It was their second spring in Mengistbar, "Lashedroses". Everything had been going smoothly: the fort was up and running, producing goods for trading. The location showed a lot of promise: they had settled near a volcano to use magma for powering their future metal works. True, there was a chasm nearby, blocking the way to the brook, but fortunately, a cliff face formed a natural bridge over the chasm, making it only the matter of digging a tunnel. By autumn, an underground farm, complete with an irrigation system, had been set up.
It was decided that the main entrance would be located inside the cliff overlooking the chasm, which formed a natural moat. Wide corridors were dug inside the cliff, with a huge staircase leading right up to the top. A trade depot was set up, along with a number of workshops. True, the work had occasionally been hindered by the creatures stirring down in the chasm - creatures fighting between each other, creatures getting mysteriously killed -, but this wasn't much of a problem, as the butcher's shop produced enough bones for crossbow bolts and a marksdwarf was constantly on the lookout, harassing the beasts below, who were unable to do him any harm...
...suddenly, the air was full of strange cries, shouts, and crossbow bolts - flying in all directions. Clearly, something was very wrong out there. Look closer: it's a giant bat! Striking down the marksdwarf, who's standing there without any armor, with only his clothes to cover him. The bat hits - and again, and again, and the dwarf is no more. His hunting dog (or maybe it was not his, who knows) makes one last attempt to protect his master (maybe), but the bat is quicker and the dog falls into the bottomless pit.
Now several other dwarves rush the bat - having never seen one, they're think it can't be that dangerous. But the giant bat turns out to be stronger than they think and another four dwarves perish under its mighty... (wings? seriously, I've no idea). Another two are badly injured, before the expedition leader - a hardened miner - arrives at the scene to find several of his friend lying there, never to wake up again. The bat is gone - and then it's there again, striking him from above. But this time, the miner is the first to react, jumping to the side, and the bat (who appears to be becoming quite tired) smashes into the ground. For just one second, it loses its ability to move, but one second is enough for the tough miner. He raises his pick, and then the bat is no more. Already someone is carrying its corpse off the battlefield, where only the bodies of the four dead dwarves remain. The fifth one is never found, but he will never be forgotten.
...in the end, I lost 5 of the 15 dwarves I had, and another 2 are likely to go soon if they don't get any water. Fortunately, a large group of immigrants arrived shortly after, increasing my population to 32, so there will be at least someone to bury the dead.
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Topic: The Chasm strikes back (Read 467 times)