Breaking the Silence
Story Emits
Word arrives to Arx that the forces of the Compact, under the command of Lady Calypso Malvici, won a crushing victory over shav forces along the bank of the Gray River. With ground chosen with precise care by Count Frederik Steelhart, the Compact picked a killing ground in a narrow pass that made crushing use of their numerical advantage. Tales come back of the shav column being led by a terrifying giant of some sort, though most believe that to be tall tales. There is, however, rumors of a giant skull that comes back aboard one of the ships. With the Bringer of Silence's column destroyed, one fourth of the army marching on Arx has been shattered, giving hope for the coming days.
There are many people that evacuated the city in the face of the Bringer army, and it seems that the Duchess Sylvie Zaffria is one. Except, if rumors are to be believed, she also left an odd note for Lady Dafne Zaffria, her cousin and her Voice.
As word of the victory led by Lady Calypso spreads, worries mount of her forces being able to return to Arx in time before the bringer army. Fortunately, it becomes clear that the remaining three columns of the bringer army has been harassed and delayed by forces led by Duke Cristoph Laurent to the west and Marquessa Demura Lyonesse to the east. Duke Cristoph's forces made up of Laurent, Nightgold and Ashford soldiers badly harass the foraging parties and bled the second column of the Bringer forces, managing to avoid a decisive battle while slowing the bringer column down to a crawl that proceeds starved and disorganized towards Arx. Demura's forces made up of Lyonesse, Kennex and Blackram soldiers manage to drive the fourth column of bringer forces mad with their consistent skirmishing and destruction of their scouting parties, finally bringing the bringer forces to battle in a choke point that sees over a thousand shavs dead and the bringer column in full retreat. After that victory, the bringer column finds itself moving through at a glacial pace through marshland created by the Marquessa Demura's destruction of levies, and then into a giant firetrap. Miles of the Gray Forest are obliterated with much of the Bringer column in it, killing thousands of shavs, and earning Demura a nickname among the commoners as "the Firebird of the Gray Forest". While some of the Grayson held crownlands will be of questionable value for some time after the war, it is considered a small price to pay for slowing the bringer army down to a crawl, and buying more than enough time for Calypso's forces to return to Arx.
Though make no mistake, the Bringer army is still coming, and preparations for an impending siege continue.
While much of the Compact feels relief at how well the recent battles have gone, there was a very notable loss. Among the skirmishers attempting to slow down the Bringer advance', the Duke Somhairle of House Crovane was killed. Rule of Crovane lands passes to Asger, as House Crovane stands firm behind its new duke.
While the forces of the Compact are still returning home after the destruction of the western most bringer column, the city of Arx prepares for siege. An evacuation of the Lower Boroughs has been ongoing, aided by the Culler family in particular. House Mercier led by Lazarus and the Crafter's guild led by Joscelin have been aiding the stream of refugees traveling to Arx for safety, while Lord Michael Bisland helped establish a refugee camp in the City Center of Arx. Lady Anabelle Lyonesse helps to see to the supplies of the refugeees, and rallies flogging spirits. Arx waits for the return of the victors from the battle, and the port of Arx stays busy, as the largest port of in the world, with hundreds of ships at any one time.
So a few more trading vessels from the Mourning Isles doesn't attract much notice, a flotilla claiming to be with the Black Mountain Trading Company as its prodigal-looking crews talks with the Iron Guard at the docks, even though it seems a bit irregular. As a captain in the Iron Guard talking to the sailors finds matters a bit odd, and presses the questioning, the captain casually grabs the iron guardsman by the arm, lifts him in the air, and tears him apart. The captain nods at his crew and they immediately draw weapons and begin butchering the Iron Guardsmen on the dock, as several of the figures tear men and women apart with their bare hands. Bringers of Silence are in the Lower Boroughs.
For the rest of the city, smoke from the Lower Boroughs begin to rise, as the docks are aflame, as Iron Guardsmen and confessors race down to respond. The hostile shavs racing through the Lower Boroughs are running into a surprising amount of prepared traps and ambushes as they clash with Iron Guardsmen stationed in the lower city, carefully arranged snares and surprising resistance that has been being prepared for months by the Culler family for just this sort of nightmare.
The battle in the Lower Boroughs was short but vicious, resulting in a large amount of the docks being badly damaged, scores of dead iron guardsmen, and hundreds of dead sailors and merchants that were at the docks at the time, the majority from the fires or drowning as many jumped to flee the Bringers. It seems that the Bringers of Silence and shavs were slain, but some may have spread through the Lower Boroughs or beyond in the chaos, appearing to all other respects as any other prodigals.
While it's unclear how they slipped further into the Lower Boroughs, likely in the confusion, a trio of Bringers of Silence were stopped before they escaped into the Pit and then into the catacombs beneath the city. While there are many dead, it seems the chaos has ended for now.
Through the efforts of Marquessa Demura and Duke Cristoph along with many others, the advancing tide has been slowed. While the city has recovered for two days since the attack on the Lower Boroughs, Knights of Solace and other harassing elements have brought word. The armies of the Bringers of Silence will soon arrive.
It's early into the winter day, a crisp, sunny day of pleasant weather with a light snow on the grounds outside Arx. To the north in the Gray Forest, riders begin to approach, bearing word the arrival of the Bringers are imminent. Less than an hour later, the forces begin to emerge from the northern tree line, about two miles away. Far out range of fire, but enough to start to see the massive horde begin to array itself. Distantly, extremely tall banners can be seen as the armies begin to gather beyond the trees. As the horde slowly approaches, it becomes clear that there are thirteen banners, and they are more like thirty foot tall crosses- with a slain knight of solace crucified to each one. The army pauses, eerie in its silence, completely frozen for a moment, and then starts to slam their weapons on the ground, a deep beat loud enough to be heard across the great distance.
The Bringer Army still has a wide field to march through before approaching the gate. In the long field, half a hundred fortifications have been dug, with pits and snares to slow the advance as they move through a killing field to approach the Seawatch gate- the point fo entry as the Bringer army has no visible siege towers or scaling ladders or the like that they'd need to assault the northern walls that make up the Wards of House Thrax, Redrain or Valardin. Oathlands cavalry, many of them the experienced skirmishers that had been under Duke Cristoph, are under orders to try to bleed them with quick archery strikes as the bringer forces march and try to move along the coastal strand towards the gate. Five hundred oathlands cavalry begin their charge...
No one in the Compact are as experienced riders as Valardinian Knights. They wheel in front of the massive bringer formation, pausing to unleash a volley, and wheeling away, scores of shavs in the massive tide dropping, with the hail of arrows launched in response dropping a handful of the Oathlands cavalry. As they wheel again, approaching the center of the advancing bringer army, a single figure in jet black platemail in the front of the bringer forces raises a single hand as the volley of arrows from the Oathlands begins to fall. The arrows all seem to fall apart in mid air. As the Oathlands cavalry turns to wheel away and return back to Arx, they all seem to trip as one and dissolve into dust before they hit the ground. They are just gone.
The bringer army begins to advance.
Panic is, of course, one of the biggest dangers at times like this. Fortunately, many of the most experienced and resolute leaders of the Compact are at the Seawatch gate, bolstering the resolve of the soldiers who had just witnessed something no one could explain, and had every reason to be overcome by terror. While some of the Iron Guard look shaky despite the best efforts of Lord Michael Bisland and Lord Commander Silas Mercier, a number take heart at the unshakable Lord Ywaine of the Crimson Blades. Northmen hear the cry of their highlord, Prince Darren Redrain, and echo the cry, "TO THE LAST!", standing firm on the ramparts. Lycene watch Archduke Niccolo Velenosa speak and stand firm as the bringer army marches on. And Knights of Solace and Templars hear Legate Orazio, and stand ready to do battle with a foe that they could label as truly evil. But would the forces on the rampart have routed for all that? Perhaps, if it was not for Armel, whose words bolstered so many, as soldier after soldier nods in agreement and cry out, "We have the Faith! Stand firm, we have the gods!" There is no rout from the foul magics. And then, in reply, the ballistae begin to fire...
The siege weapons on the ramparts were largely the work of Duke Gabriel Bisland and Lady Maude Ashford, the latter one of the more experienced generals of the Compact. They were positioned with care, for exactly this reason, to rend apart an enemy advancing towards the Seawatch Gate, that would have to walk along that long strand and come under fire. Out of range of archery from whence the invading horde can reply, the trebuchets and ballistae begin to fire, a ballistae bolt fired by Prince Tristram cutting a swath through an advancing unit, as the ballista under Deva's command appears to turn a bringer into fine paste. The same figure in black platemail waves a hand almost contemptuously, and the ballistae seem to all fall apart, as they aged a thousand years in a moment, with the trebuchets collapsing and crushing men that were manning them. The Bringer army starts to march into arrow range, and a strange mist on the otherwise clear day begins to move from the sea, coating the battlefield in a sudden, inexplicable fog.
Twice now, the forces have avoided a rout by the words of Armel as he also uses the example of the legate Orazio and calls to the gods. The Lord Commander Silas of the Iron Guard keeps those soldiers firm, while the Crimson Blades stay stalwart with their leader Tobias' orders being shouted. The former Lord Commander of the King's Own, Lord Rymarr Lyonesse, provides confidence on the field. Arrows rain from both sides, notably the Lady Clover dropping as an arrow finds her in a terrible wound, the woman losing consciousness from blood loss. Deva finds another mark with her archery, shooting a bringer from a horse, while Calaudrin drops one that seems to be a commander, and Jael shoots down an opposing archer before they were able to fire up at the walls. Still they march on, and the 'banners' of the crucified Knights of Solace are lowered as battering rams against the gates.
As the seawatch gate is hammered by the battering rams, arrows rain back and forth. Prince Tristram tries to pick out that same figure in black platemail among the mass that is obscured by the mist, and for just a moment, he thinks he sees the leader that had turned the cavalry to dust. An arrow flies from Tristram straight at the figure, seeming to change into flame as it arcs down, and shatters as if it hit a wall inches from the armored figure's helm. The figure looks up, and breaks the utter silence of the invading army to rumble in a booming voice as it points directly at Tristram, "Die." The rampart Tristram is standing on seems to explode outward, sending him flying backwards. Princess Deva Redrain immediately picks out the fire and fires in return, her arrow lancing down and striking the armored figure's helm right in the eye visor, and it seems to stagger back and falls out of eyesight in the mist, right as the boiling oil is pushed over onto the waiting figures below at the exact time from Lady Maude Ashford's orders. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of shavs manning the battering rams are burned alive, and there are no screams. More begin to approach, picking up the still smoking battering rams that melt their hands. Arrows rain down from the Compact's defenders, felling the approaching shavs by the score despite their kite shields starting to form a turtle around the rams.
The battle around the Seawatch Gate rages, and while some Iron Guard have routed, others are coaxed back into the battle by Legate Orazio and the fear of eternal damnation, and partly by the General of Southport for the fear of immediate execution. The Crimson Blades, other Iron Guard, forces of Redrain, Grayson, Thrax, the Lyceum, and Valardin all form a wedge at the gate, meeting the shav charges and the bringers as more and more of the shavs come to challenge the wedge blocking entry into Arx. Hundreds of shavs have died, a dozen bringers have been felled, but tens of thousands behind them remain in a long column hidden behind the mist. Strangely, deep in the mist, there's a sound of hooves, as if there's some cavalry fighting deep beyond the gates, and in the mist, it seems as if shapes of animals form for just a moment, a trick of the winds perhaps.
Bringers of Silence charge forward, as some chaos that can't quite be seen is ravaging their ranks in the fog beyond the Seawatch Gate. The Crimson Blades under the command of Lord Tobias wheel to meet the charge of Bringers in a perfectly orchestrated maneuver, cutting down several of the bringers as they meet their spears, while the others slam into the ranks of the Compact. One Bringer of Silence moves to kill the injured Prince Tristram, only to find itself face to face with Princess Reese Valardin who for just a moment, seems to glow, and the Bringer of Silence bursts into flame as she slashes it then explodes a moment later. Prince Barric, Sword of Bastion, slices his alaricite sword cleanly through another Bringer which seems to fall apart after being struck, dissolving. Roland and Artorius fight against another Bringer, dropping it low, while Lord Darrow's morning star smashes the head in of a bringer that is then beheaded by Lady Viviana. Lord Michael Bisland, holds a bringer as the Iron Guard rallies, and Sir Elrych cuts down another trying to reach Lady Maude. Through it all, the soldiers at the gate hold firm against the Bringers.
Strangely, the shavs and bringers gradually begin to withdraw, leaving hundreds of Compact soldiers dead, and perhaps a thousand dead shavs and dozens of dead bringers at the gate. Beyond in the mist, it sounds as if there's a herd of deer trampling through the mist, and roar of bears. The bringer army gradually begins to withdraw up the coast as the mist follows, and a trail of several thousand dead shavs is left along it, torn apart by forces unknown. The Bringer army withdraws to within a couple miles of the city and begins to surround Arx to the west, north and east, settling in for a siege... and beginning to construct siege towers from the Gray Forest, leaving the gate alone for now.
The Siege of Arx has begun.
As Arx settles into a city under siege, the Port of Arx remains open, with Iron Guard watching the docks that are slowly being repaired since the attack. None the less, trade continues, and with overland travel cut off by the Silent Army, if anything the port is as busy as ever. So despite the war being on, if anything, the overworked lieges of domains have more to do as the amount of visitors they have has not abated, and Duke Valkieri Rubino is no exception. The Duke of Gemecitta receives a Gemecitta delegation led by the Seraph of Gemecitta, a lifelong family friend and a group of Lycene merchants wishing to plead for help with how much their trade has suffered in the wake of the war, and ask for assistance in dealing with the rising panic, and it seemed a completely unexceptionable meeting. While it's uncertain what happened precisely in the meeting, no less than twenty minutes later, there's the sound of battle in the Rubino estate. Duke Valkieri Rubino is found dead in his suite, his sword buried to the hilt in the chest of the Seraph of Gemecitta, while the same Seraph appears to have punched a fist through Valkieri's chest and torn out his heart. At least a dozen guardsmen were killed in the fighting, with some of the merchants cut down, but some of the merchants fled the estate in the chaos. Bringers of Silence, indistinguishable from other people, are clearly in the city.
In the dark of night cries of alarm come up from the Lower Boroughs at the River Mouth. Words are that shavs are coming up out of the river attempting to get into the city. However, by the time forces are scrambled down to the rivermouth they find that five local defenders have lain waste to a force of twenty four shavs. Princess Freja Redrain, Master Orathy Culer, Lady Brier Crovane, Marquis Ford Kennex, and Mistress Magden have been said to have stopped the small force of Shavs from entering the city with their weapons-- and in the case of Brier Crovane fists --alone. However... there are whispers that one or two shavs may have gotten past them and into the boroughs... Still, that five people managed to stop /twenty four/ men on their own...