Post by The Smith on Mar 24, 2008 17:47:01 GMT -5
"There, Ser! I see them!” The shout rang out across the deck of the Seasword, one of the warships belonging to House Farman. Ser Mychel Hill had been sailing on patrol around Fair Island for three days. The castle’s castellan was Lord Jaymes’ uncle, Ser Addam, a grizzled old war commander who had ordered constant patrols around the island. Five of the ten ships that belonged to Houses on Fair Isle were to be in the open water at all times while the other five were being re-supplied; they rotated shifts every four days. Ser Mychel commanded this patrol, which consisted of the Seasword, Golden Victory, Lady Alayne, Kraken’s Bane, and the Stranger’s Gift.
Ser Mychel looked towards where one of his sailors was pointing, and saw a finger of smoke stretching up into the sky. As he watched, another tendril began to make its way upward, and then another. He scanned the shoreline and saw the three ships, beached on the sand, each with a scythe-banner hanging from the mast. Standing at the forecastle of the Seasword, he quickly told his plan to the man next to him, who picked up a large bronze shield that was highly polished. He tilted it in a way to catch the sunlight, and through cunning subtle movements flashed out a message to the other ships informing them of what Ser Mychel had ordered. The five Farman ships approached, and the sounds of screams and butchery could be heard from the village that the Ironborn were attacking, and Mychel’s blood began to boil at the sound.
He heard shouts ring out from the shore and knew his ships had been spotted by the men left by the Ironborn to guard their boats, but by then it did not matter. Ser Mychel blew a blast on his warhorn, and his five ships instantly powered forward on full oars while Ironmen on the beaches struggled to push their ships back into the water. The westermen swept in on them, aided by the tide and wind. The five ships had lined up and charged forward. The Stranger’s Gift smashed headlong into the stern of a longship, completely skewering the smaller boat on its iron prow. Unfortunately the wood of the attacking ship cracked and splintered, sending shards flying in all directions and impaling many of the sailors aboard.
The other ships were luckier, sweeping in between the two remaining Ironborn ships and up onto the sand; their drafts were shallow enough to allow them to ride up onto the beach. Several Ironmen who were in the water trying to push their own ships back to sea were crushed under the hulls of the incoming ships, and then Ser Mychel’s soldiers began leaping onto the shore.
By then, the Ironmen had started to stream back towards their ships from the village they had been attacking, but they met a line of armed men four deep and fifty across. The hundred and fifty or so Ironborn charged into the line, though some were weighed down by treasure they had pillaged or stolen and lagged behind their fellows. A hundred men crashed into Mychel’s force, and his first line of men began to buckle. The Ironborn charge cut their way through the first two lines of men, and was ground to a stop by the third, holding firm. Ser Mychel had placed himself in the middle of the line and was met head on by the Ironborn charge.
He parried the blow of the first man to come at him, knocking aside his axe and sweeping his greatsword down to cut off the man’s arm. The man’s scream was silenced by another warrior’s sword through his throat, and Ser Mychel raised his blade to block the strike of a warrior who had immediately taken the dead man’s place. He traded blows with this second warrior, who was far more skilled than the first, as men fought and died around him. He heard horns blasting behind him, and attacked his opponent in a frenzy. The man parried all of his blows except the final one that cut his hamstrings out from under him. He went down and was immediately trampled by the constantly revolving battle. Ser Mychel raised both of his arms above his head and bellowed at the top of his lungs. “FLY!” He heard men around him repeat the order and he pushed forward again into the fray.
Thirty minutes later the battle was done, more than three hundred corpses littering the beach. More than a hundred westermen had been killed though the Ironborn casualties were nearly double that. Though Mychel had not been able to tell at the time, his order had reached both wings of his army, which had closed around the Ironborn force in a pincer maneuver, surrounding them completely. The westermen cut into their foes and won the day, though they lost half their men in doing so.
The Stranger’s Gift had been badly damaged and was not sea-worthy; a shipwright crew would have to travel across the island to repair it where it was, and the longship that it had plowed into was completely destroyed. Half of its crew and all of the soldiers aboard had been killed, 75 men in total. The crewmen of the other four ships had all survived, and between the 200 of them had captured the two Ironborn longships, killing the few guards that had been posted there while the soldiers fought up the beach.
The final count was 278 dead Ironborn and 186 dead westermen, including the men aboard the Stranger’s Gift. The villagers had suffered heavily as well, more than two dozen homes had been reduced to cinders; a score of men had died and a dozen women had been raped; four others had been killed. No men of noteworthy status were found among the dead Ironborn, nor of the westermen.
Ser Mychel Hill increases to Expert Swordsman (Greatsword)
Ser Mychel Hill increases to Expert Battle (Generalship)
Ser Mychel Hill captures 2 Longships and destroys 1
1 Western Warship (The Stranger’s Gift) requires extensive repair
278 Ironmen are killed
186 western soldiers are killed
24 western smallfolk killed, 12 women rape
Ser Mychel looked towards where one of his sailors was pointing, and saw a finger of smoke stretching up into the sky. As he watched, another tendril began to make its way upward, and then another. He scanned the shoreline and saw the three ships, beached on the sand, each with a scythe-banner hanging from the mast. Standing at the forecastle of the Seasword, he quickly told his plan to the man next to him, who picked up a large bronze shield that was highly polished. He tilted it in a way to catch the sunlight, and through cunning subtle movements flashed out a message to the other ships informing them of what Ser Mychel had ordered. The five Farman ships approached, and the sounds of screams and butchery could be heard from the village that the Ironborn were attacking, and Mychel’s blood began to boil at the sound.
He heard shouts ring out from the shore and knew his ships had been spotted by the men left by the Ironborn to guard their boats, but by then it did not matter. Ser Mychel blew a blast on his warhorn, and his five ships instantly powered forward on full oars while Ironmen on the beaches struggled to push their ships back into the water. The westermen swept in on them, aided by the tide and wind. The five ships had lined up and charged forward. The Stranger’s Gift smashed headlong into the stern of a longship, completely skewering the smaller boat on its iron prow. Unfortunately the wood of the attacking ship cracked and splintered, sending shards flying in all directions and impaling many of the sailors aboard.
The other ships were luckier, sweeping in between the two remaining Ironborn ships and up onto the sand; their drafts were shallow enough to allow them to ride up onto the beach. Several Ironmen who were in the water trying to push their own ships back to sea were crushed under the hulls of the incoming ships, and then Ser Mychel’s soldiers began leaping onto the shore.
By then, the Ironmen had started to stream back towards their ships from the village they had been attacking, but they met a line of armed men four deep and fifty across. The hundred and fifty or so Ironborn charged into the line, though some were weighed down by treasure they had pillaged or stolen and lagged behind their fellows. A hundred men crashed into Mychel’s force, and his first line of men began to buckle. The Ironborn charge cut their way through the first two lines of men, and was ground to a stop by the third, holding firm. Ser Mychel had placed himself in the middle of the line and was met head on by the Ironborn charge.
He parried the blow of the first man to come at him, knocking aside his axe and sweeping his greatsword down to cut off the man’s arm. The man’s scream was silenced by another warrior’s sword through his throat, and Ser Mychel raised his blade to block the strike of a warrior who had immediately taken the dead man’s place. He traded blows with this second warrior, who was far more skilled than the first, as men fought and died around him. He heard horns blasting behind him, and attacked his opponent in a frenzy. The man parried all of his blows except the final one that cut his hamstrings out from under him. He went down and was immediately trampled by the constantly revolving battle. Ser Mychel raised both of his arms above his head and bellowed at the top of his lungs. “FLY!” He heard men around him repeat the order and he pushed forward again into the fray.
Thirty minutes later the battle was done, more than three hundred corpses littering the beach. More than a hundred westermen had been killed though the Ironborn casualties were nearly double that. Though Mychel had not been able to tell at the time, his order had reached both wings of his army, which had closed around the Ironborn force in a pincer maneuver, surrounding them completely. The westermen cut into their foes and won the day, though they lost half their men in doing so.
The Stranger’s Gift had been badly damaged and was not sea-worthy; a shipwright crew would have to travel across the island to repair it where it was, and the longship that it had plowed into was completely destroyed. Half of its crew and all of the soldiers aboard had been killed, 75 men in total. The crewmen of the other four ships had all survived, and between the 200 of them had captured the two Ironborn longships, killing the few guards that had been posted there while the soldiers fought up the beach.
The final count was 278 dead Ironborn and 186 dead westermen, including the men aboard the Stranger’s Gift. The villagers had suffered heavily as well, more than two dozen homes had been reduced to cinders; a score of men had died and a dozen women had been raped; four others had been killed. No men of noteworthy status were found among the dead Ironborn, nor of the westermen.
Ser Mychel Hill increases to Expert Swordsman (Greatsword)
Ser Mychel Hill increases to Expert Battle (Generalship)
Ser Mychel Hill captures 2 Longships and destroys 1
1 Western Warship (The Stranger’s Gift) requires extensive repair
278 Ironmen are killed
186 western soldiers are killed
24 western smallfolk killed, 12 women rape