Imperialisium wrote:The Siege of Lethlinburg
"Loose!"
Volleys of arrows and bolts cascaded from the walls and tower battlements. Crashing into the vanguard forces of the Northmen invaders. Bodies peppered with shafts began to dot the snow white fields. Ruining their virgin snow coverage with churned red mush. The Bull's forces did not cease their bombardment all the while. Crashing among the city's Easterly districts, smacking the walls, and impacting towers. The bucket brigades, aided by water aspect Exalted, were kept in a constant frenzy to put out fires before they could get out of hand. But it was chaotic battle. One fraught with danger as ever more ordinance hurled by the enemy's siege engines came crashing down. Blowing through house walls, collapsing store fronts, and puncturing rooftops.
"Loose!"
More volleys as the forces of the Empire arrayed along the walls unleashed deadly torrents of fire. But it was not just arrows. The powers of the Imperial Exalted further frustrated the enemy's assault. Both Mahajan and Ledaal reaping a fearsome tally among the foe. But yet they came still. The momentum of the enemy assault gaining tempo as another wave stormed from their trenches. The trenches themselves crawling every closer as enemy troops dug closer to the walls. Wooden barricades to block arrow and bolt fire moving up in accordance. Shielding their diggers. The first wave had probed the defense. The second would be to see how far they could press and hopefully gain some beach head in the defenses. Thousands of enemy troops stormed forth. Joined by yet more Trolls and beasts.
But it was below the Eastern gate, in the outer palisade defensive ring, that would see the greatest violence. As the vanguard of the enemy crashed into the ordered phalanx of the Elledanosi! Spear punctured flesh, grinded across bone, or lacerated arteries. Axes and maces chopped. Swords cleaved. The enemy ranks temporarily withered against the wall of spears from the Elledanosi. Then a dull roar as the nearest trolls arrives. Bashing aside several spears with their tough shields the trolls were among the Elledanosi! Swinging their vile clubs, axes, and scimitars too big for human hands! Roaring and snarling their inhuman war cries as they smelled the spilled vitality of man about them!
Up above Zara looked down at the carnage and frowned. "Concentrate fire on the trolls!" she shouted and archers, relayed the order by messengers and officers sounding off, began to adjust their aim on the trolls. One went down, but after no more than sixty-eight arrows protruded from its tough hide between its oversized ramshackle armor plates. Crashing among the fallen human bodies of both sides. But the enemy was emboldened by the presence of their inhuman allies. The second wave joining the first in their fearsome berserker assault of the Palisade and walls.
Shan Yui - Dam That River
The enemy soldiers advanced, despite the casualties that Ledaal and Mahajan had dealt. They were ruthless, marching over drowned and burned bodies alike. Trolls marched like shifting towers, made of skin like stone and with rage like a mudslide. Ledaal's Exalted kept busy with putting-out fires, but some found time to drown a dozen or so enemy soldiers in the midst of the firefight. Far below, swords and spears continued to clash, and arrows landed mostly among the infantry. Every now and then, they pierced a troll or two, but the trolls were enormous, and needed far more force to be stopped. Some trolls even managed to pluck the arrows out of their arms and necks like stray splinters, much to the dismay of watching archers.
Shan Yui's sword remained sharp, however, as he rushed along the walls to give continual orders. "Those tenements below, put out the flames!" he shouted to the Exalted. They did not scorn his orders, even as he was a Patrician. His voice was as well-honed as his blade, and every word landed like a slash. "Keep firing! Take as many soldiers as you can! Focus!" he called to the archers. He ran to one edge and shouted to another general below. "AROUND THE SIDES! SURROUND THEM!" Ledaal's army began to focus on cutting soldiers around the exterior of the formation, moving to the sides and hoping to surround them. Arrows continues to whisk through the air, making deadly music as archers plucked their strings and released death into the Bull's Army.
The Ledaal general focused much on the trolls trying to get through the walls, as they presented the biggest physical and strategic threat. He had killed one troll successfully, but the effort was painful, as their necks were thick and their muscles were stiff. He found another one coming toward the wall, and he coordinated with one of the Exalted standing nearby. "ICE! ICE TOWARD THE FACE!" he screamed. The shocked man aimed toward the troll, and the orb of water forming in his hand turned to ice as it hit the troll's face. Frostbite might not kill it immediately, but blindness and frostbite combined made for a good deterrent. With opportunity presenting itself, the Ledaal general charged his sword into the side of the neck, cleaving as hard as he could. If he had an axe, perhaps the job would be easier. Yet he did not need to cut all the way through the neck, just to the jugular. Another troll's blood spurted along the wall, and the horrific visage stumbled back and collapsed in the snow, struggling to breathe for a few minutes longer.
"AXE! I NEED AN AXE!"
A willing soldier found one, though not one of the troll's own weapons, as those were far too big. Shan Yui accepted it, and kept his sword at his side. The next troll that managed to find its way to the wall felt the borrowed broad-axe's blade fall into its eye and finding a way into the skull. While Shan Yui was not as well-trained with a broad-axe, the monster's own speed and rage kept it from slowing itself to avoid being gashed, and as he strained himself to remove the weapon, he almost lost it as the troll fell back and bleed from its face. The general panted, showing some signs of wear, but he did not let himself lose composure for long. He was used to harsh combat. Every downed troll was a net-positive for his men.
Daana Mahajan - Fix Me
The firefight was currently succeeding for Lethlinberg, but Daana and his men made sure that smoke continued to fill the air. Every time a catapult exploded from flames, the men cheered and kept count of how many they had destroyed. Now they had gotten four completely destroyed, and two that were severely damaged. Their own infantry was bathing in the blood of the Bull's army below, though they had suffered themselves as they followed Ledaal along the ridges. Daana grit his teeth at the losses below, but he could not mourn those lost. Mahajan was used to fighting with plenty of casualties, and the general had long suspected that Gregor actually enjoyed being the hated underdog. "One of these days, being the heel is going to get him a beating, and not just a verbal slap from Lady Vai," he groaned for a second.
"GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!"
He was then promptly awakened from his thoughts by the scream of a raging troll. It bulldozed through a crowd toward him, and he held out his hand. A soldier screamed for Daana to move, but the general held his ground, still as a statue and grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
"COME AND GET IT, BIG BOY!"
An enormous fireball slammed the creature's face, spreading promptly over its body as it had no time to react to such a sudden fireball. The smell of burning troll-flesh was enough to make even an experienced butcher's eyes water, but Daana grinned even through his own disgust. The troll certainly made for a large pyre, and as he crumpled and fell after perhaps a good fifteen minutes, the men once again whooped and hollered their delight. He could not attack every such troll in the same fashion, but he did order them to aim as Shan Yui did-for the jugular.
The slash had to be fast and heavy, and it was not always successful. The trolls that did not die from their wounds tried to slam some of the soldiers off the walls, and at least a handful did fall to their deaths with the smack of a troll's enormous palm. Seeing the damage done, then Daana stepped into action and burned him down, pushing him away from the wall and causing him to land on some enemy soldiers below. The fire spread and continued to make thick mud around the battlefield, but even as blood and mud mixed into a vile, visceral cocktail below, The Mahajan Army continued to hold their leader's fire and shot flames, arrows, and spears at anything wearing an enemy uniform. And now with at least five trolls down, progress was slowly coming.