Dominions 5 - Rise of the Valkyries

Since they had beaten Mictlan and repelled Marverni, Tien’Chi had ceaselessly carved a path to power. The Eternal Pyre, the Stellar Focus and the Earth Blood Deep Well had already made them a dangerous contender that was to be accounted for …

But Grim’s ambitions were far beyond that as she, more than anything else, wanted to become the next Pantokrator. Her enchantments gave her a bunch of about 50 gems each month, a quite good amount that allowed her to grow an ever stronger army. But that was close to nothing compared to what she had in her sleeves.

And, in that last Winter of the war, the news came in. The Old woman had focused the power of an immense Arcane Nexus. This was like an invisible magical vortex that absorbed magical energies, emitting an intense light when such energies were soaked up. Indeed, deeply connected to the Ether world it sucked from there all the magical powers released in the world. So, every time a mage, any mage, focused a spell or crafted a magical item, about half of the magical energies released in the process were caught by the Nexus and transformed into pure Astral pearls. The enchantment had a small drawback though as Astral magic was too pure to be recovered in this process, as well as Blood magic that was too alien for it to have any effect.

Nonetheless, Grim had made a step every other pretender recognized as a step too far. Indeed, she soon started to gather more than 200 astral pearls per month, a huge amount that more than doubled her magical power !

Lord Kall officially raised the issue amongst every other nation : Grim’s ambition had to be stopped. Of course, this was a political stance while he was himself putting the final touch to his great Plan for ascension … and even though this was somewhat of a bad news, given Tien’Chi held the Throne of the Moon, the last most critical target of the Plan, that situation could also be used to some advantage.

Indeed, the attack on Tien’Chi would look as a legitimate move to take down a too dangerous opponent for every other pretender. Lord Kall was really afraid that someone would figure out what he was up to and start a crusade that would thwart his Plan. As such, every reason to hide the true meaning of Helheim’s attacks were a good thing.

But the most interesting way to take advantage of the situation was to cool down C’ti and prevent them from crossing the border to the Throne of Bureaucracy. This was the main concern of both the War council and Lord Kall : C’ti had to be kept at bay.

So, an embassador was sent to the Desert Lion to join forces to dispel the Arcane Nexus and, if that effort failed, share the burden of war to take down the now too dangerous enemy. As much as 100 Astral pearls were sent to C’ti to help them try to dispel the Nexus. They had indeed better trained mages for that, and Lord Kall felt that from a diplomatic point of view it was better to be the one to give the resources …

The leaders of Helheim weren’t sure whether they should be happy or sad when they heard that the dispel from C’ti failed … happy for the diplomatic advantage, sad because Tien’Chi was starting to build a large army of giant golems that threatened the whole campaign for the Throne of Moon and as a result, the whole Plan …

Vanjarls, Dis and Hangadrotts to open the way

The spearhead of every army had to be the Vanjarls or the Hangadrotts. Indeed, thanks to their mastery of Air magic they were able to ride the clouds to raid the enemy provinces like no one. Using the already proven tactic practiced against Therodos, a Vanjarl would destroy the enemy province defense before the main army would arrive. This way, the enemy scouts couldn’t really see what it was made of and devise tactics to counter them. This was made even more true thanks to the Cauldrons of the Elven Halls that were hiding the armies to unwanted eyes.

So for every one of the 4 thrones, one Vanjarl or Hangadrott was tasked to clean up the way for the army. Also, to prevent any enemy counter attack on the thrones, every single bordering provinces had to be secured and, for each one of them, one of these warriors had also to be dispatched. For these secondary tasks, a Dis could be sent as there was no need to surprise the enemy as in the main throne attacks.

However, some attacks were more critical than others, and due to the war still raging between Ulm and Niefelheim, some enemy armies were wandering right where Helheim’s forces were supposed to land. As a result, some Vanjarls and Hangadrotts were heavily equipped to face the specific threats …

The item treasury had been growing with more and more magical items and now was the time to use them. The sight of the treasury before and after the attack was proof of the scale of the whole operation …

The Brass Throne

Skaljv had been assigned the Brass Throne. This Throne, right in the middle of the raging war between Ulm and Niefelheim, was somehow one of the most exposed. However, it was unfortified and theorically the first assault would be enough to secure it.

Indeed, the Plan was that as soon as the land would be taken, a Troll King expert in Earth Magic would use his powers to raise a Wizard’s tower to protect the place. That spell was very powerful and could, in matter of hours, create the most robust citadel anywhere wanted. But even though the magic was powerful enough in itself, time was still needed for soldiers to man the fort and use it to its full extent.

As a result, a real army was needed to help man the fort and avoid a wandering army to breach the place and put the throne at risk. That’s why Skaljv had gathered a powerful force of 100 Valkyries to press the attack and defend the Throne. Also, a secondary force of 40 elite Helhirding cavalry had started to sneak into enemy territory to support Skaljv, just in case.

The Throne was deep into enemy territory but thanks to the extraordinary mobility of the Valkyries it was not a problem as they would fly over enemy territory unseen to reach their objective.

The raiding force to support the attack was though quite important as no less than 6 Vanjarls were tasked with the mission to secure the outskirts of the Throne and thus prevent massive enemy counter-attacks …

The Throne of Autumn

The Throne of Autumn was surrounded by very high mountains and thus almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. Only a small valley allowed an easy access to it, making it very easy to defend once taken. Lord Kall had chosen to lead the attack on this Throne, as this was the most secure place and if one was to avoid danger in this phase of the Plan, it was the Lord of Helheim.

But apart from that mostly secure position, the Throne was almost in the same situation as the Brass Throne. No fortress to defend it and deep into enemy territory. So the tactics to take it were to be exactly the same : send there a fast flying force and create a magical fortress thanks to the help of a powerful Earth mage.

However, all of the Valkyries had already been assigned to Skaljv, so Lord Kall was left with 70 Pegasus Riders. Even though a bit weaker than the elite maidens of Helheim, they were still a strong force to account for. Indeed, the flying horses were sacred units, able to receive and manifest the blessings of Lord Kall (at the time a pretender could bless his troops even in enemy dominion, which is not the case anymore). Given their natural agility, that meant that in regular combat the pegasus would be almost impossible to hit thanks to the extra-agility given by the blessing. And that made Lord Kall quite confident about taking and holding the Throne.

To ensure the ability to deal with unexpected threats, 20 Wyverns and 15 Fiends of Darkness joined the ranks. They were not as fast as the Pegasus and would need 2 months to reach the Throne, but that was enough help to man the magically raised fort in case of a counter attack.

Lord Kall was also given the means to follow the pace of Pegasus Riders to reach the place in time. He would have to take a separate route though, but with Boots of Seven Miles Strides and a ring of Levitation , he would move so fast that no enemy would catch him.

Only 2 Vanjarls were thus required to secure the places of the attack, and that part of the Plan looked as the easiest …

The Throne of Stability

Compared to the 2 former thrones, the Throne of Stability was another matter altogether. Indeed, with the Capital of Ulm to its west and the contested shores of Therodos in the east, it was surrounded by enemies. However, Water mages had been scrying through water pools to see the status of enemy armies. And to most surprise, they appeared rather weak.

The fact that the Throne itself was lightly defended was not much of a surprise, but everyone had expected Ulm to keep a large army in the Capital. But, with the relative peace with Therodos, Helheim seemingly still occupied to defeat the spectral legions, and the deadly ongoing war against Niefelheim, Ulm had gathered almost all of its armies far in the west.

However, when planning the attack, other things had to be taken into account. It was very difficult to approach the Throne without having the risk of being discovered. Indeed, the conflict against Therodos was still quite active and the shore provinces were still fiercely contested by raids and counter-raids. And attacking other Ulm provinces before attacking the throne was completely out of the question.

So there were 2 main strategies possible here. The first, go in with fast flyers as it was already planned for the Brass Throne and the Throne of Autumn. But every flyer had been commited to these attacks and none were available anymore to plan a third one.

The second strategy was a full stealth army. The Cauldrons of the Eleven Halls could hide the troops from scouts, but a real army attacking the province where they were stationned would not hide them well enough and battle would ensue. Such an event was out of the question as it would mean being discovered and lead the risk for the enemy to understand what was about to happen. No, what was required were units able to sneak unseen into enemy territory.

Helheim’s basic troops were able to do that thanks to their mastery of illusions. As a result, a full force of 40 Huskarls  had been sent close to the throne. Vanjarls and Hangadrott had the same mastery and could join the army. Also, some Atavi Archers had been recruited some time ago and had been sneaking around during all the campaign against Theroros. They never saw combat but helped breach fortresses from time to time. These highly intelligent monkeys were trained hunters and knew very well how to hide into the shadows and sneak unseen into enemy lands. 40 of them were also part of the army.

But that was far from making a force good enough to take a fortress, even defended by only a few mages … Given the huge success met by the Wraith Lords, it was thought that adding some of them to the army would be enough to ensure the fall of the Throne. The only problem was that they weren’t really stealthy and were easy to spot. That’s where the Shademail Haubergeons came in handy. Thanks to the magic of the armor, they could now blend into the shadows unseen … Such a piece of armor was given too to Azag the Bishop fish assigned to the army. This way, he could follow it safely and do his job without risking his life.

Finally, given the low number of troops engaged, no less than 6 Gate Cleavers were given to the Vanjarls and Wraith lords to help breach the fortress. Also, an Earth mage was tasked to use the Crumble spell in order to weaken even more the defense of the stronghold. With all of these means put together, the fortress would not last more than a month.

So, in the end, the main battle tactics were the following. A Hangadrott would summon a storm to allow the Vanjarls to have a better focus of Air magic and use the power of the Thunderstrike. This would quickly destroy the weak enemy troops and open a way to invade the place. Meanwhile, the Wraith Lords would summon hordes of skeletons to lead the invasion. They would be the only troops to enter it and clean it up from whatever was left alive in it.

So, 10 Vanjarls, 2 Hangadrotts and 4 Wraith lords were supposed to storm the fortress while an additionnal force of 40 Huskarls, 40 Atavi archers and 20 Valkyries would join to defend the sieging force and help breach the Fortress. That was not that much, but the quality of each fighter was to compensate for the leak in numbers. Also, 4 additional Vanjarls were tasked to occupy the enemy provinces around the Throne and prevent an enemy counter-attack prior to the final assault.

However, just before the assault, Lord Kall was really worried about this force. He had wanted to send a force of Jotun wolves to support that army … may be it was not too late and 40 of them were dispatched from the Shattered Throne. They would arrive after the main action but, may be, that would help to turn around an initial setback.

The Throne of the Moon

The tactical situation for the Throne of the Moon was the only one that allowed to field a full fledged army. Indeed, Helheim had a direct border with it and it was easy to gather here an army without any chance for the enemy to spot it (provided it was hidden with Cauldrons of the Elven Halls, of course).

So the formula that had proven successful against Therodos was renewed and enhanced with the local forces. 40 Jotun wolves , 40 hirdmen , 20 mounted hirdmen and 6 enchanters made the bulk of the army. However, the Throne was very close to Momephe from where a lot of Crystal sorceresses  had been recruited since it had been taken from Agartha. No less than 24 of them joined the force tasked to take the most important Throne of the Plan.

Kubrat the Bishop fish was there to both bless the army with Lord Kall’s blessing and claim the Throne once captured. Also, 3 Vanjarls commanded the regular troops as they needed a proper captain to lead them into battle … Last but not least, a Hangadrott was there along with 2 Dis. The Dis had a very special task : they had been given for one a Gate Cleaver and the other a Moon Blade . If any enemy golem appeared during the fight, their mission was to track and kill them.

In the end, the intended tactic was simple. First, the sorceresses would form a huge communion and rain tens of Thunderstrikes on the enemy. The memory of Momephe was still present and inflicting such a fate on the enemy would be delightful. Then, the wolves would lead an enraged charge, closely followed by the hirdmen and mounted hirdmen, to break into the place and kill every defender. Several battle enchantments would support the troops, and that should be it.

And as every other assaults, 3 Vanjarls and 1 Hangadrott were tasked to secure the surrounding areas and prevent a counter-attack. Also, despite the quite strong force to breach the fortress, another Earth mage would help by trying to Crumble the walls with its magic.

Finally, given the utmost strategic importance of this throne, a little icing was added to the cake. Indeed, the scryers had seen most of the defending enemy army and it looked like they were only about 15 mages with no supporting troops. That meant that every one of them killed before the battle would be a huge loss, and a good way to prevent nasty surprises …

As such, 4 flame spirits were moved to the throne of element with the mission to rain Fire from Afar on the defenders just before the assault. Also, just to be sure, a Kokythiad was tasked to freeze the survivors to death under a Murdering Winter … with all of this deadly magic unleashed on the defenders and the mighty army assembled to crush them, this should be a cakewalk …

The Outer Throne, the Iron Throne and the Shattered Throne

The Plan supposed to claim all the missing thrones at once, and that included the 3 thrones from Therodos that had been left asleep to avoid raising any suspicion. The 3 remaining Bishops, Celephais, Nigofa and Shuggoron, were each given one of the Throne.

However the situation around the Shattered throne was still a concern as the scouts were now claiming that the enemy force had reached almost 1000 troops, the largest force ever heard of so far. Everyone hoped that they would not move and stay put … but in case of an unexpected movement, a Troll King had used its powerful Earth magic to turn the walls of the fortress into Iron. With Iron Walls, the place could certainly sustain a siege for 1 more month before the walls could be breached …

The same was made on the Throne of Bureaucracy on the border with Marverni/C’ti. Indeed, there was a little risk that C’ti would move into that direction after beating Marverni … as a result the reserve army in Helheim was also re-deployed to defend the throne, just in case.

Lord Kall had joined his army of Pegasus in a hurry. There were so many things to prepare for this last and ultimate step that his presence had been required to the last minute. Furthermore, the gathering place leaked a laboratory and that meant he had to prepare in advance and arrive fully equipped on site.

However, one little thing had been missed in these preparations … he had given away his Shademail Haubergeon and with it his ability to move stealthily over enemy territory. Due to that, the planners for the invasion understood that he could not reach the Throne as fast as expected … which meant that Lord Kall and his army had to delay their move to the Throne by one full month.

But, despite that little delay, it didn’t change the most important part of the plan. That unexpected additionnal month was the time required to capture the fortified thrones, so, in the end, Lord Kall would be there to claim this throne just in time.

So, even though this little mistake was not a real problem, there was a real issue that had to be taken care of. The war between Ulm and Niefelheim had set an unexpected tactical situation that had to be dealt with. Indeed, a rather decent army of 80 troops and mages was standing right where Lord Kall was supposed to arrive with his troops … That would not have been a problem if not for the still important requirement to remain completly invisible to the eyes of the enemy until the very last moment.

Thankfully, the numerous scouts sent in advance in the vicinity had given some crucial intelligence. The composition of the army as well as its battle tactics were fully known and it was possible to imagine a way to deal with it.

Trudvang the Hangadrott volunteered for this dangerous mission. The enemy regular troops were not a problem thanks to his super-human agility given by Lord Kall and some of the best items suited for the task. Indeed, with a Vine shield, a Firebrand and an Armor of Knights, there was not much to be afraid of. And given his knowledge in Earth magic, he could render his skin has hard as Iron, making him almost impervious to physical damage.

No, the danger lied in the enemy mages. They had been regularly spotted using wicked magic to turn their enemies into ridiculous frogs … and that was something nobody wanted, at all. That’s why he was also given an amulet of Antimagic, a Lodestone Amulet and was to call upon Earth magic to give him an Iron will.

Falling from the clouds onto the enemy army, Trudvang unleashed his magic and fought like a madman to rout the 80 strong army. Without any place to retreat, they were wiped out.

This action opened the way to Lord Kall and his army while another Vanjarl secured the Throne. The rest is history : another magical fortress was raised out of magic and bare rocks and Lord Kall claimed the Throne for himself. 2 claimed, 2 to go.

Laying the siege

Unlike the southern thrones, the Throne of the Moon was in a peaceful region. No wandering armies, no unexpected surprises, the situation was the same there as it had been for the last 6 months, just after the final demise of Mictlan.

Surely the enemy had no idea of what was to come, Helheim’s armies were completely invisible for him and only Lord Kall’s vague threats about stopping the Arcane Nexus was a hint of a possible military action in the vicinity. How could they know that a 100 strong army with massive mage support was just on their border ? There was no way … and that was the beauty of it !

So, unlike the other thrones, there was nothing special to plan before the assault. Ho, sure, a scout had spotted a very strong defense over Mictlan a few months ago and a Hangadrott was specifically designed to deal with it … but it appeared that they had moved on and his attack was a cakewalk.

Anyway, as happened on the other thrones, a glitch came to cast some doubt. Indeed, standard province defense of Tien’Chi consisted of a Noble commander mounted on a chariot. What’s so special about it ? Their main battle tactic is to trample their enemy, and they are large enough to trample enemy cavalry. And … that was a problem for Munin the Vaherse sent there. Surprised by this unexpected resistance he couldn’t rout the enemy before being crushed under the wheels of the chariot. That was unfortunate … especially given he was a famous hero from the campaign of Agartha. However, as sad as was his death, that did not change anything : the enemy had no army close enough to exploit that little breach in the elven deployment.

So, the main army could easily lay the siege above the fortress protecting the Throne and still stay invisible to the eyes of the enemy. The Vanjarl appointed to defeat the province defense prior to the arrival of the army was lucky enough to avoid the fate of Munin and could open the way for the army to get there unseen.

The siege in itself was an easy task, especially given the Crumble spell cast on the gates to break them. Within 2 weeks the gates were breached and preparations for the assault devised shortly thereafter.

The final battle for Ascension

The scouts had estimated the enemy force inside the fortress to about 15 mages and a few support troops. There was a risk that with careful planning and unexpected teleporting reinforcements they could put on an unexpected resistance. In that, it was imperative to weaken them as much as possible before the engagement.

A Kokythiad and 4 flame spirits had been gathered on the Throne of Elements to benefit from its power and throw cheap powerful attack spells on the fortress. The Kokythiad, strong in water magic was ordered to cast a Murdering Winter which, given the Illwinter still raging over the world, would be particularly deadly. The Flame spirits on their part were to do what they knew best : rain fire on the ennemy and burn them to death. The Fire from Afar spell did that, and pretty well. It was estimated in the end that about 9 enemy mages out of 14 were killed in the process. A strong result that surely proved decisive in the battle that ensued …

However despite these very good results, when Kubrat the Bishop and his army finally shown up at the gates, they were for a suprise … they knew the enemy would probably send a few golems to reinforce the garrison but … 9 of them, 9 fully equipped battle golems, no, no one had imagined they could muster such a force !

Thankfully, the troops did not know exactly how strong these creatures were. They had already fought the giants of Agartha, so sure they were bigger, but so what ? The leaders on their part knew perfectly well what that meant and how these monsters could jeopardize the whole plan. However, they did their best to hide they fears and proceed as planned : that battle HAD to be won, it was an all or nothing. And, despite the surprise, there were still 2 Dis trained specifically to deal with them. Hopefully, they would isolate the golems and take them out one by one.

The first phase of the battle was a display of magic. Helheim’s battle plan was to use powerful battlefield spells, first to ensure the survivability of their troops and second to make sure the enemy would give up the fight as soon as possible.

The enchanters formed a communion along with the Crystal sorceresses and made their army a tough one to crack : Antimagic to protect them from enemy spells, Relief to ensure everyone would not fatigue out of a long battle, Thunder fend to protect the front line troops from the Thunderstrikes of the sorcerecesses, Fog warriors to make them almost impervious to non-magical weapons and Mass regeneration to sear the wounds of anyone injured in battle. And, last but not least, the fearsome Wailing winds began to roar in the enemy ears, instilling fear and terror in the enemy ranks.

On the other hand, the enemy magic was rather unimpressive, probably due to the fact that so much of their mages had been killed before the battle. Nonetheless, they still had a few tricks that proved challenging. First, they cursed the entire army of Helheim, Dooming them to bad luck for the rest of their lives. That was unfortunate, though just a minor advantage. Their best move came when they summonned about 200 giant insects that started to harass the wolves on the frontline.

This horde of little creatures wreaked havoc in the battle line, sometime surrounding a wolf and biting and stinging it to death. Indeed, the Jotun wolves had charged through the gates and were closing on the few mages and golems when they finally met the insects that stopped their advance. And while on one hand they were fighting the tiny stings and bites, they had on the other hand to face the giant clay creatures trampling them mercyless.

Many wolves died in the process … and when the riders and footmen finally arrived, it was a relief that finally helped to destroy the insects much faster and to concentrate on the clay giants. Indeed, the golem were really fearsome beasts, and equipped with such powerful magical items as they were, very difficult to destroy. Both the hirdmen and mounted hirdmen could but scratch they armor. If not for the tremendous strength of the Jotun wolves, these 9 monsters would have won the battle by themselves. Thankfully, the pure raw bestial strength of the wolves proved a strong match to the golems armor and they started to be slowly, but surely, dissassembled piece by piece.

Thanks to the Wailing Winds and the blood and death occurring all around them, the few enemy mages broke off one by one, letting the golems alone. Meanwhile, the 2 Dis appointed to deal with the golems had flown to meet them upfront. Skuld, a war hero from Agartha, tried her Moonblade against a golem with some success, but his counterattack was rather harsh and, badly injured, she flown off the battlefield.

Hleida on the other hand had another battle altogether. Alone in the middle of the enemy insects, she started to crush them with her huge Gate cleaver and soon, as they were scattered away, she began to do her dirty work. If the Gate Cleaver is such a heavy and cumbersome weapon, it’s for a good reason : it can slice through armor like butter. The main strength of the golems was their armor, so … like a lumberjack she did her job : chopping them off one by one.

At that moment, the battle seemed like it could go either way. The wolves had sustained heavy casualties and the 13 survivors looked unable to finish the 6 golems still standing. The golems for their part were trampling mercyless the hirdmen and mounted hirdmen that were dying like flies … thankfully, the sorceresses had started to invoke phantasmal warriors and phantasmal wolves, a good diversion to save the lives of the surviving warriors.

But the intervention of Hleida was the nail in the coffin. The poor golems looked powerless and, slowly, she cut them down one by one. After a while there was only one of them left in the middle of all the riders, footmen, wolves and phantasmal creatures. At this point most of the leaders were relieved as the battle was about to be won … So, in the middle of this carnage, Hleida made her last move and cut him in half from top to bottom. And that was it.

Hleida the Golem slayer, Hleida the blessed one, Hleida herald of Lord Kall, Saint Hleida … Never a being got so much love from so many people in such a short amount of time. Her name began to be praised and she became a revered saint all over the empire for the years to come.

After securing the fortress, healing the wounded and burying the deads, came the time to finish this war once and for all. The 3 bishops appointed to the former Therodos Thrones had already given their power to Lord Kall, along with the thrones of Ulm and Niefelheim. The Throne of the Moon was the last key, and Kubrat was charged to open it.