Trading Blows with a Legend (Steelshod Part 18)
Hey there!
As the name implies, this is part of an ongoing saga. See below for previous installments:
Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9
Part 10 || [Part 11] (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDGreentext/comments/69fzi4/the_reveal_steelshod_part_11/) || Part 12 || Part 13 || Part 14 || Part 15
Sporadically updated Lore Document Comments are open, so feel free to leave one if you have any questions or requests for more content of a particular variety.
Current location is Southern Caedia.
Crude map of Kilchester
Busy day at work, didn’t have much time to write until now. Hope you all enjoy it!
Taerbjornsen and his entourage descend upon the battlefield.
Many of his closest warriors are mounted, an unusual trait for a Svardic warrior.
The Ballista team cranks the weapon out to maximum range and begins trying to land a hit on the warlord
In the battlefield outside the north gate, Alejandra and her team of light cav heard the horns
And they see Taerbjornsen, unmistakable even at a great distance
She whistles to her men, gives an order
Carlito, Martin, and a small handful of Caedian knights trained in horse archery heed her call
They peel away from where they’ve been harassing the Wncar, and begin riding towards the main battle around the gap in the walls.
Wigglesworth heard the horns as well, and he takes most of the remaining mounted knights out the eastern gate.
Aleksandr, the mounted core of Steelshod, and Volk and his knights are still mired in the edges of the main battle
Surrounded by Dinham chaff
And scattered pockets of more hardened warriors from Kriegany or Svarden.
They lay into the forces around them
Trying to cut free, trample through the lines
The scene has become messy, so here is a simple diagram to help you get your bearings.
A ballista bolt tears through the line of knights from Dinham.
We’ve developed a simple system to resolve ballista attacks.
A warhammer scatter die to determine how off course the shot is
And a skill check from the operator, Jaspar or Ignus typically, opposed to reflex saves from anyone in the location determined by the scatter.
Damage is base of 10, plus a backgammon die (a doubling d6 that ranges from 2 to 64) plus another custom d6 that goes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and then a bang (!)
If a bang, the shot bounces significantly (roll scatter) and impacts on a second location for full damage again.
A sufficiently high skill check gives advantage to both custom d6s
So the damage ranges from a measly 14 on a terribly unlucky shot, up to 74 or 64 with a second impact that could, itself, deal another 64.
Typical shots inflict around 20-40 damage to an area
In an Epic-5 world with a soft HP cap of 50, this proves sufficiently deadly.
Jaspar and Ignus are aiming well, but it’s not just skill
The scatter die represents the inherently difficult nature in aiming such a weapon with real precision
They continue to aim for Taerbjornsen as they launch bolt after bolt from the siege weapon.
Wigglesworth’s knights clash with the knights from Dinham
The Caedians are sorely outnumbered
But Dinham is a land of farmers
And these knights are either mentally suborned by Svardic magic, or intimidated into fighting by overwhelming force.
In either case, Wigglesworth’s men show their value
As they are clearly winning the exchange.
Behind this clash, Taerbjornsen and his men continue their advance
Aleksandr and Volk keep fighting their way free of the crowd.
Volk had kept closer to the rear, so he breaks away first
Heads off with a cluster of knights, to flank the enemy Dinhamite cavalry.
A lean figure darts forward from the press of bodies.
It takes Aleksandr a moment to recognize the Svard
Jorg Spear-Breaker, with an iron-tipped javelin in hand.
The Svardic champion darts towards Volk, a short, swift charge
He launches his spear over the crowd
It flies in a perfect arc, and Jorg lives up to his name.
The spear connects with Volk’s sword arm with tremendous force
Shattering as it pierces through mail, flesh, and bone.
Volk drops his weapon, sags in the saddle.
And a cluster of Svardic warriors around Jorg charge into Volk’s closest knights.
Lord Wigglesworth surges into the enemy knights, trying to fight his way to his injured friend and mentor.
Taerbjornsen keeps advancing, ignoring Volk.
He’s clearly headed for Wigglesworth.
His elites continue peeling away in small clusters, heading for the gap or the various engagements out in the field.
Finally, the ballista team gets lucky!
A huge ballista bolt clips Taerbjornsen in the side.
It explodes in the dirt behind him, showering him and those nearby in sharp fragments of wood and iron.
Taerbjornsen staggers, just for a moment.
He looks up to the ballista tower
Then resumes his inexorable march towards Wigglesworth.
Aleksandr presses Dascha forward
His warhorse tramples through the crowd, and just a few of his men try to stay at his side
Levin, Anatoly, Leon, Gerald.
They cut through the crowd, not heading for the fracas with the knights, but rather intending to cut Taerbjornsen off entirely, before he reaches Wigglesworth.
Taerbjornsen turns to face them, and seems to recognize Aleksandr from the meeting.
He orients himself towards them
Hefting the enormous iron club in his hands.
He is still flanked by dozens of elite Svardic warriors and several bersarks
Einsulf the Black standing just behind him
But he steps forward to face Aleksandr alone.
His men on either side fan out, to engage Taerbjornsen’s retinue
But Aleksandr charges for the warlord
Calling him out
Telling him that he will face justice for the crimes and atrocities he has perpetuated.
He holds his family blade high.
Taerbjornsen, for his part, still seems…
Bored.
Aleksandr doesn’t hold more than a passing interest to him.
He braces himself, readying a swing
But Aleksandr strikes first.
Aleksandr can see the dent and scoring the ballista bolt left in Taerbjornsen’s side
He feints high and swings his blade around at the weak point
Aleksandr’s family blade, in his hands, can be a Terrible Swift Sword.
His latest tier ability, a once-per-session double damage attack that causes intimidation if he kills the foe in one blow.
Or even worse than that, on a crit.
Contrary to 3e philosophy, a doubled double is not a triple, but rather a quadruple.
So down come some 8d6+20 points of damage, on top of the ballista bolt.
His blade slams into the weakened edge of the steel breastplate
Biting deep.
Drawing blood.
Taerbjornsen grunts in pain
But he does not drop.
Nor stagger.
He just lifts his huge spiked iron bar and slams it into Aleksandr.
No critical hit.
No once per session ability.
The blow rocks through Aleksandr’s iron plate
Dealing grievous damage
Cracking at least one rib.
Aleksandr is stunned from the blow, nearly dropping his sword and falling off of Dascha
Only through sheer grit and willpower does he manage to keep both his saddle and sword under control.
Far too dazed to counter-attack
He stares, wide-eyed, at Taerbjornsen
Taerbjornsen raises his club a second time.
Aleksandr sees his impending death
Takes some small measure of comfort when he sees the blood pouring down the side of the Svardic warlord’s armor.
But he can’t lift his sword to take advantage of the wound
Or even defend himself.
Several things happen at once.
A sudden volley of javelins and arrows pepper the rear ofTaerbjornsen’s cluster of men
One even finds Taerbjornsen himself, a javelin slicing past his ear.
Alejandra and her company have arrived.
Leon, decked out in his Loranette full plate, cuts between his commander and Taerbjornsen.
Raises his shield and takes the blow for Aleksandr, barely keeping his saddle.
Anatoly, meanwhile, sidles up alongside Dascha and coaxes the horse away.
Leon does not stand in position, trading blows with Taerbjornsen.
As soon as he rode in, he is already riding back out
His shield arm is numb, but he lays into the Svards with his flail, covering Anatoly’s escape.
Gerald and Levin follow in tight formation, completing the fighting retreat
Alejandra, Carlito, and Martin skirt the edge of Taerbjornsen’s group
Assaulting them with as much missile fire as they can.
But they see Einsulf the Black, mounted astride a sleek horse, break away towards Aleksandr and the others.
Carlito is the closest to him, so he rides to intercept, drawing a sword.
He engages the Svard in melee, sword and shield against sword and shield
Einsulf is not a bad rider, but at the end of the day, he’s a Svard
Born to battle on the deck of a ship, not astride a horse.
Carlito is a Spatalian merc from the foothills of the Uskar, riding since he was a boy.
The jinete rides circles around the Svard
Einsulf reins his horse in, stopping
Weathers a series of quick strikes
Carlito laughs, triumphantly, darting in again to strike at the supposed champion.
Einsulf thrusts out with the edge of his shield, sending Carlito’s sword arm askew, pinning it awkwardly above him.
Einsulf urges his horse a quick trot forward with his heels, ducking inside Carlito’s shield
Deftly positions the tip of his blade between two metal strips of Carlito’s lamellar.
And slides his sword between Carlito’s ribs.
Alejandra screams as Carlito drops to the ground, dead.
A raw sound of rage, and pain.
She charges forward, drawing her sword and smashing into Einsulf with a flurry of blows.
A few land, but Einsulf is fast
He never breaks his calm
Deftly countering her blows with his shield
Lacerating her with a few shallow counter-attacks
Waiting for the right opening to end her the way he did Carlito.
Einsulf is a duelist
Famed in Svarden for his skill at the holmgang; single-combat challenges.
One of the very best
Whether she realizes it or not, Alejandra has no hope of defeating Einsulf in a one-on-one fight.
Lucky for her, it’s not.
Einsulf sees his opening
Surges in to strike
And feels a sudden pain as a javelin rams six inches through his back.
Martin curses the Svard in Spatalian, and jerks his weapon free.
Einsulf staggers
Alejandra stabs him in the gut
And they both heave the critically wounded Svard off of his horse.
Taerbjornsen lets out a dissatisfied growl when he sees this
But before he can engage, the Spatalians wheel their horses around
Trampling Einsulf into the dirt
And chasing after Steelshod’s wounded commander.
Wigglesworth has managed to fight his way to Volk, and is retreating back to the walls with the mangled lord.
The entire sortie force of cavalry conduct a fighting retreat until they are back behind the walls.
Taerbjornsen does not pursue
Now that their commanders are out of the potential line of fire
Ballista bolts resume raining down around the Svardic commander.
So he begins a lumbering retreat back to his own encampment, as well
His armor is stained red with blood.
And he keeps one hand tight against his side.
While this battle raged on the flanks of the swarm invading the breach
The battle on the front lines has raged as well.
With Taerbjornsen’s advance, bersarks and several of his champions have joined the front lines.
The Bold Brotherhood are skilled pikemen.
Able to withstand a vastly greater force of peasants
Or a charge of heavy cavalry
But none of their training has prepared them for men that approach ten feet in height
With weapons to match
None of their training has prepared them for another of Taerbjornsen’s champions.
Gerd, the Chain Bearer.
Okay, that’s all for now. Comments are always appreciated!
Edit: Part 19!
Posted May 12, 2017, 9:56 PM UTC · edited