The child Wwen has been sent to counceling with out mayor. His Father, Lazarenth, claims he has been increasingly down of heart in recent days.
Sadly, RabidGolfCart's words do little good
The problem seems to be spreading to other children as well
I hope this problem gets no worse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alas! It has gotten worse!
Poor Wwen has succumed to depression. He now wanders the fortress in sullen silence, refusing even his own Kin.
I suspect he will fall to thirst before long.
So happy to hear you've been enjoying a relative peace down there while we've been fighting off a spore-implanting SIEGE!
I called a regroup in preparation of the next charge, but T-Man, eager for blood, broke ranks and charged the remaining trolls. Rather than lose T-Man to the foolish charge I lead the rest of the Fair axes after him.
The fight starts poorly, as he suffers under a crushing blow to his guts. Despite this poor start he manages to remove one invader's leg, before bringing down a skull shattering blow.
A fine kill indeed, but the fight is not over. He begins a dance of death with the second, both combatants dodging and rolling. T-man eventually manages a strike at the Troll's head, but is sadly denied a second kill.
FluffySquirrel, Cuccka and Scribleykins arrive in the fight, and the Troll rather sensibly starts to flee, as do his fellows.
T-man's foe is taken down by Scribleykins who drives his axe into the beast's skull, nearly cleaving it in two.
Renewed by the slaughter and the terror of our foes we began to chase them from our territory...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ambush!
Our hubris gets the better of us and we are lept upon by a troop of beakdog mounted mace goblins near the southern border.
T-man falls instantly, his head crushed by a goblin's flail.
Hoping for a more favorable engagement and the full support of the other squads, I call a retreat back to the gatehouse.
I can only pray that we survive this day.
Goblin archers have been spotted in the north-east, fortunately unmounted this time.
Back in the south west, FluffySquirel and Scribleykins have had their retreat cut off by the goblin riders. They have no choice but to fight.
Fluffy takes the brunt of their aggression, and although he succeeds in knocking a goblin from his mount, it looks hopeless, and is.
Scribleykins fares a little better, mortally wounding a Troll before his arm is shattered by a beakdog. His adamantine axe falls to the floor, but he isn't done yet...
"DIorItE!"
The gods themselves smile on Scribleykins: He has entered a Mintyan Trance!
He moves now with a grace surpassing the most nimble of Elves, absorbing mace strikes that would fell a Yeti, but ultimately it is all for naught.
He manages not a single strike with his shield before being brought down by his many, many wounds.
Though it seems they fall in vain, their deaths give us, and more than a few civilians the time they need to get back within the gatehouse.
...But not all.
Gabriel Pope, the Dwarf who spotted the archer squad, falls swiftly to a hail of bolts.
Ktarthan falls before the gates, his hunting skill no match for the savage beakdog.
Finally (for now at least) Octavian falls, so close to home and yet so far. If any consolation can be found it is that he at least bruised a beakdog before he fell.
"Tyskil! Pull the lever!"
"Which Lever?"
"The Gate Lever! Seal the front gate! Now!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"NO! DWARVES ON THE BRIDGE! STOP THE LEVER PULLING!"
Where are they going?
They're trying to save the abandoned baby, Average Bear. A noble cause, as long as it doesn't doom the rest of us.
Sadly, they arrive too late.
Not that that's going to stop them taking their vengeance upon the Goblin menace.
DarkHorse launches himself on top of a beakdog to do battle, as Phoenix engages from the ground.
Phoenix is swiftly wounded, taking a harsh blow to his upper body. His countering swing fails to make contact, but spooks the beakdog enough that it throws its rider.
DarkHorse's beakdog riding antics come to a swift end as he is thrown by the wild beast...
...Right onto the newly riderless beakdog near the now retreating Phoenix. He is thrown again, this time into the floor and quickly torn apart by cruel talons.
I had no choice now. I yelled back down the entry for the gate to be closed.
Phoenix, now in full retreat, ignores our calls and retreats right across the gatehouse, dragging his pursuer with him...
...Directly into the sights of KoffeeKup's crossbow! His first bolt finds the Goblins heart, and a second later the gate slams shut.
Two beakdogs and one rider are thrown into the air and fall into the pit beneath, unfortunately unharmed.
Phoenix, now trapped, falls quickly.
As does Nethris, the last civilian to return from the Minty Mech Memorial
Gemclod is sealed.
The Goblins will have to be content with flipping us off from the far side.
Daeren wrote :-
You know what's really behind all these...Happenings?
No, not some fake disease cooked up by the Nobles to explain it, not some ghostly invasion, nothing so simple.
The Trees.
The Trees are the ones doing it. No, wait, get back here! I'm not finished!
You see, the elves have been using their fruity elf magic on Trees since creation started to make them grow and give wood without "hurting" them, you know that. So, who's to say that this fruity elf magic isn't causing the Trees to fight back? We haven't paid enough attention to the creeping forests above and below us, and now our laxity is making us pay.
I SAID GET BACK HERE
You know how mushrooms and plants and dwarves all reproduce with spores, right? The elves must have made the Trees start releasing spores of their own, only these spores get into dwarves and kill them by making tiny Trees grow in their lungs, choking them to death. They also make tiny Trees grow in your skin and bones and cripple you that way too. They haven't gotten me yet because I know their game, I know how to fight back against their leafy ways. I could teach you lot, but it's too late for most of you. The Trees are already growing in you. Besides, you dicks haven't given me a proper drink in years, and I haven't been moved in so long I think I'm fusing to this damn bed.
But we can make sure no more fall.
CUT.
DOWN.
EVERYTHING.
T-man wrote :-
I, T-man, Defender of the Fortress, have slain the goblin menace! I shall protect the weak and foolish from harm, saving them from the slavering hoards! All shall fall to me, destroying them! I shall overcome! Gemclod will LIVE!
I hear the enemy approaching. LET THEM TREMBLE BEFORE M...
[The remaining text is unintellegable due to splatters of blood]