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Celandra is a game in which the players take the roles of societies, rather than playing individual characters. The players will invent a society with its culture and heritage, and will guide its development and interaction with the world. Emphasis will be be placed on developing a detailed history of Celandra, along with myths and legends.
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Mon

Apr 25
2005

06:05Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (part 1)

The young rohain came awake. The other two rohain in the tent had seized
and died over an hour ago, but this one's spiritform had finally
returned from his scouting mission, and Lars eagerly awaited his report.

"Sir," the rohain reported, sitting up. "I estimate about 5,000 demons
out there. Maybe 3,000 effectives. Some new magic caught Ran and Sej,
cut the ties to their bodies. I think it came from the spawn. There's a
lot more wards out there than I'm used to seeing, and I'd be willing to
bet on several vamps being out there as well. They're also preparing for
a night attack."

"A _night_ attack?"

"Yes preceptor."

Lars cursed himself momentarily. He _knew_ demons could see better in
the dark than humans, and the nearly 8 to 1 odds in their favor had
obviously made them decide to work within the limits of a night battle.
He hadn't prepared for that. Still, some of the things he _had_ prepared
would also work against this surprise.

A few more questions from Lars clarified that scout didn't have anything
new to add, and he turned to the young man standing behind him.
"Sorcerer Arcas, do you have any questions? Do you require any
clarifications from me about our situation?"

The sorcerer's voice was quiet and regretful. "No, preceptor, your
situation and the details that make it up are quite clear to me."

"Then your work here is complete. You are to teleport to the flying city
and report to the high command as soon as you may."

"Yes sir. But . . ."

"Yes?"

"Why did you do . . . it?"

Lars had made it quite clear over the past weeks that there were some
questions that he wouldn't answer, but Arcas obviously hoped that the
knowledge that everyone in the town would soon die had changed
something.

Lars fixed the man with a gimlet stare. "Sorcerer, I suggest you be
about your duties." Still, he couldn't help remembering . . .

  * * *

Lars was astonished by the wards around the room. Most wards radiated,
easily visible to his spirit sight. These were invisible, but solid as
stone to his spiritform. Then he was brought away from the spirit to the
material by the obviously annoyed voice of the Warlord Riacrada. "Very
well, Captain, Reese assures me that these are the strongest wards in
the city. Nothing is going to pass through until I release them. Now
what is so important that you can speak only to me and only in a warded
room?"

"Thank you Warlord. I believe I have a plan which will destroy a major
portion of the demon army, but only you can say if the risk is worth the
throw."

If anything, the Warlord's voice was even more annoyed as she spoke
again, "Go on."

"I don't know if you were aware, but for some reason my rohain appear to
have been particularly targeted by the demons. It's not that they're
seeing combat more often, but the opposition that the rohain are seeing
are much better led and stronger than the average, and all too often the
rohain have been specially targeted."

Poised for a blistering rebuke, _everyone_ thought their forces were
seeing the worst of the war, Ria turned to Reese only to be brought up
short by his response. "I can't deny that. The incidents I'm aware of
tend to confirm it, but the Eerith aren't everywhere." He shrugged, "It
should be easy enough to check."

Unaware of Ria's hidden astonishment, Lars continued, gesturing to a map
he'd brought with him. "Since the demons seem to think the rohain are a
threat, I propose we use that. I think we should pull the majority of
the rohain, and the forces supported by exquaestio, and pull them out to
make a stand _here_, at the town of Lildra in south-central Tana."

. . . to be continued

Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html



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Mon

Apr 25
2005

08:35Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (part 2)

No more than an hour passed between the time Arcas arrived on Annaeyana
and the time he found himself speaking directly to the Warlord Riacrada.
He'd been astonished by the frenetic activity that had greeted his news.
Though he'd volunteered to serve against the demons, the only military
training he'd had been sidelights in a few history classes before he'd
donned sorcerer's robes. He'd been slightly insulted by his role as
liaison to a man who, for all his religious pretensions, was basically a
jumped-up mercenary captain. Seeing all the activity which resulted from
his news he wondered if perhaps he had misread the situation.

Arcas stared at the map. Though he recognized the symbols for terrain
and could associate the counters with various military forces, it was as
if he was an apprentice looking at his first spell formula. To the
strategists in the room, who'd gone from confused to excited, the map
was a complete spell. One they now understood.

Finally the Warlord paused in her orders, took a deep breath, and pushed
herself away from the map table. "Not at all like the Sinari war, is it
Reese?" she commented.

"Not really. The large area and lack of focus make for a different
strategic situation," the eerith replied.

Turning to Arcas, the sorcerer was surprised to see that the Warlord was
alert as ever, and then realized that she must be using magic to keep
herself that way, and likely enhance her memory as well. "Arcas!
Preceptor Lars thought he could hold out for four days?"

"At least three days and maybe as many as six."

"What if he's facing two demonspawn instead of just one? That the forces
opposing them suddenly display the ability to destroy rohain spiritforms
could indicate their being joined by a second demonspawn."

Arcas scarcely knew what to say. "I'm sorry Warlord, but one thing
working with rohain has taught me is that I'm no military man. They were
certainly worried about the demonspawn, but also confident they could
deal with it." He shrugged. "I suppose at worst it would mean they hold
out for two days instead of three."

"Goddess! I hope not," Ria swore. "If he only holds out for only two
days we're screwed. They'll be able to disperse before our forces catch
up."

"Warlord?" Arcas asked plaintively. "What's going on?"

Riacrada didn't reply, lost in memory.

  * * *

The conversation had gone on for hours, and Ria was almost convinced.
There were still a couple of questions though. "I don't understand how
you expect to get your forces out."

Lars looked at her in astonishment. "I'm sorry Warlord, I thought . . .
Anyway. I don't."

"What!?"

"If we can hold a major force for a week you'll be able to move forces
into position to destroy them, but by the time you're able to attack
Lildra will be taken, and my force will be gone."

Denial rose up in Ria's mind. She'd sent forces against harsh odds, but
she'd never deliberately sacrificed _anyone_.

"Tallas has told me about the coteries, Warlord," Lars continued.
"You're mages first, and soldiers second. You need to realize whatever
else we are, the rohain are soldiers first. If we have to die to protect
our people that's what we'll do." He shook his head, "We aren't given
the ability to sense danger so that we can avoid it. We sense danger so
we can meet it head on."

"But this plan also means dragging your people's reputation through the
mud."

For the first time Lars looked tired. "What choice is there? We both
know we're leaking information to the demons. If being able to ambush
them means that my religion gets spat on, that's a price I'll pay. The
anradan will make good of it somehow. It's my job to see they're alive
to do it."

"And the rest of your people?"

"If I could do it with just the rohain I would; but I can't. I'll
apologize when we meet in Feroze's dream."

. . . to be continued

Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html



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Mon

Apr 25
2005

11:18Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (part 3)

The leaves were falling before Ria managed to visit Lildra in person.
No one could have guessed the vale had once contained a prosperous
market town. Exquaestio's forces had held out for five days, and by
the end the demons had known they'd been duped into an untenable
position. In their anger, they hadn't just razed the town, they'd
shattered it. When the allied forces arrived they'd found nothing
larger than a matchstick.

That shattering, and magics released in the battle meant that no one
would ever know what had happened during the battle itself. Still, the
quaestae had held the attackers for five days and killed one
demonspawn in the doing. Though, as Ria had suspected, there was a
second demonspawn who'd escaped even her counterattack. Because of
their sacrifice she'd managed to hold the demons and even drive them
back a little. They'd advanced north of the Imbros, but they were
mostly foraging over old ground. With a little luck they'd be eating
each other by the end of the winter.

Ria puffed slightly as she reached the top of a hill, reveling in the
fact that she _didn't_ need to use magic. She'd ordered the monument
in front of her built, and was pleased by how it had come out. Builder
mages had been sent from Mir to draw out and shape the native rock
into a tall pillar, capped in the style of Tana. Before reaching
Lildra Lars had "accidentally" misplaced a ledger describing his
forces, and the names of every rohain, espiri, soldier, and camp
follower who'd been at Lildra were inscribed on the pillar under their
military unit or specialty.

The fighting that had followed Lildra had allowed Ria to mostly come
to terms with what she'd done. The fact that she'd sent men out to
deliberately get themselves killed made her feel unclean down to her
soul. She still felt there must have been another way, but even with
the advantage of hindsight she couldn't see it. When it was clear the
demons had pulled out the magics they hadn't used in previous years
to use against the exquaestio force and lowered the operation's
chances of success she'd considered stopping it, but she hadn't and
would have to live with that.

Walking around the monument she traced one of the unit sigils. She was
trying to arrange for the Council of 12 grant battle honors in the
style of Imperial Mir, but had no idea if she would be successful. An
honor was needed for each of the nations of Junder, Cormenaera, and
Tana, and even one honor was expensive. Still, it was the least she
could do . . .

  * * *

"There's one thing that bothers me," Reese said. "If the demons are so
worried about the rohain, should you even be considering reducing them
in this fashion?"

Lars shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"How . . ."

Lars interrupted, "No. Wait. I admit I don't know why the demons are
so set against the rohain. I admit that the rohain will be much
reduced for many years. I admit that future rohain may call me a fool.
But none of that will kill the order. There are rohain operating in
Parglug. A couple of rohain have been too badly injured to work on the
battlefield and are back to training acolytes at our preceptory. There
are even a couple of rohain that shouldn't be taken from their current
duties here in Tana. But even that doesn't matter."

He continued, "What matters, and what future rohain will remember, is
that we did _everything we could._ When it comes down to basics the
abilities of the rohain don't rely on martial skill or knowledge or
magic. What matters is dedication. With dedication, every living
rohain could be killed and new rohain will rise up and renew the
order. Let our dedication fail and it won't matter how many people
think they have rohain gifts, the order will be dead."

"In the past years I've seen rohain use their gifts on the
battlefield, and its those rohain who are _dedicated_ who take their
gifts the farthest. A single rohain with right attitude could outmatch
all the rohain we now have combined _so long as memory of our
dedication survives._

. . . to be continued

-- 
Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html


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Mon

Apr 25
2005

16:23Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (part 3)

Okay I am a little confused as to when this story is taking place.  Is this accuring this year or is it occuring next year?
 
Jason Heaps

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Mon

Apr 25
2005

21:52Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (part 3)

Jason Heaps wrote:

> Okay I am a little confused as to when this story is taking place.  Is this accuring this year or is it occuring next year?

It's taking place this year (1454).  What is confusing?

Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html



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Mon

Apr 25
2005

22:02Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (part 3)

Most of the Mirrish troops are with the army in Parglug and a the rest is with the army with the Videssia army.  Mir was not stretching its resources into Tana.  And as far as I knew the Videssians were not in Tana either.
 
Oh course I did read of the stories this morning after only two hours of sleep so that might be my biggest problem.  :)
 
Jason Heaps

Jefferson  wrote:
Jason Heaps wrote:

> Okay I am a little confused as to when this story is taking place. Is this accuring this year or is it occuring next year?

It's taking place this year (1454). What is confusing?

Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html



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Mon

Apr 25
2005

23:24Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (part 3)

Jason Heaps wrote:
 >Jefferson  wrote:
 >>Jason Heaps wrote:
 >
 >>> Okay I am a little confused as to when this story is taking place. Is
 >>> this accuring this year or is it occuring next year?
 >>
 >> It's taking place this year (1454). What is confusing?
 >
 > Most of the Mirrish troops are with the army in Parglug and a the rest
 > is with the army with the Videssia army. Mir was not stretching its
 > resources into Tana. And as far as I knew the Videssians were not in
 > Tana either.
 >
 > Oh course I did read of the stories this morning after only two hours
 > of sleep so that might be my biggest problem. :)

Ah, the strategic situation! Though touched on, that's a bit beyond the
scope of the story. Here's how I see it.

During the campaign of 1453 the Mir-Videss forces proceeded generally
north along the coast to winter at the mouth of the Imbros. This area
could be considered either Tana or Videssia, but if they're going to
break the invasion they would have to be active in Tana in 1454. In the
meantime the Celoa-Junder forces are spread out along a broad
north-south front in central Videssia. With the negative results at the
beginning of 1454 I figure the Tana forces have broken and can basically
be discounted (though some non-quaestae who refused to give up died at
Lildra). The people with the best communications are the Miri, and even
if the different forces don't accept Riacrada's overall leadership they
need to use her communications.

Now, without Lars's suggestion Ria might have decided not to pursue the
main goblin force into Tana. However, the goblins have pulled off too
many surprises for her to be comfortable with that, and an effective
defense of Tana could only improve relations in that area of the MidSea.
Lars, on the other hand, _couldn't_ abandon Tana. The nation contains
too many quaestae. Thus his desperate suggestion, which _might_ stop the
goblins, but _would_ bring Mirrish and allied forces into Tana.

Had the operation gone as originally planned (ha!) Lars would have held
a major portion of the demon army for a week to 10 days, allowing the
other forces to move into position to destroy a greater portion of the
invasion. Unfortunately, the demons decided to use more magic against
the quaestae than they'd demonstrated in previous years and so that
force was: 1) smaller, 2) more mobile, and 3) more capable. Still the
quaestae managed to hold out for nearly six days enabling the Warlord's
forces to do a great deal of damage even though it wasn't everything
originally intended.

Unfortunately, exquaestio has lost essentially all their forces and is
now out of the war and the Warlord still has a major demon army to
defeat. (Note that there are still quaestae mixed among the various
forces, but the forces that exquaestio was funding are gone.)

The casualties at Lildra:

  91 rohain (including Preceptor Lars Venekson and Mirafelle's husband
     Tallas)
  15 espiri
201 quaestae soldiers
   1 tana dragonwright
  79 tana soldiers
148 auxiliaries and camp followers (excluding anradan)
   3 anradan

So. Good plan or bad plan? I imagine the verdict of history will be that
it wasn't worth what it cost, but that waits on future events.

Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html

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Tue

Apr 26
2005

00:00Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (part 3)

Jefferson wrote:
> Jason Heaps wrote:
>  >Jefferson  wrote:
>  >>Jason Heaps wrote:
>  >
>  >>> Okay I am a little confused as to when this story is taking place. Is
>  >>> this accuring this year or is it occuring next year?
>  >>
>  >> It's taking place this year (1454). What is confusing?
>  >
>  > Most of the Mirrish troops are with the army in Parglug and a the rest
>  > is with the army with the Videssia army. Mir was not stretching its
>  > resources into Tana. And as far as I knew the Videssians were not in
>  > Tana either.
>  >
>  > Oh course I did read of the stories this morning after only two hours
>  > of sleep so that might be my biggest problem. :)
> 
> Ah, the strategic situation! Though touched on, that's a bit beyond the
> scope of the story. Here's how I see it.
> 
> During the campaign of 1453 the Mir-Videss forces proceeded generally
> north along the coast to winter at the mouth of the Imbros. This area
> could be considered either Tana or Videssia, but if they're going to
> break the invasion they would have to be active in Tana in 1454. In the
> meantime the Celoa-Junder forces are spread out along a broad
> north-south front in central Videssia. With the negative results at the
> beginning of 1454 I figure the Tana forces have broken and can basically
> be discounted (though some non-quaestae who refused to give up died at
> Lildra). The people with the best communications are the Miri, and even
> if the different forces don't accept Riacrada's overall leadership they
> need to use her communications.
> 
> Now, without Lars's suggestion Ria might have decided not to pursue the
> main goblin force into Tana. However, the goblins have pulled off too
> many surprises for her to be comfortable with that, and an effective
> defense of Tana could only improve relations in that area of the MidSea.
> Lars, on the other hand, _couldn't_ abandon Tana. The nation contains
> too many quaestae. Thus his desperate suggestion, which _might_ stop the
> goblins, but _would_ bring Mirrish and allied forces into Tana.
> 
> Had the operation gone as originally planned (ha!) Lars would have held
> a major portion of the demon army for a week to 10 days, allowing the
> other forces to move into position to destroy a greater portion of the
> invasion. Unfortunately, the demons decided to use more magic against
> the quaestae than they'd demonstrated in previous years and so that
> force was: 1) smaller, 2) more mobile, and 3) more capable. Still the
> quaestae managed to hold out for nearly six days enabling the Warlord's
> forces to do a great deal of damage even though it wasn't everything
> originally intended.
> 
> Unfortunately, exquaestio has lost essentially all their forces and is
> now out of the war and the Warlord still has a major demon army to
> defeat. (Note that there are still quaestae mixed among the various
> forces, but the forces that exquaestio was funding are gone.)
> 
> The casualties at Lildra:
> 
>   91 rohain (including Preceptor Lars Venekson and Mirafelle's husband
>      Tallas)
>   15 espiri
> 201 quaestae soldiers
>    1 tana dragonwright
>   79 tana soldiers
> 148 auxiliaries and camp followers (excluding anradan)
>    3 anradan
> 
> So. Good plan or bad plan? I imagine the verdict of history will be that
> it wasn't worth what it cost, but that waits on future events.

Well, the immediate verdict will probably be "failure" or at least "not 
a success". The rohain in the east are *gone*, the Ice Demons still have 
a major force in Tana, they're pushing north, and there's absolutely no 
way to stop them short of Rhudyn & Aixelsydan unless the Mir find some 
way to overtake the Ice Demons.

In addition, the Tana peninsula is split in two by a range of mountains 
running north-to-south. The MidSea nations are only really familiar with 
the west side. Who knows what's marching up the east side?

Andrew

> Jefferson
> http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html
> 
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
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Mon

Apr 25
2005

23:38Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra -- help?

I've tried to write a conclusion or afterword for this story and haven't 
had any luck.  I've tried three different viewpoints and am now out of 
ideas.  Anyone have any suggestions or care to take a stab at it themselves?

Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html



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Tue

Apr 26
2005

03:40Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra -- help?

Jefferson wrote:
> I've tried to write a conclusion or afterword for this story and haven't 
> had any luck.  I've tried three different viewpoints and am now out of 
> ideas.  Anyone have any suggestions or care to take a stab at it themselves?

Well . . . this isn't exactly a suggestion, but the numbers don't add 
up. Mir's army is 30,000+ men. 11,000 or so were in Parglug in 1454. At 
most, 10,000 to 12,000 Mir could have been deployed in Videssia/Tana, 
with the remainder split between Celamyr Island and Tirmar. The 
Videssians would have been able to contribute maybe 20,000 men at most, 
and that would have left Videss City and Celoa vulnerable. The Tana were 
already broken by the beginning of 1454, so they can be largely discounted.

An army of 32,000 isn't enough to take on or hold off a horde of 
100,000, unless Mir either used Annaeyana or dragons in support (and 
AFAIK, the only dragon that Mir deployed was in Parglug), or unless the 
Ice Demon force at Lildra was only a portion of the main horde.

Andrew

> Jefferson
> http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html
> 
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
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Tue

Apr 26
2005

09:02Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra -- help?

Andrew Janssen wrote:
> Jefferson wrote:
> 
>>I've tried to write a conclusion or afterword for this story and haven't 
>>had any luck.  I've tried three different viewpoints and am now out of 
>>ideas.  Anyone have any suggestions or care to take a stab at it themselves?
> 
> Well . . . this isn't exactly a suggestion, but the numbers don't add 
> up. Mir's army is 30,000+ men. 11,000 or so were in Parglug in 1454. At 
> most, 10,000 to 12,000 Mir could have been deployed in Videssia/Tana, 
> with the remainder split between Celamyr Island and Tirmar. The 
> Videssians would have been able to contribute maybe 20,000 men at most, 
> and that would have left Videss City and Celoa vulnerable. The Tana were 
> already broken by the beginning of 1454, so they can be largely discounted.
> 
> An army of 32,000 isn't enough to take on or hold off a horde of 
> 100,000, unless Mir either used Annaeyana or dragons in support (and 
> AFAIK, the only dragon that Mir deployed was in Parglug), or unless the 
> Ice Demon force at Lildra was only a portion of the main horde.

I think I see your point, and there were (unfortunately) only about 5,000 
Ice Demons at Lildra.  The force was heavily oriented towards the more 
magical portions of the Ice Demon horde and the Ice Demons ended up losing 
a major part of their magical ability, but numeric losses weren't too bad.

Part of the plan was to force a large group of demons to strike at a known 
objective (Lildra) while the remaining allied forces use maneuver to attain 
local advantage against other parts of the horde.

Overall, the Ice Demons advanced less and took more losses than in previous 
years, but it is possible they can get enough supply and reinforcements to 
make up what they lost.  It's also possible that their lines of supply are 
  poor enough that they'll just fall apart in the winter of 1454-55, but I 
doubt exquaestio's scope is large enough to have that effect on a mixed 
results effect.  Most likely they were hurt badly enough to have an effect 
in 1455, but not a decisive one.

Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html

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Wed

Apr 27
2005

07:02Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (afterword)

 From the afterword of _The Lildra Campaign_ published by Question
Press, 1505:

50 years afterward, the Lildra Campaign remains one of the most
debated military actions of all time. Questions about its success or
failure, heroics or grandstanding, desperation or calculation remain
hotly debated, and that debate itself has had its own effects. Before
Lildra Exquaestio was a minor religion, afterward there were few in
the MidSea who had not at least heard the name. The custom of keeping
battle plans in magically warded containers first dates to the Lildra
Campaign and was extended thereafter. The place of Tana and other
nations after the war would have been completely different had Lildra
not taken place.

. . .

In the end, perhaps what is most important about Lildra is not the answers 
it provides, but the questions it asks, and I can think of no better way to 
end this volume than with the traditional rohain toast.

"Gentlemen and Ladies: The Quest -- and the Five Hundred!"

--
Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html



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Wed

Jun 22
2005

23:42Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra (stragegy)

All part of this story have been gathered together at: 
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/fiction/Exq_Lildra.html

* * *

Lildra's Strategic Situation

At the beginning of 1454 there were three forces facing the ice demons in 
the east. Combined forces from the Isle of Celamyr and the city of Videss 
were at the mouth of the Imbros. To their north and east were the forces of 
the nation of Tana. Strung out over a broad line from the mouth of the 
Imbros southward were the forces of Junder and the city of Celoa. The Ice 
Demons themselves were concentrated in the higher reaches of the Imbros, 
but had significant forces spread out southward providing lines of supply 
and communication.

Towards the end of winter the ice demons launched a major thrust northward 
from their enclaves on the Imbros. This attack caught the Tana forces by 
surprise, and they essentially fell apart. In the aftermath the ice demons 
controlled the land between the Imbros and the Alra rivers and even some 
land north of the Alra. Launching an attack so early had its disadvantages 
however, and the main ice demon force needed to pause to regroup after the 
major assault.

After the early assault, decisions about allied strategy were in the hands 
of the Mir-Videss force, specifically the Mirrish Warlord Riacrada. The two 
choices in front of her were to pursue the ice demons into Tana or cut her 
losses and let the demons move through Tana, possibly to meet them later in 
Rhudyn or on the straight. To Lars Venekson, Preceptor of the rohain, 
however, surrendering Tana was not an option. With the effective loss of 
the Tana military, and the resulting disorganization of the Tana 
government, any hope of performing a successful evacuation from in front of 
the advancing demons was lost and too many of his co-religionists would die 
for him to consider simply abandoning them.

The strategy for Lildra is fairly simple to explain. The exquaestio forces 
would provide a target too tempting for the ice demons to pass by, but also 
a target too large to strike with a small force. By forcing a large portion 
of the ice demon horde to a known location, the remaining allied forces 
would be able to attain local superiority against the different parts of 
the horde and push the ice demons back. What made this process so difficult 
was that the allies were leaking information to the demons, not just in 
drops but in a flood, and should the ice demons figure out the plan they 
could easily turn it against the allied forces.

Thus Preceptor Lars of the rohain met with Warlord Riacrada privately, and 
the details of the plan were kept behind wards proof against any magical 
espionage. The Warlord would begin moving troops, ostensibly to organize 
their movement north by sea, but in actuality to support Lars's forces. 
Lars would pretend to differ with the Warlord and gather the troops under 
his personal command to strike off on their own into Tana. When the ice 
demon forces had gathered to destroy the quaestae force Riacrada would 
gather her forces to strike and cut off the ice demons.

Had the operation gone as originally planned Lars would have held a major 
portion of the demon army for a week to 10 days, allowing the other forces 
to move into position to destroy a greater portion of the invasion. 
Unfortunately, the demons decided to use more magic against the quaestae 
than they'd demonstrated in previous years and the force they sent was 
smaller, more mobile, and more capable than expected. Nevertheless, the 
quaestae held out for nearly six days. In this time forces under the 
Warlord's command managed to cut the attacking ice demon force from the 
rest of their troops and position themselves on the lines of travel.

In the end the Warlord's forces managed to destroy the force sent against 
Lildra and divide the ice demon vanguard, then rushing north as fast as 
possible, from the rest of their forces.

-- 
Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html


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juuso

Sun

May 1
2005

21:10Z

[Cel] [Story] The Battle of Lildra -- help?

Andrew Janssen wrote:
> An army of 32,000 isn't enough to take on or hold off a horde of 
> 100,000, unless Mir either used Annaeyana or dragons in support (and 
> AFAIK, the only dragon that Mir deployed was in Parglug), or unless the 
> Ice Demon force at Lildra was only a portion of the main horde.

Just a portion of it. Their rear guard I would say because the
Ice Demons have been travelling north *fast*.

juuso

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