Retaking Erebor

It was a dark and cloudy day in Dale, a goblin infested city below Erebor, an ancient hall of the Dwarves taken from them by the Dragon Smaug. The city was razed, only a scarce few buildings remained standing but they were only for Commanding Orcs. Goblin's patrolled the city's streets, ever wary of an attack, but still enjoying the loot of fallen dwarves and elves from Elrond and Dain's armies. Rain and fog began to encompass the city, the droplets of water fell upon the goblin's hitting their armor with a resounding pang. Some of the goblins began to complain about being outside, but they were quickly silenced by the whips of their commanders. The camp fire's started by the goblins began to fizzle and the air stank of death and smoke.

A few miles away the same weather had befallen Ulrin's and Elion's armies. Thankfully though they had proper tents set up so many of the men were protected from the rain, except for the sentries set up to protect the camp. In the main tent resided the Kings, Ulrin and Elion themselves. They were accompanied by their aides and military advisers. In the center of the tent stood a table on top of it, a map. The map was of Dale, it clearly had seen better days but one could still make out the markings on the paper. Ulrin sat in a seat at the center of the table, stroking his beard while looking at the map. He wore his dwarven steel armor and had an axe at his side Thane, his military adviser, stood beside, also looking down at the map.

"Well, sir, we have two units Dwarven Beserkers, one unit of Dwarven Axethrowers, one unit Dwarven Pike and two units Dwarven Steel Guardians, which make our army size, six hundred twenty five. If our scouts are right the city of Dale is infested with goblins, their numbers being somewhere between eight hundred and a thousand. They have sentries set up around the city, all day, and have scouts survey all the land within a mile of the city. A direct assault would be dangerous and could risk many lives, however, if we can eliminate the scouts and the sentries at the front of the city we might be able to take them by surprise. We still have no information of inside Erebor, who knows if they have more reinforcements" Thane stated to the king in a rather serious voice, clad in steel armor that had spiked soldiers and made Thorin more menacing then he was along with the fact that his face appeared menacing as well. The adviser had a stern face, one that did not take 'no' easily. His eye was covered in a patch and his hair grey from age. It is rumored Thane served in the War of Dwarves and Orc, that fact alone would make him two hundred years old, if not older.

Ulrin nodded solemnly and looked at his Elvish friend and ally, Elion. "Elion, friend. You have yet to tell me specifically what forces you brought with you. Honestly I see no more than three hundred Elves. Never the less tell me their exact number and let me know if you have any other additions to the plan Thane has presented us." the Dwarven King said in a rather cheerful voice, breaking the incense of despair that had filled the room.

Map:

Elion and his armies had travelled for a few days to reach the camp site. The bad weather and softer soil, from the rain, had made their journey only longer and more tiring. He couldn`t take more men than he had, because they were constantly being attacked by orcs from the mountains. He hoped that joining the campaign won`t put the defenses of the elven cities in peril. However he hadn`t only joined because the dwarven king, Ulrin, had been his friend for many years. There was also a personal matter. His father and two older brothers had been killed there and not only did he want to have his revenge, but also to find their bodies and give them a proper burial ceremony. To honor their spirits.

The elf was sitting in a chair, next to the table, across from Ulrin. His long silver white hair was running along his back, his green eyes locked upon the map. He was wearing a light green armor made from leather and light metal. It provided him with good protection, while not having him lose his agility. His right hand was placed on the table, next to the map and his left was holding the bow, which was standind tall on the ground beside him. His curved blades were holstered on his back, crossing each other and being slightly concealed by his hair and the tube-like, leather arrow holder, which was above them, but didn`t make their drawing out more difficult.

The elf listened to the plan, not moving his eyes from the map until Ulrin spoke up. At that moment Elion moved his eyes to meet those of his friend. He truly hadn`t brought many men, but they were one of the best he had and owuld do a great job on the field, especially knowing what the plan and circumstances are. The elf smiled and spoke up with a serious tone, as the fingers of his left hand twitched on the table and his right hand slid up and down on the bow.

Elion - "Well, my friend I`ve brought one battalion of Guardians of Grey Havens, one battalion of Ruth Ehel, one battalion of Marksmen of Mirkwood and two battalions of Marksmen of Lothlorien, which rounds up my forces at exactly 200, which means you have a rather good eye for numbers. Despite the small number, you have seen elves in combat more than once and you know well that these are some of our finest troops. As for the battle plan, I agree with it. I believe that I along with the battalion of Marksmen of Mirkwood, can easily take out the sentries and the scouts, without being detected. That is our speciality."

His last sentance was said with a slight note of arrogance, but he knew well not to underestimate the enemy, for one mistake could bring to many loses for both elves and dwarves. He took a moment to swallow and then continued.

Elion - "Also my spearmen are very good in tight passages and small places. So they should charge in once we get inside the city of dale. Along the small streets and between the buildings they`ll be able to keep the enemy at bay, while the lothlorien marksmen, use their armor piercing arrows to bring hell upon the orcs. I along with the marskmen of mirkwood can further serve as sleath flanking squad. We can time our attacks with those of the other archers, but attack from the side. That way we can be closer and have a better view of the enemy, while staying undetected."

Thanks to his many years of practice in chest, Elion was quick about divising plans. Not all were good, but they offered a start for better further development of the invasion or defensive strategy. Before, when his father was still Aran, he would always seek advise from Elion on battle strategies and now Elion himself was king.

Ulrin and Thane listened to Elion intently, hearing every word the elf said. When Elion finished speaking, Thane growled in distaste "Just like an elf to bring so little!" he said in an insulting manner, raising his hand in anger. "We don't need your help, elf! Leave!" he continued sticking his finger out, pointing to the exit. Thane was old and his hatred for elves was well known but this time he went too far. Ulrin jumped out his seat and grabbed Thane, picking him up.

"Be grateful they came! Your hate is blind, these are not the same men who left you and your men to die, and you know it!" Ulrin said sternly, making it clear that Elion and his elves were to stay. He let go of Thane, who looked at his king in shock. "Now if you wish to stay on this council you will show some respect to our allies" Ulrin said calmly, not wanting to lose a useful resource needlessly. Thane looked at his king and nodded slightly "Yes, my king" he said quietly, not looking at the elves in the room.

Ulrin then looked at Elion "I am sorry for his outburst but ever since a group of elves turned on him a long time ago, he's never been the same." he said simply, for it was true, a hundred years ago Thane was on a mission with some Elves and they were ambushed, the Elves simply turned tail and ran, leaving Thane to die with his men, Thane was the only survivor. "Still I am glad you're here. I want you to pick clean the sentries and guards, so we can move unnoticed. Apparently, though, the goblins have rebuilt enough of the wall to stop us, but I think you and I can open the gate while your archers pick off the sentries. Sound good?" he continued, getting his axe and armor ready for the mission.

At the sound of Thane`s insult, Elion quickly stood up and turned to his two councilors, who had been standing by the tent`s entrance the whole time, without drawing attention to themselves. They were about to draw their weapons, but Elion motioned to them to stop and stay calm. The councilors weren`t exactly pro-dwarven and didn`t exactly respect their king, but they feared him at this precise moment for he had the power there. They were planning on overthrowing him after the retaking of Erebor. Many elves were gather to that cause, under the arguement that he had abandoned the elven culture and lived apart of it for more than a century, even his accent was human.

In standing up, Elion had dropped his bow. He picked it up and checked it for scratches, while Ulrin was tutoring his councilor. It seemed it would be a hard task to bring their people together, while such individuals were present on both sides. After having gone through the whole bow, making sure it`s intact, the elf retook his seat, waving his white hair back and looking once more at his friend, for he added more to the already good plan. The two of them, to be the first to enter. It sounded epicly and after all they were most suited for the task. Elion nodded with a smile on his face.

Having just retaken his seat he hesitated for a moment, but then stood up and turned to his councilors. Giving them a slightly meaningful and undermining look.

Elion - "Go and prepare the men. Alran, you`ll be leading the Mirkwood archers. Celion, you`ll be leading the main forces."

After hearing his name, Alran, the slightly older, with long dark hair and blue eyes, shorter than the king, wearing a leather armor and a green cape, left the tent and headed towards the Mirkwood archer division, giving out orders. Celion on his turn, with short blond hair and brown eyes, wearing elven heavy armor and holding a helm in his hands, turned around and left the tent silently, heading towards the troops. Elion shook his head, knowing he would have more trouble with those two, once they returned home, if they were to return. For a moment he wondered if he could leave them to the orcs, but that would be too cruel, or would it.

Elion interrupted that line of thought, as he turned to Ulrin, with a smile across his face. He was eager to battle alongside his friend.

Elion - "Well then, it seems everyone is waiting for us. Shall we go?"

The elf motioned towards the exit of the tent, while holding his bow up and ready, his eyes glowing and his fingers twitching.

Ulrin looked at his elf friend and smiled widely, soon breaking out into laughter. "Aye those orcs shouldn't be kept smelling their filthy selves eh?" he said comically, picking up a tankard of mead and downing it in one gulp. The Dwarven King then burped and grabbed his two axes "Let's go! I'm thirsty for Orc blood!" he yelled in good humor, answered by cheers from the dwarves nearby.

Ulrin then lead Elion out of the tent and looked at the two armies. Thane followed behind him, along with another Dwarf. "Go find your unit, Elion. We will meet at the front of camp." he said simply patting the elf on the back as he went to his unit of Steel Guardians, the generals following.

Ulrin turned around "Ok ok. Here are your order, you whining stalkers. Thorin lead the main army, Titus you lead the force that helps the elves eliminate the sentries and guards. Got it? Good." he said sternly at the two, in response they both nodded and headed to their assigned forces. Ulrin then approached the unit of Steel Guardians, meeting with the leader of the unit. The leader automatically bowed and grew nervous. Noticing this Ulrin grabbed the Dwarf's shoulder and said with a grin "Come on we have Orcs to kill."

The leader then organized the men and followed Ulrin, who lead them towards the front of the camp to wait for Elion and his troops.

Elion nodded to his dwarven friend and took his leave to go to his armies. Before approaching the mirkwood archers, or any of the councilors he stood before the army, feeling the need to say a few words, even though he was not the greatest speaker, he thought that might encourage his men. He spoke in elven, for some elves didn`t know the language of men.

Elion - "I know many of you are sceptic about attempting a raid which had once failed in tragedy. You may have fear in your hearts and doubt in your minds, but don`t let that tamper with your resolve, don`t let it halt your blades, or stop your arrows. NO! In fact let it guide them, for we are here to drive these orcs away and unlike those before us, we shall succeed!"

The elves cheered and roared, raising their weapons for their new king and he raised his bow high above his head. Elion felt overjoyed as he gave a nod to Celion to take it from there and explain the tactics to the troops. The king instead approached Alran and the mirkwood archer battallion. He gave them short instructions on their task and motioned to them to follow him.

He ran through the camp to the randevouze point, his silver hair swinging behind his back, as Alran and the acrhers followed him. Once reaching the front of the camp, the archers saluted their allies as well as the allied king. Elion did the same, still gripping his bow tightly, as he knew that they wouldn`t have any time for rest, from the very moment they set off.

Ulrin nodded in recognition at his elven ally. "Time to go" he said rather gladly, he thirsted for Orc Blood, he wanted to hack and slash his way through them, satisfying his axe's need for Orcish Blood. The Dwarven king marched forward towards the town of Dale, soon they were close enough to the gate to see it through the heavy fog, and rain. At that moment Ulrin halted his company, observing the walls and the sentries.

Only one spot of the wall was low enough for the companies to get through and even then they would have to fight through the Orcs and Goblins on the other side. Ulrin looked at the Elven King "You open the gate, we will cover you" he whispered in commanding way, not even allowing Elion to say no before he ran towards the wall, company in tow.

Ulrin jumped over the wall and gave out a blood churning yell "Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!" drawing the attention of the Orcs to his company and allowing space for Elion's to open the gate. Orcs and Goblins nearby quickly charged the dwarven force and soon it became a frantic fight for the gate with Ulrin in the middle of it.

The Dwarven King was chopping off arms and heads, calling out foul words at the petty Orcs who fell under his axe as he bought time for the elves.

Elion, along side Alran and the mirkwood battalion, followed the dwarven king, as they marched towards Dale. They soon stopped by a low part of the wall. The rain was heavy and the fog was thick. Elion had a sharp eye, but under these conditions, he would need to be extra careful, not to shoot down one of his own.

Ulrin went head on, jumping over the wall and Elion followed, as the two companies ran behind them. The elven king fired a few fast arrows into teh heads of some orcs, before giving out instructions to his company, placing some men on the wall, to shoot, some to light up a signal for the main armed forces and the rest, along with him and Alran, to take care of the gate tower, the guards in it and open the gate.

While his men, ran in through the entrance of the tower, Elion climbed on he side of it, placing his bow on his back. It was easy to climb, as many of the rocks it had been built from, had fallen, providing a place for a skilled climber to put his feet and grab hold with his hands. The elf soon reached the top, entring from behind the enemies, who were concerned with the advancing elven squad inside the towar. The king let a smirk cross his face, as he drew out his curved swords and jumped inside the towar, quickly disposing of the five gate guards, letting their bodies fall down the stairs, notifying his men that the job was done and they could return to the battle outside.

The king turned his attention to the mechanism for openning the gate. It was a simple one, that needed to be turned anti-clock-wise, a couple of times. He managed that with ease and teh gate opened, providing the main forces with an entry. The elf looked out, to see a signal fire burning, the main forces advancing and Ulrin who was beheading the few sentry orcs left. The gate had been taken, but the battle for the city, was just beginning. Elion got out of the tower the way he had climbed in and ran to his dwarven friend, patting him on the shoulder, for a job well done.

While Elion was opening the gates, Ulrin was in a pitched duel against the Orcish Captain. The Orc Captain was armed with a one handed sword and a shield while being armored by light platemail, he was ready for battle. But so was Ulrin with his heavy platemail and his two handed axe. For a few seconds they size each other up, creating a small circle in which only they were apart of. Then the Orc charged, shield up, pushing Ulrin back and opening him up for attack in which the Orc took advantage of. He delivered a quick slash at the Dwarves's stomach, Ulrin then quickly dodge the strike by leaning forward and countering with an overhand strike at the Orc's shield.

The attack successfully ripped the shield from the Orc's arm, lowering his defenses considerably. This allowed Ulrin to follow up with a horizontal slash directed at the Orc's side, but that attack was blocked by the Orcish Captain who followed up with a counter attack by slashing at Ulrin's collar bone. The attack missed, however, and it hit Ulrin's head with the flat side. Still the attack sent Ulrin staggering back and made him fall into a puddle of mud, dropping his axe.

Ulrin now completely open attack was approached by the Orc Captain who was ready to finish Ulrin once and forever, but something happened. An axe landed straight in the Orc's chest and he fell dead. See in desperation, Ulrin fondled around in the mud looking for something, until he felt the hilt of a weapon, it was a throwing axe so Ulrin threw it, killing the Orc Captain.

Ulrin arose from the mud, watching the Gate open and the signal fire being lit, they had done it. The Goblins and Orcs guarding the gate fled or died and the Dwarven Steel Guardians cheered, Ulrin joining them while he retrieved his throwing axe from the fallen Orc. It was during this time did the first warriors of the main force began to arrive, along with the scouts. Feeling the touch of Elion's hand on his shoulder, Ulrin turned to his friend "Fifteen fallen dwarves." he started solemnly "But fifty fallen Orcs!!" he cheered, some of the Dwarves joining him.

Thorin and Titus then came in and met with Ulrin and Elion. "Ok time for the next step" Ulrin said as he pulled out the map again "We entered through the Southwestern Gate. So now we push to the Keep, that is where are Base of Operations will be located and where we will rest. Understood?" he said, stating the plan to the group.

Alran repotred that three elves were dead and he himself was wounded, but he could keep fighting. The elf had been hit in the left shoulder and had fought with just a sword. Celion rejoined the company of leaders and the trio looked down upon the map, as Ulri ndisplayed his plan. The plan was to go straight forwards and although most of the elven forces were fit for that, Elion had a different plan for the mirkwood archers.

Elion - "I will take my archers to the top of the houses, we shall use them as both cover and a place for a better view. We`ll be able to rain arrows upon the orcs and force them fast into retreat."

With that the aran gave a nod to Alran, as he was to join the main forces. He could not use a bow when injured. Elion placed his hand, on the councilor`s shoulder, to cheer him up and give him hope. For a moment Alran felt guilt for devising a plot to overthrow the king, but a quick look, to the plot`s mastermind - Celion, quickly got him back on track.

Elion was unaware of the devious betrayal being planned behind his back. Instead he was focused on the battle ahead, on retaking Erebor and imporivng the relations between dwarves and elves. All that he was waiting for was the battle charge. He gave a sign to his archers and they were ready to follow him, while the rest of the forces would charge forwards, led by Celion, fighting along side the dwarven troops.

Captian Gorbag stood up straight as he delivered his speech to the assembled orks."Right then you filthy sons of maggots - yer got two choices - 1 go out and fight where ya may get yer head kicked in or 2 stay here and fight were Tharog will beat yer head in wiv is crusher. Tharog (an overly large and muscled ork) stood crusher at the ready looking eager to bash some skulls. The general consensus was that they troops would like to take the chance of mabey getting their heads kicked in so they "volunteered" for the charge against the Elved and Dwarves.The First wave was to be made up of particularly stupid goblins who would be given explosives and were told that if they ran into enemies that looked important they would receive triple rations tonight. The rest of the rank and file would charge after the important ones were hopefully blown up and their archers would load their bows up with as many arrows as possible and start firing hoping to hit something on the enemy side.

With the blowing of a horn Capitan Gorbag signalled the attack.

The sound of a horn filled the air and Elion knew that the battle would soon begin. He gave a nod to his councilors and led the remaining mirkwood archers along the roofs of the buildings. He had draw out his bow and loaded it with an arrow, prepared to shoot at any given moment. It wasn`t long before what seemed to be goblins with explosives, ran towards the army. The elven king shot an arrow, hitting the first goblin, straight in the eye.

The mirkwood archers followed the example, shooting down goblin after goblin. At first it was easy to hold them off, but then a large bunch of the kamikazes rushed forwards, which made it nearly impossible to stop all of them. That`s when Elion gave a different order.

Elion - "Quick, aim for the explosives."

he shot an arrow, hitting one, which blew up not just the orc carrying it, but a coule around him as well. The skilled archers followed the example of their leader, bringing the goblins sky high. Not one was able to reach the front lines of the draw-elven armed force. Elion smiled, as he saw the last of the kamikazes get shot in the head. However, the battle was only beginning. The rest of the orcs charged forwards in full force, but this time, there were no explosives to use against them. Elion saw the enemy archers loading their weapons, it was important to take them time before they could cause too many deaths, thus the elven aran gave an order to his squad, to aim at the giblin archers. Celion and Alran gave a charge order as well, leading the melee forces forwards and having the lothlorien archers shoot from long distance into the enemy front lines. A grand battle was about to ensue. A battle fo the fate of Dale and Erebor.

Ulrin looked up at the sound of the horn, it appeared as if the Orcs were launching a counter attack. Immediately Ulrin looked at Elion's forces, who luckily had positioned himself effectively, over looking the battlefield. He then organized his forces into a rows, putting his Steel Guardians in the front lines, his pikes behind them with just enough length to have the pikes protrude from the Guardian's line, he then put his Axethrowers in front of that line, lastly the Beserkers were held in reserves.

Once his army was in place, the first of the attackers began to appear. "Sappers!" a dwarf from the Axethrower regiment called out in panic. They were in trouble if they got too close , because the sappers would tear their lines apart. Luckily for them, Elion's unit eliminated them rather quickly and any that survived were quickly killed by the Axethrowers. After that was done, the second wave of attackers charged, a few hundred Orc warriors, all wanting a piece of the fight. They were covered by archers who were also being picked off by Elion's unit.

When Ulrin saw the elves charging, he cursed, they were going to be slaughtered. Since the Orcs far outnumbered their forces. So Ulrin and his forces stayed put, the Axethrowers assisting the Elves as well as they can.

Those damn elves had blown up the captains explosives. That was not meant to happen - what was meant to happen was the explosives where meant to explode the elves. Once the rest of the orks hit combat though things got bloody. If orks knew how to do one thing it was brawl and that was what the fight turned into. More orks fell than dwarves or elves but for every 3 fallen another would get a lucky blow in with a hammer or axe. Gorbag himself decided to show the rank and file why exactly he was the captain and thus singled out one of the dwarves that looked particularly important (he would have gone after the elf leader but they did this unfair thing called dodging which was terribly unsporting). Gorbag seeing his chance rushed for Ulin with his crude blade pointed for the dwarfs skull. Behind Gorbag Tharog had was hefting his crusher ready to defend the captain in case the elves tried anything sneaky.

The dwarves didn`t charge and the elves were quickly being overwhelmed. Elion screamed retreat orders, but none of his men heard him, instead they pushed onwards, with the two councilors in front. It wasn`t long before most elves had fallen dead, or injured, except those on top of the buildings and the two councilors, who had retreated to the dwarven lines.

The orcs charged further in, while the mirkwood squad was keeping it`s focus on the enemy archers. Elion couldn`t waste time, he had to help protect the few elves left alive. He jumped down and threw his bow, acriss his back, instead taking out his two curved swords, quickly swinging them and charging into the orcs, slicing left and right, making his way through the flank, towards Ulrin. But he wasn`t moving quickly enough, he saw the orcish commander with a devious guard, attacking the dwarven king. Just then the councilors showed courage, attacking from either side, aiming to cut through the orc commander. Sadly neither of them had noticed the guard, who had a clear shot at each of them and perhaps even at both.

Elion screamed once more, but his voice was unheard yet again. The sound of battle had corrupted the air. The screams of orcs, dwarves and elves, the raors and cries, the curses and cheers, it was a beautiful feeling, yet Elion could not enjoy it, for his men were dying quickly and there was nothing he could do about it.

Ulrin was slicing the head off an Orc when a Dwarven Beserker pointed behind him, saying something. Ulrin could only manage to hear "Look.......Orc.......Attack" but that was all he needed to hear. The Dwarven king turned around quickly, quicker than one would imagine for a dwarf, and swung his axe in a broad arc, that would catch the Orc's blade and throw the monster off. Immediately Ulrin followed up with a swift, but very devastating due to Dwarven Strength, punch to the Orc's face, attempting to back him off so that he would have some room to focus. He would then pull his axe back and let it fall in both of his hands. He stared down the Orc and smirked "Come on you good for nothing Shit eater" he yelled, taunting the Orc that was twice his size. At that exact moment he also gave an Order to the Dwarven Beserkers "Get the elf's out of there!" before bracing for a charge.