Overseer's Log: 25th Galena, 252The reservoir is finally being filled!
No longer will I have to suffer through the endless whining for a well! Why do they even want one? It's not like we don't have a stockpile of perfectly good booze right next to the dining room! Note to self: add any dwarf seen drinking from the well to the list of possible elf sympathizers.
28th GalenaToday a group of four dwarves lead by Conan confronted me with a request. I shall try to recall the conversation to the best of my ability.
“Madam overseer, we have something to ask of you.” said Conan, “Too long have we gone without any form of military protection. We are no longer a tiny outpost not meriting mention on a map. The goblins will soon send snatchers to catch our children, and will only grow bolder from there.”
“I understand your concern, Conan” said I, “But a militia requires a strong leader, and at least mediocre fighting skill. I can't just send off a bunch of peasants to be slaughtered.”
“I have some skill with an axe, overseer. Though I may have gotten rusty from doing nothing but meeting with diplomats and traders for a year and a half. My companions each have some degree of combat training as well. Tyrar in particular.” said Conan.
“Tyrar? Who is Tyrar?”, I asked.
One of the females of the group took a step forward and said “I am Tyrar. Tyrar the Goremaster.”
“I think she will make a good militia commander.” said Conan.
Looking her over I was sceptical, but Conan continued “This next one is named Noah, or as she prefers, Noah the Chopper.”
Again, a bit underwhelming. “Who is that, then?”, I asked, pointing to the yet unnamed dwarf in the corner.
“Ah, him... he doesn't talk much. We don't know his name, only that he is trained as a speardwarf.” replied Conan.
“Well you've proven that we have no shortage of volunteers, but they still need to be trained properly, never mind our lack of iron to make proper equipment. How do you propose we do that?” said I.
“Those caverns the miners discovered, I've heard about them. They're supposedly home to strange beasts, but I think a group of dwarves should be safe in the first level. It's only deeper down that they get dangerous. We could go down there with training weapons and whatever armour we can scrounge up and beat on whatever is down there. You wanted to explore the caverns anyway, so why not kill two birds with one stone?” said Conan.
“I don't know, it seems risky.” said I.
“I know it is, but we either learn to fight now or end up impaled on a goblin spear later. Besides, I think brushing up on my axe skills could provide some extra leverage during negotiations, don't you agree?” said Conan.
“Very well”, said I, “But be careful down there. You're our best broker. The peasants are expendable, you are not”.
Thus the Crystalline Beaks were formed.
6th LimestoneEverything was set up. The Crystalline Beaks were waiting eagerly in the tunnels and Aussieevil was on his way to break into the caverns. Suddenly a shout came from up top, followed by cries of “Snatcher, snatcher!”. I was on break at the time, and was too late to the scene to see what happened. I learned from the others that Billybobfred was on his way to gather some logs when a goblin thief jumped out at him. Tyrar quickly found me and said “Where there's one there will be more. Let us find them. My dwarves will scour the jungle and make them regret coming here.”
I shook my head, “Your dwarves are not equipped to handle armed goblins. Continue with the training as planned. Let the cage traps do their jobs.”
Tyrar glared at me but did as she was told. The goblins have already found us, this is worrisome. I will have to melt the iron we got from the humans and turn it into weapons as soon as possible. Unfortunately, with no local source of iron or tin we will have to rely on copper and imported metals to equip our troops.
10th LimestoneThe training did not go according to plan.
I was able to get a fairly coherent picture of the events following the breaching of the caverns from the combined accounts of Tyrar and Conan. The odds seemed to have been against them from the start. To begin with, only three of the Crystalline Beaks were present when the attack began. Noah was found standing over a bin full of trade goods by the depot, refusing to move.
As soon as the passage was opened a beast best described as a 'Giant Toad' jumped out of the darkness and chased after Aussieevil, into the tunnels. In the cramped environment the Beaks were unable to properly surround the beast, lessening their numerical advantage. The toad got an early hit on Conan, biting him in the lower body and flailing about to rip his belly apart. The bite apparently caused some organ damage because Conan started to vomit uncontrollably and withdrew from the fighting to recover. After returning to the fight, Conan got in a few good hits but fate seemed to be against him, because the toad was able to bite his hand and rip it off. Conan was once again forced to withdraw, accidentally running into the caverns in his desperation. He reports seeing a camp full of olm men there, but fortunately they did not see him. Conan eventually returned to the fight but was far more cautious, retreating a few times. He tells me that he knew any more blood loss would kill him, and judging from his pale complexion, he was probably right. The beast was able to tear up the speardwarf's arm pretty badly, resulting in severe blood loss as well. Tyrar was fortunate enough to leave the fight with only a minor bruise on his leg. The beast eventually gave into pain from its accumulated injuries and Conan felled it with a well placed strike to the head.
I should have realized the foolishness of this 'training' attempt. Now two dwarves are gravely injured. I will make setting up the hospitals our top priority, they must not be allowed to die for my lack of foresight. Some good did come out of it though. For the dwarves present, this battle will teach them far more than any training regimen.
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Topic: For Glory and Adamantine: The Story of Steelbeard (epic succession, .25) (Read 12700 times)