It's Saturday, so it's time for an update! Apologies for the delay, this week was a combination of "OMG so much work to do," and "OMG so much alcohol due to work events."
Now I have a bit of time to smash this siege.
I am going to post shorter updates so that the siege can be more easily broken down.
So, without further ado...
The siege beginsJester and Hatchy stood at the fortress main gates, ushering everyone inside. The civilians needed no encouraged, plowing through the main gates towards the relative safety of the main dining room.
With the last of the dwarves safely inside, the main gates were sealed.
Shorast the mayor kept the civilians inside the main dining room as the gladiators organised the defence. Jester and Hatchy, together with their squads, gathered at the intersection of the main corridors listening to the militia commander.
"Alright everyone," he said, "The civilians are relying on us to keep the safe, so let's not lose our heads... figuratively
or literally. First things first, there are now nearly 70 goblins out there due to some late-arriving re-inforcements."
"Therefore, we need some more squads. Crusoe, time for you to earn your keep, so I'm putting you in charge of putting together a marksdwarf squad. Go to the main dining room and gather our hunters, get them ready for combat."
Crusoe grinned and ran off.
"ShadowHammer, due to your success in the arena and in combat, you will also get your own squad. Go with Crusoe and put together your squad from our most experienced combat civilians."
Nodding, he walked off down the corridor.
While the squads were being assembled and equipped, Hatchy met up with Shorast and the fortress' supply of masons. They agreed that the best way to defend the fortress was to trap as many goblins in cages as possible before they made it into the fortress. The trolls would be tough and could break down their front doors, so preparations for a marksdwarf cross-fire were made.
Each row of fortifications would have a set of doors behind them to limit civilian access, as well as an ammunition stockpile behind each stockade. Crusoe started stationing his marksdwarves at each stockade, ensuring they had the necessary ammunitiion and equipment.
While the dwarves prepared, the goblins were moving into position. The goblins themselves held position at the edges of the fortress while the trolls moved towards the front doors.
The stray cats left outside the fortress ran off as the trolls, drooling and snarling, charged towards the fortress gates. While two of them chased the cats towards the east, several others walked towards the front doors. They scratched their heads as they pushed at the front door, its tough granite composition meaning it didn't budge.
Two trolls took a step back, preparing to ram the doors. But they took one step too far. Two of the cage traps lying in wait under the sands of the main entrance activated, springing upwards and closing around the two hapless trolls.
Jester, listening on the other side of the front door, heard the traps snap shut, followed by the roar of the confused trolls.
"Two down!" he exclaimed to the military dwarves, who all cheered raucously.
Two other trolls, who had been busy chasing the cats to the east, heard the cries of their fellow trolls and skidded to a halt. Turning around they started running back towards the fortress.
Not being particularly smart, they didn't retrace their footsteps. They really should have.
Statost, the goblin hammer lord, saw her thuggish trolls being swallowed up by cage traps. Already half of the trolls had been lost to the cunning dwarves.
She frowned, kicking the side of her cave swallow mount and soaring off to talk to her goblin squad leaders.
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SCORECARDBattletrials - 4Goblins - 0Not a bad start! Another update coming later today.