The Siege of Paratomb

The Siege of Paratomb was an important battle in the expansionist wars conducted by the House of Thorns during the age of the Succession Empires.

The Conflict

Prelude

The Thin Princes were looking for a pretext to confront the city of Paratomb, almost from the moment they ascended the throne in 1717 AF. Geographically, the city occupied an important crossroads on the route north to their lands in and around Keldramys and its capture and conquest would consoldate the territory of the Empire of the House of Thorns, securing all of East Trass, apart from the important remaining port of Anoomenon. Additionally, by eliminating the last stronghold of the New Sophisticates they would be making an unambiguous statement of their ambitions to power and would quell some of the internal voices of dissent that still looked to Paratomb. In the end, they didn't try very hard to provide any legal justification, simply declaring that the House of Thorns had overriding interests in Paratomb and the New Sophisticates must surrender to their governance.

Deployment

Nikolai Yarris by DMFW with Art Breeder

Johan Ryburg by DMFW with Art Breeder

The Principle Speaker for the Parliament of the New Sophisticates, Nikolai Yarris was charged with controlling the defence of the city but he was much more of a civic and political figure than a miltary expert. The command of the city troops on the ground was delegated to Johan Ryburg who divided his forces into three groups. One of roughly three thousand, was assigned to the defence of the walls of the Paradam. The main group of ten thousand soldiers were arrayed before and within the main gates of upper Paratomb, whilst a third band of about two thousand guarded the smaller lower level gate, which was a more difficult access point, well shielded by a narrow rocky gorge leading to the entrance.

Vredin Tymoore (Age 37) by DMFW with Art Breeder

Garindon Ryle by DMFW with Art Breeder

Garindon Ryle was the Field Marshall with overall authority for the besieging army of the House of Thorns, a venerable and trusted leader. He set his camp before the main gate of the city on the 9th of Seventhheaven, 1720, with the second division of the Kings' Men, commanded by Vredin Tymoore on the left flank and the third divsion on the right, over which he had personal direct command. His reserve forces were encamped on the lower slopes, including the infantry from Keldramys.

The Engagement

Garindon Ryle's initial plan was to cut the city off from means of outside supply and starve the New Sophisticates into submission. He had expected this to take little more than a month and was looking to accept the surender of the parliament, no later than Highyear. In fact, he had reckoned without the easy supplies of water and food available through the internal underground farms which led to prolonged defiance from the Paratomb forces. Obliged to make a show of force, on the 4th of Highyear, he ordered a disastrous attack on the main gate, spearheaded by the Royal and Blues Light Dragoons and reinforced by the 15th Keldramys infantry. This was beaten back with large numbers of casualities to the attacking forces and relatively few for the defenders. This is the battle shown at the head of the article.

02 Siege of Paratomb - Attack on the Paradam

Siege of Paratomb - Attack on the Paradam by DMFW with Midjourney

In a military conference some time after this defeat for the House of Thorns, Vredin Tymoore suggested an attack on the Paradam, the resevoir above Paratomb that supplied it with water. "They will have plentiful supplies within the city. We have already dismissed the possibility of poisoning the water. I do not see how this can help", Garindon Ryle is reputed to have said. But Vredin Tymoore had something else in mind. The attack was authorised on the afternoon of the 2nd of Redstar and the defenders were quickly overwhelmed. Now Tymoore worked with a crack force of engineers and sappers to plant explosives at strategic points, deep in the lining of the dam where it came close to the city. By the 10th of Redstar, everything was ready and he gave the signal to detonate them. So began the infamous flooding of the city, described in more detail at the bottom of this article. This ended the battle and left only a few survivors.

Outcome

The few defeated citizens and soldiers who survived the flooding of the city and the slaughter at the gates, made their way in bedragled and pitifully few numbers, over the mountains to Anoomenon, where they were granted sanctuary in the City of Exiles. Garindon Ryle retired from active army life and Vredin Tymoore was promoted by the Thin Princes to become the commander of their armies.

Aftermath

The destruction of the last stronghold of the New Sophisticates in such a violent and emphatic manner, was deeply disturbing to many elsewhere. Some of those who had formerly admired the House of Thorns now looked on them uneasily. The widescale slaughter of civilians was seen as particularly reprehensible and there was renewed interest in some of the ideals the New Sophisticates had espoused. By the time the House of Thorns resolved to attack Anoomenon in 1734 AF, other powers (and not just the the Low Armies), had ceased to support their aggressive expansionism.

Conflict Type

Siege

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

9th of Seventhheaven, 1720

Ending Date

12th of Redstar, 1720

Conflict Result

Paratomb was devastated to the point where it was never resettled. The House of Thorns were triumphant but did not gain any assets.

Location

Paratomb

Belligerents

House of Thorns

Led by

Parliament of the New Sophisticates

The New Sophisticates

Led by

Strength

The besieging force from the House of Thorns consisted of the 2nd and 3rd divisions of the Kingcardine Kings' Men, the Royal and Blues regiment of Light Dragoons, the 9th, 10th and 15th infantry batallions of Keldramys and the North Portomma Yeomanry regiment. In total, this amounted to about 63,000 fighting men.

The defenders of Paratomb, had far fewer troops available to them than the forces arrayed against them. Johan Ryburg probably had no more than fifteen thousand troops, and faced an army that was about four times this size. At the time, it is thought that the civilian population of Paratomb was close to three hundred thousand, and some of these were drafted into a reserve force by Nikolai Yarris at short notice but they were not trained soldiers.

Casualties

During the early stages of the siege, when Garindon Ryle hoped to starve the city into surrender there were almost no casualties on either side, although a handful of men from the House of Thorns were killed in token raids against the city gates. Many more were lost when a full scale charge was ordered, and the death toll amongst the attackers was thought to be as high as two and a half thousand for no gain, with the defenders left relatively unscathed. However, the catastrophic conclusion of the siege inflicted very few additional casualties on the forces of the House of Thorns.

To begin with, the defenders faired relatively well. When a set piece battle at the gates was repulsed, in which Johan Ryburg used the natural advantages of the high ground at the mouth of the cave to great effect, he lost only two hundred men whilst inflicting over ten times as many casualties on the enemy. Later, however, when the city was flooded, the vast majority of the civilian population and almost all the soldiers were killed.

Objectives

The objective was the conquest and occupation of Paratomb to annex the city for the Empire of the House of Thorns, but the elimination of the leaders of the New Sophisticates and their extinction as a political force was also a significant part of the agenda of the Thin Princes.

The New Sophisticates sought only to defend their parliament and hoped to rally such remaining allies as they could call upon to lift the siege if they were able to withstand the invading forces for long enough.

The Flooding of the City

Although the sound and shock of the explosions at the Paradam were heard deep in Paratomb, for almost an hour there appeared to be no change. In reality, however, a great wall of water was percolating through newly opened faults that built pressure on the outer walls of the upper levels. At the Wall of the Lady ominous damp patches spread rapidly and the structure started to bulge as streams broke through.

Paratomb Flood - Pressure Rising by DMFW with Night Cafe

Paratomb Flood - Breakthrough by DMFW with Night Cafe

The buildings closest to the Paradam were on Highthread Street and it wasn't long before the pressure of water there found an outlet through the dressed stone walls of the city. Soon water began to erupt into this upper suburb with great force. Reports say that on top of the roar of the cascading flood, there was, for a brief few minutes, an eerie, low pitched but loud whistling sound which must have been made by some strange accoustic harmony of stone, water and disturbed air.

Paratomb Flood - The War Bell Falls by DMFW with Night Cafe

Most surviors recall that the first time they were even aware a catastrophe had begun was when the War Bell Tower fell, creating a shattering clang as the brasswork broke into the floodwaters.
Within a few minutes, water had begun to drain into the upper vaults below the inhabited parts of the city. Vredin Tymoore had another suprise for the defenders, though. Sappers had blown the outflow tunnels where water would normally escape back into the river Sildon, creating a makeshift dam that caused the flood to backup inside the city.

Paratomb Flood - Upper Vault Flooding by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

In the upper city the normal flow rate along the engineered channels had begun to exceed the limits they were designed to allow.

Paratomb Flood - Early Mainflow Surge by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

Paratomb Flood - Mainflow by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

Paratomb Flood - Mainflow Escape Surge by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

Paratomb Flood - Street Flow by DMFW with Night Cafe

Soon almost every street in the city was carrying an increasing volume of roaring white water. Many people were swept to their deaths, dashed against the stones as they sought to find higher ground. In less than ten minutes, the waters of the lower vaults had begun to rise and shortly thereafter it began to back up into the upper vaults.

Paratomb Flood - The Vaults by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

Paratomb Flood - The Vaults Fill by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

The worst moments came when the northern wall of the upper cave broke away. This had been slowing the flow of water but now there were no more barriers to prevent it from raging into the remains of the city. At the peak of the flood, many buildings collapsed into the streets, killing those who had sought their upper stories in the hope of safely.

Paratomb Flood - Upper Vaults by DMFW it Midjourney

Paratomb Flood - Peak Upper by DMFW with Night Cafe

Paratomb Flood - Peak Lower by DMFW with Midjourney

Paratomb Flood - Drowned Levels by DMFW with Midjourney

As some measure of calm finally returned, the vaults and large parts of the lower city remained underwater. The parliament building had been destroyed and the streets were awash with debris, dead bodies and broken stones.

Paratomb Flood - Ebb Damage by DMFW with Night Cafe

A very few lucky people were able to escape via a staircase over a newly flooded void, leading them to the long bleak pass to Anoomenon where they would find refuge. Altogether, less than a tenth of the population survived and only some ten thousand arrived at the gates of the City of Exiles.