Raddon's Thousand

> "*One thousand Orcish men, led by Chief Raddon, stood against forty thousand Humans. The Humans demanded that they surrender and threatened to kill them all. Raddon's response, I'll never forget. He drew his sword, looked the Humans in the eye, and bellowed; "And how can a man die better!"*"
> ― Emperor Athdus III at the Battle of Millions
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## Battle of Raddon's Thousand

### Conflict

Mortian Genocide or Mortian War (disputed)

### Attacker Strength

40,000 total
Assumed approx. 30,000 infantry
Assumed approx. 8000 archers
Assumed approx. 2000 cavalry

### Defender Losses

Entire force

The Battle of Raddon's Thousand, also known as the Battle of Sugoz Pass or the Defence of Sugoz, was a battle between exactly one thousand Mortian Orcs led by Chief Raddon Yagar and approximately forty thousand Ascarians who were presumably led by Davon Racorus, the right hand man of King Faltas II. Although historians typically classify the battle as an engagement taking place within the context of the Mortian Genocide, the Mortians themselves generally see this battle as the last battle of the Mortian War.

Whilst several thousand women and children fled into the mountains, one thousand Orcish soldiers - many of them noblemen whose lands had been destroyed and subjugated in the war - stayed behind at Sugoz Pass to guard the way. The soldiers implored Raddon, the hastily elected new Chief of Mortia, to escape with the others, but he refused and informed his soldiers that he would kill the next man who told him to leave. At this, it is said that the soldiers bowed down before him and hailed him as Chief.

As the Ascarians approached, the Mortians - clad head to toe in the finest armour they had - waited for them in a line across the thin pass, ensuring the Ascarians would have to force their way through. When the Mortians were told that they would all be killed if they did not lay down their arms, it is said that Chief Raddon cried "and how can a man die better!" and the thousand soldiers bellowed a war-cry, crashing their spears against their shields.

The Ascarians advanced and were soon upon them, but just as the Ascarians were given the order to break into a charge, Raddon cried out "Morrokh!" and charged forwards, soon joined by the rest of his soldiers. The Orcs fought the Ascarian infantry with unparalleled ferocity and struck terror into their hearts, causing them to flee. Once the first wave of Ascarians had ran, the archers let loose volleys onto the Mortians. The Orcs could not simply stay still and be shot at, so they charged forwards into the enemy. Detailed accounts of the battle tend to stop there; it is simply said that the Orcs all fought to the last breath, and that Raddon was the last to fall, having taken twenty Humans down with him. Ancient sources all state that each Orc killed "at least three enemies before falling themselves", and some go as far as to say that ten Humans fell for each Orc - but this is generally regarded as an exaggeration.

In any case, every single one of Raddon's Thousand died in battle and inflicted more casualties upon the enemy than they suffered themselves. The delay caused by the battle and the havoc it wrought upon the Ascarians ensured that the women and children escaped safely into the mountains. They stayed there for a month before around 2/3 of them returned to Mortia, the remainder creating permanent homes in the mountains.