Alright! Migrants! Exactly 3 of them. Shintaro Fago, Mangled and masam, you're all in, your profiles have been added to the first post.
Also, Ibruk is depressed! And I blame Reg for talking to him despite their grudge. Reg on the other hand is
ecstatic, and with no actual reason apart from he talked to someone annoying recently. Go figure.
Also - changed the topic name, because 'hiding from nothing' is just better.
26th Malachite 673 - NoonThe first tunnels into the valley of the Swamps of Tunneling were almost finished. Small 2x1 bedrooms for the Dwarves had been dug out by Spartan and Rovod, and Rion had accepted to make some beds, all while complaining that being an axedwarf didn't mean he was any good at carpentry.
For the first few days after they had sealed themselves inside the mountain they had not dared to do much at all, always expecting the rough shale bridge to crack open and reveal a swarm of Nothings all intent on killing them now that they were confined. But nothing came. They waited anxiously for their deaths, but there were no sounds from outside.
And that was, perhaps, even scarier.
The issue of food and booze had also quickly come up and the expedition seemed resigned to the fact that they would have to leave the safety of their cave to get water to irrigate the soil with for growing plump helmets and cave wheat. Torvold had immediately whipped out some parchment and begun drawing up plans for an irrigation system that would tunnel to the river and then with floodgates control the flow, but Spartan had suggested mining downwards to the caverns beneath the land where plants were known to grow. Caught between two opposing suggestions, Ibruk, so far the expedition leader, had decided to go with
both.
Therefore Torvold's irrigation system was being built at the same time as ramps were being built down into the depths of the earth. Since it was easier to dig through silty clay loam than stone, the irrigation system was finished first.
"Yer'll see, a real beauty! With work and time, we can extend it and make an automated system to flush anything that enters into-"
"Just pull the lever." Rion said interrupting Torvold's rant. Torvold tutted, and pulled the lever ceremoniously, there was a grinding of mechanisms and a distinct sound of water came from the other side of the watertight doors besides the gathered Dwarfs,
"Ye see, the floodgate's opened and now the water from Squeezemunch is pouring in, probably at a rate of seven measures a second which means that the water will fill the room in about 70 or so seconds. Incidentally, now I think of it, we could have made it much more efficient if we used water pressure to funnel the water in from below. Hmm...if we also used that to squeeze the water up into...yes that would probably then drown any invaders and then we can..."
Suddenly lost in his thoughts, the scientist let go of the lever, pondering the many uses pressured water could have. The other Dwarves, lost in their own conversations, also forgot about the incoming water until-
"Damned!" Torvold suddenly swore, yanking the lever back, "I forgot! I forgot!" Ibruk was the first to ask,
"What could be the matter pilgrim?"
"I forgot to turn the valve off! The entire chambers probably flooded with at least three measure of water per square! There's no way that'll evaporate!"
"Well then-" Rovod started, but Torvold interrupted him,
"Everyone get back, I'm gonna open the doors and let the excess water out."
"You'll flood the fortress!" Reg protested,
"Not nearly enough water for that, now get back or get wet."
Everyone scurried away as the scientist walked towards the twin doors with a dramatic flair. With a sure hand, he undid the secure holdings and heaved one open, half a wall of water met him, pushing him down the corridor slightly. Reg, slower than the others, was also caught in the wave, knocking him down. Then, as quickly as it had come, the waters died down, leaving a fresh coating of wet mud down the corridor.
As Reg cursed and got his wet self up, Torvold waved down the corridor with a huge smile,
"Ok! We can begin farming now!"
It was quickly decided that everyone would give a hand in the farming, due to its importance for their continued existence, and so life settled down and a few weeks passed by calmly.
14th Galena 673 - AfternoonDoc. Steve looked out over the valley with a keen eye. It was totally empty. There was not a bird, not an animal.
What there was though, was Nothing.
A huge swarm of them, at least seventy all gathered up on one side of the valley. He instinctively ducked, motioning to the other behind him. Since escaping from his destroyed mountain home and meeting up with a small group of civilians several of them had died. Some of them had died from the wounds they had suffered while escaping, most died from new wounds as they made their way as far as possible. There were only three of them now, Shin, an architect formerly in the King's employ, and Muenster, a glassmaker bearing the curious family name of 'McCheeseMaker'. The three of them had crossed mountains and rivers to flee the advancing hordes of Nothing, and now they seemed trapped.
Shin and Muenster slowly came besides him,
"What are we going to do?" Shin asked. Steve grimaced,
"Nothing behind us, Nothing in front of us." he said bitterly.
"They're on the other side of the river though, we're safe for now." Muenster interjected.
"But those things can swim." Shin recalled. And it was true, they had been cornered by a group of Nothings who had swum through a stream to attack them. That was when the last member of their group - barring them - had been killed.
That was when Shin saw it.
A Dwarf prides itself on it's recognition of rock, and an architect - a Royal architect at that - prides itself on having the best eye for stone. So it was that she spotted the constructed rock facade in the mountain, just before it was a ditch, definitely not natural in shape.
It was on the other side of the valley, but on
this side of the river, where there were less Nothing.
"There!" she exclaimed, pointing excitedly at it. Muenster squinted at it then cracked a smile,
"Atir Rushrulavuz be praised! If we can get them to open up-"
"And no doubt they'll open wide and let in a group pursued by so many Nothing they're like a black sea." Doc. Steve muttered.
"Got any better ideas?" Shin demanded. With a shrug, Steve slowly begun trekking down the hill. Shin and Muenster shared a glance, then followed the medic.
They had only made it halfway across the valley when they were spotted. A dozen Nothings slithered down a hill, tentacles ready. Muenster gave a half-yelp-half-shout and pushed Shin out of the way of one as it charged at her.
"What's the big id-" she stopped mid-sentence as she noticed the Nothing, "Steve! We need to hurry!" she cried, leaping up and sprinting for the constructed rock face.
They reached the channel with four Nothings on their tail.
And - perhaps it was Godly intervention, perhaps it was just blind luck. The drawbridge came crashing down, revealing a very surprised Rion. He had just convinced the group to let him discreetly leave to find the second copper battleaxe which he had left outside.
Steve, Shin and Muenster powered past him. Rion gave a shout at the sight of the Nothings, and ran inside to grab his axe. Tarran quickly got his sword and the two charged at the pulsing beasts.
The first Nothing was swiftly sliced into pieces while Spartan took his pick to the other, and before the rest could arrive the drawbridge brought up.
Now once more safe in the gloom the group all stared at the three newcomers. As was often the case, Ibruk was the first to speak,
"Welcome pilgrims. You needn't fear, the God's have led you here so that you may be saved." he said. There was a shared sigh of exasperation between the group which the prophet took as a sign that everybody was tired,
"It had been a long road, for us all. Eat, rest and sleep, for tomorrow there will be more tests of faith."
22nd Galena 673 - Morning