=Event Story=
A Stage of not One but Three:
The fighting in The Pass continues as the new month begins, where gaining ground requires payments of warrior corpses, but the other frontlines find themselves calm no longer. Gone is the time for preparations as new fronts open up and the new year of war may pale the prior.
Scenario #1 Saturday:
Rumors of small skirmishes from last month have no time to circulate before the real news reaches the people east of The Great Wolf’s Hackles. Clans Ironmound and Stonetooth begin their advance through the wide gap between The Great Forest and The Hackles, their lines clashing with Clans Nightriver and Goldenfield warpacks stationed and ready for a fight. Both sides attempt to maneuver against each other’s forces, but Clan Nightriver and its allies have found themselves on the initial backfoot as Clan Stonetooth’s elite troops spearhead their invasion and continue to send units of Shattered Spear thralls against their enemies to break morale, with Clan Ironmound’s defensive tactics resisting attempted counter-attacks. The eastern clans do not stand alone though, as Clan Shattered Spear remnant warpacks fight hard against their homeland’s conquerors while the fortress towns of Bladehome and Shieldhaven stand firm in the north and south, creating key staggered defensive points that could become critical in the months to come.
As the large armies fight on the main routes, a key flank route just south of the lake has been identified by Clan Goldenfield leadership in the area. Should their enemies be able to claim and control this route it could cause them and their allies to be forced back, potentially losing significant ground and isolating the allied defensive towns. Clan Goldenfield calls for outside aid in defending this at-risk flank, neither them nor Clan Nightriver confident in having enough troops to cover it while also handling the brunt of the frontline on the main routes, if their enemies discover its significance.
Both sides fight with ferocity, not knowing what each day of bloodshed will bring or who will come out ahead as the battle on this new frontline has only just begun; but Clan Goldenfield, not known for significant martial prowess but bearing a critical agricultural role in the war, may become in danger in the future if this front fares poorly.
Scenario #2 Sunday:
The frontline of Clan Stormjarl has grown quieter last month, the great Grimward land invasion having not arrived as expected. To the east, the Yurnai River remains bolstered and watched by the troops of Newhope and their vassals, while excess units of the colonies and warpacks of Clan Nightriver continue to be sent via ship to reinforce Haygreth’s Scar on the Stormjarl border. None are fooled to think that Clan Grimward has backed down or been defeated on this southern front, but where the bulk of their forces have gone leaves concerning questions.
In the night, alarm bells shattered the calm with messengers and hawks exhaustively running across all of Clan Stormjarl with news. Clan Grimward has amassed what some believe to be their entire fleet, and hit the northern Stormjarl coast. While smaller villages falling to the initial overwhelming waves of warriors, smoke from blacksmiths in bolstered ports burn in the dark as their people continue to fight, unwilling to be taken thanks to the endless war preparations of the clan and their people. The coastal early warning tactics set in place after the prior civil war have done their job, and Clan Stormjarl relies on its allies to fill in the Haygreth’s Scar border as the clan routes forces to their northern coast with practiced efficiency.
Stormjarl will not be caught off guard by Grimward’s cunning tactics this time, but that alone will not save them from Grimward’s greater numbers as a portion of Grimward’s fleet moves south and begins to raid Clan Nightriver and Newhope’s transport and escort fleets. Some reinforcements bleed Grimward’s raids and make it through to Stormjarl, while others are drowned and lost to the depths or forced to retreat. Both sides avoid a single determining battle on the sea that would risk a complete win or loss on this front of the war, but neither side is willing to back down. While Stormjarl finds themselves at risk of being cut off from help the voices of the Newhope Council, Prince Aylin, and Sylvir Bloodmoon, Clanleader of Nightriver, speak loudly that they will not abandon their ally.
Clan Stormjarl aggressively responds Clan Grimward’s new frontline on their northern coastline, and calls for the aid of available allies to help in the reserve to keep their troops supplied and able to fight, while also countering Grimward raiders from causing harm behind Stormjarl’s frontline troops. As the city of Newhope continues to be the send-off point of both organized and independent aiding forces, travel to or from Clan Stormjarl has become dangerous; but if left to stand alone, the clan will see a grim fate.
= EVENT SUMMARY =
Scenario #1 Saturday:
With armies clashing on the main roads, there was no doubt in the critical importance this flank route near the Great Lake was as Clans Ironmound and Stonetooth arrived in force and struck quickly to begin taking and holding key strategic points within the area. Clan Goldenfield’s allies struggled to slow down their initial advances as they made the attackers pay with broken steel and blood as they were pushed back, but eventually a line in the ground was made. Despite the unique magic of the Stonetooth, despite the thralls being thrown recklessly against them, and despite the odds being against them, Goldenfield’s allies managed to stabilize and organize themselves. The two lines clashed in ferocious battles, one after another with both sides taking wounds as armor fell to pieces and quivers emptied.
Clan Ironmound’s entrance into the war has a felt impact as their warriors are bolstered by the mountain’s metals and their supplies run deep. As territory is taken by Stonetooth, it is found hard to wrench from Ironmound’s warriors afterwards. Despite standing next to Stonetooth’s forces, Ironmound’s warriors are said to fight with honor, both not willing to throw their lives away but also aiming to save the lives of their opponents when able. Some may say that Ironmound stands as an enemy that fights to win but not to kill; but as Clan Shattered Spear’s people continue to be used as thralls by Stonetooth, many demand answers or condemn Ironmound’s warriors as they stand by to the horrors of the warriors and people being used as fodder to fill the frontlines. Clan Ironmound’s renown traditional and honorable ways of their past have been made uncertain as they fight on the frontline for the first time this war, and answers to these dishonors are rarely given by their warriors.
The news is not all grim though, as messengers galvanize the frontline warpacks of Clans Nightriver and Shattered Spear. Thagn Brynhildr Bloodhammer, Breaker of the North, having been made famous for leading Clan Stonetooth’s forces in the conquering of Clan Shattered Spear, was slain in battle. Body left unceremoniously punctured, smashed, and broken.
Half the territory was lost by the end of Ironmound and Stonetooth’s offensive, but Goldenfield’s allies had pulled together and stopped them from being able to advance any further. As the sun set both sides waned in eagerness to fight as time was sought to recover, but the day’s battle was not over. Scouts reported gaps in the Stonetooth lines, and with Goldenfield reinforcements on their way it created an opportunity to retake ground. But as darkness fell, the forest grew eerily quiet until an inhuman shriek was heard from the unknown.
Terrors of the night descended upon all who walked the woods. A pack of creatures with mutated flesh and the unmistakable smell of salt, their horrific shrieks filling the air as they hunted for prey. A mass retreat was called back to the nearby outpost, with some choosing to distract the monsters while others went to recover war parties out on the field before they were cut off. By skill, miracles, or blessings of the gods, everyone made it back alive. Many warriors banded together and chose courage despite the fear, marching out to retake ground as the creatures stalked and attacked them from the darkness. The creatures flung magic effortlessly and struck with sharp protrusions of their own bones, but scurried briefly back to the dark when met with organized warriors. Thanks to the partially successful efforts of their allies to retake ground despite what lurked in the woods, Clan Goldenfield reinforcements eventually arrived to help hold the road. Word travels quickly that this was not the only area attacked as other warpacks were struck in the night as well by what many have begun to call “Salt Beasts”. At this time those who encountered them can only theorize if they migrated south, some form of strong magic in the area pulled their bodies as they used recall spells, or if they are a new form of warfare from Clan Stonetooth.
As dawn broke, neither side could claim a solid victory on this side route. Clan Goldenfield’s enemies managed to take enough ground to force some of Nightriver’s line of warpacks on the main roads to pull their positions back to avoid risk of being flanked and surrounded, but thanks to the efforts of their allies they did not lose any warpacks as this shift in the line was made. The bend has caused the fortress town of Shieldhaven to become a part of the new frontline, but the bend was not severe enough for the already-frontlined fortress town of Bladehome to become isolated. Clans Nightriver and Goldenfield fight on as they make Clans Stonetooth and Ironmound’s advance bloody, having used the thin gap to their advantage until the line was reformed.
This battle has only just started, but between encounters with Salt Beasts and fighting Stonetooth’s thrall units formed from the fall of Clan Shattered Spear, the morale of Nightriver and Goldenfield’s warpacks on the frontline has begun to deter faster than wars of the past. The two mixed armies reform from their losses before they face off again. By steel or fire, blood or mana, one side will eventually break in this gap that has come to be known as “Hammerfall” by those who fought there.
Scenario #2 Sunday:
The sounds of distant battle carried on the coastal winds as Clan Stormjarl’s allies and support forces arrived at the rearline. The location was in rough shape as the outpost’s medicinal supplies and most of their able-bodied troops had been moved to help on the front, leaving a wounded gap waiting for Grimward raiders to exploit. Those who arrived were determined to see their people stand strong and the outpost in better shape than when they arrived, even if they themselves were not on the frontline fighting.
The travel across the tides had been brutal for many, as Clan Grimward’s fleet continues to take fights of opportunity to weaken those sailing to aid Clan Stormjarl. Thanks to the undeterred help from Stormjarl’s allies fighting on the seas, a larger portion of the critical rear support fleet was able to reach Stormjarl shores than what Newhope leadership’s estimations were expecting to survive.
Clan Stormjarl and their allies entered the day uncertain of what they would encounter, but they met each challenge with willpower and strength. Their patrols traveled the roads while herbalists, healers, and alchemists were kept busy collecting herbs and restocking the outpost’s depleted medicine reserves. Tasks were taken off Hilmar Saltmourn’s burdened hands, allowing the Chieftain to manage the outpost efficiently while others took lead in the other priorities of the outpost and surrounding areas. Grimward’s raiders were never far though, always ready for a chance to strike.
Wounded came down the road as several villages on the frontline had fallen, their villagers and warriors attempting to flee the chasing Grimward warriors. Clan Stormjarl and their allies fought of the Grimward warriors while holding the wounds of the dying, not willing to accept an outcome where their people needed a pyre funeral. Supply carts needed to be escorted, often falling under attack but still managing to reach their destinations without damage. The outpost was protected by Stormjarl’s warriors, and they even held firm when a war party of raiders that was scouted to be passing through the area was intercepted and repelled.
By the end of the day, those who arrived to help found themselves exhausted with almost too much work having needed to be done; almost. The outpost found itself with an overflow of medicine stocks, allowing the Chieftain to send extras to other depleting rearline outposts. The areas surrounding the outpost were secured firmly, stopping Grimward’s rearline raiders from achieving their goals in the area or from passing through, forced to either turn back or die on Stormjarl lands. While Clan Grimward continues to land forces on the northern shores and more pillars of smoke fill the sky from burning villages, Clan Stormjarl’s rearline strengthens. The clan will not fall this month, and thanks to their allies it will not fall the next month even if everything were to turn for the worst. Clan Stormjarl nearly fell in only a couple months during the Civil War, but history will not repeat itself this time.