Sounds like the Secondary Mission succeeds. 2 Rookies dead from the Stags, 2 Harm to Aterro and the Officer.
OK. Give me the names of the squad and I will write up the mission for the records.
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Oh, Loremaster: when you have a moment, could you pick a squad? Any squad. Choose one at random, whatever. Silver Stags, I choose YOU!
THE TREACHERY OF OFFICER CHURDA From time to time, there have been those within the Legion's own ranks who have betrayed their oath and their fellow Legionares. This is greatly to be regretted, of course. But there are always those few who fail to understand the Legion's history and instead see only a mercenary company, where loyalty is alwasy negotiable. Karel Churda was by all accounts not one of those, which makes his treachery all the greater. He was a practical man, well regarded by those he commanded for his caution and ttok care never to extend his hand furthter than he could draw it back, a sentiment which meant that most of those missions he led not only succeedd but resulted in minimal casualties. It is perhaps this very strength, his pragmatism, which led to his treason - a mentality of 'if you can't beat them, join them.' It is well-recorded that his views on the proposed assault were negative from the outset. He made little attempt to hide his scorn for the Chosen's idea, making it clear that he thought it was folly. His precise words in my hearing were "She's been a goddess for so long she has forgotten that the rest of us are only mortal." (It is not my duty to report personal anecdotes, but I make an exception in this case because it is perhaps the closest we will ever get to understanding his motives.) The facts of the matter hwoeer are clear. On the approach to the battlefield, Officer Churda requested and was given command of two troops of the Legion's finest cavalry, a mixture of scouting skirmishers and heavy dragoons. He then led them far beyond the pre-planned assault point, straight into the massed ranks of the Black Oak Knights. Almoast a dozen of the Legion's veterans, all irreplaceable, were lost in that action alone, and the retreating survivors were so badly hurt that they did not survive the day. All fell at Ettenmark. Officer Churda himself was also reported lost in action, but with the reports we now have it seems I shall have to amend the Annals. For this innacuracy alone I will not be sorry to see his head on a spike.
HOZELBRUCKE BRIDGE I found in the Legion's Annals some years back a record of a campaign long lost to most historians. The Lorekeeper at the time remarked that "Before the battle of Der Almagne, we never had a victory. After Der Almagne, we never had a defeat." Hozelbrucke Bridge is our first victory of this campaign. We shall see whether I will be able in time to make the same boast. Be that as it may, let these records report that the remnatns of the Legion have not lost their edge, or their courage under fire. Despite being assailed by waves of knights of the Black Oak, and swarmed by vile Hounds and the infamous creature known only as Eater, the Grinning Ravens and their accompanying Specialists accomplished the total destruction of Hozelbrucke Bridge, with no losses. A great boost for morale, as well as a significant strategic advantage. Without the bridge, the undead will have to find other paths forward across the great river. The exact method by which the bridge was destroyed is difficult to report. Suffice to say that the Legion's alchemist gave his life in the most painful possible way in order to produce the Addendum: further enquiry has suggested that the alchemy in question was not an explosive. Much is unclear. After questioning his surviving assistant, I am none the wiser. Special citations for valour above and beyond the call of duty must go to Brother Aterro Dominatus (Heavy), Doyen One-Eye (Sniper) and Karina Zayatevya (Scout). In addition, a metnion in the dispatches would be appropriate for private Alisa of the Grinning Ravens, who by all accounts single-handedly killed a Hound with no more than an entrenching tool. It is my duty to ensure that these Annals reflect fact rather than legend, so you may be sure that I have investigated this matter closely and questioned all who saw it. I am therefore confident in entering this deed into the records. What our Quartermaster makes of this (mis)use of issued equipment is not a matter for these recorrds.
REMEMBER ETTENMARK My predecessor, and theirs, and thiers before them, have instilled in me that sense that writing these records does not come from the heart, nor the head, but from duty. Which is as well, for duty does not falter, does not give into despair or horror. It simply does, as it must. What then can or must be said of Ettenmark? The bare facts, dry statistics, tell a grim and bloody story: of the 1,000 proud soldiers of the Legion who marched out to war, fewer than 50 now live - and most of those are raw recruits, surviving because they were behind the line of battle, out of immediate harm's way. I have recorded the names of all who were lost that day, but for many of them all that can be said is 'Missing - presumed killed in action.' For the fortunate ones, death at least came swiftly. The Legion is flesh, blood, grit, bone and steel - the finest fighting force to be found anywhere in the known world. In pitched battle, it has no equal. But it was not battle that we faced. The undead were many, so many beyond counting and they do not fight - they consume. Driven by hunger, and powered by an alchemy that we do not understand, they rolled over our ranks. Strategy and tactics count for little against a foe that can dissolve a soldier with its bile, or tear through steel plate as though it was tissue paper. Byt the time we realised what we were facing, it was already too late. A third of the Legion was lost in the first 10 minutes of battle. The remainder regrouped. Not once did discipline falter. Let that mcuh be said and recorded. Soldiers of the Legion held the line, giving their lives to allow our allied forces to flee, which they did. No blame can attach to them. They are not the Legion. With black shot and sword and musket, the line held at great cost. But that cost was the Legion, or almost all of it. We few who remain alive do so because those who died gave us the time and space to retreat. |