Under Siege Part 2

[cityship]

The previous night, the team had learned the details of the situation. King Demetrius Fenley had once been a fair but strict ruler. Three years ago, he had acquired a new advisor, a beautiful woman named Diana Wynnthrope, who came from a small nation on the other side of the mountains. The changes were subtle at first, with the king becoming more suspicious of others’ intentions and enacting harsher laws.

Baron Archand had noticed these changes, and had spoken up about the new laws. He had always respected his king. What had happened?

Nasat was located near a mine that produced precious gems and metals for the kingdom. King Demetrius had become convinced somehow that the town was not paying its fair share of taxes, and accused the baron of hoarding said gems and metals to fund an army and take the crown. Archand had done everything in his power to refute the false claims, but to no avail. So, with word that the king was sending an army to seize the rebellious town, he had sent for aid from his friend Baron Raleigh in Pertus. Raleigh had readily agreed, also being uncomfortable with the new laws, and was further seeking the help of the bronze dragons (bronze dragons that looked exactly like Crucible) in the nearby mountains he had his own alliance with. Unfortunately, Raleigh’s troops would not reach Nasat before King Demetrius’s.

It was impossible to find a person in Nasat that wasn't helping to prepare for battle in some way. Even the children were busy, packing food and clothing for evacuation and carrying supplies to and from for the adults.

There was an entire section of the town dedicated to the creation of weapons and armor: women making arrows, blacksmiths forging blades and breastplates, and engineers building siege engines. Oil was being gathered, along with firewood, and a fire brigade was sent out to place buckets of water in strategic locations throughout the town. Mages gathered and shared their spell components with each other.

Nasat was clearly a town where everyone was used to helping their neighbors, and happy to do so.

Baron Archand was not adverse to getting a little dirty and helping out himself, either. While making his rounds, he worked the bellows for the master blacksmith for a few minutes, chatted with a group of older ladies while fletching arrows, and dug one of the holes for a wooden spike with a shovel.

Sentries had reported that King Demetrius's forces would arrive the next day, and there was much more work to be done.

[OOC: Backtagging in the previous post is definitely okay and encouraged! The next post will be going up on November 26th.

Feel free to NPC the townspeople in the first subthread! You can be creative with how your characters help with preparations, too, so have fun with it!

All subthreads are open!]

Comments

Preparations

[cityship]

Whatever your skills may be, there is a place and a use for them! The townspeople have done a good job preparing so far, but need more help, whether it be weapon-making or gathering supplies.

[ronnae.livejournal.com]

Ronnae was still a bit apprehensive of being in a town full of humans and the scene being somewhat familiar. But that was to be expected considering that if she was in a location like this back home, it was either during a fight, or being carried off as a POW.

However, the fact that everyone was so busy and hadn't bothered her due to her looks had come as a pleasant surprise and allowed her to enjoy getting acquainted with the place, exploring the areas and taking notes of the layout with considerable detail.

This wasn't just sight seeing however. She already had a pad of paper and was planning out what the best locations for siege weapons would be and how she could take advantage of the environment and the type of siege weaponry they had. She of course would make minor adjustments to make the best out of them without adding any additional tech to the world's own.

After getting the intel she needed, Ronnae could be found down with the engineers, setting out her plans with the ones in charge and working rather cheerily with the building of such devices.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

Hiccup was helping do the same, though he was focusing most on working with the blacksmiths to improve the mechanical integrity of the components that were going into the siege weapons. Daja's training in the forge was definitely coming in handy here.

Still, he found himself splitting his time between the forges and the engineers, running back and forth with his soot-covered hands carrying a number of papers that had plans and scribbled-down instructions on them.

"Ronnae, did you look over my plans for the replacement for the torsion springs for the ballistas? Do you think they'll hold up?"

Re: Preparations

[ruffntumblenut.livejournal.com]

Ruffnut was not a clever person.

She was getting smarter by the day, and that was dangerous, but as it stood she was not anywhere near the higher levels of intelligence. There was one thing she knew how to do really well though.

"Alright runts listen up!" She had gathered together some of the children of the town and was walking in front of them like a general. "I know you all want to help defend your home from the invaders, but you're too small to be any good in a fight."

Some of the kids howled in protest and she roared "SHUT UP!" which had them take a few steps back.

"What you can do however is be fast. Running supplies and putting out fires...uh...so to speak." She then drew into a cart and pulled out a stack of buckets. "Everyone take one. Where I come from when the village was attacked, there was always fire. It was my job and now your job, to put out those fires. So as practice here's what you're gonna do!" She climbed up onto the cart and pointed, "You're gonna run to the well and fill your buckets with water, then run back here as fast as you can without spilling. Anyone who spills has to run laps!"

The kids groaned and whined but another roar from the wild and dangerous looking foreign girl sent them scrambling.

[astridhofferson.livejournal.com]

"Wow, you've become Gobber."

Wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, Astrid greeted Ruff with a mirthful smile. Like the rest of the group, she had been extremely busy with lending support, obviously with repairs and applying some extra touches to their defenses on base, evident by the dirt on her features and the hammer she casually tossed up and caught in her other hand.

"That brings back memories," she said, amusement in her voice as she watched the discontent children take off past them.

During dragon raids of past, there was a time when a group of stubborn viking brats expressed similar disapproval when they were stuck with nothing but buckets of water instead of being permitted to fighting alongside the adults.

Re: Preparations

[for-magic.livejournal.com]

Eschewing the town, one elf in particular had taken to the skies on the wings of magic. From a lofty vantage, he flew an expanding spiral over the town and its environs, carefully scrutinizing the lay of the land, its pratfalls and strategic points, its natural advantages and disadvantages. Terrain was key to victory, especially when one intended to manipulate it extensively.

Also -- and this, for a wonder, was not something he had learned from his studies -- he was feeling out thermals and prevailing wind currents. Cerilia had not in the history of recorded warfare fielded adequate magical or mythological might to deploy enough flying creatures to dramatically affect a battle, but if dragons were common enough on this world to serve as reinforcements, then conceivably something could attack them in this upcoming battle.

All of this he did in an unusually cheerful mood. He was in his element, here.

Re: Preparations

[curiousredsoul]

Aibghalien wasn't the only one in the air above the town, Celena herself had joined him in the air after she had familiarized herself with the locals and their town. With a natural ease she found thermals and currents in the wind to move near effortlessly through the air.

Along with him she surveyed the terrain below for much similar reasons, as well as to provide an accurate mental map and image should her illusions be required to distract and divert the forces as they closed in on the town.

[dragonlordbight]

After having taken stock of the towns capabilities and drawn out as much information on the surrounding area and the forces that were expected to be deployed against during the previous night's discussion the Lord Governor of Sanction had made his way out of the city and a short way to the south of town, not a thousand feet from the walls of town, along the most likely route the invading forces would take to attack the town.

Taking stock of what defenses and fortifications had been put in place he began to weave his magic to make his own additions to the approach into town. Spell after spell he wove, reaching into the earth beneath and ahead of him, causing focused tremors not five hundred feet beneath. Using the tremors to shape and sink the earth beneath, leaving the top ten foot of earth intact, leaving large hollow spaces beneath a near one hundred foot wide by five hundred feet across in front of the defenses. A trap that collapse under the feet of the enemy with but a single spell when required.

The effort however to create such a vast trap was telling on even one such as he, though he hid it as best he could any who came to him.

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

Sofia's feet moved around expertly as she spared with some of the younger warriors. Seeing the eighteen year old women had given them more hope, and Sofia herself had been trained by her entire village. She was instructing them on how to properly dodge and parry, keeping them sharp for the invasion.

"Never underestimate your enemies," she warned. "Otherwise they will have already won."

Re: Preparations

[gifthasacold]

Thom stayed well away from the wall, the smithery, and the construction. He had no business lifting and carrying, and he highly doubted that was why he came on this mission - not with mages about.

It took some time to find the workroom where Nasat's mages were preparing themselves for the battle ahead. Thom paused outside the door, straightening his robe, brushing dirt off the front of it, and putting his shoulders back before he walked in. He affected the air of nobility he had often left by the wayside on the ship. "I am Master Thom," he said by way of introduction - his noble title was less useful than his magical title in this case. "What kind of magical offense may we expect from the King's army?"

The mages, who had their heads bent over a map of the Keep, looked up. "His Majesty has surely deployed the court mage," one of them said. "And possibly some of the instructors from the academy. Considerable talent."

"I wouldn't worry," Thom said, smirking. Only a handful of the most powerful - encouraging. "I require a cold space to work in and a mirror, and you will not need to deal directly with them."

Re: Preparations

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nasat, Nehaalista was pleased to learn, had a wide range of precious metals and gems. She had stuffed her gloves in her belt and was perusing the stones before her with a particularly grim scrutiny, her jeweler's monocle refracting the light which shone from her eyes. They faint lines and detris inside the gems made her question the quality they'd given her, but with a noiseless sigh she picked up her tools, and started cutting the gems with delicate precision.

[magic-weaver.livejournal.com]

Having been part of more battles than she cared to count (and still less than her siblings, she reminded herself), Sandry knew exactly where she would be of the most help. With her mage's kit in hand, she walked quickly and quietly to where she was told she would find the Healers.

Preparations, it seemed, had been under way for some time, and they had an impressive amount of bandages and salves ready, but she knew from experience that they would probably end up needing much more. She looked around the room until she found the woman who looked to be in charge, and walked up to her.

"My name is Sandrilene fa Toren," she began with a polite smile. "I am trained in the art of thread magic, and spent several hours back home helping tend to the sick when needed. If I may, I would like to offer my services."

The woman, obviously in a hurry, gave Sandry a thankful smile and waved a hand toward one of the far corners. "You can set up shop over there, lady. If you need a runner for anything, just grab one of the apprentices running about. They'll get it quick enough." The Healer was off again before Sandry had a chance to respond, but the thread mage only paused a moment before heading to her work station.

Strategy Session

[cityship]

Late in the afternoon, Baron Archand called the team and all his officers in to discuss their battle plans. His officers were hand-picked, intelligent, and most had mundane jobs outside of combat such as field work or smithing; there were even a couple of women present, as the head of the mine and the captain of the night watch.

Re: Strategy Session

[dragonlordbight]

Bight had arrived not long after they were called, though he did his best to hide it, it would be easy to see that the Lord Governor was somewhat drained. The efforts of setting up the traps he had as well as in fortifying the defenses had taken their toll, the town however would be all the better prepared for it.

Nevertheless, even tired as he was, Bight was as keen eyed and witted as ever, his gaze sweeping the officers and the team assembled as he attempted to divine their moods and attitudes regarding the coming confrontation, greeting each with a nod. The confident air about him clear as ever even in his exhausted state.

Battle!

[cityship]

Just as the sentries reported, King Demetrius's forces, 25,000 strong, arrived early the next day, immediately setting up camp south of Nasat and along the banks of the river to the east. There were knights on foot, a small calvary, archers, crossbowmen, and pikemen. His engineers worked feverishly through the afternoon to build siege engines while a group of mages including some of his most powerful and loyal, cast protective spells throughout the camp.

Lady Diana Wynnthrope was present as well, her tent set up next to the king's. It was rumored she was skilled in magic, leaving many wondering if she would be assisting in battle as well.

For such a large force, they dug in quickly, and by early evening, made it clear that they intended to waste no time in attacking. King Demetrius and Lady Diana rode up to within 200 feet of the city, and with a mage giving assistance via a volume-enhancing spell, spoke:

"Baron Archand, you have been remiss in your duties to the kingdom of Tielo, not paying your fair share of taxes. Your intentions to challenge me and take the crown have also been brought to my attention. The people of Nasat have supported you in your cause, and thus, I declare high treason. Surrender yourself now, or this town will be taken by force."

Diana remained silent, watching with cold eyes.

Archand's voice rang out from the walls above the gatehouse, "I regret that it must come to this, but I will not surrender for a crime I did not commit. You have been deceived by those closest to you."

The king's face darkened. "Then so be it." And with that, his small party wheeled their horses around and returned to their encampment.

Not twenty minutes later, the first arrows flew.

[OOC: Go for it! Please NPC for yourselves or each other; you can be creative here as well. Just keep in mind that the battle will be lasting three days with a few lulls here and there, and that it won't be an easy one. Backtagging on the first two threads is also encouraged and welcomed!]

[for-magic.livejournal.com]

Aibghalien stood on the walls without particular fear. A magical ring on his finger kept a constant light breeze swirling around him, sufficient to brush aside arrows that might potentially threaten him through the protective wards of mage armor.

"Keep your heads down!" he said, loudly enough so that the garrison manning the nearby walls could hear. "Don't look at the arrows as they fly!" That was a novice mistake in battle, watching a flight of arrows arc hypnotically through the sky to rain down on you; it perfectly exposed your face and eyes as targets. Keep the head down and arrow would instead glance off your cap or embed itself in your shoulder armor. Simple leather pauldrons were enough in that instance to prevent a grossly serious wound.

Dozens of magical spells flickered through his mind, but for the moment the wizard seized upon none of them. Against this many men, even his most potent spells of devastation could not carry the day, and in fact he had prepared relatively few of those. His selection favored tactics, strategy, battlefield control, and support. When the town was threatened, or when the opposing wizards dared engage them, then he would move into action.

[governorkang]

Kang muttered a curse as he stood on the ramparts, watching as the projectile from a trebuchet missed its target, an enemy ballista, by about ten feet. He got some satisfaction in the fact that it had managed to kill a couple of the king's men, but they needed to take out those siege engines quickly if they wanted to reduce casualties on their side. It was going to take several minutes to reload and recalibrate

"Just a little more to the left. We almost had it that time."

One of the humans nodded, and motioned to the others, relaying orders. A flaming arrow arced over the curtain wall, burying itself in the roof of a nearby building. Luckily, it had already been soaked earlier, so the flames simply fizzled and died.

Infiltration: Strike at the Gate

[cityship]

Sadly, not every man in Nasat was a faithful and loyal follower of the Baron.

As the afternoon sun tipped closer to the horizon than zenith, ten men approached the eastern gate, having traveled in well-rehearsed paths from their safe house to the gate where the attacks had thus far failed to reach.

"Move along," a guard said, waving them away distractedly; his attention was very much on the walls, where a signalman waited tensely to fire an enchanted arrow skyward should the gate come under attack. In response to the gesture, the nearest man tossed his cloak back to plunge the naked sword he'd hidden beneath it into the guard's ribs. In almost the same moment, another of the cloaked figures lifted a crossbow, coolly sighted down the barrel, then cut down the signalman in one skilled shot. The signalling arrow fell limply to the ground as the armed men surged forwards, each of them revealing a weapon as they stormed for the gatehouse.

They had the advantage of numbers and surprise, as well as a great deal of planning. Without intervention, they would have the gate lifted for the armies outside to simply walk in and claim victory.

Gold-Bought Anarchy

[cityship]

Even in the darkest times of war, when valor and justice fought madness and tyranny, the seedier members of society looked first to turn a profit.

What did the Baron have to offer them? More hard work in the mines! More slavery and toil! And he had the nerve to step on a man who simply tried to look out for his own by, say, enforcing a 'toll' on certain alleys, or informing men of how vulnerable they'd left their purses by way of example!

Ah, but the King, well, he'd sent a man sneaking in a while ago who told a tale of a ruler who'd make things a little easier on them, if they'd do him a turn or two in kind. No fuss, no risk, just cause a little trouble for the Baron and his boys when the time was right.

That was why, in the middle of the afternoon, with no obvious reason for it to have happened, a house in the miner's cottage burst into flames. The ruffians responsible scurried off into the shadows, already spending their ill-gotten coin in their head, while behind them the highly-flammable house already threatened to send all its neighbors up in flame.

Fire, a medieval town's worst enemy.

Grond Rolled On

[cityship]

For walls, you slung boulders; for people, grapeshot. For cold, wicked victory, you slung plague-infested corpses. The King had not yet done that.

But for simple, straightforward entrance, nothing beat the standby of a battering ram. Especially when one's enemy was kind enough to leave standing wood in ready access.

The King's forces made no effort to disguise their device as it rolled out of cover behind their hasty-built fortifications. The ram hung from the top of a massive wheeled shed. Soaking-wet rugs and furs festooned it outside, both as fireproofing and armor. Inside, a team of trained men grunted as they forced the cart forwards, while archers covering their progress were swift to launch arrows at any defender who dared peer above the walls with hostile intent. ]

The ram had no head, but it did not need one. Eldritch runes of power shimmered faintly, like heat distortion, on its blunt head. The portcullis might be able to withstand its blows long enough for a sally to be launched (though such might prove suicide) or some oil to heat... but then again it might not.

But Nothing Is Beneath Me!

[cityship]

In the dark of night, guided by the few lights on the city walls, a tight, cohesive group moved swiftly across the no-man's-land between the King's encampment and the city. With an air of a great deal of training and discipline, they stopped just beneath the walls, where from the heavy burdens they carried, they produced the materials for a framework. This they quickly constructed, fortified with wet strips of wood, and hunkered down beneath as a shed, the better to protect them from assault.

Beneath the safety of that shelter, they produced shovels, pickaxes, crude drills, and various other implements. Make no mistake; this was a skilled group, no pushovers in combat, and they wore both blades and light armor should anyone attempt to sally against them. But to call them soldiers would be to insult them.

They were engineers. And given their way, they would see this wall collapse.

Re: Battle!

[dragonlordbight]

Not far south, along the defensive lines outside of the walls of Nasat. Bight stood ready, with a number of those soldiers and mages he had determined he could trust for the task at hand. Ready to defend Nasat from the first waves of cavalry and infantry sent their way.

It was not long after the initial bombardments of arrows and ballista that the first wave began to advance on Nasat, Bight standing as confident as ever with the men he had chosen to lead, nodding to the Mages he had with him, "Be ready when the time comes," To the rest he pronounced, "Give them no quarter until I give the signal,"

Calm and confident the Lord governor stood as he awaited the initial charge, a spell waiting in his mind for the right moment, to wait until wave had stepped right into his trap, it was the task of he and the force he had brought with him to deal with any the trap did not catch.

On the Second Day, the Sky Shall Yield

[for-magic.livejournal.com]

On the evening of the first day, Aibghalien had passed word to the others that after the many skirmishes on the first day, but no decisive movement from the enemy, that he intended to keep the bulk of the army immobile for as long as possible on the morrow.

Thus, as sunrise cast its first long rays over the ramparts of the city, they also played over the wizard who had just finished an incantation of some ten minutes' length, and now stood staring confidently over the battlefield.

To watch him one might thing nothing had happened. But as the minutes passed, the temperature plummeted precipitously, clouds racing in to cover the sky as breath began to fog.

The city and its defenders had shelter. The army, merely its tents and campfires. Let them try to move, Aibghalien silently challenged then, as sleet began to fall across the battlefield.

Second Day

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

A storm was now brewing. The wind was whipping at Hiccup's hair as he ran for the wall, but it got more and more plastered down to his head from the rain as he went. He slipped and slid in the mud, nearly falling over, before he spotted Kang on the ramparts.

"Kang! Kang, we have a big, big problem!"

The baron's soldiers had been warned of the treachery of some of their soldiers near the gate and now Hiccup had to find Nehaa or the nearest ranking officer of their own group of crewman to pass the word on. Kang was it. Hiccup ran up the steps, nearly slipping and tripping again.

The draconian would likely notice that the teen now looked a little worse for wear--which didn't make sense given he'd been off for a bit working with the town's alchemist and carting things around with the blacksmiths and couriers. His tunic had been ripped in lines down his front and they were still bleeding slightly, though it was becoming less visible now that his tunic was getting soaked by the rain.

"There are traitors in the town (<a)--" Hiccup panted out, leaning over to rest his hands on his knees and catch his breath. It gave the added bonus of keeping his head low behind the wall. "People working for the king. We already told the Baron's men and have been warning everyone we see. They almost--they killed the guards and almost got one of the gates open to let the king's army in, but Fu, Sofia, and I stopped them. There could be more, though--everyone needs to be on the lookout."

Somewhere close to base.

[astridhofferson.livejournal.com]

Her shield rang out as a projectile ricocheted roughly off its surface and the viking girl flinched and jerked back, suddenly aware that an arrow from either side of the fray had narrowly missed sinking into her flesh.

Thor's beard, that was far too close.

Somewhere at some point, Astrid had lost focus - had lost her nerve. Suppose that is the normal newbie reaction when you realize you will have to raise a weapon against a fellow human for the first time— when you hear the live scream and cries of an unknown person when your said weapon effortlessly cleaved through their protective guards, and ultimately their kneecaps as well. It shocked her. It was an unpleasant sight to behold and a purely distinct sound than what a downed Ohm made.

And she would have to do it again, and again. But this time and until the violence was over, for her sake and the sake of everyone she cared for, she'd have to bottle these emotions.