Battle for Ur-Garoth: Part Two Ur-Garoth was falling. The outer walls around the settlement were taken easily, and the settlement followed, with streams of orcs charging against the inner citadel. And of course, the hulking Wall-Breaker, 30 feet tall and marching inexorably to its goal. The few arrows sent towards it bounced off its moon clad armor, and despair overcame the defenders of the wall it approached.
Elsewhere orcish officers began calling out new orders, and the armored orcs began to disengage from their assault. The defenders took a moment of respite before the waves of orcs came again. This time instead of the brutal heavily armored orcs marching in tight discipline, it was irregular orcs, armed with whatever armor and weapons they could find. Tusked jaws opened and roared as they leapt into combat, eager to prove themselves. The footmen of Iserria held, their shieldwall still strong, spears flashing out and claiming blood and lives, but they were exhausted and demoralized. They could not hold forever.
In the chaos of the battle, Matilda and her assembly of knights rode out from one of the sally ports. On horses bred for war and lances raised, they charged into the back of the fighting around a broken gate. The orcs, unused to fighting horses, scattered before them. The orcish officer leading this company roared for order and began to regroup hsi warriors, before Matilda’s spear took him in the throat. Dismay overcame them, and the attacking orcs fled. The defenders cheered and began to rebuild the gate as Matilda readed her retinue.
And then, the Wall-Breaker reached the wall. Swinging his hammer into the stone, it shattered before him, flinging rock and pulped bodies in a spray before him. The ground shook, and even the fighting in the dungeons took a brief pause as dust descended from the ceiling. Soldiers on the walls and towers began their retreat into the heart of the citadel and their last stands, or fleeing into the city to find safety or their loved ones. Before such might, who could stand against it?
Matilda, seeing that the fortress had little hope, commanded the defenders of the gate she had relieved to follow her and collect who they could to escape the city. The captain of the gate was dead, and so none opposed the young heir and the footmen and militia abandoned the gate to join their escape attempt.
In the dungeons the fighting took on a new urgency, as the Duke led the counterattack. His runed armor deflected all but the strongest of blows, and his enchanted sword cut through armor and shields as if it were cloth. The orcs fell back against the fury of the assault, for behind the duke were the remaining knights of Arnhold, fierce and well armored, sworn to follow their lord to the end. Supporting them was the court mage and priest, supporting and healing the warriors as best they could. They quickly regained the lower levels of the citadel, where the forces of the Dark Lord began fighting with renewed energy and support from the cultists, casting bolts of life eating darkness.
The fighting was thick and frantic, as they grappled in the dark, swords flashing and hammers falling and daggers plunging and hands choking. Dark bolts flew out and stole lives of noble knights, sending them crashing to the ground. Lights erupted like starburst in the eyes of the orcs, blinding them. Darkness splashed against the Duke’s armor, dimming it as he cut the head off the caster. Step by bloody step the attack plunged deeper into the dungeon and closer to the heart of the Dark Lord.
Outside in the city, Matilda and her retinue of knights made their way to the walls, falling on any group of foes like a pack of wolves. With the fury of a doomed city, they charged and brought low even squads of Deeping Guards, their armor failing with the impact of the lance. Behind them those on foot gathered and protected civilians and began to evacuate those they could to one of the gates. But their heroics were beginning to gather notice, and larger and larger groups began to make Matilda’s efforts untenable. Throw enough bodies, and the horses would be unable to flee, and their riders dragged down. So the sally attempt turned to the closest gate to force their breakthrough.
Here the forces of Darkness prepared, armored orcs standing ranks deep in front of the gate, and auxiliaries on the wall. Matilda braced herself. This would be a hard fight, but she would save those she could. Her people needed a Hero, and-
The Dark Lord emerged from the ranks of Orcs. He was unmistakable, for power emanated from his very frame. Sleek steel, ornate and impeccably formed to allow complete freedom of movement, far beyond the skill of mortal hands. Upon his head lay a broken crown, an unnatural mix of gold and steel. His hand bore a hammer, shifting before her eyes from a blacksmith’s tool to a deadly weapon of war. Even from a distance, Matilda could see the fury and heat of the furnace, the desire and ability to mold the very world to his whim. Death and Domination, the Dark Lord promised, and she knew that to face him was to die, or worse.
Yet, for a few chosen by fate or destiny, some choices were not choices at all. She spurred her horse forward, as the court mage’s apprentice accompanying the escape attempt sent a message to his master.
The Duke leaned against the wall, drained from the constant fighting. Nearby Harrin the priest tended to a wounded knight, his white robes stained red with blood. He raised his near empty waterskin to his lips and drank deep as his Trebonius came to his side. The court mage was graying, and his usually lively eyes were deep set with exhaustion and concern.
He leaned close, his words heavy. “The Dark Lord has returned, my Lord. He is blocking the escape of your daughter.”
Arnhold froze, the words tumbling in his mind. His daughter would not escape, his people were doomed. There was nothing he could do to save her.
Unless he could end the Dark Lord. There was something in the pits, he could feel it.
You can save her, the thought came unbidden to his mind. You can end this. You can find the strength, and destroy the heart of this darkness. Take up the sword and fight for your people, for your daughter.
You won’t survive, a quieter voice told him. There is always a cost.
But some choices in the end are not really choices at all. And so the Duke accepted the offer, and light and life infused his spirit and limbs.
The Last Duke of Ur-Garoth stood and turned to his warriors. Men and women battered and bloodied, but already he could see strength return to them, their backs straighter and eyes. They could all hear the great monster outside tearing through sheer stone, and the war calls of the orcs ahead.
A desperate roar against the darkness, a brand against the night. A last glimmer of the sun before it sinks beneath the horizon. The Last Duke raised his sword and cried out,
“Death!”
Death behind and death ahead, the Duke thought as his calls were answered. Nothing to do but to go forward.
The girl charged against the Avatar, spear crackling with lightning. It scored against his vambrace, deflecting it to the side as he sent his hammer into the side of her horse, killing it instantly.
Her companions cried out, and charged at the Dark Lord. One of them glimmered with a Hero’s promise, and his shield glimmered with light. He strode up and swung his hammer, and with a crack the boy’s arm broke and he was sent flying. The girl leaped to spear him in the back, but too slowly. The Dark Lord spun and slammed her back into the ground.. Around them a battle raged, but before the Dark Lord the orcs fought with a fierce vigor, crashing and crowding the knights fearlessly.
He glanced at the girl, Matilda, heir to the duchy and his fortress. A prize, he mused, that the Three gifted him a potential hero. She struggled to her feet. The Dark Lord respected the fight in her, but she was clearly no match for him. His victory was certainly assured.
The Last Duke of Ur-Garoth charged forward like a comet, cutting down all those in his path. Here at the entrance at the tomb the fighting was fiercest, Deeping Guard packed tight in good order. But the Duke was unstoppable. The orcs fought ferociously, but the Last Duke and his knights fought harder still, buoyed by the hero’s aura and the healing of the priest. The metal golem leading the first charge leaped upon the Duke, but with a sidestep he avoided the blow, and his counter strike took an arm off. The next took off the head. The armored orcs attempted to form their shield wall to hold them back, but the Last Duke would create a gap wherever he went, his blade cutting through armor and flesh easily which his retinue would exploit. Dark bolts of magic flew overhead, only to be swept up in a whirlwind, or splash against chromatic shields, as the Duke and his warriors prioritized the cultists casting them. Trebonius was a whirlwind of motion and magic, warding and deflecting all that he could until a stray bolt caught him in the heart, killing him instantly. However, the counterblow came quickly as the Last Duke tore into the largest squad of cultists, cutting them down. Officers overwhelmed or dead, the Deeping Guard was on the verge of defeat.
Until the Shadow-Walker revealed herself, knife slashing through the priest's throat. The knights cried out in dismay. The Last Duke turned in a fury only to be blinded by a bolt of darkness to the face. But the Shadow-Walker was not fast enough to get more than a shallow cut before a wild blow from the Last Duke cut her nearly in half.
Without the priest’s healing, the Last Duke’s retinue began to crumble beneath the hammers of the Deeping Guard. Disciplined and determined, they stood and traded blows with some of the best warriors of Arnhold. But they could do little but slow the vengeful hero, who cut through swathes of them with every blow. The Wall Breaker’s roar shook the very cavern walls, but it had to dig and tear at the very stone to get down in time. But even as the last knight fell, the Deeping Guard broke their ranks and fled into the tunnels, leaving the path open for The Last Duke of Ur-Garoth.
Soon he came to the chamber where the Dark Lord’s Soul was set, a great blazing fire set around a darkened heart. The light and the heat was blinding. Here the last defenders fled before the blood splattered hero, promising death for all who stood before him. All, except for one.
Gash-Nurtak was an old orc, one of the few born in the ramshackle pits of the Ash Mountains, wild and free. He fought for his place in the raids, an opportunity to gain his wealth by pillage. He took one too many wounds, fighting both man and orc, and so settled and learned how to smith and forge tools and weapons for his tribe.
When the Dark Lord Called, he came. Gash-Nurtak always believed that there was something better than hiding in the mountains, that the orcs could once again be proud and feared across the world. He was part of the first wave from the Free Tribes, traveling in secret through night and dark tunnels. He was a smith, and joined those making the armor for the newly raised Legio I. He had not founded a spawning, but he was so very proud of the Legion he had helped create, one that could stand and fight any across the world. He forged a set of armor for himself, so that if a fight came he would not be found wanting.
And so Gash-Nurtak stood alone between the Heart of his Lord, and the Last Duke of Ur-Garoth sworn to destroy it. It would be so very easy to join those who fled, to go back home to his mountains and tell the tale of how the Dark Lord rose and fell to the valor of Men.
But Men were not the only ones to know of honor and fealty, and Gash-Nurtak felt he owed a debt. And so he stood tall and unbowed.
Some choices are not choices at all.
Gash-Nurtak plunged his hand into the Heart, and withdrew the glimmering Hammer.
Matilda watched, stunned, as the Dark Lord began to crumble to dust before her eyes. The melee died as the body dropped to the ground, armor rusting away and the overwhelming pressure vanishing in a heartbeat. The orcs broke, tossing their arms down and scattering away. The orc archers manning the walls desperately launched a pair of darkness coated bolts, one catching the knight Alaric in the chest. The other flew for Matilda, and was a heartbeat away from taking her before Bruce was there, his shield shining with light and intercepting the deadly bolt. Her guards gave a cry and rushed up to the walls, where the remaining auxiliaries either fled or were cut down.
Gatehouse secured, numbering about 20 survivors, they fled Ur-Garoth, to spread word of the return of the Dark Lord.
Deep in the Tomb, Gash-Nurtak was reborn as the Avatar of the Dark Lord, armor molding seamlessly over his body, and power suffusing his body. He saluted the Last Duke of Ur-Garoth, receiving a snarl in return, and the battle commenced. The Last Duke was light and fluid, his strikes viper quick, scoring across the enchanted armor of the Dark Lord. whose hammer blows came like a avalanche, unstoppable and reaching. The Last Duke was forced back step by step, warding off each blow desperately. One destroyed his pauldron, and the other nearly took his helmet off.
And then, The Last Duke of Ur-Garoth ran out of time, as a fist larger than his whole body crashed through the ceiling and smashed him into the ground. A muffled groan could be heard, as the Dark Lord grabbed the Duke by the throat and with a word, chains of darkness wrapped around his broken body.
The Battle for Ur-Garoth was over, and the War for the Kingdom of Iserria had begun.
Casualties: (Note that all casualties, excluding the Shadow-Walker, will be recovered by the next battle. Will probably change the casualty report for next update)
2 Cohorts of Deeping Guard
1 Warband of Rabble
½ company of Auxilia
2 Squads of Acolytes
Shadow-Walker: KIA. (RIP, we hardly knew ye)
Bonuses:- Infrastructure Unlocked! You also get one Free Infrastructure Design. Can be like forges, arcane training tower, or monster birthing pits. Generally the more specific the improvement, the better.
- Captured The Last Duke of Ur-Garoth! Can be “consumed” for a +1 to a design or for a free minor champion. Must use The Last Duke as part of the design in some way for the bonus to be applied.
Costs:-Due to overdrawing Darkness to prevent your defeat, will start with less Darkness for your next battle.
Summary/TLDR-Captured Ur-Garoth! And an empowered Duke!
-2 future heroes did end up escaping, Matilda and Bruce, defeated and alive by the skin of their teeth, but ready for a rematch.
-This update definitely ballooned out a bit, but future battles will probably not be as complicated as a surprise assault siege with attacks from multiple directions. There was also a lot of focus on heroes, but your forces pretty much crushed all resistance otherwise. Future updates should be more balanced.
-Now, the Duke probably wouldn’t have come close to endangering the Heart of the Dark Lord, your forces would have been sufficient to beat him down. . . Had you not cornered his daughter. Father Figure going on a Heroic Suicide Mission to save his daughter? The Three will go with that everytime, and so empowered him into a Hero.
-Wall-Breaker is 30 feet tall, basically a walking armored siege tower. Very hard to kill, but also very slow, and had to break through a lot of stone to reach the Last Duke.
-Knights on horses are very strong. Not the best in a siege, but I tried to show their potential/danger. Their effect on your forces morale will diminish over time as they get used to fighting them.
It is now the Design Phase, Turn 2! Your forces have conquered the territory around Ur-Garoth, overtaking dozens of small castles and towns, and sending a flood of raw resources and materials back to your capital. And also, many prisoners. What do you do with them, and the populations of Iserria you control?
A. Enslave them. You are the Dark Lord, of course you should exploit them for all of their worth and labor. Free up your own servants and forces for battle, and will significantly increase the size of your army. Of course it is very evil and everyone else will hate you more.
B. With A Light Touch. A change in the name and appearance of the tax collector only. Dissent is still not tolerated of course, but the average family wouldn’t notice too much of a difference. Not very popular with your forces, but will increase your pool of human recruits. Won’t make other nations like you, but it doesn’t make them hate you any more either!
C. Something Else?
Your next battle will most likely be a field battle, as the Kingdom of Iserria will assemble her army and ride to meet yours. Prepare your army for pitched battle, and in particular a charge of heavy cavalry.
Remember you get a free infrastructure design (can be any category, and when voting we can create a "Infrastructure" category for this one) and either a bonus +1 to a Design or a free Minor Champion (but both must in someway incorporate something from the Last Duke).
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Topic: Dark Designs: Turn Two-Battle Phase (Read 12190 times)