War Begins in K'ul Goran
Sept 18, 2019 11:58:29 GMT
Grimes, Varis/G'Lorth/Sundilar, and 8 more like this
Post by andycd on Sept 18, 2019 11:58:29 GMT
The war, suspected of and whispered about for weeks, came swiftly in the form of a thousand tonnes of flesh and noise as the giants descended from the mountains towards the small border fort of Stormbreak. The galloping electric beast that had delivered the warning of this doom of giants had arrived a mere hour before as the sun was setting, carrying a member of the Errant Guard and one of the foreign mercenaries. Armour had been quickly donned, the twin siege engines - ballistas - had been checked and loaded, signal fires had been lit alerting the whole border guard and messages had been sent after to explain what they were fighting after they were ready.
A final wagon was sent back to Zot Goran with most of the rest of the mercenaries, who had run where one had rode ahead and were obviously exhausted. They were sent back to warn the capital, sailing away as night fell. Watching that wagon depart, the soldiers who remained turned to face the wall of meat descending the mountainside towards them.
Stormbreak was one of the few defensive positions K'ul Goran had established which specifically focused on defeating giants, as the main threat to the east. Jarvenol, the agricultural centre of the country, lay just a day's walk behind them. Defeat here was unthinkable, for the consequences it would have for the nation. But as boulders began to crash into the field in front of the fort, thrown from incredible distance, it was hard to see the potential for victory here. Scores of Ogres and Ettins, dozens of Hill Giants, a conglomeration of force and violence like K'ul Goran hadn't seen in generations.
The first defence was vicious, developed by the same engineering minds that had turned the wind around them to a strength from a weakness. Rows and rows of short wooden stakes lay flat on the ground between Stormbreak and the mountains, now all pulled up into standing positions by concealed ropes. None would be more than the inconvenience of a stepped-on children's toy to a giant, but it would make them bleed, and in K'ul Goran that could be all you need.
The first ogres to run across them hopped about, eight huge creatures howling at the wood biting at their feet as blood dripped from them. The soldiers watched on grimly as the ogres looked confused and then regrouped to charge the fort anyway. At 100 meters, a few looked a little dizzy. At 60 meters, the pack was starting was starting to stumble. At 30 meters, most of their legs had given out.
Not a single ogre reached Stormbreak's walls. They lay across the spiked ground in the moonlight, exsanguinated by the land pulling their blood from the wounds in their feet. There’s a reason that ‘barefoot’ in K’ul Goran is a synonym for catastrophically foolish.
Ultimately, the spike traps bought the defenders of Stormbreak about thirty minutes, as the remaining giants looked at this field in bewilderment, uncertain of how to proceed, or even what just happened. Some began to wander off to the north and south - giants rampaging across the rest of the countryside to the defenders’ chagrin, nothing they could do.
It took some time for a figure to push their way through the crowd - a taller, grey-skinned Stone Giant, who wordlessly swung their club at the ground, smashing a dozen stakes, pointed at the field and smacked a Hill Giant forward. That shook them out of their confusion, and the remaining horde charged, smashing the stakes in their way. A few still got caught by them, but the walls were soon assaulted but figures only a few feet shorter than the ramparts. Clubs reached over to swing at the minotaurs, aerotaurs and air genasi holding the battlements, boulders rained from the sky, undisturbed by the howling winds. Kassandra and Ventria, two members of the Errant Guard who had been part of the scouting party, kept the human mercenary with them as they shot bolts of metal and fire in a coordinated strike on giant after giant.
==
Tynam Goragale had had a rough day. Yesterday he had been looking at a day of shield training and armour maintenance and then an Errant Guard scout had picked him up as a spare Hillsurfer pilot for her mercenary guests. He would have stayed back at Stormbreak when they arrived, but these newcomers, ‘adventurers’ they called themselves, had encouraged him to spread his wings a little and experience a scouting mission in giant territory. He didn’t think they’d get that close.
The day’s events were a little bit of a blur, but he remembered the cave, the council of giants they had walked in on planning the destruction of his home, the frantic whispered conversation as the four of them stupid enough to come into this hall had tried to figure out what to do, the running and then - unconscious. Something had hit him in the back. Then, a warm light and he was awake again, running again faster than he’d ever run before, all thought of stealth or subtlety gone, something else hit him and he struggled to remain conscious, struggled to see, struggled to run, but he had. And then they were out in the next ravine, still running, more of that warm light - so this is healing magic? - and then they’d put him on a… magical lightning horse with the scarfed human - Mistagun?
Now it was night, and he stood on a rampart he shouldn’t have been on, coming back barely alive from a mission he should never have participated in, facing a foe he’d hoped to never face, log sized weapons swinging over the rampart edge towards him as he ducked and shot his crossbow into a giant’s face, a pin in a pincushion that didn’t care. Kassandra had told him to stay close, but in the assault they’d been separated. He couldn’t see them anymore, or Mistagun.
Tynam dropped flat to avoid another huge club, crouched to fire again, jumped right to dodge another club, reloading the crossbow desperately as the stone floor shattered where he had been moments before. To his left he could see more of Stormbreak’s defenders - they were incredible - shields placed in unison to block a swing where one arm alone would fail, crossbows targeted together to topple first one giant, and then the next. He wasn’t with them though, he was alone, and basic training had not covered this - but they’d taught him to survive.
Tynam Goragale rolled forward, placing his back against the forward crenellations, finished reloading his crossbow and stood up, spinning to face the enormous face he could feel the breath of as it roared. A boulder was all he could see as he stood, and then he saw nothing at all, as Tynam’s body was flung from the battlements into the dirt of the courtyard far below, blood draining easily into the hungry earth.
The battle continued.
==
Lumo’s Redoubt stood on a small raise in the ground, elevating it perhaps 20 feet from the surrounding landscape. The soldiers were tired, but resolute - they had been on guard all night, ever since the first signal fire had been lit, and then the warning came of giants attacking the border. There had been no further word. One or two giants and ogres had been seen rampaging in the distance, wrecking local farmsteads, but the Lumo Guard had been unprepared to ride out to face them in case the larger force was just behind. Instead, they waited.
As dawn rose, a lookout on the southern tower called out, and word carried until the commander came striding across the parapet, climbing the tower to see what they saw. Hillsurfers, dozens of them, a small flotilla of sailing tubs across the landscape coming towards them. In the lenses of the Viewer the scout had handed to her, the commander could make out soldiers, some clinging on to the sides of the Hillsurfers as they overflowed and jolted down the roads. Most were clearly injured and they looked... harrowed.
The gates were opened, and the survivors of Stormbreak were let in to recuperate and reinforce. Amongst them were 2 members of the Errant Guard, with a strange foreign mercenary in tow, face half-obscured by a scarf.
The first battle was lost, but the giants were not that organised. There would be retaliation, but it would not be today. Now the fores of K’ul Goran needed to gather their forces and plan. This war would not be over quickly against a foe this vast.
A final wagon was sent back to Zot Goran with most of the rest of the mercenaries, who had run where one had rode ahead and were obviously exhausted. They were sent back to warn the capital, sailing away as night fell. Watching that wagon depart, the soldiers who remained turned to face the wall of meat descending the mountainside towards them.
Stormbreak was one of the few defensive positions K'ul Goran had established which specifically focused on defeating giants, as the main threat to the east. Jarvenol, the agricultural centre of the country, lay just a day's walk behind them. Defeat here was unthinkable, for the consequences it would have for the nation. But as boulders began to crash into the field in front of the fort, thrown from incredible distance, it was hard to see the potential for victory here. Scores of Ogres and Ettins, dozens of Hill Giants, a conglomeration of force and violence like K'ul Goran hadn't seen in generations.
The first defence was vicious, developed by the same engineering minds that had turned the wind around them to a strength from a weakness. Rows and rows of short wooden stakes lay flat on the ground between Stormbreak and the mountains, now all pulled up into standing positions by concealed ropes. None would be more than the inconvenience of a stepped-on children's toy to a giant, but it would make them bleed, and in K'ul Goran that could be all you need.
The first ogres to run across them hopped about, eight huge creatures howling at the wood biting at their feet as blood dripped from them. The soldiers watched on grimly as the ogres looked confused and then regrouped to charge the fort anyway. At 100 meters, a few looked a little dizzy. At 60 meters, the pack was starting was starting to stumble. At 30 meters, most of their legs had given out.
Not a single ogre reached Stormbreak's walls. They lay across the spiked ground in the moonlight, exsanguinated by the land pulling their blood from the wounds in their feet. There’s a reason that ‘barefoot’ in K’ul Goran is a synonym for catastrophically foolish.
Ultimately, the spike traps bought the defenders of Stormbreak about thirty minutes, as the remaining giants looked at this field in bewilderment, uncertain of how to proceed, or even what just happened. Some began to wander off to the north and south - giants rampaging across the rest of the countryside to the defenders’ chagrin, nothing they could do.
It took some time for a figure to push their way through the crowd - a taller, grey-skinned Stone Giant, who wordlessly swung their club at the ground, smashing a dozen stakes, pointed at the field and smacked a Hill Giant forward. That shook them out of their confusion, and the remaining horde charged, smashing the stakes in their way. A few still got caught by them, but the walls were soon assaulted but figures only a few feet shorter than the ramparts. Clubs reached over to swing at the minotaurs, aerotaurs and air genasi holding the battlements, boulders rained from the sky, undisturbed by the howling winds. Kassandra and Ventria, two members of the Errant Guard who had been part of the scouting party, kept the human mercenary with them as they shot bolts of metal and fire in a coordinated strike on giant after giant.
==
Tynam Goragale had had a rough day. Yesterday he had been looking at a day of shield training and armour maintenance and then an Errant Guard scout had picked him up as a spare Hillsurfer pilot for her mercenary guests. He would have stayed back at Stormbreak when they arrived, but these newcomers, ‘adventurers’ they called themselves, had encouraged him to spread his wings a little and experience a scouting mission in giant territory. He didn’t think they’d get that close.
The day’s events were a little bit of a blur, but he remembered the cave, the council of giants they had walked in on planning the destruction of his home, the frantic whispered conversation as the four of them stupid enough to come into this hall had tried to figure out what to do, the running and then - unconscious. Something had hit him in the back. Then, a warm light and he was awake again, running again faster than he’d ever run before, all thought of stealth or subtlety gone, something else hit him and he struggled to remain conscious, struggled to see, struggled to run, but he had. And then they were out in the next ravine, still running, more of that warm light - so this is healing magic? - and then they’d put him on a… magical lightning horse with the scarfed human - Mistagun?
Now it was night, and he stood on a rampart he shouldn’t have been on, coming back barely alive from a mission he should never have participated in, facing a foe he’d hoped to never face, log sized weapons swinging over the rampart edge towards him as he ducked and shot his crossbow into a giant’s face, a pin in a pincushion that didn’t care. Kassandra had told him to stay close, but in the assault they’d been separated. He couldn’t see them anymore, or Mistagun.
Tynam dropped flat to avoid another huge club, crouched to fire again, jumped right to dodge another club, reloading the crossbow desperately as the stone floor shattered where he had been moments before. To his left he could see more of Stormbreak’s defenders - they were incredible - shields placed in unison to block a swing where one arm alone would fail, crossbows targeted together to topple first one giant, and then the next. He wasn’t with them though, he was alone, and basic training had not covered this - but they’d taught him to survive.
Tynam Goragale rolled forward, placing his back against the forward crenellations, finished reloading his crossbow and stood up, spinning to face the enormous face he could feel the breath of as it roared. A boulder was all he could see as he stood, and then he saw nothing at all, as Tynam’s body was flung from the battlements into the dirt of the courtyard far below, blood draining easily into the hungry earth.
The battle continued.
==
Lumo’s Redoubt stood on a small raise in the ground, elevating it perhaps 20 feet from the surrounding landscape. The soldiers were tired, but resolute - they had been on guard all night, ever since the first signal fire had been lit, and then the warning came of giants attacking the border. There had been no further word. One or two giants and ogres had been seen rampaging in the distance, wrecking local farmsteads, but the Lumo Guard had been unprepared to ride out to face them in case the larger force was just behind. Instead, they waited.
As dawn rose, a lookout on the southern tower called out, and word carried until the commander came striding across the parapet, climbing the tower to see what they saw. Hillsurfers, dozens of them, a small flotilla of sailing tubs across the landscape coming towards them. In the lenses of the Viewer the scout had handed to her, the commander could make out soldiers, some clinging on to the sides of the Hillsurfers as they overflowed and jolted down the roads. Most were clearly injured and they looked... harrowed.
The gates were opened, and the survivors of Stormbreak were let in to recuperate and reinforce. Amongst them were 2 members of the Errant Guard, with a strange foreign mercenary in tow, face half-obscured by a scarf.
The first battle was lost, but the giants were not that organised. There would be retaliation, but it would not be today. Now the fores of K’ul Goran needed to gather their forces and plan. This war would not be over quickly against a foe this vast.
