Oldfrost 3rd, 146 PIE
Manehattan Equestria
My name is Gray Cloud, or as the Northerners would call me Grailoud. I am a low ranking soldier in the Royal Equestrian Army under the command of Senior Officer Long Spear in the city of Manehattan. The city is located about 150 ways (1 way equals two miles) from the border of Niln, our democratically ran neighbor. I come from Cloudsdale, a city located in the mountains to the southwest of Manehattan near the coast, it itself was on the coast but lead into the mountains.
We have recently been on high alert as the threat of our neighbor and long time enemy Niln has neared our city. As of now, they have their troops held in the small village of Bradenburg. I am what would be called a marksman, I wield a long-barreled matchlock musket. I never stood by myself, I was always in a group of soldiers like me, some wielding long pikes. I was present in the barracks within the city, I had previously marched the nearly two hundred ways from Baltimare to Manehattan.
I am a young man, my skin is light gray and my hair dark gray. I'm a fairly tall man with an average build that is accentuated by my bronze chest plate that went over my yellow tunic and black trousers. I spent most of my time on the wall observing the surrounding lands for soldiers, couriers, and just generally anyone. I have to stop, Officer Spear just called us into the mess hall.
Celestia be praised, Officer Spear has informed my fellow soldiers that the Nilnish forces under the command of General Origg the Iron-Hand had broken past the forces at Bradenburg. They have taken the village and are now on march to Manehattan. We've been put on high alert and ordered to be ready at all times, Officer Spear giving orders for one group to stand on the wall from midnight to midday and another from midday to midnight.
I'm not in one of these groups but it's possible that I will be assigned to fight on the road outside of the city, at least according to talk amongst my fellow marksmen. I must conclude, for now, I will write more tomorrow.
Oldfrost 4th, 146 PIE
98 Ways Northwest of Manehattan
The army of yellow marked soldiers marched to the beat of a loud drum. They were a small group of only 500 men, around 400 swordsmen, pikemen, and marksmen combined together, along with 100 cavalrymen, many held the flag of North Equestria, a red swallowtail flag depicting a white unicorn head and black unicorn head facing one another. The soldiers were commanded by Callamrin Lexius Serinius, he stood out from the group due to his heavyset build, fair skin and hair, and red gambison tunic, and the fact he road a large white horse.
The road was surrounded by open fields heavy damp fog covering the field and their path that made seeing beyond one hundred feet near impossible.
"Sir!" called a soldier looking to Lexius
"What is it, boy?" asked Lexius in an angered voice
"Listen" he exclaimed quietly to which Lexius responded:
"HALT!"
The drums ceased and the men stopped their march. And just like that, the sound of drums and marching could be heard ahead of them, and what also sounded like wheels rolling down the cobblestone road. From ahead, through the fog, men appeared. They were tall and bulky, dawning blue tunics, some depicting a black wolf's head and crossed swords, others had it covered by a steel chest plate.
They all had a similar helmet that rapped from ear to ear around the neck and had a nasal guard, their leather boots were covered by steel sabatons, their leather gloves were covered in metal plates, and their knees were protected by metal caps. The soldiers appeared to be far larger than the force that was under Lexius' command with innumerable pikemen and marksmen each armed with a short sword, and swordsmen with long flamberges, many carried the flag a blue pennon that depicted the wolf and crossed swords of the kingdom.
At their lead was a large man atop a black and white paint horse. His hair was long and white, his beard the same, his skin was fair and covered in lines and wrinkles showing his age. His armor was mostly gleaming steel plates with a longsword in a leather scabbard on his left side and a Wheelock pistol hooked to his right. His left hand was a hand-shaped molding made of iron built to hold a shield, it was Origg the Iron-Hand.
They stopped over 100 feet from them, Origg moved off of the road away from his men.
"RIAG!" he called
The drums begin to sound again as men marched forward, slamming their musket spikes in between the stone. They placed their long wheellock muskets into them, pouring powder into the pan and winding the spring wheel and lowering the tall lock. Lexius moved to the side, the soldiers knew what he was planning and they followed what the Nilnish soldiers had done, placing spikes in the ground and pouring powder into the pan of their matchlocks.
"FRIEN!" called Origg
The sound of the sprung wheels in the Nilnish guns dragging across the lock creating smoke sounded, followed by the heavy cracks of the lead balls exiting the barrels, flumes of gray smoke following behind them. The balls struck the Equin soldiers in their chest plates marking them with heavy dents, many were hit in their arms or eyes, causing them to erupt in cries of agony, or simply fall to the ground. Without hesitation Lexius yelled:
"FIRE!"
To the horror of the soldiers, they found that the heavy damp air had managed to put the fire on their matches out, rendering the muskets useless say for a few. The next volley of Nilnish soldiers had come up, placing their muskets onto the spikes
"FRIEN!" called Origg
Yet again the muskets burst forth with the led ball and gray smoke flying towards the soldiers. Without order, the drummer began sounding for the soldiers to lower their pikes and march towards the blue cloaked soldiers
"NO, STOP!" Called Lexius as the men moved forward, unable to hear him over the sound of the drums
The drums began to beat from the Nilnish men as they also lowered their pikes and marched forward. The men of both sides jabbed at each other with their pikes, impaling, and killing numerous on both sides. Lexius, who was both angry and desperate, pulled out a cavalry trumpet and blew three long notes. The cavalrymen at the back of the march came around and behind Lexius with lances ready. blew one low note which ordered them to lower their lances.
He prepared for the horsemen to turn wide and strike on the left flank of the army. Before he could a large group of Nilnish pikemen and marksmen emerged from the long column, standing at the side of the road pointing at Lexius' cavalry. The marksmen rammed their spikes into the soft earth and placed their muskets on top of them, holding the spikes in place.
"FRIEN!" called Origg loudly
The men fired into the wall of horse-mounted soldiers. As numerous horses fell, including Lexius', the cavalrymen charged towards the collum of soldiers lances lowered to strike them. As soon as they began to charge, the Nilnish pikemen lowered their pikes into a position to pierce the bronze armor of the horses. The charge was a mess as they attempted to avoid the pikes. Many were successful but more than a few were killed.
Many horses were pierced and fell to their side, others attempted to turn but fell and were pierced. The cavalry began to retreat back, in the onslaught Lexius spotted Origg on his horse observing the retreat. Lexius ran past the retreating horsemen, some getting shot as another volley erupted from the muskets of Nilnish infantry. He pulled Origg off of his horse, the beast of a man hitting the ground with a heavy metallic thump.
He managed to pull himself up quickly as Lexius drew his Gladius. As Lexius swung his gladius, Origg used his iron cast hand to hold it has he drew out his longsword. The men dueled, their swords clashing together with loud rings, swing in an almost rhythmic motion, like dancers with their blades. Then Lexius stopped, feeling a sharp pain, he looked to find the old Northerner had plunged his sword through his tunic and into his chest and out through his back.
Lexius' eyes widened with the grim realization of his impending demise. As he felt the warm breaths from the aged general, he fell to the ground, dead. The drummer sounded for them to retreat, the soldiers, now decimated to a few, ran away leaving their brethren who had not perished on the ground in pain, waiting to be finished off.
