☸ BATTLE OF CALDERNIA ☸
In the year __, the kingdoms of __, losing their war against the Usurper, decided to make a last stand outside of the great garden city of Caldernia. Desperate, they sent one last envoy pleading for help from the Caeludonians. The Usurper learned of this and sent an envoy of his own. Harrod once again denied help to the Kingdoms of ___, telling the envoy ambassadors, “The Caeludonian grand fleet is in service of no foreign ruler or alliance. This is not our war.” Harrod told the ambassadors that they were welcome to stay as long as they wished, as long as they were there, they were to be treated as honored guest. The ambassadors returned to their lodging, fearing how to break the terrible news upon their return. Two days later, the envoy from the Usurper arrived. They gave Harrod a letter from the Usurper. Reading out loud for all to hear, in the letter the Usurper demanded that Harrod handed over the grand fleet and his army over to him or he will no longer pay what is owed and will unleash the might of his army upon the Kingdom of Caelum-Septum. Harrod simply replied out loud, “Well then, I guess I know what I must do then….”
On the day of battle, both armies aligned against each other on an open field outside the garden city of Caldernia. To the dread of the lasting alliance, the Kingdom of __, allied with the Usurper, sent it’s air fleet to the battle and still no word from the envoy they sent to King Harrod. Once the battle started, the air fleet positioned themselves behind the lasting alliance, only to block their escape. The Usurper expected total victory on this day and put an end to a war that seemed to have no end. Mid day came and it seemed that all hope was lost and defeat was eminent for the lasting alliance. A darkness came upon the battlefield. The sun was totally blocked out from the sky and a roaring thunder was heard. Suddenly one of the air ships exploded and fell from the sky. King __ looked up and a bright eyed smile took to his face as the great Caeludonian fleet had arrived, led by the mighty Kargath, on its deck King Harrod himself commanding. The Kargath, a massive ship with three great zeppelins holding her in the air. Massive cannons lining her sides and doors opening from her under belly dropping balls of fire and four massive turrets on her top deck. The Usurper looked upon in anger as he saw his air fleet systematically getting wiped out as the Caeludonian’s superior fleet number and firepower was in full display. The Kargath was taking aim at the back lines of the Usurper causing disarray.
☸ RISE OF THE USURPER ☸
In the year __, a usurper arose in the Kingdom of __. Its people tired of being used on the front lines of a losing war and constant suppression from its allied kingdoms, found a leader to help them rise from the ashes and give its people hope. In the year , under the leadership of the usurper, King __ was over thrown in a brief civil war. At the battle of __ in what was looking as a defeat, the usurper rallied his army and the armies of allied union to victory, earning the respect of the kings and lords of his allied kingdoms. The Usurper had no desire to be a king himself, but under his leadership and his countrymen’s new found fighting spirit, along with its allied Kingdoms, __ started to swarm from Kingdom to Kingdom. Victory after victory, laying waste to everything and subjugating the people in reparations for all the hardship the Kingdom of _ suffered in the years prior.
Caelum-Septrum’s view of the Usurper was no different than of any other Kingdom. He made them money. King Harrod was happy to supply the Usurper as long as he had the money to pay for it. As the war raged on, the great Caeludonian air fleet was finishing its greatest ship. A project started by Harrod’s father, King Unther. The ship was called the Kargath, named for the Caeludonian Ancient God of war. Once the mighty ship was finished, word quickly spread throughout the greater continent of this terror that the Caeludonian’s had constructed.
Never before have the Caeludonians ever once sold a ship of their mighty air fleet, but the bids were coming in from kingdoms involved in the war believing it could be the one thing needed to win the war, though never seeing the great ship. Only going on what they heard of what it could possibly do. The kingdoms of __, the lasting alliance against the Usurper, desperate in their fight, decided to not ask for the mighty ship. They started asking Caelum-Septrum to join them on their side of the war, they wanted the Caeludonian fleet. Envoy after envoy sent would return with Harrod’s reply, no. Things were going to change at Caldernia.
☸ VINDICATOR VS VICTORY ☸
The Caeludonian fleet looked to take care of the __ fleet. The Vindicator, a ship built by Harrod’s grandfather, took aim at the Victory, the pride of the __ fleet. The Vindicator was the fourth ship built in her line. She received a special modification that her three sister ships did not at the request of King Soltist, a rotating turret. Soltist came up with the idea and looked to the dwarf engineer Mendal to make it happen. Once construction was finished, the Vindicator was the most fear weapon of its time and became the flag ship of the grand fleet. Soltist feared that one day that the great war would come to the Caelodonians and he swore they would be ready for it. Soltist passed away 40 yrs before Caelum-Sceptum entered the war. The Victory was a newer ship of the __ fleet, believed to be more than a match than any ship in the Cealudonian fleet. The Victory was positioned higher in the air and was primed to fire upon the zeppelin of the Vindicator. Suddenly the Victory was violently rocked. She lost the lower portion of her bow and part of her starboard side, her sailors falling to their doom. She took a direct hit from the Vindicator’s massive three gun turret. The Vindicator rose in her elevation to match the Victory. The Victory’s top side gunners recovered and fired at the deck of the Vindicator, exposing the second deck on its starboard side. The turret realigned and fired along with the rest of the Vindicator’s starboard side cannons. It was devastating. The Victory became unattached from its Zeppelin and began to plunge to the ground causing a great explosion, sending debris across the battlefield killing men on both sides. Her Zeppelin climbing up in the sky catches fire and suddenly falls to the ground.
King __, on his horse next to the Usurper watched in horror and he saw his great ship defeated. The Usurper is just angrily looking on. King Harrod witnessing the fight on the Kargath grew an arrogant smirk on his face, pleased with what had transpired, especially since it was his brother Prince Tyril commanding the Vindicator. The Vindicators victory came at a heavy price, she lost 27 men and women upon the Victory’s return fire, one of those lives lost was her captain, Morris Ferril. Captain Ferril was loved by his crew and well respected by the royal family. He was on the deck starboard side commanding the gunners to take aim when the Vindicator was hit. His body was never found. General Karlus, aboard the Kargath with King Harrod, wrote in his journal he saw a tear fall from the King’s eye when he learned of Ferril’s fall. To this day the Vindicator would never have another captain, she was only to be under the command by a member of the royal family.
☸ MESSAGE SENT ☸
Once the Caeludonian fleet had total control over the skies, the landing ships began to land. Unloading not just men and women, but also Mendal’s most horrifying war machines. The retreat was on for the Usurpers army as they continued to take fire from the ships above. Karlus asked Harrod what should they do now with the Usurper’s army now on the run. Harrod, thinking about the letter that the Usurper sent to him, said to Karlus, “I think it’s time I gave him my reply. Turn the ship to the city.” The King’s son, Prince Harrod II, over heard and pleaded with his father to not turn the ship onto the city. Prince Harrod loved the city of __. He would often visit the city, it is said he had fallen in love with a woman from the city. His pleas would fall to deaf ears, the King would have nothing of it. Once the ship was over the city, Harrod gave the command, “Fire at will.” Buildings exploding, houses catching fire, the screams of the citizens reaching the great ship. The prince on his knees and eyes closed, tears running down his face hearing the city he loved being destroyed. The king standing over his son, “Do not stop till the city is leveled.” Air ships Regotta and Lorenz joined in the bombardment. The kings of the lasting alliance also watched in horror, they couldn’t have believed that Harrod would unleash such hell on the innocent people. As his army continued to retreat, the Usurper , alone on his horse just watched with the same angered face as before, the fires of the city glowing in his eyes and the smoke darkened the sky. When the bombardment stopped, Harrod turned to Karlus, “Message sent” “Yes indeed my lord.” Karlus replied.
☸ THE AFTERMATH ☸
The Kargath lowered to about 30 off the ground. From there the kings of the lasting alliance saw the heads of the Usurpers envoy on pikes on the bow of the mighty ship. The Kargath began to lower her landing craft, amongst the people on the craft, to the joy of the kings, were their envoy ambassadors. Then they saw King Harrod, they confronted the Caeludonian king. Demanding to know why he destroyed the city, killing all of those innocent people. Harrod handed the Usurper letter to King __ and said “No one threatens my kingdom, demands that I hand over to them what is mine.” King __ replied “But these people, they are not the Usurper, they didn’t deserve this.” “Then they shouldn’t have aligned themselves with him.” King Harrod turned and walked away. Prince Harrod made his way through the burning streets, the once beautiful gardens and parks till he stood a pile of rubble. He looked down and a woman’s leg, burned and covered in ash, lifeless. He looked up to the sky as tears fell down his face, turned and walked away. The prince remained quiet and kept to himself on the trip home, and kept that way for several weeks back in Caelum-Sceptrum.
The great war continued for __ years. A stalemate between the two sides, neither army gaining any advantage till the eventual fall of the Iron-guard and it’s allies. The Caeludonian fleet would not again fight in the war, as it’s attention was turned to a greater threat, one of flying demons and monsters. When Harrod II became king, he vowed that he would never unleash the Kargath again. Turning the great ship into the fleets naval academy in the capital city of Geneese. Under Harrod II rule, Caelum-Sceptum became an isolationist country, no longer selling weapons to either side of the great thousand year war. The Vindicator, fully repaired, became stationed at the border city of Cael’s Reach. On her deck a memorial of where her captain once stood at the time of his death.
The garden city of __ rebuilt itself out the ruins of the old city, now over grown with vegetation. The once open battlefield is now a small forest, fertilized from all the casualties of the battle. A giant crater is now where the Victory crashed and exploded, parts of her hull still littering the crater. Close by the mangled and rusted metal structure of her Zeppelin, over grown with vegetation as well.
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