After the humans left and we brought all our goods inside, for a month or two, life was peaceful. We all went about our daily work - which consisted mostly of making furniture for the new residential area, farming, fishing, and butchering - Wineslasher and Cerol, the other champion, sparred and Hilbo kept watch.
It was like this until sometime in early autumn Hilbo sounded the alarms that meant the orcs were here. We just did the same thing as the last orc siege, draw them in close and pick them off. However, there were 3 times as many orcs this time, so we let one of their squads through the depot so Wineslasher and Cerol could get in on the action. After the orcs realized that going into the fortress meant a gruesome death, and staying outside would eventually get a bolt in your head, they broke and ran.
Right as the last one was dissappearing into the forest, the bowyer started screaming and babbling in the language of the demons of old. It could only mean one thing. He was possessed and the demon would not leave him until it used his body as a medium for making whatever it had the need to make. We watched as he contortedly walked outside, he hissed at the light and squinted his eyes, but kept going. Once he got the the bowyers workshop, he marked it as his, grabbed some materials and started working.
I kept a close eye on him, because demonic possessions that fail cause the owners soul to be sent to hades and be tortured forever, leaving a lifeless husk above ground.
Luckily, the demon made what he wanted, and what he wanted was a.... blowgun?
I was rather dissappointed, I was hoping for a weapon that one of the champions could use.
We were hoping the dwarves would come to trade, but it was already moving into winter, and we had seen neither hide nor hair of them. They must've heard of the orc siege and not wanted to journey here in the dangerous state we were in.
It was the middle of winter, and I was going outside to check on Hilbo. I pulled my cloak closer to myself and walked over to the base of the tower. As I got there something hit me. This port needed to be made. What if the dwarves build sea-floaters before we are done? The king would be disappointed and I would probably be exiled...
Before I could do anymore worrying, Hilbo called from the tower, "More Orcs! Cap'n, Cerol, get ready!
When will these bastards ever learn their lesson?"
Hil was right about them needing to learn, we had them retreating before the week was up.
It is now the 31st of Obsidian. Bi-annual inspection time. Before going down, I noticed Harvi still fishing. What was it... 4 months? 4 months straight of doing nothing but fishing, that guy's got some dedication. The first thing was the farms and bone stockpile. Waga and Ups had done a good job of expanding both. The planter, who seems to be a shut in, was planting seeds. sausage the cook was finishing up making the 30 lavish meals I ordered. We needed barrel space for booze and with his cooking skills, we were able to do that and then some. Down to the next level, the temporary living halls. 100killer, who is now a legendary engraver (he smoothed and engraved every single tile that was smoothed or engraved on his own), was putting the final touches on a masterpiece on the wall in front of the tables. He didn't really talk much, either that, or he didn't really talk all that much to me. Across the hall, Wineslasher and Cerol were sparring, testing eachothers skills. I also noticed the other two dwarves that I drafted sparring two. They were new to the fort, so I hadn't learned their names yet. In the next level, Zades and the other mason were churning out some more blocks. They seemed rather tired of it, but they'd have to get used to it. We've already used 234 blocks, and still have a
long way to go. Every once in a while I saw one of them taking a break, and normally I would order the dwarf to get back to work, but they work too hard to never stop working.
And the final stop was the new residential area. Waga and ups dug it out a lot faster than I expected they would, and 100killer was taking a break from smoothing these halls to engrave the dining hall. Those three had set up this area far faster than I would have ever expected.
We had made some nice progress, but we were going too slow. We needed to get the port done.
---------
Can't really think of a footer for this update, this'll have to do.
Edit: Nevermind, I'm sorry for the lack of pictures.
Author
Topic: Cycloneaxes - A port town [community] (Read 4359 times)