Dumplin's procedure to ensure the survival of every member of the hairless baboons on patrol was tailored to each threat.
Animals and sneaks were not to be engaged. If they encountered a large animal they were to yell twice and if it advanced or failed to retreat they would fire a bolt at its center of mass. Generally a predator would leave as soon as it became apparent the things it wanted to eat were capable of eating it first.
If they encountered a childsnatcher they were to fire with lethal intent. They were to presume that any childsnatcher near the fortress had already taken a victim and they were not to hesitate in dispatching them. In that same vein any assassin who targeted the fortress would be presumed to be willing to do so again and they would be struck down before they caused harm.
If they spotted a thief they were to yell twice and only if ignored open fire. Kobolds were pitiful creatures that risked their lives for whatever scraps they could scavenge and so killing them was to be a last resort. Dumplin would also personally assemble a bimonthly care package consisting of a suit of small clothing that the fortress had no use for and no inclination to sell, a few stone tools she would knap in her spare time, and a brick of tallow cake spirited from the dining hall and firmed up with a little cave wheat flour.
Werebeasts were a deadly threat to even experienced warriors and were impossible to outrun or overpower with a crossbow. Dumplin had fought through debilitating exhaustion in order to stay up late gathering information on werebeasts. She had found a few essays and the odd book but most of her knowledge came from asking elderly dwarves and from reading every surface of the fortress. While dwarves did occasionally write things down the walls, floors, furniture, trinkets, and weapons of the fortress were decorated with the sum of dwarven knowledge. Dumplin discovered that part of the werebeast curse was a weakness to certain metals. She consulted the metalsmiths and studied the properties of the materials and decided the dwarves would carry bolts of different material.
If they saw a werebeast they were to target it's legs to limit it's mobility and alternate between metals to find it's weakness. Dumplin discovered ancient references to the mystical power of silver so their crossbows were to be loaded on patrol with a silver bolt. If the silver bolt didn't work they were to move on to gold which had ancient associations with wealth and therefore contained other powerful magics. Next they would use copper, copper contained powerful magic as the first metal to be pulled from the earth and forged into weapons of war. Finally they would use steel, steel was the symbol of dwarven might and in the hands of it's dwarven masters may just be strong enough to counteract the werebeast power. If none of that worked the standard cold iron was also associated with destroying magical beings and would comprise the rest of their quiver.
In the event of a siege the Baboons on civilian duty were to report to the entrance (inside so that they couldn't be “accidentally” sealed out) and prepare to defend the area so the baboons on patrol could return safely to the fortress. The dwarves on partrol were to flee in to the deep woods and hope to be more agile than the invaders. The dwarves who were in the watchtowers were to remain where they were and yell out the locations of and the headings of the dwarves who were on patrol so that each baboon was made aware. The dwarves who were training were to circle the parapets looking for additional attackers.
If the fortress was locked down before the patrollers were safe the civilian labor dwarves were to remain at the entrance but the sentries and the dwarves who had been training were to yell out “lock down” as loudly as they could and move to the eastern wall. If the dwarves who were patrolling were still trapped outside they would head to the eastern wall and hold the position until they were rescued, the siege was broken, or they ran out of ammunition.
Dumplin Lakewanders did not take any of the numerous threats lightly. If a baboon fell it would not be because she had failed to plan. Now began the waiting game. The overseer's eye was on her now and when his first strike failed to kill or break the baboons the second would be far more serious. She could not quantify his ingenuity, his reach, or the depth of his wickedness and so his next move was impossible to predict. She was incapable of retaliating or retreating and so all that remained was patience, vigilance, and resilience.
Author
Topic: The Increasingly Tragic Tale of Dumplin (Read 79104 times)