Rebuilding Science in a Magic World

Time to deploy the final desperate ploy to use on this advancing army.  If it worked for them at some point, it can maybe work for us.  I look up to the sky, and hope we can hold out long enough.  I pulverize a bunch of fish meat that I gathered from the houses, load it into the sling of one of the trebuchets, and let it fly out and rain on the dwarven regiments.  When they see it fall apart in mid-air, they don't even bother attempting to avoid it raining on their metal armor.

Not long after, the dwarves began advancing towards the walls.  They heavily concentrated their position based on the already damaged sections of wall.  It was clear that they simply intended to bulldoze through the damaged sections, and invade using their superior numbers.  The ballistae cut a little into the dwarven numbers as they advanced, but not nearly enough to actually cause any major damage.  Everything we can do to slow them down will be useful.

I fired the normal steam cannon into them again.  Despite it not being fully charged, it did cut down about 10 dwarves.  I decided that the other steam cannon should be saved for shooting into the first breach, so as to hopefully make enough carnage that fighting through that area is demoralizing.  A few of the ballistae on other walls have been rotated to point in the the previous breach points, rather than the outside to hopefully help thin their numbers when new breaches occur.

It's unfortunate that I'm going to have to save my mana for firing the cannon, rather than using it to fight the invasion.  I thought about that fact as I moved toward the wall.  Behind the previous breach points, we've set up barricades to help us contain any future breakthroughs, which now seem quite likely.  Despite the existence of magic in this world, it seems that most mundane tactics still work.  I think that fact is likely due to each individual only having enough mana capacity to do a few magical attacks before having to resort to mundane methods again.  Though it does allow some individuals to be more effective than they would be otherwise. 

It also negates the need for certain siege tactics, as breaching a wall is simply a matter of getting a few individuals close enough to do so.  Though perhaps the fact they are using mana to break the wall down does play in our favor, since they likely have less mana left for actual combat.  I suppose magic in large scale combat can be seen as on par with many machines of war from earth, such as a battering ram or siege tower.

As they once again approach the wall and begin demolishing it, I wish that we had collected leftover oils from cooking.  Boiling oil at a time like this would be invaluable.  Instead, I instruct Zeb to once again collapse some sections of the wall directly onto those trying to breach.  It will make it easier for them to get over the walls, but if it can take down a few of them as it happens, that's the best outcome we can hope for.

After the first section of wall gave way, I retreated back up to the magic powered steam cannon, to fire another grapeshot into those climbing through the rubble.  Once enough had started to fill the gap, I fired the cannon.

For the fourth time today, almost a dozen dwarves were killed by one of these blasts.  Despite how many had died so far though, it didn't seem like an end was in sight.  For each dwarf we managed to kill, another simply replaced them.  I know in practice that there were likely only a few hundred, and at most a thousand, but our own village only has close to 200 residents.  Over half of whom are non-combatants.  So the numbers were not in our favor here.  The ballista were at least occasionally able to take another dwarf down, lowering their numbers.  I myself was torn as to if I should go and recharge my mana, or pick up a weapon and try to physically repel those invading the wall.

Then, as things were just starting to look bleak as the second wall section gave way, from overhead we heard a loud screech.  The dwarves initially let out a huge cheer and began fighting with extra vigor.  To them, I'm sure it seemed like their protector beast had come to bless their fight.  What happened moments later though was shock among their troops, and a turnabout of conditions within the walls.

The eagle swooped down, and landed just outside the walls on the north side, near the stone altar where we'd been feeding it.  After hopping once or twice and looking about, it proceeded to pry open not one, not two, but three dwarves, eating them on the spot.  To the eagle, I'm sure it was a similar experience to the first day we fed it the strange fish bundle.  Here are these small packages that smell like the fish, all running about.

The dwarves nearby the eagle all panicked and began fleeing full speed from the area, abandoning the battle.  Those a little further away began turning their attention away from the breaches in the walls, retreating from the eagle in either direction.  Those inside the walls continued fighting, but as they were slowly killed, fewer and fewer dwarves funneled through the gaps, as the majority of the army outside the walls was retreating.

I was very thankful that the dwarves didn't bother to dodge the fish ball I had flung at them earlier.  I don't know for certain that the eagle would have decided to eat the dwarves if they didn't smell like the food it had been eating recently.  As the dwarves retreated, the eagle took flight, grabbing an additional dwarf in one of its talons as it returned up the mountain.

After another ten minutes, the fighting had stopped again, with the last of the dwarves in the walls being slain.  Our casualties numbered 18.  The dwarves lost something near 70.  Repairs were immediately started again.  Rocks and stone were piled up near the walls as Zeb began stone shaping them back into solid pieces. 

I retreated to the bathhouse to recharge once again, and this time, Zaka was here recharging.  He held down the other breech in the wall pretty well, using his fireballs to hinder and sear dwarves as they approached the barricades.  Zaka left before me, and Zeb entered having depleted his mana as well.  The three of us have been recharging our mana a lot today.  A few of the hobgoblins and other goblins have been here as well though.  Although none of their magic attacks are as flashy, those who can throw a spear with extreme force do use mana to do so, and have had to stop in occasionally.

Ultimately, without this bathhouse, we'd have likely succumbed during the second attack.  I'm starting to rethink the deal I had with Shasta, although the whole thing is going to need reworked in light of the attacks we've suffered.  I'm leaning more towards the idea of waiting for a year until I have a larger crystal for myself here to send the old crystal back to the mainland.  Ultimately, I don't want more eagles here, but I don't mind keeping the one we have.  It did save us this time after all.

As the day dragged on, we repaired our walls the best we could, and piled the dwarves bodies outside the walls after stripping their armor and weapons.  It started to become apparent that it was unlikely we would be attacked again today.  The wounded were treated, and the goblins in the pavilion were returned to their homes.  Siege engines were repaired as needed, weapons replenished and repaired, and the sewer was re-sealed.  By the evening the mood in the village was bittersweet.  We had repelled the dwarves today, but if they continued fighting it was obvious to us that we would lose.  The hope, however, was that it wasn't obvious to the dwarves themselves that this was the case.

The next morning, a group of fifteen individuals were the only ones who arrived.  I recognized three of them as Shasta, Ambella, and Katarko.  Then there were ten dwarves who were in full matching armor, a single dwarf who wasn't in armor, and a human who was wearing light armor.  I told the siege engine operators to hold their fire as the group approached.

"We are here to make peace!"  shouted Shasta.

"Asking for peace now after both sides have spilt blood?  You must know that any previous conditions will need to be renegotiated?"  I yell back.

Shasta turned and spoke to the unarmored dwarf, and after some back and forth she shouted back, "As long as the negotiations aren't too far from what was agreed upon before."

I thought for a bit, are there other concessions that I might want?  Maybe a few, but none should be too extreme.  "Fine!  However, half of you must leave your weapons outside," I shouted back.

After they complied, we cautiously opened a section of wall for their group to enter through.  Our fighting force barely outnumbering them two to one.  We didn't have a meeting place prepared, so Zaka's house was used.  A few guards were let in from each side, along with Shasta, the unarmored dwarf, myself, Zeb, and Zaka.