5th slate 243Kol is busy working on something in the carpenter's workshop, we shall see what comes of it.
Meanwhile we found Nokor lurking in the waters in the southeast quadrant of the underground lake. We followed Captain Vortex's lead and stationed ourselves nearby the bubbling murk in order to lure the thing out of the water.
Then we waited.
Zulban and Vortex were the first to engage the giant stag beetle in battle as it lunged out of the water at us. Somehow, Zulban managed to end up below the beast as it skittered toward us and Zulban took a took a bite of the beasts soft underbelly, hanging on for dear life as it skittered toward us. Meanwhile Techno and Vortex encircled the beast, taking turns to chip away at its chitin as it sputtered poisonous fumes all over the place. A shot to its leg brought the beast down, and Zulban, Vortex and Techno took turns chopping away at it as if it were a felled tree until all sign of life was extinguished from the great stag beetle.
In their eagerness for battle, Vortex and Zulban were splashed with a coating of the forgotten beasts extract and seem to have contracted a fever.
As we moved off, Vortex stumbles to the ground in a fit of dizziness. Before we knew what was happening, Zulban lost his footing as well as his vision.
A rescue team was dispatched to retrieve them for further observation while the rest of us assumed our normal tour of duties.
First impressions are everything.
This was especially true for Sibrek Logemtad, also known by his moniker
Paintmatch the lofty, or these days, his
Highness,
King of The Old Nets. He was concerned with the inconsistent offerings from Breadbowl and had come
personally to oversee the operations here to ensure that they met the quotas set for this calendar year.
Now that he had seem first hand what Breadbowl was like, he was less than impressed.
"What is this goblin corpse doing here lying about in the open? Don't you folks have any hygiene standards to adhere to? What if the food gets contaminated?" spoke Sibrek in an even manner as he questioned one of the commoners.
Sibrek had entertained the thought of using his position as King to indulge himself and do nothing for the rest of his days, but it seemed that he would have to put these thoughts aside. Breadbowl was far from the supply hub that he had envisioned, and changes would have to be made. He was King after all, and his burden was that he had a kingdom to feed.
As he made a tour of the premises, he learnt of the recent death of Shul-nak, one of his distant cousins and more importantly, a legendary weaponsmith; a most invaluable asset to the kingdom. He was somewhat aggrieved, though he did not let it upset him overmuch. He was well aware that ol' Shul-nak had been getting on in years, so it did not surprise him in the least. Shul-nak lived til a ripe old age of 155 after all. Besides, he couldn't care less about the troubles of other folks.
A crowd had begun to gather around them, and Sibrek made a beckoning motion towards his herald. He wasn't comfortable with large numbers of folks and preferred to avoid addressing the crowd if at all possible.
"In celebration of the King's arrival, you are all to be hammered!" Proclaimed Fath Inkedwinds, outpost liaison of The Old Nets, and now herald of the King.
The crowd that had gathered around looked around uneasily and a murmur of worried words stirred up among them.
"Yes! You are all to get hammered! Are there any questions?" repeated Fath with a generous smile on his face which soon turned to a look of worry as he observed the growing unease of the crowd that had gathered around them.
"Step aside Fath, evidently something is being lost in translation. What the herald means to say is that you are all to get hammered, which is to say you will all get drunk off your asses as we will be holding a feast to celebrate the King's arrival to Breadbowl. Is that clear to you folks now?" Spoke Melbil Starsword,
Melbil turned towards Fath.
"You should use the traditional terms Fath, not the new found slang you've picked up from the humans. How many times has it been now?" Melbil pointed out with a bemused look on her face as she exhaled sharply.
"I am sorry your Majesty, I was not aware-""Just don't make it a habit."Fath turned towards one of the peasants,
"Order some livestock to be slaughtered, I want some fresh meat for the banquet we are about to throw. By the way do you dregs have any white-spotted pufferfish?"The peasant shook his head.
"Sunshine?"The peasant shook his head.
"You've got to have at least some store of hard wheat beer perhaps?"The peasant shook his head.
"I don't suppose you have some sorghum flour then?"The peasant shook his head, more vigorously this time.
"Right. Well then let's see what you've got then." Fath made a rounds of the farms and pastures before giving the peasants a list of ingredients to procure for the feast, taking note of the two-humped camel and giant grey parrot that were to be preserved for further breeding stock as one of the preferred morsels of choice that would satisfy the King and Queen consort's regal palates.
Meanwhile, the personal guard of the King escorted him to the Duke's quarters to discuss matters.
A pair of dwarves followed closely behind the entourage. They seemed to be the personal retinue of the King.
Meanwhile...
6th slate 243The elves have departed with blessings from the King.
Though he had been recovered by Dodok the miner for treatment, Zulban may not have long to live. On the flip side, we have procured 3 incredibly
deadly weapons, one on Techno, the other 2 remaining in the possession of Zulban and Vortex.
Looks like Angus got some extract splashed on his boots, I'll get him to try to wash it off in the caverns, lest any of it tracks into the fortress.
Oh no! I just learnt that Zulban has died in the arms of Dodok Keskalkemsor who was transporting Zulban to the hospital for treatment. Dodok is still in shock.
I've forbidden the broken remnants of Nokor's corpse as well as the gear and corpse of Zulban, those contaminants are deadlier than I thought!
7th Slate 243Kol Gusiladril has created
Abanidashdoren - The Constructive Moist Diamonds, a glumprong door! Very regal looking, this will be a find addition in the King's chambers which are being built at the moment.
15th Slate 243Vortex has been missing from training for some time now, I hope nothing has happ- oh no.
I sent someone down to the caverns to check, and indeed, Vortex's corpse has been found by Urdim fenceshaken.
Mason Capt is shocked at the news, but the rest of the military is taking it in stride. I pray this is the last life that Nokor manages to claim. Meanwhile, an out of control reacher and bonecarver Likot are duking it out in the pastures, frightening the animals. Onul the miner and Uzol the cheesemaker join in the fray and eventually the beast is subdued.
19th Slate 243Those damned nobles are so difficult to please! Right after Gwolfski mandates the production of axes, the king mandates production of scepters.
9th Felsite 243My attempts at decontamination of Zulban and Vortex's corpses are somewhat successful. The items they possessed have been cleansed of all traces of Nokor's contaminating extract. But despite weeks of splashing water in an attempt to decontaminate their bodies, their corpses still retained a coating of the poisonous extract on them.
I think I'll risk it and order their corpses retrieved and buried.
Good it seems the covering of water did the trick. After their bodies were interred, the Earthen Assaults gathered and we took turns pouring a libation of booze in front of their coffins in memory of their bravery and noble sacrifice. It may be a tad wasteful but may it speed their way to Armok's halls. Rest in peace brave defenders of Breadbowl.
14th Felsite 243We need to expand storage capacity to keep with with the constant pot turnover as well as the increasing plant supplies, so I ordered an area to be excavated to the right of the farms.
17th Felsite 243Olin Thaderal Axe Lord has bestowed the name
Iden Nanir - the Paddles of Rhyming upon his steel battle axe!
To arms! To arms!
Oh wait- Seems the farmers really know how to take care of themselves. Back to training!
25th Felsite 243Crazy blades has bestowed the name of
Ilirostath - Joyous Esteems upon his steel short sword.
27th Felsite 243Now that the corpses and debris are cleared from the moat, we can cease the moat maintenance and fill the moat up once again.
Summer has arrived on the calendar