The Battle at Twin Fords

Tim (Vampire Counts) vs Gill (Tempestrians)

On the border of the kingdom of Tempest Falls lies the great Thunder River, a slow flowing leviathan of water pouring down from the Black Mountains to where it joins the blood river. South of the Old Silk Road bridge, in the shadow of the forest, lay a tiny village named Twin Fords. The village was a desolate place, haunted by ghastly spirits and ravening ghouls. Much of the land south of the Old Silk Road was controlled by the forces of the Vampire Counts and this dismal place was no different.

But the Tempestrian Knights had already won a great victory against the undead and their army surged onwards, eager for greater glory. Confident that another victory could be won by eliminating the vampire lord the knights charged into town. The undead host gathered its strength from the other side of the river as the Tempestrian archers took up positions in the abandoned houses.

There were two shallow fords next to the village. On one side of the river stood the knights, their steeds stamping at the ground, at the other, rank upon rank of zombies and skeletons. Both sides knew that to act first would put them at a disadvantage as the water dragged down on their lags, slowing their charge, but the tension rose until finally the knights galloped forward, joining battle.

There were almost limitless numbers of zombies and more being risen from the dead every second by the powerful vampire sorceresses. The knights found themselves in a quagmire of reaching lifeless limbs but they fought on. With a wry smile, Methuselah, the Tempestrian lord, charged into the ranks of ghouls on his hippogriff. But he had grievously underestimated the cunning of his opponent.

As soon as the lord was locked in combat, his evil counterpart sent unit after unit into the battle, tying him into place for as long as possible. The vampire baroness leading the ghouls sent her pack forward, refusing any attempt Methuselah made to challenge her to single combat and every blow they struck against him was at the hippogriff, not the lord himself. With every ghoul cut down under his indomitable blade, the vampire baroness stepped forward and thrust her dagger up into the battle-scarred underbelly of the hippogriff. Methuselah fell flat on his face into the muddy bank of the river, the wry smile fully wiped from his face. He scrambled up and dispatched the vampire baroness with a single blow but as his enemies crowded round he realised the purpose of the strategy.

As the battle raged around him he found himself swamped. He managed to slaughter all the enemies in the immediate vicinity but as he ran along the river bank towards the vampire lord, hoping to kill her and cause her army to crumble, he was attacked again and again by further stalling units. The vampires were laughing at him and his pitiful attempts to regain the battlefield.

The archers stationed in the village buildings shot hundreds of arrows into the zombie hordes but there was no way they could prevent the mass of zombies from holding the horde. The battle was as good as lost and the Knights of Tempest Falls were forced to withdraw. What could have shattered the hold of the undead on the central eastern lands had become a hopeless waste of good men.