The first crops of the settlement were finally planted on the 10th of Hematite, year 7. Everyone was happy, as it meant that they wouldn't need to continually risk the lives of their friends and family hunting the giant creatures plaguing the stockade. “Hail dwarves! We heard a trap spring! You may want to check it out!” One of the few merchants in the area called to Zinc as she dragged a bag of slate bricks to the stockade. They'd decided to put the goblin down below in the well room so they could make fun of it and interrogate it at their leisure. “Feral, something wandered into the cages. Might want to have a look.” She said absentmindedly as the two dwarves passed. “I'll be down at the miniloom if anyone needs me.” Cobalt said, small bundles of animal hair under her arm. With no migrants, the dwarves were finding themselves becoming a close little clan, with each beginning to pick up the work that they lacked anyone else to do. A kobold was also spotted, and Slade managed to intercept and dispense a lethal punishment. Ringo also ran across many thieves, a zephyr, bugbear, and kobold all at once, though she managed to scare them, into flight rather than bludgeon them to death. Eventually more thieves were spotted and Splint had had enough when a Zephyr tripped him up. He quickly set upon the annoying wretch and physically pulled and hand off in his angered state, horrifying Andi as he tossed the hand aside and proceeded to punch it to death. A bugbear also ran into Squid, who ran from it screaming as she had bumped right into the hulking brute, while Osprey and Slade ran to intercept it. Osprey wasn't very lucky however, and in a parried blow and counterstrike got a broken hand for his trouble. “Gah! You son of a beieeetch!” Osprey shouted as the Bugbear picked him up and tossed him into the fields, while Slade gave chase to the insolent brute, managing to just barely run it down and catch his pick in its skull. “Osprey! You ok man?” Slade called, worried for his friend. “Sumbitch broke my hand! Damn it that hurts!” Osprey sat up, sheathing one dagger and fumbling for his other one in the mud. As Slade wrenched his pick from the fallen bugbear, Lev came over and helped Osprey to his feet. “Come on Osp, let's get that looked at.” He said to the injured knife fighter. “Damned thieves'll be the death of us.” As if on cue, still another thief was seen being chased by Mantis. It didn't get far before she sliced its Achilles Tendon and lopped off it's other leg at the hip. Mantis may not have been a professional soldier, but it was clear she could do just as much with her skill at butchery with how adeptly she sliced away limbs and flayed flesh from the bones of her opponents in battle. The bugbear tried to fight back as best it could, but each attack found itself dodged or blocked by the Falchion-wielding dwarf. It did get a shot in on her legs only for it to be deflected by the copper greaves she wore everywhere. The reward for landing a hit? Mantis gleefully sliced the poor creature's midsection open, intestines and the bottom of it's stomach bursting out. It threw a punch up at the dwarf, and Mantis responded by not leting the hand come back, instead clamping down on the back of it. As the thief wrenched his hand from the dwarf's teeth, it found it's end as a blade came crashing through it's skull. And Almost as if a case of from death, comes new life, Zinc came in leading a tired Cobalt who how had a second child, a baby boy she'd named Cobra, as it was the first word that came to mind when he was born. This must have meant that Frost was close to being able to walk on her own at least, as she'd been seen getting practice with her mother and father.
Feral stumbled into yet another bugbear and swiped at it with his hand axe in a panic and bolted as Corai, despite his handicap, moved to cut off the fell intruder's escape. “Have at thee! I'll show you what a badass cripple can really do!” He said in defiance of the monster's size. Which quickly became moot as Corai tackled it and managed to lop off both of it's feet and drove his sword through it's head. “Well that was fun! Nothing like a good scrape to start your afternoon work!” He said as he got up. The dwarves set about cleaning up the bodies quickly as light gray storm clouds moved in and provided a refreshing, if a touch annoying drizzle. There was however, a tiny boon. “Hey everyone! Look what I found!” Anvil said happily as she descended the hill. “A bag. So what. We have tons of those.” Mattock said, clearly unimpressed. “Not just any bag, but look! Seeds from home! I found it in a blackberry bush while I was having a look around for anything we might've missed! We can plant some rock nuts!” Ringo took the bag from Anvil and peered in. “Well, this'll certainly make life more bearable!” She said happily. “Good find Annie!” “It's Anvil. Get it right.”
Over the course of the next few days, a storage space, supported with a series of decently made pine supports, was finished and their plunders and trade goods placed inside, as well as a small farm plot to grow the quarry bushes in. All in all, the clan of Limulid was thriving happily, this being exemplified by the birth of Mantis and Slade's first child, a strong little girl named Muscov, after the stone Muscovite. “You know... In hindsight I guess those beetles eating the map wasn't such a bad thing after all.” Feral said quietly to himself as the others celebrated Muscov's birth.
[Welcome to Limulid, thieving capital of the world appearently. We got an ass load of thives for some bizzare reason. the stockade gpt some minor additions and some small storage was dug but I kept in character and had the dwarves build supports. We're doing good so far! Probably won't last though.]