Open Chronicles The Siege of Cregsbend Castle

[Arianrhod]

Arianrhod hated fortifications.

Her own people did well with mountain fastnesses or hidden sanctuaries in the depths of the wilderness. Her clan used renegades and auxiliaries from other races when they took the offense. Why risk firstborn lives in one of the most dangerous aspects of war?

Not that this counted. Her band would settle to kill, feed, then resume their march north. If she could resist the urge to cut open the heart of the orc chieftain. He'd not have much of a warband left by the way this skirmish was going. They'd charged right into the arrows, now they were grappling and dying on the walls.

Their group moved closer, following in the wake of the next mob clamouring to have their chance on the ladders and ramparts. There was a straggling line of corpses in the run up to the gatehouse. The survivors were smashing their tree trunk against the gates with enthusiasm. These orcs might have been amateurs at siegecraft but they were amateurs with stamina.

Screams sounded beyond the east, a high pitched squeal that was cut off by a sickening crunch. Arianrhod realised she'd taken a subconscious step in the other direction, others mimicking her. An arrow landed near her foot and she snarled, nocking another to her bow.

 

[Ledhros Caur]

To the west, the defenders were stalling the big push at the gatehouse-

EAT

To the east, they were butchering orcs efficiently-

EAT

The south faced no attack yet, but the north was buckling. Outside the wall, the orcs had torn through the spikes or filled the ditch as they died. Several were scaling the wall, fighting on the walkway and the stable roof that Ledhros had just left-

EAT

He straightened up and knew he looked rough. Pigpen slop, swine blood...oh, and he was currently half boar.

He fumbled the latch, then ripped the gate off the pen and loped out with an eye for the nearest hostile orc. They matched each other in bulk now, and Ledhros had bigger tusks.

EAT

 

[Aratus Seldomus]

Aratus rolled his sword in his hands, shaking the blood off of it. Too much blood and the sword wouldn't cut as well, plus all the nasty bits that the blade had picked up along the way.

The Orcs attack on the Eastern wall came to a standstill, thanks to the efforts of the reinforcement and the soldier from Thelios, the Monster Hunter, and a few other notable participants. The Athallian stood tall, having slaughtered plenty of orc in his wake. Blood scoured his body- but not a drop of his.

It was then he heard it. Thunderous footsteps. Uneven. Sloppy. Had to time it right. He pivoted, and caught the Orc in the face with an outstretched arm and a well-placed shield. They were on the ramparts now, and pouring in from the Northern positions. He parried a blow with his sword, and with a pivot- and a single swipe, cut an Orc in half at the torso, sending him, and his left arm, clattering below. Aratus kicked the remaining bits of the once proud Orc off of the rampart.

The Althallian had his qualms with the Orcish people here. They prided themselves on war, but showed little prowess for it. Such great raiders- perhaps on peasants. But hardly a worthy adversary to anyone worth their salt.

And these Orcs were worth nothing to the Althallian. He turned, gaining ground on the advancing Orcs, to Thane Jackdaw. He pointed his sword at him, and then thrust it to the Orcs. And then he charged. Aratus saw nothing but the brutality in war, and was quite adept at conducting it. He just wished it wasn't so fucking cold- he very much hated the cold.

The North wall needed defenders as much as the East. If they were not careful however, they would be enveloped from all sides. That would simplify things for an Althallian- being that he would know exactly where the enemy was. But he doubted that the entire roster of defenders would be happy or even delighted at the prospect of being surrounded by an enemy simply to know where they were.

Or even being in this situation in the first place.

 

[Selene Avar]

There was a slight lull to the east as the Althallian and his Hunter companion slaughtered they way through the Orcs.

Selene used the opportunity to take a few steps back, the scythe like sword in her hand slick with brackish blood. Her chest rose and fell, blood splattered the crimson of her hair, but oddly enough she felt exhilarated. It was not often that her life was put in danger.

True, some of that danger was manufactured, but it was still different than the usual fair.

Despite the rabid number of deaths in their lines the Orcs were still pressing forward. Their Warchief was a clearly and envious creature, and he drove them to continue their attack. She looked around, spotting a few of the milita still locked in combat.

Then she glanced out towards the east. Her lips thinned for a brief moment, noticing the stall in the enemies attacks. Were they going for a different strategy?

With no one watching her Selene muttered a few terse words. A bit of College Magic flowing from her tongue, her eyes flashing a bright red for a brief moment as the darkness was illuminated to her and only her. That was when she saw it.

Her eyes popped open as the creature came into view. At least twice as tall as any orc around it, skin gray and black, it's face filled with sharpened teeth and muscles thicker than any being had a right to. "OGR-"

Before she could finish speaking the monster beyond the wall hurled a massive boulder directly towards the wooden palisades.

Selene cursed, jumping from the wall as the boulder crushed the wooden beams.

 

[Ledhros Caur]

Up on the north wall, grappling with orcs and breaking crude ladders, Ledhros-the-half-boar had a deeply limited sense of the situation.

The gods alone only knew what was happening at the east wall (Urberus Selene Avar Aratus Seldomus). Lehros' only impression was that it was loud.

Off to the west, an orc battering ram - a treetrunk, most likely - smashed into the castle's main gate over and over. So far, Thane Jackdaw and company had held the gatehouse, but there was fierce fighting in that direction.

South still seemed quiet as far as Ledhros could tell. North, however...even with his monsterlike assistance, the north was about to face a breach. The whole wall shivered with the weight of orcs climbing it and the resonance of their axes at the base of it. Their bodies filled the spiked ditch in a squishy bridge three or four paces wide.

A panicked stream of residents and defenders rushed up the walled stairs into the keep high overhead. They had the right idea.

 

[Urberus]

The palisade of the east wall exploded in a spray of splinters as the ogre-hurled boulder ripped apart the timber and left a gaping hole, through which dozens of orcs began to stream.

An immense ogre followed after them, huge and every part of him bulging with muscle, teeth wide in a rictus smile.

Suddenly, there came a horrible shrieking howl and then the shape of the Chimera leaped over the wall and collided directly into the ogre. It sounded like two charging bulls slamming into each other. The monkey-troll’s long claws tore, while the ogre’s fists swung as the two behemoths struggled for dominance.

Meanwhile, Urberus, buffeted by foot traffic toward the keep, struggled to see what was going on, before eventually giving up and letting the flowing current of desperate refugees pull him into the keep.

 

[Arianrhod]

Arianrhod cursed the cowardly dogs fleeing to the keep. Cursed them, their parents, and their relatives to the ninth degree. The bailey would fall but the fierce fight put up by the defenders meant that they'd not have enough impetus to surge on and take the keep. A cornered rat would fight like a tiger.

There wasn't going to be much left for her beyond slitting the throats of some of the wounded, the fighting had flowed closer to the keep. Two titans clashed in the bailey but she steered clear after a couple of errant shots had no effect. The chimera slashed at the ogre, ignorant of the two minuscule arrows sticking out of its thick hide. The two monsters battered at each other with sledgehammer blows, ones that would have reduced lesser beings to a pulp.

She barked an order, the line halted and began to shoot indiscriminately at soldiers and refugees alike who were fleeing for the keep.

 

[Ledhros Caur]

HORNS rang out from the keep, louder and purer than orc signals. Ledhros shook blood from his tusks and moved to guard the press of people streaming up into the walled stairs. Elven arrows and orkish darts bit into them as they ran up the stairs. Ledhros yanked an arrow from his shoulder; he could barely feel it.

But mimicry had its limits. The transformation couldn't last.

"To the keep!" he roared, loud and inhuman, the same message as the horns. "Up to the keep!"

Selene Avar Thane Jackdaw Aratus Seldomus Arianrhod

 

[Hath Charosh]

Ledhros Caur Thane Jackdaw Arianrhod Selene Avar

This was chaos unfettered. Almost as bad as pandemonium itself. He was one of a handful of orca fighting alongside the humans, which already put him at great risk. Keeping up with the ebb and flow of the battle was becoming impossible.

There were elven archers beyond the wall and some monstrous creation locked in battle with an enormous orge.

Hath focused on the one thing that really mattered: the outer wall was compromised. Someone was shouting for them to go to the keep.

Down to just two arrows, he abandoned his bow and quiver. If they survived he could recover them after the battle. If they didn't then it would not matter.

He picked up biter and swung for the nearest orc. The magical, dwarven weapon bit deep into its shoulder. Hath yanked it free sending a splatter of dark blood over himself. He turned and jumped down from the guardhouse.

He wanted to be ahead of Thane and the other defenders. If it looked like he was chasing them, then one of the archers at the keep was liable to put an arrow in him.

 

[Ledhros Caur]

OOC/ Since life has prevailed, I've taken the liberty of writing this up: https://chroniclesrp.net/Folklore/Siege-of-Cregsbend-Castle

Thane Jackdaw Urberus Hath Charosh Aratus Seldomus Arianrhod Selene Avar