Fresh off the Press

The Rutulian Offensive

   It's no secret that an army's weakest moment is when their leader is away, and if you don't believe me than listen to this. Yesterday afternoon while Aeneas, leader of the Trojan army, was away for diplomatic purposes the Rutulian army layed siege to the Trojan camp. When no immediate weakness was found in the encampment Turnus, leader of the Rutulian army, ordered his men to burn the ships of the Trojans. Effectively removing any chance of fleeing this war. But as if by magic the ships pulled loose and submerged themselves, only to reappear as nymphs! I was able to interview one of Turnus' men who had witnessed this extraordinary event.         

This is his recount of the situation. "Everything was going as you would expect it to go. The ships were burning, our men were cheering, it was a great victory against the Trojans to destroy their fleet. We saw the ropes pull loose, and thought they had burned off, and as the ships sank our men cheered even harder. However, soon after the ships reemerged as sea-nymphs! It was one of the oddest things I've ever seen! Naturally myself and fellow soldiers were perplexed and a little disturbed by these events, but Turnus was brave as always and remained confident that our victory would come swiftly over the Trojans." 

Now you may think that since the Trojans were surrounded, under siege, and without a commander that they would be unable to put up any sort of offensive, but you would be wrong. That night as the Rutulian army pondered it's next move and rested two Trojan warriors, Nisus and Euryalus, crept out of the encampment and slaughtered the sleeping Rutulians. As daybreak came they were found out by a returning squad of horsemen, and quickly dispatched off. The following is a direct quote taken from one of the returning horsemen. "As we arrived back to camp something seemed a little off, and I couldn't quite put my finger on what exactly was wrong. That is until I saw that flash out of the corner of my eye. The sun rose just in time and we were able to spot the retreating Trojan assassins by following the glare of one of their helmets. A helmet we later realized were stolen from one of our captains that had been murdered previously in the night." Although this was a good victory for the Trojans they would soon feel the repercussions of these actions.

The next morning as the devastation from the midnight attack sank in Turnus ordered his troops to make a full frontal assault onto the Trojan fortress. As the Rutulian front pushes against the gates trying to find a way in the Trojans suddenly open the gates and charge forth with a deadly charge. It appears as if the Trojans had pushed back the Rutulians until Turnus joined the fray turning back the Trojan assault. As the gates to the walls closed Turnus slipped in and proceeded to slaughter the surprised Trojans inside. Incredibly outnumbered he puts up a fight killing dozens before finally escaping by diving into the Tiber river at the last second! 

To get the updates on this bloody war in detail make sure to pick up tomorrow's copy!