Dragons attack!

[Dezza]

Sederra is already starting to feel the initial assaults of the Cult closing in on their shores.

Thousands of soldiers are on route to the nation from Succession and Rael but will they reach them in time to save them from whats descending on them.

Reports this morning indicate two dragons attacked numerous villages along the coast north and south of Audiria destroying and burning everything in their path including men, women and childen, goats and camels. No one is spared their relentless attacks. Hundreds are reportedly dead and the coastline to the north and south of Audiria is filled with thin trails of black smoke from burning villages.

Such devastation from only two Dragons.

Synod light cavalry units have been dispatched from Audiria both north and south to try and return survivors to desert camps west of the city of Audiria itself. many are already fleeing to the camps and caves in the desert sands seeking shelter.

It appears someone has managed to convince the giants in the region to allow the people to shelter in some of the larger as yet uninhabited caves.

Officials put the Cults fleets approach at merely weeks from shore and yet the armies coming to reinforce Sederra may only just be reaching them. It's going to be a very close call. Officials are bracing themselves for more Dragon attacks before the fleet itself arrives.

[Dezza]

Over the last few days the dragons have struck at will along the coastline destroying villages and devouring flocks of sheep and goats. For at least a hundred miles north and south of Audiria villages are raised to the ground, fishing industries smashed to pieces.

Those who have not been killed have fled south to Sloven, north to Megath or to the border with Boyer where Boyer soldiers are setting up makeshift camps for the refugees.

These people tell horror stories of the dragons attacks, their merciless strikes, of people burned or disintigrated in their fiery breaths. Men, women and children all gone, others fled into the desert to be seen no more, no doubt swallowed by the relentless sands.

The people are asking, is there no one to save them! Sand Sea Synod soldiers are powerless against the merciless attacks of the Dragons and what mages and clerics have been available have been targeted specifically by the dragons and killed almost as soon as they cast a few spells at the creatures.

[Dezza]

The Burgor of Point Dart has sent a desperate call for aid to the High Boyer for food supplies, tents, blankets and medical supplies in the wake of the first trickle of displaced Sederrans now starting to turn into a steady stream towards Boyers borders.

Megath also within Sederra is overwhelmed and sending people north towards Boyer being unable to cope with the volumes of displaced.

Meanwhile every village for a hundred miles north and south of Audiria is now burnt and blackened ruins, their residents either fled or dead amidst the debris. Any attempts by Synod armies to get to the destroyed villages have been turned back by the marauding dragons.

Already over three hundred Synod soldiers have died trying to travel north or south to aid their peoples.

Synod officials have recalled all forces to Auduria and told forces to the south in Sloven to stay put. Attempts to send units west to secure the roads to Northfort has also met with failure.  Until help arrives Audiria is effectively cut off and the next concerns are supplies that are steadily dwindling in the sea side city.

In Northfort the advanced units of Succession soldiers have begun to trickle in but it will still be a week or two before they can stage and begin to trek east and bring relief to the beluegered Audirians now trapped in their own city by two dragons of the Cult.

Too the south Rael Engineer units are stuck in Sloven with no way to get to Audiria due to the dragons. Again it will be at least a week or two before enough Rael soldiers arrive to protect them as they head north to Audiria from Sloven.

People are beginning to wonder if it is too late for Sederra and that in truth it is a nation already lost to the Cult.

[Alatriel]

*The Toranite troops remaining in North Point get a message and begin moving towards the Sederran war-front to help the other troops already there fighting the Cult.*

[Pibemanden]

*Storold reinforces the wards on his house further and locks the door both magically and normally*

[geloooo]

Ni'haer rejoices in the destruction of Audira somewhere in the Deep underneath Dregar. He throws a small celebration in order to better remember the Scourging of Audira.

[Dremora]

Nym'roos is nowhere to be seen during the celebrations; House guards would mention he has been present at Ni'haer's House.

*spending time in the training room practising with his bladework gave Nym an entire place to himself in which to think while his body moved on instinct.
Sederra is in the hands of the 'Free World' armies and they intend to defend it. Does he go there and assist only as far as to test the worth of these cultists and see firsthand what they can do? Will he risk being seen as a soft-hearted A'zzatan for curiosity? The chances are he will be the only dark elf there that isn't one of those bleeding heart, fools.. but ofcourse.. being alone.. presents the unique oppurtunity to set the A'zzatan Temple alight while the siege begins in ernest.
But then how does one escape? Turn his blade unto the Cultists and defend Sederra in order to secure a safe escape. What if he dies doing so.. what if he fails?*

[Dezza]

Several Sederran warships of its limited navy have departed the only remaining docks left in Audiria to face the oncoming Cult army.

In a desperate attempt to delay the inevitable hundreds of sailors joined the fleet knowing it was a suicide mission. The docks were lined with teary loved ones fully expecting never to see them again.

Synod officials stood and observed solemly the departure.

[Dezza]

As the fleet reaches a mile or so from shore the dragons that have been rampant in Sederra for over a week appear in the distance. Alarm bells are rung throughout the city and those gathered at the docks to watch the departing fleet start screaming and running for their lives as the specks get larger and start to grow into massive draconic forms. They fly high over the departing fleet which starts to separate to limit the chances the dragons have to attack more than one ship, however instead of attacking the small fleet the dragons ignore the ships and descend on the city itself.

One breathes its hot fiery breath on the last remaining docks causing boiling steam to rise off the surface of the water and the heavy wooden planks to ignite and begin to burn. The second dragon attacks into the heart of the people fleeing the area. It lands on the ground and rips into people left right and centre, consuming some, content to tear apart others. Buildings nearby are shattered by its wings and tail as it circles and weaves and pounces on fleeing people.

Bravely a unit of Pikemen, seeking to give the people time to flee the area,  attack the dragon from the rear causing it to turn and roar its defiance before leaping into the midst of the soldiers and tearing most of them to shreds.

As it finishes its attack, the remaining soldiers fleeing for their lives it turns to see four men arranged on the road behind it. Each is heavily cloaked in billowing desert cloaks and robes. Thick turbans cover their heads and mouths so that only their eyes are showing. Their eyes show no fear, nothing but cold, hard calculating emnity towards the dragon.

Oblivious of the danger and enraged on the smell of blood the dragon roars once more and flaps its wings once, the action giving it elevation and forward motion. Leaping towards the four men the dragon screams its fury again and as it is about to reach them the men whir into motion. IN teh blink of an eye two draw heavy khopesh swords leaping in fluid motions to evade the slashing claws of the dragon and then too strike swiftly and brutally into the wing and underbelly of the creature. Sparks and blood erupts as their blades hit and bite into the dragon scales.

The creature rears up in fury and as it does so dozens of missiles of Al'noth pour from the hands of the remaining two men causing black spots sizzling with heat across the dragons wings.

Furious now, a dance of pure viciousness unfolds as the four Synod Desert Cabalists leap, twist, slash, evade, cast and fight with the huge dragon. Hits are scored on both sides, magic is released and countered or it fails against the creatures natural resistances. Eventually however, the men begin to tire and finally the dragon catches one of the casters with a heavily bleeding claw and flicks him aside to crash unconscious against a destroyed building. Then one of the swordsmen is caught by the creatures tail and catapulted 30 feet before lying unmoving on the ground. The last two glance quickly at each other, the remaining swordsmans left arm hanging limply by his side. Together they turn their gaze to the dragon. It to is sporting multiple injuries and favours one wing as it leaps about.

For a brief lull in the fighting they consider their options when a roar echoes above and the second dragon descends towards them. Now realising the futility of pressing any further attack the two men move to retreat from the scene. Behind them the wounded dragon lifts slowly into the air, snapping at the other one as it comes near it.

Together both dragons depart to the north ceasing their attack on the city.

Heavy palls of smoke drift across the city from the now devastated docks and beaches of the city. Many buildings near the docks including warehouses and businesses are also burning.

Seeing the dragons depart the remaining Synod Desert Cabalists limp back to the scene to see to their comrades.

[Dezza]

Two days later the fires have died down in Audiria but a few still continue to burn near the remnants of Audirias once extensive docks. The mood is somber in the city as fresh water and food supplies begin to slow. The Synod have issued orders for all markets to be closed and all foodstocks seized for rationing to the remaining populace. Many doors remain locked and closed as the city grinds to a halt in the wake of the threat looming against them.

[Dezza]

For several days there is no sign of the dragons that attacked Audiria directly and were driven off by Synod Cabalists. The fires are extinguished, food supplies begin to become a problem and water is being boiled form the sea in order to provide fresh drinking water. Clerics and mages alike are keeping fires burning to boil the salt out of the water so the town maintains drinking water. There was an attempt by some mages to consider teleporting away for supplies but they realised then they would still ahve to make their way back on foot. So without portals they were stuck.

Word brought on the wings of birds has told of ships trying to make their way south from Boyer or north from Sloven with supplies have just disappeared. Silver Cresent hunting groups ply the seas to the north and dragons to the south.

The almost a week later a sole bird arrives from the sea to the east and the word is spread from there by the message it carried. Synod officials come forward to tell the populace and the streets are filled withthe wailing and cries of those who have lost loved ones.

Two days prior the eight Synod navy ships that left Audiria in order to engage the Cult had been destroyed before they even reached the fleet.
The lives of 327 brave men and women all gone as flights of Myrdrachs and the two dragons still travelling with the Cult fleet swooped onto their decks and killed at will.

As fear and despair starts to fill those remaining in Audiria the Cult fleet advances on their shores, unabated.

[RollinsCat]

Andrew Reid meets with Hardragh; that same day letters go out via messenger birds.

Not too long after he packs and heads to Stort with all the haste he can muster.

[RollinsCat]

Andrew's return from Stort takes him to Port Hempstead and then Leringard.  Not long after he is seen in Pallena's company before they both vanish along the coast for a few hours.  He returns to Leringard; she does not.

Some time later, after another meeting with an obviously tired Pallena, he rushes with extreme haste to send letter to Hardragh.  Those that see him note that he looks pale and, if one knows him well, outright frightened.

[Dezza]

One disaster after another continues to befall Sederra. Merely two days after the news of the destroyed fleet the two dragons that have brought Sederra to a standstill return to the city of Audiria. Bells are audible in the morning air as the dragons are spotted in the distance to the north. Pikemen assemble in designated areas of the city supported by Synod Cabalists. The people flee to hasilty built underground shelters.

Within minutes the dragons spiral down from above reigning fire on the city. Their initial targets are the main gates to the city, fire rains down and guards in the gate towers are burnt to a crisp unable to do anything more than shoot harmless crossbow bolts at the massive creatures.

Synod Cabalist, supporting mages and clerics from the Azattan Temple do what they can to turn the main brunt of the Dragons damaging fire but soon too many buildings around the cities main gates are burning for them to do little more than hold back the fires from attacking nearby buildings.

Fires well alight the dragons turn their attacks to defensive positions on the walls of the city, plunging down and picking soldiers off at will before evading attacks by ascending again into the air.

For over an hour they wreak havoc and destruction on the defences of Audiria before finally ascending and heading north once again leaving the city once again burning black and grey smoke in long spirals into the skies above.



Meanwhile in North Fort thousands of Succession soldiers, cavalry and support cores are ready to mobilise and prepare for a forced march across the desert to try and reach the beleagured Audiria before the Cult fleet reaches its shores.

So too in Sloven, Rael troops are starting to arrive in their thousands each few days. Advanced units of Rael light infantry have formed protective formations around the engineers units that have been stuck in Sloven for weeks unable to proceed north due to the dragon attacks. Within the last day or so four thousand light infantry are heading north from Sloven to protect the Rael engineers and their valuable seige and heavy warfare weapons.

The race to reach Audiria first...is on.

[RollinsCat]

Andrew Reid, Hardragh, and Pallena leave the Arms slightly before a well-guarded man in blue.  Andrew makes a short stop at his rooms in the Twin Dragons, then heads to the tavern room portal.  The few patrons escaping the mid-day rains hear him singing with ferocious joy about riding on the storm before he steps in and vanishes.