Battle of Voletsk Pass

The **Battle of Voletsk Pass** was a major battle taking place in 1655 in the Zapno Mountains at Voletsk Pass. The battle was instigated by the forces of Cainaan against the nations of Berok and Ralmulash and would end in a pyrrhic victory for the nations of the Silver-Bear Treaty. The event would mark the start of a campaign of renewed aggression coming from Cainaan that has not been seen since the 15th century.

## Battle

What follows are accounts taken from a report investigating what went right and wrong during the battle, which was co-authored by Ralmulashian and Berokian strategists.

Being aware of large troop movements in the region, extra troops had been station in the northern borders by Ralmulash and Berok in case of an attack by the vile forces of Cainaan. Here our brave soldiers of the Silver-Bear Treaty encountered a scouting party by Cainaan. The scouting party engaged marking the start of the battle. The first moments of the battle were on a small scale and chaotic, with the dwarven pikesoldiers of Ralmulash holding firm, while the muskets fired upon the enemy from afar. The commander of Cainaan having heard of the commotions is forced to engage on unfavourable terms, having preferred to attack in the dark like the unhourable creature it is. More troops that could stand the light of the sun poured into the battle clashing against the line of pikes. Fighting in the pass was clearly favourable for our soldiers as even the smallest group of dwarven pikes could hold the line, until reinforcements arrived. Our soldiers held the line honourable until the shadows became longer, marking that the sun was setting.

When the last of the light was gone a vile screeching sound could be heard from a kilometre away, not soon after a large swarm of bats flew over the site of the battle. At first this swarm started to attack use, pecking at us from the sky. We managed to quickly drive away the swarms with clever use of few swivel guns loaded with small projectiles, creating a giant blunderbuss. While most shots misfired, the use was still effective. We certainly should look into further development and refinement of this technique. As the first few waves of bats were partially defeated a new swarm spawned in the night's sky. From this swarm the enemy commander appeared transforming into a humanoid form. That is if you can call them humanoid at all. The enemy commander was not as we heard a fighter but a spellcaster instead. While we took some casualties from the first few swarms of bats the worst was yet to happen. The vampire commander appeared to grab some kind of sponge, started speaking this incantation and moving her arms about. Before we knew it the blood was being sucked out of our frontline troops with many dying. The advantage of using the choke point had turned against us. The muskets on the cliffs were mostly spared from this horrible fate. We did eventually manage to fill the ranks again with soldiers, but not many reserves remained. In the meantime reinforcements had arrived in the form of powerful bear mounted warriors from Berok. They couldn't however be used to great effect with the front lines being filled already with soldiers.

Our lucky break came with the arrival of a medvedi who claimed to know another passage so we would be able to flank the vile corrupt fighters of Cainaan. The bear warriors were send with her and would not be seen for a long time. Meanwhile our lines were slowly faltering and some skirmishers who had ran out of ammunition were forced to join the front ranks to keep the enemy at bay. The dwarven skirmisher clad with the finest steel took front ranks while the more light armoured skirmisher of Berok took the second in rank and attack the Cainaan soldiers with their musket axe. Nonetheless at this point many of our soldiers were lost and there seemed no end to the horde of Cainaan. Until at the other side the mounted warriors arrived. While charging they fired their flintlock pistols into the rear of the enemy, causing a great lose of moral in enemy ranks. When the bears started biting and clawing their way through the enemy a full on route started to appear. As quickly as the vampire commander appeared they disappeared by turning into a thick mist. While we had won the battle it was at a great cost.

The next morning was the most horrific one. As our few healthy soldiers returned to the battle field to start burying the fallen they discovered that a significant amount of bodies were missing. The medvedi spotted fresh footprints and drag marks. We suspect that the enemy took some of the fallen, what for remains to be known. A small group of medvedi decided to pursue in the hopes of figuring out what happened.