The third cavern level is finally open to the fortress, and the dwarves sense a couple of Crundles down there. Being that Crundles are delicious snacks for a fledgling dwarven army, the overseer sends a squad down there. It consists of four dwarves:
Solon Dodokonul, an Accomplished Speardwarf.
Zuglar Athellium, a new recruit and a Novice Swordsdwarf.
Kubuk Sakrithiden, a Skilled Marksdwarf with no skill in hammers.
And humble Cog Gasolakrul, a new recruit and a Novice Hammerdwarf.
Eager little Zular rushes down, lands straight in the face of a Blind Cave Ogre. He gets a little overzealous, and quickly ends up becoming dwarven wall paint. Solon drops down and skewers the ogre, nearly instantly killing him. The dwarves continue, knowing that soon, another dwarf will be there to carry the body. They had a mission, after all. A dwarf can't leave a mission incomplete.
A second Blind Cave Ogre bars their path, but Solon simply smashes its spine with his silver-tipped spear (Galena being the fortress' only workable ore aside some minor Nickle deposits). They finally make it to the dark, ominous, claustrophobic cavern level. The smell of sulphur is strong here as there are several magma deposits to either side, but the dwarves continue on; they can smell the nasty stench of crundle at this point. Suddenly, they spot one jumping along the path nearby! Kubuk fires a Silver Bolt at it, but misses, and they give chase.
As they enter the ravine they know they've been ambushed. A large swathe of Crundle, possibly 40 strong, charges down the harsh cliff edges and begins tearing at the poor (notably unarmored) dwarves. Solon, in all his glory, begins tearing the army apart while Kubuk gives firing support. Cog, not at this point knowing what to do, sits back and defends herself. The battle rages on and as crundle after crundle falls to the Silver Spear of Fate, Solon is injured further and further. Cog and Kubuk notice, and Kubuk madly shouts, "Fall back! Let us deal with some!" But it is too late. Solon falls to the floor, bleeding profusely, his throat crushed by the crundles; 20 or more fell to his spear, but his legacy was at its end. Cog finally regains her senses as she realizes what happens... and she goes into what Kubuk could later only describe as a graceful possession by the gods of war themselves. During this trance, she slays nearly all of the remaining Crundles, sending the rest fleeing, but incurs massive bodily damage to herself in the process; she had a broken arm, a broken leg, and a broken shoulder. As the crundles begin to flee, the now-ammoless Kubuk deciding (against orders and common sense) to give chase and slay the remaining ones, Cog finally falls unconscious, also bleeding out and having trouble moving.
Cog wakes up several hours later. She can hear the continued sounds of battle as Kubuk valiantly destroys the remaining crundles, and as she blearily looks around, she notices her fallen comrade, brave Solon. As she realizes she's been forcibly relieved of duty, she limps over to his corpse, slings him over his back, clothes and all, and begins limping... covered in the blood of both Crundle and Dwarf... all the way up the massive, 92-level flight of stairs to the fortress proper. She stops not once on the journey, finally reaching the top and dropping the brave dwarf in the coffin he so deserves to finally rest in. Cog promptly makes off for the Liquor Storage, only just realizing that her hard training has paid off, and that she's now an "Adequate" hammerdwarf. Somehow, this brings a slight comfort to the terrible trials she's just endured... but not as much as the Dwarven Rum, of course.
Kubuk went on to become the Militia Commander of The Clear Treaties, due to Solon's untimely death. Cog had a masterwork solid silver statue forged in her honor, and later placed, proudly, front and center to the fortress entrance, for all to behold. Solon's Spear was placed in an upright position next to it, never again to see the glory of battle except as an observer. Zular had a quiet funeral with the few dwarves that knew him. He was not very well known among the fortress, but he will forever be remembered as part of the glorious tale of The Clear Treaties, reclaimed fortress of The Excavated Banners. The Blind Cave Ogre Basenshosel went on to become a totem, which was later traded to Elves. The Elves were then slaughtered in magma, as was tradition. All rejoiced. None wept for the totem.
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Topic: Morul is nothing. Behold with awe the tale of Cog Gasolakrul, a true legend. (Read 2030 times)