Wyvern's War Part II: War Council

[Arcturus24]

Previous: Wyvern's War Part I: the Ebon Band

The Ebon Band, under command of Hector Mithrades, is continuing its march on Wyvern's Reach, where the local ruler and nephew of the Band's second-in-command, Gareth Larconne, has declared for the traiterous Black Spire. The Band is currently encamped a day's march outside the territory of Wyvern's Reach, preparing their assault. Their camp is thrown up around an ancient barrow, one of many that dot the landscape of Nocturnus. Nocturnus' bloodsoaked history has known countless great warriors, mighty warlords and devious sorcerers, many long forgotten. So, too, the barrow on top of which Hector has established his command post. It has been a landmark for as long as the locals can remember, even being remarked by the founder of Wyvern's Reach.

Ancient tombs like this are often better left undisturbed. Who knows what horrors might have been left to guard it, or have taken up residence in the centuries since it was built?

Unbeknownst to the men and women of the Ebon Band, an ancient warlord known as the Sire of Serpents is interred beneath the smooth black stone of the tomb. He was obsessed with all manner of snakes and lizards, and bred them for war. Great beasts they were, some constricting his enemies by the dozens, others devouring them whole. However, they had one great weakness: they couldn't get over sufficiently high walls, and their Sire had the greatest trouble taking castles and cities. Seeing the might of the aerial dragons, he decided that he would give his beloved creations wings. And so he bred a new breed of lizards that possessed membranes behind their front limbs: the first wyverns were created. After the warlord's fall his great beasts were set free or escaped, and went on to haunt Nocturnus. One of the wyverns took up residence on a mountaintop in the Rakath Mountains, and become known as the great wyvern Cordath. His slaying earned Jericho Larconne the name Wyrmscourge, and on top of his nest was the city of Wyvern's Reach built.

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The murmurs stopped as Hector Mithrades entered the tent, followed by lady Cassandra Rothmere.

'Friends, comrades, we've finally reached the lands of the traiterous Aidan Larconne. Within a few days we'll march for the city. But first we should discuss our strategy for taking it. Gareth had a notion on how to make it somewhat... easier. Gareth.'

'Indeed I do. The city is built on top of a mountain. The slopes are steep, nearly impassable, and the only road runs under the walls and is vulnerable for attacks from above. Storming the main gates will undoubtedly result in great losses.'

Razgrim, commander of the orcs, scowled at him. 'Are you afraid of some arrows and rocks? Me and my men, we'll storm up that road and take the gates before you humans are done trimming your nails [1].'

Gareth sighed. 'And lose the greater part of them. No, my plan will involve us getting inside the walls without needing to storm the gates. See, the mountain Wyvern's Reach is built on is in fact an old, long-dead volcano. Many old tunnels molten rock used to flow through still criss-cross the interior. This is not known to many, in fact it's being kept a secret within House Larconne, so as not to expose our weakness.' He grinned. 'Of course, they never expected someone in House Larconne to want to attack the city from the outside. I know the location of the entrance of a tunnel that will lead to inside the city. My ancestors were cautious enough to close off any tunnels in or out of the main citadel, so we won't get any farther than inside the walls. Once there, we can use the chaos to subdue the Wyvern Guard and, with luck, take the main citadel by surprise.'

Razgrim grunted, looking daggers at Gareth, but remained silent. Hector looked around the circle of his commanders, and when none spoke, he continued.

'If we fail to take the citadel by surprise and find the gates closed, we'll still have a trick up our sleeve. Before we enter the city, lady Saelena will go ahead and slip into the citadel. If we find the citadel closed to us, she'll open it for us. After that it'll just be cleaning up.'

The commanders remained silent for a while, looking over a map of the city and pondering the strategy laid before them. Then Cyrus Irving spoke up.

'It won't be as simple as that. I don't doubt we'll be able to enter the city and even the citadel, but once inside we'll have to fight the Wyvern Guard in a city guerilla. We'll have to push them back street by street, in a city they know much better than we do. They'll be pouring out of alleys when we least expect it.'

Gareth smiled knowingly at him, as if he'd expected the objection. 'That would indeed be a problem. But you forget that we will have the benefit of surprise. They won't be expecting an attack from inside the gates. In addition, our approach has been noted. The Wyvern Guard will be posted at the gate and on the walls to be on guard against an army they think will storm the gates. If we move quickly enough, we will be in and through the tunnels fast enough for them not to notice that we're not headed for the gates. Finally, when we've entered the city, we will make sure they know who we are. There will be plenty of city folk, and guardsmen, that aren't happy with young Aidan joining the Black Spire. If we can offer them an alternative, one that is still of the blood of the Wyrmscourge, some might join our side and many will at least be confused. All this will contribute to the chaos that will allow us to take the city quickly. I will also give you a final warning: you will not kill anyone as long as it's not necessary. That will not help our image as liberators, and we want the city and its army whole. Is that understood? '

He looked around, lingering his gaze on Razgrim. Everyone nodded, even the big orc, though reluctantly.

Hector took over again. 'Good. Then on the morrow, we march for Wyvern's Reach.'

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[1] Orc nails are more claw-like than human nails, and are generally used so often that they don't need trimming. Trimming, to orcs, is a sign of a quiet, peaceful, and civilized life, all of which are disdained. The fact that human nails are relatively weak and fragile and need trimming is just one more reason orcs generally see humans as weaklings.

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Welcome to my latest MOC everyone! I've been gone from the forums for quite a long time as I've been away from my lego a lot, but now I'm back. The latest installment of the Wyvern's War consists of the Ebon Band's encampment near the border of the territory of Wyvern's Reach. It includes a small horse pasture, a couple of cooking fires, a plains orc on cooking duty (making some delicious-looking brown stew), a watchtower, the command tent and an ancient tomb. It's also my first real attempt at landscaping, and I quite like how it turned out. Of course, I'm open to any tips. I really liked building this, the tomb was especially fun.

I'd also like to claim UoP credit for this build, in Military Science - Military Camp and Landscape Design - Studs Up Rocks and Cliffs (mostly focusing on the section posted below).

Finally, I'm happy to be back on the forums! I hope I'll have more time in the coming months (I'll be where my lego is at more, but university is starting again, so I'll just have to see), and I hope to participate in the two challenges! I already have an idea for the first one.

[TitusV]

Tough your landscaping is a little square (I recommend using more small plates), that tomb is awesome!

[Kai NRG]

I agree with Titus - your landscaping has a few too many straight lines, but the interior of the tomb is really neat, especially the cheese slope patterns on the floor! +1 for the UoP credits.

[Henjin_Quilones]

Great work with those SNOT-mosaic snake patterns! The tomb interior looks amazing.

My major critique is that it seems like you have four builds just kind of joined together here: the tomb, the campfire, the horse corral, and the tower/tent. They do not flow very well into each other, and this is possibly related to what Titus and Kai have said, that the landscaping is too square (and each section has its own ground color, too, and even the cliffs transition from light to dark grey very abruptly). Each of them by itself looks good, and is a fine build, but together they do not really mesh well. Curves would go a long way, and also some more variation on the cliff height, maybe with the barrow up at the top, with the tower and tent just a little lower, and then the corral on a gentle grassy slope, with the campfire nestled under a much taller cliff protected from the wind but overhung by a memorial of death. It would require more pieces, true, but I think it would help the build look more like a unified whole. And more blending of the color edges would help, too.

However, as I said, each part by itself looks great! The cliffs are well done (especially the light grey part--the dark grey is a little BURP-y for my liking), and the tower is a great example of hastily erected military camp architecture. The use of those droid arms for the horses' corral is great, too. Overall, a nicely done build.

[Blufiji]

The floor in the tomb is nicely done, using the slopes as stonework. As Henjin said, it may be a good idea in the future to separate your builds out so that each one can receive the attention it deserves on an individual stance.

[soccerkid6]

Very nicely detailed tomb, looks like a typical adventurers location The little wooden look out tower and horse corral are nice additions to the scene

[Arcturus24]

Thank you guys for all the feedback! I really appreciate it. I did struggle with a shortage of parts, which is why the cliff is in two different colors and why I used the big prefab rock pieces, and why the ground color transitions so often. But I'll keep the curvier landscape lines in mind!

[LittleJohn]

Very nice build, the interior of the tomb is fabulous! The little lookout tower, corral, and various camp fires are great too

[Hexx]

Cool build Arcturus, but I really enjoyed how big and detailed your story is. Hopefully you won't mind if I use some of your plot points and characters in my story as well? You are welcome to kill my cultists anytime (if they die they aren't worthy anyway ).

[Arcturus24]

Hi Hexx, I'd love to have some crossovers storywise! Though I would like to discuss any beforehand, just so we don't start conflicting with the other's intentions