The Final Showdown

The Eastern Army makes camp a safe distance north of Ariminium, upon the road to Patavium. They immediately set to work establishing fortifications and earthworks, and will watch closely the developments further south.

Battle of Atria - Part 2

The battle begins in the Huns' favour. Though Slavenicus favours a cautious strategy, Lethuc is eager to force battle while the Kutrigurs are finally pinned down. Unwilling to charge before their time, the Kutrigurs hold their ground, and the Lombards are forced to advance. In order to provide unity, Slavenicus' men march also. The foederati, the cream of the Illyrian army, hold their nerve despite the agonising volleys of Hunnic arrows, many of which pierce clean through protective equipment by the power of the Hunnic bow.

As the flimsy line of Alan-Hunnic infantry turns on its Axis, always tilting left as they are pushed back, the foederati line turns also. The Kutrigurs focus their efforts on a charge on the Lombard right, hoping to find themselves behind the turning swirl of fighting men, and to charge into the rear of their enemy. Lethuc and his son lead a counter-charge straight at the Huns, running head-on at their lances, spears at the ready. As two groups of cavalry charge, it is more often or not a game of chicken - whoever loses their nerve first breaks and is slaughtered. The Lombards do not waver, and the Huns are confident, so the worst happens - the two masses of cavalry actually crash into eachother. The fighting is fierce, and the front men on both sides fall in heavy numbers in the first instances of combat. Among them, a Lombard warlord named Lethuc falls. The Huns yell out in triumph, believing that the day is theirs, having so easily vanquished the rival king. The Lombards would soon prove them wrong.

Fuelled by anger and desperation, seeking vengeance for a king so widely beloved by his people, the nobles of Pannonia and Illyria, many who owe their status to Lethuc and Lethuc alone, and have known no other king, redouble their efforts, and fight with a rage worthy of the gods. The Lombards would believe this ferocious rage to be the gift of Woden - that the men were granting the spirit of a primal beast, that they could no longer feel any pain, except that which made them strong, that they would see no reason, show no mercy, and know no limit. The Kutrigurs, despite their numbers, break. The right flank of the Lombards charges after them, slaughtering many as they go, before turning on the rest of the army.

At the end of the day, the field is stained red with blood. 5,000 Foederati lie dead, 4,000 nobles have perished, and a king is slain. The Kutrigurs are completely broken, and disperse into the countryside. Those that flee into the woods are slaughtered by pursuing Lombards, and their bodies hung in trees, mutilated and torn apart. The wood is left as a grizzly memorial to the battle, intended as an offering to Woden for the victory, and to honour Lethuc. The arms and armour of the Huns is hung in the trees, or on strings between trees. Any pigs found and caught in the wood are slaughtered in the frenzy, and offered to Woden. When the chaos subsides, it appears that at least 8,000 Alans and Kutrigurs lie dead on the battlefield, though no-one is able to identify Bazgun's corpse through all the mess.

Many Lombard warriors, once they have regrouped to join the rest of the army of Atria, have washed their faces in blood, and refuse to travel for a number of days, as they burn the body of Lethuc and indulge in a great pagan feast. A hundred horses are killed and buried around the funeral pyre, and a great horde of weapons and armour, and what little gold the army has with them, is interned with his ashes. It seems that the Lombards recognise Lethuc as an exceptional king, and are unsure how to honour such a man, if he were just a man. It is even rumoured amongst the Christians of the army that the Lombards cast a number of young maids onto the funeral pyre, for their sovereign's enjoyment in the hereafter.


The Court of Honorius (4)

The following week, the mourning army finally arrives in Ravenna. They are allowed to enter the city, as the forces of a Theodosian emperor. Marcellinus Slavenicus, Aldihoc and Godehoc, are brought before the royal throne to bend the knee. There, seated in splendour sat the man that Marcellinus had heard so much about. Could this really be the same Honorius? The politically, and some say, literally impotent puppet-emperor of the west? He who had watched as Visigoths sacked Rome, who had sat idly by as a series of lieutenants commanded his forces and marshalled his destiny? The Honorius he saw before him was silent, regal, wise, divine, stern, and awe-inspiring. He sat regally and upright on the throne, two strong hands resting on arms at his sides, with fingers thickly adorned with rings and jewels. He did not smile, he did not seem to show any emotion at all. Speaking only in the third person, he quietly greeted them into his court, in such a detatched manner that he could almost pass for a god. Superior, indifferent, all-powerful.

Slavenicus keeps the formalities meaningless, simply passing on the regards of the regent Anethemius and his imperial cousin (though in-fact, his nephew) Theodosius II.

The imperial army sets up camp, garrisoning the imperial capital, where they can recover and be resupplied by sea. They are within easy reach of Ariminum if they are needed to take swift action.

Hope in the South (5)

The army of Constantius arrives safely near Ariminum. There they reinforce the Sclavenian siege, but keep a separate camp, respecting Ivaylo's wish to maintain control of the Army of Italy for the duration of the campaign. The Army of Constantius focuses on the siege of the southern walls of the city.

Army of Constantius:

1,000 Scholae

4,000 Palatina

15,000 Gothic Foederati

10,000 Burgundian Foederati

10,000 Italian Legionaries

5,000 Gallic Legionaries

5,000 British Legionaries

2,000 Alan Horse Archers

1,000 Kutrigurs

Unrest in Camp

In the siege camp of the Army of Italy, the air is thick with mistrust and unrest. The soldiers are unhappy to hear that Constantius is camped so close, yet refuses to speak with them. They are doubly unhappy that they have been officially ordered by a messenger of Constantius to follow the orders of a Slavic warlord for the duration of the campaign - a Slavic warlord who has done nothing but poison wells and burn crops throughout all of Italy for the past year. Rumours spread saying that Constantius is dead, or the messenger was bribed by Ivaylo, or that he was a demon, or that Ivaylo is planning on murdering them all, or that Ivaylo is planning on crowning himself king and making Romania into Slavia. In addition, the recent absence of Corinthus has caused concern, since he has not been seen in the imperial purple for many weeks, nor worn a crown, nor called himself Augustus. The men are unclear where their loyalties lie, or who they are fighting for. They believed they were fighting for Corinthus, to protect Italy when Constantius had abandoned them - now, they were Constantius' men and they were defending Italy from, who? The official line was a barbarian horde, comprised of satanic Lombards and heterodox Rugi, but it was widely rumoured that this army carried the banner of Theodosius, and was commanded by Marcellinus Slavicus - a man of great reputation, who the men widely agreed would make a better leader than Constantius, and a better Emperor than Honorius.

The Death of Corinthus

One morning in early May, the body of Corinthus is revealed to Ivaylo, pale and lifeless, lying beside a bath full of bloodied water. Corinthus had been keeping up a custom of bathing even while in a military camp, and his bodyguard had indulged him with a humble tub, and by boiling bathwater on their campfires. When Corinthus retired to his tent, working under instructions from Ivaylo himself, his Slavic guards dared not interrupt his progress. When they did check on him, he was sat with a few slaves, writing by the light of an oil lamp. When he called for a bath they found that he continued to work even as he bathed. They left him uninterrupted for a number of hours, as his light continued to burn. When the light of the lamp began to flicker and dim they went in to inspect. Corinthus had committed self-murder in his bathtub, opening up his veins and letting it wash out. His slaves had fled, presumably complicit in the deed and fearing for their safety. Upon a beam spread over the tub was a damp piece of papyrus. On it was written the names of several leading advisors, courtiers, and ministers at Ravenna. At the very top of the page the first name was 'Atilius Corinthus - traitor to man and god, pretender and sinner' - the name had a strike through it. The rest of the list seems perfectly accurate and valid. Perhaps Corinthus feared what was in store for the names requested by Ivaylo, or perhaps he feared imprisonment by Constantius - who called Corinthus pretender and was now an ally of Ivaylo.

The Slavic bodyguard of the emperor have kept the death a secret, and are happy to smuggle the body out of camp for disposal. They suggest a good lie be invented to explain his absence for the timebeing, before announcing his death and elevating his teenage son, Atilius Proculus, to the purple as his heir, when the time comes.

OoC: God show Adminius, Bravo!

Athaulf Asks for Aid

Following the refusal of Athaulf to sally forth and make battle with the combined forces of Constantius and Ivaylo, Constantius begins more a more aggressive siege. Athaulf either has spies in the enemy army(ies) or is simply too experienced in warfare to fall for the enemy tactic, but concealing his true numbers has not worked for Ivaylo. Following more concerted efforts to attack the city, Athaulf withdraws from the outer palisade and into the stone-walls of the city, sending messages north that the time has come to wipe out the enemy. Athaulf cannot promise success alone if the walls are breached.

The battle now turns to attempts to pester and rouse the defenders repeatedly throughout the night, by feigning preparation for an assault, and siege works begin in earnest - with miners and counter-miners seeking to control the ground beneath the walls - one to protect them, the other to cause a collapse.

Army of Athaulf

8,000 Gothic Nobles

50,000 Gothic Warriors

23,000 Gothic Foederati

10,000 Freed Slaves

Ivaylo was getting tired. Tired, of sitting around in the mud and watching the Visigoths behind their walls, warm and comfortable. This Roman way of fighting was dull, boring and uneventful. Something would have to be done.

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It was a cold, misty morning in Constantius' camp. The siege had been a quiet one thus far, no sallying forth by the Visigoths and the Slavs had kept mostly to themselves. This morning however, as the air became warmer and the sun began to disperse the clouds Constantius' morning routine was interrupted by screaming. First emanating from the Slavic camp and then from the countryside around and within the Roman camp. But the second lot of screaming was different, it was not a scream of fear and pain, but a wild howling in the wind. 

Perun and his cavalry lead a vicious and well planned assault on the Roman camp, streaming past the guards and throwing burning torches into tents and supplies. Cutting down Roman officers as then go about their morning shave.

Peruns Force:
500 Slavic Nobles

5,000 Slavic Peasants

2,000 Slavic Raiders

2,000 Robi


Whilst Perun makes his attack the main Sclavic army strikes for the mountain pass, heading away from Ariminum. At the armies head in Ivaylo, but behind him is the source of the original scream. The Bishop of Milan, carried aloft on a bloodied cross and crowned with a wreath of thorns. This must be some strange mockery of his christian faith. 

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Nothing is seen of Corinthus' soldiers, but their armour can be seen on a cadre of Slavic warriors marching behind Ivaylo.