Fline's Feint
"In the narrow steep pass we will draw them in, assure them the victory they want so desperately. Sacrificing so many good dwarves to make it seem true. Then smash them from all sides like an anvil and a hammer. Retick forgive me."Genral Fline Keghammer
Losses on Losses
The Huer Crusade had always been relentless. Its soldiers and hordes of undead slowly enveloped the Huer. The 3 Dwarven clans of the Mesa saw it coming. They united, they prepared but it only slowed the march. Caledon Heights did most of the work with its geographical advantage. The pass into the Mesa was where the heaviest fighting was occurring and the dwarves we losing more than they were gaining. Even their dead was turning on them. The war council promised Fline, new tools, and new warfare he just needed to give them time. They had fallen back from gate to gate. He had no more time to give and sent for whatever they could give.Two new tools
He received two tools. Prototype Primordial Arcana(PA) Golems and weapons that were most promising and a wagon of strange potions, Vitalisbane Elixir. Both were extreme and untested the Prototypes could fail and explode, where the Elixir was fatal but Fline knew that one more loss and they would be in the Mesa and unstoppable.The Feint
Fline met with his soldiers, he explained the plan. The elixir would disrupt the enemy army, sow confusion, and prevent them from recovering all the while we would fall back into tunnels unknown to them, phase one. When phase one was well underway, phase two, the Prototypes and the remainder of the army would crash in from each side and the cliffs above to route the Huer. At the end of the explanation, there was silence, and a young Dwarf, head full of steam, volunteered to drink the Elixir, then another and another. It spread through the crown like wildfire, Fline could hardly contain his emotions as his pride in his clansmen and sadness fought for control. A loud bellow quieted the room and an old dwarf leaning on his axe commanded the room. Old by dwarven years, scarred with years of fighting, spoke in a slow deliberate timbre, " You young fools, so eager to die for duty. Fools! Who will hold the line tomorrow if we fail? Who will drive them out of our homeland when we succeed? This Elixir is meant for the dying and it will be the old and dying who will do it." The old dwarves came through the crowd and stood before the rest, then the wounded filed in behind. They raised their wineskins, "To the Dying!" All drank and cheered and tears flowed unabashedly from Fline, knowing what he had done.The First Route
The Crusade, supported by previous victory and arrogance fell against the pass. The living within the army acted like the battle was already won. It was the arrogance Fline had counted on, he initiated Phase One and let the last gate fall. The hordes fell into the gap against a seasoned but weak opponent. When the dwarves began to fall, the Necromancers waited until there were enough dead and began their rituals. When the Huer magic fell upon the dwarves the Elixir did its actual work and they exploded sending a strange mist of spores throughout the horde to no immediate effect, more dwarves fell, and more spores. The cloud made it hard to fight in and eventually reached the Necromancers. They cast their spells again and the Elixir's spores did their work on the casters. Much like the Dwarves who consumed the elixer when the spores came into contact with the arcane necromantic energy flowing through the Huer necromancers the spores exploded causing a chain reaction. An explosion tore apart the Huer's necromancers and chained its way through airborne spores and through the Huer's undead legions on the front line. This was the signal for phase two and the Dwarven army and its new weaponry fell upon the staggered Huer from all sides. The Golems powered by energies unknown to the Huer cut their way through the unprepared Huer with brutal efficiency. Other dwarves equipped with PA weapons followed closely behind into the midst of the staggered army. The Huer ranks broke and began their retreat. The dwarves maintained pressure until it had driven from the pass, entirely out of Caledon Heights.Fline's Pass
Fline's military success against the Huer, holding the pass against all odds, and his continued victory earned him high praise amongst the clans. His designs and experience against the Huer made the pass the only site of the Huer's continued defeat. The fortifications and continued victories were pivitol in the stalemate that eventually occurred between the two forces. The pass into the mesa was named after him, while he argued that it should have been named for the dwarves who sacrificed themselves that day.
Conflict Type
Battle
Battlefield Type
Land
Belligerents
Huer Empire
United Dwarven Coalition
Strength
Casualties
Objectives
Conquest
Comments