The Battle for Stone Mist Castle
"We had held the castle of Stone Mist for three straight days now, and for the most part it had withstood the occasional attack from our nearby enemy, the Riverside Alliance. From the battlements you could see their castle on the horizon, where they would optimistically build a Trebuchet now and again, and attempt to bombard us. But our walls were strong, supplied with almost limitless stone from the nearby quarry, which our Dolyaks carried under guard from our troops.
I looked up at the mighty battlements and towers that made Stonemist the opposing sight it was, twisting upwards and outwards, cannons and arrow-carts bristling from the tops of its double walls, and in the morning sun, the glint of swords from troops patrolling the battlements or just watching out to the distance.
Word had reached us that the supplies seemed a little low, and I was asked to investigate where the Dolyak pack had got to with its latest shipment. I called a couple of friends to me, and we headed out along the path from the Castle to our nearest supply depot. It was not long before we encountered the mangled body of our pack, stone and wood strewn across the road. But we could not stop for long, as the Riverside scout group who were tucked behind the treeline began firing arrows across the nearby embankment. We rushed back to report this to the Commander who was busy reinforcing the castle.
However, as we approached, the attack began.
This was not a normal attack. Hundreds of men and women (and Asura) were approaching from the North, and behind them, Catapults were firing upon our walls. As we rushed to our Commander to coordinate a reply, the outer walls crumbled, and in they spewed, rushing into our courtyard like a swarm, and spilling up the stairs onto the top of the outer wall. We began firing back, and our force ventured up the steps from the opposing side, attempting to push them back out whilst we repaired the wall. But alas, their numbers were too many, and too coordinated.
We were pushed back and back, as they burst through the gates of our inner wall. Only our Lord and our Commander stood between the attackers and their victory, so we retreated back to the Lords Room, a central circular room, with three corridors in, and stairs leading up around the outside of the room to the next level. Our Lord stood in the centre, an opposing figure in the semi-darkness. Our Commander, flanked by our Guardians took up position around the Lord, dropping defensive spells and buffs onto him, whilst we troops, now backed up with almost a hundred strong, circled him and attempted to block the corridors.
In they came, Riverside, the evil troops, but we held them back, throwing spell after spell into the corridors, until they were a bubbling cauldron of orange flame, purple magic, and blue frost. And yet still they came, sheer numbers managing to push us back inside the Lords room, our Commander screaming 'to me, stack on me, buff, hold steady' whilst we squeezed closer to the Lord, some throwing flaming spells from the stairs, or just using the confusion to pick off attackers. As our troops fell, our support began hastily resurrecting them, whilst the Guardians tried to shield them from the oncoming magical maelstrom.
'Reinforcements incoming', yelled out our Commander, evoking a cheer from the almost exhausted troops.
Our Mesmers quickly charged up the stairs to the outside balconies, opening portals to the battlements below, urging our reinforcements to jump through and flow down the stairs. 'Push, push, push,' screamed the Commander over the brown noise of the magical attack, our troops responding by slowly pushing the attackers back through the corridors, ressing those who fell behind them.
Reinforcements had arrived
As we forced them through the doors, our repair team rushed in, sealing the doors behind our forces. Those still inside rushed up to the gutter like ledges and windows, raining fire, ice, wind, arrows and lead shot down upon the thrashing squirming bodies below. Arrowcarts and cannons cut through the swath of troops, whittling down their numbers rapidly.
Finally, the attackers losing heart, we managed to push them back through the walls, mopping up the few we had missed with one to one engagements, but it was done. We had successfully defended our home one more time, and now just had the bags to collect and the walls to rebuild. This would not be the last attack that night....."
Our Castle Lord had survived to fight another day
