Lonesome Hill
Military action
Margrave Gims establishes a foothold in Wupan. The forward depot is unsuccessfully challenged by the vampire Longkren.
Lonesome Hill is chosen as the site of the forward depot for the expeditionary force. They shave four feet off the top of the hill and build the Lonesome Hill Fort out of stone, dirt, and sharpened logs. The leadership of the force argue amongst themselves. The disaster at Whitewater Crossing had been costly, but there was no guarantee of local reinforcements. Most villages either would have to choose to defend their walls or contribute to Gim’s balatar. Hoping that the sight of the winged hussars would raise courage, Gims sends Sontaron and his knights to fly from town to town, raising balatar and having them meet up at Lonesome Hill. It is agreed that they would reconnoiter for a month before continuing the campaign.
Two days after Sontaron left, the Lonesome Hill Fort is assaulted by the Gray Tide. From the walls nearly to the horizon, the dead form a patient, horrifying mob. Estimates of their strength range from 34000 to 35500. The defenders dig in for a protracted siege, but get a protracted battle instead.
Leading the Gray Tide, the vampire lord Longkren has little patience and orders his force to begin scaling the walls. In response, the defenders pour grease from their cook-pots down the palisade logs, rendering them nearly impossible to climb. The few areas where the undead have success leave the invaders vulnerable to being slain piecemeal. Given that aiming was a useless waste of time, Bailiffs Wilde and Fokker are able to order their balatar to lob their sling bullets in every direction at a stunning rate of fire. This is when Wilde supposedly utters one his more famous quotes: “Just get yer stones up, they’ll find skulls to crack all by themselves!” (“Get yer stones up” immediately becomes a popular colloquialism to stop overthinking and start overdoing.) Each man carries 40 sling bullets, with another 100 designated for each of them in the baggage wagons. After these boxes were placed at the slingers’ feet, they began the barrage. The impressive carnage became later known as the Czishty, Hard Rain in the Old Tongue, and the balatari present would later tattoo the word on their bodies and ask for it as an inscription of their tombstones. In 11 minutes, they ran out of bullets. This means that the 2946 balatari launched around 412,440 at a rate of nearly 37,500 per minute, and the effect was obvious. The unprotected and dim-witted zombie horde withered under the intense fire, and Longkren was forced to order them back.
When the barrage faltered, Longkren ordered his troops back in, this time leading the vanguard. He was brought up short by Margrave Gims, who walked out of the fortification under a flag of parley. Gims challenged Longkren to a knightly duel to decide the battle, and the vampire agreed, eager to take prisoners alive to sate his own appetites.
The duel is meticulously recorded in the Lonesome Hill Manual, which is considered an essential resource for learning how to duel as both combatants were masters of the art. In the end, Gims had nearly lost when he raised his left hand – and the Penumbral Ring – and commanded Longkren to kneel. As surprised as anyone, he did as he was commanded. Before he could struggle back to his feet, Gims had separated his head from his body, magic blade preventing the vampire’s escape. His horde did not honor the terms of the duel, and the undead captains ordered an attack again.
Unfortunately for them, the balatar had dug short tunnels out from beneath the ramparts and filled them with pitch. As the undead once again attempted to climb the greased walls, the pitch was ignited, lighting the grease and many of the dead ablaze. The Cambreath Home Guard fired their crossbows into the crowd beyond the flames, targeting the intelligent dead commanders even as the mindless dead seemed intent to put out the fire with their own bodies. Eventually, a wight-commander named Bonkle ordered the tattered horde back, fading into the pre-dawn haze as quietly as they had arrived.
More than 6,000 of the undead lay on the field, including almost half of the command force of the Gray Tide. Margrave Gims’ losses amounted to 89 Cambreath Home Guard and 364 balatari.
