Among the goods brought were many large beasts Targe and Squid had wanted to tame themselves: Two giant badger sows, a dingo, two large birds and the most exotic of all, a Panda. They were envious of the elves of both races, and the caravans had each grown; a wagonload for the high elves and an additional pack animal for the woodland dwellers. As expected as well, the sound of whirring gears and a sickly insectoid screech heralded the violet xelics, eargly giving themselves as clothing material to the dwarves of Limulid. Upon inspection, Anvil fished out a bag, dagger, and the sliced up remains of a xelic snatcher, and pried to shredded and twisted corpses of two others out of the traps. So many had died trying to cross the area that the whole of the clan could be clothed in their glittering violet carapaces. They bought a wealth of drinks and brewable plants and still more red dye from the merchants, but the Xelics had yet to come for some reason. They had sold th majority of their metal goods to the elves. Targe and Squid begged Feral not to sell one of their giant boars, but it was anyway for a good cause in purchasing a few weapons and metal bars. There was yet another sound echoing around the canyon of whirring gears signalling another xelic or a bugbear had met its end at the log bridge.
Suddenly there was a terrified cry as Squid was attacked by a violet xelic while she was helping move a bin of raw glass. Corai was close and rushed to her aid but the damage had been done: Hers and Mattock's only child had been callously murdered by the cretin. Corai chased it uphill denouncing the xelic as a petty murderer and got enough fo a rise out of it to make it stand it's ground. Corai struck twice, the first swing miss and the second being blocked by the xelic's bag, but he slammed his shield into the murderer's upper arm and shattered the chiting, and managed to put his bright red sword through the xelic's right lower hand, rendering it useless. It screeched at him in fury over it's ruined hand, Corai returning the alien yell with a roar of a drunken dwarf and the two charged at each-other, Corai managing to use his greater weight to smash into the charging xelic sending the tow into a tangling heap. Corai and the xelic each whacked eachother in the head, but Corai got a firm pommelstrike in and stunned the xelic long enough to get to his feet The xelic swung his blade awkwardly only for Corai to, of all things, bite into the xelic's arm and slice it off, spitting it in the owner's face. “For the murder of a citizen of Limulid, you are sentenced to summary execution you abomination to nature!” Corai said, plenting his foot on the xelic's midsection. Even with its alien features it was clear it was afraid. Corai then raised his sword, and brought it down with sufficient force to bisect the beast.
Squid came inside with Splint supporting her cryinf frame and Corai carrying the remains of the poor child, his usual cheerful expression replaced by a dour and hate-filled one. “I got him.” Corai said darkly as Feral approached. “That bug won't hurt anyone ever again.” Squid was hysterical by this point; her only son had died right in her arms because she was helping. “What happened!? Where's Squid!?” Mattock said urgently, knocking over a pack beetle and agitating the elf leading it. “Watch where you're going ass... hole...” The elf became quiet when he saw the grieving woman and the mangled remains of a dwarven child. At the sight of the corpse, even Ragushat seemed to become angry or sad, and seemed let out a mournful trumpeting. Targe seemed to understand it: One of her herd had died and she was unable to prevent it. The other two watched in silence, as did the merchants. “I'm so sorry Mattock...” Corai said, handing the body to him. “I'll handle the casket. Corai, you engrave the poor child a headstone.” Feral said. Corai nodded and left the stockade heading for the workshaft. The following day was a somber one as they interred the child in the earth. It as rainy miserably and unseasonably chilly day. “... And may he be at peace, as one with The Red Pick and the Ochre Trade.” Feral finished as they plugged the opening with a thick layer of adobe. Not long after, mantis had a second son, Hammerhead, whom she offered to let Squid and Mattock raise, but they declined. “He's your son Mantis, not ours. It woudn't be right.” Is what they said. A few days later, Cobalt would barely save her own newborn Midnight from the clutches of the xelics, a lucky punch (and amazingly her refusing to let go of the xelic's arm) felled the snatcher and allower her to save her child. This was the last straw for Feral, who ordered the side of the hill flattened out and a controlled access way be made. “If they want to take our young they'll have to pay for it in blood.”
-
By midsummer Cobra was walking around on his own, much t the joy of his mother and father. Mattock and Squid seemed to take some measure of solace in the snatcher having died in the attempt with their child probably laughing at him in hell. They also saw an odd herd of horned beasts on the hill, what Squid identified as spike beetles, and siad that with any luck they might be able to domesticate them. They also opted tp build storerooms (with sturdy stone supports) and a space to move the leatherworks under the settlement so it'd be less of an eyesore, and a place to build a loom and clothier's shop in case they needed it (which Feral knew they eventually would.) Meanwhile however, Squid ran into an unwelcome guest in the form of a kobold, whom she took sadistic joy in killing slowly, snapping every larger limb before choking him out and stomping his skull to paste. It felt good to take out her anger at the death of her child on something. Shortly after Feral ordered additional traps installed, some cage others filled with scavenged daggers and such. By late summer, it was clear no dwarves would come. However, Muscov was finally walking on her own to Mantis and Slade's delight. She was clothed in some of the handme downs of the the clan as well as the chitinous plate-clothes Squid had made. Lev also volunteered to assit in tree felling, as they needed doors for the new work stations and the ones lining the workshaft in the hillside. Lev meanwhile, ever the industrious one, made a smelter and set to work on their three lumps of ore so they'd have things to trade this summer. Zinc was also set y upon by a kobold which was set upon by one of the guard beetles. In the opening move, the beetle closed the gap and bit into its midsection when it caught up, the sheer squeezing force popping out its guts. The poor kobold couldn't even defend itself as it was thrown about like a ragdoll by the the beetle ruthlessly defending one of its dwarven masters. It quickly removed one arm, then another, before finally biting the kobold in the neck and removing the head. When the dwarves discovered the torn up remains fo the kobold and the blood spattered beetle, they named it Stockadeball, mostly because that's what Muscov said at random when she pointed at it.
The final order of business as Galena came on the calendar was replenishing their supply of adobe, which had been largely consumed in building the roadbed and armory. But overall, life was good, and while the lack of dwarves and Nightfire's death (Which Mattock and Squid blamed the elves for telling others about) being concerning, it wasn't life threatening.
Limulid would get by.
[Yup, had a death, a couple births, Cobalt had a close call and trade was done. Silver xelics didn't show up this year, no migrant probably because of Nightfire dying, the roadbed and armory are done, and once we replenish our stores of sandy clay (the adobe in question) we'll have apartment complex built and eventually a small residential building built into the walls in highwood. Got a smelter up, the charcoal furnace is a life saver, and another animal earned a name. The kobold was promptly memorialized and added to the cemetary's "list o' fucktards who died here."]
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Topic: The Story of Limulid, Goldenrocks. - Retired (Read 49444 times)