1st Granite: Calamity's ultimatum will be difficult to fulfill. Whatever I said to him, the gnomes outnumber our soldiers by a bit more then two to one and, despite their odd-looking equipment, have mainly bronze and steel weaponry and armour. Babbette and another of my apprentices will be full-grown by then, so that's something. So will the youth that Palu's been grooming to be the next Druid.
3rd Granite: The jack rat harvest has begun. The new Butcher will have his little hands full for the next while.
5th Granite: The Bone Carver is done making bonerattle gear for the War Ogres and the Animal Trainer is going to try to get the stubborn beasts INTO the armour.
6th Granite: I've begun training in the Way of the
Spear Pointy Stick, in preparation for the upcoming battle. There's no way I'll be able to match Zach or Skullsploder's level of mastery in time, but at least I'll be able to do SOMETHING.
8th Granite: Both War Ogres are now armoured. The Animal Trainer informs me that this inhibits their breeding somehow, but I think that the increased survivability is worth it.
10th Granite: The Fish Clean and Huivn are both Ancestors at their chosen crafts. The latter also became an Ancestor of Pottery through the creation of an artifact and he isn't even a year old yet!
12th Granite: Alestance sent me a gift again. Not gems this time. Cobaltite. Alestance. Has been MINING. Secretly, behind my back, Alestance has been digging, looking to discover the Caverns we kobolds lost long ago to the
Legion. But... Cobaltite is of special importance to our people. And Cobalt, the refined Metal made from it with Dwarven techniques, is even more so. Alestance's excavation will be allowed to continue. Presumably he is taking every precaution. Because if he isn't, I WILL kill him.
14th Granite: The process to complete a new megabatch of clay bricks is being started.
17th Granite: I have the War Ogres moved to guard the Depot.
20th Granite: Noticing the worn clothing most of the Camp seems to wear, I have the tailor make ankle bands, vests and kilts out of silk, rather than the ubiquitous cloaks.
24th Granite: Cobaltite keeps trickling in. Alestance must have struck a large vein.
27th Granite: The coming of age ceremony for the first litter of kobolds born in Cobaltpacked is today. The event is held in Calamity's Temple. Like the old Butcher's funeral, the event is almost a truce between us. He begins the ceremony.
"We are gathered here today, before Griblin, to acknowledge the coming of age of these intrepid kobolds. Babbette Balancedrelease, step forward."
Babbette steps up to the altar, which is covered in the ashes of burnt leather. Calamity outlines her birthsign on her forehead with the ashes and steps back.
"You are now a full adult, with all the rights and duties that entails. Huivn Torturedtummies, step forward"
Huivn steps up to the altar and gets his own birthsign outlined. Calamity repeats the process for the other members of the litter, a Druid-in-training and a Bowyer. Then the ceremony is over and I take Babbette to complete her apprenticeship to me in an entirely different ceremony.
28th Granite: Babbette's initiation into a full Witch goes smoothly. I have Articil prepare the barrel of blood so she can learn the bloodsteel spike spell I pioneered. I also give her her new equipment, a hexed steel stick and full lammellar armour.
1st Slate: Babbette successfully learned the bloodsteel spike spell. Me and her are now training together in the Way of the Pointy Stick in the room set aside for that porpoise across from my office. The next of my apprentices to come of age will do so in a little more then a week, so there will be three Witches and Witchers on the day of the battle.
5th Slate: Palu has started ordering juice for the upcoming Druidic meditation of his newly-adult apprentice. He disapproved greatly of my induction of Babbette into my order and hasn't been speaking with me. This is greatly troubling. The spirit bear forms of the Druids are fearsome indeed and I'll need their help against the Gnomish menace.
10th Slate: The Potter has become an Ancestor at his craft. Only Huivn rivals his skill at Pottery, and he spends all his time making delightful meat roasts.
12th Slate: One of my apprentices has come of age and is beginning the ritual to become a witch.
14th Slate: The apprentice has successfully become a Witch. Palu's apprentice has begun their meditation. Palu himself came into my training room and talked at me. He said that my power was from the dark, from that which the Warlocks brought home from the Void and that it was Druidism TWISTED, BROKEN. He warned against easy power, for it always has its price. I gestured and his dreamcatcher amulet exploded again. It reacts badly to my mere presence, and the slightest expenditure of energy makes it do that. He glared at me and stalked out of the training room. Babbette stared openmouthed at the confrontation.
18th Slate: No more gifts of cobaltite have arrived for a full day now, so I'm assuming that Alestance reached the end of the vein he found. A total of twelve usable boulders of cobaltite were excavated. Or at least, that's how many Alestance gave me. He could have some stashed in his bunker somewhere.
19th Slate: The first of the megabatch of clay bricks were finished today. The second floor is about halfway done and this new megabatch might finish it completely.
20th Slate: A kobold child was born today, to one of our militia. Another kobold child was struck by a mood. Palu's dreamcatcher amulet exploded again and he blames me for weakening the mystic barrier. Judging by my memories from the Should-Not-Have-Been, he may very well be right. The kobold child, of the Salamander Birthsign, grabbed a bar of silver and some leather and sequestered him[her? Kobold genders were always hard to tell, even when they WEREN'T wrapped inside an enveloping silken cloak]self in the Forge.
21st Slate: The new apprentice finally learned the bloodsteel spike spell and joined me and Babbette in our training.
22nd Slate: The attack on the gnomes will begin soon. It has been decided that my coven of Witches and Witchers will not participate, both because of Palu’s objections to our methods and because of our lack of practical combat experience and training. Someone just had quadruplets. Even if our soldiers die tomorrow, there is still life. There is still hope.
23rd Slate:
I enter Alestance’s bunker, to use as a command center. The plan of battle is thus: Our finest Machetebolds[ Skullsploder, Zach and a few others], will mass on the far opening of the River Tunnel, aided by Palu and his Druids. There they will await the Gnomish advance. A simple plan, but one that seems sound enough. A plan unlike anything Kobolds have ever done: A plan of ATTACK. I take a deep breath and pull the River Tunnel lever.
…
Palu’s thoughts were divided as he led the advance against the Gnomes. After all, were they not friends of nature too, Druids in their own right? His apprentice strode beside him, as did the rest of the militia, resplendent in masterful lamellar. At the other end of the River Tunnel was their leader, clad in gracefully spinning mithral gears, riding a feral looking bobcat and wielding a mighty iron cudgel.
“I am Palu, Archdruid of Cobaltpacked, last refuge of the Kobold race. Turn back here, or die.”
The gnome’s ticking-obscured visage whirred enigmatically and a long pause, spoke, in a metallic clicking voice that was ANYTHING but natural.
“I am Rumand Noshelmigr, leader of the Temporal Excision Taskforce, Division Twelve. You are harbouring a class II Refractive Anomaly, who calls itself “Arcvasti”. Hand him over for Timeline Reconstitution or we will terminate you.”
“I cannot do that. As much as my Druidic Oaths want to be able to dispose of his forbidden magic quickly and easily, it would leave our people with no leader.”
Without another word, Rumand’s mount leapt forwards and the macegnome atop it crushed the skull of a militiabold with a single swing.
“Die, “Archdruid”. Die knowing you killed your entire people with your stubbornness and pride.”
Palu smiled then, a fell grin, as of a wild beast. He threw down his weapon and shield and channelled the Great Spirit of the Protector he had bound his Birthsign to. His apprentice, beside him, followed suit. There were no more words. The kobolds fell upon the Gnomish force. There would be no quarter and no mercy, for the kobolds fought with the strength of those who know that the fate of their species rests with them. In the close press of the River Tunnel, the unwieldy screwdrivers of the Gnomes proved their undoing, as did their selfishness. For the kobolds were outnumbered two to one, and they knew it. But Palu chose to make the greatest sacrifice: He threw himself upon the defending forces and impaled himself on their weapons, rendering them useless. The militiabolds hacked, slashed and stabbed precisely at the entrapped foes, halving the enemy force in a matter of seconds. The remaining gnomes rallied and pushed back. Their leader’s mount fell to Palu’s apprentice quickly and the River Tunnel quickly became a nightmare, near-silent combat in the dark on a floor slippery with blood. The odds quickly swung back in the Gnome’s favour, with Zach and Skullsploder incapacitated by painful stabs to their arms and legs and Palu crucified by the screwdrivers he’d taken upon himself. It was one against six then, in the dark. And then the kobolds began to win. The sole remaining militiabold decapitated two gnomes in as many seconds. Palu’s apprentice, in his fury, ripped the Gnomish leader limb from limb with his mighty rending jaws, heedless of the mutilation the spinning mithral cogs inflicted upon his form. In that moment, the three remaining gnomes, although they nominally had the advantage, were terrified. They turned and fled, judging their own lives more important than some ephemeral timeline. The Kobolds had scored their first victory.
But not without cost.
…
The delegation of Arcvasti’s Coven down to the killing field to investigate the fate of the expedition was a somber one. Two kobolds had died, in all: The militiabold who was executed by the Gnomish leader before he could land a blow, and an adventurous kobold child who had wandered too close to the fighting. Eight Gnomes, including their Commander lay dead, as did the monstrous war Bobcat they had brought. The living were brought to rest in beds, the dead to rest in coffins. The valuable Metal and even the still-warm bodies of the Gnomes were brought inside, to be processed into useful resources. Life had to go on, for those who still possessed it.
…
As the dead Gnomes were brought in to Cobaltpacked, Calamity nodded to me in approval. He’d had his vengeance and others had paid the price. I would deal with him later. For now, the wounded and dead needed attending to.
24th Slate:
The moody child finished their construction, a silver breastplate called “Miseryshared”, becoming an Ancestor of Armoursmithing. Calamity seized the artifact at once, claiming it to be a “divine gift” and wearing it personally. The heroic miltiabold who had single-handedly carried the battle against the Gnomes came to me and requested to be named “Mate888”. I granted the title, as he had most certainly earned it. They then proceeded to give birth to quintuplets mid-sentence. I gave silent thanks to Calamity’s false god that they hadn’t given birth DURING the battle. Perhaps that was why they had fought so hard.
25th Slate: Zach’s injuries are being treated in the dormitories by some Bluebird Sign youths. Once the aftermath of the battle[Some of the kobolds are calling it “The Assault of Cyclones”, in honour of Mate888’s wildly successful blitzkrieg against hopeless odds] is over, I will have a PROPER hospital constructed. I order Kaladin and the Bone Carver to begin preparations for it in any event.
27th Slate: The funerals were held today. The fallen miltiabold was entombed in a coffin made of the bone of his victim, a bobcat. The child was laid to rest in a blank white bone coffin, symbolic of the loss of potential his death entailed. Calamity made speeches about how heroic the fallen miltiabold was, making his ignominious and useless death into a great ballad.
1st Felsite: Further investigation of the vast pile of Metal gnomish salvage revealed that the main haul were several mithral objects that could go a long way towards upgrading the quality of the machetebold’s weapons. I order them melted and the Gnomes butchered. Instead of death, they will give us life.
2nd Felsite: Palu and his apprentice regained their kobold forms. Just in time, as Palu’s wounds in bear form had crippled him for life. Now, after the regenerative transformation, he looks healthy, if weak and dizzy. Palu’s apprentice, the other hero of the Assault of Cyclones asked for a name too: Senshuken. I granted his request as well.
5th Felsite: The treatment of Zach and Skullsploder’s wounds goes well. The Bluebird-signs expect both of them to make a nearly full recovery, with only minor nerve damage
9th Felsite: The hospital is completely furnished and needs only to be stocked with medical supplies before it is completely finished. We have plenty of thread and cloth, but I have the Potter begin making some splints out of clay, since we lack those.
12th Felsite: Using the mithral scavenged from the Gnomes, I have Tenderroast begin making better machetes for the militiabolds.
14th Felsite: A pair of goblins were caught in cage traps today. I order them thrown in the river.
15th Felsite: Some forest imps cause trouble for the kobolds reloading the cage traps and collecting the prisoners. The war ogres should keep them out of the fort proper.
20th Felsite: A quartet of Drowish Assassins got caught in cage traps. I order them dropped in the river as well. Zach is in traction for his badly broken shoulder, and will be for the next while, but Skullsploder should be recovered much sooner.
24th Felsite: Palu transformed into a bear and tore apart some poor Drow. And he’d just stopped being dizzy from channelling sickness too…
28th Felsite:
The Druid Senshuken, finally graduated from apprenticeship, came to see me today.
…
“The gnomes… I’ve only just begun to think straight, after the backlash of channelling the bear spirit. Their leader said they were here to “fix the timeline” or something. They said you were an “anomaly””
”I have no idea what he was talking about. I appreciate you telling me, however. If anything else like this comes up, please come see me. Perhaps with more information, the mystery with unwravel.”The newly-minted Druid left the Witcher’s office, somewhat disappointed that Arcvast had known even less about the Gnome’s mysterious utterances then he had. Arcvasti lay back in his chair, lost in memories from the Should-Not-Have-Been.
…
In the back room of Calamity’s temple, the priest, clad in his splendid artifact raiment of gleaming silver, consulted some faded rubbings of ancient engravings and a small clay statuette, that, although solid and vaguely menacing, gave no hints as to what it represented. A circle of Gnomish scalps lay in a circle around the altar. After finding what he wanted, the Priest began chanting and the scalps merged together in a spray of darkness, sucking into the altar until nothing was left. The Others would pay with their lives, even if Calamity had to sacrifice children with his bare hands.
…
A coin, gleaming as it caught the light at the summit of its arc-A misshapen Dartfrog Birthsign, distended with the grin of the face below-A red eye set in gold, burning-A tall robed man, with blood streaking from his face in rivulets With a gasp, Arcvasti pulled himself out of the meditative trance, trying to make sense what he had seen in the Should-Not-Have-Been. He had an inkling of an idea, and even that made his snout’s sinuses burn with searing pain.
…
From the rubbings found in Calamity’s Temple
-smudgedillegible-In the year 4, so called kobold deity raised-tornpapyrus-
-hopelesslydirty-Gr’bln h’wth f’rn’w-burnt page-
-crumpledpapyrus-assic example of –wormeaten passage-displacement. Hypothesized to be d-raggedtear in papyrus-
[[OOC:
I would also like to be Bolded.
A male kobold druid if possible. As much as I respect the darker powers and the might that comes with them, I would rather avoid practicing a magical art that might drive me insane learning. Besides, I like my mark.
Pfft, why bother with boring magic?
Boring? I get to turn into a giant freaking bear! I'm sure there is plenty more crazy crap that druids could do if given the chance as well.
Bolded as Palu's apprentice. For the record, the Druid Bears were probably the only reason the Assault of Cyclones wasn't a massacre. They tanked lots of hits and caused quite a bit of mayhem.
Bolding requested. Warrior/Viper, if possible.
You're bolded as an almost-mature kobold destined to take the place of the soldier who died in this battle.
This update was long in the coming and spans an entire season. Follow-up update with OOC status report and a bunch of screen shots is coming in the future.
Author
Topic: ☼Cobaltpacked II☼- Kobold Community/Tutorial Fortress (Read 27083 times)