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Post by Duma on Sept 25, 2016 8:53:23 GMT -6
Night time was a time of calmness and tranquility. The few fires that were lit were those of the scouts. The Qazvin had a small fire within their camp that was slowly dying out. What meat was left over from the feast was hung over the dying flames in order to dry it into jerky. Duma was awake for a small portion of the night. He had finished his little jobs around the camp and was now taking care of personal matters. He spent his time with the little campfire grooming his hair and face. His swords were recently sharpened and polished. They lay delicately along side him. Their reflective edges reflected what little light they could. It gave the blades an appearance of them glowing orange with fire.
Once he had finished tending to the needs of his hair and clothes he sat down and stared at the fire. His mind was riddled with thoughts about his life. His time here with the Qazvin had reawakened some old memories. He thought of his family back in Eturia. He had sent them a letter months ago and silently wondered if it ever arrived. If the letter was even read by his adoptive family. He knew nothing of the status of his old home. He didn't know if the place was still standing. If any of his family still lived. He shook his head. He couldn't be thinking of them now. Not when they were marching into Eturia to stop Kraft and his army. And yet these thoughts persisted. What would he do? What would he do if he ran into his aunt and uncles on the battle field? If he saw them skewered by the other tribes men.. or if he had to do it himself? He knew this was war. It's kill or be killed. It's kill or be killed. He repeated the mantra in his mind.
He thought of Remus, the kids, Donny, and Perun. He knew Remus was a devotee of Elimine. And no dobut Kraft would be re-recruiting his clergy to fight the opposition. Would the blue haired priest side with Kraft. He had a feeling he would.. but probably not out of free will. And then he wondered if Donny and Perun would join him in that endeavor. Duma doubted it.. but he knew the pair of them were mercenaries. If the pay was good they might join. He sighed. He closed his eyes and quietly prayed. He prayed to every god and spirit he knew that he would not see anyone he knew personally out in the battlefield. He prayed for the safety of his friends, family, and for the tribe that took him in. He prayed for a quick end to what will be a nasty war. He clapped his hand when the prayer was over and opened his eyes again. He quietly packed his things and returned to his bed roll. Tomorrow was a new day. --
The early morning hours were hectic. The scouts had sounded the alarm and the whole camp was in a frenzy. Duma prepared himself quickly. He put on his clothes and light armors in a hurry. His swords were tucked away into their sheaths and on his belt. He shoved a piece of jerky into his mouth and chewed it as he moved. The enemy was here. Eturia was here. This was it. It was time to fight.
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Cebron
Nomadic Trooper
Posts: 26
Affinity: Fire
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Cebron on Nov 14, 2016 9:15:08 GMT -6
The barrel chested Commander of the Long Company rode heavy in his saddle, his Gisarme slung from his saddle and his bow strung across the knees. Strapped to his back was his trusty old lance, ready to parry and plunge through the blades of the Sacaens before him. This battle would be hard, they were outnumbered. Still, it would play into two of Cebron's strengths as a commander. The Cornwellian was good at choosing the terms of a battle, and making his enemy fight in a way they weren't used to or prepared for. Sacaen's were used to fighting Sacaen cavalry and Foreign infantry, he brought neither. They were used to wide battlefields across the plain, where enemies were picked off as both sides rode past and around the other, with a ground battle being more stationary where the speed of their swift swordsmen gave them supreme mobility. Here, they couldn't fight a duel, two epees clashing against each other with lightning speed doing damage at a snail's pace. They were a rapier, facing a claymore. Not only was his long company dangerous and hardier than the lithe plainsmen were prepared for, the Etrurian Knights were like a Hammer.
His other strenght was one the Sacaen's had given him themselves. Though none here, his time with the Kutolah had made the very Sacaen hit and Run tactics he would now crush seem like second nature to the lime haired warrior. In the right conditions, swift mobile archers were perhaps one of the best batch of soldiers a leader could want, and Cebron used them endlessly, and he intended to use them now. First as bait, then as clean up duty.
There they were. Sacaens, ready for battle down to the last soul. Their camp a few miles past them, the army of gathered Sacaens had come to meet them. Perfect. Cebron looked to his aide, and nodded. "Do it." THe man quickly lifted the horn across his neck to his lips, and blew three fast notes. As Cebron's mount Dancer slowed to a stop, so did most of the army behind him. He rode with the Heavy Horse of the Long Company that day, followed by the Light Cavalry, the Vanguard, the Sacaen mercenaries they'd hired as well as the healers and mages, and the Archers. Then there were the Knights behind everyone. It was a long column, but still they were just outnumbered by a hair by the Sacaen's they faced.
The second Dancer stopped, Cebron could hear the rumble of horses at full gallop from behind him. From either side of the column, the unit of mounted Archers rushed past him, forming back into a wedge formation as soon as they were clear of his front line. They flew toward the enemy, raising their bows and nocking arrows. The true battle had begun.
Eiji sat his horse nervously as the enemy approached. A sigh of relief passed his thin lips when he saw they outnumbered the Etrurians, if only by a slight margin. The Sacaen's could encircle them, could crush them within a cavalry ring. The enemy couldn't hope to flee them in so much plate, and their horses grew tired too quickly. This battle was winnable, Eiji could keep the Djute whole and safe. He could do his duties as a Khan.
However, before he could give his order, the enemy was moving. A decently sized force of archers were riding at him hard, and it looked like they were forming a wedge to attempt to flank him from the side. Eiji hesitated for only a moment before shouting, "Turmoge! Advance." His youngest uncle raised a fist, and a group of five hundred archers began to ride, straight for the advancing enemy. Then the Khan of the Djute called for the standard of the falling Hawk to be raised, and with that, the rest of the force began to advance slowly, ready to surround their enemy, and end this invasion.
Even as he felt regret bleed within him, Cebron's face slowly crept into a smile. It had worked. He turned to his aide and said, "Again." The same notes played from the horn, the Vanguard tore past Ceebron on either side of him a bit slower than the Archers, but they rushed forward all the same. Ahead of him, the Cornwellian could see his archers were now moving parallel to the enemies frontline instead of towards it, loosing their volley past the approaching archers as they went.
Damn! The enemy had pulled the archers too far, then darted to the side. They weren't flanking him, they were simply firing upon his front. He saw many on the front line drop from their horses as the volley hit home.
Ahead of him, he saw that his unit of archers went largely unscathed, in fact, their volley had sailed over the heads of the enemy archers they now followed, straight into another group of advancing horsemen some four hundred strong. Eiji realized what was coming only a second before it landed. His archers were following the enemy archers at an odd angle to attempt to fall upon them before they could loose another volley. The enemy was sending a force to overtake his archers while they were unprepared to be caught in a melee. Even as his uncle clearly saw the threat, it was too late, the whole unit could not be turned to flee quickly enough. Vainly, a small volley of arrows took a few of the enemy cavalry down initially, but his archers were all but decimated in front of him as the enemy rode through them.
"Tighten up, we ride as one column now! Archers in the front, Lances and footmen ready to step froward to take the enemy charge!" The men around him scrambled to signal and relay the orders.
Cebron saw the archers fall, he saw his archers began to circle back. He saw the enemy Khan, making the right calls too late, and against the wrong manner of enemy. "Sound the attack." One long note sounded, and was met with several echoes down the line. The light cavalry tore past, and as the Knights came to pass him on either side, Cebron and the Heavy Cavalry kicked their horses into a gallop. The mages and the mercenaries would not be far behind.
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Post by Duma on Dec 16, 2016 17:57:31 GMT -6
Duma wasn't anywhere near the front lines yet. He was still busy darting in between the various peoples trying to get there. The Qazvin had their camp in the middle of everything, which only hampered Duma's movements. But, from his position he could see what Eturia was doing. They had already killed a good chunk of the first riders and archers. The enemy cavalry was now charging down towards them. Towards the camps and tents of the innocent. The warriors of Sacae were nothing more then meat shields for the innocents behind them. He shook his head. He knew the people of Sacae were strong. They were adaptable. They will make it out of this. At the very least he flagged down one of the daughters of the Qazvin's matriarch. The grass haired swordsman told her to begin to pack and prepare for retreat in case if they failed. There was no reason for all of them to die.
He drew his blade and went to join the other swordsmen. The sword master knew better then to run blindly into the volley of archers or towards the enemy horsemen. No, he needed to wait for them to move towards him. He knew how to fight mounted units. He knew how to fight close ranged units. Arches he knew he needed to hit them before they hit him. But.. how is he going to do that when there are literally hundreds of enemy units. He knew he was good at one on one battles but this was something entirely different. These were armies of highly trained and highly organized fighters. No.. no.. he couldn't think about that now. Duma shook his head again. He took a breath and steeled his resolve. He knew Eturia would crush them all if they won. All that the army had to do was stall them out. Reduce their numbers so that they would retreat.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2017 12:03:49 GMT -6
The battle had finally begun and Luca gazed upon it in horror. Simple arrow volleys had decimated so many riders so quickly and now the cavalry had begun to descend upon them. It was madness, and no matter how many skirmishes with bandits or mercenaries he had been through, none of it could have possibly prepared him for something of this scale. The horns shook the air and the horses en masse shook the earth. He counted himself a brave man but he still felt terrified and perhaps even a bit exhilarated.
As he got closer to where the other lance and pike bearers were he saw something that filled him with happiness despite the circumstances, it was the warriors of the Solune tribe. They sure took their sweet time of getting to the rest of them, he was beginning to worry he would be the only member here. "Despite all things it is great to see you!" He shouted to his comrades.
"As it is you, but let's save this cheery chat for battle's end shall we?"
"Yes, let them break themselves upon our blades!" Luca shouted in an attempt to confer a bit of fighting spirit to the others. He kneeled into the grass and angled his spear out before him. He began to mutter his prayers and making promises of what he would do once the fighting was over. He swore to strike down as many of the enemy as he could, he swore to find his sister, he swore to live out the three blessings the oracle saw for him, and to deny his curse. All of it could only matter if he survived here, and so, he must.
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