Session 10: Battle of the Dyke Report

Seven party members: Torvald, Kromm, Marcarius, Vaern, Xavroar, Ivan, and Edwyn

They meet up in Gallows Rock, and are told by the Castellan that Ansor has been attacking the heartland of Dornum. They get an army mustered. 100 levy, 50 soldiers, 50 men of Kromm, and some engineers.

They are told to be scouts for the army, and get lost for a short time. They find their way and head south, and encounter the army of Koldo in a battle with some skirmishers at the Dike. Kromm and 50 soldiers ferry across after Vaern fails to create a lasting bridge of arcane magic, Ivan and Marcarius swim to the other side and scout. They flank around the far side of the dike, and Ivan/Marcarius kill one of the flanking guards. Ivan kills one but he yells out and alerts the others, and the army begins to pull away.

Koldo was wounded early in the battle.

Party continues and is ambushed in the mountains. Loyalist troops created a shield wall and marched up the hill under heavy arrow fire. Kromm charged up the hill and assaulted the archers while Vaern released fireballs into the enemy ranks.

After the ambush the army of Koldo waited for a day or two before moving again, in which time Ansor was able to pull back his men to Elvenwatch. Koldo, who had been wounded by an arrow, was infuriated and exhausted by the slow and bitter progress of the campaign, but continued forward.

Once the army arrived at Elvenwatch, they saw the imposing defenses. The base structure itself had been built during the Ascension era, when Vestidian warlords were fighting to resist Etalian colonization and attack. It was a square tower with a round turret tower jutting from its seaward side, and surrounded by raised earth and a palisade wall. It wasn't impregnable, but it wouldn't be easy to assault. The matter was made only more difficult by the significant casualties sustained during the ambush.

The party disguises themselves as Koldo and his personal guards and aim to get themselves captured to make it inside. They succeed in that regard and are led into the fort by a group of soldiers. Once inside, the party attempts to overpower the guards, but are unable to quickly subdue them. A ferocious melee quickly erupted on the grounds between the keep and the palisade.

Ansor appears during the fight and offers the party mercy if they give Torvald to him. Kromm goes into a rage and attacks the man next to him, restarting the fight.

Torvald is struck down and presumed dead, and Vaern is surrounded and forced to use his magical ring to detonate himself. He dies, but so do the enemies surrounding him.