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

[whiteknightling]

[Turning his sword over, Zaratras prepared himself for the inevitable volley of bolts. There wouldn't be too much fuss if he stepped aside from them but there would be a problem if he was forced to sidestep it too well. Showing more prowess than he had risked a discovery he would have rather the enemy didn't come across. He perked up, eyes darting toward the flashing reflection coming off the shields Iskander had absconded with.

He dove, hearing more familiar cuts in the air from bolts as the unfortunate horse at his side took one in the leg. Without hesitation, Zaratras pulled the bolt free in one gesture, cured the wound shut in the other and then shuffled hurriedly in the sand towards Iskander to meet him halfway. Zaratras paid mind to slap the flank of the horse to send it bolting away. The tide of corpses at and around their feet didn't offer the sort of cover he would have preferred but as dead bodies soaked up the brunt of follow-up fire, he didn't bother a complaint.]

Thanks--Toss one here! [Zaratras spun a few times, trying to count in his head how many crossbows were loaded by the time he got closer to his ally.]

[hellenization]

Releasing!

[And with that, the shield was thrown ahead of Iskandar's oncoming charge. It was aimed just to the side of Zaratras rather than him directly, and that was on pupose. A misstep and a thrown sheild could do even more damage than the oncoming arrows.

With that hand free. Iskandar continued to run in order to provide cover, shield up and his line intending to move directly between Zaratras and the oncoming swarm of enemy arrows. For a moment, said arrows were distracted by the fleeing horse, and in it's place, Iskandar stood, weathering the shots as if it was simply another day.]

[whiteknightling]

Not a bad assist! [Flashing Iskander a pleasant smile despite the carnage they were subjected to, Zaratras caught the shield by its rim before dropping it over his forearm. With a hunch of his shoulders, he deflected arrows off of the round rim of it rather than blocking them directly. Sparks flew off of the surface of it before he barreled forward, surprising a few of the soldiers on horses. He jammed his heel into the sand, lifting a spear from its buried point--which he drove into the throat of the crossbowman closest to him. With a sharp kick of his heel, he tossed sand in the eyes of the next and felled him with the broken, sharp end of the spear he ripped free of the first soldier.

In a flash, Zaratras separated the circle and drew his sword again, watching the other crossbowmen hesitate--as they were facing each other at that moment. At that point, reinforcements from Saladin struck the line of crossbowmen, distracting from both Iskander and Zaratras.

Straightening himself, Zaratras kept his sword at the ready and turned to face Iskander. Despite the casual nature of his smile and tone, there wasn't a hint in him that his guard was down.]

It seems they're getting more energetic! Are you ready to close this gap and end their blitz?

[hellenization]

You hadn't even need ask!

[Iskandar's own grin was wide, his sword as in his hand, stolen shield in his other. Standing there, cape behind him, splatters of blood on his face, he looked as if he belonged no where else.

With no other troops to command, Iskandar simply raised his sword to the sky and charged towards the first man he could see. There was a pleasure in bodychecking full armor that made Iskandar smile, and that his opponent was a decent match only made him happier. There were few more precious things in the world than a good fight.

His eyes flicked towards Zaratras on occasion, to ensure the other man needed no help.]