Destruction of White Ridge

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Destruction of White Ridge
Information
Era	War with Phyrexia
Date	4073 AR
Location	White Ridge, Whispering Woods, Aerona, the Domains, Dominaria
Result	Victory for Towser Complete destruction and abandonment of White Ridge Gull and Greensleeves recruited into Towser's entourage Sparrow Hawk is separated from the rest of the villagers
Commanders and Leaders
Dacian Towser
Strength
40+ soldiers 2 centaurs 1 giant 36 barbarians 24 goblins 4 war balloons 1 djinn 1 hydra
Casualties and Losses
3+ soldiers 36 barbarians 3+ goblins At least 11 civilians killed, including Cowslip, Cub, Bittersweet, Brown Bear, Gorman, Lion, and Otter, Poppyseed, and Rainfall.
Timeline
Time of Troubles Destruction of White Ridge Mangara's Harmony

The village of White Ridge in the Whispering Woods was destroyed in 4073 AR.

Background

A month before the battle, an object fell in the Whispering Woods northwest of the village of White Ridge. Attracted by the object, the wizards Dacian and Towser met outside White Ridge to contend for it.

Overview

Dacian summoned a phalanx of soldiers in silver-scaled armor. They wore tunics and kilts of red and red-plumed helmets and carried round, burnished shields, short swords, and javelins. They were joined by the centaurs Helki and Holleb, and the giant Liko. In response, Towser summoned blue-tattooed barbarians with long, braided white hair and tusks who carried curved swords and obsidian-studded clubs, four goblin war balloons, a sky blue djinn, and a six-headed hydra.

The forces clashed in the middle of White Ridge, killing combatants and civilians alike. Dacian summoned an earthquake that destroyed nearly every cottage in the village.

In the wake of the village's destruction, the wizards summoned over one hundred trolls to scavenge the battlefield clean. Dacian, flying above the scene, drained the life from the survivors, killing a third and rendering another third comatose. Towser responded by attempting to take her down with a stone rain, killing many of those unconscious. Many of the survivors subsequently died from Black Plague.

Aftermath

The survivors, grief-stricken and afraid, saw no future in the ashes of their home. With no choice but to move on, they gathered what little remained and left to seek a new beginning elsewhere. Only the freshly orphaned Gull, a woodcutter, and his sister Greensleeves, who could not speak but only chatter like an animal, refused to leave. Their younger brother, Sparrow Hawk, had vanished in the destruction, and Gull was unwilling to abandon the place where his family had been lost.

In the wreckage of White Ridge, Gull discovered three strange beings — a pair of centaurs, Helki and Holleb, and the Two-Headed Giant Liko — who had been summoned to fight in the duel. Believing them to be little more than mercenaries, he treated them harshly, but they revealed that wizards controlled them with mind magic, forcing them into battle against their will.

Soon after, Towser, one of the wizards from the duel, arrived. He claimed he had taken no part in White Ridge’s destruction and offered Gull a place in his service, as his previous freight master, Gorman, had died in the battle. Weary, lost, and unknowingly influenced by Towser’s magic, Gull accepted. As a gesture of goodwill, Towser released the centaurs and Liko from their bindings, sending them back to their homelands.