Autumn 139
The project of piercing the aquifer goes on, but not as smoothly as I'd have liked. We lost one builder in the process, and couldn't retrieve the corpse, which forced us to postpone the job for weeks, for the time the corpse took to decay and not poison the workers. The deceased was a fisherwoman by the name of Uthret. Drowned...an ironic death for a fisherman, for the gods seem to have a quite morbid sense of humor. Luckily, she was unmarried and left behind neither orphan nor widower.
Nevertheless, we're not going to drink from that aquifer anytime soon, and the sooner we're through it, the better.
In early autumn, the goblins of Osme Stobûb came again. We begin to desperate to see them giving up ; we're slaughtering them by hundreds, yet every year, sometimes twice a year, they come back... this time led by a crossbowman by the name of Nako Jaundicedsin, incidently the son of Ngom Seducedog, we slain some time before. We slain the grandmother, the father and now the son is coming too. Alright.
Slada, first son of the defunct Rethi-Eli, was the first one to see them. He was coming back from what I assume was a stroll in the forest, and was on the bridge when they came out of it. He raised the alarm, but before the army could assemble, he was already charging at them, alone. He slew a bunch of their vanguard, before he was surrounded.
He received a flail hit that broke his ankle, throwing it on the ground. The enemy then gathered around it, and the poor young man was attacked from all sides.
Luckily, Slada was an excellent fighter, and even totally surrounded, he managed to fend off his attackers long enough for part of the army to arrive.
Mim was and still is the most formidable fighter we have at our disposal. Ever since he lost his wife and kids, he dedicated himself to his training fully - he's as strong as an ox and was personally trained by the father of our axe arts, Commander Stipoth Buttervalley of Brokenbronze. Mim ran through the goblins, held in place by the fierce resistance of Slada, and after he inflicted gruesome losses on their ranks, the rest of the army could charge a totally disorganized enemy troop.
From then on, it was a massacre. Goblins, trolls and beakdogs would flee in terror, only to be caught by our traps or chased by our troops and killed on the ground.
Slada was taken to the hospital soon after our unilateral victory. He was to walk with a crutch for a few months, but without further complication. All things considered, he got off lucky.
This is our ninth victory over the forces of Lomoth, but we are under no illusions we will have to fight them off over and over. They might be stubborn, but so are we, and Watershield is here to stay.
In other news, Donu finally fits in her armor !
I've been following the training of this child for more than a year now, and Trathnu and I are happy to report she's making excellent progress. She's now a Talented Swordgirl, and for now, the most advanced student of the training captain. Until she's done with her training, in probably half a year or so, she'll assist him in drilling the new recruits. Dengusa, but also Duslud, Sirris and other kids - Turot, Quogb, Erab and Nemen, are now in age of receiving proper training before chosing a career.
Last but not least, when winter came on the calendar, we can proudly state that the first layer of the aquifer has been successfully pierced !
The second layer might prove more difficult, but we're making substential progress. This is a first time in the world of Minbazkar.
What a time to be alive.
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We're closing on our ninth year, and now I feel is a good time to set a limit to Watershield.
For now our objective as are follow :
-Finish the copper outer wall
-Build a number of small houses inside the walls and give homes to most of the families. Those homes should be enough for them to live decently.
- If possible, build Prince Ryukan a proper small castle
- Pierce the aquifer
For Donu, do you wish to change her career? She still have some training to go through, but once she's done, the world is her oister. She doesn't have to be a priestess, she can be pretty much anything. Same goes for Dengusa, as we might need a dedicated weaponsmith and I'm not adverse to train him specifically for this task