Rain of Pikes
The Rain of Pikes is the single greatest military defeat in the history of the Orb, and it belongs to the Dwarves.
On the day of the battle, the sun rose on two armies formed up several hundred yards apart. The Dwarvish army numbered some 50,000 strong, all of it heavily armored infantry. The Tauran army was half the size; the first two ranks of heavily armored pikemen with massive tower shields, while the remaining troops were entirely archers.
Without notice or fanfare, the Taurans darkened the sky with arrows, and the Dwarves - well trained in defense from archers - crouched and raised their shields towards the hidden sun. However, what fell from the sky was not the typical arrow, but bolts - some greater than four feet in length and as thick as a javelin.
It is not known where the Tauran obtained their affinity for bows and archery, being a largely subterranean race, but they have managed to meld their robust size to robust bows - the largest of their bows being over eight feet in length. Where the Tauran lack the precision of elven bowyers, the volume of Tauran archers and their massive arrows has delivered battlefield results unmatched in recorded Orb history.
The initial volley felled a staggering quarter of the Dwarven infantry; the extent of the casualties stunning them into confusion, which was only broken by the arrival of the second volley. The second volley killed or incapacitated a further 12,000 Dwarven warriors, but broke the petrified state of the Dwarven army.
The trumpet sounded the charge, and the Dwarven infantry surged forward, closing the distance on the opposing Tauran force. No third volley came, and the Dwarves continued to close the gap, preparing to drive themselves against the Tauran shield wall. And still the sun remained visible and unobstructed from deadly missiles.
The thunder of the Dwarven charge grew louder as the front ranks drew within a stone's throw of the Tauran formation - and this is when the shield wall fell.
The heavily armored front two ranks of the Tauran formation, The Wall, crouched low and tented their tower shield above them - the front rank sloping away from the field of battle, while the back rank sloped their shields away from their bow-welding comrades. With the shield wall lowered, a line of tightly-spaced ballista-like weapons (known to the Tauran as a scythaurion) were revealed - each prepared to fire a bound sheaf of bolts through a duck-bill ended tube.
There was no time for the Dwarven infantry charge to comprehend what could now be seen, and even if they were able to comprehend, there could not be enough time to act. The scythaurions were released, and their deadly load scythed through the Dwarves in a thick, whistling line of death. Those bolts that fell low, skipped harmlessly of The Walls sloped tower shields. Then the third volley was released.
As quickly as the shield wall had fallen, it rose again. The front rank driving the pointed bottoms of their shield deep into the earth, while the second rank holding their mighty shields aloft, as one might hold an umbrella against a coming rain.
Fewer than ten thousand Dwarves survived the charge to the Tauran shield wall, and when they crashed upon the Tauran shields, they were turned away like the wind against a mountain. The Wall moved not an inch.
Then the third volley arrived.
The sound of boots thundering on the ground and metal on metal ceased, leaving only the cries of the wounded. And with that, the Tauran army turned and marched back to their home, leaving only their wall of tower shields rammed in the earth to cover their departure.
Of the fifty-thousand Dwarvish troops that stood in formation at the beginning of that day, less than three thousand survived the through to the end of the engagement a scant ten minutes later. Dwarven accounts from survivors of the defeat record that, “pikes fell from the sky, like rain.” In time, the battle became known as the Rain of Pikes.
Of the twenty-five thousand Tauran troops, Tauran history does not record a single death.
Without notice or fanfare, the Taurans darkened the sky with arrows, and the Dwarves - well trained in defense from archers - crouched and raised their shields towards the hidden sun. However, what fell from the sky was not the typical arrow, but bolts - some greater than four feet in length and as thick as a javelin.
It is not known where the Tauran obtained their affinity for bows and archery, being a largely subterranean race, but they have managed to meld their robust size to robust bows - the largest of their bows being over eight feet in length. Where the Tauran lack the precision of elven bowyers, the volume of Tauran archers and their massive arrows has delivered battlefield results unmatched in recorded Orb history.
The initial volley felled a staggering quarter of the Dwarven infantry; the extent of the casualties stunning them into confusion, which was only broken by the arrival of the second volley. The second volley killed or incapacitated a further 12,000 Dwarven warriors, but broke the petrified state of the Dwarven army.
The trumpet sounded the charge, and the Dwarven infantry surged forward, closing the distance on the opposing Tauran force. No third volley came, and the Dwarves continued to close the gap, preparing to drive themselves against the Tauran shield wall. And still the sun remained visible and unobstructed from deadly missiles.
The thunder of the Dwarven charge grew louder as the front ranks drew within a stone's throw of the Tauran formation - and this is when the shield wall fell.
The heavily armored front two ranks of the Tauran formation, The Wall, crouched low and tented their tower shield above them - the front rank sloping away from the field of battle, while the back rank sloped their shields away from their bow-welding comrades. With the shield wall lowered, a line of tightly-spaced ballista-like weapons (known to the Tauran as a scythaurion) were revealed - each prepared to fire a bound sheaf of bolts through a duck-bill ended tube.
There was no time for the Dwarven infantry charge to comprehend what could now be seen, and even if they were able to comprehend, there could not be enough time to act. The scythaurions were released, and their deadly load scythed through the Dwarves in a thick, whistling line of death. Those bolts that fell low, skipped harmlessly of The Walls sloped tower shields. Then the third volley was released.
As quickly as the shield wall had fallen, it rose again. The front rank driving the pointed bottoms of their shield deep into the earth, while the second rank holding their mighty shields aloft, as one might hold an umbrella against a coming rain.
Fewer than ten thousand Dwarves survived the charge to the Tauran shield wall, and when they crashed upon the Tauran shields, they were turned away like the wind against a mountain. The Wall moved not an inch.
Then the third volley arrived.
The sound of boots thundering on the ground and metal on metal ceased, leaving only the cries of the wounded. And with that, the Tauran army turned and marched back to their home, leaving only their wall of tower shields rammed in the earth to cover their departure.
Of the fifty-thousand Dwarvish troops that stood in formation at the beginning of that day, less than three thousand survived the through to the end of the engagement a scant ten minutes later. Dwarven accounts from survivors of the defeat record that, “pikes fell from the sky, like rain.” In time, the battle became known as the Rain of Pikes.
Of the twenty-five thousand Tauran troops, Tauran history does not record a single death.
Conflict Type
Battle
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
-729
Belligerents
Tauran Military
Dwarves of Datan Gor
Strength
25,000
50,000 heavy infantry
Casualties
0
47,000+
Objectives
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