AUTUMN 128 - Part 2The newly founded hammer squad, still in the process of receiving the latest pieces of armor, was eagerly waiting its first opportunity to shine in battle, after copious amounts of training in the dirt. Their friends, the crossbowdwarves, were here to provide fire support if things were to turn awry. There was only a dozen of these foul blendecs, whatever they were. All in all, an easy victory with the twenty of them.
After a long wait, the blendec finally came into view, and the hammerdwarves charged. The archers began to unload their bolts. And cries of pain were soon heard among the settlement. But these were not the cries of the blendecs. The beast were ignoring pain, ignoring fear, and were marching one, slashing at targets as they passed by. The silver hammers were breaking bones, but the beasts didn't fall over, didn't give in. And the copper armor, the masterful, exceptional and well-crafted armor, did nothing. Slashes from the sword wielding monsters, hacks from their axe wielding leader, all were passing through the well crafted protection like butter. Overrun, unable to stop the advance of the fiends as their were now closing on their ranged support, the hammerdwarves fought on, but they were unable to stop their foes, while losing more and more of their members.
The whole garrison of twenty dwarves had only managed to defeat one foul blendec when the monsters reached melee range, and from there, things turned to worse. The marksdwarves had only leather for armor, and it proved even less protective than copper. All but one of the hammerdwarves had succumbed to their wounds, and the only remaining dwarf in the squad painfully limped to the town square, and sounded the alert.
The other dwarves, expecting sounds of battle, had paid little attention to the details of the battle, but the resounding bell quickly informed them of the situation : the bridge was taken, and their military had fallen. A battle for life and death was about to start, and all fit hands were required now, crossbows and bolts at the ready. The militia was called to arms.
Bolts were raining down on the foul blendec, but they were doing little to stop them as they continued their onslaught of carnage and destruction. Dwarves were falling left and right to the mighty slashes of the beasts, and they had now dispersed to pursue targets all over the village. The hospital was full of heavily wounded dwarves, the future streets covered with cadavers and body parts. And things were getting even worse: along the horizon, another blendec squad was spotted. Nine more blendec were slowly marching on. Enough to bring them to an end, considering the damage the others already did.
The bridge was immediately ordered raised, even though the lever was in a dangerous area, now controlled by the three foul blendec remaining. The militia had proven successful in stopping the others, but at a terrible cost. More than twenty of them had passed, more were wounded and waiting for a bed in the hospital. Forgetting all senses of self preservation, the doctor rushed out of the hospital and pulled the bridge lever, just before an axe fell on his head. The rest of the dwarves were now faced with a difficult decision. Their leader had fallen, succumbing during an enraged counterattack after he saw his wife and newborn slaughtered. There was only three blendecs now, and more than fifty of them. Most had ran out of bolts and resorted to bashing the heads of the incredibly sturdy monsters. Still, their courage never faltered, none ran or sought shelter in the mines. Overrunning the blendecs one after the other, they were slowly succeeding, but more and more of them were falling in the process.
Finally, the last of the invaders inside the town wall exploded in a cloud of miasma, and the battle was over. The second squad of foul blendec was still on the other side of the moat, but that was not time for foolish bravery. The bridge would remain closed until the situation had stabilized and the settlement had gathered its strengh. The first thing to do now, was to bury and mourn the dead.
The graveyard, previously a small corner in the northwest of the settlement, was immediately expanded to hold the many dwarves fallen in battle. Overall, more than thirty of them didn't live past the season, more than a third of the settlement. Their leader Kzel, their previous overseer billybobfred, and their sniper Hood were among the casualties. Now that the frenzy of battle was over, many dwarves started to realize the sad turn of events, and many tears were shed, but work kept on going. The least they could do was honor their heroes, and for that, a grand cemetery would be needed. A talented engraver was appointed Gravekeeper, and began the long task of engraving memorial for each and every dwarf that died in the recent days.
Tending the wounded was another priority, and a new migrant rose to the position of Chief Medical Dwarf, after the previous holder of the title lost his life in an act that probably saved them all. The nurse was still in one piece, and with the help of all the other dwarves, diagnosing, cleaning, surgery and bone setting started on the many, many injuries the recent battle had brought.
Autumn was now coming to a close, and the fate of the dwarven caravan was now another subject of concern. Under siege, they would not approach, or worse, succumb in the attempt. As days passed on, the dwarves lost hope of contact from the outside world, and the morale, already at an all time low, descended even more.
So yeah, don't take foul blendecs lightly, they are fearsome... Now I just need to limit the damage and prevent a full fledged tantrum spiral. We have 56 dwarves left, out of ~80 before the attack. We lost many named dwarves, only Draignean and Magentawolf survived, both uninjured. We still have the near legendary armor and weapon smiths, but both are miserable. There are many cripples, missing either legs or arms. I think this is manageable though, and billybobfred's steam machine will certainly come in handy.
We shall prevail !
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Topic: Airfail the Fortress of Tragedy (Succesion Fort, NEEDS OVERSEER) (Read 18541 times)