Topic: Lanternwebs (The End!) (Read 80541 times)

Rysith · « **Reply #90 on:** February 10, 2009, 05:44:49 pm »

Journal of Unib Keskalerib, Mayor of Lanternwebs, Winter 112

Well, winter went by remarkably uneventfully. Apart from a goblin siege (which was quickly dispatched by our warriors), nothing has attacked us this season. Kib was exceptionally upset about the loss of one of her cats, but I talked to her and it seems like she'll get over it with time.

Aside from the goblin's laughable attempt at a siege, there was also an incident when three skeletal mountain goats wandered down the mountain and began harassing the haulers. Grimes Tulonsterus, one of our axedwarves, took all three of them down without issue.

However, the lack of serious threats does not mean that we have been without loss. A training accident in Opal lead to the tragic death of Medtob Emuthkivish, who had his throat torn out and suffocated in bed. Despite not dying in combat, I have arranged for him to be buried in the warrior's tomb. It would seem cruel to deny him that, given the circumstances of his death.

The death of Medtob, though, was overshadowed by the births that we have had this season. We are proud to welcome three new children into our fort. The first was Monom Gemhammer, son of ònul Etasiden, Mechanic and Sodel Emudvucar, Swordsdwarf. The second was Degël Bustrelieved, son of Atîs Oltara, Engraver, and Reg Amalcatten, Clothier. Last was Likot Passagewhips, son of Kubuk Sàkrithdeduk, Swordsdwarf and Sakzul Degëlkôn, Fishery worker. All three of them will grow up to be valuable members of the community, I am sure.

Mid-Obsidian saw another of our dwarves struck by divine inspiration: Lòr Lokumkûbuk, our jeweler. She was able to quickly gather what Rodem demanded and created a Lace Agate ring. The band is done in beautiful cave lobster shell with a raised image of the Founding Seven laboring in Lanternwebs around the outside, while the flat face of the gem bears an image of Despairfresh, our platinum puzzlebox. Surrounding the main lace agate is a collection of smaller Sardonyx gems, as well as a veil of giant cave spider silk and tiny spikes of horse leather and highwood. Truly a work of art.

And finally, at the turn of the seasons, Astesh Litastnoram reached her twelfth birthday and was allowed to become an adult member of the Theater of Beards.

I seem to have misplaced the summary of our stocks that I had prepared, I'll be sure to append it as soon as I find it. Next month, I shall speak to the elves for the first time. I can hardly wait!

Ah, here it is. Our stocks at the beginning of 113:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

ToonyMan · « **Reply #91 on:** February 10, 2009, 07:47:23 pm »

Ha, the Orc mod funny 'cause when you get a siege you think, "OH NOES!! I'M IN TROUBLE!!" Then you realize it's just goblins and you're like, "PHEW it's just goblins."

Rysith · « **Reply #92 on:** February 11, 2009, 01:37:15 am »

The cold wind of winter had only just departed when the thunder of orcish war drums once again echoed through the Unnamable Point.

"Looks like... five squads. " Said The Tooninator as he looked over the approaching horde. "I see Crushers, Stabbers, Slashers, and Snipers with the main force, and a detachment of Maulers that's come up the river to cut us off early. 80 orcs total. All mounted, as usual."

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"A solid plan on their part," responded Kib, "But it looks like they've underestimated us again. If the champions move quickly, we should be able to kill the Maulers before the main force reinforces them, then funnel the rest across the bridge."

"Aye, but what of the snipers? We've never faced orcish archers before, but I can guarantee that our marksdwarves won't be able to out-shoot them." Said Flint. "They'll be able to take a dozen bolts just as well as any other orc, and I'd hate to ask the marksdwarves to do the same"

"It'll be up to the champions, then." Said Kib. "We'll need a squad to rush them, deflect their fire, break their wrestlers, and keep them occupied while we deal with the other three squads."

"A melee rush to open combat? It's got style, I'll admit that." said The Tooninator.

Unib Keskalerib, the mayor of Lanternwebs, joined the three champions on top of the fortress.

"So, umm.... No elves, then?" he asked timidly, awed by the calm that the three showed, even in the face of a battle with four to one odds against them.

"Look at it this way," Flint answered with a small smile. "Rather than some elves bringing us a few mule-loads of seeds and fabric, we've got a ton and a half of iron and bone delivered straight to our doorstep. The negotiating will just be a bit more strenuous."

The call to arms went out quickly, and the soldiers of Lanternwebs prepared to once again defend their home against the orcish menace. That they had recovered this quickly from their previous defeat meant that there must be a new, much more powerful leader among them now, and that such sieges would likely become a regular occurrence. But their armor shone and their weapons gleamed as they headed out to defend all that was dwarven against the barbarism of the orcs.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Far below them, in the bowels of the fortress, Tosid Vodsazir cursed.
"Why? Why did it have to be now? The perfect force to test on, and they show up a gear assembly and two axles too soon. They had to come early. The pumps can't even be manually powered, there's no way to safely drain it." He paused. "Maybe they know! The orcs last summer must have reported it! They must know what doom it will spell for them when it is completed! Hahaha, tremble in fear, orcs! You cannot stop it now! This will be your last attack on Lanternwebs!"
Most of the fortress, though, paid him no mind. He had been mumbling to himself about strange constructions, things not being finished, and general insane mutterings for years now.

---------
Well, now I get to go against a full siege. Three guards, I suspect 80 orcs (definitely 5 squads). Unfortunately, it showed up just as I was getting ready to sleep last night, but hopefully I'll be able to get movies (and combat logs!) of it later today.

It's also somewhat odd, since orcs are supposed to be active summer/winter, not in spring, but I'm thinking that it might be that they were delayed by the goblins or something: I'm not clear on the interactions of two sieges trying to happen at the same time, but this one did happen as soon as the goblin one would have lifted if they weren't all dead already.

There is a squad of orcish archers, but I'm more or less going to have to meet them in melee. Since I'm in general opposed to savescumming, and I'm going to be sending the entire military (Shoruke, Flint, Grimes, Silvereye, and The Tooninator) in, I'll just apologize in advance if any of you gets killed off. The ones I'm really worried about are the three guards, since they all have stat boosts and in general are going to be acting like megabeasts with weapons and armor.

ToonyMan · « **Reply #93 on:** February 11, 2009, 03:09:30 pm »

That looks awesome!

WorkerDrone · « **Reply #94 on:** February 11, 2009, 07:10:35 pm »

I be a lad wanting part of this slaughter of Greenskins.

Put me up with your other lads, and your pointy things.

I'll be a great Swordsdwarf indeed. Or cannonfodder. Either way, we Dwarves die standing to, in the thickest fight. Whether the lowly lineman, or the steel covered champion. To arms!

WorkerDrone
Swordsdwarf
Military, active.
Request: A sword, an enemy, and a glorious death. The latter being sooner...or maybe even later.

Rysith · « **Reply #95 on:** February 12, 2009, 01:11:06 am »

Quote from: WorkerDrone on February 11, 2009, 07:10:35 pm

I be a lad wanting part of this slaughter of Greenskins.

Put me up with your other lads, and your pointy things.

I'll be a great Swordsdwarf indeed. Or cannonfodder. Either way, we Dwarves die standing to, in the thickest fight. Whether the lowly lineman, or the steel covered champion. To arms!

WorkerDrone
Swordsdwarf
Military, active.
Request: A sword, an enemy, and a glorious death. The latter being sooner...or maybe even later.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Everyone in Lanternwebs is covered in steel, even the cannon fodder. We have steel coming out of our beards. I added you in before I started dealing with the siege, so you'll get death, glory, or some combination of the two.

Edit: It appears that dwarf companion's "combat logs in fortress mode" doesn't work quite as well as I would like. Here is a sample of what I was getting, spoiler'ed for length:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I think that that can be summarized about as well as the pictures do it, really: Blood, carnage, confusion, and severed limbs everywhere. I suspect that the number of combatants involved just overwhelms things.

Shoruke · « **Reply #96 on:** February 12, 2009, 02:37:11 pm »

Boy oh boy. This fight promises to be good. I want a movie! (please)

"hacks at "
In soviet Russia, " " hacks at you!!

Rysith · « **Reply #97 on:** February 12, 2009, 04:28:57 pm »

Silvereye stood tensely at attention at his post. It was a great honor, he knew, to take the Western Post. Any orcs coming from the forest would have to charge directly at him, allowing him first shot at them and their beak dogs. But it also meant that he was responsible for securing that access to the bridge, weakening them before their clash with the champions, a thin layer of clay directly above him. He checked and rechecked his bolts, both those in his quiver and those in the bin at his feet. All finely-crafted steel, and easily able to penetrate the crudely-forged armor of the orcs. He sighted down the length of his oak crossbow, remembering the lessons that Melbil Robusttorch the Jade Blizzard of Blades had told him at the archery range: a hit that didn't destroy at least two vital organs wouldn't do anything but make the orcs angry.

He checked the bolts again: all carefully organized, all ready for him to grab at a moment's notice. Kib had said that the first attack would come from the east, but he'd have warning of that: the other marksdwarves would sound the alarm, and he would be able to turn easily - he swung the crossbow down and to the right, now looking down it over the brook that wound its way past their entrance - to fire at them. It would be a bit harder to hit them, true, but every bolt helped. For now, his task was to watch to the north.

He grabbed a bolt from his quiver, pretending to slot it down as if loading, simultaneously pressing the stock to his shoulderguard to bring the string back, ready to fire. How many times would he have to do that in the heat of battle? Better to practice now, just to make sure. In front of him, he saw Fath Coggim cross the plateau, the last of the dwarves outside. With him inside the fortress, all that there was to do was wait for the orcs to make their move.

Where were they? The question spun around in his mind. Maybe they had sent in ambush parties, like the goblins, and the battle would be inside the fortress, soldiers rushing back to save the undefended civilians inside, then rushing forward to hold the gate against the main force. Maybe they had left... But no, the war drums still beat in the background. Would the attack come from the east after all? A thick spring mist descended in front of him, cloaking the battlefield-to-be in soft grey like a thick blanket.

Silvereye unloaded his bolt, then quickly loaded it again. The motion was familiar, he had done it hundreds of times at the practice range. But this felt different. The bolt wasn't just a sliver of bone, light and fragile-looking. This was a dwarven crossbow bolt, six inches of sharpened steel designed to penetrate armor, flesh, bone, more flesh, and armor again as it tore its way through an unfortunate target. Steel bolts were never used at the practice ranges, only to kill. That fact alone seemed to make the bolt feel more weighty in his hand. He sighted along the crossbow again, and began to lower it to practice loading again.

Suddenly, an enormous shape bounded out of the mist: a snarling orc, holding a spear high above her head, bounding forward on a snarling dog with an eagle's beak in place of a mouth and an evil look in its eyes. Startled, he pulled the trigger and jerked as the heavy bolt left the bow, striking the beak dog in the leg and sending it tumbling to the ground. The orc dismounted easily and smoothly, continuing to charge towards the bridge.

"ORCS!" he shouted as he fumbled for a second bolt, the movements that had seemed so familiar to him a minute earlier now complex and difficult. He heard the twang of a crossbow next to him, and saw Melbil firing bolts quickly and smoothly as more orcs emerged from the thick fog. Some struck true, others flew wide. He grasped the bolt firmly, lifting it into the firing groove as he cocked the crossbow and sighted down it at another orc. The bolt hummed past his cheek and struck true, tearing a deep hole in the orc's chest.

Now the thunder of armored footfalls drowned out all other noise as the soldiers of Lanternwebs charged across the bridge over him, shields out and weapons swinging. They easily deflected the thrusts of the orcs, inexpert but forceful thrusts turned aside by the dull gray of shields slick with moisture. Axes smacked wetly into corded muscle and fragile bone, severing limbs and torsos as the dwarves pushed the invaders back from the bridge and spread out on the plain. He had another bolt in his crossbow that he didn't remember loading, and he fired into the melee, hoping that he struck an orc rather than a dwarf.

Within seconds, the battle was over, the dwarves standing victorious on the blood-soaked field as the Lancers of Disembowelment, eight of the finest swordsdwarves in all of the Braided Lenses, chased the fleeing remnants. Flush with the excitement of battle, Silvereye reloaded his crossbow and brought it up again, alert for the next orcs to emerge from the fog.

--------
I have movies (several short ones, actually: It's really hard to film while fighting the orcs, since I need to do so much micromanagement of the troops and the 1M limit for DFMA means that my large screen size gets in the way), as well as pictures. They'll be added later tonight.

Status right now is two squads down, one dwarven casualty (and one wounded, I think, but it's not serious). These battles are prooving really fun to write (and play =), but time consuming.

Edit: Dammit grammar errors, stop happening!

Eagle · « **Reply #98 on:** February 12, 2009, 04:59:13 pm »

Awesome, Silvereye is the subject of an entire post!

Did he actually kill anything though? That seems like what he's destined for: always at the battle, but only wounding things, never finishing them off. Once again, your battle descriptions amaze. Keep it up!

Shoruke · « **Reply #99 on:** February 12, 2009, 05:01:37 pm »

epic.

WorkerDrone · « **Reply #100 on:** February 12, 2009, 06:41:14 pm »

Seriously? I have to say, I couldn't imagine anything as cool as battle like the one Rysith described. And the cool part is, will almost certainly be getting more if the Orcs he made are as ruthless and bloodthirsty as he says they are.

Again, my only request...more ass kicking. Don't care if its my characters ass.

The blood will do nicely...mmmyes. Armok is pleased.

Rysith · « **Reply #101 on:** February 12, 2009, 07:01:13 pm »

Quote from: WorkerDrone on February 12, 2009, 06:41:14 pm

Seriously? I have to say, I couldn't imagine anything as cool as battle like the one Rysith described. And the cool part is, will almost certainly be getting more if the Orcs he made are as ruthless and bloodthirsty as he says they are.

Again, my only request...more ass kicking. Don't care if its my characters ass.

The blood will do nicely...mmmyes. Armok is pleased.

Oh, there will be more ass-kicking. I've played through the first two squads thus far (stabbers and maulers), but the post above was just the battle with the stabbers, so there's another battle description coming up already. There are still three squads on the map still to be dealt with, so at least one more there too.

And, with goblins sieging as well now, I'm expecting around three sieges a year from here on, even if the goblin ones are less exciting than the orcs.

Flintus10 · « **Reply #102 on:** February 13, 2009, 04:58:45 am »

ahh good descriptions so far and there is still plenty more to go

Keep up the good work.

Rysith · « **Reply #103 on:** February 13, 2009, 05:19:00 pm »

WorkerDrone watched his breath condense in front of him and join the fog as he panted from exertion. He was used to moving in armor, but he had been unable to match the speed of the champions as they charged into the orcs. He let his sword swing towards the ground, relaxing his stance as he watched The Tooninator and his squad chase down mounted orcs on foot, and tried to catch his breath.

There was no question about it, the battle had been a complete victory. His only regret was that he had not gotten there in time to participate: The champions had already driven the orcs away by the time he and the rest of squad had crossed the bridge.

Flint had told his squad to stay towards the edges and help the champions if he could, conjuring visions in his head of heroically saving one of their lives. He imagined coming across a champion, maybe Flint himself, pinned to the ground by an orc about to land a mortal blow. In his mind, he would yell and swing his sword, watching the finely-honed steel part the orc's tough flesh effortlessly and seeing the head fly away in a bloody arc. Then, he would reach down with an armored hand to help the champion to their feet, and the two of them would fight, back to back and surrounded by orcs, until they could make it safely back to the fortress.

But reality had been starkly different. When The Tooninator had given the order to charge, he had sprinted forward as quickly as his legs could carry him, only to see the champions race far ahead of him. Where he carried his armor well but heavily, they moved as if they didn't notice the weight of steel at all, using the weight to carry them forward and put extra power into their swings. He had arrived as the orcs made their retreat, and only The Tooninator's squad had been sent to chase stragglers. Though he would never admit it, he was glad for the break. As much practice as he had had sparring in the barracks, running in full plate was still tiring, and there were still many orcs left to kill. Plenty of opportunities for heroism on the battlefield. This time, he threw himself over the champion, deflecting the blow with his shield as he turned to stab upwards through the orc's gut, piercing its heart. In the same motion, he rolled off the champion and turned, reaching out to grab the champion's outstretched hand...

A second cry of "ORCS!" and the twang of a crossbow quickly brought him back to reality. He brought his sword up and looked around wildly, seeing a storm of crossbow bolts flying out of the fortifications towards the riverbed to the east. Without waiting for the order this time, he charged ahead towards the slope down to the river, his shield close to his body and his sword up and ready to strike, a war cry at his lips.

Before he had made it half way across the field, he saw the orcs riding up to meet him. Each carried a mace, the heads studded with irregular black iron spikes as long as his fingers. Several had crossbow bolts sticking out of their shields, arms, and even heads, but they seemed not to notice. Behind him, WorkerDrone heard the rest of the dwarves begin to charge, and his courage was bolstered, shouting defiance at the charging barbarians as he rushed to meet them.

"It will be just like sparring with Vabok or Sodel." he told himself as he closed. "He'll swing at me, I'll bring the shield up and let the blow slide off, then I'll half-turn and strike at his exposed elbow. Just like sparring." He chose a target, already unmounted, and shifted slightly to give himself better footing when they met. As he expected, the orc raised his mace to swing, and WorkerDrone brought the shield up, just as he had been trained to do.

The sheer force of the blow sent tremors up his arm as he caught the mace squarely in the center of his shield. Slightly off-balance, he twisted and brought the sword down, but struck the thick iron of the mace handle rather than the arm, and the sword bounced off with a loud clang. Remembering his training, he slid the blade down, cutting deep into the orc's thumb. As he drew back for another strike, the orc's other arm caught him in the back, sending him sprawling to the ground. He quickly rolled over, bringing his shield up to block a strike from the orc's mace that would have surely crushed his breastplate, but the force of the blow brought his shield arm wide. He desperately brought his sword up to try to parry the next, inevitable blow.

As the orc brought his mace back for the killing blow, WorkerDrone saw a dwarf step behind him and swing high with his axe, taking the orc's left leg off at the hip. Suddenly unbalanced, the orc crashed to the ground, where a second axe-stroke quickly ended his life. The dwarf quickly stepped over the body and offered a hand to WorkerDrone, who gladly accepted it and pulled himself onto his feet. Looking around, he saw that the orcs were once again fleeing the battlefield, though this time The Tooninator was behind them, cutting off their escape route. The dwarves had again carried the day.

"You did well." Said the dwarf who had saved him, flipping his faceguard back to reveal the familiar features of Flint. "Courage and skill both, and you drew your first orc blood. Not many could be asked to do better in their first real battle."

WorkerDrone nodded, silently. Things had not quite gone as he had expected, true, but his first taste of combat had left him wanting more. The next time he wouldn't make those mistakes, he wouldn't need rescuing. The next time, he would kill the orc. The next time, he would save Flint. The next time...

----------

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Battle aftermath pictures, since they didn't fit well into the story. ~~Movie of the second battle should be up tonight.~~
Movie available here

The one dwarven casualty was Likot Passagewhips, son of Kubuk Sàkrithdeduk and Sakzul Degëlkôn, who had been carried into battle by his mother. I haven't had time to deal with the three remaining squads, but again I should be able to tonight.

Flintus10 · « **Reply #104 on:** February 14, 2009, 03:49:54 am »

Brilliant writing

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Author Topic: Lanternwebs (The End!) (Read 80541 times)

Rysith

Re: Lanternwebs (The Plot Thickens!)

ToonyMan

Re: Lanternwebs (The Plot Thickens!)

Rysith

Re: Lanternwebs (The Plot Thickens!)

ToonyMan

Re: Lanternwebs (The Plot Thickens!)

WorkerDrone

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

Rysith

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

Shoruke

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

Rysith

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

Eagle

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

Shoruke

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

WorkerDrone

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

Rysith

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

Flintus10

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

Rysith

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)

Flintus10

Re: Lanternwebs (The Orcs are Back!)