Benjamin Bradfoot

Benjamin Bradfoot is the son of John and Maria Bradfoot a pair of poor servents in the city of Aldorf. Benjamin as a young boy was forced to become a begger in the Empire city ofAldorf and he continued this until he came to become a member of the Ravenholdt Order following the destruction of his rebellion movement in Aldorf. He would remain a member of the Order until his best friend Ezio returned and asked him to help him found the Order of the Violet Dragon in Lucerne. Benjamin Bradfoot has one child with Astria Hirsh in the form of Lessley Snow of whom he wanted to marry Astria over her birth but she rejected this.

Benjamin as a young boy was forced to become a begger in the Empire city ofAldorf and he continued this until he eventually started his own crime syndicate in order to feed the poor he saw. He grew to become powerful enough that the Aldorf Knights would attack them, and his crime syndicate was taken apart piece by piece until the end was near. He came to become a member of the Ravenholdt Order following the destruction of his rebellion movement in Aldorf as his syndicate had been saved by the intervention of Ezio Ederiz of whom had gotten as many out as he could and convinced Benjamin to retreat while he still could. Benjamin Bradfoot acompanied Ezio Ederiz into Hispania during the Raven Orders mission there but realizing that they were going to be doing evil things when they arrived he would warn the Order of the Purple Cloth in Malta of whom then sent agents to Hispania where they attempted but failed to stop the Ravens from their sabotage in southern Hispania. He would remain a member of the Order until his best friend Ezio returned and asked him to help him found the Order of the Violet Dragon in Lucerne. He would become one of the founding Lord Assasins in the Order of the Violet Dragon, and served Ezio as perhaps his second in command due mainly to the loyalty that Benjamin Bradfoor has shown to Ezio throughout their time together. During this time he has gained fame through his brilliant defence of Castle Stragnarax during the Battle of Castle Stragnarax. Along with this he has a personal group of twelves assasins that he trains as his personal unit, and together they always remain together, and through this they have all grown incredibly strong in devotion to both eachother and the Kingdom of Lucerne that allows them such safety and peace. Benjamin Bradfoot would enter the Tevinter conflict with his personal forces, and he was instrumental alongside his men in the victory that the Lucernians achieved at Saalfeld as they completely disabled the defences of the city and forced the weakened Tevinter army to lost commanders and then retreat into the open where they were destroyed by Robb Starke.

Characteristics

Personality

Benjamin Bradfoor is haunted by the fact that he believes he abandoned his men in Aldorf to death at the hands of the Empire soilders, and harbors a deep hatred for disloyalty or anyone he believes mistreats the poor.

History

Early History

Benjamin Bradfoot was born in the massive Empire city of Aldorf, and spent most of his early days begging on the streets for what little food he could. This begging came to an end when he was recruited into a street gang in Aldorf in which his particular skills were put to great use.

Crime Lord

He slowly discovered that the street gang he was in did not have the leadership neccessary to keep with their premise of uplifting the poor youth of Aldorf to riches, and because of this conclusion he decided to use his skills to take over the gang and try to uplift the youth. The leadership was suprisingly simple to remove for Benjamin, and with his opposition piece by piece destroyed he begin recruiting larger and larger numbers of the poor youth that lined the streets begging.

As his numbers climbed so to did the notice of the authorities increase. He begin to discover that the authority was willing to use any force neccessary to remove his presence. After months of fighting against the counter assault by the Empire forces his forces were cornered in their stronghold in the poorest neighborhood. The Empire sent in hundreds upon hundreds of troops to root out the crime lord that was causing them so much trouble, but months of the siege wore on with no end in sight.

The End

The end finally came when the closest members to him turned their backs on Benjamin and sold their loyalty to the empire. With his forces compromised from the inside the Empire launched a large attack and succeded in wiping out his defences. Hundreds of the most loyal members of his gang were cut down, and his headquarters besieged.

With only moments before he was killed, a man came into his planning room and convinsed Benjamin to escape the ruins of the gang he had built. So loyal was Benjamin to his gang that he refused and prepared to go to the front lines and die beside his men, but before he could the robed man hit him with a mace knocking him uncontious.

Ravenholdt

Main Article : Ravenholdt

Fall of Hispania

Main Article : Fall of Hispania

Fall of Hispania
We just sat there and let them destroy half the continent. It all could have been stopped so easily.

“When High Mentor Gregor died I never thought...None of us thought Sayden was trying to do all this.”
— Ezio Ederiz

The Orcs inability to swim, or craft any sort of boat meant that the Romans had left this region dangerously undermanned believing that this water barrier would provide all the protection they needed. In fact there were more solders garrisoning the small Italian town of briensia, of which shared no border with any hostile nation, then there were in the castle of Gibraltar. As well as this undermanned garrison the original site of the castle was far enough back from the beach and the crossing that the soldiers couldn't see the crossing, and for this they relied on a small village with a large lighthouse along the coast. For years the Orcs of Emblam prepared for this crossing by massing a huge amount of troops in the lands of the former Roman provinces of Mauritania while the Kingdom of Senegal one of the human client states of Emblam begin preparations for the moving of the Orc armies across the Straits of Gibraltar. This bridge would be used by the Orcs to open up a new front in Europe, as they were being stalled in Africanas by the Nubian Empire, and the Kingdom of Lahmia.

“The truth is I would watch the entire world burn to its very core to get what I want. What I want is for my Lord Tzeneech to return to his rightful role in this world.”
— Sayden Ah-Salemi

The Order of the Raven would be contacted during this time by Tanitha Ogriddit the Fourth Mistress of the Order of Ekrodomis and during this visit it was Gregor Davenholdt the High Mentor of the Ravens that soundly rejected helping them with such a morally bankrupt mission and threatened violence against Tanitha and her party if they did not leave. Following the departure of Tanitha it was Sayden Ah-Salemi that would follow her with several of his loyalists and realizing this was his moment to destroy the moral ravens he would agree to work with Tanitha and bring whatever support he was able to once he had gained control of the ravens. This action and agreement would lead to the Coup of Ravenholdt which once it was complete would lead to Sayden as the new High Minister and with this new power he would meet with the Empire of Emblam at the city of Banjul inside the Republic of Gambia where meeting with the Gambians and Senegese they would arrange to assist in controlling southern Hispania. Returning to Ravenholdt following this agreement it was Sayden that would send two of his loyalists in the form of the Raven Masters Vincent Vandame, and Hartwin Eberl to southern Hispania where they were to stop the castle of Gibraltar from communicating what was happening across the Straights of Gibraltar.

Fall of Gibraltar

Main Article : Massacre at Gibraltar

“If I would have known what I was actually doing...If I had of just simply looked past the lies I was being told. I could have stopped all of this.”
— Ezio Ederiz

Poncet Mariette would lead his Unkindness to the small castle of Gibraltar where arriving with his forces he links up with Vincent Vandame, and Hartwin Eberl and their forces all of whom are to combine their strength. Vincent and Hartwin had managed to keep any word from Gibraltar from leaving the area as well as sabotaged the boat at the port which was meant to be the first warning against movement to the south, and thus the Roman Empire remained unaware of the growing construction of the Bridge of Gibraltar. Entering the castle Ezio accompanies Poncet, Hartwin, and Vincent as they are introduced to a Roman Lieutenant named Postumius Iavolenus of whom they discuss the current regional situation with and Postumius reveals he has only gained a few dozen of the garrison to his side while the remainder remain loyal to Caelus Trebonius the Legate Tribune of the castle. With this in mind Poncet while clearly confused as to what there end goal is goes along with the plan that Vincent and Hartwin form in order to kill the garrison and then gain control of the port.

“By the time we arrived at San Toque the whole village had been put to the sword. The Morag Tong were already doing their work, and there was no stopping what was happening.”
— Ezio Ederiz

The attack would be stalled by Vincent, and Hartwin who refused to tell Poncet why but instead commanded he and his Unkindess travel north and destroy the village of San Toque. Poncet would once again wilt under the pressure and accepted this command taking Ezio with him as they traveled to San Toque on this mission of destruction.

“I can't change what we did that day. I can't ever ask for forgiveness. I can't take it back. All I can do is attempt to do some manner of good in the world before my demons eventually find me.”
— Ezio Ederiz

Following returning from the destruction of San Toque it was Poncet who met with the newly arrived Burama Jarju of whom was a member of the Morag Tong and was there to assist in the capture of Gibraltar. Together with the few traitors in the castle the forces of the Raven and the Morag Tong would attack the castle during the night and without any warning the defenders were mainly dead before any fight could be had, and the legate tribune would be assassinated by Poncet who alongside Ezio spoke briefly with the tribune before the kill discovering more details on what was actually happening.

Aftermath

“This is not what I signed up for Ezio.”
— Benjamin Bradfoot

Ezio and Benjamin Bradfoot discussing the situation and Ezio feels the first pangs of doubt over his loyalties as Benjamin reveals he cannot accept what has happened and prepares to leave for Malta to warn the Order of the Purple Cloth about the happenings in southern Hispania. Ezio at first is prepared to kill Benjamin but their frienship and his confusion over the evil they had just taken part in leads Ezio to let Benjamin leave, and with this Ezio returns to the camp where he plans to tell them Benjamin was struck down and fell in the water.

Capture of Malaga

Main Article : Capture of Malaga

Hispania - Fall of Hispania - Consolidation

The town of Malaga was a major town located in the middle of the Malaga mountain chain, and with the Orcs massing in Gibraltar it was Malaga that was chosen as the place where they would situate their main organizational center. Wanting to take control of Malaga with as much of the infrastructure intact as possible the plan would be for a division of the Kingdom of Senegal, a division from Gambia, and a division from Songhei, to join the Order of the Raven and Morag Tong in capturing the town with as little violence as possible. Entering Malaga its Ezio who runs into a young man and seeing the boy snaps something inside him and leads Ezio to knock the young man out and leave him hidden in a celler telling no one of this outside of Erard Montaigu before they return to their mission of killing the seventh centurion. Entering the command headquarters for the seventh cohort of the 13th legion they would kill several legionarries who blocked their path to the main room, and upon reaching it found Caelius Paetinus inside with three legionarries but only one had his armor and weapon with him.

Fall of Almeria

Main Article : Fall of Almeria

The Invasion of Hispania would begin with an event known as the Fall of Almeria where they forces of Emblam alongside their allies having already taken much of south-eastern Hispania would surround the port of Almeria where the bulk of the Roman Fleet in Hispania had made its port. By this time there were rumblings around the Roman Empire that things were happening in Hispania but for the part of Appius Procyon the Legate Prefict in charge of the scouting for the 13th Legion he had no signs of attack and his scouts were not relaying anything of importance to him due to the work of the Morag Tong targeting them. At the onset of the Fall of Hispania Appius was in a small fortress just north of Almeria where he was dealing with negotiations with a small tribe of Spaniards and it was in this position that he was forced to fight for his life when Orcs attacked his fort during the larger Fall of Almeria. Having survived and rallied his forces during the events of the Fall of Almeria it was Appius who joined the Legate of the 13th linking up with the larger surviving forces of the 13th as they begin retreating northward towards Alicante.

Battle of Central Hispania

The Romans would send in six Legions as reinforcements in an attempt to stall the Orcs advance while they built up the defences of Valencia, Tourone, and Castile. The Legions arrived in Valencia and begin moving towards their respective spots but in an unfortuante turn of events the 13th Legion under Lucius Vorenus, and the 4th Legion under Titus Pulo would be stuck in Ravenna at port and didn't arrive until it was too late for them to reach Castile, and thus two Legions meant to defend Valencia moved towards Castile. These four Legions fighting at Castile attempted delaying tactics for nearly a month, but each battle left them more and more drained and they were less and less effective. The 2nd Legion managed to escape west towards Portugal, and it sucked off a portion of the Orcs that followed them as they retreated at full speed towards Tourone. The 9th Legion would be massacred by the Orcs outside of the city as they attempted to make their way inside, while the 10th Legion would escape that Battle and make it inside the city. The final legion in the 5th Legion would flee eastward effectively and would meet up with the newly arrived 13th, and 4th Legions in Valencia.

Battle for Tourone

Main Article : Battle for Tourone

Alexander Rousset would lead the forces of the Dutchy of Aquitaine into the area of Tourone where they planned on assisting the pushing out of the Orc forces from Hispania, but upon arriving in Tourone they discovered that the 5th Legion was no longer attempting to fight an offensive conflict and instead was in a fighting retreat back to Tourone in preparation for holding the area to allow people to escape, and with this in mind Alexander would send his son and the fleet south while he joined the effort to hold Tourone.

The Tourone Gap

Main Article : Battle of Tourone Gap

As a large force of refugees flowed into the Tourone area the usually Bretonian nationalist Alexander Rousset made the decision to hold the gap open at the risk of his own forces and this led to the Battle of the Tourone Gap where Alexander kept the gap open then led an ordered retreat out of the gap back to Tourone but was mortally wounded during the battle dying shortly before they arrived at Tourone.

Battle for Lisbon

Main Article : Great Battle for Lisbon

Lisbon Counter assault

It would be Alain Rousset that would following the command of his father take the Aquitaine Fleet and move southward to link up with the Roman Fleet at Lisbon for what he planned to be an eventual assault on the Straights of Gibraltar. Arriving at Lisbon Alain discovered that the Roman Fleet at Lisbon had been defeated by a naval force from the Emblam allied nation of the Kingdom of Songhei and learning the Roman Fleet had fled westward trying to escape it was Alain who led the Aquitaine Fleet westward in support and would come upon the Roman Fleet and the Songhei engaged in a fleet battle and with his arrival they shattered the Songhei Fleet and captured or killed the entire Songhei Fleet.

Fall of Castile

With the Fall of the resistence the Orcs made a straight line for Castile, and the massive millions strong Orcs Army surrounded the city and put it under siege. For days they hammered at the city but the stalwart defenders in the 10th Legion would succesfully hold them off under the mistaken belief that the other three legions were on their way to releave them. While the other three wanted to assist the 5th Legion was damaged and unable to move, and the 13th and 4th were facing massive opposition in the form of the Orcs advancing on Valencia. With no resistence coming Lucius Vorenus sent a raven to Bretonia where he said in the letter that Castile was going to fall if the Bretonians did not advance and assist them. Upon reading the letter the Bretonian King is said to have wept tears at the precarious situation that Europe had found itself in, and with all the news shifting in to his throne room he was sure that the letter was authentic. With all of this in mind the Bretonians were scared so much that they flooded into Hispania and made full speed towards Castile. The Bretonians were slowed down by the constant battles and because of this they arrived days to late, and watched as Castile fell and with it the hope of a human Hispania.

Battle of Valencia

With Castile gone the Orcs rampaged towards Valencia, and Andorra where they would come to fight massive battles which for the first time went against them as they discovered the Bretonians were able fighters with competent commanders unlike the Romans. The three sides fought constant battles and with Lucius Vorenus now having complete control the Romans were fighting more effectively and thus Valencia was a no go for the Orcs.

As the Order of the Violet Dragon prepared for the coming invasion of Westbridge, Benjamin knew that Castle Strangnarax would require an effective defense leader and he told Ezio that he would remain behind to assist in any defense that might be needed.

First Battle of Castle Stragnarax

Main Article : Battle of Castle Stragnarax

Battle of Castle Stragnarax
Everyone was moving on Westbridge when the monsters came to our doors. We were horribly outnumbered, but we had strength of our own. I would be damned if I let these monsters beat us.

“The construction crews of the Order of the Grey Dragon still lined the streets, and nearly seventy percent of the towers were incomplete when we got news that the Orcs were crossing the line and heading towards us.”
— Thomas Brent

Castle Stragnarax was designed as the center of the western defenses of Lucerne, alongside the rebuilt Eyes, and the castles of Dragonhorn, and and it was during the period following the Invasion of Westbridge that its purpose and defences would be tested for the first time. Following the end of the invasion and with the armies of Lucerne retrurning to the valley after victory the Eyes caught sight of a large force of Orcs moving towards Castle Stragnarax. Commander Lothar Wornwayne would realize the severity of the coming attack, and thus The Eyes immediatly sent ravens and a single scout to Castle Stragnarax. Learning of the attack the defenders under the command of Thomas Brent would send out dozens of scouts and runners to the surrounding region both warning them of the coming attack, and also requesting immediate assistance at the castle. The two main places that they sent requests for assistance were to Hilsbrad and House Greymane, as well as from the nearer forces of House Ordos and its vassals from Marburg.

Alongside this it was Karyl Reyne the loyal wife to Franklin Brent that went to work when she travelled to Castle Greentail to convinse Lord Deitrik Greentail to lend his forces to the defence of Castle Stragnarax. At her words Deitrik Greentail would once again lend his support to Franklin Brent during the Battle of Castle Stragnarax but this time his infatuation with Karyl Reyne would become a problem when her convincing set him over the edge and he tried to rape her only stopped by the arrival of his son Estmar Greentail who stopped him from raping Karyl. Stopping this Estmar would take Karyl alongside the Greentail forces and she was able to force him to promise to her that he would never say a word of what had happened to Franklin and he agreed despite his growing friendship with Franklin Brent. Alongside these two though the very powerful House Mountain would be sent word, and while they were not expected they would eventually prove to be one of the most steadfast comers into the conflict.

“We knew we could never hold them off, but every Orc we killed with an arrow was one less the defenders would have to deal with.”
— Lothar Wornwayne

For his own part Lothar Wornwayne was forced to deal with the Orcs overruning the Eyes, and this forced him to recall many of his troops into the cave systems they had long set up. Lothar would send word to his second in command Rolly Reyne of whom would be commanded to follow as closely as humanly possible to the forces of the Orcs, and find out as much as possible about their numbers, while the rest of the Rangers either defended themselves or in the case of Lothar prepared to make the rest of the journey for the Orcs as miserable as he possibly could.

Lucernian Forces	Strength
Castle Stragnarax	The defenders of the castle were swelled to some 5,500 men and held very few women and children as they had been cleared from the castle. The castle itself was nearing fully completed but the southern and northern approach did not contain the proper defences that were meant to be in place, but the main gate was a killing zone.
House Ordos	House Ordos would send some eleven thousand troops of mainly cavalry led by Franklin Brent, and Kieth, and Jamie Darkwood, as well as four thousand troops from House Greentail led by Estmar Greentail.
House Greymane	House Greymane sent some eight thousand of split cavalry and infantry to the defence but only three thousand would arrive in time to do anything.
House Mountain	House Mountain sent some four thousand men at arms, and cavalry of whom would arrive a day before the second attack.
House Darkmore and House Darkwood	House Mountain sent some four thousand men at arms, and cavalry of whom would arrive a day before the second attac
Others	The Order of the Violet Dragon commited all of their available forces that were in Lucerne as the castle was their headquarters The Order of the Blue Dragon had several Magi in the vicinity of which Alann Roil, and Brann Voil would lead these forces to great effect during the Battle. The Rangers of the Eyes had some four hundred men of whom caused horrible damage to the Orcish Horde over the course of the week they travelled towards Castle Stragnarax The Order of the Red Dragon sent ten Griffins to assist in scouting of the Orcish forces but they didn't arrive in time to greatly assist in this task. The Knights of the Summerwall had some sixty Knights, and four hundred men at arms and formed an elite guard at the main gate.

“Hundreds flowed into the gates of the castle, and from these our defenders swelled. We prepared as best we could for what we believed was our deaths. When the Orcs arrived they would find a well defended Castle that was not going to die easily.”
— Blake Dinton

With the Orcs incoming the defenses were prepared and all troops were called in from the villages and farms nearby. This swelled the defenders of Castle Strangarax to a force of some 5,500 men at arms along with the twelve training members of the Order of the Violet Dragon that had remained in Castle Stragnarax under the command of Benjamin Bradfoot. The castle itself was commanded by Thomas Brent but his percieved inexperiance meant that he left the defence of the city to his honor gaurd commanders and Benjamin Bradfoot, along with the council of his military force. One of the other premier commanders of the castle was the recently arrived Edric Summerwall, and his Knights of the Summerwall of whom had been commanded to move themselves from their previous home in Forks to Castle Stragnarax where they would be the official Knightly Order of the castle. The Plan for the defence consisted of holding on for as long as they possibly could while they waited for the army of Hillsbrad to arrive and relieve them, alongside the rest of House Brent coming as well. As the Battle reached the point that everyone knew it was going happen they would drain the women, old, and young from the town and they would make there way eastward towards Marburg of which was the closest nearbye town. As the old, women, and children were withdrawn, and in their place came wagon after wagon of supplies from the surrounding region they knew there preperation was about to end as the Orcs were nearly at the castle. Fionna Brent would be one of the few women that didn't leave the Battle and she would lead a contingent of Dragon Priests of whom preached the power of Glaurung and tried to raise the moral of the forces. Knowing how long they had before the attack the defenders would send out some two hundred cavalry of whom were tasked with further scouting the incoming Orcs and giving them some extra amount of knowledge when they would attack. In Hohenstein the leadership of House Mountain would make the decision to assist Castle Stragnarax after Baelor Mountain stated that he believed this would help to uplift them in the eyes of Lucerne, and specifically the King in Lucerne of whom was not exactly shy about his distain for those who sat on the sidelines. As the furthest away of those who cold come to the aid of Castle Stragnarax, there assistence unknown by most and they were going to arrive later then the others anyway. By this point Franklin Brent would marshal his personal knightly order, and while he did this his father would gather the forces of House Brent, of whom would meet with House Ordos outside of Marburg and prepare themselves to also assist Castle Stragnarax. Franklin Brent would lead his forces seperate from his father Frank, as he was still unwilling to forgive his father for being passed over, and while making the trip the sickly Frank Brent would be forced to return to the Brent Seat and thus left command to Franklin. The Knights of the Gilded Fell would also mount themselves and leave their seat at White Hill led by Desmond Hill and make their way southward, and their location meant that they would arrive hours before the Orcish army did and they were thus able to enter the castle before the Orcs blocked the routes in. One of the final arrivals was the unexpected forces of House Darkmore, and House Darkwood of whom had been meeting in the Darkwood of seat of

“The eyes had done their part for sure. Rangers of the western approach had caused casulties to the Orcish horde, while we knew every piece of strength they had coming at us.”
— Baelor Mountain

While the scouts did this it the Rangers of the Eyes were continueing to harass the Orcish Hordeas they moved eastward. Special attention was paid by the Rangers to the dozen or so Gronn that had accompanied the Orcish army. As the Orcs continued to move they lost four of the Gronn to hit and run attacks as the Rangers used hidden caves and cliff tops to rain arrows down on the Orcish army while retreating once they had done the damage they could. Lothar Wornwayne was constantly harrassing the Orcish force, and this only increased in intensity when he and Rolly Reyne finally met up days away from Castle Stragnarax, and in a join ambush during the night they killed some four hundred Orcs before they were forced to retreat southward and into Dragonhorn while the Orc army had finally reached the outskirts of the Castle Stragnarax.

The Orcs Arrive

Orcs Incoming — Orcs had once again overrun the western border, but this time there numbers had been detailed by the scouts of the west, and their movement carefully tacked.

“The first sign of the Orcs was the massive stream of screaming and shouting that came from them. They were definetly not going for stealth because they just wandered into the open and those stragglers were shot by our archers, while the remainder of the army chopped down trees in the forest.”
— Benjamin Bradfoot

It was nearly two weeks after the Raven fortold of the coming Orcs they arrived west of the castle and begin chopping down the trees that were there to use to construct ladders, and siege towers. The Orcs spent an entire day doing this and as they worked the defenders of the towers were firing long range balista shots at them which were able to destory one of the towers before it was able to be used the following day. Also during this day the Orcs attempted to push forward siege machines in order to batter holes in the walls but they discovered the accurasy of the balistas was extreme as each siege machine pushed forward was destoryed in turn with only a few shots getting off and dowing little damage to the wall. When the final batch of catapults were brought up defended by large trenches and by blocks of wood meant to shield from the Balistas it was Alann, and Bran Voil that had the entire Order of the Blue Dragon force set the field ablaze destroying the remaining catapults and hundreds of Orcs manning the trenches, shiels, and catapults.

“Arriving at the castle it was nearly completely surrounded with only the southern wall not having a massive crowd of Orcs miling about.”
— Franklin Brent

As the day wore on the forces of Franklin Brent arrived at the Battle, and he would make his forces move towards the southern wall where he arrayed against the large southern Orc host. Sending word into the castle that they had arrived, this would greatly uplift the defenders moral who knew they were in some amount of trouble. Franklin constructed a series of trenches lined with anti-cavalry poles of which he planned to retreat into in case the Orcs sent an army to deal with his forces. After spending all of the energy constructing the siege machines they found that the catapults and such were destroyed the moment they got into range, with only a few actually able to launch a real shot at the walls. The Orcs were forced to place more forces in the southern end as the arrival of Franklin Brent meant they were now threatened by somone outside the walls and the mainly cavalry force was of great danger to them. Without any hope of launching their catapults the Orcs would move their forces forward and their seige towers that had been hidden would be pushed forward for the first attack.

The First Attack

“An undesiplioned mess. Sometimes numbers can make up for mistakes in leadership, but there has to be even a semblence of leadership for that logic to work.”
— Thomas Brent

With their seige machines set up the Orcs attacked in a vast wave of upwards of 25,000 of which the vast majority attacked the main gate while some 7,000 attacked the southern section defended by Marbrand Keep. The northern wall also had some two thousand Orcs attack it but these were extremely disorganized and the least of the problems of the Castle. Outside of the seven thousand sent towards the southern wall four thousand Orcs were sent against the army of Franklin Brent in order to keep them away from the fighting. Mainly Worgs this force would chase Franklin's forces into the trenches they had constructed, and suffered many casualties to this traps before fighting broke out between the two forces. Franklin Brent was forced to battle against a large Orc of which had killed two other men, and finally reaching the Orc he and the Orc dueled for several minutes until he shot the Orc with a hand crossbow he was finally able to reach off his back. Staggered by the shot the Orc would be sliced across the chest fatally by Franklin as he attempted to pull the crossbow from his neck. Following the large Orc's death the other Worgs became less threatening but there numbers still meant that Franklin could not advance agains the southern forces and aid the defenders. As the Orcs advanced they were devestated by the massive array of archer, and balista fire by the time they reached the wall they had lost significant numbers.

Attack on the Main Gate

“If a wall is forty feet high and your ladder is twenty feet tall, I really don't see the value of even bringing the ladder. ”
— Thomas Brent

The attack on the main gate went disastrously with all four of the Siege towers destroyed, and with the huge array of archers present the Orcs that massed on the ground trying to get up the ladders were caught in a killing zone and lost huge numbers before the Orcs retreated leaving behind the ruins of much of their force alongside the destroyed siege towers. The Balistas that sat on the towers continued to destroy anything that even resembled a battering ram, and because of the hoardings all along the wall the few Orcish archers that were on the ground found very few targets, and the few they did were unable to be struck because of the hoarding. Along the main gate though despite this horrifying aray of weapons the Orcs did manage to get several of their number onto the walls where the Knights of the Gilded Fell under the command of Orival Black would stand in the breaks and kill them as they climbed over the walls. The Magi of the Order of the Blue Dragon had been completely concentrated along this defence and had been responsible for two of the towers going down as they lit them on fire using spells.

Attack on the Tower of James the Vigilant

“When I got word that we lost control of the Tower of James I felt my first trickle of fear into my heart. I thought for a brief moment of the deaths of the entire castle, and in that moment I nearly paused. Benjamin grabbed my arm as if he knew what I was feeling, and with that I shook my head and ordered the counter assault on the tower. ”
— Thomas Brent

The Orcs attacked the three areas and it was only at the tower of James the Vigilant that they had any real success. The Orcs were able to keep their seige tower alive in this section and with its survival they were able to mass over the wall, and this caused the beggining of an intense fight over the tower. The Orcs slowly pushed them back into the tower, and forced the defenders to lock the gates into the tower, and block them outside. The Orcs attemtped to break through the gate, and during this time the Orcs begin to take fire from the inner wall as they were free to fire on them now that the defenders were gone. As they took heavy casualties they found themselves unable to break into the tower itself, and begin spreading throughout the walls of the western walls to the point that they attempted to break into the main forces at the main tower itself. During this time Thomas Brent would order the main reserve forces sneaking out through the more southern tower and behind the Orcs of whom were busy sprawling all over the walls. Now behind their lines the relief force set the siege tower alight and then was able to get back through the tower with minimal casualties. As the siege tower burned down the Orcs found their reinforcements ended and they were slowly wittled away at by the massive number of archers all along the James Towers. The final holdouts were to be dealt with personally by Benjamin Bradfoot of whom was directed to the castle under the command of Thomas Brent of whom was worried over the prospect of Orcs within the walls.

Attack on Marbrand Keep

“The goal was to get them to cross the wall so when they did we weren't exactly worried that they had climbed the walls.”
— Domeric Marbrand

Marbrand Keep was defended by Domeric Marbrand of whom defended the large keep with some three hundred men, while the main wall was defended by another three hunded. The men on the walls were designed to hit them with as many arrow barrages as they could, but the moment the Orcs manned the walls the force was to enter the heavily fortified gates and make their way into the keep. The Orcs would attack with some two thousand forces against the wall, and at first for the Orcs the Attack on Marbrand keep went well at first with the Orcs able to climb over the walls after suffering some three hundred losses to the defenders on the walls. With the ladders against the walls the defenders retreated into the towers and through the tunnels allowing the Orcs to get into the actual castle but once there the design plan went into affect with the Orcs now stuck in no mans land with no ability to get over the next defences. The Orcs attempted to follow the retreating defenders through the tunnels into Mabrand Keep but discovered the tunnels filled with nearly twenty feet deep gates that would be nearly impossible to break through without Magi, or some sort of explosive. The Orcs then attempted to charge across the field but the defenders of the keep were able to fire acurate shots into them and caused horrible casulties against them. By this point the Orcs were in panic, but begin to run past the Keep and into the city proper where the nearly five hundred remaining Orcs were confronted by a force led by Thomas Brent himself. Leading his most elite troops they would battle against the Orcs and defeat them causing them to retreat back as they came, and they were basically anihilated with very few returning to camp.

The Second Attack

“Nearly all our reinforcements were now in the area, and their commander was so bloodthirsty by this point he just charged at the southern wall with his full force.”
— Thomas Brent

The Orc army was still massive but it had suffered heavy casualties accomplishing nothing the first day, and in even worse news for the Orcish army was the fact that the reinforcements of the defenders had begun to arrive in heavy numbers. The full army of House Mountain led by Baelor Mountain had arrived alongside the forces of House Garfield and they were camped northwest of the battle moving in behind the Orc forces. Andrew Garfield would lead the forces of House Garfield into the fray as he was joined by several of his loyal retainers including Edmund Frotenhood, Esla Tollsen, and several other important knights of the region north of Hillsbrad. House Greymane had now joined the army of Franklin Brent bringing the southern army to more then ten thousand, and that number grew throughout the day as the southern vassals came north and more of the army filtered in. Realizing the main gate was a killing zone he didn't have the force to take down the Orc commander would move nearly his entire force to the southern wall of which caused most of the defenders to shift to the same wall. With this in motion the relief armies would move into place, and House Mountain was nearly completely behind them and was actually destroying the reargaurd of the Orc army as the Orcs attacked the Tower of James the Vigilant.

“The doomed charge of a doomed army.”
— Franklin Brent

The Orcs charged the walls using three new siege towers and were this time unable to get any to the walls as the casulties of the previous attack, and the heavily increased defender numbers meant the three new towers took far too long to reach the walls. Stuck again with no towers the ladders went up and a great amount of fighting went all along the walls as the Orcs massed onto the ramparts. The defenders were hard up to resist, but as the battle reached a turning point the Orcs begin screaming as the forces of Franklin Brent, and Liam Greymane's army of House Greymane smashed into their rear. The commander of the Orcs would die during the inital assault, and as mass panic spread amongst the Orcs they begin retreating despite still outnumbering the human attackers, and nearly overwhelming the defenders at the tower. As they retreated westward they came directly in the path of the army of House Mountain and were cut down in their hundreds as the Mountain forces had entered the previously constructed Orc trenches and were in a great defence position.

Total Victory

“I had defeated their army on the field, but as I entered the castle I found my brother was the hero. People were crying out his name, and he was truly beloved. I knew then and there that I was done here, and I would have to chart my own path somewhere else.”
— Franklin Brent

With the Orcish army completely routed and on top of this most of the army had been destroyed in the field leaving the remaining elements to move westward where they were chased down by the cavalry force of House Greymane, and House Ordos and thus the victory was completed. Damage was heavy in the James the Vigilant region of the castle, but elsewhere the losses and damage was nearly non-existence but hours were spent burning the bodies of the Orcs so that they would not send out spores and cause a real problem for the humans of the area. With the clean up beginning the relief armies would camp, while the leadership all met within the castle. Thomas Brent was by this point hailed as a hero and became known as Thomas "The Orc Killer" in honor for what people saw as his great victory, and this was in spite of the two larger armies led by the Mountains, and Franklin Brent moving in and being the true changer of the battle. The story of the battle that had not been seen through the eyes of Franklin Brent were told at dinner, and the next day the armies prepared to return home. Franklin and Thomas would say one last goodbye as Franklin told his brother that he was going to take forces and lead expansion in the Westerlands alongside House Arryn. The two brothers who had constantly battled eachother for position understood that Franklin was accepting defeat and they hugged goodbye knowing they would probably not be meeting any time soon.

The Rise of Lucerne
I saw the destruction of the world, and knew I had to stop it. There was nothing left to do but become bigger then everyone else. The Empire was never going to be the beacon the world needed it to be. Westros was on fire. The Bretonians had reached for the stars and been burned. And the old shadow of Numeron was fading far too quickly. It was left to us in Lucerne to change the fate of all those who wished to reject darkness. We were the last hope for a world who had long since given up on believing.

I had been trained alongside the noble elite in the Lucernian Academy for a year, and during this time I had specialized in siege warfare. That was the problem with the Orcs. I was trained to fight against diciplined troops using strategies, but the Orcs just flew out of the forest in this massive wave. They had a level of shock value to them but in the chaos they were seemingly charging at random. Easy pickings for the methodic fire from the walls.

I looked out over the rampart and saw them running about in the field out of range of all our firepower outside of the Balistas, and I was still taken back by their numbers. I could see the towers being pushed forward, and I heard Benjamin, and Orival Black barking out commands for the archers to prepare.

They were coming, and this would be the moment of either our salvation or our death. As I watched them pushing the towers forward, and watched as the first tower went up in flames I couldn't help but feel better. The second tower burned with the fire of Brann Voil of whom stood chanting on the top of the tower, and yet again even as they moved forward I couldn't help but harbor a growing level of optimism.

The saddest part of the charge was the fact that they had four siege towers, and then a huge number of ladders which they didn't realize till they reached the walls weren't tall enough to reach them. Watching the army run around at the base of the wall after ninety percent of their ladders weren't tall enough was one of the most shocking sights I've ever seen.

Death of Judith Krebs

Judith would follow Franklin into the Battle of Castle Stragnarax but it was during this conflict that she finally came face to face with her long time nemisis from the Circle of Magi in the form of Hartmut Ehrenfeld and the two would duel outside the castle but despite Franklin coming to her aid she was killed and Hartmut once again escaped.

Bastard Child

Following the Invasion of Westbridge Astria Hirsh, and Benjamin Bradfoot's relationship would have consequences as she became pregnant with his child returning home to Brill where she would give birth to a baby girl she named Lessley but was born a bastard as she would not reveal the father despite Benjamin being willing to marry her.

Battle of Saalfeld

Main Article : Battle of Saalfeld

Battle of Saalfeld
The tide was turning, and we were willing to move the front.

“This was the first time I had a chance at something real. I had control of a province. It was the most important in many ways as it was just west of Noveria and very heavily populated. ”
— Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy would become one of the commanders of the First Lucerne-Tevinter War, and would fight at the head of the army of Tevinter. His promotion came after he had attempted to the best of his abilities to control the rebels in western Tevinter, and his success there led Lord Voldermorte to reward him with a command, and when he learned it was Saalfeld he was beyond exctatic to be rewarded with such a prestigious position. Draco would at this point still remain somewhat moralistic in his views, and he led his force to link up with the main force at Saalfeld with the simple plan of pacifying the region in the same way he had previously, and that was with less violence, and more outreach to ease the problems of the commoners. His army that he commanded around the province and town of Saalfeld became quickly known for the peaceful manner that it held the town of Saalfeld, and for this he had one of the most peaceful of the holdings of Tevinter north of Noveria. His wife Astaria Malfoy would leave his child in the care of their mother, and arrived at Saalfeld where she would act as a member of his council, and the Castellan of Saalfeld after the previous had deserted for the Lucernians. Her arrival would corespond with the dramatic increase of violence in his province as just weeks after she arrived a Lucernian army led by Robb Starke attacked the outlying region of Saalfeld. Seeing this Draco called for aid from the nearbye Antiva forces, but the commander of the Antiva gate fortress refused to send troops as he was not willing to weaken his own defences. With Antiva not coming to his aid he prepared to send word to the massive army at Dongret, but stopped when a small force arrived from Dongret asking him to send troops to Dongret as they were in need of assistence.

“They were led by an actual Malfoy, and despite his actions talking to the locals he could have given everyone of them a gold piece and it wouldn't have changed how they felt about him. He was blood to the monster that was tearing their lands apart, and they wouldn't forget.”
— Robb Starke

Robb Starke was one of the main commanders of the Noverian Lucernian forces, and his battle group had been fighting against a large Tevinter force holding the large town of Dongret north of Noveria, and having little success other then killing a seemingly limitless number of Tevinter soldiers. With this in mind the Lucernians recieved reinforcements in the form of Westbridge of whom sent some four thousand troops under the command of Luke Labeouf, James Hartrian, and Radford Arnault and with this force Robb Starke split from the main army and moving alongside a force coming from Heathfall led by Lenwood Arryn, Rob Starke would move against the lighter defenses of Saalfeld which if they took control of they would be able to flood the rivers north of Saalfeld destroy the bridges, and thus push the front back further. In order to get to Saalfeld all he had to get through was the minor castles in Castle Shellfor, and Castle Toffindell of which Violet Dragons had heavily infiltrated Castle Toffindell while Castle Shellfor was badly damaged after a force of rebels had besieged it. Robb Starke put the damaged Castle Shellfor under siege, and at the same time was able to quickly capture Castle Toffindell after the Lord of the Castle surrendered before there was even a fight over the castle, and to make matters worse Lord Liam Toffindell added his forces to the Lucernians further giving them reinforcements.

“I didn't have to offer them gold, or lands Draco. I didn't have to offer them anything other then an opportunity to kill a Malfoy.”
— Robb Starke to Draco Malfoy

As Robb Starke took Castle Toffindell, and sieged Castle Shellfor the way was open to the Lucenrians to the large town of Saalfeld of which had a castle within it, but there was no curtain wall as the two castles were meant to guard it, and despite the Tevinter efforts to construct one the one present only covered half the town, and was of limited quality. Leaving his lieutenant Fladen Termont, it would be Robb Starke that would move slowly against Sallfeld knowing he had a lot of time with Dongret. and Antiva unlikely to send forces, and while he did this he sent Benjamin Bradfoot and his cloaks into Sallfeld where they met with the local leadership. and worked to foster a rebellious movement. Finding a lot of resistance among the locals Benjamin was advised that several local Tevinter commanders were behind a lot of the fear among the people and if they were eliminated then large numbers would join the Lucerne cause. Benjamin moved against these commanders, and in a join action with Jerad, and Krylla he would arrange an attack on the three main commanders at the same time. Rebels sparked fighting in the town, and this distracted the Tevinter attention and during this spectacle Benjamin and his cloaks would assassinate the three local commanders sewing chaos behind the Tevinter lines, and seeing the Tevinter weakness the locals would organize under Jerad of Lucerne of whom led them into infiltrating the main hold of Saalfeld, where they attacked the garrison based within the castle. Most of the Tevinter army in the form of some three thousand plus troops were camped outside the town in a large camp, but some fifteen hundred were within the main castle and in smaller garrisons in the town, and it was the hold fast, and these smaller camps that the organized rebels were attack. Horribly outnumbered within a now hostile town the hold fast surrendered as the gates were compromised by the rebel commander Calenhad Dendon, and the camps within the town either retreated, were killed, or captured by the vengeful Fereldens.

“It was either stand and fight, and try and eke out some kind of victory, or I retreated and was probably run down. I had no good options, but I hoped I could defeat them on the field.”
— Draco Malfoy

Following the retreat of the Tevinter army out of Saalfeld, Draco led them westward as the northward region was heavily mudded and was difficult at the moment to traverse, and would have probably led them into an ambush or at the very least unsuitable battle conditions. Moving westward he was hounded by the larger Lucernian army of whom sent mounted troops along the flanks of the Tevinter movement and got troops in front as well, and as the Tevinter army moved the Lucernian cavalry was joined by increasing numbers of troops carrying Ferelden flags showing the turning of the province against Tevinter. Realizing the retreat would not reach the river Draco would stop the army in a massive clearing where he arrayed himself against the Lucernian force, and finally the Battle of Saalfeld was met. Draco was forced to leave a piece of his army facing each flank, and the rear as the numbers of the Lucernian sub forces around them had increased, and while this was happening the two main armies moved at eachother.

The Lucernians had balooned to some six thousand troops while the Tevinter army through casualites had dropped to less then four thousand, but they did have what they beleived was an experiance gap by having been fighting for so long. The Lucernians also had some two thousand extra troops surrounding the Tevinter army from basically tthe entire rear, and both flanks, and as the two armies crashed into eachother these two thousand would attack the horribly outnumbered reserves that Draco had left to guard againsts the rear and flank charge. The fighting was intense, but the numbers of Lucerne, and the mounted troops they also had would cause the route of the left flank, and despite the middle holding for a time they too begin to buckle, and it was at this buckle that Robb, and Obella Starke met Draco, and Astoria on the battlefield. The four would fight and after two very one sided fights Draco is badly wounded, and Robb Starke is distracted by several Tevinter men at arms trying to defend their commander and this causes Draco to be carried away, and Robb then goes to the fight between Obella and Astoria to find Obella has fatally slashed her across the arm and then mercy kills her and with it this death that leaves the Tevinter army to retreat through the ambush behind them and after all was said of the original four thousand less then six hundred escaped the Battle of Saalfeld. Following the battle Calenhad Dendon was named High Commander of the planned Castle Saalfeld, while Leonas Bryland was named the Duke of the new province of Lucerne in the form of Saalfeld.