The Fall of Boardsomber: Part 1Zuglarkun IV's Journal:As I sat in my quarters, I unwrapped the package that Vucar left for me. Nestled in the plain wrapping was what appeared to be a series of journals stamped in the insignia of
The Stirred Irons. I flipped open the first of these journals and began to read.
Mayor's Log: Early Spring 205
The siege had taken its toll. The goblins have whittled down our numbers until we few are left, though there weren't all that many of us to begin with. The situation had gotten so dire that the Queen herself has taken arms to join the defenders in the front lines.
Well, she wasn't the only reluctant participant. She had also insisted that
Edëm Arrowrhymed The Old Maw of Gifting; our goblin diplomat, don a suit of armor and join her in the front lines.
"Since your witless tongue has proven ineffective in the defense of our mountainhome, perhaps your idle hands would serve us in better stead." She spoke as she made the ruling. She had it figured that it was mainly his fault that the negotiations fell through, so he had to atone in some way for this mess that he had caused.
It is still snowing heavily outside, and to make matters worse, frozen elf blood had begun to blow in from
the Lurid Blizzard.
An uneasy silence creeps over the
the Frost of Satin. As the day breaks, the snowdrifts begin to subside
and I hear movements in the distance though I cannot see properly through this damned fog. As the fog begins to clear, I begin to vaguely make out the goblin camps arrayed outside our walls, well outside of the range of our crossbows. Not that it made any difference, we did not have enough dwarfpower to provide adequate firepower support. We have been enduring the siege these past few weeks in tense anticipation, but still no attack came.
I saw Dodók emerge from the tunnels, striding out onto the trade depot, observing the enemy movements and formations with his keen eyes and attuned senses. Well, I am no military dwarf so they all look like rabble to me from this distance, but Dodók assured me that the goblins were arrayed in battle formations; its just that goblin battle formations look nothing like dwarf battle formations.
He said it didn't make any difference, since
everyone charges headlong into death in the heat of battle anyway. Dodók then mentioned briefly that the goblins were taking turns to besiege us,
"highly unusual behavior." he added. He pointed out that the goblins that were driven off last year during
"The Sieges of Tormenting" belonged to the tribe known as
The Thief of Curls.
"We've only seen them once before that, during The Siege of Knives I reckon. The insignia they bore on their armor was different." he said.
It seems that the ones that had come this season were our old enemies,
The Immortality of Battles. By my count, we've been besieged 16 times already by these particular goblins, and they just kept coming regardless of their losses. This is now the 3rd straight year that we've been besieged, and of our 20 defenders since the beginning, we were now reduced to 9 able bodied defenders that yet stood tall, well
tall for dwarven standards anyway.
"I've heard rumors of disagreements among the different tribes of goblins, that they have taken to fighting among themselves over the ruins of sites they've plundered in recent times." Dodók mentioned.
"Heck, I've even heard that not two but three goblin tribes have taken issue with us."As the fog faded, he warned me to stay a safe distance away, which I fully plan to do. I may have fought a few battles in my day, but I sense my chances of survival would be slim. Most of the military are all embattled veterans. Well, with all the fighting going on since the siege, if they weren't battle hardened before, they sure as hell are now. Even the Queen has managed to rack up a considerable number of kills. Heck, even frail ole Edëm has some kills to his name.
It was midday when the battle broke out. Fearing the glare of the sun, the defenders took shelter within the trade depot bunker. The goblins piled into the sole entryway to the south as the defenders of Boardsomber formed a line of defense and fought for position. A dwarf that was leading this troop of goblins struck a heavy blow at
Ilral Slicktrade the Strikes of Dominating our military commander, blowing away his guard. It then lowered its shoulder and charged at Ilral, causing them both to tumble backwards as more goblins stepped over the threshold to join the fray.
Ilral fought hard against the swelling tide of goblins but could not fend them all off, getting further and further isolated. Meanwhile, the rest of our forces were too occupied with forcing the goblins back to notice the breach on their flank.
Sensing that the situation was dire, Obok whom was the closest to Ilral went over to reinforce his position.
"The line is breached! To me defenders of Boardsomber!" cried the Queen as she left her position and cleaved her way forward to try to stem the tide.
Meanwhile, Ilral desperately tried to fight back, but he was surrounded and weary from fighting off all these foes, whereas the new goblin forces were on fresh legs and their ranks were swelling by the moment. Sensing the tide had turned, their dwarf leader took a mighty leap over Ilral - and with a dull clang, cleaved Ilral's head and helm asunder.
Momentarily distracted by the clamor of the goblins to her side, the Queen took a charge to the gut and tumbled backward. Just at that moment, a hulking human leapt into position behind the Queen. But the Queen had noticed it in time, throwing a wild back swing at her assailant with her axe, which the human parried, hurling them both off balance. She was now on dangerous ground, cut off from the rest of the dwarves by the hulking human that stood in her way.
"We have to help the Queen!" yelled
Momuz Gorgejails the Trustworthy Band of Responsibilites as she tried to fight her way to the Queen's compromised position, striking down one of those dwarves that had turned to goblin ways.
Dodók, Zuntir, Zasit and îton formed a wedge and tried to fight their way towards the Queen, striking down many foes in the process, whilst Inod and Edëm retreated to the bunker and defended the entryway from the approaching foes.
Inod Clenchedtongs the Silky Brush broke cover and shot down another turned dwarf that had tried to take advantage of the chaos to circle behind and flank the rest of the dwarves. Unfortunately, Inod was caught out of position and she fell under the sword of yet another turned dwarf as Edëm tried desperately to hold the rest at bay. îton and Dodók turned back to try to contain the breach, cutting a swathe of carnage towards Edëm as the others pressed on.
Meanwhile, Obok continued to fight back as the goblins swarmed all around her, the Queen and the hulking human squared off, back and forth they went as they exchanged blow after blow, but neither were able to gain ground on the other. But then a goblin manages to sneak up behind her and drove a spear into the back of the Queen's calf.
"Gahhh!" The queen cried out as she buckled to the ground in pain.
The goblins surged forward. But the queen threw a wild back swing that narrowly missed their feet. The goblins hesitated for a moment before pressing forward. The Queen took another wild swing at them to deter them from approaching, but she received a stab to the back by the human that was looming behind her. Momuz, Zuntir and Zasit redoubled their efforts, but it was too late, the human
Bosa Nightmarestoker lifted his two handed sword and drove it down onto the fallen Queen. So ended
Obok Constructrazor the Trampled Symmetry of Pools, proud Queen of
The Stirred Irons.
Momuz, Zuntir and Zasit were stirred into a fit of rage as they rushed forward to avenge the Queen. Zuntir pulled out his crossbow, taking down Bosa with a shot to the head.,while Momuz and Zasit went to defend the Queen's body from desecration but they were met by many goblin blades and were forced into a rout. Momuz was cut down in the ensuing chaos. Sensing that the situation was hopeless, Dodók signaled the rest to retreat into the fortress, while he sank into a battle trance as he desperately tried to hold the hordes back singlehandedly. Five times was his sword raised as it shone in the midday sun, and each time it fell an attacker was struck down. But the goblins were heedless of their losses and would not be deterred, and at last he was driven back and fled into the tunnels below as the goblin hordes overran his position. The outer defenses were breached.
Thus ended
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