Endgame Approaching

The Siege of Fort Plage

The Templar armies of Narbonne and Aragorn have attacked Corillia. The combined force of 45,000 men, nominally led by Don Artugio Marabazar, consists of three separate armies.

• 15,000 men under the command of Don Amero Ballatana has crossed the River Mauve, and are now laying siege to Fort Plage. The town is defended by a combined force of 5,000 men, made up of Lady Thorne's Enlightened Presbytarians and Wezellians.
• Another army, this one numbering 20,000, is besieging the three fortresses of the Macharian Line, further West along the Mauve. This effort is commanded by Duke Fillip de Artois, and is mostly made up of Narbonnians. The Alliance forces arrayed against it are made up of Corillian Macharites and Pendrellian expeditionary regiments.
• The last force, counting 10,000, and consisting of at least four regiments of Aragonian cuirassiers, has so far not been committed.

Reports say that the Templars have brought the body of Sta. Larena, as well as the reliquaries from three hundred temples to the front. Whether or not this is true has yet to be established, but the Alliance forces who have faced them in battle tell of scores of angels leading the assaults on thir walls. Rumours also tell of other, darker entities prowling the frontlines after dark.

Recently, news of another army being mustered in Narbonne, counting between 15,000 and 30,000, has reached the Norther Alliance. This force, if it does indeed exist, will most likely have to be composed of ill-equipped raw conscripts.
 

A Flood shrine brought before the walls of Bad Gwornak

The Flood has now reached the foothills of the Elfswall Mountains, and are now besieging Bad Gwornak, the last major Templar stronghold between them and the Laernian Pass. The city has been reinforced by a Corinthian army of 8,000, as well as 50 modern artillery-pieces sent as a gift from the Arch Primarch.

Observers can tell of horrible scenes where thousands upon thousands of the savages throw themselves at the walls of the defenders, drenching the ground in blood so that the terrible gods they bring with them can cross into the world. One such observer, Professor Ludwig Abel of Marburg, has written, "I weep for the world that will rise out of the ashes of this war, for the demons now released upon the world will surely demand tribute if we ever see tomorrow. The doors we now open in our hour of need may proove difficult to close."

Master Octavian Arbalestus has promised to secure the the Flood's break-through, but so far the Ordo Hermetica has not taken to the field in this theatre. 

The death of the Emperor

Emperor Constantinus Ada of the Enlightened Skythian Empire died on 30 Decanum, YE 1022 after having suffered mortal wounds during the Battle of Gryffental. There are still at least two Imperial armies in the field, but these are under-strength and poorly led. The Lord Marshal has proclaimed that "the Host of Man will clean out the remaining snakes," and the Livonian army is now turning towards the Corillian front.

The last days of Borgen

On St. Revan's Day, YE 1022, Borgen, the cpital of Cora, fell to the inhuman hordes of the Court of Stars. Nothing now seems to stand between this terrible darkness and the divided lands of man.

[Picture source: 1 Der Viator; 2 Medieval II; 3 Clash of Empires; 4 unknown]

Chapter: The Second Battle of Geminon Field

Flood medium cavalry

We picked up right where we left off on the previous session with the same cast.


Having won a decisive victory, the cabal now set about figuring out how to follow up. Their army, while superior in firepower and magic, were far behind enemy lines and vastly outnumbered. The battle-field, dubbed Geminon Field by the rank and file, lay on the outskirts of the main camp of Samil Raga. Captain Galan, Master of the Arcana of Space, estimated the enemy to have about 60,000 men within a day's march. The Erians had a little more than three thousand.


Van Saar now decided to take Geminon to task over his paltry show during the battle. Not only had he not been able to field a single legion, he had been absent from the field throughout the entire battle. Harsh words were said. This resulted in Geminon leaving the cabal behind, taking Prince Wacklaw's Kengelian troops back to their own lands.


Not willing to accept defeat, the cabal took up position on the high ground overlooking the narrow field, and prepared to meet the enemy. The troops left under their command counted  about 1,500, many of these being irregulars. The horse and cannon belonged to Prince Wacklaw. Still, they reckoned that three Masters and an Adeptus should be more than capable of defeating an uncoordinated mass of dirt-worshipping heathens. And of course the company of Grey Knights were bound to make a difference.


When the enemy showed up, Master van Saar and Adeptus Tito went to parley. The diplomacy met with little success, as Samil Raga were in no mood to roll over to a small coven of assassins, lie-smiths and witches. As he pointed out, he was but the first of many - behind him came a whole people. And so the stage was set for the Second Battle of Geminon Field.

Initial deployment of the Second Battle of Geminon Field. To the left of the field there are thick woods, and to the right a river. The Pius Regiment is in blue on the high ground, the Flood is in red. Note the copse of trees in the lower left corner, and the marsh in front of the Flood's ranks.

Thousands of warriors took to the field under the Raga's horse-hair banner, amongst them many of the dreaded horse-archers, as well as heavier cavalry, infantry, and even some cannon. In front of the Flood battle-line, shamans were dancing madly, throwing entrails and foul curses towards the Erian ranks. Drums could be heard all over the country side, and many of the warriors carried fetishes and charms.


And so it began. The Pius Cabal had used the time well, and several powerful spells had been woven. Master Galan had accomplished his second Masterpiece, making him Master of both Space and Mind Prime. His feat was a Paradigm controlling spell, effectively negating all Paradox-effects for the cabal. In the meantime Master Bansl had been working to affect the very field of the battle.


The battle began when the Flood's cannons opened fire, spreading chaos and destruction on the Erian left flank. The irregulars lost a hundred men before the magicians could silence the guns. Before the enemy could get their lighter field-pieces into range, Bansl's magics bore fruits. The river flooded the area on the Raga's right flank, thus making any forward movement of cannons impossible.


The battle now began in earnest, as the Flood's mounted archers advanced to within range. The Erian muskets, having a shorter range, took heavy casualties without being able to answer. Despite heavy countermagics by the Flood shamans, the magicians managed to drive the enemy back through heavy spells. Adeptus Tito now sent his Grey Knights forward together with his great Lynx totem, shattering the infantry advance threatening to overrun the Erian right flank.


Bansl's second feat was to set fire to the marsh in front of the enemy lines, further limiting the enemy's routes of advance. Still, despite enemy cavalry roaming the field, driven mad by van Saar's spells, floods and rampant fires, the Flood kept on coming. And with a slow inevitability, the thin red line on the high ground got thinner. Then Samil Raga took the field with his heavy cavalry, supported by five hundred medium horse.


Galan made an attempt at killing the enemy leader, taking great care not to employ any magics that could be countered. The shot was true, and would have inflicted a grievous wound, had not the Raga been surrounded by his Blooded Men. The wound intended to stop the barbarian king in stead made one of the warrior in his retinue drop from the saddle.


The Grey Knights now veered to halt this charge, leaving the left flank open. In a glorious melee that delayed the charge, the Draccian knights, unable to break the Flood, perished. The Erian line were now under severe threats of being overrun all along the front, and the magicians knew that even if they managed to drive the barbarians back now, they had no chance of winning another battle. They needed a miracle.


After Geminon left, High Priest Bansl's prayers had gone unanswered, and so now the magicians all joined in a ceremony to compel the Lord of the Crossroads to aid them in this desperate hour. To demonstrate his sincerity, the High Priest made a human sacrifice, the wounded drummer-boy Jens. It must be mentioned that van Saar refused to play any part in this primitive, reactionary ritual.


Their prayers were answered, and Geminon, Master of Swords came onto the battlefield. Seeing that the enemy was taken aback by the onslaught of the Black Man, the Pius Cabal ordered their remaining troops to advance. This desperate charge finally broke the Flood, and the barbarians fled the field.


When victory had at last been snatched from the jaws of defeat, the cabal found Geminon sitting on a dead horse, the body of Samil Raga laying before his feet together with the bloody oxen skull of one of his gods.


In the aftermath, the Pius Cabal managed to persuade the Flood to turn away from Kengel and in stead march on the southern plains of Ruhani.


Storyteller's note: One of the things that is starting to become more and more clear is the different paradigms of the Masters. Their dogmatic differences are only growing, and I'm looking forward to see where this takes them.


Now that their adventures on the Eastern Front has been concluded, it looks like they will be heading west to seek out the elves beyond the horizon. Or not. I'm quite exited to find out what the next chapter will reveal.


[Picture source: 1 BBC NEWS; 2 own]

The Flood

Warriors of the Flood preparing to ford a river

From a letter from King Ambrozy VII of Kengel to the Arcane Congress, dated 3 Tertium 1022 YE:


[...]


For almost two years rumours of a new people coming out of the East have been brought to us by travellers and merchants; horse-men from a land beyond the dawn. Over the summer of the Year of Enlightenment 1021 merchants brought back news from the Transwyza of slaughter and burned villages.

[...]

As the seasons turned towards winter, refugees streamed across the Wyz, and strange riders were seen on the far bank. Still we did not fear, for the mighty river has always been an impregnable bulwark against all evil from the south.

In the history of our people, the river Wyz has frozen over only five times before. Each time has brought with it chaos and suffering as barbarian tribes or monsters have crossed the ice to harrow our lands. This last winter brought with it such a frost as we call Fimbrowik, and the Wyz turned into a great bridge over which poured the terrible warriors of the Flood.

The first battle stood on 13 Primum, in the Khorimow province, where the duke led his men to stem the barbarian tide. Word of his defeat reached my father, our noble king, at the same time as the news of the fall of the city of Pizs.

Our enlightened ruler gathered his Zlachta and called his brave men to arms, and with righteous hatred in his heart he led his army south to drive the enemy out of the realm. Seven and a half thousand men followed the royal banner. No more than a thousand returned. Our beloved king, my father, remained, as did the flower of our nobility.

With spring now upon us, we see the full extent of the cataclysm fate has devised for our people. The lands lost to the barbarian Flood is now being plowed by foreign hands, and each new day swells their ranks.

[...]

Flood camp-site

Excerpts of a conversation between van Mangrav and the White Lama:

Lama: Those you call the Flood call themselves the People, Tek'wana'ke, in their own tongue. They come from the oceans of grass far to the east of your world, and like sheep before the lion, they flee from the Dragon of the Seventh Mountain. [It] was awoken by the Drums of the Servants of the Heavens, so that your world can be cleansed in [its] fire.

Warrior of the Flood with war-paint

From a letter from Smyiewitch of the Strigioi to Aktor Smit:

The Flood is not composed of monsters, nor is it motivated by evil. It is but a nation of mortals, driven by that most basic of instincts: survival. They see your lands as fat and green, and in your internal strife they see a weakness to be exploited.

They flee from a great dragon, and care not about the Exarch, no more than the doe hiding from the hunter fears the wolf. As the proverb says, "do not ask a starving man to build a bridge."

[Picture source: 1 The Master Walks; 2 Ocean's Bridge; 3 Indian Faces]