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

b

[pointedlook]

[ Time travel is completely unheard of.

He's still wondering if he's plugged into a PASIV somewhere above, that maybe he's three, four layers deep and that he's fucked himself right into limbo. But, every attempt he's made to change the parameters of the dream have gotten him nowhere. So either A.) he's not the dreamer B.) this is some twisted experiment of C.) this is reality, as absurd as that is.

More and more he's taking to option C. An easy way to find out would be to get someone to give him a kick (though he hasn't figured out how to phrase that question without seeming totally bonkers). Another way is death, though he rolls his dice (always landing on 7 white pips staring him in the face) and decides against it every time.

That leads him here. A covert mission in the outskirts of an oasis. Arthur's been keeping track of the teammate nearby, careful not to disturb or make any more noise than necessary. There's a pause before the other man points out a figure in the dark. ]

Scout? [ He keeps his query low, knowing how sound can carry in a space like this. ]

[mylawn]

[Time travel is not entirely unheard of, but the one instance of if that 76 is familiar with was more a fluke than anything else, and he can't say he fully understands it. That had been something for the scientists under his employ, and it wasn't like the entire ordeal ended in an actual time machine.

It's much easier to assume he's been kidnapped and drugged. Why he'd be hallucinating the crusades is anyone's guess, but for now there's little choice but to play along--try to survive, and hope that there are more answers at the end. He can't accept that he's just forgotten about being part of this organization, whatever it is. The implications that this is something he's done before doesn't sit well for a multitude of reasons that keep piling up.

So he tries to focus on the task at hand, instead, motioning for Arthur to come closer, if only to reduce the potential noise between them.]

Might be.

[That's the logical conclusion. He squints into the dark, wishing again for his environment scanner, but he'll have to make do without, trying to discern what weapons they might be carrying, if any.]

I'd bet on more than one.

[pointedlook]

[ If Arthur knew 76 had any knowledge of time travel, he'd be picking his brain for information. Just to understand the scope of how much they might be fucked.

Too bad that might be a conversation for a later time.

At the gesture, he closes the distance between them, head tilted to the side to hear better. ]

Worst case, three to five. Best case, a couple. [ He's silent for a beat, listening for the telltale clank of armor– he's not disappointed when it drifts over the sand. ] We have speed to our advantage, as well as stealth.

[ Because they aren't clanking around like a bunch of awkward robots. ] It'd make it easy to flank around the back.

[mylawn]

[He finds himself wanting a sniper--someone who can bunker down and pick off the scouts silently from a distance. Though 76 could certainly fill that role in a pinch, he knows he's not going to be able to pull that off with a bow and arrow. He's not confident enough in those particular abilities to guarantee they won't be located.

If they want to stop this approach, they won't be avoiding a hand-to-hand confrontation.]

I can take them.

[That he's certain he can take care of, but they still aren't in a position to attack from the front. Arthur says what he's thinking--flanking is their best bet.]

We'll have to make it quick, though.

[pointedlook]

[ If only he had his sniper rifle. Or any firearm. It would make this job so much easier. But, wishing will get him exactly nowhere, so he pushes that to the side and gets his hands dirty. Hand to hand isn't his favorite, but he's been pushed into it before. ]

I'm an okay shot with a bow, just in case they've got friends in shouting distance. [ Worth noting. ]

You go left and I'll go right? [ The perimeter geography is about the same– sand in every direction. They'll meet at basically the same point and time. ]

[mylawn]

[If only--they're going to have to make do with what they're given, for better or worse. He imagines that sucking it up and dealing is preferable to the alternative, which is screwing with the time stream, not that 76 wants to think about that, either. He reminds himself to focus on the task at hand, and his own mission-oriented mindset will take it from there.

And hey, if Arthur wants to be the one with the boy and arrow, 76 isn't going to argue. He says as much.]

All yours.

[The rest he agrees with as well, though he takes one last glance at the expanse of desert in front of them to make sure he hasn't missed anything.]

I'll go right. Meet you in the middle.