SethWolf 1393 Share Posted December 2, 2022 THE DEMON SLAYERS II Of Fire, Heroism, and Valor. Issued by the MILITARY TRIBUNE On this 7th day of VYZMEY AG HYFF of 454 E.S. Initial Brief During a routine camp raid against the forces of the Inferi, The Royal Hussars intercepted a runner who was delivering information to and from said camp to an undisclosed location, presumably a stronghold of some sort. The runner was then brought back to Karosgrad for questioning. Information was revealed that indicated that the runner was dispatching information to a large fort on the banks of a frozen lake. His Majesty, Karl III then decided that this fort would be the target of a punitive extermination, and so the Brotherhood was called to action. The Three Assault Squadrons By the order of Karl III, the Royal Army was to be broken up into multiple sections, to hit the fort from all fronts. These sections included the Cavaliers led by Ser Sebastien de Savoie, the tower climbers led by His Royal Highness Prince Marius Ademar, and the main assault force led by His Majesty King Karl III and Royal Captain Weiss. The Cavaliers were assigned to draw attention to themselves and distract the forces within as the tower climbers scaled the right flank, and the main assault force flanked further around to assault the keep. The Opening Phase As the Brotherhood and the Order of the Crows were split into three different forces, the small platoon of Cavaliers would move around the backside in order to draw the enemy off of the two squadrons of foot soldiers. Under the command of Ser Sebastien de Savoie, the group made sure they were far enough from the fort so that when the enemy attacked they could rear their horses and move away from the walls. Arrows were knocked and the command was given to fire a small barrage of arrows. Only one, however, hit its mark. That Inferi, an arrow now dug into its sent a grunted scream before falling off of the rampart and into the cold dirt several meters downward. The real battle began as the horde turned their attention to the small band of horsemen. Winged implings shot out of the mouths, balls of malflame as they came closer to the squad. In the distance, a mage worked to increase their fireball. Sebastien’s horse was shot out from under him in the tactical regroup. In an attempt to cover the retreat, those sitting on the back of the horses, would fire their bows to try and take down those flying menaces. Some arrows did hit their intended targets, however, most did not. It was at that time that the mage had grown the fire ball large enough to cast it at a small group of horsemen which included Ser Vladimir and Alikos Bayac. Despite their horses getting burnt to a crisp, Ser Vladimir was the only one to sustain small amounts of malflame to his face and hands. However, the Knight did not let it affect him, instead he almost shrugged off the blow.. After regrouping upon the hill, the horsemen regathered extra horses that they had left as replacements on the other side of the mount. The group noticed that the inferi didn’t follow them, but rather, they fled back to the walls of the fort. It became clear to the group that the enemy did not fall for the ruse of leading them away, and so they had to find a new strategy. As they briefly spoke, Tatyana Ludovar continued to hit her mark, eventually finding the skull of the mage with one of her arrows. This seemingly simple action paved the way for the King’s group to move around the wall to the opening without being blasted by the giant fireball of malflame. As the King’s group moved to this opening, a wall of Inferi beasts formed, acting as a defensive hold and plug to the hole. Sebastien then, with the suggestion of Ser Vladimir, ordered that the horseman, having remounted, charge down the hill and plow into the wall of flesh so that the gap may once again be open. So with that, the 8 horsemen rode in full force towards the fort. With a call, the King’s forces split to two lines to allow the cavalry through. The Knight’s knocked over the oleg-sized hellspawn with ease, letting the footmen behind them pour through. Storming the Citadel: The Main Assault Force As Karl III set forth with the bulk of the Royal Army, he had the assault section initially take position on a hill overlooking the keep. There were many oleg-sized fiends and a rather large swarm of implings that controlled the roof of the keep. The koeng wished to have the imps dealt with first, and so Captain Weiss ordered the rank and file to form a volley-line and rain a storm of crossbow bolts onto the impling swarm. As the imps fell from the sky, the royal army made its way to an earthen rampart that would allow tenuous access to the roof of the keep. Before battle was joined with the sorcerer and large demonic creatures ahead, the men began to use frost potions and ranged pilum to thin their ranks. The soldiers swiftly made it to the other side of the wall, the sorcerer that had stood in their way, having been killed by the ranged attacks of the calvary. As they ventured down from the hill, so too did the cavaliers. This action caused the main bulk of the force split into two lines to allow the horses through to attack the imps and inferi. This meant that the two forces were combined and could attack in full force. A few of the large beasts were heavily wounded by the cavaliers’ charge. However, these beasts were resilient, and wielded greatswords and clubs that were longer than a fully grown man by half and would soon put them to devastating use in the initial exchange. The Inferi swung their weapons, knocking some of cavaliers off, either by striking them directly, or by killing their horses. In the wake of this, the infantry made their way up to attack so that those knocked off their steads could recover. The infantry surged forth as warhammers, spears, and blades met the foe. It quickly devolved into a desperate melee, with each individual soldier trying to hold their ground against the towering demonic legion that stood before them. Blood, malflame and the corpses of the slain began to litter the ground as slowly but surely, the demonic hordes were pushed back inch by inch. One bloated corpse in particular that had fallen next to koeng Karl III began to swell and release a foul sulfuric cloud. The koeng, in a moment of quick action attempted to push the beast’s corpse from the roof of the citadel, but it was to no avail. The corpse of the creature had been turned into a living explosive, and as it ruptured it created a shockwave of fire and shrapnel that tore through all who had the misfortune of being near it. The koeng and a few other men were flung backwards. Additionally other command elements were flung through the air by the shockwave. They were sent flying off the citadel roof and across the ground a full ten feet behind friendly lines. By the grace of God, none of the four men, including the koeng, were mortally wounded in the incident, but all caught in the blast received grievous wounds. As the battle for the roof continued, the royal army slowly began to isolate the beasts, giving no mercy to them as they cut them down. The roof had been won, and so Karl III hobbled back to his men, ordering them to cut down the inferi flag that was flown above the keep. As the flag fell upon the icey courtyard below, the koeng and Captain Weiss assembled a rapid reaction force to relieve the squad still holding its ground on the left flank. The Right Flank: The Heroes of the Tower A small detachment commanded by HRH Marius Audemar was tasked primarily with overwhelming a large tower opposite the main force to secure a foothold in the fortress. Notable among this detachment were HRH Sergei Aleksandr, HSH Analiesa Josefina, and His Grace the Duke of Reinmar. The assault began somewhat unconventionally, as the enemy had already laid out a siege ladder for the detachment’s convenient use. Immediately upon reaching the tower, Prince Marius led the attack by charging up the ladder with shield raised, followed closely by the Duke of Reinmar. Meanwhile, the Princess Royal and Lady Ophelie de Falstaff began a volley of arrows toward the horde of Inferi that blocked their ascent, quickly finishing off a pair of airborne imps before changing targets to the brutish fiends at the ladder’s apex, one of which had knocked Prince Marius’ helm from his head in a haphazard blow. After this minor setback, the Prince and Duke reached the battlements, and were replaced on the ladder by Ser Vladrick Kortrevich and Prince Sergei, with the Princess Royal and Lady Ophelie continuing their shots from afar. Prince Marius entered quickly into unarmed combat with a first beast, while the Duke Reinmar and the newly-arrived Sergei and Vladrick made quick work of another. It was at this point that the archers began their ascent of the tower. Prince Marius’ foe proved particularly strong, and so Prince Sergei sought to assist him. The elder Prince was subsequently tackled by the beast, though he managed to grab the creature on his way down through a hole in the tower’s battlements. Miraculously, though, the Prince survived and was transported safely back to Karosgrad. The Miracle of the Left Flank: Resist and Bite! A report of the left flank, and their exceptional act of valor in service of the Brotherhood of Saint Karl. As the cavalry crashed into the forces of hell on the rampart, Sergeant Sebastian Bishop noticed that down the hill, there was a small wooden bridge connecting the mainland to the fortress’s inner courtyard, blocked only by a nearly-destroyed wall. Sergeant Bishop then saw enemy forces massing there for a flanking maneuver, and asked Royal Captain Weiss for permission to take a secondary force down the hill to engage. Permission was granted, and Sebastian assembled an assault force consisting of Ser Walton, Vanhart “The Carrot”, Baldrum Colborn, and Tulip. They assaulted the bridge, slaughtering a number of Imps that threatened the main force’s left flank before assaulting the forces guarding the bridge itself. Once at the bridge, Sergeant Bishop saw that a hellish sorcerer was stationed behind the left flank, acting as support for the imps and oleg-sized hellspawn that were now making their way to clash with Sergeant Bishop’s force. Sergeant Bishop ordered a defensive formation with he and Vanhart in the front with shields raised, Baldrum and Tulip acting as ranged support behind them with crossbows, and with Ser Walton protecting the archers. As the enemy drew near, imps began to belch malflame down upon their shield wall. Baldrum and Tulip fired their arrows in rapid succession, felling three of the beasts from the sky. Sebastian meanwhile held the line with Vanhart. Vanhart used a frost breath potion to freeze one of the big creatures on its approach. Ser Walton meanwhile fought off what imps began to get too close as the hellspawn began to quickly outnumber the flanking force. As the flanking force held back everything that these beasts could throw at them, the sorcerer used evil magic to conjure a hellish wall of malflame around Sergeant Bishop’s force, cutting them off from the rest of the Brotherhood. Famously, Sergeant Bishop declared: “You have made your biggest mistake yet - for we are not trapped here with you, you are trapped here with us!”. As the main assault force continued to clear the roof of the keep, Sergeant Bishop’s force held the line as if their hearts were steeled by Saint Karl himself. They were outnumbered and outmatched in every possible metric, yet they locked their shields and held firm against the forces of hell, giving no ground and offering no mercy to the foe. As the battle raged on, the wall of malflame began to pulsate in glowing orange brilliance. It was quite clear that it was to explode after a short time, causing unknown devastation to the small group who had their shield’s raised to the enemy in front of them, but backs, bare to the flame. Seeing this, Ser Sebastien, who had rushed down with a couple others to help the group after the walltop had been cleared, raised his javelin and launched it at the mage. As expected, the Javelin did little to harm the oleg-sized mage, as it merely raised its arm and blocked it. However, its concentration broke, and the wall of malflame dissipated. Once a splinter force commanded by King Karl III and Royal Captain Weiss arrived to relieve them, one of the large demons burst through the demon that Vanhart had frozen, causing icey shrapnel to fly his way. Sergeant Bishop jumped in his way, shielding his men from the debris but losing an eye in the process, resulting in him being forced to retire from the battle as he was now fully blind. Thanks to the efforts of these men, the main assault force was able to eliminate the primary garrison along with the right flank assault force. After the Battle: Into the Inferi Keep Upon the final defeat of all creatures inhabiting the fortress, all set forth into the castle's innards and set to looting. Much of the prize remained to be similar to other places, including strange meats and broken swords, yet upon entering the basement more was discovered. In one room, a battle-plan had been drawn. A map of the city of Karosgrad lay out, many expecting the aim of a plan to amass and destroy the city. Such was taken, with many now planning for an eventual siege on the city. As all set to prepare to return to Karosgrad at a break-neck pace due to the threat of a siege and the loss of loved ones, Prince Marius glanced into the fire of the hearth which still roared. Something seemed to glint to him, it was reported, and he placed his hands into the fire. Surprisingly enough, his hands remained unscathed and out from the flames he pulled an ancient sword. Not much was known about the sword with it having no discernable markings, though it was surely an item of note to be sure. Many asked whether this sword had some evil to it, though if it did is for now unknown. Signed, Royal Captain Felix Weiss, Military Tribune and Lord Handler of his Majesty’s Duma, Banner Bearer of the Royal Hussar, Head Palatine Guard. OOC: Special thanks to Alamo, Liz., and GMRO for helping me write this monster of a report, everyone who offered their help, and to all others who I incessantly questioned to get the details (mostly) right. Love ya’ll. :) 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xMuted 2480 Share Posted December 2, 2022 Sebastian Bishop had someone read this out to him. "Ich see." He grinned in blind. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
libertyybelle 5475 Share Posted December 2, 2022 Spoiler Very well written post!! 10/10 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts