Hello, everyone. It's been quite a season, with its ups and downs, but mostly ups. This may be the most frustrating and exciting Buckeyes team since the 2014 squad, and while their efforts may not be enough in the end to get them to the playoffs, no one can say this team didn't play with heart.
Day the Second of the Twelfth Moon, Year Two Thousand Ten and Eight
Having bested the goblins in glorious battle, Lord Urban of Meyer and his grand army did sally forth from the gates of Columbus, their intent to capture the greatest prize in all the Fourteen Kingdoms: the Sacred Orb of Indianapolis. With such an artifact, much would be possible, for smelted into its silver were a great many spells of portent and potency. On their path to Indianapolis Lord Urban and his knights passed many a ruin. They saw the great desolation in Michiganus and witnessed firsthand the smoldering cinders that had once been the riverside camps of the Hoosia. They gave a wide berth to the golden temple domes of Notredamus, where the golden army had fallen into slumber, awaiting its next war whenever that would come.
Eventually they crested the foothills to the east of Indianapolis, and that was when the sharp eyes of Sir Haskins of the Strong Arm did mark upon the purple tents and flapping pennants of the Catmen of the Northwestern Reaches, encamped upon the outskirts of the marble ruins of the fabled city of Indianapolis. Lord Urban and his generals did then confer, pondering their next move. Lord Ryan of Day advised a surprise attack against the Catmen, whilst Greggorius Schianus advised a more diplomatic approach, opining that Lord Urban should parley first with the Catmen. Lord Urban agreed with Schianus, and sent a delegation to the Catmen's camp. The delegation was met by Catman general, Lord Fitzgar. Fitzgar was an old acquaintance of Lord Urban, the two having once fought together against the Dragonblood Horde of Canadia. But old allegiances would hold no sway on this day, and Lord Fitzgar would make no compromise, seeing the Orb of Indianapolis as his prize and his alone. The Ohioan delegation thus returned to Lord Urban with talk of imminent war. Lord Urban deployed his troops while Lord Fitzgar did the same.
It should be said that the Catmen of the Northwestern Reaches were close in kin to the Savage Catmen of Mount Nittano, but only in terms of blood. For there could not be two races more distinct in character and accomplishment. Unlike their savage mountain-dwelling brethren, the Catmen of the Northwest were an urbane, sober, and cultured folk, very clever and learned in the ways of science and philosophy. Their scholars and physicians were renowned across all realms, and their hidden cities in the mist were reputed by travelers to be grandiose. And in the arts of warfare, the Catmen were similarly accomplished.
In the prelude to battle, the Catmen lined up in orderly formations, daring the men of Ohio to cross their lines and attack. And so the men of Ohio did, with Sir Haskins at the fore. Competent though they were, the Catmen were badly outnumbered, and their steel could not hold an edge long against the heavy armor of the Ohioan knights. In this early stanza of battle, the favor was firmly with the men of Columbus. The Catmen were pushed off their lines and thrown back by successive attacks, but never did they lose their footing, and soon, with Lord Fitzgar and his trusted lieutenant Sir Torssonn rallying them forward, the Catmen did push back against the Ohioan tide. In this counterattack Sir Weber was nearly lost, but Sir Haskins spurred his horse on and interceded for his friend, seeing off a dozen or more Catmen with his lance.
Knights such as Sir Chase the Young, Sir Campbell, Sir Dobbins, and Sir MacLaurin, under the lead of Sir Haskins, did turn the tide of battle decisively and finally in the favor of Ohio. Outmatched and well outnumbered, the Catmen's lines did at last break, and soon Lord Fitzgar was surrounded. Seeing no alternative, Lord Fitzgar drove his blade into the soil and threw up his arms, signalling his capitulation.
Lord Urban did not put Lord Fitzgar in chains, and instead dined with him in the shadow of the ruins of Indianapolis, treating his prisoner as honored guest, for such is the nature of firm friends. The next morning, he and a hundred knights would ride into the old city, and there he would lay hands upon his prize: the Orb of Inidanapolis. With its great power, there was no accounting for how much he and the armies of Columbus could accomplish.
