Chapter 91: From the journal of Stinthad Kekimtobul
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1st Timber, 1057, Late Autumn
Well I suppose it was only a matter of time before another one of these things showed up. Of course it had to come at one of the worst possible moments. Now despite this, it actually seems like lady luck is smiling upon me for once.
The area where the beast arrived is overgrown with cavern plants and trees. The forest is so thick that the creature cannot work its way through it to reach the fort. I'm not sure why it doesn't just smash down the trees and walk past, not that I'm complaining.
We could just leave it there and ignore it forever, but Commander Root wants to pit the military against it. I'm not sure I can approve of such pointless danger. We have no idea what this beast is capable of after all. Fortunately, the woodcutters are incredibly lazy so they probably won't ever even get around to chopping down those trees.
4th Timber, 1057, Late Autumn
Well now Engarde's stopped working and started babbling about a great idea she has. As if the forge masters weren't already behind schedule, now they're starting to get moods. We can't afford distractions like this when half the military still lacks a full set armor!
At the very least she might produce something valuable. With metal workers you don't have to worry about them making a rope with spikes. And she could gain some valuable skills from this, which would result in high quality equipment. Perhaps this will actually be better for us in the long run!
7th Timber, 1057, Late Autumn
Or maybe she'll just go make something in a crafting shop instead of honing her forging skills. This is why I shouldn't get my hopes up with these dumb moods.
10th Timber, 1057, Late Autumn
The warthog hunt continues, as more of them keep blundering into the outskirts of Reveredtour. You'd think by now the local wildlife would have learned to avoid this place. Perhaps they simply can't resist the delicious food we cook, as the winds carry the pleasant aroma for miles. In an otherwise arid wasteland of death and decay, decent dwarven cooking stands out.
Though I must admit some of the cook's most recent dishes aren't exactly appealing. I love a good mussel roast, but I can't bring myself to eat anything with an unidentified beast's heart in it. Hearts aren't supposed to be bright green and filled with purple goo. I'm almost 100% sure of that. The pictures in the medical textbooks aren't colored though.
14th Timber, 1057, Late Autumn
As per the request of our mechanics, a large area to the south of Reveredtour is being cleared of trees and having a solid wall built around it. The mechanics believe that they can use such an area to build weapons to use against a goblin siege, ones that could be fired over the river without exposing any dwarves to danger. I don't know exactly what they mean by this, but anything that could give us an edge over the goblins should be considered.
My only concern is that the dwarves working on this are exposed to goblin invaders. In the worst case scenario, an undetected goblin ambush could catch them completely off guard-
JUST LIKE THAT!
15th Timber, 1057, Late Autumn
Why do these goblins always seem to arrive at the most dramatically convenient time? Do they have a spy in the base? Am I beaming my thoughts directly to them somehow?
Given that nobody had any idea this was coming, there was no hope for the workers outside. The goblins tore one of them to pieces right away, and they are now in the process of chasing down the other. I hate to say but I know he's not going to live.
Fortunately, those two were the only ones outside, which meant that Silent Thunder was able to throw up the lever right away to protect the fort.
Now I'm not sure what I should do. If there's only one squad out there, I know the military can survive a direct engagement. However it wouldn't surprise me if there are more goblins lurking in the wastes, waiting for us to make the mistake of trying to engage the first squad. At the same time, I know the dwarven caravan will be coming soon and I don't want to see them cut down by the goblin invaders.
For now I'll wait, see if any more goblins become visible. Perhaps a joint strike with the caravan guards when they arrive will work best. I shouldn't take any risks yet though.
...or maybe I should because the caravan is already here. Of all the years to arrive early, why did it have to be this one?
19th Timber, 1057, Late Autumn
I ordered the military to take position at the bridge. I wasn't just going to sit back and let the goblins take control of the wastes again. We were going to give them a fight to remember. I'm sick of being beaten! It's time when started beating them instead!
Of course the goblins immediately started charging towards the fort as soon as the bridge was lowered. They completely ignored the passing caravan, much to their relief I'm sure. Unfortunately for us, the caravan guards seemed content to hang back rather than pursue the goblins, preferring to enjoy the spectacle rather than help us fight. Well we didn't there help anyways!
As the goblins crossed the bridge the soldiers charged towards them. That bridge has become a killing ground. No wonder it's covered in so many layers of blood and vomit. To my surprise, the charge was led by Da-MoA, an otherwise unremarkable secondary soldier with no notable talent. I expected him to be cut to ribbons like most novice soldiers that hang out in the front, but it was quite the opposite!
The goblin pikeman was completely overwhelmed by the soldiers, evidently not expecting such a ferocious onslaught! She wasn't even able to hit anyone before being crippled with pain!
The sight of their commander being struck down dealt a heavy blow to the goblin's normally unflinching desire to fight. As their morale broke their tight formation fell apart as some chose to hang back out of fear. Those that did charge forward met a similar fate as their commander.
Then the goblins actually began to flee! The remaining soldiers ran away in terror, some even dropping their weapons in their haste. Commander Root ordered the soldiers to hunt them down, but they had already moved to far ahead. So while those goblins did escape, this was still an undeniable victory. Our total casualties; 0! I never thought I'd say that! We repelled a goblin invasion with no deaths! In fact, I don't think there are even any major injuries! Our military is actually competent!
This calls for a celebration. Or at least it would if Root didn't insist on keeping the soldiers training all the time. In my opinion they deserve a break, but I guess if they took breaks this battle wouldn't have gone so well.
22nd Timber, 1057, Late Autumn
Initially I had assumed all recent goblin activity would only consist of that ambush. Of course I was wrong, those crafty green skins always have other plans. A few days after the ambush fell, a snatcher was sighted entering the fort.
It wasn't some novice thief either, but rather a highly skilled one. I doubt he would have been caught if the bridge wasn't such a narrow passage with nowhere to avoid detection.
Whatever troops were nearby at the moment tried to chase down a thief, but doing so is ultimately pointless. Goblins thieves excel at running away when their detected. Any thief that can't doesn't last long. So I thought this wasn't going to accomplish much other than waste the soldier's time.
Or so I thought. Commander Root found another snatcher sneaking across the bridge as she went out to confront the first one. I'm guessing this was a planned attack. The thieves were to raid the fort after the initial ambush wreaked havoc upon our military. It's a plan they know doubt came to wholeheartedly regret.
Thieves can run fast, but evidently not fast enough.
25th Timber, 1057, Late Autumn
I thought that things would be calm around here after the goblin attacks, but no, more incidents just keep coming up. Almost right after the snatcher attack, a bunch of the forge masters started screaming about something. I'm guessing it's something stupid like one of the forges caught on fire again. Given the way they're acting, you might think they're under attack. But that's impossible! After all, nothing could possibly get in there.
...right?
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Dwarf Fortress always manages to surprise you, even when you've been playing for a long time. For example, I did not know that magma sea monsters could enter the forges through the workshops. But now I do! Fancy that.
So it's not exactly a secret that I haven't updated much recently. This is due to a combination of stress, depression, anxiety, school finals, and laziness (mostly laziness). However, I'm done with school now, so I should have more free time where I can continue not working on this!
