Conversation on The 8th Moonstone, Year Five:"I know you're good, the peasants are experiencing that firsthand, but you aren't enough."
"Against a full invasion, maybe, but single goblin groups are weak, and besid-"
"Single melee groups are weak, i'll give you that, but their crossbowmen are death incarnate, you've seen it yourself."
"So who else can we send? All the recent arrests have drastically reduced the number of men loyal enough to serve duty."
"Then we don't use men."
"Women, sir?"
"No, well....yes. We use children, the gender is unimportant."
"Children? I will not allow it!"
"Even I know that giving a baby an axe is a stupid idea, but by thirteen they can work in any other field, so why not?"
"They're too young."
"Well, I don't think so, and it's my decision to make, unless you find someone better..."
"I will."
The Events of The 11th Moonstone, Year Five:Rud was busy completing his rounds, not defending the fortress, for he had almost completly abandoned that duty in favor of serving justice.
The list of those to be beaten was growing shorter, which was a relief to him. Since he accidently killed someone in a beating, he had been aiming for arms and legs, insteacd of the body. Stomping their toes was a personal favorite.
He had been compiling a seperate list, of potential candidates for military duty. Several of them were also heavy hitters in their regular work, Jack, Thor, and Kupe, but their potential ability in combat was good enough in his eyes to overrule it.
His oppurtunity to test them arrived that day.
The booming sound of war drums gave their presence away long before their sight or stench could, though it was impossible to tell which directon it came from, because it came from every direction.
A battalion of Spearmen, Hammermen, and Lashers, each with their commanding officers, accompanied a full force of Trolls. A military force far beyond what the fortress had faced to this point.
Rud had no time, he rallied those on his list that were available, one was fast asleep, and was was still in jail.
He wasn't allowd to fight, still had beatings to give, but he could see the fight from the wall, so he dealt out punsihment there.
The first group of goblins to arrive were the speardwarves, led by an axelord. They charged down the hills on The West Side, but were driven back up when the Axe Lord was killed.
Jack (not to be confused with Jill) charged up after them, knocking out cold the nearest one. He was quickly mobbed, but managed to fight them off untill help arrived.
Well, almost.
Just as the others charged up the hill, Jack was clean run through with a stray spear.
He was killed instantly.
The other casualty caused by that squad was Xern, he was stabbed in such a way that caused him to fall down the hill, where he tried desperatly to retreat back to the fortress, collapsing of his injuries just before he reached the door. He wasn't dead yet, but he would be soon.
As the last speargoblin was killed, someone on the defending force noticed that Thor had been injured, and broken rank, running off towards the East.
He was being closed in on by Trolls, and the other two battalions, The leading Swordsman seemed particularly interested in him, and raced off at a pace Thor couldn't hope to match.
The goblins demonstrated some kind of tactical knowledge by sending off three spare lashers at the remaining three fighters, Kupe, Lapip, and... Dashar? The lashers were killed quickly,
and gruesomly.
Yet they lived long enough for the swordsgoblin to kill Thor.
Instead of acting on revenge, the three intercepted the Trolls, who had reached the wall and were about to break through the door.
Kupe stood out here, his first three srikes completly pierced through a Troll's lower body, upper body, and head. He then lodged his pick ina nearby Troll's arm, and proceded to strangle it.
It took awhile, but all trolls were killed without doing any damage.
The hammermen and lashers, led by the elite swordmaster charged towards the three, only to quickly retreat.
Most every lasher was killed, and Kupe completly destroyed the swordsgoblin, but quite a few hammermen managed to escape.
These three, that had fought such a massive force without injury, they were to be alerted of their official draft immieadtly.
From The Journal of Ori Gasomanoth, Undated, Year Five:Jack is
dead.
From The Journal of Kupe Evholkan, 14th Moonstone, Year Five:River froze today, bad news for the prisoners, who are only allowed water.
The freezing is apparantly the first challenge to be undertaken by our new Mayor, Sana. Who leads our fortress of 134 (Accounting for the recently deceased).
Speaking of the deceased, i've been told that the third floor (negative third?) will no longer be used for burial, save for a tomb constructed for those who died in the fight, and any nobility that may die. All "others" are to be buried on -5, with their coffins all in one room, arranged in neat little rows.
Ori hasn't been well since Jack died, which is bad, since shes taken over as Record Keeper, a position he held for nearly six years here.
Log belonging to Rud Wuridur, dated 16th Moonstone, Year Five:I gave the last beating on the list today, Dof the armorer was the "lucky" recipient.
There are still people waiting to serve prison time once some spots open up, and a few who need hammerstrikes.
Come to think of it, I haven't seen The Hammerer since I was given this position, and I could swear the rooms given to me belonged to her.
As for the new military force, the three of 'em have been signed on, and practice begins today.
Kupe's sword belonged to the Swordmaster he killed.
Zotho's hammer belonged to Echo.
Dashar's spear is nothing special, but it's quite high-quality.
From The Journal of Kupe Evholkan, 2nd Opal, Year Five:Sana has banned the export of anything made of aluminum, for reasons I can only guess at.
The two shops, which once belonged to Jack, have been passed on. The clothing store now belongs to Ori, though it's out of stock, and shes yet to emerge from her office since the siege. The crafts store, which never did get stocked, belongs to someone named Atthem.
Found on the back page of one of Ori's journal entires, undated.Hammerer finally gave up and died, I let the other two in there with it out, noone except them know what I did, and most people don't even know it's dead yet.