Raid of 'DeepGleam's Haven'

Andraous (Discontinued)    Major Events      Raid of 'DeepGleam's Haven'

The family name Deepgleam is well known across the land, associated with precious gems and riches that could rival a king, so it was expected that thieves would attempt to break into the home of Madame Deepgleam. As head of the household she took every precaution to protect her family and riches from would be thieves, but she never expected a neighboring kingdom to send a small army after her and her family.

The Conflict

Prelude

When Madame DeepGleam found the 'DeepGleam Family Mine' she worked extremely hard to turn that cave into a lucrative business, and now she holds power and riches that many are jealous of. The rise of Madame DeepGleam and her family did not escape notice, and a small, neighboring kingdom saw an opportunity to expand their own power, riches and territory.
The small kingdom had fallen on desperate times, they were in the middle of a food shortage, and constant attempts from neighboring kingdoms trying to steal land from them. So when they were desperately looking for a way to solve their woes, they realized that the solution was just beyond their borders. 'DeepGleam's Haven' stood just outside their borders, and was home to not only a cave filled with seemingly never ending veins of precious gems, but one of the richest families in the regions, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
To have access to such riches, would give them the political power they needed to better defend their borders and increased ability to purchase the supplies they needed. As desperate as they were however, they knew that they could not just rush in blindly, they needed to be strategic about this, which meant they needed information. They sent spies to 'DeepGleam Haven' with orders to blend in and infiltrate the DeepGleam Family Estate. They spent several months gathering information, learning the routines, the security detail, the locations of valuables, etc.
Their opportunity to strike came quicker than they expected. Something was happening on the rival kingdom's far border, and many of the experienced fighters in 'Deepgleam's Haven' were called to assist, leaving the town relatively defenseless. Madame DeepGleam still had her personal security within town, however the small kingdom felt that they would be easily overpowered. And so, their small army marched towards the border.

Conditions

It was the dead of night when the small army arrived at the town, and most of it's inhabitants were fast asleep. There was also a light rain falling that night, so the guards neither saw nor heard the army until it was almost too late.

The Engagement

If it wasn't for the sharp eye of one of the younger town guards, the small army would have made it to the town gates without being detected. By the time the army made it to the gates much of the town had been woken up, including Madame DeepGleam and her family. Having much to lose if the army made it into the town, she hid her children away, shouted instructions to her security force. and made sure her safe guards were in place before rushing to the gates with her Half Orc companion.
At first it seemed like the army would be held at bay at the gates, and the townsfolk began throwing rocks and shooting bows and arrows at the soldiers. However none of them suspected that they had enemies within the walls, so no one was guarding the lever to open the gate. Madame Deepgleam and her Half Orc companion arrived at the gates in time to see a cloaked figure open the gate and let the army into the town.
The army rushed in and began to blindly attack the townsfolk and grab anything of value. The few town guards did what they could, but they were vastly overwhelmed. Thankfully the DeepGleam Security was already on their way, and leap to fight off the invaders and rescue those being attacked. While the guards and security force were outnumbered, the small army consisted of inexperienced soldiers, starving and weakened fighters. The small kingdom had lost much of it's fighting force over the years from the famine and constant border skirmishes, while 'DeepGleam's Haven's' protectors were in top physical condition and well trained. Madame DeepGleam and her companion did not stand idly by while this happened and leap into the action themselves, having spent many of their younger years as adventurers and mercenaries.
Meanwhile another group of soldiers had circled around to another town gate, and were let in by a different spy. The guards that had been at this gate had rushed off to help when the heard of an army approaching, so the invaders were uncontested. Better armed and trained than the other group, this group had one goal, take control of the 'DeepGleam Family Estate'.
They knew that Madame DeepGleam would have defenses at her estate, what they didn't know was that that all the statues in her courtyard were Iron Golems. Ordered to hold perfectly still unless a threat entered the property, many assumed that the steel soldiers were just fancy art of a rich person, and at most there could only be one golem, due to how expensive they were. The spies had never seen them move, and so never warned the small kingdom. So when the soldiers saw every 'statue' step off their pedestal and raise their weapons, chaos broke out. Several of the invading soldiers were slaughtered while the rest scattered, not prepared to take on a dozen golems.
A few of them, including the leader of this group managed to take refuge within the main house. There they came across several of Madame Deepgleam's children and a couple of her security. Intending to take the children hostage the soldiers rushed the two security members, and after a struggle struck them down. The eldest of the children, an older teen, grabbed one of the fallen security guards' weapons, and told her siblings to run and hide as she stood between them and the invaders. The younger child ran for their lives, and hid in one of their safety rooms. However one of the children decided to go get Madame DeepGleam, and warn her that their home is being attacked.
Eventually the townfolk chased most of the makeshift army out of the town, and began dealing with damage control. There were fires to be put out, injured to tend to, dead to bury, and captives to lock up. Madame Deepgleam is quick to take lead and organize the clean up, much to the chagrin of the town officials. It was to her surprise however, when one of her kids came racing towards her, sobbing about strangers invading her home and attacking her children. Leaving the child with a trusted friend, Madame DeepGleam, her Half Orc companion, and about half of her security detail raced back to her estate. There they find the courtyard splattered with blood, with several bloody golems back on their pedestals. The rest lingered outside of her home, knowing a threat lies within but unable to enter.
The group rushed into the house only to find the intruders standing over the limp body of one of Madame DeepGleam's near-adult children, and gripping two of the youngest children. For a few minutes there was a tense standoff, with Madame DeepGleam demanding that her children be released, and the intruders refusing and in turn demanding to be taken to her treasure vault or they'd slaughter the the young children. In the commotion no one noticed that the young adult still lived, and with the last of her quickly fading strength she got to her feet and stabbed the leader of the intruders in the heart. The abrupt death of the leader broke the stand off and the group was able to rescue the children. Sadly the young woman did not survive her injuries.

Outcome

At the end of the attack there was relatively few fatalities however one of Madame DeepGleam's older children was killed defending her younger siblings. This left her devastated and extremely paranoid of potential future attacks.

Aftermath

After seeing how Madame DeepGleam handled the invasion and the clean up afterwards, many of the townsfolk started trusting her over the town officials.
DeepGleam also set out to retaliate against the small kingdom. Using her connections she cut off much of the trade that was going into the kingdom, weakening it further. She then sent supplies directly to the starving people of the kingdom, including letters promising to help, but also hinting at their king was intentionally ignoring them in order to wage unnecessary wars.

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Urban

Location

'DeepGleam's Haven'