SkaForHire

Call to Arms: Battle of Khordeem

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A CALL TO ARMS!

GEAR CO and the Mitgardian town of Skaeren call for all able body warriors that can find a summoning circle to aide in turning back an elemental portal.

-Petera MacLean

Second Lord of Eastgate

(Out of character: details of the battle and how your heroes can help are found at the bottom of this post if you don’t want to read the story.

Basically, we are testing out some wargaming rules we have been working on for a long time, and decided to create a scenario / battle that tells a story in Historica also

It is a combination build / battle between me (skaforhire - Kaliphlin) and my brother (Scarst - Mitguardia))

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The background:

::A one armed guard comes bursting out of the woods just beneath the farthest watchtower of the town of Skaeren on the southernmost Isle of Solitude::

“Water!” He screamed.

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Home 1 171 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

The guards at the bottom of the tower cautiously brought him water, and took him to Garret Hailfist, Captain of the Guard.

“Sir… I am from Jorn Khordeem Ruins. The excavation there has… has… been attacked. There are many of the diggers and archeologists being held captive!”

Hailfist’s own son was one of the men who were employed by the private Mitgardian company based at the ruins to guard the area from grave robbers. He kept that fact silent for the moment.

“Did you come on foot man?”

“Partially, two days riding and running, I barely stopped.” He let out, his fatigue now showing.

Hailfist knew that assembling a small army would take days, and he would have no choice but to summon his best men quickly and lead a tiny party to the ruins. He was a seasoned veteran of many campaigns against rebels and Dark Elves alike, how hard could a bunch of grave robbers be?

“We must find a way to get their quickly. Jordie, grab Haglard and Frost and a few others you trust, we leave immediately, we will row if we have to.”

The one armed guard cut in: “Sir you don’t understand – their summoning things. A few weeks ago, parts of the ruins started to change…”

“Change?”

“Yes, strange things were happening, and then the summonings began. Small elementals attacked first, and then humans following them. I don’t know, I lost my arm on the second day of fighting, and on the third I was sent on horse to get help. I lost my horse about 18 hours ago.” He changed his tone to dead seriousness “You will need more men”

Hailfist knew this was when the word of the betrayal by Victor was first hitting the shores of the Islands. In his gut he knew they were connected. How could he get more men…

There was only one man in the town that knew anything about druids, elementals, or any of the old magic – Yer Algeen – an old mage from Kaliphlin who took summer residence in the isles to study the power of the northern current.

They went to the mage and related the story. For a while the mage thought, and then he spoke.

“Those ruins used to be a strong Druid Hearth. Meaning, it was a center for their magic in the days when Druids experimented with the elements. That is why the University of Petraea was interested in the contract to dig there offered to them by that secretive Mitguardian company that owns the site. “ Algeen said. “ It sounds as if cultists have taken the camp and the ruins. If that is true you will need many more men to close those portals. If we act quickly, they won’t be able to open the larger portals. I fear if they do that, this island and perhaps much of Mitgardia could be doomed.”

Kaliphlin scientists and historians there too? There might be many more people in need of recuing that he thought. He would need more men. “There are few on these isles, and it would take a long time to find them all within the mountains and what not. What about the Portal Circle you use to get here, can’t you bring more men here?” Asked Hailfist.

“IT does not work that way” he replied. “ Only few mages have the talent to do so – it is either something you can do, or something you can’t” he sighed. “Portals are one way, I can send a message but it would be up to other mages in the cities across Historica to open portals to my cottage here where I have my permanent circle set up.”

He motioned to a small stone circle built into the wooden floor of his cottage. “ I have never met a mage that could open a portal for more than 20 seconds, and it usually saps their stamina so much that they are unable to cast spells for the rest of the day or longer. That means that at most, maybe a few groups of 5 or 10 men will make it here in time. “ he paused. “I could come with you and create living portal anchors that other mages could reach out with their magic and hook onto my anchor upon the battlefield and deliver us reinforcements during the battle.”

Hailfist looked at the frail old man, he would be a liability, but perhaps their only shot to close the portals. He said “Looks like we have no choice, now to secure a boat.”

Map:

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Map by skaforhire2, on Flickr

There was only one boat in Skaeren, it belonged to Captain Muldune, and was owned by the Greater Eastgate Article and Supply Company out of Kaliphlin. The boat had been in harbor a month to refit after a hard spring sail. Upon approaching the Captain at the local tavern Hailfist said “I need your ship, many will die without it.”

Muldune cracked a thin, intrigued smile. “I would love to rent it to you – at a profit – but one problem, I have been refitting it from a ship to a brig, and we still have 20 days or more until we can sail.”

“I have no times for your merchant games. I call in the favor of Valdor.” Hailfist demanded.

Muldune gasped. “You know those do not come cheap, are you sure you wish to use it here.”

Hailfist had earned his favor a long time ago. The Favor of Valdor was a currency that all Kaliphlin merchants knew about. IT was symbolic only, as nothing represented it physically, but all Kaliphlin traers knew the tallies that were out there – or at least Hailfist thought. As a Kaliphlin merchant, you were given the right to own one once you were a captain of a merchant ship. These favors were traded, and eventually spent amongst the traders of Kaliphlin, but it was a rare instance when one of these favors as given to and outsider like Hailfist. Once these favors were called upon, a Kaliphlin merchant with any amount of honor would have to abide as long as it did not mean death for himself or his crew. Some merchants ignored that last bit, as keeping honor was much more important.

Hailfist said. “My son and many others are in trouble, I evoke the favor of Valdor.”

Muldoon sighed. “Very well, I have some oars and enough sober men to row. When do we leave?”

“Now.” Hailfist said.

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Home 1 166 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

On board Muldune's Brig, The Siren

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Home 1 168 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

I may only have had enough oars to show them on one side. ooops.

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Out of Character:

The plan is simple. The call has gone out by raven , magic and other means to the far ends of Historica. Help is needed at the battle of the Jorn Khordeem. If you wish to join the battle, send your small troop by mage to Skaeren. They will then be taken by boat to the battle. OR, some of the more daring might try to connect with Algeen in the heat of battle.

Anyone that signs up while the battle is still going, we will try to get into the battle.

All we need is a pledge of men (1-10, although 10 may be hard to represent on the battlefield; the ideal number is squads of 5). We have an older collection here, so it might be hard to accurately represent some heroes or your actual men’s uniforms. (we may have to think of a magic related reason why they don’t look the same haha)

We will then give you men (or women!) stats and bring them into battle via magic or boat. They will then fight in the battle to see if they can help close the portal. If your hero or your men are known for a certain weapon style or ability, include it in your pledge. We will try to accommodate this in your character’s stats. You may want to also show us a picture of who you are sending, if you want us to try and replicate them.

WARNING: The soldiers you send may die – if you send a hero, you might want to tell us you would prefer they fell wounded or are likely to retreat. It is all luck of the dice (much like the tournaments that have been held)

Lastly, I know this is last minute, but I am only visiting my brother for a limited time. We are still building the battlefield (it won’t be the coolest MOC, but it will be more than we normally do when playtesting our rules) but we will probably begin the battle late Saturday night (EST) the cool thing is, we will keep checking the forums for new recruits and can add people all the way until the battle is done – probably Monday morning. So sign up at any point in the weekend.

Anyway, I hope some of you will heed Skaeren’s call to arms and join us for the Battle of Jorn Khordeem

I don't know, maybe if we succeed in this battle against the forces of the elements characters can take the title "Heroes of Khordeem" or "Order of Khordeem" But I am not sure how giving titles works in the project.

Edited by SkaForHire

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I may have recently joined Kaliphlin, but I shall endeavour to send some of my royal guard, though I can spare few. I shall also send word to my Desert Mummy allies. If they are able, I am sure they will send some chariots.

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I wish you luck!

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I will come, I have three friends that are willing to help.

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Company by Jakon B.Rytight, on Flickr

Abdulaziz Alsaif, Dwurli Bronzinot, Me, and Captain William Throw.

Edited by Jakon

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Thank you all heroes, I hear your teleport portal is coming soon. We must save the hostages!

-------------------

OOC:

I was asked to mention that if you are Mitgardian or Avalonian, that you could actually take your own ship to the battle if it were fast enough. Just let us know if you plan to come by ship.

Also, there is plenty of room for anyone that wants to join - we might not be able to completely represent you accurately (we can blame that on the artists!) but if you sign up we will try to accommodate your men and bring them into the battle. Additionally, you don't have to post a pic if you are just sending men or a hero you have yet written about, and we will just use what we have.

Finally, if your soldiers have any special abilities and want them noted, let us know.

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Gaius Kaleci acting as regent for House Kalores will be sending 5 men. He asks that you equip them for battle as you see fit. They are trained in all weapons but are expert at none.

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I'll send a couple of my Lancers and Cannoneers (about 6 men total). If you need more, I can muster an army of tribesmen.

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DAY ONE BATTLE REPORT

We have fought day one of the battle, I am happy to say the good guys won all their objectives. Unfortunately, out of the initial 15 men that landed on the beach outside the ruins, one has been killed. The rest who were injured were successfully revived to begin fighting anew today. Below are the representations of some of the men sent by other members of Historica.

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Lego 014 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

Yoshimitsu-san's men, as close as we could get

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Lego 016 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

Jakon and his men, this was a little harder, as we went out to a wal-mart and searched through series 5 figs until we got dwarf legs and helmet, haha. That was the first new Lego we have bought for the collection at my brother's house in over 3 years I think.

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In the hand of Fenghan Wade, minor Knight of the Royal City.

Dear Esmeralda,

This rescue has taken a foul turn. When our sons and I took that funny magic portal to Skaeren to heed the call of our allies, we stepped into something totally over our head. We found that we were the only knights here besides Hailfist, but that grizzly old bat doesn’t even mount like a proper knight. We were met by Lord Yoshimitsu-san of Kaliphlin’s private retainers sent to help in the battle. Good men all of them, unfortunately I did not catch their names at the time. We boarded the ship with five of his own men, one a mere piper and doctor. With us the mage Algeen, who was supposed to be able to portal more troops in. To my dismay, the three horses we brought were it for our little miserable troop.

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Lego 018 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Lego 020 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

So it was that group of men that stormed the beaches of the ruins. We found no resistance as we marched up the white stone and sand shore. However, an odd mist lay in front of us and we heard the sounds of scraping and the smell of death. At this point, I figured it was likely that this was a mission to retrieve Hailfist’s son’s body rather than save any of the diggers.

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Lego 025 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

We took point, and entered an old arch as the fog began to lift. To our amazement it was not elementals in front of us, but undead. Algeen muttered something about the old army of the Druid king had been reanimated. I did not care who the heck it was, I just knew we were in for a hell of a fight.

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Lego 029 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

So they rushed us, and a cautious Hailfist did not want us to charge, but let them come to us while we played defense. His plan was to take a small ruined keep that we were told used to guard the site 500 years ago. The problem was, it seemed that was where the necromancers controlling the skeletons were held up. So without advancing, we were constantly fighting the same re-risen skeletons over and over as Hailfist tried to figure what was going on. The Boys and I were steady with the sword, but I would have preferred the lance. Yoshimitsu’s men took our left flank and held it well, but with the fallen skeletons getting right back up under the necromancer’s power, the lightly armored elite guard were soon swelled over. Still they held valiantly through the first wave.

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Lego 041 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Lego 043 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

Hailfist’s town archers were good at picking off some of the farther skeletons, but found their mark when it became obvious that on the walls of the ruins were human archers. These must have been some of the cultists that we were told about.

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Lego 046 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Lego 049 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

(Uh Oh preview of the rest of the ruins...)

Things took a turn for the worse when Hailfist took an arrow below the lung – such a mighty blow would have killed a lesser man instantly. At this point the archers and Hailfist fell back – leaving the boys and I, along with Yoshimitsu’s men in front of the arch alone. At this point Algeen said he felt a teleport tunnel coming in and he laid down a vine circle. He demanded that we protect it at all cost, because if penetrated we would not get our reinforcements and something worse might happen…

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Lego 056 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Lego 058 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

The Necromancers sensed the magic circle and sent their skeletal riders in full charge. One of Yoshimitsu’s men took a lance to the shoulder and went down. Their sergeant was proficient with his crossbow taking out a few of the oncoming horrors. Our boy Phinny was soon knocked out in his saddle, and my horse was fell.

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Lego 059 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

Oddly, the piper / doctor was also veterinarian and quickly brought smelling salts to revive the horse. I remounted and rejoined the battle. It was at this point that the third man of Yoshiitsu was surrounded by four undead and torn to pieces. Esmeralda, if I don’t return from this battle – you must send my condolences to Yoshimitsu, his man died with true honor.

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Lego 066 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

We reengaged the front, only I and our son Darius, with the left being held by Yoshimitsu’s sergeant and Hailfist and his squire. They held up well against the side and prevented an botched ritual. My horse was again killed from under me, and I fell back to guard the archer, as new cultists seemed to be pouring from the ruins. It was at that point that a necromancer rasied the skeleton in front of me, and I was too slow with my blade. I thought I was dead actually, and everything went dark.

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Lego 071 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

I awoke in a pile of bones and filth, over me was one of Jakon’s Iron Rangers. I sat up and saw Lord Jakon himself. From what I have heard, he and his hand-picked men entered the fray and forced the necromancers to flee the keep. They will be dearly needed in the battle in the morn.

I then found out that the poor boy Yoshimitsu had sent had gone to the creator, his other man had been helped back to the base camp that we were establishing at the keep. My boys were alright, and Hailfist was the worst off out of his group.

As night fell, we heard an eerie howl from the close north. One of Hailfist’s archers said it was a direwolf – but I have been told that such creatures have not been seen on the isles for generations. Only fate knows what the morrow brings. This letter should find you in via the ship that brought us here. I hear that Lord Kalores of Kaliphlin has sent some reinforcements and they should be here via boat in the morning. I will head down to the shore and hand this message off to the ship’s captain.

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Lego 076 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

I send all my love,

Fenghan Wade

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Battle Log Day 1

Upon the arriving on the beach of the ruins of Khordeem an eerie fog covered the battle field the older temple ruins being completely covered. I could see shambling dead ahead at the edge of the beach front and where there are undead there are always more undead that must come out of the woodwork. Before I could issue any orders or battle plans the crown knight that had come from the mainland headed up the beach taking point their leader Fenghan insisting that a knights job was to head into battle with his two young sons in tow, before I could correct this error the undead charged and the knights were locked in combat, the only course of action I could take was to prevent the charge from growing. I brought my archers around the right flank and order them to shoot into the undeads rear flank as Firo and Myself took care of the immediate threats. Yoshimitsu's troop gathered at the left flank there leader providing cover fire while the others stood against the charge preparing themselves for the second wave.

After ten minutes of fighting It became quite obvious there were necromancers pulling the strings of this pile of bones, I decided to keep this fact to myself until after the battle to prevent the men from starting to panic, not knowing the experience of my troops. At this point the fog started to clear over the ruins and my sharpshooters spotted cultist archer and began to act on their own as Firo and Myself headed into the frey to try to stop the flow against the knights that had started tiring and even falling off their horses. It wasn't long before I felt something pierce my cloak and my flesh and I had to fall back to remove the arrow with Firo in tow at the time when we got behind cover Algeen finally felt a connection and I was unable to remove the arrow as the necromancers felt the magical power and sent in a massive charge we quickly took up our blades next to Yoshimitsu's guard. A good man died on that charge it's unfortunate that I never got his name and it seemed improper to ask after his death, but with fury and passion his friend broke into a rage and broke two of the skeletons into dust before falling unconscious from his wounds. His sacrifice kept the undead from breaking the spell that helped put us on the offensive as Jakon and his band came in raring for a battle with all the vigor of men who'd gotten a good nights rest and good forty years younger than myself. It was a sight to behold as Jakon took a steady pace into the battle field as swords seemed to bounce off his armor he must have had a good 80Kg of armor on his body, putting the crown knights that had shown up to shame as bones crushed to dust under his feet.

After the battle

I've just learned that the archers had spotted cultist coming out of the temple ruins near the end of battle it seems that in the morn we will be heading into the temple finish this. I hope that we've seen the worst this battle has to throw at us but I fear that this is just the beginning, undead with necromancers behind them are something to be feared arrows and bolts can only pin a skeleton to the ground until a necromancer revives it nothing short of steel and sorcery is able to turn these abominations to dust, I will refit in the morning, Firo and Myself will take to horse back and I will ask Jakon to accompany us into the frey of battle, the crown knights may have lived but without Monty they wouldn't be in such good condition and I'm fairly sure at least two of them took a few to many hits to the head.

Day 2 the Morning

We've heard screams coming from the henge the temple must wait I fear the worst for the archaeologist...

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Crap...my boys need to get out there...

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My cannoneers.

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My lancers. The lances are made by taking a standard lance, and attaching a new scimitar to the handle. They should have horses, but their poor master has none. :blush:

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DAY TWO MORNING – Battle Report

Well, we completed the whole battle last night, but I am breaking it into the two halves we fought yesterday. I won’t spoil the ending by letting you know who won… but it was close. Below is the battle report for the morning.

Joining in this leg of the battle was House Kolores and one of Yoshimitsu’s Mummy Chariots.

Entering in the fray in the morning was part of house Kolores’ men. I knew that Mikel uses the lion sigil, but I only had blue troops with the sign on their chest. So I used these to represent his men.

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Kids, lego 079 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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In the hand of Fenghan Wade, minor crown knight of the Capital city.

Our Lord King,

I report to you about the elemental threat that hinders the Islands of Solitude in the region belonging to Mitguardia. Three days ago, I had given my sword to the small town of Skaeren in defense against an elemental threat. What we found was cultists worshiping the elements, resurrecting long dead druid magics, and resurrecting the long dead armies of a forgotten kingdom. I am writing this before our final assault on the old ruins of a druid cathedral, where the center of the problem seems to be. Last night we took a basecamp in the middle of the outer ruins, and this morning we handed some elemental summoning scum a heavy defeat. Still, we face a greater task before us, and I do not know if I shall live past the night. For this reason I am sending this report now before we go into the breach. I would also like to make a formal complaint about the man who pretends to knighthood, Garret Hailfist of Skaeren.

The morning began with howls coming through the fog in the direction of an old monolithic circle. Algeen, the mage that had been helping us said that he felt there was a great amount of energy coming from the circle, and he worried that a large elemental was being summoned. It was just breaking dawn when we began to ready ourselves for an assault on the stones. With us, Lord Yoshimitsu’s two guardsmen sent from Kaliphlin and Lord Jakon of Mitguardia’s hand-picked troop. Hailfist had his few archers and my two sons were with me. We knew that five men from Kaliphlin belonging to Lord Kolores were due soon from the boat, but we had to move immediately.

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Kids, lego 083 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

IT was at this time that Hailfist came to me with swords and bows drawn and demanded my troop’s horses. He stated that he did not like the way that I and my boys ride, and that he would personally be riding today. I retorted that this was not honorable, stealing another knights horse, and he said something along the lines of – damn your honor, I am no knight. He then stole our horses and prepared for battle.

Seeing my personal honor at stake, I formed up the foot troop and began the assault on the stones without Hailfist. He eventually took the hint, and began his assault, taking some of the men around another ruin to flank the circle of stones. While we began to march, the large beast within the circle raised its head above the fog. We were in for a good fight.

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Kids, lego 087 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

We marched into the clearing mist and were immediately met by a hail of bolts and arrows along with strange elemental creatures from some other world; we were later told by Algeen that these were more commonly known as Earth golems. Whatever they were, they were no match for the blades of the crown. Shockingly, we found ourselves facing off against men in the work uniforms of the Mitguardian company that owned the dig – clearly something is amiss, as I thought we were here to save some of these men and women. We marched to the perimeter of the circle of stones when behind us a large war chariot manned by a mummy came thundering up loaded with House Kalores’s men. I later learned that this was another one of Yoshimitsu’s retainers driving the chariot.

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Kids, lego 090 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Kids, lego 097 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

At this point I entered the circle to engage the devil’s dog that was within its unholy center. I found four chained prisoners guarded by the dog and a wizard chanting, amongst other lesser minions. At this point there was great commotion on both the east and west side of the stones. On the west, the chariot had screeched to a halt and Kalores’ men were jumping out to dispatch the lesser minions on that perimeter. But in the east a great cacophony of steel smashing together caught my attention briefly. Hailfist, his squire, and Jakon on horseback had rode full lance into an enemy heavy horse charge. Fools. They were out numberd 5 to 3 and the foot with them was struggling to keep up with the obviously faster men.

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Kids, lego 101 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Kids, lego 098 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

I had little time for that, as I was about to engage the wolfbeast, something odd happened with the wizard in the circle. His hat caught on fire, and the two prisoners next to him began to shake. A moment later their heads exploded in flame and their chains fell off. They were no longer human, but some sort of fire possessed humans.

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Kids, lego 105 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Kids, lego 106 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

We had no time worry about that. House Kalores and my boys, along with one of Jakon’s men moved on the wolf. It felled one of Kalores’ men almost instantly, but we were able to trick it – I myself landing many might blows – but Kalores’ sergeant taking the final strike to the dog’s neck. At the same time, the fire beings advanced on Kalores’ men. Although they quickly found a remedy for them.

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Kids, lego 109 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

As we freed the remaining two prisoners, what was left of Kalores’ troop and my men moved to the east side of the circle to finish the battle. We found that Hailfist had caught up in a tangle of horseflesh and armor, and the melee was stalemating. No doubt Hailfist was too tired in all the armor he had donned that morning. We rushed in and began finishing the job. I should Mention that some knights from Eastgate were summoned at this point, but were only there for the tail end of the battle, doing nothing of consequence. Someone the Bull or something of the sorts...

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Kids, lego 118 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

After a few of their knights were dehorsed, their leader broke like a coward and rode back into the mist that shrouded the main druid ruins. Upon seeing their leader run, the other two knights and heir men stood down.

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Kids, lego 120 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

This is what concerned me the most about this quick battle – These two knights that we caught owned fiefs in your realm, and had sworn oaths to you or their guild leader, but yet here they were fighting alongside the king’s enemies. We dispensed the king’s justice on the two men we caught who were not nobles, but we have packaged up the two knights and sent them to your court – they were Sir Greshwin of Finn, a minor crown lord that you undoubtedly know since you rose him to nobility, and Fershi Moi, a Kaliphlin knight, lord of Daggers Edge outside of Queenscross.

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Kids, lego 124 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Kids, lego 125 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

With the main battle looming on the horizon, we sent the chariot carrying these men, along with the body of one of Yoshimitsu’s men that had fallen the night before, back to the ship that was supposed to arrive at noon. There are rumors that Khamar Ibn Hakkad of Kaliphlin’s troops and more horse are arriving on that boat. On top of that, Algeen thinks he has a connection with Elon Chorian’s mage in order to get some more elite warriors here. Let’s hope that that is enough men to drive these elemental worshipers out of this ruin. This morning we had only minor injuries, our casualties were all revived, bandaged and armored. Disturbingly enough we found very few of the prisoners we were here to find.

Your faithful servant Fenghan Wade.

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More to come soon.

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Battle Log Day 2: Morning

The morning broke And I approached Fenghan to take the horses expecting him to get mad but understand my position but reason evidently isn't required of knights so instead I used my power as field commander and took them leaving a very unhappy Fenghan and sons. The man keeps spouting on about honor but I feel he believes that honor means pride and I told him we have no time for notions such as those in the north and titles are just words what really matters is actions up here, he took off in a huff. My words evidently drove him to abandon my orders and strike off towards the henge alone with his sons, if I were a lesser man I would have left them alone and let fate sort him out, I instead decided We'd march after but before we could get the horses in line the archers spotted cultists firing on our position from the temple and ruins So I made the quick decision to have us ride around and meet the hiding snipers head on before they could hit any of our lesser armored allies. A Howl broke out from the henge and what I can only describe from what I saw of it's corpse was a Hell hound of legends a beast said to burn of fire and piss acid something no man should ever have to see let alone fight.

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As the fight broke we cleared the ranged threat from the ruins they were hiding behind, when cavalry came from behind the bushes, I issued the order to ready lances and hold until we could charge. It felt like minutes before we were at the charge though I knew only seconds had past, as we charged I could hear the thunderous roar of a Chariot which I later learned held reinforcements from House Kolores and some Of the bravest men I'd ever seen on a battlefield.

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From the report of the archers these men jumped from the moving chariot into battle with Earth Golems and pushed through to rescue two men from the cultist sacrificial rituals after Striking down the fearsome beast of a Hell Hound while the Crown knights were flailing their swords like they'd just got them and were trying to figure out which way was up. Their lord is truly lucky to have them.

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The charge Ended well even though we were out numbered we got the upper hand and held off the advancing cavalry until Jakon's men and the remaining two guards of Yoshimitsu arrived, the Battle felt like a stand still until one of Jakon's men William threw his axe and beheaded one of cultist, when I saw that I almost broke out laughing in all my years I'd never seen such a perfectly executed execution, as we were slowly turning the tides more and more in our favor The men of house Kolores rushed out of the henge and behind the enemy cavalry forcing the leader of these men to flee and the remaining forces to throw down their weapons in surrender.

Fenghan stumbled in a moment after the surrender and started yelling about Traitor crown knight's and high crown law and before I could stop him he brutally murdered two of the prisoners, before I could question them about where the archaeologists, were and had his sons chain up the other two who were former crown knights, I begrudgingly agreed to let them be sent to the king without questioning before hand to avoid another fight with Fenghan. With the surrender of the men we Aquire three horses which would keep me from having to deal with Fenghan any more as I gave him back his horse and plan to not have to deal with him in any upcoming battles though I do feel sorry for those who will be forced to march with him.

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As the battle drew to a close I gathered up the leaders to discuss strategy with Algeen, the temple ruins seems to be radiating a strong magically energy, and we'll be force to advance sooner than I'd expected. Talk around camp is lively it seems the men who have witnessed him in battle have started calling him "Jakon the Invulnerable" an apt name for a man so heavily armored, throughout the whole battle he never so much as received a scratch. Once the men recover we'll head into battle hopefully to find anyone who could survive this awful mess.

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*From the Field notes of Garret Hailfist*

(OOC: Sorry about picture repost He took all the pictures and I was writing the post in a span of an hour so I didn't realize after it was done)

Edited by Scarst

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Day one battle log:

The day began rather well, if it could be called that, me and my remaining soldiers and villagers broke camp quickly, and were on the road by 9. We were on our way to Valhol, as refugees, after my town was destroyed I had 16 archers, 10 Swordsmen and 6 spearmen. And 5 dwarves. All that was left. As we were traveling, a chill swept over the air and sounds of battle were heard, I quickly called out 3 of my closest friends and told everyone else to stay. After around 20 minutes of cutting through underbrush(and who knows how many cracks at me about my armor) we reached the battle, it seemed that there were crown knows knights fighting against skeletons, as I dislike skeletons almost as much as I do orcs, I opted to join. William went in first, smashing skeletons and dragging out one of the knights. The skeletons were old, and broke easily, but then we saw their masters. In the ruins there were cultists, commanding the skeletons, I charged forward. As I reached the first one, he cast a magical shield over himself. I simply cleaved down with my claymore, near splitting the man in two, the other cultists seemed so frightened and shocked by the display that they ran back to their safe little keep. After this I walked over the main group of soldiers, they explained who they were and told me why they were there. That night we put to rest one of Yoshimitsu's men. He seemed no more than 18, just getting a start in life, it was an atrocity, and I hold those necromancers responsible. They will pay, with their lives.

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Day two battle log:

The night was unaturaly cold, even for Mitgardia. The morning was welcome, although I would have loved more sleep. Early on Hailfist walked up to me and handed me the reins of a horse. With Fenghan looking like his head had been splashed with beet juice. I mounted up and joined Hailfist. I went over and gained a lance, and then the hellhound came, landing in the middle of the ruins, it instantly started slashing at men. Then a heavy chariot drove past, with men from house Kalores. I had once supplied his city with timber and steel, so I knew the uniforms well. Without relizing it, the order to charge had been given, and I was advancing forward into a line of knights. The knights it seemed were working for the cultists, and they were now the enemy. When the two lines met, my lance shattered, leaving the tip in one of the enemy knights, I unsheathed my claymore and let loose on the other ones. Then, for several minutes the battle seemed to stalemate. With one of the most perfect throws I have ever seen, William beheaded a cultists, and ended the stalemate, as knights started to fall, their leader ran back to the keep, two were left alive, the rest were given due justice. At the end of the day, we had lost 3 men, but the enemy's loses were much greater. Tomorrow shall be interesting, I here word that a friend of mine Elon Chorian, is sending men. I also got a new nickname. I guess wearing 95Kg armor is good for something.

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Nice battle going on!! :)

I was out of town the whole weekend so I missed it :blush:

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Aewsome action! I really enjoyed ready the different perspectives! The old lion torsos worked quite fine for my men.default_thumbup.gif

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DAY TWO AFTERNOON

Well, we finished this late Sunday night around 4:30am, so the pictures progressively got worse, and we stopped really posing pictures or cleaning up the battlefield at all to get through the multiple turns left to complete the game.

Anyway, Here is our representation of Khamar Ibn Hakkad’s lancers and cannoneers ,

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Kids, lego 126 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

We were less successful with Elon Chorian’s elite guard.

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Kids, lego 137 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

----------------------

In the hand of Brandon Black of the Black Band Mercenary Company.

Lord Petera,

We arrived on the battlefield at the tail end of this battle. Your summon portal was most appreciated. We were able to help clean up a few of the loose ends, but as you instructed I set forth collecting reports and synthesizing them for you. As you expected, there were some partisan stories.

You have no doubt heard about the morning battle thus far, so I will start with the beginning of the final assault on the Druid Ruins. As you expected, the cultists were using the ancient power of this place to summon elementals and try to bring through the great arch that still stood on the site, a Superior Fire Elemental. According to my sources, such an elemental would be able to destroy the whole island, or worse.

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Kids, lego 129 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

The assault began with a heated debate between Sir Fenghen Wade of Cedrica and Garret Hailfist of Skaeren. Hailfist had been in command for two parts of this battle, but Wade thought he had better ideas. After the men rested Hailfist merely got up and told the rest of the army what to do, which they followed. He told Fenghen to lead an assault on the left flank while he would lead the assault on the right flank. When the reinforcements arrived they were to ride up the center of the old Cathedral. Let me say, I am glad I was not there for such a plan. I think it cost unnecessary lives, as one direct assault probably would have been better.

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Kids, lego 139 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

On the right were Sir Jakon and his men, Hailfist and his men, Elon Chorian’s elite warriors, and the mage Algeen.

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Kids, lego 138 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

Following Wade there was your cousin Deregar the Bull and his men, the House Kalores men, and Yoshimitsu’s guard. In reserve coming up from the beach was Yoshimitsu’s mummy chariot carrying Khamar Ibn Hakkad’s cannoneers, while Hakkad’s lancers rode flank.

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Kids, lego 141 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

The battle began well enough, according to Wade, the left side smashed through the old burial grounds into a whole mess of diggers-turned -cultists. They were clearly superior to this first line, smashing artifacts and flawing skulls until they ran into the necromancers that they failed to kill the night before. Kalores's men rushed through and took on many of the more heavily armored men while the crown knight and his kin took on the magic casters. Following them up the Bull and his boys swept up what was left.

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Kids, lego 155 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Kids, lego 154 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

Meanwhile, on the other side, Hailfist tried to cleverly ride straight for the summoning circle where Algeen had felt one of the large elemental presences. He was somewhat thwarted when a group of enemies poured out of the ruins splitting his force in half. His mounted men crashed into a force of golems and that was where he spent most of the battle, undermanned and flanked. He had Lord Jakon with him, so they did not take much damage due to the extreme amount of armor the three were wearing.

However, this left Jakon's men and Hakkad's lancers who were riding up to fight the large amount of enemies pouring through the ruins. It was at this moment that an enemy mounted on a War Elephant burst forth from the center of ruins and tried to ride down the rear flank of Hailfist's column. Quickly thinking , and a brave feat to boot, Chorian's men broke ranks and charged the war elephant. Something I would never have my men do. One of these chaps managed to jump on the Elephant's trunk and beat it between the eyes.

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Kids, lego 146 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

At the same time the war chariot arrived on the elephant's flank and Hakkad's men opened fire with their dwarven hand cannons. The beast was so angered that it turned on the chariot to strike, but nimble driving by the mummy averted an attack. Unfortunately, Chorian's man on the elephant was thrown into a nearby cart. After the Chariot cleared the elephant it stopped to let the men fire, while Chorians remaining men kept the elephant engaged. Some of the bravest fighting I have ever heard of. All of this comes from the rider of the elephant, who we resuscitated after the battle.

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Kids, lego 149 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Kids, lego 150 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

It was about this time that the left flank started to go sour. Wade was unable to break through the line all the way to the ancient summoning circle. In an instant, the circle popped and their stood a small fire dragon. The dragon coming under immediate attack rushed forward at Wade, still groggy from the summon. One of the druids that summoned it was killed by trample, and the whole flank was lucky that the dragon was somewhat "summon drunk," Or it probably would have torn all their heads off.

Wade and the Bull's men engaged the dragon leaving Kalores' men to handle the rest of the enemies on that side of the battle. They were a fearless lot, but one of them was fell without any chance of getting up again. Apparently he was the bravest of these lads, rushing in first.

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Kids, lego 168 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

Back at the elephant, the cannoneers and the elite guards of Chorian were having a hard time dismounting the rider when emerged one of the heroes of the battle. An unnamed Lancer of Hakkad's employment (He left as soon as the battle was over and no one seemed to get his name) broke ranks after severing the head off of a foe and charge the elephant. He cleaved through the arm of the rider and through the neck of the elephant, completely decapitating it.

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Kids, lego 172 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

All that saw it say they have never seen a mightier blow. With this, the men engaged by the elephant turned back to the ruins. Unfortunately, one of Chorian's elite lay on the ground, never to breath the winter air again.

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Kids, lego 174 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

It was around this time that Wade, leading the engagement against the dragon found himself in a pickle. The necromancers and druids were picking off his men and the Bull's men one by one with spells, but if they concentrated on the mages, then the dragon surely would gain the upper hand. Wade made a valiant push, but was tail lashed from his horse coming to unconsciousness upon the ground. His son Blighn Was instantly killed when the dragon bit his head off soon after. His other boy was knocked from horse and set upon by the Necromancer.

Derengar the Bull stepped up to the dragon and led what was left of the men towards the belly of the beast. After a few quick maneuvers, he was able to slay the dragon with the help of the rest of the men from house Kalores who joined in on the dragon after finishing their work against enemies around the excavation tower.

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Kids, lego 183 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

After losing one of the Bull's men to a necromancer's raise undead spell, the remaining men advanced on the mages and made short work of them. Meanwhile, the unknown lancer led a charge against the inner ruins, killing at least two renegade knights, circling in back of Hailfist and coming upon a ritual transport just moments after completion. Seeing a lone wizard in the summoning circle the Lancer road her down, killing her instantly with one blow. It was about this time that our summon ended and we were on the battlefield.

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Kids, lego 190 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Kids, lego 186 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Kids, lego 160 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

The ritual that the now deceased mage had completed was a transport of a rock elemental to the front of the battlefield. That made things quite hairy for Hailfist's archer snipers he had left in back. Luckily, before any of them could die Yoshimitsu's chariot charged the grotesque beast with the battle axes attached to the side of the cart - all the while Hakkad's men fired their hand cannons at the beast. They pulled off a successful ram, but the monster turned on them and flipped their cart, killing one of Hakkad's men on impact. Being new to the field and seeing the most hideous target we had ever seen, I sent forth the black company to fight this elemental. We were victorious.

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Kids, lego 188 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

Hailfist and Jakon made it through the rest of the golems with help from one William Throw, some sort of savant with throwing weapons, and moved toward the throne. The rest of the surviving army met in what was left of the throne room and finished off some fire elementals. When they were dispatched, silence fell on the battlefield.

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Kids, lego 179 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

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Kids, lego 196 by skaforhire2, on Flickr

After the battle we buried the dead and searched the ruins. It seems we stopped the final summon, and who really knows what would have appeared on that throne. Still, one of the main artifacts that was at this site is missing. Algeen said it was an item of tremendous power, some sort of tablet containing a summoning spell for an arch elemental. What we assumed they were trying to summon with the fabled Red Arch of Khordeem.

The total casualty list for our forces was as follows:

Hailfist 2 Injured 0 Killed

Derengar 3 injured 1 Killed

Yoshimitsu 1 injured 1 killed

Hakkad 0 injured 1 killed

Jakon 1 Injured 0 Killed

Chorian 0 injured 1 killed

Wade 2 injured 1 killed

Kalores 2 injured 1 killed

Black Band 1 injured 0 killed.

TOTAL 12 Injured 6 killed.

All told, not a bad number for stopping a major elemental summoning. I would suggest creating an order of Khordeem for those who fought in this battle. It was hard battle, these were true warriors.

And as always, now that the job is done, please send our agent 500 gold as agreed.

- Brandon Black

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On another note,

This was a lot of fun, and it was a great time testing our ruleset while creating some Historica lore.

This is definitely something I would do again, given more time to prepare a nice battlefield and time for more people to join the battle (and for me to get good representations of them.)

So I was wondering if there is interest in another battle down the road? I am not setting a date, just trying to feel out the reception for this. Whatever the battle was, we would have some time to prepare and it would fit into the plot. It would also be more organized and even perhaps involve more decisions by the characters in the middle of the battle. (IE: Post an update mid battle asking for what a character would do in a situation.)

I would have cross-posted this in the Lego wargame forum, but unless I am blind, it does not seem to exist anymore... When did that happen?

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Yes! Bring on another battle! Next time I'll bring more men! :D also, who of mine got injured?

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That was fun :classic: I think it's a great idea. Perhaps a few others could take up the mantel as well.

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Yes! Bring on another battle! Next time I'll bring more men! :D also, who of mine got injured?

(OOC: William throw got hurt at the tail end the healer was right behind him as soon as he disengaged a golem thanks to Dwurli Bronzinot going in and engaging it so he could get away. I tried to keep everyone's squads together but sometimes splitting them up worked and saved peoples lives. Bright side no ones named characters got killed, downside a rock monster flipping a chariot is bound to have an effect on the people riding it. I'll post the last battle report from the view of Hailfist or his apprentice later tonight)

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From the Journal of Firo Stoneblade

In my six years as Master Hailfist's chosen subordinate these last two days have been my first actual experience on the battlefield, it was harrowing and many times I froze up in fear I could tell Master Hailfist wast disappointed but understanding. The last two days haven't been easy for him, he's past the age of retirement by a good twenty years yet he's come out to tutor me saying I'd be the next captain of the guard I don't see how that's possible there are more qualified guards already but he was insistent and has been drilling me since I was 14. These past few days I've seen things most men will never see and most would never wish to see. Master Hailfist made me take tally of the injured and casualties after the battle was over it was horrifing seeing mangled bodies flawed skulls and disembodied heads staring back at me as if they were still alive they will haunt my dreams for weeks to come I'm sure but he said it was part of my training.

I've gathered accounts from various soldiers and they all seem to be uniform depending one which side of the battle field they took, the Crown knight's arrogance was noted several times along with there falling and the Bulls taking command of the flank against A dragonthat appeared to break it's summoned chains.

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I feel people might think we lost more men than we actually did to my count only two men actually died in the battle, three if you count on the first day, while others appeared to be in critical condition and were written off as dead much to the chagrin of Master Hailfist who was with Monty Douglas our town doctor tending to injured men. At first I thought this to be a good thing but Master Hailfist was livid when he heard that three men had died under his watch and vowed he'd personally pay compensation to there families even after cursing the crown knights for being so prideful and reckless.

The Archer we brought along gave me an account of their exchange with the large golem that we saw teleported infront of our eyes it evidently landed behind the crown knights flank and the archers tryied to keep it busy as long as they could to keep it from getting to any of the flank in the ruins from their perch on the henge, they ultimately kept it busy until The chariot charged the golem and there after got turned over injuring everyone inside. To my knowledge they all survived their wounds.

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The end of the battle was much more decisive after we took care of the golem we headed to the throne and dealt swiftly with lesser fire elementals that were swaying there as if waiting to do something.

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That battle will haunt me for the rest of my life I never thought I'd have to see so much blood being spilled in my life, I've found out why Master Hailfist was in a sour mood it seems that there were no hostages at all or they were all killed, his son is still missing and the battle that was fought with an urgency that led to several wrong choices could have been avoided as without the weight of lives on the field it seems he would have chosen another way to strike at the temple.

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On another note,

This was a lot of fun, and it was a great time testing our ruleset while creating some Historica lore.

This is definitely something I would do again, given more time to prepare a nice battlefield and time for more people to join the battle (and for me to get good representations of them.)

So I was wondering if there is interest in another battle down the road? I am not setting a date, just trying to feel out the reception for this. Whatever the battle was, we would have some time to prepare and it would fit into the plot. It would also be more organized and even perhaps involve more decisions by the characters in the middle of the battle. (IE: Post an update mid battle asking for what a character would do in a situation.)

I would have cross-posted this in the Lego wargame forum, but unless I am blind, it does not seem to exist anymore... When did that happen?

Yes another battle would be awesome!

The family of our fallen soldier will be well compensated. Mikel lost a soldier in his quest for the water crystal as well, so all in all I think the battle went very well. Should you ever need help again, don't hesitate to call on House Kalores.

-Gaius Kaleci, Regent of House Kalores

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