Events of the 19th of Felsite 316The alarm came from the cave traps set up front. A goblin ambush had arrived! Derm the Soulchopper quickly rushed outside, flanked by a number of other dwarves included Catten the Boneminer, Bennet, Rashem Heron-marked. Others were coming having heard the alarm sounded. As Derm came through the gates, he quickly observed that there was a squad of crossbow wielding goblins by the gates. Easy as can be he thought.
Then he chuckled as he heard a horn sound in the distance. No wonder the goblins were here today. The horn was the sound of the Elves announcing their approach.
He paused for a moment at the gate to let Bennet and Rashem catch up, and then the three of them charged the goblins as bolts began to fly in their direction. He watched as Bennet charged out ahead and caved in the skull of a goblin without any hesitation.
Two more quickly feel to Bennet. Derm was about to go into battle, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a bolt coming at him. He quickly dodged to his left, right into the defensive moat. He heard the death scream of the last goblin as it was eviscerated by Rashem, Heron-marked. Derm was slightly disappointed, but only slightly. It was only a squad of four goblins after all. He pulled to his feet and walked up the ramp.
Derm’s Fall
Rashem gets the last kill
“Everyone back to the fortress, I'll check in on the Elves.”
He made his way out and around the edge, when he spotted two more goblins lurking nearby. They were poorly armed, carrying nothing but sacks. They had to be snatchers here to steal children for food or worse. And there were a lot of children in Towersoared.
The first goblin charged at him, knocking him down and then ran for it. The other goblin began to run as well. Derm gave chase, and in a moment of inspiration jammed his shield straight into the head of the first snatcher. It dropped to the ground, dead.
The second was still running, then he saw a third. The third was closer, so he began his attack. This one wasn't nearly as nimble even though it looked like a master thief and he quickly removed a foot to keep it from fleeing. Then he proceeded to dice it up, removing every limb. Now it was time for the third one. The Elves scattered in panic seeing the goblin. But then Derm caught up with it right in the midst of the Elves. He carved his axe straight through the goblin's ribcage, exposing and tearing the heart. And yet it still lived! With surprising agility for a creature with a damaged heart, it skipped over right next to an Elf merchant. To Derm's surpise, the elf took a swing at the goblin before retreating. Then the thief collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Not wanting to take a chance, Derm deftly removed the goblin's head.
Master Thief
Last one
The Elves were looking at him with a mixture of horror and admiration. He'd killed some goblins and horrified some Elves. His day was pretty complete now! “Better get inside before some more of those goblins show up” he said to the Elves. And he began to stroll back towards the fortress.
As he walked, he heard shouts from inside. Somehow, a fourth snatcher had managed to sneak through the gates and was over near the main fortress entrance in the hills. Derm started sprinting and arrived just as the creature had arrived at the bottom of the hill and was about to make the dash across the desert to freedom. He didn't even pause, just took one swing to send the goblin flying in two separate directions.
Yes, a very good day indeed.
Cog's Journal, 8th of Hematite 316Trading with the Elves went as well as always. They seemed more reasonable than usual, probably due to their encounter with Derm unleashed. In addition to our usual purchases, I bought all the dye they were carrying. Excavation of the obsidian factory is going smoothly as are other projects. I don't expect to be up and running this year, but maybe next year if we're lucky.
When this factory is completed I expect our wealth will begin to soar upwards even more quickly than it already has. I don’t expect any problems in the near future. We haven’t had a serious attack in years, and the idiot Baron even seems content, spending most of his time in his room looking at pretty pictures and statutes. At least his wife is useful; she has been invaluable as a hauler.
Today I also drafted out a reorganized military. In the interest of diversifying our military, I've divided the Axedwarves among the other two melee combat squads and reassigned several dwarves to fight with Derm the Soulchopper. The following dwarves are now in Derm the Soulchopper's Squad:
Bennet - Hammerdwarf
Rashem, Heron-marked - Sworddwarf
Thor – Hammerdwarf
Lars – Hammerdwarf
Catten Boneminer and Rifotangir are commanders of the other two squads. Triaxx and Omen are both very enthusiastic about joining Derm’s squad as well. I'll take that under advisement and run it past Derm the Soulchopper, but I feel that a certain level of skill should be achieved before fighting under Derm. Omen and Triaxx need more time in training as they've only been in the military for a season.
Old Towersoared on the 10th of Hematite 316It had been many long years since Zanfar's arrival in Towersoared. This place had been no end of frustration to the nobility of mountain home and all efforts to slow down progress had barely had any impact. The biggest impact Zanfar had accomplished had been the mass sabotage many years ago but ever since the leadership of Towersoared had been watching all activity carefully and Zanfar was forced to play the part of the good citizen.
All his other efforts had been for naught, including his venture out to the far end of the now empty lake with a pick he had stolen so many years ago. If anything, draining that lake had been a benefit to Towersoared, not a hindrance. The goblins were hardly help either, the military here was beyond amazing and the defenses of the fortress worked against both goblins and beasts with equal effectiveness.
But the fortress had grown large and with the arrival of the Baron, eyes were focused more on the newer dwarves than on the older longtime residents such as Zanfar. Some places were quieter and some places weren't being watched as carefully anymore. Places such as this one, despite its proximity to high traffic zones. With a quiet crunch, the last dust covered mechanisms were broken apart by Zanfar's efforts. Zanfar stood and made his way back to the depths. All that remained was to slip in the order to pull the lever into the queue. It would have to happen quickly before someone noticed the damage.
OOC: Hmmm, plot! I’ve reworked the squads a bit as above, so most of the named dwarves are in Derm’s squad now. I kept squad leaders the same though.
@Dermonster: Ok, you’ve got the dwarves listed above in your squad. Did you want to your squad take Omen and Triaxx’s training on as well? Or do they need to train up to earn a place?
@Omen: I’ll keep you weaponless for a bit longer, you suddenly picked up some wrestling skill in the last few training sessions. I’ll put you on spear in the next year or something.
@Triaxx2: I was originally thinking about holding off your assignment to Derm’s squad until your dwarf had more experience, but actually I suppose that’s not such a big deal.
As for your hanging tower, the area as marked is 14x14, which is the floor space but the walls around it would make the total size 16x16 as it constructs downwards. As it turns out, at that size the walls of the tower will touch the wall of the magma pipe. That doesn’t feel quite right, so I’m going to reduce it to an interior floor space of 13x13 assuming you’re not superstitious. If you are, I can drop it to 12x12
@Thatdude: Well most of them. You’re still safe in a separate squad. I have no intention of putting marksdwarves in Derm’s squad. It’s easier to keep you separate, especially because of the way ammo is assigned.
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Topic: Towersoared - Chronicles of Construction (Community) - 0.31.25 (Read 296094 times)