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The battle of Old Rivergrand would be the next attempt of the Regalian army to push the Qadir back, after the previous stalemates. The battle was to take place near the river of Old Rivergrand, one of the few lush valleys in the Rim Isles with the Fong Estate in the background, despoiled with Qadir flags and burning from the looting. It rained in both letters and raindrops, the weather had turned sour and the air was filled with torn pages and letters that the Qadir had thrown out of the estate in high numbers, carried by the strong wind between the mountains. Both armies faced off one another on different sides of the river, and it was clear the battle was going to take place in a fairly quick fashion without all too much maneuvering.
First to move were the outer vanguards, the right vanguard led by Christopher Black and the left vanguard by Alejandro Anahera. The first soldiers clashed on the muddy river bed on the left, though it quickly became clear that the Regalian troops had made a big mistake. The Tactician, Yani Cydin, who had no formal training had sent the troops straight into the sinking muds, where the cavalry promptly got stuck and was unable to charge. To make matters worse, they were quickly picked off by the Qadir archers on the other side, leading to mass confusion and an orchestra of screams. On the right vanguard, the situation was equally terrible. The unschooled and greenhorn tactician Stephan Svangor had made the exact same mistake Yani Cydin had made on the left flank, sending the cavalry straight into the impassable muddy banks, losing their speed and allowing them to be cut off. As both vanguards started crumbling, the flank lines tried to quickly rush to their assistance to help, with little effect.
The left flank was without officer. Kyel Tinker had been assigned to lead this flank, yet he was arrested mere days before and put under house arrest for violating the law, having been stripped of his military honors. The army was unable to replace him, and while Ulric attempted to take control of that flank, he was unable to leave his commanding position in the Admiral's tent. Without their officer, the left flank stumbled into the same muddy slide, getting crashed into by panicking horses and fast moving Qadir. The mud did not hold them down, as they were trained in the art of combat on unstable terrain, the shifting sands of the desert giving the same footing as the loose mud. The left flank was utterly obliterated as a result, not even 200 troops made it out of the scene there, screaming for help and dropping their weapons. It is said that what little troops escaped made it out by Graeton Pileran's tactical expertise in distracting the Qadir by sacrificing part of the army to save others who would have died otherwise anyway.
The right flank fared somewhat better, but was unable to turn the drama that was unfolding on the vanguard. Mathias Paschen's troops quickly formed ranks by the competent and successful tactics of Ludwig Fuchs, who tried any means he could to change the situation. It could not however, as the vanguard was overrun, the fleeing soldiers caused confusion and misfires among the troops. Mathias Paschen was unable to hold order in the ranks, and despite following every rule of the book in terms of battle tactics, their troops were simply overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
With both flanks on the rampant retreat, Thomas Kade was left to fend for the central column, surrounded on all sides and outnumbered four to one. Maximillian Typhonus attempted to hold the lines and use the sheer number of the Qadir against them, but there was no holding the morale of the soldiers that already plummeted after the massive slaughter that had been inflicted on the vanguards and flanks. The entire central column collapsed a mere minute after fighting started as the entire army simply fled the field.
The retreat of the army was disorderly at best, catastrophic in reality. Both vanguards had nearly entirely been annihilated, costing the lives of nearly 3500 men. Grey Draegen was able to save Christopher Black from being captured by the Qadir by dragging him over the corpses of the other troops as he had been hit by arrows in both his legs. Christopher Black was gravely wounded because of it, disabling him from participating in any future battle, at least as a commander or on the front lines. The Tactician of the right vanguard also escaped without injury, though with shame to boot.
On the left vanguard, Gustavo Anahera made a good contribution despite the severe tragedy that befell his troops. He was able to secure his own retreat without the direct assistance of his bodyguards, both of whom had been knocked unconscious and were captured by the Qadir. Both Roland Blakely and William Coen had suffered a severe concussion and fractured skull, unable to get away from their captors unconscious. Yani Cydin also managed to escape unharmed, though similarly with shame to boot.
Mathias Paschen was able to escape on the right flank due to the excellent retreat tactic employed by Ludwig. Similarly to Graeton Pileran however, this did come at the cost of many soldiers who were sacrificed to save the lives of a few nobles and knights. Ludwig similarly escaped, but in the sacrifice, Cassius Paloin had both his arms broken and was captured by the Qadir. On the left flank, Rently Reyers was able to secure the escape of himself and Graeton Pileran with as many troops as possible, personally cutting down the Qadir that stood between them and escape. The central column suffered severe losses during the retreat and route, nearly half their troops. Tristan Lamperouge suffered a broken rib, but was able to escape with the assistance of Jared Silverhand. Thomas Kade and Maximillian Typhonus were the first to leave the field with their direct guards, leading to no further casualties among the nobility of the central column.
The retreat to Regalia was swift and without a single raised head. As few as 3000 troops had survived this battle, the majority of them coming from the central column. The Rim Isles had all been abandoned, the Regalian positions quickly dismantled by the Qadir and what earlier victories existed undone. The fleet maintained a stable presence to ensure the Qadir could not further their expansion into the Archipelago, yet whispers started to form in the Imperial court on the incompetence of the military leadership and the outright stupidity of its tacticians. The Empire had grown bold and complacent by military victories over the lesser races and peoples of Aloria, and now facing a true military competent enemy, were outmatched. The prestige of both the house Typhonus and Tinker fell in the Imperial court, while that of the Pileran and Fuchs rose. The state became uncertain how to act. The majority of its direct levies had been killed, the war already having costed over 10,000 troops in deaths alone. Support from the other colonies was on its way, but only a miracle could save the disgrace at this point. Even if the Regalians managed to push back the Qadir from the Rim Isles, damage had been done to the military's standing.
OOC Notes to those captured: While you are captured, you are expected not to roleplay in Regalia, this is the consequence and risk of participating in battles. While you are captured, you are permitted to send letters by the Qadir and it is assumed you will be taken care of with medical needs. Any captive can be ransomed, though only a noble family can do so. You may contact noble families or other individuals to negotiate with nobles for your ransom, though nobles should be aware that paying a ransom will lose them prestige, as Regalians do not negotiate with lesser peoples. Still, if a person is worth much, it may be worth the loss in standing. If a noble family officially wants to ransom a prisoner, they should send me a PM to state so. Alternatively, the potentiality of a plot to rescue captives may be enacted. Similarly to battle rolls, these will be story progression events in which an unlimited amount of characters may sign up to a rescue mission for a single individual. Characters may be wounded, or even captured, but there is also great chance for glory and rescuing a captive without any ransom.
If you want to sign up a rescue attempt, PM me with the following details:
(When signing up for a rescue attempt, assume you can only save 1 captive, and that the captive is held in a strongly guarded castle)
Full names of all participants: (keep in mind, people without character apps get bad skill rolls)
Target of rescue mission: (Name Roland, William or Cassius)
Rough plan of Rescue: (Say wether they will go "guns blazing" or under the cover of night. Who will distract the guards? or will all guards be killed silently? Will they go in disguised? etc)
First to move were the outer vanguards, the right vanguard led by Christopher Black and the left vanguard by Alejandro Anahera. The first soldiers clashed on the muddy river bed on the left, though it quickly became clear that the Regalian troops had made a big mistake. The Tactician, Yani Cydin, who had no formal training had sent the troops straight into the sinking muds, where the cavalry promptly got stuck and was unable to charge. To make matters worse, they were quickly picked off by the Qadir archers on the other side, leading to mass confusion and an orchestra of screams. On the right vanguard, the situation was equally terrible. The unschooled and greenhorn tactician Stephan Svangor had made the exact same mistake Yani Cydin had made on the left flank, sending the cavalry straight into the impassable muddy banks, losing their speed and allowing them to be cut off. As both vanguards started crumbling, the flank lines tried to quickly rush to their assistance to help, with little effect.
The left flank was without officer. Kyel Tinker had been assigned to lead this flank, yet he was arrested mere days before and put under house arrest for violating the law, having been stripped of his military honors. The army was unable to replace him, and while Ulric attempted to take control of that flank, he was unable to leave his commanding position in the Admiral's tent. Without their officer, the left flank stumbled into the same muddy slide, getting crashed into by panicking horses and fast moving Qadir. The mud did not hold them down, as they were trained in the art of combat on unstable terrain, the shifting sands of the desert giving the same footing as the loose mud. The left flank was utterly obliterated as a result, not even 200 troops made it out of the scene there, screaming for help and dropping their weapons. It is said that what little troops escaped made it out by Graeton Pileran's tactical expertise in distracting the Qadir by sacrificing part of the army to save others who would have died otherwise anyway.
The right flank fared somewhat better, but was unable to turn the drama that was unfolding on the vanguard. Mathias Paschen's troops quickly formed ranks by the competent and successful tactics of Ludwig Fuchs, who tried any means he could to change the situation. It could not however, as the vanguard was overrun, the fleeing soldiers caused confusion and misfires among the troops. Mathias Paschen was unable to hold order in the ranks, and despite following every rule of the book in terms of battle tactics, their troops were simply overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
With both flanks on the rampant retreat, Thomas Kade was left to fend for the central column, surrounded on all sides and outnumbered four to one. Maximillian Typhonus attempted to hold the lines and use the sheer number of the Qadir against them, but there was no holding the morale of the soldiers that already plummeted after the massive slaughter that had been inflicted on the vanguards and flanks. The entire central column collapsed a mere minute after fighting started as the entire army simply fled the field.
The retreat of the army was disorderly at best, catastrophic in reality. Both vanguards had nearly entirely been annihilated, costing the lives of nearly 3500 men. Grey Draegen was able to save Christopher Black from being captured by the Qadir by dragging him over the corpses of the other troops as he had been hit by arrows in both his legs. Christopher Black was gravely wounded because of it, disabling him from participating in any future battle, at least as a commander or on the front lines. The Tactician of the right vanguard also escaped without injury, though with shame to boot.
On the left vanguard, Gustavo Anahera made a good contribution despite the severe tragedy that befell his troops. He was able to secure his own retreat without the direct assistance of his bodyguards, both of whom had been knocked unconscious and were captured by the Qadir. Both Roland Blakely and William Coen had suffered a severe concussion and fractured skull, unable to get away from their captors unconscious. Yani Cydin also managed to escape unharmed, though similarly with shame to boot.
Mathias Paschen was able to escape on the right flank due to the excellent retreat tactic employed by Ludwig. Similarly to Graeton Pileran however, this did come at the cost of many soldiers who were sacrificed to save the lives of a few nobles and knights. Ludwig similarly escaped, but in the sacrifice, Cassius Paloin had both his arms broken and was captured by the Qadir. On the left flank, Rently Reyers was able to secure the escape of himself and Graeton Pileran with as many troops as possible, personally cutting down the Qadir that stood between them and escape. The central column suffered severe losses during the retreat and route, nearly half their troops. Tristan Lamperouge suffered a broken rib, but was able to escape with the assistance of Jared Silverhand. Thomas Kade and Maximillian Typhonus were the first to leave the field with their direct guards, leading to no further casualties among the nobility of the central column.
The retreat to Regalia was swift and without a single raised head. As few as 3000 troops had survived this battle, the majority of them coming from the central column. The Rim Isles had all been abandoned, the Regalian positions quickly dismantled by the Qadir and what earlier victories existed undone. The fleet maintained a stable presence to ensure the Qadir could not further their expansion into the Archipelago, yet whispers started to form in the Imperial court on the incompetence of the military leadership and the outright stupidity of its tacticians. The Empire had grown bold and complacent by military victories over the lesser races and peoples of Aloria, and now facing a true military competent enemy, were outmatched. The prestige of both the house Typhonus and Tinker fell in the Imperial court, while that of the Pileran and Fuchs rose. The state became uncertain how to act. The majority of its direct levies had been killed, the war already having costed over 10,000 troops in deaths alone. Support from the other colonies was on its way, but only a miracle could save the disgrace at this point. Even if the Regalians managed to push back the Qadir from the Rim Isles, damage had been done to the military's standing.
OOC Notes to those captured: While you are captured, you are expected not to roleplay in Regalia, this is the consequence and risk of participating in battles. While you are captured, you are permitted to send letters by the Qadir and it is assumed you will be taken care of with medical needs. Any captive can be ransomed, though only a noble family can do so. You may contact noble families or other individuals to negotiate with nobles for your ransom, though nobles should be aware that paying a ransom will lose them prestige, as Regalians do not negotiate with lesser peoples. Still, if a person is worth much, it may be worth the loss in standing. If a noble family officially wants to ransom a prisoner, they should send me a PM to state so. Alternatively, the potentiality of a plot to rescue captives may be enacted. Similarly to battle rolls, these will be story progression events in which an unlimited amount of characters may sign up to a rescue mission for a single individual. Characters may be wounded, or even captured, but there is also great chance for glory and rescuing a captive without any ransom.
If you want to sign up a rescue attempt, PM me with the following details:
(When signing up for a rescue attempt, assume you can only save 1 captive, and that the captive is held in a strongly guarded castle)
Full names of all participants: (keep in mind, people without character apps get bad skill rolls)
Target of rescue mission: (Name Roland, William or Cassius)
Rough plan of Rescue: (Say wether they will go "guns blazing" or under the cover of night. Who will distract the guards? or will all guards be killed silently? Will they go in disguised? etc)
