[No Dachi]

The War of Ios Continues...
After the disastrous Battle of Eastburr, it was clear throughout the ranks of the Northmern nobles that the ivnasion of Ios, their ancient enemy, had been a mistake. With the pathetic half-King Bieldric nowhere to be found, command of the army was quickly assumed by Lord Kierdron - a famous warrior and accomplished commander. But although a competent General, Kierdron is no less an arrogant and aggressive than Bieldric, and, confident that he still had enough men under his command to vanquish the ancestral foe once and for all, Kierdron immediately rallied whatever survivors of the battle he could and, together with his own force of 2,000 men, marched onwards toward Ulcaster. With Lord Bentley's force weakened, the General himself was quietly doubtful of the Iosi chances of stopping the Northmern before they reached the capital, but at this point he recieved word that reinforcement troops of the Eastern Barbarians who had, decades ago, taken the nation to Ios' south as their own, were fast on the way to help.

Lord Bentley had by now fallen back toward the capital, and was busy preparing a second line of defense. The Northmen would need to march uphill in order to reach Ulcaster, and Bentley quickly drew up plans to meet Kierdron head-on on one of the steeper sections of the climb (a part where the upward slope was actually noticable). Joined by the foreign troops and by Lord Gerard's forces, Bentley was now confident that the alliance forces would be able to win he coming confrontation. ith scouts reporting that the Northmern were but a day's' march away, Lord Bentley set out without delay and, the following morning, assembled his men into a line of battle.

Kierdron approached the allies' line in the beginning of the afternoon, with his still vast army of 2,800 men behind him. Although large in number, the Northmen were by now thoroughly demoralised; many had only stayed with the General for fear of being killed by his House Guard. And now they were being sent up against the very army that had defeated them so convincingly at Eastburr.

Despite the Northmens' large numbers and Kierdron's offensive capability, the battle was still largely a foregone conclusion. This time the Northmen attacked with better order, but the allies with their superior equipment and excellent morale soon won out. In just an hour, Kierdron was dead by samurai arrows and the remaining Northmen were fleeing back toward their homeland, showing no inclination to rally and continue the conflict.

Results
Taisho Ryu, having watched Bentley's again magnificent defense, has gone up to a 3 in defense himself.
Lord Bentley is further confirmed as the foremost defensive tactician in the lands.
Total victory for the allies with the Northmen running for their lives. Killed/captured ratios thus don't matter much.