OK, so much for regularish updates. But anyways, I have my GCSEs now, so expect very sporadic updates for the next few weeks until they're finished.
Spartan - I'll get a picture of the fort so far with the next update, right now I really need to sleep and study.
1st Moonstone 674 - MorningThey had all gathered in the large hollowed-out pillar in the entrance of the caverns. Kadzar, the 'army' composed of Tarran (who was still fuming over the constant theft of his iron ore), Rion, Johann, Rovod, Doc Steve, and Melagius, a newcomer who wanted to be a swordsdwarf, also present was Fori, Reg, Spartan, Delta, and pretty much anyone who wasn't yet cowering far away in a dark corner. Ibruk was conspicuously not there, and Stas was nowhere to be seen, nor was Throatground, while Slyshaken still stood toppled on the temple altar.
"So, gentledwarves, and hippy-I mean, Elf. We have an apparently 'towering' dung beetle on its way here. Any bright ideas that doesn't end up in a bloodbath?" Reg asked. Melagius draw his iron sword with a dramatic flair,
"There's no way a
dung beetle can beat me-" he began,
"Us." Rovod interjected,
"-us! We just charge and kill, charge and kill." Derm launched a fist in the air in agreement at this, followed by Reg,
"Or we'll just charge and die, charge and die." Tarran said somberly. Johann wrung his hands as he spoke up,
"Do we really need to kill it? Can't we just trap it somewhere?" he hesitated,
"We could easily put up a wall that could stop it-" Shin began, before being stopped by a round of dismissive gestures and words. Spartan spoke up now,
"What about what Reg said? Setting the beast onto the Darksquids aboveground?" Torvold nodded enthusiastically at this,
"Yes! We just need to-"
"The obvious flaw with that plan," Delta spat, "Is that to do that we need to tunnel to the surface, which will let
them in."
"Guys, I've been looking at Fori's sword technique, it, I believes, relies on striking specific pressure points on the body rather than brute force. Maybe that will be perfect for stopping Lerdi." Urist proposed. Fori nodded,
"My people use our knowledge of the body to attack where it is weakest and-"
"Oh yes! Let's take lessons from a race that uses
wooden weapons and crawls in dirt!" Reg cried, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. Ibruk now arrived at this point, Kadzar hastily stood up, moving to the Prophet. The two stood at the side of the chamber, away from the conversation,
"Master, I fear Lerdi's arrival is a punishment from the gods. Brother Stas still refuses to give Throatground to the care of the Temple." Kadzar told the Prophet. Ibruk nodded,
"I fear Stas is a dangerously misguided Dwarf. Where is he? I shall try to talk him out of this madness."
"I haven't seen him, he fled the temple with Throatground after the...after the gods' message." the priest was still reeling from the shock and sheer surrealism of having spoken with the gods. Ibruk inclined his head,
"Then we have no choice for now," he moved to the centre of the chamber, "My dear friends, pilgrims and servants of the gods. Lerdi has been spotted crossing the lake, and she will soon be at the temple itself. I fear we have no choice but to prove to the divine that we still remain faithful and zealous, and strike Lerdi down." there was a murmur of agreement at this. There had very little time to argue now, the soldiers would have to move in and the rest could only hope, or pray, that it was enough.
- - -
The Noiseless Metals gathered outside the temple, with nothing but iron breastplates and weapons. Lerdi Kamcanecar was nowhere to be seen, though they were expecting the beast to burst from the lake any moment now. For a long time there was nothing but there breathing and the steady
drip, drip, drip of water drops falling onto the lake. Then Lerdi rose like a demon out of the lake, screeching like a banshee and sending a huge plume of water up into the air. It clambered onto the land, right next to Tarran's unfinished cottage,a and with a swipe of its leg it shattered a lace agate window, sending the gems flying.
The Dwarves watched for a few moments before Tarran, his anger from the destruction of his window and the apparent threat of further damage to his cottage, gave a Dwarven yell of
'nazush!' and leapt down off the ledge and towards Lerdi. The others soon followed suit and the air was soon alive with yells of
nazush, or
rash.
Melgaius was the first to reach the dung beetle monster. With a well-aimed sword-strike, he tore a tendon on Lerdi's second left leg. Tarran soon arrived afterwards and charging into Lerdi, knocking it down off its ledge and fracturing it's abdomen. It was then that Lerdi began to show fear, it tried to move back up onto the ledge, but only succeeded in making itself the centre of the circle of soldiers. Rion swung his axe, fracturing the giant beetle's head, severing a tendon, and also knocking the monster back a few paces. Getting up, it gave a deafening screech, before turning tail, pursued by the six soldiers. It stopped right before the temple doors.
Watching all this from the bridge, Kadzar moved to defend the temple, but Ibruk stopped him,
"Trust the gods." the holyman murmured. The soldiers soon caught up with Lerdi, and Johann - grimacing as he did so - slammed his hammer into Lerdi, smashing the chitin on its right front leg. Lerdi was beginning to bleed white ichor over the temple floor now, while some extract dribbled from its mouth like saliva. Tarran swung his sword again, severing several tendons on Lerdi's thorax, while Melagius managed to fracture its right second leg. Unable to move in time, Lerdi managed to squirm, making several scratches on the temple's iron doors just in time for Rion's trusty axe to swing straight through its neck, beheading it. The beast fell to the shale floor, spraying ichor onto the walls and floors, while its head went flying down the temple steps, landing in a shrub.
For a long time no one spoke. All six of them stood there over Lerdi's mutilated body, breathing heavily. None of them had received a wound, not even a sprained wrist. Then Melagius sheathed his sword and clapped his hands together,
"Well! I think we deserve a drink, or rather a whole barrel each!"
Author
Topic: [Community] Nomekast - At War with Nothing (Read 181983 times)