Battle of the Prancing Poundington

The Battle of the Prancing Poundington was a conflict that occured during the Stythe Wars. After the defeat of Cranny Fagits and the retaking of Stythe Hall by the forces of the Swords of the Soundboard, Reverend Salazar Stythe began to panic - he consolidated his remaining two Corhruxes in the Prancing Poundington, which served as the headquarters of the Cult of Stythe - but Princeps autem Consolus became aware of this, and mobilised a strike team to attack the Prancing Poundington and destroy the Corhruxes.

Prelude to Battle
When her scouts reported that Poundington had been gifted the Staff of Salazar Stythe, Princeps was initially concerned - the Staff was immensely powerful, and if used in conjunction with the Trophy of Tinne and Poundington's own power, the results could be devastating. However, it suddenly occured to her that this move by Stythe was actually a gift to the Swords of the Soundboard - as it would only take a decisive strike against Poundington for both Corhruxes to be destoyed, leaving Stythe vulnerable for the first time in nearly 3 years of war.

Princeps therefore decided to assemble her forces for combat, and co-ordinated with the Swords of the Soundboard and SuperNutty for the first time in the Stythe Wars, as even she admitted that the destruction of the Corhruxes was of paramount importance, and a joint strike would prove most effective. The plan was drawn up on the eve of battle, and the Swords mobilised for war.

Attack on the Prancing Poundington
Built as a Mead Hall for the Cult of Stythe, the Prancing Poundington was once a place of vulgar celebration of the Cult's early victories against the Swords - however nearly a year of continuous losses has taken its told on the Cult and the Prancing Poundington itself, which was already in disrepair. Mead cellars were vacated to become weapons stores, drinking tables were repurposed into beds, Mead barrels were broken up and used to barricade windows and doors. However, these makeshift defences were not enough to hold back the forces of the Swords, who had already engaged the defenders of the Prancing Poundington several times in small skirmishes before Princeps took command of the attack.

Princeps instead decided that a full-force assault on the Prancing Poundington would be enough to break the defenders inside, despite the fact that the Hall housed nearly 3,000 of the Cult's remaining members. Using the power of the console, Princeps summoned siege weapons and war machines, and sent scouts led by Detective Inspector McBabe to assess the weaknesses in the Prancing Poundington's defences. When the time came, Princeps gave the order, and the cannons fired, smashing walls and windows as the Cult of Stythe attempted to rally their defences.

Poundington Intervenes
The cannonfire continued for several hours, reducing the lobby of the Prancing Poundington to rubble and causing severe damage to the main hall. Despite being built with similar architecture to Minas Music, the Prancing Poundington proved far less resistant to conventional siege machines, and the Poundington Spider was eventually forced to intervene.

He dropped onto the battlefield and destroyed several of Princeps' cannons, and Drez Bro Dude A attempted to engage the Spider. Despite faring well against Bankington years ago in the Raid on the Crypt, Drez was knocked back by the overpowered Spider, who continued to destroy the cannons and lessen the pressure on the defenders of the Prancing Poundington. Princeps autem Consolus then engaged the Spider personally, console-ing weapons and items to defend herself - but in vain. The power of the staff was too strong, and even Princeps began to fear that the Spider had gotten the better of her.

Assault of the Swords
Just as is looked like the Poundington would beat Princeps, he was suddenly knocked back - fifteen shurikens, thrown by Shurachiken, signalled the arrival of the Swords of the Soundboard reinforcement army, and the blades of death hit Poundington square in the chest, knocking him backwards and away from Princeps. With the Swords reinforcing their charge, the invaders broke the main doors to the Prancing Poundington and stormed the building, with intense combat between the Cult and the Swords ensuing.

The Trophy of Tinne, safe on its pedestal within the Prancing Poundington, was torn down by Shurachiken and Samuramanda, with both warriors taking one handle of the Trophy, and used their katanas to tear the Corhrux in two, destroying it for good. The resulting explosion blasted the forces of the Swords away and utterly obliterated the Prancing Poundington.

Aftermath
With the Trophy gone and the Prancing Poundington destroyed, Poundington himself fled the scene with the Staff of Stythe, rallying what was left of the Cult of Stythe on a random field called 'The Mystery'. Princeps would later go to finish what she started in the Duel on the Mystery, slaughtering Poundington and destroying the Staff. With the Prancing Poundington in ruins, the Brian Blundell institute could finally rebuild, and the Cult of Stythe were damaged irrepairably.