Battle of Haleston

Background
SA 298 opened with a series of disasters for the withering Alkyne Empire. The Calamanns, who had been pillaging in the North March since the previous summer, unexpectedly turned south in mid-May under their leader Haregan and seized Haleston, sacking and then occupying the city. This represented the most south the Northmen had yet struck in their incursions. Only a month later, the Berskins relegated to the Aranieul valley rose in revolt, murdering Warden Symon Jeryme and destroying Merestrung before beginning a slow but destructive march west into the heart of the Middefold. These developments confirmed the ineffectiveness of Emperor Sirius V's policy of 'proxy power' and finally provoked formal Imperial military intervention in the war-torn region: Prince Mathieu mobilized the fyrds of Harehald and the Middefold while King Ran I Arloginian despatched several thousand men east to support his hegemon. By late August, he had assembled some thirty thousand men and began an advance north against the Calamanns, his first target. The Calamine's attempted to face Mathieu in the field, but his overwhelming numerical superiority convinced them to submit, which they did outside of Haleston's walls on September 20th, agreeing to retire to reservations in the Northern March. The Imperial army then halted.

At the time of the initial Imperial advance, the Berskins had divided into two columns, both of which were raiding and wrecking havoc across the region. One column, some ten thousand-strong and under the command of Logen Blackdon, advanced east of the Gutlet. Believing this to be the main Berskin body, Mathieu despatched his subordinate Magjon Arloginian with half of the army to intercept the Berskins, himself remaining in Haleston with the reminder of the army. The other Berskin column, however, some 12,000 men under the command of King Landen I, was farther north and upon news of Magjon's departure force-marched east to attack Mathieu's force in Haleston.

Course of the Battle
The battle began late in the afternoon of October 8th when the Berskins, having formed ranks in the Wood, fell on the unsuspecting Imperial encampment outside of the city walls. Despite being outnumbered, the Berskins, through surprise and force-of-arms, routed the Imperials in a sharp but brief battle. A rigorous pursuit of Mathieu's army was prevented, however, by the ensuing pillaging of the Imperial encampment by the emaciated Berskins, allowing the Imperials to retire safety behind Haleston's walls. The onset of night brought the first day of the battle to an end.

The battle resumed late the next morning with a furious Bearskin assault against the city walls. A large proportion of the Imperial artillery train had been captured the previous day, and the city was subjected to a general bombardment as ladders and towers scaled the walls. Fighting along the walls was fierce, and it took a succession of assaults for the battlements to be wrested from Imperial hands. Bloody street fighting followed as the Berskins, pouring through the battered Northern Gate, found the tight streets blocked by Imperial barricades, well-defended and equipped with light cannon. Again and again, the Berskins charged these defenses, only to be repulsed by shot and sword. Amon Grann was felled at the head of one these ill-fated attacks, blunting the waning momentum of the Berskin assault, and by the time the vanguard of Magjon Arloginian was spotted emerging from the Wood the Berskins had already retreated from the body-strewn streets.

The battle shifted again with Magjon's arrival onto the field, as the Berskins themselves came under attack from two sides. The Imperials counterattacked from the streets and in a heavy melee regained the battlements, though at a crippling cost. The Berskins would have now broken if not for Landen, who rallied his wavering men and led a determined defense of the former-Imperial encampment, where the Berskins had retreated to. Maggot's force arrived on the field piecemeal, and after initially overrunning the northern end of the encampment they were driven back to the Wood in heavy fighting that continued into the night. At some point during the battle, Mathieu II led several hundred knights in a sortie from the Northern Gate, but after breaking through the encampment they were overwhelmed, with Mathieu being severely wounded and captured. The battle gradually died down following Mathieu's capture, although sporadic fighting did continue into the night as both sides staged sorties.

Aftermath
The battle utterly exhausted both belligerents and the three armies remained locked in a stalemate for a further day as none could reopen the battle. The situation of the Imperial army inside the city was dire; the city had been reduced to ruined by the fighting and could not sustain an army for much longer, high command was contested by Mathieu's subordinates, and barely 8,000 men were fit-for-service. These factors, combined with Magjon's fears that Logen Blackdon's host would fall on him from behind, prompted the negotiation of the Haleston Pact on October 11th. In exchange for free passage from the city, the Imperials would cede it to the Berskins and retire to Stromkrop, agreeing not to confront with the Berskins for an entire year. The Imperial army in Haleston, battered and exhausted, paraded through the Western Gate the following day and the city was promptly occupied by the Berskins, ending the first battle of the Great Berskin Revolt.