04/02/2017
Spreading throughout the Oasis and beyond ...
Victory between the Rivers!!
I stand beside my sisters and brothers, for the first time … maybe the last. But that matters not, because today we are one, we are strong, we are Sodiur.
We stand proud on the left flank, the Field Marshal’s Cavalry stomping in anticipation. On the extreme left, Ornazy Baldrick’s Bastards are readying their blades and their magic.
I am right here amongst Vezornaz Dierdre’s Lions, holding the center. I stand shoulder to waist beside a giant, Thalladred has returned to the Sodiur lines to bleed beside us. Most of us in the Black Cats remember him from the ruins of Sabir, he towered over us younglings as we tried to bring down ‘The Mountain that Walked’ … play is over, now we fight.
I still cannot believe that Ornagy Skuli was able to get ‘The Black Cats’ reassigned from the 2nd Cohort into the First. We will see action against the vile necromancers, now they will feel the might of the Sodiur.
In the center and right of our line stands the Empire’s finest, ready for battle. I have read about them from the Sodiur sages … but being beside them, s**t, are they formidable. I’m certainly glad that they are on our side in this. I’ve talked to my fellow NCOs among their ranks and they are just as shocked that the Sheathmakers dared to employ necromancers. Damn mercenaries.
On the far right of our lines are more … The Empire is fielding their dread Immortals on the field today, led by Marzban Farzin, all their faces are covered in the black masks of their regiment. Today is a good day.
My name is Erebus, Tziedes of the 13th Skirmishers “The Black Cats”, now of the First Cohort of the Sodiur.
Across this plain, with their backs to the river, stands the forces of Akadai. We can see the multitudes of Undead gathering at their front, these will be the first to be demolished, and behind them, Bone Guard and necromancers from the Royal Guild. They should have just stayed home, it would have been better for them.
No advantage of field is seen for either side. No height, no terrain, only their fodder. Their cursed Undead littering the field.
As the enemy begins to move, it is clear that they want nothing from the Sodiur. The roar of our shouts and our eagerness to lay their army to its final rest is evident. The Akadai forces swing to their left, clearly seeking the easier foe in the Ogres.
As the Ogre forces and the Undead clash, it is clear that this will not be over soon. The Talons of the Empire push deep into the Akadai line only to find that Akadai has enlisted the spectral minions of Bazhul the Thirsty, a ghost drawn from the Barrowlands itself. Its cadre of ghosts and wraith mercilessly rip apart the Ogre formation with impunity. But the Ogres do not relent. They fight tooth and nail, neither losing nor gaining ground. They have chosen their patch of ground to die on … they have chosen well.
Seizing our opportunity, the Field Marshal urges the Cohort forward. But Akadai is not stupid, they have left a harrying party of skeletal beasts and mongrels to keep us from our chosen quarry. It is a delaying tactic, nothing more. But it is doing its duty.
All the while, Akadai’s forces, led by a Bone Guard named Sir Edmond, is punishing the Ogres for taking the field. Akadai seeks openings all along the line, even resorting to allowing the necromancer Maketh and his vile servants to launch volleys of dark magics into the staggering Ogre masses.
After an hour of hard fought struggle, Bazhul appears behind Marzban Firuzch of the Talons and lays her low. The ghost drinks deeply from the Ogre commander’s life force, obviously attempting to demoralize the Talons but, they … they RALLY. The Talons stand tall in the face of the onslaught, THEY STAND!
The skeletal mongrels before us are obviously nothing but a distraction. A distraction used by those of Akadai Necromancers to finish off the beleaguered Talons. The stench of their foul magics could be sensed from here.
Of course, this is when Sir Edmund and his Bone Guard turned for their real targets, Her Royal Empresses’ Immortals. That coward hoped to crush the morale of the rest of the Empire’s loyal soldiers by destroying their pride. Was he ever wrong.
They. Fought. Like. Legends.
Surrounded. Outnumbered. It did not matter. The Immortals lived up to everything I have been told about them. I mean, at one point, their commander, known only as Farzin, stood surrounded by wraiths and ghosts and Bone Guard and Necromancers and Akadai troops and still he continued to fight. He pulled a spear from his stomach only to plunge it into the head of a Bone Guard bearing down on him. I stood in awe of his courage and prowess and I am a Sodiur, I see badassery every freaking day.
But even they could not stand up to the devastation that Akadai was bringing to them. This wasn’t war, this was personal. But we were not done yet.
Our allies have not fallen in vain. The Immortals held Akadai in just the right position … We pushed through what remained of Akadai’s distraction and headed to the exposed flank of their forces. Now was our time!
The center of the Ogre line was virtually untouched as they hammered the Akadai forces. In fact, it was a combination of the Sodiur archery units and the Hammers, an Ogre rhino cavalry unit, that crushed the remains of the Necromancers and their wights.
Only two hours into battle and we were already seeing results. My sister said that Akadai was only fielding a force to measure our worth, I hope that their ruler was long enough. The Hammer of the Empire continued to slam mercilessly into the Undead as simultaneously, the Bone Guard finished off a regiment of the Empire’s archers. Now was the time, the end was near.
Akadai only had its beloved Bone Guard and a scattering of Undead remaining. One flank of the Ogres had fallen but over two thirds of our forces were but scratched and eager to continue the fight. As we surrounded the remaining Undead units, the Ogre forces backed off and allowed us to make the final strike. Good sports, those fellows.
Then it happened. He ran. He took the vaunted Bone Guard and turned, tail between his legs, and ran.
I have heard stories of this grizzled veteran, Sir Edmond Ebonviper, but nothing prepared me for that. We sent rains of arrows and a company of cavalry after him but he was gone.
As we cleaned the battlefield, collecting our honored dead and finishing off the enemy, we counted that both Sir Edmond of the Bone Guard and Maketh of the Necromancer’s Guild had both survived the carnage. But we had happened to slay Sir Gaffney of Akadai and all of the greater Undead from the opposition.
Today was a good day.
