Late Opal 678The merchants from the Kingdom of the Grizzly Vessel left late in Opal, their donkeys saddled with all sorts of trinkets that the refugees to Nomekast had brought with them and traded for cases of drinks, plants, meats, other trinkets, even books, and more. With their departure life returned to its usual routines. Work continued at quick pace on the surface compound's towers. And a second attempted infect Goblin ambush was thwarted by the crossbow squad. It seemed that the usual vast hordes of Nothing had been replaced - for now at least - by small Goblin squads.
In hopes of keeping morale up, Stronghammer had decided to commission a memorial for those fallen. The base was made from silver - of which the fort had an over-abundance and topped with a fine gold statue of the goddess Atir Purplemines - who as goddess of jewels was also associated with healing and resurgence - cradling a dying soldier. It stood not far from the temple and was on the path between the dormitories and the meeting hall, ensuring it would always be seen.
A council had also been set up consisting of Derm, Tarran, Meinhard and Rovod. They were task with reorganising the militia into a true military force, a task they took to with gusto, soon presenting their plans. Tarran and Rovod, as the two most experienced soldiers in the fort would be joint Militia Commanders. Tarran would command the newly-formed 'Copper Suns' which would consist of himself, Melagius, Bax, Juggernaut, Derm, John Lock, Rashem, Dohon, Katana and Kuro. Furthermore, a second squad, the 'Copper Crafts' would be formed as an auxiliary under Neo - who had demonstrated that the spirit had been a good soldier in a past life - consisting of Neo, Eldrich, Justice and Thud. A crossbow squad, the 'Arrows of Leading' would be formed under Rovod, consisting of him, Doc. Steve, Rar, BranRhi, Reno, Jessica and Konith. Meanwhile Kadzar - as the last of the Temple warrior-priests - had taken the 'Fountains of Faith' as the military designation for what he hoped would again be a full holy squad. With both Reg and Stronghammer's insistence, Sandra, Loral Treesinger, Fori, and Xenos were removed from active service, owing to their condition and relocated to less dangerous pursuits. Armour was also standardised - with the exception of Justice who refused to touch metalwork - and work was to soon begin on converting the abandoned Thieves' Guild headquarters into a proper barracks.
4th Obsidian 678 - EveningThey met for the first time in the new, recently furnished meeting room of the Alliance for Dwarven Survival's headquarters. Brosso, self-styled 'the Magnificent', leaned back in one of the silver chairs, puffing happily on a cigar. He blew a great cloud of dark smoke up towards the smooth ceiling. "Yes. I think some statues, some suits of armour, silken tapestries of course. It will all be fit for a king when it's finished. Maybe we can even convince Felix to engrave the floors? Maybe even the walls! Ah, you should have seen the great trade rooms we had in the northern forts. Artwork so intricate you could see the same engraving for ten years and still discover new details!" The Dwarf was grinning most happily into his beard. He took another drag of his cigar and blew a ring of smoke out, then sobered up, his voice slightly more downcast. "All gone now, of course." He blew another great waft of smoke, then cracked a smile again. "Still, the least we can do is preserve true civilisation here."
"You're certainly in good cheer," Reg remarked, his face - as it usually was in these increasingly stressful times - neutral.
Brosso gave a deep laugh. "And why not? The Iron Guard tell me eight bugbats have been caught in the cage traps on the Fiery Cistern just these past two weeks.
Eight! A small but good start for the circus, I dare say! Or maybe even the arena! Can you believe that Elf-love Derm wanted to go see if there was a nest nearby and furret them out? Let them come I say, there's space for them in Brosso the Magnificent's Circus!"
"I don't mean to crush your good news, Brosso, but we have other concerns to deal with before we can celebrate your growing repertoire," Stronghammer interrupted. "I wanted to get you two's advice on a police force for Nomekast. With the Thieves' Guild still out there, we need to be defended."
"Do we really need yet another group? Between the new militia squads, the Iron Guard, the Jagers, the Elf zealots, Ibruk's little community, the Thieves' Guild and everything, I'm starting to lose count. Isn't policing what Derm is for as the Sheriff?" Reg asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Pah, that tree-lover couldn't police a kiddy-forge.
That is what the Iron Guard is for, Stronghammer, my good fellow," Brosso interjected, letting loose a cloud of smoke.
"The Iron Guard isn't very...popular amongst non-Dwarves. The elections for Mayor are coming up in less than a month and it would be best not to antagonise people, especially in such tense times as these. With respect to Derm, he is not the most unbiased Dwarf, and so a police force headed by him would be the easiest way to-"
"What? Give him more power? Have you gone completely Goblin in the head? We're talking about a Dwarf who allowed a Troll to stay here. A
Troll for Id's sakes! I can tolerate Humans, Goblins, even Elves when they contribute to society and conform to proper culture, but Trolls?
Trolls!?"
"Yes, thank you Brosso. What I am trying to say is that this is to keep him in check as much as anything. With trustworthy people there we can avoid another theft like the one we suffered several months ago, and keep an eye on Derm. Is that more to your liking?"
there was silence for a few seconds before Reg spoe up, "Just be careful, Stronghammer. A multitude of groups with differing loyalties all over the place is rarely good for a fort."
Obsidian 678The compound towers were finally finished by early Obsidian. The community had worked feverishly on them, trying to make sure they were finished before the Nothing could return, and that had paid off. Increasingly, Nomekast was abandoning the attempt to hide, and moving towards a more structured management of the threat facing them.
Elsewhere, Bounce had completed her greatest accomplishment yet: an estimate of Nomekast's wealth. To everyone' surprise, she declared the community far richer than expected, with almost a million in wealth.On close inspection though, a third of that was from what people had brought with them while most of the rest came from estimates of the wealth of artifacts.
Nathaniel Stormwind had dug out two small rooms for himself besides the Human temple where he set up a library of sorts and private quarters for himself.
With the surface mostly peaceful, the community scoured the valley, collecting stray bolts, weapons, pieces of armour, and various goods dropped from fleeing traders. Skeletons were also found by the dozens and it was Nathaniel who convinced Ibruk, who in turn convinced Stronghammer, to carve out a separate mausoleum in the cemetery where these people could be laid to rest, despite the community having no knowledge of who they had been in life. This had already proved a good thing when the two ghosts that haunted the meeting area faded away, finally at rest.
The new dining-area was finally finished and completely furnished.
With Ugo's advice, Juggernaut, Meinhard and the Jagers had set up hidden cage traps primed for Nothings or infected Goblins around a part of the compound that most Goblin ambushes seemed to cross on their way to the front of the fortress. With luck they would catch some that could be safely stored somewhere while they began work on digging out the new laboratory.
The old laboratory, meanwhile, had been reopened and refurnished after the place had been thoroughly cleansed and even blessed by Ibruk. New security precautions were taken though, as every door had been replaced by a large lead one, and cage traps lined every way out, as well as the exit to the Nothing pens.
While in a slightly controversial move, Stronghammer had brought in work sheets for every profession. From now on, everyone had to sign in and out of workshops, so that the newly-formed police under the Sheriff Derm could keep track of who was where and when, should the Thieves' Guild strike again.
28th Obsidian 678 - New Year's EveFor the past three months Nomekast had been at almost complete peace. The only danger from the surface came from occasional infected Goblin ambushes; the Nothing hordes seemed to have withdrawn for the while. The New Year's Feast was therefore to be quite a joyful one. A way of releasing the stress and tensions of the tumultuous past year. Dwarf danced with Elf, Goblin danced with Human, Thud had ingratiated himself well with the children by letting them ride him, and alcohol ran like a stream. However as the community feasted, drank, danced and sang their way into year 679 to the sound of lively tunes from Jessica von Sachsen's violin or several of the instruments that William de Mont-Saevo had made since his arrival, amongst others, there was a sense that this could not last forever. And indeed soon, sounds from the caverns and a garbled warning from a ruffled young Elven couple that had eloped to the lighthouse jolted the community back into the reality of its situation.
The layout of Nomekast as of 1st Granite 679
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Topic: [Community] Nomekast - At War with Nothing (Read 180227 times)