Looking to the south, Sir Dalan can see Ebble in the distance astride the Ebble river.  There is smoke coming from farther south and what appears to be a large force of men on foot and even some knights on the far side of the river.

As he watches, the northern door of the castle opens and two dozen soldiers come running out, the door closing quickly after them.  The soldiers can be seen running toward Wilton along the road.  Not long after, a pair of knights rides quickly up along the northern bank of the Ebble from the west, probably from Chalke.  The two knights turn, lower their lance and charge back the way they came.

A few minutes later, the two knights are heading back toward Wilton again and come quite a bit further before turning and charging once more.  The northern door of the castle opens once more and five more knights ride out, lances couched, heading to meet up with the other two knights.

A few minutes later, six knight return and this time it can be seen what they are doing.  Dozens of additional foot soldiers are coming up along the northern bank of the Ebble river and the knights are repeatedly charging at them to slow their progress while the Salisbury soldiers make for Wilton.

The soldiers are about two miles from Wilton.  If they can maintain their pace, they might make it in half an hour.  However, some of the enemy soldiers are heading toward the castle from the north and if they let the enemy knights through, it could get bad fast.  It is hard to estimate numbers but there are dozens (more than 50) of soldiers on each side of the river and at least a dozen knights, although the castle blocks a lot of the view.

Coming down from the wall Sir Dalan raises his voice. "The footsmen of Ebble are bound for Wilton, but the enemy are abroad. I need a muster of knights and men-at-arms to clear their path here. Remember every soldier we rescue is another spear and bow to defend these walls - to defend our people!"

"Budfannon to me." Garym stared hard at the young man. "You heard the rider. Now, hear my words. I order you to take Lady Lethe and our gear to the castle to alert Earl Robert of the Irish to the West. Tell him I will attempt to get a scouting report of the numbers and direction of attack."

Garym rides close to Lethe. He smiles at her softly as he points to his heart. "This is yours my lady. I never knew that it existed until you came into my life. All I wanted was to fight gloriously, and in death have others remember my name. Now, I struggle to do what I must for fear I will not be there when your voice is once again discovered. If, I fail I must go now, my squire will take you to safety."

In about 5 minutes, Sir Dalan can gather the 20 knights and 20 men-at arms currently in the city (a dozen of the foot soldiers from Wilton went to support Ebble) when it came under attack.  This includes the players.

Looking to the south, the soldiers are about a mile-and-a-half away, closer than the halfway point.  The five knights continue to harass the following Irish foot soldiers, who probably number over one hundred with a constant flow streaming out of Ebble Castle.  Several dozen knights are now emerging from the castle as well.  You can see at least 20-24 so far.

The young woman smiles at Sir Garym, perhaps sensing something urgent is occurring and wanting to comfort him.  The pair then ride off toward Sarum.

Sir Dalan mounts his steed, showing his new coat of arms painted on his shield.

"My brothers in arms now we fight on our own sweet soil, in defence of our womenfolk, our children, our aged. Let's makes these Hibernian swine pay for their arrogance! To victory!" Raising his voice he thunders: "For God, for the Earl, for Salisbury!"

He turns and leads the army out the town gate facing the south.

Riding west along the road from Sarum to Vagon, Sir Garym encounters a large number of frightened peasants and villagers hauling their belonging east, toward Sarum.  They provide conflicting information that Sir Garym feels is of little practical value.

As he rides, he is joined by a couple of other knights and a number of men-at-arms.  Approaching Vagon, Sir Garym sees a large force of foot soldiers approaching along the road from the west.  He knows that there are usually 5 knights and a dozen foot soldiers garrisoned there.  It is difficult to tell how many soldiers are approaching but Sir Garym would guess 80-100.  He sees no evidence of knights.  This is certainly a very large force (half the number of soldiers Earl Robert musters).

There is a lot of smoke coming from the west and north-west, as well as farther to the South, which does not bode well.  The knights (3) and men-at-arms (10) can probably reach Vagon before the approaching soldiers.

Perin, hearing his brother shouting, turns control of the evacuation over to one of the men at arms assisting him.  Rushing over to Dalan, he quickly takes stock of the situation.  Glancing at the gathering of foot soldiers, he remarks "There's no time brothers, they'll just slow us down and would be better served by ensuring that the city is secure before the Irish arrive."  Fixing one of the sergeants with a look, he adds "Stop the evacuation, seal the city, and find any man capable of throwing a javelin or using a bow; get them up on the walls and ready for battle.  The Irish will no doubt be hot on our heels."

Nodding grimly as Sir Dalan's words, he sets his destrier into a gallop as they fly down the road towards their fellow knights.  There's precious little time to waste, and they can't let their brothers fall to the Irish.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:52, Sun 05 Nov 2017.

 Sejanus has been in his hall,and at his small desk,when the rider came through,warning of an Irish force attacking a nearby Manor. The young knight was skeptical as to the Irish part, but he had to assume there was an attack. " What size force, Horse verses foot. Whatever you can tell me,will be of great assistance." Sejanus said to the rider.

The rider hailed someone with his news and rode off in a hurry.

Looking toward the West there is smoke rising from the south west.

 The Knight sends for both his Steward and Squire. The Steward is told to have the Peasants gather what they can,as far as rations and water, then displace toward Sarum. Casca is to make ready the horses.

Sejanus and Squire now girded for battle, ride off in the direction of the smoke,to see what can be seen.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:19, Sun 05 Nov 2017.

Garym watches the two ride off whispering a soft prayer to god. He almost had to laugh as he realized that he like other became a religious man during the most trying of times. Sejanus self righteous confidence in the Lord was irritating, but he also envied that Sejanus had such faith. Sejanus wore it and it shield him from many things it seemed.

Garym rode off towards the nearest smoke as he got closer; he sought to avoid the fleeing masses by taking less travelled farmer's trails versus the trade roads. He needed to get closer , or find an elevated position that would allow him to could get a view. He was easy on his horse because if he was discovered he would need his mounts speed to escape.

Does Sir Garym wish to attempt to enter the castle at Vagon?  He is about half a mile distant, a little closer than are the Irish foot soldiers approaching from the far side.

Sir Dalan, Sir Gracian, Sir Perin, and seventeen of their fellows trot down the road toward the approaching soldiers.  The knightly rearguard sees the knights coming and rides forward to meet them.  The Salisbury soldiers are a couple of hundred yards in front of their pursuers and close to a mile from Wilton.  However, several dozen knights have appeared out of Ebble Castle and are now approaching quickly.

Sir Dalan frowns. "The enemy is quick, we must be quicker. One pass at their foot, then back to wall. As tempting as it is we can't afford to trade lances with so many Erse horse!"

Perin nods in agreement and spurs his horse onward.  If they repeat the tactic used by their brothers, then with their newly bolstered numbers, they might just caused enough chaos to slow down the column.  Hopefully this would buy them enough time to retreat and take shelter behind the prepared defenses of Wilton.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:47, Mon 06 Nov 2017.

As the knights pass the retreating foot soldiers, they can see the red-faced, grim determination that is driving them at top speed toward the safety of Wilton.  And then they are passed and with two waves of more than a dozen each, they swing to the right and come across the front of the enemy column, attempting to force the column into the path of the pursuing knights.

With so many knights it is both trickier and easier.  Trickier because the knights all have to maneuver at once lest they run into one another, easier because the sight of a couple of dozen horses charging you is really quite frightening.

They manage to cause sufficient chaos to scatter the front of the column and slow the knights somewhat.  But will it be enough?

They peel off and return to the marching men who are closing on the final half mile.

Looking back, it appears that the knights are closing too fast but the foot soldiers as one start a jog, while the knights rush ahead to get in and away from the gate.

When the Irish knights get to within one hundred yards it is clear that it would be a close call and they break off rather than risk flights of arrows or a counter charge that would catch them without their supporting foot soldiers.

The soldiers make it to the safety of Wilton and the doors clang shut.

Sir Perin gets a point in Horsemanship, Sir Dalan and Sir Gracian get checks in Horsemanship (if you don't aleardy have them).

Perin blows out a heavy sigh of relief once they're behind the safety of the city's walls.  Immediately dismounting and handing his steed's reins off to his squire, he makes for the parapets, so as to better observe the Irish forces.  Would they press their numerical advantage and attack, or would the city's defenses be enough to give them pause?

The knights who were manning Ebble castle explain that they counted approximately 200 foot soldiers and forty knights coming up the road from the south and that they had siege engines (which can be seen in the distance).  As the siege engines grew close, they could see another hundred or so foot soldiers coming up from the west along the north bank of the Ebble river and they knew that if they did not abandon the castle, they would be surrounded and taken.

Looking out to the west, they can see another hundred or so soldiers marching up the northern bank of the Naddar river, from the direction of Tisbury, Dinton, and Baverstock.

In reply to Sir Sejanus (msg # 21):

Ooops, sorry, I was about to reply to this and got sidetracked and then forgot that I had not replied.  D'oh!

Sir Sejanus rides west and sees a small tide of commoners hurrying in the opposite direction, heading toward Sarum.  He hears a number of wild rumors about hundreds of Irish soldiers attacking from the west which are obvious exaggerations.

At length, he gets to the manor at Shrewton, which stands abandoned.  Turning left he heads South-ish toward Chitterne, just on the other side of the northern fork of the Wylye River.  Approaching the manor from the south-west, are about a hundred Irish footmen.  There are a handful of knights and about a dozen men-at-arms currently holding the bridge but it seems that they will need to retreat soon or be captured or killed.

Garym takes a moment to appraise the situation; he scans the Irish to look at their armament and numbers. Once, that was done he spurred Harbinger towards the castle. "Castle Defenders, I am Sir Garym of Woodford. I ask entry!!!"

Perin, upon hearing the account of the knights from Ebble, hurries to find Dalan and Gracian.  Catching the pair, he murmurs quietly "We need to abandon the city, and quickly.  There's no way we can hope to hold against these kinds of numbers, especially if they have siege equipment.  If we make for the river and cut the bridge behind us, we might be able to buy some time."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:05, Mon 06 Nov 2017.

Sir Dalan looks very grim but nods at last. "Agreed, we'll fall back on old Sarum. There must be carpenters in this city who can bring down the bridge."

He shakes his head in disbelief. "So many!"

"My friend, could you keep a force of our knights here on the walls until the last minute?  The last thing we want is for them to figure out we're leaving, and rush us.  If they think we intend to hold the city, they'll be far more cautious in their approach."  At this, Perin claps his brother on the shoulder and begins ordering the evacuation of the city via the gate closest to the river.  Perin's expression makes it clear to the people of the city that there is to be no argument, and they're under strict orders to be quiet.  He does however send a few footmen to see about finding the supplies he needs to rig a trap for the Irish.  They're to move quickly though, as there's no time to waste.

"Yes, I'll show my shield on the walls." Sir Dalan smiles tightly and pats his panther emblazoned shield. "Sir Gracian go with our brother and help keep the citizens calm."

Sir Dalan turns and rounds up half of the knights - the taller or more flashily armoured the better to create an image of a stoutly defended wall.!