Battle of Three Hills

The Battle of Three Hills was the first real battle the Fifteenth Legion was involved in. It was a crushing victory for the Fifteenth

### Preliminary Events

Before the battle, the Fifteenth Legion was on its way to Marchford. They had been informed that the Silver Spears were operating in the area and informed about their general composition by Amadeus, but did not know their exact location due to a priest of light who was able to prevent Masego from scrying on them. They were given about half an hour of warning when a scouting expedition led by Robber returned with only a few members, after running afoul of them. Robber also reported that they had over 800 cataphracts, much more than had been reported prior. At the time they the Fifteenth was about to cross a river, and they had to either try to finish crossing before the Spears arrived and risk being caught halfway, or stand their ground in the knowledge that they would have no option of retreat if things turned against them.

Catherine decided to stand her ground. Before the battle began, she has her sappers dig defensive structures and place spikes along where her army's flank would be. She also had them bury a considerable amount of goblinfire.

When the Spears finally arrived, the Exiled Prince went in front of them and challenged Catherine to single combat, on the suggestion of Almorava. Catherine responded by ordering Nauk to shoot him. He aimed low, and the crossbow bolt would have dealt a nonfatal wound, but it was deflected by the arrow-repelling enchantment on the Prince's armor, which due to his having taken off his helmet to issue the challenge directed the bolt directly into his throat. The event was later commemorated in a song, *Lord of the Silver Spears*.

### Battle

The battle opened with Silver Spear cavalry charging the Fifteenth's flanks, hoping to destroy the more vulnerable sappers positioned there. They were met by four concentrated crossbow volleys, a thick field of stakes erected at exactly the height to eviscerate horses, and a volley of fireballs. The charge was stopped cold before it even reached the front lines, and the survivors broke off the charge and returned to the main body of their force.

After that, the main force of infantry struck the center of the Fifteenth's forces, but their momentum was weakened by having to slog through mud churned up by the cavalry to even reach the front. They were stopped by the heavies, regulars and ogres led by Nauk and Hune, until a group of Helike Spear Saints arrived. They tore through the front lines easily, and proved impossible to dislodge until Masego went to deal with them. He was able to wipe out nearly the entire group of about fifty with two spells.

While the battle continued in the center, a group of men-at-arms led by the Page charged the left flank while the Page herself used magic to smash a path through the stakes. When they tried to kill her with fireballs, a priest blocked them. Catherine and Hakram went to deal with the two. Catherine, having never fought normal humans with full access to her Name, noted that they were extremely easy to deal with and that they not only couldn't stop of seriously hurt her, but that they couldn't effectively slow her down or tire her out. After a short fight she managed to kill the Page but took moderate wounds in the process keeping her from taking a further role as a combatant. Hakram suffered severe burns due to the priest being able to set himself on fire, but was able to kill him with his skeleton hand.

After containing the attackers on all fronts, the Fifteenth retreated, luring the Spears towards them and then having Masego detonate the buried caches of goblinfire to trap as many troops as possible.

### Aftermath

Following the battle and the discovery that Nilin was among the dead, Catherine ordered the sappers to hunt down and kill as many of the remaining troops as they could. How many were killed in total is not specified, but they reported fewer new enemies found and killed each night.

After the battle, the Fifteenth traveled on to Marchford, took the city and declared martial law. They remained there until the Battle of Marchford.

Meanwhile, the remains of the Silver Spears went into hiding in the hills surrounding the city. They were later corrupted by the Demon of Corruption Akua released, and made up part of the forces arrayed against the Fifteenth, along with a large number of devils.

### Casualties

#### Silver Spears

* The Exiled Prince
* The Page
* An unidentified but possibly Named priest of light
* 600 men-at-arms killed in the fire
* An unknown but substantial number of cataphracts and men-at-arms dead in the main battle
* An unknown but substantial number of troops hunted down by goblins after the battle.

Between the various losses they suffered, less than 800 soldiers remained of the original host.

#### Fifteenth Legion

* Senior Tribune Nilin
* 300 dead soldiers
* 600 wounded, of whom an estimated 200 more died.