Log: Clawmen and Redmen
Fri Oct 8 15:39:40 2010
--[ Skirmish! ]------------------------------------------[ Golden Circle ]----
(This is a temporary room.)
Beatrice, Harold, Jitka, and Trin are here.
------------------------------------------------------------[ Exits: Out ]----
Things have been fairly peaceful lately. This territory largely belongs to the Mooonriders who have largely been leaving the Amber encampment alone, with some of the sub-tribes being more helpful as advance scouts with word of the approaching enemy forces. Today, a rumor has reached an ops post of some movement to the northeast. While word is sent back main camp, it is deemed that those patrols in the area should check it out. In the area are Beatrice and a detachment of Damesmen, Jitka, possibly with her men, Trin, and Harold....
Jitka, having lost her favourite warhorse in the last engagement, is riding her second favourite warhorse, an excited looking young grey who insists on uncomfortably prancing leaving her in not terribly good mood, a dozen each of knights and mounted sergeants accompanying her.
The afternoon light gleams off the Armor of Sir Harold easily picked out because of the cluster of Peacock Plumes decorating his helm. He rides slowly along the wide swept plains upon his Chestnut mare adorned in barding polished to nearly the sheen of her Master's. He makes his way toward the troops as they search for the enemy. Upon his lance flutters a pennon bearing the device of the Graal Knights of Lyonesse.
Beatrice is in fairly impressive armor on a massively impressive brown warhorse. One can tell it is impressive because her people -- about 30 men of her cavalry unit -- seem duly impressed.
Trin is probably the only person in the area actually patrolling on foot. She's been giving herself a break from the horses and them a break from her of late In her dark greens and browns, she does not really stand out.
Beatrice suggests to Jitka, "High Captain, we have enough men between us that we can likely best use our present resources if we split up for this patrol; approach one north-northeast and the other east-northeast, and meet in the middle."
Harold lifts his visor and stands in the saddle. Chessy snorts her fore hoof striking the grass.
"If you wish your grace." Answers Jitka to that, raising her lance a little in salute as she inclines her head to Harold then looking back to Beatrice. "How large a circuit should we attempt, perhaps five miles? I would prefer to avoid seperating further than that in case we have missed seeing something hidden in dead ground."
Beatrice nods her head at the suggested distance, "I will send two of my men under your command so that they can interpret my signals if needed." She glances at Harold and Trin, "You're welcome to ride with either of us, of course."
"I will detach one of my knights for similar reasons when your grace." Answers Jitka before she turns to one of her accompanying knights. "Dame Taiack, you have been keeping up your practise with the heliograph codes and have yours to hand? Excellent, accompany her grace."
Trin frowns, "Ride with? As is me behind one of you? I fall off easily enough when I'm settled in the saddle. I can try though if you want."
Trin frowns, "Ride with? As is me behind one of you? I fall off easily enough when I'm settled in the saddle. I can try though if you want."
Beatrice inclines her head to Trin, "It is up to you. You need not ride with us if you'd rather not, or you could try keeping up afoot."
Harold looks between Beatrice and Jitka "I am at your service Your Grace, I will accompany which ever group you think can make best use of me." he looks down to Trin "I am certain a mount can be found for you."
Jitka glances down to Trin now. "We have some spare horses yes, unless you can keep up with cavalry on foot? Given some of the things I have seen recently I am quite happy to believe you can but if not then the offer remains open."
Trin nods, "I'll just run for the time being unless you think I'll be in someone's way. I've always been good at keeping up."
Beatrice glances over her numbers, Jitka's, nods two of her men over and notes to Harold, "The High Captain happens to have fewer men with her than I, and so I defer to her."
Beatrice looks at Trin with interest, but no real surprise, and nods to her respectfully.
Jitka eyes Trin a moment now. "Do you want to borrow a lance or something? I know it is not ideal but if we do face mounted opponents then an improvised pike would be better than a sword."
Harold settles back in the saddle as he waits to see which group he will be riding with "The Armor looks grand on you your Grace, did it require much adjusting?"
Trin shakes her head, "Only if I knew how to use one. The only primitive weapons I've trained with are bladed ones, mostly swords. If I run into mounted opponents, I can always try and turn them into unmounted opponents. I've seen men break their necks falling off a ride."
Beatrice's eyes crinkle at Harold as she fixes on her helmet, horsehair plumage and all. "Not at all. It was perfect at first flush. A credit to its maker."
Beatrice nods to Harold respectfully, then turns, with a gesture telling her men to fall in as she takes the east-northeast path, letting Trin or Harold choose whether to fall in or go with Jitka who does, after all, have fewer men.
Jitka raises an eyebrow at the descriptor of a lance as primative, then shrugs with a dull clunk of steel, stratching a nasty looking sewn up bite mark across her jaw with one gauntlet clad hand before she looks back to Harold, then to Beatrice. "Well everything seems settled now your grace, may the wings of the goddess shield and protect you!" She raises her lance again in salute before whirling the restless warhorse and starting off her own column of armoured cavalry at an easy trot... She glances back to see which of Trin and Harold follow.
Beatrice likewise raises her spear in salute, and then she and her men-- and they are all men-- ride off.
Harold decides to ride with the smaller of the two troops, he nudges his war steed with long spurs "Good hunting Your Grace, Tally Ho!" soon Chessy has caught up with Jitka's men riding easily along the units flank.
Trin draws her sword so that she isn't trying to do so when they encounter an enemy and falls into a quick lope to keep up with Jitka's group since that's the smaller group. Despite being on foot she has little trouble keeping up with the horses.
RPG: Trin declares that she has the Enhanced Maneuverability (SKL-EM) gift. Use '+gift SKL-EM' to view the gift description. Last edit: 31 months ago.
"So you are a Graal Knight of Lyonesse Sir Harold?" Asks Jitka of Harold there. "I did meet another from your land, one Dame Alice, who spoke ill of you, others have spoken otherwise." Then she peers curiously at Trin's apparent ability to keep up with the hardly slow movement of the scouting cavalry.
Grassland -- flat, even grassland. Ideal for the horses the Moonriders favor... and as they ride they find signs of the Moonriders. It looks as if a lot of hard riding has recently happened, coming from further north and heading straight-south, and so may be heading straight towards Beatrice's flank... but if it is merely the Moonriders going hard, they are, at present, friendly.
Harold sighs and shakes his head "Dame Alice? I fear her touched" he taps his helm with his lance "no doubt due to the undead that swarm the southern isles of Lyonesse. I am Sir Harold Whitecliff Grand Master of the Order of the Graal and Master Armorer, I am pleased to meet you High Captain, and I hope her slander wasn't too troubling."
"It is something I am ultimately disinterested in, I shall form my own opinions of both yourself Sir Harold and of her though my goals at present are those of my employer Prince Benedict and so it is peripheral at best. I am High Captain Jitka Sulang, a Myrmidon and commander of the Viridian Company." The tracks are peered at, then to Trin. "I do not suppose you are an expert tracker in addition to being able to run faster than any other woman I have ever seen? I would rather not ignore these if they are the result of enemies."
Trin doesn't bother trying to keep up with the conversation between people she's barely men. She keeps her eyes open for signs of what they're looking for. "Are we following this southbound group of riders or are we looking for something entirely different, chummers?"
Trin notes, "I'm not an expert outside of an urban environment, but I can follow a horse. They churn up the ground pretty well."
Harold looks down from the saddle. "The enemy had no Cavelry when they came down the silver bridge, has the changed?" he asks as he eyes the ground.
"I do not believe so, I was hoping one of us could tell something more than that these are horse tracks." Explains Jitka, frowning, then shrugs before glancing to the two detached Damesmen. "Could you signal her grace's troop to let them know there is mounted group heading in their direction? I have no idea what signalling devices you may carry or their range."
Trin considers the tracks for a moment then shrugs, "I don't get the feeling that there's any danger here. Probably just some natives to this area or something. About a dozen or so."
"Thank you, lets carry on then. Nothing to be too alarmed about though we might find out what spooked them sooner than we could like." Jitka glances to her troops. "I want the medium horse pushed forward fifty yards and spread out, crossbows ready people! Armoured lancers remain on me." Raising her own lance she carries forward.
Trin nods and starts running again when the horses move out again. She keeps on the outskirts of the horse formation so that she doesn't accidentally get in the way of any of the archers.
Another half mile on, and the advance guard is fanned out, so thinner on the ground....
*To Danger Sense: You start to get a prickle.
Jitka's troops are not really archers, there are a dozen fully armoured knights on barded warhorses, then an equal number of less properous cavalry wearing partial plate armour and no barding, without lances but most of whom have light crossbows in addition to their hand weapons. Those are the men and women she has pushed ahead while the lancers remain in a compact line abreast. "So I am curious, where do you come from that you view a lance as a 'primative weapon'?" She asks of Trin.
Trin shrugs a shoulder, "Well compared to what I'm..." She suddenly frowns and begins looking around her in a distinctly paranoid fashion, "Something's not right here. Less conversation, more wary eyes."
Jitka calls out something in her own language to her troops, a somewhat gutteral sound before she shifts in the saddle and peers at the horizon... Her horse tries to prance before then receiving a curt swat across the ears.
It is not long before the northernmost flank encounters them: Wild, painted spearmen shouting a battle charge and riding what look like very large great cats.
Jitka's screening troops know what they have to do here, empty their crossbows then ride away! And out of the way of the heavies, Jitka snaps her left arm in a series of wide and sharp motions as she wheels the armoured lancers to face the charging spearmen then launches them forward into a thunderous charge as wide steel points snap downwards, the lighter horse will then try to follow in after the charge of the knights to follow through with maces and swords.
Harold follows along with the heavy troops. At first sign of trouble lowers his visor and adjusts the heater shield upon his arm, he scans the flanks as he rides now expecting Ambush thanks to Trin's warning.
Trin stays out of the way of the charge of the heavy cavalry. She may never have fought in a group with horses before, but she's not stupid enough to get in the way of a charging warhorse either. Particularly not after that one incident at the zoo ... which no one will ever speak of. She does, however, run right behind the charging cavalry to join combat with her sword. She mutters as she runs.
Ahhh... the screaming, great-cat riding spearmen, it becomes clear, were not so much heading *towards* Jitka's men in their wild charge. But once crossbows are emptied into their numbers, they are now! The cats are large, fast, and seem to jump, snarl and run with a speed that indicates they will be on the main body in now time. Fortunately, there only appear to be something around two dozen of them.
RPG: Jitka challenges a difficulty of 10. Jitka chooses Force and the gifts PHY-ST, SKL-AR, and SKL-MC. Jitka succeeds.
RPG: Trin challenges a difficulty of 9. Trin chooses Grace and the gifts BLD-OB and SKL-WM. Trin almost succeeds.
RPG: Harold challenges a difficulty of 10. Harold chooses Force and the gifts PHY-ST, SKL-AR, and STY-KN. Harold succeeds.
Harold spurs his horse at the charging cat riders, his lance leading, a booming voice from within his helm bellows "Lyonesse!" as he leans forward in the saddle. (He lives for this part of the battle)
Jitka rides to the left and slightly ahead of her line of lancers, raising a shout to adjust their charge slightly and ensure they present and unbroken line of lance points before they impact with the great cat riders. For her part she then leans forward in the saddle and dips her lance point to squewer one of the beasts, discarding the weapon then sweeping out her longsword to begin delivering brutal limb shearing blows to left and right as she punches clear through their line.
RPG: Trin challenges a difficulty of 9. Trin chooses Grace and the gifts BLD-OB and SKL-WM. Trin almost succeeds.
RPG: Jitka challenges a difficulty of 10. Jitka chooses Force and the gifts PHY-ST, SKL-AR, and SKL-MC. Jitka succeeds.
Harold lance pins a rider to his cat through the ground, the weapon released as Chessy slams into another cat, he greater mass sending the beast tumbling. Harold flips his war axe into his armored hand, he begins to lay about him the cressent blade biting deeply into riders and cats alike. He smashes with his shield, and might even be glimpesed to ram a long spur through the chest of a rider who had gotten past him. Soon blood and gore marr the gleaming steel of Sir Harold's armor.
Jitka hacks her way through the cat rider's line with brutal efficiency, shifting her longsword to just her right hand and wielding it with all of the heft of a willow switch as she then tugs a throwing axe from her belt and casts it into the head of an onrushing beast. A precise snapping sound is coupled with a flourish of her blade, then as she whirls her warhorse back toward the fray those preciously dispsersed lighter cavalry from charging into the flanks of an enemy pinned engaging the knights in their close packed block of armoured soldiery.
Since the vast majority of the enemy was taken out by the combination of crossbowmen and heavy cavalry, Trinara is not left with much to do by the time she gets there. She finds one of the riders afoot after his cat has been skewered by a lance and stabs him.
As the great cats go down, its respective rider lets out a horrid, keening wail. In turn, this attracts another great cat and its rider... many are cut to ribbons. Others are picked up by their fellows and frantically try to get away from the kill zone, to the east... fleeing.
*To Danger Sense: That sense of danger? Not gone. You notice more than anyone else that the fleeing cat-riders were, in fact, *fleeing*. They were fleeing when your group ran into them, and only now is it clear they were probably not attacking at all, until fired upon. Now they are twice as terrified... fleeing the other way but refusing to retreat. All this coalesces into a feeling of 'something is still coming.
Harold jerks his axe from the skull of a great cat, and looks about to try and keep with the formation, wishing he'd brought his long bowmen as he watches the Cat riders try to retreat.
Once the cats and their riders are down Trinara curses loudly, "You have got to be drekking me." She steps back from the dead cats and continues to look around in her exceptionally paranoid way.
Jitka grabs a crossbow from one sergeant now, rising up in the saddle to discharge it into the back of one of the fleeing cats before then grabbing the string and bodily hauling it into place once more with her steel clad hand rather than bothering with the cranequins, again, again, maintaining a terrible rate of fire. "Keep firing until they get to two hundred yards! Lancers, kill any of those damn cats that are wounded, search for wounded to take as prisoners!"
The shouts of the fleeting (not retreating) cat riders is unmistakable, vanishing off to the east, which may or may not be where Beatrice and her men should be approaching from soon enough. Yet it's to the north that the line of dust appears....
The cats on the ground who were unable to flee are not hard to slaughter, but retreating catriders took as many of their wounded as possible; those left are pretty far gone, but there is one who might be save-able, though he is presently unconscious, having hit his head badly on the landing rather than sustaining serious bodily wounds.
Harold curses as he spots the line of dust pointing with his bloody axe "Where are the duchess's men?" his voice sounding hallow in his helm.
One of the Damesmen who is present shakes his head at Harold's question. He does not know, but points out, "We've missed the RV; she'll be rounding up and north to get to our position."
Trin calls out, "HOI! We've got company! And it's NOT the Damesmen." She turns toward the line of dust and starts running in that direction so she can see better.
Jitka hands the crossbow back before gesturing for troops to return to formation, then eyes the dust to the north dubiously. "A good question Sir Harold, we will try a heliograph message to see if that is them ahea- Or that." A glance to one of the squires. "Try to keep the prisoner alive! Everyone get ready in case these are more of them." She starts the group moving at a slow trot, moving but not so much that winded horses cannot recover from the skirmish just now.
One of the Damesman who is here is scouting after the retreating group to make sure they are really going, going, gone (a few more fallen on the way... perhaps three cats escaped in all) but also for signs to the southeast and he lifts his hand to give finger-signs, his fellow confirming, "The General and the Damesmen are coming up on our position."
The line of dust soon resolves itself: hairy red men. About fifty or more.
Trin tries calling out again since people apparently didn't listen the first time. "HOI! Corwin's TROOPS!" The red men are not on horseback so Trin backs off a little to wait for the cavalry. 50 to 1 are NOT good odds.
Harold moves back on line, a flick of his wrist sends blood flicking from the Axe edge "there are more" he smiles dropping his visor and looks to Jitka "Send them to meet their god High Captain?"
Beatrice and the Damesmen are also approaching. The fleeting great-cats pass them to the north and are largely left untroubled. Perhaps she and her men have also spotted the line of approaching red guys, and they are now readjusting their trajectory to flank them as they approach. There is nothing to do about the lack of cover; this is Ghenesh, and all is flat, and, hereabouts, grassy.
Jitka frowns, her visor still raised, she apparently prefers being able to see properly to the added protection especially given she is having to shout at people and be heard. She shakes her head to Harold. "Not yet, we head west, hold with the heavy cavalry, then send the sergeants and squires forward to skirmish with crossbows and draw them toward us. The lancers stay still to rest the horses until the enemy close within charging distance, they will be placed between us and the duchess's patrol."
Harold pats his horse neck, content with the strategy. "easy girl" he soothes his horse. All the while watching the red guys approach.
This is carried out as the red men approach... It's not entirely clear what this detachment of fifty hair soldiers was doing; it's possible that they *were* an advance-guard or a team of scouts, even possible that they got lost. They are equipped for battle, though and look like nasty customers and seem perfectly happy to go after the Amberites. They fan out a bit as they approach; it won't be a pure column or an easy flank, but the good news is that they just got thinner on the ground.
Beatrice clearly, at a distance, understands Jitka's manoeuvre; some of her men ride to intercept Jitka's crossbowmen, to help with the draw-out, but there's nothing to help the fact that the foe can see them coming, literally a mile off.
And now it is just time, as the enemies come closer together, hooves pounded through tall, dry grass, with lances and spears and swords set.....
Jitka's little group does not contain any Amberites! Not unless Trin counts, she simply has the lancers draw up and wait, the point at which she will declare the charge already drawn up mentally on the ground in front as she watches the lighter horse firing their crossbows. The idea is that while the enemy might be able to see it there is not much they can do to avoid having two seperate cavalry forces in different directions flank them and have no option but to act to escape the harassing fire. When the enemy cross that invisible line Jitka suddenly raises her sword before slashing it forward. "Charge!"
Again as the charge order is given Harold spurs his horse urging her to a full run, clods of grass fly as her Iron shod hooves churn the ground as the war steed drives at the infantry. Harold's axe is held an an angle from his body as he prepares to smash the foe.
RPG: Beatrice challenges a difficulty of 11. Beatrice chooses Wits and the gifts SKL-IN, SKL-MC, and WAR-WW. Beatrice succeeds.
RPG: Harold challenges a difficulty of 11. Harold chooses Force and the gifts PHY-ST, SKL-AR, and STY-KN. Harold succeeds.
RPG: Trin challenges a difficulty of 8. Trin chooses Grace and the gifts BLD-OB and SKL-WM. Trin almost succeeds.
RPG: Jitka challenges a difficulty of 11. Jitka chooses Force and the gifts PHY-ST and SKL-AR. Jitka succeeds.
Charge! Beatrice rides into battle with her men around her, a sort of hum of glory in the flash of spear and the sound of her rich voice carrying well over the sound of the battle to her men. An almost surgically precise formation hits the red men, hard, on their eastern flank.
Trin mutters "Do not fragging shoot me!" She charges on foot into the enemy just ahead of the rest of Jitka's troops since she was running before they started. Unfortunately this means she gets surrounded. Well at least one of the hairy red men will have his back to the charging attackers rather than get stabbed in the back by the sword wielding woman as she strikes around her.
Harold drives into the Red's his axe striking with brutal effect sending parts of the Red's before him sail back to the ones behind. The war horse knows just what to to about infantry, soon her iron shod hooves are crush any unlucky enough to stumble and fall before the mighty horse.
Jitka lost her lance earlier, she makes up for this by hurling her second axe ahead of her to bisect a head, her charging lancers covering her flanks and allowing her to focus on the straight forward task of destroying everything in her path. Lashing hooves from her horse are coupled with murderously precise blows from her longsword that smash through any attempt to raise a guard as she carves a bloody swathe.
There is soon a bloody, furry mass of chaos. The right of the Damesmen wheel with precise discipline and block the retreat. A few of the soldiers take wounds, of course, and two horses go down, but the red men are surrounded and out-gunned, so to speak, and will die to a man unless someone prevents it.
Harold smacks one who seems to be trying to organize a defense with the flat of his axe the blow jerks the Big Red warrior side ways then crumples him to the ground. When one of his fellows tries to rush to his aid Harold's armored foot catches his face sending him reeling. "Prisoner!" Harolds voice booms out of his helm with a hallow ring. He point at the one he jusy hit, holding his ground until the brute is secured.
Jitka veers from her straight line course after an officer looking individual as well, after identifying one her first step is to barge forward, impacting with the shoulder of her barded destrier before then slipping from the saddle and whirling her blade to cut the leg off a big red individual to her right who gets in her way. Then she steps forward to jab extended fingers into her chosen victim's stomach, doubling him over before then sweeping his legs out with a sharp kick. Smoothly shifting her blade to a two handed grip she then stands atop the stunned individual while her sword on one side and irate warhorse on the other fend away or maim any of the surviving red ones who try to intervene before their death.
Trin finally manages to extract herself from the situation she got into and runs over to secure the prisoner that Harold has collected. She may not have been as effective as she would like with her sword, but she knows how to tie up a prisoner with almost scary efficiency.
(At this point it was post-battle cleanup and discussion.)