Hell is a rather large place.
The expedition was a complicated success. By definition of colony, I would say this expedition has failed. It seems Hell has decided it will not yield in a day. The colonists did not necessarily fail in their tasks, they did not lose themselves to the glowing pits or the peculiar airs and their vile denizens, they merely failed to set up a permanent colony in hell. I feel it has been a measure of my hubris and my underestimation of the demon threat that allowed me to grow complacent; Dwarves do not quite share the same ferocity as undead ravens. What they lacked in unnatural ferocity they made up for in martial prowess and implacable tenacity - In many rangings the demons were felled, hacked, stabbed, bitten and shot, and I enjoyed with particular relish the sight of Baron Muthkat enjoying a cutting of Gila fiend meat and dwarven wine with the beloved and dear Expedition Commander Vabok, fresh from her slaying of a Sleet Demon.
And the foundations of residency in the glowing pit were nearing completion.
While above, the Dwarven architects, masons and managers laid the stonework for a citadel, complete with masterwork bridges covering the glowing pit to provide safety for the residency area below.
In a measure of the incredible punishment the Werecivets have dealt with so far; Asmel suffered a fractured shoulder, broken lung, broken left arm, her right leg broken (three times) and Datan had his lower spine broken and both his arms broken so far. They're still very much alive, and have fully recovered to continue fighting - they currently stand at an impasse between two glowing pits, far enough from the masonworks to not pose a threat and close enough to the demons to be a magnet for punishment. They've both also successfully killed a demon each, which is impressive considering they were also competing with the other expedition members for kills.
As a curious oddity, a demon was successfully shot out of the slade sky, falling into the eerie glowing pits below. IT'S A LONG WAY DOWN! DON'T LET THE FLOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT!
...Revelries aside, the astute of you may notice I have been avoiding the subject of failure, and I haven't explained the oddities in the screencaps. The bloody piles of armour on the floor, the presence of auxiliary builders and even children working at the construction site in hell when this was an expedition of only 7. The auxiliaries were brought in after it was deemed that additional dwarfpower would be needed to hasten construction in the face of a demon population whose population is infinite. As the supply lines are incredibly long, this was a necessary evil.
And at last, the tragedies of the expedition. Sending only 7 Dwarves I imagine was a mistake. Would more Dwarves have made it easier? Probably not, but one can only wonder. During the construction of the Citadel de l'enfel a few demons made it past the Werecivet brigade and attacked on two points; a pack of two Shrew fiends attacked Titanslayer Vabok while creatures composed of salt, tarantulas and crystallized poisons tried to breach the spire hatch and so gain access to the rest of the Fort. Baron Muthkat let loose masterwork steel bolts forged from the days of Old Olin, Nil Erith crashed down on the demons with a wall of grit and iron, Commander Vabok left her spear embedded in many demon skulls while Champion Uvash worriedly stood atop the glowing pit, still very blind and incapable of seeing what was going on. This left poor Titanslayer Vabok all alone and outnumbered. As a result he was beaten half to death, left with only half of his lungs functioning and his lower spine fractured.
Having contracted what I suspect was Brine Flu, the fell executioner Nil Erith and the shrewd commander Vabok both later died in hell, gasping for air despite being in otherwise prime physical health. Vabok's body was resurrected by the foul necromancy of the land and subsequently shot and successfully moved above ground without further incident. The months-spanning funeral procession that saw Captain Nil Erith and Expedition Commander Vabok interred into the tombspire was lengthened after Titanslayer Vabok also died, succumbing to his extreme injuries.
R. Sakzul was elected mayor while Titanslayer Zuntir Kortinans became Expedition Commander; dissolving 'the sacrificial constructs' as a squad and reforming 'the pleated stakes' and 'the sacrificial constructs' under one command squad. For the first time in 21 years the mayor and commander position was held by two different dwarves. The Fort's elite shocktroopers were only able to attend the first segment of the funeral procession; they remained behind in hell with the Civet brigade to ensure the work continued unthreatened and unabated.
E.C. Vabok is the first of the starting 7 Dwarves to die. Captain Nil Erith is the 2nd of the shocktroopers to die in combat and the 2nd last of all the 2nd wavers to die - only Miner Rith still lives out of all the 2nd wave immigrants. Of Titanslayer Vabok, he had already lost his wife Olon Copperguild and both of his daughters that bore his name. His two remaining children who still live are saddened by the loss of their last parent, and both bare the name Copperguild over Dentedlashed - with his death, the name of Vabok Dentedlashed will fade to legend in the Tombspire.
In happier news, a flight of demons has renewed assault on the corpse factory. They have retaken the adamantine spire but have become bogged down in mountains of troglodyte bits, in a few weeks the writhing mass of troglodyte bits should overpower the demons. The ravens themselves are either all dead (and not moving) or congregating behind a certain passageway. Sealed behind stone, planks and a metal grate - dwarven children are told not to venture that way, for beyond that wall things worse than hell still fly.
Author
Topic: Ravens are murder. [SPOILERS] (Read 169678 times)