The Siege of Nightsong

[Iron Aquilifer]

The cavalry were the first to arrive, three long columns of armoured soldiers leading a mass of mounted archers. Thaddeus was at their head, smiling to his lieutenants as they boasted of the riches to come. When the Stormlander scouts chanced upon them, the reachman simply waved his hand. Nine-foot flagpoles were raised, the golden tree on green of his family's sigil fluttering as they rode forward.

Behind came the infantry horde, Garlan at their head with a hundred Sworn Swords at his back.

OOC
1955 Heavy Infantry
3989 Light Infantry
2066 Polearm Infantry
2213 Archers
1955 Light Cavalry
291 Heavy Cavalry
100 Sworn Swords

[Rownage]

Axell's outriders, who had rode out before the fox's men, now saw their fellow Reachmen. "A golden tree, they're from house Rowan!" one of them shouted. "Axell did not tell me there were going to be any other houses supporting us," ser Osgrey Norcross said. "Quickly men, let us search for the commander of this host." They rode for a man in gilded plate armor who was riding at the head of the column, flanked by another knight carrying the large battle standard of house Rowan. "That must be ser Taddeus," Osgrey told his men. "Good to see some fellow Reachmen out here, my lords. I come to bring you the news you will soon be joined by ser Axell of house Florent."

[Iron Aquilifer]

OOC: Gonna assume you meet my cav force

IC:

Thaddeus bowed shallowly to the knight.

"Have the Florents also decided to claim some personal glory out of the shadow of Lord Tyrell and Redwyne?"

He then turned to the man at his other side.

"Inform my lord father that we are to be joined by the Florents. Nightsong will fall quickly."

The knight did not wait for his orders to be carried out before he had turned back to the Florent knight.

"And how many men has Ser Axell brought with him to this forsaken place?"

Even as he asked this scouts were returning, declaring that Nightsong was only a little further afore them.

[Rownage]

"Aye, we should not let them have all the fun eh," Osgrey said with a smile on his face. " Axell will be bringing some five thousand men with him, the rest you should ask him yourse..." Lord Norcross got interrupted by a horn blast, followed by the sound of hooves. "Speaking of the devil!" he said. A rider appeared atop of the hill north of them, clad in gilded steel armor: Axell Florent had come. To his side rode another knight looking the same as his father in all but length. A third men rode on Axell's right side, a knight bearing the battle standard of house Florent. As they rode towards Goldengrove's host, some thousand men light and heavy cavalry appeared behind them. "Look who we have here, some fellow Reachmen!" Axell shouted across the field. "Who is it I have the honor to meet?"

[Iron Aquilifer]

The knight looked at the Florents as they started to swarm down in to his once orderly ranks of cavalry with a growing sense of distaste. A disorderly mob was far less effective than the tight columns he had trained his men to march in.

"I am Thaddeus Rowan, heir to the High Lordship of Northmarch. My lord father is a little while behind us. You are Ser Axell I presume? Why are you here, so far from Tyrell or Redwyne?"

[Rownage]

"I could ask you the same, Thadeuss. Last time I met lord Tyrell, he told me to march wherever I wanted to go. As I am afraid I do not have the men to face the armies at Tumbleton and Graasy Vale, I thought to be of most use here." He paused for a moment. "May I introduce you to my son Arslan, ser Thadeuss. An even better duelist than I was at his age. He will lead the Florent army in my place after this siege, for I will make for the Crownlands as soon as we have taken Nightsong to comman one of our king's mighty hosts. I would prefer not to get caught up between the walls of Nightsong and lord Baratheon's army, so I suggest we finish the job here as soon as possible. What do you think?"

[Iron Aquilifer]

OOC:
Defenders of Nughtsong:
100 Heavy Infantry
200 Light Infantry
100 Polearm Infantry
100 Archers
100 Light Cavalry
0 Heavy Cavalry

V

Army of Garlan and Thaddeus:
1955 Heavy Infantry
3989 Light Infantry
2066 Polearm Infantry
2213 Archers
1955 Light Cavalry
291 Heavy Cavalry
100 Sworn Swords

Garlan: +2 Battle, +1 Capture
Thaddeus: +2. battle

The Florent levies?

Attack plan: archers fire on the castle before the light infantry attack the walls. The pole arms will breach the gate with the support of the heavy infantry. while the rest encircle the castle.
Thaddeus will be with the pole arms, Garlan with the walls.
Thaddeus carried the newly forged steel greatsword.

IC:
"Greetings Ser, we are here since war is upon us, and the traitors must be dealt a lesson. Nothing more, nothing less."

He supposed the man was just trying to be friendly, but he came off arrogant and selfish. Why did he straighten his back so when he mentioned the Crownland army? Leaving his men to command others was something that Thaddeus and his father could never do. Yet, the Rowan's could use this to their advantage.

"The castle will fall to my father shortly. I hope that you accept his seniority in this campaign, for as long as your men march with us."

[Pericles of Athens]

OOC These will be standing in defense of Nightsong also, Stannis sent them after the victory at Summerhall.

200 Heavy Infantry
427 Polearms
1079 Light Cavalry
206 Heavy Cavalry

Edit
So in total,
300 Heavy Infantry
200 Light Infantry
527 Polearm Infantry
100 Archers
1179 Light Cavalry
206 Heavy Cavalry

[Iron Aquilifer]

OOC: surrender roll while I am at it

IC
With Florent and Rowan banners flying above, Thaddeus and Garlan rode up to the castle's walls.

"Surrender, and your lives will be spared. You will be allowed to return to your homes with your honour and dignity intact. Defy me, and this castle will burn."

Garlan smiled awkwardly as his son roared at the garrison, outnumbered and alone. He had brought up the mass of cavalry to ensure the storm landers didn't try anything.

"Surrender, and we will all see this war through alive."

[Rownage]

OOC yeah he's supposed to be arrogant.

790 Heavy Infantry
1225 Light Infantry
819 Polearm Infantry
1185 Archers
1340 Light Cavalry
380 Heavy Cavalry

Total: 5739 men

Axell's traits:
3 land battles
3 duel
2 survivor
2 joust
2 scout

Arslan's traits:
2 duel
2 joust
1 assassin
1 land battle

[Honors Bastion]

Surrender Roll:

Basic Roll: 5/20 Surrender Chance
Modifiers: +2 Charisma, +3 (Outnumber 7 to 1, not that great of an advantage considering the strength of the walls)
Final Roll: 10/20

Rolled a 14, the garrison refuses to surrender.

I will need the orders from both sides before I roll out the siege. Remember the abilities and limitations of certain units, as in cavalry can dismount and Polearms cannot attack walls etc.

[Iron Aquilifer]

OOC: Realizes that I am technically in command of Nightsong's defense

Rowan's Host:
Overall Commander: Garlan Rowan (+2 Battle, +1 Capture)
2745 Heavy Infantry: Commander: Garlan Rowan (+2 Battle, +1 Capture)
5214 Light Infantry: Commander: Axell Florent (+3 Battle)
2885 Polearm Infantry: Commander: Arslan Florent (+1 Battle)
3398 Archers
3295 Light Cavalry
671 Heavy Cavalry: Commander: Thaddeus Rowan (+2 Battle)
100 Sworn Swords
Total: 18308 Men

V

Garrison:
Overall Commander: Yohn Caron (distant branch... aux.)
300 Heavy Infantry
200 Light Infantry
527 Polearm Infantry
100 Archers
1179 Light Cavalry
206 Heavy Cavalry
Total: 2512 Men

Note: Nightsong has a +2 Siege roll modifier.

Reach Commands

(Jon assumes command given he has brought more men, arrived first, and Ser Axell is leaving soon.) Archers to fire on the defenders holding the walls Under the arrow cover the Heavy Infantry and Polearms will breach the gates, as Light Infantry take ladders to the walls (Axell in command of Light Infantry, Garlan in command of heavy infantry, Arslan with Thaddeus) The light cavalry will dismount and join the light infantry, while the heavy cavalry remain mounted as a reserve, to throw in once the gates have been taken (commanded by Thaddeus)

Defenders Commands (if applicable)

Archers will fire on the advancing enemy, while light infantry will hold the walls The Light cavalry will dismount and support the walls, while the heavy cavalry dismounts and joins the rest of the garrison at the gates If at any time there is an opening, the garrison will attempt to flee, mounted or dismounted

IC:

Once the garrison had made it clear that they were not going to be submitting without a fight, Garlan and Thaddeus prepared the host for an assault. They had the numbers, but they did not have the time. The threat of a relief host was looming over them for every day they waited.

"It will be a good day!" Garlan called out to his men as the archers began to take their place.

The Reach banners were bright and gaudy and filled the land from east to west. It was a sight which made the man proud to have been alive in such a time. Sure, the reports of the war were not good. Yet who cared, for as long as you won your own, personal, campaign?

"Thaddeus, you are our mailed fist. Once I have the gates open, you will punch their guts."

Watching for a moment as the armoured warrior strode away, Garlan turned to the Florents, Axell still beaming about his position in the Royal Army.

"Axell, you have the walls, take them quickly with as little bloodshed as possible. Arslan, you will be with me at the gates. I hope you are as prepared as you say you are."

[Honors Bastion]

Battle Result:

I'm not going to translate everything from the battle calculator to here. That will take too long and be too tedious so I will just go ahead and post the results.

Nightsong is taken by the Rowan-Florent Army. However, the army suffers heavy losses as a result of the assault.

Reach Losses: 35%
Nightsong Garrison Losses: 50% (well technically more but limited by the calculator)

Remaining Rowan-Florent Men:

1784 Heavy Infantry
3389 Light Infantry
1875 Polearm Infantry
2209 Archers
2142 Light Cavalry
436 Heavy Cavalry
65 Sworn Swords

11,900 Men Total.

Edit: Forgot casualty roll for the characters and the loot amount.

Post-Battle Casualty:

Garlan Rowan: 17 - unharmed
Axell Florent: 12 - captured, by free after victory
Arslan Florent: 18 - unharmed
Thaddeus Rowan: 20 - unharmed

Loot:

20% of 60,000 is 12,000 Dragons Loot to be split by Lord Rowan and Lord Florent.

[Iron Aquilifer]

OOC: My thanks

[Rownage]

OOC: I'll do my post battle RP tomorrow

[Rownage]

When Axell was freed from his chains, his face was almost as red of anger as the blood that came flowing out of his leg wound was. "Now, lord Garlan, what shall we do with the loot and what shall we do with the castle. I would like us both to have exactly one half of the loot. On the castle, have you heard what the Carons did to Tumbleton? Leave the dead bodies on the field, make sure no honor is 'spilled' on our bodies? I say we put the castle to the torch and put its garrison to the sword. But that is for you and Arslan to decide, our prince is waiting for me," he said as he mounted his horse and rode away with a few guards.

[Iron Aquilifer]

Watching the man go, Garlan shook his head softly.

Turning to Arslan, The Lord of Goldengrove informed him of future plans.

"You provided a third of our strength, so you should only receive a third of the loot. However, we are loyalists together, so five thousand dragons are yours."

Before the Florent could reply, he went on.

"Desecrating the dead is something we should expect of traitors. Yet what would we be if we did the same? The castle will remain untouched, it is a formidable keep, and as such, will be a good place to hold back any counter-attacks. However, the stormlanders who survived will be executed. They are a danger to us here. See that the bodies are left out to rot in this sun."

OOC: are all defensive bonuses for walls lost? Or is that only for cities?

[Rownage]

"Right then, we will do as you say," Arslan said. "Please do not mind my father's rude words, he has his own feuds with the Carons. I say we will do as you say. There is one thing I would like to ask you though: I think it would be better for us to march on together. As my house has always been known for its good and many knights throughout the Reach, I would like to command our cavalry while you command the infantry. Do we have a deal, Garlan?"

[Iron Aquilifer]

OOC: 784 Heavy Infantry and 1200 Light Infantry are left behind as a garrison under the command of Ser Mathis Flowers the Red.