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Post by zurajai on Nov 13, 2017 0:02:38 GMT
 Ravan's Attack on Saar
Beneath the shark banner of the Daityan warlord Ravan sailed a large fleet of reaver-ships straight down the coast towards Saar. Their purpose? The utter annihilation of the forces directly responsible for losses suffered by the Daityans and the razing of those towns and villages that resisted the raiders in the first place. This message was sent by roc to the Viikhalakan capital of Saarsipa-La with the warlord's clear proof of his identity given in skulls. No doubt it was a fitting challenge by Daityan standards and one that was expected to be followed. The Viikhalakan forces would have several weeks to prepare before his arrival, if his letters were to be trust, and their forces were swiftly assembled to respond.
The battlefield would prove to be a treacherous one; the Daityans had chosen in a defensible bay on the central coast of the province and had swiftly overwhelmed the scouts and citizens who had lived in the area. In fact, it was a Viikhalakan slave boy who successfully carried word of their landing to the proper authorities, having escaped the attentions of the raiders by his sheer diminutive size if his story was to be believed. The bay was surrounded by a low ring of raised hillocks that would form a makeshift hillfort to defend from if attacked in that position, with wide, open grass and sand fields pockmarked with dunes for nearly a mile in all directions from it. Cover was nearly nonexistent beyond the small dunes and left wide open areas visible to both the defenders and the attackers so that ambush was highly unlikely. It seemed the Daityans had full intent to meet their foes face to face on the field and would give them no chance to act with deception against them.
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Post by zurajai on Nov 24, 2017 23:21:44 GMT
MODMARK The baleful glare of rockets scorched the sky with their rage only to strike the ground with the roar of ten lions. Despite the furnace of Daityan fury, despite their tremendous bluster, despite all the black sails that fluttered in the bay below it was the Colossi who felt surprise that dark morning. Ravan, reaver-lord of the Daityan raiding fleet, had misjudged his opponents. The Varakeisari of the Viikhalakan Empire, Mikhnaviro V, was not some simpleton princeling as the masters of Bukhuru and Damgh had been. The bestial giant had half expected his human counterpart to arrive before a mountain of gold in an attempt to buy off the horde, as those in Damgh had done. Instead, Ravan and the Daitya were faced with the first organized force in the war. Before the giants were not some hastily raised farmers or levied troops carrying their fathers' shields but a well trained and considerably disciplined standing army of a western power. Most of all, they were faced up against rockets.
Mastery of gunpowder had not only eluded the Daitya for generations but had been disdained for its propensity to become ineffective during a long journey over rough seas. What use had a raider of a weapon that refused to provide its killing touch when he at last made his way up foreign shores? They had found the primitive matchlocks of the westerns to be entertaining at best with the levy armies wielding them worthy of comedic dirges. Oh, how their fire-spears would shout, one tune went, as they spat pitiful rain before the mast. Rockets, however, had yet to be seen. On those open plains that the Daitya had chosen to be their killing grounds the Varakeisari brought new sights to show them. The rockets out ranged any of the great bows carried by the daitya and their bursts of flame carried a threat unlike any other. It seemed to the daityans that angry spirits had life breathed into them to guide the deadly missiles across the sky, so wild was their flight. Though few rockets found direct hits the real fear came from those that flew overhead. Their payloads, it seemed, were even more dangerous to the Daityan ships. The battle was short and disappointing, likely for both sides, as the rocket batteries sent surprise through the Daityan ranks. Several small skirmishes broke out between Daityan archers and Viikhalakan muskets, the checkboard block of human soldiers marching towards the Daityan line remaining unfazed. The battle looked about to become pitched as the front lines closed to less than twenty five meters before a shout of warning ran up the Daityan line. By the sounds of it a stray rocket had set ablaze one of the ships. With threat of being stranded on enemy shores biting at the back of their minds, the officers gave the order to make a hasty withdrawal. Unable to keep up with the swift giants the Viikhalakan infantry blocks simply continued to return fire till they were out of range. A harrying force of Chaincoats was sent to harass them all the way back to their ships but met with little success in stopping their retreat. By the time the sun was up the battle had come to an end. Casualties were relatively low, especially for the Viikhalaks, who's only casualties came from the dark wood arrows of the Daitya during the early skirmishes and the several chaincoats who had been injured during their chase. The Daitya, for their credit, had not left corpses behind. It seemed, either to hide their numbers or perhaps for some rights and rituals required of them by their black faith, that the Daitya had pulled the dead and dying from the battlefield and out of the hands of their enemies. The day belonged handily to the Varakeisari but it was clear this was not the crushing defeat they had hoped for. A victory was a victory however and his troops murmured how it was but the first of many more to come.
SUMMARY-- The Varakeisari's army claims victory when the deployment of rockets takes the Daitya by surprise. -- The Daityan forces under Ravan retreat when their ships are threatened, escaping to the sea to fight another day. -- Ravan's forces are mostly undamaged but have been given their first blooding, leading to soaring morale among the Varakeisari's troops. |
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