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« on: November 20, 2008, 06:16:30 pm »
All right, I'm at the end of summer now. Trading with the humans went well, and our larders are fuller than they've ever been. We have different crops growing year-round, and a constant production of all major industries going full-tilt. Nearly every dwarf now also has a bed, cabinet, and coffer of some sort or another.Currently Squeegy is still bunking in a small room. However once I finish with the housing problem I will begin construction on my own bedroom and give Squeegy back his. No harm done, right? ^^
The river, which had been drained in a previous turn, is slowly beginning to refill thanks to my conservation efforts. This means chiefly that my successor will have much higher FPS than I did due to the elimination of flows. The underground pool is still half-full, and I haven't thought of any way to empty it to get at the moderatly rare bones within. I will need to leave that for another curator another year, as I will not have time.
Our forge has seen a minor expansion, mostly in Magma glass furnaces, a magma kiln, and a few more smelters. Every smelter is pretty much constantly running full-tilt right now to produce bars, although steel production has slowed due to a lack of charcoal. We do not lack wood mind, it's mostly my own fault of telling our wood burner to make ash for potash to make into pearlash.
By late summer I still have not recived any migrants. I'm not terribly concerned about that right now, as the fortress isn't ready for a Baron yet. However, if I do get a Baron/Baroness there will be no lack of low-priced homes for the less wealthy. Job names are a little messed up right now as well, since I've been working to retrain our masons to do more useful work. If you see a dwarf with a custom title that doesn't match their skills, please make sure someone else can cover his or her job before simply swapping them over.
My exhibit is now 95% done architecturally, 75% done beutificationally, and 25% finished content-wise. When my turn is over, I will make a request to any future curators to help me in finishing my exhibit, as it will probably take many years to acquire all of the parts of it.
In recent events, Dresor has killed a Titan. In commemoration of this event I have given him the title "Hero".
And now, for the logs:
11th Hematite
The human caravan arrived from Dur Kas arrived today. I had to cancel the party our book keeper was in, and "convince" him to work when he attempted to tell me he was on break. Although we do not have a Hammerer, mentioning the sheriff seemed to bring the fool to his senses.
15th Hematite
We are under siege!
Forces led by Ngebzo Gaspaem, the Goblin Hammer Lord, Stozu Udustozu, the Goblin Elite Crossbowman, and Aslot Zesmstumngokang, the Goblin Swordsman have begun a large offenseive on our home! I've ordered our military to move out to repel them at any cost! They must not reach the museum!
17th Hematite
"Get those civilians inside!" Squeegy shouted above the clamor as the members of Liumlegen military hurried to their posts. His face grim as he grabbed mason after mason and bodily threw them inside. "What the bloody hell do you think you are doing fool! There are goblins out there!"
The mason he grabbed sputtered from the force of the blow, "Sir, we've still got some copper out there. We need to get it in before the goblins get here."
"Copper? Copper? It's your life you should be protecting fool, not our least precious metal! Get inside." Squeegy then threw him back towards the gate, his face set as the militia arrived one by one. Many of them will trouseled hair or reeking of ale. "Hurry up lads!" he shouted, waving as they rounded the bend and took out their weapons,"We've got a battle to fight!"
The lead dwarf, a crossbowman by the name of Shem Migrurfikod was the first to arrive, swiftly bowing as he approached the lead military dwarf in the museum, "Sir, a report from the west. Two more goblin squads have been sighted, they are marching north around the residential district."
"What could they be doing there... Shem, you and Tekkud get onto the walls and take out as many of them as you can before the reach the entrance. Waste no time, lives are staked on it." Sparing a look around the barracks, he noted every face present and paused for a moment. "Wait a moment... where is Ezum?"
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At that very moment Ezum Melbilkubk was charging across the line of traps from her post at the gate, immediatly nailing a powerful shot on Ngom Kagusxuspgas' head with the flail she had borrowed from the merchants caravan. As he reeled back she pushed him relentlessly, striking his head with a second powerful blow and causing it to break open with a sickening crunch.
"Attack my home will ye? Die foul beast!" She shouted, her child crying as the goblin's blood spilled through the cracks of the stone bridge. The swordmaster dropped like a sack of bricks, his body falling into her third blow, that sent the goblin flying into the wall. His chest caved in as he hit with a sickening crunch, a bloody smear trailing above him as he slid down.
Behind him a squad of bowgoblins crested the ram, their pinched faces open in shock as they saw their leader's broken body at the feet of the dwarven warrior. At first it seemed they would fleed, their morale shaken, until one of the goblins shouted a war cry and began to loose his ammunition at the dwarf. Arrows few from the goblin's wicked bows, their shafts filling the air. Dozens of shots glanced away from Ezum's steel armor as she crouched over her child, her shield covering her face as the blakened shafts flew past yer. She began to walk forward, neither rushing nor hesitatant as the bowgoblins continued to fire. On either side of them the burly goblin guards quickly racing forward to slow her assault. Ezum spared only a moment for them, her first blow driving the lead goblin to the ground with a powerful downward strike and laying him out stunned.
Nearby, the miner and reserve warrior Oddom Girethkubuk had seen the commotion. Without waiting to grab armor or any weapon save his pick he had raced too Edem's side, his pick flashing quickly to catch the wrestler on the ground not unlike the earth and stone he normally quarried. He swung in an efficient and practiced manner, driving it's way towards the wrestler's left arm. The goblin twisted at the last moment despite the pain and the blow was superficial, the pick lodging in the goblin's flesh and dragging the stout miner with it, his leg brought directly into the line of a crossbow bolt.
The melee continued for several minutes as such. The seemingly endless wave or wrestlers blocking the two dwarven combatants as wave after wave of arrows and crossbow bots slowly began to accumulate hits on their bodies. Edem's baby, Ablel Ideninen, was hit by a wayward punch, her leg getting mangled by the strike. Another bolt found it's way into a chink in Edem's armor, locking into her upper arm and forcing her to drop her shield. Around the two of them an ever-growing pool of blood began to spread. Dwarven and goblin life-essance mingling and merging until neither side was able to tell what the other was anymore, save that it was two against twenty.
Oddom was the first of the three to die. His numerous wounds finally overcoming his will to fight. When he came face to face with a swordsgoblin, he was driven back and his arm was sliced open. Eventually falling to the ground, unable to fight. For some time after that Ezum held the goblins assault at bay for several minutes then. Their numbers keeping her from landing any more deadly wounds on the beasts.Eventually however, her agility and strength were not enough. A shot intended for her throat was sent wayward, instead striking into the flesh of her child. As she shrieked in rage, dropping the infant, a goblin arrow struck her in the chest.
Ezum stood there for a moment as the shock reached her head. The goblins falling back as she ceased her relentless attack. She looked down, her breath short as she saw blood pouring out of her pierced heart. Then she fell forward, dead.
Hardly a secodn later Urvad Nisherith and Meng Avecilob arrived on the scene. Their faces grim as they finished off the last two wounded goblin wrestlers at the gates. By the time they had finished the chaff, the archers had long since fled into the night.
18th Hematite
Today, as we prepare for the second assault, an emergancy election was held. It was clear that Shorast was not doing his job properly, having too few guards at the gates in case of a goblin attack such of them. In a hurry, votes were tallied and one of the planters, Mebzuth Cattenatol, was elected mayor. I have told our Book Keeper to assign her the mayorital suit effective immediatly and to keep her as happy as we can while the rest of us do our jobs and keep the museum running.
19th Hematite
Today the goblin Ngebzo Gaspaem himself arrived, his splendid iron armor glinting in the setting sun.
This time we were ready for them. Squeegy was there at the front lines. His massive frame dancing like lightning as he battled the goblins at the gate. Behind him our crossbowmen peppered the goblins with bolts, downing them three at a time and driving the rest of them into traps.
Within an hour it was ended. The only casualties being the carpenter Tosid Tathurkogan, who had been drafted at the last moment to help with the lines, and two cats.
The battle is over, and four of our own now lie dead. Including one of our finest warriors. However, not all is lost. Six goblins were captured in the battle, their lives only spared by the fact that I had chosen the trusty cage traps over less reliable (and far more dangerous) weapon traps. They are at MY mercy now.
Muhahaha!
