The Siege of Castle Cambrian

Original Graphics for the Spellmonger Wiki only!

## Participants

Gilmoran Knights, Magalini Knights?
vs. The Dead God's Shamans and Guavani hords

Minalan's troups & Warmagi
vs. A Dragon

## Overview

The siege and battle for relief takes place near the end of *Magelord* and during *Hawklady...*

> *Castle Cambrian was one of the older baronial castles in Gilmora, one of the stately old manors that fecund part of the Riverlands is famed for. More residence than fortress, Castle Cambrian hadn’t seen battle in almost a century. It was along the Cotton Road, and had its own trade fair every year. But it was more a glorified toll booth than a proper fortress.*
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> *It had recently found new life as the headquarters and forward command post of Knight Commander Terleman. He was commanding the magical defense of Barrowbell, in conjunction with some local lords, and he found the place comfortable and well-located.*
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> *Terleman was trapped, besieged, with little hope of rescue.*
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> *His intelligence had told him there were no more than four thousand gurvani in the immediate region, but more than ten thousand had suddenly converged on Cambrian Castle, and more were arriving every hour.*
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There were no closer troops on hand that could get to the castle and relive the sage, so *Minalan* in his role as a Ducal Marshal, called for the Eastern Bontal Vales to supply troops in the name of the Duke of Castal. Some were miserly, but some filled their quotas and then some. Along with mercenaries hired, Minalan mustered more than 5,000 troops.

Using the *Covenstone* that was gifted to them at the Coronation, Lady *Varen*, one of the Alka Alon emissaries, transported all of the troops in 3 waves, from Sevendor to Cambrian.

### Minalan Arrives

When Minalan and his forces arrived, there were around 12,000 gurvani ringing the castle and another 1,000 in the area.

Using his light mounted cavalry, Minalan lured away gurvani on the outside edge of the besieging force, then crush them in a pincher between heavy infantry and heavy cavalry. The ultimate goal was to gain enough space to allow *Terleman* to get his troops out of the castle before and dragons arrived. The tactic almost worked.

Wielding the Thoughtful Knife, Dara slew hundreds of gurvani and saved many human soldiers who were pinned down.

After the dragon arrived and nearly destroyed the castle, Minalan and his magical corps were able to get the dragon down and unconscious. Then Dara guided the *Thoughtful Knife* down the worm's gullet and started chewing it up from the inside. Sire Cei then charged it with lance and his sport talent to finally slay the dragon.

### Outcome

The dragon was dead. The besiegers were either defeated or ran away. The castle--what remained of it--was liberated and Barrowbell was saved. Terlman's forces suffered 2,000 casualties, primarily from the dragon's devastating attack. Minalan's 5,000 lost nearly 1,700 infantry and cavalry. Northern Gilmora was devastated.

> “*Four stones.  Eight High Magi.  Four spellmongers.  Nine hundred infantry.  Six hundred cavalry,” I listed. “Seven hundred and eighty cavalry,” corrected Baron Arathanial, joining us with Sir Roncil and a few other knights.  “And expect that number to grow.  Some of those goblins were using poisoned blades.  Wounds thought minor are festering within hours..*."
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Over 200 Sevendori didn't return including:

> "*Ancient Vren, of the Diketower watch, had fallen in battle, as had my wise Yeoman Loas the Shepherd, Gorker the Guard, and Headman Brandine of Gurisham.*"
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*Cei* became known as "The Dragon Slayer" and *Lenodara* as "The Hawkmaiden". Read more about it in *Hawklady* and in *Magelord*.

## Reference

1. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Magelord: Book Three Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 627). Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Magelord: Book Three Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 709). Kindle Edition.
3. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Magelord: Book Three Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 715). Kindle Edition.