Session 27

 Afternoon of the 2^nd Woodsday of Sprouts, Karpat Fortress

The company decides to spend the rest of the day in the Fortress. Heldris asks Sir Mateusz for boats to take them down the river and hands him the pendant of the Black Fleece. “Have banners made with our crest to strike fear in the heart of the enemy” and the old ruler accepts. Anastaz finds old maps of the Citadel and the Knights are pouring over them and discuss their battle plan until night falls.

Down the River and to the hills

Morning of the 2^nd Armsday of Sprouts

They leave the castle before dawn and descend to the lake where they are greeted by boatmen who take them and their warband down river. They pass the abandoned canal to Oakhill and reach the hills north of Urban Citadel. Zoltan and the spearmen from Kranach are already waiting for them. Heldris turns into a hawk again and flies South to scout out the defences of the castle. When he returns he picks on the tower of the map once for bowmen and twice on the courtyard for the spearmen stationed there. They approach at noon, under the cover of a light fog. Anastaz is leading the Masurian hussars to the gate, dragging the battle ram between them and they are greeted by a hail of arrows, while Zoltan leads his spearmen to the southern walls and they start climbing the siege ladders. The hussars release their javelins and many defenders are cut down and the rest flee.

Soon the gate is breached and the riders pour into the courtyard but bounce off the spearwall assembled. Heldris lands behind the soldiers and takes the momentum to crush into them. The Kranach warriors rush down the battlements and drive the Urban warriors - who are lead by Marshall Zofia - back. Faced with overwhelming force she orders her soldiers to drop their weapons … when a Barowian horn sounds from outside the walls. Reinforcements!

Anastaz leads the attack and the hussars follow him out into the battlefield, while Zoltan rallies his troops to defend the broken gate.

The Salt Knight meets Sir Vladislav, the Kings brother, and implores him to give up but the Banner Knight, old and frail that he is, still rejects the offer. Only when he arrives at the gate guarded by Kranach troops does he finally yield and is taken prisoner of war.

Sir Vladislav is taken prisoner