Repel the Invaders

Subject: Repel the Invaders Sat Aug 20, 2011 2:35 pm

With all the other orders given their mission, no other is more then important then defending the lands of Pendor from a mass invasion force from the Veccavia...Marcus Caldius Merula will be leading the Shadow Legion in a diversion of a empty carriage crossing the roads at the top of the shores hill, with his warband order at the other end of the hill for a surprise. This will hopefully pull the Veccavia off the shores to march into this trap. To the north of the suspected docking of the Veccavia is the Silvermist Rangers on top of a high sea cliff, ready to rain down their ambush arrows and create hysteria for the Veccavia landing by Caranthir and a bit south on another cliff top is half the forces of the Silvermists lead by Iskar, if it will prove useful no one knows. Then if battles is commenced, the Knights of the Eventide lead by Azlanek of Tantal will split the Veccavia forces with his cavalry forces to split them off and to finish of the Veccavia. That is how the plan was laid out at the council in Sarleon but things may change since the future is unwritten. For this is a large event and the unknown is always lurking... The defending force is camped south to the shores to not be insight for the sea in case of a night landing. The mist storm is heavy and thick. The Grandmasters and their fellow well known knights are gathered in the master tent in the camp. They are currently discussing their plans...As for the Silvermists, they are the masters of waiting and attack, and have established a small camp to the north where they await an ambush if it should reveal itself for the right timing. Caranthir and his well fellow rangers are gathered on top of the cliff looking out into the mist storm along with Iskar not far to the south of them. They too are discussing between themselves...

(ill create a separate thread in this area for the Silvermists since they are northern more. If they want to communicate in this thread then they will need to send a messenger. also any court officials may play as NPC's if it so fits the event that is happening. But for now I will play along as any NPC that shows up for now.)

(edited for Ranger fix)

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:28 am

Not soon after, a scout force hidden in the mist is seen by the Silvermists. The scout force sends a saddled rider to check out the carriage above since the emblem was of that of the King of Pendor. When reaching the deserted carriage, the scout heard hundreds of men yelling and chanting at the other bottom base of the hill. The scout then turned their steed and was rushing back to the main scout body.

Caranthir was notified first by Iskar of the force and saw the scout go up the hill the first time. And was prepared if the scout would return or not, and to his luck it did. While riding back to their force, Caranthir ordered his best rangers to kill the horse and the person. And was successful. But this will soon let the scout party know that their scout has not returned and will be on high alert. The wind has begun to blow...

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:38 am

A letter arrives with a messenger to each of the three camps from Sir Mitchell the Herald...

Fellow Knights,

I am only hours away from returning to the landing location of the Veccavia and your camps. I have been able to amass reinforcements from he Clarion Call, Windriders, and the Raven Spear. My Immortals also will aid us along with the Eventide that have accompanied me. I hope I do not arrive to late and wish you the greatest hope in this dark time.

With promising hope,

Sir Mitchell the Royal Herald, Grandmaster of the Immortals

In real time...The scout force finally realized something happened to their scout, but a clearing on top of the hill made something appear...It was clearly the King of Pendor! Lucius Valerius took the helmet he received from the Silvermists and put it on, having it be quite tight and smelly. He and a few other men are now more then convincible to the Veccavi scout force. This time, a whole mass of the dark figures has begun to march towards the hill. And in the back of them, large upon large masses of outline figures of ship seem to have breached the shore. They have arrived. The Scout force is moving hastily upwards to the carriage. Actions are now going to speak louder then words.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:15 pm

Commander Theo took his squadron, after deciding quickly what to do and reached the carriage. The Scout force was quickly approaching. Theo and his men, began to fire in a volley. The figures were falling off their horse fastly. The reached up and drew their swords. The Shadow Legion carriage guard then drew their swords under Lucius Valerius quick orders and engaged the scouts. Quickly the scouts were destroyed, crying in pain. Lucius stuck his sword in the skull of the screaming woman, ending the pain from the arrow in her back.

The heavy wind blew the mist out of the grotto and then, the Veccavi spotted the carnage at top. They organized in battalions as more approached and disembarked their ships. They were now marching towards the hill. Caranthir, with the mist still above orders his men to gather on the cliff top and aim downward waiting for the right moment to strike.

They were numerous in number, Caranthir thought, lets hope the Shadow Legion can hold them off til reinforcements come...

Royal Chronicler Posts : 80 Join date : 2011-08-19

Marcus the Shadow Fighter:
Marcus organized his men in a shieldwall, and began the march towards the carriages. He intended to charge them at once.

They reached the hilltop, and then the men blew the special signal horns given to them. They charge downhill, shields locked together and javelins flying to the Veccavian ranks.

Royal Chronicler Posts : 80 Join date : 2011-08-19

Caranthir:
The horns blown by the Leigon are clearly heard above the cliffs, and Caranthir orders his Rangers:

Now men! VOLLEY!

The hidden rangers on both sides fire a wave of arrows at the Veccavian army

Royal Chronicler Posts : 80 Join date : 2011-08-19

Marcus the Shadow Fighter:

The men stopped in charge, and threw a volley of javelins in the Veccavi ranks. Just before they locked their shields together again, a great volley of arrows flied over their heads to the Veccavi, and then with a great cry the heartened Legionaries charged in the big infantry mass.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Wed Aug 24, 2011 2:58 am

A few arrows fly by Caranthir,

Those Veccavian archers couldn't hit the broad side of a barn! RANGERS! AIM FOR THE ARCHERS!

Soon after, a few more volleys leave most of the Veccavian archers dead or incapacitated.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:13 am

OOC: WTF ARROWS CAN INCAPACITE OMGOMGOMG ME WANT

Marcus laughed a deep laughter while fighting. He was good at it, he appeared like a mad-good fighter, who just carved his way through the Veccavians. The women in front of Marcus began to break, bu they held their ground as discipline required. And soon, they began pushing back. The mass of their tightly-packed women was great, and their skill was great too. They came believeing they'd face little to no resistance, and now they pushed back with fanatical rage. The Legion held it's shieldwall, but suffered a few casualties when retreating uphill again.

Where are the Eventide..., Marcus thought.

He falled back to the back line of the shieldwall, and took out his horn. He blew long and hard to it, hoping that someone would realize it's a call for help.

Subject: Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:41 am

Having done his part, Theo suggested (since he didn't know if he was his superior) to the "king" that he should move to the rear and make sure to wave his banner as clearly as he could, so as to keep the illusion going and signaling Caranthir that the squad was well and the "king" alive.

Done that, Theo waves to his squad to follow him and join the Legion in the battle. He tells them give priority to protecting the Legion's formation and orders them to shoot all horses when they appear (to prevent charges that would dismantle the shield wall) and the legs of Veccavians who got too close. Since he is too far away from the Silvermist camp, he also tells them to save some arrows for an eventual next fight.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:57 am

A welcome addition to our forces, thank you Theo, Marcus said when the squad arrived.

The men hailed again, and with another volley of javelins the Legion began pushing forward. The Veccavi broke themselves on the shields, spears, and swords of the Legion, while arrows were flying over the top of the Legion's heads, and the Veccavi were fighting uphill.

Legion, push! Push! Push for the King!

The men hailed, "push, push" in the baccusian "war" language, which sounded odd to the Veccavi ears. But there was no end for the Veccavi troops. No matter how hard they pushed, slowly they were pushed back themselves and again they lost a few men when retreating. The men were weary and tired of the endless-seeming Veccavi force.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:00 am

Marcus call was answered immediately. A multitude of horns were blewn, first on the right, then answered on the left, followed by the thundering sound of cavalry charging down the hill

Relatrion, being in front of his wedge formation comming down on the right, had drawn his morningstar, preparing for the force of impact when his horse would shatter into the lines of the Veccavians

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:00 am

OOC:now we wait for MitchyMatt to bring in the Clarion call and raven Spear, Etc. reinforcements.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:59 am

OOC: Of course, he comes about 3-4 hours from now and i never get to see it live. Damn it.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Wed Aug 24, 2011 6:31 am

OOC: once he comes on, lets ask him if we can control the other knighthoods for him when hes gone Smile

And how many of these guys are there?

Caranthir yells,
MEN! AIM FOR THE STRONGEST-LOOKING SOLDIERS! AIM AT THE WEAK POINTS IN THE ARMOR AND AROUND SHIELDS! REMEMBER THE WIND! READY! AIM! VOLLEEEEEEEY!!!!!!!!!!

Once more, hundreds of Veccavians fall to the deadly volley of arrows

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Wed Aug 24, 2011 6:50 am

OOC: only to elucidate a thing: I'm an archer in real life. You can't really aim with a volley (shooting some 35° up), only with a straight shot. But you can only do a straight shot when the target is very close.
That would be the thing with the Silvermists, in my opinion: their bows are so powerful and their arms so strong, that they can do straight shots even when their enemies are very far away - pretty much the same way a crossbow works.
Volleys are better for a mass of lame archers who probably wouldn't hit even if they shot straight. I think elite archers would do well by just waiting, shooting straight and reloading fast.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:52 am

OOC: Ok then, that sounds like a better idea.

MEN! AIM FOR THE HEAD!

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:47 am

From the north the Eventide rode down along the shores beginning the beach assault. But it is too hard to see from the battle in the grotto, which seemed to keep feeding Veccavia.

Then if not all has gone quiet, a sound of a royal horn of Pendor echoed through the ears of all. Marcus and Caranthir, along with many other knights looked to the top of the hill to see Sir Mitchell the Royal Herald on his royal steed. He pulls out his sword. Then a few other figures appear at the top. One looks like that of the Ravenspear, a Windrider and the Clarion Call. All looking like their Grandmasters.

"Charge!!!!!!!" (insert battle for Helms Deep music when Gandalf arrives with Eomer and his Rohirrim)

And then a wave of cavalry pushed through the ranks of the Veccavia obliterating the front battalion. Then if not spirits were high enough, the Shadow Legion looked at their enemies and charged, with finesse and morale that has never been seen before.

The Veccavia were now retreating back to their boats, to only see the Eventide there struggling to fight the large landing force that seems to keep coming. The retreating first force of the Veccavia were now running to help their fellow comrades against the Eventide before they can receive reinforcements.

"Keep firing the arrows!" Repeated Caranthir, now smiling (sorry for using your character)

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:26 pm

Caranthir runs out of arrows.

You! Over there! You and your squad resupply the rest with the extra quivers we brought!

The rangers begin resupplying the rest of the archers.

Men! Support the Eventide! Aim for the troops on horseback!

Resupplied, the Silvermists pour hundreds more arrows into the buckling Veccavian forces.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:48 pm

Marcus, heartened at the midst of battle, charged in the thick ranks of the Veccavi with some warriors.

But they were too thick.

He soon found himself isolated, only with a couple centurions and a mass of Veccavi troops around them while his troops tried to get to their commander. Marcus and his Centurions fought valiantly, but slowly the men around Marcus died.

Four Centurions lay dead around him , and Marcus was alone, now attacking towards the mass of soldiers between him and his own soldiers. It seemed to be a squad of 30 Veccavi. When he looked closer, it had a strange helmet.. high helmet, with wings on it's top and a symbol on it's sides. And one of the soldiers looked startlingly large, muscular and strong. But Marcus saw a reinforcement battalion charging in behind him, so he had no other chance. He ran at the large woman, jumped on her back and slit her throat with his broadsword. And then, he felt something warm run from his head to his hands, neck, chest. And he fell unconscious.

Peasant Posts : 5 Join date : 2011-08-19

Nearly blinded by enemy blood, Tiberius sees the Grandmaster fall. Tiberius realized that until Marcus was rescued, he would command the legion.

Legions advance, wedge formation. We must protect our Grandmaster then reinforce the Eventide.

The cornicen signaled to the cohorts their commands, they advanced with a strong center and reached the Grandmaster before the enemy.

1st and 3rd, orbem formate around Marcus. The rest create an extended line and stay in formation until the Grandmaster is extracted.

The 1st and 3rd create a circle around Marcus while the legion creates an extended line and becomes a shieldwall. Tiberius and the 1sts Primus picked up the unconscious commander and began to fall back. The circle broke as the 1st escorted the Grandmaster out and the 3rd reinforced the line but by then it was too late for the 3rd to have any fun. The squad of thirty had became a squad of six. The survivors attempted to run but were impaled by javelins.

Infantry, regroup and march forward to the boats, conserve your stamina. We will cut the enemies reinforcements and and push with a protected flank and then roll up the line. Horsemen, wedge formations and hit the Veccavi from behind and reinforce the Eventide.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:10 pm

Relatrion heard the royal horn of pendor echo through the battle, but had no time to give it any further notice. Him and his 23 Knights, had brought great damage to the ranks of Veccavians fron the initial charge, but the amount of enemy soldiers were too many.
He steered his horse towards a fellow knight, always taking hits with his shield and defending his right side with his sword, still defending himself he yelled

We wont be able to stay here much longer! We must get out of this mayhem to regroup! Sir Jugas must be in the same situation. We'll retreat and ride to where him and his knights would hit, and assist them there!

He quickly turned his horce, violently forcing it to ride through the masses of enemy soldiers to get out of the warzone.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:32 am

Marcus woke up. His hand at first went for his sword, which he found near him on the ground. He lay on the ground a few seconds, clutching his sword on his hand for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He noticed that his wound was tended, and although we felt weak, he did not wish to end the battle like this. He stood up, and at once great pain felt in his head which almost made him fall unconscious again. He kept standing with great pain, and began moving slowly towards the battle. His vision was blurred by the hit, but his mind was like steel. Concentrated on one purpose: to kill.

He reached the men on the back, and he felt a little better now that he had men with him. His vision was little better, although his legs weren't still functioning properly. He saw a dead man, and picked up his shield, covering the main part of his body and head with it, and began to advance with wavering steps.

He saw the cavalry forming up on his left, and turned to them.

CENTURIONS! WAIT! He shouted with the loudest voice he could make, which was just enough to be heard over the battle.

He turned to the Legionaries, winking at Tiberius to come.

Tiberius, i want you to lead this charge to the Veccavi backs. If we shatter these reinforcements, we can engage the rest of the army on the ships quickly. I want it to be quick and clean - quick and clean...

His voice wavered again, and he again felt pain on his forehead, and now he fell to the ground. He was unconscious for a second, but immediately woke up and climbed leaning on his shield to a crouching-stance, and looking at Tiberius he said:

Go, go now!

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Fri Aug 26, 2011 2:50 am

Caranthir noticed the reinforcements arriving by boats and ordered his men:

Rangers! Use fire arrows at their ships!

The rangers turn their bows to the ships and load fire arrows. Minutes later, most of the Veccavian ships are burning after waves of flaming arrows light them aflame.

Subject: Re: Repel the Invaders Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:03 am

On the southern part of the beach, Sir Jugas and his small cluster of Knights of the Eventide were all that stood between the retreating Veccavia and the rest of the behemoth that was the vast landing force. From afar the forces of the Eventide looked like walking shadows on nightmarish steeds, mercilessly wading through the enemy's troops and annihilating everything in their path, but up close it was more than obvious that the cavalry had lost its momentum and would not be able to withstand an assault from two sides for long.

''Sir Jugas! We have to retreat!'' cried one young squire of the Eventide. ''If we don't, we will be surrounded and crushed!''

Jugas just laughed as he sundered the shield of a Veccavi soldier with a powerful blow and nearly decapitated the man with the following stroke. ''Where is your sense for glory, boy! Have you heard the Shadowlegion signalling us to retreat? I certainly haven't! So either they don't care or they want us stay exactly where we are, and that is exactly what we are going to do. We will not allow the enemy to regroup, not under my command, you hear me? By Astraea, we are soldiers, we are knights! We do as we are told. Now keep fighting! We can quarrel with the other orders once victory is ours!

At the same time on the southern cliff top:

A messenger arrives at the Silvermists position, bringing word from the Eventide auxiliaries. Apparently the troops were getting restless and since the Ranger's position had not been threatened by the enemy so far, the knight in command respectfully requested permission to take his men and enter the fray alongside the rest of the troops.