Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 41 to 59 of 59

Thread: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 8!)

  1. #41

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (On Hiatus!)

    Notes:
    Extra-long chapter.
    The AAR was started with Kingdoms 1.4, since 1.5 I've been getting errors but I think I got it now. So let's finish this thing!

    --Chapter 15: The Next Board--

    Of course things were more complicated than that in the real world.



    In his mind, Casimir envisioned riding at the head of the army with Lord Juvage at his side to provide advice. The reality was something else again. While King Tautvilas fully intended Casimir to take part in the campaigns, he was not about to send a man newly come of age alone to the north. King Tautvilas and Juvage were brothers by decree and law but not blood, and certainly not related to Casimir. Casimir was the only surviving male of the official royal, bloodline. Where he might have expected to become King in some lands, in Lithuania the crown passed to Tautvilas as the eldest son, regardless of blood. It bothered Casimir sometimes but as Juvage had pointed out when he'd asked him about it years ago, it forced everyone to earn their way resulting in better kings--at least in theory.

    Theory. In practice Juvage had been sent with Skirgaila to the southwest while a re-organization began to implement the new plans for expansion. It meant he sat in a fort south of Marienburg in the snow. At peace with the Poles, it had meant patrolling the same stretch of border week after week. The soft underbelly of the realm was vulnerable, especially with the mighty citadel of the Poles unconquered. For now the Lithuanians could only hope to expand elsewhere and prepare for the day the peace would end.

    To that end, more money was needed even Casimir understood the most vital needs of the state were men and money. Juvage had been sent across the sea to Gotland and the coastal towns resisting the Danes and Norwegians. Desperate for some excitement--Skirgaila spent a lot of time with the local women and wine in the name of allowing Casimir to "practice his leadership"--Casimir eagerly broke the seal on Juvage's latest letter.



    After resupplying at Visby, we made landfall not far from the town of Kalmar and began to exercise our rule over the outlying regions with some success. From local informents I gathered that the petty thane of Kalmar, one Gustav, a cavalry man, had already beat back two attempts by the Danes to force the issue of soveriegnty.



    Gustav's forces were well balanced but his resources were limited and he was forced to draft peasants when we arrived. I knew that the Bajorijia would easily overwhelm him once we reached the walls--it was getting inside that would prove the problem.



    I had constructed a great deal of siege equipment including towers for the Bajorijia. It would do no good to send them up the ladders and I wanted them fresh when they reached the walls.



    As we began the assualt, Gustav's archers resisted us ferociously setting their arrows alight. Our only ram caught fire to my surprise. It was a minor set back only as I'd been counting on the towers but it was not a good omen to begin with.



    To my surprise, Gustav made an error in judgment or he let his men get away from him. The peasants rushed out the door intend on savaging the crew with the ram--needless to say they did not last long.



    The Samogitians as always demanded to go up the ladders to be the first to meet the enemy on the walls.




    The defenders fought hard, but we were assaulting the wall all along the line, and I'd made sure the assault came in places where our units could support each other.



    After winning the walls the Bajorijia led the assault deeper into Kalmar.




    In the end, Gustav took refuge in the square and we had to rush him... I led the charge but don't tell your mother. She always worries about me for all that she's known me since your father spoke so well of me.



    It was over quickly, and we'd gained our first territory in Gotland. Because I had already been seizing the land while we laid siege to Kalmar itself, I was able to reorganize my forces and headed north with a detachment while the rest secured Kalmar....

    He was interrupted then, Skirgaila entered and tossed a sealed letter to him.



    "I don't think you'll be staying here much longer. I rather envy you," he said without real rancor. He leaned against the tent pole an idly played with his riding gloves as he eyed Casimir. Skirgaila had gotten used to the easier life of patrol and he was quite content not to be in near constant battle.

    Casimir opened this letter with slightly shaking fingers breaking the seal and quickly scanned the contents.

    "I'll order your bodyguard to move out," Skirgaila grinned at him. "Enjoy yourself up there, but when you get back from smacking around some noisy rebels, you'll be in the real war."

    "But the Poles..."

    "If not them then the Republic or the Danes. I hear the Prince of Novgorod is getting a little nervous at the pace of our expansion and the Danes won't take kindly to our claims in Gotland however much Juvage gets the country behind him."

    "I understand," Casimir said with a stiff nodd of his head. "But action is action."

    "Don't get your back up," Skirgaila said sounding aggrieved. "If you learned nothing from me learn this: peace never lasts. Not now, not here."



    That was how Casimir found himself some months later staring out at the Gulf of Riga. It was beautiful day of course, though it wouldn't last much longer as they had spent most of the summer gathering enough troops to take Abo and make it stick. Gentle waves were lapping at the shoreline and he essayed a smile.

    "I hear you're going alone," a warm voice purred in his ear. He smiled.

    "I am, the news came with the latest courier." He half turned as a young woman with very dark hair slid up behind him he slid an arm around her waist. It was semi-scandalous for them to be that way but he didn't care. "Go ahead Tove, I know you want to say it."

    "I told you," she smiled. "I was right again."

    "You did," he agreed amiably. "You are." He felt her hand on his arm flex for a moment. She liked to twitch him and was always a little put out if she didn't.



    He thought back to his arrival in Riga. He'd gathered troops from the country-side on his way north while more soldiers had come from Windau, the fief Tautvilas owned before he ascended to the crown. To his surprise the soldiers had been lead by his daughter Tove. As Tautvilaus daughter, she was styled a princess, but she was no blood of Mindaugas and he was certainly glad of it.



    As Riga fell under the personal jurisdiction of her family, she'd come along not only to lead the soldiers but to administer the region for some time before returning home. In this way she would cycle through her father's holdings making sure everyone remembered who was in charge--and who was the new king. He'd been a bit unsure of himself when he'd been introduced to her, but he quickly discovered that she was far more interested in practical matters than simpering behind her hand and had a spirit of fierceness that fascinated him and he'd found himself spending more and more time with Tove, whether it be to discuss provisioning the troops, or inspecting the farms and villages around Riga itself.

    He'd been afraid to admit to himself but he had fallen in love with her.

    "Do you know what other news the courier brought?"

    "You obviously do, so why don't you tell me."

    "Your friend Lord Juvage has had incredible success in Gotland and Svealand.... but it's gotten us in trouble."

    "The Danes."



    "None other," Tove agreed.

    "How did it happen Tove, and why am I still to head to Abo?"

    "Are you complaining Casimir?" she sounded amused. She was very cool headed, one of the things that he found beguiling about her.

    "Tove..."

    "Right. Sorry," she said. She spoke in a more normal tone now, sounding actually contrite. "It's very simple, Juvage has set up the beginnings of a fortress at Skara to guard against the Norwegians. They were forcibly removed from Albion and their new King needs some successes or he will be in trouble. By the way, it seems Juvage was stunning in his conquest of Skara...."



    "....he charged the enemy lines almost alone and slaughtered hundreds of them. As a result?"



    "A delegation from the Hansa, they wish to located the league headquarters in Visby."

    "Tove, that's wonderful! The money--" He said turning to face her. He grabbed her upper arms.

    "Yes, I know," she said smiling at him. "They sent a huge regard-gift for allowing them to base themselves with us and that means..."

    "We can afford to--but I am to leave."

    "Before you go. It has to be now."

    "But Tove--"

    "No. I won't allow it," she said staring at him in that intense way of hers. "If I must lose you, let it be as a widow and not a maid."



    The preparations had been made, and everything went perfectly though he knew he'd angered many people by having it so quickly. But Tove was right. If they had to part let it be as husband and wife.

    Due to their alliance with the Republic, regular correspondence could be sent to Abo and he began to wait for her letters as they came with the supply ships.



    My Dearest love,

    I hope this letter finds you well. I read your last, and I was somewhat distressed to find that little news makes it up to to you. Let me remedy that as well I can:


    To begin, news of the Hansa siding with us stunned the norther world. The King of England raised tarrifs, the Flemish lords apparently got into some sort of fight with him about it which actually forced more trade our way. It was said that the Catholic Pope tore his robes and burned one of his hats, which amused the council greatly when the messenger recounted it! Though I don't quite understand the details.

    More seriously, while the Emperor is our ally and we are safe from Crusade for the moment, the news has caused the Danes and Norwegians to turn their attention to us. Though not at war, we believe they are attempting to sabotage the League.




    In response to norse aggression, your friend Juvage has laid siege to the castle of Hassleholm in southern Gotland. I have not a mind for complex military matters but I can follow his plan well enough, if he wins there he will be able to secure Gotland against the Danes and for us.

    In the south, I hear that lord Edivydas has laid siege to Zhytomyr to provide cover for my father and brother. They are heading south to the old heartland with the aid of the Republic. Kiev! Think of it my dearest, Kiev in our hands! The thought fills my mind with delight....




    It must be lonely to be up north when so much else is occuring but I know you will soon triumph. Out nation is growing so strong! Though I must say I was moved to learn about the conditions you are enduring now. There is little I can do to ease the burden for you save to remind you that I await your return. I know when next we meet you will be crowned with victory.

    Until then I remain, your wife,
    Tove

    As Casimir finished reading the letter from his new wife, a wife he had only seen a few days after marrying, he went outside his tent to survey the camp. It was well ordered as Juvage taught him. Something his father had always done, believing organization and discipline was the key to victory even more than courage though of course his father had shown his mettle in the battle that brought Riga under their banner.



    Above him the northern lights were sparkling like the Gods' own fires and he smiled at the omen. They were anticipating a good show. Well he'd give it to them but not tomorrow or even the day after. He hoped he'd be able to finish here soon, not just to return to Tove for a while but also to take part in the expansion. Lithuania was a strong state, large and powerful a country on the rise and following the true heart and soul she had always possessed with a strong arm. He could see that in the armored men surrounding him, a strong army, one of the largest ones the county had put into the field but not the only one.Still, something inside him wondered: they were surrounded by the Christians, the reaction to the Hanseatic League had shown that. One day, would Lithuanian to be one of them? Was that the way to true strength? Casimir shook his head to banish the thoughts but they continud to worm away at him completing his circuit of the camp when he went back to his tent....

    End Chapter 15

    Last edited by SSJPabs; October 12, 2008 at 06:42 AM.

  2. #42

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated October 12!)

    Notes: I saw Mongol this summer....

    --Chapter 16: The Scions--


    The day broke hazy, but that was burning away in the morning light as Grand Duke of Lithuania and his son Butvydas crossed the Irpin River.




    They had been almost the last to cross the river by their own order. On the other side lay the mighty force of arms they'd gathered for the momentous task that the Lithuanians had dreamed of for a lifetime, the conquest of Kiev.



    Spear militia, Tartar Lancers, Dismounted Bajorija, crossbowmen from Latvia. All were present this day on the banks on the river forming a route along which they rode, resplendent in their mail armor. The sun burned through the last of the haze now, catching the tips of their spears and turning them to points of flame.



    All was silent as they passed, and then the cheers went up behind them. Butvydas looked back for a moment and saw their troops raising their weapons jubilantly. The display of confidence in his father and himself made him smile viciously giving view to the anger inside of him. Whatever his father hoped, he knew only one outcome could come of this meeting but Lithuania could afford to be magnanimous.



    Both men and their retinues slowly rode through the cheering ranks of the army but they would largely be left behind today. Their destination was a tent farther out on the rolling plain. It was a pretty thing, red and white that his father had ordered pitched the following day. It was small, not something that would allow more than half a score men and that barely, but there was no intent to.



    About fifty feet from the tent, his father reigned up and raised his hand. Butvydas, his father and the rest of their bodyguards dismounted. Butvydas handed the reigns of his mount to one of the soldiers.

    "Captain, I want you to keep a close eye out. We have agreed to this but let vigilance be your watchword. And keep your sword at the ready."

    "It will be as you say Prince," the man replied. Butvydas nodded and turned to go but the soldier spoke again. "Your father and Duke Mindaugas, under them Lithuania is stronger and safer than ever. We won't let that go easily."

    "Good, but remember--if Lithuania is strong and safe now, that will be a candle besides a bonfire when it is my turn."

    With a bark of a laughter Butvydas felt his face settling into its accustomed grim lines as he hurried to catch up to his father. Beyond the tent he could see the cloud of dust raised by the men they were to meet.



    "Look father," he said. "The Khan approaches"

    His father paused and shaded his eyes for a moment. Butvydas felt a little troubled, his father was growng old no doubt and while he anticipated his rule he didn't want his father to die either. The war with the Horde had aged him before his time and he hated them for it.

    "He is not alone father, be wary," Butvydas cautioned.

    "Neither am I," Tautvilas said calmly.

    Butvydas felt a wave of anger cresting over him at this change but beat it back ferociously. He'd been much more hot-headed while younger but had learned to keep his anger in check with anger at giving in to anger. It was draining, but it was the only way.



    Behind the Khan and the other with him both his body-guards and his archers stopped and waiting well out of bowshot of the tenth. Butvydas calculated that if they attacked their own horsemen would be able to arrive before more than a double volley of arrows was launched. He watched them slowly walk towards them dressed in lamellar armor though instead of the pointed Mongol hat he wore a turban.

    Has he converted to Islam then? Butvydas wondered. Many of the horde were doing just that he had heard.

    "Hail, Khan Ghazatai," Tautvilas called when the Khan arrived at the tent. "Who is your aid?"

    "Greetings, Grand Duke of Lithuania," Ghazatai responded. "I see you have brought your son as we agreed."

    Butvydas nodded carefully.

    "This is my youngest son, Khushan. Young but capable as you may yet see."

    "I would hope it does not come to that," Tautvilas said diplomatically.

    "Men often hope," Ghazatai said with a shrug. "Shall we begin?"

    "Of course," Tautvilas answered. Butvydas eyed the youth behind the Khan and to his surprised found Khushan eyeing him. He was well built but a youth. If he chanced to be Khan one day he might be formidable and if so it would likely fall to Butvydas to respond.

    In side the tent was largely empty but for a table with a map of the region on it. It was demarcted in pale gold for the Horde, and the darkblue with red borders showing the Lithuanian lands.

    "Would you care for--" Tautvilas began.

    "Grand Duke," Ghazatai broke in to the pleasantry. "It has been discussed. State your request."

    "Very well," Tautvilas shrugged. "We are across the Irpin. We are laying siege to L'vov and Zyhtomyr. You cannot reinforce them in time. The Republic bears down on you from the north. You must surrender and become our vassal or be reduced to the Crimea."

    "As I said, Duke, it has been discussed among us. The answer has been decided already and it cannot be."

    "Why force bloodshed?" Tautvilas demanded. Butvydas could tell he was becoming angry, angry at the thought of war which puzzeled him. Anger was well and good, but warfare was a part of life, was life. War to strengthen the arm, to guard the heartland. Anything else was to be death.

    "Because life under the Lithuanian yoke will not be life. To be no better than the Tartars of the Volga? To be your servants? It cannot be."

    "But we would forgo taking direct dominion, you would govern yourselves, but you would fight for us."

    "It would kill us to be slaves," Ghazatai answered. "This is the eternal answer, under the sky."

    "Then why this meeting?" Butvydas snarled. "Why waste our time?"

    "There is always time to talk, my son," Tautvilas began.

    "No father! Enough!" Butvydas snarled. "He is nothing, not anymore. All his pride and nobility is a waste of time. I can do what should have been done and spare more bloodshead." He took a step toward the Khan and then Khushan drew his sword stepping in front of his father. They faced off, sons of great men, and then Butvydas drew his own blade.

    "Hold my son!" Tautvilas snarled. The snap in his voice brought him up.

    "Father he has used this to stall for time, to insult the honor and mercy of Lithuania! He never intended to parley."

    "No my son, if there must be battle then let it come. But this would not be war. This would be murder."

    "They deserve nothing else but murder for what they did, what their people have done! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't strike him down father!"

    Ghazatai said nothing but he watched Tautvilas.



    "Because They were mighty once," Tautvilas said. "Invincible. Of a kind we should not dare raise our hands against. For that, for what they did, we will not kill them in this tent, in a place where we have declared the peace of the Gods. We will beat them in war."

    "Prince Butvdas, you see yourself, honor is a powerful thing and the things you wish to do in its service may rebound against you." Ghazatai said calmly. "Put up Khushan, there will be no bloodshed. Here." Reluctantly Khushan sheathed his sword. "Khushan wait outside," Ghazatai ordered.

    "Go with him," Tautvilas added. "But stand by the door and do no violence."

    Butvydas exited the tent with the Mongol boy who eyed him.

    "It won't be so easy with me," he warned the boy.

    "We will surely find out soon," Khushan replied.

    He moved a few paces back and out of the earshot of the tent so only Butvydas heard what passed between his father and the Khan next.

    "Grand Duke, I ask only one thing. That I die under the Sky God."

    "You wear a turban. Do you not profess Allah?"

    "Only to rule, Grand Duke," Ghazatai replied. "My soul belongs to the sky. So you see, half my people already damn me."

    "Then it will be as you wish."

    Ghazatai laughed hollowly he knew the outcome as well as anyone.



    "Father, why is Khushan commanding?" Butvydas wondered.

    "He chose to stay I believe," Tautvilas replied. "His father is a noble ruler but the spirit of the Horde lives on in his son now. It would be much the same were out places switched."

    "Let me kill Khushan father. You may slay the Khan but let me educate that boy before he dies."

    v.

    "My son," Tautvilas said, "So let it be--but do not lose yourself in hatred, emotion clouds judgment, and it is judgment that has led Lithuania to this pass. Remember that."

    Butvydas was left behind as Tautvilas rode closer to the walls of the city and to the cheers of the army.



    They had assembled a mighty force for this and now all was in readiness at last. His father rode to the head of the army, just out of bowshot from the walls.

    "This city, birth place of the Slavs!" Tautvilas shouted. "It belongs to us, not to the Republic, not to the Horde--and today we take it back!"

    More cheers.

    "FORWARD!!"



    As the towers, ladders and rams crawled forward, Khushan showed his mettle. His archers manned the walls and a wall of fire arrows hurled towards the Lithuanians even as they shouted in exhileration.



    Butvydas watched carefully as the Bajorija climbed the ladders the first, and not the oil on the walls or the defenders could dislodge them. There were too many points of contact with the wall and not enough defenders, not when priority had to be give to the towers.



    A man fell, and then another, two more and then the Lithuanians were on the wall, their heavy mail, heater shields and axes carving a bloody swathe through the Mongolian infantry. They were quick and fierce, but close combat in a tight place could only favor the more heavily armed Lithuanians, it was thier fight against the Order reversed and then a great shout went up--the ram had reached the gate and there was no one to stop them.



    For on the walls the towers had finally arrived in position and Samogitians and more Bajorija forced the Mongolians back in heavy fighting.



    ...And then the gate shattered. The spearmen manning the ram poured into the city gates and swarmed onto the walls from behind the defenders, trapping them in a pincer and Butvydas could hear the cries of panick.

    "Father!" he shouted.

    "Now!" Tautvilas said with a wave of his hand and Butvydas drew his blade.

    "Horsemen, forward!" he shouted as he galloped to the gate.



    A few more soldiers were attempting to make a stand in the lane leading to the town square but his bodyguard ran them down, and Butvydas himself led them, his sword plunging deep into the breast of one man, while his horse kicked in the brains of another. He laughed, the blood was flowing and he was laying waste to his enemies and it was good.

    He drove the enemy back farther and father until at last they reached the square and there sitting quietly on his body was the boy.



    "There!" Butvydas shouted. "At them men! Finish this!"

    And what do you think of me now, Khushan? He thought as he fought his way deeper into the press of men and horses as the Tartar lancers rushed in among them with cries of vengeance for those who had driven them from their homes generations before.



    "Khushan!" he snarled. "Try me, boy!"

    The Mongolian general turned, he saw it clearly, even it the midst of the Tartar lancers and froze for a moment then spurred at him his blade raised. Butvydas gave a war cry and did the same his only though to shatter the other and when their swords met he felt the collision all the way into his shoulder, despite his slight build the youth was strong. But not strong enough as Butvydas shoved his blade aside and plunged his own into the Mongol scion's belly.



    "I have had enough of you!" he shouted in the face of Khushan as the other jerked. Through the force of his anger he held the life in the other's body for a few moments more, long enough to see Khushan's lips go blue, and a few drops of blood escape his lips and then there was nothing as the other collapsed into death and crumpled to the ground.

    "So much for their future," Butvydas spat.



    It was over at last. But one man survived.

    Cover in blood, Khan Ghazatai had fought well but in the end he was alone, in the square the only man standing. Butvydas would have spoken but his father held up a hand and instead pointed at the Khan.

    "I wait your promise, since I survive, let me die like a true Khan."

    "I will do it father," Butvydas began but Tautvilas shook his head.

    "It falls to me, my son. One day you will understand."



    He had been true to his word: he had done it all himself striking blow after blow, and in the end the carpet had been thrown from the battlements. Afterward his rather retired to his tent to be alone with a cup of wine and contemplate fate and honor.

    The fool.

    "Sack the city," Butvydas ordered. "The Khan is dead and it no longer matters."



    ...and so at last, Kiev came under the Lithuanian banner on that day of death and pillage.

    End Part 16

    End Part 4

  3. #43

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated October 14!)

    Notes:
    --Part V won't begin until next week.
    --Decided on the AAR I will do after this, probably my last M2/K AAR before Empire which means this one WILL finish.
    --How am I doing? Does the new stuff still work with the AAR as it left off? I feel like I am doing more story now so any feedback is appreciated. The better I write the more fun it is for you to read.



    --Chapter 17: A Conference of Chiefs--

    "What word from the dispatches, Lord Juvage?" his second asked coming into the tent.



    "The best, Captain Traidenis!" Juvage laughed. "My son Jogaila has come of age at last.

    "A day to be celebrated then."

    "Not yet," Juvage answered, "Tomorrow. Tomorrow when we crush the Danes and take this castle for our own will be the celebration."

    "And then...?"

    "Then you sit down and wait, Traidenis," he answered.

    "Lord Juvage?"

    "It was in the other dispatch, I am summoned to a concord at Vilnius. You heard the news of conquest of Kiev? You must have, it was all over the camp. The Grand Duke is sending his son west to assist Saurgadas and Edivydas in taking Zhytomyr and L'vov while he orders things along the Dnieper. If all goes well we will arrive at the same time."

    "My lord, the object--"

    "To plan strategy of course," Juvage said lifting a brow. "Look Traidenis, I know you don't want to be in charge but I left orders for my son to sail here and take over. The boy seemed a bit lazy when I left so getting out in a new land and facing the foe will be good for him. That said, once we take the castle the only fortress the Danes have left will be Narva and the Danes are nothing without their castles."

    "May it be as you say, Lord Juvage," Traidenis replied and Juvage fought back a grimace at the neutral tone.

    "Now, do you wish to discuss something Captain?"

    "I only came to report that all is in readiness for the 'morrow, my lord."

    "Then go get some rest and I will see you in the hour before the dawn."

    After Traidenis bowed and left Juvage contemplated the wine in his cup, swiling it around a bit. The maturity of his son had indeed pleased him, but he could never forget he shouldered two birds, not only Jogaila, but also Casimir the son of the Prince and last sapling of the family who had raised him up from nothing.



    He had a lot of men now, though more axemen than he'd hoped and the Danish Lord Thorgeir had his castle and towers. The arrows would take a toll on his Samogitians but if he kept the Bajorijia back....

    v.

    Placing the Spear Militia on the ram, and the Samogitians on the ladder, he eyed the fortifications as the Danish flags sprouted up from towers almost like magic as they were manned.

    "Advance! Soldier forward!" he shouted.



    Ahead of him, Traidenis ran right behind Samogitians as they rushed for the wall with their ladders. Though the spearmen were closer to the castle, it was clear they would soon pass them and reach the walls before the Lithuanian battering rams reached the gates.

    As the Samogitians swarmed up the ladders, boiling oil and arrows rained down on the battering rams and he saw some of the spear militia begin to waver.

    "Come back you Cowards!!" Juvage shouted after blowing his great battle horn. Catching sight of him, they visibly pulled themselves together and dashed back to the ram.



    To Juvage's astonishment as the gates were shattered at last, the Norse Swordsmen on the walls fell back conceding the fortifactions to the Samogitians and fled back to the square. The flags atop the towers vanished. He couldn't believe his luck but he had to take advantage of it.



    "Lithuanians! Forward march!" Juvage shouted kicking his mount into a gallop. All around him the men of Samogitia and his bodyguard surged forward, racing for the open gate and hoping the gatehouse would stand empty so they would avoid the oil.

    Casting a glance back, Juvage felt his heart swell. To be a man of Lithuania leading men in conquest--he was proud of himself, but his men even more so, though he quickly out paced them. Leading from the front, they would be pulled along after him, willing to go where their lord led and he dashed under the shadows of the gateway warch to see a group of Norse Swordsmen trying to flee.



    "Catch them!" Juvage ordered and raised his blade behind him.

    His horsemen thundered forward and struck the Norse from behind, hewing them down as they fled back to the square in confusion and barely cohesive. They made no attempt to stop him only kept running--but none of them made it to the square. His own guard however, was still standing.

    "Onward! Press the foe!"



    But he was not rash, not as he had been when younger. He slowed to a walk to let the Samogitians catch up and together they crashed into the square to battle Thorgeir and his Housecarls.


    Breaking upon the Danes like a storm, his world narrowed to the press of bodies, the hammering of metal on metal, and screams of the dying. Sweat ran down his face despite the frozen air as his sword reaped the bodies in front of him and his axemen attacked the Danish General.



    He was not looking when Thorgeir fell, instead making sure that no hidden forces would join the battle. By the time he turned he saw the Danish General in a heap on the ground and the last of his bodyguard selling their lives as best they could.

    In no time at all the square belonged to the Lithuanians.



    "Well done men," he shouted as the rest of the army cheered. Many spearmen and Samogitians lay dead, perhaps more than Danes, but the last castle on the peninsula was theirs.

    Juvage should have celebrating along with them but his mind was already on the meeting, and how well his son would rule here....
    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Tove kept her eyes on the ground ahead of her as she rode into Vilnius. A city now, almost 20,000 strong, so different than the rustic town she so dimly remembered. Victory on the field had brought wealth and with it trade, artisans, merchants and opportunity and the city matched Riga for grandeur, even after the departure of hundreds of men with Gediminas.



    She'd passed him as she'd drawn closer to the city. His army was heavy with horse and foot archers and he'd been heading east. His job Tove gathered was to discourage any betrayals by the Republic along the border and encourage them to assault the rich Danish cities in the north.

    Her father the Grand Duke, and her brother Butvydas were already here, Butvydas was already assembling an army and eager to be away as soon as their meeting was over. He had begged off seeing her before hand, pleading pressing military matters but Tove was not fooled. He considered her first and foremost as Casimir's wife. Her refusal to siphon off more than the legal allotment of taxes at Riga for her brother's army was proof enough of that.

    But her husband would not be shorted for her brother's sake. She would not allow it.

    She. Would. Not.



    In winter, snows often blanketed the town, but in the summer the air became warm and much more comfortable, enough that it brought back memories of playing not here, but at their castle at Windau along the beach as a girl. Since her arrival she'd had time to freshen up and rest and now the next day the summons had come and putting a hood on despite the heat, she began the walk from her apartments to the tower....


    instinctual warriness. She experienced a quick sense of relief that he didn’t pick up on the submissive movement.

    “I will do as I must do, Princess. Lord Casimir was a strong advocate of raising me up and I am loyal to that family. Their interests are what I strive for once the well-being of my own is seen to.”

    Behind her, was the arbor, alongside the sunward side of the tower and along the lower wall, a leafy green refuge that she could not take. Juvage
    looked at her waiting her answer. She was conscious of the trees behind her, planted Casimir's mother on the day she wed Mindaugas. In this moment a stray though entered her head: she would add to the arbor one day when she ruled her as the Grand Duchess with her husband, and this thought gave her strength.

    "Then watch me."

    Inside on the table stretched a map of Lithuania and around it, Tautvilas and Butvydas were speaking quietly when Tove and Juvage entered. Tautvilas looked warmly on his daughter but Butvydas only nodded and they both gave short bows to Juvage.

    "Of need, this meeting must be curt," Tautvilas said. "Later there may be time for celebration or there may not, but for now..."

    "Hold, Casimir would be at this conference," Juvage began and Tove held herself from a look at him that would have ruined everything. Instead she replied as calmly as she could to her father.

    "My lord sent me a letter authorizing me to represent him. The siege of Abo continues and will for at least 6 more months. He is well supplied but Danish ships have increased and he judges it better to subdue Abo than return. Of this there can be of necessity no discussion."

    "My lord, allow me--"

    "It is well, Lord Juvage," Tautvilas said mildly but the way he very carefully did not look at Tove made it clear it was not well.

    "Enough of this," Butvydas said in that tight voice he so often used fighting anger. Another reason Tove though, simply another. "If it is done it is done."

    "My lords, daughter, I quite agree," Tautvilas said. "Butvydas begin."



    "As you can see on the map, our domains our vast. Abo my sister has already reported on in her own inimitable fashion," with a smile at Tove but she did nothing put place her finger tips on the table very carefully not toughing the map.

    "Our castles at Windau and Palanga and along the coast are also secure. Dunaburg is likewise manned well. In the south we have taken all the Horde's lands from Kiev to the Polish border. Gediminas as you know has taken an army into the field that has many horsed archers, spearmen and foot archers. He will defend the east against any incursions by the Horde or the Republic."

    "They were our allies when I was last in Vilnius," Juvage said.

    "And remain so," Tautvilas answered. "But they have abandoned the war with the Horde after our conquest of Kiev though we left room for them, and are rather close."

    "Do you fear betrayal, father?"

    "No, not yet. Not while they war with the Danes in the north. The Danes have large armies there at last report which is no doubt why their sea power has increased. Juvage?"

    "I took Hasselholm on the coast, the only Danish fortress is at Narva. Their forces on the peninsula are weak, indeed the Norwegians are more threatening at the moment though they are largely quiet except for small scouting parties. Assuming we can block the crossings from Roskilde we can take the regions at our leisure. My son is en route now to take up the banner."

    "I am sure he will do well," Tautvilas said. "As for the south and the west, that is our concern."



    "The Poles have been at peace with us for some time but they are no longer observing the border. The Danes have begun to encroach onto Imperial lands and the Emperor no longer keeps them busy."

    "They are coming for us then?" Tove asked.

    "So it would seem, sister," Butvydas said curtly. "But why concern yourself? It will be long before they threaten Riga and Windau."

    "My concern is for the country as well, my brother," she said after hissing a breath in frustration.

    "It did not seem so when I asked for an extra levy--"

    "Silence!" Tautvilas said rapping the table with the palm of his hand. "To cut to the heart of the matter: the Poles must be our next target. Their Citadel at Jazdow is the only fortress they have. Recently in Vilnius we completed a siege works and Trebuchets can now be produced. With these Butvydas will conquer Jazdow."

    "We add another to the list of our foes?" Juvage said surprised. Butvydas must have convinced his father, it was not something Tautvilas would countenance without persuasion.

    "What would you have us do? Yield up to them? Let them ride our lands at will?" Butvydas snarled.

    "He only means that we would be warring with the Danes and the Horde as well. We would be surrounded by enemies--and can you trust the Republic?"

    "I have thought long on this," Tautvilas interrupted. "It must be done. Drive the Poles back, capture Jazdow, and they will be shattered. They will be unable to produce heavy troops or their heavy knights."

    "They will have the Hussars, father" Tove countered.

    "And the Hussars will avail them nothing against the Tartar Lancers," Butvydas said. "Skirgaila is quickly forming another light mobile force to battle the Poles similar to that of Gediminas. Saurgadas is at Thorn and will hold it fast. While they keep them busy, I will conquer Jazdow and then the Polish armies will burn away like dry grass."

    "It sounds so simple when you say it that way," Tove said dryly.

    "That is not all! Not all!" Tautvilas said. He was clearly frustrated. "Your instructions daughter are to continue to support the siege of Abo. When that siege is completed, Casimir will take the army he spare from guarding the city and sail to Reval to take it."



    "That is a fortified city!" Juvage said.

    "And you will join him there," the Grand Duke ordered. "With more Trebuchets. We will take Reval. Then we will give it up."

    "What?" Butvydas roared. "That was not--"

    "No. We will give it to the Republic in exchange for another land,
    Kuressaare, which was called Arensburg by the Order. Reval cannot be held but Kuressaare can be, we will supply it from Riga and Windau."

    "It can be done father," Tove nodded. Butvydas looked furious.

    "Good, once that is done we will redouble our efforts on the Peninsula and hope that will compel the Danes for peace. Or the Horde. We must have peace with one of them if we are to battle the Poles."

    "Much depends on how well Gediminas and Skirgaila hold the borders but much also depends on you Tove. You must prepare Arensburg for our control without alarming the Republic. They will see that our trade of Reval is better for them and us I hope."

    Strangely enough a girlish giggle floated up out of the courtyard outside the tower.



    "Maybe you should send Elena," Tove said blandly. "It seems my younger sister seems to be getting up to trouble around here--and I've only been here a day. She's supposed to be a reliable negotiator, isn't she?"

    Butvydas looked like he was holding back a laugh but her father just sighed. "Perkunas save me from more daughters."

    This time her brother laughed outloud.

    Tove ground her teeth.

    "Now attend, the plan is decided but your parts are more complex and we must decide the disposition of the armies...."
    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    The meeting had begun in the morning and stretched into the afternoon. When it was over, after much more argument and wrangling, Tove and Juvage exited the tower but Tove moved closer to the arbor's entrance and Juvage followed her there.

    "You support this plan?" he asked.

    "I do," Tove smiled.

    "Your father's daughter."

    "No!" she said. "Well, yes. I suppose. But more, my husband's wife. Butvydas is hot headed and powerful but Jazdow is strong. He may take it but I believe he may die in the attempt."

    "You don't sound aggrieved, Princess."

    "When the Gods send messages grief does little to change them," she replied though for all her brave words the dreams always left her weeping.

    "You talk to the gods now, then?" Juvage said.

    "They speak to me as they would to any other," she said. "If I try to listen then I must do what I think is best with what I hear."

    "So you wish your family ill. Casimir should watch himself should he fall from your favor."



    “Your concern does you credit, Lord Juvage," she said quietly. "But it so happens you are wrong. Do you know why I wear black?

    "
    Turned as black as the earth no doubt, though what you mourn escapes me as your father is the Grand Duke."

    "No my lord--siera žemė.* Me. Us," she said meaning Casimir.

    Juvage's eyes widened and he betrayed and honest answer. "What are you playing at? The gods and now this?!"

    "Not my father. Not my brother. It will be direct line of Mindaugas that rules Lithuania, risen again from the ashes. Only then will the Truth be made known."

    "You are playing with something you don't understand, something none of us can understand," Juvage warned.

    Tove shrugged one shoulder delicately. "It will be us....
    ....That is my belief, at least for now."

    --End Interlude--

    *On the use of Siera žemė see here
    Last edited by SSJPabs; October 14, 2008 at 11:49 PM.

  4. #44

    Default [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated January 18!)

    Notes: Image Heavy Chapter



    --Chapter 18: The Western Question--

    No plan lasts in the field...

    This was a saying Butvydas had heard many times, to ruminate on it's truths more than a moment in the current situation, well such actions wouldn't serve him well here. It had begun so well, this campaign but now things were fast approaching desperate. Steel would serve better.



    Diplomatic envoys had reached Vilnius after Juvage's departure but just before he was ready to leave. They bore useful news, but ominous.



    The Republic had declared an alliance with the Horde and as a consequence of having the same ally, they were at peace themselves now. Only the Danes fought them--indeed even the Empire had put aside its differences and embraced peace. That had last barely as a season as the Poles had soon begun to actively blockade Lithuanian, Danzig though demands for surrender had all been titled as to "Gdańsk." Still, that they would be defending themselves from the Poles was good propaganda and Butvydas had to admit they needed some now.

    It had begun well.



    Not far from Jazdow, a Polish army lead by Tobiasz Kazczyk had been slowly marching along the border. It would meet another Polish force and probably launch an attack on Thorn. Instead, Skirgaila had gathered Cumans, Tarars and archers and met them on the open field.



    A part of Butvydas gloried in the idea: The strong knighthood of Poland, their long lances and bright armor against the arrows, spears and speed of Lithuania.



    There had been ground troops, a few, but they were to be held in reserve. Skirgaila who had formed up his spearmen on a hill top surrounding the archers and foot Bajorija, had explained it vividly.



    As the Polish armied had advanced, militia and horsed archers had attacked on the enemy's left flank...



    While the Cumand struck from the fight. Many horses fell as the Polish army charged up the slope, lances lowered their armor bright even in the misty day Skirgaila had said.



    The clash of Polish lances and Lithuanian spearmen was brutal. Many on both sides had fallen in the initial charge--at least 3 companies of Polish Knights had been in the vanguard. As it became clear the charge would not break the Lithuanian lines, they retreated to reform.



    And then it was time for the Polish infantry to take the lead as the Bajorija swarmed out from the spearmen to protect them.



    Skirgaila had struck the infantry from behind then, trusting his horse-archers to slow the Polish cavalry while he put their infantry to rout.



    It was almost comical how the Polish lord died, fighting a hopeless battle against overwhelming odds with his loyal retainer who suddenly realized he was alone....



    In the end, a massive Polish cavalry army had been defeated. Taking a short while to resupply, Skirgaila had then taken a risk that Butvydas couldn't hope but approve, with an almost pure cavalry army he had laid siege to Plock!



    He had laid to siege to the town for only a few weeks when small Polish forces that had been mustering in the area to aid in the assault on Lithuania converged on them. There was only one however that was a threat, a large force led by Niebor of Lwow.



    The assassination of Neibor of Lwow had unexpected dividends. His army had fallen back west in confusion disposing of the largest part of the enemy forces. The small Polish companies combined to make a decent force, but the mistake had been that of the city's garrison--though it would make sense had they counted on Neibor's army to aid them. Skirgaila was smart enough to make it his to priority to kill the city's garrison first and the plan worked.



    Plock lay open and inviting for him to simply march in.



    The city was sacked. But with their northern flank secure, now was the time. Butvydas all this time had been moving south, slowed by the siege engines they were hauling, but knowing they were needed.



    At last, the siege of Jazdow. But just as the siege began more news reached them courtesy an Imperial diplomat, dire news.



    The Horde had invaded again, disregard the Republican alliance--and the Republic had sided with the Horde! Butvydas new that there was now no time to waste. If he could conquer Jazdow, perhaps Lithuania could establish some sort of border in the west--after all, the Poles would have no more castles. Their cavalry was fearsome but required the training only those settlements could provide. In the end it was no decision at all, once again Lithuania needed to win to survive.



    His own force was full of heavy infantry though he would have liked to have a few more spearmen.



    Based on the best evidence of their scouts, the enemy force in the citadel had been designed for field battles and was filled with heavy cavalry, including a unit of the famed Polish Guard. They were defiant of course, and cavalry were no laughing matter even an enclosed area. Still he would kill many Poles this day, and may they regret meeting that little-man-on-stick they loved.

    Taking a breath to calm himself, Butvydas, the Lithuanian Heir kicked his mount forward until he stood next to his little brother Svarnas who turned to look at him for a moment before turning back.



    The little ingrate had given him the evil eye! Just a for a moment but it was enough. As his army had been mustering on the plain south of Vilnius, his father had asked Butvydas to take another with him, his brother newly come of age. His brother was hard enough, but he seethed with resentment at being under his brother's command. The apple of their father's eye despite his shortcomings....

    Watch this little brother, Butvydas said to himself as he raised his sword.



    "Before us stands the Citadel of Jazdow! The home of the Polish military! This will be a victory you can tell your children about! Trebuchets.... fire at will!"



    It was slow at first, the gigantic weighted machines being laboriously set, but the stones they hurled were massive and even the great walls of Jazdow could not withstand them for eternity. When the out-wall went down, Butvydas shouted the charge and the entire army surged forward. The race across the immediate farmlands near the citadel was tense but soon it was over and the Lithuanian's had gained the first circle of the city with no casualties. Behind Butvydas the trebuchets were pushed into place...

    "My prince, where do we direct fire?" one of the crew asked.

    "Do you see that small tower? Fire where the enemy are standing, make us a hole sergeant!"



    Alerted when the first stones fell, never the less, over a dozen of the Polish Knights were slain by the artillery on the second wall. Butvydas carefully motioned his troops into place, men from Estonia. They were light spearmen and he intended to use them as fodder, though of course he took care not to share that with them.

    "Should we not mass the Bajorija my brother?" Svarnas asked, his tone insinuating Butvydas was mentally deficient.

    "No, we will tire the Poles before we send them in. I know you are a promising commander, Svarnus, but we must spend the expendable first."

    It was then a shout came from the crews. The middle wall had fallen to the trebuchets and the Estonian rebels surged forward. They had been cemented to the Lithuanians since the fall of the order and fought eagerly for their new masters who had given them vengeance. They were met by two companies of Polish Knights who swung their swords with admirable vigor.



    "Foot Lancers, one unit, advance!" Butvydas ordered after watching the melee for a few minutes and noting a red mist starting to raise around the battle. The unit of Tartar Lancers he'd ordered forward marched in just as the Estonians were beginning to waver.



    Breaking the Polish Knights, the Lithuanians rushed into the middle circle of the citadel to see the Polish lord ordering a retreat to the heart of the citadel. Taking over the second circle, Butvydas once again urged the trebuchets forward, pointing to a spot on the far wall. He would not being going in through the gate, that invited massacre. He would claim a section of wall and use his archers to supplement his ground troops. With the Bajorija barely engaged thus far it would work.



    The edging of the final wall fell at last, but to the surprise of the Lithuanians, Hussars poured from the breach. To the Hussars' surprise however, they were met by Tartar Lancers and butchered. Unable to contain himself Svarnas rushed forth to battle the Poles while Butvydas sent a nasty smile at his little brother's back.



    Finally, with the horsemen retreating, the Bajorija were sent in at last to battle the remaining Polish foot Knights. Some horsemen continued to harass them but for the most part the Poles retreated back to their central square. Butvydas had no choice but to acknowledge that Svarnas, though his bodyguard had suffered, was leading the men well as he drove back the Polish hordes.



    When one of the Polish Knights broke away from the rest, Svarnas gave a shout and spured his men forward in a charge Butvydas watched him impassively....



    ...and remained impassive he saw his brother slain. His only reaction was to caress his sword and he quietly vowed he would take revenge for his dead brother--but in a way that would make the Poles remember him for a thousand generations. Suddenly there was a massive commotion behind him while in front the enemy charged.



    The Polish commander was not a complete fool. The heaviest of the Polish cavalry, the Polish Guard, had moved to flank the Lithuanian's at the same time the troops in the square surged forward on the impetus of Svarnas's death. The Polish Guard however, had not reckoned on Butvydas's posititioning a unit of spearmen to guard his flank and once again, a dozen fell in the initial charge to the spears.

    The battle was close for a bit as the Lithuanians were pressed on both sides, but soon enough the Polish General was surrounded.



    He fell almost at the last again to the spearmen.



    Jazdow was theirs!



    In the aftermath of the battle, as Butvydas sat alone in the room that had recently belonged to the Polish general contemplating the destruction of Poland his revenge would wreak a letter arrived. His sister had married it seemed, a chivalrous and loyal man though with only basic combat skills.

    Butvydas tried to summon up more than a cold rage but could not. It was... strange. He hadn't been fond of his little brother, and he would take revenge, a brutal one, against the Poles for his death but... he knew he should been riding out to slaughter more of them. Right now. But he was compelled to consolidate his defences here. The loss of the alliance with the Republic was what really mattered. He knew that the drive would be east to defeat the Danes and Republic and the Horde. Only then would Lithuania be strong enough to turn on her Latin enemies and destroy them. That, Butvydas thought, would be glorious.

    For some reason, the triumph of Lithuania seemed a better revenge than a thousand dead Poles....

    ....and maybe that was what it meant to become a prince.

    End Chapter 18
    Last edited by SSJPabs; January 19, 2009 at 06:16 PM.

  5. #45
    tuore's Avatar Senator
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    1,265

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated January 18!)

    Wow nice. I love it. This is a long AAR. You have been doing it for a year.


  6. #46

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated January 18!)

    Wow, this AAR is excellent. o_o; I'll have to spend some time getting through it to the present day.

  7. #47

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated January 19!)

    Notes: I know, it's kind of amazing. Luckily I think I can actually see an ending.

    --Chapter 19: Rytinis--

    The news went out, shortly after the battle of Turov.



    The city was saved by a coalition of local troops and petty lords, but that was not the news. The news reached all the commanders. It reached Butvydas the Heir in the west consolidating the border along with Skirgaila and pondering a move south. It reached Juvage right before he took ship, and it even reached Casimir through a letter carried by emergency messenger. It reached Juvage's son Jogaila on the Scandinavian penninsula. It even reached the Grand Duke Tautvilas in Vilnius, alone in his tower, brooding over the loss of his young son. It did not reach Casimir's new brother-in-law, Daumantas, on the border and riding hard for Minsk.



    He had no need of a messenger to learn the news, he'd sent it. The Republic had attacked them at last.



    Daumantas was attached to Gedminias of Babruysk, a solid commander if he knew it. Elena had not known much about him, but then, Daumantas was becoming convinced Elena made it a point not to know much about anything that didn't relate to the gossip of her ladies. It was fine of course, he didn't want anything like the deal his new brother Casimir had, he could feel Princess Tove's eyes sweep over him with an icy perception that he found off-balancing.





    They faced a captain Zhiroslav, not a noble. But riders from Minsk had managed to get through to them. Daumantas had taken their reports before organizing the information to be summarized to the senior lord. While he might have been of a higher nobility through his wife, the Lithuanian forces relied on experience and merit to find leadership if at all possible.

    "The main threat, my lord, is the artillery," Daumantas had stressed. "They have trebuchets, catapults and a great bombard. We must sent keep the enemy's khazaks busy until our own cavalry can destroy them."

    Both he and Gediminas had spared a minute to curse. Due to their pagan status, none of the surrounding lands cared to give them gunpowder knowledge and thus they were beginning to fall behind the others, particularly the Republic and the Danes.



    As the battle began, Gediminas had sent most of his men to the top of a rise to form up and force the enemy forces to come to him. They had enough archers to make that a difficult proposition with no heavy cavalry. Meanwhile, Daumantas would take the rest of the mounted archers, circle around and hit the artillery.

    Now he waited, watching, straining for the right moment. He needed to wait until both sides were fully engaged so he could complete the mission. Here an arrow downed a khazak, but there one unit of enemy horsement charged the blockard of spearmen and went down but took a few of the Tartars with him.... then there!



    "Forward!" he shouted. "For Lithuania! For the Gods!"

    The plan worked, he and his men swept away the crewmen aboard the artillery like a divine wind.



    Getting his men turned around, Daumantas hurled himself on the enemy rear, an enemy already starting to falter in assault. In moments they were running, trying their best to flee through his ranks--but it was already too late for them.



    In the aftermath of the battle, Gediminas had ordered him to send the good news to Vilinius and awake more orders from the Grand Duke. Daumantas wondered what his father in law would do: the Duke was the most chivalrous of men, but Elena had been stunned when the news of her brother had come. The Duke had shut himself up in his tower from what he'd heard....



    "Juvage!" Casimir said excitedly as the older man entered his tent outside Arensburg. "Welcome my lord! You'll never guess what I heard--"

    "Ah, Casimir," Juvage said with a fond grin. "I have heard many things, some about you and Abo."

    The young man colored slightly. Juvage thought he'd been drinking a little.



    "It was nothing, nothing..."

    "Nonsense," Juvage said clapping the young man on the shoulder. "Laying siege to a city takes patience, manpower and careful management. You kept the army together and the city surrendered without a fight. Though your sword remains relatively clean, so does your army and that means we can fight here."

    "You brought them then Lord Juvage? The ballistae?"

    "I did, tomorrow we can begin the assult and bring this Republican city under our banner. It will be a great victory."

    "Now doubt my lord, will you think of it as a gift to celebrate your day?"



    "Ah, so that was what you heard? That my son is found a wife?"

    "And of Siauliai all the way on the penninsula," Casimir laughed. "Actually, it turned out my wife picked the ladies to send with your son. So you can blame her."

    "Haha, I do not, I do not," Juvage smiled. "I think Ona will do Jogaila much good."

    "How so my lord?"



    "Jogaila is a bit too comfortable sometimes," Juvage said eyeing a flagon on the table in the younger man's tent. "Though he does understand logistics he can be more focused on other things."



    Casimir nodded and tossed the it to him. "Aaah," he said after taking a long draught. "But listen: after the wedding, the next morning, do you know what she said to him? She asked him for Halmstad as a wedding gift!"

    "And of course, he got it for her."

    "I have not seen her but--"

    "I have, it's no surprise your son went out an conquered a city for her." When Casimir smiled like that, Juvage thought for amoment he looked like the late Prince. "But as it happens that is not the news I bring."

    "And what would that be?"

    "Prine Albin is dead!"

    "What? Tell me how did it happen?"



    "It was outside Liubomi, Lord Juvage. A local marcher lord, Zygimantas of Grunwald, had laid siege to it, trapping Albin within. Thanks to Prince Butvydas we'd overrun the lands so fast he had been trying to sneak back towards Cracow."



    "My wife Tove, wrote to me saying that the word in Riga was that once our men breached the gate, the Polish forces were put to flight and slaughtered as they fled to the square...."



    "... and as he fell in the battle, we sent the prince's body back to the Poles as a warning."

    "Hmm... that is certainly good. I don't doubt now that the Heir will push for Cracow if the Poles continue to resist. That would deprive them of their greatest city."

    "What do you think our task will be after we take Kuressaare?"

    With that question, the discussion of that occupied them deep into the evening and Juvage was pleased to discover tha Casimir for all his young was beginning to mature well. He'd be a worthy successor to his father.



    The next day dawn cold and a little misty. Still the armor of the Lithuanian's shone brightly, and Giltine's chosen in front of Casimir and Juvage focused hard on the city ahead of them. Both men watched the Ballistae fire bolts at the gate boredom and tension mixing as the damage grew. Soon it would burst and then the race would begin...



    "CHARGE! All forces advance double-quick!" Juvage shouted when the gate finally breached. Both Casimir and Juvage urged their horses to more speed and they raced ahead of the rest of the troops.

    "Horsemen, Casimir, spread out and find the artillery, stop them before they can catch us in the streets! Move!" Juvage ordered as soon as he was through the gatehouse.



    As the rest of the Lithuanian army thundered through after him, he saw Casimir raised a hand in acknowlege ment and gallop west along the outwall to begin a circuit of the city while his own men discovered a unit of artillery lurking in a side street. Already he could see the dust of the Republican forces advancing along the street right at him.



    "Archers! The walls!" He could see they were in some confusion but moving. He urged them on to more speed but he needn't have worried.



    The archers were on the walls now, lining up as best they could, and when they fired their arrows, they were as numerous as the blades of grass or the snow flakes that fell.



    Meanwhile, Casimir had made a half circuit of the city. When he turned a corner he saw a trebuchet crew frantically trying to load their artillery to take a shot at him. Urging his men to more speed he focused intently on hammering the crew into the ground.

    Don't think about it launching at you in the narrow street. Don't think about the flames, you'll get there in time probably, it probably won't happen...

    ...but what if it DOES?

    It didn't.



    In the narrow streets the battle raged. The enemy lord led his spearmen, woodsmen, horsemen and archers in a furious malee against the Lithuanian Bajorija and Tartars. Arrows from both sides fell thick as the snow and men fell as if reaped.



    There was a convlusion suddenly, and Juvage strained to see what was happening. A shout went up from both sides, one of joy and fear. The Republican General was done, his bodyguard fallinga round him and his men were surging forward!

    Still more of Novgorod's soldiers survived and they were retreating quickly, clearly upset but not panicking not yet, down the street. They'd form up around the square and force him to dig them out. The city would be littered with corpses from one end to the other... Juvage felt his face set into grim lines when a flash of blue appeared behind the yellow-clad enemy.

    Casimir.

    Riding hard, the young man threw his bodyguard against the retreating Republicans and sent them into total panic. Their retreat became a route as his men cut them down, trapping them in a pincer.



    When it was over and Guba Gubin's body as well as the rest were burning outside the city, courtesy of the hundred or so prinsoners they'd taken, Juvage was amazed at the light losses. An eleventh of his force was lost, but some 700 remained.

    "Now what, my lord Juvage?" Casimar asked. His face was flushed with excitement but he was calm and he'd done some good hard work today as well. Juvage was starting to trust the young man in battle.

    "My Lords!" a messenger said moving among the corpses. "A message from the Grand Duke!"

    "Ah, the response we've been waiting for," Juvage observed.

    "What does it say? Casimiar demanded excitedly.

    The message was short and applied equally to the Horde and the Republic, and Juvage read it aloud.

    "Press them."

    "But Juvage, the city is still restless we cannot press them just yet we must stay for a time--"

    "When the Grand Duke orders we must obey."

    "But my lord, how--"

    "I think you know."

    "Lord Juvage!" Casimir said saluting him with a fist over his heart. The young man's excitement had turned to pale determination and he nodded to carrying out the orders.

    Press them indeed, Juvage thought.



    As the corpses and burning rose behind them, most of the Lithuanian army moved out to the east heading for Pernau. They were laden with the spoils of Arrensburg, now Kuressaare and let only a skeleton force behind them. As they crossed to the mainland, a new messenger arrived via ship. Butvydas the heir had laid siege to Polish Cracow. The soldiers themselves were excited: The army was advancing in all directions, and their prospects could only get richer as they marched along the coast...





    Another battle with another Republican army. This one had gone a little harder than the last and his sword was notched in a few places. Daumantas looked at the warrior below him and casually trampled him with his horse's hooves.

    "That last one had a stiff neck eh, boy?" Gediminas laughed.

    "And more my lord," Daumantas returned with a smile. The iron collar around the Boyar Son's neck had necessitated a second blow but the Republican's neck was broken just the same.

    The word had come back of course, and he and Gediminas had obeyed, resupplying near Minsk and pushing east. Even now their outlying men were beginning to encircle the city of Vitebsk in accordance with the Grand Duke's order. Reports said Lithuanian armies were laying siege to the Horde village of Chernobyl, and that the Grand Duke himself was in the field.



    In the stillness that often reigned after a battle, Daumantas heard a rumbling from the west, heading this way. Above him, the sky was clear the snow cold, but to the west there was a dark smear. A thunderstorm in winter.

    Daumantas wondered if it was a portent for what was to come....

    End Chapter 19
    Last edited by SSJPabs; February 06, 2009 at 03:18 PM.

  8. #48

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated January 19!)

    Notes:
    --Yellow is the color of death in Lithuanian paganism, according to what I could discover.
    --Bodyguards. There is a simple change of the EDU that will enable all levels of Bodyguard upgrade for any faction so you can go from heavy chain to advanced plate for the Euros and heavy chance to Lamellar Plate for the orientals. I've long done this in Retrofit and decided to modify it in all the Kingdoms campaigns. To make sure they look better I upgraded horses to eastern armoured horse for the orientals and mailed horses instead of barded for the Euros. As you'll see in the next chapter, they look pretty damn neat. It increases defense slightly for all bodyguards but doesn't give anyone an unfair advantage.

    --Chapter 20: Seeds of Destiny--


    Juvage sat alone in his tent with the wine when a messenger appeared, a visitor he had been expecting, and he poured her a cup...

    10 MONTHS EARLIER





    "Why are they just sitting there?" Casimir grumbled. "They might be able to take us if they attacked!"

    "And they might not too," Juvage replied as he watched the younger man pace in the command tent. "If they tried and failed, the city would be open for us and then any survivors would be worse off. Not moving preserves their options."

    "We both know there will be a battle Lord Juvage, why not get it over with and spare men on both sides the attrition of a siege?"

    Juvage had to admit, Casimir was more intelligent than many other men his age. Instead of wanting a battle for the sake of glory he looked at the economics of it. Economics of men, but it was what it was and Juvage was proud of Casimir for thinking that way.

    "Perhaps more men will come, perhaps they will ally with the Danes. There are ways to get a better outcome than even a battle they'll win. Or don't you think we'd put up a fight?"

    Casimir nodded but looked frustrated and Juvage tried to change the subject. "Besides, you're just upset because your leave is over. Or wasn't your lovely lady wife all you'd hoped?" Only Juvage could take liberties with Casimir like this, a product of his long association with their family. Gods, how long was it? 30 years? Maybe more. Probably more.

    "Ah, you know I would rather spend with her. Another reason I'd be happy to get this over with. Wars keep me away from her bed."

    "Well the city and Princess Tove's bed will have to wait. Let's hope the rest of the armies are having more luck than we are."



    Far away to the south and east, outside the Vitebsk, a city long under the shadow of Novgorod, Casimir's brother-in-law, Daumantas was on watch, positioned on a hill watching the northern approaches for reinforcements. They too were laying siege to the city but unlike in the north, in the south the enemy were more vigorous but maybe that was because of the banner flying from the town square... a triangular flag with a bar of yellow near the staff and blue, fringed in red. The flag of the Grand Duke of Novgorod.

    Perhaps they'd been a bit ambitious laying siege to the place while the Grand Duke was in residence.... wait.



    "Moving.... they're moving!" Daumantas growled. "Time to attack! Lift the siege!"



    So many horses, and we with so few spears! Daumantus thought. What will Gediminas do, the Novgorods are already moving.



    "He's not wasting time, is Dmitrii?" he said aloud.

    "Once we get to the hill, get into position! We must protect the spearmen! Hurry, run!" the older man shouted. The Lithuanians snapped too immediately and began to race for the high ground the scouts had marked earlier. They'd been sloppy so it was said, when Mindaugas had first battled the Teutonic Knights, but now many were veterans or sons of veterans and many of the foot were professionals and not merely levies.



    As Daumantus was about to mount and ride Gediminas clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Wait boy. I want you to ride around the flanks of the enemy. He's bringing up some of his engines, and we must destroy the crews. We can't let them take a position to fire on us, even once we hold the high ground. Destroy them, and you'll be in a position to flank their army. Take the horsed archers and the lancers with you, I'll stay with the ground forces. I'm counting on you."

    "My lord!" Daumantas saluted. "I will not fail!"



    As he rode away he could already see the foremost of the enemy horsemen approaching the hill where the Lithuanians were forming up as fast as humanly possible. He could see Gediminas waving his sword and shouting orders and encouragment. Then he bent low over his horse and rode on.

    Sweeping past the outriders of the enemy he cut through a small wood in the southeast part of the battlefield and rode hard north, or as much he could in the trees. The sounds of battle were already floating over the lands as hundreds of arrows were loosed at the Novgorod horsed archers and red and yellow stained the snow. Daumantas grinned--yellow, the color of death and these republicans swathed themselves in it. Finally, he was in position and even the Duke left his engines behind while they began to aim at the Lithuanian army.

    Time to make their uniforms their death shrouds...



    Daumantas drove on the exposed ground crews like the thunder of the god, his spear stabbing deep and he spit a pair of Trebuchet crewmen and ran over a third. All around him his men were doing the same, shouting encouragement and threats. For a moment the Grand Duke looked behind him, but then he spured his own forces forward right at the hilltop.



    Daumantas could already see the hill top littered with bodies of both sides, dozens upon dozens of horses lay in the snow, slowly becoming soft white mounds. Others screamed like women. Both sides were bloodied up but then the Duke smashed into the spearmen on the hill, the precious spearmen saved for this moment...



    "After him!" Daumantas shouted to his units of horsed archers as the Duke fled the battle scene. Most of his body guard dead the rest panicked, Daumantas knew this was his chance.



    Daumantas laughed as he watched his horsemen cut down the Grand Duke. He was moving still slowly, he lived. He laughed again when some of them dropped a rope around the Duke of Novgorod like he were a straying colt.



    "My lord! A good victory to you!" Daumantas shouted hailing Gediminas.

    "And to you! I see you have a gift for us," he said eying the roped Duke.

    "More like... a sacrifice."

    Daumantas smiled when Gediminas nodded and the Grand Duke went pale.
    _____________________________________________________________________


    "So, that was well done. I heard the Republican died quickly," Juvage said to Casimir. They had recently been informed of the fate of Vitebsk and had toasted Casimir's victorious brother.

    "Tove was a bit out of sorts," Casimir laughed, "She is not enamoured of her hmm... less capable sister having a husband who gained victory over such a prominent man. Her letters make that clear."

    "Ah, but they do not have Nevski in front of them. For all that Dmitrii was the master of Novgorod, the Nevski line is mighty indeed--many princes have come from that line."

    "Well I can't say you wrong unfortunately. Nevski is indeed mighty, but we may well prevail. I heard that Grand Duke Tautvilas has ordered Skirgaila to join us." Casimir said.

    "In a way," Juvage said. "He is coming north with all possible speed and gathering Bajorija from all the cities and castles of Lithuania. He'll join up with spearmen and archers from farther north and meet us here--where upon we will strike for Reval."

    "Are we abandoning the siege?"

    "No. It's going to be over by then one way or the other."

    "Over... you mean?"

    "Yes, tomorrow the heralds will go through the camp and I have the proclamation prepared."

    "At last!" Casimir breathed.

    "I have a few ideas I'd like to share with you. They are risky but no battle is safe...."



    "We may be outnumbered, but these men are only Republicans! Novgorod must have 2 men to our one to prevail and there are not enough of them though the Gods know their women breed!" Juvage exhorted his troops.

    Casimir hid a smile in his helmet at the bellicose rhetoric. He prefered silence but he had to admit it really did rile up the men.



    And he had to admit, they did need riling up. Their forces were outnumbered. They had more heavies but the enemy had far more horsemen and if they were not careful they would be caught outside the city. Still, Casimir was already moving to the side of the forming putting more distance between them along with a few of the horse archers...



    As soon as the Ballistae came up to the front of the main army, Casimir kicked his horse into a gallop and thundered around the city with most of the Lithuanian cavalry.



    Already the Novgorod reinforcements were pouring into the city's farms and villages making for the gateway, but per his instructions from Juvage it was Casimir's job to disabuse them of an easy entrance. The first trick was to make sure the catapult that was lagging behind them was destroyed.



    It went well to start, with a whistle and a gesture the Dzukijan horsemen descended on the crew with sword and arrow and before long there were routing and cut down...



    Meanwhile in the main staging area Juvage was careful directing his artillery forward. Ballistae weren't the best way to make an entrance into a city but they did well enough against a gate. To one side, where the reinforcements for the Republic were pouring and Casimir had ridden he had stationed his Baltic Archers to provide cover against any mounted archers with himself as a flanker--and even now a unit broke off against him.



    The Khazaks in tunics the color of grain--or urine--pulled up and shot a volley of arrows at Juvage, he laughed. Thanks to the Hansa and their partnership Lithuania had been able to upgrade it's armorers to match that of the other factions--at least for the nobles. His eastern armoured horse shrugged off the arrows like annoying flies as they drove the Khazaks off.



    ...and the unit of Boyars right behind them. He only hoped Casimir was doing as well.



    Things had gone better than Casimir could have dreamed. Unit after unit had routed as he set upon them from the rear. The path to the gate was littered with Novgorod bodies. But he had been so close to column that he'd been carried into the gate with them and even now was in the city--even before Juvage had battered his way in from the other wall. He and his bodyguard were the only unit in the town and to his horror he saw several units of Boyars riding towards him intent on making that fact count.

    "Pull back! We've taught them enough for now!"

    Turning his horse, he smiled at the armor on it. The armor might have made his horse tire more easily but he knew he could force his way through a storm of arrows without it being shot out from under him. If only the Boyar Sons used Javelins. To his right as his men fled back through the gate he saw a pair go down with the thick vicious shot spears in their backs.

    "We have to move! Come on!" he shouted. He had to get at least a few of his men out and then suddenly a few paces beyond the gate his pursuers halted and he turned. A shout went up audible aross the city--the gates! The gates were broken! Juvage and the others were rushing toward him--



    --and then he felt it. Not his horse, but himself. Casimir felt a sudden spike of pain in his chest and looked down to see an arrow lodged near the shoulder spaulder of his armor. He pulled it out looking at how red it was along its length, one that ended in a broken haft.

    Suddenly he felt the air leave his lungs and he realized he was on the ground. Looking up he could see the towers near the gate and realized in his last moments how he'd been hit. A huge wave of fatigue rolled over him and he struggled to keep his eyes open, his vision swimming.



    Foolish, wasting my time on how I died... he thought. And then his last.

    Oh my poor Tove
    ....



    "That's the way! Hold them back!" Juvage shouted. The enemy had tried to fight him by hitting him from the front and the left flank. But had been ready for them, his scouts had come back and by the time the enemy had crested the rise and borne down on him, they had been met with axes and steel.



    Above them on the wall the archers were pouring fire down the street, and street littered with bodies that were smoking ruins from the ballista bolts that had fired them. With both attacks repulsed, it was time to advance along the street and he and his men obligted, running hard for the square and the final confrontation. Juvage spared a thought for Casimir and wondered that the young man should be here by now. But maybe he'd meet him in the square...



    The Novgorods offered them no resistance until they reached the square where several catapults had been set up and rained destruction on his forces even as the Bajorija and lancers engaged the enemy and Nevski himself and Nevski must had realized it was only a matter of time but had determined to make himself costly. His men were going down very very hard and were forcing his men back into the path of the catapults as one limbered up to fire, it's ammunition aflame.



    And to Juvage's stunned shock, the catapult fired. It was a shot that burned a dozen if not more of his men but Nevski as well! The enemy general was dead and his bodyguard with him.

    "Now! Finish them! Lithuania!" Juvage shouted as his last reserves of foot Bajorija charged the last ground troops. He laughed now, his men were dead but far more Novgorods. He looked around for Casimir. But though the enemy were dead before him the young man did not appear.

    "Casimir!" he called. And again, "Casimir!?"

    A cold feeling began to seep into him as a dirtied bloodied bodyguard staggered up--one of Casimirs.

    "The lord? Where is the young Lord?" Juvage turned on him.

    The man shook his head. "I--it was an arrow by the gate... I..." the man staggered and fell to the ground. His wounds overborne him once his task was done.

    Again. Dead. He'd failed his lord.

    "Casimir! CASIMIR!!!"



    The stories told how the young lord had slain dozens of men, heaps of dead. Men who would be burried with him to show his prowess. But none of it would bring his young friend back. The son of his beloved prince.



    A victory yes, but hollow too. Juvage wasted no time, all men over 10 years old were slain, their wives taken by his men or simply raped and left to lie. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. He let his men sack the town to it's foundation. The orthodox church was burned out and fell stone by blazing stone destroying its foundation while Casimir went to his tenk and began to drink. And continue to do so while his captains continued with the business of conquest. In a few lucid moments he managed to order a message sent.

    PRESENT DAY

    "I see you have taken refuge in drink," Tove said hoarsely. Her voice was different, rougher and scratchy, a little broken. It made her seem tougher and more vulnerable at the same time, brittle.

    Juvage looked up, miserable, his head pounding. To his astonishment Tove walked forward and wrapped her arms around him.

    "It hurts you as much as I," she whispered. "Juvage don't end here, continue you must."

    "And for what? There's nothing," he replied, his speech slurred. All he could see were emptiness.

    "He never told you did he? Of course not, he would have gotten the letter just before the battle," Tove murmured.

    "What do you mean...?"

    "The line of Mindaugas is not ended my Lord," Tove said quietly. "Your task is not yet done."



    "Two young men, Linas and Svitrigaila. They will need guidance when they come of age. Will you still be there, and if you die, your son?"

    "My princess, you would trust still after all--"

    "Hush, Lord Juvage. I know he valued you much, as a father he'd never known. Soon we will feast here, you and I and his men, celebrating him. And maybe he will see us. But after, after...



    "Skirgaila is coming. He has a great army with many nights and then he will lay siege to Reval and finish the Danes in this land. What will you do my lord? Will you make stories and tales to tell my sons, Casimir's sons, to inspire them when they grow? To help them be brave and strong?"

    A warmth that was not liquor began to burn in Juvage as he looked up at the pale princess who looked almost more beautiful now. Beautiful, and the question could have only one answer, and he must make it true, must fulfill it no matter what the cost to himself.



    "Yes."

    End Chapter 20
    Last edited by SSJPabs; February 06, 2009 at 06:55 PM.

  9. #49

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 6!)

    Notes: What choice should I make? Pagan or Catholic? I am having trouble deciding...

    --Chapter 21: Sorrow and Revenge--


    Juvage carefully weighed the letter in his hands.



    He'd found it in his belongings only this morning as he was preparing to department with reinforcements to Skirgaila who was already heading north. It was only days since the widowed Princess Tove had roused him from his despair and he was amazed at the life flowing through him with renewed purpose. After a moment more he broke the seal on the letter--it was from his son Jogaila!



    To Lord Juvage of Voruta from His Son, Jogaila. Hail father, I would hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to say that it is done at last! The peninsula has been cleansed of the Danes.



    Our latest battle was a small affair as all the fighting in this land has been as you yourself know with the Danes engaged in the south and our nation beset. Still I will describe it briefly so it be not lost to all.



    After using my catapults to storm the walls of Goteborg we rushed to the city and I was able to charge a group of Raiders who had moved into the breach! They were thrown back and our Bajorija took them on without fail, driving them into a route.



    Even when they reformed our Latvians drove them back with a barrage of crossbow bolts. You were right--they are more reliable than I thought when I scorned them in favor of our traditional archers. I only wish the Latvians could fire at range.



    Even the Danish General attacked, though we swifly slew him--it might have been a crossbow, another for the Latvians. They were set up over it naturally, and I kept them with me after the battle as I reinforced our defenses. With this fight the Danes have been removed from the peninsula at last, and Gods be willing, our navy will be able to keep them from landing more men.


    In the end, I write not only to tell you of this battle but also of my request to return to the main land and the war against the Republic. I feel I have learned what I can and there is a very promising captain who I may promote in my place as the lord here. He is actually educated as he used to be a Christian monk until the conflict between the Bishop and the Order but now he has sworn that we are the honorable ones.

    I hope to see you again my father, and fight by your side.

    I remain,
    your son, Jogaila.

    Juvage smiled as he slid the letter into a pouch on his belt and walked outside. He had one more thing to do before he left. He hoped his son would return as well, they had need of all the generals they could find in their wars, surrounded as they were.



    As always she was near the shrine. The princess knelt in front of the stone hollows quietly contemplating. A personal offering had burnt to ash on the small altar by the time Juvage arrived. Clothed in the colors of her lord the dead Casimir with a small yellow ribbon threaded through her hair to show her mind was focused on death, Juvage wondered if when Giltine came for him, she would look like Tove.

    "So," she said not turning around. "You are leaving at last?"

    "I am, Skirgaila has arrived at last and we'll fight the Danes in Reval together."

    The princess nodded more to herself than Juvage. "You sound better. Make sure you return with your shield, my sons will have need of you."

    Juvage stretched his 48 year old bones. "I will not be dying so soon as that Princess, mark my words." He stood there a moment more searching for something to say as the Princess quietly continued to kneel near her offering. It was only after he had become more lucid that he began to worry about her. 28 years old but already full of years. "Farewell."

    He was still mulling over the princess and her fate when he set out on the road and only stopped when he reached the meeting place and Skirgaila did not arrive. While further south the forests were thick and brooding, this far north and near the coast the trees dwindled and more open land predominated. It was summer, or near enough and everything was awakening in a riot of color as the melted snow and spring rain dried up.



    "Dismount!" he ordered. "We'll make our camp here tonight."

    Juvage felt a pang of worry, almost sunset and Skirgaila had not come--what was keeping the man? He only had a small force, pared off from the men that had taken Pernau, those that had not been sent south to the eastern border with the Republic were alarming reports had come in off massing troops. As per the plan his force was mostly ifantry as Skirgaila's was mostly horse. His worry grew with the setting sun but it was only after nightfall when Skirgaila staggered into the camp with his army--and Juvage was amazed, they were unformly dirty and tired, splattered in mud and blood.

    "What has happened?!" he demanded of his fell general as he toosed him a wine skin.

    Skirgaila looked up at him only after he had down a huge draught. "The gods cursed northmen."



    "You were attacked?"

    "Not quite," Skirgaila said then turned as a noise was heard outside the tent. "Come!" he said after Juvage nodded. "Here boys," he said to the two young men peeping through the flap. "Help me out of my armor. Juvage I'll tell you the details and then my lord, we will be having dinner because my men are exhausted."



    "It will be done, you, see to it. Your friend will have to manage alone," Juvage said to one.

    "Let's see. We weren't attacked be near enough. We almost damn near ran into them--they'd captured the scouts you see. I'd ordered a halt when they did not return and that's the only reason i didn't get ambushed. Their army was hundreds of Huscarls and axemen. They'd been moving on Pernau I bet. And me not ready yet because we were separated. But we showed them though the men-at-arms took a real beating."



    "Well anyway as soon as I knew they were there I wanted out of those trees--I had a lot of Bajorija and I intended to use them. The enemy captain had the same idea and we emerged from the trees near the same time with the sea in the distance.



    "Those Husecarls were eager. They had been hiding in the woods to ambush us but they wasted no time in meeting us by the shore.





    "I swear to you by all the Gods, Juvage, that the way they started to run towards us as we advanced on them is a thing to sing of. Their foot as usual wanted in on the action and the northmen decided to let them wear us out because we saw them charge, wave on wave of axe men.



    "But my men could handle it, it was glorious--I led the charge in the center and we broke on their line like a storm for Perkunas! Our lances shattered them like broken pottery. Yet some of us were down, slain in the melee. The northmen are brave enough when it comes to it.



    "Their captain didn't want to wait either, he charged us out alone with his men and we were able to cut him down before the rest of the horsemen advanced on us.



    "Though he died he slowed us down and the husecarls routed our Livonian pavisemen. As the enemy wrapped around us to both sides. But I rallied the men, and we formed up again and charged--this time at our own lines.



    "The Tartars held firm as well and we smashed the Husecarls to dust between us!



    "They routed at that finally, and we slew them in heaps across the field!



    "Many of our cavalry were down but I still have more than a few units. I didn't see much in the darkness but with what you've brought along with the artillery, it should be enough."

    "I'm sorry to have missed it," Juvage smiled in spite of himself at Skirgaila's excitement. Juvage himself was not the kind of man to truly love battle though he was deadly enough when he fought--Ah, but I've forgotten, Skirgaila was a commoner Duke Mindaugas promoted so long ago. Still, the man is key in battle. "But as you said earlier, it's time to eat we have another battle coming up."

    "Indeed!" Skirgaila laughed. "Indeed!"



    "It's a beautiful city," Juvage observed quietly. And it was, the wall was high with towers topped with slate roofs and houses set near it, which was not safe but then again who would have imagined Reval would be under attack by the Lithuanians. But they'd conquered the Order, they'd humbled the horse lords and were holding fast against the Poles and the Republic and now they were here.



    "It's a beautiful wall," Skirgaila answered. "At least we intend to leave the city standing." Juvage nodded, Skirgaila was in command for this battle being lately of greater armies but it was a near thing regardless. They were watching the catapults made ready again to continue the process of knocking down the gate. "That said, this freak snow helps us, firms the ground a bit more for that rain and makes mud after we've got the city."



    "Yes, still snow this late in summer is a bit unsual. Let's hope it melts quick enough," Juvage said.

    "Our scouts report only footmen in the city great lords! No cavalry at all," one of bodyguard added ducking involuntarily as one of the catapults flung a stone that could crush a dozen men into the gates.

    "Good, then we should be able to have our way with them," Skirgaila smiled grimly. "Juvage I know about what happened. If you wish to go your own way to slaughter them my lord, do so."

    "I appreciate that," Juvage answered noting Skirgaila's more formal style for addressing him in the matter. "Ah look, the gate!"



    "Run! Run you pagan dogs!" Juvage laughed, turning the Christian curse into a battle cry for Lithuania.



    As they raced into the city they could already see the northmen advancing along the main street. One of the Bajorija units charged headlong at the oncoming with a war cry and somehow their horses carried them into the mass showering men and blood around them as behind them the Lithuanian army got into position, footmen in the streets, archers on the wall. Meanwhile Juvage turned and called over one of the minor nobles with the other units of horsemen and directed them to take circuitous routes towards the square. After, with a nod at Skirgaila who was directed the main combat he set out himself towards the left and found a long street heading the direction he wanted to go.



    Behnid him he could hear the footmen engaging the Northmen in a brutal melee of axe and shield when he saw dozens of men advancing down the street, Viking Raiders the lowest class of enemy but enough...enough to begin the revenge for his dead friend.

    "Run them down!" he ordered his bodyguard as his own battle began.



    By the time Juvage met up with Skirgaila again, both their streets were littered with bodies. While brutal, the more heavily armored Lithuanians had the day in the streets and Juvage had killed more Raiders before swinging around to a side street to see the catapults cranking into action and targeting the central square. Even as he looked, a flaming stone was hurled burning dozens of norse.

    In response a unit broke off racing for the exposed artillery and though Skirgaila was rallying more footmen, they might not be in time. But he could be.

    "Charge!!" he snarled. "For Casimir!"



    As it was they arrived there at the same time, his charge to their flanks, annihlating the Norse Swordsmen. They were utterly destroyed and ran before as he raised his bloody sword and laid open the back of another one who fell and did not rise.

    Then as he advanced toward the square at the head of the main force h saw the penants and lances of the other mounted knights at other streets in the square and he stood tall in his saddle.

    "Now! Charge! Charge for the Running Horse! For Lithuania!"



    The norsemen in the square huddled together, but nothing could live where knights charged from three sides.



    "One hundred and twenty-eight!" Skirgaila said in later, while the men were sacking the city. Juvage ignored the screams of the women and the dying because for now he wanted to savor the total. For now he wanted to count the bodies of the enemy and name each one as sacrifice to Giltine for Casimir. It was something Skirgaila said that brought him out of his reverie.

    "What was that you said?" he asked politely.

    "I said it turns my stomach," Skirgaila said nodding to several Lithuanians who were kneeling in front of the ruins of the Danish church. They had not kept their fellows from destroying it but had clearly not taken part.

    "I've seen that more in my own forces," Juvage nodded. "More and more of our men are claiming the religion that Mindaugas espoused."

    "But why?" Skirgaila said frustrated. "We're winning, our enemies pushed far away from our borders--borders that grow every day!"

    "Perhaps that is why," Juvage said. "With the respite from war in the heartland they can turn their minds to things like religion."

    "I'll not have it--" Skirgaila said. "Even some of the western lords are converting, I saw it for myself before I came north."

    Juvage left Skirgaila raging while he leaned down to recieve a message and he dropped to one knee in shock causing Skirgaila to stare at him.



    "The Duke, the Grand Duke is dead. Butvydas rules us now," he murmured quietly. "Gods help us."

    Skirgaila gave a quite exclamation but then swore louder even than in battle as he read the other message that came with the letter.

    "I don't think the Gods will be helping us much longer. I wouldn't if I were them," Skirgaila said committing low blasphemy. "The barons have sent a formal petition to Vilinus. It will be sent to Duke Butvydas shortly."

    "What kind of petition? Some sort of assembly?" Juvage asked.

    "Worse!" Skirgaila snarled tossing him the second letter. "Read it for yourself."

    "I'll do that..." Juvage said turning to the words but then he froze and felt his heart stop beating for just a moment.




    End Chapter 21
    Last edited by SSJPabs; February 07, 2009 at 10:16 PM.

  10. #50

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 7!)

    I say Aye, convert!


    http://ask.fm/Bigglelito <------- Ask me somethin' dagnabbit!

  11. #51
    Libertus
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    New York, NY
    Posts
    69

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 7!)

    Don't do it!!! You're already fighting a lot of wars, what are alliances going to do but get in your way later? How can you forgive the Christians for killing your family members?
    89% of teens would die today if MySpace was destroyed. If you are one of the 11% that would be laughing, copy and paste this to your signature.

  12. #52

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 7!)

    Thou should realise that if you accept to turn catholic all your effords were for nothing. Ur noble and brave warriors would have died for nothing and the Teutonic Order, altough defeated, would have won in the end, for their soul purpose was to make Lithuania christian...

    but seriousness aside: nice AAR! Very cool ur still updating it!
    E:TW's natives have developed a new "Ballistic Automatic Detection And Seeking System" to utterly annihilate any European that sets foot on their soil... That's BADASS for short!

  13. #53

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 8!)

    Notes:
    --After studying the campaign script file.... well the decision was made but I have one more chapter before it's announced. Also thanks to those who replied, you'll get a little nod next chapter.
    --This chapter is more exposition but we'll be getting back to the battles soon. I can finally see the end of this AAR.

    --Chapter 22: Favored of the Sky--

    Jogaila of Voruta looked over the railing of the mercenary cog as the great harbor of Riga appeared.



    He'd decided that with the promotion of his favored captain and pushing the Danes back to Roskilde, he could leave the peninsula in capable hands, especially after the last engagement near the Goteburg coast.



    He didn't bother to go to the town itself, staying the night at the portside town's inn and moving inland. After all he knew the Princess was still in Reval, though he heard some odd discussion about renaming it. The lands themselves were much quiet than when he'd passed through Riga on his way to join his father--a testament to the power of Lithuania. What need for more diplomats when the trade contracts had been negotiated with the Lithuanian state earlier.



    It was during the ride south toward the capital that he began hearing the rumors that were heading to the coast from inalnd. Rumors that many battles had been fought in the east against the Republic or may the Horde, the rumors weren't clear. In one village he'd heard tell that the only horselords were those in the service of Lithuania and their dominion extended almost to Muscovy. More rumors surged about massive investments not only in troops but in advancing the Lithuanian cities with technology from the west, though it was difficult getting the Christians to agree to instruct them in more advanced methods. This last at least fit with what else he'd heard, several of the lords had drafted a petition to the Grand Duke for official conversion. After all, Mindaugas had been personally Catholic and more and more of the population seemed to be converting.



    But the rumors had not prepared him for the site of Vilnius. He reached it just short of mid-summer and the city was a riot of green trees and red slate or tile roofs. There were even christian churchs small ones, compared to the great Temple of Dievas in the city, but on the whole the city seemed more prosperous than Jogaila could have imagined. Butvydas the new Grand Duke was not in residence of course, but Jogail stilled called at the royal palace to note his arrival and was contemplating heading north to find his father when Daumantas found him on a hunt outside the city.



    "Hail Voruta!" he shouted as he and his retinue met Jogaila. Daumantas was a decade older than he, most noticeable in his thining hair but the man looked full of energy as the day he married Princess Elena.

    "Daumantas of Prienai, I welcome you," Jogaila said. And it was true, brother-in-law to the late Casimir of the main Mindaugas line that Jogaila's own family was loyal to, he'd been present at the man's wedding note long after Grand Duke Tautvilas' conference that had result in the conquest of Jazdow. "I thought you were out east."

    "I was," Daumantas replied. "But I had to return to the capital to muster the Dievas' Guard."

    "The Guard itself?" Jogaila said with a start. "What is going on? The rumors are flying thick, is the Horde really subjugated?"

    "More than that, Jogaila, more," Daumantas said. "And I had a hand in it though I am not the military man your father or the Grand Duke are. But come, I see you have had no luck with your hunt so come to my camp outside the city and we can remedy the lack of game."

    "Ah, you speak well Lord Daumantas," Jogaila replied. "I will do as you ask." It was odd that the man was talking to him, he'd known him and spoken before but they were not particularly close though Jogaila had been away from the heartland since his coming of age.



    Once at that camp they retired to Daumantas tent while around them the quite bustle went on. The camp was small for now, with only a few men but soldiers had begun to march in and there were markings for many more tents and structures later.

    "It appears you are going to war," Jogaila observed.

    "Indeed I am, and now that you are here, so will you be."

    "I'm looking forward to being useful, the peninsula was fine but I want a little more action even if it means being under someone's command. But tell me, why are you commanding this army? If I remember correctly there are mighty lords in the east, I thought the Horde was pacified."

    "Gediminas and Edivydas of course. Yes but they are doing more than dealing with the remains of the Horde. And I did do my part--I destroyed them in the field so the lords could finish them in the cities. The horde is not just subjugated, they are a memory!"

    "Truly? How?" Jogail demanded shocked. The Mongol hordes had been menacing Lithuanian for decades.



    "Their final army of any consequence was ranging west trying to raid us and distract us from attacking their last cities. It was my task to stop them. Old Edivydas bestirred himself and conquered Chornobyl then lay siege of Chernigov. Gediminas went west and with him his son Svitrigaila. But their armies were small do to our main forces engaged else where so I had to win or else they would have fallen on both lords.



    "They obliged us and rushed to meet us. They were all archers of course, but many were mercenaries as well, even some Christian spearmen.



    "I sent my archers to flank them and sweep around to attack them from the hill they'd left to come at us. It was sad to see Jogaila, they had only one company of mounted men left to oppose not the great armies of the past our own horsemen were more experienced than theirs were now.



    "Our own baltic archers loosed their arrows and they were already breaking up by the time they reached our lines. I had intended to send our heavy foot after them but the Tartars demanded revenge and they rushed them with their long spears while our cavalry set upon them from behind."



    "Just like that?" Jogaila wondered. Battles against the Horde had been desperate affairs in the past.

    "This time it was, their last army of any consequence fallen. While you were off toying with the fading Danes, Lord Edivydas assaulted their last stronghold of Chernigov."



    "Now wait!" Jogaila said. "I was not simply toying them. They had amased a full banner of men and were planing to invade Goteburg from the north, but our naval forces caught them on the edge of the coast and we sank them! And entire Danish army drowned. That is not nothing."

    "Forgive me Jogaila, I did not mean to impugn you or your prowess."

    "I know, I know. I would just like the chance to prove my mettle here against our foes. But what happened at Chernigov? It fell?"

    "It did. Old Edivydas might be happy wenching over in Kiev, but he can still ride to war."



    "Neither army as I understand it was massive, our men are needed in north or the west."



    "But he had some of his own mercenaries. They are finally agreeing to our contracts now that we are a power. I understand the Khan died bravely at the hands of their spears."



    "With those he destroyed the last of them," Daumantas smiled. "The southeast is ours now, with the fall of the Horde the peoples they ruled between the seas are quarreling among themselves and are too weak to stand against us. We have also begun to establish some trading links with the kingdoms south of Kiev."

    "Well you make it seem as if everything has been decided," Jogaila observed. "Is there anything left for me to do?"

    "I am glad you asked. I was hoping to be able to find a reliable commander and you are made to fit for this task. Duke Butvydas has designed your father and Gediminas as his commanders for this front. Gediminas and his son are preparing our reserves in the east and with my own army we will strike north as they support me."

    "And I am too assist?"

    "No, but hold," Daumantas ordered. He got up and checked among the tubes in a barrle in the corner of the tent. Pulling one, he un-capped it and slid a map out onto the table in the tent, spreading it out. He placed some stones on the edge and motioned Jogaila over as he began placing little disks on the map.

    "What is this?"

    "Our plan of attack," Daumantas said, "if you wish, lean closer and take a look. It's complicated but readable. You can see our avialable forces. Along our border we hold Narva (thanks to your Father by the way, Jogaila), Olysta, Vitebsk and Zubstov. Three are fortresses so we are in a good defensive position and if you heard that the Republic doesn't have any fortresses you are right. We have them all, but they still have many men.



    "You can see the large concetration of Novgorod's troops near Narva and Pskov. Each of their disks stands for a full banner. They want to retake the north coast cutting off Arensburg and Abo and making Riga the front. That would be comfortable to say the least but they don't have the men to truly cover the border and we will exploit this.

    "Once the army here is created, and it's for not for me by the way, it's for YOU. You will take it and head north to Reval then swing east to relieve Narva. They will have reinforcements for you. There will also be reinforcements gathering south of Smolensk, Edivydas will be sending them. While you're doing that I will be striking north from Zubstov, skirting Holm and going right for Novgorod itself!"

    "It looks you will be operating alone," Jogaila pointed out. "What about Velikiye Luki?" In spite of himself he was already forumatling plans.

    "Ah, that is the key. Once you relieve Narva, and if worst comes to worse you can take refuge in the castle, we intend to have you march south and we will come at Pskov from the East and the West. This should distract them from my thrust because their last main armies are there. If either of our advances runs into trouble, Gediminas' son will lift the siege of Velikiye Luki and reinforce whoever is in trouble."

    "Assuming my father and I drive them south from Narva to Pskov, it looks like most of our armies in the north as well as theirs will be there. If Svitrigaila comes northwest, it might be a very great battle. But what if they advance west from Pskov before I get there?"

    "Ah, that won't happen. You see Jogaila, your father isn't at Narva. Lord Juvage's army is at Pskov. You will be going to his aid."

    "What? All alone?"

    "Don't worry, they won't advance. You'll have time."

    "How can you be so sure?"



    "Because Lord Juvage has the bridge."

    End Chapter 22

  14. #54
    dezikeizer's Avatar Campidoctor
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Bolingbrook
    Posts
    1,736

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 8!)

    This is great. It's very hard to find Lithuanian aars, let alone long ones, so this is a real treat.. Awesome job!

  15. #55

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 8!)

    I am very impressed by your work! It is excellent.. well written.. great background-story, well-detailed characters.. Hope you will update soon! Maybe if you have some spare time, you could read my AAR? Maybe we can exchange ideas
    It's not the size of the dog what counts in a fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. ~ Mark Twain


    [M2TW AAR] The might of Wales - An Britannia campaing fan-story
    http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=290299

  16. #56

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 8!)

    Quote Originally Posted by DaVegaNL View Post
    I am very impressed by your work! It is excellent.. well written.. great background-story, well-detailed characters.. Hope you will update soon! Maybe if you have some spare time, you could read my AAR? Maybe we can exchange ideas
    Holy @$!%. New comments. TBH I have completed the AAR, I have the screenies and other things sitting on my desktop, never finished it and started an Alternate History of Spain at another forum. I might as well go ahead and finish it out, so I'll see what I can do next week.

  17. #57
    Arto's Avatar Praefectus
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    6,297
    Tournaments Joined
    1
    Tournaments Won
    0

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 8!)

    Quote Originally Posted by SSJPabs View Post
    Holy @$!%. New comments. TBH I have completed the AAR, I have the screenies and other things sitting on my desktop, never finished it and started an Alternate History of Spain at another forum. I might as well go ahead and finish it out, so I'll see what I can do next week.
    Hooray!
    Knowledge is a deadly friend, if no one sets the rules. The fate of all mankind I see, is in the hands of fools - King Crimson's Epitaph.
    תחי מדינת ישראל

  18. #58
    dezikeizer's Avatar Campidoctor
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Bolingbrook
    Posts
    1,736

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 8!)

    Sweet!

  19. #59

    Default Re: [Teutonic AAR] Song of Victory: A Lithuanian's Tale (Updated February 8!)

    Nice!
    80% of the people on forums have things in their signature they ask you to copy. If you're sick and tired of this, copy this in your sig
    Fun things to do in Total war:
    1. Trample peasants to death with elephants (optionally with culverins)
    2. Burn peasants with greek fire
    3. Bombard peasants with mangonels
    4. Burn peasants with fire-arrows

    Yes, I like my peasants...
    Fried!!!


Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •