17th Obsidian, 232The fight is done. When I had initially ordered our main units to muster in the courtyard, I was worried when several had not heeded the call. Knowing full well that the chaos dwarves would be mounted on horseback, I ordered the Wolverines to join us on the field to allow us to cripple and catch up to the speedier steeds. When we comitted to the fight, kiling a handful of trolls and the odd heretic, we found that were were already severeal dead invaders and thier horses, appearing to have been clove apart with axe strikes. It took some time and several dead invaders for us to find Doren, who was yanking his blade free of a chaos dwarf, and Corporal Erush had charged blindly into the enemy cavalry alone, dodging and blocking every shot sent his way by the cursed horse archers.
I'll be honest, It was a chaotic mess of flying bolts and arrows, severed limbs, and a wounded Wolf Spider Sergeant. Degel had been shot in the right leg twice, but at least she isn't dead. There's mutterings from others now that the Wolf Spiders may be cursed... And I'm inclined to agree; Selore and Doren both seem to think it isn't the squad, but the weapon the Sergeant must bear in battle that is cursed.
Also, we can officially count Ownedochre as a hero of the fortress, as several slain enemy officers had the big blue beetle listed with an additional title on a list of dwarves who needed to be slain to pave the way for conquest.19th Obsidian, 232Goblins this time. Guess they were following the chaos dwarves thinking they were friendly to us. Among them is the enemy war leader, so that particular greenskin has to go. My squad will deal with him and his bodyguards.
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Well, it was messy but quick and brutal. The Wolf Spiders drove off two squads on thier own while the rest of us went after the war leader and the trolls supporting them. While I managed to take out the war leader's cave crocodile, I got surrounded by mounted pike goblins and the bastard almost escaped, but Maskwolf (who saw Ferro chasing the son of a bitch,) and Ferro cornered him. According to Maskwolf, Ferro wouldn't let him get involved and bit him in the eye and kept shewing until prior injuries he inflicted claimed the war leader's life.[I'll be up front, I had to slayrace four mounts and two pikegobs to get Ferro to chase that prick down; I had no intention of letting him escape. I also had to use Dfusion and the liquids thing to get Degel moving again, as she got bugged.]
The west road is practically decorated with the remains of trolls, and the northwest slope is covered in the remains of the war leader's entourage.24th Obsidian, 232Looks like there won't be trade this season yet again.1st Granite, 233Atir died of old age today. He set a boulder he was hauling up to the crafts guild material storage and according to those who saw (and were taking a short breather with him,) he sat down, took a drink from his flask and just fell over. Someone's pet beetle and a stray cavy also died of old age too, but those were uncerimoniously pitched into the garbage ditch.
Guess the old dwarf was right to worry about his burial arrangements.No time was wasted laying Atir to rest. A headstone is being commissioned and awaits engraving.18th Granite, 233Onol's finally out of traction. It'll make building of the engineer and mason guildhalls a little easier.22nd Granite, 233More fucking toy axes. I swear, with Amas as my witness I am going to punch her right in her – the paper is torn off here.23rd Granite, 233I had to lock the doors to the king's unoccupied office. Several idiots had taken to eating in there when they know damn well it's the king's room.3rd Slate, 233It's raining again. Amazing that we've had rain twice in a row in two years. I'm glad for it even.13th Slate, 233The king has nearly arrived! We have much to do, his rooms aren't even finished yet!
The rains had just abated from the forest around Carryscar. The scent of that rainfall made the surface quite pleasant in fact, and Alligator Townchanneled was simply abiding by her usual hobby of accosting local wildlife with her arbalest when she could see out in the distance, the glimmer of armor and not long after, a standard bearing the stylized insignia of The Gravel of Prisons! She clambered up a highwood to see if her eyes were decieving her from the great distance but they weren't! She slid down as quick as she could (thank the leatherworkors for her gloves,) and rushed off to the small citidel that was the tip of Carryscar.
“The king is coming!” She shouted as she burst through the doors to the southwest Barracks.
The soldiers were all startled by this sudden outburst. “I'm sorry, what?” Splint asked, walking to the out of breath dwarf.
“King... King Willcloister... He's almost here!” Alligator said between breaths.
Splint stood there, uterrly shocked. He had considered the king would make the journey here over winter, but he hadn't actually expected it! His rooms weren't finished and those that were were not even engraved or fully furnished!
It didn't take long for word to spread like wildfire between the soldiers, Selore, and Alligator running around spreading word. Banners were broken out and drapped from the battlements and all of the fortress' soldiers had ligned up in formation along the sides of the southern road, the Goanns having gone the extra mile and having set up in pairs on each side at the end with almost obnoxiously green pendants afixed to thier spears flying the country's symbol. The whole populous had gathered at the entrance to see the arrival, and most were there just before the king and his entourage arrived. All in attendance were surprised not to see King Willcloister carried on a mobile throne by his closest retainers like his predecessors but, strolling up in trousers tattered from travel, his cloak holey and weather beaten and a ding in his crown. The look was further added to by was was unmistabley a small hip bag covered with blood and full of cuttlery that had apparently been used as makeshift weapons.
“Hello there! You must be Colonel Unitefences!” He said after waving to the many onlookers who confused or not, cheered the arrival of thier king. He stretched out a hand to the veteran and shook it gladly.
“I am, your majesty. Did you run into trouble along the way? You're short several uh... Tradtional things for a royal procession.” Splint asked after saluting the king and shaking his hand.
“Just a rather large bunch of brigands is all. I'm not much of a fighter, but I did indeed have to defend myself. However, my retinue fought admirably and we drove them off with not a soul harmed on our side. And if you're referring to that stupid ceremony throne, I had the gilding melted down and the wooden guts used for firewood years ago. I can carry my own weight thank you very much.”
Splint was understandably taken aback by that response. “I-I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean-”
The King smiled and patted Splint on the shoulder. “Don't worry my good dwarf, I don't mean anything by it. I was just never one for all that high and mighty traditional, if you'll pardon my crude wording,
bullshit. I got quite enough of that growing up!” He finished with a hearty laugh.
“Well sire, it's good that you've come and we're honored to receive you, but I must shamefully admit we haven't quite finished your accommodations yet.”
“Oh that's fine Colonel, that's fine! I'm sure the citizens will be happy to hop to the task, keep themselves out of the stocks and all that!” He said with a chuckle. Quite the friendly king he is! “In all seriousness Colonel, I've heard great things about this fortress. About you and your soldiers, and most importantly, about the dwarves it contains. You have many good dwarves here, and I am the one who is honored that such strong willed frontierdwarves would receive some dodgy young fellow like myself, who only got to be king because his big brothers weren't home at the time daddy died.” He smiled and gestured to his somewhat disheveled entourage.
“As you can see, I have several good warriors with me, whom I give you full license to assign to what roles they may be needed in. I've already told my aides and such that since our journey has ended they may safely disperse amongst the populous.” He turned away and waved once more to the cheering crowd, before heading into the fortress proper.
14th Slate, 233Our citizens are working diligently to make sure the king's accommodations are up to standard. Among his retinue were a Sharpshooter, Macelord, and a new addition to the Cazadors, a Swordmaster named Cerol Greatcave. She'll make a fine addition to our ranks.6th Felstie, 233Thanks to our engravers the king's rooms are nearly up to snuff. They still need a few furnishings, and a Bodyguard detail needs to be formed and set up in the palace, but all is smooth digging!12th Felsite, 233We spotted wood elves on patrol. I sent Dragonfly to inform the king of the tree fondlers' arrival. There was worry expressed among many dwarves that should we decide to declare war upon the silver xelics, the wood elves may join them, in an effort to stamp us out and help spread an “ecologically friendly way of life.” That happens to include eating the enemies you beat, no leather for proper shoes, and not having a sturdy mahogany table to eat at. For now though we let them pass.
Da na na naaaaaa! Another shorty, because this info was just too damn good to not post! We're officially the capital! Sadly the general didn't come with him. Ah well, still, got a big first for my DF career and you guys got to come along with me!