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[HectorX]

Act 3 - Second wave

The front gates of Battletrials were, as ShadowHammer put it bluntly, cages and death.



As the dwarven troops carted off their wounded and reset their lines, the dwarves who had set off in pursuit of the fleeing hammer goblins returned. Several of the fleeing enemy soldiers had become ensnared in further cage traps, so the dwarves were in high spirits.

The surviving retreating hammer goblins met up with the Mace and Hammer Lords and their squads, which were still camped just under the rise leading in to the fortress.





The Lords were furious that the initial troll & hammer goblin incursion had yielded only a few dwarven casualties at the cost of almost the entire first wave. Atu swept down on her swallow mount, landing gently near the goblin mass. Her message was simple: Press on, show no mercy. The Lords, who themselves were intimidated by their leader, unsheathed their fearsome weapons and drove their troops forward, pushing them up the rise towards the fortress.

The dwarves, who had scouts posted outside the main gates, spotted the approach of the Lords, the mace goblins and spear goblins all charging forward at once, along with the ragtag hammer goblin remnants. They all withdrew into the main gates. With one door ruined, all they could hope for was to funnel the approaching soldiers into the gap and create a bottle-neck.





Nix the Axedwarf had moved up to join the leading edge of the dwarven defensive line. Iton the hammerer had also volunteered to help. As before, the Marksdwarves were hanging back in the main corridor, hoping to pepper the invaders with bolts.

The goblins reached the gateway to the fortress. The dwarves were ready for them. Reg the Speardwarf sprung out of ambush from the other side of the surviving gate, taking out one of the hammer goblins immediately with a swift strike to the head.



One of the Marksdwarves, Kivish, managed to hit a spear goblin square in the throat. The goblin gurgled, grasping its throat as blood sprayed out of the wound.





The Axe Lord roared, pushing more and more troops into the fortress. Aban the Swordsdwarf slashed his short sword across the face of a spear goblin, making the goblin reel before stabbing his blade square through the goblin's face, killing it instantly. He turned around to his comrades to cheer, who could only watch in horror as a long spear erupted from the middle of his chest as he was stabbed from behind. Blood gushed out of the hole as the spear withdrew. Aban looked down at the hole in shock, then slumped against the ground, dead.



The fortress hammerer, Iton, was also making her presence felt on the front-line. As goblins and dwarves fell around her, she stood tall, hammer in hand.



She brought down her hammer hard on the leg of a spear goblin, causing the soldier to cry out in pain as its leg splintered under the assault. Its cry was short-lived however as Iton raised her hammer and brought it down hard on the soldier's head. The impact was so severe the hammer was lodged halfway into the goblin's skull. She grinned, soaked in blood as she withdrew her weapon from the gory hole.



She turned back towards the door and was confronted with the terrifying sight of the goblin Axe Lord. Its gleaming weapon, an iron great axe, reflected the sunlight pouring in from the outside as the goblin stared her down, a toothy smile etched into its face.

Iton took a step back, opening up space between herself and the Axe Lord, who merely advanced, its much larger weapon held in both hands. Iton struck at the Axe Lord's midsection, a blow which the goblin merely side-stepped. This dodge revealed an onrushing spear goblin, whose attack took Iton completely by surprise. The goblin's spear sliced right through the hammerer's right hand, sending it spinning away in a fountain of blood.

The hammerer barely had time to register the shocking blow before the Axe Lord, with lightning-fast speeds, struck with its massive weapon, sending it straight through Iton's left wrist.

In the space of two blows, Iton had lost both her hands. She screamed in absolute agony.



Nix, towards the rear of the front line, swore as he saw the hammerer being mauled by the Axe Lord. He pushed his way through the mass of dwarves but was prevented from reaching the Axe Lord by a wall of spear goblins.



Nix, enraged, swung his axe over and over at the closest spear goblin. It managed to block some the dwarf's blows but two solid strikes took solid chunks of flesh out of both arms.



Nix kept pressing, striking over and over, but in his rage didn't notice that he had become surrounded by spear goblins.

They all turned on him at once.





Nix, his body reduced to a bloody shattered mess, saw out of the corner of his eye that Iton the hammerer had collapsed to the ground, dead; her body had lost blood at an alarming rate. Nix looked at one of his opponents square in the eye, crying out in anger and pain as the goblins stabbed the dwarf to death.



His death was one of many on both sides as the fight continued, both sides pressing for an advantage, but neither managing to break the deadlock.

===

Yay, update! No, not another NRDL casualty!

Atu and her wave of lashers are still waiting at the map edge, almost watching the combat unfold. There are a good 30-40 goblins at the front gates, but they can't get past the dwarves.

So far so good but taking casualties steadily.

[mavj96]

Amazing! I put out a goblin with a swift hook.

I'd like to do whatever I can for the fort so don't be afraid to use me.

[HectorX]

Amazing! I put out a goblin with a swift hook.

I'd like to do whatever I can for the fort so don't be afraid to use me.

Will definitely keep that in mind.

Yeah we've done well, but am a bit worried because there are still two full squads after the two squads which are attacking right now.

May have to start drafting reinforcements into the squads to bolster their numbers so they don't get overrun.

Also, after the siege (assuming we survive), we have a few options:

1) Draft everyone into the military, AKA Sparta

2) Start building a lot of fortifications, AKA Troy

3) Keep ramping up the value, build a road + bridge over the lake and attract the wealthy nobles to turn Battletrials into a grand city, AKA Athens.

What do you all think? I feel like I haven't been involving you guys enough

[NRDL]

Let's go Sparta on this place. 

Also, after the siege ( assuming we survive ) could I be redorfed, as Nixus the speardwarf, please. 

[HectorX]

Act 4 - Casualties

The battle raged on. Both sides were taking heavy losses as a ferocious fight was waged for control of the main gates of Battletrials.

So many dwarves had been lost already... Nix... Veren...Maverick... the list went on. But the goblins had also lost troops. So many that the Weapon Lords, who would always prefer to send minions to their deaths, were forced to step in and help.

The militia captains of Battletrials were busy trying to marshal the troops as well as reinforcements. Crusoe and his squad, meanwhile, were hanging back in the corridor, sending a constant hail of bolts towards the mass of goblins, trying to keep them distracted as the melee dwarves tried to drive them out.



This had no effect on the Weapon Lords however. As the Axedwarf found himselt in the way of the great axe of the Axe Lord. The dwarf's top half and bottom half were completely separated, flying apart.



Rakust managed to score another kill, his sword slashing through the top half of a goblin's head. The mace goblins had charged into battle, who alongside the spear goblins were trying to press their advantage. The dwarves were barely holding on.



The Mace Lord was also in the thick of battle. She tormented Olin the Hammerdwarf, shattering bones in his body as she crippled the dwarf. Before she succumbed to  her injuries, Olin managed to take out one of the mace goblins.



After a few more swings, the Mace Goblin dispatched Olin. She turned to Monom the Swordsdwarf who was fighting nearby. She crippled the dwarf by slapping her iron flail into Monom's arm, who reeled backwards cradling his arm. This left one of the mace goblins an opening in which to finish the dwarf off, slamming his weapon into Monom's head.



The Mace Lord, then turned, seeing one of the Axedwarves, Oddom, struggling to hold off one of the mace goblins. The Mace Lord walked forward, raised her flail and smashed it into the head of the dwarf twice. Oddom fell down, dead, leaving a gap in the dwarven lines.



Limul the Swordsdwarf stepped in and tried his best to plug the gap in the lines. For a while, he succeeded, managing to severely injure one of the mace goblins who had threatened to break through the dwarven defence.



One of the recruits who had been drafted from the fortress, Lokum, found himself right up against it from the start.



He came face to face with the snarling, blood-soaked Mace Lord. He moved towards the goblin and, managing to dodge her savage strike with her iron flail, threw his fist out at the goblin and managed to connect with her right hand. The goblin cried out in pain and surprise as Lokum, equally surprised, threw his fist out again and hit the goblin higher up on her arm.

The goblin groaned in pain, suddenly feeling dizzy and slumping against the wall. Lokum took the chance to strike the goblin in the head, feeling her spine crunch beneath his gloved fist. He turned around, roaring at Crusoe's Marksdwarves. They looked up, saw the Mace Lord slumped against the wall, and shot a wall of bolts at her. They struck her in the head and leg, making the goblin drop her flail. As Lokum grabbed the Mace Lord with his left hand, she looked blearily at him as he punched the goblin hard in the face with his right hand.

The dwarves cheered as the Mace Lord fell to the ground, dead.



Lokum roared with triumph, then charged into the thick of the goblins. Targeting injured goblins, he took out another two invaders with just his fists.



With one of the Weapon Lords killed, ShadowHammer and Hatchy decided it was time to try and turn the tide against the invaders. Charging forward, they waded into the fight.





Hatchy, her new steel short sword raised, struck at the nearest mace goblin, who cried out in pain as part of its leg flew off in a shower of blood.



The militia captain grinned as the mace goblin scrabbled, trying to get away from her sword. Hatchy slashed her sword across its head. The fine steel blade sliced clean through the front half of the goblin's head, tearing its head in half.



As for ShadowHammer, he was taking on both a spear goblin and the Axe Lord. He sliced his weapon through the spear goblin several times, sending body parts flying.



The Axe Lord saw the spear goblin losing and decided to turn his attention to the militia captain. He struck out with his iron great axe, tearing through ShadowHammer's armour and leg. ShadowHammer groaned in pain as the Axe Goblin twisted his weapon around in the wound, pulled it out and sliced through ShadowHammer's right foot.



ShadowHammer did his best to try and hold back the onslaught, but the Axe Lord swung over and over. ShadowHammer's body parts were now flying across the corridor as the dwarves did their best to try and help their militia captain. But there were simply too many goblins holding them  back as the Axe Lord mauled ShadowHammer.



Gurgling and clutching his multiple injuries, ShadowHammer fell to the ground. He saw the Axe Lord standing over him, blood-covered axe in hand. ShadowHammer spat in his face. The goblin wiped the dwarven spit off his face before raising his weapon and bringing it down on ShadowHammer's neck.



The dwarves cried out in anger and sadness and redoubled their efforts to push the goblins back. After several more minutes of pitched battle, the spear and mace goblins started to retreat. The Axe Lord pulled its troops back, also attempting to grab the body of the Mace Lord.

The dwarves initially cheered the goblins' withdrawal. They started chasing them out of the fortress, then stopped dead in their tracks.

The sword goblins, the sunlight gleaming off their weapons and armour, were advancing rapidly towards the fortress.

Hatchy marshalled the surviving dwarves into a defensive stance. All they could do was wait.




====

That last picture was weird, because I could have sworn the events happened as I have written them above. The sword goblins didn't start arriving until after the Mace Lord died... ah well. Either way, that is three waves defeated, and the Mace Lord is dead.

Maverick and Veren, sorry, I don't seem to have captured your deaths in screenshot form. Having about 40 fights to track was somewhat tricky. But unfortunately you did die.

Also, alas, ShadowHammer just couldn't resist that absurd Axe Lord.

[mavj96]

Ah! I'd take another male dwarf as Maverus this time.

I say we become a military community of strong individuals. That's the idea of the fort anyway no?

I think I'd fancy Maverus having a crude weapon for now, at least until he earned something better.

[Lalasa]

Veren most likely died in a noble manner, but although he was unmarked, he shall not be forgotten!  Great updates as always.

I'd appreciate a female gladiator dwarf named Marisa please. c:

[HectorX]

Ah! I'd take another male dwarf as Maverus this time.

I say we become a military community of strong individuals. That's the idea of the fort anyway no?

I think I'd fancy Maverus having a crude weapon for now, at least until he earned something better.

Originally, in my head, it was going to be "selected gladiators" with a town to support them. Now that the goblins have sent absurd waves of soldiers against the fortress, it may have to become Sparta-ised!

Also... I went trawling through the game log... this be what I found:

The flying ({copper arrow}) strikes The Hammerdwarf in the upper body, tearing the muscle, chipping the left true ribs, chipping the left false ribs and tearing the left lung through the (alpaca wool cloak)!
A tendon in the left true ribs has been torn!
A tendon in the left false ribs has been torn!
The Hammerdwarf is having trouble breathing!
The flying ({silver arrow}) strikes The Hammerdwarf in the left upper leg, chipping the bone through the (alpaca wool cloak)!
A tendon has been torn!
The Hammerdwarf falls over.
The flying ({copper arrow}) strikes The Hammerdwarf in the head, tearing the muscle, fracturing the skull and tearing the brain through the (giant great horned owl leather hood)!
A tendon in the skull has been torn!
The Hammerdwarf has been knocked unconscious!
The ({copper arrow}) has lodged firmly in the wound!
`Maverick' Athelusen, Hammerdwarf has been shot and killed.

The Goblin Hammerman bashes The Swordsdwarf in the head with his ({copper war hammer}), bruising the muscle, jamming the skull through the brain and tearing the brain!
`Veren' Adilamal, Swordsdwarf has been struck down.

So you both died in the heat of battle. Nicely done!

Update coming in an hour or so It's a lovely Saturday morning, so I have plenty of time to write.

[HectorX]

Act 5 - Nadir

The entrance of the sword goblins saw the tide of battle turn yet again. While the dwarves had seen off three waves of goblins, the sword goblins were a class above the rest. Their weapons were longer, their armour thicker. Multiple times they threatened to break through the dwarven lines, only to be repelled by wave after wave of volunteer civilians who Jester had drafted and thrown into combat. Most didn't last very long but some managed to score a kill or two, enough to keep the goblins out of the fortress.

Lilmul and Lokum, two dwarves whose heroics had seen off the earlier waves of goblins, were struck down by the sword goblins, their superior weapons proving too much.





To make matters worse, one of the sword goblins broke through and struck down a member of Crusoe's squad before it was repelled by the melee dwarves.



Hatchy and Sloth were fighting side-by-side with the other dwarves, doing their best to keep the goblins at bay.



Sloth had taken over as captain of ShadowHammer's squad after his death. Unfortunately she wasn't faring much better than his predecessor, finding himself outmatched by one of the sword goblins.



Hatchy did her best to try and intervene, striking at the sword goblin several times, but it was in vain. Sloth raised her pick-axe to strike the sword goblin but, in a blur of motion, the goblin swung her sword out in an arc, slicing clean through the neck of the dwarf.



Hatchy started to worry. More and more unarmoured civilians were streaming from the fortress to help, and the marksdwarves were starting to run out of ammunition. If something didn't give soon, the fortress would be done for.

"HATCHY!" The militia captain heard her name being bellowed from down the main corridor. She turned, and saw Jester hobbling his way towards the gates as fast as he could. She smiled broadly, then saw out of the corner of her eye an onrushing sword goblin. She turned to try and block the goblin's charge, managing to deflect the initial strike but she couldn't stop the swift stab of the goblin's sword. It plunged into her left hand, severing a nerve and tearing into the muscle.

To Hatchy's horror, her left hand went numb. She watched her sword fall from her tinging, lifeless fingers.



She still had a shield but before she could raise it, the goblin struck again, slashing her sword across Hatchy's left arm. Blood sprayed from the wound as the dwarf cried out in pain.



Jester, still hobbling up the corridor, saw Hatchy in trouble. "No! Hatchy hold on!" he roared, redoubling his efforts to move but being hampered by his crutch.

Hatchy heard Jester but before she could respond, she found herself surrounded by sword goblins. She did her best to pull back while blocking out the attacks but the goblins found ways through her defences. Swords found her flesh over and over, tearing into her extremeties, including her right arm. Her iron shield dropped to the floor as her right arm also went numb.

Defenceless, a sword goblin plunged her weapon into Hatchy's chest, tearing apart her right lung. Hatchy reeled, air escaping from her ruined lung and out the hole the goblin was busily widening by twisting its sword around in the wound.



Jester was almost to the front lines, pushing his way through Crusoe's squad. Hatchy turned her head, saw Jester and, despite her pain, smiled at him.

Then a sword plunged into the side of her head. Hatchy's eyes grew dim and lifeless, but the smile was still on her face as she fell to the floor. Hatchy was dead.



Jester cried out in anguish and rage. He raised his war hammer and charged forward, straight into the mass of sword goblins who killed his friend. The goblins were caught off-guard by Jester's frenzied assault. Jester's hammer slammed into one goblin head, then another, striking two soldiers down as his blood-rage consumed him.



The sword goblins, seeing the onrushing militia commander, panicked. They had lost only a few soldiers but, with Atu's squad of lashers still on the ridge, they had no backup against the remaining dwarves. They ran out of the fortress, fleeing to the east.



Atu, on her cave swallow mount high above the main gates, flew into a rage as she saw the sword goblins retreating. "GET BACK IN THERE YOU COWARDS!" she screamed, swooping down low over the retreating goblins, who completely ignored her in their blind panic. Atu snarled in rage, then looked over at her lasher squad. They wouldn't be enough, and she herself carried no weapon.

She screamed in frustration, then flew down to her lasher squad leader. "Withdraw. Everyone fall back to the tower and regroup."

Atu flew off, leaving her squad behind. The lashers turned to their squad leader, who looked down the rise at the fleeing sword goblins, the piles of dead goblins and dwarves, and the trolls and goblins still trapped in cages.

"You heard her!" the squad leader said. "Everyone back to the tower. Leave the cowards to their fate." The lashers turned their mounts and headed south.

With that... the siege was broken.

Rebuilding

Jester was picking through the corpses of dead soldiers on both sides, not daring to bring himself to confront the site of his dead friend. The surviving dwarves were streaming in and out of the fortress, resetting cage traps and gathering up piles of weapons and armour from the dead.

Shorast the mayor joined him, the two of them silently identifying dead dwarves for the burial crew. Shorast had ordered the masons to build dozens of coffins to house the slain, and all weapons to be stockpiled. The gladiators had been devastated, with only Crusoe and Jester left alive out of the notable soldiers. The rest of the squads, save Crusoe's marksdwarves, had been obliterated, reduced to a handful of raw recruits.

"What a mess," Shorast said, shaking her head as she wiped blood from the face of one of the dead dwarves. "We've lost so many... and the goblins will be back."

Jester grunted in agreement. He sighed, then got down on his haunches, laying his crutch down next to him. Hatchy's body was lying where she fell, dried blood covering her multiple sword wounds. Her face had relaxed, her smile having faded... but she looked at peace. Jester fought back tears as he reached down and closed her eyes with his hand.

He grabbed his crutch and, shakily, made his way to his feet. He sniffed, then turned to Shorast. "They'll almost certainly be back," he said, "so we need to rebuild. I will disband the military squads and rebuild them. Every dwarf in Battletrials will be put into training. They will all learn how to fight."

Shorast nodded slowly as the two of them reached the front doors, staring out at the blood-covered sand. They both said nothing. They didn't need to. They knew what had to be done.

Final count

Jester and Shorast sat in the mayor's office, going over the final numbers of the two consecutive sieges.

From a total of 121 dwarves before the sieges began, roughly half the dwarven population had perished, as well as all dogs.



The goblins had suffered heavy casualties as well. 27 goblins, including the majority of the invading trolls, had been captured.



In addition to the captures, 24 goblins and trolls had been killed.



Jester read down the list of captured goblins "Normally we leave the goblins armed and armoured. Not this time. I want them to be stripped of their weapons and clothes, their weapons melted down and resmelted into dwarven weapons. We will use their armour on our new squads, when they're put together."

Shorast wrote this down, looking up at Jester. "So they are going to fight against the new recruits with no armour and weapons?"

Jester nodded. "This way, we won't lose anymore troops while they build up their combat skills. The militia captains will take on the trolls."

Shorast finished writing, putting down her parchment and sighing. "Sounds like a plan," she said. Hesitating, she looked Jester in the eye. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jester smiled for the first time since the siege, albiet a faint one. "One day. For now, I have a fortress full of recruits to shape."

===

Sigh. Didn't want Hatchy to die... gotta love Dwarf Fortress!

So, I am now caught up, hurray! From this point onwards, since I am way past where I thought my story would end, I will run major decisions past all of you so that we can build the fortress together as a community (funny that!).

The fortress will be Sparta-fying now. I have some ideas I want to run past everyone:

1) Should an archery tower be built outside the main gates (accessible via underground tunnels) so the Marksdwarves have a chance of shooting down swallow mounts when they return?

2) Should all the civilians be drafted into squads? Should the squads have mixed weapons?

3) Should they all have leather armour?

4) Should the "elite" ones, say, those who slaughter a troll, be drafted into a separate squad and given metal armour?

[NRDL]

Goddamn can this game tell a story.

Personally, it would seem cooler if each squad was devoted to one type of weapon.  One squad all spears, a different all hammers, etc.  I'd be more scared of an enemy that looked more organised and cohesive. 

[HectorX]

Goddamn can this game tell a story.

Personally, it would seem cooler if each squad was devoted to one type of weapon.  One squad all spears, a different all hammers, etc.  I'd be more scared of an enemy that looked more organised and cohesive.

Yeah I agree. I am going to create custom uniforms so that I can easily make weapon-specific squads. A squad of sword or spear dwarves should put the fear into future goblin incursions.

[mavj96]

I agree with being more organized, it makes for an easier time creating weapons and armors in batches of 10 for a squad. I'd say that squad leaders should get the best of the armors and weapons.

[HectorX]

I agree with being more organized, it makes for an easier time creating weapons and armors in batches of 10 for a squad. I'd say that squad leaders should get the best of the armors and weapons.

Was thinking:

Squad leader - Metal armour
Rest of squad - Leather armour

Marksdwarf squad leader - Metal armour, bow (from that Elite Bowman)
Rest of squad - Leather armour

Bezerker squad - Spears, shields, no armour.

[NRDL]

Please, Please, Please, put me in the berzerker squad.

[HectorX]

Please, Please, Please, put me in the berzerker squad.

Deal! I may give them cloaks. Some kind of unarmoured, cloaked kamikaze squad.