From the South [Duncan, Ulric, Yavanna]
Saun 8....
The Harbor of Rhakros sat upon the north end of Lake Enan'uh. There was a narrow strip of land that ran along the lake's edge, following the contour of steep hillsides that bordered the water, which had filled in a crater left over from some thermal activity long before recorded history. These hill facings were then steepened into literal cliffs as the earth was cut away to create these narrow walks.
The hills circled completely around the lake except in two places. The one was to the south; a natural breach in the hills that had been cut by the Enan'uh river flowing down to the Orm'Del Sea. The other was cut mere centuries ago, by Rhakrosian workmen, to allow a point where these docks could be constructed to give access to vessels of trade.
Because the actual ground was just a narrow strip, the docks were extensive in both length and width to allow for the traffic and area necessary to facilitate the loading, unloading and the carting and storage of offloaded goods; as well as those ready to be loaded.
When the host of Etzos came around the hills, it was no surprise to see that the hillside had been collapsed to eliminate the pathway existing on solid ground. Likewise, there were no stacks of crates, barrels or materials on the docks to serve as cover from the archers atop the wooden walls at the gates leading into Rhakros. There were, however, a trio of old ships that had been deliberately sunk in the harbor to prevent enemy transports.
The Etzori commander suspected that the docks were rigged to collapse. It was the only available path to the gates now. He could send just a few men at a time across the planks, figuring that the enemy would not consider it a large enough loss to play their hand. But by the same token, these "few" men would stand no chance of accomplishing anything worthwhile before being riddled with arrows. He certainly did not want to provide a worthy loss by ordering a full charge, only to have the docks collapse beneath the bulk of his host.
Putting himself in the place of the defenders, he reasoned that if the wagon that was rumored to contain the alchemical explosive was among the small squad sent across the docks, that would be sufficient cause to drop the docks, spilling the means of breaching the walls into the lake. He knew that his wagon was just a decoy; but he also knew that Rhakros did not expect the breach to be attempted against the stone walls of the northern sector. There was a good chance that they would decide that this wagon was the real deal. And collapsing the docks would actually provide his army with a tactical advantage.
He called for a half dozen volunteers. Choosing from among more than ten times that number that stepped forward, he told them to loosen their armor, push the wagon as quickly as they can, and be prepared to swim.
He was not mistaken.
When the wagon and men reached the halfway point to the gate, a muffled, but still massive rumbling roared from beneath the docks. The wooden expanse bucked in numerous places, tearing free of pilings and slipping, tipping and otherwise sagging into the water. The wagon was lost. The men were at risk but the cheer going up from the wall indicated that there was no rush to pick them off as they struggled to shrug off their loosened armor and swim to safety.
The Under-Marshall grinned in unlikely triumph and ordered his cadre of engineers to begin disassembling what portions of the docks they could reach without too much risk. With this material, they constructed rude tower shields to allow them to brave additional material while under fire from the enemy on the walls, who realized what was afoot.
The effort escalated quickly, with this crude effort being something that most anyone had some skill with which to provide aid. In short order, the Etzori host had crafted crude "turtles" to approach the walls without being devastated by enemy archers. The commander was anticipating a sortie issuing from the gates at any moment, when there was a the echo, from the north, of a much bigger boom than what had ruined the docks.
He could only hope the gates would foolishly be opened. If not, it would be upon the as-yet-unrevealed spiders to scale the walls and leave behind lines for the soldiers to use; and upon the Etzori ghosts to attempt conveying through the walls themselves.
Something as simple as a misplaced instruction provided a benefit none had forseen. From one of the ships sacrificed to keep the harbor free of enemy vessels, had been offloaded a cargo of "ghost metal". It was a fairly rare crystalline metal ore that empowered ghosts and their abilities. Like everything else aboard the ships, it had been hurriedly offloaded and brought post-haste behind the walls. It had been stacked right against the inner face of the wall, with a number of other stacks of goods hiding its presence.
It was not hidden from the ghosts among the Etzori host though. Whoever had put it there had apparently not realized that its influence would radiate right through and beyond the wood of the walls. The ghostly soldiers felt its empowerment surge through them, healing them of what damage they'd taken during the approach to the gates, and finding that conveying through the walls was suddenly an effortless task. The defenders on the other side had been counting on seeing parts of the ghosts slowly "oozing" out on their side of the walls where it would be a simple 'whack-a-mole' duty to hack away at them.
Instead the ghosts tore through with little of the usual ectoplasmic loss of conveying. And even this small loss was almost instantly restored. A thousand ghosts blew through the wooden walls in bits, inflicting hexes, syphoning and tendril weapons on the shocked and suddenly overwhelmed Rhakrosians. A few took possession of a number of them and went to the gate mechanism. In a dozen trills, the gate lifted and the southern host poured into the city, finding that much of the defense had now made for the northern side, where the explosive breach had occurred.
The Under-Marshall vowed silently to make them regret that decision.
The Harbor of Rhakros sat upon the north end of Lake Enan'uh. There was a narrow strip of land that ran along the lake's edge, following the contour of steep hillsides that bordered the water, which had filled in a crater left over from some thermal activity long before recorded history. These hill facings were then steepened into literal cliffs as the earth was cut away to create these narrow walks.
The hills circled completely around the lake except in two places. The one was to the south; a natural breach in the hills that had been cut by the Enan'uh river flowing down to the Orm'Del Sea. The other was cut mere centuries ago, by Rhakrosian workmen, to allow a point where these docks could be constructed to give access to vessels of trade.
Because the actual ground was just a narrow strip, the docks were extensive in both length and width to allow for the traffic and area necessary to facilitate the loading, unloading and the carting and storage of offloaded goods; as well as those ready to be loaded.
When the host of Etzos came around the hills, it was no surprise to see that the hillside had been collapsed to eliminate the pathway existing on solid ground. Likewise, there were no stacks of crates, barrels or materials on the docks to serve as cover from the archers atop the wooden walls at the gates leading into Rhakros. There were, however, a trio of old ships that had been deliberately sunk in the harbor to prevent enemy transports.
The Etzori commander suspected that the docks were rigged to collapse. It was the only available path to the gates now. He could send just a few men at a time across the planks, figuring that the enemy would not consider it a large enough loss to play their hand. But by the same token, these "few" men would stand no chance of accomplishing anything worthwhile before being riddled with arrows. He certainly did not want to provide a worthy loss by ordering a full charge, only to have the docks collapse beneath the bulk of his host.
Putting himself in the place of the defenders, he reasoned that if the wagon that was rumored to contain the alchemical explosive was among the small squad sent across the docks, that would be sufficient cause to drop the docks, spilling the means of breaching the walls into the lake. He knew that his wagon was just a decoy; but he also knew that Rhakros did not expect the breach to be attempted against the stone walls of the northern sector. There was a good chance that they would decide that this wagon was the real deal. And collapsing the docks would actually provide his army with a tactical advantage.
He called for a half dozen volunteers. Choosing from among more than ten times that number that stepped forward, he told them to loosen their armor, push the wagon as quickly as they can, and be prepared to swim.
He was not mistaken.
When the wagon and men reached the halfway point to the gate, a muffled, but still massive rumbling roared from beneath the docks. The wooden expanse bucked in numerous places, tearing free of pilings and slipping, tipping and otherwise sagging into the water. The wagon was lost. The men were at risk but the cheer going up from the wall indicated that there was no rush to pick them off as they struggled to shrug off their loosened armor and swim to safety.
The Under-Marshall grinned in unlikely triumph and ordered his cadre of engineers to begin disassembling what portions of the docks they could reach without too much risk. With this material, they constructed rude tower shields to allow them to brave additional material while under fire from the enemy on the walls, who realized what was afoot.
The effort escalated quickly, with this crude effort being something that most anyone had some skill with which to provide aid. In short order, the Etzori host had crafted crude "turtles" to approach the walls without being devastated by enemy archers. The commander was anticipating a sortie issuing from the gates at any moment, when there was a the echo, from the north, of a much bigger boom than what had ruined the docks.
He could only hope the gates would foolishly be opened. If not, it would be upon the as-yet-unrevealed spiders to scale the walls and leave behind lines for the soldiers to use; and upon the Etzori ghosts to attempt conveying through the walls themselves.
Something as simple as a misplaced instruction provided a benefit none had forseen. From one of the ships sacrificed to keep the harbor free of enemy vessels, had been offloaded a cargo of "ghost metal". It was a fairly rare crystalline metal ore that empowered ghosts and their abilities. Like everything else aboard the ships, it had been hurriedly offloaded and brought post-haste behind the walls. It had been stacked right against the inner face of the wall, with a number of other stacks of goods hiding its presence.
It was not hidden from the ghosts among the Etzori host though. Whoever had put it there had apparently not realized that its influence would radiate right through and beyond the wood of the walls. The ghostly soldiers felt its empowerment surge through them, healing them of what damage they'd taken during the approach to the gates, and finding that conveying through the walls was suddenly an effortless task. The defenders on the other side had been counting on seeing parts of the ghosts slowly "oozing" out on their side of the walls where it would be a simple 'whack-a-mole' duty to hack away at them.
Instead the ghosts tore through with little of the usual ectoplasmic loss of conveying. And even this small loss was almost instantly restored. A thousand ghosts blew through the wooden walls in bits, inflicting hexes, syphoning and tendril weapons on the shocked and suddenly overwhelmed Rhakrosians. A few took possession of a number of them and went to the gate mechanism. In a dozen trills, the gate lifted and the southern host poured into the city, finding that much of the defense had now made for the northern side, where the explosive breach had occurred.
The Under-Marshall vowed silently to make them regret that decision.
Off Topic
Okay, have at it guys! Ulric, you find yourself and your ghost skills powered a tier higher for this fight. But it will be necessary for this metal to be kept in proximity to ghosts to maintain this effect. Maybe someone will suggest this to the Under-Marshall... 
Make no mistake though, there can be some drawbacks to keeping ghost metal around in a hostile area.
Make no mistake though, there can be some drawbacks to keeping ghost metal around in a hostile area.
