Arathia Basin

Aaron watched as the ditch and berm was created while the Siege Engines were prepared. A large contingent of guards was always near the precious contraptions now that they were so close to the enemy outpost. Early in the morning a raiding party had hit the supply train and destroyed 2 Ballista and 1 Catapult leaving them with 2 Catpolts and 2 Ballistas for the attack on the outpost. They had deployed soldiers and Immortals to the North, South, and West of the outpost to encircle the enemy troops. To the east dense trees and hills lay with swampland beyond.

They had marched all day and now some minor defenses were being erected for the camp while supplies were being distributed or stowed away. Scouts had been sent south to watch Ineford to see if they would send a relief force.

The opposition had already deployed the Magic Shield and could see that they were using telescopes to scout his camp. Aaron was sure that some of their Rogues would slip over the wall during the night to scout the camp more thoroughly, but for now, the field was theirs. Captain Arlan Strongarm and Lieutenant-Commander Ironbark watched as the forces of Middlebrough dig into the hillside opposite of their fortifications. Everything they could do had been done. Sabotage, assassinations, even raiding and poisoning their supplies had been done.

"You think they will attack tonight?" Strongarm asked the volatile Orc that stood beside them.

Ironbark snorted, "No, they might try another infiltration team but not an all-out assault. They will probably bombard us for a couple of hours tomorrow before trying an assault. They will fortify their position first to give them something to retreat to in case we break their assault." The Orc responded as he made his way to the north wall to inspect the distant camp there. The eastern camp was by far the largest, but both the southern and northern camps held several hundred troops and Immortals. The Immortal Darren's team was going to try and circle around to the east and get behind their pickets but until the scouted the area, he did not know if they could get through. Until the sunset, though they would not even try. The last report they received before the enemy army had appeared was that the relief force was at least 2 days away. If they could survive that long they would be fine.

Stronhold Oblivion

Unknown Location

Ranyln Do'und read the reports in front of him as the two other conspirators read the latest reports from the Northern Front and the fight against the Duergar Clans there. "What are we going to do Ranyln? Everything depended on gaining Jacob Longstriders trust and your cousin fucked it all up." The older Drow asked.

"We have to be patient and wait, Jacob Longstrider will lose his anger against my cousins' betrayal eventually and then he will reach out again. When he does we will have to be ready. Now, how are our forces?" Ranyln Do'und responded looking up from his reports and considered his two companions. They all would be executed if any of their colleagues even suspected their conspiracy and reported it to the Matriarch.

"Intact for the most part, but the Matriarch wants the Fortress of Baereghel retaken and has tasked Council Member Nightshade to muster and lead an army to do so. Reports say she is at the Stronghold of Gahlin currently and marshaling troops from nearby fortresses to take back the Fortress of Baereghel. Our eyes and ears there say she already has 2,000 War Slaves and nearly 500 Drow. Once she has rallied the remaining units she has called on they will march. Initial estimates say it will take 2 weeks at least for all the units to be assembled and supplies to be readied. Then a weeks march from the Fortress of Suffering." Ranyln nodded as he sat back and contemplated what the mage had said.

"I will try to reach out to Jacob Longstrider." Ranyln Do'und sighed, "Hopefully he will listen to me."

Arathia Basin

Darren flitted from shadow to shadow hunting any hostile Rogues/Thieves/Rangers. So far he had found 2 in the last hour, only one had been an Immortal the other had been a Mercenary. His team was spread out throughout the woods, sweeping for any hostile forces while making their way behind the enemy forces. Darren thought they were clear, he was over a mile away from the outpost and he started heading toward the grove of trees that was the designated rally point. The plan was to loop around and to see what mischief they could rile up in the enemy encampments. At least half of them would do that, the other half would be heading north to keep an eye on the road and make sure no more supplies made it to the enemy army and report any reinforcements.

30 minutes later the last of his team checked in, 24 Rogues of various types were waiting throughout the little grove of trees. They all had their assignments and those who would be heading north were almost exclusively Rangers or Thieves for their forage and trap skills. While the Assassins and Infiltraitors were making their way toward the enemy encampments.

A little over 2 hours later Darren stalked the northern encampment, They had sentries every 20 feet, with a total of 8 men or women watching the perimeter per side. Darren waited for the signal then rapidly closed with his target, his fist snapping out causing the guard to gag before Darren's blades quickly went to work. Once all the sentries were taken out, 4 Infiltraitors and 2 Assassins dashed into the camp. Darren and a few others waited on the perimeter watching and waiting for the fire and first screams. Darren smiled as all 6 members made it out a few people tried to pursue them but Darren and others quickly dissuaded them as they all fled into the night. They still had two more targets to strike before they could get any sleep. Aaron Swiftdeath logged back in early enough to see the sun cresting the hills to the east. He expected to see the camp waking, soldiers preparing to attack the outpost, what he saw was a camp already awake a busy. He could see multiple scorched tents and one of the Ballistas were damaged, but work crews were laboring over it. He saw the captain spot him and start walking over to him immediately. "All three camps were attacked last night. Minimal casualties, but some supplies were destroyed and a quarter of the horses were scattered. One of the Ballistas, as you can see, was damaged as well. They think it will be ready within the hour, but we are going to start the bombardment in the next 10 minutes. The 8 Immortals that took night sentry duty are dead or have run off." The captain reported before moving off again.

Aaron started cursing as he saw the men and women start mobilizing into units, making last-minute alterations to armor or weapons. The few mages Middlebrough had been casting spells and Buffing the more 'veteran' units to give them an edge. He saw his own people start filtering in and adding their numbers to the line that would be advancing soon as Aaron heard the Catapults snap and the Ballista twang as they launched their missiles toward the outpost. Then the shockwave hit knocking him down. Captain Arlan Strongarm and Lieutenant-Commander Ironbark watched as the ammunition arc before slamming into the blue shield while the Ballista Bolt smashed into the shield causing it to fracture slightly before sealing shut again. Then the present Darren and his raiders had left exploded. The second Ballista everyone thought was fine had been rigged to explode after being fired. The enemy had been so concerned with the damage to the other Ballista, they never even considered the other being sabotaged.

From the looks of things, a few dozen soldiers had been wounded or killed. One of the Combat Engineer teams had been killed and the closest team that had been working on the nearby Catpolt had been halved. Others were already scrambling among the wreckage and bodies pulling out the wounded and bodies. What was important was that the attack had been stalled for now.

"If we are lucky, it bought us an hour at least." Captain Strongarm spit out as his fingers danced across the haft of his double-bladed ax. Ironbark nodded his head at the Dwarfs statement while patting the hilt of his sword assuring himself of the weapons placement. While the enemy recovered from the latest development, a line of Mages started channeling mana into the Shield to repair what had been taken by the first barrage. Aaron slowly picked himself up off the ground as the screams of the wounded filled the air. Cursing soon followed as Field Medics and Healers scrambled to deal with the wounded. Aaron was yelling into the raid chat for his own people to check in to see how many had been wounded.

The sad thing about PK guilds was very few healers were every recruited, it went against the mindset to heal and then kill for fun. Thus his 4 healers were scrambling with the locals trying to sort through the bodies. Aaron immediately jumped on them to deal with any Immortals that were injured first before moving on to the locals. They agreed quickly just to get Aaron out of the way, while he scrambled to talk to the Captain trying to get him to mount an attack immediately. He told him firmly no that they would not attack until everything had settled down. Yes, that was what the enemy wanted, but their plan had gone brilliantly well. As soon as the situation was stabilized, they would launch the attack, no sooner. The Captain told him as he walked off leaving Aaron to grind his teeth in frustration. Ironbark braced himself behind the shield as a flight of arrows slammed into the defenders while trying to cover the advancing attackers. Those few that were struck were quickly pulled from the wall and back toward the healers. The Legionnaires of the First quickly scrambled back into positions, returning fire with crossbows and Scorpions. The Mages up in the archer towers rained death and destruction on the approaching attackers as the enemy mages desperately tried to shield their wards from the magical destruction raining down on them.

The advancing men soon reached the first traps and fire/ice/earth exploded upward killing and wounding men and breaking formations but the attackers were determined now as they rushed forward. Ladders clattered against the wall as the first wave of invaders made it to the wall and started climbing. Ironbark smiled and drew his blade before he started slamming the broad side of Ice-Fire against his shield. Soon other Legionnaires picked up the drumming as they waited for the first attackers to crest the wall. Aaron finally made it over the wall, most of the soldiers inside were in the low 40s, but being inside a military outpost boosted their stats up into high 40s low 50s depending on if they were officers. The black armored troops were identified as 'Unknown Legionnaire' and were easily holding the wall where they were located while the Soldiers from Ineford were more easily being beaten back. So Aaron told his people to concentrate on those portions of the Outpost and leave the unknowns for the soldiers of Middlebrough and the mercs. Suddenly a low keening horn sounded, gently gaining power and strength.

Alert...

The Rally Cry of the First Legion has been sounded and all attackers suffer from De-Buffs...

All Defenses have been decreased by 5%

All Attack damage, including magical, is decreased by 5%

Duration 10 minutes

Alert...

Aaron cursed as an aura started enveloping all the defenders and the Legionnaires fought even harder while the Soldiers of Ineford were finally holding. Aaron cursed even more as he saw the Legionnaires started rallying and pushing the invaders off the walls. A large Orc led a charge that was aimed directly at the foothold Aaron had made. His aura was a mix of red and green while his blade glowed blue and red. When the defenders slammed into the breach the attackers were either killed or pushed from either side of the wall.

Madox, a Berserker rushed to meet the Orc who smiled at the challenge. The huge bastard sword moved quickly in the large Humans hands but the Orc quickly set himself with two other Legionnaires and braced for the attack. Aaron cursed and tried to call him off but it was too late. Maddox slammed his blade into the shields expecting them to crumble, but the miniature formation held and three short-swords licked out in short stabbing motions making the Berserker cry out and stumble back in confusion. Aaron cursed and quickly Teleported behind the Orc and triggered Backstab followed by Slice and Dice. Although his combo did drop the Orc to 55% of his health, two heals hit him quickly bringing him back up to over 75%. The Orc didn't turn around but he sneered at Aaron who looked on in confusion before he felt two blades slam into him from behind causing his health to nose dive down to 50%.

"Stupid Human, a Legionnaire is never alone." The Orc spit out before concentrating on Madox. Aaron felt the two blades withdraw and he heard a shout from the healer in his group but he wasn't within his line of sight and he was too far away. Aaron cursed and dropped a Smoke Bomb before jumping off the wall, the drop was 14 feet and it hurt when he hit feet first.

Alert...

De-Buff Broken Legs: Movement Speed reduced by 75% (1 Hour or until Healed)

De-Buff: Internal Bleeding: Lose 5% Health DoT (30 Seconds or until healed)

De-Buff Collapsed Lung: Stamina Regeneration Reduced by 50% (5 Minute Duration or until healed)

Alert...

Aaron groaned at all the De-Buffs that hit him all at once, but if he had stayed inside he would have died for sure. "I am outside the wall Tilly. I need heals ASAP!!!" Aaron called urgently over the party chat as he took a moment to look at the raid chat. The attack had stalled on all three walls and the attack on the western wall was steadily being pushed back. Aaron saw Tilly look out over the wall and point to him and start down the ladder when an ax suddenly descended and split his head. Other attackers, both Locals, and Immortals were streaming from the point they had created a foothold. Aaron no longer having a healer downed a Medium Healing potion and started crawling away from the wall. He distantly heard another horn bellow, deep and mellow. Aaron started cursing when he read the alert.

Alert...

The retreat of your raid has been called and your attack has been broken.

All defenses decreased by 10%.

All Attack Damage Decreased by 10%

Movement Speed increased by 10%

Alert... Jacob rode Star through the night while Darren kept pace beside him, "So, how did the Fourth Cohort handle the siege today?" Jacob asked as he looked at the long line of troops behind him and in front of him.

Darren whistled softly, "They stopped all 3 attacks cold. The last one gained a couple of footholds but the Legion rallied and pushed them back. I want to say at least 1/3 of the Immortals and 200-300 troops they brought were killed. They are exhausted because we woke them up early and left them a nasty surprise and now their attack was defeated, the morale for the enemy army is going to be low Jacob. So what is our plan?"

Jacob smiled at the Rogue who had obvious fun terrorizing the enemy troops, "We are splitting the army up into 4 portions. The troops from Ineford are getting split into 4 groups of 400 each. One of those groups is going to hit their southern camp, my group with the Dawn Guard is going to hit the main camp from the south while another group is going to hit the main camp from the west. The fourth group will remain in reserve. It gives the troops from Middlebrough nearly a fair fight but our people are well rested and ready to fight while they have been fighting all day."

"That plan could go very right, but if their scouts spot you they could attack your forces piecemeal. You could lose a lot of soldiers quickly." Darren said before smiling, "Good thing you got my people and me scouting ahead for all your army guys." The Rogue chuckled as he darted off. Aaron cursed as his legs twinged from imaginary pain, or ghost pain. He and most of the other surviving Immortals were getting drunk if they had not logged off earlier. The forces of Middlebrough had been mauled badly in the three attacks they had sent in. Between traps and after finally gaining the wall, they had lost just over 250 troops between the 3 camps. Worse, of Aarons original 80 Immortals he had started this campaign with, he was down to 33. Although the first 10 that had been killed were a days ride north. Morale was at its lowest though for both Immortals and Locals. The Legion soldiers were a complete surprise and the people from Middlebrough had no idea who they were but they were professional and well equipped. Nothing from the wiki or forums had revealed anything, but more than one interested party had wanted to know anything he could tell them. Professional armies were rare, unknown professional armies were even rarer but somehow Ineford had allied themselves with someone powerful enough to field professional soldiers.

Aaron continued to stare into the goblet that held the wine and ignored the sounds around him as he contemplated the future of the guild. The campaign was dead in the water, and it was only a matter of time until the army of Middlebrough was broken. His people would leave the guild because they would get tired of being killed by Locals and were in this business for money not to be killed over and over again by Locals. He either had to figure out a way to destroy the outpost and army inside quickly or they had to retreat while the army was relatively intact.

Suddenly from the south and west Firebolts and Fireballs arced before slamming into tents and soldiers. The later exploding on contact and causing splash damage to people and spreading fire within the camp. "TO ARMS, TO ARMS!!!" the cry rang out in the night. Suddenly Lightning, Fire, Acid, and other forms of magic arced and slammed into the camp. Already over a dozen soldiers were already dead or seriously wounded within Aarons sight. He cursed and quickly darted to the south. The hastily dug embankment had already fallen to the attacking force that was comprised of soldiers of Ineford and soldiers the wore armor similar to the Liegenares but was of a higher caliber and they were too distant for Aaron to identify. Based on the spells that were falling on the camp, the attackers included Immortals. Suddenly these other Liegenares snapped spears down and charged directly into the ragged ranks of Middlebrough. A tall red-eyed half breed fought next to a Dwarf in the middle of the line with a tall Barbarian darting in and out of the formation adding his large mace to the carnage. Aaron could feel it was only a matter of time until the soldiers of Middlebrough broke so he did the only sane thing to do, he ran away calling for an immediate retreat over the guild channel. This decided it, it was time to find a new home. Jacob watched as the enemy line start to crumble and break, he had seen the Immortals run away. Darren and most of his people were already waiting in ambush, they were under orders to target only Immortals. Locals were allowed to leave in peace as long as they kept running.

The southern camp had broken almost as soon as the force there had attacked. The scouts that were watching the northern camp reported that they were moving toward the main camp to reinforce the troops here but they were already breaking. Every time his War Stomp or Hemorrhage came off cooldown, Jacob used the abilities causing massive damage. With all the living enemies around he almost didn't need a healer. Suddenly the enemy line shattered and the troops scattered. "Break by squads and follow. Even rats can be dangerous when cornered. Injured to the rear and see the healers." Thorgron bellowed out as the Dawn Guard started to pursue the broken and fleeing enemy. Two squads and Thorgron remained with Jacob. Seeing nearly 20 wounded Jacob signaled Mug and Snaggletooth to assist the healers with their work.

A few minutes later another barrage of Fire/Ice/Lightning/etc went off again the northern force finally made it back to the main encampment but Jacob's forces were already there to meet them. Jacob sent off messengers first to Thorgron, who Jacob finally convinced that he would be fine with his War Party and the two squads of Dawn Guard soldiers, and to High-Captain Gregarious to send all wounded to his position that he would be opening a portal to send all the critically wounded to Ineford as soon as the area was clear of enemy troops.

Suddenly several Firebolts and Ice Bolts flew by as the remains of the southern camp approached their position. Jacob cursed as the two squads of the Dawn Guard moved to place themselves between the oncoming enemy and Jacob. The walking wounded moved to join their brothers as Jacob cursed that most of his forces were pursuing the onrushing enemies or out of position to intercept them. He quickly sent a 911 through the raid channel letting any Immortal know he was about to be up shit creek without a paddle.

Suddenly an Earthen Golem and Skeletal Warriors joined their ranks. He also distantly heard wolf howls as June summoned a pack of wolves as well. Their calls brought a smile to Jacobs' face as he summoned Star and sent her off to their flank with the ghostly wolves. They would come when they needed the help Jacob thought as he heard Shigna calling out a very familiar spell. Suddenly the night lit up as a Meteor zoomed overhead and smashed the front ranks of the onrushing soldiers. New screams lit the night as the bowmen released a small flight of bolts followed by spears from the Legionnaires. The kept coming through and Jacob cried out, "BRACE FOR THE CHARGE!!!"

Darren grunted as he pulled the throwing dagger that had been embedded in his thigh and downed a small healing potion. It was his last one of that grade, he still had two medium potions. No more Immortals had passed his position though and he had 3 kills added to his Kill Count. A ranger and another Rogue were nearby but for now, the main battle was moving north.

Suddenly Chalxae dropped out of stealth nearby, "We need to go. Something went wrong." She called out before darting off to the south. Darren sighed before signaling his nearby teammates to follow her when suddenly the Raid Chat blew up with a 911 from Jacob and his location. Guess the other Vampire wasn't wrong after all, Darren immediately told everyone in his team to head toward his location immediately.

Less then 5 minutes later, they were approaching the location and Darren saw an ongoing battle below. Darren had only managed to rally a dozen of his people at this point and he could tell Chalxae would not wait much longer. Darren cursed as he darted forward with the other melee specialists while the 3 Rangers started firing toward the distant enemies.

High-Captain Gregarious was riding with the reserve when the Immortal sitting beside him jerked at started cursing. Gregarious was quickly informed that Jacob Longstrider was about to be overrun and needed help. The Captain acknowledged what the Immortal said and dispatched the Light Horse immediately to support him while the Captain and the remaining foot soldiers increased their pace. He could only hope that they would make it in time.

The wolf howls filled the night as Star and a spectral pack of wolves slammed into the rear of the enemy formation, ripping and tearing at anyone they could get too. Suddenly the ground below the enemy bulged and skeletal hands exploded upwards tripping and slowing the enemy soldiers. Jacob laughed as he continued to hack away at his enemies as a small storm cloud formed quickly above them and Snaggletooth unleashed his Storm Surge ability healing all the allies while lightning struck enemies. Jacob just continued to laugh and kill feeling his enemies die while hoping his allies lived.

Suddenly the back ranks of the enemy exploded as anywhere between 6-10 Rogues dropped out of stealth and went to work killing the enemy in front of them. Within moments the soldiers that had been about to flank Thelgrum were slaughtered. The Paladin silently saluted the Rogues as he continued to kill the men in front of him. Suddenly men mounted on horseback and dwarves on oversized rams slammed into the enemy formation from the south, reinforcements had finally arrived. The enemy soldiers were quickly trampled and slaughtered. The few survivors quickly fled north and away from the small battle.

"Wounded to the healers now!!" Jacob called out and based on the looks of all those who had fought on the front line, every single one needed to be in the care of a healer. A few minutes later the final tally was in, of the 30 Dawn Guard that had started the fight, 10 were dead 12 were critically wounded, and every single remaining Dawn Guard was walking wounded. Jacob was furious with losing them and the fact that the forces that had attacked the southern camp never showed or assisted. They should have followed the retreating forces then driven them north along the road. They never should have fallen back to the main camp.

Alert...

Through battle and carnage, you have gained...25,748...experience

Alert...

As soon as the remaining reserve forces arrived Jacob tracked down High-Captain Gregarious who was trying to organize the cleanup of the battle. Thorgron had returned with the remaining Dawn Guard and was silently watching Jacob. Jacob immediately ordered High-Captain Gregarious to summon the Captain who had commanded the attack on the southern camp. At first, the man looked reluctant until Jacob informed him that if he if he didn't produce the man, the High-Captain would be held responsible for the actions that he had taken. Reluctently, High-Captain Gregarious dispatched a runner as Jacob waited and watched contemplating what he had too do.