THE SKY WENT BLACK,

[agogemod]

WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? Agoge's inaugural TDM.
WHEN? The Battle of Hattin, 1187.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.

FROM JERUSALEM WITH LOVE;

the horns of hattin, 1187: the holy land

read the jerusalem setting infopage

Your eyes open, and above you is the roof of a tent, a heavy woven material that blocks you from what must be an otherwise glaring heat that is beating down. Near you stands a man - you understand him, but you aren’t sure you are supposed to. Aware as you are that he is speaking Arabic, a trickle of words as he dabs water on your brow, that as you go to reply, you realise, you are speaking Arabic too. Urging you to sit up slowly, and now that you are awake -

“Good, slowly does it. You are meant to have heat stroke. Nothing sudden now. The Commander will explain it to you soon - in here it’s safe, no outsiders can come in. Check your BCE, it will tell you what has happened - ”

As he indicates to the small pack that seems to hold your belongings, he explains: you are in the encampment of Saladin, the greatest commander in all of Islam. He has been fighting the crusading invaders since the death of the Crusader King Baldwin VII. But one of the most important was about to start: you are here, at Hattin, though the enemy hasn’t arrived yet. Not that it means it’s time to rest: this is a war camp. There is much to do. Saladin runs a impressive army, and it wins by its discipline, no idle hands here, and for you, newly awakened to it, there is just as much to do. So enjoy the first few moments of reprieve, there won’t be much of it in the coming days.

MISSION OBJECTIVE

The forces of COST-- allied, today, with the armies of Saladin, though they will never know-- aim to win the day.

This is imperative, because Saladin's victory at Hattin makes his next victory possible: he intends to march on Jerusalem, long held by invading Crusaders, and take his city back. Historically, he wins a Hattin and at Jerusalem. But, the Regency supposes, if they could weaken Saladin in Hattin, perhaps even completely defeat him, he would not be so able to take the city.

Preserve the flow of history. Aid Saladin's army. Defeat the Crusader army at Hattin.

A MESSAGE FROM GROTHIA

>>@CMDR

@ALL I don't have time to explain right now, but the transporters have played havoc on the way in and we think that the - nevermind, the techdacts don't make any sense at the best of times. Your memory has been tampered with, one of the Regency's tricks, no doubt. Price for late intelligence, we didn't know until we made the transfer.

Short of it is, I put you all down as having a bout of heat stroke that knocked you out and that’s the story you need to stick to. Even if you don't want to trust me, you're going to have to follow my instructions if you want to live through the next week. We can do our reintroductions later.

Follow our instructions and we’ll all make it through this with minimal casualties.

Welcome back, soldiers. Good to have you with us again.

WIN THE DAY

MEDICAL

Help build up the army after the Siege of Tiberias.

After this battle, Saladin's forces turn toward Jerusalem, and eventually take it from Crusader control. It's imperative, then, that Saladin's forces are strong, healthy, and most importantly, alive. This is war: there are a larger number of soldiers who are wounded and require medical care to maintain the numbers. Saladin's forces are lucky: their medics are some of the best in the medieval world. But there is constant need for more hands on deck to assist. Whether that’s holding down a soldier to cut off his leg - or dress a wound. Maybe it’s just as simple as a soldier that wakes up from his fever wanting water, there is always something that needs doing.

STEALTH

Sabotage the water supply of the crusaders.

All armies march on their stomach, and in the desert, access to water means life or death. Saladin knows this, and the Crusaders are heading for the largest oasis between Jerusalem and Hattin to replenish their stores. Saladin has placed a line of defense at the oasis to stop the Crusaders. Some truly desperate Crusaders are risking death, attempting to break through the defenses in an attempt to get some water. Your orders are simple: no Crusader should be getting to that water.

STEALTH

You know what else armies need? Sleep. For those brave enough, its been encouraged to try and exhaust those Crusaders. Your orders are vague, leaving plenty of room for creativity: psychologically mess with them, mimic loud animals to wake them up, forcibly introduce these 12th century men to Cyndi Lauper at the top of your lungs. Whatever takes your fancy, just try not wake Saladin’s forces, they still need their beauty sleep. And most importantly: don't get caught.

COMBAT

The Crusaders are here: fight them. Crusaders will in heavy chain mail into battle, often with a padded gambeson underneath them. Aim your weapons for the chinks in the points that quickly immobilize: the throat, armpit, inner elbow, inner thigh, inner knee. You will always want to aim for the veins and joints. This isn't about clean, this is about hard and fast. Battles in the desert are made worse for every hour spent in the gruelly heat.

They fight with heavy sword and shield, and the metal they wear makes them more strongly defended, but also slower; they cannot mount their horses without some help, so if you manage to unhorse a Crusader, they must survive the remainder of the battle on foot. Often if you wounded a horse, it can kill the man riding it.

Medieval warhorses are huge animals that can do serious damage with a single kick; however, by Crusader tradition, many are stallions, which are famously willful difficult to control. Being thrown from one of these horses, especially in armor, is no small thing. This is where by contrast Saladin's army comes into its own. They ride a lighter horse more suited to this kind of warfare, and the cavalry works by spiking in quickly, reigning down an attack, then retreating. The Turks are famous for riding by, and shooting down arrows into foot soldiers before retreating out of range again.

Aside from the knights on their horses, keep an eye on hired mercenaries and others of all classes storming into battle. Watch out for crossbows: a single bolt can punch through thick metal, much less whatever you might be wearing. However, the shots take a great deal of time and strength to load, requiring the user to pull the bolt back while standing on the bow. The weapons are not stealthy, and striking an opponent while they load them is the surest route to victory. More traditional archers are far more difficult to defeat; though their arrows can't cut through metal, they can shoot from much farther away and draw another arrow ten times as fast. Other fighters charge in with cudgels, maces, spears, axes, polearms, and the fervent determination fanaticism brings. Do your fellow soldier on the battlefield a favor: try and take out an archer whenever you can. But for those fielding the arrows, don't stay put, they'll always try and take you out first.

The battle of Hattin is one of the most bloody in the history of the Crusades; famously, it is said that its outcome left the sky black for all the birds hungrily circling the carnage. Your job in this battle is twofold: fight to win, and survive.

COMBAT / STEALTH

Capture Guy D'Lusignan.

History dictates Guy D'Lusignan, current King of Frankish-ruled Jerusalem, is captured by Saracen forces, which later leads to Muslims recapturing Jersusalem from Frankish hands. Help the Saracen war parties ride out, make sure they aren't sabotaged, and attack King Guy's war party. Along with them, you'll find Reynard de Chatillion, another nobleman whose capture will herald a collapse of the Crusader forces. Medieval battle isn't like modern warfare, where soldiers fight on in spite of their leader's capture or death.

A medieval battle ends when one side gives up, or when a leader has been killed or captured. Capturing the heads of an army leads to the immediate death of the battle's morale and will to fight. To win the Battle of Hattin, it is imperative that Guy D'Lusignan and Raynard de Chatillion are captured, as they were in history.

read the jerusalem setting infopage

NAV. NETWORK LOGS OOC PLURK DISCORD

Comments

combat

[lonelywar]

(ooc: as for brain-stuff, go for it!)

Conflict and combat were things he would, given the choice, consistently avoid.

There was a pain to it. That had always been true in the thick of battle; it was like a palpable thing, as present as the pursuing potential of injury or death, as the screams and sobs of men dead or dying. Human beings reduced to their basest nature, seeking only to destroy what was in the way. For Ashitaka, however, that figurative assumption was very literal. For each soldier he killed with an arrow, he felt a pulse of pain from the demon mark mottling his right side. It was persistent even as the soldiers hounded in on his position, forcing him to abandon the relative familiarity of the bow he had been given and take up the spear. With this, he was far less accustomed; certainly nowhere near helpless, but without instincts honed from training and practice.

It opened up gaps in his defense, and through one of these the man appeared, a heavy mace brandished in one hand. He was hurrying to bring his spear to intercept in whatever way possible, but it ended up being unnecessary. The man collapsed, hamstrung, and hardly had time to scream before he was silenced. Ashitaka recovered his composure, looking to the other young man, countenance grim yet, for the most part, composed.

He seems ready to respond, but he was distracted by something: another figure approaching from behind his once-savior. Without thinking, he readies his spear like a javelin, throwing it with his right arm with enough strength to fell the attacker approaching Cole from behind. The body collapsed to the ground, the lance - usually too heavy and cumbersome to be thrown in such a way - sprouting from its chest. Ashitaka walks past Cole to retrieve the spear, pondering the question. The truthful answer was no, but it didn't seem worthwhile to say; the thwarted attack seemed answer enough. War would always make his answer the same.

He pulls he spear free, looking back to the other young man. "We should regroup with the allied front." Where they were, they were slightly separated, making them obvious targets.

[hurtcomfort]

Hearing the body fall behind him surprises Cole. He turns around to look, slightly surprised and slightly annoyed that he didn't hear that person approaching in the first place. He needs to do better. He can't help if he's dead. He turns back to look at the person who saved him and kept him alive...and then Cole winces slightly, looking at Ashitaka with an expression of confusion.

This is interesting. This is odd. Cole can't help it as he reaches out with his mind to sense the other man's pain. He's marked too. But it's not like the mark the Inquisitor has, a mark to close, a mark used to stop and save. This one hurts, this one spikes in pain every time he has to hurt, every time he has to attack someone to save himself. And here he was, dropped into a war?

How cruel of COST. How cruel of whatever gave him the mark in the first place.

"It hurts," he says, in a soft voice, staring directly at where Ashitaka's demon mark is, despite the fact that it's undoubtedly clothed. "Every person you kill, every arrow you fly, the mark pushes, pounds, punishes in exchange. How did it happen in the first place?"

Cole wants to help. But sometimes, you simply need to find out more before the helping and healing can start. There's no mention about how they should regroup. But if Ashitaka starts walking, Cole will follow, trailing along like a small child or a lost animal.

[lonelywar]

There had been a change. He'd noticed it when he'd first acclimated to his new surroundings. By all accounts, he should most likely be dead by this point. It had been kept at bay only momentarily by his injury and subsequent recovery, but Moro had not been lying when they had said it would claim him as soon as he (and, by extension, the mark) recovered his strength. He could only keep it at arm's length, a ravening beast that would soon overpower him. But here... it seemed as though that creature was caged. It could still lash out when he let his guard down (and, of course, it was always fueled and fed by all elements of war and hate), but he felt as though it would not overcome him completely.

When viewed in its entirety, he was unsure how much of a blessing that actually was. War, by its very nature, was cruel. Here, it seemed inescapable.

Ashitaka stops when Cole begins speaking, giving him a sharp look. Where some might have responded to the startling acuity of something well and truly hidden (gloves, vambraces, cuirass, tunic, he had been careful) with fear or anger, he merely met with intensity. It wasn't exactly secret, but it was personal, and to have its true nature be so immediately discerned was nearly incomprehensible. He is silent a moment before he asks, "How do you know this?"

But the battle wages on, pressing towards their position, and he knows better than to leave them open to continued attack. He looks back to Cole and starts to move towards their own front, skirting the other army.

It might seem like he might not answer for another long moment, but he ends up replying, "In a conflict both similar and different to this one." For, in a way, all conflict was the same, just dressed up with different excuses.

[hurtcomfort]

Cole follows. His eyes dart from place to place, scanning the area, trying to make certain nobody else is coming their way or coming to find them. But he can't help but be drawn back to Ashitaka's mark and more often than not, he finds himself looking at the other man's arm.

He asked a question though, so it's only sensible that Cole answer. Unfortunately, he's not the best at things like 'straightforward answers'. And likewise, he still doesn't fully know how he knows. Cole's at a crossroads: a spirit borrowing the body of a human, pulled in two different directions. Maybe he'll know more about how he knows later. Right now, he just knows.

"It hurts you. I can tell when people are hurting. And then I help." Or, at least, he tries to help.

And, without even realizing it, Cole dives further, picking up on more of Ashitaka's hurt and more of his suffering. The mark on his arm, something wide and wild, a monster of a mark that would soon devour him whole...but wasn't? But didn't right now? He frowns still, downright staring at Ashitaka's arm. "Caged creatures can be the most dangerous of them all."

[lonelywar]

Ashitaka keeps a keen eye as well, though the most contentious area of this battle seems to have migrated some distance due north. He considers leaving behind his spear and instead taking up his bow once more (he certainly had more experience with it), but in the end he decides against it. As the mark continued to urge him toward acts of violence, perhaps it was best he keep himself equipped with weaponry he wasn't so familiar with.

He is aware of Cole's attention, if not that of his eyes then that of whatever sense he had used to divine the true nature of Ashitaka's affliction. It still unsettled him, though it's not as if it was something he was completely unfamiliar with. The gods had understood readily enough the intent of the demon's mark. But, as far as he was aware, this was another human, not a god.

Or perhaps he wasn't completely right there, either. He can simply tell? If that were true, it was a burdensome power to carry; Ashitaka could sympathize.

"This place must be very loud to you, then." He felt as though what he carried with him was not much in comparison to those injured or dying.

The further statement earns Cole another intense look from Ashitaka, largely at the acuity of the words to what he had just been thinking. If he could read minds... he wasn't even sure if the gods had that ability. Instead of commenting on what Cole had just said, he asks another question: "How is it that you try to help here?" The words mingle with the sounds of distant shouts and the clamor of battle.