Horsemen

[Gamemaster]

Kast Ulmuk
Baaniferan Province
Zekresh Empire
27th day, 2nd month, 41 Cledman VI

A certain tension hung in the air over the town at Kast Ulmuk. Refugees from the north were arriving daily and just as often heading farther south. None of the civilians believed that Kast Ulmuk would hold out against the horde of rebels and barbarians that had already overrun four provinces. If the fortresses at Kast Gorumyva and Kast Vort had not held out, why would the fortress at Kast Ulmuk?

Yandimuk, the Ulor (governor) of Baaniferan province, disagreed. He was determined that his province would be a rock of resistance that would break the rising tide of insurrection.

He had poured funds from the provincial budget into defense and Ekanor Falan (Lt. Gen.) Katosamuk had ordered the fortress prepared for a siege and also ordered all four kantoro of troops in the provincial garrison force concentrated at Kast Ulmuk. There was not enough room inside the fortress for them all, but the 1st Kantora Baaniferan and the 2nd Kantora Baaniferan, who were both normally stationed there, had barracks inside the fortress.

In the midst of all this, a young imperial army officer arrived on a spectacularly beautiful thoroughbred white Varlan stallion. At first the troops thought he was a messenger. Not for long.

Soon he and his horse were a common topic of conversation among the officers and men of the garrison.

"I heard that he bought a commission as a gurikan (captain) and was assigned command of the 2nd Kantora Baaniferan," (2nd Baaniferan Regiment) said Gurikan Skylifon, the Slythian who commanded the 3rd Kantora Baaniferan.

"I heard he requested a command in the North River Valley so he could get in on the action fighting the Tronds," said Gurikan Dashlon, a local Baaniferan who commanded the 1st Kantora Baaniferan, the best regiment in the province.

"I don't know if he requested this command, but we got word this morning that he's our new kantora commander," said Ekanor (lieutenant) Endar. Endar was short with prominent ears, like all of his people, the Eessians or 'Mouse People'. He was one of two junior officers in the 2nd Kantora Baaniferan. The other was Ekanor Quelik, one of the Frayeth people whose empire had stood and fallen before the Zekresh Empire. The Zekresh were mostly descended from the Frayeth.

Ekanor Quelik was there, but he said nothing.

"Where do you suppose he got that fantastic horse?" Gurikan Ne Doc asked. He was one of the Vummese people from Vumman province. He also commanded the 4th Kantora Baaniferan.

Ekanor Javeen from the 1st Kantora Baaniferan and originally from Foerfen province which had just been overrun by Trond barbarians two weeks ago said, "It's a Varlan thoroughbred. I heard that the man and the horse both came here straight from Varlan province."

"What's this guy's name, anyway?" asked Gurikan Dashlon.

"I don't know," said Ekanor Javeen.

Ekanor Quelik now spoke up, "Ekanor Falan Katosamuk told us, but I forgot. It was long and complicated."

Ekanor Terinata spoke up and said, "Did he have three different names?"

"Yes," Quelik said.

Terinata asked, "Was the last name Varl or Nyarl or Barl or something like that?"

"It was Varl," Quelik remembered.

Terinata said, "He's a Varl. Probably from Varlan province or possibly Ravelonia province. They all have three names. The first is their given name. The second is their clan name and the last is their tribe name."

"How do you know all that?" asked Gurikan Dashlon, Terinata's commanding officer.

Terinata smiled, "I come from Warnan Province. Varlan is just across Ravelonia from us and there are lots of Varls in Ravelonia, too. Some in Warnan, even."

"Where's he going to leave the horse if we march to Serat Shasa?" asked Gurikan Ne Doc.

"We're not going to march to Serat Shasa," Gurikan Dashlon said, "That was just a rumor."

Ekanor Endar said, "I think he's going to ride the horse into battle. We all are."

"What?" several officers asked at once.

"I, I mean..." Endar stuttered, "I mean all of us in the 2nd Kantora. I heard that the garrison commander, Ekanor Falan (Lt. Gen.) Katosamuk gave him permission to go confiscate horses from the civilians to equip 2nd Kantora Baaniferan as a cavalry unit."

That stopped the conversation.

Finally, Gurikan Skylifon said, "The empire doesn't have any cavalry units unless you count those pompous old aristocrats in the Order of Knights of the Empire, but I heard they don't actually have weapons or even horses. It's become a social club or something."

Ekanor Endar said, "Then we're about to be the empire's only cavalry."

[Davro]

Davro Nikakal Varl was the new Captain, and he had been pacing his horse around the town as he rounded up all the necessary permissions to follow through with his plans for a mounted cavalry unit. Shortly after, he went through town, examining the town's horses to see how fit they were, and then had a brief survey of the forest around, noting down which trees were where, and how thick the trunks were.

After finishing his inspection, the fresh-faced young gurikan quickly tracked down his two Ekanor to chat with them.

"Ah! So nice to finally meet you! I have heard much good about you from the conscripts in our camp. I'm Davro Nikakal Varl, and I'm your new gurikan. You can just use Davro to save yourself the mouthful." He looked around at the horses. "I think our setup for cavalry is alright here... Have you ever had riding training? You might not have, but that's okay, we have enough time to get you as snug in a saddle as a newborn!" He let out a broad laugh for a moment, before turning much more seriously. "However, before I can properly arm our legion, I need to have the men WANT to be cavalry. That is the key to a skilled unit. To do that, I have to talk to them. I want you to assemble the troops for inspection tomorrow evening, outside the southeast gate to the city, no exceptions!"

[Gamemaster]

Ekanor Quelik said enthusiastically, "I want to be in cavalry!"

Ekanor Endar said, "I don't know how to ride a horse, but I'm willing to try."

Ekanor Quelik said, "Since yer so little, maybe you should ride a pony instead."

Endar gave him a quick, sharp glance, but otherwise ignored it.

Ekanor Quelik asked, "We'll assemble the men tomorrow as you ordered."


Kast Ulmuk
Baaniferan Province
Zekresh Empire
28th day, 2nd month, 41 Cledman VI

The next morning was cold and the sky was overcast. The 2nd Kantora Baaniferan assembled just southeast of Kast Ulmuk on a small field with the banks of the mighty Shasa Tros (North River) just to the east of them. The waters of the Shasa Tros flowed from distant sources in the Karak Shan (Grey Mountains) along the east side of the valley and the Karak Grif (Blue Mountains) on the west side of the valley and from the endless great northern forests that extended from here all the way to the northern frontier of the empire and beyond into unknown lands. The waters came southward in a mighty torrent, unstoppable. A few of the soldiers quietly thought that the approaching barbarian horde was like the river, coming from the same place, rushing south, equally relentless and perhaps equally unstoppable.

Ekanor Endar and Ekanor Quelik counted the men and Ekanor Endar reported, "Five hundred and eighty six men present and accounted for including all three of us officers. There's only one man missing and he's too sick to stand up so I told him he could stay in the barracks."

The men stood in a ragged formation in the shape of a square with one side missing. Each side of the square was several hundred feet long with two rows of about a hundred men each on each of the three sides.

Gurikan Davro could see that all of them had spears, but some had no iron spear points and were little more than sharpened sticks. Most of them had iron helmets, but well over a hundred had no helmets. Many had leather tunics, but more than half of them did not. About three quarters of the men had shields, but most of these were crudely fashioned wooden shields. Only a few dozen men had swords. Only the two lieutenants had iron breastplates.

Gurikan Davro had no weapons or armor at all yet.

"The men are ready to hear your speech, Gurikan," Ekanor Quelik said.

[Davro]

Gurikan Davro had spend the interim time fashioning a lance from a small tree he fell, and was holding it competently as he sat astride his stallion. He made a slow examination of the troups, going along the U-shape, occasionally adjusting their position, ordering them to fix their posture, or giving them approving nods when they met his expectations. He milked the silence for all it was worth as he examined his five hundred eighty-six men. Once his examination was finished, he moved closer to the center of the square, and spoke loudly, projecting his voice so that hopefully all could hear.

"I am Gurikan Davro Nikakal Varl. I am now in command of your regiment, charged with doing my all to defeat the rebels who threaten our Empire. I have been given permission to turn this regiment into a cavalry regiment in order to crush the insurrection."

Gurikan Davro began pacing his horse back and forth slowly. "Being cavalry gives us many advantages on the battlefield. We are faster and heavier. Our enemies will not have developed significant tactics against us." He stopped pacing. "But most importantly, competent cavalry can cut down infantry at a rate of one hundred to one." He resumed pacing.

"We have little time to train for the battle we will undoubtedly need to face. The training will be difficult, it will be tiring. There are going to be times where you will be afraid, where you will be angry, when you will feel hopeless. Fight these feelings! Through this training and this battle you will temper your body to iron and your mind to steel! The rebellion's ragged militia will stand no chance against our unstoppable charge.

In this world, there are strong men and there are weak men. The strong men conquer and the weak men die. Our enemies are weak, and I will teach you how to be strong! We will be the pride of the Empire and the scourge of her enemies! We will win."

After his speech, Davro dismisses his troops, and canters over to his three lieutenants. "I want you to get the troops commandeering horses from the city. Promise that the horses will be returned intact, or will be paid for price-and-a-half in the Emperor's currency. Once that's done, we'll start our training and I will start my strategizing."

[Gamemaster]

Kast Ulmuk
Baaniferan Province
Zekresh Empire
32nd day, 2nd month, 41 Cledman VI

Five days go by. Under the leadership of Ekanor Endar and Ekanor Quelik, the troops have been out in the town of Kast Ulmuk seizing all available horses.

So far they have only been able to seize 16 horses and it has become obvious that the civilians are well aware of these efforts and all remaining horses have been moved out of town.

[Davro]

Gurikan Davros quickly makes his way to the garrison commander once he learns of this, demanding the requisite cash to purchase horses, lest he have the most anemic cavalry unit in the empire's history. Not that this deters him, for as far as he is concerned he could win the battle with FIVE horses.

[Gamemaster]

Gurikan Davro meets with Ekanor Falan Katosamuk, the provincial garrison commander, at the fortress.

Katosamuk hears the report and says, "I'll get you an emergency allocation of 200 baylo to get you started on buying horses. But if you can't buy enough horses, go out into the countryside and confiscate horses there. There's a lot more horses and other farm animals out on the farms than in town anyway."

Katosamuk leads Davro to a room in the fortress near the officers' quarters which is barred by a locked iron door and guarded by two sentries.

(OOC: Locks are expensive, rare and considered mysterious by most people. They are one of the most advanced technologies around. Most doors don't have locks, only bolts that can be opened and closed only from one side, usually the inside. Iron doors are even more rare and high tech than doors with locks. Most doors are made of wood.)

Katosamuk opens the door with a key and counts out two hundred silver coins, puts them in a sack and hands them to Davro.

"There, two hundred baylo. Get me a cavalry unit before the enemy arrives."

(OOC: If you go to www.nationsandempires.com you will see a list of links on the right hand side to articles about basic facts about the game world such as the name of the emperor, how the money works, how they measure time and distance, etc. Here's a direct link to the article on money: nationsandempires1.blogspot.com/2007/02/zekresh-money.html. Also note that in the Zekresh language, "Baylo" is the plural form of "Bayla". An "o" ending in Zekresh almost always means a plural as in kantoro, the plural of kantora.)

[Gamemaster]

Ekanor Endar and Ekanor Quelik eagerly await news of Gurikan Davro's meeting with Ekanor Falan Katosamuk.

Upon learning that Davro was given money to buy horses, Ekanor Quelik asks Davro, "Should we take the money and go try to buy horses with it, sir?"

[Davro]

Davro was rather impressed, giving the door more attention than the piles of money inside the vault. Cradling the sack of money under his arm, Gurikan Davro very quickly found his liutenants. He split the cash between them. "Start buying horses in town or the nearby farmsteads, empty the stables if you can. Send anybody else that doesn't have anything out to do in groups of ten to confiscate horses in the countryside south of here. We don't want any enemies getting wise to our plans."
Personally, Davro would begin training the more promising recruits on horsemanship, and skill with the lance while he awaited more mounts.

[Gamemaster]

Kast Ulmuk
Baaniferan Province
Zekresh Empire
41st day, 2nd month, 41 Cledman VI
(Oron 41, Salgan 2, Adonsik 41 Cledman VI)

After a velasik (9-day week of the Zekresh calendar), Gurikan Davro's men have purchased 26 more horses for a total cost of 104 baylo and confiscated another 35 horses. Most of these horses, both the purchased and the confiscated ones, are of very poor quality by the standards that Davro is accustomed to.

This is a total of 67 horses including Davro's personal horse that he brought with him from Varlan.

The soldiers receiving training in horsemanship and the use of the lance have hardly any lances. About half a dozen have been crudely fashioned by the soldiers.

[Davro]

Crudely fashioned is good enough for practice lances as far as Gurikan Davro is concerned, but he does need more of them, so the soldiers can all get experience. His duties are mostly split between teaching horsemanship and lancemanship, and trying to acquire more equpment for his soldiers. Any swinging weapons, from a sword to an axe or a mace or truncheon would be ideal for cavalry combat. He tries to spread the instruction down the troops, selecting the best or most experienced horsemen to help teach and coach others while he does his best to make enough lances for practice, and round up some decent equipment.

Before long, he goes to the Ekanor Falan in an effort to find as detailed a map of the area north of the town as he possibly can, in order to more effectively strategize what little forces he has.

[Gamemaster]

Davro goes to Ekanor Falan Katosamuk to ask for a detailed map of the area. Katosamuk gives him a map, but it is not all that detailed.

This is the map:
img354.imageshack.us/img354/4758/northrivervalleybattlem.png

[Davro]

Still not quite what Davro intended, he sends one of the more catrographically-inclined troops out to make a geographical map of the area north of here while he continues rounding up horses, equipment, and training troops to the best of his ability.

[Gamemaster]

Davro finds not a single man or officer in his unit who is literate. There are some who volunteer to try to draw a map, but they can't label the features on it since they don't know how to write.

One of the volunteers asks, "How far north of the fort do you want mapped?"

[Gamemaster]

(OOC: Post something.)