The dwarves of Noblecrafts thought they were safe behind their stone walls and dirt moat. Outside corpses roamed the countryside waiting for any crack in the defences to tear apart the living limb from limb. Lying still were rotting bodies of Jute and Buffalo. The two heroes has sallied out to meet the undead horde to buy the rest of the dwarves time to seal entrances to the fortress and they both fought to the bitter end until their bones were so shattered not even the dark secrets of the towers could bring them back again. Though their coffins remain empty, already two great statues in their image had been carved in olivine with plaques beneath memorialising their deeds.
Few else in the community had any real military experience, except perhaps the human refugee found left behind in the prisons of abandoned Mothclobbered. Perhaps it was expected that civilians would lose their sense of alertness as they settled in for the long siege stockpiling food, drink, and arms. In any case Adamantine's sloppy bookkeeping records showed monotonous entries of stock inventories and nothing else right up until the chaos came and went filling up the hospital.
A necromancer had snuck into the pigsty!
At least that is what the dwarves agreed had happened everyone had been patched up and had a stiff drink. The pigs were gone and the intruders corpse still lay there until someone figured out what to do with it. The mason Indigo had been given a proper burial once the dwarves were sure it wasn't get back up again and start gnawing on them. They were still deciding what to do with the soon to be demoted bookkeeper's severed right hand when the doctor Claystone broke the news to Dawg and Tetrahedrite that there was something wrong with their child Dumat:
In the doctor's opinion, the child should not have been able to survive his injuries and yet, while subdued in hospital, was clearly still alive. The bookkeeper, still reliving the trauma of being attacked by her own right hand, got ready to put down this undead abomination. Marble, the chief miner, stayed Adamantine with one hand while the other leaned on a crutch. Marble's eye's were glazed over and looked a completely different dwarf. "You were there. Who stuck the killing blow?".
It is the tradition amongst the dwarves of the Lashes of Marking that citizens are given a new name upon gaining adulthood that says something about them. The Fortress of Noblecrafts had over 150 bedrooms awaiting future migrants that never came for reasons unknown. With less than 25 beards, the bookkeeper had expanded her roles to include the manager of work shifts, broker of the Trade post gathering cobwebs and general expedition leader. As soon as the first pick struck the earth she had given herself the auspicious name of Adamantine. There was no democracy in Noblecrafts, but her position was appearing weak; she had sullied the memories of the true heroes who had sacrificed themselves by letting the enemy unchallenged under her watch.
The true hero of the day was the child brought back by the dark arts but who defied the would-be master of undeath. Dumat Mysteryboulder was bestowed with the name "abomination" granted citizenship (again). Only time would tell what the future would hold for him
As for the bookkeeper, well she was fond of saying she admired sheep for their tendency to flock so she would be known henceforth as 'Sheep' Theatreappeared.
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Topic: What's going on in your fort? (Read 5847329 times)