But really, it's time to appease the grammar gods and fix the title of this thread: Ravens are *unkind.
The title is deliberate; otherwise it'd be an Unkindness of Ravens are murder
The bastard of an elite marksman the humans deployed to great success against the Dwarven Fortifications was taken down (though not killed). The arrival of another 40 marksmen and another elite marksman persuaded the Dwarves to retreat to the HQ; not before losing another Dwarf to boltfire. In the hospital injured Dwarves arrived one after the other; surgery waiting times were short, there were few other things the Dwarves could do besides patrol and maintain life.
In another personal defeat for me, Baron Muthkat did not survive his injuries. It is always grueling to lose your favourite Dwarf, and even worse when you can't spare the time to bury them. Poor Muthkat died in extreme pain with his spine severed and his best friend killed right after he had recovered from his wife's death. On the bright side, he was also happy to have died fighting, a worthy end. There is no time to mourn.
And at least the still-living Dwarves at least had the courtesy of walls and roofs, and a functioning hospital. When Captain Onul led the recovery teams to pick up wounded Dwarves, the humans had the option to retreat into the undead-infested Spidery Forest or remain out in the open field exposed to the harsh and supernatural elements.
Here a Maceman was being beaten to death by her comrade's severed arm with her own breastplate. Several mounted halberdiers and bowmen cut their way through the undead surrounding her and many others, carving a path through to let the wounded and defeated retreat.
Their efforts are valiant; they only narrowly avoid being overrun by their own fallen.
I have been somewhat saddened to see the humans and their own heroes suffer so gravely. Lacking no quick victory or defeat, this has very quickly turned into the nasty kind of siege warfare - the slow gradual infection creeping into your bloody wounds, as opposed to the greataxe falling through your neck.
Humans and camels pass out from pain, bolts sticking out from bloody limbs, limping around in and out of consciousness. Even in the heat of high summer the humans huddle beneath the occupied gatehouses, clustered around campfires to try and dry out the dwarf blood from every inch of their clothes. The smell of burning corpses only tantalizes both sides to the availability of food; the Dwarves have sown another season's round of berries and slaughtered many of the eagles, pigs and rutherers to make ends meet. One particularly poor human, Otir Flierracks - lies trapped beneath his own collapsed camel. The only other suviving member of his squad Quosa Nohuser stands guard over him with a silver pike in hand.
It will take a few months to clean the wall spikes, and possibly years to clear the battlefield. There are still at least over a thousand soldiers encamped, entrenched, fighting or dying beneath the limestone walls. If they continue their assault and refuse to retreat, the Dwarves will be forced to pull the lever.
The Moose Pit has slowly been filled to the brim with hundreds of corpses, the Dwarves are still hard at work to throw them down into the writhing meat mound.
The wriggling death, the corpse king of thousands - the moose pit is legion and titan.
Ibruk has also been released on the Eastern approach. The humans have taken one look at the black bronze colossus spewing forth venomous vapours and have decided it is preferable to go around the metal wargod. Of note is that whilst the other human squads have wisely decided to bypass Ibruk, one of the captains in the rearguard - Captain Ithru, he cannot see Ibruk and is leading his squadron into disaster.
...
Wait, no, sorry I was wrong. Ibruk has broken into the Fortress and Ithru is leading his squad after him into the Fortress. I have given the order to destroy the ramp and pray that is enough to keep Ibruk out - if he breaks through, the hospital will be lost, the stocks lost, the armoury lost and all the northern towers compromised. Two masterwork hatches and a door should hold him out for enough time. The caverns will be lost, which is not much of a problem since they're still infested with fire, fungus, titans and corpses. The 3rd level has some scaled crab titan corpse roaming around, I suspect it ate the other beasts. I may be condemning two plump helmet guests who were chained up as sentries outside to death - but the risk is too great; if they are noticed by Ibruk then so be it. Sadly I was convinced that Ibruk was going to end this war.
Author
Topic: Ravens are murder. [SPOILERS] (Read 165078 times)