Siege of Ardentlocke

The Siege of Ardentlocke was the final engagement fought by the Grand Alliance and Army of the Truthful. The battle ended in a last stand by the Knights of Dathrohan at the gates of the city. The engagement was lead by Knight-Commander Andric Raymore for the Truthful and Sir Johnathan Beredric for the Grand Alliance and Coalition against the Truthful.

The battle began when the Marshal-Gorvernor of Ardentlocke, Horman nir'Westwealdar, exited the gates of the city with an entourage of militants and war wagons; armored wagons bulled by horses with mounted swivel guns. He requested that negotiations be opened between himself and the commanding officer of the Alliance, Johnathan Beredric. Beredric applied but on the condition that all Truthful forces march back inside the gates. Horman and his troops reluctantly complied.

Negotiations lasted almost an hour as the two tried to reach and agreement. In the end it was decided that the garrison in Ardentlocke would march out of the gates weaponless, shackled at their hands and feet, along with the entire adult and teenage populace of the city. The Truthful soldiers and innocent civilians would stand trial in an Alliance Court as was Alliance law.

Unknown to the Marshal-Governor and Commander a large force of the Knights of Dathrohan had entered the city through a hidden tunnel almost immediately after Horman had marched out. The Knight-Commander, Andric Raymore, recognized that the garrison would be wiped out of they stood and fought.

He ordered that the garrison and a plethora of his knights would evacuate and take all the civilians with them. Raymore put his second in command, Sir Gavin Roland, in charge of the evacuation. Sir Gavin gathered up the garrison and the civilians and began to shuffle them through the tunnel which the Knights of Dathrohan had entered. Ten Knights of Dathrohan aided the garrison of four-hundred and the countless civilians in their evacuation while Raymore himself led the remaining fourty to the gates. Ten Knight-Rangers took the walls along with two dozen Kingdom Defenders, lead by Sergeant Jorvaren nir'Tyrsfaldar and Sir Sam McFargon.

The Knights of Dathrohan marched out of the gates to the sound of war-horns, drums and marching footsteps. The Rangers and Kingdom Defenders rose upon Ardentlocke's shining alabaster walls and took aim at the lone Alliance leader. Beredric ordered the remaining eight-hundred Alliance forces forward. Andric responded with a shout, which lead into a short exchange between himself and Beredric.

"Marshal-Governor, you act beyond your capacity! This is an insult to not only the Book of Flame but the High Cleric himself! Your insult to our holy cause shall not go unpunished, mark my words! Who comes in arms to the Light's gates to disptue our righteous cause?!"

"Hold! Hold!"

 "Who -dares- lead this insult to the Light's Kingdom?! Identify yourself! I would know whom I meet in righteous combat!"

"That would be me..."

"Step forth! On your honor I challenge you to single combat! May the Light decide the victor this day!"

"Single combat? I can expect honor from a Truthful? Nay... Lay down your arms and you will be shown mercy! The courts will decide your fate!"

"You dare impune my honor, boy?! You face Andric Orian Raymore, son of Deranor Raymore, Knight-Commander of the Knights of Dathrohan! Face me, les your own honor be forever mared! This is your last chance, Commander!"

"If your honor is so frail to be broken by a mere declination of a pitiful duel between soldiers, then perhaps you are not the sort of honorable man you claim to be...."

During this exchange the Knights of Dathrohan formed a battle line; a wall of shining gold and crimson. Shields were raised; spears were leveled. Beredric responded by ordering his forces into battle formations. Andric roared that Beredric was a coward and screamed at the Marshal-Governor to get inside the walls. He then raised his blade and swung in an over-headed arc. From within the walls came the ear-bleeding bellow of mortar fire as over a dozen shells rained down on the Alliance. In perfect formation Knight of Dathrohan Gryphon riders took to the air, flying toward The Ebon Onslaught's Gunship, the Arbiter. The Arbiter unleashed a bombardment of magical anti-air missiles into the Gryphon Riders, sending many falling to the ground.

The Knights of Dathrohan fought valiantly beneath the oncoming wave of Alliance. Dozens fell in the first minutes of the engagement, simply overwhelmed by the sheer volume of opponents. Steadily they fell back, their shield wall holding despite the fact the Alliance were advancing over ever increasing volumes of both Scarlet and Alliance bodies. The Arbiter managed to eliminate the remaining Gryphon Riders as the ground forces pushed back the Knights of Dathrohan and began a vicious bombardment upon the walls, utterly demolishing the shining alabaster.

Commander Raymore, realizing they were facing a loosing battle, ordered the town to be cleansed. The Crusade's infamous Purifiers took the field. Armed with Light's Fire flamethrowers they set the town aflame. The fires burned bright enough that they could be seen for miles away. The rising smoke could be seen as far away as Hearthglen. Despite being far outnumbered the Knights of Dathrohan held out for the better part of an hour before their shield wall was broken. When their formation fell the Knights of Dathrohan rushed into the fray.

While his men charged to their glorious deaths the Ebon Onslaught's commander, Ebon Commander Esetha Slaymoon and Johnathan Beredric rushed through the fray to engage Andric Raymore directly. The three became a whirlwind of spinning blades as the battle raged on before them. Andric struck several good blows against Esetha and Beredric but in the end was brought low. Beredric removed Andric's left arm and the Knight collapsed at the gates, joining the piles of dead.

The Siege of Ardentlocke was a bloody affair for both sides. Out of the entire order of the Knights of Dathrohan only twenty survived, the fate of their commander unknown. In terms of civilian casualties none fell, nor did a single soldier from the main garrison. Ardentlocke itself was raised to the ground.