Atrocity at Asshuran

The Battle and Siege of Asshuran, and the subsequent Betrayal
and Massacre, is one of the largest and most pivotal battles in the Fall of Aydinir, also known as Jashor. The battle itself lasted 12 years due to
grueling sieges, slow advances, and the tenacity and endurance of both sides in general. As for the troop composition of both armies, the Aydiniri most likely had 900,000 men of mixed roles (archers, swordsmen, and spearmen) guarding the
city, 300k for each of its three concentric walls, as well as a hundred
thousand men in cavalry. As for the “Barbarian” coalition of Bero, Rusklandr,
and various Marmadhim (“Butchers”) tribes and their troops, they consisted
mostly of light infantry armed with iron swords and spears, as well as archers
consisting mostly of converted huntsmen. As for siege weaponry, they mostly
reused Aydiniri siege machines, as well as creating a few of their own from
stolen prints. For cavalry, they mostly were made out of Marmadhim nomads as
well as Rusklandr using stolen Aydiniri horses. Their numbers amounted to 1.5 million
men.

## Background

The three factions were mostly divided at the start of
Jashor, with the Bero moving in from the east, while the Marmadhim tribes and migrating
Rusklandr generally came from a northward direction. The first group destroyed anything
that they didn’t want, such as small villages and towns, while keeping major cities
as well as stealing anything of value and studying them, the Marmadhim only
attacked when provoked, and from what they’ve experienced while moving through
Aydinir, they could only afford attacking any Aydiniri in sight. The Rusklandr
tribes, under the guidance of their enigmatic leader, “The Preacher” would
threaten any settlement they came across into converting with the threat of
destroying the city, as seen by their destructive warpath, most didn’t convert,
and thus were destroyed and looted of valuable knowledge, to be studied.

### The Birth of the Coalition and the Battle of Djyazhoar

The three groups met at the Great Library of Nanive, and
before partaking in the sacking of the city surrounding it, they made deals, and
traded knowledge of each other and of what they looted. In the Battle of Nanive,
they would forge brotherhoods in the fires of battle, one such example being
the famously strong friendship between the Bero general, Jonas Grenwit, and The
Preacher, as well as the latter’s unbreakable bond with the female leader of
the Marmadhim, of which he sired a son with during the Battle of Asshuran, both
their names have been lost to time. The united group would then begin encroaching
upon the very capital of the Aydiniri itself, Djyazhoar.

The two would be famous for the Eightfold Charges early in
the battle, which secured strategic positions for the Coalition near the city,
allowing them to unleash the Ninth Wave, which would break the city walls and
allow the troops of the Coalition to flood into the city. The general and the
Preacher would try to rein in the slaughtering aspect of the sack, however,
Commander Rendov of Cardinalo, a vile man, would let his men slaughter as much
as possible, these vile acts the Preacher himself witnessed.

Then the very castle of the Aydiniri Emperor was breached by
a rather devastating advance spearheaded by Commander Plumm, a subordinate and
friend of Grenwit. From there the latter’s forces flooded into the complex,
exterminating any male that resisted, those who didn’t as well as the women and
children were spared and brought back to camp as prisoners. Jonas Grenwit
himself dueled the Emperor Sudjaris of the Aydiniri himself, a duel for the
ages it was, and after being wounded multiple times, he finally felled the Emperor
with a thrust through the helm. After that, he blacked out. Commander Rendov
would use this opportunity to slaughter the entire city, though that wasn’t
planned, nor was it legal, there was even friendly fire between Marmadhim and
Rendov’s troops.

When the General finally woke up, he found out about the
massacres under Rendov’s illegal orders, and thus, judged him and prepared to
execute him, the man however, had asked for a trial by combat, in which the
Preacher would dispatch him in a brutally painful manner, in front of the man’s
twin and closest confidant and friend, Renan. This seeded a feeling of hate
that gnawed on him every day, and that seed would bloom. Renan was appointed
the Commander of Cardinalo’s forces with the death of Rendov, and those who
were loyal to Rendov, were highly loyal to him now. He maintained a guise of
loyalty to the Coalition, he would play his hand and avenge his brother when
the time came.

Then the 1st Battle of Asshuran came, and ended. The Siege
was on.

## Siege of Asshuran

### The Siege of Asshuran, Wall 1

The first moves in the siege against the first wall involved
a massive battering of the walls with various siege machines, and on the
suggestion of Commander Renan, people infected with the plague that ravaged
Aydinir earlier of Jashor were to be catapulted over the walls. Not knowing any
better and with a severe lack of knowledge of bacteria back then, they
accepted, and pelted the inside of the city with plague infested bodies, as
well as flaming rocks. The siege took two and a half years, and they ended the
first wall with a massive charge into a gate which showed weakness, it was
breached and they were greeted by a ruined outer city. The subduing of the
outer city by itself took half a year, and even then, there were pockets of
resistance, the destruction of which was given to Rendov.

This is where he played his first hand, upon killing the
resisting Aydiniri troops, he looted their bodies, wearing their armor and
wielding their weapons, their standards were also taken, but these he stashed
at strategic positions, to be used in due time.

With the movement of siege machinery into the outer city,
the first wall was concluded, and they had to deal with the second, bolstered
by retreating troops that were battle-hardened.

### The Siege of Asshuran, Wall 2

The second wall was a bloody one, taking five years. Thousands
of men and hundred thousand of rocks were thrown against this wall. And again, living
or dead, plague-bearers were thrown past the walls. With the intent of
destroying their morale. But, as it turns out, they had learned, and the
Aydiniri had whole groups scouring the city for corpses, and burnt them to ash.
Of course, they weren’t perfect, and some corpses were able to cause some
amount of destruction. Gates actually were broken during the five-year siege,
but these were quickly patched up by the rapid response of the elite Aydiniri
troops. This was due to the front of war shortening as the Coalition advanced,
and as a result, response times began shortening as well, especially for the
Aydiniri.

Then something occurred at the north gate, continuous bombardment
of stones upon that place had caused it to collapse, and from there, troops
under Plumm, Renan, and a group of Marmadhim chiefs charged and devastated the
defenders, which again, made a strategic retreat to the final wall.

In here the second hand of the traitor was played, Plumm, a
mere man, made a blunder that cost the chiefs a lot of their men, and this
angered some influential people inside the Marmadhim federation. Renan, being the
snake that he is, played the strings of these chiefs, and was able to seduce them
to his cause, he also told them to only try recruiting others if they were a
hundred percent sure of these others joining his cause. And so, traitors grew
in the Marmadhim ranks. They were also told to wear as much Aydiniri equipment and
stash as much of their enemy’s banners in strategic areas. He also took over some
important gates as a possible retreat route, as well as a way to trap his soon-to-be
enemies in.

The front moved, and the final wall was in sight.

### The Siege of Asshuran, Wall 3

The usual happened, plague-bearers thrown over the walls,
boulders thrown at the walls, and men being thrown against the defenders of the
walls. All this took four years, and at the eve of the fourth year, they had
breached the western wall by making a portion of it collapse under heavy
bombardment by catapults. Around this time, word of possible Aydiniri
reinforcement reached the ears of Renan, who killed all messengers upon receiving
them, keeping the troops he would betray under an information blackout. He
however, escorted Aydiniri messengers to the third wall. Around this time
reinforcements began slowing down to a trickle, as manpower reserves started to
become dangerously low.

Thunderclouds flashed lightning and poured rain upon the attackers
on the last day of the siege, and it was upon that day that hope was crushed
and the traitor struck.

## Betrayal

As the siege commenced, Aydiniri reinforcements were spotted
by Renan’s scouts, and he personally came to them, bedecked in darkened gray Aydiniri
armor and flying high a stolen banner, and told them a lie, a lie that would
benefit them. He told them that he was the leader of the resistance, and he would
help them achieve total victory if they were to assist him. And they believed
him, and the traitor cackled in glee in his tent.

The Aydiniri surrounded the city and charged into it, all
its gates were gaping open, by the time they hit the enemy troops, the darkness
had been lifted with a strong gust of wind blowing the thunderstorm away, mud
was still an issue, but that would be overcome. Enraged Aydiniri along with the
hidden troops of the traitors hit the unsuspecting loyalists, who were busy
dealing with a counter-charge by the defenders. The hammer and anvil were
brutal for the loyalists, whose rearguard was slaughtered wholesale.

Upon hearing this most grievous, General Grenwit, the leader
of the Marmadhim, and the Preacher charged into the innermost city, and slaughtered
all the Aydiniri within in desperation. From there they hastily fortified
themselves in the middle castle, the gates were still open when they began
digging in however, and in their adrenaline-pumped construction and thinking,
they knew. Renan had played his whole hand, and was the center of all this. Rage
consumed them, and they used that rage to good effect, destroying any enemy
they came across during their defense of the castle.

Then their fortifications were breached by an enormous
charge, and at the head of it was none other than the traitor himself, Renan.

### Massacre and Murder

The relentless wave of Aydiniri and hidden traitor alike
decimated anything it came across, though losses were felt on both sides. Around
this time, Plumm was slain by the traitor himself in a duel, in which he ended
dishonorably via having men shoot him with arrows when it seemed as if he was
going to lose. His elite guard followed him around the mazelike castle like
wolves on the hunt, and he entered an empty throne room. It was empty place, a
throne in the middle, and balconies surrounding the room, allowing cold air to
flow in, and, in his arrogance, he sat upon the empty throne of gold and red
fur, and told half of his men to tell any loyalist they came across that he was
in there.

Through this, he killed off half of his elite guard,
although the messages were sent. And the first one to come was the firstborn
son of the Preacher himself, via a concubine, although this child was loved all
the same. He had flowing, silky brown locks of hair, and was armored in silvery
armor. Draped upon this firstborn’s back were two capes of pure, white feathers
and in his right, he held a fine sword, and his left was gauntleted by a wicked
claw. He looked upon the one on the throne, Renan, whose gray armor had changed
into a pitch black after much battle, and whose weapon was a wicked looking mace,
the banner on his back was pitch black, with a gaping maw with eight teeth as
its symbol. After mocking him, Renan “the Arch-Traitor” proceeded to engage him
in combat.

It was an epic spectacle, sparks flew as spear and mace struck
in a supreme demonstration of skill on one-on-one combat. But it was not to be
for the firstborn, as after the traitor had blasphemed against Cthulhu in a
strange language, his spear was broken by a devastating downward strike, and he
was kicked to the ground by a black boot. Broken on the ground, the firstborn
child could only weep as the traitor blasphemed. Then the mace went down upon
his chest, and he was no more.

### The Final Battle and Flight

This seemed to have attracted the Preacher himself, and he arrived,
seeing the traitor gloating over his dead son’s corpse. Renan seemed to have
changed, as his tan skin had changed into a deathly pale complexion, while his
veins looked, unearthly, the man as a whole looked unearthly, and a dark aura
was on him.

Feathers flew around the room, father wept for son, and a
traitor laughed in glee.

The father charged the murderer, his cloak flying away to
the wind, revealing a man with pitch black hair and light brown skin, bedecked
in sea green painted armor, and in his hands a black sword and a shield with Cthulhu’s
symbol. His sword met the traitor’s mace, and his shield blocked any counter.
This was a duel to the death that would be enshrined in legend for millennia to
come. Attack, parry, block, counter, attack, parry, block, counter, it went on
and on, nobody had an advantage. The eyes of the traitor grew redder and redder
as the battle went on. Outside, lightning flashed as the thunderstorm came back,
and rain poured heavily, a scene for the stories.

As the duel continued, the traitor seemed to grow stronger
in unnatural ways, and eventually, he struck the Preacher, tearing away his
shield-arm with a wicked strike. He capitalized on the stunned state of the,
now defending, attacker by striking at his leg, ripping it off its joint in one
fell stroke. And the Preacher was thrown across the room, a few meters away or
so. Before he could capitalize on it some more, a man arrived, a mere Aydiniri
soldier, and he saw a man in black Aydiniri armor, and the fallen leader of the
enemy.

Against his plans, he charged the dark man instead. History
does not know the name of this soldier, but Cthulhism thanks him for his
unpayable service to them today, for had he finished off the Preacher, the
world as we know it, would never be the same. He could not stand against such
unnatural might however, and he somehow disappeared from existence in a single
swipe of the traitor’s mace. But he brought time, just barely enough time. As
the black armored man charged the fallen Preacher, something happened. It is not
known what truly occurred on that moment, but Aydiniri troops began fleeing the
castle out of sheer, paralyzing terror, while the battered Coalition troops
were renewed in strength and carved out an opening for General Jonas Grenwit,
who was holding a badly wounded Preacher, to retreat to. They charged out
mightily out of the city, and after suffering even more losses, were able to
flee the city of Asshuran.

T’was a black day, but hope was held high, and the sun shone
upon the decimated men of Bero, Rusklandr, and Marmadhim descent.

The rest, as they say, is history.