Chapter 84: From the journal of Stinthad Kekimtobul
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23rd Slate, 1057, Mid-Spring
Another dwarf has been taken by a strange mood. I never really understood this phenomenon until I experienced it myself...actually I still don't understand it. It's weird. You feel the urge to suddenly build something you had never even though about before and afterwards you barely remember doing so. What is it that compels us to make ropes covered with spikes?
27th Slate, 1057, Mid-Spring
So now that we have access to the outside, I decided to restart my plan of shoving all the zombies into a single cage to unleash on the goblins. However, when I originally thought this up it seems I overlooked a pretty big issue. When a dwarf takes a zombie out of a cage, they often have a difficult time putting it back into one.
Sadly I only realized this when Rabid let a giant zombie cave spider out.
Why did he have to try moving the most dangerous animal first? Well he tried to get away as soon as the beast broke free but the cave spider just wouldn't have that. It covered him in a thick layer of webs, preventing him from running away.
I could only watch in horror as the cave spider attempted to bite Rabid, who just barely managed to survive by struggling through the countless layers of web. Of course I called for every soldier to get out there and help them, but most of them refused to do so! Even Goden wouldn't go! They were all too busy drinking!
So with the entire military preoccupied with plump helmet wine things weren't looking good for Rabid. I was already looking through medical texts for information on how to treat giant cave spider bites. According to the book, "a dwarf bitten by a giant cave spider is fucked and doomed to suffocation. Doctors should shove the dwarf into a coffin right away to be efficient, as they're going to end up in there anyways."
It certainly wasn't very optimisitc. However, when I looked up I saw that Rabid was fleeing from the cave spider! He had managed to get away because his pet dog rushed in to defend him, distracting the cave spider!
The dog gave it's life to defend Rabid, for the cave spider injected it with venom before anyone could reach it.
But the sacrifice was not in vain, for it allowed Root to impale the zombie upon her steel spear!
While the only casualty from this incident was a dog, it still made it clear that my plan was horribly flawed. I guess I'll have to think of some other way to defend Reveredtour.
2nd Felsite, 1057, Late Spring
Oh boy! Migrants! It's always great to see new faces coming to Reveredtour! Good thing the goblins aren't here otherwise we would have to try using the tunnel bridge to them in, and that might not work out.
Hm, decent sized group to. Well, we need a new military squad so hopefully most of them know how to fight. Maybe there's even an experienced archer among them. That would be really nice!
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I may have already mentioned this when I first covered giant cave spiders, but it bears repeating; a giant cave spider bite is always fatal. Even if the cave spider doesn't kill the dwarf when they get paralyzed, they will suffocate in due time.