agogelogs | THE SKY WENT BLACK,

THE SKY WENT BLACK,

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

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[Midnighter's nothing if not a showoff. He twists his hand, and the sword flashes in the sunlight, the handle curving in the air to end up in his hand, grip assured. He moves the sword around himself in a floret, curving this way and that with a fencer's touch, before throwing it in the air. It lands blade-down in the sand next to the girl with the arrows.]

I'd be, too. I've never used a sword before. Well. Not on people.

[ That actually manages to catch her attention a bit more, since, well. It's flashy, so it's hard not to. She has the eye to recognize that it's more showy than useful, so by the time it lands in the sand and he gives his answer, she snorts out half a laugh. ]

Great. That's what we're supposed to be fighting, right?

[ It might be a rhetorical question, but it's hard to tell. If it's not, though, it's a bit of an odd one, since it implies she might be used to fighting other things. ]

Well, have you fought before?

I'm more of a fist kinda guy. Or crowbars. Big fan of those.

[He shrugs, and sits down near her in the sand. He's all jokes and easy laughter, but he's staring pretty fucking intently at the arrow-making process.]

All I do is fight.

Well, that probably works. Apparently that's all we're here to do.

[ Again, it's sarcastic, but she's definitely not a fan of the circumstances of just being here what feels like all of the sudden. HADES may not pose a threat anymore, but that doesn't mean that she wants to have left. The answer itself also doesn't seem to bother her, because truth be told, it feels like the kind of answer she could give too.

She almost hates to ask, because Aloy is both proud and expects the reaction of incredulity at... almost everything she tends to ask, but it seems important. She knows weapons pretty well, but she hasn't heard of a crowbar. ]

What's a crowbar? Something that flies?

[ She's clearly guessing based on the name alone. ]

[Do they not have crowbars a billion years ago? That's his first thought. He was trying to decide if this kid was a traveler, and their apparent confusion at the word crowbar doesn't give him anything new to go on. The arrows they're making don't look like medieval bullshit, but would Midnighter actually know the difference?]

[The fight computer refuses to calculate the likelihood of this person being from the future with so little data. It says it could only speculate with 12% accuracy. Bullshit, if you ask him.]

It's something that hits. Hard. In the face. [He makes a swinging motion, as one holds a bat... or a crowbar. But his eyes stay on her arrows.] What've you got there?

Huh. So more a bar than a crow.

[ She guesses? There's only so much Aloy can handle seeming ignorant before she gets irritated, so she moves on. Just knowing it's a blunt weapon is good enough for her, at least now. It doesn't matter too much. ]

Arrows? [ There's definitely a tone in her voice that's questioning how he couldn't know what they are, but she can explain a little more. ] I don't have enough for the fight that seems to be coming. I'd be making better ones if I had machines to get the parts I need from.

[ Though saying that makes her realize that there's another question she could be asking here. It hadn't occurred to her immediately because it still seems like something strange and impossible at times, but maybe if they're somewhere else, in some other time, then that doesn't mean that he's from her home. Actually, considering these questions, she can be pretty certain that's not the case. ]

Does... any of this look familiar to you?

Got it in one. [He snaps his fingers, a rare gesture for the fact that he's usually wearing gloves.]

[He keeps his eyes on her hands.] I know what arrows are, Legolas, but I've never seen 'em made. What materials are you using? What 'machine parts' are best? C'mon, let's improvise.

[Midnighter's brain, computerized as it is, moves at triple the speed of an average human. One could say he's got precious little patience, as a result.]

[ She rolls her eyes and makes no attempt to hide that at all, and it comes with a shrug. ]

Machines. Any of them. [ There's no other kinds, as far as she's concerned, but after a beat, she remembers, right, he probably doesn't know what they are. ] The kinds that have Echo Shells and Blaze. If I could make tearblast arrows or fire arrows, then I'd be able to do more.

[ Another shrug, and she turns her attention back down as she continues to sharpen one of the rocks she'd scavenged so that she can secure it to the branches of brush that seemed strong enough. ]

The normal kind work, but hey, setting someone on fire keeps them off me if I have to get back.

[It doesn't take a computer brain to formulate a fix. You want arrows that burn? Get oil and light them yourself. Is that what she means by 'blaze'? Is this premodern slang, more shit Midnighter doesn't know because he mostly sticks to gladiator movies and reality TV?]

[Probably.]

Whatever that shit is, I couldn't tell you where they keep it. Bet you could nab some oil, though.

[ It won't burn the same way, she thinks, but... It could work. It's not like she hasn't been burned before, and she'd take getting burned over someone with a big weapon getting too close to her when she doesn't have her spear to defend herself in close quarters. She considers it, since she'll have to come up with a different way to ignite it when she fires, but ultimately— ]

Have you seen where they keep oil?

[ Seems like she's down for that idea. ]

Yeah, [he says, and it's only a half lie. He's got a pretty good idea, okay, so sue him.]

I'll show you if you make another arrow. The normal kind. Right now.

[ She goes from thoughtful to incredulous in a moment, and her expression twists up slightly. She looks a bit exasperated, but not completely defensive to the point that it would imply she won't do it. ]

Seriously? Why?

[ Basically she wants to know what she should be annoyed at here, because if it's doubt of her ability, she'll make the best damn arrow he's ever seen just to spite him. gj aloy ]

I have a theory, [he says, nonchalant at first, but his tone picks up speed at the end, growing annoying (or annoyed? It's the same thing with him),] and it requires more arrows.

[ She clicks her tongue in irritation, but her attention turns back to the work at hand as she continues with the arrow she's working on. ]

Fine, whatever. Just hold on a minute.

[ It actually doesn't take that long at all when she's working without also holding a conversation. She makes the arrow with the sort of deftness that implies that this is something she's done many, many times over. It's easily familiar for her, and she hands off a (very well made, thank you) arrow, though she starts to gather the materials for another. ]

What's this great theory of yours?

My theory was that you could make arrows.

[He twirls the arrow in his hand, slow at first, and then with surprising quickness. It's without the deft touches of a hand that's done this a thousand times. He's simply a quick study.]

Looks like you can. Let's get you some oil, kid.

[He stands.]

[ oh my god

Aloy sighs in exasperation, since this is already turning into one of the kinds of unpleasant encounters she seems to come across way too often, but she sets aside what she had been in the process of picking up. ]

Great theory. Yeah, obviously I can make arrows. Way easier than buying them. [ That, and she trusts arrows she makes with her own hands a little more, though that's probably just suspicion. ]

[Midnighter keeps twirling that damn arrow, going faster every second he spends doing it, getting better and better at what he's doing at an accelerated rate. He walks through the sea of tents, looking this way and that from under the black fabric wrapped loosely around his face, studying everything with a critical eye.]

Yeah, but could you make this arrow? The suspense was killing me.

And why wouldn't I be able to make it after talking about it?

[ She's getting frustrated with this conversation, since. Well. Midnighter, you are just a frustrating person to talk to!! Aloy may have dealt with her fair share of people like him, but it doesn't exactly get any easier when she's so hotheaded. ]

Solipsism, [Midnighter says with a roll of his eyes.]

[A scout is wandering around the camp, fliting from tent to tent; Midnighter moves to stand next to him, and they bump into each other. There's a volley of apologies, where Midnighter is politer than he's ever been in front of his arrow-making companion, and the act drops immediately once the scout's back is turned.]

Sol-what?

[ Yeah, she definitely has no idea what that word means, even to the point that she thinks she might have misheard it entirely. But again, from what she knows, she's left to guess it's something about the sun. This time she won't try and connect the dots aloud, though.

She watches the exchange when it happens, and while she knows she should be grateful that he's helping her... She ends up more frustrated at the politeness that he shows to the scout. Once they're mostly out of earshot of the scout, she can't help but make a sarcastic comment about it. ]

So if you're ever polite, I shouldn't trust it. Good to know.

[It one of those dumb words Andrew was having trouble with in his daily word puzzle from, what, four years ago? Five? A computer brain means a really sharp-- though not by any stretch perfect-- memory.]

[He grins when he sees Aloy has caught onto what he was doing, producing a rusty key from the folds of his robe.]

You shouldn't ever trust me. I'm a very bad man. But I'm on your side today, kid, and I keep my bargains.

[ Aloy doesn't seem at all offended or surprised by the key's appearance. She may have missed the slight of hand, but the act itself fits in with this man's personality as she's seen it so far. If anything, she'd be surprised by the fact that he's showing her now instead of later. ]

Lucky me, I guess. I have a natural talent for running into people like you.

[ She can think of several people she met in her travels, and honestly, it just makes her immediately tired... why are they this way ]

We're on the same side, though. At least supposedly. So I hope it's more than just today.

Smart move.

[He hands over the key-- and the blame if they're caught-- and begins moving down the row of tents.]

You got a name?

[ The meaning of him passing along that key isn't lost on her, but she at least ignores it. It gets her what she wants, so whatever, she won't ask questions. It's not like it's stealing something that can't be returned. Which... Yes, the oil technically is, but that's different. It's going to be to their benefit if she has it. ]

Aloy. [ She responds as she starts tucking the key away, since she at least won't have it clearly visible. ] What about you?

Midnighter.

[Aloy is a new name; Midnighter can't think of any ancestries or ethnicities it's associated with, and the computer hasn't got any answers either. Not that either of them are particularly good with the social sciences to begin with, but usually Midnighter can at least make a rough guess. He knows a fair amount of languages himself, based on the computer's increased processing speed and memory capacity.]

[Oh, well. It could just be more shit he doesn't know about history. This person, Aloy, continues to allude his attempts at classification.]

[Nice work if you can get it.] The arrows you use-- hunting, obviously. The fire ones, though, that feels more... specific. You only shoot those kinds of things at thinking targets. [His tone is devoid of judgment; he's making an observation on a topic he finds completely morally neutral.] War? Or defense? ...Both?

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