Battle of Dubilov

City of Dubilov, capital of the Dubrozhna Voivodeship

The battle of Dubilov took place in Aven`s end of 299, near and inside the city of Dubilov, when an army commanded by King Aranion of the Llapocks attacked the city, then taken by rebel forces, resulting in a llapock victory over them and shattering the rebellion. Word of the rebellion arrived to the capital on Aven`s beggining .Orders were sent to the Duke of the Luths , who assembled his army on the march and arrived at the capital on the 15th.

The Royal army arrived to the outskirts of Dubilov on the 27th, where it met with the remains of the Provincial Banderium of Dubroznia and coordinated via bird and spell with the Szlachta of Dubilov, still living in their tall spires. The battle started with the luth assaulting The Sty during the night. Attempts of the defenders to overwhelm the luths from walls was thwarted by precise drops of thunderstones, causing them mass casualties. The luths attempted to take the city by a breach, but were halted troughout the night by the knights of the steel cross.

By the evening of the 28th, day bombardments were led by the king. Two further breaches were made into the city`s walls to The Sty, but a swift retreat was ordered after many nobles were injured by precise shots from hadjuks. The royal army then pressed the attack trough the northern gate as the luths pressed the attack from The Sty. Fierce figthing broke trough the main street towards Spire Town. As a last act of defiance, the rebels rallied around the spires, and managed to fell one of them. At this time, the royal army and the luth`s troops surrounded The Spires district, where a mass stampede led to the deaths of thousands.

The rebellion died at Dubilov, its leaders`s heads were put on display. Rule of the Szlachta was restored .The brothers of The Steel Cross were banished back to the Magerni Empire, and the hadjuk company of the folyos managed to escape, although with heavy losses. King Aranion personally rewarded the Voivode of the city and the Senior Pancerni, who managed to put crucial resistance. The luths were let go to their kingdom, their army would be involved in the battle of Jasnostaw weeks later, which would be the beggining of The Niezgoda.

Background:

The year of 298 was marked by an early winter snow, which put the peasants to rush and harvest before the crops went bad, one of the less affected regions was the eastern province of Drubosznia. Seeing opportunity for renown, Voivode Adrahill Redòloss offered King Aranion a share of the harvest, as to avoid untasteful and disruptive rebellions, banditry, and all the things the unrest of starvation bring.

King Aranion requested forty thousand bushels of grain, roughly half the harvest of the entire region, which had to be carted off with armed escorts. Small clashes with peasants were had, with many injured, but few dead. Still, letters were sent to the Voivode regarding the unrest of the populace, both by educated commoners and his own bannermen, yet they fell into deaf ears. Brother Captain Reinhardt, the leader of the local company of The Steel Cross, demanded audience with the Voivode, but the gates of the Marble Keep remained shut to his presence.

Come the year 299, the peasantry had not forgotten about the last year`s hunger. Fortunately, this year was not as forbidding, and harvest was set to go as usual .But the fears of another early winter, and rumours that the Voivode would demand even more grain to satisfy the king spread like the plague. At the winter`s festival a few notable commoners arranged a course of action, a last letter was sent to Voivode Adrahill, now with even more requests .The story goes the Voivode found it as suitable toilet paper. By winter of 299 the decision was made by the elders, and plans were hatched to take the city by storm, to then demand attention by the Kingdom`s authorities to the peasantry`s needs.

The local garrison was swifty overwhelmed, with many hostages taken, as the rebels from the slums jumped over the walls with war improvised weapons. The Marble Keep fell in short order, with its armory intact, but the tall spires of the spire town were beyond the reach of the rebels. In the aftermath of the uprising, the city remained in the hands of "The revolt of spears and ears" as the majority harengon populace of the city called it.

The Church of Saint Galathur, containing a garrison of brothers of The Steel Cross, initially shut its doors and put up resistance. After conversations with Starzec Królik, the knights agreed to open the doors, and in a surprising move to all, joined the rebels. Additionally, a company of Hadjuks hiding in the forests nearby emerged, and offered their guns to the cause. Preparations for response from the king began immediatly. Hadjuks and brother knights trained as many rebels as they could as negotiation attempts were made with the Szlachta of the city, still inhabiting their tall spires. Since no response was given from the nobility, preparations were made to undermine their towers.

Envoys were sent to spread the news of the sucessful uprising, however, most were intercepted by roaming patrols of the provincial banderium, the stragglers that avoided capture and rallied behind one Senior Pancierni Bartosz. Early in the campaign, attempts were made to disuade the travellers, but this proved inneficient, as it deprived the meagre cavalry force from the element of surprise. After a few unaffordable casualties, the decision was made to kill all armed pesants travelling the roads, on sight. For the rest of the month, Bartosz`s forces would fluctuate, as they skirmished with arriving peasant rebels and hadjuk parties, but they were overall sucessful in stifling the reinforcements to the rebellion.

Opposing Forces

Rebel Army:

The rebel forces were comprised almost exclusively of commoners from the city of Dubilov and nearby settlements, all within a day`s walk. The vast majority of them were harengon, a lot of them too young or too old to fight, yet added to bulk the numbers of the force. The Steel Cross knights and the Hadjuks would provide valuable training, which was limited due to their need in skirmishing the provincial banderium and patrolling the city at night, as the Szlachta could attempt to do a surprise attack. The focus of the training was on a small contingent of troops that were equipped by the contents of the Marble keep`s armory. These were the finest men available. They wore shining plate armor, magical pendants and rings. For weapons they had enchanted partisan spears, longswords, crossbows and staffs of thunder.

The rest of the peasant forces had little in the way of real kit. Some chain and scale mails were looted from the garrison, as well as warspears, crossbows, lances and axeguns. But these did not cover any relevant percentage of the kit, and were spread troughout the force. Most peasants wore padded gambeson made by themselves, and wielded war scythes, flails, improvised spears, clubs and crude shields. The training of these folk was mostly sub par, being organized in mobs and guided by local leaders with no knowledge of tactics.

Hadjuks:

Whilst the hadjuk Company of The Folyos was anything but regular, it was wealthy and well kitted. Their numbers are of debate, with estimates putting them betweeen fifty and three hundred. The rebels who surrendered claim the lower number, whilst the Szlachta and luth warriors who faced them, the latter. Scale mail and shields were given to the melee figthers, with some choosing splint mail and heavier tower shields. Heavy clubs were utilized as a choice, with axes and picks being common sidearms as well. For ranged weapons they had longbows and arquebuses, with which they were deadly accurate, as well as axeguns, which they dual wielded when assaulting their enemies. It is rumored that this hadjuk company carried magical items and components from their home, the Folyos, and used them to undermine the effectiveness of the magical protections of the nobility. Such rumours have not been confirmed, but have since dug insecurity amongst the nobility.

Raukov Company:

The Knights of The Steel Cross wore chainmail and shields. Maces and longswords were the common weapon. as well as warspears and spellcasting sun staffs. This company was well trained and battle hardened, being the only regular trained force within the rebel army. It was a detriment to their cause that they were given this assigment to begin with to have the opportunity to rest, as their last service was in the wars against the luth. Their captain, Reinhardt Von Raukov, was a giant of a man clad in thick steel plate, wielding a massive shield and war axe.

Rebels of Dubilov

Hadjuk Marksmen

Brother Knight Reinhardt Von Raukov

Royal Army:

The royal forces were mostly comprised of the king`s royal banderium and the army of the luths.

The royal banderium numbered three thousand well trained wood elf bannermen, led by the Szlachta of the capital. This force had not seen much combat in years, but trained in the drill squares with an almost religious zeal.

Enchanted scale mail and pavise shields were standard issue, with many senior members kitted with inherited or gifted magical items. The nobility amogst them was of even higher standard, with weightless plate armor, rings with shield spells stored and other charms against harm.

For weaponry, the royal army was divided between crossbow and spear regiments. Spear regiments fought with warspears, with longswords as a sidearm. Crossbow regiments were armed with heavy crossbows, with shortswords as their backup. Special equipment, such as staffs of thunder, wands of fireball and enchanted banners were given to senior bannermen.

Army of Luthland:

The army of the luths numbered between ten and fifteen hundred veteran swornmen. Numbers are inconcise, but it is certain this was the vast majority of the swornmen the luths had, as by long standing tradition, when one tribe is called by the llapocks, all the others go as well, as to not let any benefit from the temporary weakness. Their light cavalry forces shone by their abscense, as they were engaged in small war with the knights of The Steel Cross back in their homeland.

The fir bolg luths armed themselves in their traditional way. Heavy wood splint mail paired with a thick tower shield made their armor, with many a veteran warrior carrying charms and incantations of their tribe. For weapons they had spears, javelins and slings, many of them enchanted still. This force, experienced both in skirmishes and closed shield wall battle was led by thirty six veteran trodsmen, veterans of many campaigns, as they were also the ones responsible for getting the men back to their tribes once the figthing was over. These men had many magical staves, wands, charms and other focuses of their druidic powers, and would be vital for the following battle.

Provincial Banderium of Drubosznia:

The provincial banderium was dealt a crippling blow at the outset of the rebellion, with most of its garrison killed or taken hostage inside Dubilov. Only the units out in patrol that night were safe, of which they numbered beetween two and three hundred men. Most of the contingent was comprised of ulan light cavalry, protected by leather armor and shields, armed with lances and axeguns. A small core of pancierni medium cavalry was present, protected by chainmail and shield, and armed with spear, axegun and shortsword. It was within this contingent that their leader would rise, one senior pancierni Bartosz Budny.

This wood elf had a century of service under the voivode and quickly assembled a rag tag force to prepare a response. Morale of the force would wax and wain troughout the days, as did their numbers. Efforts were made to locate dispersed bannermen whilst carrying on the fight, but this barely allowed the force to partially replenish its losses. Overall, this was a well trained force struggling to keep up with the needs of the campaign, and its success would be later rewarded by the king himself.

Whilst this force`s role in the battle would be minimal, it played a crucial roll in limiting reinforcements and communication of the rebels. Multiple groups of villagers were cut down on their way to Dubilov as they were attempting to join, carrying supplies and weapons with them. These encounters caused very few casualties upon the banderium, but it forced them to be spread thin, and thus vulnerable from hadjuk attacks that did cost them men. One particular night, that of the 18th of Aven, costed the lives of twenty to thirty cavalrymen, as two hadjuk warbands surrounded their camp at night, killed sentries and set their tents on fire, distracting the bannermen from protecting their horses. The banderium would continue fighting still, and would deploy on the battle for the city.

Royal Bannermen

Luth Swornspear

Bartosz Budny alongside the banderium

Storming of The Sty:

By the night of the 28th, the luths divided into small companies and advanced disguised by their magic, guided by their trodsmen towards The Sty, a neighborhood outcropping the city`s southeastern gate. Surprise was near total, the outer barricades were overrun before the alarm was spread. Still, The Sty was in total darkness, and the hadjuk trained rebels wasted no time in skirmishing with the luths with the advantage of darkvision.

The luth regiments locked shields and pushed trough the main roads, dropping a few men into each house to ensure it was cleared. Figthing was fierce, pitched hand to hand for every room, every alleyway and every rooftop. Furniture was fell on the advancing spearmen, who were then ambushed at every opportunity. The luths suffered many casualties, but in the end , they managed to push to the center of The Sty, and their superiority in numbers, equipment and skill forced the defenders to retreat.

Desperate attempts were made to repel the attackers. Starzec Kròlik directed reserves from the city to man the walls and receive the attackers with plunging arrows and stones. Initially sucessful, the hadjuks within the formation dedicated themselves to targetting the luth trodsman, which they scorned and cursed at the men in the walls. Despite the attempts to silence their spellcasters, one managed to send message to king Aranion about the state of the attack. Seeing the opportunity, king Aranion gathered his Szlachta and flew a single passby over the walls overlooking The Sty. Bags of holding full to the brim with thunderstones and staffs of thunder were unleashed, killing all but the luckiest defenders of the walls, and creating a breach, which the luth immediatly stormed.Starzec Kròlik was killed in the bombardment of the walls, his remains were recuperated by loyal followers as they retreated into the city in disarray.

The assault of the luths seemed to be barely contested, one company managed to get past the breach, only to get charged on the flank by the entirety of Raukov`s company. Brother Reinhardt Von Raukov himself was seen leading from the front, carving a path towards the middle of the company, personally killing their most senior member and the trodsman, after which their morale faultered, and retreated past the breach. For the rest of the night the luths would fight on the breach against the company, with the pleas for bombardment to the Szlactha gone unanswered. Casualties would mount heavier on the side of the luths, with Raukov himself figthing for hours on end atop the rubble.

Initial Storming:

Advances after aproximately half an hour of battle:

Advances after aproximately hour and a half of battle:

Storming of Dubilov:

Bombardments started by noon of the 28th, after the king managed to rally his szlachta nobles from the slumber of last night`s celebration. At the same time, the voivode was instructed to prepare his nobles to join the wing.

The figthing over the night caused casualties in both sides, the luths did rotating shifts in trying to storm the breach whilst Raukov`s company fought mostly alone. Very few rebels dared to figth from the battlements, and did so quietly, putting great distance between each other.

In the sky, King Aranion took his Szlachta, which then compelled Voivode Adrahill`s own to join them. Initial flights over the city were in disarray, nobles hunting down peasants for sport, showcasing their abilities to their fellows with no intention to archieve an objective. Taking the opportunity, Farkas deployed his hadjuks in alleways and windows, then had them focus their arrows and bullets on individual nobles. Such volume of well placed powerful shots overcame even the pristine magical protections the Szlactha was used to. Many were injured, a few were killed, with their bodies only recovered later, mauled and looted. This finally allowed King Aranion to rally his nobles, whom he split in two groups to create two further breaches surrounding the position of the Raukov company.

Meanwhile, the royal army prepared itself in a long column in the northern road towards Dubilov. Senior bannermen with staffs of thunder were put to the tip of this formation, who then fired upon the gate as soon as they came within range. In mere seconds a breach was obtained and pushed trough, with little resistance from the lightly manned walls, full of rebels scared of the flying nobility. The company armed by the looted kit from the marble keep stood in front of the royal army, and a fierce battle ensued that costed many lives in both sides, but ultimately ended in the small force being overrun by the outnumbering professional royals.

Seeing the opportunity, Albetojas ordered his luth spearmen to charge trough the other breaches and surround the Raukov company. Rebels in the streets and houses offered little support, but the knights of the steel cross rallied around their giant of a captain. The fight would continue for the better part of an hour, with many dead amogst the luths, who raged and protested when a noble from the King`s retinue brought down an offer of surrender, which the Raukov company reluctantly accepted.

Panic soon spread trough the streets, but it did not manifest as a rout. Instead, the rebels retreated trough the streets into the heart of the Spire Town, where the bases of many noble towers were being undermined as a preparation for a bargain. Desperate and angered, the rebels hastily picked down the last supports of the incredibly tall spires their once masters inhabited. It was here that the Royal Army and the advancing elements of the Luth Army surrounded them, and pushed further into Spire Town.

The rebels managed to fell one of the spires, injuring and killing dozens as the armies closed in on them. Anger ran in both the Luths and the Royals, and by the time the king ordered a stop to the carnage, panic in the rebel mob caused a mass stampede, adding hundreds to the death tolls.

Initial Storming

Advances after aproximately half an hour

Final Stand of the Rebellion

Aftermath:

The city was swiftly taken by the attacking armies, which closed down the gates, manned the walls, and sent patrols at night to every house in search of important individuals. The suspected leaders of the rebellion were excecuted the following day, and their heads were put on spikes. In that same ceremony, King Aranion personally rewarded Voivode Adrahill and Senior Pancierni Batrosz, all before a captive audience, whilst the army of the luths was unceremoniously let go back to their kingdom. Sporadic acts of rebellion would continue until the end of the year , for which one third of the royal army was left garrisoned. All the peasants who partook in the rebellion were burdened with a higher tax for the next five years, and bounties were put on the hadjuks, who largely escaped the royal`s punishment.

Senior Pancierni Bartosz was given a plot of land and the serfs assigned to it, but he retired from duty in the provincial banderium in all but name. As for the Raukov company, they were banished from the kingdom of the llapocks , but pardoned for any wrongdoings. The order of the steel cross assigned them to defend lower Oxania in the Magerni empire, where they served as garrison for one of the many border castles near the Kingdom of Gahunry.

As for the Luths, they marched north for two weeks until they passed trough the town of Jasnostaw . There, an incident ocurred with the provincial banderium that quickly scaled out of proportion, ending in a battle all across the walled settlement, This was to be the beggining of the Niezgoda, a series of skirmishes and battles that every side would lament.

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