25 R.R. | Battle of the Westmark

[M1919 2302]

Spoiler

 

If you know, you know.

 

BATTLE OF THE WESTMARK

FOEDUS VELEC

In the year 25 of the Age of Rights and the Age of Reckoning

 

"By thy scars and thy deeds thou shalt be judged,"

Veletzian Proverb.

 

 

 

☩ ☩ ☩

 

 

HARK! Veletzian, Son of Krug, Retainer of Stassion - hear me! Our tale is a great, glorious one - of sorrow and triumph intermixed!

 

“Gaspard,” so said they, “have you no fear? You face an army of eight nations with only three to your own.”

 

“Grommash,” so said they, “have you no fear? Soon, Veletz will fall, and for the price of your loyalty, so will Krugmar. Go the way of Celia’nor and save your people.”

 

“Richard,” so said they, “have you no fear? You will one day stand alone, for you have made an enemy of all. Your inevitable defeat must shake you to your core.”

 

The great keeps of Breakwater and Brasca had fallen. Thousands had died defending them from the advance of the coalition. Good men, chief among them Sir Gustaf van Aert, had been lost to history. Martyrs had been made, and made, and made, yet there was nothing to show for their sacrifice. The answers were given as eight thousand and six hundred faithful took to an insignificant field far from Winburgh. Their standards waving in the wind, the visors masking their visage from all to gauge - the great host of Veletz, Horde, and Stassion all emerged as a force of gargoyles, hellbent on preserving their soil. Of their people.

 

“I have never had fear,” so said Gaspard, “for I fight for my people, and my people fight for me. Together in arms, we shall never taste the stain of defeat.”

 

And so the men of Veletz, atop their dazzling steeds, rode down the many generals of the coalition, themselves failing to prepare themselves for the cavalry of the field. It was a great slaughter that led the coalition army, itself numbering one hundred and seventy thousand or more, to be a rudderless ship. They were swift, their feet blessed by the Lord himself, for hardly were they touched by the enemy blade or arrow. Time and time again, they rode close, enough to strike themselves, but then fell back before the tide of the coalition could crash upon them. The men and women of this mass flailed and cried as their leaders fell, dead and wounded. At the same time, Gaspard's Ruben and the great elf Adriel hacked into the fray - dismembering and piercing through the opposition's few stragglers or men that their negligent commanders left behind. This act forged gaps in the invader's line, subjecting them to volleys of steel, which enabled the much-deserved repercussions upon the invader. Yet the enemy had one fortress they could flee to: the tunnel. They fled like rats into a cave, rarely emerging from it! Still, they numbered in the tens of thousands more than their foe, and victory seemed to be the only outcome.

 

“I have never had fear,” so said Grommash, “for it is the way of Krug to embrace the battle. I do not flee at the sight of defeat. I embrace the clash of blades and the shedding of blood for its own sake.”

 

And so the orcs of Krugmar, half on foot and half on horse, held the line as the coalition’s rats peeked their head out of their hole on occasion. Whatever petty charge was made was thrown back with rage, and many more of the army-of-eight were slain on the field of battle while only a few of the orcs fell. So it went for hours and hours, and as the numbers slowly grew closer and closer, hope broke through the cloud of defeat that had hung over the Midlands. There was a slight chance, a mere inkling of one, but it was there.

 

“I have never had fear,” so said Richard, “for I am right and just to stand by those who have stood by me. It is the way of the knight to honor the oaths made for his battle-comrades, and I am nothing if not a man of my word.”

 

And so the archers of Stassion pierced and pelted the coalitions' armies with javelins, arrows, stones, and anything else that could be shot or thrown. As the enemy tried to bunch together and pack themselves to ward off cavalry charges, they became slow and immobile. It was a slow process, as the day had been, but over time, gaps in the line formed, where it would soon be filled with the whizzing of arrows and the cries of falling soldiers. At times, a man or two could even be picked off by awaiting skirmishers.

 

“We have never had fear,” so said they all, the victors on the Field of Blood, “for our bones are made of iron, and our blood carries in it the vigor of our ancestors. We have broken, aye, but we have never bent, and for it, forces of fortune will look upon us favorably. Our day is here; our victory is now.”

 

The signal was made to charge. It was a glorious scene, something that history has never told before. Helena, Lower Petra, both pale to what these weary eyes witness on the Field of Blood!

 

Of Drusco, Edmond, Richold, and Tancred brought their force to bear against thousands, though they numbered few dozen. These eyes saw the company of Richold slay hundreds - with countless falling to the mercy of his ancestral sword, that thing of beauty, the Glorie Drusque.

 

Of the tribal horse cavalry, Ivan, Vlad, and Kursik, those men without surnames, have won one for themselves that day. ‘Victor’ will cross the lips of all who see them as each shot they fired rang true, their horses rode hard, and their sabers never dulled.

 

Of the orcs, Kho’Gorkil, though wounded early, fought on and fought hard. With his units of Krugmar, he held the line time and time again, allowing the advancing masses of the coalition to taste the tips of victory but never savor it, as each time they charged, their hands came up empty, and their fingers were cut.

 

And so it was that this host of the coalition, strong in number and sure in will, was broken outside of Winbrugh and sent scattered. Nary, a soldier, survived, and the green grasses of the fields, tinted with some frost as the snows set in ran red. What few from Veletz, Krugmar, and Stassion that fell had not died for a cause damned to ruin. Like those before them, they fought and died for the dream that their people may be saved from the destruction and ruin wished upon them. They fought for the women and children condemned to death by this horrible invasion. Their steel and quivers would never discriminate, and upon the fields and the woodlands did the scattered remains of dead loiter in proof.

 

 

 

 

Blood for Breakwater.

 

Blood for Brasca.

 

 

"By the way of their death shall we know them."

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Shoutout to the boys who all made history with us.

 

 

 

 

@Vermy@Tide1@Halt@MaltaMoss@Mickaelhz@Orlanth

 

@santa-deniers Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

[Aeus 2653]

Adriel comes to a halt on his horse, looking over the battlefield where he had slained a large number of coalitioners. The druid smiles, growing a field of crimson flowers over the corpses of those fallen to his blade. 

[bickando 3967]

The Queen-Consort of Aaun received the news not by courier nor by bannerman as the past two battles, but by the return of a broken regiment. Her eye scanned the injured army - when it landed upon John and his retinue, a relieved sigh.

 

Late that night, though, after all others in the court had gone to rest... The light pop of a bottle of champagne could be lightly discerned coming from Amelya's office.

[wolfdwg 2677]

Jreg'Gorkil approves by hanging up wreaths around his blargh. "Krugsmas az kum earleh fur dah Veletzladz un dah Horde." he'd say to no one particular as he begins to wrap the spoils from the recent battle to gift to his fellow uruks and allies.

[Narthok 10416]

Grommash would stand in shock amongst the mounds of Coalition corpses. Their numbers had counted for little in the face of their panic and ineptitude of their commanders. With pride he cast his eye about his battered but unbroken warband. His warriors had proven themselves countless times over in the day's fighting. At the very tip of the spear they had broken the Coalition Cavalry at great cost to themselves. But in doing so they had prevented the slow cumbersome column from having any means to strike back at the nimble alliance forces.

 

The war for Ultramar  the Midlands was not over yet. But the invincibility of the enemy had been shattered.

[Bogatyr 335]

Iskander Basrid, Count of Susa, held his chin up high, and his flagon of mead higher!

[moosehunter123 1081]

Bo Rostova would ride back within the gates of Winburgh his lance at his side bloodied and crack from lancing poor coalition soliders, his tabbard painted red in coalition blood, his voice gone from calling men and women to move around the battle fields.

 

He looks upon the faces of brave men and soliders who are covered in coalition blood before letting out a massive yell as they trot back into Windburgh on their horses

 

"AVE VELETZ, AVE GASPARD, AVE KRUG, AVE STASSION!"

 

"WE SHALL NOT FALTER! AVE, AVE, AVE!"

[Nectorist 12874]

Johanes van Aert digs his blade into what had to be the sixth soldier that day. Or was it the sixtieth? Sixth hundred? He could not tell, for as he danced the battle moved like a blur around him. His thoughts turned not to victory or defeat, not to the future of himself, nor that of Veletz. He only thought of his sons that had died at Brasca. 

 

So long as I live, I will fight to make sure you did not die purposeless.

[Orlanth 4667]

Vyllaenen returned to the battlefield once all had ended. He checked every single face of the dead soldiers that were recognizable. None showed resemblance to anyone he was looking for. "We didn't need him it seems, but he's still out there and I'll be damned if he's not coming back."

[Esterlen 4499]

 

Spoiler

 

In a far-off land, an Acaelanite sage hears of the exploits of his coreligionists in the wars of the valahan. He resolves to meet with them. 

 

@Malinor@RIGOR

[Ryanark 2738]

Raphaiel de Weit ran a fleeing Haeseni soldier-boy down, slicing his saber across his back - a cold touch of death began to chill his spine. Then, the next fell. Perhaps the rest of the battle was a blur, recalling the bloodstained finale with glee.

[Apohet 1265]

"A HAPPY KRUGMAZ GIFT FROM KRUG YE DIZHONORABLE HAENZI PINKIEZ "  said Mul'Braduk as he read the missive, holding a bag full of Haensi and Petran heads.

[unlegiqDuck 324]

William Payne sits within the barracks of Veletz "Ave Veletz" he remarks.

Edited December 17, 2023 by unlegiqDuck

[𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖌𝖚𝖘𝖍 2451]

Falum'Lur watches the battlefield from a war camp on top of a hill after his features from the last siege. He eats and drinks by a campfire while observing, then speaks with his mouth full.

 

"A hosh victory that will be blahed for da ages. The great spirits of valor and wagh possessed many of da bruddas and the allies on dis day."

 

Spoiler

 

[Coronate 5528]

"Yes Commander!" The men of the reserve cavalry cried in unison.

 

None was louder than Radmir Montalt, Sir Gaspard's #1 guy.