Battle of Vadum Fords

The Dwarves spent years developing their weapons and tactics in the war against Aquila. Each sortie or raid helped yield a few more tantalising clues as to the strengths and weaknesses of the undead legions and their vampire overlords. The Dwarves sought the counsel of the Elves of Mellvellon, who were able to guide them in defences against the dark magicks of the vampires. By the year 240PC the Dwarves were ready for an all-out assault against their hated foe. In the early spring the ranger companies launched synchronised attacks against the Aquilan outposts, dividing the efforts of the defending legions as they struggled to bring the Dwarves to heel. The rangers harried the Aquilan armies strung out on the march, slowing their movements wherever they could before retreating back into the hills.

Runelord Alarag Hammerhand took the main strength of his host south along the River Tiban, aiming to strike down through the narrow Tiban Valley. In spite of the diversionary attacks against them the vampires eventually realised the ploy and quickly summoned their legions to counter the Dawi advance. The two armies met across the Vadum Fords, facing off along the long valley floor.

Scorpius Tyrannus himself commanded the army of undead soldiers arrayed against the Dawi. His eldest son Rufius led the van of the army as it rushed across the ford, with Scorpius and his younger son Marcus marshalling the main bulk of the legion as it made the difficult crossing through the waist-deep water. As the Aquilan troops set foot on the northern banks of the Tiban the Dwarf trap was sprung. Delaying the undead legions with weeks of diversionary raids had allowed Alarag to carefully prepare the field for his long-planned battle. War machine batteries concealed on the sheer slopes of the valley were brought forth from their hiding places, redoubts and firing positions having been dug into the hard earth and the weapons left there during the bitter winter, masked from all save those who knew where to look.

Now the Dawi had the advantage, raining a hail of shot and shell down on the Aquilan army as it floundered across the ford. Great stones etched with vengeful enchanted runes crashed into the midst of the skeleton horde, smashing bones and armour asunder. In the van, Rufius found himself isolated and easily enveloped by the waiting Dawi. Their seasoned veterans met the Aquilans with grim determination, gradually beating down their enemy until the Dawi warriors were able to outflank Rufius and destroy his force, the vampire being cut down with them.

Incensed at having been out-manoeuvred, Scorpius impelled his legions forwards against the typhoon of firepower laid down by the Dawi guns. His beleaguered army eventually met the foe in combat, though by the late afternoon Scorpius’ force was a fraction of its original size. Alaric ordered the King’s Guard to battle, knowing their great hammers to be strong enough to smash through the Aquilan shield wall. Surrounded by stoic, unyielding foes and seeing his army crumbling around him, Scorpius raged. With malice in his eyes he summoned dark and terrible eldritch forces against the Dwarves. His fell voice crescendoed until the incantation reverberated across the valley, as if the clouds themselves bellowed down in terrible wrath.

But the forces of magic were too much even for Scorpius to control. In an incandescent flash the magical backlash erupted amid the swirling melee, scattering Dwarves and skeleton soldiers alike. Scorpius had vanished, vaporised by his own malevolent spell. Without the iron will of their master the legionaries faltered and Marcus too was brought down beneath the crushing hammer blows of the King’s Guard. The legionaries’ movements slowed and their attacks became aimless as the necromantic energies binding them gently dissipated. They became easy prey for the Dwarf warriors and were steadily brought down as their army fractured.

The Dwarves were victorious. The dread Scorpius and his sons had been vanquished and the legions smashed. The road to Aquila lay open. The land would be scoured of the evil taint of vampirism once and for all.