Hardem's Heist on Byzoria

## The Initial chaos

Byzoria - still licking its wounds after the events of Byzantine Bay last year, were hardly expecting to be hit this hard, this early. Frantic defenses were organised, with the call going out to any mercenary companies nearby willing to lend a hand for some extra coin. One group responded.

Royalist forces landed south-west of Byzoria's capitol, launching an assault on a small fishing village in an effort to draw military responses. In the struggle, a scout was captured by the Cartographer's Guild - who then coughed up information about future attacks by way of scrolls.

## The Strategic Response

Ernest Bismarck - Lead Finance Officer of the Byzorian Commerce Guild stood in a room full of merchants, bureaucrats and Mercenary bosses.

"If this attack on the South village continues in the current vein, we potentially risk ending up with a drawn-out siege. That outcome would be disastrous for not only our naval rebuild efforts, but also any traders considering venturing to our docks! This needs to be remedied!"

"Horan should be here! Where is he?" shouted Dante Bloodreel - Captain of one of the mercenary guilds currently serving a contract in Byzoria.

"Horan is returning from a diplomatic mission, Siege-Captain Ronnal and I are managing this situation" replied Ernest, shooting a quick frown at the Mercenary Captain. The room began to chime in, many voices objecting to the leadership choices and demanding action, or suggesting ways to repel the Royalists. A fist came crashing down on the solid Andevinian timber war table with a thud. The room fell silent as the figure tilted back her hood to reveal two red horns protruding from her forehead.

"The Cartographer's Guild has already begun working to undermine this little incursion."  LeNina Orion spoke, looking at the table map, with the armies splayed out across the coast.

"Your company is less than five thousand soldiers by our spies report, how do you possibly propose to single-handedly defend Byzoria's interests?" Captain Loftsoil of the Bonebreakers chimed in from his chair near the back of the room, others clearing the way, bringing him into view.

"Simple, We do what we do best, we trade in information and espionage." The room began snickering and whispering. Frustrated by the lack of respect, Orion slammed down a scroll, with a Royalist ribbon affixed to it.

"This, this is specific orders given to one of the soldiers outlining a sneak attack on the grand vault. If they managed to sneak this through - you knuckleheads would be defending empty coffers! Thanks to the Cartographers, we have a chance to foil this plan, without the Royalists even knowing."

Ernest slid the scroll from underneath Orion's clenched fist. He studied it carefully.

Orion continued "if we can infiltrate the enemy's scout group, and plant incorrect information.."

"Then the Royalist's finest will be led directly into a trap!" Said Ernest, lifting his head from the page and grinning at LeNina.

"Genius, Orion. Very well, The Cartographer's Guild will take point on this espionage work, whilst the rest of us focus on holding defences across the docks. May Tarvala bless you with speed and cunning."

LeNina nodded, then turned and exited the war room as it erupted in arguments and bickering.

## The Beach and Square

*Account written by Private Raston Bellar - Died of his injuries 2 days after the battle at Hellen Beach. 1049AT*

Awakened by the sound of screaming in the distance, I stood up from my crudely dug foxhole. Last night's dinner crumbs rolled off my breastplate as my eyes adjusted to the bright morning sun beating through the low fog of the defiant night.

My head snapped across to see the hole next to me, Corporal Greenhan was strapping his helmet on as his eyes scanned the coast. "They are here, boy! Time to earn your coin!" he shouted, grabbing his sword and heaving himself from his foxhole. I squinted again at the direction of the coast. Through the burning light of the furious dawn I could make out the faint silhouettes of ships. Many ships.

"Holy Tarvala! Look at 'em all!" I whispered to myself, scrambling out of the hole, and rushing after Greenhan.

I arrived at the assembly, with close to one thousand soldiers standing ready to defend the town from its second attack in as many days.

"You are contracted by the Byzorian Commerce Guild!" called a well-dressed man from the front of the assembly. I couldn't see over the ranks enough to get a good look at who it was, so I just closed my eyes in an attempt to feel the words. He continued.

"Your sole purpose is to prevent this landing party from taking hold in our land. They are to be repelled, back to their boats, and to ensure that Byzoria remains free from Royalist influence! Many of you have families here, loved ones, friends, businesses, and prospects! If we lose this fight, none of that will remain! NONE OF IT!" The crowd began to arouse, as the man's voice peaked in both volume and pitch, cracking with his final sentence.

"You WILL NOT lay down and surrender that which you have fought so hard to build. Today, we push them BACK INTO THE SEA! FOR BYZORIA!" The crowd erupted with echoes of his last words, as they raised weapons and charged the beach.

I travelled with the pack, unsure where I was running, or what I was heading toward. As I  craned my neck, in an effort to look at the battle before us, an arrow hurtled past where my head previously occupied, slamming into the person behind me and threw him under the stampede of feet rushing down the banks. I could hear the raging battle on the shore, the crashing waves broken by the cacophony of screams and clashing of steel. The people before me seperated and a royalist soldier stumbled at me, bloodied. I panicked and ran my sword into him as he turned away from me, he fell to the sand without a noise.

The battle was a total blur, I hacked, I slashed, I was taken to the ground and rescued by a passing Imperial. I fought for my life for what felt like an eternity. The battle seeming like a whitewash of gore and death. The call then came to push back up the hill toward the town, as Royalists had taken a position in town square. We killed the last few resisting soldiers, before sprinting up the hill toward the square.

My legs burned, liquid fire pouring in my veins as my limbs felt made of iron. I could feel the heat of the sun beginning to burn my skin as the stinging of cuts became more prominent than the lactic acid.

We reached the hill, and the square was secured heavily by Royalist soldiers. They had barricaded themselves in, and our soldiers were desperately hacking at the front line. I stood for a moment, before noticing an Imperial cart pulling up on the northern hillside. Sprinting to them in an offer of aid, I was handed a barrel. Without question, I took the heavy barrel and followed what looked to be Cartographer operatives to the northern barricades. They piled the barrels against the rubble wall, rushing back and forth until the cart was empty.

The Royalist soldiers began to force the entrance closed, as the Imperials began calling for reinforcements. I froze for a moment, wondering who best to help. That's when it went off. In the midst of the carnage, one of the Cartographers had been shot, falling on the barrels with a torch in their hand. The barrels erupted in an explosion that threw people like mud from a carriage wheel. I  landed hard on the ground, my ears ringing, my vision blurred, and the sky had turned black. As I sat up, I could see Imperial soldiers rushing into the squares new opening, and the entrance crumbling. I wiped the dirt from my eye, realising it was gone. My eye was gone! A panicked whimper escaped me as I wrenched myself to my feet and searched for my sword, the ringing in my ears so loud, I could barely hear the battle. Adrenaline my only ally.

The sky was stained a deep brown, the sun struggling to pierce the cloud of darkness cast over the conflict as smoke billowed from the square. Royalist flags waved on the beach, as the battle was declared a loss for the Imperials. It seems the plan was always for the Royalists to do this. They had muddied and bloodied our faces, this time.

## The Dry Docks

*Battle Report*

*Captain Salvatore's Landing Party*

Captain Salvatore's attack was launched after directions were received via correspondence from the Lead Fleet. A large contingent of heavily armoured soldiers were escorted to land via small craft, whilst the bulk of the force took small ships in an effort to reach the shore unopposed. As the landing party arrived, they were immediately met with resistance, the signal to the fleet was given via flaming arrow to hurry the approach.

Upon landing the ships, the army disembarked directly into the oncoming Imperial attack. Panic ensued, and during the initial rush, both sides took many casualties. The officers leading the ship attack were wounded, leading to the entire strategy to be somewhat abandoned - the soldiers leaving the docks to meet up with the initial landing party.

The Royalist force then pushed up the bank toward the dry docks - it's worth noting the Camdorian and Darkmoor forces in particular, forced their way into the dry docks and set it alight at this point - burning the supplies in there and doing huge damage to the dock itself. The Imperials responded in kind, with a counter attack in an attempt to preserve the other dry dock in that location, to which our troops held their ground and torched that dock as well.

The soldier who then took charge of the attack - believed to have been from the Chain, led the assault and captured a nearby Imperial lighthouse, disabling it, and then barricading it for defense. Sadly, this strategy was short lived, with the Imperial forces becoming desperate - destroying the lighthouse with improvised explosives, turning the fortification to rubble. This action meant that the Royalist ships were unable to navigate the rocks and deliver reinforcements safely.

Overall, the cost of the attack was significant, we lost close to 6,000 lives in the attack. The damage dealt to the Byzorian shipbuilding operation is significant, with close to 20 large ships destroyed, and the dry docks demolished or burned beyond utility.

An honourable mention to the healers (Supplied by Mastil Grove, Knights of Bran, and Darkmoor) who accompanied the Royalists beach landing. Whilst under arrow fire, taking heavy damage, and fending off Imperial skirmishers, they healed the front line and kept the assault long enough for the second front to establish.

Whilst this attack was underway, Captain Redflag was leading his heist on the Imperial vaults. word from his mission has not yet reached us, however the distraction of this attack has been perfectly executed.

*Report written by Kristos Pytree, Hardem Plains Navy*

## The Heist

*Account written by Captain Redflag - Hardem Plains First Naval fleet, Lead Skirmisher. Executed 15th First Harvest 1049AT*

We waited patiently in our boat, bobbing in silence as we watched the attack on the drydock unfold. 6 small rowboats sat in pitch black, the gentle sway of the Byzorian tide doing little to ease the tension on our soldiers. I looked back at the ship, moored off the shore some 50 meters. "I still don't think that's far enough" I muttered to myself. Looking at our target. I unfurled the scroll given to me by the scouts.

We were to attack the vaults as the drydock assault was in full swing. As soon as we saw fire, that was our signal to go. The vault would have minimal defenses, and would be filled with gold. We would load up the ship, and be out of the range of arrows before they even raised the alarm.

The dull glow of flames began to creep into the night sky, as the sound of battle echoed across the water. The men on all the boats looked to me to give the signal as I watched the battle. I felt an odd sense of foreboding hang over me, something was awry. As I watched the flames begin to dance over the water, and the town bells begin to sound, I lifted my hand in the air. A few light clunks of rowers readying up their oars sounded like deafening drums over the silence we had sat in for the last hour. I pointed my hand at the shore, and we began the approach.

The boats hit the beach as the front-men leapt overboard and heaved the boats upon the sand. The rest of us piled out and drew weapons. There were two guards, one of which was asleep. They were slain by archers as we approached without so much as a gurgle. We sprinted toward the southern face of the vaults, and looked for the stones marked by our scouts. Sure enough, there were markings on which stones were weakest, so we began to sledge our way in. It was at this point that the plan hit a snag. A unit of soldiers suddenly "appeared" on the streets in front of the vault. They rushed in to intercept the stragglers, and clashed with our forces. Immediately, the speed of the hammers doubled, as we began to see the darkness of the vaults inside. I dispatched a group of soldiers to help support those already engaged in the fight, as we started to smash down the lose bricks and pushed in a section of wall enough to enter. We were in.

As we entered the vaults, we lit torches, and noted several large, heavy locked chests, and many small ones. "Jackpot!" one of the men exclaimed, as I instructed the soldiers to lift and carry as much as we could muster out the way we came. No sooner had the words left my lips, a portcullis slammed over the hole we had just entered, trapping us within the vaults. Our men dropped the chest as we frantically searched for another exit. The vault doors were locked with a magical incantation - our mage immediately summoned to attempt and reverse the spell.

Outside we could hear the cries for help, the exclamation of the Imperials on our ship, the desperation of them trying to hold the position and remain in formation. As the mage began to chant, I instructed our soldiers to draw weapons and ready ourselves for a fight. But as he completed his spell - all doors on the vault opened with a pouring in of Imperial soldiers.

"Hold Your positions! Give no inch! We are leaving with these chests!" I screamed over the Imperial war cries. Immediately driving my sword into the neck of the first one to block my path. We pushed hard, fighting impossible numbers as we approached the beach and saw our ship alight in the water. The soldiers rallied in anger, cutting down Imperials twice their number. As our soldiers dumped the chests in the sand - turned and fought on, I remember thinking about our plan, the scout report, how we were supposed to be facing little opposition and a vault full of gold. It hit me. I took my sword hilt and smashed the lock on one of the chests with all my strength, it tumbled off and thudded into the sand as i placed a hand on the chest and hoisted it up to reveal... A single gold coin.

We had been outplayed, I stayed on the beach with the chosen few as those who were able boarded the boats and rowed out into the night. As the Imperials began to circle, the brave few fought them off. An Imperial twirled his blades in front of me, requesting I surrender lest he killed me right here. I spat at his feet and grinned. The soldier leaped forward, I darted, parried his strike and slashed his throat as I ducked under his second blow. I glanced back at the water, a single boat remained.

"You lot go, I'll hold them off." I called, gesturing to the boat.

"*We* will hold them." came the reply, my second officer Roland stepping closer to me, as the others quickly ran to get the boat into the water.

The Imperials surged forward, cutting Roland down quickly as I stepped backward toward the water. I pointed my blade at the Imperials as i opened my mouth to speak, a loud thud immediately took my senses. I awoke in shackles, sitting on the floor of a cell, the morning sun pouring through the barred window on the other side of the room.

I was instructed to write this account, so that our failure could serve as a lesson to Royalists attempting this type of mission. However, I stand by what was achieved in these last few days. Not only did we damage the building operations of Byzoria, but if the other attacks went well, we dealt a deft blow to the Byzorian economy. By the Court! I hope those attacks went well!