Battle of Villen Downs

Military action

Archmage Dulacar interrupts a recruiting effort by the rebels, winning a decisive victory.

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  Belligerents total: 7,044   Archmage Dulacar - Total: 2,750   ~6th Sortilegion - Master Wise, 300 war mages (1d4)   ~4th Eldritch Corps- Master Verril, 450 arcane warriors (1d6)   ~1st Manikin Pickets- Journeyman Nicols, 2,000 manikins (1d8)   Gery Bencher -Total: 4,294   ~Villen Downs Balatar - Eric Laten 453 (1d6)   ~Hightown Balatar - Jim Jimson 489 (1d6)   ~Lorical Balatar - Zoyra Fin 852 (1d8)   ~Redskull Raiders - Rusty Redd 2500 (1d8)     Having just raised a volunteer balatar out of Villen Downs, Gery Bencher joined his new troops with the 3,000+ strong force he’s already raised. As a central core of his army, he had thus far successfully relied on the mercenary pike Redskull Raiders under Rusty Redd. The Raiders were persuaded to fight for the promise of first choice on booty, which caused some friction on the balatar but they knew that the professional warriors were needed.     Just before the morning of the 13th, Gery herded his forces to the south with the intention of marching on Fort Silkwall to massacre the minimal garrison there. In the early morning, just after dawn, they found their path blocked by Journeyman Nicols at the head of a large army of 2,000 manikins. The manikins were stationed behind a large earthwork that had been built up overnight by Archmage Dulacar’s transmuters. Gery, seeing that he outnumbered the manikin levy by two to one decided to assault the mound directly. After a bit of deliberation between his various leaders, he gave the central assault to the Red Skull Raiders and decided to have the balatari stretch out on the wings and attempt a double encirclement, with the smaller Hightown and Villen Downs balatari supporting together on the left flank and the larger Lorical balatar fighting on the right.   They struck out late in the morning, with Gery quipping that they’d wrap up in time for a lunch picnic on the ‘pretty hill.’ More used to the rigors of the march than their militia counterparts, the Redskull Raiders charged ahead of their wings up the hill. They were met with massed missile fire; sling bullets at first and then throwing clubs. Among the slings, specialized bullets filled with concentrated alchemists’ fire burst at certain points along the lines, fouling cohesion and funneling the raiders into awkward piecemeal vanguards. Just as these vanguards met the cohesive shield wall of the manikin pickets, Master Verril’s arcane warriors burst from illusiory blinds at the base of the mound off the manikins’ right flank, slamming into the Hightown Balatar as it maneuvered wide. The Hightowners were caught entirely unsupported, as the confused Villen Downs balatar struggled to maintain cohesion in the face of indecision.     The Lorical rebel balatar, unaware of trouble on the other flank, swung wide and crested the hill to complete the single encirclement, and found themselves bogged down with stubborn resistance. Just as they were fully committed, Master Wise’s 6th Sortilegion appeared from their own blinds and stood at the base of the hill, launching a savage barrage of spells that devastated the Lorical rear line. The rebel right flank crumbled from the rear despite relatively light losses, and began running in all directions. In the melee, Zoyra Finn kept a mere sixty of her fighters together and charged down the hill to directly engage the war mages. They met a cohesive pike formation wielding conjured weapons and terrifying spells.     The Hightowners crumbled as Master Verril personally struck down Jim Jimson with his signature glaive, resulting in a general disorganized rout. The Villen Downs balatar unleashed a barrage of sling bullets, pinning the 4th Eldritch Corps down behind their shields. The stragglers of the Hightower balatar were not so lucky, and took even more casualties from the friendly fire.     The Redskull Raiders made the crown of the hill and began making even more headway against the manikin levy. The constructs were nearly pushed off the back of the hill before the momentum stalled.     Zoyra Finn surrendered with two dozen of her men left. Rapidly shackled and left face down on the field, they were neutralized as a threat, which freed up the 6th Sortilegion to maneuver across the field, taking up a position behind both the Villen Downs balatar and the Redskull Raiders. Master Wise ordered a volley into the rear of the Villen Downs balatar, and the confusion and damage caused the rebels to turn on the new threat. Taking the initiative, the arcane warriors under Master Verril stormed the intervening distance and crashed into the shaken militia, shattering them utterly. As the militia routed back into the town, the two masters turned their armies uphill and completed a full encirclement of the mercenary raiders.       Archmage Dulacar took a small mixed HQ corps taken from the three companies in his army and marched into town, leaving orders of no quarter to the surrounded mercenaries. Due to longstanding contempt between the Redskull Raiders and the Brass Tower, these orders were not questioned.     Dulacar marched into town with his small contingent and was greeted with terror by the locals. He offered clemency for the Villen Downs balatari if they surrendered all other hiding rebels. The local militia was thus immediately pressed into supporting the archmage and soon they had nearly all of the survivors in custody.     Pressed on all sides with indirect spellfire lashing their ranks, the Redskull Raiders lost cohesion and pressed ever closer together, preventing their fighters from even properly swinging their weapons. The battle became a slaughter, with the top of the hill turned into a morass of charred and torn bodies. The blood from the slain mercenaries overwhelmed the absorption of the soil of the earthwork, and ran down the sides in a slurry of dirt and gore. When it was over, an effigy made from the armor and weapons of the Redskull Raiders was erected atop the hill, and the surviving Rusty Redd was hung from a gibbet held in the effigy’s left hand while the few mercenary survivors from the battle were unceremoniously hanged from its right hand and arm.         RESULTS: Clear Victory For Archmage Dulacar   Killed/Critically Wounded, remaining: Killed, Captured   6th Sortilegion: 58, 242 Villen Downs 165, Released (288 survivors)   4th Eldritch Corps: 147, 303 Hightower 179, 310   1st Manikin Pickets: 735, 1265 Lorical 444, 408   Total Losses: 205 mages, 735 Manikins Redskulls 2500 0   TOTAL: 788 Balatar killed, 2500 mercenaries   718 captured   Gery Bencher, Jim Jimson, Rusty Redd, Eric Laten: Deceased   Zoyra Fin: Captured