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[DoctrZombie]

I'll be sure to toss both new dwarves into the mix when I get a chance. I've got the second half of this battle played out and sent to my work email but I'm at a conference all week and don't have computer access (curses).

Since I'm getting married in one month (plus one day) I also don't have much free time at home =P I'll try to stick to a once per week or at LEAST bi-weekly until november rolls around. Hopefully once Nov. gets here I'll return to normal activity.

[Strife26]

Whatever works for you Dr. Z.

[DoctrZombie]

=Events as they occurred, 27th of Hematite, 1062=

“SHIELDS!” Kivish cried out as he and the other two marksdwarves ducked behind their Iron shields. Hellfire and smoke rolled over them, scorching the earth under their feet. The dragon Zareth stopped to catch his breath, confident that the dwarves would be charred to deliciousness by now. To its surprise, three marksdwarves popped their heads back up from behind their iron curtain, and shot copper death at the Dragon.

Oddom’s eyes shone with anger as he fired bolt after bolt at the beat that came thundering at them. “Ye burned mah beard! Nobody messes with mah beard!”

Bolts struck Zareth in the chest and front legs, but they bounced off harmlessly or dug in with no visible effect on the dragon. Lurching forward, the great dragon snatched Kivish up in its horrible maw, sword-length teeth digging into the dwarf’s legs as he shook Kivish like a wet doll.

The fourth dwarf in the marksdwarf company, Meng, came running from the gates of the mountain. She could hear Kivish’s horrible screams, and as she readied her crossbow, watched in pure terror as the dragon severed Kivish’s left leg at the knee, dropping the dwarf with a sickening thud to the earth as a spray of blood filled the air.

Zareth raised its neck high triumphantly to swallow the severed leg, leaving its stomach exposed to Oddom’s furious bolts. Finally one of the copper tipped shafts struck gold, and went clear through into the creature’s gut. The dragon roared its pain and anger, and let out another horrible breath of fire and blood.

Oddom, Logem and Meng were able to raise their shields in time to avoid the flames. A nearby hunting dog had been sent out to distract the dragon. Having no shield to hide behind, the dog burst into horrible flames. By now, Oddom fought back hard against the urge to drop his shield, as it was glowing from the heat of the Dragon’s fire. In order to distract himself from the pain, he did what any dwarf would do, and shot a copper bolt at the Dragon’s face.

The citizens of Zirilzuntîr watched from the ramparts as the great dragon flailed around and scratched at the bolt that had imbedded itself deep into its left eye. In its pain and confusion, it still managed to trample over Kivish’s limp body, tearing out his left hand and severing the rest of his left leg with a sickening crunch.

Oddom screamed orders over the roaring and trampling of the dragon. “Shoot it! Shoot out its right eye!”

Logem fired two bolts into the air at the Dragon’s skull. The first one missed by only inches, while the second one hit home and crushed in the Dragon’s right eyeball. Zareth was blind, and in his pain and confusion, breathed fire down at the bare road ahead of him, scorching naught but the paved stone roads.

Meng lost sight of her comrades in the smoke and flames coming from the dragon’s mouth and the body of Kivish as it burned on the road. She fired two bolts into the smoke above the heads of her squad mates, and heard them sink into dragon scale. Zareth made one final attempt to scream as his lungs were punctured. When he breathed out fire, all that came from his throat was the gurgle and hiss of hot blood.


~~~Diary of Besmar Melbilamal, Army supply officer, 1062~~~

-29th of Hematite
My ears still ring with song and cheers of my fellow dwarves. I believe for a long time we will hear the tale of when four recruits bravely slew the great dragon Zareth. I can already picture the engravings that will be made in their tombs…

Work has begun on rebuilding the roads that were lost to dragon’s fire. One would think that solid stone roads would be unharmed if our stout dwarves weren’t even singed (well, with the exception of Oddom’s beard… He’s still crying about that!). But the heat of that final blast baked the earth like a loaf of bread, and the entire exit will need to be re-paved.

Sadly, Kivish perished most gruesomly in the fight to defend our homes. He will be long remembered and long mourned as a hero and true dwarf. I have ordered the construction of three towering statues of the brave dwarven defenders, and shall place an iron epitaph at the foot of the statue of Kivish.

-15th Malachite
 The human caravan has departed, promising to return next year with the requested wares, and also promising to tell the tale of our great deeds here wherever they go. I expect that what once was a covert smelting operation may one day be a great hall… if we don’t succumb to some horrible fate, that is.


-20th of Malachite

It has been some time since our last influx of immigrants, and it seems as though we should be due for more, but all of our scouts report nothing on the horizon. This gives me great cause for concern. Perhaps something terrible has happened, or perhaps news of the dragon’s approach has scared away all hope of reinforcements.

-22nd of Malachite
Erush Dodoktangak, a Carpenter of little importance, took hold of an open workshop today and emerged only moments ago with Kar Terstum The Dimension of Destruction, an oaken cage. It is encircled with bands of Cedar, Rope Reed, Amber Opal, and Diorite. It is adorned with hanging rings of Amber Opal. On the item is an image of a Felsite toy axe (Likot Volal, the Inks of Whiteness) in oak. On the item is an image of a rhyolite drum in felsite. On the item is an image of three highwoods in giant cave spider silk.

Erush explained to me the craftsmanship and the symbolism of his cage. The Dimension of Destruction is one of many names given to the plane of evil that is reserved for traitors and false prophets. It is a place in which they will be caged and tortured for eternity. This is well known to Dwarven folk, and many of the symbols (The encircling bands and hanging rings) reflect that.

As an ode to other great crafts of our lifetime, Erush has adorned his cage with two artifacts. One is a decent depiction of a Rhyolite Drum (in Felsite... don’t ask) from the mountainhomes. The drum was a gift given to our king when he was a child, and is priceless.

The second image is, of course, a brilliant rendition of Lilot Volal, Zak’s artifact Felsite toy axe. Zak’s amazing artifact has become so well known that other artists feel compelled to produce items with its image! I told you that Artifact would become legendary…


-28th of Malachite
We have run out of Iron bars. This is extremely critical, or we might miss our next shipment of Steel Bolts. I have ordered all miners to search for more veins of hematite.

[Sareth]

Good update. But how the hell did you manage to run out of iron?! 1 magnetite cluster can pump out up to 128 bars! And they arn't uncommon. I have to dump my excess magnetite!

[muwahahaha]

Hmm, must be because of the excellent quantity and quality of work coming from the metalworkers eh?

Great work so far, but you said that Kivish lost an entire leg, yet further in the post (in the log) there is no mention of this.

[THLawrence]

Good update. But how the hell did you manage to run out of iron?! 1 magnetite cluster can pump out up to 128 bars! And they arn't uncommon. I have to dump my excess magnetite!

One magnetite cluster can typically produce around 700 bars of iron. And he is on a location with no sedimentary rock so there is no magnetite to begin with. What he may have run out of is hematite. That comes in veins and can produce a couple hundred and appears in the local rocks.

[DoctrZombie]

Great work so far, but you said that Kivish lost an entire leg, yet further in the post (in the log) there is no mention of this.

You're quite right... I meant to make mention of the fact that he died horribly, but aparently overlooked it. I'll made an edit.


And yes, it was Hematite I ran out of. I've spent a great deal of time building fortress necessities and ran out of Hematite and Iron bars. There's pleanty still left in the mountain, so no worries.

[DoctrZombie]

Dwarfahaulic,

I believe I named the dwarf after your tag handle. If you want me to change his name, I can. I do have him doing planting/growing.
As for the other two, I will post your profiles sometime this week!

[DoctrZombie]

~~~Diary of Besmar Melbilamal, Army supply officer, 1062~~~


-10th of Limestone

The dwarven caravan has finally arrived, and begun to unload their wares. Some of our residents have received orders from the king directing them to report for combat training. Two men have left us, but in their stead two of the merchant’s guard have decided to join in our quest.

Khamero I recognize from the mountainhomes. He was in charge of some of the King’s devious goblin execution towers. Apparently with the main forces out in the field, Khamero has become restless for goblin executions, and decided to set out for Zirilzuntîr, knowing that we have witnessed several goblin raids. I’m sure he’ll get a chance to drop one from the waterfall.




Tarmid Ezar said very little to me as he marched off to grab one of our practice swords and fervently began training with the best of ‘em. We need good dwarves with ferocious tendencies.




-14th of Limestone

Sarvesh Ropepicks has become quite a merchant since he left our fortress after the imprisoning of the traitor who formally held the position. He showed me with no small amount of pride the treasures he brought from foreign lands. I easily doubled his fortune in one sitting. We bought all of his food, booze, wood, metal, gems, leather, one anvil, and some barrels as well as some cloth goods, so that we needn’t waste time and manpower on such things. I traded him three fine sets of steel plate mail and a few boxes of stone crafts. We both were quite pleased.

I also delivered into his care and safekeeping the package for the king’s armies. Two sets of Steel Plate, 200 bolts, and two fine shields to boot.

I did notice that Sarvesh carried a lot of other steel goods from other surrounding areas all headed northeast for the next big push into goblin territory. I worry that the small accompaniment of dwarves will not save him if they encounter a full goblin force, or a dragon, or other horror. Should the steel fall into enemy hands, it could doom us all.

I re-assigned several dwarves from support tasks to smelting and metalworking, as we have enough food and booze for many winters.


=Events as they occurred, 16th of Limestone, 1062=

Azstrog Ngebzongoslun ran his bony green fingers across the smooth felsite wall that stood in the middle of the forest, 8 or 9 feet tall and covered with nasty stone spikes at the top. “This was not here before…” he thought with a scowl. “This should not be here at all…”

The goblin swore and spit upon the stonework; with its fine smooth finish he recognized it as clear dwarven origin. The damn cowards had walled off the entire forest, and the only other way to the sweet baby flesh was to plummet off the Cliffside. Azstrog was almost resigned to leaving with an empty sack, when he spotted a small but obvious crack just below his eye level. Peering in, he noticed a lever that he could just barely grasp with two fingers and tug. Upon doing so, a section of the wall pulled apart leaving a wide open space for him to proceed. Azstrog grinned at his victory “Foolish dwarves! Your masonry isn’t as good as they say!”

Azstrog took two steps into the false corridor before stepping on the metal plate hidden by a thin layer of grass and soil. His eyes widened as two copper saws burst from the walls and cut off both legs at the knee. His horrible screaming sent birds fleeing from the trees in the forests of Nazushisin. The goblin snatcher raised himself up by his hands, squinting back the tears of unimaginable pain long enough to see the trunk of a tree come barreling down the corridor, held up by a pair of pig tail ropes, aimed directly at his face.

“Damn dwarves!” were the last words that ran from his mind as it was splattered across the stone walls so carefully made to look like a secret path.

[Dwarfaholic]

Please change the name, thanks.

[DoctrZombie]

~~~Diary of Besmar Melbilamal, Army supply officer, 1062~~~

-18th of Limestone

A pair of goblin ambushes has reached our boarders. One was menaced by our northern traps and dissipated without injury. The second group reached our tunnels. It appears that our aggressive mining tactics to secure hematite have left a small opening in our southern halls, leading directly to the tombs. They managed to slay two of our workforce before we could mobilize the main forces to react. It seems that our tunnels are just too cramped in the south to get the soldiers there quick enough. I’ve decided to work on more automated defenses to protect our less used tunnel systems.

-2nd of Sandstone

Strife has insisted that were our civilians better trained in the use of weapons and armor they wouldn’t suffer so many casualties when the green skinned menace manages to sneak past our outer walls. In light of the recent mishaps I tend to agree, and under Strife's request and supervision I have ordered the training a second wave of reserve support.
Her original request was for 40 of our population to be war ready. We settled at an additional 17, making our militia prepared dwarves 36 out of 84. I imagine in time I will rotate the forces so that every man and woman who can hold a sword has practiced slightly with one, but for now our work draws most of our manpower away.

-12th of Sandstone

A number of our new recruits have become injured lately during sparring sessions in the Barracks. Thankfully none have taken any serious wounds, but the entire room is currently filthy with blood, and due to other projects, remains in the same rough-hewn structure that it was when it was built many moons ago. I have ordered the room cleaned and smoothed, but with our larger forces and more experienced dwarves a simple square room with weapons simply will not do.

Flint has crazy ideas for huge arena that will please both the gods and our military advisors, in which sparring and dwarven tactics games can be played for glory. Currently our militia plays games of “Tacticus” during their off-hours. It is a game in which the rules are constantly changing and difficult to determine. Apparently there are several rulebooks for the game, but I have yet to see one! Newfangled games…

Regarding the arena, however… The blueprints are made of masterly crafted dwarven rope reed. On the item is a stain of dwarven beer. On the item is a chalk image of an arena and dwarves. The dwarves are fighting in the arena. Inside the arena is an image of two flags and dwarves. The Dwarves are capturing the flags. On the arena is an image of Armok, the god of blood. Armok is laughing.

-15th of Moonstone

The construction of the arena is perhaps the quickest building ever dug out in our new home. The dwarves were excited for its construction, as they all yearn for a true feat of dwarven engineering, as well as a place for entertainment. The First level / Ground floor of the arena is complete, although I struggle with the decision to put a pit of water and pit of magma in the arena--could be too dangerous.

We wish to please the gods and entertain the masses, but accidental deaths could be disheartening and barbaric… I have decided that this decision is too deep and difficult for one dwarf to make, so I have organized a ballot box to be passed around. All dwarves who live and work in Zirilzuntîr are encouraged to cast their ballots:

Do we make the arena safe and practical, or do we add pits of magma and water that could potentially be dangerous to our sparring squads? Other suggestions will also be taken.

~~~~
I encourage you all to vote if you feel so inclined!

[Zako]

I say no. Practable means that we all live longer.

[Sparksol]

My initial response is for safer and more practical training. I suspect, though, that having a pit or three filled partially with water might be a good thing. Get knocked in, get some wading practice, climb out...these pits will have ramps to get out, right?

I'm all for dwarves being able to swim should the need arise.

[muwahahaha]

Yeah, I have to lean towards the safe and practical side as well.

Although if you wanted to be particularly ambitious, you could build the lava/water pits in there and place bridges over them. Then when we have, say, a goblin death match, open the pits and use them as hazards.

[Emperor_Jonathan]

I'M LEANING TOWARDS MAGMA

What doesn't kills us only makes us STRONGER!