(Big-ass update this time, because I probably won't have the time to update tomorrow.)
From the Journals of 'Sir', 15th Opal, 102Silus lost one of her children in battle. She seems to handle this quite well. Good soldier.
By the way, I am slightly crippled. Damn unicorn bitches. The doc says I'm supposed to stay in bed, and I obeyed, if only to not undermine his authority. I don't think he'll do any sort of real healing, but I should be fine anyway. It's just a broken ankle. And a shattered jaw. And a fractured shin. The additional small chest wound is nothing, really.
Oh, and some good news! The small amount of mithril we found was enough for my sword of office (namely, a finely crafted zweihander), and an amazing new spear for Silus. We have a bit of iron too, but not much. I'm keeping it stacked for now - on the off chance that we find flux, it could be useful later.
From the Journals of 'Sir', 11th Obsidian, 102Meph has dropped her tools, abandoned the secret project, and set to work in a masons' workshop. I should have her flogged for such insolence, but I know better: a craftdwarf as skilled as her should be left alone at a time like this - something either very good, or very-very bad is expected.
From the Journals of 'Sir', 18th Obsidian, 102Fucking dark stranglers. Why did they have to show up now of all times? I'm still stuck in bed, I missed all the fun.
Turns out Silus was out, seeking her dead baby or something (damn, that's depressing), so the stranglers ganged up on her. I'm sure they thought of her as an easy target. Oh boy, they were in for a hell of a surprise.
She didn't suffer anything more than a few scratches and bruises, and oh by the way, she
didn't have a weapon with her at the time, for shits an' giggles I suppose. So, she basically fought half the siege alone and unarmed. The others arrived to pull her ass out of the heat, but she was having none of it:
Then Freya joined the party, business as usual.
Our babies are still hardcore.
Empfan charged the stranglers himself... that was not a terribly good idea. In fact, it was terrible. He was torn apart.
The whole thing was a nice, bloody mess. All things considered, I would call this a successful military operation. The dark stranglers were scattered, most of them slaughtered, the remaining few routed. We suffered only two casualties: Empfan and a baby. I don't even know whose kid that was. Not one of Silus', that's for sure. Shame about Empfan. Darn shame.
From the Journals of 'Sir', 18th Obsidian, 102The lad simply doesn't know when to quit.
Also, the stranglers (and parts of the stranglers) are coming back to life. Freya and the rest of my squad is cleaning the house.
From the Journals of 'Sir', 3rd Granite, 103The dark stranglers keep getting back up again and again. We've lost a few recruits already, but Silus and Freya are having the time of their lives. Silus still refuses to go back to the fort for a weapon (she thinks it's good sport I guess), but what Freya's doing is absolutely, positively hilarious:
She's been at it for weeks now, and still doesn't have a scratch on her.
(There you have it. Silus had 21 pages of lone fighting, most of it dodging obviously, but plenty of bone-crashing blows, especially for an unarmed dwarf. I was certain she'd not survive this, then again, what do I know. Empfan, sorry about your dwarf (you are welcome to take another if you want), but military service is military service. At first, I thought it was terribly bad luck that the only dwarf who died in the siege was yours. Then, when the zombie stranglers rose up, they started tearing up other recruits as well, so I guess I should have equipped all the troops better.
Also, Meph, your moat of undead has to wait a bit. We kind of have a few dozen undead in front of the gates at this point, so any surface construction is postponed.)