has large mandibles and it has a bloated body. Beware it's poisonous bite !
Not really the kind of "great spider" I wanted... Grim visions come of that forgotten beast laying waste to my fortress. No ! We will battle !
I decided to launch my five hunters at it, aided with a dozen dogs. Bad equipment, mostly armored in leather, the best weapon brought being a superior quality copper crossbow. Three of them are pretty good marksdwarves. I obviously forgot that my woodcutter/bone carver had an exceptional iron axe.
As my dwarves valiantly pickup equipment and charge the spider, accompanied with a howling mass of dogs, I then realize that I barely have any crossbow bolts for that matter. Crap. Oh well, too bad. I have no time, and will use
The first to get in, Zulban Channelstakes the "Macedwarf", is armed with an exceptional elk bird bone crossbow, a steel buckler, copper greaves and turkey leather high boots. With his best skill being adequate fighter. The forgotten beast is munching at a wooden door.
Then they clash.
Mostly it results in nothing, and a bit of dodging. The bone crossbow cannot do any damage to the spider's cuticle. A few punches bruise the spider's fat or muscle, but nothing. On her side, the forgotten beast kicks my dwarf in the left upper arm, bruising the muscle, and munches on the dwarf's left thumb.
A war dog arrives, attacks the spider by behind and bites into the abdomen. The forgotten beast then proceeds to kick it's way out of war dog induced trouble. And damages the war dog's spine with a three kick combo. Yes, it seems to like kicking a lot, despite a spider's primary weapon being to me it's POISONED BITE. Capoeira giant spider. Go figure.
Then another dog comes to help it's master. Hunting, this time. It more or less exactly uses the same fighting technique, biting the abdomen and fracturing the chitin.
The forgotten beast turns it's anger on the hunting dog. Yet again it kicks, then bites the dog's paw. It seems to like targeting extremities.
It then rushes forward and inflicts a vicious bite on the hunting dog, tearing apart the lower body and spilling it's guts. The valiant beast is bleeding heavily. It suffers a few more kicks from the spider. In a most heroic effort, it stands up, willing itself back into the fight, but his wounds are too great and it faints. It sadly didn't died a heroic death at the feet of the forgotten beast, but merely bled to death after that. My only casualty. This dog will get a dwarf's burial in the future.
Then Ilral Pageash, "Speardwarf" arrives. A little more experienced in the affairs of combat than the previous one, it has a similar equipment to the first dwarf, but a copper crossbow and leather armor this time. Best military skill, competent fighter.
It promptly attacks the spider and starts to bash away with his crossbow. Only slight bruising is sustained. The speardwarf then visibly feels the wardog's technique was effective, and BITES into the spider's cephalothorax.
Dwarven teeth are visibly very sharp, because it does penetrate the giant spider's chitin. The speardwarf latches on firmly !
Most of the following fight between spider and speardwarf is pretty uneventful. The spider visibly loves kicking, and it did only scored three hits on the speardwarf. No real damage was sustained.
Then, my militia commander and squad leader arrives. My first and favorite hunter and the best of my soldiers, he is an expert marksdwarf. With no bolts at all. Despite having overall the best armor of all dwarves, he has a no-quality copper crossbow.
As the speardwarf, he charges the spider and starts to hammer on it with a crossbow. Or an occasional punch. The giant spider visibly is occupied elsewhere, and he did not get attacked at all. So it was pretty much a slow hammering. Even when he yet again bites the spider's eye, the only thing the spider dig was removing the MC's grasp on her eye.
Another war dog and two hammering marksdwarfs join the fun, punching and hammering with crossbows. The Forgotten beast falls over, visibly suffering too much bruising damage from the legs. Then it becomes a hammerfest, or "who will bruise more the forgotten beast with it's crossbow before it dies", with the very occasional kick from the forgotten beast bruising fat or muscle.
Then, Tekkud Fanciedmirrored the competent marksdwarf/hunter/ arrives. Despite having "a poor memory, very bad intuition and little patience", this guy HAD bolts.
He calmly aims from ten squares away, fires and puts a finely-crafted elk bone bolt in the spider's brain.
And thus ends the fight. With only one combat action.
Is this kill-stealing, or is this awesome ? I don't exactly know.
Oh and the killing bolt is not broken. I should go and make a monument for it.
EDIT: Well, a war dog just suffocated. Too bad. And another who is getting a burial.
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Topic: Idornum Zodem Mumgoz, Howlwinds the House of Dragons (My current fort.) (Read 637 times)