Siege of Maggrici
Where the dead men started walking...
The siege that first retaliated against the great horde... but it was all for naught.
The Conflict
Prelude
The first signs that something was not right was when refugees started flooding the city with tales of breeds of men and beast... The city's population swelled, but the income and production of food were able to keep up... Until caravans stopped passing by, convoys went silent and even bigger cities and villages simply stopped communicating... Scouts were sent out and never returned... they were alone and prepared for a fight with something that they did not know... The silence eventually broke itself when a scout group was able to return and report that the great horde was coming... Their cunning leader, Prince Artori, reinforced the walls, rebuilt the palisades and matriculations, armed the militia and conscripted refugees, crafted ammo and stocked food... they were ready.
Deployment
Lightly armed and armored forces were sent out from the city in order to harvest all the crops they could... and burn the rest. Such a large invasion force would need it and, if they could successfully starve them out they could just have a chance of winning the battle... Very few open field engagements actually happened and the ones who did happen all resulted in the extermination of the human forces and their integration into the horde, thus every single force was instructed to just burn/harvest the crops and retreat, not engaging their enemy.
This scorched earth strategy would go on for months before the proper siege began, but when it did they were ready. Several months worth of food were stacked inside, and the well drilled and equipped troops inside, along with the conscripted militia, were ready and deployed. The outer, stone based but mainly wooden wall was manned by the more numerable militia, with few elite troops spread around in strongpoints... The crossbowmen and militia archers were deployed in the main stone walls and towers of the city, as well as the heavily armed and armored heavy infantry who guarded the walls.
The two bridges that connected the island to the rest of the world were protected by a contingent of heavy spearmen, militia archers and two gatehouses each that they were tasked with holding while trebuchets and balistas fired from atop the towers and behind the walls of the city.
Battlefield
The city itself set upon a tall hill that overlooked the surrounding plains of a small island, surrounded by two great rivers. The base of the hill was covered by a newer stone based wooden wall, while the very top and center, along with the main citadel and castle, was covered by tall and thick ancient stone walls and towers. The two great bridges that connected the island to the rest of the world were initially defended by two gatehouses each.
Conditions
Most of the siege happened beneath the hot Araskan sun, with a few instances of rain.
Both the attackers and defenders were well prepared and ready to sell their lives for the highest price they could.
The Engagement
The great horde was so big that it could surround the island from its two shores... Attacking the two bridges at the same time. The gatehouses were expected to hold for 3 days at least, but they were quickly overwhelmed when the wermen simply climbed upon them and swam past them, avoiding their deadly defenses and slaughtering everyone inside before they could retreat. This angered Prince Artori very much, for his engines of war did not have as much time to poke house sized holes in their enemy as he hoped.
After the two bridges were taken swiftly and on the same day the great horde quickly advanced to the outer walls, not allowing the defenders to prepare more than they already had. The wall defenders were mostly undertrained militia that were numerous enough to cover the entire wall... they were able to hold the line just for enough time so that the heavy infantry could be deployed successfully... Great beasts burst the gates open and were met by the steel pointed spears and halberds of well-trained men... However, these elite infantrymen were not enough to cover the entire wall and the enemy, although under fire from great machines of war and arrows, managed to breach some parts of the walls by simply by climbing them and dragging their defenders down to be eaten alive... Before they noticed the elite spearmen that defended the gates were surrounded and slaughtered by the hordes. That was the end of the first day and thousands of defenders had already been lost, along with the two outer defenses... However, due to the higher altitude of the main defenses and the engines of war such as trebuchets and balistas as well as crossbowmen and militia archers, anything and everything that the great hordes did was under the constant and deadly fire of the men of Maggrici, thus thus it was estimated that they lost over ten thousand of their numbers...
On the second day of combat things had slowed down a bit as the horde started attacking the main defenses... great beasts threw huge stones and pieces of rubble on the walls to no avail, simply breaking into thousands of pieces upon the sturdy walls... They could not be climbed either, for their surface was smooth and the walls and towers were simply too tall. The defenders had a great amount of firepower, with hundreds upon hundreds of arrows firing into the great blobs of weremen, and trebuchets and balistas opening holes into the enemy formations and slaughtering the great beasts one by one... Each and every attempt at breaking the main gates were met by even more relentless arrow fire, deadly traps of boiling oil and hot sand and cold, unfeeling steel... It was clear then that they could not and would not breach the walls...
That kept on going for a total of 4 days nonstop, with each of the sides not showing any signs of weakness... Until one night, in the 5th day of the siege, a great flash of light appeared into the sky... a red thunder split the heavens in twine, as a great sacrifice had been completed... over a hundred human souls were turned into a foul spell and cast upon Prince Artori, cursing him... That same night he fell into a deep slumber, walking onto the barns and storage rooms where they kept the months worth of food... and he devoured it whole... Only returning to his senses upon finishing it in the next morning and having his entire digestive system burst into bloody guts upon the end of the curse...
After the 5th day defenders slowly stopped fighting... Fewer arrows were fired, less balista bolts... fewer boulders were launched from trebuchets, less boiling oil fell upon the attackers... one by one, the defenders succumbed into their hunger... but none of them exactly died, instead being cursed to feel their hunger for all eternity as their bodies slowly rotted away, leaving only skeletons and ghosts that could never leave the city... Turning it into a forsaken and haunted ruin known as The Ghast
Outcome
In the short term, it meant that villages and other settlements around and boarding the great rivers that were protected by Maggrici were entirely helpless against the horde, it using this opportunity to turn rather than slaughter their inhabitants, thus gaining even more soldiers than they had lost in the siege and taking their resources for themselves.
Aftermath
In the long term, it meant that the hordes had taken a great deal of resources from the rich and fertile land between the rivers, greatly bolstering their ranks and ability to destroy and devastate, making the task of stopping them even more difficult.
Historical Significance
Legacy
The legacy of this battle is the creation of the first known undead upon the world, as well as the now ruined city of Maggirci that turned into their lair, known as The Ghast.
In Literature
A great deal of folk tales, stories and legends would be told and written about this event... Eventually developing into legends and stories told to children at night about monsters and brave men.
Some songs are known to have been inspired by this event as well.
Included under Conflict
Conflict Type
Siege
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
30th of May, 28BK
Ending Date
10th of June, 28BK
Conflict Result
Devastating defeat to the people of Maggrici and a costly victory to the horde.
Location
Belligerents
Devine Horde
Strength
At least 2.000 elite heavy infantry and 8.000 militia and conscripts recruited from the local peasantry and refugees.
At least 40.000 wermen of all shapes and sizes.
Casualties
At least 5.000 defenders died for good and or were used as material for new weremen, all the rest turned into the undead of The Ghast.
Somewhere between 20.000-30.000
Objectives
Survive
Destroy the defenders in order to get access to the fertile lands of Araska and hundreds of small settlements.
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