A massacre.
My elite squad went on a raid to a nearby goblin encampment.
Led by the legendary general Thobb Nourishinks, The Vanguard returned home with spoils in tow, their second successful raid on the elven lands now occupied by the goblin hordes. Scouts spotted the Vanguard on the horizon and raised a triumphant cry. Citizens of Questcobalt lined at the gate to welcome their champions back. Perhaps there truly was a chance to reclaim the world from the forces of darkness! Questcobalt, last bastion of the dwarven race, would reclaim the lands and begin a new age of triumph and conquest!
The engraver Kikrost Vesselcudgels saw them first. No, not the Vanguard--
the horde of goblins dogging them through the forests. There were 150 of them, maybe more. A contingent of trolls lumbered steadily behind. The Champion of Questcobalt, Odnur Boardbowel, rallied every military member in the fortress and ran out to meet the goblin threat-- if only to buy time for mighty General Thobb and his fearless squad, who were forced to abandon their gear as the goblins pursued them. If Thobb could get inside and re-arm himself, the goblins wouldn't stand a chance.
For every dwarf that fell, two goblins went with them. It wasn't enough. The fields ran red this day. The previously-joyous onlookers at the gate stood stricken with shock and grief. The remaining marksdwarves ushered the civilians into fort as the horde rushed ahead.
Questcobalt's hammerer, Whisper Laborplay, slumped against the tunnel walls outside the fortress door. The last marksdwarf-- a new recruit, she recalled through fogged mind-- tried to rouse her, but she lost her will. Killing in the name of justice was neat. Orderly. Tidy. Her hammer fell the same way, for the same reasons. She wasn't ready to see the hellish, meaningless chaos of war.
When the goblins strode up to the gate, she only watched with a curious apathy: as if she was floating above her own body as a spirit. And when the recruit's blood splashed across her face, she whispered a prayer to the fishgod of justice Odshith. And then the jagged goblin sword came down on her.
Meanwhile, King Einhart was being brutally assaulted by the engraver Kikrost Vesselcudgels, the same dwarf who first spotted the horde. How could a good and just king allow this to happen while he hid in his fancy bedroom? The hall was spattered with King Einhart's blood. No justice would come to Kikrost, or to Einhart for that matter. Justice died outside those gates.
But what of General Thobb? 60 dwarves gave their lives so the Vanguard stood a chance. Unfortunately, the Vanguard didn't make it.
Thobb did. Truly a wonder and a testament to his own skills that he managed to make it back alive. Right? He must be in the fort right now, gathering up some steel armor and a sword of legend to avenge his fallen comrades. How did he survive the slaughter?
I found Thobb in a tree. As the Vanguard sprinted out of the forest and across the fields, Thobb never even tried. He hid up in a tree and watched the entire army decimated by the goblins HE led to Questcobalt.
He sat up there for days as the trolls smashed down doors and the denizens of Questcobalt walled themselves in.
I wish he had redeemed himself somehow. Some final blaze of glory. He was pulled out of the tree by a beakdog and beaten to death by three goblins as he lay on the ground.
Now everyone's just brawling with each other in the tavern.
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Topic: What's going on in your fort? (Read 6218301 times)