[M] Siege of Joetel

[Tolvo]

Some of the speech confused his men. They didn't quite understand it all and it was a bit wordy. But all it took was one spark to light the fire. Among his soldiers a woman yelled "Yeah!" Everyone began screaming it. "Yeah!" It took over them like a wave and they followed behind Destrin as he charged through the broken open gates. The first undead he came across was an executioner who parried his blow, but while it fought him a musket ball struck it in the head blowing apart its skull and helm. One corrupter stayed to continue working on the orb while the rest fell back to work on the demon. Sorcerers, mage-musketeers, arquebusiers, and archers, were on the walls giving it their all. Even as the stone crumbled beneath them they did their duties and kept on fighting.

The vampiress shifted her form and turned into a small dragon. She continued her fight with Joeseph who was holding it together as everyone charged to keep up with him. His knights guarded his flanks. Despite Destrin leading mostly militia they were holding out better than expected. Thanks to their pilfered Imperial armor they were lasting even longer in the fight. Everyone was drenched in a mixture of fresh and stale blood. A large skeletal creature crumbled beside Destrin as mage-muskets hit it. The hellfire muskets were doing their best too and appeared to deal a lot of damage to the vampires.

[Eddren]

"Keep it fuckin' comin', lads, but spread out! Ah think she's about ta blow!" He grinned at the innuedo, but kept bringing the line steadily back toward the King. "Someone tell tha Aqueduct Snakes on tha ground ta get out here an' use their chains ta sweep tha smaller undead! Two snakes ta a chain, spread out wide-like! Pipes comin' up from behind ta smash anythin' that keeps movin'!" he called out, before looking around. There were three exceptional problems he noted. First, the militia was not infinite. Second, the larger undead would be unlikely to be taken down by the militia. Third, he didn't want to lose his ranged units to the walls.

"Oi! Ta those on tha wall! Climb on down an' form inta groups o' five! Set up behind tha militia!" He gestured toward the space behind them, "Fire on anything big enough ta poke their head over tha battle lines, an' fire inta any openings that tha undead make until our men can close 'em!" He looked around, searching for a halberd. Picking it up, he rose a hand. "Oi! JESSIE! OVER HERE MATE!"

[Tolvo]

Those on the walls came down as suggested and not a moment too soon. While the last made their way down much of the walls fractured and came apart around the gatehouse. They joined up behind the militia who continued their charge. The soldiers were getting a bit tired but were over exerting themselves. Aqueduct Snakes came from the sides and started beating down whatever undead were lightly armored, though some of them struggled as zombies with large spears advanced negating their forward momentum less they get impaled. Then there was a cry out in the sky. Destrin's warriors looked up with worry until they realized what they were looking at. A small batch of griffin riding knights and a battlemage had arrived. They crashed down around the front and began using their long lances to run down whatever they found near to them. From the battlemage came a great arcane blast among the front of the Deathborne ripping them apart. The vampiress in her dragon form struck out at Joeseph and cut his throat. Rather than finish him she began to fly off as the enemy flyers once again engaged the flying aqueduct snakes making a path for her. This was perhaps the bloodiest a battle had gotten for Destrin. They were wading through corpses and mud made by slick blood everywhere. Even the undead were struggling to move through it.

[Eddren]

Destrin cursed but turned the King's neck and head to steel, to stop the bleeding and hopefully preserve his life for some amount of time. Quickly, he mounted Jessie and flew over to where the King had fallen, bringing the Halberd down on any Undead nearby before picking him up and bringing him back toward the rear lines. "Fuckin' hell, Cassandra better have that Demon ready, an' soon!" He gave a glance over his shoulder, but knew it would be up to the aerial units to hold off the Vampire Queen for now.

[Tolvo]

The battlemage fought his way to the King atop his mount while Jessie neighed and brayed. He gave Joeseph a quick look over then held his hands over the man's throat. "Release the spell. I'll close the wound. We may still save him." His hands had a blue glow to them as he put his fingers directly on the wound. Soldiers continued to protect them at the rear lines as cannons now opened fire on their positions. Culverins, lighter cannons meant for striking single targets were what was firing at them. They were still heavily outnumbered but had retaken the position immediately in front of the ruined gates. Much of the Dominion forces were still in reserve and were ready to join the fray. Destrin's shield bearers returned now having gotten some time to rest. Once again they stood in their suits of heavy armor and pushed back against the undead. A line of crypt keepers set up at the front to guard from the arquebuses. Bullets hit their shields and armor while they weathered it. That was until some of the mage-muskets fired upon them dealing massive amounts of damage. They returned to firing upon the monsters all around them. Bodies of wounded soldiers were being carried back by militia to ensure more dead didn't clog things up. From within the city those who were injured started to return with chimera replacements. Up in the skies the vampiress was escaping but the griffin knights did join in the battle and were dealing heavy damage to the enemy wyverns.

[Eddren]

Destrin nodded and released the spell, then dismounted from Jessie and gave him a pat on the snout. "Alright, Jessie. Listen up. Tha Mage 'ere's gunna fix tha king up, good as New. Now, that Vamprie bitch took off, but ah'm sure tha King's gunna 'ave a word ta say about that. He'll need a mount. Ah need ya ta be his partner fer that dance, alright? Make sure he gets outta there in one piece." He nodded to the Horse and to the Archmage, "Thank ya kindly. We're a lil' stretched out right now, an' ah wasn't sure if tha Sorcerers'd 'ave tha new present wrapped up, yet." He paused for a moment, "We captured one o' their soul-spheres. If ya think ya can figure out it's workings, ah'd be much obliged. We could only jus' barely get it under our control."

Having said his part, he rejoined the fray. "Alright! If yer wounded an' well enough ta move, start bringin' more bullets an' powder for tha Mage Muskets! Ya hear? Militiamen, pull back yer front lines an' ready ta advance once more! Rear lines, forward! Yer supportin' tha Shield-Guard in maintainin' perimeter! Knights, fall back an' rest! Aqueduct Snakes, pull back an' prepare fer a second attack! Archers, loose volleys on tha advancin' Dominion troops! Ah need twenty good muskets ta' be given ta tha returnin' Aqueduct Snakes! Regular types, pre-loaded! Ah want those twenty Aqueduct Snakes ready ta charge at my command, loose wall formation! Stuff tha bodies with gunpowder an' bullets an' get 'em loaded up in tha mancannon! Aim for those damned Culverins! Maybe we can get lucky an' touch off their gunpowder!"

[Tolvo]

The battlemage looked at the orb. "I'll give it a look after the King is in a better position." Dead bodies were launched out of the man cannons at the enemy cannons. There was little hope of accuracy at such a long range but some sort of explosion did go off. It didn't look to take out too many but their cannons stopped firing for the time being as they worked to try and put out the fires. Destrin's soldiers took up his formations but something shocking started to happen. Guns from the enemy set up in lines while something strange happened. The Deathborne began to pull back. Something was happening and there looked to be panic among the Dominion soldiers.

[Eddren]

Destrin cursed, "No, no, no, no, that's not fuckin' good." Suddenly, his mind was whirling, and he looked up, "Oi! Fliers! Tha hell is goin' on over there?" He really hoped they were retreating, but if this were just them getting distance, then there'd be problems. Lots of problems. They weren't ready for distance. The configuration wasn't right. Destrin turned, "Musketmen! Arquebussiers! Traditional formation! Prepare fer counter-volley! Prepare fer counter-volley!"

Next up, he called to the Shieldguard, "Close ranks an' prepare ta advance! Cycle men! Freshest men in center! Knights, prepare ta ride tha flanks an' harry!" He gave a gesture to the Aqueduct Snakes on the ground, "Aqueduct Snakes, ah want tha twenty o' you wit' muskets ta head out toward those cannons! Each o' you will fire one round, an' when tha smoke from that starts clearin', tha second shoots, an' so on! Tha rest o' the Aqueduct Snakes, start ridin' ta meet them after tha first shot!"

[Tolvo]

A flying Aqueduct Snake came down and flew beside Destrin to report. "We saw what happened boss. When the cannons exploded a fancy old guy got caught in it. They're making a big deal about his body and are carrying him around. We think it's the Dominion commander!" Everyone began to advance in position, then he heard it. A series of piercing howls came from within Joetel. On the streets something stirred, a trio of beasts. They looked to be albino with white fur and long rat-like tails. Each had the head of a goat and stood at about ten feet in height. The monsters came rushing outwards and joined the melee. At the flanks the knights continued to harass who they could. Both Deathborne and Dominion forces were beginning to set up further away. Shelling continued as both sides exchanged raw firepower.

[Eddren]

Destrin laughed. Of course it'd be the Dominion Commander. And with the Vampire Queen fleeing the battlefield, that meant that the battle was more or less theirs. "Alright, men. Ah want firepower focused on tha skies. Any remainin' drakes, anything like that, take 'em out. Arquebussiers, musketmen, cannons, use what ya need to. Ah want only our men in tha skies!" He gave a look at the landed Aqueduct Snake, "Good work. 'Ave any o' tha Sorcerers still ridin' with our boys target tha gunpowder stores o' their artillary. Ah bet ya if we take out their big guns, they'll probably retreat completely." He grinned, "It'll mean tha end o' tha war for 'em, but tha only man who prob'ly recognized tha is now fuckin' dead."