Redding - Clegane and Lefford's Raids

[Pontifex Maximus]

The Mountain was gathering his forces to him, a small, mobile force capable of overtaking the enemy and destroying them with little thought of mercy. Raymar Lefford might show up, or he mighn't. It made no difference to Gregor. He would take command of his small band and move them to the borders to harry both sides equally until Lucion made a final decision who to support. All he wanted to do was kill, damn the politics.

Totals: (Waiting for Ponti to calculate his total dead before this changes)
Heavy Infantry: 0
Light Infantry: 1,500
Polearms: 716
Archers: 776
Light Cavalry: 600
Heavy Cavalry: 100

Of Goldentooth: (Figures in brackets are the dead from raids conducted)
498 Light Infantry (-2)
349 Pikemen (-1)
224 Archers (-1)
249 Light Cavalry (-1)

Of Fang Tower:
Light Infantry: 968 (-42)
Polearms: 366
Archers: 551
Light Cavalry: 350
Heavy Cavalry: 100

Traits & Equipment:
+3 Survival
+3 Duel
+7 Duel (Greatsword)
+1 Scout
+2 Pathfinder
+3 HP in Duels

[Poach]

Raymar Lefford did indeed show up, appearing on horseback a few days after the Mountain, having remained at the Rock a while longer to resolve with his father the various commands he was to take up at Goldentooth after the council: they had been passed to others, now. He had to summon his own forces from the vast camp behind Goldentooth that housed the thousands of defenders that the fortress itself couldn't accommodate.

He entered Fang Keep, the entire place being not much larger than one of the great turrets of Goldentooth's main walls, but the walls were thick and the surrounding ground bad for attack, making the fortification a tough one indeed. Passing through the squat gate, flanked by the dog banners on each side, the small place was nonetheless busy with horsemen and soldiers, almost all armed and armoured lightly: a raiding force indeed.

Behind Raymar marched his own small force of 1,325 men: 500 Light Infantry, 350 Pikemen, 225 Archers and 250 Light Cavalry. They represented Goldentooth's militia, a body Raymar was usually the commander of and that he had trained as a light, rapid force to be used in advance of his father's preferred heavier forces. Altogether the Mountain commanded almos two men to every one under a Lefford banner, but over a thousand men extra would bulk their strength considerably against any peasant defenders.

"The Mountain." said Raymar simply as he dismounted before the small party of Clegane's men that had moved out in front of the column as it passed through the gates. Behind him, the column came to a halt and the drum of marching feet faded to silence, punctured only by the occasional whinny of a horse.


Raymar Lefford:
+3 Duels, Survival, Battles

It'll take as long for me to march troops from Goldentooth as it takes you to raise your troops so I won't bother. I've also just placed the Militia build order but I'll just take from Goldentooth's current raised levy and replace it with the militia points, as I doubt Goldentooth's getting attacked in the next 2 days.

[Pontifex Maximus]

ooc: woopsie, light edit then. Same effect I was going for

[Pontifex Maximus]

Clegane's men didn't appear to be farming men, or townspeople, or even knights. There were some knights of course, seemingly fresh from the hedge, but their attire was mismatched and poorly maintained. As if they had simply slit the throats of the equipment's previous owners and claimed it as their own. They seemed a band better suited for a march to The Wall to serve on the Night's Watch than in an ordered army. In the midst of them Gregor Clegane prepared his horse. His giant sword at his hip and his charcoal colored armor making him look like a giant in the children's stories come to life.

"You can shove those banners up your arse, Lefford." He said in a low tone. "Won't be using them on the march."

[Poach]

[OOC: There are no drums, I called the sound of marching troops a 'drum' because of the steady beat their feet would make.]

[Poach]

"Of course not," said Raymar nonchalantly, "I intend you to know who I am, I don't intend the enemy to. When do we move?"

[Pontifex Maximus]

"Soon." came the booming answer "We go to the Reach."

[Poach]

"Soon, then." said Raymar, walking the other way without further word. Before long a small column of smoke arose from outside the walls as the two Lefford banners were sat alight, destroying the sole identification brought by Raymar's men.

"We strike the Reach," said Raymar, speaking to Myles and Arnolf, two of his Lieutenants and very much at home among cut-throats and bandits, "Their northern border will be empty of men."

The two nodded, eager to get into the conflict that the Lannisters had been absolutely avoiding, Arnolf commenting, "What of the Lannisters? They didn't sanction this."

"The banners are burnt, the Reach faces half the realm as rebels," said Raymar dismissively, "Even if some borderlands peasant swears to his superiors that Westermen burned his village down, he's as likely to be thought a paranoid fool as to be believed. If they believe him, what of it? Tyrell won't attack us: that will force Lucion's hand."

The three stood outside the main gate of the castle quietly conversing while their men sat, ate quickly cooked meals or got some rest, strewn down the rocky path that marked the rout into Fang Tower. They waited for Clegane to signal his readiness to move on.

[Pontifex Maximus]

At last several shrill blasts from horns converged into an intolerable din. The Mountain appeared at the head of a body of cavalry, leering and hunched. "Coming, Lefford?" He spurred his horse forward, lightly armed men and mounted knights following his lead. The infantry continued at a light trot, falling behind the cavalry but keeping a neat pace. They fanned out into the woods surrounding the tower, their soft leather boots leaving only faint traces and light fwapping noises on the dewy grass.

Gregor looked behind him and allowed the Lefford men catch up. He seemed to have surrounded himself by a heavy personal bodyguard made up of scoundrels and hedge knights. "Redwater Keep, on the Red Lake is the target." He bellowed in a deep voice. "Even if any of 'em live to tell about it, they can't do nothin' about it." Gregor seemed pleased with himself.

"Polly's leadin' a scout party ahead. See if anything's up. If anything big is coming towards us we'll spring 'em a little surprise."

ooc:

Scout roll for Redwater Keep using 250 light cavalry (+1 scout roll trait)

[Honors Bastion]

Scout Roll: Rolled an 18 +1 scout equals 19.

The Clegane scouts are able to successfully roam through the province of the Redwater Lake and they return with absolute certainty that no opposing army has encamped or pass through the area recently.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Polly, a slender man, slipped from the back of his horse and approached a small fire that burned in the center of a makeshift camp. The host had marched as far as it could without arousing suspicion, and was awaiting the return of the outriders. Polly approached the fire where The Mountain and several of his lieutenants sat and delivered the message: "No sign of the enemy, Ser Gregor." And that was all he needed to hear.

With a fantastic roar Gregor stood "To horse you miserable sons of whores, we're going to Redwater!" A blur of activity followed the command as hundreds of gray clad men began to move off singularly in the same direction. Gregor mounted his giant horse and began moving off at a pace flanked by a growing number of his own horsemen. Within minutes they would reach the first collection of villages and the burning would begin.

ooc: I'll wait for Poach to catch up in this RP before continuing

[Poach]

[OOC: Some of us work during the day! ]

Before long the Mountain appeared at the head of his troops as they left the castle, signalling the march was beginning.

"We move!" shouted Raymar down the line of Goldentooth men as he swung up into the saddle, before turning to Myles and Arnolf and speaking at normal volume, "Get the men ready and form a column behind this lot, once they've cleared the road."

With the Mountain's men marching down the road that Raymar's men were strewn to the side of, efforts to organise into a line of march would have to wait until they had passed. Raymar rode up the side of the marching Clegane force at a casual trot, before long reaching the head of the column and joining the group at the front, where he learned of the target.

"If anything big comes towards us I'd wonder what they bothered sending east." said Raymar after listening to the Mountain. With half the realm in rebellion, keeping a large army just sitting around along an unimportant stretch of the Reach-Westerlands border would be outlandishly stupid.

* * * * * *

Later in the evening, as the small force sat encamped behind a small wood a few miles inside the Reach, the lights of the nearest villages close enough that they were only obscured by the trees between the raiders and the settlements, the scouting party that had departed the main body hours ago when they left Fang Keep finally returned. Polly reported good news.

Silently Raymar climbed atop his horse as everywhere fires were put out, last bits of food and drink hastily consumed, and weaponry picked up. In the dark, and without any insignia or banners, the force had mixed up into one large group. Not that it mattered during a raid: no one raids villages in orderly, cohesive units.

Drawing his sword as the cavalry gathered speed, he said, ​"Happy hunting."

[Pontifex Maximus]

Gregor charged up near the closest collection of houses and larger buildings. Maybe a tavern, maybe a waystation, maybe a granary, he didn't care. He dismounted and drew his massive sword, making a run for the closest building with several companions. He kicked open the door to reveal the inside of a small tavern with patrons in the hall. Gregor stepped inside and nearly cut a man in half with his back turned. Yelling ensued as the Mountain's men tore the place apart, leaving a trail of blood and corpses in its wake. Gregor hacked down his victims mercilessly, any who resisted did so at their own peril for it only made him angrier. Soon none were left alive and several of the men dropped their weapons in order to loot the place and loosen the purses of their victims. Gregor returned outside and was greeted with similar scenes of rape, murder, and pillaging. Several buildings had been set ablaze. He got on his horse and continued to the next collection of houses. The next several hours continued in much the same way.

[Poach]

Raymar lead his own horsemen in a wide arc around the first village to be plundered, reaching the dirt track of a road that would lead to the next village by the time fires and screams could be heard from the pillaging that had begun. Soon people could be heard coming down the road: fearful people, fleeing people. They were run down as the charge was ordered, with Raymar's men reaching the far side of the village soon after, tossing torches onto roofs and joining the general plunder of the town.

Dismounting, Raymar strode through the centre of the village as people ran, fell and died all around. Some farmhand came at him with a pitchfork, the thrust easily deflected by a right parry and the boy dispatched with a swift full-body twirl that brought the sword's blade whistling into the boy's neck from the left, slamming the lad into the ground with a deep cut into his neck. A second man ran forth, unarmed, probably trying to reach his now-dying son, only to be impaled by a short stabbing thrust. With a boot firmly on the man's chest, Raymar hauled the sword free and continued on his way. It didn't take long for the first village to fall, and thanks to the cavalry positioning there wouldn't be a stream of fleeing victims arriving at the surrounding villages in any respectable number.

Alongside the rest of the force, the entire area was attacked in such a manner. Every village was the same: the Mountain would crash through the front door and Raymar would circle around and charge the village from the rear to catch the fleeing peasants. Some of them even looked relieved for a pitiful few moments, thinking Raymar's horsemen were friendly knights coming to the rescue.

As the sun rose, the horizon was black with the smoke of a dozen burnt out settlements, from three-house hamlets to larger villages: the people of Redwater Keep's fief had been laid low indeed.

[Honors Bastion]

Detection Roll: Rolled an 10 -2 pathfiner = 8.

6-10, the peasants muster a weak defence, but in the chaos do not send riders to report the attacking banners. Proceed to Raid Roll.

Perception Roll: Not needed.

Raid Roll: Rolled a 3, 3% of the raiding force is lost during the raid to desertion, disease or death.

Loot Roll: Rolled a 20. 20% of 30,000 is 6,000 Dragons looted.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Clegane's sword was crusted with blood and gore as he looked about him. "Torch the remaining houses! We ride east!" There was more border to the east than the west, and he didn't feel like getting caught deep within the Reach by a superior force. The border villages were easy pickings. The ragtag group began to turn in a new direction and marched off.

"Lefford!" Clegane roared across the plain. He had wondered if the man had packed his saddlebags with loot and disappeared. It would be just like him, the move of a tiny coward. A splash of blood had to be wiped from the front of his armor by a surly looking squire by the name of Johan, a badger faced boy of fifteen.

ooc: Poach I propose a 60/40 split of the accumulated casualties and loot to account for the numbers each of us brought to the table. Agreeable?

[Poach]

[OOC: I have 36.6% of the troops so a 40% share of the dead and loot is simple and fair. 2,400 Dragons to me and I'll sort my troops in your OP, I've taken 1.2% of the total deaths.]

A horseman trotted up to him, the man wiping his sword with a rag before sliding it back into the scabbard.

"What?" said Raymar as he came close enough to Clegane to speak without shouting. He too was bloody-looking, the simple red surcoat he had donned instead of Lefford colours covered in a patchwork of much deeper red where blood had landed. All around them lay dead peasants, and the air was thick with smoke from burning houses, occasionally obscuring the two men from each other despite being only yards apart.

[Pontifex Maximus]

"We go east. Redding, then a plumper prize. My people took the first risk so now it's your turn. Send scouts to Goldengrove and see if any melon munching bastards are there to kill." Gregor wanted to launch quickly into his next assault. Already most of his men were moving in the right direction and he wanted to join them. "Lannister had better make up his mind quick." Gregor lowered the visor on his helm once again, looking like a solid block of dark colored iron as he moved off.

[Poach]

"Fair." said Raymar, whistling over Arnolf, speaking further as he waited, "Lucion won't move until the war's decided for him. Best we can hope for is Riverrun: the rebels will probably have King's Landing before we do."

"Take light horse east, find Goldengrove, tell us what's there." said Raymar to Arnolf when he showed up.

"Aye." he said in a gruff voice, wheeling around and riding off.

[Honors Bastion]

Scout Roll: Rolled a 13 + 1 scout = 14.

The Lefford scouts report back with some confidence that there is no army at Goldengrove and that no Army has been at Goldengrove for some time.