» Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:06 pm An Elder Scrolls Roleplay
GM's:
August Kohr1993
Ra'Bassa
The Rules and Participants of this roleplay can be found in the "Season's End, Sign-up/OOC" Thread. Let's keep any OOC there. We'll also discuss any time jump and storybombs in that thread. I'll get around to putting the participants in this thread too soon.
It has been three long years since the Helgen Incident. Three long, bloody years for Skyrim. The country has been wracked with war, destroying more homes and families every day. But all that was coming to an end, at last. With a fresh legion from High Rock, and more and more conscripts in the Western Holds, The Empire began winning battles. After the battle of Whiterun, Imperial troops began pushing farther and farther into Ulfric's holds. A year after Whiterun, Dawnstar also fell, and it's port once again became a safe haven for the Imperial Navy. With the year after that, General Alain Weyler, a skilled tactician from High Rock, led his legions through the ruins of Helgen and directly into the Rift, taking Ivarstead and soon Riften as well.
The Stormcloaks were on the brink of collapse. The taigas north of the Rift were constantly falling between Imperial and Stormcloak power, while Winterhold was cut off from most of the supplies it had once received from friendly Holds. Either through attrition, or conquest, Skyrim would soon be a stable, if damaged, Imperial Province once again.
However, such success was not present in other parts of the Empire. Cyrodiil's border with Valenwood and Elsweyr's kingdoms had become quite unsafe, with constant border disagreements and skirmishes resulting. Thalmor diplomatic relations were quickly failing as well, as many Thalmor believed that Talos worship was still going strong throughout the Empire. A petty claim for war, some would say. But the Thalmor were nontheless insistent that the White-Gold Concordant was being breached.
In the waning months of 4E 203, the Aldmeri Dominion demanded that Cyrodiil cede the city of Anvil and the majority of the Gold Coast to them, as reparations for alleged damages to border settlements in Valenwood. The Empire adamantly refused, hoping that a show of backbone would dissuade the Dominion from any rash moves. Unfortunantly, the Aldmeri Dominion invaded Cyrodiil for the second time, and took Anvil once again. Fighting erupted throughout southern Cyrodiil, and war was declared soon after. While the Empire was not as ill-prepared for this second war, it still proved terrible. The entire border of the Imperial Province became host to battles between Legions and Thalmor armies, each trying to take a foothold in the other's lands, while hold onto their own.
It was only two months after the war broke out that the unthinkable happened. A Dominion Fleet, larger than any ever seen in past battles with the Thalmor, attacked Skyrim. Some believe that while the Empire's troops and attention was focused on it's southern borders, the Dominion sailed completely around Argonia and Morrowind, a massive undertaking that would have taken months of planning and arranging beforehand. Others are convinced that Aldmeri Wizard-Lords opened portals straight to Alinor's ports in the vast sea north of Skyrim, giving the fleets a fresh supply route after they attacked. Theories mattered little, when compared to the actual invasion.
The Thalmor fleet first attacked Dawnstar, with such ferocity that only a handful of runners could escape the Massacre of Dawnstar. The Imperial Fleet there was completely destroyed, most ships burned down before the deckhands could even wake. A massive Dominion army then moved south to occupy Fort Dunstad, and block off any and all movements into the Pale. The fleet then split off into two more groups, with a strong siege force attacking Solitude, and a second group of smaller, troop-transports filling into the White River to take Eastmarch.
Skyrim, already weak and battered from years of civil war, now faces an even more powerful enemy then itself. Tired, weather-worn Legions face fresh, eager Dominion armies, wielding weapons, magics, and even soldiers that the Empire has hardly faced before. The Stormcloaks are shattered with the Sack of Windhelm, with some fleeing south to join the Empire to fight a common enemy, and others fleeing north, namely Ulfric Stormcloak himself, to find safe haven in Winterhold, whose steep cliffs and harsh climate deterred an immediate Thalmor invasion.
This is where you come in.
4E, 203
10th of Sun's Dusk
The Siege of Solitude was not an immediate event. The Aldmeri Dominion Fleet crushed the Imperial ships docked at Solitude, and began depositing troops on both sides of the Karth river. On the first day, hordes of golden-clad elves and khajiit marched from the docks upwards towards Solitude, only to meet firm resistance in the Imperial Legion's trained ranks. While the Legion made the Dominion fight for every inch of ground in Haafingar, Hjaalmarch was not as lucky. Dominion troops swarmed the swamps, overran the garrison of Fort Snowhawk, and burned the town of Morthal. Then, almost as quickly as they came, they retreated back to the swamps nearest Solitude, building massive siege camps to house trebuchets and ballistae for the impending siege.
On the second day, the Imperial Legion stumbled and lost rank against the Dominion's Cathay-Raht shock troops: a massive breed of khajiit, as tall as a giant, and armored from head to toe, swinging enourmous blades and axes of elven-make. Against these monstrosities, the weaker-hearted legionnaires broke rank, and fled for the city, allowing the Dominion to push even closer to Solitude. After a rallying speech from General Tullius however, even the meekest troopers raised the blades against the beasts. Meanwhile, the siege camps in Hjaalmarch began firing at the city, striking the Blue Palace and the Arch of Solitude. If the Arch were to fall, the city would be more or less destroyed, and whatever remained of it would be prime pickings for the Aldmeri Dominion's army. Such an endeavor would take weeks, maybe even months.
The third day came, and with it, the greatest loss of footing yet. The Dominion army pushed to the city gates, and finally into the city proper itself, cutting down civilians and soldiers alike. As the first few blocks of Solitude began to burn, General Tullius and his legates led the charge into the Dominion ranks, cutting through them like a silver knife through butter. The Dominion commanders called back their troops, preferring a siege to a tooth-and-nail engagement against an entire garrison. It seemed as if the city had been saved, if only for a moment. Unfortunantly, a war-wizard within the Thalmor's ranks shot down Tullius with a lightning bolt as he fought valiantly alongside his men. His troops pushed the last few Dominion battalions out of the city with a bloodthirsty vigor, and then sealed the gates tight.
On the third night, a relief force from the Reach arrived, but were beaten back almost effortlessly by the Dominion's troops, who had taken the time to dig in around the city and fortify their camps. Any future attempts at relief would be certainly doomed to fail.
It is now the fourth day, and Solitude is not faring well. Although there is enough food and water for months, medicine and morale is already running low. Archers are constantly going back and forth from the walls, and with every moment more and more debris is launched against the city's walls and arch. Worse, artillery will occasionally find a target within the city, setting a block on fire, or sending a watchtower crumbling to the ground below. The Aldmeri Dominion's army, now led by Lady Elenwen, former emissary to Skyrim, is camped all around the city, cutting it off from all outside contact. Rope and ladder teams constantly assail the walls, trying to find a foothold in Solitude, and melee skirmishes on the battlements are not uncommon, although they are always repulsed.
You, unfortunantly, are caught within this struggle, this dire battle for survival against a larger foe. A foe that could at any moment break through the gates, and ransack the greatest bastion of Imperial power in all of Skyrim. However, there is always hope, and the battle is far from over. The Empire will need it's heroes to have any hope of survival against the Aldmeri Dominion's invasion of Skyrim.
And some of those heroes might just be forged from the fires of the siege of Solitude...
