War of Winter

Magelaw War Banner ref: Thaumaturge, Chapter 32

## Combatants

 Magelaw
 Korbal’s Minions

 Iron Ring

## Commanders

 Magelord Terleman
 Gaja Katar**†**

 Arborn For Lotanz

## Forces

**In Total**:

* 3,000 cavalry,
* 10,000 heavy infantry,
* 10,000 militia and bowmen

**Who fought**

* Magalin sent 300 horsemen, 500 Infantry
* Yellin Town sent 50 bowmen, 50 spearmen
* Karsari, 200 not all Rangers and Scouts
* Greenhill sent 300 men
* Fesdarlan sent 300 men
* Timberwatch a mix of Warmagi and Wilderlords
* Pearwoods 500 tribesmen and Wenek’s Warmagi
* Knights of Callierd included 100 horsemen, most of them Knight Magi’s

**Vanguard:**

* 500 Gurvani Dog Calvary
* 10,000 mostly light infantry

**Main artillery forces:**

* 1,000 plus Fell Hound cavalry
* 25,000 infantry consisting of Gurvani, Maragorku and Trolls
* Command corps. Consisted of Enshadowed.
* long train of siege engines and wagons pulled by siege beasts

## Background

When Minalan arrived at Vanador to take up his new position for Duke Anguine as the Count Palatine of Northeastern Wilderland--now called the Magelaw--he discovered that there were three Nemovorti generals staging armies in the Penumbra, waiting for him.  Luckily for Vanador, the Nemovorti do not work together, as each thought too highly of themselves to share their visions of self-glory. Each was sure that they could defeat the mere humani and each, in their own way, wanted to curry Korbal's favor by capturing Minalan's Magolith. (Korbal had been constrained to his decomposing body by Minalan and the Magolith in Olem Seheri; only the Magolith could conceivably release the necromancer's confined spirit to take over some other body.)

Gaja Katar, the impetuous, was the first of the Nemovoriti generals to strike at Minalan and Vanador.

## War Preparations

Magelord Carmella and her Hesians constructed the great fortress of Spellgate in just over half a year, employing scores of magi, hundreds of Malkas Alon, and thousands of mundane workers. In conjunction with Marshal Terleman, she built huge defensive works, massive siege engines, and powerful magical traps into the main entrance to Vanador. Count Minalan appointed Terleman Lord Marshal, responsible for the grand strategy of defending Vanador. Marshal Sandoval trained the Vanadori as militia and formed them into defensive units. Mavone was Minalan's Constable and Head of Intelligence.

Once Gaja Katar started moving out his troops, Mavone's crack commandos, the Ravens, caused havoc and delay that significantly interfered with the mixed gurvani and enshadowed vanguard.  Wizards of Vanador's new bouleuterion scried the enemy’s forces, informing Terleman's battle plans in real time. Minalan didn't want Vanador's survival to depend on him being there, so he pointedly directed his staff to prosecute the war as if he wasn't there.

## Battle

### First engagement

The first battle of the war was fought fifty miles southeast of Otter’s Point.  The battle was in some nameless hills that were empty of any fortifications or people. Mavone’s Ravens and the Vanador Rangers harassed the enemy vanguard, slaying many gurvani and delaying their advance.  Hopefully, the delaying action would give Vanador more preparation time and possibly delay the Gaja Katar's army long enough for the first Wilderlands snows to fall.

Mavone contrived to separate the vanguard units from the main enemy forces, sowing confusion and misdirection. He used his magical corps to lay spell traps that bewitched the minds of the gurvani troops and officers, creating paranoia and panic.  Terleman sent a thousand horsemen and rangers to assist Mavone with his mission. They fought a guerrilla type of warfare from the shadows and with ample magic.

In one skirmish, a couple of hundred Vanadori bowmen let loose on a gurvani unit that had strayed too far afield. Archers rained down nine full volleys of arrows upon the hapless goblins before Sire Tyndal and 300 of his heavy calvary charged them.  The Magelaw troops were not trying to defeat the entire vanguard, just cause enough damage to slow them down and to create chaos.  Any gurvani that they slew were that many fewer they would face at Spellgate.

Gaja Katar was plagued with dissent by some of the gurvani.  Those gurvani that were not enthusiastic about the battle were driven ahead of the ones loyal to the Nemovorti.  Mavone leveraged the dissention by spoofing messages to route the main troops off course,

The Vanadori ran a rolling attack on the main column of gurvani, through a long bloody night of hit and run attacks, using a thousand horsemen that attacked in groups of thirty.

On the third night, Terleman attacked the middle of the train emphasizing damage to the supply wagons. While the calvary forces kept the gurvani troops occupied, Kasari rangers snuck in and destroyed axles and wheels.

### Osbury

After the Magelaw forces withdrew, Gaja Katar was forced to take the route past Otter point fortifications thanks to the misinformation and misdirection that the Ravens caused. Baron Arborn had fortified Osbury in addition to the garrison of five hundred Iron Bandsmen and Lotanz Tower’s warmagi.

Even though Gaja Katar wanted to ignore the small castle, his vanguard started the attack before he got there.  He sent more than half of his infantry north to join the vanguard, including the draugens.

Arborn arrived in time to take charge of the defenses before there was much of an attack.  When building their defenses over the summer month, Arborn took a Kasari approach to them and built a lot of small defensible caches of weapons and supplies all over the area in hidden caves, grottos and groves.  His people had dozens of places that they could retreat to in a hurry and there would be supplies and arms waiting there for them.

Then he built wooden watch towers all across his domain where flag messages could be passed across the domain in a short time, all without magic. The Kasari set devious traps and snares to entangle the gurvani, as well as the rangers silently eliminating as many of them as they could get to.  The warmagi after working with the Kasari for years, knew just what magics helped them the best and often made the traps much more deadly.

When he got word from the flag-messages that the gurvani were coming.  Arborn brought all of his people inside the defenses at Otter Point. If needed, he could evacuate them north into Bransei.

Gaja Katar withdrew his troops from Lotanz when Arborn led a countercharge against them, causing them to withdraw into the fire of defending archers.

Because of the delay at Lotanz and Gaja Katar forces once again turned south toward Spellgate, winter rains set in which caused the long supply train to mire in the mud and the rain was cold!  And they had to march right past Traveler’s Tower before coming to Spellgate and the entrance to Vanador.

### Traveler’s Tower

Terleman sent Minalan to defend Traveler’s Tower from gurvani as they fled Lotanz.

Minalan takes the field to defend Traveler’s Tower!  His goal isn’t to defeat the entire army, but to slow down their advance toward Spellgate, the main reason is they are hoping that the winter snow starts before the gurvani get there.  The other reason Minalan takes the field is to remind the gurvani of how they fare whenever they come up against the Spellmonger.

They ultimately slay about 3,000 gurvani and manage to chase them off as a result Gaja Katar takes a different route to Spellgate.

*See also: Defense of Traveler’s Tower (War of Winter)*

### The Tera Alon

After the Defense of Traveler’s Tower, Ithalia arrived at Spellgarden with 300 Tera Alon warriors ready to take on Gaja Katar.  Terleman assigned them to the reserves and had them bivouac at Spellgarden, to wait for orders.

Ithalia was upset over not being sent out immediately to fight, instead having to wait for orders. Minalan was able to sooth her and insist that if she was to fight with the humani she must fight the humani way and follow the chain of command.

### Spellgate

Word finally arrived at headquarters, Gaja Katar forces have abandoned their camp and was moving toward Spellgate, bypassing the towers.

Terleman ordered the northern Towers to prepare for deployment, conducting raids and to serve as a reserve force.  Tyndal with his cavalry rode to join them and to help direct them in the field.

Terleman also ordered Minalan to Spellgate, he wanted the troops to see Minalan on the wall, not hiding away at Spellgarden.  Alya and the children even visited him there and brought him lunch, which rallied the troops' moral.

By the time the Gurvani got to Spellgate, they were down to about twenty-five thousand troops with about a dozen siege beasts. But the ‘’Nemovort had recouped some of those losses by raising the dead.  There were entire companies of undead spearmen in the ranks, now.’’”

### Terleman’s Millstone

Mancour, Terry. Thaumaturge: Book Eleven of the Spellmonger Series. Chapter 36. Kindle Edition.

### The Battle In The Blizzard

Mancour, Terry. Thaumaturge: Book Eleven of the Spellmonger Series. Chapter 37. Kindle Edition.

### The Battle of Asgot Ford

Mancour, Terry. Thaumaturge: Book Eleven of the Spellmonger Series. Chapter 39. Kindle Edition.

## References

1. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Thaumaturge: Book Eleven of the Spellmonger Series. Chapter 29. Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Thaumaturge: Book Eleven of the Spellmonger Series. Chapter 35. Kindle Edition.