The party and Laralove Dewshining awaken to a horn in the courtyard. The guards notice that the dragons are slow to rouse that morning, and when they do awaken that morning their eyes and mouths are bloody, and they appear weak. The culprits are soon found. Succubi have been hiding among the camp followers and have poisoned the livestock delivered to the dragons the previous day. A calculated and devastating blow to the Nerathi air defenses.
King Mithraelfast and Lord Ironfist are encamped on the south side of the ruined city, and their stone giants corps stands with the wardens, blocking the goblin army's advance. They stand ready to meet the great goblin horde, which is lead by Gork the giant, and his two Ogre captains Marl and Valg.
The gobins bring up siege engines to pound the King's dwarf and orc footsoldiers from a distance before engaging. They take cover among the ruins of the city just before the dragons come in, tearing into their ranks and destroying many of the knights from the northern lands: the Therund Chargers, Vor Rukoth's Regulars, the Nera House Guards of the noble families, as well as many other northerners serving the league.
Laralove turns the city's siege weapons against the advancing goblin horde. She draws the fire of the Iron Circles seige weapons which pummel her defenses, taking out large sections of the south tower and wall, which fall down the mountainside along with many brave defenders. Goblins begin scaling the walls toward the palace, as the King and Lord Ironfist lead a phalanx of Stone Giants into the heart of the Iron Circles humanoid infantry.
Xanroar Carter guards the eastern front of the city facing the woods. His wardens watch stoically as a great mass of gnolls and worgs rush out from the forest to meet the rangers in battle.
The fighting rages all day, and as night settles in the goblins regroup to the south. Some encamp on the southern edge of the city or the mountainside. The gnolls and worgs run back to the woods, drawing the pursuit of Xanroar and several brave rangers who cut down some of the lingering forces before returning to their posts on the eastern ruins of the city.
The King and Lord Ironfist camp in the heart of the new city by the lake at the base of the mountain, guarding the inhabitants from the goblins forces and helping those too weak to fight, but still mobile find their way north on the road out of the city. He sends a group of guards composed of other broken units along with the refugees headed north.
When the battle resumes the next day the goblins continue to scale the mountainside toward the palace, firing their siege weapons. Laralove rides the great Adamantium Dragon and leads the rest of the dragon knights in attacking the mountaineers and their siege weapons. Though her magical attacks burn through their ranks and take out half of their trebuchets, a swarm of goblin crossbow bolts eventually takes down the fearless mage.
King Mithraelfast and Lord ironfist fall shortly afterward fighting the Ogres Marl and Valg. Once the king dies, the Giant Gork makes short work of his remaining loyal stone giants. Nerath's dragon knights and stone giants kill off many of the goblins scaling the walls, giving some of the defenders of the Exarch's palace time to flee before the Iron Circle's own dragons catch up with them and being to tear them from the sky.
Xanroar Carter and the wardens die pressed from the skies by dragons while the gnolls and worgs overrun them and begin buring and looting the city.
Laralove's Adamantium dragon and a Mithril dragon are the last remaining dragons in the palace by nightfall. They are too honorable to leave, though the Dragonne, Nickel, and Storm dragon have already fled back to the north. Perched atop the mountain above the Exarch's ruined palace they survey the city in ruins. The officers and elite forces have encircled the Exarch's palace and begin to pick off those few guards who have chosen to remain and die fighting.
All of the goblins and iron circle infantry were destroyed in the battle (over 100,000 troops). Their corpses litter the ruins of the city and mountainside below. Another 50,000 defenders lie dead, the rest fled to the north with those few city folk fast enough to escape the Gnolls and Worgs who patrol the northern road. From the mountaintop a great column of remnants snake off into the horizon, making a hasty retreat.
The party defends the retreating column from the advancing armies, saving many lives. The unicorn is killed fighting a giant when a Hex Dragon swoops down and attacks the creature with a jet of venom. The party kills the Iron Circles commanding general pursuing the refugees and the remaining soldiers retreat and are cut down by Nerathi allies.
The dragons rot from within slowly from the diabolical poison without cure. They leave the field of battle carrying the party north to Mithraelfast, where they are given an important quest by the Queen to find an artifact of great power in some ruins in the Eastern lands near Markul and the Gorgonlands.
