Battle of Oleg Keep

• Session 100 - 103 The Battle of Oleg Keep (← links | edit)

Session Date

Four between 09 September - October 2023

Campaign Date

Morning Wealson 7, CY621

The current situation

Velors forces have besieged Oleg Keep and the surrounding village of Grenvik and Oleg. Baron Dunthmore has secured himself in the Keep along with elements of the Rippers and Red Company who made sorties from the Keep to disrupt Velors forces. The two forces engaged in combat trading siege engine fire as night fell. At daybreak the undead fell back to Grenvik Bog to the south of the Keep. Both sides regrouped during the day. (while the PC’s were airship touring the area 60-90 miles to the NE) At night the undead attacked again, and as with the day before, withdrew just before dawn to the swamp. Stirkirk seeing an opportunity to take advantage of the Keeps damage and the defenders fatigue has led Burtons Irregulars in a charge to breach the south wall just after dawn.

The rules of engagement and victory conditions:

Force	Objective	Victory
Velor	Sack the castle and kill the defenders	Take the castle (inflict 60% or more loss on defenders), or occupy the town of Oleg, and Grenvik
Baron and allies	Hold the castle and immediate settlements	Avoid losing 60% forces, or secure and hold the towns
PC’s + allies	Take and hold the castle	Inflict 40% or more loss on the Barons forces, AND eliminate Velor’s army
Independents	Ensure the survival of their allies	The Baron or the PC’s win. (you don't have to announce your allegiance)
Spoilers	Ensure the survival of their allies	The Baron or the PC’s win. (you don't have to announce your allegiance)

Day 1 of the Siege

The Flan farmers and their Druid allies sweep in from the north taking their anger out on the Barons lands around Oleg Keep, burning the fields and homes immediately surrounding the keep. A thick column of white smoke blocks their view of the keep.

The Baron launches a retaliatory catapult barrage against the raiders injuring many but they return a volley of arrows that injury the defenders in kind.

Rushing in from the south to harvest the bodies, the 52nd Marauders run smack into Burtons Irregulars who have been battering down the walls and fighting to enter the breach since before dawn. After an afternoon of hard fighting, Burtons Irregulars suffer 30% casualties and unable to enter the fort as they thought begin to retreat in good order. Vendrix swoops in and unleashes his breath weapon, decimating the retreating troops. Velors troops surge in from the woods to the rear of the troops to begin the body harvest, Stirkirk sensing the end is near for Burtons Irregulars orders his troops to self detonate their explosive vests rather than being turned into fresh undead troops. The mournful sound of rolling explosions echo through the Blemu Hills.

From the north and west the 1st Battalion of Logeth takes a beating as they hold off a terrible three pronged assault by the Death Dealers, Marauders, and Wraiths. The Death Dealers are routed and flee to the East while the 1st Battalion watches in horror as their fallen compatriots rise from the ground in the jerking motion of the undead and march off to follow the dealers.

Velor's personal guard and 73rd siege battery re-consolidate their forces to the west and begin to setup their war engines to bombard the keep.

1st Logeth moves to the flank and attacks the Red Company who overran the company forcing them to retreat back inside with 70% casualties.

The gnome airship moves in to take advantage of the chaos of forces scrambling to retreat into the keep. From over the railings of the sky ship the party launches spells and missiles into the massed troops a hundred and fifty feet below. They glide over and unleash an aerial bombardment on the Red Company Hornets and force them back into the fortress walls.

As night falls the Barons mage works quickly to magically ward the north and south gates with powerful sigils of warding. The defenders settle in for a long siege as Velors forces move to surround the keep sealing in the defenders.

Day 2 of the Siege

As the day dawns the flan villagers continue their scorched earth campaign, they move around the west side and finish their destruction of the fields and small hamlet outside the South Gate. No major casualties occur but a few of the forces spend time taunting the defenders by lobbing cows over the wall into the keep.

The barbarians join in the villages rampage and move out of the woods to the west, and sweeping south find the partial breach Strikirk's forces opened the day prior along the south east wall. They hit the screaming spears hard in a frontal assault who break ranks and flee in a route back to their tribal lands near the Ripper Mines. Most of the barbarians upon seeing the Braons forces pour out from their barracks inside the keep rushing to seal the breach, decide a drink and some looting is in order and move quickly SE to sack Grenvik village.

The gnome airship with the PC's aboard heads in a slow arc from the SW where they had been watching the battle and move towards the keep. Barely two miles out, they see the 45th marauders marching out to meet the Elves advancing from the Ivae Orr. Using spells and arrows from a few hundred feet up in the air they blast them mercilessly, completely eliminating the unit.

Below them, their path now clear the Elves of the Ivae Orr using the trees as cover come up behind a unit of undead who were securing Oleg Road to the NW of the keep. The battle is a draw with both sides forced to retreat from the field, the elves returned to the Ivae Orr, while the undead move to rejoin the Velor's to the NE of the keep.

At the keep, the Barons forces unleash a catapult assault upon any forces who have strayed to near the keep itself. They eliminate two barbarian units who remained near the walls after the mornings attack.

As the afternoon wears on Velors forces move into Oleg Village from multiple directions and surround the Rippers 2nd battalion. After a brutal battle they eliminate the Rippers and using their unholy powers raise half the defenders to replenish their own forces and move towards the North gatehouse. As the undead advance towards the North Gatehouse, Vendrix the dragon swoops down and blasts the North gatehouse with his breath weapon. The blast sets off the sigil the Baron had secretly placed on the portcullis and steel shod doors the day before. Vendrix is wounded but remains near the castle.

Selena and her rider Lady Furweather circling high above Oleg Keep decide to exact their revenge on the Baron, for the PC's convinced them he betrayed Vendrix. The troops below are a mix of the Barons forces and Ripper allies who repel the attack but are now moderately fatigued and seek cover inside the Keep. Selena and Lady Furweather are unable to strike a decisive blow and realize they should have concentrated their attack on one unit at a time. They fly off to the NW to consider their next move.

As the day wore on the Drow and Druegar used the knowledge of the caverns and old mines beneath this part of the Blemu Hills and moving unseen breach the dungeon complex under the keep. (pop up in the orchard).

Day 3 of the Siege

To be written...