Excerpt from “A Study of the Battle of the Terrace” by Raziel
The start of the new year saw a flare in tensions between the beastclans and flights. The drought of the previous summer and bitter cold of the winter so far contributed to many clans, dragon and beast, venturing further from their territories in search of food. Inevitably, there were clashes. All across Sorneith, small skirmishes broke out. The Battle of the Terrace started out as one such skirmish, though it may be more accurate to say it included several as most scholars commonly agree that the Battle of the Terrace consisted of all fighting in the region immediately prior to and preceding the actual battle itself.
On ninth day of the new year, the Cathrys, a sizeable harpy family living in the Light domain, began ambushing dragons passing to and from the Sundial Terrace. This continued over the course of several weeks before the harpies grew bold enough to attack a small clan living on the outskirts of the Terrace proper. Of seven dragons, only two survived, one of who later succumbed to his injuries. It was at that point that several of the larger clans living in the Sundial Terrace gathered in conference. They decided to join forces in order to drive out the harpies. News traveled rapidly and several more dragons joined the army mustering under the Lightweaver’s standard. A mere five days later, the main encounter of the Battle of the Terrace occurred. It was not, as the name implies, in the Sundial Terrace itself, but on the plain between the Sundial Terrace and the Hewn City.
No exact numbers are recorded for the two armies. Though the larger clans kept track of their participants, almost half the fighters arrived in groups of three or less from around the rest of the domain. These independent dragons are often not included in the estimated counts provided in works since the battle, an error which considerably skews the implied size of the encounter. Stragglers continued to join the dragons over the next several days, further complicating the count. The majority of the dragons participating in the battle were either born in the Light domain or living in a clan there. However, there were several travelers who were caught up in the matter as well and their contributions were even less recorded than the independent dragons of the Light flight.
Based on my own personal recollections, the morning of the battle saw somewhere in the range of three hundred dragons facing off against a little over half that number of harpies. The Cathrys had by that point of course, been joined by some of their fellow sisterhood. The battle proper commenced at daybreak and lasted until nearly noon. Though the dragons had the advantage of numbers and terrain (having chosen a relatively flat location where the harpies would be unable to conduct their favored version of guerilla warfare), several factors contributed to the significant losses amongst their ranks.
Whereas the harpies were organized and well rested, a not inconsiderable portion of the draconic troops were either travelers passing through or young dragons who had come to the aid of the Sundial Terrace from other parts of the domain. Indeed, several had arrived at the encampment only the night before. Very few of these dragons had fighting experience of any sort. The harpy families were well trained in comparison. While the clans who had originally mustered to address the harpy threat had selected one of their number as general, he had no experience with battle and few of the independent dragons listened to his orders. One order that was carried out was the order to form ranks for the battle. The ranks formed gave no regard to combat styles, which resulted in the combatants regularly interfering with each other in the midst of battle and some serious cases of friendly fire, though no casualties were reported from such. The rigid nature of the ranks was also ill-equipped for fighting against an enemy which used their mobility and flight capability to its maximum potential. The ranks did break down approximately thirty minutes into the battle, but the damage had already been done and the resulting chaos proved just as disastrous to the dragons. No clear line of communication had been established for once the battle started which meant that the general was unable to rally his troops or even attempt to restore order on a whole. The engagement became a free-for-all salvaged only by some dragons taking charge and independently organizing smaller battalions to lead amongst the larger army. Though the communication remained next to non-existent between these battalions, it was far improved within them. It was these clusters of dragons who ensured a victory against the beastclan.
The dragons routed the harpy families and several smaller skirmishes broke out over the course of the ensuing days as members of the army pursued the fleeing harpies. Some of these skirmishes involved harpy families not originally involved in the combat, such as those who happened to be in the dragons’ paths or who assisted their sister flocks. As such, some historians don’t believe those fights should be included within the Battle of the Terrace; however, as they likely would not have occurred without the events that led to the engagement in the first place, I will include them.
Despite their victory, the dragons lost over half of their original number with many more wounded. In this work, I have gathered the testimony of several survivors as well as my own observations during the fighting.
[Hello everyone! A central part of my lore revolves around this Battle of the Terrace and I'd love for others to participate in said battle. Don't feel like this is restricted only to the Light Flight- if you're a member of a different flight and would like the buttons adjusted appropriately just let me know. Feel free to write your own bit of lore about your derg/clan's role in the battle. You don't need to write anything to participate though. Just grab a button and stick it in your derg's bio. Survivors of the Battle of the Terrace unite!]
The start of the new year saw a flare in tensions between the beastclans and flights. The drought of the previous summer and bitter cold of the winter so far contributed to many clans, dragon and beast, venturing further from their territories in search of food. Inevitably, there were clashes. All across Sorneith, small skirmishes broke out. The Battle of the Terrace started out as one such skirmish, though it may be more accurate to say it included several as most scholars commonly agree that the Battle of the Terrace consisted of all fighting in the region immediately prior to and preceding the actual battle itself.
On ninth day of the new year, the Cathrys, a sizeable harpy family living in the Light domain, began ambushing dragons passing to and from the Sundial Terrace. This continued over the course of several weeks before the harpies grew bold enough to attack a small clan living on the outskirts of the Terrace proper. Of seven dragons, only two survived, one of who later succumbed to his injuries. It was at that point that several of the larger clans living in the Sundial Terrace gathered in conference. They decided to join forces in order to drive out the harpies. News traveled rapidly and several more dragons joined the army mustering under the Lightweaver’s standard. A mere five days later, the main encounter of the Battle of the Terrace occurred. It was not, as the name implies, in the Sundial Terrace itself, but on the plain between the Sundial Terrace and the Hewn City.
No exact numbers are recorded for the two armies. Though the larger clans kept track of their participants, almost half the fighters arrived in groups of three or less from around the rest of the domain. These independent dragons are often not included in the estimated counts provided in works since the battle, an error which considerably skews the implied size of the encounter. Stragglers continued to join the dragons over the next several days, further complicating the count. The majority of the dragons participating in the battle were either born in the Light domain or living in a clan there. However, there were several travelers who were caught up in the matter as well and their contributions were even less recorded than the independent dragons of the Light flight.
Based on my own personal recollections, the morning of the battle saw somewhere in the range of three hundred dragons facing off against a little over half that number of harpies. The Cathrys had by that point of course, been joined by some of their fellow sisterhood. The battle proper commenced at daybreak and lasted until nearly noon. Though the dragons had the advantage of numbers and terrain (having chosen a relatively flat location where the harpies would be unable to conduct their favored version of guerilla warfare), several factors contributed to the significant losses amongst their ranks.
Whereas the harpies were organized and well rested, a not inconsiderable portion of the draconic troops were either travelers passing through or young dragons who had come to the aid of the Sundial Terrace from other parts of the domain. Indeed, several had arrived at the encampment only the night before. Very few of these dragons had fighting experience of any sort. The harpy families were well trained in comparison. While the clans who had originally mustered to address the harpy threat had selected one of their number as general, he had no experience with battle and few of the independent dragons listened to his orders. One order that was carried out was the order to form ranks for the battle. The ranks formed gave no regard to combat styles, which resulted in the combatants regularly interfering with each other in the midst of battle and some serious cases of friendly fire, though no casualties were reported from such. The rigid nature of the ranks was also ill-equipped for fighting against an enemy which used their mobility and flight capability to its maximum potential. The ranks did break down approximately thirty minutes into the battle, but the damage had already been done and the resulting chaos proved just as disastrous to the dragons. No clear line of communication had been established for once the battle started which meant that the general was unable to rally his troops or even attempt to restore order on a whole. The engagement became a free-for-all salvaged only by some dragons taking charge and independently organizing smaller battalions to lead amongst the larger army. Though the communication remained next to non-existent between these battalions, it was far improved within them. It was these clusters of dragons who ensured a victory against the beastclan.
The dragons routed the harpy families and several smaller skirmishes broke out over the course of the ensuing days as members of the army pursued the fleeing harpies. Some of these skirmishes involved harpy families not originally involved in the combat, such as those who happened to be in the dragons’ paths or who assisted their sister flocks. As such, some historians don’t believe those fights should be included within the Battle of the Terrace; however, as they likely would not have occurred without the events that led to the engagement in the first place, I will include them.
Despite their victory, the dragons lost over half of their original number with many more wounded. In this work, I have gathered the testimony of several survivors as well as my own observations during the fighting.
[Hello everyone! A central part of my lore revolves around this Battle of the Terrace and I'd love for others to participate in said battle. Don't feel like this is restricted only to the Light Flight- if you're a member of a different flight and would like the buttons adjusted appropriately just let me know. Feel free to write your own bit of lore about your derg/clan's role in the battle. You don't need to write anything to participate though. Just grab a button and stick it in your derg's bio. Survivors of the Battle of the Terrace unite!]
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