| Current Campaign: The Knights of Eaton | |
| Episode 13: "The Fall of Kandorr" | |
| Year: 1758 Winter | |
| Location: Kandorr | |
| PCs: | |
| NPCs: | |
| Previous Episode: "The Battle of Greendale" | |
| Next Episode: "War of the Blank Shields" | |
| Previous Campaign: The Thuzuulan Heresy | |
Dellforth and a disenchanted Eatonshiran lord strike at Garn in Kandorr.
- House Polidon of Maghurst seeks to restore trade relations and reclaim money owed to them by Kandorr and Eatonshire.
- Garn denies House Polidon's request due to the fealty of Clan Crastyl to Dellforth.
- Spymaster Ethyn Polidon plans to move against the young king and enlists the aid of Crastyl, as well as the lords Langmere and Norwold of Dellforth.
- The Battle of River Gate ensues, with coordinated attacks by Ethyn's forces.
- The Crow Cloaks, led by Sweet Egon, retreat from the battle.
- The Battle of Coral Keep takes place, with Ethyn's forces securing the inner city and preparing to assault the inner wall.
- The Coral Keep is breached, leading to a fierce skirmish.
- Margaret, a key character, kills Lord Rafe and leads a counter-assault.
- Chaos ensues within the inner courtyard and the city, as Grey-Eye allows his men to loot.
- The Coral Keep collapses after Slova strikes the damaged wall.
- Borric and his allies retreat into secret passageways, and the city is being sacked by the Crow Cloaks.
- Disputes arise over the Crow Cloaks' contract and the tactics used during the battle, leading to the incitement of the War of the Blank Shields.
Act One: Polidon Defiant
House Polidon of Maghurst, desirous to restore trade relations with the northern realms and eager to reclaim money owed to it by Kandorr and Eatonshire, sends delegates to Garn requesting these benefits. Among the houses Polidon has suffered the most since the spread of the plague, but it requires a special dispensation to restore an old trade partnership with Clan Crastyl of Deep Dell. Garn, who secretly stings at any benefit of Houses of Cozann and Polidon since The Inquest Rebellion and convinced of their ill-will by Borric, denies their request on the basis that Crastyl's fealty to Dellforth is anathema to the crown.
Upon receiving news of Garn's rejection, spymaster Ethyn Polidon plans to move against the young king and so enlists the aid of Crastyl and the lords Langmere and Norwold of Dellforth. He secures support from House Rosemurk in Larkos, who delivers the Crow Fodder Brotherhood to his service. Ethyn's resources allow him to coordinate the schedules of Tasselhof's rangers and scouts so that they do not see the small army's approach, and he has staffed the outposts to the royal road with soldiers loyal to him. By the time the enemy army is within view of the guards along the wall, the Crow Cloaks have breached the River Gate.
Act Two: The Battle of River Gate
Tas sounds the alarm, orders scouts, magi and coopmasters to deliver warning to the lords of the realm, and leads a skirmish in the city streets, while Margaret assembles the cavalry and charges from the East Gate to outflank the Langmere spearmen. Borric leads the royal guard to reinforce Tas. Simon activates Tin Man and it kills an eighth of the Crow Cloaks before they destroy it, but it successfully pushes them back enough for Borric to close and secure the inner wall.
Upon Margaret's command Slova strafes the line of Aston Langmere, killing a quarter of that host. She wheels in the sky to make a second strafe but a shot from a Crow Cloak ballista ensnares her left wing in steel netting; she loses control and careens into the woods. Margaret sends a detachment of Kelleck men to find Slova and free her. She smashes the resistance outside the River Gate and Langmere's men fall back.
On Borric's command Kane leads a detachment of the royal guard through the back alleys of the city and attacks the Crow Cloaks' rear flank. Simon leads an assault on their left flank and Tas leads the archers on the wall to concentrate their fire on them. The Crows do not break rank under this withering assault but slowly make their way back to the River Gate, where they are pushed back outside the city wall.
Frustrated, Lord Rafe Norwold redirects his siege engines and unleashes a devastating volley upon the skirmish at the River Gate, killing friend and foe alike. Aston commands his men likewise and destruction rains down a second time upon the skirmish. Sweet Egon, commander of the Crows, is annihilated by a heavy stone and his lieutenant Graham Grey-Eye orders a retreat—the Crows withdraw from the battle, their company reduced by over a quarter. The River Gate is rendered useless. Margaret and Borric lead their exhausted forces into the city and they fall back to the inner wall.
Act Three: The Battle of Coral Keep
Ethyn's forces secure the inner city as Langmere and Norwold assemble their forces to prepare to assault the inner wall at the Royal Gate. Ethyn renegotiates the Crow Cloaks contract with their new commander, Grey-Eye, who is furious and demands satisfaction for the deaths of his fellow Crows at the hands of Langmere and Norwold. Ethyn cautions patience and Grey-Eye agrees to stay on for the duration of the contract, but lets his men sack the city. Lord Aston, outraged by the sacking of Kandorr, orders his men to put a stop to it. The Crows and Langmere men fight in the streets, while Lord Rafe's seige engines bombard the Royal Gate. By nightfall the Royal Gate has fallen and parts of Kandorr City are aflame.
Ethyn mediates a peace between Aston and Grey-Eye and they return their attention to taking Kandorr. The combined forces make their way into the royal city, beneath a harsh volley of arrows, defense engines, and magics from the walls of Coral Keep. Ethyn leads the vanguard and his forces take the brunt of the defense. Tas and Simon spy the command unit of the invading army and target their attacks there—Ethyn and half his retinue are is killed by flame and arrow. Rafe orders his siege engineers to target the Coral Keep and they prepare their engines to assail its walls.
A Norwoldan battering-ram breaches the Coral Door and Margaret, who waits in the Great Hall with her mounted calvary, launches a brutal counter-assault—her horsemen pour out from the behind the Coral Door and cut a path through Norwood infantry. She rides straightaway for Lord Rafe and cuts down two of his personal guard and wounds him with a blow to the neck. The Keep's missile defense, commanded by Simon and Tas, focus their fire on Langmere host and its infantry breaks rank under the vicious assault. Lord Aston pushes his way into the Coral Keep and an all-out skirmish unfolds, spilling into hallways, stairwells and rooms. Borric commands the royal guard to hold their ground and he finds Aston and slays him in single combat.
Act Four: Collapse
Outside, a heavy snowfall and smoke add to the confusion and chaos ensues within the inner courtyard and the city throughout. Grey-Eye, thinking the battle to be won, gives his men leave to continue sacking and looting and orders them to form up afterwards outside the city walls. Lord Rafe is carried away by his personal guard and his son Emory continues the assault, only to be killed soon after in a deadly volley of arrow and flame. Rafe issues the command to his siege engineers and they unleash a volley that smashes against west wall of Coral Keep. A portion of the outer wall collapses, killing a multitude of Kandorrian archers, and two of the keeps buttresses fracture. Norwold and Langmere forces pour into the keep, overwhelming the Kandorrians and slaying who they find.
Borric orders Simon and Tas off the walls and back inside. Kane tells Borric to take Garn and fall back into the tunnels below the keep and make their way to Castle Eaton. They escape into the secret passageways as Kane seals the door and returns to the skirmish. Along the way he orders a banner-man to fly the signal that the Coral Keep is overrun by the enemy.
Slova, freed by Kelleck soldiers but sorely wounded, returns to Margaret as she and her cavalry regroup at market square. They look to the Coral Keep and see the signal banner fluttering high atop its flagpole. Margaret sees the damage done to its walls by the siege engines and she issues a command to Slova:
"Strike with all your force at that wall."
Slova wheels high above and swoops like a great hawk towards the keep, her hind talons slam into the fractured wall and it gives way immediately. She clamors away and barely escapes as the great keep collapses upon itself with a long, deafening moan. Borric, Simon and Tas emerge from the secret passageway just outside the inner wall in time to see a billowing cloud of debris and dust unfold across the city. The snow, the smoke and the dust combine to create a hellish landscape and they hear screams from all sides as the city is sacked by the Crows. Their familiarity with the streets of Kandorr allow them to easily move through the confusion, slaying any Crow they encounter, until they join with Margaret at the ruins of River Gate. They see the remnants of their soldiers being pursued and slain mercilessly by Declan Crastyl's army, who blocks the road to Eatonshire.
"We must flee south to Torg and from there to Erelaan," Borric orders.
Meta
Game notes
Plot Points
Since Ethyn Polidon dies shortly after the second contract re-negotiation, the contract between the Crow Cloaks is disputed by the surviving lords, who claim also the Cloaks didn't satisfy the terms because they began looting before the final battle was decided.
This—and Graham Grey-Eye's fury over the tactics of Lord Aston Langmere and Lord Rafe Norwold during the Battle of River Gate, and their refusal to make restitutions for the "friendly fire" deaths of Sweet Egon and his companion Crows—is the key cause that incites the War of the Blank Shields.
The Dead
Points Awarded
- 5 points for all
Season Pool
- x points