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[Reudh]

From the diary of Zaneg Larmomuz the Barricaded Recluse of Justice, ex-military commander of Zalisiden.

We received report of a siege. Pah, if only I could help them, but this accursed injury means I'm a civilian! It isn't the dwarven way to let cripples be relieved!
Scouts indicate a report of nine lashers led by an elite crossbowgoblin. This is worse than anything we have yet faced- though I remain calm.
My replacement, Sarvesh, sounded the alert in the Great Horn of Zalisiden- everyone who was outside ran back, but for one dog which fought valiantly before being killed. Even poor Rith Woundordered made it inside.
Then, a tremulous voice shouted "THE LEVER IS JAMMED!" We could not raise the lever to seal ourselves away. No one was able to get near it.

This gets worse! Further reports indicate that the goblins are mounted on fell creatures of the underground. That makes 20 total invaders--- (here the hand trails off and resumes in a much more scrawled hand)

I fear for our lives now. I have killed nearly thirty and yet I feel fear. A squad reported more. At last count, including the nine we captured in the initial advance, there was 106 invaders. A squad of spearman, a squad of crossbowmen, a squad of lashers, a squad of swordsman, and a squad of trolls. All but the trolls were mounted.
We have already lost many, the death toll is already eight. Many of them were my students, dwarves I had shared a drink with... I am saddened by their deaths but pleased that they may have been guided into Sarvesh Canyongorge, Etur, or Ral Ivoryfortune's arms...

The invaders have breached the fort. Nearly every squad member has been killed. Statues have been toppled, things destroyed. It is looking grim. I have once more been made military commander as a last ditch attempt. Me, and the nine legendary miners are the Barricaded Allies. They wield their picks with devastating force, and I with my blade.
I combine the strongest of Zalisiden's civilians into a ramshackle minutemen service.

What chance do we have? We just barely are holding. Just barely.
With a croak, my dear friend Urvad Narvabok, the mayor and one of the ones who journeyed with me to found Zalisiden dies. He was pierced through the chest, poor lad.
His wife sees him fall, takes her five children and runs to the special place... Down in the caverns, there is a spot she builds... she ought to be safe there. Solon Odkol, another of our friends has fallen.
I am scared, what will happen? Thankfully I have not been noticed as I limp along to retrieve my blade from where I left it.

One of the cave crawlers has become a brutally strong killer. It's now "the Bad Serpent of Hardiness." I named it, thinking it appropriate. The remaining 110 civilians cower in our basement floor.

In case you are wondering how I am writing this, I have a tablet hidden in my beard which I am inscribing this onto. On my laborious way to pick up my blade, I was confronted by a huge troll. I attacked with the only weapon I could, with my <<maple crutch>>. My strength hasn't left me! I staved in its head with a single strike.

((OOC:Seriously, Zaneg is STRONG. 34 total kills, high master in everything trained legit. She scratched the troll in the head, bruising the brain, which knocked it unconscious. Then she struck it in the head with her crutch, and killed it.))

I hope we can do it, we're still taking massive casualties. Every now and then I have to send a reverberation to the floor below with my beard sonar to tell more civilians to come help.

GOOD! We have done it! The siege is broken! The cowardly goblins have fled! Thank Etur, Thank Sarvesh in all his furry glory, thank Ral! Thank Kogsak that he intervened!

Oh, I have the unenviable task of overseeing the cleanup and averting any unhappiness. Thankfully the only dwarf who looks to be snapping is unconscious and dying, not that I would wish that on another being but if he were awake he would have to be dealt with.

Signing out Diary, hoping that Zalisiden lives another day. The cleanup from this siege is going to be long...
-Zaneg Meetingcrypts the Blockaded Recluse of Justice

[King DZA]

Lovely. Definitely enjoyable to read.

[Reudh]

Thanks, King!
I was moved to write this after a siege attacked my fort. Eighty casualties, now all the Miserable, Very Unhappy and Unhappy dwarves are either unconscious, incapable of movement or dying. About 50% of the dwarves (Civilian and military) have crippling wounds, be they severed nerves, lost limbs or blindness.

[King DZA]

Yeah, a badly timed siege can really fuck up a fort. I just recently lost the greatest dwarf I've ever had to a squad of lashers, because they came at the one time my fortress was most vulnerable.

Anyway, be sure to keep writing should any more interesting happenings occur. You seem pretty good at it.

[Reudh]

From the second diary tablet of Zaneg Larmomuz,

Bad news. I lost my right hand cleaning up, after a troll gored it off. It hurts, and I'm still weak from the loss of my leg. One of the craftsdwarves rigged my crutch to my arm and attached my sword to my shield. It's cumbersome, but it allows me to hold all three things I need in one arm. I have just been alerted of the arrival of the Minotaur, Enore Licesiili Iwecithasi Amo. We're still cleaning up the mess after the massacre, and while we are beginning to claw our way back to normality, not a one of us are going to be capable of defeating this monstrosity. I order everyone inside, then the lever to be pulled, then relax the alert. Enore charges at our door and promptly is captured.

Because we don't have the manpower to deal with the prisoners, I ordered them all to be atomised. No retrieving their corpses, we cannot afford any slip-ups. The bridge is lowered, and with that ends the lives of ten prisoners and one minotaur.
Two of our number have gone berserk, another three melancholy and a few more dying where they fell from want of water. A child destroyed a bed then succumbed to his wounds. Litast is still followed around by her surviving children. In the midst of this, one of our engravers has given birth amongst the gore and death. This is her sixth child. All are surviving- the father is in the hospital.

Because we're so understaffed in the hospital and poorly equipped for such heavy casualties, it's two to a bed and the two medical dwarves left are working overtime.

What next? We have now only 95 dwarves left.
The mayor brought us all to a meeting and told us in a solemn voice "We must not let them have our nickel silver." What the point of that was I don't know, though it cheered the child Zon up a little. Poor little blighter lost his brother, his sister, his mother, AND his father. He's crippled as well... What tenacity he has to keep on going.

What tenacity we all have. Zalisiden will live. I know it.

[Reudh]

From the third diary tablet of Zaneg Larmomuz, Militia Commander of Zalisiden

Spring of 568
This world of Thur Arkoth is a cruel one indeed. We had been trundling along. Life was great. We were set to become the capital. Then the news from the mountainhome said that we were at war with the Rumoured Monster. That explains the siege.
The war has been called 'The Stormy War' - or Ozoazlez. The siege was Umuz Gomux - the 'Attack of Steam'.

And now that we've finished clearing up, I hear a shout from the depths. A horrifying eldritch moan. Cethutha the lidless lyrebird with vile secretions has attacked. I muster up my new squad and head down to deal with it. Before I even get down there, a young promising axedwarf by the name of Shorast Beachchannels had split it in two with nary a scratch.
Ha, even in this weakened state Zalisiden is powerful! We will not fall, we will not fall! Not ever! NOT EVER!


Spring of 569
Ral's golden armpits! What was that? Another screech from the caverns! Nubpo Nightrumors! I have heard of this creature, just once before. It's a strange three-eyed giraffe with... DEADLY BLOOD. Have we offended the gods? Nubpo swiftly made his way up to our secondary burrow and promptly bled to death all over the staircase, killed by one of my recruits Rovod Bellsbands. Ha, deadly blood? It does not seem so deadly.

Late Spring of 569
I stand corrected. A baby crawled through the bloody mess of gore and died as her entire body paralysed. Most of the children can't move their feet. The poisonous blood got all over my foot and one of my hands. They're now slowly paralysing... and I feel tired... more tired than I have been in years... I must rest...

Sorry about that. I dozed off and (according to our chief doc Kosoth Shellhammers) woke up three weeks later. Just in time for the forgotten beast Imust Spurtglands the Fatal Sucker to attack. It was made short work of by my second in command: Thob Delightcrystals the Mournful Tragedy of Tours. Like I said, we suffer setback after setback and yet we still survive! How strong we are!

Late Summer of 569

Haha! I am back! I finally managed to corner a forgotten beast by the name of Snodub and kill it! The three recruits who were with me helped, but I got the killing blow! The Blockaded Recluse of Justice is back!

Diary, did I ever tell you how I got my title? I used to hide inside the fort back when I was green, and when one of my friend's first children was abducted unsuccessfully I chased the vile goblin down and removed his limbs piece by painstaking piece.
Hence, the 'Blockaded Recluse' of 'Justice'. Justice was served that day, and I was a recluse until then. Hahaha.

Midautumn of 569

Snodub had deadly blood as well. Blast. I got some on my feet and hands again. Double blast. Now they're rotting. TRIPLE BLAST. Thankfully the rot on my hand stopped, but the top of my remaining foot had to be removed to stop it spreading. According to Kosoth, my stomach is also rotten but I don't feel anything wrong. The three recruits with me came down with the same illness.
At least I'm not permanently affected.

[King DZA]

Heh, it seems as if FBs really hated your fortress. Do you recall just how many were taken down before the fort finally crumbled to its end?

[Reudh]

Spoilered as it gives away the plot.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hold on, I'll look it up in the legends.

From the founding of Zalisiden in 564:

564: Nothing, several thieves captured
565: Nothing, several thieves captured
566: Nothing, unicorns captured, a released thief manages to cripple two military dwarves in armour despite missing both legs.
567:
-Beginning of the Stormy War. The causes of the conflict are debated by scholars and very little is truly known.
-The first siege:The Attack of Steam.
The attackers were sixteen goblins, led by Asno Bottommaligned. Thirteen casualties.
The defenders were 116 dwarves, and 2 dogs, led by Zaneg Meetingcrypts the Blockaded Recluse of Justice. Two casualties.

568:
-Cethutha the lyrebird FB with noxious secretions. No kills.
-Ab the Singed Zeal the crab FB with noxious secretions
-Ana Soakedflinches the Hate of Shadow, a three eyed lizard with fire. No kills, one wounded.
-The Second Siege: The Siege of Bites.
The attackers were led by the goblin Mato Werecrows. Eight trolls, 48 goblins, 48 mounts including voracious cave crawlers and cave crocodiles. Twenty-four casualties. (46 more that were not counted as they were mounts.)
The defenders were led by Cog Dastotalis, Legendary Miner as Zaneg Meetingcrypts the yatta yatta yatta was incapacitated. 164 dwarves, 2 dogs and 3 unicorns. Sixty-nine casualties.

-A minotaur who was atomised and therefore does not show up in Legends.

569:
-Nubpo Nightrumours, a giraffe with venomous blood causing paralysis in affected areas. One kill, but the majority of children and the ones who fought it affected by paralysis. One indirect kill as its blood suffocated a baby.
-Imust Spurtglands the Fatal Sucker, a blob made of grime and filth with Poisonous Gas: Nine kills. Many wounded
-Snodub the one eyed click beetle with deadly dust FB. No kills, many wounded.
-Unzo the Vice of Crevices, a huge feathered leech with deadly blood causing rotting. No kills, four affected including Zaneg Meetingcrypts the Blockaded Recluse of Justice.
-Spos Queenaces the Great Servant, an enormous skinless hadrosaurid with deadly dust. Eight kills, including Thob Delightcrystals the Mournful Tragedy of Tours.
-Simo Spraygills the Moistness of Squids, a great feathered leech with webs. Killed by our Stray Baron (tame) Shriekmusics. One notable kill.

570: -Third and final siege: The Squeezing Assaults.
Attackers: Eight trolls, 48 goblins. They were led by the goblin general Stozu Menacegreed. Twelve casualties.
Defenders: 84 dwarves, one unicorn. They were led by Zaneg Meetingcrypts the Blockaded Recluse of Justice. 76 casualties. The last defender of Wardpaddle, a miner by the name of Domas Chaosstockades the Raw Blanket was killed by Zon Profanedrilled the goblin and so fell Wardpaddle.

[Reudh]

Reserved for next tidbit.

[RabidAnubis]

DWARF ME!

[Reudh]

Hmm... The fort's already died. I guess I could put you in.

[Reudh]

From the fourth diary tablet of Zaneg Larmomuz

Well, diary... I know it's been a long time since I wrote here, but I felt like I should jot this down really quickly.

Remember how last time we had a siege, the mountainhomes replied that it was war with the goblins?

Weeeeellll... I just received reports that they're attacking again. I'd been practicing all year with my pair of crutches so I can move about as fast as I did before, so I think I'm ready. I hope I'm ready. I've lived here for eight years, being the militia commander for almost as long, and I feel real fear now.

What should I do? I only have fifteen dwarves under my command fit to fight with any sort of skill, and a mason tantruming destroyed our defenses then committed suicide so we couldn't punish him. Bastard. No one as yet has rebuilt our drawbridge so I'm going to have to fight. I ordered four dwarves to man the ballistas and start firing before we moved out, to thin the herd. Of course, none of the bolts hit, and all four dwarves were killed - one by cross fire in the cramped ballista gallery and the other three by the crossbowgoblins on the roof.

Then one of my recruits smelled blood, and charged out against orders. I would have simply stood there and let him get cut down for his foolishness but the rest of the recruits went ahead too. Blast.

I hobbled into battle with my trusty iron sword, cutting through goblin after goblin... but now I'm so tired. So tired. I can barely move my arms... if I just fall asleep i can...
count...
on...
my... recruits...

<<The rest of the diary fragment is smashed. It is understood that Zaneg was defended by four of her recruits until they were struck down - and only then did Zaneg fall as well.>>


Away in the mountain homes, months afterwards a dwarf addresses his king.

The Advisor stood in front of the king. This king was a weak, foolish ruler who would often do whatever took his fancy - his fancy was Zalisiden and the council deemed it smart, for once... Given it was in a good region they thought the natural holiness would keep goblins and other dark things at bay, but they were wrong.

The Advisor Shorast Catpaddled sighed

"Sire, I just received word that Zalisiden has fallen. One Zaneg Meetingcrypts has managed to record much of the life of Zalisiden in her beard diary - and should be honoured with a state funeral. Domas Chaosstockades also fought valiantly, a miner by trade who gave his life to save his mayor. Dwarfdom at its finest - they should be honoured in the feast tonight, in my honest opinion."

The king looked up from his plate of fried blowfly brains, grease slathering his face and beard, glistening rather disgustingly.

"Zalisiden with whom? Hahahaha. If Zalisiden be sidin' with the goblins then it was good they died!"

The advisor, naturally, was shocked.

"But sire, they fought under your name! They managed to halt the main attack of the goblin army - were it not for them we would be in a true battle at this very moment - but for their efforts the brief but painful Steamy War would have conquered us!"

The king grumbled. They would get a funeral and a feast in his name tonight, if only so that he could eat and drink some more.

"Shorast, you've always been a good advisor. A feast for the dead of Zalisiden? Let it be done."