Battle of Marshank

The Battle of Marshank refers to the attack by the army of Martin the Warrior and the Fur and Freedom Fighters against Fort Marshank. Both sides were roughly equal in size.

The Marshank army, led by Badrang the Tyrant, consisted of rat, weasel, ferret and fox hordebeasts and corsairs.

The attackers were mainly of two groups: Martin's army, and the Fur and Freedom Fighters. Martin's army itself consisted of Broadstream River otters and shrews, Noonvale inhabitants who'd come to fight, a tribe of coastal pygmy shrews led by Queen Amballa, and the wild Gawtrybe. The Fur and Freedom Fighters were former slaves of Marshank, and the Rambling Rosehip Players from down south.

There were two attacks: Martin's army actually arrived when the Fur and Freedom Fighters, who numbered only about seventy, were about to be crushed by the Marshank horde. Martin attacked the fort with a driftwood battering-ram, and its soldiers were forced to hurry back to defend it. Although the sudden attack was unnerving, Badrang showed shrewd experience and soon gained a notable advantage, whereupon the attackers withdrew to plan their next move. The Marshank horde relaxed.

However, before dawn the next day they were fighting a losing battle, as a surprise attack caught them unawares and unready. A burning cart soon destroyed the main gates in a fire. The north and south walls were attacked by Martin's army, and a group of moles tunnelled into the fort from the west side. The Marshank soldiers were all killed in the battle, and Badrang was killed by Martin.

After the battle the victors went their own ways: the Fur and Freedom Fighters went to Noonvale, and Martin's horde dispersed.