The Battle at Timberwatch

* Fire
* Area Map
* Wilderlands Map

## Participants

Minalan, Pentandra and the Warmagi
Duke Lenguin, Duke Rard and their armies (30,000 each)

The Gurvani forces with Hobs and Trolls (90-100,000)
A Dragon

The Battle at Timberwatch took place about 300-400 years after the establishment of the 5 duchies, in the northern portion of the Duchy of Alshar. It was a critical battle which stemmed the invasion of the gurvani into the 5 duchies. The forces of Alshar, led by Spellmonger Minalan and Duke Lenguin, and late-arriving Castalli led by Duke Rard, proved to be victorious over the forces of the gurvani, led by Sire Koucey--now named Lord Keshgural--and General Kagal Gharzak.

## Pre-Battle

After it was determined that approximately 100,000 gurvani were invading the northern portion of Alshar, Minalan the Spellmonger and his warband of irionite-wielding warmagi began to gather their forces for their eventual battle with the goblin throng. They determined that the best location for a battlefield was a small castle north of Vorone, called Timberwatch.

Minalan and his mage corps set their staging in area in a barn near the castle. There, Lanse of Bune created a detailed mage-map of the battlefield. The battlefield was composed an escarpment on the north side with three causeways to descend. To the south, the Orphans Band and the rest of the human army set up camp around the castle of Timberwatch with kitchens, tents, latrines, and the makings of a mobile city.

In the days leading up to the battle, the human forces constructed defenses including 6 redoubts, networks of trenches, various siege engines, and a magically enhanced trebuchet. Azar led a company of knights and magi north to meet and to slow down the invading army of goblins. He managed to slow down the army for 4 days. This would prove consequential for the upcoming battle.

Duke Lenguin grudgingly brought his army from Vorone, after Minalan essentially blackmailed him into doing his ducal duty. Upon his arrival, his nobles were perturbed to be directed to their encampment site by camp marshals working for Bold Asgus. Minalan adroitly persuaded Lenguin to comply with the plans and careful preparations made ahead of their arrival, thereby heading off a bloody catastrophe.

## The Battle at Timberwatch

The gurvani (standard goblins, hobgoblins, and some trolls) were positioned to the north, on top of the steep escarpment. The humans were staged in various locations. Nirodi archers filled the redoubts. 5,000 Alshari heavy cavalry were stationed on the left flank. A second force of medium and light cavalry screened the eastern side of the battlefield and two regiments of mercenary pikemen (a weak flank by design). And in the center was heavy infantry from Tudry, levies from Green Hill, and a mix of Meglini Knights, Hellriders, and Warbirds. Behind the front lines were 1,000 Remeran crossbowmen.

Also in the center were the core of the warmagi. Among those that participated at Tiimberwatch (but not necessarily fought) were Minalan, Astyral, Taren, Terleman, Azar, Mavone, Rondal, Tyndal, Penny, Wenek, Horka, Cormoran, Carmella, Hesia, Curmor, Delman, Rustallo, Forondal, Bendonal, Sarakeem, Reylan, Isily and Lanse of Bune.

### 1st Stage of the Battle

The 1st stage of the battle consisted of the gurvani forces coming down the 3 escarpment causeways and facing the 6 redoubts with Nirodi archers. The humans utilized overlapping fields of fire to essentially curtail and bottle up the advance the enemy forces. Eventually, the gurvani began to huddle close together out of range of the archers.

> It was about then that the goblins learned about overlapping fields of fire. One legion got bold enough to approach within a hundred yards of redoubt Four, using their shields (and the largest ones, taller than a man and of gurvani manufacture, were wielded by a band of trolls) to screen the arrows that flew so thickly from the central fortification. But that’s when redoubt Three opened up from behind their left flank and devastated them when they took them unawares.
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Inside the barn near the castle, the warmagi used Lanse of Bune's enchanted magemap (diorama) to follow the battle. Working together, they summoned 3 massive earth elementals in the 3 causeways, which collapsed the only means of descent from the escarpment into sheer 50-foot cliffs and killed thousands of goblins in the process. This act essentially split the goblin force in two.

### 2nd Stage of the Battle

Carmella used her trebuchet and other siege engines to launch volleys of projectiles at the clustered gurvani. Over the course of the next several hours, light skirmishing persisted. Carmella next launched pumpkins filled with honey and alcoholic spirits into the goblin forces. After saturating the ground, she then launched phosphorous into the mix, which ignited immediately upon hitting the ground. Thousands of gurvani were coated with sticky, flammable goo.

Then, Minalan conjured an enormous fire elemental right in the middle of the gurvani forces.

> I felt the surge of power as the elemental began to grow, burning hotter with every passing moment.  I encouraged it to stretch, to reach out in every direction across the field, where thousands of goblins were writhing in pain or screaming in terror but all were burning, burning, burning.  The skies above were turning black with the soot and smoke and stench of combusting wood and singed hair and burnt meat, and the screams and squeals of the foe filled our ears. - Minalan
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For 45 minutes, the enormous fire elemental ravaged the gurvani forces, killing tens of thousands and wounding many more. The act would go down in history and forever changed people's perceptions of what a mage could do in battle.

After the elemental died down, the human forces advanced. However, Duke Lenguin believed this to be the time when to charge and drive the enemy from the battlefield. He took 300 of his mounted knights, ignoring Minalan's orders, and quickly found himself surrounded. Minalan and several others were eventually able to rescue a bloodied and demoralized Lenguin and facilitated his hasty retreat.

> Of all of my warriors in all of my armies, it was the Warmagi who came to my rescue.  That shall not be forgotten.  You have my personal gratitude for that.  If I live the night, then anything you ask in my power shall be granted. - Lenguin to Minalan
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### 3rd Stage of the Battle

By dawn, the remaining gurvani forces had pushed down the escarpment and flooded the battlefield. The human armies were forced to retreat back nearly to their camp. Then, Shereul sent his most powerful weapon, a dragon.

> The sinuous black shape that fell from the sky and landed on the rise in front of us didn’t look very extinct. Its great wings were forty feet from tip to tip, and its long tail was almost as long. The head was half the size of a horse, and was encrusted with horns and spikes which hid its shiny black eyes in its head.
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The dragon tore through the right flank of human forces, while the remaining goblins pressed the center. The fighting continued on the front lines for some time with the gurvani slowly gaining ground. The battle was close to being lost.

At this critical point, Duke Rard of Castal, emerged with reinforcements. Minalan convinced Lenguin to greet Rard as friend and comrade, before turning his attention back to the battle of the dragon. Horka, Rustallo, Landrik and several other knights advance on the dragon and released an unknown spell. The powerful spell consisted of purple fire which severely wounded the dragon's head and destroyed an eye. However, it did not kill the dragon, just forced it to flee.

Taren released a special spell which caused blindness in the majority of the goblin forces. Seeing the mass of confusion and fear, the human forces then charged into the chaotic mass of gurvani and slew them in the tens of thousands, winning the battlefield.

> There was a collective gasp and moan of despair from our enemies. But the noise turned quickly to panic and fear, as the sight of the wounded dragon retreating from the field became the last sight most of the goblins ever saw. Taren’s spell had chosen that moment to activate, and while thousands of goblins’ eyes were trained on the heavens, a wave of finely-tuned magical energy swept over them, and they saw no more.
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### Post-Battle and Results

The victory at Timberwatch halted the invasion of Alshar for several months. Had the human forces lost, Vorone, Tudry, and perhaps even Gilmora would have fallen in just a few short weeks' time. The humans, however, were not without casualties. Horka was killed in his attempt to drive the dragon from the battlefield. Hesia died with her troops. Delman was killed late in the action and Bendonal was grievously injured. Several thousand men were killed and many more wounded. While the invasion was stopped for the time, much of northern Alshar was still lost to Shereul.

The surviving magi were knighted by the two Dukes, flaunting the old bans. Minalan was knighted by both Rard and Lenguin. The lands around the Penumbra were granted to the new Knights Magi for the defense of the realm. The bans of magic were then permanently relaxed in both Alshar and Castal.

> “ I have to admit, Sire Minalan, that when you first spoke of the goblin threat, I thought you exaggerated.  But when Duke Rard suggested – nay, commanded – that I see it with my own eyes, I saw that you had the right of it.  The Bans must be laid aside, no matter the internal cost, at least until the threat to the realm is diminished.  It gives me no peace to say so.  But after my niece, Isily, spoke with me so convincingly, I could not in justice condemn you and your brethren after the sacrifices you’ve made on all of our behalf without disproving the threat first.  I stand corrected – and you stand free of all charges.” - Censor General Hartarian
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## References

1. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: Book Two Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 602). Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: Book Two Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 633). Kindle Edition.
3. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: Book Two Of The Spellmonger Series (pp. 651-652). Kindle Edition.
4. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: Book Two Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 680). Kindle Edition.
5. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: Book Two Of The Spellmonger Series (pp. 695-696). Kindle Edition.
6. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: Book Two Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 711). Kindle Edition.