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[SlimyMarmot]

I'm still catching up and the timelines are a tad confusing so throw another "Slime" in there if you're missing one. Details irrelevant.

[alonard]

wow that's one if the best df stories i have read please continue 
if there's still time before the big conclusion please dorf me as Riczo miner/engraver, gender doesn't matter.

thanks for the awesome reading material helped me pass a difficult week

[varnish]

I'm glad that you're enjoying it. SlimyMarmot, I'll work on making things less confusing.

But not yet, because this siege is confusing as all hell to write! Too much happening.

Update coming.

[varnish]

((ok, just gotta start, I guess))

From the Journals of Aban Brothertreaties

Well, the giants (or Jotunar, as some people insist on calling them) are attacking. They're attacking now, as I write this! But it's important to write this down. There's something very, very different about this siege.

It was chaos out on the bridge, because that's where most of them were. The giants who had destroyed the fortress before, I mean, along with a lot of their war jaguars. They'd left us alone for so long, I think some of the refugees just assumed they were especially life-like statues. Even those of us who knew had kind of forgotten that there were so many of them out there (ten or twenty? I didn't stop to count). They were certainly caught everyone off guard when they attacked this morning.

What's remarkable is that everyone, save one metalsmith, got off the bridge safely, due to Neo's quick thinking. He shouted out a warning about a half second before the first giant (a "rime giant", whatever that means) brought its hammer crashing down an inch away from DI-III. That seemed to be the signal for the rest of them. There were roars, shouts of "Doom," and of course, a lot of screaming. We all ran for it. They chased after us, and I'm still amazed that the bridge didn't collapse under the weight.

Unfortunately, that metalsmith had his throat torn out by one of those jaguar things right next to me. You'd think I would be used to seeing things like that, and I am. But that doesn't mean I like seeing it. There was also the fact that it meant one of those jaguar things was right next to me...



And when I had made it to the safety of the fort, I found out from Balnash that an army of giants had come out of the jungles to the west.



He and the rest of the militia were getting ready to hold the gate against them. I told them about the bridge.

So it looked like we were in for a lot of trouble. One army of giants was trouble enough. Two? I know we can't survive two.

Then, as Balnash, the Soldier and I watched the monstrous things marching towards us, a cloud of icy mist following after them, I noticed something odd. The lead giants jumped down into one of the dry pond beds (which shook the walls. These are giants, after all). We could hear even more shouts, and cries of pain, and the sound of, you know, violence. And Balnash saw that the giants were fighting each other. The old group against the new.



So we're stuck between to armies of giants, who seem bent on slaughtering each other. Oh, and us. But mostly, each other.

I wonder if we're just in the way?

..................................

Next: Part Two

[kahn1234]

Oceanbridge: Where even the invaders fight each other.

[peregarrett]

Whoa. It's epic battle.
So, when goblin siege arrives, our "friendly" goblins will turn hostile?

[varnish]

Oh yes, they will. And they'll be immune to all traps, even the ones built during this reclaim. And there are at least five goblins on every main fortress level, not to mention the army on the bridge, and the goblin general sitting there too...

But we've got to fight off the giants first! Working on the next update.

[Kalemyr Skyfire]

I will now stop lurking in this thread.

I lied. Still here, still lurking.

What are the chances of us surviving if a goblin siege comes along? Is it too much to hope that the goblins and the jotunar simultaneously destroy each other?

[varnish]

((I honestly don't even know, now. Maybe?))

The Siege of Giants, Part Two

Mr. Anderson made it to the surface far ahead of the rest of his squad. He made a mental note to work on "actually getting to the damn fight it time" training, once the siege was over. They should have been right behind him.

One dwarf, he was pleased to see, had made it there ahead of him. An axedwarf, with her shield and weapon at the ready.



He was about to call out to her, when an ice giant came around the corner of the trade depot's wall. It must have snuck in somehow, no mean feat for a creature that stood twice the height of the fortress walls. There, it must have met the lone soldier, on patrol. At least she knew her duty.

It wasn't enough, though. Kib, the axedwarf, had her shield raised over her head, in a desperate attempt to stop the giant's massive bronze mace from crushing her entire body.

It didn't work.



The giant kicked aside the broken body, turned to face Mr. Anderson, and smiled. "Know that you look on death, dwarf. I am Arrowcradled, and I am your doom."

He wasn't about to let that go unanswered. "Arrowcradled? Should have been Boltcradled!"

The giant paused in mid-swing. "What?"

Mr. Anderson fired a bolt into the giant's side.

................................

The Soldier had lead her own squad to the gate, where Balnash was waiting. Unaware of Mr. Anderson's trouble, he was leaning on his spear, watching the giant's main army. The Soldier said, "How's the fight out in the fields going?"

"I ain't got a clue. They're just beatin' the shit out of each other, but none of 'em have got more than bruised. It's impressive, I'll give 'em that. How about the bridge? Those giants attacking yet?"

The Soldier looked worried. "No. They stopped once we were all off, and they're just sitting there, next to the goblin's leader. If they get the goblins on their side now, I don't know what we can do."

"Fight 'em. Fight all of them, and when we die, we come back and fight 'em again until they're dead."

"Unless we come back as something worse, Balnash."

Any further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of yet another army. The Soldier spotted the goblins as they crept along the shore, through the waves.



She hit Balnash's arm to get his attention, and shouted, "I knew it! They are allied with the goblins! Damn it all, we need to draft everyone in the fort for this, there's no other way! Run and get Lorbam, and tell her she's damn well fighting too."

Balnash was watching the goblins closely, and he noticed something the Soldier hadn't. "Uh, Commander? Things ain't quite that bad. Those goblins? They're attacking the giants."

She looked back out to the shore, and saw that he was right.


"That's... good?"

Clearly, these goblins were the enemies of the giants who lived in Oceanbridge. How they felt about the other giants, or their goblin cousins, though, was anybody's guess. The Soldier was starting to miss the wonderful simplicity of zombie fighting. Nothing seemed to be working out like she expected.

..........................................

Mr. Anderson's own fight wasn't going according to plan, either. He had fired bolt after bolt into the giant, and while its armor could be called "Boltcradle" (because it was filled with bolts. The joke seemed less clever to him now), the monster itself was just bruised.



And now he was out of bolts.

He jumped aside as the giant swung at him again, and parried another attack with his crossbow. The shock broke the flimsy weapon into pieces, along with most of the bones in his hand and arm. He stumbled back, looking around for help. No one was there. "I... am going to kill... everyone... in my squad."

.....................................

Next: The Siege Gets Confusing-er

[Firehawk45]

Dwarfing request, give me a weaponsmith, who is insisting on carrying around a crossbow and a filled quiver at any time (and hands the same things out to everyone he sees). Oh, and he never goes outside during a fight, NEVER. Not because of cowardness, just because he cant see blood, it makes him feel uneasy.

[Nathail]

Excerpt from the Journal of Nathail, Animal Trainer of Oceanbridge

Everything has gone fucking MAD! First, there were the Dark Stranglers catching fire. Then the Goblins went back to being homicidal, if polite, brutes, and now the Jotunar statues out on the bridge have come to life and are attacking both us and a group of invading Jotunar! Oh, and there's a new group of Goblins attacking the Jotunar. Thus far, the only enemies who have acted in a reasonable manner have been the Beak Wolves, and they are goddamn birds! AND WHERE THE HELL ARE MY ELEPHANTS?!

[varnish]

((Ok, with firehawk, I've got three new dwarfs to introduce in the next update. got to remember that. also, the siege is almost over! I know I am slow at these things. Also also, the elephants, haha! Yeah, they're in this update.))

Yes, A Siege (Part Three):

Mr. Anderson was fending off the giant with what was left of his steel cane when help finally arrived.



Though he was in agony, and fighting for his life,  he still made an enormous effort, and said to his rescuers, "You are all worthless as soldiers. You have wasted every bit of training I gave you, and you have disappointed me for the last- Oh gods damn it!" He shouted the last part as the giant's club smashed into his ribs, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Neo led the attack, telling the rest of the soldiers to "ignore the old bastard", and with his two swords the giant fell quickly (and in quite a few pieces). Not before it had killed another hapless militia member who got in the way of its mace, however.



Neo looked over the mess that had been the depot. "If this is how we do against one giant... Maybe we need to close the gate, now."

The other members of the squad agreed.

He sent someone down to pull the lever, but they were interrupted by a civilian running up the stairs. He spotted Neo, and waved. "Captain! Nathail, animal trainer here! I've been training some war elephants for just this type of attack, and I'd like to see them put in action. Do you know where the mayor is keeping them?"

"Well, yes. They were posted outside the gate a while ago. Unfortunately, someone forgot to feed them, I think and they... they starved to death, to be honest."

Naithal gave him a look. He couldn't think of anything else. "Really. Captain, that was both a waste, and kind of stupid."

Neo nodded.  "That's how we do things here."

................................

From the Journals of Aban Brothertreaties

Ok, so there's a war going on outside the fortress, but it doesn't involve any of us, so that's good?

The goblins are actually defeating the giants, though they've only attacked the stragglers near the beach so far.



It's amazing to watch them fight. They climb up on each others shoulders until they reach the level of their opponents head, and then they start bashing away. The giants don't seem to know what to do with that. In all fairness to them, who would?



There's still the giants on out our bridge. If Balnash, Neo and the rest can take care of them... we might actually win this thing. And then we'll be safe until the next siege arrives. And then the next, and the next, and... If there was a way to kill the god of death, I would do it. I would do it without hesitation.

This needs to end.

................................

Next: The Siege Ends

[Di]

Are those vanilla elephants? If so then they're doomed to starvation unless they have owners. Owners can feed their hungry pets with whatever closest snack they find (horse tallow biscuits fed to a horse? yay!). Interesting though is the fact that they can repeat that water-walking guy's trick and feed all the creatures on that tile with a single toast. So you could open elephants for adoption and stick them into a single tile. Once someone adopts any of them they'll be kept alive provided they don't kill each other because of overpopulation. Assigning other pets to the same spot would help feeding as well, but squeezing a tiny cavy into the same spot with a pack of infuriated several-ton war machines wouldn't be healthy for it. Plus cavies eat much less and will trigger feeding job much rarer than an elephant would need, a couple of yaks probably would do better.
I don't know how this works combined with assigning war animals or caging them.

[Firehawk45]

you would end up killing most of the elephants. Removing the [GRAZER] Tag from them would be more effective. Actually, it would be better to remove it entirely, it only comes into the way of !!PROGRESS!!

[IcepickTrotsky]

I'll wait until this.... siege siege is over before I'll give Balnash's thoughts on the matter. Unless he dies, then I'll give his ghost's thoughts on the matter.