War Progression Story Sound Trumpets! Let Our Bloody Colours Wave! And Either Victory, Or Else A Grave.

Spoiler: ♫ Ambiance ♫

By now, only half of the collective Regalian Forces on the Elven Moors remained in Merkars’arh on the southern warfront. While the Typhonus army was busy in the west dealing with the Wolond Scourge that had plagued Regalian Scouts for months, Field Marshal Ardige Viduggla and Field Generals Hengest Harhold and Deo dei Termini prepared for the most quintessential battle on the Moors thus far: The battle for Merkars’arh. The Regalian Generals had been warned of a Kathar counterattack on the Regalian-occupied Altalar City, and thus begun preparations to repel the approaching force. In the theme of the last few battles, once again the Regalian Military would attempt to lure the Kathar into a false sense of victory. Field General Deo dei Termini would take command of the Merkars’arh wall defence with the assistance of decorated and experienced Field Marshal Ardige Viduggla providing additional assistance and oversight. Meanwhile the Harhold force would lie in wait out of sight an hour or so out from the City to catch the Kathar on two sides and break the siege, routing the Kathar force completely by catching them unaware. Morale was decidedly low given the recent losses, however the Regalians prepared to face death in the eyes to protect this strategically important city. The Harhold Army left earlier that morning, an hour or so before the Typhonus Army. 19,000 Tenpenny soldiers marched north of the city to a known depression in the land where they could wait to spring the trap, while a mixture of troops under Dei Termini numbering only 8,400 strong would hold the City long enough for the Harhold Army to arrive.


By noon, the Regalian Soldiers ushered the Altalar Citizens into their homes and safehouses around the city to ensure their safety. While many did not resist this attempt, some prolific pro-Altalar refused to stand idly by while their City was attacked and thus defied Regalian orders, and remained on the streets with weapons ready. Deo remained on the walls with as many men that could fit, mostly archers and Pavisa Crossbowmen to be exact, numbering just under 1,500 due to space constraints. His major Field Commanders, Roland Typhonus, Devona Howlester, Jared Kade and his Imperial Guard, Hannah Lexen, waited within the City with the remainder of the troops, guarding in particular the southern gates though garrisoning enough men to all other gates just as a precaution. Tenpenny Halbardiers bolstered the Southern Position due to lack of space to fit on the walls, and instead directed below. Regalian soldiers prepared braziers to be lit as soon as the Kathar were in sight to alert the Harhold Army. It was now just a waiting game. The walls and city were eerily silent save for the few orders the Generals and their underlings were barking, a testament to the building anxiety with each passing moment until something broke the silence.


Aq’uello Cionessa, a particularly adept scout was the first to notice, alerting the Regalian Army of the approaching scourge, quickly relaying the notice of the oncoming attack to the brazier soldiers who lit them immediately. The sound of war drums and screeching rolled over the hills from the distance soon after. “Steady archers. Send word to the Commanders. The battle is about to begin!” dei Termini ordered. Shakily the Pavisa Crossbowmen loaded their bolts and the Tenpenny archers readied themselves. A flood of Kathar began to emerge over the hills, all marching in formation. Skeletal constructs on Undead horses littered the frontline followed by Shenath archers, then the bulk Shenath infantry troops, the slashers. Notably, two voidbeast Harpies screeched from atop the marching force while a familiar silver-plated Paladin commanded the troop formation from a couple of lines back. It became apparent that this army, numbering at least 20,000 strong, was not a trifling battle; this was a full on assault. The army came to a halt outside of archer range, the howling of the harpies continuing as the formation began to split. With the raise of a silver sword, the battle commenced. The Slasher Infantry pushed forward past the archers and the Cavalry and began a charge on the walls, bone shields outstretched to protect from arrow fire that they were bound to predict, with the archers and spell slingers to follow.


“Archers Knock!” a Regalian voice rang out with moments later the order to “loose” following suit. Valentino dei Callegari, Camilla Moreno and the archer Alicientella began firing down upon the approaching soldiers. It became apparent rather quickly that the Pavisa, while wielding crossbows, were not in the most adequate position, as Pavisa Knights were commonly used to besiege castles, not defend them, and thus while the Pavisa were firing back, Tenpenny archers had released at least three volleys in the time it took for the crossbowmen to reload after their first. Nevertheless, Camilla Moreno hit her mark, a bolt spearing the head off a particularly armored infantryman. The same could not be said for both Valentino dei Callegari and Alicientella who both were struck in the upper body with counterfire from Skeletal Archers, which knocked them back onto the floor. Both Valentino dei Callegari and Alicientella took arrows to the upper torso, leaving them winded and gasping for air. They were soon carted off by Elise Laetra who saw to their recovery, removing the arrows and immediately proceeding with surgery. Due to her spectacular ability, they would survive to see another day, albeit being pained for a week when breathing.


“By the Gods... There’s so many,” Ardige muttered under his breath. He began compiling orders to be relayed to Deo in assistance, consulting with Tacticians Edmure Howlester and Reina Berater. Reina Berater suggested keeping behind the walls, reasoning that the hefty wooden gates would hold long enough for the Harhold Army to reinforce the Merkars’arh garrisoned force whereas Edmure Howlester wholeheartedly argued against. “It would not be advisable. They have the numbers, but we have the advantage,” Edmure continued. The Howlester pointed out that due to the presence of such a high number of cavalry, numbering at least a third of the army, the Kathar must have expected the Regalian force to meet them on the field as cavalry was rarely, if not ever, used in siege combat. Furthermore, he argued that the strength of the doors were irrelevant as the magic the Kathar had could easily blow them open in an instant, and instead instructed Ardige to command Deo to, while the Kathar were not upon the wall, release the Halberdiers.


Ardige agreed and sent Aelfwald Caedmon, a siege tactician, to relay the message. He handed the parchment to the Dressolini General, his mouth opening to speak however no words left him, only a scream. All Deo could do was look on in horror as the two Voidbeast Harpies grasped hold of Aelfwald, lifting him to the sky at least five stories off the wall. The New Regalian was tossed around like a plaything by the cackling Voidbeast Harpies, whom moments later clasped hold of his upper body and lower body respectively and pulled, splitting the man in two with one final blood curdling scream, dropping his severed body into Merkars’arh right next to Jared Kade. Luckily for Jared, the parts just missed him. Unluckily for Hannah Lexen, they didn’t. Aelfwald’s horror stunned upper body slammed into Hannah Lexen’s head, knocking her clear out and leaving her with a concussion and a cracked skull. The Kade immediately sent for Jocelyn von Duerr who eased Lexen back into consciousness and immediately saw to her wound.


With the order approved by dei Termini, and with the army almost on the gates, the wooden doors opened and the Regalian Halberdier force, reinforced by Regalian Tenpenny Infantry charged into the fray to hold the line. The Halberdier men sliced through the vastly increased numbers under the command of Jared Kade. Jared and the Halberdiers fought bravely, bolstered by notable Regalian oddities Arwen'elda Tordove, Saff and Astaroth. The two Manathar worked incredibly well under the Kade, with Astaroth assisting in keeping many of the halberdiers alive while Arwen’elda Tordove remained the spearforce in felling the oncoming Kathar attackers. Her magma magic usage no doubt was pivotal at this stage of the battle. She coated herself in the magma, creating hardened armor with hammer-like hands as weapons. She sliced through the Shenath slashers like they were butter, shattering wave after wave of the onslaught that came at her, Saff, and Jared Kade. While the Kade’s commands were adept, it was clear that the Paladin was just as experienced, and thus all he could do was stall while Saff, who performed well with his Skagger training, held the line with the Halberdiers and Arwen’elda on the left.


Devona Howlester took up command of the right hand side with a unit of halberdiers under her leadership. The Howlester was additionally backed by Merilya Jouhari, Ivarai'ilo Zisslau, Onihrulir Uliekuler and the battle medic, Lau'rella. Devona Howlester commanded well and fought even better, crushing a particularly gorey charge by a mixture of Shenath Slashers and Skeletal Archers. Merilya Jouhari and Lau’rella however struggled with the numbers, quickly succumbing to the collective sword swipes and arrow fire until both were left bloodied on the battlefield, with Lau’rella taking the brunt of the assault. While Merilya would no doubt suffer for the next couple of weeks with the cuts to her arms and puncture wound to her shoulder, Lau’rella was lucky to be left alive given he took three arrows to the abdomen and a stab that just missed his heart. Again, his life was only barely saved by the expertise of Jocelyn von Duerr after he and Merilya had been courageously rescued from the battle by Ivarai’ilo Zisslau who amazingly was able to not only fight his way back behind halberdiers with his mace and kite shield combo, but also ducked, dodged and blocked downward plunge attacks by both Void Harpies, which had grown bored of massacring Pavisa’s and instead had targeted the Maraya fellow below. Onihrulir Uliekuler fought reasonably well given the circumstances, but soon also had to flee after being lightly burned by void spells that just barely grazed her shoulder.


The center column held just as strong as the left and right with another nobleman taking charge, this time Roland Typhonus, who performed exceptionally well. His Drixon Spear felled many a foe that dared attack him whilst commanding the troops around him, whose orders, while not as adept and experienced as the other Commander’s, were followed to a tee. Nevertheless, his skill with a polearm would go on to be revered and his participation no doubt greatly helped with ensuring the Kathar did not breach the Southern Gate. Assisting were Shane Marth, Djibril Amankona, Umbraygieh Ughul Tren'sa and Kalmar Lok-Guthrain, the latter of which immediately ushered back behind the walls of Merkars’arh, an angered mess from witnessing the magic being cast around him. That said, Shane Marth and Djibril Amankona fought on though both after a couple of minutes falling to wounds on the frontline. Shane himself was forced to retreat after an arrow lodged itself in his shoulder, rendering wielding his weapon too painful to continue. Djibril meanwhile had been hoisted upward by the Voidbeast Harpies, who flung him into the wall, shattering multiple ribs, both his legs and his right shoulder upon impact and landing on the ground. He’d be painfully dragged back into the city and subjected to the Jocelyn von Duerr treatment. Nevertheless, the Tenpenny combined force remained steadfast, fighting alongside Roland and Umbraygieh Ughul Tren’sa, the latter of which assisted Roland as best he could but otherwise did nothing extremely notable.


As the battle raged on, the Kathar force began to split, the main force remaining centered on the Southern Gate, while two splinter forces began to encircle the Merkars’arh walls. The Tenpenny Archers performed exceptionally against the splitting force and somewhat reduced the numbers while the Pavisa continued to struggle with their reload times, with many of the Order’s knights falling to counterfire, the harpies, and spells flung atop the walls. Elizabeth Rote, the medic, did what she could to save some of the Pavisa lives, however due to the quick volleys of Kathar projectiles, each time she helped one Pavisa, another two would fall. The line was holding strong for now, as Edmure Howlester had predicted. Reina Berater had however been removed from the tacticians tent by Ardige at that point for her nuanced eye rolling and sarcasm at her tactical advice not being followed. It remained a stalemate, completely. The lesser Regalian Force inflicted just as much damage to the Kathar as the Kathar flung upon the Regalians, and it was not clear just how long it would remain that way as the splinter Kathar force began converging on the eastern and western gates. By now, the walls of the city were also being bombarded by Kathar voidfire that had been casted into existence by the backline shenath, with Void Well siege engines following suit. The archers and infantry stationed in the eastern and western areas prepared themselves and shot downward as best as they could on the much larger besieging force, but it hardly affected them. Almost simultaneously, the doors were bashed against, over and over from below by the quickly arising Shenath force. Magical blows pounded against the doors, splinters flying all around. “The doors, my liege. They won’t hold much longer!” a Regalian Soldier reported to Deo, who was being harassed by the Voidbeast Harpies. Thankfully, they would not snare him as they had Caedmon prior, and Marissa Morgann and William Arnyn duo’d against the Harpies, driving them away after slicing the right leg from one of the two. “Where the fuck is Harhold?!” the Dressolini exclaimed. Where was the Harhold indeed, they wondered. Bang, bang, bang, the doors boomed until crunch. The wood increasingly fractured. Was this it? After defying such great odds, they’d lose because Hengest Harhold was late to the action? Deo prepared for a last stand until finally, the sounding of warhorns boomed over the horizon, followed by the clacking of thousands of heels and armor...

(( TO BE CONTINUED, LATER THIS EVENING ))

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