Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 5507927" data-attributes="member: 9546">THE MARCH ON PITAXWithin hours of rejoining their armies, the companions had the troops on the move. By late afternoon, they had penetrated two-dozen miles into Pitax’s lands, and as they crossed a low ridge on the grasslands, they met their first resistance. Mustered on the plain below them was an army comprised of dozens of hill giants mounted on enormous mastodons. These were the Tusker Riders, a hill giant tribe led by a slope-browed cretin named Kob Moleg. The big brutes were intimidating, especially when they hurled a barrage of boulders into the midst of Tungdill’s troops, and then began a trumpeting charge upon their fearsome mounts. Unfortunately for them, their assault was cut short when Tungdill himself whipped up a localized hurricane around them, and then Velox blocked their path with yards and yards of fire walls. From there, it was easy for the archers of all of the allied forces to rain death down upon the giants. Tungdill’s losses were minimal, but for Kob Moleg’s troops, it was utter devastation.The following day, the armies reached the village of Littletown, which rested under the eaves of the forest of Thousand Voices. The town lay in ruins and devastation, with the half-eaten bodies of its denizens scattered about like so much discarded carrion. A flight of wyverns, equal in size to the flock that had attacked Veritas, roosted among the wreckage, but when they saw the armies approaching, they took wing and swarmed towards the allies. Their attack never fell as they were cut from the sky by a flight of arrows that momentarily blotted out the sun. The dragons dropped to the ground in droves, with only a very few wheeling about and disappearing into the shadows of the forest.________________________________________________________“We’ve wasted enough time marching around the countryside,” Mox announced that evening. “Tomorrow morning, we’re heading for Pitax City.”“You are well aware of what our scouting reports revealed about their defenses,” Velox reminded her. “Irovetti’s forces outnumber us, and they’re barricaded inside a walled city.”“Then we’ll tear the walls down around them!” the Queen shouted. “Irovetti is going to pay for every affront, and if I have to level his entire city for that to occur, then so be it!”At dawn, the armies set out once more.The city of Pitax sat on the shore of the Rushlight River, its towers and turrets rising above high walls. The farm holds and thorps surrounding the city had all been hastily abandoned, as the inhabitants had all crowded inside the walls. As Kardashia’s armies approached, Pitax’s defenders prepared for a long siege. They were in for a disappointment. The Pitax regiment unleashed a storm of arrows upon the advancing invaders, but sudden storms conjured by Selena and Tungdill blew most of them out of the sky. The centaurs and Kardashian soldiers returned fire, to devastating effect. Scores of soldiers fell from the walls, and the city gates swung wide. Hundreds of troll warriors swarmed forth, and charged headlong towards the Kardashians. Half of them were cut down by withering arrow fire before they had covered half the distance, but then the remainder of the marauders closed in, and the battle was joined in earnest. Behind the trolls, Pitax soldiers swarmed, and the chaos and fog of war washed over the combatants. The fighting was ferocious and pitched, but in the end, the leadership of the Kardashian commanders, coupled with the devastating magic of their queen, and magister, turned the tide and sealed victory for the invaders.  ___________________________________________________________That same afternoon saw Mox and her entourage marching through the streets of Pitax City. The populace gathered along the main thoroughfare of the New Ruins section of the city as if they were watching a parade. As they passed into the Shattered Ward, headed for the palace, they were met by a retinue of the city’s nobles, the so-called Bandit Houses. They carried a flag of truce. A rather young-looking man stepped forward.“Your Majesty,” he began, “I am Gasperre Liacenza.”“You don’t presume to speak for us, Liacenza,” a raven-haired woman snapped. “After all, it was your uncles that gave this city to that blackguard Irovetti in the first place!”“Now, now, Eliste,” an older gentleman chided. “It’s not polite to air dirty laundry in front of guests.”“I’m not your guest,” Mox said impatiently. “I am now your Queen.”“Ah,” the man said. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Jhofre’ Vascari of the Riversong Trade House.”“I don’t really care who any of you people are,” Mox said, “nor what position you think you hold in my city. Your collective fates are now in my hands, and you would all do well to remember that. I haven’t yet decided whether to have you summarily executed. After I’ve dealt with your former king, and my thirst for blood has been slaked, then I shall return and we shall resume this conversation. Until then, consider yourselves under arrest.”Mox turned away, and her companions followed. As the nobles protested loudly when they were rounded up and herded away, the Queen turned her cold eyes towards the palace on the hill.</blockquote>

Verification