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Roll back to before Taupe's disastrous turn

Keep going and see what happens

Let it die

[DolosusDoleus]

My question at this point is where the hell are all of these holistic bone artifacts coming from? Severed spawn arms do in fact turn into craftable bones but we've kinda been making it a point to avoid having to engage with them for the past 10 in-game years. Wait I just realised, we've reclaimed a bit of the old fort, yeah? There are corpses of turned dwarves literally everywhere. It's not impossible we've been making artifacts from the mutated bones of our former citizens.

I feel that this is appropriate.

[Monitor Lisard]

It seems that the spawn have finished ravaging the crashed caravan and are now hiding in the the bushes around. The road is littered with rotten bodies of pack animals and scattered belongings of the recent migrants. There is someone still screaming up there in the forest, so I am pulling the lever and sending Sheka outside with a reconnasaince mission.

Eh, there was no need for a stealthy approach. They can smell us pretty well it looks like... A group of Spawn infiltrated the southern airlock and were about to reach the inner fortress when I smashed the safety bridge back into place. Got them trapped inside. Its makes two contaminated airlocks for us now.



The hospital room is... Just plain filthy. And full of corpses. There were two Cogs there. It means "Boot", right.

Well, someone gotta clean it up before- Uh, I come in during inspection and smash their face in.



Things have been going rather calm recently. Sheka has been busy sraping the walls and howling, so I had to take over the secretaries office for a couple of days. Might I say, there are a lot of reports... It seems that a survivor of a caravan massacre has been running and hiding in the woods from spawn. She screams whenever she stumbles across a dead body.



So, we have to deal with the spawn infestation problem somehow. I say, a great opportunity for our militia dwarves to have some live ammo training. Unfortunately, the engravers are way too scared to work this close to Spawn, even when protected by a stonewall... So they all have to use a tiny embrasure taking turns. That's what they call "temporary inconvenience", I presume?



Alright, our spotters have found the escaped caravaneer. She's really starting to piss me off. One more scream, and I am having the gates opened!



Well, since that woman is so persistent, I desided to give her a chanse. She missed the entrance the first time fleeing from spawn, but, luckly for us, the Spawn clearly ignore the gaping hole in the ground as well. Although we had a conveniently placed turkey there, that would have held back the invaders before I reached the levers, in case thing went hairy.

I am impressed. Seconds before we had the bridge raised, the lucky farmer slipped inside the airlock. I thought for a second that we would lose two dwarves there, but, well. Who would have guessed. A dwarf! Saved! Themself! Only in Clobbermountains.



Very well! the spawn purging is almost complete! Those siege engineers must have learned something from the previous commander. At least, the don't miss too often now.



Eheh. It seemed for a moment that those traders would be able to reach the southern outpost. A spawn-infested wood had it corrected.



The other day, some locals have tried to set a statue near the newly-bulit contraption corridor, and found Her Guadiness' mummified corpse tied between the doors. What is this place!? I am pretty sure that place was empty in the morning and this body... Was somewhere in the spawn-controlled territory.

How... Unsettling.

Who could have it been? Moving past a group of superspawn unnoticed... Dragging the body... Back into the civilised part of the fortress. Sheka? I doubt so. Sound like Archivist's work. But for what purpose? Or... I would have been genuienly scared if not for the... Obvious limitations.



Anyway, before any further dealings with spawn, I am having the regulars wear some of that bling-bling they have in here. They are still to be fully equipped though. The rest can have some iron armor suits in the meantime.



Uh, that was a bit too early. The mauled superspawn from the eastern airlock was let loose before the soldier could properly equip themselves.



The fortress if currently in a state of emergency. No, it hasn't been yet! Had NCommander gather up the citizens to put up some fight at least. The previous time, a squad of decently armed and trained dwarves got destroyed in minutes. Let's see how they fare now.

It was... Rather messy. Gore, vomit and severed bodyparts everywhere



The blood... It smells off. It came from dwarves, but it's not totally dwarven or something. Did it mix with something? On the other note, the creature's... Bodily fluids. They freeze right away.

How... Suspicious.



The militia commander managed to land a lucky shot... What a badass. That troll training must have really paid off.



We've lost at least two dwarves in this scramble. Mr. Furg now lacks both his legs. Huh, but what if he turns... We should watch out for NCommander as well.



They found the axedwarf. No shit, sir. He is definetely an ex-dwarf.

(I got jumped at by Sheka for that. Gotta watch out next time when going for a sweet pun).



Uh, just finish it off already! What if someone comes...



...From that fucking direction. I stronly recommend that you finally PUT YOUR SHIT TOGETHER and SHOOT THE BLOODY THING DEAD before I bite your face off.



This time, we got some... ten or eleven newcomers, all of them were able to reach the burrow, even the heavily wounded mechanic who crawled to the airlock heroically right before we closed it. How... Law-abidingly of him. Also, the last heavily mauled spawn survived the beating and escaped , clearing it's path with claws and sweeping aside the frightened migrants. It has probably fled already.

[Monitor Lisard]

I received a detailed report from the local farmers describing the state of our agriculture. Not sure if it's really that blooming or they're just trying to honey me.



How... Wonderful. I did not know we had such a thing in stock. Is it going to guard our southern gates now? Well, it doesn't seem to move much around so...



The citizen guard is gaining it's momentum, slowly but surely. We have plenty of recruits and a stable production of copper bolts.



The spotters came in, telling about some armed dog people to the south. Well, time to put that llama to test!



That didn't take too long. They chopped it into fancy llama strips as soon as they saw it.



The caravan! And no spawn around this time. It'll be the first time we reseived some correspondence from the kingdom for quite in a while.



No kobold can probably match a human knight or a longbow at least... Not the ones I know. Anyway, the caravan guards sucessfully defended themselves against the bow-wielding kobold ambushers and are driving the carts toward the entrance... Have so send some dwarf outside to meet them.



Had to conduct some research concerning the Shriek... I'd thought for a moment that my ears would fall off, but it was sucessful! The superspawn seem to be able to scream pretty often and hardly tire after that. As a side effect, we now have two newborn spawn fighting in the sealed off corridor. What a shame.



*There are some empty pages after that, a few covered with inkstains*.

The project has been processing... Way too slow. I can't! I don't want to be stuck in here! We have to do something! There-

...Won't see it coming. Yeah. That settles it.

We're assembling three new squads, both veterans and recruits in them. All citizens are conscripted but two miners who will have a very special assignment. Yes.



That's what I like to see... Everyone getting prepared. Getting equipped. I want the newbies to receive at least basic training before... You know.




We're striking in three days. Soon, we're doing it... We must keep it secret. Don't want...



Ten hours till hour H. The insertion point will the a small shaft leading to top levels, I hope the miners will hurry a bit so we can-

There they are.



The first dwarves comes in. The fabled fortress greets us with eerie silence... The air is cold and musty and full of dust.

The first dwarves slip in. They will die... Or take back what is theirs.



Our first target is a heavily mauled superspawn at the top. I hope we can take it out before-

*The rest of the page is soaked in ink*


As soon as the scouts reported back their first findings, the rest of the fighting dwarves embarked on their seemingly impossible quest. They were but a motley crew of old veterans, hunters, recuperated wounded and simple recruits hardened by years of intence struggle against the enemies of Torrid Lash. They were unevenly trained and equipped, adamantine armor paired up with humble copper and silver sword, occasional wooden javelin or club. Some did not bear any armor at all, sportying only massive steel maces. Trophy shields taken from banshee warriors were not uncommon, brought to battle alongside wooden or even steel ones. The marksdwarves, who were called "light infantry" by the Lord-Protector for some reason, were checking their weapons and filling up their quivers.

Although the orders were to keep silent, the militiamen were struggling to keep their spirits high. Some were complaining quiety about the draft, others looked grimly at their surroundings, the few were happy to finally see some action after days of drill. Those standing at the front glanced at at the Lord-Protector's secretary, who was uncommonly young for such an importartant position (although her actual role was always speculated about. The messy secretary gal was looking at massive clocks that were brought to the bridgehead a couple of days ago from the king's dining room. Everyone was waiting for the commander's signal to follow their squaddies to the crude stairs recently carved from stone by the miners.

At last, the orders were issued. Sighting and blowing their noses, King's Own Territorials approached the dreadful tunnel.



A mass of dwarves poured into the massive dimly-lit corridor, climbing over piles of rubble and setting the torches along the way. A strange crackling was comming from the lover levels. Old, dusty skeletons and rusty armor layed everywhere. Walls were covered with strange, disgusting stains alongside with fresh marks left by the scouts.

A terrifying bellow roared from the darkness. A massive figure limped from one of the side halls, dragging it's enourmous arms behind. A pair of red eyes were gloving in the darkness, staring at the coming dwarves.

The battle raged for hours, if not days.

A wave of dwarves surrounded the vile creatures, striking from multiple directions. The monsters did not give in easily. They swung their massive claws, maiming the attackers, ripping off bodyparts. They shrieked madly, stunning the soldiers. Some could not handle it, falling where they stood, as they were tranformed into something they feared... The resulting monsters joined the fight right away, battling against each other, the superspawn and their former comrades. Screams of wounded and shocked, rumble of weapons crashing against the bones of abominations...



While the Lord-Protector was reorganising the troops for assault, a miner came in bearing news about migrants coming from the west. Nothing could have been done for them at that time since only two adult dwarves were left at the caverns. Still, the Lord-Protector looked forward to letting them in when the battle is finished.



And so he did. As the lever was pulled, the bridge went down, letting the tired migrants inside.



Some of the newcomers were experienced hunters. As soon as they recieved rooms, they were informed of being conscripted into the Territorials to fill in the gaps.



Life was going back to normal.



A few levels below the fortress entrance, the skirmish was coming to it's end. The unnamed spawn proved to be the most resilient, felling many dwarves and sending many fleeing in terror before it was shot down by a retreating sniper. That lucky shot saved many lives that day.

A crowd of tired, battered fighters were lying against the wall, some sleeping, sobbing, dressing their wounds. Five superspawn lay dead beside the many bodies of dwarves. The snipers were still engaged with the usual spawn to the south, but that was a bit more than target practice since they were protected by solid fortifications. Lord-Protector, a towering knight clad in dark, blood-soaked armor, stood by his assistant, who was missing a couple more teeth that time. He was talking to the militia commander, who stood nearby.

"...We've suffered losses. We need to replenish our ammo and-"

"Alright. I am giving you a couple of days to rest and recuperate. Still, there are four more spawn lurking the lower levels... I am gathering a military council tomorrow. All captains are to attend. Understood?"

"Sir yes sir!".




I was bored with the lowerish fps and decided to take the spawn head on. Surprisingly, I didn't need to savescum at all.

The question is, what do? There are still four relatively unhurt spawn in the lower levels alongside with some FBs. Nothing actually stops them from coming up, they just ignore it. Might want to seal it off before the next assault.

[TheFlame52]

awesome

[Splint]

Dorfs after my own heart. Might have been a bit... Messier, than intended, but still. Against that? A wins a win.

[Mr Frog]

Oh my fucking god. I am on the verge of tears right now.

We're doing this, bro. We're making this happen.


E: Hm. We have a lot more real estate to work with now, so we might be able to set up a cave-in to finish off the last few. Will end up mangling the architecture a bit, but I want those things fucking dead and I don't really care how.

[Lolfail0009]

I never thought I'd see the day where we push to take back the old fortress... Wondrous~

[Aldraglienon]

When in doubt, throw dwarves at the problem until it is dead. We'll smother them to death with out corpses! I just hope we have enough dwarves to throw at the problem.

[Mr Frog]

When in doubt, throw dwarves at the problem until it is dead. We'll smother them to death with out corpses! I just hope we have enough dwarves to throw at the problem.

I cannot get over this. We spent ages reviewing data and strategising and making all sorts of ridiculous plans for neutralising the clowns. All of them failed and more than one of them backfired horribly. And then Lisard gets the bright idea to just fucking zerg them until they stopped twitching. And as far as we can tell so far, it worked.

Feel like the thread may need a new title soon, although there's still plenty of room for things to go sour.

[Monitor Lisard]

I forgot to mention something about that Chigibleekis kobold dude...



Sounds like a proper stalker name to me.

"Cheeky Breekis, the kobold bandit"

[Imic]

OH WOW.
THAT WAS AMAZING.
I-
OH. MYGOSH.

[DolosusDoleus]

Fucking hell man.
There are absolutely no words for this. Actually.
...wow.

[Taupe]

When in doubt, throw dwarves at the problem until it is dead. We'll smother them to death with out corpses! I just hope we have enough dwarves to throw at the problem.

I cannot get over this. We spent ages reviewing data and strategising and making all sorts of ridiculous plans for neutralising the clowns. All of them failed and more than one of them backfired horribly. And then Lisard gets the bright idea to just fucking zerg them until they stopped twitching. And as far as we can tell so far, it worked.

Feel like the thread may need a new title soon, although there's still plenty of room for things to go sour.

Oeration ''1 A'' was a success.

[NCommander]

When in doubt, throw dwarves at the problem until it is dead. We'll smother them to death with out corpses! I just hope we have enough dwarves to throw at the problem.

I cannot get over this. We spent ages reviewing data and strategising and making all sorts of ridiculous plans for neutralising the clowns. All of them failed and more than one of them backfired horribly. And then Lisard gets the bright idea to just fucking zerg them until they stopped twitching. And as far as we can tell so far, it worked.

Feel like the thread may need a new title soon, although there's still plenty of room for things to go sour.

Oeration ''1 A'' was a success.

And Operation Bolts of Doom managed to kill the king His Gaudiness ...

Seriously, seeing upper Clobbermountains reclaimed is amazing ...

[Monitor Lisard]

The surveillance data describes both FBs as giant web-spewing avians. We should approach the matter cautiously... Melee charge won't work here, but the snipers would work just fine. As soon as we're done with the main mining project...






Those spawn are indeed a tough bunch. Even finishing off the wounded specimen is extremly dangerous, requires considerable manpower and leaves us with severely injured soldiers.



Once again, a whole new lot of ghosts. Coffins are under way, but the production is stalled due to the intence pillaging happening... Order must be returned to this place as soon as possible.



Following the advice of Mr Furg, a craftsdwarf who's been living in this fortress for quite a while, the military counsil decided to use an engineering gimmick of sort... To deal with a group of spawn that were hiding in a hall downstairs. The hall itself is said to be a tomb which seem empty at the moment not counting the spawn inside. The entrance... Is protected by a solid silver door with a strong lock. I sent a scout there to ensure that it is closed. As for the miners, we have two of those, who work around the clock but still lag behind scedule. We ought to start a campaign... Something like "Dig for Victory"... And find more miners.

It looks difficult, but if we manage to pull that off... That will be a great archievement of our war effort.



Unfortunately, there are many wounded... That we should treat first before the works are proseeding at full capasity.

There is some kind of commotion upstairs. I wonder what-





...Fortunately, I was able to gather up enough soldiers before they could deal significant damage to the fortress. Urvad the animal dissector turned first and took on the wounded recruit who lost his hand to the attacker and soon turned into a sull-fledged monster himself.

Also, some kid claims he is going to make something "totally kickass".



The former recruit was tracked down and dealt with. The fortress owes it to a group of warriors who were quick to react at the new threat.



Alongside countless riches we have found a stash of almost ten-year old food... The scouts say it is still edible! Won't try to check it myself.



The traders are here at last! It must be ensured that they are not harrased by raiders while they're here. Let's say I have plans for this very caravan.



There they are, standing by the outpost! It's my duty to greet the merchants and have their goods- Ah, a minor hasstle. The banshees thought the mounted portion of a cravan was an easy picking for them. The dwarves guarding it proved them wrong.



I was informed that the kid has finished a work of art... A wooden earring. Yes, it does feature a minotaur murdering elves as many other things do here. How... Interesting.



It's solid wood though. I doubt any elven trader approves of such a combination.



The injured dwarves are starting to succumb to wounds and improper treatment... The citizens are way too busy marauding to pay attention to their duties. This is getting annoying.



The former Royal Jester wants her quarters repaired. Cleaning the old house blocks... Huh. We're nowhere near that!



Argh, not again!



Banshees caught in a narrow passage... Again. They'll never learn.



I'm stripping this caravan of alcohol in return for crafts and shiny gems... Ale, wine, beer. And I'm also sending 2 thousand credits worth of jewelry as a present for my friends in Mirrorclasped. I'm accompanying it with a note containing some simple instructions.



Soon. Oh, so soon.

I am coming back. Have a nice trip, lads!



Two miners are not enough... I have to finish this before spring. I don't want to stay here any longer. Also, I'll need some... It's called "political capital", right? Well, all together! Let's do this! Victory will be ours!



The plan is simple. As soon as we remove the supports, the whole section collapses, crushing the spawn... Unfortunately, it will probably break apart the casket of Mithkete, a highly-prased here of the past. I think he would have approved of our cause.

The plan is simple, let's see how it works out.



Wham!

...The fortress have suffered some collateral damage for sure. The engravings aand stuff... Some well-known Vabok Mengenas I have no idea of. What is it, even? Checking the dictionary...



The scouts have confirmed that all three spawn were done away with.

We have won a victory today.



And that is where my term of office ends.

In case they are electing an Overseer, I'm leaving behind some notes in the office. There are still three enemies that have to be destroyed... They are dwelling the lower levels and have to be dealt with accordingly. First, two FB's found in the Fortress Guard barracks. Let the crossbowdwarves pick them off from behind the fortifications. Then, the superspawn... It's said to guard the officer's quarters below the prison level. The office is rather cramped, still, it probably can be overwhelmed if the dwarven wave tactic is employed.

Having finished that, I am leaving. Let Sheka have her ale first.


Posting the save tomorrow.