Just realized I forgot to put up Johann's kill list on the first post, it's up now, sorry r3d5kull. Also, I've put a map up of the various factions in the world, if only because I keep referencing them, and because I love maps (honestly, I get a fuzzy feeling just looking at them
), and just in case it helps anyone if they want to write a backstory for their character.
As you can see I've taken some liberty with the names of various civilizations, since simple, odd names like 'The Gross Ruthlessness' or 'The Grizzly Vessel' are very strange names for civilizations to have.
16th Moonstone 676 - AfternoonThe alarm was soon called, Astesh's scribblings and Derm's vision, compounded by whatever had happened to Volrath, had stirred the community up at once. The militia grabbed their weapons, Kadzar and his warrior-priests grabbed their spears, Meinhard and his Jagers seized their weapons, and the various other fighters, that is to say, Loral, Ocade, Sandra, and others, took their respective arms and prepared to go below. The Fiery Cistern stood in a half-light, shadows dancing from the light of the magma pools. There was no sign of Nar Basenor.
"Watch out," Delta grunted, his voice muffled through his ever-present armour, "it might have Nothing with it."
"Eh?" Rar asked, confused.
"Nothing, it might have some Nothing with it, like that last one." Tarran explained.
"Have I mentioned what a stupid name 'Nothing' is? Seriously you should just call them Darksquids like I do, it saves on confusion." Spartan grumbled, hefting his combat pick onto his shoulder.
"Nothing is the name chosen by the Prophet-" Hammer began, before Bax interrupted, talking to Derm.
"Well,
sheriff, what's our plan of battle?" Bax asked Derm, passing his knife between his hands,
"A sheriff is law-enforcement, not military." Derm began, but he was interrupted by a snapping sound, like that of a great jaw of teeth opening and closing. Then came a sort of growling, deep and throaty, and the silken beating of wings.
Nar Basenor swooped down upon them from above, something dangling from its jaw, it alighted before the group, beady eyes glaring at them. It seemed to size them up for a few seconds, then roared, sending the thing in its mouth flying off.
DIEWith that, it flew up into the air, then dived, slamming into Sandra and sending her flying back. This must have sent her unconscious, for at that moment, Ryva seized control of her body, pushing herself back up and jumping straight into the fight, sending her sword into Nar's leg, hacking at it with sanguine enjoyment. Doc. Steve, Rar and Rovod immediately began to send their bolts flying into Nar, but few pierced its scales. Turning round, the beast sprayed web over at Delta and Xenos, trapping the two.
Hammer leapt into battle, slamming her hammer into the beast's side, this distracted it and Meinhard moved in to stab his spear up towards the hairy crocodile's neck, but it batted him back, sending more web flying across to Tarran, Derm and Steve, immobilizing them. Meinhard lost control of his weapon, and did the first thing that came to mind.
This distracted Nar long enough for Bax to leap in, sending his sword straight into Nar's head from the side. Needless to say, the beast didn't take kindly to this, and swatted the Goblin back. This gave Nish Taronmedtob - warrior-priest of Kadzar - the opening she needed.
The crocodile beast fell down dead, collapsing in a heap, leaving the assembled warrior standing around it, breathing heavily.
"Not quite as fun as expected." Ocade said quietly, wiping his sword of the beasts blood, before turning round to return to Nomekast. One by one, they filed after him.
It was not until afterwards that they discovered what had been hanging from Nar's jaws, a horse leg. It had swooped down onto the horses and donkey that had been in the livestock area, killing them all.
Opal 676The next month progressed smoothly, except for a foray by several rutherers towards the magma forges. They were swiftly killed, but in the process Derm had his head cut open. Reg swiftly bandaged it up and - promising to a distraught Fori to be more careful in the future - he was soon back at work. For their part, Fori and Torvold had recruited Urist and Bayar, who - despite his Kobold heritage was apparently quite the siege engineer - to build ballistae to defend the trapped corridor to the outside. Any Nothing that survived the traps would be peppered with ballista bolts, a veritable killing field in a narrow corridor.
The ballista bolts would be cave-wood tipped with silver; chosen for its abundance so as to not waste the small supply of iron and copper that the community had.
2nd Obsidian 676 - Morning
The alarm was soon given when they were spotted coming over the valley. The militia armed themselves, and prepared to leave. The had no choice now, they had to go out and face the Nothing or let the refugees die. The planned drawing in of the Nothing in favour of slaughtering them in the corridor would have to wait.
They went out through the trapped corridor, emerging on the other side of the river. The Nothing were massed around the lighthouse; they had to act quickly and get the migrants in if they were to avoid facing the horde.
That was when they saw it.
A squad of inky soldiers, led by a man. Each of them could be seen wielding a bow, the man held a spear, a skull hung from it. Another group of Nothing-infected Goblins.
Steve swore, hefting his crossbow,
"We need to take them out!" he growled. Tarran gave a nod, beckoning the militia on. A scene of carnage unfolded before them as they ran; the refugee group had just noticed the ambushers, and one of them gave a cry, leaping up and running away. Others were not so lucky;
By the time the militia got there, several Dwarves lay dead in a pool of blood, pin-cushioned with arrows or impaled on spear. The response to this massacre was bloody. Right off the bat, Muenster smashed one Goblin in the head with his mace, smashing the skull. Meinhard drove his spear into another one's left kidney, the right kidney, then in both legs, before finally stabbing it in the head. Loral managed to cut one Goblin's left hand off, then driving his sword into its guts. Rovod took the Human - the apparently leader of the squad, and not an infected - as his target, sending a bolt flying into his arm, so that he dropped his spear, then peppering him with bolts.
Soon the squad had been slaughtered. The militia, hardened from their battles with the Nothing and the Forgotten Beasts, were no weak soldiers. Of the ten refugees that had arrived, only five were still alive, three of which were wounded. Three Dwarves, a Human and an Elf, Nomekast's story of multiracialism was spreading. During the battle, Loral had had his lower body cut open and Melagius had received a gash to the arm, but otherwise all was well.
"Who's this?" Rashem wondered, nudging the squad's Human leader with his foot. Ocade was the first to answer,
"Who knows? Who cares?" the Elf said, wiping his blade in the grass.
"You have to wonder," Loral growled, "what sort of a man it takes to ally with these monsters."
"I'm more interested in
how they do it. These things aren't exactly great conversationalists, how do you stop one killing you long enough to ask if you can join it?" Bax said, rifling through the Human's animal skins in case there was anything worth taking.
"Well it takes a mad man to join them, by the looks of it," Derm remarked, "I mean, he's wearing nothing but animal skins, he's covered in body-paint and he's got several skulls attached to his spear."
"Hey, stop talking, we need to get back quickly. Muenster, Rar and Sodel, you three help the wounded to stand, and let's move." Tarran said, taking charge of the situation as the de-facto militia leader. He turned round and swore, seeing that the Nothing had crossed the river and were beginning to mass, apparently preparing to charge.
Skirting to the eastern end of the valley they managed to avoid the Nothing, pulling the wounded into the fort and raising the drawbridges behind them. Once inside the wounded were taken to Reg, who treated them silently, doing his job and nothing more. If he had any reaction to the newcoming Human and Elf, he didn't show it, content only to diagnose the wounded, dress their wounds, suture what was needed, and then let them be on their way.
Obsidian 676Obsidian passed quickly, with little events. Brosso had finished digging out the first chamber of his grand circus, with both Reg's and one of the new Dwarves' help. Work now began on the lower level, which would be the main part, including the pens for the animals and beasts, and the ring for their performances and fights. During his dig he had also struck galena, and had managed to get the rest of Nomekast to agree that any silver from the galena he mined was his to use as he saw fit.
Meanwhile, the ballista arrows had been finished, and had been transported up to the trapped corridor, awaiting their use.
The attack on the Nothing in order to buy the community some time to expand on the surface had been planned for late Spring, around mid-Felsite, Torvold, Fori, Bayar and Urist, now joined by Shin, had assured the community that the defences would be ready by then. The magma trap Torvold had devised would not be ready for the offensive, but was to be built anyway. Torvold had planned to have both a water and magma trap, which, used together, would encase any invaders in obsidian; a unbeatable defense. However, work on the magma trap had not yet begun, and the place Torvold had wanted to put it had turned out to be right above an aquifer. But the more they waited the more Nothing arrived, so it was decided that they would do without it for now.
With this all done there was nothing to do but wait, and prepare for the New Year's party.
The layout of Nomekast as of 1st Granite 677
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Topic: [Community] Nomekast - At War with Nothing (Read 180274 times)