Battle of Nasad

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The battle of Nasad was fought from Nalil 24-26 in the year 7000 [10:964] between the armies of King Belgrave and the Huvudet armies of the Dark Wizard Voth. While King Belgrave did not have as large an army as King Emanpugnikam at the second battle ofNazada, it is still considered to be one of the greatest battles of all history. King Belgrave was told beforehand by Dezhothokh that a battle was coming where his army would be outnumbered by more than six to one. It is believed that this is that battle since the only battle King Belgrave fought after this was the Last Battle for Sarda, where he was believed to have not been outnumbered.

Participating in the battle under the leadership of King Belgrave were King Anou of Nerak, King Vircto and Queen Desi'Rel of Vernon, King Liomanel of Pia, King Hevman and Princess Bisela'Var of Taor, Queen Vaersheena and Rexorg of the Canari, a small band of Barbidons, an unknown number of Awa, and the Red Exemplars.

Under the leadership of Voth was Lebuv, the commander of Voth's fleet and Huvttiug, the commander of Voth's ground forces. Another notable Huvudet is Hluegwik who led the invasion of the beach on the first day.

Nalil 24-25

The first part of the battle took place on the beach just north of the city of Nasad. The army of Tanarad stood in the center while the army of Nerak stood to the south and the combined armies of the other nations of Panei to the north. The shoreline was drenched with oil and many obstructions had been placed to try and prevent Voth's armada from landing. Catapults launched flaming projectiles to sea but were mostly unsuccessful.

The battle officially began mid-afternoon before the armada reached the beach. Naiya'Nal stretched the limits of her magic and caused a violent storm of rain, wind, and lightning to beset the enemy, but they were too numerous and kept coming. She also lost all control of her body while she was using the magic and was greatly fatigued afterward. By the time the enemy landed, she was being carried to the Fortress of Nasad and would not be a part of the battle until she recovered.

When the ships began to land on the beach under the command of Lebuv, the oil was lit on fire. At first it slowed the advance and the few Huvudets which managed to come through were quickly killed. However, because of their numbers, more and more Huvudet soldiers came through and the flames eventually subsided. The armies fought well, but could not hold the beach. They then retreated to the Fortress of Nasad while the five brothers and a handful of other soldiers guarded their rear.

During this part of the battle, King Vircto of Vernon was killed and the five brothers, Thag, Theg, Thig, Thog, and Thug were captured. Sometime on the 25th of Nalil, they were gruesomly executed in an attempt to demoralize the armies of King Belgrave.

Also, armies of the Canari and the Barbidons arrived to aid King Belgrave. The Barbidons took the task of guarding both entrances to the fortress and the Canari were given the task of dragging the wounded into the tunnel of Nasad.

Nalil 25-26

The next day, Huvttiug ordered the Huvudets to attack the fortress. It was well guarded with ballistas, catapults, and trebuchets built onto the side of the mountain. Despite the constant bombardment, the Huvudets continued and their numbers seemed unhurt. The archers were actually ordered to hold their fire until the enemy was at the walls so that every shot would count. Commander Sidrahkir also remembered a trinket given to him by the tweenks of the Dark Forest and called them to assist in the battle.

At first, the Huvudets seemed to be making no progress at either entrance, nor were they able to scale the tall walls. However, as the day wore on, their corpses began to pile up and eventually they were used as a ramp. At this time, Voth himself entered the battle. He caused storms of hail to fall on the entire battlefield, including his own troops. Naiya'Nal then fought with him but was subdued and captured. With the fortress being overrun, King Belgrave made the decision to retreat into the tunnel and shut the great doors. Captain Haloz and the Red Exemplars aggreed to hold off the enemy to allow everyone to escape. Before the great doors were fully shut, King Belgrave cut his forearm to thank the last few Red Exemplars for their sacrifice. None of them survived.

When the great doors were fully shut, Voth claimed victory. The Huvudet soldiers began gathering survivors and forced them to collect and pile the dead to be burned.

Aftermath

Inside the tunnel, King Belgrave sat down near the entrance and ordered everyone else to go on ahead. He planned on catching up later. They left him with a torch and proceeded the next mile to a wide chamber large enough for all the armies to gather. The kings and queens then began to tally the number of survivors. King Anou of Nerak was also missing and it was not known if he had survived or not.

  • Tanarad: 5,000 of 70,000 survived
  • Nerak: 7,000 of 86,000 survived
  • Vernon: 2,000 of 45,000 survived
  • Pia: 8,000 of 28,000 survived
  • Taor: 4,000 of 19,000 survived
  • Total: 26,000 of 250,000 survived

Soon after the count was made, Queen Desi'Rel of Vernon discovered King Belgrave unconscious at the tunnel entrance. Noting that the small cut on his arm was not the cause, she began to remove his armor and discovered he was bleeding from a massive abdominal wound. He was carried to the first chamber and a doctor tended to his wounds. He remained unconscious for three weeks and many questioned if he had given up the will to live after losing Naiya'Nal or if the cut on his arm admitted him to the ranks of the Red Exemplars.

On the third day, the armies began to travel through the tunnel toward the Island of Kimb. It was a long trip but the tunnel was filled with plenty of provisions in accordance with ancient orders of unknown origin. Once on the island, they were surrounded by a lake and a wall of mountains through which no army could pass.