Thulsoma/Fifth Siege Of Storms Keep

Fifth Siege Of Storms Keep
Part of The War of Astroist Aggression
[[1]]
Date December 1st, 1010 Location Storms Keep Weather Result After rounds, Saxon Victory victory Territorial changes Invading army slaughtered, Storms Keep defended
Combatants
Attackers	Defenders
Thulsoma	Libero Empire
Commanders
Haruka Vanimedle	Theodred Hormondson
Strength
ca. 970 men	ca. 1600 men
Formations
Fortification Deploy	Infantry charge
Casualties
Light	heavy

Roleplay from Haruka Vanimedle

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Haruka stood on the outer embattlements as the deafening roar of nearly one and a half thousand soldiers and siege engines marched through Storms End, the sound alone could probably be heard as far as Valldir. The snowing blizzard had subsided some what to strong, cold winds, though the ground was still frozen and the walls would be "greasy", harder for ladders and siege towers to function. Around her stood the greatest army in service on this continent, arguably the greatest in the world, no other realm or fighting force could match the Knights Of Holy Iron Chains on an even footing, or do so much with so little as they did, this was the same army Haruka had founded and forged, her hard work making all of this possible, her international infamy would only go to suppress the due accolades to the army. Some, such as a the Liberite's still claimed that they were only loosing because of fortifications, or sheer luck, or ravaging monster hordes in their lands, despite the majority of battles having been fought outside of Thulsomaite fortifications, and won by Thulsoma, and despite the Saxon's winning victories against the Liberite's behind their fortifications. Well, no matter how much the realm blustered, they could not alter the fact that even their allies mock their failure. "The largest army they have yet sent...." Leanian muttered. "But not a siege winning force, you have only to look at the army compositions to know that victory shall be ours, we cannot lose in Storms Keep" Haruka replied, turning to the noble. "No, of course Mistress" He replied pointedly. "This shall surely be one of the largest, or at least greatest battles in this continents history, starting from the second colonial age of course" Acennan remarked from beside Leanian. "Have you ever heard of the self proclaimed 'Mother of all battles'" Haruka asked him, over the din of approaching Heresiarchal forces. "No ma'am, I saw no mention of it in the annals and historical sources..." He said, raising his voice slightly to compete. "Well no, you wouldn't have, it's a battle on some Eastern continent, one of the largest ever fought apparently, though easily outstripped by other battles fought. The attacking army had over 30,000 CS, attacking a dying realms capital, I would have expected a similar situation here, but again, the Heresiarch disappoints, only 20,0000 CS to send against us, while we have 10,000 CS in defence. We may never reach the record books for the most troops involved, or the highest Combat Strength values in a battle, but once we win this war, we will be acknowledged world wide, as having achieved the greatest military victory and come back in a war ever seen, a realm of 180 peasants in a single region defeating a five realm conglomerate, with a list of victories so complete it puts any other conventional military to shame, our victory is rihtfæsten" "It is nearly time for the battle, shall you be giving your speech to the Knights Mistress?" "Yes, I suppose I had better" Haruka replied, leaving Acennan to get the attention of the nobles and soldiers, she looked around, the ever growing expanse of Castellations where well adorned with heraldry and symbolism and iconography, it was dawn, but little light was provided by the sky as always, leaving the stalwart Saxon defenders to rely on artificial means of lighting. "Saxon's!" Haruka called out across the walls "Once again we find ourselves on the proverbial precipice, the greatest horde yet sent against us now stands outside our walls, weakened from hunger and cold and from accumulated equipment damage, tired and demoralised from a war they have been loosing for nearly a year, daunted by the sheer strength and tenacity of the foe they face, the inhospitable climate of the lands they face and the titanic Stronghold they are foolish enough to attack. The Knights Of Holy Iron Chains are truly the best I could have made them, the leading army on this continent by far, we have only to see how many realms it is taking to oppose us to see just how bad this situation is for the Astroist's, they are outmatched by a tiny, impoverished realm of Saxon's, all their wealth, all their resources, all their lands mean nothing if they cannot even challenge our army in battle. Only through unimaginable degrees of failure can we lose this battle, this battle IS a certain victory. Remember as you cast these murderous heretics from the walls, these are the same men who killed and raped in Torrents Breath, Valldir and Storms End, our fellow countrymen, our family, who then go on to claim the moral superiority of their actions, over a realm that only ever requested peace, we are blessed by hádgriþ, let us not onbádian from our duties, to our faith and our realm!"

Haruka Vanimedle (Lady Haruka Vanimedle' Heofonþrym of Hredmonath and Mistress Of Torture of Thulsoma, Duchess of Storms Keep, Marshal of the Knights Of Holy Iron Chains)

Roleplay from Raviel Armityle

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Raviel stood on the outermost wall, his infantry having their missile weaponry prepared, mostly conventional pilums, even with the range bolstered by the height of the walls, they would only be able to send of us a few volleys before switching to close quarters weaponry. The Astroist's marched in uniformed lines, bringing forth their siege engines, and bizarrely, cavalry, for Cavalry to work they would need to either rip apart an entire bulwark of wall, or open the gates. Such a strategy wouldn't possibly work unless they had troops inside the keep, ready to do such a thing, even then Cavalry would be useless inside the stone courtyards and "killing fields" directly opposite the gates and first wall. Raviel scowled as he saw the Heathen archers move within range, but annoyingly out of his range, unleashing swarms of arrows upward, the extensive fortifications doing well to protect the soldiers on the wall, but Raviel still saw a few soldiers impaled by a multitude of arrows, for failing to seek cover in time. The infantry and siege engines continued their advance to the walls, something that seemingly took an age as the archers loosed yet more arrows at the Saxon's. "Launch your missiles!" Raviel's ordered as the Astroist's came within in reach, the siege engines connecting with the walls, the sheer velocity of the spears, coupled with the height would easily punch through any armour twice over. The pilum's thrown with deadly accuracy skewered many heathens, but with such a small concerted effort of missile troops it left the invaders undaunted as they rose to the walls, only to meet an even greater wall, an unflinching formation of veteran Saxon warriors, this wall was not one they could scale, or breach and the ensuing melee combat was brutal, the heathens would scale the wall to meet a blanket of of stabbing swords, slicing through their armour and ending their lives.

Raviel Armityle (Lord)