Battle of the Bite

**The Battle of the Bite** was a Forsaken invasion attempt of the Ashen Coast of the Kingdom of Gilneas. Led by an unnamed Val'kyr, the Forsaken attempted to invade by the coast of Gilneas, only to crash along the rocky reefs of the Bite. The series of engagements was named for the later focus in the region of the Bite following the initial invasion of Gregor's Crossing.

## Origin

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Spurred by the extensive pushes on their land, by way of the advancements of The Bulwark in the Second Battle of Andorhal, the Clergy's movements against the Forsaken Bulwark, and the Kingdom of Lordaeron Restored's attempts in the Second Grand Crusade, the Forsaken attempted to strike back against the encroaching Alliance forces. Unable to breach the mainland by ground due to the persistence of the Gilnean Liberation Front and it's allies, the Forsaken sent a large fleet to the coast of Gilneas' Ashen Coast to attempt an invasion through the area. Poor weather caused most of the fleet to crash upon the shores of Gilneas, survivors going unnoticed for quite sometime.

Contracted by the Kor'kron, mercenaries began to bring havoc to the struggling war torn nation, moving in the middle of the night to claim one of the larger still active settlements of Gregor's Crossing. Shortly before the assault began, the Lord Xavier Gregor was poisoned and killed, lowering the morale of the men.

Desperate for aid, Lord Adrian Gregor, the new Lord of the House of Gregor with the death of Xavier, sent for the aid of the rest of The Blades of Greymane in an attempt to save the area.

## Battles

When the Blades arrived in the Ashen Coast, the town of Gregor's Crossing had been taken over, and the Lord Gregor dead. Lord Berenal Grayblade was met by the new lord and Xavier's son, Adrian Gregor. The town had been lost to mercenaries, but it seemed that the souls of the slaughtered had risen from the dead and reclaimed the keep that overlooked the town. Deeming it as a proper staging point to invade and reclaim Gregor's Crossing, the Blades set it as their first target.

### Battle of Gregor's Crossing: The Keep

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While the Sons of Korvask, or the Gregor Men as the rest of the Blades liked to call them, were recovering from the town's invasion, the rest of the Blades marched upon the keep. Much to the disappointment of the Blades, the fallen Blades members did not recognize their kin in death, and relived their lives before falling to the mercenary forces. Accompanied by Lord Adrian, High Commander Grayblade led the charge into the fort.

Faced with similarly trained adversaries, the Blades were forced to use unorthodox tactics against their fallen kin that were trained in the same manner. By this method, the Blades were able to take back most of the fort. The Blades were shocked to find that the late lord Xavier Gregor was leading the men in undeath. As with the other men, the late lord Gregor was unable to differentiate friend from foe and attacked the Blades, before being put down by his own son, Adrian. In his dying breaths, he gave his son a few words of wisdom before passing, taking the remaining ghostly soldiers with him, allowing the Blades to move into the garrison.

### Battle of Gregor's Crossing: The Town Square

With the garrison reclaimed, and better armaments for the Sons of Korvask, the now fully armed Blades marched on the heavily occupied town of Gregor's Crossing. The town had sustained rather bad burn damage on the outer farms and homes of the town, but for the most part was still intact, including Gregor Estate, the town hall, and the Inn. Assaulting the outskirts and outer walls of the town, the Sons of Korvask paved the way for the rest of the Blades to invade the town square.

In a multi-direction attack, the High Commander split the blades into three groups, one led by Jayden Dragonsblade, another by the up and coming Major Aubrynn Scorchbolt. The tactic was successful, as the Blades surrounded and cornered the mercenaries amongst the town, with Jayden's group claiming the inn, Aubrynn's claiming the town hall, while the High Commander's group claimed the estate and a few remaining town houses. With the square reclaimed, the mercenaries retreated to the Docks of Gregor's Crossing, The Blades then garrisoned the town square, while the Sons of Korvask kept a vigil and prepared to invade the docks.

### Battle of Gregor's Crossing: The Docks

Surrounded at all corners, the Black Wind mercenaries that were unable to flee barricaded the docks. Allowing the mercenaries to haul up in the area, the Blades healed up and re-prepared their forces as they marched on the final district of the town. Armed with stolen Blades supplies and armaments, the mercenaries made a final desperate bid for their lives as they fought against the oncoming Gilnean legion. However, it was ultimately a failure as a strike team was able to successfully over come the mercenaries and pave the way for the Sons of Korvask to finish the job.

### Battle of Gregor's Crossing: Aftermath

Thanks to the skillful management of troops, the Blades suffered minimal casualties while retaking Gregor's Crossing. During the battles, the High Commander's sword, Fenrus was shattered and reforged by Ranger Lady Aeriyth Dawnsorrow. Following several days of rest, the Blades discovered that the Forsaken fleet that had attempted to invade the Ashen Coast had not been completely wiped out, and were attempting to regroup and establish a shore base.

### Scouring the Shore

After a short rest in Gregor's Crossing to ensure the town was secured and safe, Lord Gregor dispatched several scouts to determine the whereabouts of the rest of the mercenaries that had assaulted his family's land. While Adrian led the scouts, Aubrynn Scorchbolt was put in charge of leading a small group to the shores of the Ashen Coast in order to deal with the Forsaken survivors that were attempting to rally together. Seen as a very minor threat, the strike team sent numbered no more than ten men.

Under normal circumstances, the Forsaken would have proved far more deadly, but their being slowed by injuries and water caused the Blades to gain a tactical advantage over the undead. With only three injured, the Blades were successful in destroying a great deal of the forsaken before Lord Adrian returned with his banner men to finish off the rest and deliver his report.

The Sons were able to track down the remaining mercenaries to the dilapidated town of Cobal's Hold, where they had repaired part of the town's keep and had been using it as a base of operations. Attempts to parlay with the Mercenaries had been only met with hostility, and as such they needed to be eliminated.

### The Battle of Cobal's Hold: The Town

Cobal's Hold, a town once ruled by the influental House of Cobalstant and later House of Grayblade, Berenal's own family, was a several hour long ride away from Gregor's Crossing. The area once housed a small bustling town with a large fortified keep that had been destroyed during the invasion of Gilneas when the Orcs arrived. Since the invasion, the town was left abandoned in favor of rebuilding the village of Karnsburg first in order to produce ships from its once great shipyard. The mercenaries under Bashel Stonehue took advantage of this and repaired most of the Keep's infrastructure, as it had been damaged very little during the orcish assault.

On May 20th, 623 K.C., Lord Berenal Grayblade and Lord Adrian Gregor led a large assault force into the ruins of Cobal's Hold in order to reclaim the town and end the Black Wind's assaults once and for all. Mercenary Commander Bashel Stonehue recalled the majority of his forces back into the keep, while sending out several brigades of his men to make combat with the Blades in the ruins of the town. Deciding that it would be more efficent to split their forces, a large group of magic wielders under Captain Thalbray were sent to the eastern section of the town, while the Commander led a heavy infantry division into the western section. Unable to over power both forces, the Black Wind were slaughtered and the ruins were liberated, the remaining mercenaries barricaded into the keep, armed with stolen Blades weaponry and armaments.

While the Sons ensured the Mercenaries would not escape, the rest of the Blades rested in the town of Karnsburg, an hour or so ride away from Cobal's Hold. During this time, a strategy was devised for the invasion of the keep, the Lady Greyfield having arrived at last to assist them.

### The Battle of Cobal's Hold: The Keep

Assaulting the keep would be no small task, as Bashel had hauled himself up in the command room with his finest lieutenants and placed gunmen on the arches and battlements of the keep. In order to dispatch the remaining Black Wind, Lord Grayblade led a small force of 15 men into the keep, splitting them up to assault each wing of the fortress. Lord Berenal and Lady Greyfield led one group into the western wing, while Lord Gregor and Major Scorchbolt led the other group into the eastern wing.

After dispatching the forces of each wing, the groups reunited atop the keep to dispatch the gunmen in order to allow the Sons of Korvask to move in as well. With the rest of the keep secured, the Blades marched into the command room, where Bashel Stonehue was executed by Caridis Delythie, ending the Black Wind's assaults once and for all.

### The Battle of Cobal's Hold: Aftermath

With Cobal's Hold secured and the Black Wind scattered to the winds, Lord Adrian left behind a small battalion of men to finish repairing the keep and to watch the area. During the battle, private Winniea Pippin had been accidentally left behind in the chaos and was recovered battered and beaten after the fighting had ended. The Blades discovered a letter on Bashel's desk that read his men were to assault the area for a rather large sum of gold, but the name was omitted. A horde symbol was stamped at the bottom of the letter, which led to the High Commander dispatching several groups of scouts to find if any Horde remained in the Ashen Coast.

### Clearing Karnsburg

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Following a small lay over in Gregor's Crossing, Blades forces received disturbing reports coming from the small town of Karnsburg. By the time they arrived, the town was under siege by monstrous undead forces, akin to ghouls and the mindless rabble of the Scourge than that of the Forsaken. The town was nearly torn apart, a gold and black banner blazoned with a bear hanging from one of the rafters of the town.

Without delay, the Blades forces charged into the town, clearing out the reanimated denizens and saving as many civilians as they could. Though a great majority of the town had been unfortunately slain, a decent sized group of survivors were able to barricade them off in the Karnsburg Manor and surrounding houses. Describing their assailants as relentless undead soldiers adorned in black and gold tabards. The men themselves seemed endless in count and rotted beyond dignity.

Scouts were dispatched at Lord Gregor's orders to the surrounding areas, attempting to find the source of these monsters.

### Battle in the Woods

Needing to return to Gregor's Crossing from Karnsburg with haste, the Blades took a short cut through the treacherous Dark Woods in the center of the Ashen Coast; as going through the woods would be the fastest way to reach Gregor's Crossing. While traveling in a large group through the woods, the group was beset by enormous man eating spiders by the name of Dread Lurkers. Several lurkers had been enthralled by the undead, their leader revealing himself as Lord Hendrick Cobalstant, besetting his spiders upon the group as they attempted to move through the unfamiliar and hostile territory.

After several blades were injured, including Winniea Pippin and Faniellian Sunbrook who were taken away by the lurkers into the Woods, the Blades were able to eventually beat back the on coming lurkers in order to progress successfully through the Woods by the day's end. Lord Cobalstant was never defeated, as he left by way of a large rotted Dire Wolf which he had made his mount.

Following their return to Gregor's Crossing, the Blades regrouped with fresh supplies for the town of Karnsburg as well as more men to aid them, leaving once more for the near destroyed fishing village promptly afterwards, having only stayed one night in the Crossing.

### The Battle of the Cobalstant Resting Grounds

Rallying the forces of the Blades together, High Commander Grayblade and his men were to rendezvous with the forces of Lord Gregor and crush the Undead while they were cloistered within the graveyards. Unfortunately, the Blades' initial information regarding the size of the Cobalstant forces was vastly out of date. Having mass raised a significant portion of the graveyard to be nothing more than mindless fodder, the Scourge-like tactics employed by the risen Cobalstants proved to be effective, even after Lord Gregor's forces flanked the undead by cavalry. Unable to successfully cleanse the area, the Blades were forced into a retreat following severe losses of their original vanguard.

To add to the chaos, the Undead proceeded to flood out from the resting grounds, swarming the township of Karnsburg and attempted to completely over take the port. Though the blades were able to successfully hold the Undead back, the commander suffered a near fatal injury after being run through on a pike by Daniel Cobalstant, the son of Hendrick Cobalstant. After a furious engagement, Daniel was slain by the beleaguered commander after the undead had been forced out of his footing. Unable to block the worgen's blow, the commander's sword ended Daniel's second life before he ceded to his wounds and passed unconscious.

## Aftermath

In the aftermath of the battle, the Blades returned their focus to Gilneas proper rather than representation on the front purely. As a result, the Commander returned to his duty as Marcher Lord and assumed the position as de facto leader of the Ashen Coast. With the House of Gregor readily supporting him and the remnants of the House of Greyfield indebted to the Blades, the Ashen Coast were once again united. Though heavily crippled, a massive rebuilding effort became the focal point of the Blades operations, starting with the destroyed city of Brandon's Stead and the repairs of Gregor's Crossing. In addition, a fortification known as "Fort Shieldwall" was slated for establishment along the Cobalstant Resting Grounds border. Though initially slated as a gate with guard posts, the operation was expanded into a full fledged fort.

Ultimately, the Battle of the Bite set the wheels in motion for the eventual resurrection of the Ashen Coast and the revitalization of the Duchy of the Ashen Coast as an entity under the Blades of Greymane.