SkaForHire

So... It is over. Took forever to run, but got through to a point where we knew one side would eventually win. So we made the other side retreat. I will try to work on the write-ups this week, but I have a lot of deadlines to make by Friday for work, so we will see.

Great to have you back, and I am glad you got to vacation! I don't think there will be a challenge VI from me either, as I still have all of Queenscross to settle, and it takes up 80% of my collection and all of my building space. I am looking forward to those CM 10s, but I am also sad that I did not get enough of the 9s.... I feel Lego may have scaled back their runs to similar size as the 1st - 3rd runs... I only saw 9 in stores for a few weeks.

Excellent job and atmosphere, those are some crazy good walls.

Ok, so... Now that I finally have a hulk, I am going to proceed tonight. I am going to also call a cut off for new heroes / bad guys to make it into the actual battle - 11pm Friday, EB forum time. After that I think we will be in the last throws of the battle, and bringing in new heroes doesn't make much sense.

Sorry Kabel, The Mitgardian lot won the honor for being in the parle when we did a random roll. I also did not realize how overwhelming the orcs would be. In our game mechanics, armor is really good, and the orcs are naturally tougher than humans, so they ended up being incredibly brutal in that fight. I know I did not mention much about your men, but the captain of your men still lives, he actually took over for the captain of the guard (in game mechanic = they use his superior stats when they have to roll to flee). Your foot soldiers held at the forum well, and killed many of the rebel Mitgardian foes. They actually only fell when the Cyclops king took that side. It is a similar story for Ecc's troops, although his commander met an end to one of the trolls. @Jeroenna I am guessing we are half way through the story. As the observer (my brother skypes in commands for the good guys, and I play it out, and my friend moves the baddies) and sometimes rulemaster, I would take a guess that the badguys are out of tricks, and it is really just a matter of pushing the good guys out. However, spectacular things happen. It took the t-rex 5 turns to eat Blaore. The thing had massive stats, so it should have devoured most anything it came across quickly, resulting in heroes having to gang fight it. Blaore almost killed it in one hit, but missed by 2 out of 40 points. One character should have a very little chance of killing that thing outright. Also, the blow that Alfadas lived through was the highest roll that we have ever had and a character live through. 46 points - more live than the T-rex had. But due to armor and "wounds" that Alfadas could sustain, he lived... barely. On a similar note, the only archers that are actually doing anything of use are the Flame Archers, as the townguard and the elven archers have continuously missed their targets for turns now, with only few shots connecting. Luck can change the whole game. We will see when Dr. Frankenstein and Jokas get there. That is two more units to add to the good side. @CB when we normally test our rules and play these fights, they are usually squad based or smaller. This is the largest scale test of the rules in the 6 years we have been writing them. So, posing figs doesn't take as long then. This time around, when anything "memorable" happens that I think might get uploaded, I try to pose the figs a little. I gave up trying to put blood down. And we decided not to remove bodies, which we would normally do if a unit is beyond resuscitation, for the pictures. Although it is getting hard to move in the street of bodies now. On the other hand each turn takes pretty long, maybe 20 minutes. So, that is why it has not been finished yet.

Battle of Queenscross Day 2: Part Five– Treachery in the Middle. From the beginning of the battle, the middle, the Old Crown Road that leads up to the bridge, looked troublesome. The three Trolls showed up there, the snake dwarves and the wingless dragon were also in this section. However, until our enemy’s real plot was unveiled, it seemed that we would hold the foot of the bridge with little problem – at least while the other flanks held. The trolls advanced, and we lost many brave men, but Bishop Jamon’s Flame Archers brought down the first troll quite quickly, and our many bowmen in the two towers were successful picking off many of the dwarf snakes and the undead that eventually entered their range. DSC_2181 by skaforhire, on Flickr Things began to go wrong when the sand troll made it to the barricade. Despite being poked by many footmen with pikes, he lifted the large wagon that made up the majority of the barricade and threw it into the elven archers on his left. DSC_2187 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2199 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Jungle Troll in armor had success against our men. He killed the captain of the town guard with a swing that knocked the man 50 feet from his saddle and into the bridge tower wall. At the point the captain that came with Steen Larrson’s men took over as captain of the unit. DSC_2188 by skaforhire, on Flickr It was about this point where I signaled for the cavalry charge on the Forum flank, but had the cavalry split between the two sections. Captain Tiven led the portion of horsemen that road into the remaining Dwarf Snakes and the Jungle Troll. Three brave men attacked the Jungle Troll, but only two would survive. The third, being the leader of the men from Vaholl had his head taken clean off. DSC_2189 by skaforhire, on Flickr Eventually a shot by Artesdror, perched in the Tower of the Old Kings, pierced the beast’s armor and the second of the trolls were fell. Meanwhile, the rest of the Cavalry became unseated while fighting on the road. The Sand Troll was finally brought down after he had thrown the wagon. Three brave footmen working together finally too him down, after the Flame Archers put a few holes in him. We thought we had secured the middle, even with the river flank falling back, but then in view came an old re-floated crown war galley full of Hand of Corruption elite troops. The chain had already been snapped, so we worried that they would land at the bridge and attempt a boarding. Still, the GEAR 2nd Light Cavalry “The Hotknives”, now on foot and in formation, was upon the bridge. It looked like it would be a hard fight, but a manageable one. DSC_2221 by skaforhire, on Flickr However, as soon as the ship came into view, commotion broke out on the bridge. From what we could see in the tower, men of the Hotknives began cutting one another down. We could not figure what was happening, and we sure as heck did not have any flag signals to tell senator Craxus on the bridge what was going on. DSC_2223 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2224 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2226 by skaforhire, on Flickr Before our eyes we watched many men that had fought at my side before slaughter one another. We have no idea who could have orchestrated this, I just know that many of these men followed my brother Petera for years. All of this was to gain a foothold on the bridge. The ship, which was too tall for clearance in rainy season slammed into the bridge right where the traitors had made a landing zone. Off hopped Hand of Corruption troops, with only a few of the tinker’s guild to repel them. DSC_2235 by skaforhire, on Flickr The ship was long enough that they were able to begin exiting the ship on the ground level outside of the Monument to the King. Lord DaMaximus’s men, and Hugh Hos and his men began to double time it back to the bridge, but the Hand was now on the bridge. DSC_2245 by skaforhire, on Flickr Worse yet, Senator Craxus and his men are stuck between a traitor army and the undead and orks coming towards the foot of the bridge on our side of the river. Still it got worse, out of the fog near where the Undead showed up, a royal ballista appeared. They quickly set up and fired for the Bridge Tower. Their hit was devastating, wiping out much of the guard within the tower. Florbad the Mighty, the former leader of the 2nd Light Cavalry before my brother Petera replaced him with Hadrian Beltzor, was crushed below the rubble caused by the ballista. DSC_2237 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2238 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2240 by skaforhire, on Flickr At this point and unsure what to do, I pulled all available men back to the Tower of the Old Kings. We must find a way to make a crossing in order to try and hold the bridge from the other side.

Battle of Queenscross Day 2: Part three – Streets paved in bodies. The second most contended area of the field so far has been the Street by the Green Berry Inn. We built a makeshift fortification there to protect the great chain across the river. The chain would stop large ships from making it to the bridge, and help keep that area defended. Thus, the small fortification to protect the chain was paramount to our strategy. At this location we had the Cresentthorn Elves, with a contingent of warriors and archers that came in the night, along with Sergio Jarrett, Azc, and Carol Anne the Defiler and Klugg, along with some of my personal guard. DSC_2164 by skaforhire, on Flickr Immediately lined up against them were the Black Boars and some dwarves from Cedrica… But the real fighting came from the Stoneface Clan who double-timed it to the flank of our warriors. They also meant to shock us with their Warg cavalry, but these proved a little less effective than they though. Still, the amount of troops they sent against us was eventually enough to force a withdrawal – but not until the chain was severed on the other side of the river, thus making the position on this side unneeded. DSC_2165 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2186 by skaforhire, on Flickr The elven archers were effective, especially against the dwarves and the lighter armored orks. The main fighting line consisted of a few elven warriors, Sergio, Azc, and Klugg though. The Cresentthorn warriors did alright, but the Wargs did a number on their leadership. More importantly was the dozen of elven archers behind their backs putting holes in bad guys all over the field. DSC_2202 by skaforhire, on Flickr The position was holding for the most part until action from the middle spilt over into this section of the battle. The sand troll, much tougher to bring down than we would have ever imagined, picked up the main portion of the barricade – a large wagon, and chucked it into the middle of our elven archers. Although many dodged the attack completely , and only one was killed, their position was broken. Additionally the ship on the river made it to the fortification and men began to jump off the ship and attack the chain from behind the fortification. DSC_2204 by skaforhire, on Flickr The position was lost and Sergio, in command, called the retreat. Klugg decided to hold off the advancers, and spilt the blood of many greenskins for ten minutes while the remaining elves and Carol Anne moved up a chain to the bridge. What they found there was a disaster. More on that later. DSC_2215 by skaforhire, on Flickr The rest of the troops, Sergio included, jumped onto the attacker’s ship, which was now taken over by the Derenghar the Bull, who had attacked the ship from behind. They had thrown bodies of the enemy overboard and began to steer the ship down river, as the chain had been broken on the other side. The remaining forces escaped onto the boat, only to get stuck on the bridge, but out of harm’s way from the Orks. Klugg fell again, but I have a feeling that this will not be the last time he dies. Battle of Queenscross Day 2: Part Four– Rivers of Blood. The river battle began as a boarding by Derenghar the Bull’s men onto the ship piloted by the River Ghoul King. The River Ghoul King may be the stuff of legends, but his supernaturally powered boat arrived to fight us in the flesh nonetheless. The pale image of a man had many volunteers for his raid on the river chain, and outnumbered the Bull significantly. DSC_2163 by skaforhire, on Flickr The initial boarding went well, only one man was shot dead by the crossbow men on the deck. Two more became critically injured on the deck of the ghoul ship, but for the most part the Bull’s men were winning. DSC_2175 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Ghoul King decided to separate the men, and used his power to move the ship to its destination, leaving three men stranded aboard and the Bull and the rest of his men on their raft. DSC_2190 by skaforhire, on Flickr Despite being alone, two of the three men cleared the deck, the third perishing to traitor’s hands. When the raft made contact with the boat again, the bull and his knight Brandon Black boarded the ship. DSC_2206 by skaforhire, on Flickr The bull took the lower deck and Brandon fought the River Ghoul King one on one. Brandon made a counter attack that left his war hammer in the side of the river king’s crown and the being ceased its existence. DSC_2197 by skaforhire, on Flickr However, it was too late. The boat had made it to the chain and the men who were not killed by the Bull’s men were chopping at the chain. Before our forces could get over there to stop them, on the other side of the river came a loud CRACK! A ninja who had run through the last guard from Mypa Stedor and severed the chain while the rest of his compatriots were either dealing with an ork advance on that side of the river, or were in a row boat trying to help the Bull. (They actually went out to rescue a man that was stuck on the chain and to get closer to shoot at the ghoul ship – Sir Alex Kristo also ran down the ninja that severed the chain). DSC_2198 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2205 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2233 by skaforhire, on Flickr With that, Derengar decided that he would use the ship to pick up the troops who were being forced back on the road and sail past the bridge to unload in safety. Unfortunately, she ship got tangled in the bridge. DSC_2232 by skaforhire, on Flickr Meanwhile, an olden refloated Royal war galley appeared out of the fog. It was loaded with those missing Hand of Corruption forces. They now had a free reign of the river. DSC_2221 by skaforhire, on Flickr Paulos’s letter continues in my next post.

To Dr. Cogg, yes. I will try my best to get them in there in the final act. To Gideon, sorry, he actually is still set up facing off with the Cyclops king. I hope to get a few more turns in before tonight. But, I have three more sections to write up first. I am posting Part three and Four now.

Brilliant my friend, The colors are great, I always think of your army as a traditional middle-ages army with many different nobles and colors. The builds are very good, and you have improved ten-fold since your first posts on GoH. It is always good to see new stories and builds from you. Can't wait until the finish.

Battle of Queenscross Day 2: Part two – Valor at the Forum. The hardest fighting so far has happened at the forum and in the street guarding the chain. These two areas saw continued assault even at the moment I write this letter. Unfortunately, the enemy received their first wave of reinforcements not even an hour after the battle began. Terrible troops, the stuff of nightmares walked upon the battlefield. First they enemy sent batmen at my position in the Tower of the Old Kings. They managed to render unconscious one of my personal guards, but Cannondale danced the blades while balancing on the side of the tower and dispatched all five of them that made it to me. However, I believe the enemy meant this as a distraction, keeping me occupied as they brought new forces on the field. To this extent the ploy worked, as I could not reshuffle troops. DSC_2166 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2196 by skaforhire, on Flickr On the field came one of the oldest war bands in Historica, the Black Lantern, led by the Prime Necromancer, Archbishop Rolis Grover. Most of the band now long dead and part of Grover’s undying minions, they have not been seen in nearly 40 years. They brought a full contingent, including death knights, witches, vampires, zombies, and of course reanimated skeletons of past warriors. Necromancers… why did it have to be necromancers. DSC_2173 by skaforhire, on Flickr Somehow more terrifying that his was what came up the middle of the battlefield. Along with a squad of dwarf snakes (who barely made an impression on the battlefield) came a beast like no other I have ever seen. It was not a dragon, but might as well have been one. It had larger more powerful jaws than any dragon I have heard about, and it ran fast. On its back there was a rider. It would march forward slowly during much of the battle, but then would fear off to fight at the forum, and is still there as I write this. DSC_2174 by skaforhire, on Flickr Although there are many areas of fighting going on in this battle, next I will report on the forum, where we lost some fine men. Sir Gideon took up command here, and was accompanied by Sir Derrik, Alfadas Manderdson, Ediz Falconi, and what was left of the foot soldiers from both Valholl and Steen Larsson’s men (There mounted captains with the cavalry.) DSC_2150 by skaforhire, on Flickr The first wave of attackers were mostly human, and our men fought them valiantly. However, their left flank began to falter, and Sir Derrick attempted to rescue it with a daring maneuver. Reports say that he spun a web of death over many of the fallen Mitgardian clan that was attacking our men. He killed 5 men with one mighty swing! DSC_2170 by skaforhire, on Flickr Unfortunately, this placed him ahead of the lines. In stormed the Cyclops troop, led by their king, Orgoth. Despite going toe to toe with three of these creatures, it was the Cyclops king himself that thrust a mighty blow through Derrick’s armor. The champion sunk to his knees never to stand again. DSC_2171 by skaforhire, on Flickr At this point, Sir Gideon, seeing his friend fall and watching the tide turn against our forces at the Forum, called a calculated retreat back into the forum so that only one enemy at a time could come through the open arches. DSC_2182 by skaforhire, on Flickr Some of the men, like one of Manderdson’s kin could not fall back into the forum quickly enough and was forced to fight with his back to the wall. DSC_2200 by skaforhire, on Flickr At this point I signaled the cavalry charge (partially against the trolls coming up the middle, and towards the battle of the forum) along with the Ostrich rider charge on the other side of the forum. The intent was to sweep the enemy’s right flank, hold the forum and then begin an advance on the enemy middle. Ser Blaore, the Oak led the horsemen coming to relieve the forum, while Captain Tiven lead the men against the Trolls and snake dwarves in the middle of the field. Blaore personally dispatched a mounted enemy, and a couple others on foot. DSC_2183 by skaforhire, on Flickr Meanwhile Sir Gideon was vanquishing foes on the steps of the Forum, while his men were barely holding against the superior strength of two supernatural foes. Reportedly Gideon was searching for the Cyclops king in order to avenge his friend. DSC_2201 by skaforhire, on Flickr Things took a dark turn when the Cyclops king was able to break around the left of the defensive line and slaughter almost everyone in that area in a matter of seconds. This is where the last man from Vaholl fell (their leader losing his head to a troll a few minutes earlier at the battle for the barricade.) DSC_2209 by skaforhire, on Flickr On the other end of the forum, Manderdson’s men were holding against mummies, minotaurs, and champions. All the while, Alfadas was trying to cut his way through the enemy to rescue his kinsmen who was trapped against the corner wall. Unfortunately, after defeating many oncoming villains, the man was run through by one of Victor’s knights. DSC_2219 by skaforhire, on Flickr Alfadas raged and took many a men down, but one of the minotaurs put a battle axe through Alfadas’ shoulder blades, and the man took, and lived, through one of the greatest blows that anyone has every remembered witnessing. He fought on for a few more minutes, but dropped to unconsciousness. He was later pulled away by the piper who was with the Forum army and taken to the Centaur healer we had in reserve. No word yet if he will be able to join the fight soon or not. Next, a more devastating foe entered the area. The wingless dragon came crashing through the trees and immediately ate one of our riders. DSC_2214 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Oak saw this, and did what any noble man would do – he charged. Thrusting forward with his lance he pierced the flesh of the beast with a mightily precise hit. DSC_2230 by skaforhire, on Flickr To his shock, the wingless dragon did not shake and fall, but recoiled and attacked him. He dodged the beast’s mouth for two whole minutes, but in the end, after missing on his counter attack, he was picked up in the jaws of the beast. His last words were said to have been. “I hope you choke on me and die, vile creature!” And so ended one of the most celebrated heroes of our age. DSC_2243 by skaforhire, on Flickr Meanwhile, Gideon entered the southern corner of the Forum with his squire and the last of Derrik’s men to engage the King of the Cyclopes. The last Avalonian under Gideon’s command fell quickly but the Cyclops and Gideon continued to fight. DSC_2231 by skaforhire, on Flickr Gideon was backed onto the raised podium and it looked as if Orgoth the Cyclops King was about to slay yet another of our heroes, but as the spear came forward to piece Sir Gideon’s heart, his squire leaped in front of him and was skewered. Gideon pressed the attack, but at the time of writing this he was still locked in mortal combat with the king of the one-eyes. DSC_2246 by skaforhire, on Flickr Paulos’s letter continues in my next post.

I am going to cut this up into separate posts so there are not as many pictures per post. Battle of Queenscross Day 2 Part One – On come the forces of darkness. In the hand of Myrim Folmoss, Captain of Paulos’s personal guard. Words dictated by Paulos MacLean. The morning after the Parle disaster proved to be the beginning of a long fight. One, which is still continuing even as we send out this raven to the Lords of Historica. At the sending of this message, our fate is unclear. We have had traitors in our midst this whole time, and now they may have done us in. This is my official report for the first 3 hours of this battle. The giant haze around the battlefield seemed thicker this morning, and it was indeed pregnant with enemies, as one by one they stepped from the fog. Most stepped out near their main battlelines in the Northwest, but a vessel also came out of the fog on the river. Immediately Derengar the Bull and his men set out on their raft to engage the vessel. It was clear from the beginning that the vessel was looking to break the chain across the river to allow bigger vessels to flow through. DSC_2148 by skaforhire, on Flickr The rest of our men took up their fighting posts, the same as mentioned in my earlier missive with the addition of a few men that arrived in the middle of the night. The first to action were the men under Sir Gideon at the Forum. The enemy stepped from the fog with some of their most fearsome warriors. Cyclops under the famed Cyclops king, Orgoth the Near Sighted, and a group of hardy minotaur’s, from who knows where. Additionally there were a few rouge nobles, a Mitgardian clan chained to the darkness, and a few other fallen heroes. They were led by the death mistress Katina Violetvale. DSC_2161 by skaforhire, on Flickr Taking the northwest-most point on the battlefield was the Stoneface Clan. Their numbers did not seem to have changed since last night’s Parle. However, save a few archers, there was no sight of the Hand of Corruption troops that were present last night. Sadly, we would find out later where these elite troops had gone. I believe the Stormmistress Avona was leading this group, but so far her presence on the battlefield has been negligible, so I am not sure. DSC_2152 by skaforhire, on Flickr The middle of the western flank was held by three trolls and a fallen Kaliphlin Knight, and claim to the old throne of Queenscross, Arangal Pastroo. He had clearly teamed up with Victor to get his city back. He seems to be in command of all the troops on the field, and does not engage anything personally. Around their sand troll’s fingers was wrapped a chord which held the corpse of our beloved diploma Abu Dun. DSC_2153 by skaforhire, on Flickr The last of the troops to appear at dawn were on the road near where the Parle took place last night. There was a few of Victor’s generals along with the famed Black Boars, led by their leader Harold the Smooth. These men had once been an elite unit in the king’s army, now they have switched their allegiance to the shadow. These men have throughout the battle hung back letting the orcs fight. They are waiting for something. They were accompanied by a Cedrica Dwarf clan, which they allowed to be slaughtered early in the battle by the Cresentthorn Elves guarding the lodging of the river chain. DSC_2149 by skaforhire, on Flickr About 15 minutes after the battle began, on the other side of the river where Sir Phil Lepe and Sir Alex Kristo were guarding the East side of the rive chain, another pocket of unidentified orcs showed up. They were a smaller band, and later we would learn they were a distraction for a more treacherous foe. DSC_2155 by skaforhire, on Flickr I will start with this part of the battle because it was the quickest. The Ximian Spear line held the monsters at bay while the two knights and another Mpya Stedor mounted soldier that I do not know, made their way to the fight. The foe was tough, but with the help of a few of the tinkers guild who were protecting the east side of the bridge, DaMaximus’ men triumphed. They lost two of the Ximians though. DSC_2169 by skaforhire, on Flickr In the middle of this battle there was an incident when concealed ninja forces tried to assassinate members of our army. Hugh Hos and his poorly illustrated men helped head off a few of these enemies. Unfortunately one would overtake the loan Mpya Stedor guard of the chain. (The other three had taken off in a row boat to help Derengar against the enemy vessel.) DSC_2193 by skaforhire, on Flickr Paulos’s letter is continued in my next post.

Well, like Hugh Hos, Jokas might look radically different than how his personal artists have portrayed him. I don't seem to have that torso in my collection here. Although, I am sure I have it in my older collection that is in storage, that is why it looks familiar. Ok back to fighting the battle....

What is Jokas's torso? I know I have seen it, i probably have it, but I can't figure it out. I cant represent 60 warriors on the main battlefield, but we can write in the story where else his troops are fighting. On another note, I am about to run some more of the battle right now. I hope to get pictures of this leg (which I would say is half way done) up tonight. If the heroes survive, then there will be one more leg of the battle.

Robuko, those look awesome. I have been using the desert planets as domes, but those green ones look too. Also,how did you do the roof on the college? Maybe my eyes are going bad, but is that something different than just tile?

His squire is dead.... EDIT: BTW this is a total lie... he hasn't died yet. I was being dramatic. But he is in trouble. If I could just get time to finish the battle....

Reinforcements! WHile the battle is going so grim, much needed. But how many will make it? (We are a little stretched thin on figures right now...) Anyway, the Mountain mummies will make it for sure, I have many of them sitting around. Unfortunately the Heliotropes will be ineffective because of the mist that Victor's forces have shadowed the battlefield in (AKA, I can't build them) But, they could be used outside the bubble to try and penetrate or disperse the mist. I will see if I can get a hulk mini tonight. The allies really need a weapon like this.

There has been fighting... but I had to stop for the night a few days ago, and it was mid battle without a good story ending point. Plus, I have to buy flickr pro to keep uploading. My workload dies down tomorrow, so I should have the next update Thursday, and hopefully a conclusion by the end of the weekend. This took much longer than I thought it would!!! Teaser -- someone named has died/been too injured to carry on.

Cool! I like the elemental, and really like the flames on the tower! I am glad the fortress stood.

Very cool! I like the wall, the vault, and the creepy crawly! Can't wait to see what happens next.

Nope, not me... Unfortunately, I don't have the money to up the red army any larger than it already is. I opened my last chess set to make DaMaximus and Masa's troops today.

I will probably enter, but it isn't going to be a show stopper. I just need to get through Queenscross first!!! I don't think I am going to have one of my characters kill Victor. Maybe I will just put everyone's name in a hat and then draw for who gets to kill Victor in my story line. I am surprised how good banks are nowadays with giving money back on fraudulent charges, especially since they are taking the hit most of the time.

Masa, that is called "Team Building!" I will try to emulate the flame archers, although I don't think I have any of the quivers -- and I am running out of lion knights!!! I think I have a chess set somewhere that I can open though.

Kayne, that really sucks, I am sorry to hear that. If you don't mind me asking, do you know how they got you? I have had my credit cards stolen without ever finding out how they got the numbers, as far as i know I have not lost my SS#. If you were around here (TX) I would loan you some figs!

THE PARLE In the hand of Paulos MacLean: This will be the official general’s account of the Battle happening in Queenscross in year 103 AH. If I do not live to see it done myself, this journal should be transcribed three times and one copy sent to each the King, Petera MacLean, and the Council of the High Lords of Kaliphlin. Today could have been worse. We lived through the night with minimal casualties. The forces of corruption have not pressed the attack into the night, and I feel they are still waiting. Always waiting. Two months, one week, or five more hours, it is always a slow burn with this army. DSC_2133 by skaforhire, on Flickr Around noon today a black fog crept over the rest of the western portion of the city, it stopped about 100 yards around the mouth of the bridge, but eclipsed parts of the river too. For this reason, we knew the battle was to begin. At about the 18th hour of the day a horde of Orks stepped out of the fog in the Northwest corner of the battlefield. I recognized them as the Stoneface Clan, a bitter enemy of Eastgate’s past who had held up in the Witherwoods for a generation now. It was not a surprise, they had been chomping at the bit to kill some more humans, Victor has given them that opportunity. DSC_2118 by skaforhire, on Flickr To our surprise, another force came out of the fog along the northern road. This one was led by a human in blue and it consisted of a fist of orks belonging to the Hand of Corruption. I am still not sure where these orks of the hand hail from, but there seem to be thousands of them in Historica. The man shouted to our nearest defense that he wanted to have a Parle with our commanders. We called for Abu’dun, the great diplomat we had with us here, to go out and take the Parle. A contingent from each guild (save Nocturnus, who are not here) wanted the honor of escorting him to the meeting. Straws were drawn and the Mitgardian contingent made up of Alfadas Manderdson and his men, Sergio Jarrett, The warriors from Valholl, and Steen Larsson’s men marched behind Abu’dun. DSC_2116 by skaforhire, on Flickr Meanwhile, we made our final preparations with the few solders we had. I deployed with my bodyguard at the top of the Tower of the Old Kings. Senator Craxus was right, it does provide a total view of the field, and with the use of a flag-man I can communicate with everyone on the field. The tower was not meant for defense, but we packed four archers in each level below my location. Artesdror, an Arfelan, took control of the townsguard archers in the tower, and is the last defense of the tower if we are overrun. At the foot of the tower, the a few of my men, Florbad the Mighty, and the Southern Lions guarded the lone entrance. DSC_2125 by skaforhire, on Flickr At the barricade in front of the bridge one of the knights of Queenscross, Sir Gerhig organized the remaining townsguard troops. He also organized a cavalry squadron for counterattack, and hid it behind the bridge’s tower. Joining that unit was both Ser Blaore, the Oak and Captain Tiven. To round it out, the party of Centaurs, under their leader Anallia Longstride, took a position between the Tower of the Old Kings and the Forum. They too will provide a counter punch if needed. They also posess our only healer present in the city. We sent Hugh Hos and his men out of the city to find healers in the countryside and bring them back yesterday night, but he has not returned yet. DSC_2126 by skaforhire, on Flickr There were many lesser nobles and freeholders that came to Queenscross when they saw my call to arms, I thought Sir Gideon was an established leader of men, so I put them under his command. He, Sir Derrick and that hired thug Falconi will hold the forum as a strategic location during the battle. DSC_2128 by skaforhire, on Flickr House Cresenthorn, one of the few traditional elven houses in Kaliphlin (located in the Witherwoods), sent a small group of warriors to Queenscross. Their lord, Al’Meter sent his regrets for not coming in person, but apparently the majority of his warriors are helping in Avalonia at this time. I put these men up on the makeshift rampart we built to guard the chain across the river. I put the rest of my own guard with them. DSC_2120 by skaforhire, on Flickr On the other side of the chain are the few men from Mpya Stedor that have arrived. They are guarding that end of the chain and waiting for their commanders to arrive. Near them we placed Derangar the Bull, my cousin, and his men to the least wanted task of them all. They created a makeshift raft and are in charge of engaging any ship that breaks through the chain. The Bull’s men are indeed brave for taking this position, falling off that raft in armor is certain death. DSC_2130 by skaforhire, on Flickr Finally, the GEAR 2nd Light Cavalry is here. Their horses have been sent away and they will be fighting on foot. The majority of the men have taken position on the bridge in order to reinforce the Townsguard if the barricade falls. A small contingent of their riders – those who ride Ostriches into battle, kept their mounts as another shock force. When Abu’dun marched his guard up to the man, (who I was later told by Sergio was none other than the Kaliphlin noble, Hect al’Jeen) their groups stared off. They met right in front of the Green Berry Inn, and I could see its mistress sweeping the front porch and watching the events unfold. From my vantage point I could see that Abu’dun was gesturing as if talking defiantly. Later, Sergio told me that al’Jeen had grown tired of listening to the diplomat talk, raised his hand, and arrows came streaming out of his lines, taking out both Abu’dun and his bodyguard Bolis. At that point Alfadas went into a rage and commanded a charge, the Mitgardians went will all the best intents, but were unprepared for well armored, well trained Corruption forces. DSC_2134 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2135 by skaforhire, on Flickr It soon became evident that they were losing the battle. Men were falling quickly, Sergio took a mighty blow and fell to a knee, two men from Valholl were fell. Out of the tavern steps a figure clad in black. The creature grumbled “You fools, you are outflanked and outnumbered!” At this point Sergio called the retreat, and the black figure called upon his skeletal mount and entered the battle. DSC_2140 by skaforhire, on Flickr One report said that he charged in and let the Mitgardians escape, pulling the unconscious, yet living members of their party to safety. One of Alfadas’ men swore they saw a little girl in the window of the inn as they retreated, which would be explained later. DSC_2141 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Beast of a man destroyed al’Jeen’s nob of a head in one mighty swing, then took on the rest of the orks without fear. Unfortunately, after downing a few more he was ganged up on, his skeletal mount destroyed, and he himself ripped limb from limb. He was a brave man, and we thought we would never know his name. DSC_2143 by skaforhire, on Flickr The orks dragged away poor Abu’dun’s body, I can only imagine for what purpose. Most of our men were able to make it back to the lines. In the middle of the night we were able to retrieve a semi-conscious Bolis, but the three other men that were left on the battlefield did not wake. One each from Valholl, Alfadas’ men, and Steen Larrson’s men. Later that night a small girl came into camp followed by the same large black-clad man we saw save our men. She introduced herself as Carol Anne, and the greenish man as Klugg. She told us she was here to fight orks. We are not in the position to deny anyone, so fight she will. At least her servant has a knack for staying alive. DSC_2146 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2145 by skaforhire, on Flickr

Awesome build! So that is where those guys came from!!!! I really like the arrow slits and the feel of the this twisted fortress. That rope ladder and the jutting room it drops out of is very good too.