1212 RE-- The Battle of Fridlevur Bay

Date: February 22th, 1212 RE
Outcome: Victory for Oresund
Belligerents: Fridlevur vs. Frozen Dead
Oresund Commanders: City Commander, Sir Elon Faiinen, The Watch Captain⁽¹⁾, Druman Mercenary leader⁽⁵⁾
Enemy Commanders: NA
Strength: Oresund: 150 of the Guard and City Defense, 20 Celestial and Returned warriors
Frozen Dead: uncounted hundreds.
Casualties: Oresund: 15 dead, 54 wounded.
Frozen Dead: a little over three hundred, at final counting.

Fridlevur Bay sits on the Eastern edge of Oresund, slightly south of Danbraeg, in Kjellende. As a result, it is the city most frequently troubled by troll incursions and other threats from Troll Country. Over the winter, guards began to spot more and more packs of Frozen Dead in the woods east of the city, occasionally even approaching the city walls. The guards were generally able to deal with them quickly, but the steadily increasing numbers over such a short span of time worried the knights in charge.

On the evening of February 22nd, just after sunset, the night watch on the city walls were startled into awareness by a terrible, keening wail from the east. As they watched, hundreds upon hundreds of shambling, frozen corpses lurched out of the darkness and into the lighted plain surrounding the city walls, clambering and clawing their way towards the terrified patrols. The Watch Captain⁽¹⁾ sounded the city horn, waking the rest of the watch, who took up their bows and bones and attempted to keep the creatures back from the wall. Volley after volley of flaming arrows, and magical arrows of flame, fell amongst the creatures like sparks into a roiling sea. On the order of the Watch Captain⁽¹⁾, her second in command⁽²⁾ took a group to engage the city's siege defenses, dumping stones and boiling pitch from the machicolations in the city's towers. At this point, one of the Ritualists of the Guard⁽³⁾ informed the Captain that he and the others were dangerously low on Fatigue, and though they had slaughtered many, still more were clambering up the walls even now.

Sure enough, at that moment, frozen dead were hoisting themselves over the walls, taking on the guard in melee. A band of Celestial and Returned warriors⁽⁴⁺⁾ for hire, led by a Druman Returned⁽⁵⁾, had awoken at the first horn-call, and charged into the battle near the gate, which was beginning to strain under the onslaught. The Captain⁽¹⁾ and the Ritualist⁽²⁾ made for the alarm horn, to sound another call, but found themselves cut off by six of the vile ice creatures. The Ritualist⁽²⁾ emptied his focus of fire arrows, then switched to his weapon, while the Captain⁽¹⁾ cut down three of the creatures before taking a bolt of ice directly to the knee, dropping her to one leg.

There are several stories circulating about what happened next, and even those who were there cannot agree precisely on what they saw. The Watch Captain⁽¹⁾ and the Ritualist⁽²⁾ were both badly wounded at this point, and unable to get a clear view; likewise the Celestials and Returned, being engaged at the gate, caught only glimpses. Nonetheless, it is largely agreed that a sudden, cool, blue-white light suddenly appeared over the ramparts, illuminating the night sky. One of the Guard, a rather unassuming squire called Immolo Karvonnen, appeared in the center of the glow, and raised his arms. A number of the guard closest to him reported that the very harbor rose at his command, turning to ice and immobilizing the attackers as they came. Others reported seeing an impossible hail of ice and light from his fingers, skewering the monsters before they could so much as touch him. All marked that the frozen dead shrank back from the glow that surrounded him, abandoning the ones that had been destroyed or otherwise incapacitated, fleeing in terror back into the wood.

As the light faded from the sky, Karvonnen collapsed, insensate, and could not be revived until the following afternoon. While he was unconscious, the rumors had already begun to fly. Most of the Guard, including the Captain and the City Commander, Sir Elon Faiinen, believed the incident to be a revelation of Murha, and the first sign that the Pentaverate will soon return to Oresund. The Priest of Murha, a follower of the way of the Ebon Aspect, admitted that he could not otherwise explain the occurrence; the magic that came upon Karvonnen was completely unknown to him, as well as the Ritualists of the guard, and the Celestials who came to assist, though one of them(6) said that it was similar to the magic of those who followed the philosophy of the Tharamoinian Mirei, which this Celestial followed. However, neither he nor any of his cohort had ever heard of a human being able to channel such magics.

The Provost of the small Redwood Throne church in Fridlevur, a Red Herald called Father Alurjo, reported to Sister Hiedwig of Dunaldur that the light surrounding Karvonnen took the form of a rose made all of ice, and the missiles which destroyed the frozen dead were the shed petals of the rose. A few witnesses have come forward to support this description of the miracle (all versions, minus a few skeptics, seem to be comfortable using the term), which has been denounced fervently by the faithful of Murha in Fridlevur. Nonetheless, it is expected that the Redwood Throne will publicly declare the event a Miracle of the Throne, following their Diet in July. The priests of the Pentaverate have not revealed how, or if, they intend to respond to such a declaration.

As for Karvonnen himself, he has largely attempted to avoid public notice ever since the miracle, though that has not been particularly successful. He has not since displayed any further miraculous abilities. He seemed eager to return to his duties following the incident, and has, at the very least (and with much protesting) received his knighthood from the City Commander. The Guard of Fridlevur seem to see him as a good luck charm, and he has since been tapped to lead a number of successful expeditions beyond the city, in an attempt to keep the Frozen Dead further from the city walls.

In addition, for coming so readily to the defense of the city, the Returned and Celestials involved have gained a good bit of renown in Oresund, and their Druman leader⁽⁵⁾ made an honorary knight.