Battle of Blackden
|
The Battle of Blackden was a open field battle between House Keint and the Silvervein Clan fought on 3rd of the First Seed 1650, outside the town of Blackden. The Keintanian forces being lead by Lord Lope Keint and King Thomas I of Adylith and the Silvervein forces being led by Gimli and Thumril Silvervein.
Prelude
Most are unsure exactly what lead to the outbreak of the Battle of Blackden. Some speculate that it was something to due with House Keint building its home too close to the home of the Silvervein Clan. Whatever the reason, however, it was decided that there would be a battle to decide the fate of Blackden.
Lord Lope Keint called on the Kingdom of Adylith for aid, as well as hiring a small mercenary band. A hundred men from Adylith, led personally by King Thomas I, showed up to Blackden. Another hundred mercenaries rallied, and with the additional hundred soldiers in Keintania, Lord Lope had three hundred men in total to defend Blackden.
The Silverveins, rallied three-hundred of their own men. Following this, the Silvervein Clan sent a small detachment a hundred soldiers, led by Gimli Silvervein, to fetch the soldiers from Curon and lead them through the mountains and to the battle. Meanwhile, the remaining two hundred Silverveins and a hundred men from Halsworthy left, in order to contain Lord Lope and his allies within Blackden. During this time, Curon would rally three-hundred men in preparation for the battle, with another hundred rallying late and leaving on their own.
Battle
As the soldiers of Lope Keint and his allies held fast inside their walls, two hundred silvervein troops moved into position, just past the farms of Blackden. Soon, they were reinforced by the hundred soldiers from Halsworthy. Each side yelled back and forth for the other to see reason and surrender, which achieved nothing. Eventually, this devolved into yelling petty insults back and forth, as the Silverveins stalled for the remainder of their troops to show up. Finally, after waiting for some while, Gimli Silvervein and his hundred troops showed up, leading the three hundred troops from Curon to Blackden. Upon finally converging there, they held a quick meeting before the deciding to attack.
As the troops of Keint and Hartcold took to the walls, they began to pepper the Silverveins and their allies with arrow fire. The Silverveins responded, dropping back a hundred of their own troops with two hundred Curonic troops to return fire. Meanwhile, the remaining hundred soldiers from Curon, and two hundred from the Silvervein Clan, formed a shield wall as they slowly moved towards Blackden, with the soldiers of Halsworthy close behind the advance, returning fire.
As the Silverveins and their allies neared the walls, the troops' shield wall broke formation as they rushed to attack the walls, while some soldiers made for the open gate. As they did this, Lope Keint unleashed several of his lava traps, sending many unaware soldiers to a fiery death. However, the allies still managed to scale the walls and engaged in battle against the forces of House Keint and Hartcold. The battle for the walls, while fierce, was a brief affair. The Silverveins and their allies outnumbered the soldiers defending the walls, and shortly after they first attacked the walls, they successfully captured them. Shortly after this, the few remaining soldiers that had made it off the walls were captured or killed. Lord Lope himself, had been injured when one of his lava traps failed to work properly and backfired, burning him. After being attacked by a dwarven soldier, he stumbled backwards and fell from the walls. Before he could even get up, soldiers on the ground belong surrounded him and captured him, signaling an end to the battle.
Shortly after the battle, the hundred soldiers from Curon which rallied late finally arrived, having gotten lost in the mountains.
Aftermath
Following the battle, Lord Lope was captured by Clan Silvervein. He was then taken and hung at the Silvervein fortress. His town, subsequently, was annexed by the Silvervein Clan. Thomas de Hartcold I managed to escape from the battle, although barely. Following this, House Keint proceeded to go back into hiding once more. Meanwhile, the contact and cooperation between the Silverveins and Halsworthy, would eventually lead to closer cooperation between the two.
