A Knight’s Adventure: Castle Siege

A Knight’s Adventure: Castle Siege

The awakening call

Geocom woke up to the knocking to the door to his room.  “Who is it?”

“Sir Geocom, the king has requested that you head to his castle immediately, scouts have reported enemy troop advancing toward his castle. He asks that you bring all of your troops to aid him.”

“All right thank you messenger.”

Leaving his room Geocom walked down the stony hallway and downstairs to the Great Hall. There 50 knights sat at a table where they were eating noisily, but when he came down, they immediately became quiet and well mannered.

“Good morning my fellow knights. Today is a very important day so eat well. At the end of breakfast I shall fill you in on why it is so important in front of the gatehouse.”

Then sitting down in his chair, like a switch, all 50 knights resumed their breakfast, chewing on bread as well as eating chunks of cheese, eating pheasant legs, and talking with each other so loudly it was like the roar of a lion. Geocom ate slowly, thinking about his grand castle and how it was built from his little house that he had started with, and how he had been an individual using his good thinking and quick decisions to gain respect from his fellow knights, this created him a small army, a great achievement for a knight like him. Life had been so simple, grow and keep growing. But now, this war will make him suffer and his castle weak. He had yet to grow strong enough to hold authority and stay strong during wars like these. He sighed and finished his meal.

At the gatehouse all 50 knights had assembled as he walked in, waiting for him.

“Knights of Daragin Kingdom, our Lord, Lord Quincy, is preparing an army to defend against the invaders that have been spotted on the border of his kingdom. He has ordered for us to aid him in his battle against the invaders.  Any knight of my kingdom who does not wish to join this fight does not have to fight, but if you are with me then let me hear you!”

At once all of his loyal knights roared, then, the whole place erupted in barking orders for every squire to prepare weapons and supplies for the trip to Lord Quincy’s Castle. Geocom had his squire Creas, grab double swords, his shield, his lance, and a mace. As he strode through the hallway he heard the roar of Chef Holler screaming orders to the scullions to pound meat harder, or bring more brushwood, turn the skewer faster, and etc.

In his room he put on his padded clothes, then had Creas help him put on his armor. Then mounting on his war horse Chanto he chose his double swords and shield from the weapons Creas held for him. With his war horse was a messenger’s horse that was trained to run for a long time carrying heavy weight. On this horse was Creas with his equipment and food for them both. In any case did he fall on the journey to the castle to bandits, Creas would flee to the Lord’s castle to give the message and be assigned a new knight to be trained by. When all the preparations were ready Geocom left with his army of 50.

Skirmish

                On the path to Lord Quincy’s castle he and his army of 60 rode on horseback into a city filled with traders and merchants. There he purchased salted meat, some cheese, hard bread, and refilled the water at the city’s river. The knights spread all-over the city and came back with food and fancy items that had no use. Then, they found a large inn and rented rooms for all the knights.

In the morning they went to the market and bought some last minute foods and other important items that Geocom went through a tedious process to enforce the important items only part of buying as well as to conserve by bartering. He had ordered them to resell the unimportant items for a higher price and was able to rid the company of most of the junk.

Back on the path, the warriors rode with their squires to a dangerous plot of land called Skull Valley, here as the name provides barbarians placed the skulls of the victims of their skirmishes all over the valley, it was used to conjure fear from travelers so that the minute the barbarians came they would literally jump off the horse and flee down the valley in fright leaving behind all goods, easy plunder. But, Geocom knew that common bandit hoards would only reach up to 20 men, too small to defeat his army of 50. He rode confidently while his men reassured themselves that their leader was strong. Then passing the valley, his soldiers calmed thinking they had passed bandit territory. But, he knew better pausing his men who were eager to leave this valley he jumped off his horse and put his ear to the ground, confused whispers spread throughout his knights as he listened for the sound of hoof beats. Nothing, then, there was soft but ever growing louder drumming in the ground that told him the bandits were approaching. He counted how rapid the hoof beats were and estimated at least 30. 30! That was too much! The bandits had the element of surprise on their side because his men, unlike him, were not ready to fight. So standing up he yelled an ordered the squires to gather their shields to form a protective barrier just large enough to make a semi-tight circle around the knights. Then, ordering the knights to draw swords he briefed them on what was about to happen, tensing, he heard the sound of the galloping horses and felt his adrenaline course through him. Then all at once the battle began, horses running down the slope, and the squires bracing for impact, created a makeshift hill in which some knights held spears inside. The rest of the knights followed behind the slope to slay all the other bandits. Geocom, at the front of the knights who were behind the makeshift moving slope waited for the bandits to crash in. Then, the first bandit came and realized too late that too squires hiding in the bushes had tied to strong trees, a long thin metal wire that cut and tripped horses and sent riders flying straight into the awaiting spears of the makeshift slope. When enough horses piled up, the wire was no longer invisible, and bandits on their steed jumped over the dead horses and tried to swerve away from the slope. Then squires who are required to learn the art of the bow shot arrows into the bandits. That seemed to be the end of it, until, as the knights were collecting the horses of the bandits and the squires retrieving arrows, a larger amount of bandits rushed down, this time they carried a green banner with a hammer and a hook

Using the same process before, the squires set up a makeshift ramp with spears. The knights readied themselves for battle and braced for it. With no time to set up the wire, the two squires produced a slingshot where they shot stones from the river bed nearby, hitting the horses in the eyes, the horses fell down which caused more and more horses to trip over them while running and create a mass pile up which killed anything beneath, then using branches on the trees they attached it to the horses they had rounded up, attaching rope around the horses they slid the branches in then wrapping gauze around the branch creating a makeshift torch. They lit the torches and sent the horses galloping to the bandits burning them badly.

After the battle the squires again rounded up the horses and collected the arrows while the knights treated their wounds and the wounds of the unable. 5 soldiers died defending against the barbarians, 6 were critically wounded, and the rest were tired, battered, and ready to sleep standing up. But Geocom knew it was deadly to sleep in barbarian territory so he prodded them onward willing them to keep moving for the sake of their own lives. The dead soldiers were stripped of everything they had but their sword, helm, and shield. Though this was very selfish, Geocom knew that they would need it for the continuing journey. Stopping at a city, the only thing they did was rent out a sick room where the nurses would tend to the wounds and an inn. The next morning, they buried the 5 dead men with the sword in the ground and helm atop

Then they rented out a cart to carry the wounded and continued on the path. By the end of the day, they reached the castle.

Meeting the Commanding Baron

                In his castle Lord Quincy was having a meeting with the armies that had already arrived, waiting outside the castle, Geocom had the servants take the wounded knights into the infirmary and met with other knights and barons to introduce themselves and have small conversations before the battle. When, the lord was ready, Geocom led his group into the room for the meeting.

“Greetings Knights of Cadence, today you are about to go into war with what we have discovered to be a very large army commanded by Lord Garamin. He is one of the most feared vassals of the king, King Josh. As you all know King Josh has been invading our territories for years, trying to find gaps in our defenses. But not today men, today we will join together and drive off the enemy. This group as well as 6 others will be assigned to Baron Har, he will command you as the supreme commander of army 7. Sir Geocom who will be 2^nd in command, will take the leadership if Har dies in battle.” Finished Lord Quincy

With that, the meeting ended and Geocom and his army of 55 searched for Baron Har. Finding him, they shook hands and talked about how they would meet the enemy in battle. 50% of the soldiers 3/6 Barons would stay in the castle and the remaining will go to war with the enemy outside of the castle. Front line would be Baron Dalton, 2^nd line would be Har, and lastly Baron Calic. In the fortress protected by the moat, would be the other Barons who would protect the three sides that the enemy would come from. Raining arrows with flames as well as catapults that shot large rocks that broke into many pieces, which in turn flew out and hit any soldier in range, giving them a concussion.

The War

Ready and tense, Quincy’s army waited for the incoming enemy, cavalry calming their horses, foot soldiers praying to god, and the Baron’s cursing at themselves for being nervous. In the castle, soldiers at the hourds stood ready to drop boulder onto the heads of the enemy who breach the castle walls. While archers in the merlons looked for signs of enemies from the crenels, ready to retreat into the safety of the wooden shudders that covered the crenels. Soldiers in the Machicolations ready to drop the boulders through chutes that would allow them to reach farther. At the drawbridge, soldiers stood tense waiting for the signal of the Barons to raise the drawbridge upon retreat, and drop the portcullis. While at the barbicans, soldiers guarded the only other entrance.  While the Tendants hid in the inner castle safe from the battle.

Then, with a distant rumble that came charging towards the castle climbing the mountain and onto the plain, the soldiers of Lord Garamin servants of King Josh charged into the scene, most of the first linemen were barely able to scream their war cry before they were shot down by the first barrage of arrows. Thousands and thousands of soldiers streamed from the edge of the mountain only to be hit by volleys of arrows that rained down on them. But, hundreds weren’t enough, especially against thousands.  As more and more got past the first line of ranged defense, the barons in the Battlements (castle) let out the command to release the catapults, reducing the number of survivors from thousands to a few hundred. On and on this went until finally reaching the first line of defense a thousand soldiers. A line of Crossbowmen fired into the midst of the advancing army and retreated. Replacing them, a line of fresh new Crossbowmen took aim and fired, then retreated. A third line repeated this process and was replaced by the first line having fitted a new bolt. This cycle repeated over and over again until the army was too close. Then, the first linemen advanced screaming their war cry. The two armies collided into each other sending ripple through the army. Then, slowly as the first linemen were being pushed back, Baron Har raised his sword and Ordered “ADVANCE!!!!!” at the top of his lungs then on his horse he charged, Geocom following suite, took his cavalry to the left wing while another group to the right. On Har’s signal they would charge. The two groups waited but Har’s voice did not come, so Geocom assuming he was dead gave the order and the two groups charged forward and squashed the army tightly, forcing them to back out so that the men would have space to fight. When, Lord Quincy’s Third lines charged and were beginning to get exhausted. The Third Baron, Calic gave order to retreat. The army of Lord Quincy retreated quickly. Archers at the sides of the gate fired at the enemy to slow them down. Geocom found Har lying on the floor with an sword stuck to his shoulder which had impaled the floor leaving Har stuck to the ground, bleeding to death. Jumping off Chanto, his horse, Geocom quickly drew the sword from Har and tossed him onto Chanto. Then hopping on he urged his horse into a gallop. When every soldier had entered the city, the portcullis was dropped and the drawbridge raised. As the battle raged on Geocom sent Har into the infirmary and began taking up castle defences. The battle continued till nightfall where the tired soldiers had rested and charged out again. The battered invaders quickly withdrew and retreated out of King Hammon’s lands. This war gained Geocom much prestige, it helped become the great man he is known for.

The End

1. All the soldiers under the baron are required to fight when requested, same applies for barons to lords, and lords to kings

2. Most knights who are given land to rule have a small army usually consisting of a squire and some footsoldiers

3. In the medieval days every man in a castle is required to know how to shoot  a bow.

4. Hourds are wooden walkways with wooden walls that have holes in them. They are used to drop large boulders on soldiers who invaded.

5.Merlons are defensive areas in which are located at the top of  walls.

6.Machicolations are stone versions of Hourds, they are basically upgraded hourds with chutes that allow the boulder to reach farther when dropped

7. A Drawbridge is as its name says a bridge between a moat and the castle that can be lifted, retraced, or drawn up to protect the people from invaders.

8. A portcullis is a thick grate that is dropped to stop invaders from coming in.

9. In war archers shot many arrows at once, these groups of arrows were called volleys

10. Catapults are large machines used to hurl large objects such as rocks or arrows.

11. Crossbows were introduced in 1066 into the medieval age.

12. Most crossbowmen and archers fire a section of their group at a time so that the arrows though less would continually be falling down on the soldiers instead of the army timing their runs so they wouldn’t be hit.

13.Cavalry are  troops on horseback

14. Medieval infirmaries were made of stone with many beds, windows were made of stained glass that showed pictures of their religious icons.

15. Crenels were sometimes installed with wooden shudders for additional protection.

16.Crenels are gaps in the merlons that allow archers to fire their bows, then retreat behind the walls for cover.

17. Moats were often placed around castles to make it harder to invade castles.

18.Often like in the story, castles would shut off and retreat into the inner walls of the castle. But sometimes, the wait is too long, allowing enemy soldiers to rest and all that was left was to wait until the defenders ran out of food and gave up.

19. When rocks from catapults crash down, the rocks should break into small pieces and hurl outwards at enemies much like a grenade should explode and its shrapnel fly into soldiers.

20. Unlike in the story, most of the wars are not held right when the warriors get there, most armies rested and planned strategies during the time. Most castles are not lucky enough to have a scout find the enemy and come back alive.

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