B
Belomar
Guest
[Note: Finally, the last part of the chronicle for this Friday's events. Note that I have cut the story short a bit for brevity and literary reasons; of course the Hibernians retook the keep eventually. 
]
With a last cry of defiance the Lord of Dun Ailinne fell beneath our combined forces, and our minds immediately turned to the coming defense. The keep was ours, the doors once again mended, but the situation was dire. Located on the very threshold of the Hibernian heartland and practically an arrow's flight away from the border keep of Druim Ligen, Dun Ailinne in Albion hands was a challenge that could not be ignored by the Hibernian forces. We had already tasted the ferocity of the Hibernian invaders during the taking of the keep, and we knew it would get a hundredfold worse before the sun settled on the Hibernian frontier. Even more worrying, the Albion army now lacked the wood to upgrade the keep doors to better withstand the coming assault, and our scouts were already reporting an approaching Hibernian army.
The armsman Aikmore once again rose to the challenge. Discarding the idea of a small Albion force making their way back to Dun Crauchon to bring more wood, he contacted the brave polesman Cupid who was patrolling Emain Macha, and charged him with assembling a group of Albions and acquiring the necessary material. If Cupid and his merry men and women were successful, the reinforcements might just arrive in time before the Hibernian attack.
Alas, the fortunes of war are at best unpredictable, and the desperate rescue attempt was foiled by a large field of Midgard invaders appearing at the Albion Mile Gate in Emain Macha. Unable to break through the massive force, Cupid and his band were forced to take defensive positions inside the gate and await reinforcements. These unfortunate news brought a fair amount of dismay to the Albion army residing inside Dun Ailinne, and many of the defenders voiced their concerns and called for the retreat of the army in the face of the inevitable Hibernian assault. However, inspired by the examples of Cerverloc and Chim taking their place on the walls for the defense, these cries quickly died down and were replaced by an icy determination to hold the keep at all costs.
It was this determination that was to be decisive in the defense of the keep.
When the Hibernian army arrived at the foot of Dun Ailinne, they were met by the awesome sight of a full Albion strike force manning the walls and towers of the keep. At first drawing back in fear of this glorious defense force, the Elf scum quickly regained their confidence in their superior numbers, and were soon swarming up the lush hill like a black plague. With a tremendous clash of arms, the Hibernians joined battle with the valiant guards protecting the keep gate. However, in the face of such overwhelming odds, even these fine warriors were forced to succumb and perish, dying in the name of Albion and crying defiance with their last breath.
The guards cut down and the road to the keep door open, a new kind of war started. While the Hibernian army moved up to the front of the keep and started bashing on the mighty doors, enemy assassins started to scale the walls and penetrate the keep, attempting to wreak havoc among our ranks. Your chronicler, shaken to the core by the tremendous pounding on the keep doors and the bloodcurling screams of hate from the other side, witnessed with my own eyes how a black-cloaked Lurikeen materialized in front of me and treacherously planted twin daggers in the back of poor Xion standing guard near the gatehouse tower. Before I was able to react, the yapping Lurikeen had vaulted over the keep wall again, disappearing over the side and screeching in victory as Xion fell to his knees.
Minutes later, while your chronicler was watching the first of the keep doors being bashed in from the gate tower, the same vile Lurikeen assassin appeared before me, lightning-quick attack this time aimed at me! Recognizing my attacker as the dreaded Iziz, I desperately drew my axe and shield and sought to stun the nightshade with a well-placed shout, but too late! That devastating attack had already struck home and I was paralyzed by the evil poison lacing the blades of my attacker. However, once again, our fearless clerics proved their mettle, as the stalwart Goozu miraculously saved me on the brink of death with a powerful heal. Within seconds, the bulky and plated Cerverloc pushed past me, engaging the vile Iziz and striking her down with a few well-placed cuts.
The Hibernian army had now bashed the last door to half of its strength, and Aikmore called down all defenders to the courtyard for a final stand. His plan was to time our charge with the appearance of guard reinforcements and having us use the teleporting magic of the gatekeeper, allowing us to engage the enemy from the rear as they were fighting that new wave of Albion guards. However, our numbers had now been dwindled considerably during the last intense hours of the siege, and Aikmore judged our force to be too small to be able to carry out his plan. Instead, we all withdrew to the top of the keep tower to await the final charge.
Your chronicler was hiding in the shadows and watching the top of the staircase in the lord room when the sound of the final gate crashing to the ground reached me. My heart was pounding madly at the imminent attack, but I was calmed by the sight of my comrades in arms silently awaiting the charge at my side. Me and my fellow minstrels Incetes and Edelia, cloaked in shadows at the top of the staircase like me, would have a fair chance to mesmerize the vanguard of any force appearing from below, giving the rest of our now-meager army a chance to cut them down.
Sure enough, within seconds, a number of Hibernian attackers appeared from below, screaming an unintelligible battlecry as they charged. However, their charge was easily thwarted by the combined flutes of the minstrels manning the top of the tower, and that first probe was decimated within a few heartbeats. Immediately thereafter, the call to charge down the tower staircase was issued, and we all complied, throwing all caution aside and descending like the wrath of God down the ramp.
Reaching the level of the battlements, I was greeted by a tremendous sight. Some of the Albion defenders, having stayed on the courtyard and hiding when the last door had been bashed in, were engaging the rear of the Hibernian force, splitting it up into a number of small groups. The confusion among the Hibernians was complete, especially as the brunt of the Albion army struck them from within the tower. I encountered a green-robed and hooded Hibernian caster in the doorway of the tower and had the satisfaction of planting my frosty axe in his bearded face. However, as I straightened from my grisly task, I had just the time to see a huge moose looming over me before a hefty spear brought me crashing to the floor.
Lying near death just beside my green-robed victim, I was able to follow the ensuing battle yet not participate. Fueled by their determination to defend the keep at all costs, the Albion forces fought back with the bravery and valiance that shall busy many a minstrel in inns all around Albion for a long time yet. Against overwhelming numbers and with grievious losses, the Albion defenders stood fast and held their ground, spitting in the eye of defeat and battling for our freedom with sword and magic. When at last the remaining defenders, now a pitifully small number, were pushed back and the fate of the battle was in the balance, the Albion spirit persevered. Gendarion and Goozu, bolstered by the timely appearance of the minstrel Hotrats, struck back and repelled the remaining Hibernian attackers from the keep. Shortly thereafter, the remaining clerics and paladins were able to move quickly through the keep, reviving their fallen comrades and mending their wounds for the coming attack. When the turn came to your chronicler to be brought back to my feet, we got word that the Albion army at the mile gate in Emain Macha had managed to break through the Midgardians guarding the gate and were now enroute with a full load of wood for the keep doors. Deliverance was near!
The memory of Dun Ailinne shall live long in the memory of Albion. It was here that a small Albion force against all odds and with no chance for reinforcements held and repelled a Hibernian assault with superior numbers, it was here that many an Albion hero was born in a baptism of fire, and it was here that the strength of the Albion spirit shone through to win the day. Remember Dun Ailinne!
]With a last cry of defiance the Lord of Dun Ailinne fell beneath our combined forces, and our minds immediately turned to the coming defense. The keep was ours, the doors once again mended, but the situation was dire. Located on the very threshold of the Hibernian heartland and practically an arrow's flight away from the border keep of Druim Ligen, Dun Ailinne in Albion hands was a challenge that could not be ignored by the Hibernian forces. We had already tasted the ferocity of the Hibernian invaders during the taking of the keep, and we knew it would get a hundredfold worse before the sun settled on the Hibernian frontier. Even more worrying, the Albion army now lacked the wood to upgrade the keep doors to better withstand the coming assault, and our scouts were already reporting an approaching Hibernian army.
The armsman Aikmore once again rose to the challenge. Discarding the idea of a small Albion force making their way back to Dun Crauchon to bring more wood, he contacted the brave polesman Cupid who was patrolling Emain Macha, and charged him with assembling a group of Albions and acquiring the necessary material. If Cupid and his merry men and women were successful, the reinforcements might just arrive in time before the Hibernian attack.
Alas, the fortunes of war are at best unpredictable, and the desperate rescue attempt was foiled by a large field of Midgard invaders appearing at the Albion Mile Gate in Emain Macha. Unable to break through the massive force, Cupid and his band were forced to take defensive positions inside the gate and await reinforcements. These unfortunate news brought a fair amount of dismay to the Albion army residing inside Dun Ailinne, and many of the defenders voiced their concerns and called for the retreat of the army in the face of the inevitable Hibernian assault. However, inspired by the examples of Cerverloc and Chim taking their place on the walls for the defense, these cries quickly died down and were replaced by an icy determination to hold the keep at all costs.
It was this determination that was to be decisive in the defense of the keep.
When the Hibernian army arrived at the foot of Dun Ailinne, they were met by the awesome sight of a full Albion strike force manning the walls and towers of the keep. At first drawing back in fear of this glorious defense force, the Elf scum quickly regained their confidence in their superior numbers, and were soon swarming up the lush hill like a black plague. With a tremendous clash of arms, the Hibernians joined battle with the valiant guards protecting the keep gate. However, in the face of such overwhelming odds, even these fine warriors were forced to succumb and perish, dying in the name of Albion and crying defiance with their last breath.
The guards cut down and the road to the keep door open, a new kind of war started. While the Hibernian army moved up to the front of the keep and started bashing on the mighty doors, enemy assassins started to scale the walls and penetrate the keep, attempting to wreak havoc among our ranks. Your chronicler, shaken to the core by the tremendous pounding on the keep doors and the bloodcurling screams of hate from the other side, witnessed with my own eyes how a black-cloaked Lurikeen materialized in front of me and treacherously planted twin daggers in the back of poor Xion standing guard near the gatehouse tower. Before I was able to react, the yapping Lurikeen had vaulted over the keep wall again, disappearing over the side and screeching in victory as Xion fell to his knees.
Minutes later, while your chronicler was watching the first of the keep doors being bashed in from the gate tower, the same vile Lurikeen assassin appeared before me, lightning-quick attack this time aimed at me! Recognizing my attacker as the dreaded Iziz, I desperately drew my axe and shield and sought to stun the nightshade with a well-placed shout, but too late! That devastating attack had already struck home and I was paralyzed by the evil poison lacing the blades of my attacker. However, once again, our fearless clerics proved their mettle, as the stalwart Goozu miraculously saved me on the brink of death with a powerful heal. Within seconds, the bulky and plated Cerverloc pushed past me, engaging the vile Iziz and striking her down with a few well-placed cuts.
The Hibernian army had now bashed the last door to half of its strength, and Aikmore called down all defenders to the courtyard for a final stand. His plan was to time our charge with the appearance of guard reinforcements and having us use the teleporting magic of the gatekeeper, allowing us to engage the enemy from the rear as they were fighting that new wave of Albion guards. However, our numbers had now been dwindled considerably during the last intense hours of the siege, and Aikmore judged our force to be too small to be able to carry out his plan. Instead, we all withdrew to the top of the keep tower to await the final charge.
Your chronicler was hiding in the shadows and watching the top of the staircase in the lord room when the sound of the final gate crashing to the ground reached me. My heart was pounding madly at the imminent attack, but I was calmed by the sight of my comrades in arms silently awaiting the charge at my side. Me and my fellow minstrels Incetes and Edelia, cloaked in shadows at the top of the staircase like me, would have a fair chance to mesmerize the vanguard of any force appearing from below, giving the rest of our now-meager army a chance to cut them down.
Sure enough, within seconds, a number of Hibernian attackers appeared from below, screaming an unintelligible battlecry as they charged. However, their charge was easily thwarted by the combined flutes of the minstrels manning the top of the tower, and that first probe was decimated within a few heartbeats. Immediately thereafter, the call to charge down the tower staircase was issued, and we all complied, throwing all caution aside and descending like the wrath of God down the ramp.
Reaching the level of the battlements, I was greeted by a tremendous sight. Some of the Albion defenders, having stayed on the courtyard and hiding when the last door had been bashed in, were engaging the rear of the Hibernian force, splitting it up into a number of small groups. The confusion among the Hibernians was complete, especially as the brunt of the Albion army struck them from within the tower. I encountered a green-robed and hooded Hibernian caster in the doorway of the tower and had the satisfaction of planting my frosty axe in his bearded face. However, as I straightened from my grisly task, I had just the time to see a huge moose looming over me before a hefty spear brought me crashing to the floor.
Lying near death just beside my green-robed victim, I was able to follow the ensuing battle yet not participate. Fueled by their determination to defend the keep at all costs, the Albion forces fought back with the bravery and valiance that shall busy many a minstrel in inns all around Albion for a long time yet. Against overwhelming numbers and with grievious losses, the Albion defenders stood fast and held their ground, spitting in the eye of defeat and battling for our freedom with sword and magic. When at last the remaining defenders, now a pitifully small number, were pushed back and the fate of the battle was in the balance, the Albion spirit persevered. Gendarion and Goozu, bolstered by the timely appearance of the minstrel Hotrats, struck back and repelled the remaining Hibernian attackers from the keep. Shortly thereafter, the remaining clerics and paladins were able to move quickly through the keep, reviving their fallen comrades and mending their wounds for the coming attack. When the turn came to your chronicler to be brought back to my feet, we got word that the Albion army at the mile gate in Emain Macha had managed to break through the Midgardians guarding the gate and were now enroute with a full load of wood for the keep doors. Deliverance was near!
The memory of Dun Ailinne shall live long in the memory of Albion. It was here that a small Albion force against all odds and with no chance for reinforcements held and repelled a Hibernian assault with superior numbers, it was here that many an Albion hero was born in a baptism of fire, and it was here that the strength of the Albion spirit shone through to win the day. Remember Dun Ailinne!
