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[NRDL]

This is gonna be absolute win.  Hopefully. 

[HectorX]

This is gonna be absolute win.  Hopefully.

^^^ That is Dwarf Fortress in a nutshell.

Also, Mav, I owe you a dorfing! You are in ShadowHammer's squad with no assigned weapon.

[ShadowHammer]

Yeah! I am a captain! I shall lead my squad to glorious victory! Or perhaps glorious death. But no matter!

[HectorX]

Small update a-hoy!

Incursion

Snodub the troll managed to avoid the external cage traps which had gotten the better of her comrades. Snorting and putting her head low to the ground, she leaned her head forward and charged, roaring. Her shoulder connected squarely with the granite door, the impact making the entire mountain shudder. Snodub felt the door crack beneath her weight. She pulled back and charged again, and again. Her shoulder was bleeding from the repeated impacts but continued her efforts.

Her shoulder hit the door again and it finally crumbled to the ground. She pulled back allowing another of her troll comrades to charge into the fortress... into a wall of war dogs.

Battletrials had been breached.

One of the trolls was immediately swept up in a cage trap while the others dealt with the war dogs which had pushed them outside the fortress walls.







Jester and Hatchy watched from the main corridor fortifications as Snodub made her way down the main corridor. The troll roared and smashed her hands against the walls. The remaining civilians in the combat zone ran for their lives. Hatchy grimaced, turning to Jester.

"They're early. We only have two out of three fortifications completed. If they figure out that the western corridor is unfinished they can move into the main fortress."

Jester rolled his eyes, sighing. "We don't want that, do we? CRUSOE! SHADOWHAMMER!" he bellowed. The two squad commanders rushed to his side, breathing heavily. "Crusoe, get your men into position and try to take that troll out. ShadowHammer, move yours up to the upper corridor, the one leading to the farms. I'll get a barricade door put up but you are to hold that position no matter what."

The two commanders nodded and ran off. The dwarves moved into position as Snodub stomped down the corridor.



Jester turned to Hatchy. "I want you to take your squad and hold the farms. I'm going to move up to the corridor which leads to the prison and hold it until we can get those fortifications built."

Hatchy smiled. "Don't get killed OK?" Jester winked at her and ran off.

First contact

The dwarves did their best to get into position. There was still nowhere near enough ammo for Crusoe's squad so they were not ready by the time Snodub found the unfortified corridor. She turned down the dark passageway, drool hanging from her lips and tusks as she saw dwarves running frantically up and down the corridor at the other end. She trotted down the corridor, bypassing the stairs leading up to the prison, salivating at the chance to tear apart fleshy dwarves.

She caught up to one of the cooks who was desperately trying to make their way to the safety of the farms. Luckily for the cook, who took a swing at the troll's muscled torso but only managed to graze the hand, Snodub was far more interested in the masses of dwarves at the end of the passage.



She just had one obstacle: Kol Mengam, one of Hatchy's speardwarves. She saw the troll making its way along the corridor and, not seeing any of Jester's squad in position yet, took up position within the corridor. Her eyes widened as the massive troll approached. She knew she was crazy to go one-on-one but... it was for the fortress.





Kol bent her knees, keeping a low centre of gravity as Snodub got within range. She thrust forward with her bronze spear, the tip slicing into the troll's muscled right arm. She felt the spear nick the bone as she pulled it out. Snodub roared in pain, glaring at the diminutive dwarf, who surprised the troll by plunging her spear into the same point on her other arm.

With both arms of the troll gushing blood, Kol side-stepped and stabbed into the upper body of the troll from the side. The spear was thrust deeply into the muscle, the tip tearing into the spine of the troll. Snodub roared as she felt her entire body below her waist start to tingle as a tendon in her back was ruptured.



The spear became lodged within Snodub's spinal column. The troll roared in pain and confusion as Kol, trying to free her spear, twisted it back and forth within the upper back of the troll. Snodub reeled, her entire body starting to tingle as the spear was pulled free. Kol pushed her advantage, stabbing the troll over and over, tearing muscles and arteries all over her foe's body. She grinned from ear to ear, then started to laugh as the troll slumped against the wall, soaked in her own blue blood as her spinal injury made her struggle to breathe.



Oddom, one of Hatchy's axedwarfs, had heard the roar of the troll and doubled back from the farms to help Kol.





Kol and Oddom stood back and watched as Snodub, her eyes wide in pain and now panic, fell to her knees as  her body gave out from under her. She grunted and groaned, drool and blood oozing from her lips.

Oddom looked at Kol and smiled. "You finish her," Oddom said.

Kol, breathing heavily and covered in troll blood, smiled back and walked forward towards the collapsed troll. Snodub looked at Kol and, in an attempt to intimidate her, roared loudly. Kol raised her spear and plunged it through the troll's open mouth. The tip came out the other end of the troll's skull. Kol let the shaft of the spear go, letting the troll collapse to the ground.





===

SCORECARD

Battletrials - 6
Goblins - 0 (except various dogs and cats)

Second update! Is everyone happy with the level of detail? Should I cover more and be less specific?

Another update to come in a few hours.

[NRDL]

The current form of narration is fine.  Real epic. 

[HectorX]

Choices

There was one troll left which wasn't either dead or captured.



Snamoz had decided to chase one of the fortress' cats around by the river so had managed to avoid combat so far. He decided the best way to avenge his comrades was to take out the other main fortress door and go on a rampage through the fortress.



Jester ordered the melee gladiators to pull back from the corridors and told Crusoe and his squad to take up position inside the main passageway into the fortress so that the last troll would be met with a hail of bolts.



The dwarves watched... and waited... as the last troll completed its revenge against the last granite door. Snamoz roared as the door crumbled into dust and ran forward, arms raised-

Into the cage trap.

The gladiators laughed, led by Crusoe. "Idiot trolls!" he yelled.



Jester, Hatchy and the other militia captains walked out of the fortress, taking up places on the edge of the rise. They stared east and west, at the other goblins. They were all milling at the edge of the mountain, watching... but not approaching.

Jester turned to the other captains. "So far so good everyone, but now we have a choice to make. Do we attack ride out and attack the goblins, or do we wait for them to come to us?"

===

Scorecard

Battletrials - 8 (missed a troll being captured earlier)
Goblins - 0 (except various dogs and cats)

So everyone, I am in a bind. The damn goblins refuse to approach. I am a bit worried about lifting the burrow restriction because they could charge at any moment. I am also hesitant to send everyone out to meet them because that may end in a bloodbath.

So, options are:

1) Leave everything as-is and see what the goblins do
2) The same as 1) but either extend the burrow restriction or lift it
3) Sally forth, aka Last March of the Dwarves.

Am unsure which one to take, so what do you all think?

[NRDL]

How many dwarves ( military and otherwise ) does this fort have? 

[HectorX]

Let's see...

Population: 121

Military Dwarves: 45

Military Breakdown:

Melee Dwarves - 30
Marksdwarves - 10
Captain of the Guard - 5

So I could potentially create 1-2 more 10-dwarf squads however the dwarves with combat skills have all been drafted.

As for the goblins, all they have lost are their trolls.

[NRDL]

I say draft the most useless peasants into a squad, have them run out at the goblins, then run back into the fort.  Hopefully that lures them in. 

[HectorX]

Hmmm that may work, could create a separate "volunteer" squad and try to lure them in.

I will extend the burrow to the fortress doors so the cages near the doors can be recycled, as well as replacing the doors and building some new cage traps inside the main hallway.

The ridiculous thing is that some of them are approaching from z-levels below the fortress, so there are plenty of ramps for them to use.

[HectorX]

Deleted this, will put it into my next update.

[HectorX]

Reset

The dwarves took advantage of the goblin's apparent hesitation and reset the cage traps around the main fortress doors. Two dwarves dragged the fortress' spare doors and moved them into position to replace the ones destroyed by the trolls.

Jester and Hatchy ordered the military to temporarily stand down while they stayed at the gates, watching the goblins remaining put. They had set up camp at the edge of the mountain and seemed happy to stay put for now.

"I'm bored," Hatchy moaned, kicking the sand at her feet as she watched the fortress mechanics swapping out the used cages in the cage traps. Troll after troll was dragged into the storage area, snarling and swiping at dwarves who walked past.

Jester elbowed her in the ribs. "Knock that off. We get the chance to capture some more hapless goblins if we reset the traps. That and they still outnumber us in terms of strength so even if it means we end up with just the trolls, we still come out ahead."

Hatchy scoffed, then the both of them heard a mountain-shaking roar towards the eastern goblin camp. Both dwarves squinted into the distance, their jaws dropped as they realised what was happening.





The two dwarves watched, gobsmacked, as the minotaur child - which still towered over the goblins - charged towards the nearest goblin lasher, swiping at it. However the battle was short-lived as the goblin lashers, their mounts and the goblin Hammer Lord swarmed all over the minotaur. The beast roared, then gurgled as the lashers destroyed the minotaur.



Jester and Hatchy exchanged glances. Jester sighed. "Well that was cool for a few seconds."

Round 2

The two goblin camps were settling in for the long haul. Statost the Hammer Lord was standing around a map of the Battletrials fortress, discussing the situation with one of her lieutenants. One of the goblin lashers ran up to the Hammer Lord.

"My Lord, there are goblins approaching."

Statost looked at the messenger, her eyes narrowing. "Take me to them," she said.

The messenger ran ahead, the Hammer Lord following close behind. They came to the rise near the top of the mountain, stumbling right into an oncoming mass of goblins. Leading it was a well-dressed goblin, resplendant in gold, jewels and silken clothes.

The Hammer Lord gulped. That could only be one person...

The well-dressed goblin drew alongside the Hammer Lord, looking down her nose at the military dwarf as the well-armoured goblins that accompanied her started to unpack their equipment. "Hello Statost. How goes the invasion? Well I see."

Statost glared at the goblin but bowed her head. "Not very well, Atu. We have lost our complement of trolls and the dwarves have rebuilt their fortress doors. We are going to try and starve them out."

Atu rolled her eyes. "Yes, starve out dwarves who can grow their food underground. Great plan, Statost."

Statost looked down at her feet, chastised. "Their force is inferior, so I hoped to-"

"You had your chance and blew it," Atu interrupted. "Go back to the tower, and take your pathetic troops with you. I'm taking command of this invasion."













===

So yes, in the space of a few minutes, a minotaur child arrived, got slaughtered in 4 pages of complete mutiliation, then a second goblin siege arrived. The first set of goblins have left the map.

Two weapon lords. I can't help but feel like they're throwing everything at us.

And what in the world is a law-giver, I have never seen one before. Why would they send one along with an invasion force?

[NRDL]

A law giver is a leader of a civilisation.  You should be honored that they think you so great a threat that they'd send what I'm assuming is a demon after you.  Is it really a goblin, or is that just narrative?  Because every single law-giver I've seen in adventure mode is a demon. 

[HectorX]

A law giver is a leader of a civilisation.  You should be honored that they think you so great a threat that they'd send what I'm assuming is a demon after you.  Is it really a goblin, or is that just narrative?  Because every single law-giver I've seen in adventure mode is a demon.

Not just narrative good dwarf, Atu is a goblin from the description:



Either this goblin civ was lucky enough to be isolated from any attacks by demons, or they were strong enough to repel or displace them.

[NRDL]

Awww.  It would have been such an "Oh Crap" moment if they had a demon. 

Do you have any plan to deal with this even larger army?