Though it began as a peaceful place, the Abbey of Sorrow is finally living up to its name. Once again, the Goblins arrived for a siege and though they had trolls this time, it originally looked as if it would be just as much of a cake-walk as the last. Perhaps even more so, thanks to the new cage and stone traps that we had set up.
How wrong we were.
The majority of the trolls were captured, of the four that made it past our cage traps three were knocked unconscious or slain outright on account of the plummeting stones. The fourth reached the door, and was met by a lone hammerdwarf who had seen him while moving to join the rest of the above-ground military several rooms away. Immediately the other twenty-nine dwarves began to rush through the labrynthine corridors, intent on saving their courageous friend.
If it had not been for his courage, many of them would still be living.
By the time they arrived, the hammerdwarf had fallen. Fighting amongst the traps, four more dwarves fell. A moment later, the dwarves were free of their own gauntlet and had reached the refuse pile beyond. Here, amidst trash and debris, the likes of Eral "Iron" and "Ral the Confident" fell. Despite heavy losses, losses that could have been avoided had the goblins time enough to run into all the traps, the dwarves surged on and pushed the aggressors back.
In the valley between their mountain home and the frozen river the remaining dwarves slowly circled the remaining goblins, consisting of several pikegoblins and many lashers. After a moment of eying each side, half of the goblins broke rank and fled. Those that remained charged the line of dwarves. Here, Captain Kel and Commander Goden met their match, as did Captain Lor and the famed "Slayer" who had single-handedly protected a band of miners against an entire troglodyte tribe. Others fell beside their leaders and legends, but not before massacring their enemies.
As the dust settled, "Aeren", who had been named after the famed adventurer, led the few uninjured dwarves in hunting down and slaying any goblins who were too dumb or too injured to flee while the citizenry hurried to rescue those dwarves who had not already bled out. He will be awarded with the title "Troll Slayer" once he returns, as a reward for single-handedly slaying an uninjured troll who had been lagging behind the main group.
Deep below the battlefield, a band of ten dwarves nervously gazed across a precipice, waiting for a bridge to extend before them so that they might work to clear an underground cavern and make it safe for the masons and mechanics to do their work.