1004U - WINTER
Lekza turned it over and over in her hands, admiring the quality of the weave, before gazing upon the image she's sewn onto the front.
Mighty Urdim, who watches over the teeth of the world, triumphant and proud in the face of all adversity. She folded the mask up and placed it aside. Out in the halls the constant commotion of the bed restoration effort clattered along. She hoped that Melbil had gotten around to making more bags. Her new assistants were still getting acquainted with the workspace.
Spider Dodger, a quick-footed former fortress messenger now promoted to "moving snack" for spiders in the task of gathering silk.
Rootpull, a shy and distant farmgirl whose fingernails are always dirty.
Lookout: a diligent, highly focused and physically imposing dwarf that seems born to guard and keep watch.
Lugsalot, a dwarf with no skills whatsoever besides being able to sort of tell what people's intentions are. The perfect candidate for picking things up and putting them down somewhere else all day.
There was a distinct lack of dimple dye due to the fact that none had been processed and two dimple cups were floating around somewhere in the food stocks. Lekza ordered Lugsalot to find the both of them.
While Lugsalot searched, Rootpull harvested constant hide root and rope reeds while Melbil did triple-duty on making thread, milling and weaving cloth. That is, until the bags ran out and there was no undyed cloth with which to make more. Lekza took it upon herself to begin producing more cloth from thread while Melbil continued to feed her materials. The robes would have to wait a bit, especially because the URISTs were too busy with other tasks to use the auxiliary clothier's shop to make some basic bags.
Lookout watched over everything with a sharp eye, careful to note the comings and goings of dwarves within the shop. Mostly URISTs passed through, but occasionally a named dwarf would step in to help with the harvesting. Blasty in particular seemed low on tasks with the paucity of animals to train. He nodded hello to the lot of them, stating that he'd started learning how to leatherwork and had produced some suits of armour for the military.
"Care to make some bags while you're at it?" Lekza growled as she worked the loom.
"Fresh out of leather," Blasty shrugged before running off to feed the caged puppies.
***
The forges were alive again.
"Cookin' with gas now, aren't we!" roared EmperorJon as his hammer slammed against the anvil, "Get'cher arse in here, Jacen, I've made you a present for Goblin Christmas."
"A fine thing, I've only been waiting an entire year for it."
"Off with you, I'm having a good day here. Why is that beardless arse in the wood furnace and not my apprentice? Ah, stuff it all, I'm glad someone's in there keeping it alive. KEEP IT ALIVE, LAD! THE MORE FIRE, THE BETTER!"
"Like that shield I made, Crazyteddles? Of course you do, it's all that's between you and the monkeys!"
"I love my job," he chuckled as he slammed out another spear, "What's next, eh? I've got four lumps of pure steel here just waiting for some love. Ah, hell, I should brush up on my statue making."
EmperorJon proceeded to make ten suits of copper mail before starting on something a bit more artistic.
"Aye, a fine rendition of his lordship."
Amongst the haze of smoke and heat EmperorJon noticed Dorna watching him from the doorway. He waved to her with a grin saying "Hail, mayor, look at this fine statue of Reked! Fine addition to your bedchambers or . . . wherever you've been staying these past few seasons."
Dorna didn't answer at first. She scribbled something down on a piece of paper and tacked it to the wall in the clay gathering zone before hollering to him "This piece of news should be of interest to you."
"Eh? What's this all about?"
She left before he got to the paper, lost amongst the shuffling farm crowd just inside. Puzzled, he turned to the piece of paper and had a look at the header.
"Ah, good, she came to her senses. Gold items, what was she thinking. Hey! Hey you! Did we find any gold down there in the caves?"
The plump helmet carrying URIST stopped, scratched his head and said "Nope, don't think so. Just a lot of gems I think was the news."
"See?" EmperorJon chuckled to himself, "Lass was mad to think I could make something in gold for her: don't even have any coming in from the mountainhomes. Now, what else does this say here . . ."
His hammer hit the clay with a moist *THUNK.*
***
"Why so many dogs?" asked Aqua out of curiosity.
Ineth sniffed the air, "Someone gave 'em to me. Don't remember who. Good to have around. Smell that? Something else is down here."
"Oh, yeah, there's some eyeballs to the west. They've kept to themselves, though. We're supposed to guard this zone until the wall is complete."
The wall itself was erected quickly out of nearby phyllite for the sake of haste. A drawbridge was set up by Water Building Designer to block the only entryway into and out of the fort from the caverns which Dorna hooked up to her control room.
After it was complete the URISTs scuttled off to begin construction on PBD's towering . . . . thing. They were replaced by a male dwarf who dressed in tight, lightweight clothing. He rapidly set up a pre-fab loom with a stone block for a base and then began doing warm-up paces.
"Aye, you there! State your business!"
"Just call me Spider Dodger, mates. Lekza's requested that the gates remain open for me since you're all posted here keeping watch. I'm off to do what I do best."
And with that he sped out of the enclosure and into the gloom, ducking through the nether caps and blood thorns in search of webs.
Ineth snorted, "Bloody fool better not lead them back up the staircase." Aqua nodded, his mind elsewhere. The subterranean waters looked strange to him. He wondered if there might be cave fish to harvest.
Spider Dodger didn't take more than fine minutes in nipping right back in unscathed. His bundle of threads grew with each trip.
***
"Now that'cher properly outfitted, it's time to teach the lot of you some basics."
Crazyteddles cupped his hand around his mouth, "PULL THE LEVER!"
"GO, UDIL!" shouted Slashes.
Crazyteddles looked at the remains of the massacre and shook his head, "Slashes, did I tell you that you could bring your damn pet dog in here? The gobbos didn't last but two minutes with that thing gnawing at their throats!"
Slashes looked down at the floor, "Didn't think Udil would be a problem, sir. Won't happen again."
"Make sure it doesn't. Now all we've got left to work with are some monkeys. They're mandrills, of course, nothing to shake a stick at. Try not to get yourselves hurt, they're mean beasties when they're cornered."
He cupped his hand to his mouth again, "PULL THE LEVER!"
Crazyteddles sputtered a bit, "I- bloody hells. I barely took two breaths before . . . look, could you try to not be so deadly next time? We've got to make these monkeys last!"
"What the hell?"
Crazyteddles stomped out into the fields to observe more mandrills, frothing mad and manic, pouring in the entrances. One was slapping a URIST over and over, left and right across the face, as he desperately tried to haul stone up to the top of PBD's project. Teddles looked down at his wooden training sword, shrugged, and stomped towards it.
"What could be spooking entire herds of mandrill to the point of invading a fort en-masse?" he pondered.
At that moment a cry rang out over the battlements:
"SIEGE! SIEGE! EVERYONE! SIEGE!"
***
Indoors was like lungfish in a tin. Everyone was told to stick to only the areas defined by Lekza's workshop, which reached from the side bedrooms all the way to the caverns, in absence of a proper safety zone.
In the dining room Spera had tossed down a quickly sketched map of the area and began pointing her fingers as the military and administration watched:
"Reports indicate that they're 16 strong and that the only muscle they've brought was a cave crocodile. All of them, save the animal master, are hammergoblins. There's no archers, so a bombardment is unlikely. No trolls, just the cave croc. Do we have any intel on what a cave croc is capable of?"
"They're big and mean," Aqua said, "I think they're capable of doing some damage but I don't know if they're able to knock a door down. The traps'll certainly catch it if they do."
"Are we safe to resume labours? Wait it out?"
"Post some military nearby the auxiliary entrance," Dorna said, "The main entrance . . . well, suffice to say that they don't want to try taking that route."
Unibot, the hammerer turned surgeon, frowned at the whole situation, "Had I a proper hammer and some decent armor, I'd turn their foul brains inside to out."
"I think it's safe to resume labour," Ineth said, "We'll maintain a watch. No reason to let some fool gobbos stop us in our tracks. Are we dwarves?"
Labour resumed with a siege right outdoors. The new garbage pit was created that dropped right down onto the S.M.A.S.H.E.R.
Aqua's personal space had commenced.
The goblins themselves staked out both entrances. The majority of them were caught in the western entrance's cage battery, with two stragglers who Dorna tried to catch with her bridge. Unfortunately, they ran before a URIST could pull the lever.
To the east URISTs were collecting the mandrill traps and replacing them with fresh cages in case there was a breach.
"
Let us in!" the goblin barked through the wooden door in horrifyingly bad dwarvish, "
Let us in, and I'll shower you in stolen gold. Dwarves love gold! You eye your fellows' possessions, don't you? Let us in, and I'll make you richer than all!"
The URIST scuttled away without response.
A fair distance from the entry sat IPunchFaces, Spera and Ineth. They'd camped out on a hillside between the entry and the fort entrance to ensure range for their crossbows. The rest of the force had assembled for what was assumed to be an attempt at breaching the doors.
"I've got three bolts left," muttered Ineth.
"Make them count," said Spera.
The sound of wood splintering and the shouts of URISTs rose from the entry.
"What the-"
Before any of the military could act, the goblins had smashed through the gate with the help of the croc . . . and fell right into the reloaded traps. All of them were safely secured except for the croc rider, whose mount had been snared. He was stapled in place with one edge of the cage clapped around his leg but still able to swing a hammer. None of the dwarves dared approach.
"Perfect, he's caught," said IPunchFaces, "Pick him off at a distance. Ineth, ready your-"
Ineth's dog not only died in its brave attempt but helped loosen the gobbo's leg from the trap. The macegoblin fled into the hills leaving behind Bosa, the gigantic pissed-off crocodile.
In the end the fort suffered no casualties or injuries of any sort. In fact, no combat whatsoever took place. Cage traps and foresight did all the work necessary.
"No injuries from the seige, doc!" said a URIST, "Nobody to patch up!"
"Good work," Doc Valrandir replied with his face covered in a cloth mask, "Now do something about all this cave fungus all over my workshop."
In Crazyteddles' fortress Slashes did her best to extract information from one of the captives.
"We might let you go unharmed," she said, "If you tell us what we want."
"
I tell you nothing," it spat.
"See those monkey corpses?" she gestured around the fort, "See all that blood? We don't even use real weapons here. We use swords sharp as old spoons. You're going to die, and you're going to die
slow."
"
I rather die than tell you. I die anyway for fail to kill you."
Slashes sighed and sat back to let Udil bark and gnash at him some more. Eventually he'd crack.
***
In the final days of winter, PBD's project neared its second stage of completion.
Bayar's second gatehouse was turning into a gym. One pump had already been installed for strength training and a second was on its way.
Rath's personal hidey-hole was also dug out pending further instructions.
Finally, a fort-wide meeting was called to address two important issues.
"It is now clear," Dorna declared, "That personal interests have gotten the better of some of our kin. Two deaths early on, they could be explained away as accidents. However, there is absolutely no discounting the deconstruction of Valrandir's workshop nor the attempt by some anonymous party to destroy all of Aaronius' precious beds."
"What kind of dwarf destroys something so beautiful?!" Aaronius cried out.
"There is a traitor amongst us. Perhaps more. I propose that at the end of each year we take statements, with corroberating argument, about who we believe to be sabotaging the efforts of our fair fort. We'll use this system: one must put forth an
official accusation about who the traitor is and why they believe it to be so. Once this accusation has been prepared, in writing, according to forms drafted by Valrandir, the fort will review the accusation and allow the accused dwarf to defend themselves. Once both parties have stated their cases a vote will be held. Only a majority vote can condemn a traitor. We'll do this for each accusation."
The dwarves nodded, eyeing one another with suspicion.
"The second issue is that of the position of Captain of the Guard. I know several dwarves have come forward to request the position, but guild rules state that a vote must be held."
"Hey!" Bayar shouted out, "Who voted you in as mayor?! I requested the Captain's position months ago!"
"That was an executive decision on behalf of Axle & Assembly, my guild, and . . . well, suffice to say I was surprised as any of you that the position was handed to me without prior notice. The position of Captain, however, is an important one that we need to agree on. Whoever holds this position will be in charge of
Fort Security and thus in charge of posting patrols and keeping an eye out for futher sabotage. We must vote wisely.
Three dwarves have stated a desire to hold this post: Spera the marksdwarf, Bayar the engraver and Unibot the Hammerer. Spera and Bayar you all know, more or less. This newcomer Unibot claims that he is here on behalf of the Hackmaster Guild interested in providing us with an impartial head of security not previously involved in fort politics.
These three dwarves should prepare a brief statement about why they should be appointed to the position. A vote will then be held in Spring."
Dorna paused to nudge away a puppy that was trying to scrape mud off of its fur onto her robe.
"And finally, I'm well aware that a flyer was posted some months ago suggesting that I, myself, am a traitor. I assure you all that this is preposterous nonsense and that my recent demands regarding silk and gold are nothing more than what should be expected of someone in my position. I don't even have a statue in my room, for Armok's sake. I sleep in a cave. Another mayor in my position might have already begun hurling workers not up to quota into a pit full of magma crabs."
EmperorJon sneered as he ducked out of the dining room, retreating back into the forges where he could booze in peace and curse the mayor's name.
"Meeting adjourned."
THE FORT AS IT SIEGES
Just in case it wasn't clear:
accuse your traitors now. In one post briefly tell us why you think it's X dwarf. Each accused dwarf has a chance to defend themselves against all accusation with
one response post. Take all information, bias and statement into account when you vote. If guilty, that dwarf will be subject to a punishment. Two kinds of punishment have been put forth already: the
Bed and Breakfast and
the Crucifix. See just what Inen Vakun plans to do to those who turn traitor!
Candidates for Captain of the guard: state your case for why you deserve the position. Voting will commence at the end of Spring for that position. The Captain of the Guard's job will be to sniff out possible sabotage around the fort and should use his apprentices/squad to that effect.
NOTES: Didn't have time to fully explore the caverns but there's no gold down there, just lots of precious gems in the walls. IPunchFaces and his new partner IKickShins will do the scouting which is when I'll introduce them. Rev's new cooking workshop is nearly done (just needs the sign posted outside) and that's when I'll introduce his new working crew. Bedrooms are nearly complete as well. Dwarves have been complaining about a lack of chairs. I've made a bunch of stone thrones but we need another dining space established for them, something suitable for 97 dwarves.
Also, stocks! And give me orders/requests for spring!
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Topic: The Hill of Deceivers .25 - A Community Fort of Treachery and Treason (Read 77750 times)