Grisly Grizzlies

Pop. 122, Spring of 296 (Year 45)

Soon after Ibmat the dragon was captured, the goblins laid siege to the fortress. They were routed, but not without the death of a human diplomat. While the spoils of war were collected and corpses disposed of, a swamp titan appeared to the west.

The Swamp Titan Dab Ronzoslu Ozse Sostux has come! A gigantic eyeless scorpionfly. It has large mandibles and it has a regal bearing. Its charcoal exoskeleton is waxy. Beware its poisonous bite!

The defenders of Relicshield readied themselves, but the monster headed toward the roofed courtyard where there were several defenseless civilians. There were two openings in the roof that had been missed while making an adjacent tower! By the time the order was given to redirect the troops, the swamp titan had already descended into the courtyard. Dwarves panicked and fled in terror, however the courtyard also housed the grizzly training grounds. Six grizzlies charged at the foul monstrosity immediately.



The fighting was quick, but fierce. Surrounding the titan, the grizzlies tore into it, biting and latching on from all sides. By the time the soldiers arrived, the fell beast had already met a grisly end :D (thank you growth bug fix).



Now the cooks of Relicshield are busy making use of the 433 pieces of swamp titan meat that was left.

Trolling Trolls

Pop. 122, Spring of 296 (Year 45)

A year earlier, Kadol Meshpapers-Graniteright the hammerdwarf was caught outside alone during a siege. Her fellow soldiers rushed to her aid, but a group of trolls intercepted them right as they emerged from the fortress. While the majority of Relicshield's defenders were forced to engage the tusked monsters in battle, Captain Dishmab rushed toward the lone hammerdwarf. Second only to Commander Sphalerite in total kills, Dishmab smashed into foes with her mighty mace. Together, she and Kadol routed the goblin squad, while their compatriots decimated the trolls.

Once the siege was defeated, attention turned back to preparations for the second cavern expedition. Scaffolding was taken down from the walls securing the first cavern to regain blocks, but there were two fatal accidents. Atir Kissochre the clothier and Chief Medic Dolomite, one of the Original Seven, fell to their deaths. Scaffolding had been taken down before, one level at a time, without incident, but Duke Phyllite demanded the procedures be placed under review.

The Spring brought renewed hope in the form of Ibmat the Dragon, who was lured into the trade tunnels and captured in a cage.

Growth Spurt

Pop. 125, Autumn of 293 (Year 42)

The duchy's marksdwarves have been training with a zeal never seen before, all thanks to new training techniques from the Mountainhome.



Meanwhile, Edem II and his tiny peers have all FINALLY hit puberty, growing rapidly in size and strength. Once known as the Unluckiest Hammerdwarf, he's is now shattering limbs and crushing skulls like he always wanted.

Dwarven Geneology

Thanks to innovations in genealogy, Relicshield is currently undergoing a massive renaming* project to better track the proud lineages of its citizens. The Claspletter family was one of the first to get a standardized surname, having several of the most prominent dwarves of the fortress, including Edem II, the legendary pick-wielder and Goden II, the Forgotten Beast Slayer.



* Previous posts have been edited to reflect this change in dwarven surnames.

Goblinite Filtration & Combat Drops

Pop. 122, Spring of 291 (Year 40)

Now in its 4th decade, the fortress has undergone major changes to its military configuration and hauling infrastructure. Additional troop stations were created in the trade tunnels, with the squads closer to the hub focused on training, and the ones further out tasked with escorting visitors and providing the first line of defense.

The increase in goblin hostilities necessitated quicker handling of the spoils of war, which often took more than a season to fully clear. To that end, a new 2-route, 1-track minecart system was constructed to filter the goblinite, with pure ore deposited near the trade depot and impurities sent to the particle accelerator on the surface. The new track was Relicshield's first multilevel one and confounded the builders for quite some time. Everything came together once it was finally realized that every track ramp required a supporting wall behind it on the lower level.

While effective, word has come from the Mountainhome of a far more efficient magma-powered goblinite filtration system. Duke Phyllite has considered another mining expedition to uncover the lower caverns and magma sea, but ever since the mining-related death of his wife Cinnabar, much greater oversight has been a firm requirement. For the time being, all mining below the first cavern has been postponed, as much of the fortress's attention is on a prototype tower-to-tunnel combat drop system.

A dwarven scholar by the name of Di remarked on the ability of smaller creatures to fall from great heights with only minor injuries. Preliminary testing is now underway in Relicshield on a tower above the southwest trade tunnel, where Edem II and other tiny soldiers will enter battle by falling directly onto foes. Currently, the biggest issue is soldiers being momentarily stunned from the fall. Thus this method will not be used when facing goblins wielding blunt weapons due to the risk of fatal head strikes. However, the dwarves are cautiously optimistic on the efficacy versus other enemy types.

Ballistae & Picks

Pop. 113, Winter of 288 (Year 37)

After years of training, Relicshield's siege engineers were ready to bring the pain! 3 legendaries and 1 grandmaster rotated duties on the 3-ballista battery, giving the goblins quite a surprise :D.



Meanwhile, Edem II completed his personal quest and is now legendary in all dwarven weapons. The tiny dwarf has settled on the pick as his weapon of choice, the first soldier of the fortress to do so. When testing it out, he discovered that he could deliver a serious wound with every strike, a first for him!

Thirst

Pop. 110, Late Winter of 284 (Year 33)

The fortress was still reeling from the deaths of Edem and Nish, when a mining accident claimed the lives of Duchess Consort Cinnabar Taxeddagger, Stinthad Esteemclasp the mayor, and Sigun Vesselbrain, husband of the legendary macedwarf Dishmab. The mining expedition in search of the second fabled cavern received incomplete digging plans and a necessary stairwell was left half-done (i.e. poor overseer oversight and forgetting about my miners after using Quickfort) :(.

Stinthad and Sigun died of thirst before the rest of the fortress realized anything was amiss. A secondary tunnel was quickly mined out and Cinnabar made it to the dining hall... only to perish with a whip wine barrel in front of her.