First Siege Of Aram

An account of the first siege of Aram.

*The First Siege of Aram is the first recorded instance of major, open warfare between the **City-State Of Aram** and the **Caldanian Empire**.*

*Regarded by many historians and military veterans as the bloodiest, most brutal battle fought in the history of both factions, it has been described as both the anvil on which heroes were forged and the last nail in the coffin of traditional morality.*

*Officially beginning in the month of Limestone, in the year 234, the First Siege started as a result of Caldanian forces attempting to subjugate the prosperous regions surrounding Aram in one fell strike, thus incorporating them into the Empire. The City-State of Aram and their technological prowess, were deemed a fitting addition to the dominion of the Empire. By the direct command of Emperor Markus Caldan Nyvius, the Coercitor Maximus, three full Legions were deployed in order to assure quick victory. Led by the seasoned Coercitor Sublime Dictus Marthiel, the Shahmoudi 9th, the Volanskian 3rd and the First and Only  **Soruddi** Bloodhounds were a well-rounded combat force, combining expertise in siege warfare with raw numbers and a ferocious fighting spirit.*

*The Aramite defenders, whilst not possessing a standing army, brought their own resources to bear. Most of the actual close combat was performed by a wildly mixed force of civilian volunteers, trained tacticians, guardsman and drafted serfs, led by Stratigos Inius Pemenos and his cadre of elite Hoplites, later dubbed as the First Assemblage. Leadership of this force would later fall to Taxiarhos Allax Arkannon.*

*Aram's strength also lay in other fields, with the fighting force being complemented by the engineers and alchemists of the Aram Arcaneum. They were able to strengthen the resolve and fighting power of the defenders with alchemical concontions and high-quality weaponry, both unknown to the Caldanian forces at the time.*

*Lastly, but not least, Aram's high society provided their personal retainers, most of whom were trained in subterfuge and spycraft, as a provisory cadre of scouts and saboteurs. Whilst loosely organised and ineffective, the Inferus became a pivotal organisation during later engagements.*

*The siege itself lasted approximately two weeks and may be divided up into two one-week intervals which take place in vastly different theatres of war. The first period, lasting from the beginning of the siege to the 11th of Limestone, took place at the outer wall of the Aramite defences, with the Caldanians attempting to destroy it in order to gain access to Aram's farmlands and the inner walls. The second period, ranging from the 12th of Limestone until the end of the siege, was marked by vicious combat inside what is referred to as the Deadlands, ending with the Shahmoudi 9th's assault on the inner walls and the subsequent retreat of the Caldanian forces.*

## **Timeline Of The First Siege Of Aram**

### **6th Limestone, 234**

* Caldanian forces arrive outside the outer walls and build their first encampments.

* The first Aramite diplomat delegation is sent to discuss peace terms. Negotiations fail and the diplomats are allowed to return.

### **7th Limestone, 234**

* The first probing attack by the Volanskian 3rd, utilising ballistae to goad Aram into revealing any anti-siege weaponry. Aramite forces do not fall for the ruse, but lose many of their untrained infantry forces.

### **8th Limestone, 234**

* Arrival of the Soruddi 1st and Only Rustici host, bringing the legion to full strength after rejoining the Soruddi 1st Milites. The construction of siege towers and trebuchets begin.

### **9th Limestone, 234**

* Construction continues. Combat engineers and scouts of the Shahmoudi 9th are dispatched towards the nearby Harriers Wake Mountains in order to probe for weaknesses. Work begins to reroute the source of the Yearling River towards the outer wall area.

### **10th Limestone, 234**

* First actual attack by the combined legions, using the newly constructed trebuchets and two siege towers. Aramite forces deploy alchemical incendiary weapons for the first time, rendering one of the siege towers inoperable. The second, manned by the Soruddi 1st Milites, arrives at the outer wall before succumbing to the fire.

* Aram deploys their Hoplites for the first time in the battle, as vicious fighting erupts on the top of the outer wall. The leader of the Hoplite squad, Taxiarhos Allax Arkannon, is challenged to personal combat by Soteris Olearius, champion of the Soruddi 1st Milites. Allax wins the engagement and despite considerable losses on the Aramites side, the demoralised remnants of the Soruddi are crushed and hung from the outer wall as a warning.

### **11th Limestone, 234**

* A planned second attack is abandoned due to the now-demoralised Rustici causing internal strife, with a number of them deserting. The first arms of the Yearling River are successfully rerouted towards Aramite farmland.

* Icelos Tomaras, leader of an Aramite scout company, succeeds in ambushing a Caldanian scouting party. Icelos, through masterful oratory skills, manages to glean information from the scouts. Receiving news of the impending rerouting of the Yearling River, he moves to warn the Aramite council.

* Independent forces from **The Grand Fleet** arrive under the cover of night, under the leadership of Kipp 'Sharkbait' Merton.

### **12th Limestone, 234**

* Caldanian forces re-establish stability in the Soruddi camps and conduct repairs of their siege engines. Meanwhile, the Yearling River is completely rerouted into the farmlands, flooding them and causing most of the inhabitants to retreat towards the inner walls. Large parts of the Aramite militia leave the outer wall, unauthorised, in order to save their homesteads.

* Icelos Tomaras arrives at the Aramite council, informing them of the Caldanian engineers on the Harriers Wake mountains. To his frustration, the council declares the farming areas lost and begins to fortify the newly created swamplands. Magister Doloros lobbies for the use of extreme measures, but is repelled on ethical grounds.

### **13th Limestone, 234**

* After considerable losses, the Caldanian forces successfully breach the outer wall, committing all three legions to the effort. They then proceed to spill into the Aramite swamplands. Work begins to build dry paths through the swamp, in order to transport siege equipment towards the inner walls. The local farmers are given the opportunity to flee, or to serve as camp followers on the Caldanian side.

* Magister Doloros ignores the council's sanction and releases leprosy-infected livestock into the Caldanian ranks. Infected pigs were released into the newly christened 'Deadlands', in the hopes that they would carry their deadly payload to places where easy food was to be found, namely Caldanian campsites. The 'Dirge' was the name given to this disease by the Caldanians.

* Following public uproar over his unethical choices, Magister Doloros attempts to flee Aram by ship, along with a few retainers.

* The Grand Fleet forces nearby manage to board her ship, taking the Magister as a hostage and adding her ship, the 'Scholar's Ascension', to their fleet. The Magister informs them of the current siege situation on land, prompting the Seabound to prepare squads of raiders.

### **14th Limestone, 234**

* The Caldanian forces become aware of the Dirge and attempt to reduce the rate of infection through burning their dead. One third of the remaining Caldanian forces, split between the legions, are infected by the Dirge and succumb to the traps hastily prepared by the retreating Aramite forces. A new base-camp is hastily established inside the Deadlands, halfway to the inner walls.

* The Inferus are deployed for the first time to attempt further incendiary attacks to disrupt the transport of the incoming siege equipment, but are thwarted, with minimal casualties on the Caldanian side.

* The Seabound raiders, originally tasked with looting remaining homesteads and abandoned Aramite posts, meet the last inhabitants who were able to hide from Caldanian forces and the Dirge alike. Their leader, John Farmer, petitions to join the Grand Fleet in exchange for escape, to which the Seabound raiders accept. The newly bolstered Seabound ranks proceed to raid several patrols, utilising the weakness of the remaining forces, earning Captain Kipp Merton the nickname of 'The Vulture Of Aram'.

### **16th Limestone, 234**

* The Caldanian forces enter catapult range after a slow trudge through the swamplands and begin to fortify the area, to prepare for the arrival of their siege engines. The dispatched Caldanian engineers rejoin the main force after descending from the Harriers Wake mountains. Meanwhile, the Dirge quickly becomes more virulent, causing many more infections and deaths. The Caldanian forces are slowed as the disease brings weakness to their bones.

* Aram attempts to slow the Caldanians down as much as possible, allowing the Dirge to do its grisly work, by sending envoys in order to negotiate for a fake surrender. The Caldanian forces agree to meet on the following day, their soldiers tired and glad about the coming reprieve.

### **17th Limestone, 234**

* Aram dispatches a cadre of diplomats, with a Hoplite guard. Negotiations continue well into the night. Before signing the papers, the accompanying Hoplites, on order of the council, attempt to kill the Caldanian commander, Dictus Marthiel, in order to shatter the Caldanian military leadership. Dictus Marthiel is gravely wounded, but survives, with the Aramite diplomats and Hoplites being slain in the melee.

* The Caldanian forces, angered by this betrayal, finish moving their siege equipment and start to catapult the bodies of those afflicted with the Dirge over the inner well, causing mass panic inside the city.

### **18th Limestone, 234**

* The Aramite forces attempt a desperate sally in an effort to destroy the remaining siege towers, using the remaining Hoplites and many untrained serfs. Using alchemical inhalants, the small force is whipped up into a frenzied rage.

* The Caldanian siege towers advance while the catapults pepper the inner wall with debris. With the remaining Soruddi finding their equals in berserk frenzy and the Volanskians taking the brunt of the Aramites remaining supply of alchemical fire, the siege towers were manned by the Shahmoudi 9th in a last effort to breach the walls. To their misfortune, the siege towers collapse into wrecks just before they reach the wall.

### **19th Limestone, 234**

* After midnight the Shahmoudi 9th, frustrated by their failure, attempt to climb the inner wall which had been badly damaged from the preceding catapult fire, using only their hands. Without ladders, or siege equipment to mark their position, they succeed with sheer tenacity and pour into Aram.

* While not many able combatants were left inside the city walls, the soldiers and citizens of Aram fight on their home soil. After a small campaign of ambushes, attempted poisonings and dirtier tactics and continued through the whole day, the civilian populace, aided by the remnants of the Inferus, manage to beat back three-fourths of the legionnaries who managed to surpass the wall.

### **20th Limestone, 234**

* The last survivors of the Shahmoudi 9th who managed to enter the city attempt to flee, managing to make it back to the wall. Here, they are cornered by Stratigos Inius Pemenos, who had orchestrated the initial defence of the city. Faced with the choice between execution or surrender, Legionnaire Pellio Albinius charged the Stratigos and his guards, distracting them long enough to allow the rest of the survivors to escape.

* Whilst the Caldanian attackers had finally been defeated, the city faced the new threat of infection. The Dirge had spread throughout the city, taking its first lives rapidly, as the Aramite resources and manpower needed to run hospitals and clinics were severely drained.

* John Farmer, knowing the well-developed sense of self-preservation the Aramites possessed, proposed to ransom the captured Magister in return for exorbitant sums of money. The Aramites, again faced with an immense threat, agreed and delivered gold, gems and art gathered from rich citizens into the waiting arms of the Seabound. This money would later go on to commission the 'King's Ransom', one of the current flagships of the Grand Fleet. Magister Doloros, now in the hands of the Aramites, was forced to produce the cure to the Dirge. Afterwards, he was never heard from again.