11th Granite, 210, Early Spring
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JOURNAL!! Oh, I thought I lost you to the garbage compactor I don't know what I would have done had I truly lost my journal forever I'm so happy now I can get on with my life!!Ahem.
Days turned into weeks turned into months as I trudged along with the others clearing the floors of stray rocks. Nothing else... just rocks. I wasn't even doing any fishing.
If one could fish for rocks, what kind of bait would one use? Probably worms, after all, rocks spend all their time in the ground with worms anyway. In fact, I think microcline would enjoy a nice, fat, juicy nightcrawler... gabbro is unassuming, and would probably be quite content with earthwFocus.
The fear of losing my journal under a pile of rubble and then subsequently atom-smashed to bits subsided, and I realized I had it with me all along. I was so incredibly busy with my daily affairs that I simply hadn't the time to update my journal!
Not to mention I had a great deal of adjustment, as my affections for kimberlite had crumbled away like so many pebbles, and the lovely basalt took my eye. It was tough letting go of kimberlite, but I knew in my heart that it had to be done because things just weren't looking out, not to mention kimberlite was so far away that it became a painful long-distance relationship. And there was basalt, who was stuck in a stagnant relationship with alunite, yet really seemed to enjoy my company... we courted for a while, and it seemed I was spending all my time with basalt, so much so that stopping to make updates about the fort just didn't fit into my schedule. But then, I realized that I'm a dwarf, and dwarves are like stone, and their preferences are practically carved in stone and can't really be changed, but fortunately all of the above was just a metaphor anyway soBlahh.
No more stone hauling for me! I've spent my time slaving away with the laborers, working an honest month's living so that I don't forget what these fine workers really do for me all day, every day of their monotonous lives. It's good to be able to get your hands dirty and not take your laborers for granted. Great! Now, back to letting them do the dirty work for me.
I could really use some time to relax..."SIEEEGE!!"
Oh, bloody hell.
Seventy-three enemies total... this is the worst yet. Thirty-four wrestlers, six speargobs, seven axegobs, ten swordsgobs, thirteen crossbows... and one of them is human! Also, there are three human guards. Unfortunately, none of them are anywhere near the magma trap, but that's fine because it won't be ready until it gets its inauguration.
((DFMA)) ((Movie)) The river tower, however, received quite a spectacular inauguration, courtesy of the first wave of goblins."Er, Zon?"
"Oh, hello Asob! Fine siege we're having, isn't it?"
"Yeah, going great so far. Hey, this might sound like a dumb question, but why is Imush the Blind standing outside? Are you giving him a final death in battle or something?"
"Eh??"
Sure enough, there was Imush, standing outside like nothing was wrong! Knowing that the workers sometimes can't tell the difference between inside and outside when there's something over their heads - and especially Imush, who has no eyes - I check the area he's standing in and verify that it's Light, Outside, and Above Ground - a place he is deliberately not allowed to be.
"Imush! I order you to get inside! I will not have an unnecessary casualty today!"
"Ah, Zon! Take away a dwarf's crossbow, and you truly leave him with nothing! You leave me to move rocks day in and day out - me, a Competent Marksdwarf, and you put me on peasant duty!"
"All the competence in the world won't help you, buddy! You've got no eyes!!"
"No! I will stand and fight! I can hear the enemy just as well as I can see them! Come closer, you stinking goblins!"
The champions snickered in their war box. "Zon," Elizar spoke up, "tell him to stop aiming that rainbow trout at us. He's going to hurt someone."
I shake my head and shout, "Imush! You're wielding a
fish! Get back inside and grab a crossbow if you're meaning to get yourself killed!"
"Whoa, hey! Don't give him a loaded weapon!"
"Relax, Elizar. He isn't shooting anyone today."
It's then that I notice Sibrek the Hammerer is standing on the lever for the animal trap, and instantly I recall the numbers... Fifteen wolves, one wolf pup, twenty-four giant eagles, three of them already named for kills, and one giant eagle chick. The chick pushes them just over what I think we need to rout this next incoming force, which is two waves combined in one.
((DFMA 1)) ((DFMA 2)) ((Movie)) "Sibrek! Pull that lever! Let the wings of death fly!!"As it turned out, our champions weren't even required. The goblins turned to flee even before the dwarves made it up the hill, and still the eagles pursued, flying over trees and boulders and hills to divebomb their foes, spraying their blood across the grass.
"Good show, Zon! Want some strawberry wine?"
"...Ugh, no, not right now."
The final force, who had just finished killing a groundhog and getting their human squad leader trapped in a cage, decided correctly that giant eagles are not a fair fight and they should just quietly go home.
It's difficult to count the losses among the giant eagles, but it looks like we lost four, two of which gained names before their deaths. Of those alive, a few have permanant injuries and roughly half of them have earned names. I don't think we lost a single wolf, probably in part because we pulled the trap a bit early and some of them walked away, leaving the eagles to take the brunt of the attack. We did get one of the wolves named, though. I won't know for sure what we have left until we put their cage back together and pile them inside again. There were no dwarven casualties, but much to the chagrine of our champions, there were very few kills available for dwarves.
"Hey, are they gone?" I heard the voice of Skuorgs behind me, shuffling nervously at the doorway with what looked like half the labor force scrambling on the edge of the bridge.
"Uhh... yeah, they've all either fleed or died."
"LOOOOOOOT!!"