Battle of the Broken Bell

"*Honor. What do you know about honor. You, who has never faced true fear. Learn what honor is before pretending you are a true warrior. Know this, before you step onto this thin red path, where no misstep is allowed, a path that only ends when your legs can no longer support you... and your heart stops beating. A path where sadness goes along with pain, and where glory, is the color of blood. This narrow path goes only one way; a way covered with enemies, and brothers... and it will take you, without any shame, into the hands of death. For the name you were given, and for your descendants... for honor.﻿*"
—Lady Idril to Sir Galahad

**The Battle of the Broken Bell** was a battle during To Unseat a Conqueror. The battle, while inconclusive, was notable for being the first major appearance of Charun the Forgotten and marked the death of Lady Idril; both of these occurrences proved to be a major turning point in the war that compelled the allied coalition force lead by the Eternal Companions to react accordingly to the threat that Charun imposed upon Torrance.

## History

Oar's Rest had long been a city shared between Entsteig and Torrance, a junction of merchants and trading routes. Since the fall of Torrance following the War of the Black King, Entsteig took over full control of the city, using it as an official outpost and for trade and geopolitical gain. This expansion from Entsteig was done discretely and with swift transition. By 1272, most of the denizens of Oar's Rest hailed from the kingdom of Entsteig.

### ***Prelude***

Oar's Rest became a long-term staging point and safe haven for the alliance coalition force during To Unseat a Conqeror; In her husband's absence, Lady Idril of House Braden made it her duty to marshal the forces of the surrounding region and to utilize the Waypoint through Carlo, a gifted mage, for mobility. Concurrently, Lady Idril used the Waypoint on several occasions to briefly return to the Skovos Isles in an attempt to convince her peers to join her in the war.

To win the trust of the mayor and the citizens of Oar's Rest, Idril shared the wealth of her family to sustain her troops. Many of the denizens came to favor and support her in return for her financial support of the city, such as providing food and resources for the poor. Due to her popularity during the duration of the war Lady Idril was highly regarded as an idol within the city as many came to know her personally within the town hall and market place.

Meanwhile, The Baroness had long avoided Oar's Rest due to their steady increase in able bodied defenders as well as their impenetrable holy magic that surrounded and protected the town through the use of ancient tomes. The ancient tomes, passed down from priests through generations, were pivotal at preventing The Baroness and her pawns from entering. Charun, having recently emerged into Sanctuary, saw fit to destroy the ancient tomes as well as the Waypoint, alas the demon would conqueror the town.

### ***Preparation and Planning***

Several days before the attack, Lady Idril and several veterans of House Braden, including Captain Mordred, marshaled the citizens of Oar's Rest to form a disciplined militia. Novice warriors were drafted and trained into a brigade in order to prepare for a potential assault from The Baroness' forces. Unbeknownst to the denizens of Oar's Rest was of Charun's emergence into Sanctuary.

On April 20th, scouts reported the imminent threat of The Baroness and her forces. This news allowed for the Entsteig warriors and the town's militia to prepare the defenses of the city by constructing obstacles and ten-foot walls. Nearby, Khardan and his raiding party were alerted by House Braden for reinforcements to which he answered their summon. The faction of the Eternal Companions lead by Khardan arrived on the eve of battle to bolster the defenses and boost morale.

Meanwhile, Charun ordered The Baroness to launch an assault on the town, while he planned to evade detection and have the Acolyte of Pain lend external support during the fight. Charun's plan to catch his belligerents off guard involved him entering the town discretely to destroy the Waypoint and prevent an escape whilst his minions caused a diversion.

On April 21st, Charun entered the town undetected during the hour of the wolf, where he prowled into the town's church - located in front of the waypoint in the center of town - and killed the priest and his acolytes, all whilst burning the ancient tomes to ash. Meanwhile, The Baroness and her forces mustered on the outskirts of the town waiting for the proper signal from Charun. The demonic overlord saw fit to climb to the top of the bell tower and use his demonic strength to rip the massive bell from the tower and throw it down upon the waypoint, destroying it but alerting the entire town in the process.

### ***The Battle***

Dawn arrived shortly after Charun's plan to destroy the waypoint and ancient tomes was executed. The Baroness unleashed her demonic host, along with several undead leading the vanguard, thus commenced the Battle of the Broken Bell. Charun's efforts drove shock and confusion into the town's denizens, causing chaos among the defense force of the city. Undead breached the wall and gates unhindered for a short time to break through while most of Oar's Rest focused their attention on the demonic overlord within the church. Charun's fight against the wave of defenders stalled time as the Baroness and the demonic horde began pouring through an opening of the gate en masse.

Lady Idril distinguished much of the chaos among her soldiers within the courtyard by standing upon a fountain ledge and rallying the warriors with a quick speech. She then lead a vanguard, with her spear and shield, alongside Captain Mordred against the oncoming undead that had breached the city gate. Elsewhere, Sir Galahad and a faction of Entsteig soldiers attempted to reestablish the defenses by hunting down any of the minions that had spread into the city. Sir Noah Borden, eager to bolster defenses, lead the militia archers to the walls to fire upon the perpetrators outside the city.

Charun found easy effort against the wave of warriors who were brave yet foolish enough to cross him. However, Khardan was among the few to prove a challenge against the demonic overlord as the two shared a very brief fight; his brutality forced Charun to fall back. Khardan's victory was short lived when The Baroness, as well as the rest of the Midnight Order, arrived to aid Charun against Eternal Companions until they retreated. Lady Idril was the only commander left that still proved a threat against the demonic forces, for she and the Knights of Braden prevailed against the waves of the demonic horde the flooded through the breached gate.

Khardan made great effort to begin an evacuating of Oar's Rest when he realized that the assailants were entering the city. He and the Eternal Companions began escorting civilian life to a safety zone beyond the courtyard as well as established order among the panicky masses. The city militia, lead by Sir Noah and a faction of Ensteig soldiers, were forced to retreat from the walls as the defenses became overrun by the undead. Meanwhile during the battle, Carlo the Summoner prepared a powerful spell that would allow any of the denizens too injured to retreat to teleport away outside the city. Overall, minimal civilian causalities occurred during the battle thanks to defense of the Knights of Braden.

There were screams throughout the city, along with burning houses and fresh cadavers; as bedlam took over the city many of the allied factions began to separate and retreat from the city shortly after Khardan lead the civilians to safety. While this occurred, Lady Idril refused to withdraw from the fight and ordered a recently injured Mordred to retreat with the Eternal Companions and send word to her husband; Mordred was reluctant to abandoned her, as he had swore an oath to Maxmillian to protect her, but obey her command to leave anyway. Shortly after, Mordred along with several other injured soldiers rendezvoused with Carlo the Summoner who used his magic to teleport them away to safety a short distance away outside the city.

Seeking to end the battle swiftly, Charun and the Midnight Order rallied their forces together to crush the unhindered Knights of Braden. Lady Idril, attempting to buy time for her allies to escape to safety and for Carlo to utilize his magic to help the injured, ordered her vanguard to make a last stand in the courtyard. Charun and his final assault proved devastating against the Knights of Braden, resulting in the death of Lady Idril and all her soldiers who stayed by her side. Many of the fleeing civilians as well as the warriors of the coalition force took heed of her sacrifice as they fled the city.

### ***The Aftermath***

"*Athulua, Kethryes, rulers of the seasons and winds. Hefaetrus, god of fire and rebirth. Hear my words: bring me to the gates of the High Heavens if I am worthy, let the valkyries summon me... and Karcheus, watch over my daughter. I will wait for her to join me someday.*"
—Lady Idril's last words.
Charun's victory over Oar's Rest was short lived, as he soon faced a new threat. Moments after her defeat at the hands of the demonic overlord, Lady Idril managed to feign her death and later crawl away into an abandoned building. Charun flung his burning sword into the courtyard's fountain that caused a burst of flame and the water to turn to blood. Khardan, Carlo, Galahad and the rest of the retreated denizens bared witness to The Baroness use the fountain's blood to reanimate the fresh corpses of the city to assimilate into her horde. Lady Idril escaped the fate of reanimation before succumbing to her wounds, her death creating a valkyrie form from the High Heavens.

Charun and his horde bared witness to Idril's metamorphosis into the auric valkyrie. Panic ensued among Charun's minions as they began to flee the city. The Midnight Order, only able to assimilate a portion of the recently deceased, fled from the city as well. Charun stood his ground however, determined to quickly elimnate the arival of Idril's valkyrie, but was thwarted away from the city when the holy light of the High Heavens shined down upon the ruined town. The denizens outside the city bared witness to this phenomenon, speculating that the valkyrie was an angel sent from the High Heavens to cast out the demonic overlord.

Idril's valkyrie that had forced out Charun and the Midnight Order vanished after a short duration and the holy light that came from the sky ceased. In the hours after the battle had ended the denizens of Oar's Rest reclaimed the the abandoned city. The demonic host meanwhile traveled south to recuperate, alas Charun's brief victory over Oar's Rest proved pivotal at changing the tide of the war in his favor as his enemies now remained divided and their corpses assimilated under his thrall.

Khardan and the Eternal Companions that survived made haste as traveling south to warn the Rogue Monastery.