Delenda: Empire news From: Inferno Games <Inferno@waveney.demon.co.uk> Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:00:00 +0000 Some of the more recent news from the civil war in the Holy Empire: SELYANS CAPTURE CORBIT As the Selyan forces advanced ever nearer to Corbit, uncertainty about their motives persisted in the city. Even the Archbishop of Corbit, who had spoken out several times in support of Veltayn�s claim to the throne, didn�t seem sure that the Selyans were allies � he deployed his own troops in the city to defend the area around the cathedral. Meanwhile, Edmund de Montagu prepared his defence of the city by demolishing some of the internal bridges connecting the islands. He laid especial emphas is on preparing to ambush forces that attempted to cross from the river bank to Cor Rabbi, the first island on the Western side of the river, where he believed the main force of the attack would come. In the event, Essex du Barry divided his forces into two groups. Robert Babington and Khanuta Sara remained on the West bank, whilst Essex himself moved South of the city to a point where he could ford the river, and then proceeded to line up his forces on the Eastern bank. The attack commenced simultaneously on both sides of the city. On the West side, Robert Babington found the end of the bridge blocked with a wagon, and evidence of defending forces ready to intercept his men as they attempted to cross. Consequently, he held back from advancing onto Cor Rabbi, and simply held the bridge to prevent De Montagu using it as an escape route. Meanwhile, Essex du Barry swept his troops over the bridges on the East bank, and onto the first islands. He met only very limited resistance � it seemed that De Montagu had concentrated most of his defences on the Western side. However, the bridges which Essex would have to cross onto the next island had been demolished, halting his advance almost as soon as it had begun. He would need to fill in portions of the river channel to get his men across. As this work commenced, Essex ordered Babington to demolish his end of the bridge onto Cor Rabbi, and begin filling in the river channel on his side. When the filling was complete, both army groups advanced onto the island before them. They met no resistance, for Edmund de Montagu had all his men fall back into the fortified part of the city, built over the four central islands. The Selyans were now within trebuchet range of the city walls, and the next couple of sendings saw the construction and operation of trebuchets, as Essex went for a textbook approach, completely demolishing the wall sections that stood in his way. The experienced engineers under his command brought very rapid results, but this was not matched by Babington�s forces on the opposite side of the city. By the time Essex had cleared all the targeted wall sections on his side, Babington had yet to demolish one. Nevertheless, Essex decided to press ahead with the assault on just the Eastern side of the city. His men moved forward to fill in the river channel before them, and then started their advance into the city. There was very little fighting inside the city itself, for Edmund de Montagu had ordered his troops to fall back from the walls. They headed towards the Northern end of the island of Cor San, near the cathedral � on the Western side of the city. Movement inside the city is extremely limited however, as there is a limit to the number of men who can get across any of the bridges at one time � this obviously created bottlenecks at all the bridges, trapping many of the city militia before the Selyan advance � and many of them were killed or captured in this way. By now, Edmund de Montagu�s plan was pretty clear. He was using a flotilla of small boats to evacuate his troops from the Northern end of the island of Cor San. By the time the Selyan troops got across onto Cor San, most of the surviving defenders had already escaped. The last evacuees fought a rearguard action as they made their escape by boat. From Cor San, they were ferried across to the small unfortified island of Cor Ada. This island is surrounded by wide river channels, and indeed is practically out in the sea at the mouth of the river estuary. It is completely out of range of the shore and the other islands, and can only be reached by boat. It seems that Essex du Barry had been let down, and that the Selyan fleet had not provided a naval blockade of the river mouth as he had expected. Without ships, there was little he could do for the present about the troops who were clinging onto Cor Ada. Edmund de Montagu had a couple of ships anchored out in the river mouth, and he was able to use these to begin an evacuation of troops from Cor Ada. This evacuation continued for the next sending or so, aided considerably by the ships of the Cimric Fleet, commanded by King Gwydion and Daffyd ap Howel. Edmund de Montagu, Princess Christobel and their troops were successfully retrieved, and sailed back to High Lune. The only problems remaining for Essex were some troops who had remained behind to hold the citadel. He countered this by moving the trebuchets on both sides of the city into positions where they could fire to demolish the walls of the citadel, although the keep was left standing. Once the citadel walls were destroyed, Essex�s troops advanced � but at this point, the remaining defenders surrendered without any further combat. STATEMENT BY HUNTER JORDAN It is well known that my family have made several attempts at reconciliation between the two claimants to the Throne. Further that I have believed this conflict unjust and undesirable. I was not prepared, however, for the depths to which some will stoop to grab power. In inviting the Selyan invasion the Holy Emperor has shown me that he does not have the best interests of the Empire at heart. This saddens me � his sister, Alison, is my son�s wife, his mother my oldest friend, and to be honest I considered him a better man than this. I only hope that the order came not from his mouth but that of someone speaking �on his behalf�. In light of this, however, the Jordan family place their forces, loyalty and support squarely behind His Imperial Majesty William, as must all loyal Imperial nobility. Long live the Emperor! CLOSE ENCOUNTER IN TANNON As the Imperial situation worsened, forces began to mobilize in the former Papal States. Troops from Currill and Helya, led by Marros Rhos, moved up in to the southern part of Avon, and proceeded to take up a defensive position South of the bridge. This would enable him to hold the bridge against river crossings by Emperor William�s forces. Presently, Marros was joined by Magon Barkas, Duke of Tannon, an Imperial noble who had declared his support for Veltayn�s claim; and then by the Grand Duke of Fenodree, Rudiger Drachenfel. After a couple of sendings, Marros broke camp and marched the combined army Eastwards into Tannon � then turned to march North. It is believed that he intended to head for Ishlom, crossing open country to avoid the main road route which would have taken him past William�s strongholds in Avon and Gar. As the army neared the Northern border of Tannon, its advance scouts detected the approach of another substantial force. This was a large body of Emperor William�s army, consisting of Imperial troops led by the Earl Marshal, and the Cimric and Arfordan troops recently arrived in Aagar. Information from his scouts indicated that Marros was outnumbered by at least three to one � he therefore took the decision to avoid a field battle, and ordered his force to retreat back to Kaleborne, the capital city of Tannon. The Imperial/Cimric army chose not to give immediate pursuit, preferring to remain with its wagon train in the unfriendly territory of Tannon. Arriving at Kaleborne a few days later, they began to lay siege to the city. Prince Rhodry took command of the operation, and supervised the construction and firing of trebuchets. Inside the city, Sir Henryk Drachenfel was placed in charge of defensive operations. LOOTING IN CORBIT The Selyan forces occupied Corbit for a very short time, during which Essex du Barry placed troops in many key positions around the city, to keep order. His men were under strict instructions not to commit looting, or to harass the people of Corbit. However, such strictures did not seem to apply to all components of the Selyan army. On the island of Cor Rabbi, where the forces of Robert Babington and Khanuta Sara were stationed, there were reports of looting. As this island contains mostly poor dwellings and the Jeheddin quarter, the pickings could not have been particularly rich. Not long after this, the Selyan forces packed up ready to leave Corbit. But immediately prior to this departure, there was one further incident. A small party of Selyan troops forced their way into the city library, adjoining the Median monastery of St Terrance, and there demanded that the monks hand over all the books. Initially, the monks refused and attempted to prevent this theft by physically interposing themselves between the soldiers and the books � they were joined by tutors from the University in this defence of the library. Very shortly, the troops were joined by Robert Babington, Duke of Kibzai, who attempted to intimidate the precantor of the monastery into handing over the books, threatening the use of force. When this elicited no co-operation, Babington ordered his men to seize the books. The soldiers had to knock aside the monks and priests who tried to stop them, which resulted in several of these churchmen receiving injuries. The final atrocity saw one monk, Brother Polidorus, being stabbed to death by a soldier�s sword. The stolen books were packed onto wagons, and quickly taken back over the bridge to Babington�s camp on Cor Rabbi. After this, they were presumably removed from Corbit as the Selyan army took its leave of the city. The Archbishop of Corbit, Otto die Weiss, went to the library as soon as he heard the news, but by then the whole incident was over and the Selyans were already on their way. His cousin Sir Werner die Weiss, commander of the Hospitaller College in Corbit, was on hand to provide medical attention to the wounded monks and priests. Otto himself took his troops, and set off in pursuit of the Selyan army, intending to locate and recover the contents of the library. FALL OF KALEBORNE Conducting trebuchet operations against the city of Kaleborne, Prince Rhodry ap Gwythen concentrated upon destroying the battlements along two sides of the city wall rather than demolishing whole wall sections. At the conclusion of his operations, only two complete sections had been breached in the North wall, but the defensive value of the battlements had been eliminated. King Matthew then took command of the assault, moving archers forward into range to engage the defending troops in an archery exchange. This successfully forced the defenders back off the walls, allowing the attackers to move forward to fill the moat, and come in through the breaches. The defenders meanwhile fell back to regroup behind palisades which had been erected inside the city. As the enemy started to come through the breaches, Marros Rhos decided to abandon the city defence, and attempted to break out through the South gate, while archers and infantry held the attackers off for a time. By the time the attackers became aware of the breach, a number of troops and all the commanders had already successfully escaped the city. King Slaine, who was on the nearest flank to the breakout, led troops forward to attempt to halt it, backed up by Prince Rhodry. However by now, the trickle of troops pouring through the South gate had become a torrent. Slaine and Rhodry had insufficient forces in position to stem the tide, with most of their troops up at the Northern end of the city exploiting the breaches in the walls. Fighting around the South gate became heavy, and both Slaine and Rhodry sustained wounds. At this point, it was readily apparent that they couldn�t hold the breakout, and withdrew to a safe distance. This allowed many more of Marros�s troops to exit safely before they were caught by the forces advancing into the city from the North. The battle was now over. Those of Marros�s troops remaining inside were cornered, and surrendered to the attackers. Marros and his allies regrouped away from the city, now with only around half the number of troops they had started with. The attackers had sustained relatively far fewer losses. Marros immediately headed South through Tannon, and then crossed the Imperial Chase, heading back towards the Papal States. Prince Rhodry�s stomach wound proved to be largely superficial, but King Slaine could only be saved by the amputation of his right hand. SELYANS MEET UP WITH VELTAYN The Selyan forces, under the command of Essex du Barry, travelled South along the road from Corbit. In Quanro, near the famed church of St Abelard, they met up with Veltayn and his allies, who had marched North to meet them. By this time, news had arrived of the fall of Kaleborne, which had seriously diminished a large section of Veltayn�s support in the South. Perhaps this gave Essex pause for thought, since he decided to make camp there near St Abelard, rather than continuing with his advance towards Aagar as many had expected. He ordered construction of a fortified camp. Within the camp, the atmosphere was considerably tense, and relations between Veltayn�s troops and the Selyans somewhat strained. In part, this must have be due to the innate hostility that has persisted between Imperials and Selyans for many a year � but news had also arrived of the looting of the library in Corbit, and this may have caused many of Veltayn�s men to question his choice of allies. The arrival of the Archbishop of Corbit shortly afterwards, looking for the stolen books can only have exacerbated matters. Veltayn had already lost the Netoney feudals � his hold over them had been fairly tenuous to begin with, since he had only been appointed Steward of Netoney by the Emperor Louis just prior to his death, and had not arrived to take control of Netoney until after he had declared his intent to claim the throne. But the final straw was undoubtedly the Selyan attack on Corbit, which must have looked like a betrayal of Netoney, and prompted the feudals to desert Veltayn. KERIM FORCES MOVE TO SUPPORT WILLIAM Following the successful conclusion of the civil war against King Herman, Kerim troops under the command of Prince Reinhard Muhler moved into High Lune to offer their support to Edmund de Montagu, who at that time feared that the Selyans might continue their advance Eastwards from Corbit. This move coincided with a declaration made by the Emperor William in Aagar, recognizing the new Regency council as the ruling body in Kerim, in the name of King Manfred, and recognizing Kerim as an independent state. When the Selyan troops proceeded Southwards from Kerim, Prince Reinhard led his forces West to Corbit, and proceeded to retake the city in the name of Emperor William. There was no opposition from the city, who were in no position to defend themselves in any case. Taking control of Corbit, Prince Reinhard enacted an order of the Emperor William to install his cousin Lady Elithe ap Howel as an acting steward, with the task of trying to get the wrecked administration of Netoney back under control. CAPTURE OF JERMIMA Following their successful capture of Kaleborne, Prince Rhodry and the Earl Marshal decided to continue on to Jerasslin, the other fief of the Barkas family. As with the capture of Lower Varn, their objective has been to rob Veltayn and his allies of their support, by capturing their home fiefs and placing them under the control of the Imperial administration. The army that set off from Kaleborne was reduced in size, for King Slaine had decided to retire to Aagar. He was still weak following the loss of his hand, and needed the opportunity to recuperate, whilst his troops joined Emperor William�s men in the defence of Aagar. Although there were some fears that Marros Rhos and his allies might have fled to Jerasslin, Prince Rhodry found the main town of Jermima to be relatively undefended, and was able to force it to surrender without a fight. AAGAR RAVAGED BY FIRES The city of Aagar has been ravaged by fire, in what appears to be a determined campaign of arson. The city awoken by alarms of fire shortly after curfew. Fire in our cities is a terrible thing, and the militia is always quick to respond. A chain was formed to bring water from the Waven in buckets, whilst boat hooks and the like were used to literally pull burning thatch from the roofs of buildings � the fire always spreads fastest through the thatch, so this is a good precaution to try and stop the spread. Nevertheless, when fire breaks out, it usually spreads rapidly and widely before it can be dealt with � this is why curfew is so strictly observed. Even as the blaze was being dealt with, another fire was reported in a completely separate part of the city. In fact, fires appear to have broken out in a number of different locations practically simultaneously. The unlikelihood of this happening makes it all the more apparent that the city had been targeted in a campaign of calculated arson. Under normal circumstances, it might well prove impossible to fight fire on such a scale. But Aagar is a city under martial law, with thousands of troops currently stationed in and around it. These drilled and disciplined men, able to keep their heads in a crisis, were able to assist the citizens and the city militia (many of whom were panicking of course) to fight the fires. By morning, everything was finally under control. However, the toll had been heavy. The city was a scene of great devastation. Something like forty per cent of the city�s buildings had been gutted, much of it reduced to crumbling ruins. Many wooden buildings had been completely destroyed. Ash and embers lay thickly over everything, and thick palls of smoke hung over the area. It was estimated that some two hundred or more people had lost their lives in the blaze, many of them children or old people who had been unable to save themselves when the alarm was given. Amongst the property destroyed were homes, commercial premises, even churches. Aside from the dead, there are many thousands of people homeless and destitute. The fire had however been kept away from the city walls, the citadel and the cathedral. Throughout the next day, evidence began to emerge that clearly pointed to arson as the cause. In fact, a militia patrol had encountered a small group of men apparently trying to start a fire in a warehouse near the docks. The fire took hold quickly, and he need to fight the blaze took precedence over an attempt to capture the culprits, who made their escape � but fortunately, one of the miscreants slipped, and was overpowered by a militia man and taken prisoner. Later during the evening, when fires were already starting to blaze, and frightened townsfolk were out in the streets, a second group of men was discovered in the process of setting light to a tavern. In this instance, the crowd threw themselves upon the arsonists, trying to restrain them whilst the militia were summoned. The villains proved pretty determined not to be captured however, and fought viciously against the people trying to hold them. Such was their ferocity and combat ability that it seemed to most people that they were probably very well trained soldiers. Several of the townsfolk were injured in this fight, and all but two of the arsonists were able to get away. In the morning, these three prisoners were brought before the Emperor William, who ordered that they be fully interrogated to find out who they were working for, and what their purpose had been. He then made the following speech from the steps of the cathedral: �Today, we stand in the midst of destruction and tragedy. We do not yet know who was responsible for this outrage, but can there be any doubt that this is a concerted effort by my enemies to destroy the morale and the loyalty of the good people of Aagar. I say to you, I know that your hearts are true and loyal. I know that such evil tactics cannot affect you. �Arson is a terrible, heinous capital crime. Those who are my enemies have looted libraries, murdered monks, and now they commit arson, murdering hundreds of your fellows and burning churches. The Pope has said that you shall know your true ruler by his actions. I tell you, one who sanctions the murder of monks, or acts of wanton arson against the capital city, does not demonstrate himself as a fit ruler for the Empire.� -- Andrew Kearley Inferno Games Inferno@Waveney.demon.co.uk Referenced By Up