by Atei on Sat Jun 07, 2003 6:10 pm
*Toten Atei*
Late last evening (or early this morning) I received an urgent message that the Branubians had massed near Despise again. Azzo was there and he sent a gate for Kasia Stydoran, her henchies and me, and we bravely went.
What ensued was an epic battle that claimed nearly every hero there at least once. The Branubians were everywhere, as far as the eye could see, including in Despise. In addition, that foul place had its normal complement of Orcs, as I found out while trying to heal and flee at the same time. Once I was able to find a "safe" spot to regenerate my mana and head back to the main battle, I did. I died in the Cave of Choices (one stair leads up, the other down.) My brother Covenant came to aid the fight, and I will let him finish this recounting.
*Covenant Atei*
I messaged Amanil Tel'Imoen and together we gated to Despise. To say it was bad would be an understatement. The Branubian hordes were well-organized, fierce and deadly. At one point I was cornered, nearly out of mana and my only recourse was to recall, which I did. Sethlenara messaged me while I was preparing to return and I summoned her. Together we went back.
When we arrived some semblance of order had been restored. I had suggested to Amanil that if we cleared the Cave of Choices, we could use that as a staging area and a place to resurrect our fallen comrades, but that did not get done until the very end of the conflict.
In front of the Despise entrance we nearly had everyone back up and in fighting trim when the Branubian snipers attacked again. We threw them back and prepared to move forward with the group, together, slowly. From the path that leads to Despise we found another group of the Land's heroes fighting the good fight, and we quickly joined forces.
The Branubians were routed on our side of the small river that runs by Despise, but they were in great numbers across the water on the island. They attacked mercilessly and I soon fell. Eventually the forces on the isle were defeated and then the decision was made to clear them out of Despise, partially because some people were missing gear that had been looted and partially because these mongrels had succeeded in angering our group. We had decided it was time for them to pay a little price for invading our homes.
Eventually all of the Branubians fell, both inside and outside of Despise. As far as I know, everyone that lost items got them back and we returned to Britain.
A quick personal observation: we could learn a thing or two from these Branubians. They are well-organized, they don't rush into battle and they coordinate their attacks well between assassins, mages, archers and fighters.