Iluogo was down in the barracks training. He decked his commander, Asit, and then tackled one of the newbies, Spartacus or something. Asit then called a halt, “Okay everyone! Good work. I can see that we are all getting better at unarmed work. Once our magma channels fill some more, we will have better armor. Eventually, even axes and swords. Until then . . .”
The knight was interrupted by a scream. A girlish, wimpy scream. Iluogo cursed and said, “The elves!” In a flash, the fighter rushed up the stairs, on his way to the trade depot.
Asit shouted, “Rawr, follow Iluogo! Protect the elves at all costs! We need their good will! Ducim, round up all able zefies, prepare for war. Everyone else, get some improvised weapons and CHARGE!”
Iluogo rounded the corner and ran up the stairs. The first thing that he saw was the camel that belonged to the elves. Iluogo wondered “Why the bloody hell are the elves running away up into the old storage levels? Didn’t we seal them off? Wait, where are the goblins?!?”
Iluogo then saw it. A lone kobold thief. Memories flashed through the brawler’s mind. His old village. The bowbolds. The fires . . . Iluogo resolved to kill it thing. When the thief saw the angry zefie, it tried to run. However, zefies are very much noted for a sprinting ability. In a flash Iluogo was on top of the kobold. The two combatants were about the same size. The kobold was a bit taller than Iluogo and probably heavier. The zefie, being spherical, was wider.
The thief drew a large knife. Iluogo’s first strike broke that arm. His second damaged the left hip. A minute later, the kobold was nothing more than a stain. The elves came back down the stairs to find Iluogo guarding the entrance to the fort. When the mechanic, Zulban, came to trade, the elves complained about security.
They changed their tune when Iluogo glared at them. Zulban managed to trade the entire caravan for one of his gold mechanisms.
Zulban had decided that a conference room would be the next project for the new miners. Several of the more important zefies were crowded in the dining room. He had thought that the original plans would be big enough. 12 chairs should have been enough. There was:
• Zulban Fametrade- Obviously, lord knows he was running the place.
• Woodswalker- a strange zefie, ‘Woody’ had invited himself.
• Imush Wheelcites- Imush was one of the foremost members of the community, being a legendary leatherworker.
• Z-crafter BoltedEagles- One of the crafters, his partner, Inod, had deigned to keep working, trusting Z for the crafting outlook.
• Endok Flagticked- She had shown up unwillingly, she had seeds to plant!
• Atis Sinewsalves- The leader of the armed forces. Very stolid zefie.
• Iluogo- Didn’t he have a last name? The wrestler had apparently insisted to come along.
• Ducim Workdawns- Atis’ usual aide, the knight had offered up his chair.
• Snoopicus- Being commander (and sole member) of the zefie ranged force, he was there.
• RAWR- The drill sergeant in training, he had been trying to get Snoop to install bayonets on the crossbows, and to count him as ranged because he could throw his axe. RAWR hadn’t noticed where they were going, and didn’t want Snoopicus to give him the slip, so he stayed.
• Ral Roughdimpled- The soap maker turned cook had served crumpet and then decided to stay, he needed to ‘gauge the reactions of the advanced flavonoid combinations.’ No one liked them, although Ral’s ability to gauge zefie moods was not well known.
• Dasot Blazesinks- The brewer was similar. When he had served the root beer, he said “This is WAY too good to waste on you losers. Move the hell over Iluogo.”
• Edem Woundpointy- A peasant who had definitely not been invited. She refused to interrupt her cold plump helmet breakfast for the meeting.
Zulban started the meeting, “As I’m sure you all know, this is a relatively nice location. We have just about every feature we could possibly want. However, we have had a bit of trouble finding iron.”
Asit broke in, “We found one small vein of the stuff, but we used all of it on anvils. For the record, who told the blacksmith to repeatedly make anvils?”
Iluogo, Snoopicus, and RAWR responded, “Wasn’t me, sir!”
Zulban wondered why he had to be in charge. “The things I do for zefiekind,” he mused.
“ANYWAY, we also found an underground pool. We would use it for water, but it was mistakenly drained.”
This time it was Ducim who piped up, “How was I supposed to know that the up stair case I dug was in the middle of the lake!? It was a fluke I tell you!”
Zulban seriously considered borrowing Snoopicus’s crossbow. He could probably keep order that way . . .
“Fortunately, there seems to be several iron veins in the walls of the now empty pond. Unfortunately, there are assorted creatures in there. Sergeant RAWR?”
Obviously, it was not RAWR who spoke first. Endok quietly asked, “Are we almost done, Zulban? I have to water the cave roots and,” she quailed under Zulban’s glare, “and Ummm stuff.”
Zulban slumped over. His upper fluff hit the table with a thud. A slightly disquieted RAWR started, “As far as we can tell, there are ten hostile creatures in the lake bed. There is a mix of frogmen and lizardmen. Additionally, there are several cave spider webs; we have to be careful not to be bitten.”
Zulban’s large yellow eyes looked up from the table, “So everyone, what should our course of action be?”
We could cage them. The military could wipe them out. We could crush them in a cave-in I guess . . .
Also Iluogo is elite now!
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Topic: Zefie Fortress: What do you mean, Bismuth!?[Community] (Read 5667 times)