NationStates Jolt Archive

Monday, June 5
Vol Turin, Assillia

The fanfare of the Imperial Guard thundered throughout the city of Vol Turin. Upon the paved road leading to the main, massive, wooden dock marched a parade of silver clad officers with their blue tunics shining under neath their heavy breast plates. Leading the parade was Admiral Secundus Thundredom and Prince Cadoc Assillianus Duke of Edrington.

Admiral Thundredom was upon a masculent, silver roan, exhausted, but keeping a proud walk to it. Upon the roan's back was a tall, proud man. He was adorned in a black, knee length, frock coat, which covered his silver chest plate with his families herald on it. He had brown hair which meet his shoudlers, upon it was a leather head plate and a silver medium helmet lined with blue. He knew relatively nothing about naval tatics but with an almost completely land locked kingdom, anyone who lived near a lake was suitable for the rank of admiral for the newest Man-of-War ship of line to be launched.

Admiral Secundus Thundredom kept the march moving, he and Prince Cadoc where to embark upon the newly made ship with a compliment of seventy warriors and thirty naval officers. The ships was a large frigate, it had over seventy cannons, twelve on the Quarter deck, sixteen in the upper gun deck, eightteen in the middle gun deck, fourteen in the lower gun deck, and ten in the orlop deck.

The design for the ship came from a elvan mastermind, Dundesbun, who had worked with the human and dwarven craftsmen to come up with the idea of a weapon which shot large rocks. They did various expirements and came up with a swivel gune which shot out cannon balls by lighting a flamable powder.

Upon the poop deck there was various places for archers and bowmen to fire from, the rail and wooden side guard was perfect cover from a counter shot. On the fore of the ship, where the bow spit was, a giant ram was place, it would be used to collide into enemy ships and knock their opponents off of the bow and deck possibly disable the sails.

Chapman and jesters danced around the admiral and prince whose horses galloped to a beautiful fanfare by the colour guard. The middle class and peasants gathered on the side walk and gazed upon the parade from their homes. The slow paced parade came to a halt in front of the gang way up into the ship. Admiral Thundredom dug his feet into the roans side and caused to let out a whine and stand on his hind legs. Then it galloped up the gang plank and upon the ship. Prince Cadoc steered his horse to face the fanfare, colour guard, peasants and soldiers. He lifted of his cap and took a bow. Then he did the same as the admiral and climbed up on deck.

The fanfare then played a different tune and the extremely well disciplined soldiers turned about face to watch as their leader, HRM King Beloth the Wise, stood from a large tower facing the Inland Sea and adressed the on lookers.

"Dearest Men of Dardet! The wonderful God Zeres, Lord of Gods, addressed me as I slept. He whispered to, as lightning howled behind him, to send out a ship and lay waste to the enemys of the Sea God, Adurna.

I have listened to him and on this day I let out our new age of glory and claim these seas to be free. My son, Prince Cadoc, and my dearest friend, Admiral Secundus Thundredom, shall rid these seas of evil and will come home with a great bounty for our glorious kingdom.

For the Glory and Honour of Ondire, push foward and conquer these waters!"

The crowd thundered with appluase and the ship embarked on it's journey, when out into the water, it fired two of it's cannons and traveled on.

Tuesday, June 13
AHMS Adurna, Inland Sea

"It's impossible to pass these islands!" screamed Admiral Thrundredom over the roar of cannons and the whipping ocean.

The ship, Adurna, was just entering the Inland Seas but was stuck in the straight they had to pass to reach the sea. They had been ambushed by a massive fleet of rougue goblins and pirates. The compliment was being wiped out, the once good hiding spot for archers on the poop deck had turned into a splintered mess of wood and bodies.

The quarter deck's cannons had ceased to fire because one of them had been shot loose and was causing a wreckage of the deck as it slid back a forth. The compliment of soldiers not working with the cannons or in their watery grave were scrambling to grab as much of their belongings as possible before the ship went down. The star board cannons were blazing and had gotten good shots in the hull of one goblin ship, but it only faltered the ship, because it kept fighting.

Admiral Thundredom was grabbing as much loot, gold, and important papers as he could from the admiral's cabin as the captains cabin, the cabin directly above his, was hit directly with a grapel shot from a brigand ship.

As Thundredom was stuffing naval charts and compasses into his frock coat and into his chest plate, a flustered Prince Cadoc and two royal guards flew into the cabin room.

"My cabin's been blown off the ship," yelled the prince in a commanding tone.

The angered admiral replied, "And that matters to me how, Prince Cadoc?"

The prince turned red with rage and ripped his sword out of it's scabbard and pointed the blade towards the admirals neck. One of the royal guards tried to push Cadoc to floor as the other jumped down. Shortly after another grapel shot thundered through the wood and took Cadoc out of the other side of the ship. With the prince dead, the surviving royal guard blustered out of the room to go grab as many riches as he could find on the ship.

Thundredom had successfully emptied his cabin of anything important to him and ran out to the deck. It was filled with still bodies, moving only to the sway of the ship, and screaming soldiers crying in agony. The main royal and the mizzen topmast staysail were tangled together in a heap as the main sail started to tear down. The admiral jumped over the carnage and grabbed his first mate.

"Polunton, go to the sword room with some men and gather every single weapon you carry. Then meet me back here so we get get off this boat." ordered the admiral.

The first mate, Polunton, nodded in compliance and strode off to do his duty. The admiral quickly found three row boats and started piling his chests and loot into one. He ran back and got more chests from earlier kills and placed it in the second boat. He had the only living officers near him pile onto two of the row boats and he waited for his team with Polunton to come back.

As he had planned, a team of seven sailors came running back with arm fulls of swords, shields, and bows. They poured the armoury into the row boat and five of the men piled in. Thundredom stabbed one and left the other to command the wounded soldiers to go down with the ship.

Thursday, June 15
Arrettium, Assillia

The idea of the first Assill ship of the line with cannons to be sunk by unorderly goblins and drunken pirates, was disgusting. It could sink into Beloth's mind. It was the very thought that forced Beloth to call an emergency war council.

"How? How! How could the Adurna have been sunk so easily? So much money was wasted for that," Beloth was staring at the floor with eyes that seemed to burn the material, "Even my son died for the damned ship!" the king's vioce had become much louder, from a saddened whisper to an angered yell.

He looked up to his nearest general, Lord Durmendon of the House of Barsconnii.

"Lord Durmendon, what is the death toll of the ship of the line?"

The lord was slow to reply, "Sixty three members of the compliment died, not including your son and his guards."

"What of the thirty seven to survive?" he looked at Lord Gil'ead for an answer.

The general was taken aback but not far enough to not answer, "They um, sir, have been picked up by the Albatross and brought into port. I assure you they are doing well; they have been given warm beds and good food, the men they had become ill have been treated and Admiral Thundredom is due to get his pay and for a commemoration."

The king scowled, "Lord Varden!" snapped Beloth.

The man snapped to attention, "Yes, your highness?"

"Send out for Admiral Thundredom to be hanged unless he accepts my offers."

The entire council was baffled, everyone in the room seemed to gasp, even the sarcastic, apathetic Lord Drezden seemed to be in awe. No one every questioned the king so Lord Varden called in an aid and told the messenger to be ready to go out.

"We need a coast, we need more ports then the old Vol Turin. The Turin Straight is to small and has too many pirates and monsters swimming in that it is almost impossible for us to reach the Inland Sea. I want more land, I want more people! I am tired and almost being land locked.

I want an army, lead by our Admiral Thundredom, to attack the bordering Aldarish villages. From there they will deploy and hit the Aldarish capital. From there the force will be sent to the Aldarish coast and take as much of the land as possible."

"But sir, they have those weapons, the 'Dreads'. If we attack them it will be a large blow to our nation." pleaded Lord Völundr.

"I sought this too, but their land land is so large that it will take them up to six weeks for them to deploy the rest of their forces to meet ours. Thus, we must take as much land as possible before the end of the fifth week. During this time I will have Iormungr the Cunning and Islod the Brave go to work out diplomacy and peace. If this can work we will have a coast and more land and more power. The glorious Assillia will become even more great!"

The council seemed to nod their heads in approval.

Saturday, June 17
Assill-Aldarish Border, Plains of Dardet

Upon a massive war machine Admiral, and not Lord, Secundus Thundredom looked to the sky with a massive smile. He was proud, more proud than the time he was upon the Adurna when it was great. He was wearing the same uniform as he had in the parade only with a black full helmet with a spike upon the top.

He was in a tower like structure, called a howdah, on the back of a massive, gray mûmak caught in Caen. It had four large, shiny ivory tusks, perfect for slaughtering large masses of enemy infantry. The beast had skin so thick, it was almost impenetrable—making them almost invulnerable to arrows. Horses unfamiliar to the mûmak refused to go near it, making the monster very effective against enemy cavalry. Thundredom had given the beast the name Lustrundon. With such girth and majesty and better name should've been given but the Lord insisted on naming it after his grand father.

Next to Thundredom's mûmak was yet another wild beast of the mûmak kind. Upon it's back was yet another howdah, over seventy archers and bowmen were stuck in it. Also in the howdah was the second leading general of the Aldarish invasion, Lord Vættir Andlattius, Captain of the Hologus. He had decided to name the mûmak he was upon Blöldvendr, a much more fitting name for in Assill it translated to 'Bloodmaker'.

Thundredom's Lustrundon and Vættir's Blöldvendr, along with thirty other mûmaks were the last of the deployment, carrying the rear of the army. As the massive beasts came to the top of one unusually tall hill they were able to look down to the sight of a 10,000 man infantry deployment with another four thousand calvary as well as a large grouping of knights and infantry mages.

As the small wals of the enemy village the axemen were hacking away. The trebuchet's where firing at the military installations as the archers and bowmen let loose more and more arrows. Any small slit made into the wall, more and more swordsmen and spearmen would flow through. They just hoped they could make it to the town centre without a large amount of damage.

OOC: What an intimidatingly long post you have.

Sunday, June 11
Tandham Castle, Tandham

Footsteps echoed through the caverous halls of Tandham Castle, residence of the King of Aldarland. The steps were brisk, as well they should be, for the message carried was of grave importance.

Count Jaenberth of Ardwimor flung agape the doors to the audience chamber, scattering a few liveried servants. The King no longer recieved audience on advice of his doctors, having been persuaded by them that the energy expended was detrimental to his health, and now deferred such things to his eldest son, Prince Edweard.

Count Jaenberth marched through the chamber to a small doorway set to one side of the throne. He entered, revealing a candlelit room covered from floor to ceiling in paperwork, bane of public officials and lifeblood of empires. At the center of the room was the Prince himself, a black-clothed, gaunt-faced man with a thin beard that followed the line of his chin.

The Count approached the desk, bowing slightly and placing a sealed, mud-stained envelope upon it.

"Your Highness," he began, his voice almost a whisper, "I have news most grave. A rider was sent to me not three days past with this message. It's contents are for your eyes only, but he was gracious enough to impart his own observations to me before returning to his post.

"The Kingdom is under attack, Your Highness. The situation is most dire."

Prince Edweard deftly opened the envelope with a small silver knife, before quickly scanning the contents.

"...remarkable," he muttered, "quite remarkable in it's clarity."

The Count remained bowed. "Your Highness?" he ventured.

The Prince gazed at the opened letter for a few more seconds, as though scrutinising a particular line.

"Tell me, Jaenberth, why great kingdoms are so large?"

Count Jaenberth was taken slightly aback by the question, and hesitated in his reply.

"Because they continue to grow, Your Highness. A great kingdom bequeaths great leaders and a large army, the combination of which, in turn, bequeaths more territory. The cycle is self-repeating."

"Correct!" said the Prince, his smile forced. He took a blank piece of paper from a stack, and began to write. When he finished, he held a small red candle over the flame of another and dripped the thick, rich wax onto the paper. He sealed it with the stamp of his ring, placed the sheet within a waterproofed leather pouch, and held it out to the Count.

"These are your orders; you will summon the regiments of the First Division, make for Eardhelm and await my arrival upon the twenty-fifth of the month. Then we shall see how our enemy fares against a fighting opponent."

Monday, June 19
Aldarish Territory, Aldarland

The first seige had only taken an hour to accuire an Assillian victory. The town, housing less than two thousand peasants, and a small fighting force of a two hundred strong militia had decided that such a large force beating away at their walls was not a good thing and gave up before the fighting could begin. Only seventeen arrows had been loosed and one round from the trebuchet was fired, but from that a quick victory was gained and the Assill borders were lengthened. Twice more the same thing had happed and two more villages were added to the kingdom.

Lord Thundredom tried to get the captured soldiers and militia's to join his conquest but they refused so they were kept to defend the villages. The massive force carried on and with so many quick victories, the king was very pleased with Thundredom and Vættir. The death toll racked up to a total of six militia soldiers, two who charged a wall to early and four caught under the foot of a mûmak.

"With such a slow resistance, these Aldarish fools must be planning something." said Lord Vættir with an air of military knowledge and superiority.

Lord Thundredom nodded in approval, "Must be, Polunton caught sight of a mounted militia officer who escaped the last village we beseiged. Probably sending off a message to their king."

"Then we should expect a fighting enemy on the way." The mûmak whose howdah the two generals were speaking over a cup of tea in roared and made the earth tremble. Lord Thundredom nearly spilled his tea which was made of the finest spice in Dardet. Both he and Vættir jumped from their seat to stare down at a large fort nearly a mile away.

Vættir snapped a few orders and the massive beast came to an abrupt stop. The lord slid down a few ropes and got off of the beast. He, and eventually Thundredom, were next to one of the beast's feet and walking towards two steeds set for them. They climbed upon their mount and strode to the front of the line of eager infantry. Vættir, who was much more accustomed to giving speaches, paced his steed back and forth in front of the ranks of men.

"Dear me," he said at length but loudly, "It seems there is a large fortress filled with Aldarish soldiers, who will not retreat to our might, in our way. What do you say we do?"

The Lord of the Hologus recieved the reply he wanted, the soldiers banged their swords and shields and let out a bloodcurdling war cry. They started chanting, "Kill them," at the top of the lungs. Vættir let out a smile and went to the side of a group of swordsmen. Lord Thundredom on his black steed and Polunton on a brown roan came to Vættir's side. They did a slow pace, keeping directly next to the infantry, as they plotted their seige.

"Polunton, I want the ballistas, onagers, testudos, galleries, and ramps prepared. Keep this men quiet, it seems the enemy has not noticed us yet, so we can attack at night." ordered Thundredom in a manner as if he knew exactly what he was doing.

The orders were carried out well and by one in the morning, the massive force was ready to attack. The sky was pitch black, clouds covered the stars and moon from shining.

The infantry walked, so close to the ground that it was as if they were crawling, quietly towards the fort which had an assumed large amount of enemy soldiers. Coming closer to the walls, the onagers and ballistas prepared to fire. The testudos and galleries clambed up against the wall and were ready to deploy. The men with laders pressed against the wall, waiting for the order to lift up their ladders and start climbing. A large portion of the infantry, axemen, swordsmen, spearmen, and a few knights, pressed against the wall as a large line of heavy archers formed. Behind the line of heavy archers was a more oderly line of light archers and behind that was the poorly organized and poorly trained bowmen.

The archers were given the order to light their arrows when they fired. As they all pieced their places together, a swath of seventy heavy calvary units gathered behind the archers. In their front line was Lord Thundredom, Lord Vættir, and Polunton. Thundredom unleashed his sword and swung it around. The leader of the infantry, Asgarith, understood and let out the word. Then the silence stopped as the onlagers, ballistas, and catipults unleashed their flammable rounds over the wall and into the fort. Orders were being yelled and the now awake enemy sentry units were shot at by hundreds of archers and bowmen. The galleries started bashing at the wall as the testudo did the same, the ladders were thrown up and the soldiers to excalade the wall.

A battering ram was pressed against the main gate and it started pounding too. More flaming arrows were loosed, up over the walls, and upon the forts inside.

"For Assill!" screamed Lord Vættir and Lord Thundredom with might as they shoved their feet into their steeds ribs and galloped foward.

Monday, June 19
Fort Wulfhewic, Southern Aldarland

Flaming arrows rained upon massed shields, their steel heads biting into the leather-bound wood. The walls, three meters thick and sloped inwards, were crammed with the professional infantry of Aldarland. Their faces grim, these hard-bitten men were far superior in morale, equipment and fighting quality to the militiamen who had faced the enemy until now. Every man was equipped in half-plate, with many bearing full-plate harnesses, and the battlements rang to the voices of their officers.

"Keep those shields high, boys!" bellowed Colonel Helmard, a huge, black-bearded man, every inch the Aldarian warrior. Almost six foot at the shoulder, he had left the visor of his sallet helm open so that his men would gain reassurance from his scarred face, while in his right fist he held a drawn shortsword - perfect for the close-quarter fighting he expected.

"These idiots think we're soft-bellied milkmaids," he shouted, "or they shouldn't come at us so brazen! What say we give the little darlings a taste of what they seek?"

The reply was a unified shout, an unintelligible bark of fury and anticipation.

"URAH!"

Iron-capped ladders slammed against the battlements, and the first trebuchet-borne rock slammed into the southern face of the gate-tower, ripping away a cornerstone. Aldarish arquebusiers, protected from the enemy by towers and mantlets, fired their weapons into the enemy, who milled around the foot of their ladders as they awaited their try at the rampart.

The first Assillian reached the top of the battlements, and fell back again as his face was ripped away by a musketball. Another quickly took his place, before he was overwhelmed by the defenders. His broken body was hurled back down the ladder, sending another two of the enemy to the ground. A chance arrow struck an Aldarish infantryman in the upper shoulder, between the joins of his front and rear breastplates. He fought on, all the while spitting gobbets of blood.

The Battle of Wulfhewic was begun.

Monday, June 19
Fort Wulfhewic, Southern Aldarland

The thundering, unintelligent war cry of, "URAH!" from the Aldarian soldiers was definitely intimidating but with the Duke of La'tonadon, Captain Asgarith, the head of infantry, esclading the wall behind four already fallen men, the battle was only about to begin. The arquebusier in front of Asgarith's ladder waited for his head to appear, but the witty Asgarith pulled off his helmet raised and pulled it back down, the unknowing Aldarian fired and missed. The arquebusier started to reload but Asgarith flew up the remainder of the ladder, pushing his foot off the rung as leverage, and stabbed the Aldarian in the, under his chest plate. The Lord of the Infantry jumped over the wall and onto the top of the battlements mantlet. He quickly struck another arquebusier with might and parried a swing from a nearby Aldarian. With Asgarith gaining a foot hold, three more soldiers piled over and started swinging with rage. The three swordsmen that piled over were shot and stabbed repeatedly only to be replaced by four more.

One light spearman climbing over was stabbed in the lower chest and he plummeted to where the rest of the Aldarian knights were waiting. Asgarith's sword struck another Aldarian before he turned his head back and yelled.

"Assillians over the wall!"

His scream was met with a quick and decisive reply, "ARAH!"

The battering rams kept bashing into the gate and were getting awfully close to taking it down. The ballistas, onagers, and trebuchets stopped aiming at enemy soldiers and aimed at the walls. Asgarith and his small foot hold gave a small distraction giving the rest of the infantry a better chance at climbing the wall. As every soldier came nearer they would screamed, "For Assill!" and make a made dash over the battlements.

It was still an extremely hard, almost impossible task, to ascend the wall with ladders but it was slightly working and Lord Thundredom had no problem with that.

Monday, June 19
Fort Wulfhewic, Southern Aldarland

The Assillian foothold had been noted, and Colonel Lafeold Helmard, Earl of Swyndford, powered through his men to reach the threat. Another enemy warrior had been cut down since, but four more had replaced him and the fighting was desperate.

"Forward, lads!" ordered Helmard, his huge voice overshadowing even the cries of battle. "Let's throw these bastards from our wall! WITH ME!"

With the last cry, the big colonel thrust forward with his shield to smack wide an enemy blade. His opponent momentarily defenceless, Helmard jammed his shortsword in underneath the man's ribs, ripping through a leather jerkin and rupturing the liver. He twisted and dragged the weapon free with a scream of hate, flourishing it above his head and preparing for a penetrating downward strike on the next man.

His men followed, their morale high and their swords already wet. Twenty men rushed the gaggle of Assillian soldiers, shouldering them up against the battlements and slaughtering them to a man. A grizzled Aldarish sergeant barged an enemy officer to the ground, before kicking him in the head so hard that his visor jammed. He stamped on the man's weapon hand for good measure, and his filigree'd sword fell from his weakened grip to clatter against the flagstones.

Colonel Helmard grinned like a madman as his men jeered the enemy beyond their walls, his face flecked with blood and blackened by powder smoke.

"Bravo, my brave lads!" he roared, "a pox upon those who oppose us, and all their wretched kin! Arquebusiers to the front! I want fire on those laggards who yet wait to be killed!"

His orders were instantly obeyed as his sergeants chivvied the men to their positions, and the battlement was quickly wreathed in powder smoke. A pair of ladders which remained upright against the wall were scraped sideways with a halberd. The colonel ran his eyes once more over the dead, lingering upon the wretched cluster of enemy bodies.

A movement caught his eye; an armoured figure, crawling blindly across the walltop. The style of his harness was unfamiliar, and the foreign symbols upon his surcoat betrayed that this man was an enemy. Helmard strode to the shuffling figure, and gave it a massive kick in the midriff, sending the unfortunate sprawling.

"YIELD!" he shouted, his sword drawn and leveled. "And your life will be spared!"

As previously mentioned four missions had been sent out to explore the world. Two by boat, the other two by land. The first land delegation had moved into norgardia. The second, though, consisting of two hundred Iceguards and one hundred Leaf Knights, had skirted the boarders of norgardia and crossed through into the lands of the free cities. After setting up a diplomatic post and establishing a few trading agreements they had continued to move southwards. Only now had they actually reached a new territory and of course, it had to be in the middle of a war.

"Damn." muttered Oren Leaf. As he watched from a concealed position the Defenders push the attackers off the wall. He turned to the captain next to him able to see the captain only by dint of his magically enhanced vision.

"Skilgannon," Said Oren to the iceguard Captain, "Can you contact whoevers manning the defense? Offer them our support."

"Sure," replied the captain and the Snowhawk perched near him vaulted into the sky and flew for the castle.

The Snowhawk circled in the sky as Skilgannon, controlling his Companion, tried to find someone who looked like they were in command of the mess.

The Snow hawk circled in the sky. Pick out a larger man standing on the battlements and holding a shield and short sword who seemed to be giving orders.

The hawk dived towards him and flared its wings landing on his shoulder.

"hello" Said the Hawk, "would you be leading here?"

*bump (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_I0FxP_bRg)*

Tuesday, June 10th
River Fort, Northern border with Assillia
"We just got orders from the King sir, he orders a attack on Assillia to halt them in there attempts to expand to the west" the messenger was soaked with rain, the Elf had obviously spent a long time riding.

The Captain takes the note, reads through it quickly with orders to assault Assillia from the South in order to halt their expansion otherwise they could find a neighbor way to powerful for the Kings taste.

"Send a message to the DarkStar reserve and to the local reserves that they are to arm up and join me at River Fort three, hopefully we can pull out about 30,000 soldiers for war"

"You think that will be big enough?"

"I doubt the Lord at Lorein will spare his Standing Army for this campaign, more so with the Goblin raids and since we now have cannons that make castle defences worthless. we should be able to do a big enough punch to force the Assillians to fight on two fronts which will hopefully lead to a quick ceasefire"

The messenger runs to his horse and continues riding into the dark mist, the Captain name was Pegasus Horus. He had been working in this Fort for the last 30 years starting as a door guard.

He climbs the stairs and blows the horn, calling out for the garrison to gear up and light the fire signal to tell the other forts to send who they could.

His main strength would be the Orc Conscripts from the Darkstar Reserve, sadly all he had was a Reserve army to call on in this time of need. the Standing Army in Lorein was not going to give up it's position unless Vetia was invaded.

His orders were simple, stop the Assillians from gaining land to the west and hopefully stop them from over-taking Vetia to badly in power.

(Know this thread might be dead, just putting in a few seeds)