Finally done! I only figured out last night how I wanted to close this.
12.9 TowerEnded 1110-12All dwarfs that have the slightest bit of military skill, including those caring for small children, have been drafted. With this otherwise-unthinkable measure, we’ve managed to increase our military to 35 dwarves, grouped in four squads. Crossbows, axes, swords, and hammers all then travel to FrayMaligned, in a desperate bid to rescue our four imprisoned kin.
1110.01.19 What we found was terrible beyond our worst nightmares:
Three of our four captured dwarves stood on FrayMaligned’s fortifications, flanking the centuries-old monster that is
Smunstu MenaceTempt like an honor guard would flank a sovereign. They’re fully kitted out, in our masterwork armor and weapons: these are no mere prisoners, these are traitors. We can’t see their faces, but Smunstu is grinning widely.
The shock is great; we know these people well, after all.
Axe-dwarf WarmRacks, leader of the First Axes, has fought and killed the giantess Stratab ClimaxHale the Impervious Sports in defense of TowerEnded.
Spear-dwarf BaldCopper, leader of the spear squad, is one of our treasured heroes: it was he who delivered the death blow to Pestrat PerplexedBrain.
Cerol EmeraldShield had always presented herself as a consummate warrior, and had served in the army since her arrival in 1103.
This could have been the end of TowerEnded, then and there. A successful defense by the goblins, aided by our newly-revealed traitors, could have wiped out all our forces. Then TowerEnded could have been attacked and overrun before it could train a new military. But the leader of this attack was
Adil SnakeLancers, and Adil has always been a practical dwarf.
It was incomprehensible that all these people had suddenly turned traitor; but nonetheless, it was also clear that they were now traitors. So that is what Adil would address. He and about two thirds of his troops faced Smunstu, and prepared for her attacks, be they in combat or with words.
Adil had already spread out those of his troops that were best at ambushes, while he and the rest took on the dangerous task of being the loud and highly visible distraction. So it was in these scattered troops that he placed his faith for the first encounter.
And place it well he did. Just as Smunstu opened her mouth for some doubtlessly cruel taunt, dwarves spring out of ambush.
Hammerer SpinSack falls upon speardwarf BaldCopper, and pulps his head in one strike; the traitor never stood a chance. Axe-dwarf WarmRacks soon follows, though she at least receives enough of a fore-warning to put up a fight:
Adil’s group doesn’t stand idle: they charge the massed trolls, and scythe through their ranks:
Marksdwarf TautCanyons, former mayor of TowerEnded between 1107 and 1108, finds herself with several clear shots on Smunstu; the goblin manages to parry or dodge a few, as expected of such a skilled warrior, but eventually all luck runs out, and bolts begin to strike true:
The last to die is Cerol EmeraldShield; being ‘merely’ a master spear-dwarf, she was left for last, after the legendary weapon-lords.
By the end of the day, all living beings in FrayMaligned had either died, fled, or hid well enough that the invading dwarves could not find them. Still in shock after witnessing such betrayal, the dwarves leave the Dark Fortress at sundown; it’s best to avoid the burning sun for the trip.
They arrive in TowerEnded three days later. The news of Smunstu’s death is drowned out by the shock of treason. The entire fort is abuzz with rumors and theories. The three were barely imprisoned in mid-winter, how was it possible for them to have turned against us by early spring? Were Smunstu’s skills sufficient to turn loyal dwarves into her puppets? Or, the worst possibility, they have always been spies and traitors, and we have been deceived?
The entire fort is gripped by indecision and paranoia; even the necessity of training is put under doubt: is it of any use, when we may well train our own death? Thankfully, cooler heads prevail, and point out that traitors have already shown their colors; in two battles already, dwarves have had the option to switch sides, and they have not.
The army’s training regimen is resumed; it will be held to the highest standards. And I, as mayor, order the crafting of 9 more adamantine axes; this is how many we can now make, from our remaining stocks of the priceless metal. Additionally, all iron is to be smelted into steel, and all steel is to be made into armor; the heavier logs will be selected from caverns and surface, and burnt for coal. The new parents are retained in military service, and the 20 trainees who volunteered last year are once again confirmed to be excused from all other work.
The Fortress is gearing for war. We will engage in a third attack, as soon as we can.
Udib FigureDrinkers, slayer of Maga DeepSubtle, was not seen in the spring attack; is she dead, or was she still prisoner in some hidden nook of the Fortress? And if she was still a prisoner in early spring, perhaps Smunstu’s poisonous influence has not corrupted her. As long as there is a possibility to rescue even one loyal dwarf, we will attempt to do so.
Mid-spring brings 5 new migrants; makes perfect sense, given we recently lost 21 citizens -- or, well, 25. Unfortunately, they are all mostly unskilled, which means they’ll be doomed to a life of hauling, military, or silk collection in the now-secure second cavern.
They did bring news that FrayMaligned has bounced back from its multiple attacks; instead of dropping, its population has somehow increased, from ~30 to ~40 inhabitants:
This baffles us in turn; we know damn well the fortress is mostly populated by trolls and beak dogs, and any civilized creatures have been killed already. By all rights, FrayMaligned should be on the brink of being deserted.
We could dismiss the new numbers as brazen lies, but that doesn’t seem likely; FrayMaligned, for all its decayed state and dubious political decisions, is a major trade hub for this entire quarter of the world. It’s not really possible to fake a population increase, especially if you’re trying to pretend 0 inhabitants are actually 40.
The worst possible option (for us) would be that goblins have swiftly repopulated FrayMaligned, drawing from their scattered possessions: caves, camps, conquered hamlets, and so on. Perhaps it’s in retaliation for our own attacks; perhaps it was always intended to do so, after the losses it incurred against humans. Either way, we grimly prepare for war.
1110.04.07: The Dishonesties of Soot have come to lay siege: 50-odd human and goblin invaders, which is an important detail, because the Dishonesties of Soot aren’t supposed to have any humans. Seems like the ‘conquered hamlet’ assumption is proven correct.
They all die very quickly. It’s clear they are not used to their armor; it took them four days to arrive from the slopes of the mountain to the fort’s entrance. The Dishonesties of Soot have thoroughly scraped the bottom of the barrel for this siege.
We will repay them with the same coin, though with much better troops.
Six more migrants have arrived; like the spring ones, these too are completely unskilled. This dashed my hopes that I could fill the vacancies in the non-axe squads from migrants; or at all, for that matter, since I doubt TowerEnded will ever train anything other than axe-dwarves.
1110.06.20 After what feels like too many delays, the four squads reach FrayMaligned. It is, once again, mostly empty.
Udib FigureDrinkers, former Hero of TowerEnded and slayer of the Forgotten Beast Maga DeepSubtle the Spidery Menace of Curses, was found scrambling to defend the place; she was screaming futilely at a mob of trolls, trying in vain to organize them.
She was killed without fanfare by hammer-dwarf Logem LanternGroup.
Like last time, the troops scoured the place and killed all they could find. But something was visibly missing: there was no burning hatred driving them, or righteous indignation. The dwarves were merely going through the motions, and left for TowerEnded at nightfall.
The shock of spring has curdled into a sort of bitter apathy. Goblins have repopulated FrayMaligned, again, but there was no more will to contest their positions. Even after we were attacked again, in the spring of 1111, it was impossible to drive citizens to vengeance.
Instead, TowerEnded has begun to look only inward; an isolationist current gripped the fort. The military would be maintained, but only for defense. All missing positions in squads were filled, and novices trained alongside legendaries.
Only one sortie has ever left TowerEnded, to check on the tomb of InchedFence; and here the Sword-Lord himself was the driving force. There are no living creatures in it, and no possessions to be found. The tomb is truly empty.
There was still the matter of all the thieves that occasionally show up. In here, opinion has shifted too, and the concept of executing caught thieves has become predominant. I don’t disagree when the thieves are undead, but I still hold some doubt if this should be applied to any living creatures.
As 1112 turns, I come to the uncomfortable realization that I am no longer the mayor this fort needs. I will serve the remainder of my term, but I will refuse any further nominations. It’s time for a new leader, with a new direction; perhaps Nil TautCanyons will be chosen again, to improve the lives of all citizens? Perhaps it will be someone entirely new? I do not know, but I’m willing to find out.
1110-02-24 New Beast:
Ufalo HideousGland, arrives in the first cavern; it was struck down by Avuz one day later.
1110.09.12 New beast:
Nguzo Fategreases the Mine of Biles arrived in the third cavern, on Nuglush’s territory. To my shame, I don’t have a proper description of it: Nuglush GallEchoes the Canker of Night set it on fire before I could reach the viewport, then bit it to death while it was distracted.
1111-01-20 New Beast:
Iteg the Larval Gutters; a towering, eyeless tick with a lovely aqua exoskeleton. It arrived in the first cavern, and was struck down by Avuz one day later.
1111.03.15 Old Beast: Gosmsex Murkspurts was struck down by Nuglush. Gosmex is an old foe of ours, having plagued ElderCraft and ChannelDive in the first century of the world. It has been dormant ever since.
The dwarves of TowerEnded never found out how corrupt
Risen ‘Mother 01’ ClaspCat had gotten; and with the new policy of immediate undead murder, they likely never will. Her eldest child is all grown up, and wants to start his own family. Her youngest is nearing 5 years old by now, and has no memory of his father.
Two more corrupt dwarves were never found in TowerEnded. One was
Cerol EmeraldShield, who was flattered into treason by the undead human
Vanod MasterStabs. Vanod was imprisoned and later murdered, while Cerol died in combat, so the whole thing is moot. The other was one
Urdim WhippedSevere, who helped Ngokang BluntHells steal The Profane Hall, artifact goblin bone scepter; nobody wants the creepy thing back, so no real investigation took place.
Onget SearchHatchet is fine, and so is the Onslaught of Fogs that he’s hiding from everybody else. On one hand, he likes the safety provided by TowerEnded; on the other hand, he’d like to actually wear the artifact, and now he sure can’t do that. He’s pretty conflicted on what to do.
Ral WheelStakes stepped out of mayoring, and kinda faded into obscurity. He never joined the military, despite his affinity for it (because it’s a bloomin’ nightmare to send nobles in raids, they lose all their rooms, and it’s such a hassle…)
There were two apocryphal attempts to raze
FrayMaligned; they both ended in disaster. And it's extremely frustrating, because FrayMaligned is not supposed to be populated by anything capable of mounting such a devastating defense; there's only trolls in there, for crying out loud!
And lastly,
Etur WireFierce, Goblin queen of Dwarves, still reigns in EctoTomes. It was her who inserted agents into TowerEnded, and who commanded them to join with Etur’s ally Smunstu MenaceTempt in a last gamble to break TowerEnded’s spirit. The four 'traitors' have always been loyal to the Cudgel of Time, it’s just that Queen Etur is playing games.
I don’t have the remaining time, and possibly the writing chops, to finish plotting this in detail, or to write her suitably epic epilogue. I'd really like to, though; I have some ideas I'd like to incorporate - that it really was a gamble on Etur's part because it could have also turned TowerEnded into a rogue faction, that Etur doesn't think of this as any sort of "super-sneaky oh-so-smart"; as far as she's concerned, that's just how you live life, that Smunstu and Etur both underestimated just how killy dwarves are... it was not a case of "Just as Planned (TM)", there really were multiple ways this plot could have ended, and in a real sense Etur was also very lucky. The missing piece is how would she justify to her four agents that they need to go against TowerEnded; I got nothing on that.
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Topic: The World Of Bones - Succession World - Ended (Read 30093 times)