17 Flamerule 1502 D.R.

I would have been content to remain at home, with my partner beside me, but Solia had matters to attend at the Syndicate. Reluctantly, I elected to accompany her there.

It is well that I did. Had we lounged the day away as I desired, Orlak's surprise attack might have devastated the entire Syndicate and razed the fortress to the ground.

It began no sooner than Solia and I had crossed the drawbridge. Horns sounded, drums beat, and with hardly a moment to gather ourselves or prepare, the tide of goblins, hobgoblins, and fell fiends was upon us, backed by siege towers and engines of war that could have torn the walls asunder, pushed by ogres nearly as tall as the walls themselves.

The Syndicate turned out in answer. Despite conflicting cries and attempts to take charge and direct the chaos, each member performed more or less as they saw fit. For all that, it came together well enough, and we fought back the horde at the gates, dividing our numbers east and west to address our foes as they came.

On my side -- the west -- I was able to bring down their tower before I had to fall back, but not before it disgorged an army of bugbears that wrought havoc upon the battlements before they were finally brought down. With Solia, Arlis, Ivor, and several members I do not know well enough to name, we held at the bridge until the enemy was routed.

That was when the second wave came....

-- Yashir adh Rumahr

Attack on the Syndicate

17 Flamerule, 1502 DR

I should forewarn that to this day I still am unclear regarding who Orlak is. I know he is a goblin mage who has angered the veteran members of the Syndicate. And now I am aware of what forces he can summon. This is a dangerous character, and an enemy to us all. Regardless, I will recount my time defending my home.

The day started like any other, chatting with folks in the feast hall. Then drums and horns sounded in the valley. We took up arms and rushed out, finding an attack on the eastern and western fronts. My group in the east defended marvelously. With Vincel and Bri on the frontlines, Orri and Tealight manning the balistae, and a mix of Jax, Tova, Aber, Theoden, and myself, we held the bridge. Bugbears, imps, and spined and bearded devils battered us. No one collapsed, and especially no one died.

I hear the western front struggled. A lack of chemistry and communication it seems. Multiple folks fell, brought back from the brink thanks to our healers. But when the eastern front retreated, so had the west. Only the various kobolds who serve our Syndicate were not so lucky- many perished due to flying devils that escaped our attention.

Days later, we still recover. But we persist. The Glassfang Syndicate is both resilient and stubborn.

-------

Loot

• A lot.

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Rest in peace, my kobold friends. -Sylkran "Sylk" Teke'zynge

Theoden report :

War horns and warcries suddenly resonated through the whole barracks.

As I quickly exited the room with my weapon in hand, I head fighting on the West.

Rushing to the nearest exit, there I saw it : a full army ready to invade the Syndicate.

Who were they ? Why were they attacking us ? I had no idea. But I knew one thing : blood will pour that day.

I started the fight by blessing my comrades and myself, then I rushed down to the tower and the bridges.

There I saw it closer, a massive army made of goblins, hobgoblins... and worst of all : FIENDS !

Looking at the size of this invasion, I knew I was outmatched in raw power, so I spent most of the time as a support and secondary healer for the more experienced members.

Our front held well, no casualties to report.

I even got the chance to smite a lone bugbear, with the help of the most unstable Aber.

But as the last few remaining enemies were fleeing, another war horn resonated, this was only the first wave of the invasion.

The day started, as many do, with the intention to Spar with Arlis. He and I had just readied ourselves when the wardrums and horns began to echo out across campus, and it seemed as though we were under attack. Rushing out, we met up with Snap, and the three of us moved into action. I created an opening, a portal, directly beside the closest enemies, and we all rushed through to counter this assault.

This was a massive force, though, I heard more combat on the opposite side. Instructing Snap and Arlis to go provide reinforcements to that side, I continued to cut my way through the army. They had siege weapons and forces by the dozens, which meant I needed to move quickly. Drawing focus, along with Bri, the rest of the Syndicate started to move into action as I began taking down enemies.

It seemed to draw on for days, though, there was nothing to do but keep on fighting. Surx managed to connect Yashir, Solia, Bri, and myself mentally, which was a... benefit. We were able to communicate with one another, at least. Not that that did us any good, in the long run, as miscommunication was all we managed to get. Too many orders were being given and none were being taken.

However, we did not fall, and the Syndicate remains steadfast. Woe be to any who dare challenge us in this manner again.

What was supposed to be a normal day at the Syndacate, became hell on earth.

Goblin and devils attacked. Imps infested the corridors.

Why? I don't know. And apparently I am not payed to know.

P.S

Being able to open portals from the Far Realms really helps.

17 Flamerule 1502 D.R.,

Jue writes this rapport with heavy heart. As Jue has found that the syndicate defences are lacking. During the sudden attack on the Syndicate, Jue was drawing maps to make some more money. When suddenly drums and horns filled the air. A combined force of Goblinoids and devils had launched an attempted siege on the Syndicate. Jue was quick with going towards the western gate house, but could not stop it from falling. Were it not for the Paladin Yashir who held the line, the western front would have been worse.

The supposed Kobold defenders of the Syndicate did little defending before they died. Jue did Jue's best to help, but Jue has found Jue lacking in many ways. Jue shall do Jue's best to remedy this for the next time.

• Jueinuma, formerly of the Balista

Well this will be a slight bit different than my usual notes. More of a complaint than anything. But it became abundantly clear that the Syndicate is woefully unprepared to take on a large forces that may attempt to attack. You'd think a place that contracts people as mercenaries would have a better security force than the mercenaries themselves but insert shrug here.

Upon further review of the situation, some key notes I was able to pinpoint.

• No organization. The kobolds knew where battle stations were on ballistas but otherwise they had no plan for retreat or reorganizing when they started dying.
• No command. There is no active chain of command. One may think that the higher ranked members would take charge and lead the mercenaries beneath them but there was no such thing.
• Confliction. Too many attempted to lead and guide our forces, only for the orders to contradict each other.

There's far too much that happens in varying orders and this situation resulted ion much confusion and frustration from multiple parties.

Location: Syndicate

Honestly I'm still tryna grasp what the fuck happened. And how we managed to survive. My report is gonna be short, bein' spread between two entries.

My day started out normal. Was about to do my spars with Vincel when we heard the horns and the drums. We didn't have much time to prepare, but with Snap with us, we went to the eastern (western?) side to deal with the fuckin' enemies that showed up there. Ogres, goblins, hobgoblins, devils... fuckin' bullshit. We cleaned up most of 'em at first, then Vincel sent Snap and me through a portal to help with the west side (east side?).

There were so many forces on that side and not as many people. Snap and me thinned it out as best we could.

17 Flamerule 1502 DR
The Syndicate

The Syndicate came under a coordinated assault by a sizeable force of goblins, hobgoblins, ogres, and various other creatures. The attack appeared organized rather than opportunistic, with the enemy deploying siege towers and catapults against our defenses.

Fortunately, the Syndicate had prepared its own fortifications. Several ballistas had been constructed along the walls and were quickly manned by our kobold staff. I must admit, watching them scramble into position with such determination was rather impressive.

Sunbeam and I were assigned to reinforce the eastern defenses.

Rather than splitting our efforts immediately, Sunbeam mounted one of the ballistas while I called upon my mage hand to assist him. The mechanism required more hands than either of us possessed alone, and together we were able to load, steady, and guide each shot toward the advancing enemy siege engines.

The arrangement proved surprisingly effective.

Once the enemy tower had closed the distance, I left the ballista to engage it directly.

Another member of the Syndicate—whom I know only as Angry Woman—had already begun attacking the structure largely by herself. While I still do not know her name, I felt assisting her was considerably wiser than asking for introductions in the middle of a battlefield.

Together we managed to bring the siege tower crashing down before it could reach our walls.

With the eastern advance halted and the enemy's first assault broken, the fighting briefly subsided.

Unfortunately, it did not remain quiet for long.

17 Flamerule 1502 D.R.

Yashir and I had gone to the Syndicate that day to check up on Shev and that infernal Beholder that is taking over his mind. It would have been a better day, if we'd been able to feed that thing cookies and teach it how to People, but no. Instead, the drums of war rumbled through the hills and before we even had time to set foot in the building, an army of Orlak's making set upon the Syndicate and all inside of it.

It's hard to recount all that happened other than what I witnessed on the Western side. We were overwhelmed. Yashir and Snap as well as Fenris and Surx, and I may be forgetting more in the aftermath, held them while the Eastern front was cleaned up and reinforcements could arrive to support us. Imps started to infiltrate the Syndicate proper, and leadership was scattered and communciation poor. We all did our best, and many almost fell, myself included.

I ended up inside to find the imps when the second wave arrived...

Report: Siege on the Glassfang Syndicate

Date: 17 Flamerule, 1502 DR
Location: Glassfang Syndicate
Reported by: Tova
Incident: Assault on the Syndicate

The Syndicate came under attack by an organized force. From what I saw on the eastern side, the enemy included goblins, hobgoblins, hobgoblin captains, bugbears, siege weapons, imps, and other fiends. It was not a random raid. They came prepared to break through our defenses.

I was stationed on the eastern side and helped hold the tower and bridge there. The fighting was heavy from the start. We had enemies pushing toward the walls, siege equipment advancing, and flying fiends creating problems wherever they could.

On our side, everyone fought hard. Orri and Tealight were working with the ballista. Vincel and Bri were holding the front line. Sylk, Aber, Theoden, Jax, Snap, and others were also in the fight, doing what they could to keep the enemy from overrunning us.

I maintained my Spellfire Storm through the battle and used Fireball where I could catch groups of enemies without catching too many allies, which is always the less scandalous choice. The spellfire helped hold back several pushes, but there were too many enemies to pretend any one person carried the field.

The eastern side held, though not cleanly. People were injured, resources were spent, and the enemy kept coming. The western side was fighting at the same time, but I could not see everything happening there from my position. I know they were under heavy pressure as well.

Many kobolds were lost during the assault. Some were helping with the defenses, some were caught by the flying fiends, and some simply had the misfortune of being in the path of a force that came here meaning to kill us. They should be remembered as part of the reason the Syndicate still stands.

Eventually, we broke what turned out to be the first wave.

Then the horns sounded again.

The fight was not over.

Confirmed from my position

• The Syndicate was attacked by an organized enemy force.
• I defended the eastern side, near the tower and bridge.
• Enemy forces included goblins, hobgoblins, hobgoblin captains, bugbears, imps, other fiends, and siege weapons.
• Orri and Tealight assisted with the ballista.
• Vincel and Bri helped hold the eastern front.
• I maintained Spellfire Storm and used Fireball against clustered enemies.
• The eastern side held through the first wave.
• The western side was also under attack, but I did not have full visibility from my position.
• Multiple kobolds were killed during the assault.
• The first wave was defeated.
• A second wave began shortly afterward.

Signed,
Tova