The Jarithian War

[Napoleon]

This post picks up where Seikfreid's left off.

Elwyn dipped his arrow in the the black tar-like substance and whispered, "Hand me a match, Gelbron."

"Sure, sir. What is that stuff you dipped your arrow in?"

"A special magic substance made only by the dwarves of Telemar. You dip an arrow in it, and you can't miss your target; which, in my case, is that mounted knight over by that potato patch," he responded while pointing to his right.

"But, sir, that knight won't be harmed by a mere arrow; it'll just bounce off his armour! Here, use my hand-cannon!"

"No," said Elwyn,"That thing would be far to inaccurate to use at this distance." Aiming carefully, Elwyn fired his bow...

"GAAH!" The knights ghastly scream sent birds flying out of their perches.

"Now, knights of the Forestmen and Black Falcon Empire!" shouted Elwyn as he drew his sword, "For Glory, for Plunder, for Freedom!" He yelled as he spurred his horse onward.

What followed was shear pandemonium. To the Jarithian soldiers, who had just seen Elwyn's arrow pierce the steel armour of, and kill, their commander, the twenty light horsemen looked an army of heavy cavalry. Things got so bad that many of the Jarithian troop-carrying wagons ran away in panic. While the section of the camp farthest away from the raiders charged forward, only for many to be run over by the wagons. A small group of green-wearing foot-soldiers from the Duchy of Kartinia was completely destroyed in this way.

Back in the thick of the raid, Elwyn and his men were chopping down one Jarithian after another, while sustaining just 5 losses themselves. As the raid progressed, they soon found themselves trapped in the center of the camp.

"Sir!" shouted Gelbron, "We won't last, this thing was a big mistake!

"I know, Gelbron!" said Elwyn...

[Albatross_Viking]

"Im afraid well have to negotiate with them... this situation seems quite hopeless", said Elwyn as he took his horn and blew the international negotiaton signal.
The Prasdens stopped, looking confused around them for some sort of leadership. Perhaps, Elwyn thoguht, they still had a chance to get away?... No, there were too many soldiers around them. Then one of the Prasdens stepped forwards.

"So... you wish to talk your way out of this?", he said.

Elwyn handed over his sword to Gelbron, dismounted, and walked a few steps towards the Prasden.

"Yes, we do", he answered.

"So youre not that sure about yourself anymore, my little master archer?".
The last four words where spit out in a very sarcastic tone. But Elwyn knew, that if he lost his temper now, they would all be dead. Therefore he didnt answer the taunt, but continued calmy:

"Yes, we wish to negotiate. We could probably fight our way out of this, but it would cost too many lives on both sides".

"Well, you dont expect us to just let you ride out of our camp after murdering our beloved leader, destroying our logistics and chopping down several of us, do you?"

"No, i guess not... but perhaps we could make a little trade?", asked Elwyn.

"Trade?". The other man imediately seemed very interrested. "What do you have to offer?"

"If... if you let my men go, ill stay here", Elwyn said.

"What?!", shouted Gelbron. "No Elwyn, let them take me instead!". He began moving his horse towards Elwyn and the Prasden leader.

"Gelbron, stop!", commanded Elwyn. "When i got command of you and the others, i also got the responsibility for your lives! Ive already already wasted five of them in this mindless, overconfident raid. I cant just let them kill the rest of you!"

"But..." started Gelbron.

"No!". Elwyn looked around at the other scouts. All of them, he realised, would do what Gelbron had just offered to do. But he couldn´t let them do it, not when he...

Then, the Prasdens leader spoke again:

"And who might you be, to be worth the death of fifteen enemy soldiers?", he asked.

"Im...". A rebel, the son of a... dead peasant, commander of no more than fifteen wounded men, Elwyn then realised. He was nothing. Or... should he perhaps lie about his identity?... Hesitating too long would make the man suspicious, so he had to make up something quickly...

[Napoleon]

"I'm the son of an important Forestmen leader," Elwyn said nervously.

Suddenly, a Jarithian officer stepped forward, "Oy! You're not a Forestmen! Me and my men killed your rebellious father at your farm!"

A knight stepped forward and asked,"Are you quite sure, Captain Calius?"

"Aye, sir! I'm positive," he responded while drawing his sword,"Get 'em, men!" A short fight followed which left a few more dead on each side, and Elwyn and his men captured and on their way to the Duke's castle.

********************************************************

The guards' drums were beating loudly. "Almost as loud as my heart!" thought Elwyn. There they were, he, Gelbron, and three other scouts, all about to hang.

A Jarithian officer ran up the steps to the top of the wooden gallows and pulled out a scroll:

"On this day, in the Year of our Lord Jannzar, C.E. 1, the following rapscallions are sentenced to die by hanging: Rebel Commander Elwyn, Gelbron Schwarzmith, David Woodenspear, Jacob Longbow, Robert Celler. All charged with the following: Treason, direspect to the Duke of Jarith, multiple homicide, illegal activities, resisting arrest, participating in the armies of enemies against the Duchy of Jarith, and being general ne'er do-wells. May Jannzar have mercy on your souls."

The Duke signaled to the executioner...

[Albatross_Viking]

The executioner picked up his large hammer. The first one in the line would be Jacob. Then Gelbron, and then Elwyn. The crowd around them cheered and taunted the prisoners, throwing rotten tomatoes and other vegetables at them. The shouts, the beating of the drum and his own heart, it all seemed to flow together in one, horrible death-song. Elwyn thought that if he had died in battle against the Prasdens, it would have been an alltogether different matter. He would have died for what he felt was right, with the blood of his enemy on his sword. But this, this... hanging... it seemed so pointless. To die with a rope around your neck, to end up hanging in the air for crows to eat you away... it seemed so...
At a signal, from the Duke, the executioner now began to raise his hammer, preparing to strike away the box Jacob stood on. And then suddenly, all the sounds of the surounding people seemed to disappear. The only thing Elwyn heard was the hissing sound of an arrow flying towards its target. And then, to the disbelief of both prisoners, citizens, guards and duke, the executioner sank to his knees with a startled sound coming out of his mouth, and the shaft of an arrow sticking out of his back. All sound emideately died away. Then, using the confusion created by the executioners sudden death, a person wearing a hooded cloak standing close to the platform drew his sword.

"Right me boys! Get em!", he shouted. The voice seemed strangely familiar to Elwyn. And about 30 persons imediately charged towards the execution platform, with the sunshine reflecting in their swords and axes.
The leader and three others quickly cut down the two surprised guards standing at the stairs to the gallows. They then ran up onto the platform, cutting more and more guards down. As the leader turned towards the prisoners and began cutting over the ropes they should have been hanged in, he looked at Ewlyn for a moment. And then he recognised the man.

"Get the horses over here!", the man then shouted, and 5 horses were dragged up to the platform. "Now, get out of here, my little scouts. Dont worry about us, well disappear before those clumsy Prasdens even know we where here", he shouted as the last rope was cut over.

Elwyn shaked his head. "By Janzarr, i cant say how happy i am to see you, Svlick". Elwyn said.

"Oh, enough of that. Just get out of here, and may Markh be with you". Svlick gave Elwyn a quick smile, and then turned away towards the fighting.
While the scouts rode away, Elwyn heard his friend shout something like "The twenteenth swallownest! Go!". Elwyn smiled to himself. The Wolfpack had always had an ability to find good hideouts, and even more important, to dissapear in moments, leaving no clue of where they went. Apparently, they had translated this to work in a town too.

[Napoleon]

This post contains one of our fellow Classic-Castle members as a character!

An hour later, Elwyn and his five riders found themelves in the nearby town of Figburg.

"Twenteenth Swallownest, Twenteenth Swallownest, the...." Elwyn trailed off as he and his men looked around the city streets; it looked like a ghost town. Unknown to them, the reason for the emptiness was because most of the town's citizens had either been imprisoned or forced to join the Duke's forces.

Trot! Trot! Trot! their horses hooves seemed to echo everywhere,"This is very strange, in all my sixteen years, this town has always been warm and friendly...THERE! The Drunken Swallow! Men, dismount and follow me." Taking off their iron helmets, the group walked into the building. When they looked around the tavern, they found only two civilians and an innkeeper who sat behind a bar.

"Good evnin', gents!" greeted the innkeeper, "I'm Mr. van Aliencat, and who are you...oh...rebs, eh?"

"We were sent here by Svlick of the Wolfpack, we'd like to see the "Nest."

Van Aliencat stamered, "Uh...yeah...the hideout- er, I mean, the Nest? Password you'll need to get in there, friends."

"Twenteenth."

"Right you are, my rebel friend! Let me call in Bobby, my second in command," van Aliencat responded,"Bobby!"

"Coming!"

"Bobby, take these gents to the backroom, and help them...disappear."

"Right, sir. Come this way," Bobby stated while motioning to Elwyn and his men. "That's right...REBELS!" he thought to himself. "No one, not even van Aliencat, will ever find out that that I will have reported on you to my brother, Captain Calius. Long live the Duke!" he plotted evily. "Right this way, men!" he sang out aloud in a cheerful voice....

[Napoleon]

"So, you do this sort of thing a lot?" Elwyn asked Bobby.

"Quite a bit," Bobby responded, "The Underground funnels escapees to safety all the time," he opened a secret door disguised as a bookshelf which led to a hidden chamber, "I'll give you some maps, food, and supplies and point you to where to go."

"Thanks, Bobby!" said Elwyn appreciatively.

"You will go see my friend, Harold, in Richardsville. He will help you. In the mean time, I will guide you through our cave system, but stick with me, or you will surely get lost."

"Cave system?" Gelbron asked, surprised.

"Yes, the thing that looks like a closet over there is actually an entrance to a large cave system," Bobby said while lighting a torch, "Follow me!"

The door opened and they stepped into the dark.

"Remember what I said, lads, stick with me, or you will get lost. "I will lose these guys so fast that it will make their heads spin!" Bobby thought, "Then, the Duke's men will come down here and grab 'em!"

[Napoleon]

"So, Bobby," started Elwyn,"How did you get involved in the Underground?"

"I...uh, already worked at the Sparrow when the rebelion began, so I was kind of automatically in it, you might say," Bobby said, "How 'bout you?" he asked, hoping to worm information out of him.

"The Duke's men killed my poor father; that's how," Elwyn responded quietly.

"What?" Bobby had no idea about how cruel the Duke could be, "They killed him, you say," Bobby was shocked. "I thought these men were just scumbags and that the Duke was honorable...maybe...I was wrong. These fellows seem likable enough...My conscience won't allow me to let them be picked up by the Duke's men. The soldiers are probably already in the cave, but if I hurry, maybe I can get them to safety-."

Suddenly, the noise of hooves pierced the silence of Bobby's thinking.

"What is that!" Gelbron demanded of Bobby.

Bobby sadly responded, "I must confess, that I was going to betray you; but I will not do so after hearing about the Duke's cruelty. Draw your blades, we might have to fight our way out of here!" Within the bink of an eye, the men were running down the caves, with the sound of hooves echoing all about them. All of the sudden, an arrow struck down David Woodenspear; killing him instantly.

"Halt!" yelled a mounted Jarithian knight while swinging a lasso over his head. With a sudden movement of his hand, he threw it over Robert Celler's head and trapped him long enough for three Bloxfordian soldiers to bludgeon him to death. One minute ago, there were six people, including himself, in Elwyn's group. Now, there were four...

[Albatross_Viking]

This part happens in the cavesystem, folowing the last post by Napoleon

They kept running through the cave.

"When we reach that spot", Bobby said as he pointed at a place along the cavewall that was not lit by any torches "You let me drag you to the side when i say "now"".
When they were a few steps from the dark spot Bobby had pointed out, he suddenly threw his own torch at a Jarithian soldier who was running after them. The man quickly stopped doing that.

"Now!", Bobby whispered. He then pushed them all towards the wall of the cave, into a smaller tunnel in it. When they all were inside, he pushed some sort of door over to cover the entrance.
"Quickly, this way!". He then led them through the tunnel. This one was much smaller than the big caves they came from, and they could only walk one by one, moving past many more tunnels to both sides.
All sounds of the confused Prasden soldiers soon died away, and after about half an hour, they saw light in front of them. And a few minutes later, Bobby pushed away something above them, and the afternoon sun smiled at them through the leaves of the surounding trees.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This part happens in the rebels camp at the pass by Greenwillow River

Earlier that day, a messenger had arived from King Orion, and a treaty between the rebels and Ruratainia had been signed. Now, Robin, Eiran, the kings Alfred and Albert, Lackfert, Halfnor and other Norvunda, Forestmen and Black Falcon commanders were gathered around a map on the table in the armys command tent, discussing the current situation.
"So... the Prasdens are still moving towards us, you say?", asked Alfred.

"Yes, they are", the scout replied.

"Any word on how many there are of them?", asked Lackfert.

[Napoleon]

"50,000, sir," the scout responded, "20,000 Jarithians, 20,000 Bloxfordians, 5,000 Owensfordians, and 5,000 Redmontonians, all under the control of the Duke of Bloxford and his nephew, Jameson of Redmonton.

"Oh," said Lackfert, "That's not good, but ah...Muster all our forces; we shall meet them, and they shall be ours.
*****************************************************************************************
Later that night...

Jameson, Bloxford's nephew, quickly readied himself and donned his battle armour. He had urgent planning to do with his uncle, who, in his old age, would need his nephew's help to plan a good strategy, so he grabbed his feathered, wide-brimmed hat and hurried out of his tent. All around him, there were soldiers preparing for the next day's battle. Currently, Jameson stopped in front of a large dirt path and paused and looked both ways, "Nothing," he said as he began crossing. Suddenly, a cavalry regiment of knights came thundering down the road, and, since it was very dark, they did not see Jameson. Jameson tried to get out of the way, but could not, and felt himself being trampled by horses. He died, as did one of the knights who fell off his stallion and broke his neck. Once they realized who Jameson was, they rushed his body to Bloxford's tent. This was the last thing the Prasdens needed: the death of their main strategist.

[Albatross_Viking]

"Trampled down? By his own knights?!", said Robin in an unbelieving tone.

"Yes, my lord, Jameson of Redmonton is all and whole dead", the scout answered with a wide smile on his face.
Eiran suddenly gave a deep, roaring laughter.
"Oh, i wish i had seen that!", he chuckled while shaking his head, as more of the commanders in the tent followed the Norvundas example. Then they heard the sound of a horse outside.
"I need to see the king", a voice said.
One of the guards outside opened on of the flaps working as doors to the tent.
"Your majesty, a scout wishes to talk to you", he said.

"Gaivin Swarky, 24th scouting party. Reporting back from Captain Elwyn", the man introduced himself. Another scout... is there nothing else than scouts in our army, King Alfred thought with a little smile.

"Elwyn? Well, what news do you bring?", asked Alfred.

"About 800 Confederate soldiers are moving towards the other end of the pass. Elwyn and the others stayed back to raid their supplies", answered Gaivin.

[Seikfreid]

"We shall be ready, and head them off!" said the king. "We have waited long enough. We cannot allow ourselves to be trapped in this place like flies." He shifted his gaze around the room.

"Long have the peoples of this land been oppressed by the Duke of Jarith and his minions. But no more." The King looked up, and there was fire in his eyes. "Eiran, take ten thousand men and wipe out those attempting to trap us at the pass. Gaivin, lead them to the head of the pass, and then report straight back here to me."

"But sir," protested Eiran, "We can eliminate that force of 800 with a much smaller force if we are clever. Why send ten thousand to accomplish that task? We will need all the men we can muster for the great battle."

"Aye," said the king. "And that is why I am sending with you ten thousand men. You are to wipe out all 800 enemies or capture those you do not kill. None must escape your grasp. Do this before the dawn breaks. Once you have dealt with the small threat they present, march your troops quickly behind enemy lines and strike at their rear. They will not be expecting this, so make your assault quick and deadly. I will send with you as many hand-cannons as we can spare so that your first attack will do the most damage to the Confederates as possible."

"Ah," said Eiran.

"Erm, a very good plan if I do say so myself, sir," replied Lackfert.

"Father, who then shall command the main force of our army?" queried Robin.

The king turned to him slowly. "You will, my son."

[Napoleon]

Just to make it easier to read and type, I am using "Allies" as the name for the good guys' army.

3:00: Eiran's men attack Sir Matthew of Redmonton's forces at the pass.

Eiran looked through a spyglass at the enemy Confederates, "Well, Gaivin. It appears we have found our target."

"Yes, sir!" replied Gaivin, "I would suggest attcking them...there."

"In the rear? Poppycock!" exclaimed Eiran arrogantly, "The king gave me so many men, that I can attack them head-on! First, our ranger cavalry will launch an attack. We will follow that with a crushing charge by my Norvunda axmen. We will mop up the remainders with various other troops. We will crush them!"

"Sir, why not flank them?" Gaivin asked.

"Because I am a warrior, and I know brute force will grind them into powder!" he shouted, "Rangers! ATTACK!"

With that, 80 rangers charged the front of the enemy army. The surprise attack knocked the Prasdens off balance for a minute, but after recovering from the initial impact, they fought viciously and forced the cavalry to retreat in disarray.

Eiran had second thoughts about the engangement, but shook them off and commited 200 Norvunda to the attack. Once again, the Prasdens drove them off and killed almost all of them.

"Warriors!" yelled Eiran to his regiment of Black Falcon hand-cannon troops, "Advance and destroy the enemy!" Eiran had already lost 300 men, and was determined to crush them with his guns. With a mounted knight leading the men, the Falcons marched in front of the enemy army and opened fire. However, the darkness of night kept them from aiming accurately, and after the Prasden knights attacked the Falcon flanks, they too retreated. Eiran's death-toll hit 500.

After several more wastefull attacks, George the Forestman rode up with his bodyguard cavalry and relieved Eiran of command. After a powerful flanking maneuver, the Prasden soldiers fled for their lives.
****************************************************************************

6:00: Prasden troops launch attack on the Allies left flank, near the Greenwiilow River...

[Napoleon]

"Sir!" yelled Commander Hawkins, "We cannot hold without reinforcements! What shall we do?" he asked Robin.

"Move the pikemen forward. Bring up the Falcon hand-cannoneers and position them over in that patch of trees." Robin ordered.

"Yes, sir! What about our knight cavalry? They're getting restless," said Hawkins.

"Hmmmnn...Have them protect the advancing pikemen. Move Sir Reginald and his group over to the right, and have them dismount and protect the baggage wagon train. The baggage train must not fall into Prasden hands! Tell Reginald to hold it at all costs!"

"Right, sir. Right away!" Hawkins saluted.

In front of the Allied army were droves of Prasden footsoldiers armed with swords, spears, and shields cutting down many Allied soldiers. If this flank faltered, the likelihood of the Allies being driven into the river was very high. Robin needed to hold the line and simply outlast the attackers; not advance and attack them. If the orders he gave Hawkins were carried out, they would almost surely hold and regroup with the larger army. Right now, the majority of the Allied soldiers under Robin's command were Norvunda. Unfortunately, many of them deserted when Eiran was relieved of command by George. Things were getting dire, and Robin needed reinforcements.

[Napoleon]

Sir Reginald of Telemar readied his sword. He was going to protect the wagons at all costs. He and his twenty Telemarsian soldiers suddenly saw a horde of enemy Owensfordians coming at them. They out-numbered Reginald and his men, but the Telmarsians had the advantage of being equipped wih crossbows, "Those hand-cannons simply will not do for my men! Even a civilian could use one. Crossbows are for highly trained gentlemen."

With a loud noise, the bolts were shot at the footsoldiers; a huge row of them toppled over dead.

"Keep firing, men! We'll hold 'em off!" yelled Reginald. The on-coming Owensfordian onslaught finally got close enough to throw their javelins, but to no effect. "Charge 'em, men! We'll drive 'em all the way back to Owensford!"

"Yee-haw!" shouted the men; the famous Telemarsian battle-cry.

Faced with potential retreat, the officer of the Owensfordians stood up on a rock and said, "Monsieurs of Owensford, I ask you to turn around and rout le enemies of your country! I would not ask you to turn around if I, Sir Lafayette would not do so myself: charge!"

"Charge!" the now inspired Owensfordians cried. With the blue and white striped Owensfordian flag being carried by Lafayette, the troops viciously attacked Reginald and his men.

As Reginald thrusted his sword through one of the Prasdens, he saw Lafayette waving he flag in the midst of the battle, "What in tarnation is a Normendy knight doin' at the head of a bunch of Prasdens?" he asked himself, "Anywho, I am goin' to have his sword...or his head, before this day is done.''

[Albatross_Viking]

As the allied army lead by George and Eiran hurried through the forests north of Greenwillow Pass, they suddenly heard a deep voice shouting behind them.

"Hey! Yo´ there! Wait!". A stocky man with a great beard, his height barely reaching the lowest ribs of a normal human riding on a mule, and a mounted knight was coming up the road behind them. The first voice had been the dwarf. Now, the knight spoke.
"We bring word from the Kingdom of Telemar. 6000 Telemarsian heavy cavalrymen, lead by Sir Reginalds son, is on the way to help you against the Prasdens".

"And 1300 from dem mines!", the dwarf shouted while waving his battleaxe in the air.

"Yes, and 1300 angry, donkey-riding beardballs", the knight mumbled to himself.

"But we also bring bad news", he continued. "King Benito of Normendy has allied with the Prasden Confederation".

The dwarf, who had apparently heard the part about the beardballs looked acusingly at his companion.

"MULE!"