Battle of Jastingrag
The Battle of Jastingrag was the final engagement of the four-week war between the The Snow Lord and Jameleska. The battle saw an overwhelming victory for the Jameleskan alliance and assortment of various troops from around the Duchy, and was led on two fronts, with the main army under the command of Horsha Lenn attacking the defenders whilst Doomed 2 Die went to find the cure.
The Battle saw the end of the Snow Lord’s war, with the lord of Jastingrag and the Eyes of Varpak both slain and their forces surrendering to the alliance, beginning a new age of peace in the region.
The Conflict
Prelude
The battle had been coming for some time, since the arrival of Doomed 2 Die and their work with the 22nd Scouts the war had turned against The Snow Lord and his forces. The Snow Lord had lost his takings of Astergor and Storonthorpe, and his own allies in Theygor had been defeated two days prior. This severely limited his supply lines to the troops on the frontlines in Jameleska. The Lord ordered a bold increase of assaults within the city, with his forces moving up their timeline and beginning to attack the outer walls districts of Olavsbridge and Kordenwall. Their limited numbers and supplies meant this front was going disastrously, but it opened up time for the Snow Lord to enact a daring plan with his ally and lover, The Eyes of Varpak. The Eyes used their connections with the god of poisons to inflict a magical curse on the heirs of all the Jotun nobles, promising to release the cure if they bent the knee to Jastingrag and declared war on Jameleska. The nobles were scattering around looking for a cure, but it was likely they would bend the knee. This concerned the Jameleskan military, as they were barely holding off the forces of one giant lord, let alone the combined armies of all of Jotun. Horsha Lenn was sent with the 19th cavalry to rendezvous with the 22nd Scouts and Doomed 2 Die at their location near Fasingos and inform them of coming disaster, and push for a full scale assault on Jastingrag.
Deployment
The forces began to set up siege, and Doomed 2 Die used their connections around the duchy to call in allies from the settlements they had liberated. From Storonthorpe, Deputy Cass led her forces of sharpshooting deputies, Morgaton arrived with the boys, and The Blizzard Maiden and The Snow Lady set march from Astergor. The SES Endeavour was also called in from the astral plane to assist in the artillery bombardment of the town.
Alongside these forces, Doomed 2 Die could also rely on three companions. The archer, cartographer, and adventurer Falia Rayes, the vikingr raider Ivar Lothgarssen , and the plucky young thief Roach.
Horsha Lenn and the cavalry took up the rear-guard position with the Jameleskan veteran acting as the engagement’s chief general. In the vanguard, the Fire Giants of Astergor, Ivar, and the 22nd scouts took up an attacking position. The Boys and Roach were assigned to be sappers and bring down the walls, with Ardo Hune acting as a medic and the Snow Lady’s forces defending the attackers. In the artillery position, the deputies took up position on a dug embankment with Falia Rayes and the Endeavour acting as mobile artillery.
Battlefield
The battlefield between the Jameleskan siege camp and Jastingrag was uneven and littered with the remains of rocks that had been thrown from the walls during the night to taunt the camping forces, with small clusters of trees providing additional cover for the Jameleskans. Inside the town, the streets were wide enough for full scale engagements from the humanoids, but restraining the giants due to their size. Only the gateway and the market square provided open battling ground.
Conditions
The weather was favourable, with a mild temperature and no precipitation. Wind was at a minimum and no dry ice had formed during the night allowing for a safe advance from the Jameleskans.
The Engagement
The battle began not long after dawn, the Jameleskan alliance took up their positions with the Snow Lord’s defenders lining the walls. Horsha Lenn provided a battle speech for his forces, and then gave the order to march.
The tactics for the battle were for the main army to hold off the defenders whilst Doomed 2 Die made their way to the defeat the Eyes of Varpak and gain a cure for the poison.
In his first order, the Snow Lady moved her forces out to help cover Doomed 2 Die, taking the flurry of hurled rocks and giant spears with minimal losses. Lenn then ordered the Boys and Roach to move out under this cover, using fallen rocks and the forest for cover to make their way to the walls.
Doomed 2 Die and the Snow Lady continued their push forward, covering the boys with ease. The Snow Lord ordered more artillery to move forward and began to charge his magical staff of thunder and lightning to assault the alliance. Seeing this, Lenn ordered the Artillery to begin firing. The deputies and Falia unleashed attacks from afar, downing much of the defending Jotun armies. The SES Endeavour flew over the walls, flurrying the Snow Lord and the enemy archers with radiant bolts of energy.
A sortie was ordered with the Snow Lady taking the brunt of the fire, but their shield wall held enough in time for Morgaton to detonate the explosives hidden within the walls by Roach and the goblins. This downed the walls entirely, giving Doomed 2 Die and the vanguard a chance to push in.
The Jameleskans charged forward, the Scouts using titan gear to create an opening for the Fire Giants of Astergor to push inwards. Ardo Hune and Lt. Braer began seeing to casualties. The Snow Lord went to use his staff again but was tackled by Heli Ristor who had morphed into his Titan Form. Their battle was pushed into the market and allowed the Jameleskan alliance to push further into the gateway.
Heli and the Snow Lord duelled in the marketplace but Snow Lord reinforcements began to arrive. This forced Doomed 2 Die to move off target and try to help their ally, but they arrived too late, and the scout was felled, the Snow Lord consuming his body and regaining his strength. The adventurers defeated his reinforcements, and with Azura’s wall of fire they whittled him down, counterspelling the Eyes of Varpak’s attempted rescue.
The Snow Lord fell to the adventurers despite his new strength, prompting the Eyes of Varpak to commit ritual suicide for her failure. With their generals dead and taking heavy losses from the scouts and fire giants, with reinforcements being flurried with arrows from the deputies and energy from the endeavour, they routed, and the battle was all but won within the hour.
Outcome
With the forces routed, the surviving leaders quickly surrendered and were imprisoned by the Snow Lady. The loss of Heli prompted the mourning of his colleagues in the scouts, but the heroes were moved out of the city whilst the giants and deputies began to secure small hold outs of resistance. Doomed 2 Die attained the cure, and were rushed back to Jameleska so news could be spread to the other courts.
Aftermath
The death of the Snow Lord has granted his lands and powers to his wife, The Snow Lady, officially making the rulership of Jastingrag a matrilineal role for the first time in its history. Peace was finally brought the duchy of Jameleska again, and a long process of rebuilding has begun. The death of the Eyes of Varpak seems to have ended the last active worship of Varpak.
Conflict Type
Battle
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
14th Endstarre
Ending Date
15th Endstarre
Conflict Result
Overhwelming victory for Jameleska
Location
Belligerents
Jameleskan Alliance
Led by
Strength
19th Cavalry
22nd Scouts
Morganton's Boys
100 Frost Giant Drottin
112 Fire Giants
1 Sun Elf scout ship
200-300 Jastingrag warriors (hill giants, frost giants, and ogres)
Casualties
around 100, largely from the giant contigent, with Corporal Heli Ristor of the 22nd scouts also dying.
230
Objectives
Retrieve the magical cure for the Eyes of Varpak's poisioning of the Jotun hiers and prevent the other city's submitting to the Snow Lord.
Lift the siege
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