THE BATTLE OF LOTHELMAR

With the help of PRIME, Emperor Marcus II Maximilliam put his plan in action.   To end the civil war, he would have to deal with two dissidents.  Grand Duke Archibald Kendall, his old friend who suddenly betrayed him and lead his son Crown Prince Eramon astray.   And the Arch Prince Frederick Flanders who have always had his eye on the position as Emperor of the Salderian Empire.
 
To do so, he requested PRIME to deal with the Grand Duke whom he believes is far more powerful than he has imagined.   He also assigned his most trusted advisors Lord Imperial Agent Tirigan Baz and Grand Master of the College of Magi, Archmage Zeveran Di'marcio to deal with the Arch Prince.  They are lead by the tournament champion, Ser Nathan Blackmoore.

   
At the Battlements
Emperor Marcus II himself will lay siege to the Capital City of Lothelmar to draw forces away from both  Ser Nathan's forces and PRIME.   He hopes that by appearing in person himself, it would make the City Defender realize that they are fighting on the wrong side.

And he was partially right, many City Guards who saw the banner of the Emperor quickly switched sides and fought against City Guards who are loyal to the Grand Duke.  The Emperor capitalized on this moment and ordered the siege engines to cease bombarding the battlements and ordered his men to charge in.  

When they did so, cavalry units loyal to the Grand Duke charged forth to lift the siege.  But the Emperor also had the aid of some of PRIME's finest followers.  

Boris having bribed Leon before hand, rode into battle with the fearsome winterwolf and tore through the forces that sallied forth from the Capital City.   Behind him, Lady Vedwyr and Lady Cara rode in with their cavalry to support the counter charge.

At the frontlines, Trisha formed a bulwark and prevented the defenders from encircling them after they pushed into the City.  While Rillion carved a bloody path of destruction with the glaive he received from Doram.   Natasha climbed onto the battlements and took out officers directing the battlefield.   

The fighting became heavier and heavier.  Griffon Knights loyal to the Grand Duke were deployed and the loyalist could not gain anymore ground.... until House Middenstand suddenly turned up with their forces and attacked the rear of the defenders.   Caught between two sides, defenders loyal to the Grand Duke broke and fled.  Those that couldn't surrendered.  But it was too late, the Griffon Knights cornered Natasha and managed to knock her out and captured her before fleeing from the battlefield.


At the Sewers
The motley bunch of troops from House Meldoram, Shadow Hand thieves, Imperial Agents and Mages from the College of Magi marched through the sewers.  Guided by the Shadow Hand, they successfully navigated the sewers and made their way to where the Arch Prince is laying siege to Lothelmar.  

Unfortunately, lady luck is not on the side of the secondary forces led by Ser Nathan.  The Arch Prince understood how defensible Lothelmar is and sent additional forces to undermine the defenses of the City.   He had hired Dwarven Mercenaries and sappers accompanied by troops of House Strongsteel into the sewers to find alternative route into the City.  

The forces of House Strongsteel encountered Ser Nathan's forces and did battle with them and knew that they could not match the numbers.   They retreated in separate directions.   Tirigan & Zeveran decided that it was too late to pull back and decided to take their chances.  Zeveran & Ser Nathan will lead the charge while Tirigan will form the rear guard in case House Strongsteel returns.

The forces lead by Zeveran & Ser Nathan pushed through and found the Arch Prince forces arrayed against them, as if they had advance warning.  They pushed ahead and fought to the very best of their abilities.   House Cordeleon and House Flanders overwhelmed House Meldoram's and dispatched them with ease. 


Tirigan and his Imperial Agents fared better but House Strongsteel forces were no slouches.  Having guarded the eastern borders of Salderia from Brosengar insurrectionist, their troops are veterans.   They kept Tirigan and several of PRIME occupied enough that they couldn't lend their aid to those the pushed out from the sewers.

Ser Nathan & PRIME on the other hand suffered for their reputation.  The Arch Prince knew how formidable the tournament champion was at combat and feigned defeat to lure him and PRIME into a trap.  After Nathan and PRIME broke House Corderleon, he had his mercenary companies surrounded them. 

The vulnerable mages from the college of magi did not get much of a chance before Tarvellen's daughters closed in on them while the Grim Falcon Company weathered the arcane assault before closing in for the kill.   Starktalon overextended its reach and Frinn desperately tried to reach her companion but was cut off from the rest.  While Magda was almost unbeatable, she could not dispatch the foes around her fast enough and was slowly cut off from the rest.   Ser Nathan and Alerialle were both cut down from a volley fire of seasoned handgunners.   When Magda fell, Breena hiding behind her keeping her fell too.

Teagan Baz got separated from his father when he was ordered to bring the wounded Earl Carravone to safety.   As the casualties mounted, Zeveran knew they could no longer win.   He ordered a tactical retreat while Brightwing, Terrence & David had fallen around him.  Gibbet barely manage to held off several Grim Falcon closing in before being taken out by ranged.  Daniel dragged the wounded towards Zeveran and hollered to Magda and Frinn to retreat but it was too late.   They were too far and too many hostiles in between.  Zeveran casted teleport and whisked all that were close to him to safety.


Tirigan along with the Imperial Agents and Shadow Hands realize the battle was lost and fought their way back into the sewers and escaped.