Councilor Delorin,
As promised, here is a rough outline of the Watch's defense intentions for the city. Should you find it too long, it may be roughly summarized as: lure them over traps, channel them into killing zones, empower our defenders with magic, and keep fighting until their leader flees and his thralls do likewise.
As for what the Watch needs from the Council, we primarily need the supplies necessary to enact this initiative. Stockpiles of cold iron weaponry, potions, and wands need to be purchased and secured at the three Watch Barracks and the Greycloak barracks at New Dunwarren; the Watch has used one percent of its budget to secure the installation of the spike impediments along the Main Gate, which needs to be reimbursed from the discretionary fund. We also need spike and any other types of traps available to be purchased; the pitch and tar-or fungal equivalent-also need to be procured. Lastly, we need the Council to support our defensive plans fully, and inspire the citizens of Sanctuary to victory. Do not plan to lose; we must prepare to win it all, or whatever shards of Sanctuary you protect will tear themselves apart fighting over dwindling provisions and space. We save either all of Sanctuary, or we save none of it. The Watch intends to save the entirety of the city-I suggest the Council prepare to do the same.
The defensive plan is attached below.
The following documents is divided into sections, each relating to the defense of a core part of Sanctuary. The final section discusses any matters that fall under the defense of Sanctuary as a whole.
Main Gate: The main gate offers the most secure defensive position within Sanctuary, but also the least amount of space in which to dictate the terms of battle. Of chief concern is the formian ability to seemingly effortlessly scale walls and fortifications; with this talent employed, they could easily swarm our defenders in a concerted assault, and render the Main Gate indefensible. In order to impede and obstruct any formian efforts to scale our walls, the Watch intends to secure the positioning of irregularly-placed, varying-length spikes and spike traps along the outer walls and tops of the gates and battlements. Even with the walls obstructed, however, massive numbers of formians might still be able to surmount these obstacles, or formian mages might be capable of burning them away.
Thus, an effective defense of the Main Gate will depend heavily upon prior warning-however brief-of the formian attack. It is my opinion that if the formians are allowed to engage our gate defenses on their terms, our defenses will not hold; even should our defenders eventually survive and slay the formians they are in combat with, the formians will have ample time and opportunity to descend into Sanctuary proper and devastate the city. With the prospect of facing massive numbers of formians capable of systematically overwhelming our defenders, we must strive as much as possible to limit their approaches and channel them into restricted access points through which we can minimize the impact of their numerical advantage.
To this end, prior to the assault, the Watch will station at least two groups of adventurers outside the Main Gate's security-either concealed by stealth, invisibility, or the terrain-to wait out the initial assault upon our gates. Once these adventurers are in position, the terrain outside the Main Gate will be layered with traps of any type available; in between these layers of traps, trails of tar and pitch-or, if these are unavailable, highly flammable, highly noxious fungus-will be spread, culminating in a layer of tar and pitch-or alternative-near the base of the walls themselves. The purpose of the traps will be merely to bleed the formians of energy and strength as they rush toward the gates, and perhaps to enourage their massed numbers to keep their distance. When the formians are sighted, the tar and pitch are to be set alight by arrows fired from our battlements; the intent is to obscure the terrain outside the walls with smoke, thereby inhibiting the ability of the formians to effectively target ranged weaponry or magical fire into our gates. Although the formians do have the ability to communicate telepathically, the impediment of their vision should certainly hinder any siege efforts.
Three animatrons will be stationed near both gates, the gates themselves will be sealed. The animatrons will be positioned to block any massive swarms into the defense area, with our defenders stationed between and under them to slay the formians in conjunction with the animatrons. Even should the animatrons fall, their remains will still serve as an impediment to the formians; surmountable, but useful. The remaining animatrons will be positioned along the stone walls, where they will be moved to block any formians attempting to crawl up onto the walls. Adventurers will be positioned behind them, ready to quickly move to any point of trouble and block a formian ascent, or to reinforce the defenders at the gate channels, should they be overwhelmed. The groups stationed outside the gates before the battle will be responsible for slaying any mages that attempt to siege our position with long-range spells; they will use invisibility and stealth to escape and reposition themselves after they slay their target, pursuant to another engagement.
Lieutenant Delorme's standard contingent is currently on duty at the Main Gate; when the alert is sounded, Watch reinforcements can be moved from the barracks to the defense bunker and then into position along the walls themselves.
In-Between Gate: Lieutenant Mohave's command has only a small territory to defend, but should the formians rampage through Lower and begin the ascent to Upper, his command could easily be overwhelmed if sufficient numbers are brought to bear against it. Spike traps and other defensive mechanisms may be placed along the edges of the In Between station, but these will not be able to completely halt a formian assault. Thus, if this garrison encounters only light formian resistance, is it to hold its position and slay any enemies who encounter it. If it becomes apparent that the formians converging upon it are large in number, the garrison is to be abandoned completely, with the men and women assigned to it ascending to Sanctuary proper and consolidating their numbers with the defenders stationed above.
Dunwarren Ruins Border/Third Barracks: The Order of the Spellguard has offered assurances that their borders along the Machine Zone will be well-protected. If the formians wish to breach a defensive position along the border with the ruins of the Dunwarren metropolis, it will be ours, which is admittedly weak. There are two primary points of entry into Sanctuary from the ruins; both will need to be laced with traps and secured by scouts to warn of any formian assaults from this direction. The garrison itself holds a defensible street that leads into Sanctuary proper; the other corridor will need to be defended by adventurers under the command of a Watch Private. Should the existing garrisons be unable to hold, they will summon reinforcements from reserves stationed in Sanctuary proper; they may fall back to the end of the streets they are protecting should the numbers arrayed against them prove daunting, but they will have to hold there and stand their ground; relinquishing control of the streets would allow the formians to swarm into the city proper.
New Dunwarren: New Dunwarren offers the most well-defended and isolated section of Sanctuary against this threat; however, the possibility does exist that the formians might attempt to ascend to it, especially if refugees are congregated within. Thus, the cliffs leading to New Dunwarren are to be lined with spike traps and similar impediments; the defenders on duty within are to assemble to watch these cliffs, leaving token watchers at their defensive gates. The winch that leads to Lower is to be raised and secured immediately upon the onset of assault; if the formians arrayed against New Dunwarren prove to be overwhelming in number, its defenders are to fall back to the Temple of Tyr and hold its entrances against assault until reinforcements can be brought to rescue them.
Old Sanctuary: Sanctuary Proper, with its many climbable connections with Lower, offers the most problematic area of defense for the city. On the alert of assault, the Watch Reserves are to be stationed throughout Sanctuary Proper under the command of their assigned leaders; the Greycloaks of New Dunwarren are to take up a reserve position near the Town Hall. Adventurers are to be organized into groups by available ranking Watchmen and Deputies, and either held in reserve or led to specific defensive positions along the city's borders. Barricades are to be set up near the stairwell to the In-Between to block and restrict any assault up it, should the In-Between Garrison need to be evacuated; the reserve forces are to be positioned near chasms that link to Lower to repel any formians that ascend into Upper. Citizens are to be offered the chance to take refuge in the Temple of Tyr; should they refuse, they are to be instructed to lock themselves away in their homes until the battle is concluded. Spikes snares can then be set along the edges of the chasms to impede movement upward; the concentrations of reservists in Sanctuary proper will allow them to quickly move to any point where they are needed, be it along the chasms or at one of the border defenses.
Dunwarren: Runners of little combat ability will be appointed to relay messages across the city; the defenses of the Cave Worms of Mycopolis and the gangsters of Lower Sanctuary are inadequate to repel any organize, concerted assault by the formians; their numbers will likely survive any assault, but the formians would be free to move past them and begin the ascent into Upper while they did battle. The reservists will be requested at different points of crisis based upon need; it is our intent to allow leeway when allocating these defenders, so that one border is not choked with defenders while another is left scarcely-defensible.
Zovaldar's Threat: When Zovaldar enters the battle, it will almost certainly be at the Main Gate; he is to be resisted strenuously, with every reinforcement we may muster aimed at halting him until his artifacts shatter. At this point, he will flee, and our defenders are to allow him to do so, and focus on eliminating the remaining formian waves. I cannot stress this part of the plan enough; Zovaldar -must- be held at the Main Gate, and he must be allowed to flee once his artifacts are shattered. We cannot waste defenders pursuing him recklessly. He is not invulnerable, and with sufficient magical wards upon our defenders, we can and will drive him back.
Notes: It should be noted that, although these formians have a superior numerical advantage against our defenders, they are not the equal of our adventurers and defenders in one-on-one combat. If they are restricted to combat in which they cannot swarm and overwhelm their opponents, then they can and will be defeated. Any supplies that can be used against them-including cold iron weaponry, potions, wands, scrolls, and traps-are greatly needed. The city is strong, and it is preparing to deal with this threat; it should never be assumed that we cannot triumph over it simply by virtue of numbers. We know what we must do to defend it, and we can and will succeed-the alternative is unfathomable.
-Lieutenant Sunellar