Rain of Dragons
Rain of Dragons is the name given to the even in which the Lord Commander of the Grey Wind Company, Nail the Ferocious, led a force to engage and either trap or kill more than 230 dragons in the forests in the northern Highland Peninsula.
The Conflict
Prelude
In 1154 a massive colony of dragons had nested in the Ice Forest in the north of the Highland Peninsula, in the territory of the Jarldom of Elin. The dragons harrassed and killed travelers through the forests and attacked farms to get at livestocks. They were causing chaos all over the Jarldom. < Chykov >, the Great Jarl of Elin at the time, contacted Nail the Ferocious at Stonehollow Fort and pleaded with him to help with the dragon menace. In return the Great Jarl would donate a large sum to the Grey Wind Company, the largest single donation since gathering the funds to build Stonehollow Fort. Nail aggreed and gathered a force of 8,500 to deal with the dragons.
Deployment
Nail the Ferocious left Stonehollow Fort heading north then west with a host of 4,700 consisting of 2,000 soldiers, 500 archers, 500 maji, 500 dragon catchers, 15 dragonriders, 200 cart mounted scorpions and crews (of 5), and 40 catapults and crews (of 5). When they passed Frost Grave Fort they met up with another host of 3,800 consisting of 1,000 soldiers, 1,000 archers, 500 dragon catchers, 8 dragonriders, 100 cart mounted scorpions and crews (of 5), and 160 catapults and crews (of 5)
Total Force
The Engagement
The Grey Wind Mercenaries knew that the forest was going to be an issue, scorpions can't go into the forest, and the roads this far north are sparse. They were limited to the perimeter of the half-region spanning forest and the few main roads through the woods. They set up at the south central entrance to the Ice Forest a ways north of the city of North Iron. They arrayed the scorpions back from the treeline and along the road. Nail the Ferocious lead the dragonriders from the back of the black dragon < Ganymede >. They would would go "fishing", fly in and rouse up a flock of dragons and get them to chase the dragonriders back to the edge of the forest or the roads where the scorpions were waiting. Once the target dragons were in range the scorpions would let loose with massive bolts connected to a chain that was bolted to an iron block on the ground. The goal was to hit the dragon and slow it down, allowing other scorpions to get a hit, eventually immobilizing the beast and bringing it down; the hope was that this was accomplished before the creature died from it's wounds. Other, far fewer, scorpions were armed with net casting bolts that, when assisted by a maji, could explode in the air and release a net that would envelope the dragon and pull it from the sky. Along with with helping the scorpion operaters the maji also assist the catapult operators by igniting the powder bags that would be launched into the sky, The bags would explode in a huge plume of smoke that would make the sky more difficult to see through. After the target dragon is brought down the dragon catchers engage and begin trying to subdue the dragon by wrapping the creature in chains, the stronger the better, and incapcitate it with < Dragon Sleep > a powerful sedative that knocks out the massive beasts. For twelve days they worked like this, the dragonriders would go and roust the dragons and bring them back to the scorpions who would try to bring them down from the sky for the dragon catchers to bundle up and haul away. During which the target dragons were fighting back, burngin through the scorpions and catapaults, and attacking the bait dragons and killing more than a few over the days and nights. The ground was criss-crossed in scortch marks of all sizes with little fires everywhere the eye could see. But despit their best efforts to fight the dragons fell, being either captured or killed by the forces below. For those twelve days it is said that the dragons fell rom the sky like rain.
Historical Significance
Legacy
The funds from the donation given by the Jarldom of Elin as a result of the fighting were used to found Black Ice Fort in the Highland Peninsula, which set up a permenant presence of the Grey Wind Company in the area. The event lso led to the beginnings of the Black Ice Wranglers.
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