Hey, who put the shutters up? We're just getting started!
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Ozse Soakedhides the Scaly Nuts appeared at Crackedwalls on the 19th of Hematite, 253. A lone pig was the first fortress denizen to spot the monster, but he wasn't one to talk and so no one really noticed something was up until the twelve-foot tall Zebra was at our gates. Kadol Beachceiling, a particularly ugly child, first noticed the titan as it ran past the clear glass walls pursuing a distressed llama. Kadol happens to be the only daughter of Kûbuk Paintceiling, the previously mentioned moody dwarf who was currently preoccupied with collecting a bunch of random shit and making "something important."
Eventually shouts filled the staircase and I was alerted to the threat. Us administrators took a minute to decide a course of action, and when Ryukan intruded with some vague advice he was brushed aside rather rudely. We were all scared and couldn't spare the time for social grace, but I still felt bad for the guy.
We posted the more experienced Fortress Guard at the head of our staircase, just underneath the surface, while the four squads of mace-wielding recruits were ordered aboveground. Everyone else was told to remain calm and go about their normal business. Kûbuk, the moody glassmaker, chose this point in time to finally stop stealing things and get to work.
Ozse targeted our pastured animals at first, buying time for the squads to assemble. We couldn't afford a piecemeal engagement - a combined assault would be needed to take this beast down. The animals would just have to endure.
A rooster experienced it's first and last taste of flight:
A dog by the name of Rovod lost it's head, while the still-twitching body was slammed into a nearby gingko tree:
Then a doe rabbit was smushed, after an admirable display of floofiness. A duck found it's true calling and became a kickball, then exploded against the side of a horse. Animals left and right were executed via hoof - meanwhile only eight dwarves had climbed the staircase.
This thing was
strong, but not very fast. A donkey and a turkey fled into the sand north of our gates while Ozse trailed behind. The turkey, distinctly disadvantaged by how fat it was, met it's fate in the black, sun-warmed grains of the desert.
The donkey was faster, but had little stamina on the sand and was quickly devoured by Ozse.
It became clear Ozse's title was no metaphor:
The jury is still out on the latter half. . .
The mace squads were still assembling when a baby Alpaca dashed through the gate, running past the soldiers and down the ramp. The thundering sound of foot-wide hooves frightened the recruits, who were well aware they had no training, no shields, and no armor. However, they stood fast as Ozse rounded the corner and crossed into the courtyard. Sporting two long antennae and soaked in the blood of multiple beloved pets, this ghastly equid was a fearsome sight.
The first squad to engage was immediately enveloped in a sticky mass of web. Two recruits were stamped to death in an instant:
This was followed by the disintegration of Imic, a particularly promising recruit who had intended mastery of the war-hammer:
The remaining member of the squad met a similar fate:
It was apparent that any other attempts to engage the beast would most likely end the same way. I rescinded my previous orders and instead got to work building a plug. I knew that I had less than a minute before the titan found it's was down the ramps and into the fortress. The fortress guard would need to buy time for my work, and they stood resolute just outside the staircase as I made haste to find the necessary stone. Cutting grooves into the hallway, I fitted the dacite boulder into a one-way plug that no amount of strength could budge. The seal wasn't permanent, but Ozse would need to die before we opened the passage.
Ozse was ten tiles away when I finished.
Author
Topic: CrackedWalls Succession Fortress (Vanilla 42.05) (Read 20320 times)