That Fateful Night Part one

 That Fateful Night

Events during the night of Session XV of the main tale and an Urban interlude part 5

Portentous noises off

That Fateful Night a time line Part I 

• From the Goblin caves its new commander Akakabul’s newest and least trusted bully launches a small mounted sortie south towards A’Rakham to test the defences of the fair. This is on top of the normal patrols in the woods at night between there and the Hidden Dell which is still believed, by the Goblins, to be abandoned after the first raid.
• Late in the afternoon a large Goblin raid emerges from the hills above the headwaters of the M’Alvern Stream and moves in on the outlying settlements of the north of the county this is lead by the third and most powerful goblin warlord yet to be involved the king of the lost dwarf city there now called Ghul Dvax. He brings several hundred war wolves, a seven hundred dog riders and just shy of five thousand warriors.
• Violet comes across the bodies of  several of the refugees from the water caves who had struck west after her when she had left them they appeared to have been attacked by a number of ogres, Violet determines that these have come down from the mountains to the north and that they are still in the area. She considers her options but does not immediately hunt them down.
• At dusk D'rek Hielax and his small band was forced to take shelter in a small town in the south of Neffaria county as the local landholder the had called out his men and the feudal levy because of reports from refugees from Vayham county to the south of a significant Goblin raid out of the hills around the headwaters of the M’Alvern Stream. D’rek could only laugh to himself as it would seem his master’s intent was in operation.
• The Goblins already east of the M’Alvern stream line begin to skirmish aggressively along the whole length of the current front line audaciously attempting attacks on the positions of the Counts pickets on the other side of the river.
• As pressure builds on eastern the defence line the Count dispatches groups of troops to bolster the line whilst maintaining a large reserve as he fears a major attack again but does not wish to commit his reserves until he knows where it will be as he has too few to waste on Goblin feints and ruses.
• To the east at around dusk, the first Kalamarian caravan of the season arrives at the bridge over the Falax, from the east, and finds it held by Goblins and the temple also over run by Goblins pulls back to plan a response.
• A small caravan out of A’Rakham manor arrives at the Wayfarer’s temple and is ambushed and over run by Goblins after a short fight. The Kalamarian caravan halted on the other side see this but do not intervene, preferring to watch the fight.
• The forces of the Goblin warlord Benaxerak move into place screened by the savage skirmishes along the line of the M’Alvern stream
• Shortly after midnight a messenger arrives on a lathered horse from the northern reaches of the county with news of a massive Goblin raid which having seemingly come around the head waters of the M’Alvern stream is harrying the farms and villages in the north which hither to have been untroubled.  He reports that the Landholders have rallied their household troops to fight them off but having sent their entire feudal levy to Vayham at the Counts request they find themselves desperately short of men and overstretched especially as the Goblins have apparently divided themselves up and are reported to be attacking several places at once.
• With night fallen The Kalamarian Caravan master believing the Goblins to be engaged in celebrating there earlier victory tries to storm the bridge and force passage
• It took about an hour for the Count to make a decision and to gather up such mounted troops as he had to hand and could be spared to ride north these consisted of  a mixture of  his own personal troops, some mercenaries from northern Cosdol he had hired with experience at fighting humanoids, three knights of the Founder and one of the True and such of the northern levies who had mounts since they rode to  defend their own homes around two hundred all told lead by the experienced Goblin fighter  Crindar the tall the captain of the mercenary troop which forms a significant part of the force and the head priest of the temple of the True in Vayham a grizzled veteran of fighting orks in the Krond hills himself.
• Along the M’Alvern stream the goblin pressure builds even further and what appears to be a serious attempt to cross is mounted using inflated animal skins as floats at the south end of the line of contact. The commander at the front rearranges his force to counter this and sends for reinforcements.
• Violet having decided her best option is to bury the corpses of the slain refugees and having been made unwelcome at the Water caves quite recently then to return to the Hidden Dell. However alone and with minimal tools the act of burying the dead takes quite some time.
• The attack to force the Falax Bridge is repulsed with losses on both sides as the Goblins were not feasting but remained prepared for the possibility of being attacked. The Mercenaries guarding the caravan take the bridge but are repelled at the temple gates by fierce Goblin resistance a hail of magical arrows and some well placed spell fire from Warasgatul the goblin wizard. Which turns a retreat into a rout and the Goblins retake the bridge quickly there after as the caravan hurriedly packs up and moves several miles back east to lick its wounds. The Goblins at the bridge do not give chase.
• Around two hours after mid night the relief force from Vayham makes contact with the raiders in the north. On contact the Goblins would appear to be retreating north and east with dog riders and wolves screening the loot laden warriors behind them. After the first clashes the forces of Vayham pursue with some caution after the last time when the Goblins lead them into an ambush.
• As they chase the Goblins thought the farmlands of the northern county through still burning farms and small villages the men of Vayham began to come across the bodies of peasants slain trying to flee an to gather up the scattered groups of the local landholders men who have been hit hard by the Goblins who came at them in massive numbers even if almost all contacts between the relief force so far have been mounted skirmishes between wolves and Goblin dog riders and the mercenary mounted crossbowmen with them, many little more than an exchange of bolts and arrows in the dark.
• The messengers from the south end of the line along the M’Alvern stream arrive at Vayham reporting several hundred Goblins have crossed the stream and that Sir Dalam a knight of the Founder has committed all of his reserves and has even thinned the line out to the north as much as he dare and was still losing ground to the unusually determined Goblins.
• The pursuit in the north begins to run into stiffer opposition as the loot laden Goblins are forced to abandon the stolen carts and wagons they had been using to carry their loot as the going into the hills gets too rough for them to be ought but an encumbrance.
• Violet begins to move towards the Hidden Dell skirting the spider woods by approaching from the south as she does so she comes across a track that of about thirty Goblins coming around the spider wood from the north before heading towards the south west. Calculating that they are about an hour ahead of her but going on short legs thought difficult country she believes she can out distance them being far more the woodsman than they especially as she is sure they are heading towards the inn at A’Rakham and can take a direct route rather than following them. She is not sure of her welcome at the inn but is prepared to give them a warning if they will take it and leaver them free to act as they chose there after.
• Reluctantly the Count mounts up the last of his mobile reserve and sends them off to support Sir Dalam and considers rousing the militia, however he sees no reason to as there is no direct threat to the town yet, and indeed may not be one this night. He is well aware that one can only call out the militia a few times on a false alarm before you break its morale for when you actually need it.
• The reserves sent to the south of the M’Alvern line meet up with Sir Dalan’s men but are even so heavily beset by Goblins that they are forced to hole up in an abandoned Thorpe and stand siege.

To be continued……….