Battle of Nine Stones

Written by Lokrow

The Battle of Nine Stones is the first battle to be fought by the Orc Horde led by Belkzen Uelaz. The battle follows consecutive raids upon the dwarves by an ever-growing coalition of orcish clans. This event begins the Reckoning. a decade long period during which the army of orcs reclaimed many of their territories they were driven away from and aimed to drive the dwarves back underground.

History

In the 500 years which followed the orcs' first exposure to sunlight as a surface species, the orcs were repeatedly displaced further into the desolate cold territories of North Avistan. Though the orcs fought back, the dwarves were able to overwhelm the disorganised orcish clans, driving them further North with each victory over the orcish clans.
It wasn't until Belkzen of the Shadow Sun, fueled by despair and rage, led skirmishes against the dwarves which weakened their frontlines that the balance started to shift. Belkzen's multiple victories made him rise in popularity amongst the orcs of Avistan, which led to the formation of a coalition of orcish clans who would coordinate attacks upon the dwarves.

The Conflict

Prelude

The orcish army had divided and led multiple successful raids upon the surrounding outposts of the city. The raids which the dwarves took as unconnected rebellions couldn't ever fully be retaliated upon and before the dwarves of Koldukar could counter, the orcish clans marched south and came to surround the dwarven Sky Citadel of Koldukar in the middle of the night.

Deployment

The First Wave

The Orc Horde as it gathered around Koldukar was composed of a total of 120 clans, with an average size approximately twice that of modern orcish clans.
The orcs were organised around the city walls, their four largest clans not counting Belkzen's own posted in front of each gate to the inside of the city but out of arrow range.
In fact Belkzen and his clan of the Shadow Sun were nowhere to be seen as they had gone westward to gather up the remaining orc clans. The remainder of the orc clans established their camps in circles around the 4 largest. This allowed the orc clans close monitoring of any dwarven sortie attempt as well as a large coverage area.
The outer layer of defenses was turned outwards to guard against outside attempts to liberate the city.

The Dwarves

Though the dwarves of Koldukar heard word of the orcish force approaching the city, they were taken aback as the orcs set camp out of distance with a clear intention to lay siege to the city. The dwarven city counted a total population of a 100,000 dwarves, with approximately 80,000 able to fight and two thirds of that amount trained soldiers.

Battlefield

Koldukar lays in a plain with the only significant elevation relief being the Flood Road which passes west of the city and the Hungry Mountains 40 km (26 mi) to the East. The city had freshly plowed and sown cropland outside of its walls, amidst which the orcs set their camps.

Conditions

The orcs surrounded the city in late spring, interrupting the haymaking of crops. The weather warmed with scarce rain or storms and rising heat as the summer arrived.
The orcs arrived prepared, rarely spending time outside of their Urgus during the daytime unless a dwarven sortie was attempted.

The Engagement

The First Wave

The dwarves attempted to disrupt the orcs setting camp, aiming to overwhelm them as they had before. However the orcs fought back with surprising (to the dwarves) cohesion and drove the dwarves back into the Sky Citadel, even without Belkzen present.
Further attempts at breaching the siege were made but all were strongly repelled back into the city walls or eliminated completely. The orcs did not seem any less alert during night or day, as orcs would often be woken up to fight when a sortie was attempted. Likewise, any of the frequent attempts from the orcs to infiltrate the city's defenses was repelled. The two opposing forces were at a standstill.

Arrival of the Shadow Sun

As summer began, the dwarves received word from the other citadels that their request for help had been denied. The orcs were not deemed reason enough to mobilise forces and traverse the Darklands to come to the aid of Koldukar. The other citadels believed that the orcs lacked the discipline for a long siege and would fall back onto fighting each other if left alone.
The news however, cause the dwarves of Koldukar worry. As they had observed for a month, the orcs behaved much against their expectations. Showing a discipline and organisation which baffled the dwarves. However their pride got in the way of admitting this in their communications with the other citadels.
This didn't stop them from planning yet another sortie. This time, using the knowledge gathered in the past month to plan the charge as opposed to relying solely on overwhelming and dispersing the orcs. The sortie would focus most of the dwarven force on the eastern side of the city, aiming to drive the orcs into the mountains. Indeed they managed to push the orcs back, dwarven artillery mounted upon the eastern ramparts of the city felling many unprepared orcs.
The orcs adapted quickly, pulling back from the dwarven cannons and pulling most of their clans eastward with them. The dwarven infantry gave chase, whilst the weakened western blockade of orcs found itself under attack, the remaining force of the dwarves inside the city aiming to breach the siege for good.
The sortie seemed on the path to success until Belkzen and his clan of the Shadow Sun came charging from the western plains, accompanied by another 80 orc clans. The comparatively weaker dwarven force on the western front was crushed by Belkzen's charge, while the eastern charge had led chase into the hills too far out of artillery support, where it was outdone by the orcs.
In total, the dwarves killed 4,000 orcs before losing half of their military and being forced to retreat.

Defense of the siege

2 months into the siege of Koldukar, as their reserves of winter grain decreased and the summer temperatures climbed, the dwarves were facing riots inside the city. The riots followed the decision to allocate most of their dwindling reserves for the army, starving the civilian populace.
Outside of Koldukar, the news of the defeat was only met with a sense of concern by the dwarves of The Ironheart Foundry. The closest dwarven fortress to Koldukar yet not a Sky Citadel, Koldukar sent an aid request to the Ironheart Foundry.
The dwarves of the Foundry sent their military force along with siege engines, they were not worldly dwarves but they were equipped with the best forged armour available to any dwarf.
Orc scouts spotted the dwarven force coming from the North-West and alerted Belkzen. Belkzen once again took his clan and left the rest of his army with instructions to contain the dwarves in the soon-to-flood Flood Road. He and his clan then marched North on the eastern bank of the Flood Road.

Map from The Foundry to Koldukar (Urgir)

^{In white, the shortest distance the dwarves of the Foundry could have taken, including crossing the Flood Road west of Koldukar (Urgir on the map). In red, the direction in which the Shadow Sun clan marched after hearing news of the dwarves' approach.}
Unfamiliar with the yearly flooding that turns the dry creek of the Flood Road into a fast flowing river, the approaching army ended up caught in a flash flood as hey were crossing it. The army was now split in two, with the siege engines trapped on the western bank the Flood Road and the battle between orcs and a now weakened dwarven army occuring on the opposite.
Belkzen and his clan arrived, charging the siege engines which despite their distance still inflicted significant damage to the orcish siege. Along with them, the orcs had managed to redirect a stampede of migrating aurochs. Some orcs were even stood on top of the beasts, as though surfing the wave.
The dwarves on the western Bank abandoned their siege engines and beat a prompt retreat, some managing to sabotage some of the engines. On the eastern bank, the remainder of the dwarves was eliminated to the last soldier.

Final Raid on Koldukar

Shortly after, utilising the siege engines salvaged from the attack from the Foundry, the orcs managed to breach through the castle defences and forced the dwarves to flee back into the Darkland's tunnels. This was the final engagement and the siege was named after this battle as it took nine stones (ammunition from the siege engines) to breach a Koldukar gate.

Outcome

This victory established the Orc Army as a force to be reckoned with. Orcs until this point had not been taken as a serious potential threat. They were thought to be easily overwhelmed with a larger force or greater firepower.
Their lack of coordination between the clans had been the main vulnerability of the orcs' which the Dwarves had taken advantage of. But under Belkzen, the orcish clans fought organised as an army and their readiness for conflict, honed by repeated dwarven attacks, meant they could and did engage in a battle at any time of the day or night.

Aftermath

The siege of Koldukar began the period known as the Reckoning. In the following decade leading up to Belkzen's disappearance, the Orc Horde marched onto dwarven outposts and settlement eventually being contained to their current, loosely-defined territory of The Hold of Belkzen.

Historical Significance

Legacy

Orcish stigma

The Battle of Nine Stones was a massive paradigm shift for how the orcs were viewed on the surface of Golarion. Formerly orcs were demonised as "feral vermin which had taken the shape of a humanoid" who fought against the dwarves as much as they did against each other. They were now shown capable of larger scale operations and implementing complex straegies.
The dwarves revised their stigma of the orcs based on the embellished reports of defeated dwarven soldiers who lived to tell the tale. They were now occultists who had called upon supernatural aid to be elevated to a level which could rival dwarven civilisation. Their use of a wild stampede was embellished as Belkzen riding the aurochs into battle using the natural affinity of orcs with wild beasts.

Fearmongering

The fear of orcish unity is extremely common in non-orcish societies, especially ones influenced in any way by he dwarves. The term "Horde" became uniquely associated with the orcs and used often in fearmongering propaganda in Ustalav and other neighbouring countries.
This fear of orcish unity was awoken again when Tar-Baphon conquered the orcs and subjugated them to use as fighting fodder.

Conflict Type

Siege

Battlefield Type

Urban

Start Date

-3708 AR, Desnus 20th. (Late Spring)

Ending Date

-3708 AR, Arodus 16th. (Late Summer, just shy of 3 months later)

Conflict Result

The army of the orcs seizes the Sky Citadel of Koldukar, renaming it to Urgir.

Location

Urgir

Belligerents

The Orc Hordes

Led by

Strength

The First Wave

• 24,000 Orcs in 120 clans.

Arrival of the Black Sun

• 16,000 orcs in 80 clans.

Defense of the siege

• 36,000 orcs.

• 4 dwarven siege engines.

Final Raid on Koldukar

• 33,000 Orcs.

• 9 dwarven siege engines.

Casualties

The First Wave Unknown.
Arrival of the Black Sun

• 4,000 Orcs.

Defense of the siege

• 3,000 Orcs.

Final Raid on Koldukar

• 3,500 Orcs.

Objectives

Siege the Sky Citadel of Koldukar and seize control of it.

Dwarves of Koldukar

Led by

Strength

100,000 inhabitants in Koldukar:

• 80,000 able to fight.

• Of which 53,000 trained soldiers.

Casualties

• The outer wall protecting the city.

• 10,000 civilians to starvation and disease.

• 80,000 Dwarves.

Objectives

Defend Koldukar and defeat the Orc Horde.

Dwarves of The Foundry

Led by

Strength

• 20,000 dwarven soldiers.

• A small dozen of dwarven siege engines.

Casualties

• 18,000 dwarven soldiers.

• 9 siege engines seized, the rest destroyed in battle.

Objectives

Breach the siege and liberate Koldukar.