Druk, Bruk, and the Crossbow Leader pace the outer yard while the wind combs the grass flat. Bruk drives an iron stake into the soil, marking the wall line beside the farm plots.
The Crossbow Leader
From here, bolts cover the ditch, the gate, and the low path. Anything coming at the bowl has to cross our aim.
He points downrange, where the new wall will turn the open yard into a killing ground for attackers. The old fence looks small beside the planned stonework.
Bruk
Stone on this line will hold. Give me enough labor, and I make the base true.
A horn sounds from the fort gate. An assistant runs up with a bundle of iron parts, and the first crossbow frame comes into view for inspection.
The Crossbow Leader
Good timing. Put the new weapon where the wall can support its weight, and we test its reach against the pass.
Druk sees it plainly now, the wall, the labor, and the weapons are one defense. If he binds the tribe to the work and arms the heights, Worr Croa becomes harder to break.
✓ Quest Accepted
Build stone walls around Worr Croa
✓ Quest Accepted
Equip troops with custom weaponry
“I ask page about wall mounted large siege class crossbows, launching mini harpoon size bolts. Our lands have so many large beast that will challenge the walls”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Druk
Wall-mounted siege crossbows. Big ones. Can they launch harpoon-sized bolts for the beasts around our lands?
Page
Yes, lord. If the brace sits into the stone, we can build a heavier frame, a windlass draw, and a bolt tray for long shafts.
Bruk
That weight needs a solid base, and a clear firing lane. Stone first, then iron.
The Crossbow Leader
From the wall tops, they could punch into hide or harness. Against a charging beast, that is worth more than another rank of spears.
Page
I can sketch the mounting points now. Two men to load, one to crank, and a hook to keep the frame from kicking loose.
The Page spreads out his bundle and starts marking beam sizes with a charcoal stub. Bruk leans in, already measuring the stone line against the weapon’s reach, while the wind keeps worrying at the grass around their boots.
“I say i want them very thick and high, many dull minded overly large giants will test the walls with clubs and throwing huge rocks”
SUCCESS (Fair Fortification construction, rolled +0)
Druk’s order lands hard. The yard crew stops splitting their attention and starts building for impact, not comfort.
The Crossbow Leader
Then we raise the wall high enough to force ladders, and thick enough to laugh off clubs.
Bruk
Stone below the line, stone above it, with a wide cap. Giants throw, the wall stays.
Page
I’ll mark the siege mounts for heavier frames too, lord. The braces can take the weight.
The Page scratches a new sketch onto the board, doubling the post width and lifting the firing platform. Assistant 1 hauls the iron bundle closer to the marked trench, grimacing at the load.
The Crossbow Leader
Good. If a brute tests us with rocks, I want our men firing from above its reach.
Bruk drives his stake deeper into the foundation line, then stretches a measuring cord higher, setting the wall’s final height with a satisfied nod. The wind worries at the grass, but the plan now stands taller than it does thin.
“I say with it wide enough and high enough we can fit many troops on the walls, with range. What other threats can we incorperate anti measures for, i say, more cunning giants like other mogol like bruk will test the walls in more cunning ways then throwing boulders”
SUCCESS (Legendary Leadership, rolled +1)
Druk
We make it wide and high enough for troops, but add ways to blunt smarter attacks. What else should the wall answer for, besides boulders?
The Crossbow Leader
Gaps, lord. They probe seams, climb corners, and bait men into opening gates. Give me narrow fighting slits, hooked stones at the top, and a killing lane by the door.
Bruk
And a stepped inner face. A clever giant hates a wall that gives no clean handhold. Put teeth in the capstone, make ladders slip, make ropes bite.
Page
I can mark brace points for swinging beams too. If something tries to crowd the gate, we drop weight on it from above.
Assistant 1 sets the iron bundle down and rubs his shoulder, then kicks a second stake into the dirt where the wall would curve toward the gate. The new line bends inward, ugly and practical.
The Crossbow Leader
Then we plan for rams, hooks, climbers, and fools with axes. If they come clever, we make clever hurt.
Bruk drags the cord tighter across the revised line, and the Page scratches fresh marks for angled towers and overhead drop points. The whole design starts to look less like a barrier, and more like a trap.
“I say, possibly from our raiding they will send many troops, the town we burned will draw lords to send their troops here. I want the walls high, thick, covered aim ways. so they can stand long sieges possibly”
SUCCESS (Legendary Leadership, rolled +0)
Druk drives the plan home, and the trench crew answers with rough nods. Bruk starts measuring the wall’s rise instead of just its face, while the Crossbow Leader turns the gate bend into a siege choke.
Druk
High, thick, and broad enough for men to stand on. Give it covered firing ways, and make it hold if lords come with stone, ladders, or months to spend.
Bruk
Then we raise a true rampart, lord. High enough to deny boulders, thick enough to swallow shock, and wide enough for patrols and reserve crews.
The Crossbow Leader
I want arrow slots every good stretch, with staggered platforms behind them. If a siege line forms, our bolts will own the approach.
Bruk jabs the stake deeper and redraws the foundation in a bolder curve. The Page adds a second layer of marks for wall-walks, and the iron bundle gets shifted to the exact bend where the gate defense will bite hardest.
Assistant 1
That is a lot of stone to haul. Better stone than bodies.
The sketch now shows a fortress wall, not a boundary fence, with stepped height, sheltered aim slits, and a gate that forces attackers into a killing lane. The workers go quiet for a breath, waiting to hear what Druk wants built first.
“I mention small mini onager on the walls, maybe mounted turret style ones, for tossing at lighter then giant troops approaching the wall”
SUCCESS (Fair Fortification construction, rolled +4)
Druk
Put mini onagers along the wall, mounted like turrets, for lighter troops and giants alike.
The Page snaps his gaze up, then scratches the new machines into the plan beside the firing slits. Bruk leans in and widens the wall top again, giving each mount a stable ring and a clear arc over the yard.
The Crossbow Leader
That gives us reach beyond the slits. We can break a rush before it finds the gate bend.
Assistant 1 hoists the iron bundle closer to the marked bend, where the first mount will sit above the kill lane. The sketch now shows wall, gate choke, and throwing engines working as one.
Bruk
Then the wall carries teeth and fists, lord. Stone above, bolts in the gaps, and stones to throw when the line closes.
The Crossbow Leader points once at the bend, already measuring clearance for the throw arm. The yard settles into a sharp, excited hush as every eye turns to Druk for the next order.
“I say, what do they think about placing them back a bit on the wall, where they fire from more cover. The ogre troops will hurl large rocks but the human troops will us the mounted onagers”
SUCCESS (Legendary Leadership, rolled +1)
Druk
What if we set them farther back on the wall, under more cover. The ogres can throw rocks, the humans can work the mounted onagers.
The Page lifts his chin and redraws the mount line inward, tucking each onager behind a stone lip. Bruk shifts the wall crown again, giving the engines a sheltered slot and a cleaner firing lane.
The Crossbow Leader
That keeps the crew alive longer. Human hands on the machines, ogre shoulders on the stones.
Assistant 1 drags the iron bundle back to the new recess, grunting as the weight settles beside the first protected mount. The yard feels more disciplined now, like a plan with teeth instead of a sketch.
Bruk
A good kill line. Cover for the crews, room for the throws, and no wasted wall.
The Crossbow Leader taps the revised arc and then points to the gate bend, already measuring where the first stones will land. The Page smiles once, then turns the charcoal toward Druk again, waiting for the next feature of the wall.
“I say, it will be a long project but how about high tower inside the walls that is only enterable through the castle's underground via a tunnel, a hard to scale tower that sniper and arcane can utilize, me too, being a mage also”
SUCCESS (Fair Fortification construction, rolled +0)
Druk points from the plan to the far end of the yard, then downward, where the cave mouth yaws under the fort. The Page follows the motion and starts drawing a narrow stair inside the wall line, hidden from the yard and sealed by a heavy inner door.
Bruk
A tower like that can watch the pass and the bowl. If it is entered from below, raiders must spend their teeth on stone first.
The Crossbow Leader
High and hard to climb, good. Give me firing slits up top, and I can cover the wall walk from above.
Assistant 1 hauls the iron bundle closer to the marked foundation, then braces it with a boot while the Page adds a second ring for the tower base.
Druk
I want that tower built for archers and for me too, with room for magic.
The Page scratches in a narrow chamber at the summit, a ladder well below, and a tunnel running back into the caves. Bruk nods once and marks the tower as a separate strongpoint, cut off from the yard and reachable only from inside Worr Croa.
The Crossbow Leader
Then it becomes a spear in the wall. One good shaft above the gate bend, and the whole pass feels your reach.
The sketch settles into place, tower, tunnel, and wall all joined in one clean line. The Page looks up, charcoal in hand, waiting for Druk to choose whether the tower starts at the gate bend or deeper in the curtain wall.
“I suggest large mounted crossbows in the inner area of the walls pointing, placed far from the walls to target anyone who climbs over the walls and if the gates are breached”
SUCCESS (Fair Fortification construction, rolled -2)
Druk drags a thick line across the plan and taps the inner yard with the war hammer's head. The Page redraws the note at once, shifting the mount farther from the curtain wall so it can rake climbers and gatebreakers from within.
Druk
Put the big crossbows inside the wall, aimed inward too. If the gate goes, I still want them killing into the yard.
The Crossbow Leader nods hard and takes the charcoal from the Page, marking two fixed stands behind the tower line. Bruk scratches in the turning angle, then circles the sheltered firing slots as if he is already measuring the kill lane.
The Crossbow Leader
Good. High ground, inner angle, no blind rush through the breach.
Assistant 1 shoves the iron bundle toward the new marks, sweating under the weight, while the Page adds braces for the mounts and a clear path for reload crews.
Bruk
That gives the defenders two bites at any fool who gets over the wall.
The plan is crowded with arrows, slits, and heavy mounts now, all of it nested behind stone and reach. The Page looks up for the next order, charcoal poised over the last open corner of the sketch.
“I meant outward, at the walls and gates”
SUCCESS (Good Military tactics, rolled +1)
Druk drags the charcoal line outward, away from the yard, and across the outer wall and gate symbols. The Page hesitates, then scratches the new angle in clean and fast.
Druk
I mean outward, at the walls and gates.
The Crossbow Leader
That changes the kill box. Good. Put the mounts to work on the breach face.
Bruk snaps the inner-angle marks into a new arc, then flips the shielded slots toward the curtain line. Assistant 1 grunts and shifts the iron bundle, now parked beside the gate-side marks instead of the yard line.
Bruk
Outward fire first, inward fire as the fallback. A wall that answers both ways.
The Crossbow Leader drags charcoal along the gate approach and adds a second set of firing slits for the outer face. The Page widens the tower sketch, leaving the inner door and tunnel sealed behind the heavier front.
By the end, the plan is turned inside out, the wall-crossbows now aimed to rake attackers before they reach the gate, and still able to bite into the yard if the breach opens. The Page looks up for the next order, charcoal hovering over the last blank edge.
“I say, good, they will be a fall back if we loose the walls. I ask about suggestions. Maybe a big housing with firing stations around our castle door entrance”
SUCCESS (Legendary Leadership, rolled +1)
Druk
Good. If the walls fail, there is a fall back. What do you suggest for a housing structure by the gate, with firing stations around it?
Bruk
A gatehouse, lord. Thick stone, roofed walk, arrow slits on the outer face, and a second room inside for reloads and reserves.
The Crossbow Leader
Make it broad enough for crews to work without crowding. If the breach comes, the shooters need space to shift.
Page
Then add storage under the floor, and a stair into the wall line. Ammunition stays close, but dry.
Assistant 1
And a covered track for hauling bundles from the yard, so the iron does not choke the doorway.
Druk lets the answers settle into the plan. The gatehouse shape becomes clear, a squat armored house at the entrance, with firing rooms, storage, and a protected path for supplies. The page starts a fresh corner sketch while the others wait for Druk's next mark.
Build a gatehouse by the entrance
Quest Complete
Equip troops with custom weaponry
New Gift: Master Armorer