Chapter 106: From the journal of Stinthad Kekimtobul
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3rd Limestone, 1059, Early Autumn
Well autumn is here, and I can't say the month is off to a good start. People are still nervous about the goblin attack and one of the forge masters has been possessed.
I believe Alpha is his name. He's taken control of a magma forge to complete his work. So while he is holding up production at the very least we should get a valuable metal artifacts out of this. Or maybe we'll get something completely useless. Only time will tell.
9th Limestone, 1059, Early Autumn
Well, I'm glad to say that Goden seems to have made a very quick recovery. The healers were able to fix her arm right away and now she's already back to training. Nobody's commented on her being incapacitated by a lone goblin thief. I think she's really embarrassed by it. That's okay, we all make mistakes sometimes.
20th Limestone, 1059, Early Autumn
....oh god.
OH GOD!
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
22nd Limestone, 1059 Early Autumn
Okay I panicked, so what? Any other dwarf would if they saw something right out of their nightmares! That horrible thing was...I don't even want to think about it!
The creature was charging right to the fort leaving a trail of flames in its wake. A lone giant lion was all that stood between it and Reveredtour. The lion had been placed there to drive away gremlins. It didn't stand a chance against the terrifying worm!
But somehow, the beasts attacks did nothing! It could not harm the giant lion! Indeed, it's almost like we had divine protection! In fact, I'm sure we did! What other explanation is there for a creature of pure flame being unable to inflict pain?
And then the giant lion actually killed it! That foul creature was destroyed before it could even touch a single dwarf! This is a true miracle! Nothing short of diving intervention could have caused something like this to happen!
26th Limestone, 1059, Early Autumn
Already?!? Jeez, I didn't think we'd be getting this many people coming here so soon. I guess we're more popular than I thought.
Hmm....9 dwarves...hey! I just realized that with this many migrants, there are exactly 100 dwarves living here!
Isn't that just delightful?
7th Sandstone, 1059, Mid-Autumn
The recent population boost has allowed me to draft even more dwarves into the army. The Earthen Tomes is now a full squad of semi-competent dwarves.
Commander Gonzo20 wanted to demonstrate what his squad could accomplish. So he set out to attack a herd of elephants that had been wandering near Bunker Hill. I saw no problem with this. I mean elephant may be large but they are no match for armed soldiers.
Indeed, the fight was going just fine until one the elephant fled towards the ocean. I have neglected to put any of the new soldiers through swimming training, so I was worried that someone might get pushed into the water.
This is exactly what happened.
Commander Gonzo20 fell into an old canal. I was worried he might drown down there, but fortunately he managed to claw his way out. The ocean did not claim yet another soldier. Unfortunately, the sight of Gonzo20 nearly drowning distracted us from another dwarf, the Unworthy Gentleman. He had somehow ended up fighting an elephant alone on the other side of the wastes and...well...
It didn't go well. I didn't think these elephants would actually strike down one of the soldiers! I've ordered a mass retreat to get things sorted out. I don't want to risk anymore dwarves getting separated and crushed by elephants.
11th Sandstone, 1059, Mid-Autumn
Alpha has finally begun working on his artifact. It seems like he had been gathering materials for ages! Hopefully that means he's going to make something impressive. Though I know it's probably just going to be a cup made of iron that menaces with spikes of a dozen different metals.
As for the elephant situation, it hasn't really changed. The elephants still remain outside the fort, including the one that killed The Unworthy Gentleman. Part of his corpse is actually still jammed onto the elephant's tusk, which is rather morbid. Normally I'd send the Immortal Rags to kill any beast that has had a taste of dwarven blood, but Gonzo20 insists that I let his squad handle it. He feels it necessary to personally slay the beasts that have shamed him, plus it will let the grieving soldier Flagro have a chance at avenging the death of her beloved.
Well...surely they wouldn't make the same mistakes twice? I guess they can do it...
13th Sandstone, 1059, Mid-Autumn
Well, never mind I guess. As soon as the Earthen Tomes charged across the bridge, the remaining elephants ran off into the wastes. At least I don't have to worry about them killing anyone else, but their retreat hasn't done much to improve Flagro or Gonzo20's mood. They'll just have to take out their aggression on the warthogs I guess.
24th Sandstone, 1059, Mid-Autumn
Well, Alpha finished his artifact. Turns out he was making a drum.
Yep, a drum.
What am I supposed to say about this? It's just a gaudy drum that sounds horrible because it's made out of impractical materials. That's it really.
27th Sandstone, 1059, Mid-Autumn
I've relocated the giant lion that killed the giant worm to the meeting area on the surface. I figure it's only appropriate to honor such a courageous animal rather than leave it to fend for itself down in the abyss. I'm sure it will inspire confidence in everyone who sees it. Besides, it is obvious skilled at slaying worms. So god forbid some horrible war abomination makes its way to the surface, this lion shall protect us.
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