Sovereign's Revenge

"*Sovereign's Revenge*" (*1x10*) is the the tenth session of the **Campaign of the Black Knights** and the tenth and final session of **Chapter 1 - The Rise**. Ambushed in the middle of the night, the Sovereignty forces had to repel the Fallen Sovereignty forces or die with the city. The siege was now fully underway.

## Synopsis

Date: **15th August 342 Third Age, 4:00 PM – Sovereign Gate, Aestinvale**

Sovereign’s horde charged towards the walls of Aestinvale. Preceding their arrival were volleys of ice projectiles and large boulders hurled at the town. The walls shook with the impact of each boulder. The Black Knights struggled to maintain their balance as the boulders impacted on the walls. The group killed ice eagles that harassed them. As they fought them off, the horde arrived at the walls and began climbing up the battlements. The group tried fighting them off but were unable to stop them from scaling the walls. They engaged the ice monsters that made it to the top and defeated them. For the next hour, they fought valiantly with the defenders of Aestinvale. In the ensuing melee, Lux killed twenty ice creatures, their ice forms no match for her brute strength. Ivy killed thirty ice creatures, felling them with her magical might. Jin-san killed fifty ice creatures, slashing them apart with his superior skill.

Date: **15th August 342 Third Age, 5:00 – 5:30 PM – Sovereign Gate, Aestinvale**

The defenders of Aestinvale fought viciously for an hour. The enemy sent wave after wave against the walls. Although they defeated each wave, they lost more and more soldiers with every passing moment. The waves varied in when they arrived, with some arriving after ten minutes, others attacked immediately after the previous one. Eventually the group were sent to reinforce the gate. They arrived as it was broken through. The ice horde poured through the broken gate and engaged the soldiers there. The group jumped into the ensuing melee and for thirty more minutes, the Sovereignty forces engaged the Fallen Sovereignty forces. In the ensuing fight, Jin-san killed fifteen ice creatures, whilst Ivy and Lux killed twenty each. Eventually it became clear that the situation was untenable. Heor Lou called for a general retreat back to Cumulo Square. What remained of the Sovereignty forces conducted a fighting retreat, defending themselves from Fallen attacks as they retreated back to Cumulo Square.

Date: **15th August 342 Third Age, 6:30 PM – Sovereign Gate, Aestinvale**

The defenders arrived back at Cumulo Square, but were forced to retreat instead back to Aestin Citadel, with the Square outpost being indefensible due to the damage it took.

Date: **15th August 342 Third Age, 7:00 PM – Aestin Citadel, Aestinvale**

The Black Knights retreated back into the citadel and found it still standing strong. There were hundred of loyalist still guarding. Heor spoke to the commanding officer and found out that the eastern gate had fallen and that the Duchess’s forces at the north gate were in danger of being surrounded and annihilated. Heor sent a messenger to inform the Duchess but this proved unnecessary as the Duchess returned with the General Radahn in tow, who was injured and being carried on a stretcher, on death’s door. The Duchess’s forces had gotten the message but it was too late. They had been surrounded, with the General being able to cut a path through the enemy and allowing the Duchess to escape the encirclement. He paid dearly for it and was left near dead as a result. Heor called for an general evacuation, but the Duchess decided to make a last stand with her soldiers. She ordered Heor to evacuate the civilians and escape to Maelbar to raise a new army to bring Sovereign to justice. The group were then ordered by Heor to get the skyship Cloudfall ready for departure and to defend the civilians.

Date: **15th August 342 Third Age, 7:30 PM – Aestin Citadel, Aestinvale**

The group went to the skyship and informed the Captain to get the ship ready. They then put the civilians in the bottom deck for their safety. As they finished this, they were interrupted by a were-croc, were-lion and were-wolf jumping onto the ship. A manticore sent by Sovereign also landed on the ship. Surrounded on all sides, the group had their back to the wall.

In the ensuing fight, Lux revealed a new strength, sprouting skeletal wings from her and terrifying her foes with her presence. Working as a group, the Black Knights were able to kill the manticore, with Lux personally killing it in battle. She had sliced off a wing, broken one of its front legs and then shoved said paw into its mouth. She finished off the beast with a swift stab into its heart. That left the three lycanthropes. Ivy killed the were-croc by bashing its skull in with her mace. At some point, Jin-san was cornered by the were-croc and were-lion, who called upon their brother to help them after Jin-san got the better of them. Lux came to help Jin-san and killed the were-croc, stabbing through its mouth. Afterwards, Lux and Jin-san overwhelmed the were-lion. The were-lion cast a fire spell at the ground near it, exploding it and nearly killing Jin-san. Jin-san was successfully brought back through a combination of Ivy and Lux’s CPR and his own willpower. Following the fight, the group watched as Heor Lou brought the Duchess’s unconscious form on the ship, putting her on the ground. Following behind them was the General Radahn on a stretcher. Heor immediately ordered the ship to take off but was shocked when the ship did not move. Sovereign had arrived and had casted a spell to halt the ship. Heor tried to talk Sovereign out of it, but Sovereign refused, stating his intention to tear down the Risen Sovereignty and create a new one in its place. Sovereign then revealed that Ivy Hellfire had killed Elohir, by getting the criminal who blackmailed Ivy and contracted Lux, to accuse Ivy of the murder. Enraged by this information and Sovereign’s taunt, Heor attacked Sovereign, teleporting in front of him and disrupting his focus. He then set off an explosive of some kind, forcing Sovereign to let go of the spell holding the ship in place. This coupled with the explosion from Heor’s explosive propelled the ship out of Aestinvale at breakneck speed. Heor and Sovereign were engulfed by the explosion. As Cloudfall flew out of Aestinvale and into the storm, the last thing they saw was the sight of Aestinvale, the first settlement to fall to Sovereign.