Grattan looked toward the canyon entrance, then glanced back at the men behind them. "Thirty Seven", he said. "Including you and me."
"And how many with wounds?", asked Darus.
"All of us."
Darus grunted. "How many can wield a sword?"
"Probably half. We've also got 2 bowmen and perhaps 30 arrows between them."
Darus grunted again. "Tell everyone who can fight to get ready, then. Make the others as comfortable as possible." He looked toward the canyon entrance. "They'll be coming soon."
Grattan nodded and made his way back to the exhausted men behind them.
Three solid weeks. Three weeks of retreat, fight, retreat, and now it would end here in this unnamed canyon at the edge of the Dwarf lands. None would remember this last stand. None would survive. Darus wiped the grit from his face and stared ahead at the canyon mouth. They'd be here soon.
The Orc horde had swept through the Human settlements like plague on an ill wind. Rumors had abounded for months of a mighty Orc war chief, but none had given it much credence. For decades the Orc tribes had fought amongst themselves. Occasional raids had assaulted the settlements from time to time, but they were never organized and had always been repelled with ease. Nothing had seemed unusual until three weeks ago. Suddenly a large, organized force of Orcs had assaulted the northernmost outpost of Coldiron. There had been one survivor, who'd somehow managed to make it to the next settlement in time to warn them. But even then, it wasn't enough. Within hours, the Orc horde had overrun settlement after settlement, the defenders butchered and scattered.
Darus had gathered what forces he could, collected any survivors to be found, and organized what resistance was possible. They inflicted heavy casualties on the Orcs, but had suffered appalling losses of their own. For three solid weeks it had been fight, retreat, fight, retreat. Now, here they were, trapped in a box canyon with the Orcs making their inexorable way toward them.
Grattan's return shook Darus out of his revery. "The men are ready, Darus. I've posted the archers at high points on either side of us - they've 17 arrows apiece. The others are all armed and have taken what defensive positions they can. Some can barely stand, but there's not a one will lay down and let those bastards take them without a fight."
Darus gripped Grattan's shoulder. "Good work lad. We'll make them pay a premium at the very least!"
A shout from one of the archers, and they turned to see the Orcs coming into view. Their iron-shod feet kicked up large clouds of dust, making their numbers seem even greater.
Quickly, Darus turned to his men, shouting "This is it lads! Take a firm grip on your swords and make peace with your gods! Fight well, and show no mercy; Gods know we'll get none. Let's make the bastards fear to tread here from this day on!"
"Aye, and they should be fearin' to tread here now, on Dwarven land!" Darus whirled to his right. Standing among the rocks was a stout, barrel-chested Dwarf. On one arm was a great shield, crossed battleaxes in front of a great mountain emblazoned in gold on its face. The other hand held a battleaxe honed to razor sharpness and of obviously superb make. He was clad in plate with a great open-faced helm upon his head.
"Who...?", Darus whispered.
The Dwarf bowed, his braided beard almost brushing the ground. "Rocken Ironfist, Rock Warden to the Clanhold and Protector of the Hearth. Be welcome in these lands. I note you bring a foul stench with you." He glanced at the canyon mouth, made a grim face and spat.
"How did you-", Darus began, but the Dwarf interrupted him.
"There are secret ways. No matter, we've business to attend." He indicated the archers. "Can they shoot?" At Darus' nod, he continued, "Then tell them to keep the shamans occupied. I'll take the leader. That fell beast has been a thorn in our side for too long. 'Twould be a great pleasure to cleave his skull. Ye bring five of yer best men. We'll wipe this stench from the land and then we'll observe the courtesies over an ale keg."
"But, there are too many!", Darus protested.
The Dwarf paused to consider. "Aye?", he said. "Well, bring three of yer best men, then. May as well make it a fair fight."
"But they must number two hundred!"
"Aye, close to it. You and yer men watch my back." He laughed at Darus' shocked look. "Don't worry lad, we'll have their rear covered as well. I don't work alone unless I've no choice. There are more Rock Wardens waiting to close the trap. Let's get to it!"
With that, he strode down the canyon. The Orcs were almost upon them now.
They came in a cloud of dust, weapons raised, shouting jeers and taunts in their gutteral tongue. They spread across the canyon from wall to wall like locusts, blocking any escape. At the sight of the Rock Warden, they stopped. From out of the dust strode a figure, taller than the others, skin black as midnight, a huge, ugly mace clasped in its hand.
"You are all dead," it said. "Drop your weapons and you die quick. Fight, and there will be pain, much pain."
The Rock Warden laughed, then spat in the dust. "Aye, there'll be pain, Gulush. O, I know ye, 1/2 Orc. Long has my axe cried for your black blood. Ye've managed to avoid the Dwarf lands this long, but now ye tread on the Clanhold's territory and the very ground screams to be cleansed! 'Twill be the pain-cries of frightened Orcs we'll be hearing this day though!"
The 1/2 Orc let loose a bellow of rage and gestured with his mace. The Orcs attacked. It was like a thunderstorm in a barrel. The echoes of running feet, the battle cries, the clash of steel on steel. It was chaos incarnate, a tempest, a maelstrom. In the confusion, Darus lost sight of the Rock Warden. Darus charged in with a handful of men, trying to reach the Dwarf. But there were too many enemies. Darus and his men could not get through; they were too busy fighting for their own lives. Eventually, they were forced back. He saw Grattan fall and lost two other men, and soon found himself with the rest of his company among the rocks. Orcs were coming at them from all sides, but the ground was slightly higher here and huge boulders gave the defenders a small advantage. The horde was held at bay for the time being.
Darus took a vantage point on a large boulder to scan the battle. There! In the midst of the Orcs, the Rock Warden was cutting his way toward the great 1/2 Orc leader. He was close, but it looked grim. The Dwarf was taking blow after blow, the sheer numbers of Orcs meting out severe punishment. But the Dwarf seemed to take no notice. Onward he went, his axe flashing, Orc blood spraying. The screams of wounded Orcs reverberated from the canyon walls.
Abruptly, Gulush moved forward, bellowing orders. Two Orc shamans flanked him, chanting incantations. Darus heard his archers give a cry, then arrow after arrow was loosed. The two Orc shamans suddenly sprouted arrow shafts like porcupine quills. Almost in unison, they toppled into the dust.
Then, cries from the rear. The Orc horde was thrown into confusion as Rock Wardens closed the trap and began attacking. Darus couldn't tell from his vantage, but he thought there were only two. How could that be? He'd thought it would be a company at the least.
He set aside his confusion and yelled to his defenders. "This is it men! Any who can stand, take up your swords and follow me! Enough hiding in these rocks, let's take it to them!" He charged ahead, not bothering to see who followed.
Gulush flew into a rage at the arrival of reinforcements and the abrupt turn of events. Swinging his great mace, he fought his way toward the Rock Warden. His mighty blows felled even his own allies, such was his rage and blood lust. The ground seemed to shake as the two met. The Rock Warden's axe flashed and sprayed blood. Grulush's mace pounded down on the Dwarf unmercifully. The Dwarf was taking horrible punishment, but his axe never faltered. Blow ofter blow rained down on the 1/2 Orc. The clash of steel on steel drowned out the other sounds of battle. The Orcs around the two stopped and watched in awe. Even Darus and his men stopped in their tracks to watch the two combatants.
It seemed they traded blows for hours. Grulush was covered in blood; whether his own, the Dwarf's, or those of his own Orcs he'd felled in his rage, none could tell. The Rock Warden was still a bastion of stalwart Dwarven pride, but his mail was dirty with sweat, blood, and grime and his axe was notched in several places. And still they traded blows. Suddenly, Grulush lunged, swinging his mace in a flat arc at the Dwarf's flank. The Rock Warden moved to counter and in that moment, in a display of incredible strength and agility, the 1/2 Orc switched the blow to an overhand swing and came down full force on the Dwarf's helmed head.
The Dwarf staggered back as if stunned, knocked off balance. Grulush pressed his advantage, his mace arcing in another mighty swing. The Dwarf's shield shattered, and he tossed the remnants aside. He grabbed his helm in his shield hand and fended off blow after blow with the dented head gear. Grulush was panting and roaring in a frenzy. "Die", he screamed. "Die, DIE, you miserable Dwarf! DIE!" But the Rock Warden only smiled, a fell smile holding no warmth, only the promise of pain and death. "I've had enough of yer foul presence and the stench of yer rotten breath in me face!", he said, and counterattacked. It was as if the Dwarf had just entered battle fresh from a week's rest. He pressed the 1/2 Orc back, raining blow after blow, each one more precise than the last, each one drawing blood. With a final yell, the Rock Warden gathered his strength and swung his axe. It cleaved through the surprised Grulush's neck without slowing. Blood sprayed in a fine mist and the great head rolled through the dirt, finally stopping with the dead eyes staring skyward, frozen in shock.
The Orcs were finished and they knew it. Most of them tried to flee, dropping their weapons in their haste. Some tried to put up a resistance, but their will was broken and Darus's men, with the other two Rock Wardens, made short work of them. In short order, not a living Orc was left.
In the aftermath, as they sat around a fire cleaning woulds and helping the wounded, Darus turned to the Rock Warden and said, "Never have I seen a display of battle prowess like that. If I'd not witnessed it with my own eyes, I'd not have believed it."
"Aye lad, well, 'tis what the Rock Wardens train for. Our lives are dedicated to the mastery of our weapons and the techniques of war. I'll say this though, lad. That was a sloppy battle and I'm not ashamed to admit I thought it was going to end worse. That big brute was a tough bastard. Bah, he's lucky he didn't meet a Hearth Guard!"
At the questioning look on Darus' face, the Dwarf laughed. "Come on, lad. We'll take you and your men to the Clanhold and ye'll see for yerself." He gipped Darus' shoulder. "Ye fought well. I name ye Rockbrother. Ye're welcome in these lands." With that, he got to his feet and they set off down the canyon.
This is a pretty straight-forward battle tank. He should be great in a party as the damage-dealer and/or damage-soaker. Nothing fancy, just HPs and AB. Saves aren't too bad for a tank though.
Dwarf, any non-evil
Playable from level 1 to 40, PvM
STR 16 (22) DEX 13 CON 18 (28) INT 13 WIS 8 CHA 6
1 )FTR1: Improved Initiative/ Weapon Focus 2 )FTR2: Dodge 3 )FTR3: Blind Fight 4 )FTR4: Weapon Specialization/ CON (19) 5 )FTR5 6 )FTR6: Mobility/ Spring Attack 7 )FTR7 8 )FTR8: Expertise/ CON (20) 9 )CoT1: Whirlwind Attack 10)WM1 11)WM2 12)WM3: Improved Critical/ CON (21) 13)WM4 14)WM5 15)WM6: Knockdown 16)WM7: CON (22) 17)CoT2: Improved Knockdown 18)WM8: Toughness 19)WM9 20)WM10: CON (23)
21)WM11: Epic Will 22)WM12 23)CoT3 24)CoT4: GRT STR I (17)/ Epic Weapon Focus/ CON (24) 25)WM13: Superior Initiative 26)WM14 27)CoT5: GRT STR II (18) 28)CoT6: Damage Reduction I/ CON (25) 29)WM15 30)WM16: GRT STR III (19)/ Damage Reduction II 31)WM17 32)WM18: CON (26) 33)WM19: GRT STR IV (20)/ Damage Reduction III 34)CoT7: 35)CoT8: Armor Skin 36)WM20: GRT STR V (21)/ STR (22) 37)WM21 38)WM22: Epic Prowess 39)CoT9: GRT CON I (27) 40)CoT10: Epic Weapon Specialization/ CON (28)
Skills (129 points): Spellcraft: 19 (20) Tumble: 20 Discipline: 43 (49) Intimidate: 4 _________________ Wave upon wave of demented avengers marched cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream...
Edited By griphook on 12/26/05 15:19
Another first rate story Cin. Well done! Still in love with the initiative I see. Perhaps I will have to try this one out. _________________ http://www.dormaeglinunderdark.com/
Outstanding! This by far your best work. I loved very minute of the tale. The build itself is a keeper, and somewhat iconic I believe. I would be tempted to switch a little from Con to Str (perhaps only 2). But either way, he's a keeper. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Nice build for a classic tank character, Cin. Impressive story as well. _________________ Experience is the mother of good judgement; bad judgement is the father of experience.
This looks like a dwarf I'd like to play and roleplay someday! The stats are a nice change from all those STR26 CON22 dwarven tanks. I love it!
One thing though...
Quote: +13 Initiative
Maybe it was a bug of some kind, but the last time I tried Improved Initiative and Superior Initiative in a build, it did not seem to stack... Am I wrong to assume you would have a +9 initiative bonus and not +13 then?
very nice story. the build is quite the dwarven icon. practically a religious idol in dwarven society. substantial HP, a little DR (for a dwarf DR is almost a pre-req.) the saves are nothing to sneeze at either.
nicely done. simple and tough. straight to the point. good to note the use of WM to overcome the lower AB from a lower strength than most.
nifty.
-c _________________ "Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Just a point of note: this story was a real bugger for me. Sometimes stories just write themselves, but this one was the opposite. I had to drag this one into the light screaming and kicking. Consequently, my judgement of it is quite harsh. I honestly thought it was a pretty woeful attempt, but since it seems well-received, I may have to re-evaluate once my distate has become a bit more stale.
Saosin: I'm testing what you pointed out about Superior Initiative, and it appears you may be correct. I'm quite surprised, as I was sure it stacked. I'm going to test further and will try to post my findings later. _________________ Wave upon wave of demented avengers marched cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream...
Saosin: did some more testing. You were correct. Superior Initiative replaces Imp Initiative to give the character a total of +8 initiative, so this character should have the +9 as you pointed out.
A couple of interesting things I found in the test:
Blooded will stack with Thug, Imp Initiative, and Superior Initiative. So will Thug.
This measn the best you can do with initiative through feats (other than adding GRT DEX feats) is +12:
Total = +12. _________________ Wave upon wave of demented avengers marched cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream...
Needless to say, I'm not real happy about that. That, in my mind, is a deal breaker. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
who would ever be happy about it? Considering that neither SP nor SF feats stack(as I sadly realized ), it was to be expected that initiative feats wouldn't either
About iniative feats, I'm sure that's the way they are supposed to work, not stacking like most similar type feats, SP, SF. The exception being WF and WS. I don't see the point with iniative feats at all though.
About the build. Very, Very Oh So Nice. It's a Dwarf that is a real dwarf again here. Pleasant to rest my eyes upon after seeing both dexer Dwarfs and rapier wielding Dwarfs. Or Horror, a combo!
This will have melee presence, much hp, some DR but normal warrior AC. The only tweaks I can think of is finding the right balance between CON and STR. Yours is fine. Better STR in some environments. EWS and your nasty crits make your CON very defendable.
Entertaining and well written story. All in all you prove to still be among the best of us in here.
), it was to be expected that initiative feats wouldn't either
About iniative feats, I'm sure that's the way they are supposed to work, not stacking like most similar type feats, SP, SF. The exception being WF and WS. I don't see the point with iniative feats at all though.