Battle of Yana

The Battle of Yana was the final battle of the War of Defiance. It was fought between the army of the Defiant Legion and a hastily assembled force of defenders, including the Sterling Rams. It was fought in and around the village of Yana in the Grey Valley.

Prelude
Following the first meeting between the Sterling Rams and the Defiant Legion, Issam Shieldsong told Oloric Silveraxe that the Defiant Legion would strike at Yana "When the snows melt." The Defiant Legion then proceeded to mark their borders by murdering and crucifying a group that became known as "The Six". Six people from Yana that had been betrayed and captured by the warlock Shanna, leaving only Opus alive to carry the message back to Yana.

The Sterling Rams helped to prepare defences of Yana and also set out to capture a leader among the Defiant Legion for interrogation. They succesfully captured Acora, gaining information on Jarrett Dewborn, the infantry commander, from her before Music executed her in revenge for her attack on Opus.

Over the next month, Echthra, Oloric Silveraxe and Tred helped to train the people of Yana for battle while Paleas Vidron and Daisy Burrows built up the defences. The defenders were bolstered by the arrival of the people of Carran and a force of soldiers under the command of Zinnia Starguard. Nevertheless, they still remained outnumbered by the Defiant Legion.

The snows melted on the 4th of Fessuran and Issam Shieldsong immediately mobilised the Defiant Legion to march on Yana. On the night of the 7th of Fessuran, the Day of Challenging, the Defiant Legion crossed their own border and arrived to Yana.

The Battle Before the Walls
As the two forces prepared for combat, the Defiant Legion prepared to charge, driving for the gates and other weak points in the walls. Facing them was an infantry force of defenders before the walls, supported by archers and mages on and behind the town walls. The defending commanders and elite warriors for the infanty force stood in front of the main gates of Yana; Cato Sunheart, Halstein Varlund, Crieff, Karr, Echthra, Mission and Music. Behind the walls, Oloric and Tred prepared to lead a cavalry charge to cut off the Defiant Legion once they were engaged with the defence.

Halstein Varlund and Crieff Gladberry then sprung a trap they had prepared for Jarrett Dewborn, sending the reanimated corpse of Acora into the Defiant Legion lines and causing a Glyph of Warding spell to detonate, weakening the Defiant Legion and enraging Jarrett Dewborn, causing him to commit his forces to the battle before the rest of his allies were prepared.

The Defiant Legion infantry charge fell into many traps as they charged, severly weakening their numbers before they reached the defenders. In response to the charge, Daisy Burrows lowered the southern drawbridge, allowing the cavalry under Oloric Silveraxe to charge. However, soon the Defiant Legion reached the defenders and the battle was joined.

Initially, the defence went well, with Halstein, Echthra and Cato holding the central run to the gates. While Karr and Mission held the southern flank and Crieff and Music held the northern. Though the defenders began taking hits when the Defiant Legion's archers were ordered to fire blindly into the fray. These arrows would claim the life of Jun up on the walls of Yana when one struck him through the throat, causing him to choke to death on his own blood.

Once the melee at the walls was fully engaged, Oloric Silveraxe and his cavalry swept in from behind the Defiant Legion's vanguard force, cutting off their retreat. In the meantime, Jarrett Dewborn and Thoradin joined their forces in the assault on the gates, with Jarrett mortally wounding Music by cutting across her face with a glaive, though she was saved from death by magic from Crieff. Thoradin meanwhile would go on to use a Banishment spell to remove Cato Sunheart from the fray, allowing the Defiant Legion to move in towards the gates past the defenders.

Oloric Silveraxe was informed by Blackwing that the Defiant Legion was moving seige weaponry into place. The aarakocra then flew off to attack the enemy, joined by the allied drakes. Though before he could reach the seige weaponry, Blackwing was brought down and killed by Shanna who was working to summon a force of demons to back up her allies. Portia then sent Janus to deal with the seige weaponry before she remained with Oloric and Tred to save the defenders at the gates, with her Wild Magic accidentally summoning a Unicorn to the field that then began to attack Shanna and her band of cultists.

Meanwhile, Mission was briefly pinned to the gates themselves though he was able to free himself through use of ''Burning Hands. ''Nevertheless he was soon knocked unconscious by the attackers and nearly killed before Crieff was able to revive him. Tred saved Halstein from being overwhelmed by using Fireball to kill a number of attackers. Crieff and Music fled from Jarrett with Crieff using his necrotic shroud to delay the enemy. Once they were clear, Crieff proposed to Music using a dagger he had been carrying since the Echoes Crisis, though she accepted the proposal, Music didn't hold onto the dagger for long, throwing it into an enemy soldier when she ran out of ammunition before Crieff retrieved it.

Elsewhere, Wren Pingun was slain by a devastating stab to the heart from a Defiant Legion soldier. Roran Bardugo took on his werebear form to fight through the attackers but was eventually brought down after many wounds.

Karr was also eventually mortally wounded by the Defiant Legion, with a sword cutting through her eye and leaving her blind on one side, though again, her death was prevented by intervention from Crieff. Jarrett and Thoradin managed to drive past the exhausted and battered defenders and reach the gates, though their numbers were severly crippled. There, they began trying to rip open the gates and gain access to the town. Though an attack from Karr caused Thoradin to lose concentration on Banishment, returning Cato Sunheart to the battle. The Paladin then compelled Jarrett Dewborn to duel him, stopping the Defiant Legion from breaking through the gates, though the combat between them was shortlived, with Cato being quickly knocked unconscious by Jarrett. Portia arrived and used a Lightning Bolt to kill many of their numbers, stopping them from opening the gates, though in doing so she activated her Wild Magic and detonated a Fireball at the gates, severly scorching and weakening them.

Unable to continue his assault and realising he had been lured into a trap, Jarrett Dewborn turned his attention to trying to slay as many of his foes as possible, attacking Portia and forcing her to turn invisible to avoid death. Thoradin joined him, using his maul to cave in Cato Sunheart's chest, killing the Paladin. Bolstered by the war cleric's healing and support, Jarrett drove forwards, though his healing was eventually halted by Crieff using Chill Touch. He briefly engaged and defeated the Sterling Rams' cleric, though Crieff provided enough distraction for Echthra to kill Thoradin with an ''Eldritch Blast. ''Without the cleric's aid, Jarrett was also quickly slain, with Karr shooting him through the neck.

Following the defeat of the initial assault, the battered defenders began to retreat behind the walls of Yana, with Oloric Silveraxe remaining as the last defender through the northern gate. Though this retreat didn't come without losses, as Daeron Amrun died helping his brother in law Zahlam retreat, taking several mortal wounds getting the wounded man to safety before succumbing once he was sure Zahlam was safe.

An Hour's Respite
Safely back within the walls, Oloric Silveraxe relieved Ysabel Rand of duty and stood vigil at the gatehouse, watching the Defiant Legion advance. He also encouraged Echthra, Karr and Tred to get some rest before the battle was rejoined. Crieff meanwhile, wasn't able to rest as he rushed Music to the field hospital and helped to heal her and stayed by her side for the next hour.

The Double Cross
After an hour or so of resting, Issam Shieldsong and his honour guard approached the walls of Yana where the Defiant Legion leader briefly spoke with Oloric, offering a chance to surrender peacefully and spare more deaths. Yet Oloric, knowing the merciless nature of the Defiant Legion, refused the offer. At the same time, Crieff was contacted through Sending by Opus, who warned him that the Hag Dread Mother Zilla had entered the town with a number of beasts and was marching on Opus and the non-combatants in the Arlessa's manse.

The Sterling Rams then hurried through the streets to the Manse, arriving moments after it caught flame.