Unreasonable Demand

Pop. 181, Late Autumn of 365 (Year 114)

Mosus II Lanterngaze-Anguishedpages, once universally popular, has fallen out of favor due to her recent greed. When her demands for a GOLD BED were ignored, she had Datan Goodhatchet-Dippedtowers and Asmel Channeltree beaten by the Hammerer, Stakud II Roughwhips-Lanterngaze. Datan and Asmel both perished as a result of their sentence. With the deaths of a highly regarded military captain and a member of the prominent Channeltree family, King Urist II stepped in. While Mosus II was allowed to keep her position due to her otherwise stellar record, the position of Hammerer was removed.




Leadership of Datan's squad, the Trade Watch, passed to the hammerwidow's young lieutenant, the macedwarf Besmar Graniteright.

By the Numbers

Pop. 187, Late Summer of 359 (Year 108)

The human caravan arrived from the northwest. Their faces were full of fear as they urged their beasts of burden to move as fast as possible. Before they had uttered a single word, the dwarves knew what was coming. Commander Dishmab and the North Watch escorted the humans into the safety of the underground trade network just as a great clamor arose from the western hills, heralding the arrival of the Evils of Spray. At the head of an enemy archer host was an elite crossbow goblin, causing the dwarven reservists on the wall to tremble in fear. Still, they stood their ground and began to rain bolts upon their foes.

Asmel Fissuretour and the West Watch took the fight to the goblins, exiting the West Gate shouting for the blood of their foes. While reservists shot into the fray, the elite soldiers pushed toward the goblin squad leader. Axedwarf Mosus Graniteright and speardwarf Nomal Socketinked kept the elite enemy busy, while frontline archers Ast and Ast II Bustcrystals shot at the goblin, with the elder landing a headshot.



Meanwhile, in the southern trade tunnel, Deler Anguishepages and the South Watch halted a troll advance. He and his 2nd-in-command, Stakud II, were quite the duo, attacking trolls in concert and dispatching them with grim efficiency.



Everything went by the numbers, with this siege's defense the best in decades! All merchants were safe and accounted for, far fewer goblins made it into the trade tunnels, and an elite enemy archer was slain without any dwarven casualties.

The Games Continue!

Pop. 150, Late Spring of 351 (Year 100)

Despite the massive "CLOSED" notices posted on each of the trade tunnel entrances, the elven caravan arrived and demanded entry. Naturally, the goblins attacked at that moment, slaying most of the elves before they could reach safety underground. Still, that provided more prisoners for the gladiatorial games.

For the second match, 2 trolls and 2 yetis were thrown into the pit.



One of the yetis was immediately slain by a headshot from an audience member, while the other three combatants seemed far more interested in dodging bolts than fighting each other. The spectators slew them all and yelled for the next match-up!

This time, 8 goblins were pitted against 13 coyote men.



Again, the two sides avoided each other while they were pin-cushioned by the crossbow-wielding audience. One coyote man remained after the dust settled and was promptly slain by Commander Dishmab to move things along.

Crossbows were banned for the next match. 30 goblins, 20 trolls, and 1 minotaur were tossed into the arena to face the four squad leaders of Relicshield's elite troops: macedwarf Dishmab Shootwondered-Vesselbrain of the North Watch, axedwarf Goden II Claspletter of the East Watch, swordsdwarf Deler Anguishedpages of the South Watch, and speardwarf Asmel Fissuretour of the West Watch.



Unlike the previous two matches, the goblins and trolls immediately fought with the minotaur. It was a glorious three-way battle as the best warriors of Relicshield waded into the fray!






Dishmab smashed the minotaur's foot with her lead mace, Drumseer, causing the beast to fall. Goden II Claspletter, sister of Edem II the tiniest hammerdwarf, then sliced the minotaur's head off with her bloody axe, Drencheddragons. The remaining foes were no match and quickly fell before the dwarven onslaught.

Heavy Leather

Pop. 155, Mid-Autumn of 349 (Year 98)

While retrieving some items from a dump, siege engineer Sigun Bannerrain was killed when struck by a piece of leather thrown into the pit from above :(.



The worker Doren Faithtorch was also injured by falling leather while retrieving Sigun's body. He only suffered a bruise, but Mayor Mosus II Lanterngaze-Anguishedpages immediately forbid all items in the vicinity. It's unsure how any items in that area had been marked for retrieval. As a precaution, all dump sites were placed under review.

Soon after, several other dwarves were found injured, including Zefon Taxeddagger, son of the late Duke Phyllite Taxeddagger. After being struck by falling junk, he fell unconscious on top of a cage trap. He was quickly rescued and taken to the hospital, where he joined three other dwarves recuperating from similar injuries: Stakud II Lanterngaze, Logem Chanceblockades, and Asmel II Lighttool.

Accident at the Wall

Pop. 161, Mid-Winter of 347 (Year 96)

Work has continued on the wall surrounding the capital, along with the 16 archery towers connected by it. Unfortunately, when some misplaced constructions were torn down, the support they provided wasn't realized until it was too late.



The crashing rock killed one dwarf and injured several others, along with a war bear. Asmel Anguishedpages lost his friend, Uzoldoren, and was full of grief. Nevertheless, he continued with his work on the wall without any interruption, both a tribute to his friend and to dwarven fortitude in the face of adversity.





Meanwhile, the medic Sarvesh Channelelder rallied from a near-fatal head injury.



Though her skull was broken, Sarvesh suffered no permanent complications and made a full recovery.

Subtlegloomy

Pop. 82, Early Winter of 275 (Year 24)

Solon Basincloistered was a migrant who came to the fortress in 268. After years of writing to his mother and father, he finally convinced the elder Basincloistereds to migrate to Relicshield. Unfortunately, Solon's parents and two traveling companions were ambushed by goblin bowmen on the outskirts of the fortress. Olivine's elite squad raced to save them, but the hail of arrows quickly cut down three of the dwarves, including As, Solon's father. Id, Solon's mother, was being pelted with arrows when Olivine and crew descended on the goblins. A cyclone of blood and gore enveloped the goblin party, ending their assault. Id was taken to the hospital, though few thought she would survive. Her injuries made even those suffered by Edem II pale in comparison. However, Solon's mother beat the odds and joined the military immediately after her medical care was complete.

Meanwhile, Kogan Dashedbasment-Rakedclasps the speardwarf was forgotten after she fell into a strange mood. It was assumed she had found all she needed, but that was proven a deadly mistake when she went on a rampage. She slew a war grizzly then went after Mafol Peakedfurnace the dyer with her fell spear known to all as Ozorvumshar, aptly translated as "Subtlegloomy." An off-duty marksdwarf, Nil Orbgroup, was at the nearby quern. He shot Kogan in the right shoulder hard enough to knock Subtlegloomy from her grasp, but the crazed dwarf was undeterred. She pounced on the poor Mafol, biting, punching, and bludgeoning with her shield :(.

Captain Olivine's elite squad, which Kogan was a member of, stormed through the fortress to put an end to the carnage. Asmel Fissuretour was the first on the scene, wielding his legendary spear Lirvesh, "The Climactic Dusts." Though the two speardwarves were battle comrades, Asmel did not hesitate. He went straight for her head, stabbing her twice and ending the chaos. Though Kogan had been disarmed before she slew Mafol, Subtlegloomy was still seen as cursed. As a legendary weapon, none could bear to destroy it, but the fell spear was left to gather dust.