Battle of Eisenthor

Imperial forces were divided in two: those holding the city of Eisenthor, and those marching to relieve it. The latter arrived from the eastern road; it was able to approach the battlefield unseen the night before the engagement.   Magisterial forces were divided into four flanks, one for each cardinal direction, each with its own general. The over-all command was shared, and on the morning of the battle all four generals had convened in the command tent of the eastern flank.

Eisenthor straddles a river flowing from the northeast to the southwest in a wide, shallow valley as it emerges from a forest. Apart from the river gates, Eisenthor has three large gates: the eastern, the southern, and the western. There is about a mile of clear land between the edge of the forest and the city itself, which is mostly pasture land.

Imperial forces in the city were on the verge of surrender, and had sent messages to the Magisterial leadership asking to discuss terms. The Magisterial generals had convened on the eastern flank to decide what terms were acceptable to them – they had wanted unconditional surrender, but the winter was approaching, and morale among the besieging forces was low.   Unseen by Magisterial forces – and to a large extent to Imperial forces as well – the Imperial relief army had marched up to the threshold of the forest, forming a strong centre of infantry supported by crossbows and arquebusiers, as well as two flanks of heavy cavalry and light infantry, each supported by ballistae and crossbows. Without warning, or issuing any formal challenge, the two wings charged into an encircling pincer movement, the cavalry hammering down upon the eastern flank, with the crossbows and infantry securing the flanks, while the centre charged headlong into the barely awake, let alone deployed, Magisterial centre.   Magisterial discipline was soon restored, but communication between the eastern flank and the rest of the force was impeded by the fact that the Imperial attack had essentially pinned the eastern siege flank to the city walls. Fighting was fiercest at the centre near the command tents, which were on a rise, as the Magisterial core, made up of the four generals and their knightly honour guard – with no small number of Knights of the Silver Hand among them, formed up to resist the cavalry onslaught.   When Eisenthor's defenders saw the Imperial charge, they immediately rallied, forming a renewed defence. There was even a charge of heavy cavalry out of a sally port on the northern flank – an attempt to add to the confusion and general disarray.   The battle raged on for most of the day before the two remaining Magisterial generals offered terms, having been personally forced to yield in combat. One of the two others had fallen in combat, and another had somewhat controversially taken his own life.   The conclusion of the battle saw the two generals captured, with the Magisterial forces commanded to disband and return across the border to uncontested Magisterial territory.

While the Magisterial siege was lifted, it was to be only in the spring of 2431 that Eisenthor stood any chance of returning to normal, as pestilence had spread within the walls, and the Imperial Forces were called upon to confine the inhabitants of that city once more, imposing a cordon of quarantine.   In punishment for their role in spreading the pestilence to the city by contaminating its food and water supplies, the Magisterial generals were drawn and broken, their bodies displayed in iron cages from the steeple of the cathedral.

The atrocities visited on the inhabitants of Eisenthor have caused a rift to form between the High Magistrate and the Illuminated Imperial Crown.

The Battle of Eisenthor has become almost mythological in its importance to Imperial self-identity; it is used to fuel patriotic fervour, and to motivate the commons to fund further Imperial military activity. The conquest of Lhünen, of which the Battle of Eisenthor was the culmination, has re-kindled Imperial ambition, and there has not been an Emperor on the throne since Eisenthor who has not at least considered renewed westward expansion.