The End Nears. . . Once more the warriors mounted the walls of the city to watch the last rays of the sun fade. Yet, this night was different. For as the sun set, many warriors and mages huddled together in small groups, listening to small glowing crystals that bore news that was not at all encouraging. According to some, Trinsic was expected to fall this night, perhaps the next. Few outside of the city had hope of its survival. As we listened to these reports, I fear the same became true of those inside. As before, the night began with an assault on the front gate. At first simple skirmishing broke out. I rode forward and attacked the flank of our enemy, doing them as much harm as my poor might allowed. Unlike nights past, however, these initial raiders did not disperse. Instead, they were reinforced. On and on they came until gradually I and those fighting alongside me were pushed back to the gate where we made our stand. Yet the numbers of the enemy increased all the more. And, indeed, whereas we began the battle fighting nothing more than skeletons, now skeletal knights came forward and began to test our ranks. After a long and arduous battle, the skeletons were forced back along with the knights who accompanied them. It was then however that our ranks became dispersed as shades and specters began to rise from the very ground. Their unexpected appearance sent many of the more recently arrived warriors to flight. Our ranks thereby disrupted, it was then that the real enemy assault began. Down the road to the gate strode a Lich Lord and behind him marched an army of undead warriors the size of which the knights defending the city had only dreamt of in their most horrible nightmares. Liches, skeletal knights, and mummies by the score followed this lord of the undead toward our fair city as we prepared to meet them. The clash of arms was terrible to behold, yet we had the mastery. Solid did the line stay as the waves of undead crashed upon us as a wave. We held for almost an hour, as the bones and bodies piled up. Yet, though we held firm, our losses proved terrible. By the Virtues, never had I seen so many brave souls fall so rapidly. It seemed that every moment was filled with the dying scream of a comrade. Yet, despite these horrendous losses, the gate remained in our hands. Indeed, the gate would most assuredly have remained within our control had what happened next not occurred. For, at that moment, by some foul sorcerous power, a legion of lizardmen and ratmen appeared to our rear inside the very gate we had fought so long and sacrificed so much to hold. The gods surely were mad to allow this to happen, yet we had no choice but to turn and fight now on two fronts. Some say that even then we might have held, for though our numbers have dwindled since the siege began, those that are left to defend the walls are the very best Trinsic and all of Britannia have to offer. We fought desperately and held our ground at the gate, being attacked on all sides. But alas, as we fought, a shadow came over the battlefield. Turning our faces skyward, the sable night became darker still as huge masses blotted out the hazy light of star and moon. Many quailed and fled at that moment for all knew what the darkening sky portended. . . daemons had arrived on the battlefield. They flew in low over our heads and landed all about us. Though we certainly looked now upon certain death--to the credit of those still standing in defiance of the inevitable--none fled. Indeed, we fought all the more tenaciously. For we knew then that the city was lost and our deaths were before us. Indeed, the city would have been lost forever and our demise should surely have come to pass if not for the courage of the magic-wielders in that hour. Let the bards and minstrels hereafter write epic ballads of the valor and sacrifice of the magi on this dreadful eve. For, it was their power that rescued Trinsic in its darkest hour. As if they all were of one mind, every mage in the city acted in accord. Hurling energy bolts and searing tongues of flame at the hellish beasts, the magi decimated the daemons one by one. All the while the mages ignored their own peril as many of them fell to unheeded skeletons and ratmen. Yet the enemy continued to pour in through the gate and it seemed that more also appeared in our rear. Then, to our dismay, a messenger arrived with news that the southern gate had been taken as well. All seemed lost as we were driven back along the streets toward the center of town. Preparing for our doom, we decided to make a stand on the bridge to the east of the city jail. There, a battle both grim and spectacular took place as living and dead attempted to eradicate the other. Indeed, in that hour we all felt keenly that here we verily fought against death itself. As daemons and lich lords strode through the streets slaughtering those foolish enough to engage them in single combat, we held our line on this last piece of free ground in Trinsic. Long we held that bridge and the ground immediately surrounding it. The daemon-captains of the enemy seemed loathe to approach us for fear of the powerful magic they would surely encounter as they came into range of our magi. It was then that I came to the conclusion that my poor strength could not possibly amount to any decisive factor in this battle. Surely, I mused, I could be more useful to our cause by attempting to summon help to the city by magical means. Resolving to attempt this, I traveled to Britain by magical means, proclaiming that Trinsic's hour of most desperate need was at hand. Upon hearing this, many promised to make their way to Trinsic as soon as they could equip themselves for battle. Others joined me upon the hill nigh the bank for immediate transport to Trinsic via moongate. Conjuring the gate and passing through, we were astounded at what we saw. The band of desperate warriors no longer held the bridge where we arrived. Instead, a grand melee was taking place all around us. It appeared then to us that the forces of evil--believing the battle to be essentially over--had begun to lose cohesion as they broke up their formation in order to begin looting and pillaging the city. Realizing that the Virtues had provided them an opportunity when all seemed lost, the warriors and mages of the city gathered themselves for one last effort. Throwing themselves at the now disorganized and confused enemy, the forces of Virtue began to win back many parts of the city. Eventually, a party of which I was a member regained the main gate. By doing this, we not only denied the enemy hordes further access to the city, but also trapped those of the enemy still within the walls. It was then that the slaughter of the undead truly began as we decimated the forces left before us within the city about the main gate. Having cleared the area of the city that surrounded the main gate, a mage summoned a gate to the south of town which remained in enemy hands. As warrior after warrior passed into the gate, our victory in the south seemed assured. Consisting only of ratmen and lizardmen, this southern enemy succumbed quickly to our swords and spells. Finally, returning to the main gate, we found that those we had left behind to hold the gate had exercised uncommon valor and initiative. Seeing that the masses of enemy troops before them in the forest were disorganized and weakened, they sallied forth and drove the enemy off. Against all odds. . . against all hope. . . our victory was complete. Yet nobody celebrated. For, looking about us, we had never seen so many dead. . . heroes. For that is the only name that suits those who gave their lives in this most desperate battle. The bodies of noble warriors and magi lay about us everywhere. . . some so cruelly hewn and mangled that their forms passed beyond recognition. Our losses had truly been terrible and it was painfully evident that only the enemy's inexplicable lack of cohesion in their moment of triumph allowed us to snatch victory from the jaws of a crushing defeat. The sun now rises over the battlements as I write this. Yet the sight brings no joy to the weary defenders of these walls. We know better than to think that we might be able to accomplish such a remarkable victory again. For it is plain that Trinsic cannot endure another assault such as the one it endured this eve. Unless the remainants of our once proud army are resupplied and reinforced, Trinsic has but little hope to see the dawn of a new day. I pray that Lord British send aid, and that it arrive ere sundown. Lest all be lost. . .