Dermonster - There's the list of people and their profiles on the first post, but that only gives their names and race, nothing else. I can't think of any way to do that though, not without ending up with an OP the length of a very long street
. If it helps, Stas is the suspicious Dwarf with a cloak who is actually a gentlemen thief. He also does absolutely no work, not even hauling
.
Slain - Welcome to Nomekast! Side-effects of your stay here
may be death by conspiracy, forgotten beasts, swarming monsters, accident, starvation, backstabbing, tantrum, and worse. All the standard deaths of any Dwarven fort basically, only with other races included.
filiusenox - Again, welcome to Nomekast! Side-effects
may include death or worse and anything listed above.
Gutanoth - Gutusp's been training her sword skills at the moment, she's novice right now.
ProZocK - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy the story, and I can say that it's a delight to write.
Also, we're in the Hall of Legends? VICTORY IS
MINE OURS!
Ahem, I'd like to thank everyone who made this possible, that is, the voters, and the community members. Because seriously, the story wouldn't be
half a tenth as good without the actual people who make it happen. So thank you all.
21st Hematite 676 - Morning"No, it's a cough!" Reg shouted at Gutusp. The Goblin-raised Dwarven women cupped a hand to her ear, shaking her head, "A cough!" Reg repeated. The two were in the open space outside the central hall. Currently the area was being opened up, the smattering of stone pillars that had blocked the place were being slowly removed by Spartan and his miners. The militia's training barracks were being moved down, and they would train out here, leaving the upper levels completely abandoned. The sound of picks on stone was heavy in the air.
Gutusp shook her head again,
"Snuto toton!" she shouted at the Dwarf, ostensibly demanding he talk even louder. Reg sighed, pointed at the Elven boy that the woman claimed as her property, shook his head and said, remembering
snuto being the Goblin word for 'no' or 'not', while still pointing at the Elven child,
"Snuto ill." and then walked off muttering to himself angrily, deciding to let Gutusp decode what he meant. As he stalked towards the food stockpiles for breakfast, he crossed Doc. Steve, the medic gave the doctor a slight smile,
"Lookin' happy, I see." he said. Reg frowned, waving a hand in the direction he came,
"It's that damned Dwarf Goblin woman, Kutusup or Gutsup or whatever. The kid she trails around has a cough, and she thinks he's going to keel over any second, so she took him to me for a check up."
"I imagine that'd be good asset management in Goblin society." Steve said with a ghost of a smile,
"Well she should learn Dwarven, it
is the international language." Reg grunted. It was at that moment that Bounce arrived, holding a flurry of papers,
"Steve, I've got the ledgers for the tribunal," she said, passing them to the marksdwarf, "Of the eight picks we have, five are accounted for."
"What? By all the demons of Hell, how could a Dwarven settlement lose three picks!?" Steve exclaimed in surprise.
"One has been missing since last year, Rakust took one and never gave it back - though she says she put it back - and one vanished just this month." the bookkeeper continued, reeling the data off her memory, "On top of that, we still have some missing gems gone since last year and nine bars of silver and two of platinum have gone missing in the past week. Missing from the stockpile might I add."
"And there's some of the silver hospital equipment stolen too." Reg stated, interrupting them. Bounce nodded,
"Not to mention that some copper bars went missing about a month ago." she continued.
"There's no way all of this could have been mislaid. We can't avoid it now; it's clear we have a thief as well as a attempted murderer on the loose." Steve murmured.
"I warned you this would happen. You let Goblins in from lawless societies and suddenly all our precious goods are vanishing," Reg grumbled, "And Kobolds too." he added as an afterthought, "and I wouldn't be surprised if some of those Humans came from no-good towns. Really, the Elves are the only ones you can trust to a degree, and you know things are
bad when that's true." he completed.
"Oh, and we've got some
extra cave wheat." Bounce suddenly chimed in.
"
Extra cave wheat?"
"Its fresh, not from last year's harvest. And yet this years harvest isn't even fully planted yet. It's a mystery where exactly it came from, like if some little spirit came in and left it as a gift."
"What if its poisoned?" Reg demanded, "We can't be too sure, we've got a would-be murderer on the loose and now fresh food turns up from nowhere. Suspicious don't you think?"
It was at that point that Ibruk arrived, striding on his cane. He had a large bruise where Volrath had punched him. By the prophet's insistence the Human was not punished, though that had not stopped Hammer of the Gods exacting what she had seen as righteous revenge. He greeted the trio with his usual warm smile, but there was a sad hint about it,
"Ah, pilgrims. You may be interested to hear the sinful perfidy that has occurred," the prophet said his smile fading as his face became grim, "I'm sure you all know about Rakust Aranlikot by now?" they all nodded; she'd been taken in by the militia and placed under - comfortable - house arrest in Tarran's cottage, with at least one guard by the door at all times. Ibruk continued, "Well Muenster was going through her belongings in the barracks to find any clues as to whether she was the one who attacked them in the caves, when he found a silver bar."
"A silver bar!?" Bounce exclaimed. Ibruk nodded, "Well," the bookkeeper said, rubbing the back of her head thoughtfully, "It just so happens that eight silver bars were stolen this week from the stockpiles."
"It is quite saddening indeed to see this noble and holy place tainted by those false pilgrims who pretend to serve the gods, when they seek only to follow the demons and their sinful ways. I fear that if things do not improve the gods may yet punish us once more." Ibruk grimaced, leaning sadly on his cane.
"Surely," Reg said drily, "as a prophet, you should have seen this coming? Or did the gods have a day off this week?"
"I see only that which the gods deem to show me, pilgrim. If they did not wish us to know of Rakust's dealings then it is not up to us to ask why." Ibruk said, throwing a hand up to the skies, "One does not question the will of the gods, especially not at such a critical time as this. The Old World is being destroyed, pilgrims, and a New World will be born from its ashes, thus it was written by the Blind Prophet of the Broken Rock."
"You'd think he'd have written a manual for surviving the destruction of the 'Old World' at least." Reg grumbled.
"Do we know where she put the rest, at least? Do you think she took the gemstones too?" Bounce asked, eager to get the books back on track so that she would no longer have to rush forwards and back searching for things that mysteriously vanished. Ibruk waved a hand dismissively,
"I do not know, but I believe Tarran has called the tribunal together, they will no doubt wish your presence, Steve."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When Steve arrived the rest were already assembled. Tarran started immediately, having pretty much taken the role of spokesdwarf of the group,
"Right, well as you probably know, we found some stolen silver hidden away in Rakust's stuff." he started.
"Makes her seem more suspicious, eh?" Bax smiled, "She'd probably have done well in a Goblin city."
"Hang yer Goblin cities, this place operates under Dwarven law." Muenster said, "At least, I think it does."
"Well that's just it." Tarran said, "We haven't had to deal with laws or anything since we all settled here. But there's 45 of us now, and we've had gems, picks, and now silver and platinum stolen. We've had attempted murder and now that Volrath guy punched Ibruk, and Hammer of the Gods punched him. The entire place is going to chaos."
"Volrath, that Human, is trouble," Fori said. It was odd for her to speak out against someone like this, "He's punched Ibruk, and he...well made a disparaging gesture towards me." the Elf blushed slightly at this. Derm frowned,
"What? What did he do?" he asked, a fierceness entering his voice, like a growing undercurrent. Fori shook her head,
"You needn't worry, he won't dare do it again."
"What did he do? He didn't hit you or something, did he? I swear, if-"
"No matter the outcome of the investigation," Rion interrupted, murmuring into his beard as he though of the situation, "we need to...oh damn, we're just going to end up like the old mountainhomes, we need a guard, and they'll need some kind of leader." he concluded, sighing.
"A leader...like a sheriff or a captain of the guard?" Derm said.
"Seems to be the case." Delta said, crossing his arms with a clatter of the armour he always wore.
"How are we going to choose them?" Tarran wondered.
"Well how do you normally choose them?" Sandra asked.
"We don't, the nobles choose the captain, and people volunteer." Rion answered.
"Well why not let volunteers do it, then?"
"Not know who is thief or killer." Xenos said. The Kobold tended to not speak much at these meetings, due to his poor grasp of the Dwarven language, he still turned up though, out of a sense of duty.
"Got it in one." Rion growled, "We've got a possible murderer and/or thief on the loose, maybe more. We can't be sure of whoever volunteers."
"What if the militia do it? It's not like it'll be much of an extra duty." Fori suggested.
"What about Meinhard's little group?" Sandra countered, "They're trustworthy."
"Wait 'till the investigation's over." Delta grunted. Tarran nodded,
"Once we've got the assassin for sure, then we can at least be sure we won't have a would-be murderer in the guards' ranks."
It was at that point that Helf burst in,
"She's gone!" he cried, a hint of panic in his voice, "Rakust's gone!"
"What!?" Tarran cried, jumping to his feet. The Dwarf took a breath,
"Well, I was talking with Rovod who was guarding the house, when we heard her jump into the lake! We went round but she slipped past us, running towards the lower levels!"
"Damn, we need to get after her!" Rion growled.
"Johann, Melagius, Meinhard, Rovod, Gutusp and Volrath went after her already."
"That's alot of people for one small woman." Bax smirked,
"Well it was more of a case of me shouting 'stop her' and then everyone just chasing her."
"Well, look on the bright side. If she ran, we at least know she must be guilty of
something."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
They chased her clear through the forges and out into the Fiery Cistern. Meinhard led, with Johann and Melagius behind him and Volrath and Gutusp behind them. Rovod brought up the rear, his crossbow slung over his back with a quiverful of bolts. Rakust had a head-start on them, but not enough of a significant one for them to not be able to follow, despite the treacherous way and the winding mazes of pillars and stone walls. She didn't really try to lose them, but seemed instead intent on getting somewhere. Finally she stopped, seemingly nowhere special, however there was a small carved alcove, and in it;
"A skull?" Johann managed to pant, breathing hard as he stopped. Meinhard brandished his spear at Rakust,
"Hokay, hyu stop now." he said, frowning at having been led on this chase. Rakust grinned a predatory smile,
"Oh my poor dear, this lady
never stops." she said silkily. Johann and Melagius flanked Meinhard, their own weapons at the ready, Gutusp cut off Rakust's other escape, holding a sword out,
"
Al" the Goblin-raised Dwarf said, "
uk os." Rakust laughed a chiming laugh,
"'Stop or I die'? Please, if I feared your weapons I would still be in that cottage under 'house-arrest'."
"What's that skull?" Johann demanded to know,
"Oh don't tell me you've forgotten it? Because I assure you it hasn't forgotten you." Rakust chuckled, taking the skull and raising it up. It seemed to be from some huge insect-like creature,
"Lerdi Kamcanecar's skull!" Melagius suddenly exclaimed, "We never found it after Rion decapitated the thing...you took it?"
"Well reasoned, have you considered philosophy?" Rakust said with a mocking smile,
"To Hell with this, woman! Are you coming back or not?" Volrath demanded angrily.
"Awww," Rakust said, faking sadness, " but you haven't even asked me why I took Lerdi's skull yet."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Up in the lighthouse Torvold stood, a frown on his face. He had come up here to relax a bit. Recently he'd been going over all the plans Meinhard had given him from the old scientist Dos Panzermench, and had decided to build several of the contraptions and inventions himself, but he needed a lab for that. But before he could even begin to start on the lab, he had been press-ganged into planting. Ha! As though a genius like himself should be made to do planting like some hick! However, as he looked out over the Swamps of Tunnelling he couldn't help but think something was wrong. Suddenly he saw movement from two ends of the valley, two more refugees no doubt, one seemed tall, probably a Human, Goblin or Elf, the other was followed by what seemed to be dogs, though he hoped it was cats. He liked cats. At any rate, he had better go and warn the others that more were arriving. Then he realised what had been bugging him.
The valley was completely devoid of Nothing. All the Nothings had vanished.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Necromancy!" Volrath snarled angrily, lifting his blacksteel sword up ready to strike, remembering the sick sight of the necromancer eating the girl alive that he had fought before coming to Nomekast. Rakust clapped her hands together, slowly,
"Well done! You get our star prize tonight! Of course, nothing says you'll like it..." she said, her voice sing-song.
"Rakust," Rovod asked calmly, his crossbow aimed right at her, "were you the one that caused the cave-in?"
"Oh I tell you, I was
quite annoyed when that didn't work. I was meant to take out the entire group, but - can you believe it!? - they split up!"
"Vy? Vy do all dat?" Meinhard asked.
"Because I intend to survive. The world is dying, and I refuse to follow it." Rakust said, her smile faltering for a second. Then she laughed, "Oh but I talk and talk. And really I should be greeting the guest of honour or rather, the
guests of honour. They've come from far, far away just for you lucky people of Nomekast!"
Heavy footfalls started to be heard, getting louder and louder. Rakust cackled happily, raising Lerdi's skull with both hands in triumph. Behind her, two great red eyes appeared from the gloom, and behind it came hundreds more red eyes.
"Listen well!" Rakust announced,
"
"
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Topic: [Community] Nomekast - At War with Nothing (Read 192744 times)