Campaign 18 - Siege of Quisling

General Summary

The 18th campaign played in Farrah. Set in 518 AQ and played by the Razors of Quisling (PC Group) and the Adamantium Lord (PC).
The Razors of Quisling are charged with the defence of Quisling while the army and navy sail to Quixculub island with the Triple Alliance. They act as security consultants for Lord Winterby and report to City Administrator Rosie Kalen.
The Razors receive daily briefings and their responses are listed in bold:

Daily Briefing with Razors and Lord Winterby by City Administrator Rosie: • Wheat Crop suffering from a blight and so food prices expected to rise in city soon • Water around Almaren Island tastes slightly salty. Still potable. Malcar or party should investigate the Alu Wenya (ancient purifying devices). Clerics to purify water and Malcar Estemeron to repair device • Unverified report from Dakar of a fleet of 8 ships flying outdated Farrah colours rounded the cape headed north 5 days ago. (250 miles south, ships sail 48 miles/day). Caravels, longships and an ironclad. (This is unlikely as only 2 ironclads have ever been made) • Much bandit activity on roads to the south, they seem to have grouped in large numbers and wiped out some hamlets. Possibly send Commander Hayden to protect those civilians? Confused reports on individuals escaping half a dozen villages that were attacked over the last few days. • The town of Dust requested urgent assistance in dealing with the Bandits. Dust has its own garrison and stone walls. They are unlikely to be in immediate danger. Although these are unusually large attacks they are still just bandits. 20 town guard sent to Dust • Guards still search for individuals wanted for questioning relating to the Pentagram Circus massacre. Thaddeus Spellwift is missing, important that he is found.
Next Daily Briefing by Rosie: • Reports of Vampire attack at Vanimo, they escaped pursuing Razor team and believed to be headed south. The leader of the team requested we lace the gates and crossroads with garlic and put out watchers. Approved • The Almat Fort reports large numbers of refugees trying to come up the road to Quisling. They are holding them and want to know if they should be let through or sent back. They are fleeing bandit attacks on multiple villages. 300 Refugees at Almat. Refugees sent through and soldiers retreat to Quisling • There have been fires lit in the city outskirts overnight. A tavern, The resurrection went up and several nearby houses were burned when it spread.
Next Daily Briefing by Rosie: • Bandit attacks are worse than we thought, someone called the Adamantium Lord is leading them. They have access to military grade weaponry and arcana. Some civilians claim that the bandits are being supported by a fleet of ships. • Our informant in the Rising Sons has alerted us to a meeting of theirs tonight at Elmerend Hall. They should be arrested or killed, but our informant is to be spared and rewarded. Razors raid the hall and interrupt the Rising Sons.

Next Daily Briefing by Rosie: • The populations of multiple villages seem to be gathering on the Dakar road about 100 miles south of here. There have been reports of Shades in the area. What we thought was bandit activity might be the formation of an army. • Reports of attacked towns include: Sistan (1,000), Mirabad (800) Rudbar (1100), Shielh (500), Tasooki (1,500), Adimi (2,000) and Zabol (500). Our studies of the attacks in Unified Northern Epigea suggest shades will be able to convert 60-70% of a population so we estimate their numbers could be as high as 5200 remnants. Plus whatever untethered shades there are and any initial force. • They are 20 miles south of Dust (6,000). If the city is taken we could be looking at up to 4,000 additional remnants. • The towns of Chiras (300), Tokzar (400), and Kunduz (200) should be evacuated. We can have them directed to Quisling or tell them to cut through the forest to the Kimbol Road, alternatively they could be directed to Dust or The Almat for protection. • A small company of soldiers has arrived at the City, lead by Commander Alex Farwalker. She requested to speak with the Razors in the city. She has a letter of passage with the Queen’s own seal on it.
Meeting with Alex Farwalker and Queen's Blade The Razors meet Alex Farwalker. She asks for a ship in return for providing 50 soldiers to the defence of the city. The Razors agree and provide the boat. Farwalker also reports meeting and destroying a unit of the Adamantium Lord's Army at a river crossing some days earlier. Farwalker and the Queen's Blade sail east.\

Briefing About the Forces marching on Quisling • Lead by Bragg AKA the Adamantium Lord. Born in ~468 in Quisling. Bragg was a martial prodigy and quickly rose to command in the army. In 490 he lead a unit of soldiers in the battle of Chixculub, holding his position for 2 days, heavily outnumbered fighting against a Gith assault. For unknown reasons Bragg deserted his post and fled the battle on a Caravel he commandeered. Desertion being a capital crime and in the possession of top secret intelligence, it was imperative that he be brought in. Due to his formidable skills Occam himself authorized a team of Razors to hunt Bragg. He could not be found so his family faced the Sanction in his place. He disappeared until 502 when he resurfaced at Drakkenwald Castle. The official story of how the traitor Lamar Auralias was killed does not include this information, but there was a team of Harper agents at the Castle when our Razors stormed it and killed Auralias. Due to a defector from the Harpers we know that they had contact with the Vetala before this event. We believe they were allied with Auralias, but were unable to defend him. Bragg once again escaped our Razors and vanished. It now seems clear that he was working for the Vetala since Chixculub.
Razors ride to Dust The Razors ride at speed to Dust to aid the defence of the town. They order Quisling be prepared for siege. When they arrive at Dust they find the city falling to shades with the population being turned. The Razors flee back to Quisling. They enter the city and screen all refugees with music and salt walls.
Adamantium Lord's Progress The Adamantium Lord lands in Bandar Bay with the Grey Company - a mercenary group from Unified Esteria - and a small contingent of Shades. He quickly converts local villages, overruns Dust, and begins to march toward Quisling. 
Adamantium Lord's Strategy Send outriders to burn fields around Quisling Ships to attack fishing vessels to deny the city food March troops at normal speed send shades to outlier villages  Storm the Almat Fort (found undefended and lightly garrisoned by Adamantium Lord as rear guard)
Negotiate: wants Razors and Lord Winterby, high rank Wells Fargo staff. Anyone else who wants to leave can do so unharmed. Sneak in shades through refugees from farming attacks Birds on board Quisling’s boats, if heavily defended then send ship to attack Starve them for a few days Multiple false assaults each night, amnesty each day Crude battering rams and ladders If undefended people out of the city, kill them Navy engage only outside anti-magic field, don’t capture ships, if can be destroyed at range do so Search amnesty people for soliders and weapons, ensure they comply Magic targeting Quisling siege weapons Shades with ships for protection
Siege of Quisling The attack plays out as the Adamantium Lord planned at first. The Razors destroyed a bridge and used light cavalry to defend a fordable river section, but when the horses betrayed their masters the forces of the Adamantium Lord crossed and established their foothold. The Adamantium Lord's forces surrounded the city and began probing attacks. Unknown to the Razors, the Adamantium Lord had limited time to take the city and seize Ecthelion's Tower, on command of the Vetala.
The Razors of Quisling set tar houses across the city (all outside the inner wall of Othram. They stationed soldiers on the outer wall of Rammas Ecthor but cleared straight roads to retreat down should then have to burn the city. 
They received the Adamantium Lord's demand for Lord Winterby and key government officials and refused it. They also accepted an offer to send a small number of civilians out of the city under a truce.
Assault on the Ironclad Determined to regain control of the sea and the food supplies it promised the Razors made an invisible assault on an Ironclad. They flew across the sea and successfully took the ship, but were injured and the ship sabotaged in the process. They limped the Ironclad into safe waters. Unwilling to repeat this risky process now the enemy was expecting it they sent missives to Thal'Asa for the aid of the merfolk in attacking the Adamantium Lord's Navy.
Harper's Aid The Razors met secretly with a Harper agent and asked for their assistance in slaying the Adamantium Lord. The Harpers agreed and that night a vampire entered the Adamantium Lord's Tent. The pair began to fight, with the Vampire gaining the upper hand, however the Adamantium Lord resisted long enough for the camp to become alert and his bodyguards to intervene, forcing the Vampire to flee.
The Assault - the city burns The Adamantium Lord ordered his attack on the city. As his forces advance the Razors set the outer town ablaze. The city soldiers mostly escaped, but hundreds of thousands perished in the blaze, caught between the city walls (where they were not admitted for fear of shade possession) and the besieging army. The Adamantium Lord - perplexed by the fire - withdrew and waited it out with minimal losses.
Once the fires burned down the Lord's armies advances through the rubble and smoke, attacking wall Othram in multiple places. The Adamantium Lord took the central part of the wall and drove a wedge with his elite guards toward Alamaren Island and Ecthelion's Tower. His forces reached the bridge where the Razors and a rear guard were waiting. The Razors and the soldiers of Quisling (including Greg the Owlbear in his war armour). There were heavy losses on both sides, but ultimately the Razors fought off the assault and killed the Adamantium Lord on the bridge. He fell into the water beneath. As they were recovering the Razors saw a cat drag itself out of the water onto Alamaren Island nearby. One of the Razors ran and grabbed the cat, which then used a teleportation spell - the Razor declined to travel with the cat. The cat appeared atop Ecthelion's Tower and stepped into the light. The VETALA who possessed it emerged and used the light to regain its body. In this process all the shades across the city were absorbed, leaving the Vetala's forces diminished in number.
As the Vetala stood a spell cast many miles away - at Chixculub - took effect and grabbed it, pulling it away from Quisling and across the ocean to where the Triple Alliance was waiting to bind it forever.
Aftermath The city was burned and beaten, thousands dead. The Vetala's ground forces retreated and scattered and the Adamantium Lord was slain. As the Adamantium Lord's navy fled it was attacked by merfolk and lost more vessels. The Razors, facing public rage at the outcome, fled the city.

PC groups in campaign

• Razors of Quisling
• The Adamantium Lord

Report Date

10 Sep 2022