CHAPTER 92: Teline's taleWinter of 150Killcount: 96It's on.
The lever is pulled. Slowly, the forces of hell erupt from the freshly excavated tunnel, and pour into the DOOMCAVE, spotting their first opponent.
A white banshee charges, and avoids a blow, landing the first strike of the confrontation. A bruise, merely.
The forgotten beast will now answer with its mighty special attack!
Breathing... fire.
Really, dude?
The demons are obviously impervious to the FB's attack, and counterattack with various glancing and brusing kicks. Clearly, everybody was kung-fu fighting. The forgotten beast becomes enraged!
Its ribs get kicked so hard, that the beast's brain is destroyed in the process. Ooooookay. I don't even get a chance to look at its profile.
Xun, the beast that Squiddwarf narrowly avoided while opening the tunnel, is next to attract the demons' attention. Show us what you can do, Xun!
Xun breathes fire.
The dwarves turn their attention away from the fight to re-arm the lower trap, and place new bait. As soon as this is over, they return to Xun's wrestling match...
...to find it struggling against a Pterosaur Brute and a Filth Devil. The fortress has become a Godzilla movie. Xun is able to soak most of the physical hits, but...
Filth devil extract and vapors from the Pterosaur Brute are slowly rotting its body away. Xun's own attack, breathing fucking fireballs, is obviously useless against the demons.
The syndromes tear appart Xun's being from the inside, making him weak and vulnerable. Soon, he can't defend against the demons' attacks anymore, and they begin to tear him to shreds.
Soon enough, a second beast is no more.
East of Xun's miasmatic corpse, a third beast decides to use a different strategy. It begins to fill the area with thick strands of webs.
The beast has nowhere to go. It has never moved since its arrival in the DOOMCAVe. the demons are able to reach it thanks to their flight ability, but they get entangled by the webs. A pterosaur brute is caught by them, and crashes to the ground, before engaging with this annoying creature... The fiend has not suffered any real injury from the fall.
Meet Aste, a towering sauropod.
Aste's feet is bruised by the fiend attack. Soon enough, it begins to rot. Truly, those demons are terrifying.
With nowhere to run, aste tries to keep the foes at bay using more webs.
A white banshee plummets to the floor, shattering on impact.
More demons pile up on Aste...
The beast has no chance of surviving. the combined syndromes start to wreck havoc on its body...
Leaving behind a rotting pile of horror and pus...
And finally a corpse.
Outside, the dwarves partaking in Clothsgiving have left some copper bins filled with adamantine gear lying at the very opposite side of the map, and nobody cares to pick them up. A third such bin lies at the entrance of the fort, and none of the 40 idlers seem intend on solving that issue.
The sound of a crashing body echoes through the earth. A second foe, a Wraith of Steam, has been killed by Aste's webs.
Distracted by this tremor, none of the dwarves notice the goblin ambush sneaking inside the fort.
None, but commander Vadok, who stands on the very end of the courtyard, with exactly zero marksdwarf experience...
He shoots right at the mayor. The mayor dodges out of the way.
This initial shot flies through the courtyard, and runs straight through both brain and helmet, destroying the goblin in the process.
Good job, Vabok.
The goblin's friend runs out of the marksdwarf's way, and heads straight into 90 war animals in the process.
A third one runs the other way and encounters 10 human soldiers chilling on various stockpiled caravans, floating over 50 buffalo calfs
''Animals trainers, pick up the dogs! Non-animal trainers, pick up the goblin bits!''Pobe, a human fighting lady, has finally earned herself a title from all her skirmishes with the goblins. Pobe Morningbows the Mysteries of Sweetness.
The copper bins are still an issue. we don't want adamantine artefacts to fall prone to any thieves, do we? Two approaches are attempted. One bin is channeled, the other is surrounded by logs top prevent access, giving us more time to think of a new solution. Part of the content is designated for melting, which will hopefully prompt a dwarf to carry them back inside.
At least the bin at the entrance has been taken care of.
Wit the ambushes out of the way, construction of the bronze collossus pen resumes. The roof is being installed as we speak! Platop and Vabok can't wait to begin their training... altho Vabok is already quite skilled for a dabbling soldier.
Wait no, here comes another one... save meeeee!
Thanks, Plato. I'll make sure to reward you by ordering the remaining slots of your equipment to be made out of pure adamantine.
You also get promoted to militia commander out of a sudden, altho I'm not sure why. I'm also not sure why a forgotten beast getting caught in a cloud of flames 50 times counts as a general anouncement, but it serves to remind us of the fight taking place below.
Using advanced trigonometry, our bookkeeper Squiddwarf was able to count the demons remaining in the spire part of the underground. 39. The rest have moved upstairs, to the DOOMCAVE.
As, a forgotten beast, is engaged in a fight with a Red Devil. Unleash your power, As!
As breathes fire.
The surrounding cavern reflects the silverfish's condition: scorched, barebone and mostly lifeless.
Some lesser demons shows up, and attempts to killsteal his comrade with a few ill-placed kicks. It is only a matter of time before As is consumed by the flames.
Well, there you go.
The battle has been raging for two months now. A new year has arrived on the calendar, and a famous dog is laid to rest, one of the few creatures in Whisperwhip to successfully live a full life.
The bins have been taken care of...
And our two military commanders (?) are training on nearby thieves while the pen is being conencted to the right levers.
The result is simple, but quite stylish. A building fully built out of bronze. Bolts can be placed nearby for quicker training. One lever frees the beast, the other seals the arena to allow workers to retrieve various items without causing a commotion.
Oh, and a new forgotten beast was destroyed by the bait in one of our traps. Good job, lions.
The new year brings forth a large wave of underground wildlife. Bugbats and maneras and gnorlaks, oh my. The demons begin their hunt. Blood, bones, flames and miasma soon fill the DOOMCAVE.
Even the lowly Salt Devils whom can be defeated with just one well-placed strike, are able to take down full-sized ogres on their own. How foolish our plan to use war animals was...
On the spring of 151, 24 megabeasts remain in the DOOMCAVE.
Every one of them will suffer the same fate, altho the gruesome details will obviously vary. If anything, these isolated encounters will tell us more about the various syndromes. Most demons have one, and fortunately for them, they are imune to all curses and sicknesses. The outcome of this conflict is now clear: Unless a champion of the RNG gods marches forward, the demons will win, for no syndrome will ever be able to take them down, no matter how powerful it may be. The chosen one must thus sport a metallic body, and a deadly dust attack that inflicts physical damage.
To the south, one beast is about to change the layout of the DOOMCAVE. It is not the champion the megabeasts need, but it is the champion they
deserve.
Why, yes, before you ask, it does breathe fire.
Okgush the slug has been locked in a battle against a red Devil for quite some time. Neither can injure the other, for they both use fire-based attacks, to which they are impervious.
As the fight goes on, heat begins to build up, and slowly evaporates a nearby lake.
Where there once was a two-levels deep bassin, only a half-level of water remains. In many parts of the lake, the water is shallow enough to allow spore trees to grow.
A 2/7 layer of water remains in the pond, where there once was a gigantic underground reservoir. The whole thing is filling up with trees and corpses and blood.
To the north-west, near another lake, a special beast has engaged a pterosaur brute. Teling is a giant humanoid made of clear glass. It may sport a weak spittle attack, but it also lacks any inner anatomy, meaning that it is immune to the syndromes of the fiends.
For the first time since hell was breached, one of the tougher demons is getting injured! This pterosaur brute is in poor shape. most of his blows glance his opponent, and the giant, clear humanoid is immune to its rotting extract. slowly but surely, Teling is beating down on his foe with spit and punches.
Back at the lake, various fiends pile up on the giant slug.
The beast is laid to rest. Over the following weeks, water from a nearby river will slowly refill the dried lake.
Teline, meanwhile, is still battling his pterosaur brute foe.
Further west, at the southern edge of the DOOMCAVE, a cluster of four forgotten beasts has been located by the armies of hell.
Kuluk, a beast made of phyllite, shows great promise... until his foot is severed in a single blow by the assaulting demons.
Even the combined might of 4 forgotten beast is not enough to slay a demon faster than its syndrome will kill you. Soon, only a single beast remains in that area: Aco, the crystal glass humanoid. It has the perfect combination of body and special attack. No organs, no flesh, and a deadly dust cloud.
Why yes, Aco's deadly dust only effect is to set things on fire.
Speaking of fire... The lake is refilling. Everything around it is now a charred landscape, filled with burning corpses and clouds of miasma.
Despite all these setbacks, Teline hasn't given up. He's still punching and spitting on his opponent. One by one, scars and wounds start to stack up on the fiend's body.
Time passes as Teline faces his relentless foe. The dwarves have completed the bronze collossus pen, and the creature is released, ready to act as a live target.
One of the FLASHFIRE station is also operational. as soon as goblins show up, the device will be put to the test. The dragon is placed in the station, and a bridge and walls are designed behind it, in case it goes wild. the beast's cage is linked to a lever, waiting for greenskins to be set free.
As castles and engineering projects are erected, Teline continues his unending fight. Will his foe ever die?
As for Aco, his deadly dust propelled the assaulting devil away, leaving him alone in his dwelling. For now...
Amidst all this chaos, a semblance of normality resurfaces. Of the slug's corpse, nothing remains. The fire has devoured it entirely. The nearby lake is once more full, and only the spore tree forest at the bottom of it remain to tell the tale...
Single-minded, relentless, the clear glass giant and his opponent tumble downwards, landing atop a pile of lion skeletons. They both get up, and continue their duel.
Above them, two devils find a path through the antechamber, and descend (ascend?) on the three forgotten beasts living there. these creatures are slaughtered effortlessly. Even Xun, the nightmarish Osprey, is put to rest in a few blows. This section of the cavern belongs to the forces of hell, now.
Time passes... on the surface, impervious to the conflict raging downstairs, the dwarves put the remaining touches on the FLASHFIRE station.
Aco's presence doesn't remain unoticed for long. The foe it knocked away returns with some friends. Sadly for these lesser fiends, the deadly dust is enough to smash them against the walls, ending their life.
Teline's duel is interrupted by some lesser devils as well. It matters not. The glass giant is single-minded and keeps bashing on the pterosaur brute.
Until one of them annoys it too much, that is. Teline takes a bit out of the demon, splattering its essence across the cavern floor.
It is too much for the pterosaur brute! it flees the battle, leaving one of the lesser fiends behind to occupy Teline. The demon climbs back to the upper levels of the caves, and begin his search for reinforcements.
Upstairs, the dwarves begin to train. it seems that Plato is not the healthiest of soldiers, sadly. in the past, a brush with beast sickness left him quite debilitated. he can't even find the training pen, and instead stations outside the gates.
If he can't get it together, we'll recruit his eleven years old son in his stead once the lad reaches adulthood.
Oh, what's this? the pterosaur brute has retreated long enough to find two friends. Together, they dropkick Teline another level down, amidst more skeletons.
After months of battle, Teline was able to rip away the Pterosaur brute's shell. that must have been a waking call for the fiend.
In time, no doubt, it will heal all other injuries, leaving behind horrific scars. the shell shall remain there, forever, a testament to Teline's bravery.
Indeed, Teline could hardly keep one foe at bay. The combined attacks of two pterosaur brutes overwhelm his defenses, and he is caught off-guard.
The demons wrestle his hand away from him.It is an epic battle, but one the glass giant has no hopes of winning.
Without a word, Teline the mighty falls to his knee, which is a polite way of saying he's now missing a foot.
I never thought I'd sympatize with a forgotten beast in my life... Yet, with each part of Teline that flies off, I also die a little.
Romanceblister emerges from the pit, followed by his friend. There is nothing left for them there.
Rest well, Teline.
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