Battle of Newcastle

* King Dannis I Boyce is killed and Prince Kaegan is crowned King.
* Largest Royal Army still fighting surrenders
* Rodrick Ross is killed
* Newcastle is captured and secured
* The Defiance of Seawatch is relieved
* The War is considered over and won by the rebels with few small holdouts in the Southlands being the only opposition remaining

The **Battle of Newcastle** was one of the closing engagements of The War of The Bears between Prince Kaegan Boyce and his rebels and the remaining royalist forces under King Dannis I Boyce. It consisted of a devastating assault from all sides by the combined rebel armies fighting against the largest remaining royalist army. It effectively ended the war and the death of King Dannis during the Battle led to the crowning of Kaegan as King.

## History

### Background

Following the disastrous royalist defeat at the Battle of The Spear, allowing Prince Kaegan and his army of around 30,000 men (comprised of half of the original Lakelander force, men from House Brask and defectors from the royalist army) straight passage down the Spear toward Newcastle. Prince Kaegan marched onward and reached Hillhold, with the castle surrendering without a fight before marching across the Spear to the river island of Gateshead where the Lake Road enters into the city of Newcastle. Gateshead was a major fortification that protected the west and south of Newcastle from attack. Lord Dallen Kell, not wishing for a long siege and also not willing to die for a King he did not like, opened up the castle and allowed the rebel army to cross the smaller river and march into Gateshead to launch an assault on the Lake Gate across Kaegan's Bridge.

King Dannis had been preparing for the inevitable attack on Newcastle and had raised a new army of conscripts around 22,000 strong. He also had another 3,000 men still engaged in the Defiance of Seawatch which had been raging for the entire two years of fighting. The Siege of Arkridge was not proving to be anything advantageous so before the Rocke army could relieve the city, Dannis ordered the Ross and Tarbor army, around 30,000 strong to regroup at Newcastle to defend the city. Lord Rodrick Ross left a token garrison of 5,000 men under the command of Lord Karsan Rayne to defend Sunderly as he marched back to Newcastle. Lord Wyllam soon followed and marched north, ready to attack Newcastle from the southern side. Admiral Titus Dacien of the Free Cities Navy had destroyed most of the Royal Fleet and was actively blockading the city from the sea.

The Rebel commanders met before they launched the assault. They knew that the numbers were very close (roughly 50,000 defenders to 50,000 attackers) and the royalists had the defensive advantage. Kaegan knew that the people were tired of war and the mass conscription, so he hoped that if the rebel army begun the attack then the royal forces would begin to mutiny and the commonfolk would riot. They also decided to send Prince Byrron Boyce and a small team to try and break the Knighs out from Seawatch to help attack from the north in the hopes that the Rebels in Seawatch would be able to sweep through the north of the city as well.

### The Battle for the City

After several days of waiting and planning, the rebels launched the assault on the city walls and it was largely successful but they suffered heavy casualties and it was long fighting. By the end of the first day, the Lake Gate was captured by Kaegan's Forces and they had begun to sweep into the western side of the city. Wyllam's Forces had suffered greatly and had only just managed to breach the heavily defended south wall. They did capture some areas in the south of the city closest to the southern wall as well as the Summer Gate. Small riots of the commonfolk did happen but were quickly put down and mutineers were executed on the spot by the Southlander soldiers who were far more battle hardened and fanatical than the conscripted levies.

During the second day, and following a massive breach on the south and further advances in the west, the Royalist Force under Rodrick Ross decided to retreat deeper into the city, splitting in half as one half manned the outer walls of the Winter Keep while the other half remained in the city to slow the rebels down. Dannis was determined to not allow the city to fall and wanted the rebels to suffer heavily for each street they captured. In the evening of the second day, cavalry from House Carlisle which had raced down from the Battle for The Borderlands struck into the three-thousand Boyce soldiers which were still sieging Seawatch, who had been joined by Byrron and his men. The surviving Boycemen fled across the Winter Bridge and into the King's Gate. The Carlisle cavalry numbered around six thousand and around 300 battle hardened Knigh soldiers were ready to attack the north of the city by the next day with another 10,000 Carlisle Infantry set to join them by the next week.

The Royalist Forces still left in the city were attacked from three sides on the third day with the Carlisles and the Knighs storming through the lightly defended north and threatening to completely cut them off from the capital so after suffering heavy losses, the remaining royalists retreated into the walls of the Winter Keep and prepared for a last stand. Wyllam and his men captured few remaining royalist holdouts over the day and by nightfall, the city was in rebel hands but still threatened by the men in the Winter Keep.

### The Battle for The Winter Keep

It was decided that the Boycemen under Prince Kaegan, the Carlisles under Lord Daltas and the Knighs under Lord Godrick Knigh would siege and capture the Winter Keep while the remaining rebels held and secured the rest of the city. They knew that the battle for the Winter Keep would be the bloodiest and the hardest due to the near-impregnable nature of the castle. On the fourth day, the assault on the outer walls began with Sir Asten Knigh leading the charge through a breach in the walls and the small but fierce force of 10,000 rebels had begun to fight within the city walls against the remaining royalist soldiers. At some point during the fighting, two groups of men; one led by Sir Asten and the other by Lord Daltas and Prince Byrron, had breached into the Winter Keep itself and after fighting through the corridors and halls of the castle, the two groups soon met up and together made their way to the Great Hall.

The seven rebels entered the Great Hall and were met by five Boyce Guards, the Bronze Cloaks; Sir Marlon Barrin, Sir Axel Lanser and Sir Mace Rowen, and the King himself in full battle gear. The two sides began to fight with the Bronze Cloaks killing several Carlisle and Knigh soldiers before Sir Asten and Sir Marlon locked blades. Sir Asten cut through Sir Marlon very quickly and easily despite Sir Marlon being a renowned and skilled warrior while Lord Daltas and Prince Byrron duelled the two remaining Bronze Cloaks. By the time Lord Daltas and Byrron had killed the two knights, and the guards were killed by the Carlisle soldiers, Sir Asten had cut down King Dannis in their duel and the King was dead. Lord Rodrick Ross had also been killed during the fighting elsewhere on the city walls alongside his men and the banners of the rebel houses were raised over the Winter Keep, prompting the few royalists still fighting to surrender. Lord Margan Tarbor was the first Lord to surrender and pledge fealty to Kaegan when Kaegan entered the Great Hall to be declared King.