Battle of Alcazar

Overview

Conflict The Second War of Cortos Date 370 Place Cortosi floodplains, south of the Sleeping Sister river. Outcome Victory for the Torleon alliance.

Combatants

King Andal II of Alcazar, Emperor Gerra of Amol-Kalit King Ramos of Torleon

Commanders

Gerra of Molthal, Ashuanar, Mirielle Merlon, Douglas Haley Kjaran Mak Aodha, Ormr, Visha Sofka, Tinus Damos

Strength

Several hundred knights of Alcazar, a thousand men-at-arms, thousands of Kaliti footmen, hundreds of Abtati horse-archers, a dozen elephants, and the mercenary company known as the Band of the Lion. Approximately five thousand Cortosi infantry armed with pikes and crossbows, as well as several hundred knights of Torleon, and the mercenary company of the Kel.

Casualties

~2,000 military casualties, several elephants, and many thousands of Alcazar's civilians population, including King Andal II. ~2,000 military casualties, including many knights of Torleon.

Among the Kingdoms of Cortos, King Ramos of Torleon held a bitter rivalry with King Andal II of Alcazar. When reaving corsairs from Cerak at'Thul weakened Alcazar's borders, King Ramos united with two other petty kings and launched an attack on his rival. King Andal, knowing he did not have the military might to throw back his foes, called upon the heathen Empire of Amol-Kalit for aid.

Gerra, Emperor of Amol-Kalit, answered King Andal's call, leading a vanguard force south of the Sleeping Sister river, which served as the border between Amol-Kalit and Cortos. No army had crossed either of Cortos' two great rivers in decades, but Gerra brought a force made up of many disparate warriors: hundreds of mounted Abtati archers, girded in golden armor of finest make from the spoils of their recent Kaliti conquest; blue orcs from Kherkhana wielding their mighty horse-slaying swords; at least a dozen elephant riders and many lion-shaped Ngonya beastmen from the Savanna; and thousands of Kaliti foot soldiers from the Seven Cities.

They clashed upon the floodplains of the river with an advance force sent by King Ramos of Torleon. The warriors of Torleon used an enormous pike square and crossbows to keep the mounted Sand Elves at bay before the Kaliti footmen charged into the pike square.

Torleon knights bravely charged against Ashuanar's sipahi cavalry, but both sides suffered heavy casualties when the sorceress Visha Sofka let loose a barrage of indiscriminate destructive magic.

While these two forces clashed, Douglas Haley led the Band of the Lion in an effort to rescue the city of Alcazar from the siegeworks set up by Tinus Damos' Kellish mercenaries who worked for Torleon. In the ensuing clash, Douglas was grievously wounded. Near death, he called upon his magical heritage and unleashed some of the power he had siphoned from Drakormir's body in Elbion. A magical hurricane formed over Alcazar, obliterating much of the city's outer wall, killing thousands, including their king, Andal II.

Gerra, seeing the battle's primary objective of defending the city lost, ordered a retreat and defended the rearguard against the Frost Giant Ormr. He was saved by a Sand Elf sheikh's daughter, Cyra Al-Dushar, and her bow as she distracted Ormr and gave Gerra time to escape.

After fleeing back across to the Amol-Kalit side of the river, Gerra tended his wounds, called a counsel of his generals, and declared open war upon King Ramos of Torleon.