Part 48: YOTC: Update 4
21st Limestone
So many dead bodies.
Serioulsy 1/3 of those corpses' are piles like this.
For those that don't recognize this spot it is directly under the bridge.
I spoke at lengh with Firos today, her child is missing an eye and his arm isn't going to heal any time soon.
pumpinglemma didn't fare too horribly in the battle, only suffering a minor wound. He'll be back fighting in a few months.
Worse news yet is that there will be no migrants this season.
Today is not the proudest day for syrupleaf.
30th Limestone
Some of the soldiers are calling tehsidInstigates the Furnace of Filling. I don't know if this has anything to do with the fact that he's wearing that gold boot but it must be lucky or something... Maybe magical...
Either way I've had the engravers cover the tombs below in images of the battles against the spawn.
Male Man decided that the whole fight should be called 'The Assaults of Wrath' since they just keep comeing. I fear for them showing up next year.
20th Sandstone
Apparently a dwarf has taken over a gem cutters workshop... I sent Firos to keep an eye on him while she tends to her babes wounds.
21th Sandstone
That was incredibly quick...
26th Sandstone
I've felt a lot less of an urge to write down my daily affairs in here,
Though I do know that I occasionally have to write the status of the fortress down for those that come after. We have much more booze to drink than before, were flooded with food(hell I've even stopped the chef from making meals as we don't have barrels to put them in since we can only make them fast enough for booze production), and the champions are happy training untill next fall when the spawn return. The lack of new migrants OR a dwarven trade caravan worries me.
Some of the dwarf have reported seeing large shadows looming to the west, but what could be out there but more spawn in this god forsaken tundra.
3rd Timber
WHAT THE HELL! How did a giant cave swallow fly into the main chamber? Oh god, it ripped Ultimatequix limb from limb before the champions could arrive and beat it to death.
Admittedly I'm now more frightened of tehsid. He just stood over the swallow and kept hitting it with his fists after he shoved his hammer up its.... I don't want to talk about this...
Seriously he took like 30 seconds of beating it to death when he can kill spawn in like 2 hits... I didn't know toady programmed revenge in...
30th Timber
Good, good, replacements for the lost champions. We still have hope for next year.
Incidently, due to the lack of a caravan I've ordered the old trade depot removed and a new one built further inside, so that the caravans don't get slaughtered by the spawn if we have to hide inside again.
This was actually done to get rid of the 2 traders that were hanging out in the main hallway. We were up to a donkey population of 17 due to both his donkeys having a PILE of kids this year and they needed to go before the frame rate turned to kittens. This also means we get all the shitty stuff they left on the trade depot, sadly it means like 100 more hauler jobs that have been basicaly what all the dwarfs have been doing save a few special ones.
Sadly, we haven't heard from the dwarf where yo man in a bit, he went out to get a spawn corpse and hasn't been seen since.
Honestly I have no idea where this bird was, I couldn't find him but his corpse is in his tomb so no idea there.
1st Moonstone
Why is winter so cold here. Seriously, how does it get this cold and the AIR doesn't freeze I'll never understand.
2nd Moonstone
I was awoken today by The Deadly Hume, who I had recently put in charge of a special project in memory of our fallen comrades who had urgent news for me.
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Well, TO ARMS SYRUPLEAF! Isn't one of these a year enough?
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I spent all of Autumn after the siege basically doing general housekeeping and working on a project. Basically, I was going to get to the end of the year on that alone and make a big update and then this happened..... Oh, what put a siege on us you ask? Well You'll have to wait till later tonight to find out. You can spoil it by looking in the directory that the pictures are in.
bobthethurd wrote :-
Chance II posted:
Pictured Center: Bobthethurd Uzmeng, Mayor of Syrupleaf
speaking with the warriors and smiths after the Second Siege
Just after Tehsid's Reckoning.
Bobthethurd speaks to his friend Skullbuggy Mengigam, sitting in his quarters, each with a frothy mug of ale.
"I just... 'M not sure we've got a hope. The spawn found us almost 'fore we got here. That invasion 's almost half the size of the settlement," said the Mayor. "Holistic, gone. Royal W, crushed under the bridge with SwatJester. What'll we do? How much hope do we have left?"
The seasoned looking dwarf took a swig of ale. His eyes were sad, the grayed beard showing yellow around the mouth. He smacked his lips.
"'M there trying to comfort these poor people. That kid, Deki, might as well not have a family n'more. Sister got taken by raiders, mother died defending the rest of us. There's another kid out there who's got an eye missing from it. Damned shame, damned shame."
Skullbuggy pats him on the shoulder, saying, "it'll turn out alri..."
"And you know what really makes me mad? They keep telling me off for putting that bassard in jail," he interjected, standing and beginning to pace.
The mayor gestured with his ale, sloshing it out of the cup, "I had to put it on the books that he'd not made some glass or somesuch. Ain't true at all! 'E tried to tell me we were lucky we'd lost so few."
"Bob..."
"Don't yer tell me that. Vox came up with this, but he wanted me to lead it. He was a friend of mine too, so I did."
Ticking the names off with his fingers, Bobthethurd's growling voice broke"Nemo, Rincebrain, Ticklehug, every one of em my fault. That 's'afore anyone else even thought this'd be a nice place to camp out at."
The mayor took a massive swig of his ale, draining the mug, "you don't talk to those people, do you, Skullbuggy? See the hurt in their eyes? I'm the one that has to tell 'em everything'll be alright. Who'm I kidding?"
Skullbuggy spoke quietly into the silence, "well, for one thing you did fool me. I walked the production floor earlier today, hoping to make your job a little easier. I've seen the way you drink when left alone. Can't say I'm surprised to hear this out of you."
"We re-elected you because you help us when things get rough. If you didn't do that, who knows where we'd be."
With that, the manager put his mug down, saying, "how's Deki been since her mother died? You know. Who's making sure she's not throwing herself into Idiot's magma pumps? You."
Skullbuggy stood up, turning for the door and walking out into the hall. At the door he paused, looking over his shoulder at the considerably deflated Mayor.
"There's nothing to be done about the bloodshed, but at least we're not Descending, Bobthethurd. Armok willing, you and I and the rest of the leaders of this place can keep us all far from that."
************
The mayor smiled as he watched Deki and another of the fort children playing near one of the storage rooms, chasing each other through the hallway. He had to be happy for the kids, so they wouldn't be taken by Holsitic's Spawn. The Mayor wondered about the Adamantine veins they'd found, asking himself why the overseer had stopped cutting that rock.
Deciding he'd go talk to Jazzimus later, he walked down the hall to the dining room and called a meeting.
Jazzimus Prime wrote :-
Armok, I'm tired...
The numbers... I need to go over the inventory numbers one more time. Then maybe I'll try to sleep.
Or maybe, once again, I'll try to avoid going to sleep.
I look up from my work. A face... There's a face in the doorway?
"Jazzimus, can I have a word with you?"
The demon ... Holistic ... The demon's face again?
No, no ... it doesn't look like the demon. Not this time. But I've been fooled before by these... dreams? hallucinations?
---
"Jazzimus, about that glassmaker, you remember Slaan?"
I see a face in the shadows before me ... a face ... but it's a dwarven face. The other faces were dwarven at first, though, and the waking nightmares still continued...
Am I awake? Is this a dream? Is this a hallucination?
What's the difference anymore?
---
I recognize the face. It's Bobthethurd, mayor of Syrupleaf.
I hear something about the glassmaker. I hear something about jail. I don't know. I don't care. It doesn't matter. My mind is elsewhere.
I hear something else ... the chuckling of the demon. AGAIN! I must make this stop. The numbers can make it stop. Sometimes. The numbers. Must count the numbers again.
"I'm busy, Bobthethurd, I have to balance the Syrupleaf inventories," I hear myself say. I speak without thinking. I speak by rote. I've dealt with this before and I'm sure I will have to again.
---
My duty ... My duty now is the numbers, the numbers that keep me sane. If I concentrate on the inventory numbers, then Holistic's demonic face will stay away, usually...
"And about the Spawn," Bobthethurd says, reaching into his cloak with his right hand and producing a gleaming Dwarven steel battleaxe.
"I, uh, I just lost count, I have to start over now, could you please come back later?" I think I hear myself say.
"Jazzimus, the Spawn have attacked again..."
I feel the blood drain from my head... I feel weak and queasy, and my legs feel weak...
Is this an axe I see before me? It's ... it's our mayor, brandishing an axe...
"The Spawn," says Bobthethurd, and OH DEAR ARMOK HE JUST CHOPPED OFF HIS OWN HAND WITH THE AXE...
No, no, this can't be real, it can't ... dwarves don't really do these things ... must count the numbers again, must...
"Jazzimus, are you listening to me?" I hear. Wielding the axe like a butterknife, he peels flesh from the forearm as one would peel a banana, leaving radius and ulna exposed. The bones snap back and forth like the claw that killed so many of our champions, like the claw of the Spawn Leader...
"I'M BUSY COUNTING THE INVENTORIES..." I say.
I hear more words. I close my eyes. I must attempt to reply to the questions ... must make as much sense as possible to whomever might be listening, in case at least part of the conversation is real this time...
190 bars of steel. 235 pints of Dwarven rum. 500 nickel coins. 1073 mined stones of diorite. Must count them all again, must see if the numbers are correct.
I'm not going crazy ... I'm not...
Must focus, focus on the numbers ... and ignore the ubiquitous demonic chuckling...
More words...
"Jazzimus? Are you alright?"