Brann Voil | ||||
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Appears In | Lucernian Series | |||
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Religion | Dragonoph | |||
Status | Alive | |||
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Brann Voil is the son of two commoners from the Kingdom Of Lucerne city of Tree Hill making him a commoner and not a member of any noble family. Brann Voil has two siblings in the form of Taila, and John Voil of whom died during the Fall of Tree Hill and her death hit Brann hard and made him truly want to gain revenge on everything that had led to that happening, while his brother . Brann Voil married Niella Voil of whom was also a commoner and the two would share a very tight bond that has lasted for their entire lives through all the chaos around them. With Niella Voil he has three children in the form of Vander, Katheryn, and Lianna Voil of which his daughter Katheryn was killed during the Fall of Tree Hill, while his daughter Lianna Voil is married to (find a man for her) and because of this survived the conflict and his son Vander was a vital defender for Tree Hill and following the rescue of Tree Hill he has become a growing member of the House Scott Honor Gaurd.
Brann Voil was born into a relatively stable commoner's homestead in Tree Hill. His parents were not rich but they were not poor as his father was a member of the House Tyrell honor gaurd while his mother worked for House Tyrell as well as a seamestress, and thus they were able to support their family quite well. Brann Voil would spend his early life attempting to control the Magi powers that grew within him, and during this time he caught the notice of the Circle of Magi of whom brought him into their fold. As a member of the Circle of Magi he became aware of the plan to destroy Tree Hill, and when it became clear that he was going to warn his family the other members of the Circle of Magi that were loyalists to Bill Lovie silently prepared to kill him. In an ambush as he made his way to Tree Hill his former brothers would chase him for hours until finally he fell off the side of a ravine into a cave where his chasers believed he had been killed, and thus didn't continue chasing him. He would survive the fall but it took him days to finally reach the nearest village since he was in really bad shape from the fall, and he collapsed into a near coma when he arrived their. By the time he had awoken from the coma he was told that Tree Hill had been overrun by the Orcs. Brann Voil would come out of hiding when the Rosten Crisis begin and he would join with the Elric forces in attempting to turn back the rebels and as he did this he became involved with Josephine Aberbach of whom convinced him to join with her.
History[]
Early History[]
Brann Voil was born into a relatively stable commoner's homestead in Tree Hill. His parents were not rich but they were not poor as his father was a member of the House Tyrell honor gaurd while his mother worked for House Tyrell as well as a seamestress, and thus they were able to support their family quite well. Brann Voil would spend his early life attempting to control the Magi powers that grew within him, and during this time he caught the notice of the Circle of Magi of whom brought him into their fold.
Paying the Price[]
- "I couldn't save so many people, but what I could do is make the people pay who did all that damage through my continued efforts. I would not rest until the Kingdom of Lucerne was safe from all those who wished to do it harm."
- -Brann Voil
As a member of the Circle of Magi he became aware of the plan to destroy Tree Hill, and when it became clear that he was going to warn his family the other members of the Circle of Magi that were loyalists to Bill Lovie silently prepared to kill him. In an ambush as he made his way to Tree Hill his former brothers would chase him for hours until finally he fell off the side of a ravine into a cave where his chasers believed he had been killed, and thus didn't continue chasing him. He would survive the fall but it took him days to finally reach the nearest village since he was in really bad shape from the fall, and he collapsed into a near coma when he arrived their. By the time he had awoken from the coma he was told that Tree Hill had been overrun by the Orcs.
The Journey[]
Main Article : The Journey
The Rosten Crisis I did what the king commanded me to do. I die now a loyal soldier for the king. |
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Rosten Bandit War[]Main Article : Bandit War of Rosten
The Rosten Bandit War would first begin with the events of the Rosten Crisis when the Circle of Magi intervened in the Grand Province to turn it into the kind of maelstrom of violence and chaos that they believed would allow them to gain more influence over the area. Hanzal Herbus would be sent to Rosten during the events of the Banditry Wars of Lucerne as James Lovie wanted Rosten to go up in flames as to make it more difficult for aid to be sent to any future attempt to relieve Tree Hill, and Hanzal Herbus would be accompanied by a troop of fifty men from the Circle of Magi and bags of coins for what he would come to spark in the form of the Bandit War of Rosten. Hanzal Herbus would enter the court of his brother Dominic Herbus who was a Landsgrave of Rosten and entering his brothers court accompanied by Circle of Magi men he was able to gain immediate recognition despite never having spent any time with his brother, and delivering letters from the king it was Dominic that was forced to obey the commands of Hanzal and his soldiers. Fall of Jogelinn[]Aphasial Venom would lead the forces of House Venom during the events of the Rosten Crisis when she moved against the town of Jogelinn alongside her husband and the forces of House Therkildsen and after they took control of the town from House Cresces the two houses took two very different paths with the forces of House Therkildsen under the direction of Mikael commiting atrocities on the Italian/Christian population of the town and this only stopped when Aphasiel ordered her forces to resist this causing street battles throughout the town which House Therkildsen retreated from due to Mikael's love for Aphasiel. The Journey[]See Also : The Journey
As the army of Lucerne mobilizes for the Journey it is William that commands them to break up and do many things of which are of great importance, and of these tasks he wants completed he sends Hedrik Clegane III. southward to deal with the devolving situation in the Grand Province of Rosten. Hedrik Clegane moves his forces alongside the forces of House Swift led by Timone Swift, and his son William Swift, and leading a force of several hundred Swift men they are joined by the Dragonoph Priestess Taylor Swift as they make their way southward towards the town of Castle James where the forces of House Elric have been fighting a running battle against a bandit force which has grown out of control in the grand province. Arriving at Castle James they meet with the leadership of House James in the form of Ulrich, and Taylor James of whom has gathered several hundred troops to join with their army as they prepare to retake control of Kautila. Discussing the situation with Ulrich James they learn that the situation is far larger then originally known as this is not one force they are fighting but instead they are fighting against two rebellious houses in the form of House Verilim, and House Herbus who have taken control of large swathes of the Grand Province while alongside this there has also been the rise of three large bandit forces who have also taken control of large swathes of the grand province and to the shock of Hedrik he learns that these forces are all working together in coordinated moves against House Elric's control of the grand province. The Sisterhood[]
Gathering together his forces Hedrik leads them against the Sisterhood of Venom first of whom have captured the town of Jogelinn and are using it as the center of their small little fiefdom. While travelling from Kautila towards the lands of the Sisterhood they are met on the road by several hundred House Elric men led by Kaven Elric, and his son Alke Elric of whom are to join Hedrik in the movement to retake the grand province. Entering the lands of the Sisterhood of Venom they meet no resistance as their army marches up the road but travelling through the village of Ojelurun they find a christian church burned to the ground and meet the first member of the Sisterhood of Venom when they find a heavily armored female priest standing in the center of the village. Meeting with the girl they discover she is Oriphiel Venom the sister of Aphasiel Venom the leader of the Sisterhood of Venom and she had come to the village to meet the army of Hedrik and bring them to Jogelinn where Aphasiel wants to meet with them in peace. Following Oriphiel its Hedrik that discusses the situation with her learning that the Sisterhood of Venom had originally been known as the Army of Aerene but had broken apart after a disagreement between the two leaders of the army in the form of Aphasiel and Mikael Therkildsen over the direction of the army. Arriving at Jogelinn their forces are met at the edge of the town by the army of Venom who is nearly two thousand strong and to avoid a fight Hedrik meets under a white flag with Aphasiel alongside Kaven Elric, and Ulrich James. Meeting with Aphasiel it becomes clear that she simply wants to protect the people of the area of Jogelinn against the increasingly lawless nature of the Grand Province of Rosten and Kaven Elric agrees that if she would swear herself and her forces to his service then he would name her the Landsgard of Jogelinn, and while she accepts she heavily implies that she will be acting as little more then a figurehead as she sees the land as a theocracy. The Pure of Aerene[]See Also : Skirmish at Castle Marimus
With the forces of the Sisterhood of Venom added to their ranks they make there way towards the Pure of Aerene of whom are the group that broke away from the original Army of Aerene and have now been responsible for committing religious genocide against eastern Rosten. Arriving at the edge of the Pure of Aerene controlled lands they find the roads edge lined with crucified bodies and then marching along the road through these bodies they are met by the sight of a naked man with his eyes cut out and speaking with the man they learn he is Allectius Marinus the Landsgard of the area and he was left there to tell them to turn around and leave the forces of Mikael Therkildsen to their work. The army is forced to stop its march towards Castle Marinus after they discover that the bridge allowing them crossing to the city has been destroyed leaving the large army no real ability to cross in heavy numbers. Hedrik decides to split the army taking the Sisterhood of Venom forces and several hundred of his own men while the majority of the army is taken command by Kaven Elric and will make there way towards the Black Moon Brotherhood's lands. Swimming across the river Hedrik reaches the other side and taking command of the force they make there way towards Castle Marinus but passing through the country side they find burned out farms and dead bodies litter the land as the forces of the Pure of Aerene have devolved. Arriving at Castle Marinus they find the forces of the Pure of Aerene have marshaled outside the castle and despite attempts by Hedrik to meet under a white Flag the forces of the Pure of Aerene fire on the soldier Hedrik sends with the White Flag and this forces Hedrik to move into battle formations. The battle erupts into chaos, and as the lines charge at each other Hedrik is struck by an arrow to the chest, and then as he gets up is struck again in the arm, and in shock he passes out. Waking up the battle is still raging, and he sees Aphasiel and Mikael fighting and seeing Mikael is winning the fight Hedrik pushes through the pain and joins their fight where despite his injuries he is able to defeat Mikael and before passing out again he executes an unapologetic Mikael. The death of Mikael breaks the Pure of Aerene who begin surrendering on mass and the surrender is accepted by Aphasiel who wants the bloodshed to end, and with Hedrik out of commission she is able to control the loyalist forces. Meinolf Ostriger would take command of the Lole forces following Hedrik being horribly injured at the Skirmish at Castle Marinus, but despite being far above Aphosiel in terms of title it was Aphosiel who dominated the meetings following Hedrik's injury. Arrival of Edward Cullen[]Moving westward they learn that the situation in Rosten remains tenuous despite the fact that Hedrik Clegane III. was able to supress much of the rebels, but one remaining force led by a powerful magi has blocked their entrance into southern Rosten. With this in mind Edward departs the main group and gathers to him his people including Hilary Swift, and Gemma Cullen and then the three travel by portal to Rosten where they will assist in dealing with the magi alongside a gathering number of magi who are being sent there to assist with taking down the magi there. Arriving at Castle Elric he meets with a fellow Magi in the form of Josephine Aberbach of whom leads several Magi herself and together they join with Konstantin Gaimen who led a force of some eight hundred as they made there way towards Herbus where the last sighting of the Dark Magi was. In order to get to Herbus they are forced to cross the River Schwegler at Castle Schwegler where a large bridge is the only real means of crossing without taking a large detour eastward. Arriving at Castle Schwegler they are met on the bridge by Lord Fredrik Schwegler and his son Wilhelm Schwegler and with both sides aware of what entering the castle means they make arrangements with Fredrik requesting the marriage of his son Wilhelm to Ottilia Hofbauer one of the Magi with Josephine. Gaining the crossing as well as being joined by three hundred Schwegler troops led by Wilhelm they move southward towards Herbus, and the mood is good as there is no more blocking them from reaching Herbus. Battle of Herbus[] |
Nortburg Tournament of 5125 Look out there Alice. Did you ever imagine we would be hosting men, Dwarves, and Elves for what is quickly becoming our honeymoon. | ||
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Nortburg Tournament of 5125[]Main Article : Nortburg Tournament of 5125
Following the crowning of William Lovie III. as the new King of Lucerne he met with his council within the Lucernian capital and they went bout devising there next steps of action. Following some of the more extensive plans he met with the Shadow Council, and Jacob Vorn IV. of whom now stood as the King's Archbishop and the group would decide they needed to know more about the regions around them and also repair damage and they would do this by planning a tournament at Nortburg and invite foreign dignitaries to the tournament alongside the most influential of nobles of Lucerne. Also invited to the Tournament would be the Trachtenberg family of whom were the blood cousins of William Lovie incluing his uncle Frank Trachtenberg, and two cousins Michelle Trachtenberg, and Kristen Trachtenberg all of whom William wanted to repair relationships with most specifically with Michelle who he came to understand had been treated quite terribly by his father. The Trachtenberg side of the family had become distant due to several instances, most notably the imprisonment of Bill Lovie's cousin Katia Lovie the Matriarch of House Trachtenberg in the city of Berne. True Sons of Lucerne[]
A large force under a white flag and led by Kieth Schwartz, and Alistair Bedregen arrives at the tournament ground carrying also the flag of the True Sons of Lucerne. The arrival of these True Sons would cause William himself accompanied by the Shadow Council and Charlie Swan to confront them and while at first wanting to bar them from the tournament as they were basically traitors the arrival of Hanna Arryn, and Aria Arryn would lead to William speaking privately with Hanna and Aria. Speaking to the two alongside Leven Martell, and Charlie Swan he would discover that the situation in Berne was growing completely out of control and that was why they had agreed to all the demands of Sean Lovie and had come here. Seeing that his friends were in grave danger he would agree to play along with the plans of the True Sons and allowed Danzal to take part in the tournament. Following this meeting with Hanna and Aria he would meet with Kieth Schwartz who was like an uncle to him during his childhood and the two would talk over everything that had happened with Kieth admitting to everything and for the first time giving William a true glimpse at what Bill had been going through and why he had chosen to do all the things that he had done. Another of the members of the group to come under the flag was Harrold Hardyng of whom as a dire hard member of the rebellion against Sean Lovie would sneak himself into the force with the help of Alistair and when he arrived he met with Teri-Jacob Vorn IV. and together in secret the two worked out steps for Harrold to take to help with the eventual retaking of Berne.
Following the conversation between Kieth, and William Kieth would leave the tournament as he was a soldier of Bill Lovie and not Sean Lovie and did not care if the plan of Sean succeded or not, and thus he would return to Orleans where he would report to Bill Lovie about the conversation that he and William had. With the departure of Sean Lovie the remaining elements of the True Sons of Lucerne were mainly William loyalists and in this way he would meet again with Hanna but this time she introduced them to House Krinner and House Dorin of whom led by Harrold Krinner, Trailen Dorin and accompanied by prominent heirs in Danzal Krinner, and Trailen Dorin II. they would be shown to be loyalists who were more then ready to assist when the time came to destroy the forces of Sean Lovie. The Riverlands[]Meeting the Elves[]Following the Second Battle of Minus Ithil the Elves of High Forest would come to understand that the alliance between Gondor, Lucerne, and High Forest was something that they should work towards and as they followed the Lucernians into the relief of Tree Hill they would also send a large force to Nortburg to celebrate at the tournament. Alongside sending a force led by Taflarion Stormrage, and his wife Helian Stormrage, and their daughter Tonlia Stormrage, alongside her husband Cadwyr Winterdew the High Forest government back in the capital would also make several large movements for advancing the alliance itself when Malfurion Stormrage would contact the forces of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, and the Atmer Empire and told the two forces that they needed to send forces to the tournament as the new king of Lucerne was someone who truly was willing to try and change things for the better. The Sindar Elven Kingdom of Quel'Thalas sends representatives in the form of Alleria Windrunner, and Marinda Oakwhisper to the tournament as well with the purpose of arranging a stronger relationship with the Kingdom of Lucerne's new King. The Atmer Empire would send members of the Atmer Elven great house in the form of the House of Finwe to the tournament and these Elves used Magi portals to enter the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas and then travelled into Lucerne alongside the force led by Alleria. These Atmer Elves would be the first of the High Elves to enter the Kingdom of Lucerne in an almost uncountable time and led by Elendil Finwe III., his daughter Alais Finwe, and sons Talais Finwe, and Anar Finwe IV. of whom have come to discuss an alliance with William and Lucerne. The Elves appear very honorable about their intentions and the talks go well, with Hedrik Clegane III. leading the negotiations with the High Elves, and despite eventually leaving it would be so successful that William would make his intentions known to them by inviting the Elves to found a small settlement in Frosthelm. The Elves like the idea and Elendil sends his sons back to Ulthuan to make the arrangements while he will accompany William for the next while. End of a Betrothal[]
The Starke's had come on mass to the Tournament of Nortburg and during this time it was believed that Sansa Starke, and Joffrey Lannister would get a lot of time together to get to know eachother, and while this was true with Joffrey, and Sansa going on a walk together and having a good time, this would alter dramatically later that night. The Manderlys[]As the tournament is only a few days from starting the final invitees arrive in the form of the Manderlys of whoom William meets with several representatives of the Manderlys who control the White Knife and during this conversation he and his father in law Charlie Swan are able to arrange a marriage between Winfred Manderly, and Miley Black. In this arrangement he and Charlie Swan decide that they will send Lucas Scott of whom is deemed by many to be the hero of the Siege of Tree Hill and thus someone they want to remain close too, but also William has become obsessed with Brooke Scott and thinks on her constantly believing that this will give him a chance to see her again. Arrival of Brooke Scott[]
Following the end of the tournament William and the group prepare to return to the capital where they will plan out the reconquest of Berne, but this changes with the arrival of Brooke Scott of whom breaks down crying in front of him as he stands with Leven, and Jasper and William quickly takes her away from the two into a back room where before he is able to say anything she reveals her stomach showing she is nearly four months pregnant from the time they last saw each other. Realizing in that moment she appears more pregnant then Bella he ponders the consequences of this but she doesn't demand anything just wishes him to help her with her grandfathers funeral. |
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. | ||||||||||||||||
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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.
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
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[]
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.
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[]
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[]
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[]
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[]
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[]
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 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[]
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.
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. |
The West[]
Main Article : Grand State of Tristfall
The West Our future was not simply in Westros. The west needed to be both protected and grown. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The wedding of Hanna Arryn and Harrold Krinner had sparked the beginning of the idea for the conquest of Tristfall to become more then just an idea and with this plan now growing it would be three main elements moving forward in the form of the gathering of more forces for the armies. Sansa Starke and Harrold Hardyng would join William in the trip back to Lucerne where they were to meet with many of the Lucernian state noblemen in order to help gain more people for the colonization. Arriving there Sansa would become a growing influence as her kindness and gentle personality were something many of the nobles gravited towards, and her former family in House Starke supported her heavily. After spending many weeks in Lucerne she and Harrold would travel southward to Forks and rally many of the Lords of that state to their cause, but found less support among that state, although House Swan would send several smaller knightly houses to join with the colonization. Travelling finally southward to Highgarden they would find more support among House Tyrell of whom would send Lyonel Flowers of whom would be forming another cadet branch of House Tyrell in return for her being legitimized by House Arryn, and Lyonel Flowers would bring several hedge knight houses and nearly a thousand troops as well. Following this they would leave for Berne where the colonization efforts would begin. In Tristfall itself during this time Margot Robbet had found herself fighting against an Orcish agression for the first time in many years, and this led to her sending scouts out of the forest for the first time in that same period, and it was at this point that she met with some of the more eastern surviving members of the humans of Tristfall, and they would tell her that the Kingdom of Lucerne was massing for an attack all across Tristfall, and the Elves of Quel'Thalas were looking as if they might join with them. Realizing that this was her chance to make her people stronger she would prepare her Knights of the Quill for battle, and leave her younger sister in command of Robbet Forest, and she prepared to leave for Berne with her forces.
Back in Berne Sansa Starke would join alongside her new husband as he was tasked by House Arryn to colonize and expand into the region west of Berne. Using the influence and power given to him by William Lovie III. they begin forming the army for colonization as the reinforcements from all across Lucerne travelled to the lands of Berne. One of the first tasks that the human forces of Lucerne would have was to make contact with the broken human elements that still remained in the lands of Tristfall of which there were many thousands surrounded by ten times that amount of Orcs. Living in the forests and along rivers these human remnents would be contacted and prepared for the coming crusade against the unaware Orcs. One of the first of these groups was the Knights of the Quill led by Margot Robbet of whom swore themselves to House Hardyng and joined with the growing army of Berne. Sansa Starke would join her husband and Paul Arryn as they met with the Sindar Elves of Quel'Thalas, of whom were going to align with them in order to clean the land of the Orcs. The Elves of Quel'Thalas[]
The Elves had been following the situation in Tristfall very closely since the end of the Battle of Berne, and with the tensions very low with Lothlorian at the moment they would meet in oder to decide as a people if they wanted to completely throw their lot in with the Kingdom of Lucerne. Franklin Brent would first notice them when several of his scouts reported signs of Elven ambushes against Orcs near the forest, and he relayed this information to the overall commander in Gunthor Mountain of whom would relay a message to the Quel'Thalasian Elves that they were open to meeting. The leading members of the Senate of Quel'Thalas would request a meeting with King William Lovie III. of which - since William was at this point very far away - they would have via a Magi stone. William Lovie would be able to assist Alleria Windrunner in convinsing Marinda Oakwhisper that the Lucernians meant them only friendship when he revealed how in his dealings with both the High Elves, and the Lothlorian Elves he had made it clear that the Quel'Thalasian Elves were his friend and would not be harmed, and this was the reason that tensions had disapeared with Lothlorian. Seeing truth in his eyes Marinda Oakwhisper would become a direhard loyalist of the Lucernian alliance, and personally commanded some two hundred of her priestesses to the campaign in Tristfall.
Under the command of Thranduil some three hundred Sindar Elves, and another two hundred Priestesses of Elune personally led by Marinda Oakwhisper entered Berne where the talks begin about the terms of the coming crusade. Gunthor Mountain was grateful for their help, and the Elves were heavily placed in a position to assist them all along the forest of Quel'Thalas but especially in the northwest of Tristfall where the Elves would lead the one thousand strong force of Forks led by Ser Donnel Swann of whom would assist them in the northwest while the main force moved in that same direction but from Berne. The Elves would mass in large numbers northward from their forests and would ambush and kill as many Orcs as they possibly could. Special notice was made to make sure the Elves would be able to assist the small villages of humans in the area as every human they saved was one person to add to the army and to add to the possiblity of the future of the land. The Elves described a series of large bridges that allowed crossing over the cliff coasts of the River Berne, and said that in order to hold off the Orcs long term these bridges would need to be destroyed. Thranduil and the Elven forces would at this point recieve reniforcements from there own side in the form of Legolas, and Tauriel of whom both would lead another five hundred Quel'Thalasian Elves into the crusade for Tristfall. By this point they were in full scale fighting with the Bleeding Hollow Clan, but were killing them in their hundreds due to poor leadership on their side, and they had gained nearly a full thousand more troops through the rescueing of stranded humans in the northwest. Cleaning of Tristfall[]
When the Elves left Harrold Hardyng massed the vast army of Lucerne and begin preparing for the army and people joining them for the western journey. The area was somewhat deserted but using griphons to map the area for Orcish settlements they were able to ambush and massacre the Orcish encampents during the night with the assistence of the Sindar Elves of nearbye Quel`Thalas. These attackers were devestating to the Orcish population, and over the course of two months nearly half the Orcs of Trisfall were butchered in this way, while many thousands of others retreated westward away from the demons that killed them in the night. While this happened the mass flying might of Lucerne would provide support to the surviving humans of Tristfall of whom were armed and fed, and with these supplies they begin preparing themselves to do any kind of damage they could to the Orcs of Tristfall. By this point the Orcs were being pushed back all across the front, and the Blackrock Orcs begin to hear reports from their loyalists in the area about this, and back in Blackrock Mountain a large Orc force was massed in order to attack whatever force the humans were mustering. Led by Blackhand's twin sons this force would make its way southward, but along the way the Frostfang Orcs were reported to be attacking Bleeding Hollow Orcs and thus the twins would change their father's orders and instead moved towards attacking the hated Frostfang Orcs. The Orcs in Trisftall though still had sizeable numbers and the bridges still were in place so they were of great danger to the colonization of Tristfall due to the enormous numbers of Orcs surrounding Tristfall. The Order of the Blue Dragon would become heavily involved during this stage when Khadgar led a large contingent of the Order into the main camp of the army in order to assist. Flying many behind the main lines they would land a contingent of forces near many of the bridges of which the Order of the Blue Dragon would plan the operation to destroy the bridge and thus cutting off the Orcs from being able to swarm into the area. With the destruction of that last bridge the routes into Tristfall were all but cut outside of the pathway that would be fortified and a castle built onto it.
Khadgar would split his force into dozens of piece with two main fronts being the northern river, and the western river. Leaving the northern river in charge of Irelia Hardyng the sister of Harrold he would take the majority of the Elven forces and prepare to destroy the western bridges, while Irelia was given most of the Swann forces in order to assist her. Across the operation it went mainly according to plan but along the northern river the Orcs had built a town of sorts around one of the bridges, and it was here where Irelia massed most of her forces including herself, and four other Blue Dragons in the form of Brann Roil, Traevin Rivers, Orden Snow, and Larra Marbrand of whom would summon spells for hours before the attack preparing to basically light the side of the town that was on the Tristfall side of the river on fire, and then during the confusion kill those who retreated southward, and at the same time Brann Roil would destroy Larra Marbrand would summon explosives onto the bridge and destroy it. The plan worked extremly well when the town nearly exploded after the fire of the spells struck several explosve piles the Orcs had placed around the town, and as the fire spread it engulphed the bridge and the town killing most of the town and destroying the bridge as well. The hundreds of Orcs that retreated from the inferno found themselves caught in a crossfire as Donnel Swann's forces would massacre them.
As the main army of Lucerne moved westward they worked alongside the Sindar Elves of Quel'Thalas to massacre the Orcs, but the further westward they got they begin to encounter news from the Sindar Elves and the Griffins that boded ill. The Orcs begin massing near the front lines in a huge force of tens of thousands. This large force was targeted from the sides by the Elves of Quel'Thalas of whom picked them off in ambushes, while they moved towards the main force. Gunthor Mountain would move the main Lucerne army towards this force, and met Franklin Brent's force, and Maron Scorpian's recently arrived force near a large lake. The Elves continued to harrass them, and battle was prepared when the suprise arrival of Tytos Blackwood and some eight hundred men with him caused them to wait several more days before fighting the Orcs. When Tytos arrived at the front he told them that he had been sent by his father in order to form his own wing of House Blackwood in the new land and would assist however he could, and his eight hundred men joined Maron Scorpian north of the lake where they would come down against the Orcs once battle was met. Greengarden[]See Also : Greengarden
With the main army still moving westward Harrold Hardyng would in his own mind find a perfect spot by the edge of the lake where they had won their great victory, and Harrold would call in the Order of the Grey Dragon, in order to found the capital of this new land. The Order of the Grey Dragon had been commanded to send a large force to Berne in preperation for both the founding of castles in the area, but also the founding of population centers, and this effort was led by Henry Feleden of whom would following this request move towards the area with some two hundred armed men gaurding him and his nearly one thousand construction workers of whom had been raised from the Order. Founding the town of Greengarden it would be the very important Sansa Starke wife of Harrold Hardyng that would arrive there and she would become the High Lady of the new castle and town, thus rising her to a level she thought wouldn`t have been possible with House Hardyng. The walls, and houses were all that was completed before Henry was forced to move northward hearing word that the opening of Brionne had become a battleground and they would need him there once they took the position. The construction of Greengarden would continue under the command of Orellian of whom was the Maester of House Hardyng and he went about quickening the pace alongside Sansa Starke while Harrold led some three hundred of his personal forces to assist in the northern fight.
The rustic lifestyle of Greengarden would take its tole on her as they were forced to deal with the constant threat of the Orcs that were still present in the area, and there were also significant numbers of Trollocs in the area, but despite all of this they were able to push forward with the construction, and Sansa would discover several days after Harrold had left for the north that she was pregnant with their first child of whom must have been consieved during their wedding night as Orellian discovered she was quite far along. Around the same time as this the forces of House Scorpian would encounter several ruined mines, and deciding this would be a good spot for themselves they withheld knowing about the mines, and begin founding their own town in the form of Skarp of which they brought in many of their peasents from their lands in Lucerne. Tristfall Secured[]
With the destruction of the bridges, and the lack of reinforcements from Blackrock the situation had deteriorated completely for the Orcs, and the Bleeding Hollow Clan would gather their remaining forces with the remaining Laughing Skull Clan and made there way towards the land opening of which was the site of the ruins of the town of Brionne. The Elves would see this retreat, and were able to make their way there quickly as well massacring scattered Orc forces as they moved about trying to reach this spot, and once the Elves reached the area they constantly bombarded the Orcish position forcing them to not move within the fortifications the ruins of Brionne provided. Khadgar and the Blue Dragons would move behind their ranks, and create illusions, and elementals which forced the Orcs to further remain in the same spot and by the time the Orcs had rallied enough at Brionne to become a problem the main Lucerne army had arrived to meet with the Elves and the Orcs were now losing incredible numbers to the entrenched forces of the Lucerne army and their allies outside Brionne. Realizing the numbers were going to switch away from them the Orcs would become enraged to the point that they begin splintering but a large force of several thousands charged southward towards the entrentched main Lucerne army. A fierce battle broke out and the Orcs begin to split through the Lucerne lines causing some to retreat, but Donnel Swann would charge into the breach with his Swann Knights and engaged the largest Orc he could find, and after a long battle he killed the Orc causing the rest to pull back where they were shot to pieces by the overwhelming numbers around them.
With the Orcs of Tristfall collapsed, and what few remained in the land itself now heavily outnumbered the Order of the Grey Dragon was brought in nearly their entire number in Tristfall to the ruins of Brionne where they would begin construction of the fortress of New Brionne. Built between the flowing two rivers this would be the site of the major fortress that would defend the region from any attack from the northern lands. House Dumner one of the vassals of House Hardyng was given control of the province of Brionne and the fortress itself, and it would be under their care alongside a large Order of the Red Dragon contingent that the fortress would be maintained. The province of Scolpian was created west of Brionne under the command of House Scorpian of Tristfall, and they would control a large number of mines in their lands making this a powerful position. The Tinterlands were created north of Greengarden, and west of Scolpian and since they contained the forces of the Robbet forest they were given to the newly recreated House Robbet of whom was led by Margot Robbet and well known for the Knights of the Quill. A meeting was decided to be held later to decide on the rest of the southern provinces of the new Grand State of Tristfall of which they knew that they would not control as House Arryn was the Arch Lord of the Grand State, while House Hardyng controlled the State of Tristfall. |