The Siege of Bhonlodar (Dwarvish – The Slaughter of the Last Hold)
In Summer of the Year 0, Highborn Elf forces under High Prince Haspar “The Wild One” conquered the last surviving Dwarven Hold in the World’s Edge Mountains. King Erizoc Silveraxe fell in single combat against Haspar before the gates of the city.
The Dwarven Account
Prelude
The following is an account of The Slaughter of the Last Hold pieced together from survivor accounts by the Dwarven scribe, Remmik Oakbelt.
"In the opening weeks of Summer, rangers returned from the north with reports that the army of infamous Cave Goblin Craggdar were on the move and headed toward Bhonlodar. King Erizoc Silveraxe, the last remaining heir to the Holds of the World’s Edge Mountains, decided to gather his royal guard and death-seekers, and strike out toward the Greenskin threat. In his stead he left his most trusted advisers; three Master Engineers who he believed could hold the city-fortress against any diversionary goblin attack. After a week of hard marching, Silveraxe set up camp overlooking the mountain valley where Craggdar’s forces had paused.
In Bhonlodar, the Engineers were struggling to keep order. Decades of constant war with the greenskins had worn away at the minds of the Dwarves, and without their King to keep them in line, they broke into the brewhouses. It was during this drunken mayhem that rangers from the jungles to the east arrived with warnings of an Elven attack. The drunken Dwarves laughed the warnings off as paranoia; the Elves of Tor Alindril had always been friends of Bhonlodar. The Engineers, however, listened, but could not organise the drunken rabble. They therefore commanded the rangers to hasten north to the camp of King Silveraxe to inform him of the Elven threat.
King Silveraxe received the calls to aid only hours before a planned attack on Craggdar’s army. He immediately ordered his troops to march back to Bhonlodar.
Back in Bhonlodar, the garrison were quickly sobering up – the banners of Tor Alindril were clearly visible on the horizon. The steam-copters and bomber-blimps were fuelled, and the Hold Guardians awakened. Every able bodied soldier took their place on the walls. King Silveraxe was at least a day’s march north, and the Elves would be upon the defences within an hour!"
The First Shots
"Many a Dwarf died from dehydration before the battle even began – they had drunk every last drop of ale in the city. Hapsar’s Wilders formed up around the mountain fortifications of Bhonlodar. They brought with them a mighty siege tower.
A deathly silence fell over the no-man’s land between the Elves and the walls. This silence was broken by a thunderous burst from the Dwarven artillery. The Elven bolt-throwers positioned behind the blocks of infantry were blown to pieces in an instant by the insane accuracy of the Dwarven cannons.
In reply, the Archmage Firion unfurled an arcane scroll. Three white-hot bolts shot from the scroll, burrowed through the ground and collapsed a section of Dwarf-made wall.
Next, a barrage of bullets flew from the walls toward the Sea Guard anchoring the Elven centre. Once the smoke cleared, nearly half the regiment had been cut down."
The Assault
"Haspar bellowed the command, and the entire Elven army surged towards the walls. Many fell to the fire of the defenders, but not enough to break their resolve. On their right flank, the Knights of Ryma made short work of the Dwarves who had survived Firion’s arcane destruction, while a Great Eagle fell upon the cannon crew in the tower nearby.
On their left flank, the White Lions set ladders against the walls, and once atop the walls massacred the defenders. This caused panic in the Master Engineer manning the Gatehouse, who fled, and was joined by his Hold Guardian bodyguards. The White Lions then fought their way into the second tower, slaughtering the occupants.
The White Lions scale the walls.
On the right hand side of the fortress, hidden archers pin-cushioned a unit of Handgunners before being shot to pieces and routed by a Grudge Buster.
The Grudge Buster floats over the walls to confront the archers.
The siege tower manned by a large unit of Swordmasters lurched forward and crashed into the same tower which the Great Eagle had been harassing, and seized it for themselves.
The Sword Masters assault the tower from their siege tower.
Meanwhile, the crew of the Organ Gun on the gatehouse were finished off by the Sea Guard, who seized it shortly after.
In the central courtyard, the Hold Guardians and Master Engineer were cut down by the Knights of Ryma. Not a single Dwarf was left breathing within the walls of Bhonlodar."
The Arrival of King Silveraxe
"King Silveraxe arrived to this terrible sight. Shouting a curse upon all Elves, he threw himself forward into the fray, knowing that the only hope for his beloved city lay in him reaching and claiming the gates.
High Prince Haspar saw this, and spurred his Lion-Chariot forward into Silveraxe’s retinue. The two traded vicious blows for what seemed like hours, before Silveraxe was finally decapitated by Haspar’s mighty axe.
With Silveraxe’s death, his retinue buckled, and were cut down by Haspar and a unit of Silver Helms.
Bhonlodar was lost."