Chapter 96: From the journal of Stinthad Kekimtobul
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1st Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
Why has another ettin come here?! Is it seeking revenge for its fallen brother? Do ettins even care about that kind of stuff? Is it just looking for some dwarves to crush?
Whatever, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that we can't let this thing live. I've ordered a complete lockdown of the fortress. As soon as all the civilians get inside we'll close the bridge, gather the military, and then fight the beast. We've killed an ettin before. Surely this one can't be any harder?
3rd Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
Lockdown of the fortress is complete. Everyone got inside safely, much to my relief. The ettin got very close but the bridge was dropped before it could cross. Now it simply sits outside the entrance, stomping the ground in anticipation of the battle it believes to be coming. We certainly shall battle it, but not until our entire military is gathered and ready to fight.
6th Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
The vast majority of the military had grouped together before the bridge. With no reason to delay, I order the bridge raised. As expected, the ettin charged across the bridge in a blind fury. The plan was to wait for the ettin to reach the other side and then swarm it, overwhelming it through numbers.
But Furioso broke position! He went to meet the ettin on the bridge, eager to earn further glory in combat! Fighting on the narrow bridge gives us no advantage against a single opponent. Unfortunately, we could not simply let Furioso fight alone. Root ordered the rest of the military to follow him.
As expected, Furioso did not fare well alone. A single punch from the Ettin knocked him on his back. He was now completely vulnerable, and the ettin was ready to crush him. Root wouldn't let that happen. She ran ahead of the other soldiers with seemingly unnatural speed. She tried to brag the ettin's attention to prevent it from killing her subordinate.
Her plan worked, but now she was the one being crushed rather than Furioso. The ettin delivered crushing blows that managed to gravely wound Root despite the armor she wore. I was worried that the ettin might actually kill her!
Fortunately the rest of the military was right behind her. The ettin soon found itself overwhelmed by a wave of angry dwarves. A sight that would terrify most opponent, but the ettin was fearless.
...or so I thought. The ettin attempted to flee after receiving a few minor injuries. I though giants and their relatives were not capable of experiencing fear, but evidently I was wrong. The ettin was a coward. At this point we could have simply let it go, but there was no way the military was going to let it escape after the injuries it inflicted upon Root.
To my surprise Goden was at the head of the pack, bashing the ettin repeatedly as it struggled to escape. She might not be thinking clearly recently but at least she still has a strong sense of duty.
It wasn't long before the ettin found that it had blundered into a dead end. With nowhere left to run, the ettin turned to fight. Surrounded by dwarves, the beast had no chance. It was brought to its knees in but a few seconds, subdued by crippling pain.
A clean stroke of an axe brought an end to the life of the creature's last head. The ettin was defeated without a single casualty! How fantastic! Root's injuries are certainly a matter of concern, but she's tough. I'm sure she will pull through. A few broken bones aren't much compared to having an arm torn off.
8th Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
Root's injuries are bad but nothing that will be permanent. Or at least, that's what Silent Thunder told me. So long as Root allows her to mend the bones and gives them time to heal, she should be back to normal. Whether or not Root will cooperate is another matter entirely, but there's little I can do about it.
In celebration of our defeat of the ettin, a party has been organized. This made me realized just how hard the Immortal Rags have been working. They have served Reveredtour tirelessly for years and not once received a break. I figured now was the time to give them a small one, at the very least. It's not like they can do much with their commander in the hospital.
10th Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
Okay, that was a mistake. Now I remember why I never gave the military breaks before.
Only a few days after the Immortal Rags went on break, disaster occurred. A hauler gathering materials in the crypt was heard screaming. Soon after that his screaming was replaced by the sound of cracking bones and the triumphant roar of a troll.
As a result the Immortal Rags are now back on duty and tasked with rescuing the hauler. Though I fear it may be too late. So many of our rescue missions have failed lately...
13th Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
How fortunate that I was wrong for once! I had feared that the soldiers would never arrive in time, but they proved me wrong! The secondary soldier Catface rushed to the scene and decapitated the foul troll before it could finish the job.
To make matters better, Silent Thunder knew about the rescue operation and followed the soldier down into the caverns. She was able to recover the wounded dwarf right after the troll fell.
Hopefully the injuries are not too severe. It would be a shame to come this close only to lose the dwarf now.
16th Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
Silent Thunder only returned with a lifeless corpse. Despite all our efforts we could not save the dwarf, for the damage done by the troll was too much. It seems that the troll had strangled him so much that almost every bone in his neck was crushed, and as a result the dwarf could no longer breathe properly. At least we have plenty of coffins prepared, so he will not be doomed to haunt the halls as a spirit like so many unfortunate others have in the past.
20th Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
The elven caravan has arrived. They do not seem to carry any negative feelings over the fate of their other caravans. Perhaps they are thankful we managed to save one elf from the goblins and are saving their hate for them. Regardless, I do not intend for their visit to Reveredtour to be a tragic one. It would not surprise me if the goblins are lurking in the shadows, waiting for a moment to strike. I cannot send the military to scour every inch of our territory, but I can tell them to stand guard at the entrance and be prepared to fight any enemy. We can handle anything short of a siege, even with Root still in the hospital.
24th Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
Despite my initial fears, the elves did not encounter any trouble on the way into the fort. Trading with them will proceed as normal. However, it just occurred to me that Silent Thunder might have too much to handle at the moment. Not only does she have to tend to Root but also meet with the elves. To help rectify this problem, I have assigned another dwarf to serve in the hospital.
Her name is Jessica. She's a single mother of two, the whereabouts of her husband unknown to me. It seems odd that a mother would bring two young children all the way out here alone, but I guess I wouldn't really know. She actually has some medical skills already so this shouldn't cause any problems.
26th Felsite, 1058, Late Spring
I was wrong about the goblin threat. Despite my expectations they did not launch another attack. However, the kobolds are something I did not consider. They continue to plague our fort, sending their thieves to plunder our riches.
As Jessica was heading back into the fort she encountered such a thief. Having been exposed, the thief turned to flee. I did not order the military to pursue him as there was no chance of them catching a fleeing kobold when he already gotten so far.
But then Jessica ran into yet another thief! This has me concerned. It could be the precursor to an organized kobold raid. I've order the military to stand guard right outside of the bridge to ensure that nothing gets into the fort.
I will not allow these kobolds to shame us any further. Should they choose to attack again, they shall be the ones who suffer greatly.
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