Mariners lay siege to Cleveland, win 8-5

Our valiant knights march forth

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Our knights of Seattle have bravely set forth on another campaign after fending off the desperate horde of Chicago and the would-be rivals of Arlington. After such a successful defense, they now march to the Land of Cleve to set right a grave indignity done unto us just a few short months ago.

For who can forget when, just after the start of campaigning season, the so-called Guardians marched into our castle and vanquished our noble forces in two out of three battles. It took a long respite for our knights to gather their strength. Some more fickle souls among wrote the entire war off as a loss. But now our forces have never before held such a lead over our adversaries and the time has come to exact our revenge.

While Sir Scott Servais, King Dipoto’s Marshall held overall command of the siege, today’s operations were led by Sir Bryce, son of the miller. Although from common stock, Sir Bryce’s skill at arms has led him to great heights. Today was no different.

He was tremendous in defending the siege camp. Of the 25 opponents he faced, Sir Bryce directly slew two of them, and outmaneuvered the rest to be slain by his allies. And although he lost 6 duels and two enemies slipped past him, they did so without causing much harm unto our forces. Under Sir Bryce’s watch just two of these enemies managed to return safely home.

However sieges are not won by defending the camp alone. An army must go on the offensive. Our Mariners have been much maligned for their lack of offensive capability, yet as of late, they have been excellent attackers.

Today, the attacks were led by the trebuchet crews of Sirs Raleigh and Crawford. They battered down the walls of the Cleveland Keep. The enemy castle is tall and formidable, but our great knights first routed the enemy on the field.

Sir Crawford was the first trebuchet operator to clear the wall, knocking a rock off the top of the gate house on the right side. Sirs Raley and Moore each managed to send theirs over the high castle walls on the left side of the battlefield. Such accurate and powerful shots did tremendous damage to the Cleveland castle, and nearly cemented the Seattle victory.

With such extreme damage done in the early stages of the siege, this battle was practically won, despite the desperate throes of the enemy. Some poor pessimists may cry that 3 more “Guardians” managed to attack and reach home in the late stages of the battle, but those fruitless efforts had no effect on the outcome of this engagement.

Buoyed by the news of the defeat of out mortal enemies in Texas, the knights of Seattle will spend 2 more days fighting in the Land of Cleve before marching on down to the swamps of Florida. Should they win the next two battles with the Guardians, our Mariners will be in a great position to steal a free victory when it comes time for the decisive battles of October.

May they be forever victorious!