I tracked the army as it moved south and observed that it consisted of very complainant troops for the most part easterners trained in the Style of the Realm Legions or of our allies from the River province. It had a severe lack of cavalry being limited to three troops of light horse two of which where from the desert tribes south of Chiaroscuro and as to expected horse archers the others where from the south east and favoured the javelin and light lance. I also scouted the surrounding area and found that they initial movement of this force was not noticed by the rebels and they where not aware of its arrival at all until it did. It goes without that this goes beyond sloppy but the Rebels had the support of the southern war god and potentially nearly fifty thousand troops, so it can be explained as over confidence. King Akled did notice the arrival of the force in his lands but did not seem to do much more than mobilise his own forces and then not all of them by any means. He either sent no messengers or none of them got through and as by that time the Realm army was only days away I doubt that the Rebels would have been able to mass their full force at Ifonaris even so.
Once engaged the Realm forces acted with vigour with Alixdar Etreniankor, Perfect Jade, and Bob leading a raid which slighted the defences of the town with fire dust charges whilst the rest of the forces engaged in the sort of attritional warfare best for a small well trained and lead force against a mass of irregulars and warbands of the sort the Harbourhead forces typically are. When it became apparent that the morale of the Harbourhead rebels was much influenced by the presence of six of Ahlats war aurochs. Seeing this Gelmuxi Yofahu organised a realm style dragon blooded strike group which defeated three of them and drove the rest off causing the Rebels to recoil and forcing their leader who I would presume is the Ishadhi to join the battle with his body guard. His force looked very impressive but fought only moderately well and failed to withstand the power of a Realm strike group. Which the ?Ishadhi tried to take on single handedly. He failed and was born from the field by his wives. Most interestingly he carried the sword and quite possibly the armour of an ancient anathema the runes on the sword a monsters Grand Daiklave indicates that it was made for the Primordial war for a Solar of the Dawn caste unfortunately I did not get close enough to identify which one but very few where made which could hold so many heath stones particularly of the larger type.
The reason for my distraction was that the Impis of King Akled fell upon the rear of the Realm army and I am as you know under orders to make sure as far as I can that the three remain alive as the astrologers say they are significant. I need not have worried because Alixdar Etreniankor and his command backed up by Fran Stanway who single handedly acted as a dragon blooded strike team held them and with Gelmuxi Yofahu and the rest moving back to join them.
The fighting became confused as Gelmuxi Yofahu slowed to make sure his front line held supported by Bob and Ledaal Kayoba but Laura and Miyoxi Tiholu moved directly to the rear. I watched as Fran Stanway cut her way anima flaring through the army of King Akled and most of his bodyguard before being speared in the chest through her rather flimsy jade mail shirt by Hekkan the butcher the Captain of the Guard and falling. Laura flared her anima and also charged being shot in my Miyoxi Tiholu who did his best to help clear the way with arrows she also reached and cut her way trough to king Akled in Fran Stanway's wake and was stopped by Hekkan the butcher, but not before she had slain King Akled with a water blast over the shoulder of his bodyguards. King Akled's body guard bore the king from the field and was followed in their retreat by the rest of his Impis who almost broke pursued as the where by the Realm light horse savagely.
The main Realm line held throwing back the last attacks of the rebels who began to scatter and retreat in groups in to the veldt and would have been subject to a great slaughter if the Realm forces had had any fresh cavalry or other mobile forces available.
There followed a short siege of Ifonaris whilst Bob & Perfect Jade built a fire dust mine under the east wall which destroyed most of that wall and a short but unusually atrocity free storming where only Valan's northern barbarian half beast men behaved as one would have expected.
A peace was negotiated with the city goddess Harmonious waters and the town held until relived by the forces of the 47th Legion of the Realm where upon Gelmuxi Yofahu lead his army back to Ruethna where he disbanded it
Ginger
