Fortunately, the child that was stolen was (as I suspected) the child of a woddcutter and a guard. They don't even seem to have noticed that it's missing, and both parents are still ecstatic.
the 24th of Malachite saw one of our mechanics, Datan Nisgakzuntir, possessed to make an orthoclase mechanism. After encrusing it with mica, studding it with iron, encircling it in bands of iron and phyllite, adorning it with rings of maple, and finally carving spikes of phyllite, goblin bone, and leather for it, he carved a tiny image of two wild strawberries into the central gear, and then declared that he couldn't remember how he did all that. Ah well.
On the 23rd of Galena, we began our deathtrap tests. I stationed a swordsdwarf at the far end as an insurance policy. The first to go through, a goblin wrestler, was dumped in by the Countess herself, and it was she that pulled the lever to send the spikes into its unprotected body. It died before the swordsdwarf could make it in to finish it off.
Feeling more confident in the design, I ordered several more orcs and goblins dumped into the pit, and then opened the covering drawbridge to give them the illusion of hope. The results were mostly the same:
Unfortunately Vemini Vicelistened, an orc master lasher, made it through the corridor with both of his lungs pierced. Unfortunately for him, Thob was waiting at the exit of the corridor with axe in hand. In his weakened state, the orc was no match for Thob, and was quickly dispatched.
Limestone brought the dwarven caravan: 7 wagons full of the things I had requested in the spring. We immediately set about trading, managing to sell them a surprising amount of the stuff that we had taken off the various invaders to the fortress in exchange for some metal and a large quantity of steel armor and weapons. We traded for both nickle silver and the things required to make it. We were also able to request flux stone from the traders for next year, so hopefully we can produce some steel goods on our own in the future.
While the traders were here, the goblins decided to spring an ambush. Lead by a human bowman, three swordsgoblins had made it past the initial line of weapon traps. Unfortunately, they then ran into the caravan guards, who quickly pounded the bowman's face into a pulp. Thob's squad was again sent to chase down the fleeing goblins.
As they were finishing them off, another group of goblins sprung from ambush. It seems that the initial ambush had just been a ploy to draw our military out into the open. Not wanting Thob to fight on his own, I ordered our reserve squad of macemen out, and the 4 axegoblins and 3 wrestlers in the ambush squad were quickly killed. It was here that I noticed that Thob has gotten 17 kills this year, quite a respectable number. None of our military were even scratched.
Despite this demonstration of our prowess defending the fortress, the caravan told us that dwarves at the mountainhome still consider Deathquest a cursed deathtrap. I wonder what the previous leaders could have done to earn such a poor reputation, and why the King had decided to send me here?
As the caravans were leaving, the Count suddenly decided that Low Boots were not to be exported and, upon discovering that several low boots were in the goods we had just traded away, he ordered four dwarves beaten for thier insolence. I've decided that he's quite insane, but I don't feel that it's my place to arrange for his untimely demise. I got three of the dwarves into armor before the beatings could be administered, but the guard was able to catch Momux Abledakas, a bone carver, before he could make it to the armor stockpile. He bled to death in the meeting hall. At least he will be well-buried.
Speaking of which, I have completed my task: Every dwarf, adult, or child, now has an engraved tomb in the lower levels of the fortress. There are still some slots left for any future arrivals.
On the 10th of timber, we received a message from the mountainhomes that our fortress was large enough to be considered a duchy. Of course, the now-duke and his consort immediately celebrated by demanding more stuff, but they proved fairly easy to satisfy.
But ah, the meat of this entry! On the 10th of moonstone, we heard the orc war drums outside, and I was delighted to see an approaching force of no less than 80 orcs. Their leaders, easily picked out by their better-quality black iron armor, were two guards, two marksorcs, and a lancer. They brought with them a squad equipped with each weapon that Orcs can forge: spears, axes, bows, mauls, and swords.
The perfect force to test my new defenses against! I stationed two squads of marksdwarves, lead by Orcy and Jumppy, on the new fortifications above the entrance, Thob and the swordsdwarves at the surprise door, and the macedwarves, lead by Baby, to hold the inner side of the spike corridor.
The first kill went to Shot, who took out one of the marksorcs with a single shot just as the orcs charged the walls, thinking that the spike corridor was an entrance to the fort that we had forgotten to seal.
At first, I mis-timed the spike pulling, and several orc wrestlers made it up into the interior of the fort. Baby and his squad held their ground, killing the wrestlers without difficulty. Traitor was then able to make it to the lever, assuring the doom of the orcs trapped in the tunnel.
As I ordered the spike corridor sealed to trap the remaining orcs inside, the surprise door opened and Thob and his squad lept out into the orc slashers. Thrown into confusion by the sudden appearance of battle-ready dwarves, they were quickly routed. The siege was broken on the 20th of moonstone, and only one orc escaped the melee dwarves waiting on the surface for cleanup.
Unfortunately, the orc that escaped was an orc slasher that escaped by cutting Thob's leg as he chased it down. Thob's injury is not severe, though, and he should be up again within a month or two. Thob was the only injury that I noticed, and our only losses were two swordsdwarves and two war dogs, which I consider extremely light for the damage that we inflicted on the orcs. Both Sazir Tanoddom and Ustuth Etoludil will be buried with dignity. They came a long way in my year here, from simple farmers to battle-hardened dwarves willing to give their lives in the defense of the fortress. I'm sure that the defenses of Deathquest will only become more formidable as our fledgling military gains experience.
Much heroism was recognized in this battle. Thob personally killed four orcs, and Baby was given the title "The Quickness of Aging", and Shot was named "The Walled Scorn of Splashes". The Orcs have been sent a clear message: Deathquest will not be cowed by force of arms, and can defeat any army they send against us. Deathquest shall not fall!
THIS IS DEATHQUEST!
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Topic: DeathQuest: Tale of the Remnants (Read 63035 times)