We spend a good while trying to activate the main gate, to no effect. We settle for the next best thing, which is to use the temporary staircase in the tower. from the second floor, we can go atop the hill, and access the animals, as well as gather the weapons. Before we can even begin to equip our soldiers, however, more trouble happens in the fortress...
I look at the cloudless,night sky, and know what it's all about. It has been 28 days since Sazir and Taupe died.
Ast the ranger is holding off a fisherdwarf, now morphed into a creepy antelope terror. Ast lands a singl punch at the beginning of the fight, and after 10 minutes of wrestling, despite not landing another blow and falling unconscious, his enemy perish. such is the power of the monk deathpalm, which ast has obviously mastered. The werebeast tries to chew on the fallen ranger, then suddenly dies. Tulon the tanner tried to give a hand, but he fell quickly enough.
Good job, Ast!
Aftermath of the battle: 2 dead civilian, one dead wereantelope fisherdwarf, and two unconscious survivors, bleeding heavily. What. The actual fuck. Happened here. Well, that's one werebeast discovered and slain, but it's hardly a relief, as it killed 2, and soon, Tulon and Ast are going to morph as well. The next full moon is on the 11th of sandstone. better get moving.
Senshuken knows what's up, and he approaches the semi-conscious survivors. ''Congratulation, you have proven your worth in a fight! I'm drafting you as our new elite squad of soldiers!'' They can still be used for some manual labor, but in two weeks or so, they will be ''asked'' to check on the goblin caged in the shooting range, where they will be accidentally sealed off until they die horribly. that's what happen when the MNDH representant gets decapitated. Senshuken is a clever man, unafraid to sacrifice a few to save many, and that's what we need if we want Doomforest to endure.
Werebeasts are not our only concern. We're going to lose a lot more dwarves to tantrum fights if we don't secure some water. sadly, our only well is down the forges, and it's currently being used as Snustrok the snail's personal shithole. There seems to be a convoluted way to activate a bridge across the river to go outside and get water from the river, but im not sure relying on hidden machinery and going outside is a great, sustained way of aquiring water. Instead we'll dig a tunnel followed by like 4 layers of channels, that we'll connect underneath the waterfall. Even if the tunnel fills due to pressure, it wont go all the way thanks to the river flowing, and we can either set a bath or a well area there, connected to what i assume is an hospital or dormitory maybe?
Speaking of Snustrok shitting, we can hear her down below, systematically devouring the corpses of the dwarves that laid there a few weeks ago. Creepy.
I'm pretty new here, since I basically arrived with Taupe and his wife on the last migrant wave. there's a lot of fucked up things I discover daily, and a troll murdering someone with a fucking hood is today's little tiny murder miracle. On the bright side, two of the ghosts have been put to rest. i look at the calendar: 14 days left until the next full moon. We'll have a lot more corpses on our hand if we don't murder those two werebeasts soon.
I go and talk to Senshuken, saying it is time. He has a better idea, he says.
''First, i told them they were to help repair the stairwell barricade. So I made them masons,(as I'm also the self-proclaimed lead mason of Doomforest), so they can remove the existing blocks and ''place a new, better one'' on top of the hole.''
''Next, continues Senshuken, I told the masons to add a drawbridge, a door, and some blocks to make room for another sealing block. ''
The rest of the captain's plan is fairly straightfoward, and quite in line with his previous ideas to retrieve our copper equipment. Instead of just letting the werebeasts die of thirst, why not seal them in the caverns? As masons, they can remove the blockade to the stairwell a few days before the full moon, after they have been mobilised and locked there by the door+new blocks. Some food and drink was put there, just in case we need to leave them there for a while. when they turn, they'll immediately go fight the Snail, and either kill it or die trying. either case, we are rid of one enemy.
The future werebeasts are probably on to our little gig, tho, as even tho we station them near the staircase, they choose to settle in the dinning hall, and refuse to move from there. Is the door locked, or the bridge off? nope, after much testing, it's clear they just refuse to follow orders. Obviously, Senshuken's way of dealing with the previous werebeast has made them wary. We wait, nothing. Fuck.
It's now the ninth of sandstone, and the full moon is in 36 hours. We have no more time to wait. I start to secretly tell everyone in the dinning hall that they must leave, unconspicuously. as the last civilian leaves the hall, the doors are locked.
Senshuken and is masons get to work, and seal the room before the soon-to be werebeast can tear apart the doors.
In the background, two more dwarves were fighting, and one of them kills the other. This has become standart practice. I pay no mind to it, nor do I even bother which one died. all I know is we are a dwarf short once more. my attention is elsewhere.
Behind the now sealed dinning hall, I hear a blood-freezing howl, and screams. Oh god, such terrible screams. noises of battle, then silence. Then faintly, we can hear the now monstruous Ast using the hall just the way it was intended for: meals. It seems she was infected and turned. Poor Tulon did not have this chance.
Ast is horrified by what she has done. she now knows the truth, and understands why we meant to sacrifice her. She agrees to venture in the caverns on the next moon. Doomforest happilly tear apart it,s walls and welcome her for another month.
''Well, that was a failure, I declare.
-Well, replies the captain, there is always next month. And if that fails... did you know we actually have a
lot of caged prisoners?''
Poll
Author
Topic: The Hastening of Doomforests (Read 432052 times)