8th Opal 675 - NoonFierce shouting broke out following Fori's apparent possession (and prompt departure and taking of a mason's workshop) and Reg's angry speech. It took Johann slamming his warhammer onto the table (causing a crack to appear in the gneiss in the process) to silence them. The usually calm Dwarf glared round at the assembled people,
"Fori is not some cursed monster." he said emphatically. Reg protested at this,
"Welll o' course you'd defend the Elf!" he shouted drunkenly. Johann gave the doctor an efficient glare,
"
Reg. Shut. Up. I won't let you split this community apart just because of some racism."
Urist broke in at this point, clearing his throat before speaking,
"The obvious fact is this. No matter who or what is sending these beasts, if anyone is, the important thing at the moment is that we need to deal with Onga, or Engas or whatever before we do anything else."
"Get the militia." Muenster agreed, "I'll get my mace."
"We don't even know where the beast is." Steve protested.
"On the Fiery Cistern." Derm suddenly said, "When Fori touched me I shared part of whatever she saw, it's down on the Fiery Cistern."
"Gentledwarves," came a smooth voice. Stas stood at the back of the crowd, shrouded as ever by his cloak, "Why are we even bothering to attack it? It can't destroy our walls, just let it roam the caves."
"It can fly." Urist butted in, "Walls are no good."
"Ok." Johann said conclusively, having taken charge of the situation, "Get anyone who can fight together. We'll need to get ready, quickly."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Soon the militia, joined with Kadzar's warrior-priests were at the ready. Also present were Muenster, Rovod, Steve, Bax and Derm. All of them were decked in iron armour that had been laboriously forged by Tarran, Muenster and Johann over the past few months. At a first glance, they could easily be mistaken for a real Dwarven squad, and not a rag-tag group of militia. As per usual, it was Rion who took charge,
"Right. Our dino friend is beyond that wall. And something tells me it isn't going to be happy to see us."
Behind him, Spartan, Delta and Urist were laboriously taking down the wall that had been built to block off the magma forges from the rest of the Fiery Cistern, where wild creatures roamed. Once the wall had been removed, the group moved out into the cavern. There was no sound, and no sign of Ongas.
"Where do you think it is?" Muenster whispered over to Bax. The Goblin shrugged,
"Beats me," he growled, "damn thing can fly anyway."
A roar punctured the silence. A huge form flew overhead.
"There's the beastie!" Rovod yelled, raising his crossbow. A sudden voice made him stop before shooting.
YOU ARE TOO LATEIt wasn't a physical voice, but one that echoed throughout the minds of every Dwarf and Goblin that stood there. It seemed to come from the hadrosaurid itself. The beast alighted on a mound of dirt, it wings waving slightly as if in a breeze as its glowing red eyes stared down at the group,
HE HAS SENT THEMKadzar was the first to speak,
"Dwarves, let us not falter! We must kill this unholy monster!"
THERE IS NO MORE HOLY
THERE IS NO MORE UNHOLY
THERE IS ONLY NOTHING
HE HAS SENT THEM
THEY HAVE COMEThe group stood there in complete silence as Ongas watched them. This was the first forgotten beast to speak directly with them, before that, there had only been glimpses of some eldricht language scried by those who had received visions from the artifacts warning of the arrival of these monsters. Never had it been so clear a voice, and so obvious a source.
"What-what do you mean?" Muenster asked tentatively. The reptile turned to face him,
IT IS OVER
THE GREAT EXPERIMENT HAS RUN ITS COURSE
I AM BUT AN ECHO
YOU ARE THE DEAD
DREAMING OF LIVING"What do you want!?" Tarran suddenly cried, exasperated at these cryptic words,
I WANT TO SURVIVEOngas then gave a roar, launching himself at the Dwarves. Sheer reactions saved them as they threw themselves out the way. Rovod and Steve leapt into action at once, both launching bolts at the hadrosaurid. Rovod bounced harmlessly off its scales, but Steve's punctured through. The moment Ongas landed he was swarmed with the melee Dwarves. Kadzar stabbed him straight through the chest, piercing a lung, Melagius and Tarran together managed to hack off several toes, Rion swung his axe into his side. Bax stabbed up into his throat, Muenster slammed his mace onto his skull. A veritable constant stream of bolts struck the hadrosaurid continuously from Rovod and Doc. Steve. Ongas was quickly beaten, unable to take the strain of all the many Dwarves and Goblin fighting at once. In his death throes he roared,
YOU WILL....DIE TOO Several of his scales flipped open like hatches,
"He's gonna spray his dust!" Melagius yelled, remembering the warning from whatever had possessed Fori.
It was then that a bolt went flying straight through Ongas' eye, lodging itself in his brain. The hadrosaurid instantly went limp, dying at once. Rovod had fired his last bolt, and it has been the decider, killing the dinosaur before its foul dust could be spread. Silence once more filled the cavern, the Dwarves and Bax stood still, still shocked by the forgotten beast's ability to speak. That had made it more than the others, more than just some monster that had come to threaten their home. Bax was the first to speak,
"Well, we should get this thing slaughtered. I'll have its heart, Lil' Beardy needs to have her nutrients."
1st Granite 675
The layout of Nomekast as of 1st Granite 675This chapter took me three tries. The first time Ongas slipped past the military, and wiped out most of the fort, the second time he wiped out the military because half of it was off drinking, and then the rest of the fort, leaving only Atis and Urist alive. It's really lucky this time he died before spreading his dust, it turns out that being coated in the stuff causes the entire dwarven body to
rot.
Author
Topic: [Community] Nomekast - At War with Nothing (Read 180201 times)