Excerpts from A Million Little Pichus: A Memoir, by Maximum Spin Spatteredgorges
It was clear that there were mere moments left to act, so I immediately ordered all the exits from the demon exclusion tunnel walled off from points as far from the demons as possible. As far as I could tell, there were four key points of potential egress to cover:
First, the intersection between the block excavation site and the minecart shaft leading to the cavern. The only safe spot to seal this gap would be very near the exclusion tunnel itself, making the process extremely dangerous and time-sensitive, but the only alternative would be to leave the dwarves and pokémon then working in the caverns, including the legendary mason Deduk, our broker Äs, and, most importantly of all, Äs' Ampharos, to the mercies of the demonic horde.
Second, the top of the main (non-demon-infested) stairway, which was directly accessible from the end of the exclusion tunnel. This would be the only way to prevent the demons from striking at the very heart of Pocketball itself.
Third, a small gap in the wall surrounding the same stairway, just below the top. Due to incredibly unsafe design, this led directly to both the minecart shaft and a side stairway that opened directly onto the main floor of Pocketball. Strangely, this side stairway appeared to be largely inaccessible and useless to dwarves without the blessing of flight, but it was wide open to the winged demons, which were most of them.
Finally, the bottom of the main stairway, which would otherwise have allowed the horde direct entrance to our forges and adamantine processing facilities. Although this did not connect to the main body of Pocketball, the adamantine there could have become our last hope of reclaiming the stairs, and the skilled dwarves responsible for processing it were not entirely expendable either. Closing this passage, however, would also cut the forges completely off from the rest of the fort, unless an old second entrance in the caverns were reopened. Still, it was the only practical solution.
When I gave the orders to seal all of these problem areas, I made a point to be very clear of the importance of the task to our survival. It seemed that I was adequately forceful in stressing this, because even the King and Queen themselves joined in.
Still, even they could offer no certainty that we could successfully waylay the demons. With that in mind, I ordered the Electivire Wires, to be led from that moment on by Paddywagon Man herself, to stand guard outside the first key point, in case it should become necessary to distract our foes. I hoped, though, to avoid what would certainly mean sending dwarves and pokémon to their deaths.
It quickly became clear that my hope of protecting the minecart shaft would not be realised. I ordered the area abandoned and walled off at a higher level. The Electivire Wires withdrew to the second key point.
A stray war-trained Alolan Geodude left behind in the shaft area was the first to meet the onslaught. Though it was no match for the Hellish monster, it was able to provide a brief but welcome distraction to cover our hasty wall construction effort.
Not far away, a Kite Fiend began to engage the last surviving war-trained Probopass. This battle was a little more matched, and it looked, at first, like it could go either way.
The other battle was less ambiguous. Within minutes, all that was left of the trained Geodude was a pile of gabbro.
As the kite fiend was distracted by the Probopass, a surprisingly brave beekeeper stepped in to take a few good swipes.
Meanwhile, foolish dwarves attempting to take the main stairway ran directly into a horde of Shade Monsters.
Though the results were predictable, a Brute of Waste entered the fray and covered the hallway in webs that I hoped would slow the other demons. I am sure that Dodók the miner would understand the value of his sacrifice.
The shade monsters are so terrifically strong that they did no more than push on his limbs to kill him. Truly, they are fearsome beasts that hide in the depths, and Pocketball's doom was sealed when it unsealed their tomb.
At the same time, the kite fiend finally noticed the beekeeper harassing it, and took the matter into its own wings and feet.
As the desperate fights continue, more pokémon, dwarves, and demons became embroiled. Several pokémon and dwarves were killed, but the same cannot be said of demons. Even our heroic blacksmith, who I am told was named Fluffy911 or something to that effect, was laid low by Lustsucked the snail fiend, the apparent leader of this monstrous band. Etur, a legendary engraver, was also killed by another snail fiend, and the King himself blundered into the pack of shade monsters waiting in the main stairway. Still, even amid all this death, the Probopass continued to hold firm, and hope remained as long as the fiends did not reach the choke point where the wall was to be built. Even as the King died, along with many others, the first loss was also sustained by the horde, as Bomrek the miner managed to kill a shade monster with a sturdy punch before being overwhelmed himelf.
While all this took place just under the surface, an Elven caravan arrived to trade. It was at this moment that I was struck with a brilliant flash of inspiration: all this was taking place
underneath the surface! If all descending stairways on the surface could be floored over, there would always be the possibility of survival. Hastily, I ran to the surface and began giving orders.
At that moment, a foreign dwarf who had been visiting Pocketball asked me for permission to become a citizen and join the battle. Needless to say, I acquiesced. He also informed me that Paddywagon Man has been found dead, bitten in the head by a snail fiend; however, I'd heard that line before, and she always turns up again. I later discovered that, around this time, the beasts had finally run into the massed military, and were beginning to take losses; in the moment, though, my primary concern was sealing the surface. It also occurred to me that it would be wise to ensure the safety of the Queen as well, so I told the mercenary to tell her she was being formally inducted into the military and ordered to join me on the surface. I had no idea whether she would take it well, but I hoped she would understand the need. Unfortunately, I would soon learn that she took her induction all too well, and ran off with bloodlust to fight the demons instead of fleeing. As is widely known to any patriotic dwarf of the Scholarly Rags, Queen Asob the First died that day. I accept no responsibility for this. Around this time, I was told by one of the dwarves wandering around not sealing the stairwells that a local exotic dancer, Shem Blizzardpeaceful the goblin, had been elected mayor. With no better ideas, and seeking to save at least some of Pocketball's upper classes, I decided to have Shem ordered to join me on the surface.
I would later learn that, as I was working on getting the exits sealed and waiting for Shem to arrive, the tide was decidedly turning below. Between the military, a few mercenaries, and some more resilient pokémon, the size of the horde was slowly but inexorably dwindling. Still, I knew none of this, and thought it wise to assume the worst in order to save as much of Pocketball as possible. In any case, the fort's population was also slowly but inexorably dwindling; I soon received word that my own mother had just died in the battle, making me an orphan. Unlike those of my father, her bones, I thought, might never be recovered. There was no time to dwell on this. Moments after I learned of my mother's death, the mayor finally arrived, and to my utter amazement I realised that it was none other than Paddywagon Man standing before me! I had never noticed before that Paddywagon Man was actually a goblin, nor for that matter a dancer. He - for I also discovered that I had been mistaken earlier, and Paddywagon Man was a man after all - told me that, until this chaos had broken out, he had been keeping that secret, using the alias Shem to obscure his double life. Floored, I assured him of my absolute discretion, which I have maintained to this day. Even now I tell the story only with the permission of his estate.
The costs were unthinkable. The broker's Ampharos was dead. But the surface had been sealed, and, far below, though I didn't yet know it, the orders I'd left days before to wall off the path from the core of the fort to the demon-infested stairwell had finally been followed. Pocketball was safe, for the moment, if a little emptier. Now with a chance to breathe, I took a moment to confer with the other survivors on the surface to tally the dead. To my great relief, some of those whose deaths had been reported came forward to dispute the reports in person; in particular, FirePhoenix11 the Pokémon Professor claimed to have risen from the ashes, Taupe the macedwarf insisted she escaped by pretending to be a Diglett, and Fluffe9911 and Lord_lemonpie, chiming in from below through the newly-laid garnierite block floor, argued quite forcefully that the vague reports of the deaths of "Fluffy911" and "Lord Lemon Party" never really referred to them in the first place.
After eight solid days of fighting, our troubles seemed to be over, except of course for those individuals still sealed in with the demons. I finally took a moment to conclude trade with the elves. The supplies we had carried up to the surface before it was sealed off were few, but the elves' goods were no less meagre, so with an assortment of large or worn armour and a small pile of gems I purchased their entire stock of food, musical instruments, and pokémon. Having in the process realised that I had no idea how to estimate the value of any of these items, and had probably wildly overpaid, I ran off to inform Paddywagon Man that I was declaring him our new broker. I also took the time to fill a few other management positions that had been emptied in the crisis. Finally, deciding that I had put it off long enough, I took a deep breath and began to deconstruct one of the sections of flooring, reuniting the surface with the core of Pocketball.
After surveying the situation, I decided to follow Paddywagon Man's lead in one of his more successful plans, by ordering some fortifications dug near where a couple of Kite Fiends were busily rending a Gastly. The Gastly's diffuse form made it surprisingly resilient, so that despite sustaining grievous wounds it was able to survive and distract the hateful monsters long enough for DrewLegend's Attic of Mimikyu to pick them off. Unfortunately, they were quickly overwhelmed by the smell coming off the giant pile of corpses in that hallway, and had to regroup.
In the process, I noticed that several of the mercenary crossbowmen DrewLegend had hired refused to actually fire a bolt, preferring to stand around and pretend to help. This did not surprise me, because humans are useless.
Around the same time, a scholar visited Pocketball and almost immediately had his arm torn apart by a Shuppet.
Meanwhile, several weeks of sustained fire had yet to bring down the two Kite Fiends, although the Gastly was also still holding firm. Finally, a lucky shot downed the first, but the second remained resilient for another month, until I finally decided to tear down the pillar sealing the hallway and send the useless humans to fight it by hand. After they all died, I sealed the passageway again and sent the Rings of Rowlet, now remade as an all-dwarf squad under DrewLegend (a human having been given temporary command of the Attic of Mimikyu in order not to risk anyone important) back to the fortifications to continue firing.
While the Rings of Rowlet ignored orders, a few more dwarves blundered into the demons after a back entrance was inadvertantly opened, including the Pokémon Professor, who died trying to save a Magnezone from a Shade Monster. As far as I could tell, he did not appear to be rising from the ashes. Paddywagon Man nearly did the same, but I pulled him back at the last second. The population had fallen to 88 survivors, including newly-arrived migrants. The remaining Kite Fiend still battered the Gastly. Other demons continued to crowd the stairwell they had claimed. Certain dwarves who survived a trip through the temporary back entrance reported that the caverns had been set aflame. Thus did the summer of year 58 arrive to Pocketball.
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Topic: The World of Dwarvemon - Succession Fortress of Pocketball (ENDED) (Read 64188 times)