Fall of Year 1 E.D.
This season began with the Raiders shifting their focus from Youngstown to Gottland. As the raiders poured from their ships and towards Gottland, Dieter quickly herded his civilians along with their goods out of the center of town and into a defensive pocket with a building on his flanks and a stone wall to the rear.
The Gottlanders threw vicious insults at the attackers as they built a barricade and formed a shieldwall. Much to their misfortune it seemed that Ray, the might Dux, and other Landholders would be arriving late to the party. Dieter’s archers attempted to slow the horde of invaders as they advanced only to be cut down very quickly.
As Duanes Vikings poured into the town center overrunning two unlucky Gottland soldiers, Dieter prepared for the attack and Chris III suddenly rode in from the south. It quickly became a race to see if the Landholder reinforcements would arrive before Dieter’s men could be overwhelmed. The Vikings proved to be the swifter of the two and were able to form a shieldwall before Chris III and his cavalry could attack. At this point Chris III got comfortable on a hill top and waited for a chance to strike.
Meanwhile a group of Duane’s Scottish raiders were able to sneak around the flank of the Landholders and intercept Dux Ray and Mike the Traitor. Stacy and his Roman infantry crawled into Dieter’s cattle pen and began to attempt to round up the herd as Warlord Charles, Steve the Pict and Hoppy the mercenary closed in on him. As Chris III and his band of horsemen watched the situation unfold a stray(???) arrow from the Dux’ archers killed one of his horses.
Then it seemed everyone rushed in at once. Dux Ray stormed into the Scotts and quickly sent them packing. Stacy rushed at both Warlord Charles and Steve at the same time, crushing Steve’s Picts and sending them to the rear in full retreat and succeeding only in locking up with Charles heavily armored Huscarls. Duane and a few of his warriors, screened from Chris’s cavalry by a shield wall assaulted Dieter’s defensive position.
As the dust settled, Deiter and his men were fleeing the village. Stacy, with the threat of being overrun by Charles, Hoppy, and a rallying Steve, was throwing down his shields so that he could cut a deal for safe passage to the rear. Chris III was seen looting Gothic beer and "assisting" the female refugees off the table. Mike the traitor and Dux Ray decided that no good could come from throwing themselves into the path of the Raiders and began to fall back. Duane was taking stock of the plunder that Dieter’s men had not destroyed and his men were frantically burning everything in site. Hoppy was getting a little too acquainted with some cattle and Warlord Charles was already planning on how to divvy up the spoils.
It was a rough fall for the Landholders, who elected Dieter as their new Dux and sent Ray to rebuild the burned village. Things were much better for the Raiders, who were looking forward to what promised to be a warm winter and would allow them to raid later in the year than normal.