After over five years of peace, interrupted only by the intrusion of a lesser wyrm now caged and providing practice for animal trainers, Shadyriddled has faced its first attack by armed enemies. As sieges go, it wasn't impressive - a single squad of ten, a mix of dwarves and humans, all wearing the emblem of the Gold of Strength. But I'll give them full marks for determination; they didn't call off the attack until only a single, crippled member of the squad survived. The enemy brought only two crossbows, neither in skilled hands. They were completely outclassed by the bonestorm of Shadyriddled when I stationed our two half-squads of sentries near the unfinished portion of the Great Wall to engage them across the moat. Although bone bolts proved wholly ineffective against the enemy's breastplates and helmets, our soldiers quickly proved the value of the marksmanship training program's emphasis on kneecaps. The lovely Ber Lambsavage, Smith of Ages, had success disarming enemies with trickier shots to the hands, and one of our masons, Malduz Eastcraze, earned the title of Sniper with an incredible shot to the enemy marksdwarf's neck. Only one bolt made it past our ≡wooden shields≡ in return, and the injured mudokom is expected to make a full recovery from his broken ankle. All in all, a productive and entertaining training session for the sentries of Shadyriddled.
I sent one melee squad to the bottom of the moat, to finish off anyone who slipped over the edge during the bonestorm. The other squad, composed of ylth mercenaries (and ylth bards looking for a little excitement), was supposed to head out from the front gate and travel around the moat to clean up the enemies that the sentries crippled. However, most of them chose to take a 'shortcut' through the moat and scale its outer wall right next to the enemy. The injuries caused by the bonestorm and the sheer physical power of the ylth warriors allowed them to carry through despite this risky and inefficient approach, and five enemies fell to their blades. Two succumbed to bone bolts in vital locations, and three took the fall to the rough-carved shale at the bottom of the moat. The first of these was the human crossbowman, who crawled off with a broken leg to explore the heavily trapped lower gate of Shadyriddled; he was the last invader to die, and the quickest. The second landed just as most of the melee fighters were arriving at that corner of the moat. An ylth took his head off so forcefully that it flew six levels into the air before falling. The third was a swordswarf, the only enemy to give any serious trouble. She held her own against two ylth, inflicting moderate injuries upon one before she was shoved over the edge. She fell right in the midst of the other squad, which made quick and very messy work of her before she could recover from the landing.
The final results: four patients in the hospital. Our healer should be pleased; he's been complaining about having no opportunities to practice his art. Ten bodies in or next to the moat, unfortunately useless. A nice pile of weapons and armor - some of it usable, some worth melting down for metal, and some valuable as trade goods. No survivors to report on the details of the battle. The Gold of Strength is welcome to come back and investigate any time.
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Topic: What's going on in your fort? (Read 6225943 times)