With the first of the siege towers connecting to the walls and the powerful first contact of the orc heavies, in addition to some defenders being peeled away to deal with the Corpse Dropper and the explosion at the South Gate, there was a decrease in ranged and magical firepower from the defenders. This allowed another 3 siege towers to connect to the walls without too much resistance. There were also ladders being brought up, secured and climbed by the corrupted tribesmen in Saladin’s army.
James Sirius, a young man whose voice and willpower had already earned him the trust of his friends to lead them, who had rallied townguards to his command in the middle of emergencies, was now taking full control of the mage platforms who could hear him, resulting in a more cohesive strategy of magical resistance.
The Dark Domain users cast spheres of impenetrable darkness, 6 feet in diameter, upon the tops of ladders to blind the attackers as they arrived on the wall. These spheres were quickly dispelled by the mages in Saladin’s army, who were vastly more experienced in Dark Domain magic due to not being limited by the law of the Empire. But the blinding attacks at least helped to provide some support. What was more effective was the Light Domain support who threw up strong shields of damage resistance and life-saving alteration spells on soldiers who were about to be delivered a deathblow. Minor holy damage enchantments were spent to briefly bolster the weapons of the defenders and allow some to overcome the incredibly heavy armour of the orcs.
The Earth and Water Domain users came together to combo-cast an evocation of icy comets raining down on a single tower, doing enough damage to it’s internal structure that it one side of it caved in and fell over, crushing and crippling many, and killing and injuring all those inside it.
Flames and lightning danced onto the waves of arrows that fired from blocks that were not yet occupied by assaulters, maximizing the damage done.
Off all the sections of the defensive line, the centre was the strongest in resistance. The singing had transformed into taunts, cheers, roars and insults from unoccupied defenders and even some engaged in the fighting were screaming trash talk as they stabbed at the enemy. The invigoration was visible and fear was non-existent in the centre of Valhiem’s defensive line. Zell Brooks' aura, a potent mix of bloodlust and charisma, seemed to be infectious and everyone close rallied around him to provide a stalwart defense.
Fenna Postma’s direction to focus her archer unit on those climbing the walls was a boon. In conjunction with the mage support, arrows rippling with fire and lightning enchantments rained directly downwards onto the heads of corrupted men, elves and dwarves who were climbing up. Some of the ladders on the right wing collapsed. MacKensie Trydant’s Rabbits and those who targeted the opened siege towers started chain lightning and fires inside the towers themselves, slowing the progress of the enemy outpour.
On the left wing, Barracker Kassel’s shield wall successfully blocked off the enemy from getting an initial foothold. A ‘push-of-war’ started between the Bats and the 1st siege tower. The 2nd tower connected and had more success against other blocks, aswell as the ladders used by the corrupted tribesfolk. Overall, it was a strong resistance put up by the left wing.
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The soldiers and mages in the garrison were fighting valiantly, but the assaulters multiplied more quickly than the defenders could kill them. Slowly but surely, more and more orcs and goblins had a footing on the walls, and now corrupted tribes of men, elves and dwarves were joining them to beat back Valhiem’s defensive garrison.
In all of the chaos, two rams pushed and shielded by trolls were advancing towards the North Gate.
“LEFT WING, BRING DOWN THE RAMS!”
While 1 of the rams managed to get destroyed, the other was defended more stubbornly and made it to the North Gate. Over and over, the trolls threw the battering ram into the gate, which was strong but shook worryingly under the pressure.
Lizard Cavalry and Dark Riders began forming up on the left wing, aswell as legions of armored and unarmored Skeleton Warriors. They were getting ready to charge when the North Gate was breached, with the Lizard Cavalry as the spearhead of the charge.
And the iron bolts and mechanisms that kept the North Gate firmly shut, were holding steady but it wouldn’t be long before the power of trolls and the heavy battering ram would take it’s toll.
The mages that went to check on the Corpse Dropper would find it almost dead but subbornly clinging to life, fighting off militia desperately while ghoulings continued to crawl out of it’s belly. No one could finish the giant bat-like creature off as it limped and writhed around, but magic could and would undoubtedly put an end to the disgusting fiend.
5 or 6 Dark elven Screamers managed to survive and just so happened to be some of the toughest and scariest of them all. Rapidly, the women climbed up the outside of the siege towers, essentially ‘jumping the queue’ to get involved on the walls and take revenge for their fallen sisters. The duel-wielding fighters were more skilled than anything that had reached the top of the wall yet, angry and screaming, some with arrows sticking out of them as they began taking lives.
If not dealt with, each would likely take 20 defenders with them to the afterlife.
Zacharius separated from the wolfmen once he was inside the city. His orders were the same as Hrond: Hunt down Source Crystal Bearers. But he was also seeking out defensive barricades in the streets, ready to tear them apart while under manned and compromise any tactical retreats.
The Drinker of Divine Blood did indeed find a defensive choke point and as expected, it was undermanned at this moment. Zacharius came wading in, swinging his massive, ebony-stone battleaxe, destroying defensive structures as he took the soldiers by surprise. Easily he murdered everyone in the vicinity and cast an earthquaking power as he jumped up impressively high, and came down with magical power, practically exploding the entire choke point into smithereens.
Then he heard a commotion nearby, in particularly hearing a dying wolfman along with a crash. He knew that one of his strikeforce must have met someone powerful and headed down the street to find this foe.
And there stood Adam Phillips. Zacharius charged, deceptively quick, and attacked with his battleaxe in a 4 strike combo. Each swing was accompanied by the seering aftershock that would cut and unbalance the Druid if Adam managed to dodge but remained within 4 feet of the battleaxe was dodged.
Captain Hrond was horrified by the sudden and swift destruction of his vanguard force. When Alison and Kerensa jumped down, Hrond was barely able to react to the lightning-quick women. He managed to leap into the air and avoid Alison’s low attack. His 2nd-in-command barely managed to avoid losing his head to Kerensa, tilting enough that the thief’s sword cut off an ear but nothing else. He welped in pain, stumbled back, then pounced back at the woman with a sword attack of his own, engaging Kerensa in a duel.
Hrond’s leap backwards saw him land on the roof of a stall and his nose sensed the power of the two combatants in the streets with him. He noted that Kerensa was an extremely competent adversary but it was Alison who took his attention. Alison was not just an extremely powerful Source Crystal Bearer. She smelled nothing like Valhiem. Nothing like Mytheria.
"
Is she…?" Hrond wondered if he’d ran into one of his primary targets, equally happy with his luck and uncertain about the quality, the texture, of Alison’s Source. It was so strange. Source power normally emitted from a Crystal Bear like a light. Alison’s Source seemed to ferment in the air all around her and him, like a large cloud. It was unnerving.
Hrond howled loudly, calling for the rearguard Strikeforce, who had hung back to take control of the South Gate. Now they came and instead of spreading, all 20 of the powerful wolfmen rushed straight for their Captain.
Hrond extended his slashing gauntlets, which looked like massive claws of black steel. Then he dived toward Alison and began a relentless slashing combo that interspersed with dashes and strafes to throw Alison off.
Hrond was agile, strong and incredibly skilled. But his strongest asset was perhaps his cunning. He would test her skill before making any rash moves.
