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Your fellow miners toss aside their armour for the arsenal dwarf to upgrade - because it clearly worked so poorly last time - but you are too hyped to relax. Instead you monotonously haul stone, walling off the caverns again as a precaution. All the while you can hear partying from the fortress above. Loud enough to drown out distant goblin taunts. Loud enough to drown out the dead, silent island. But not the memories of Foureyes' cheer or the whisper in your ear that tells you everything might not be okay.
So you think. The goblins currently on the surface outnumber, out-arm, and out-mount your squad. You killed the forgotten beast, but they easily killed a titan too. You could lose in direct combat. They don't know that you need to win and escape, though. If the goblins still believe themselves the aggressors then they will take risks you can abuse. The trapped entrance was damaged by the titan, but if you 'accidentally' dug through the east side of the detour then the goblins will still need to run through half of the traps to enter your fortress. Station your miners for a surprise attack in a small room beyond that and you can take down their wounded before they have a chance to react.
Unfortunately, you can't be sure their mounts will fall as easily as the goblins have in the past. To be safe, you should move the caged animals and re-link them with the levers in the party room. If everything goes to hell you can order them released and maybe the civilians will have a chance to escape while the goblins are distracted. It would be a nice change for you to die for someone else's greater good.
Once you inform the dwarves of your battle plan, the work begins. Civilian miners scratch their way though stone near the fort's entrance. Mechanics peruse old documents and adjust wires. Fourguts carefully redesignates burrows. An enthusiastic hauler sweats heavily as he more or less fails to inch the wildlife cage across the ground. You slowly pull on your iron low boots.
"You know this would be a little more fucking dramatic if anyone cared to walk faster than a baby fresh out of a lion's mouth," Monom grumbles when you trudge off to sleep.
You can't see the morning sun rise. But you can feel the warmth through the stone. Andesite. Maybe a metre thick, between you and the thousands of goblins living around the island outside. Maybe your own battle will never end, played out with agonising sloth as a tribute to one more generation of goblins who you caused to suffer. And still will, once the civilian miner gets here. Maybe Fourguts was right. About everything. You didn't really kill the forgotten beast. You ARE the forgotten beast.
You catch your breath as everything suddenly falls into place. You always wondered who the 'power' had taken control of next. But the madness never really did leave you. How many goblins were massacred without even a chance to talk? How many dwarves did you leave vulnerable, then left for dead, from your stupid, risky actions? All the beasts and titans weren't anything more than lonely brutes and you killed them because they didn't understand why these little furry men with sticks were crashing down into their home. The gems deep underground weren't supposed to be a lure for the goblins. They were a lure for you.
And now here you are, strapping on your pick to drown the land in blood. Whose 'choice' was that, you wonder. Is that all your master wanted, death?! ... Or is it finally you, ready to meet the end you don't deserve, while the goblins go on suffering at someone else's hands. Maybe Fourguts will bury you in Vabok's tomb. Maybe he'll leave your corpse to rot and scorn as your friends suffer. Finally, it won't make a difference to you. Ha. That cat was right. You wonder what he thought in his final moments, falling. Maybe: losing isn't fun. Losing is a blessing.
Oh yes. Now you remember the words to that song:
Strike the elf or strike the earth!
our proud seven once remarked.
Now we struck out and we gave birth
to the undead where we've embarked
They say there's no way to win!
from the wounds we can't suture.
So take your axe outside to sin
and a pick into our future.
I think I see us sleeping?
in misty, forgotten dells.
No! Today we shall be reaping
to fight our fates - and earn our hells.
The civilians are taking too long. You say one last goodbye to your fortress and reach for you pick. You-
"The cuuuuuunts are here!" Monom's voice echoes from the main fort. You lower your pick and press an ear to the wall. Oh, this ought to be good. Maybe the scratches will distract a single bird. Maybe the pet trolls will be too sated and explode. Maybe the screams will ... will ...
Wait, where are the screams? You wait a moment longer, frowning, but still don't hear anything. With a motion for your squad to stay put, you cautiously walk back around to the main entrance. Monom is standing on a chair and looking through the peephole. She pouts and steps down, offering you the view.
Outside you can see three elf merchants on the outskirts of your garden wall. They're chatting loudly and looking around for your depot in confusion. Aside from their warthogs, you notice no other creatures. You slowly pan your view in disbelief. There are no goblins or their mounts anywhere. Only a few intact dead merchant piles and abandoned card games remain as evidence to their sudden break of ranks and flight. You turn back to the elves and notice the sheer speed that bullshit streams from their mouths.
"I apologise that I doubted you," Fourguts says from behind you. You listen intently, but can't take your eyes from the scene outside. "Soon after the goblins heard of your miners executing the forgotten beast, every last one gave up their siege and fled. It also seems I miscalculated the island's recovery; time is beginning to flow smoothly once more and I have heard reports there are even new trees growing since we left the gardens. If you are prepared to continue serving as commander, we may well be able to prosper here."
"I want my epic battle, damn it!" Monom scowls, stomping off to her bedroom.
But NO,
apparently you all live happily ever after!
The End
Author
Topic: Choose Your Own DF - Goblin Blight Island (Read 43247 times)