Over a scorched sandstone rampart, a war-grizzled orc peered out against the sun-blazed horizon. In the distance, wind-swept dunes ushered in a hot stinging breeze. At the base of the greenskin commander’s desert stronghold of Castle Greyskull, eight armies encircled him, some bearing catapults and battering rams, others with stifling patrols keeping anything from going in and out of the walled city. It had been twelve days and supplies were running threadbare — even by spartan orcs’ standards.
As the commander descended from the rampart, a volley of projectiles arced overhead from the northwest and struck the industrial district of Greyskull, damaging the forge, blacksmith and a cluster of other key buildings. The frenzied orcs scattered in confusion and rage below, while the spear Captain rushed to meet He-Man on the stairway.
“They’ve laid waste to our weapons facilities Commander!” the Captain lamented. “We can continue to spawn orcs, but what will we give them to fight with?”
“If they have no spear or sword, they’ll use their bodies as shields” He-Man replied nonchalantly.
The Captain, perhaps overstepping his boundaries, stopped He-Man in his descent. “You don’t understand, Commander. We’re doomed.”
This insolence usually would have meant death, but He-Man only smiled. “Amal shufar, at rrug,” he said, which loosely translated from orcish means, “Where there’s a whip, there’s a way.” The desert orc pointed south. “We will break them all.”
“We do not have the troops, nor the weapons! The siege — it has 100,000 troops alone!”
He-Man pointed to a passage between two dunes in the south. “The Elf scum — they will be the ones who will break that siege.”
“Elf scum? Lul Gijak-Ishi!” which loosely translated means, “Flowers in the Blood” or “Pussies.”
The desert orc bellowed ferociously with laughter. “Today, they will be our friends. Some other time — they will be our food.”
And so they came. As the sun bled blood red into dusk, the glimmering iceheart on the elven swiftsteed’s armor sparkled in the distance as 25,000 light cavalry elven riders came into view. Their speed vexed the prone siege and blockade armies as they arced into the main siege army’s flank and decimated it. In the end, all of the elven riders laid dead on the battlefield, taking with them upwards of 80,000 casualties. Messengers were dispatched to recall the remnants.
The spear Captain stood in disbelief.
“Ready your troops,” said He-Man. “And tell the townsfolk to make ready the city for exodus. As we liberate the city, we’ll escape south.” Orc spear and infantry units formed tight ranks and faced the massive main gate, clearing the courtyard. “Hold up!” said He-Man, jogging to a darkened antechamber off to the side of one of the main western walls. Inside, a massive, wrought-iron gate gave way to penetrating darkness that only a deep, gutteral rumble could be heard. He-Man moved to the side of the iron gate — which stood some 50 feet tall in the grimy hall — and reached up for a large chain.
“Won-Won?” he asked into the darkness.
In answer, a pall of hellfire — hotter and more violent than He-Man’s most productive orc forges — erupted through the gate like a blast furnace, scorching through the antechamber and out into the courtyard. He-Man put on a wry smile and yanked with all his body weight, pulling up the massive gate. From the darkness advanced a monstrous bone drake. The drake unfolded its wings and took flight out of the hall. He-Man sprinted behind, calling “Go! Go! Before we all die!”
Half in rage half in fear, the orc army hoisted the north gate of Grayskull and sprinted out the front, with Won-Won taking flight and strafing overhead. The first he saw after decades in captivity were the rows of wooden catapults in the northwest siege army. The bone drake glided northwest and laid down a devastating wave of fire. The orc army followed toward the firey carnage and finishing off the supporting army.
But Won-Won wasn’t done.
In a fit of death and destruction, the drake took a counter-clockwise course around the besieged city, laying to waste siege engines, encampments, horses, and soldiers in his infernal wake. The orc soldiers, emboldened by the enchanted, flaming ferocity that led their charge, slayed army after army in their path around the city. Inside, the town dwellers prepared a hasty exodus.
At a distance from a city atop a plateau, the enemy commanders beheld the horrible scene unfolding like a slow wreck. They signaled for reinforcements from nearby allied cities, and columns of cavalry began making their way toward the battle scene at Grayskull.
As the cavalry reinforcements arrived, they beheld what is now known as the “ring of death” to those who bore witness to the scene — a 5-mile radius ring of scorched earth, charred siege weaponry, and incinerated carcasses, and in the middle, a gaping, empty hole in the ground. All of Castle Grayskull had exodused, and all that was left was the pit left from the city’s orc forge.
In the distance, the cavalry field commanders could hear the gutteral moan of a dragon.
About the Battle
The siege on He-Man’s Castle Grayskull was part of Stomps’ most active and audacious military activity of the Stomps/claimers war. With the vast majority of land claim players in the Broken Lands, He-Man’s western cities were prime targets, especially considering that Stomper Odoacer had cities very close to He-Man’s cities of Grayskull and Mankini Mansion. In information submitted to the Times, He-Man explained that prior to the claimers declaring war on Stomps, he and SIN were well aware that his cities would be the first targeted, and that the plan was to launch diversionary sieges early in order to exodus as many cities out of the western deserts as possible.
Stomp used its Elgean power to reduce He-Man’s diversionary sieges and eventually put together robust sieges and blockades that were in many cases anchored by Ron Fay and his Odoacer accounts.
Mankini Mansion fell first, and was an intense battle. T-O applied copious siege-breaking pressure, along with He-Man’s own forces, but the impressive Stomps effort, led by Ron Fay, eventually took the city down on June 28th. The raze turned out to be the high water mark in the war for Stomp and a key moment, since Grayskull was also closed to being razed. If Stomps had razed Grayskull as well, it would have been a morale booster for the war effort.
In that report from the 28th, the Times reported that He-Man’s ” . . . city of Castle Grayskull remains besieged and has been ravaged by siege bombardments for almost as long as at Mankini.” However, by that point, the first round of Grayskull sieges had been reduced by T-O forces:
“Grayskull had been home to two sieges, but according to the Herald’s siege board, one of them must have been defeated in early fighting this morning, server time. It remains to be seen when a storming of the city might be attempted, as one siege remains. However, Currently, the city only has 1,695 population and the siege still appears to be firing. It is quite possible by day’s end that Ron Fay might rack up a second substantial raze against He-Man, SIN, and the Broken Lands alliances supporting land claims.”
The first sieges had set up on or before the 20th (prior to the launch of the Times), so by this point there had been a siege at Grayskull for at least 8 days. However, Stomps was doubling down on its pressure on Grayskull and had set up fresh sieges and blockades so that the entire city was encircled with forces. There were two sieges and four blockades in total.
The start of the “Big Hit” came on June 29th when a fast cavalry hit from SIN member Jejune sent days before from Fellandire knocked out the most potent siege on the city:
From: System
Subject: FW: Failed attack against Ron Fay’s forces at [-831|-269] in Lan Larosh by Jejune’s forces from Stupid Puma
Received: 29 Jun 2015 01:12
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.Cavalry comes into its own when able to strike hostile forces at will, and from unexpected directions – and nowhere is this more feasible than on open plains. Lightly armoured spear units, however, prefer terrain where there’s some cover available.
Fighting defensively on open plains, cavalry draws strength from the ability to form and reform their lines of engagement depending on the direction of battle, and it is here where cavalry excels.
Attackers: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: Calanon Swiftsteed
1 Damaged for 600, 0 health remains. Troops: 25000 25000 0 Commander: Thandiel 1 Damaged for 600, 0 health remains. Troops: 60 60 0 Despite your troops’ defeat, word reaches you concerning the defenders’ forces in this battle.
Defenders: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: Prattsky Kreml A Charioteer
1 Damaged for 78, 522 health remains. Troops: Militiamen
9245 7252 1993 Commander: Chateau Dirq B 1 Damaged for 78, 72 health remains. Troops: 50 40 10 Troops: 40000 31376 8624 Commander: Blah Blah Blah-Blah Blah D 1 Damaged for 78, 172 health remains. Troops: Catapults
8 6 2 Commander: Audawakrs B Wolfrider
1 Damaged for 78, 522 health remains. Troops: 13 11 2 Troops: Kobold Cohorts
25000 19610 5390 Commander: Harry Satchel’s Hangout B 1 Damaged for 78, 222 health remains. Troops: 13868 10879 2989 Commander: Ravenna F 1 Damaged for 78, 22 health remains. Troops: 2030 1593 437 Commander: Audawakrs G 1 Damaged for 78, 22 health remains. Troops: 5000 3922 1078 Commander: Ravenna H 1 Damaged for 78, 22 health remains. Troops: 2761 2166 595 Troops: 288 226 62 Troops: 1654 1298 356
The attack wiped out 78,379 troops (close to a 5 : 16 ratio), including 6 of the remaining 8 catapults. While this particular array of catapults was small, the damage had already been done to the city; Grayskull was ready to be stormed by this force. The only thing that had kept that from happening was He-Man’s dodging of the clearing armies, and Stomps’ apparent lack of full knowledge on what He-Man had as defensive forces in the city. The remnants of this siege were recalled.
While this cavalry hit was decisive, it wasn’t nearly enough to free the city; a litany of other sieges and blockades were surrounding the city. That same day, He-Man decided to use his remaining forces try and break all remaining sieges and blockades in order to exodus the city south,
Beginning on the northwest square around the city, He-Man moved counter-clockwise. As you can see below, his army of fangs and Kobold Cohorts were led by Elite Praetorian Guardsmen, Skyclad warriors, and most importantly, He-Man’s Bone Drake, which he calls “Won-Won.” Five of the six hits are presented below:
From: System
Subject: FW: Victorious battle against Tjor’s forces at [-831|-270] in Lan Larosh by He-Man’s forces from Castle Grayskull
Received: 29 Jun 2015 17:34
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.Cavalry comes into its own when able to strike hostile forces at will, and from unexpected directions – and nowhere is this more feasible than on open plains. Lightly armoured spear units, however, prefer terrain where there’s some cover available.
Fighting defensively on open plains, cavalry draws strength from the ability to form and reform their lines of engagement depending on the direction of battle, and it is here where cavalry excels.
Attackers: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: T1 Inf Fang
1 Damaged for 34, 66 health remains. Troops: 20214 7067 13147 Troops: Elite Praetorian Guardsmen
6 3 3 Troops: Skyclad
25 8 17 Troops: 927 325 602 Troops: Bone Drakes
1 0 1
Defenders: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: Brutal 1 Damaged for 200, 0 health remains. Troops: 1693 1693 0 Commander: Tufa H 1 Damaged for 100, 0 health remains. Troops: 1750 1750 0
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From: System
Subject: FW: Victorious battle against Odoacer’s forces at [-830|-271] in Lan Larosh by He-Man’s forces from Castle Grayskull
Received: 29 Jun 2015 17:51
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.Cavalry comes into its own when able to strike hostile forces at will, and from unexpected directions – and nowhere is this more feasible than on open plains. Lightly armoured spear units, however, prefer terrain where there’s some cover available.
Fighting defensively on open plains, cavalry draws strength from the ability to form and reform their lines of engagement depending on the direction of battle, and it is here where cavalry excels.
Attackers: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: T1 Inf 1 Damaged for 10, 56 health remains. Troops: 13147 1419 11728 Troops: 3 1 2 Troops: 17 1 16 Troops: 602 65 537 Troops: 1 0 1
Defenders: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: Tufa F 1 Damaged for 100, 0 health remains. Troops: 1250 1250 0
======
From: System
Subject: FW: Victorious battle against Odoacer’s forces at [-829|-271] in Lan Larosh by He-Man’s forces from Castle Grayskull
Received: 29 Jun 2015 18:12
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.Cavalry comes into its own when able to strike hostile forces at will, and from unexpected directions – and nowhere is this more feasible than on open plains. Lightly armoured spear units, however, prefer terrain where there’s some cover available.
Fighting defensively on open plains, cavalry draws strength from the ability to form and reform their lines of engagement depending on the direction of battle, and it is here where cavalry excels.
Attackers: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: T1 Inf 1 Damaged for 19, 39 health remains. Troops: 11728 2263 9465 Troops: 2 0 2 Troops: 16 3 13 Troops: 537 104 433 Troops: 1 0 1
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From: System
Subject: FW: Victorious battle against Odoacer’s forces at [-829|-270] in Lan Larosh by He-Man’s forces from Castle Grayskull
Received: 29 Jun 2015 18:33
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.Cavalry comes into its own when able to strike hostile forces at will, and from unexpected directions – and nowhere is this more feasible than on open plains. Lightly armoured spear units, however, prefer terrain where there’s some cover available.
Fighting defensively on open plains, cavalry draws strength from the ability to form and reform their lines of engagement depending on the direction of battle, and it is here where cavalry excels.
Attackers: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: T1 Inf 1 Damaged for 5, 34 health remains. Troops: 9465 559 8906 Troops: 2 0 2 Troops: 13 0 13 Troops: 433 26 407 Troops: 1 0 1
Defenders: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: Ot-toghar E 1 Damaged for 150, 0 health remains. Troops: 500 500 0
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From: System
Subject: FW: Victorious battle against Odoacer’s forces at [-829|-269] in Lan Larosh by He-Man’s forces from Castle Grayskull
Received: 29 Jun 2015 18:50
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.Cavalry comes into its own when able to strike hostile forces at will, and from unexpected directions – and nowhere is this more feasible than on open plains. Lightly armoured spear units, however, prefer terrain where there’s some cover available.
Fighting defensively on open plains, cavalry draws strength from the ability to form and reform their lines of engagement depending on the direction of battle, and it is here where cavalry excels.
Attackers: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: T1 CavL32 1 Damaged for 25, 225 health remains. Troops: 8906 2236 6670 Troops: 2 0 2 Troops: 13 4 9 Troops: 407 103 304 Troops: 1 0 1
Defenders: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: Tufa G 1 Damaged for 100, 0 health remains. Troops: 2250 2250 0
While this counter-assault was going on, He-Man reportedly saw his screen light up with incoming attacks. From close-by Stomps cities, cavalry units were being sent, likely to put together quick blockades to keep the city in place for the next siege to arrive. He-Man reported that he finished off the last blockade on the north square with about 15 minutes left before one of the attacking cavalry forces landed.
Castle Grayskull now resides in the Broken Lands. Won-Won is reportedly resting for his next “Big Hit.”
The Illyriad Times 
Pure awesome. Illytimes, He-Man and Stomps at their finest.
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