Spiderthorn
General Kurel and Shedim were staring in surprise at the mob of Dwarven and Goblin engineers that swarmed the plazas, assembling trebuchets and moving them into firing position. "I thought you destroyed their siege equipment!" Kurel said, gesturing at the rock throwers.
"We did, every engine we could find was burned. We should have expected them to bring in more." Shedim said, silently scolding herself for not thinking of such a thing earlier.
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Gazing coldly at the bearded faces poking up over the ramparts, General Uzet signaled the engineers to commence firing on the wall. The assembled forces of Goblin and Kobold gripped their weapons tight, almost unable to wait for the slaughter that would begin once the wall fell.
The mood quickly changed to one of shock when the throwing arm of each trebuchet reached the top of it's arc...and snapped, showering the massed ranks with sharp chunks of wood and giant rocks. Screaming in rage Uzet ran the nearest engineer through with his sword before ordering the entire engineering crew executed.
As terrified screams rose from the mechanics and were silenced the Dwarf Thoth gazed at the walls, a smile on his face. Though he knew that his small contribution to the battle would almost certainly prove insubstantial he also knew that the enemy ranks had been decimated by what he had dubbed 'Kin Togal'.
As the executioners reached him, Thoth's mind settled, certain that his spirit would go to join Armok's despite his part in the first half of the Spiderthorn Siege.
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With the loss of their siege engines the Goblins went to Plan B, ordering the Giants and Trolls forward to smash down the Dwarf gates. As they charged across the plaza, several falling as ballista bolts impaled them a spine-chilling roar echoed over the city...while just below the Dwarf's feet the hooded creatures heard their mother's call and, hissing, stepped aside to allow others to pass, shells scraping against the narrow corridor as the massive creatures skittered towards the surface.
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Kurel and Shedim turned in horror as the solid granite doors of the fortress exploded outward, crushing several Dwarves before coming to rest. Out of the gaping hole skittered a trio of creatures both familiar to the Dwarves and at the same time strange: Giant Spiders, producers of such wonderful silk that many Dwarven tailors had died trying to procure it for their shops.
But these Spiders looked like they had been tampered with, given a shell to protect their vulnerable bodies. Before the defenders could recover from the shock of both the new invasion and the terrible Spider-creatures, their was a hissing noise and hundreds of small hooded figures erupted from the darkness, charging at the Dwarves, who finally shook off their surprise and leapt into battle with their new enemy...
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Yes, the Vlagh's Servants have finally made it to the surface.
WOW! Only just realized that I never changed the thread title to reflect current events...Silly me