Dwarves had always been powerful in the world, crushing many foes. Alas, in the last years, they have lost much land to the humans and had to accept peace.
After the great war between the dwarves and the humans, the big mountainhome had finally gotten somewhat crowded. The old king, Rimtar Guilddeath, had fell in battle and was succeeded by his only son Edėm Fortressaces. The new king saw that a new fortress had to be established.
However, the senate, composed of fifty elderly dwarves disagreed with him. They thought that you could just expand the mountainhome, despite some bedrooms extending all the way to the great magma sea and that the the new kings idea was foolish. Edėm was frustrated with the senate. He knew that if he tried to disobey it, he would no longer be the king. But he had a great idea.
Edėm ordered, in secret, a group of seven dwarves called "The Coastal Pick" to found another, secret fortress, away from the watchful eye of the senate, allowing for the king to move there and rule freely.
The group hated the senate too and accepted this offer.
The spot for the fortress was supposed to be just under a mountain, in a calm place, a long way from the mountainhome.
The group was composed of Zefon and Äs, both miners, Ber, a mason, Asmel, a doctor, Besmar and Urist, farmers and Kikrost Palacework, the leader and a great soldier.
The travel began. The start was seemingly calm (and boring), but after that, they faced many dangers and threats by bandits and wildlife.
Then Äs lost the map.
Lost, they stopped the wagon, and decided to settle here, near a river.
The miners quickly dug a simple hole in the earth, and the farmers began planting mushrooms.
Then Kikrost saw a great animal, rising from the north. It looked like a giant bird, an eagle. He warned the others and they hided in the small hole. Alas, Besmar didn't make it. The monster killed and ate him. Struck with rage and grief, Kikrost, Besmars best friend, took his sword, ran outside and struck the beast with a mighty blow. The monster lost a wing, but did not die. Kikrost ran back to the hole, dragging Besmars body with him. They quickly buried him in fear of the great beasts.
The miners began to dig more, and created a simple dining room and a dormitory. They luckily did not find an aquifer, but iron instead. They forged some weapons and armor for traps and Kikrost.
For four months they hided in the hole living off mushrooms and wine. Then, some migrants arrived. Only two survived the beasts slaughter.
Back in the mountainhome, after another group of migrants went through a hidden gate, the king started to worry. "Why has the Coastal Pick not informed me anything?", he thought. "What has happened there?" With suspicion, Edėm sent a courier to find out what has happened to the group. People had started worrying too. Particulary Zefon's parents worried of their young, only 24 year old son. Where would he have gone? They sent a secret letter with the courier to their son, hoping he would reply.
Back in the new village, now dubbed: Truesteel, the fortress expanded, with some lucky migrants who avoided the birds.
Kikrost and the some other dwarves were training hard.
The dwarves knew that they had to clear the surface of these giant birds. They were equipped with the strongest armor
and the sharpest swords, but they were afraid. Kikrost tried to talk sense to them (and possibly himself), saying that they had to do this and they should not be afraid, but that did little to help.
7th Sandstone, 184. Kikrost and eight other dwarves step out of the fortress, and fight the beasts.
The dwarves were skilled and they fought hard, but so did the monsters. Blood spilled and bodies littered the ground.
There were points at witch they thought defeat was inevitable, but time and again, Kikrost rallied them to attack. The battle was quite short.
After seven dead dwarves and four dead birds, Kikrost met up with the final monster. It seemed like it was the leader of the pack, being huge and freakishly strong.
The bird swiftly rose to the sky and quickly plummeted to the ground, right at Kikrost. He dove out of the way of the birds great beak, nearly being bit. The bird landed behind Kikrost and was just stepping on his back when the dwarf swiftly turned blocked the birds foot with his shield. He fell to the ground, being crushed under the pressure of the giant bird.
Just as he was losing consciousness, a dwarf, drenched in blood, leaped at the bird and slashed it's foot off with his sharp sword. The bird let out a great roar and leaped to the sky. The dwarf turned out to be Dastot, the last other warrior. He had always been a good friend of Kikrost and quickly joined the migrant groups after knowing about the fortress. They both smiled at eachother. Dastot picked up Kikrost and carried him on his shoulder all the way to the fortress. He banged at the gate, yelling: "Open the gates, fast! A monster is coming!"
The gate lowered and he quickly ran over it. He looked behind him and the great beast was quickly diving to the gate. Terrified, he pulled a lever, the gate closed just in time and the monster turned and missed the gate, flying upwards, deep to the blue sky.
Dastot ran to the quite primitive hospital and laid the unconcsious Kikrost onto a bed. A crowd of dwarves came to the hospital, and cheered after hearing the beasts were dead. Dastot was happy but very exhausted. He laid on a bed and quickly fell asleep, worrying if Kikrost would survive.
I'm a real noob at stories, but if you guys like it i'll write more.
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Topic: The Fortress of Truesteel (Read 972 times)