((everyone loves a double post!))
Late Summer, 193Person’s first month in office was uneventful. The aquifer pumps were dismantled and rebuilt as bathing pumps, in order to clean any one who might have been infected by Ostrug’s blood. Heavy Weapons Guy, whose leg had already healed, described the experience as “a delightfully brutal cleansing”. It seemed to work, but Gar felt he could improve the design so that it wouldn't nearly drown the dwarf using it.
Ostrug’s blood was the source of several projects. While there was no sign that it was actually dangerous, most of the dwarfs felt safer with the whole area blocked off. That didn’t mean a curious dwarf couldn’t say, push a spare horse foal down into the pit where the body lay, just to see what might happen.
Nothing did.
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Early Autumn, 193Person had set up his new office in the lower levels, near a nice seam of gold that he was fond of. There should be some perks to the office of mayor, and he figured that actually having his own private office, rather than a chair in the main hall, could be one of them.
He had been at his desk, working on paperwork for a few hours, (paperwork! Say what you like about Aban, but at least she enjoyed working with the stuff) when he heard the door open. He looked up, mildly irritated. "I would prefer that you knock..." He paused. "I beg you pardon. I do not know your name."
The new dwarf was short, unusually so. She also was carrying a large two handed steel sword. She smiled. “My name is Shina! I’m told you’re the one who runs this place. I've come to join the army!”
"Oh, is that all? Go see Derm. He's the local commander, and he should set you up with a squad." With that, he went back to the paperwork. Sand, that was the problem. They were always short of sand. He looked up again. Shina was still there, leaning on her sword's hilt.
"I did that. He put me in a squad all right. I think I should lead the squad, though. That's why I'm talking to you. Because you're a reasonable man, right? And you see that I'm the kind of person who should lead a squad!" She smiled again. It was an odd smile.
Oh, I'm seeing something, all right, Person thought. Still, there was something about the new dwarf that was prodding his memory. "Shina... that name is familiar."
"Oh, I doubt it, Mayor. The queen is my aunt, you know, but I had to leave a few months back. There was an accident, and they told me to go here, and I thought, why not? Got here today, so I don't see why you'd recognize my name. I wouldn't like you to assume I'm someone I'm not, or someone who did something I didn't, sir!"
"Er, right." Before Person could tell Shina just where he thought she could head, (the magma pit, preferably), someone else started knocking at the door, frantically. He stood up, trying not to look relieved. "We'll talk about this later, Shina. Until then, just pick up your equipment and do what Derm tells you. I've got fortress business to take care of."
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Person’s first real act as Mayor had been to mandate the production of one amulet. His first real
responsibility as Mayor was distinctly less pleasant.
“All right, tell me what happened.”
“I think she just… fell, sir. No one else was around. I just heard the scream.”
Person nodded, and walked over to where the body lay. There wasn’t really much of a body.
Cog had fallen over 50 stories. She had less hit than ground, and more been painted over it. ”She’s the one who killed Ostrug, right?”
The dwarf who’d found the remains nodded. “Yes, Person. I mean, Mayor, sir. We were going to hold a party in her honor in a week or so, actually.”
Person still wasn’t sure how he’d been elected mayor. He got on well with people, that was true, but… Whether or not he wanted the job, though, he had it. And all the trouble that went along with it. "Start cleaning this... mess up. I'll inform the militia."
Several days after Cog’s death, the horse foal in the pit died.
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Topic: Oceanbridge - A Fortress Defense Community Fort: Reclaimed, Again! (And Again) (Read 182804 times)