The massacre of Tamedchannel.
This is the story of the second dwaren expedition to settle this untamed land.
(The first settlers managed to get a very basic fort up, but forgot to link a lever to the bridge that separated them from the "land". When a necromancer with a horde of zombies in tow showed up they had no trouble invading the fort. The moat they built proved useless, since well, the zombies could just stroll across the bridge and butcher everyone. The first couple of dwarfs was struck down in the fort yard. The rest tried to run into the cellar in hope of surviving, but the undead found their way down eventually and finished the job)
A merchant from the dwaren kingdom came by to do some trade with Tamedchannel, but to their horror they discovered the fort abandon and all its inhabitants dead. The bodies were scattered over the whole area. It looked like the bodies had been dragged out of the fort and mutilated in some gruesome fashion. The merchants didn't stay long and went back home to deliver the grim news. Some time later it was decided that a new expedition would be made to Tamedchannel. No undead would stand in the way of dwaren progression! Seven men were drafted, but this time around it was decided that two of them would have some military training, in case the undead showed up again.
A few months later the new settlers reached the fort. They collected all the bodies and buried them. Linked the bridge, made the moat deeper, and continued digging out caverns. The settlement was prospering. They traded with humans, elfs and dwarfs and for the longest time no undead could be seen. The military training was toned down a bit, since the area was now considered safe. Migrants even started to appear, people looking for a new life away from the kingdom. The population was increasing, and the people in the settlement was generally living a good life. They had all they could want, some even had time to get children.
Then one day the undead was spotted across the river. At first it looked like the river would stop them but no such luck. They waded over where the river was the shallowest. The story goes that the moat didn't have water in it, since the moat was connected to inside cellars that stored various stuff. In all haste a trench was prepared that was linked to the river flowing in the area, all this was done while the undead was approaching. It was all too late though, the moat was not filling up fast enough, and some of the quickest undead started to climb the walls. A militia was hastily put together, but only a few men had any military training since life up to this point had been peaceful.
The battle begun. Undead was climbing in all over the place, dwarfs were being killed while trying to find their military equipment. The engravings tells of a few brave dwarfs that did manage to hold up some of the undead. With their sacrifice some of the civilians managed to run down into the cellar. But there was just too many... The yard ran red with blood, and those that didn't made it down was doomed to find the same fate as the soldiers.
The destruction of the upper part of the fort. Dead animals, dwarfs and undead bits all over the place.
More death. Brave militia died trying to protect the downstairs where the remaining civilians were hiding.
The cellar, which leads to the sleeping area, dining room and so on. Notice all the undead outside. Those are zombies that didn't make it over the wall before the water swallowed them.
The few remaining survivors. Not many, mostly children and some dogs. They are protected by the last standing militia member.
Likut Nakuthaban. A true hero in need. Keeping the stairs safe all by her self scoring a lot of kills in the process.
Even if the situation is grim at best, she it not that badly effected by it. I'm impressed, since only she stands between another settlement failure, and a slim hope of continuation.
And this is where this story ends so far. Since all that remains now is a stand off with the zombie army. It looks like the rest of the undead are trapped under water, so the situation should be under control right now. But the casualties are gruesome... and I have a hard time seeing how Tamedchannel will recover after this, but we will see
I will return if someone is interested to see how it all ended.