[Sand & Ashes] Episode 24 - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

[Sand & Ashes] Episode 24

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Band2
Mar 16, 2006 8:15:16 Sand and Ashes

Episode 24 – Morning of the Second Day of Battle

The Characters
Ral meed, Ranger/ Preserver
Anticus, Fighter/ Psionicist
Ramsus, Gladiator
Alrin-Ga, Fighter/ Earth Cleric
Locale The fields outside Draj
Date Dominary 27, Desert’s Fury, 190th King’s Age
(Free Year 11)

Long after midnight had past, the four companions huddled behind their makeshift barricades trying to sleep. After the battle the companions had scoured the battlefield, arming themselves with dropped weapons and salvaging armor from the dead and dying.
Anticus now wore hide armor and was armed with a pole arm called a lotulis made of bone, along with a stone club. Ramsus had also found an armor of thick hide to wear. The mul still had his carrikal and had found an obsidian-tipped spear as well. Ral meed was able to salvage a suit of leather armor that fit his tall frame from the body of a dead elf. Alrin-Ga had, like Anticus, armed himself with a lotulis. He had had more trouble finding armor to fit his massive frame. All he was able to find was a thick leather chest piece, salvaged from a dead half-giant Draji soldier. Unfortunately the important leg guards, which protected the half-giant’s vulnerable legs against smaller attackers, had been hacked apart and were unusable.
Later, the Draji templars had tried to organize the slaves into units, but the darkness prevented them from getting much accomplished and they gave up. Alrin-Ga and Anticus had done what they could to heal the companions’ wounds from the day before. Now the companions tried to rest, but fear and apprehension of what awaited in the morning made their sleep fretful.
An hour before dawn, Ral meed was the first up. He stood on the makeshift barricade starring out at the horizon. Despite the previous day’s battle and the poor sleep, he felt ecstatic; better than he had felt in weeks. If he had given some thought to it, it was because he was out beneath the open sky again instead of trapped in the slave pits. But Ral meed did not care to think about it. Instead he just reveled in the feeling.
When the other companions began to wake, Ral meed started talking, and he would not stop. The companions were use to the elf as reserved and aloof, and were taken aback by this wildly talkative personality. Ral meed talked incessantly about anything, laughing at any small thing.
“He’s gone mad,” Ramsus whispered to Anticus. “He must have been hit in the head yesterday. I’ve seen it happen once in the arena.”
“Hehehe. You don’t know many elves do you? That is how they are. They are always like that. I hear say that when elves are enslaved many of them whither and die. They don’t take well to slavery.”
“Huh, I still say he is crazy,” Ramsus retorted with a shrug.
Ral meed was standing on the barricade again pointing at the sky, “Look at it. Isn’t it gorgeous? All those bright points of light illuminating the dark sky. Wonderful. And look over there the sky is beginning to lighten. A dawn is coming and it will be exquisite to behold…”
With the pre-dawn light came the sound of the war drums. The Draji army uses drums to communicate simple orders to large numbers of troops. At the sound of the drums, templars and other officers began pushing through the sleeping masses wakening the army to prepare for the come day. Slaves and soldiers alike who were too slow in rising were encouraged with slashes of whips or from long reed clubs the templars carried.
All the while as the army awoke and moved to the barricades, Ral meed remained standing tall on top of a section of the barricade, ignoring Anticus’s suggestions that he get down. Finally the half-giant, Alrin-Ga gently but firmly pulled the elf off the barricade, when he saw a group of templars approaching.
There was movement from the invaders lines, but it was still too dark for any of the companions to see.
“Can anyone see what is going on over there?” Ramsus asked.
“I just see a large black mass, can’t make out any details,” Ral meed was the only one to reply, his elven eyesight giving him an advantage over the others in the dim light.
“Hold on a second. I’ll see if I can tell you more.” Ral meed then quieted and focused inside himself. Similar to Anticus, Ral meed could tap into his inner nexus, but unlike the dwarf he had never been trained properly in the Way, but like many people on Athas he was simply a wild talent who could use his inner energy in only one or two ways. In Ral meed’s case, he could use his nexus to enhance his senses. Tapping into his nexus now, Ral meed was able to greatly improve his eyesight.
“They have prepared defenses too. Looks like they are lining up for an attack, though. I think they are grouped by race. I think I see gith there, a lot of humans there, and I think there are elves behind the humans over there. I cannot be sure. There are a lot of standards, but I cannot make out the colors in the dim light. Maybe when it gets more light. They’re all foot soldiers. Don’t see any cavalry.”
“There would not be any here. We are in the middle of the line. Any cavalry would be on the flanks to face our cavalry,” Anticus said.
The group descended into silence again, with each lost in his own thoughts. Ramsus was thinking about the day before. It was not his first fight but it was his first battle, and he had been filled with fear. Earlier he had felt ashamed by the fear, but now he was more concerned that it would return today. He did not want to let down his friends and companions but he was worried that the fear would overcome him and send him fleeing away from the enemy just when his companions needed him most. As he thought of this he unconsciously would clench his right hand into fist then relax the hand and clench it into a claw and relax it again only to continue as before.
“Get ready. When they come, we hold them at the barricade,” the dwarf ordered.
“Wall weak,” Alrin-Ga said shaking the make-shift barricade, “I guess it not hold.”
Anticus thought about that for a minute and then spoke up.
“I have an idea. We will meet them at the wall. But on my signal, which I’ll give if we are hard pressed, we all take two steps back. The barricade is flimsy. It is more of an obstacle than a protection. They will be more occupied climbing over the wall than in fighting, giving us the opportunity to slaughter them.”
The others, having no better ideas, agreed and spread the word to the slave warriors around them of the plan. The code word to signal the maneuver was ‘sand storm.’ Once that was agreed upon, Ral meed went back to staring at the sky. As he did so he nervously tapped his hands against his thigh. He could not wait for the fight to get started. His feelings of euphoria gave him the sense of being invincible. No one could best him, not on this day as he tasted the freedom of being outside of the city’s confines. The elf watched the enemy line for the small indication of when the attack would start. Finally, Ral meed shouted a warning, “Here they come!”
As the elf spoke, a twisted cacophony of horns and drums broke out from the invaders’ line. Seconds later, the war drums of the Draji took up as everyone tensed for the coming battle.
The first attack did not strike the line where the companions waited, but attacked the line farther down to their right. With a roar heard over the noise of the war drums a large band of savage looking humans, both men and women charged the Draji line.
The Draji line was manned by armed slaves at that point, who leveled spears and pole arms at the attackers. The battle cry of the attackers threatened to unnerve many of the untrained slaves. However, this group of slaves was mostly gladiators and so only a couple of them broke and ran at the sight of the attackers. Officers waited behind the lines to stop men from fleeing and force them back into line. A half-giant grabbed one of the fleeing slaves and pushed him hard back into line, while a soldier with a whip chased after another who tried to run off behind the line.
The two battle lines came together with a jarring impact. Most of the first wave of attackers was impaled on the leveled weapons of the defenders. Some defenders had been shaken by the ferocious charge and had not held their weapons true, allowing some of the attackers to reach the barricade and strike back.
Ramsus watched a large woman batter aside spears with a large obsidian battle axe to reach the wall. She leapt up onto the barricade and brought her axe down with both hands hard on a defenders head. The woman gave a crazed shout of jubilation and tried another swing. Before she could two spears struck her and she fell over off the wall into the mass of attackers who promptly trampled her in their haste to reach the wall themselves.
As he watched the fight, Ramsus felt the fear from yesterday returning, and had the urgent need to use the bathroom. Ashamed he looked away, and tried to get a hold of himself, telling himself he would not be a coward.
Anticus looked on, hardly moving, but grinding his teeth as he willed the men to hold the line. Unnoticed, a small muscle on the side of the dwarf’s neck began to twitch. Anticus was concerned about the upcoming battle. He was not afraid of the battle, he told himself, but he was more concerned about failing. He had sworn an oath to kill the four templars he most considered responsible for his enslavement. The path to fulfill that revenge was now the center of his being. Like all dwarves, Anticus had a single-minded determination to fulfill this goal. But Anticus had heard the rumors and myths of what becomes of dwarves when they die, failing to complete a life focus. It is said they become mutilated undead monstrosities that haunt the living. Anticus was not sure if he believed the rumors or not, but he did feel the need for revenge with every fiber of his being. He had no desire to die this day and not see his revenge carried out.
#2
brun01
Mar 16, 2006 10:38:27 Where can I find the other 23?
#3
gab
Mar 16, 2006 10:46:24 They're on the Dark Sun mailing list. A search of the archives with the key words "Sand and Ashes" will give you the other episodes.

http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?S1=dark-sun-l
#4
brun01
Mar 16, 2006 10:55:53 Thanks!
#5
Band2
Mar 16, 2006 11:07:02 Gab is right. You can find them in the archives of the DS mailing list. They start back in February of 2005 and went almost weekly until August, and have mostly stopped since then. I am trying to get back into a regular retinue, though I do not expect it to be weekly. Maybe every two weeks or so.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Band2 Mar 16, 2006 8:15:16	Sand and Ashes Episode 24 – Morning of the Second Day of Battle The Characters Ral meed, Ranger/ Preserver Anticus, Fighter/ Psionicist Ramsus, Gladiator Alrin-Ga, Fighter/ Earth Cleric Locale The fields outside Draj Date Dominary 27, Desert’s Fury, 190th King’s Age (Free Year 11) Long after midnight had past, the four companions huddled behind their makeshift barricades trying to sleep. After the battle the companions had scoured the battlefield, arming themselves with dropped weapons and salvaging armor from the dead and dying. Anticus now wore hide armor and was armed with a pole arm called a lotulis made of bone, along with a stone club. Ramsus had also found an armor of thick hide to wear. The mul still had his carrikal and had found an obsidian-tipped spear as well. Ral meed was able to salvage a suit of leather armor that fit his tall frame from the body of a dead elf. Alrin-Ga had, like Anticus, armed himself with a lotulis. He had had more trouble finding armor to fit his massive frame. All he was able to find was a thick leather chest piece, salvaged from a dead half-giant Draji soldier. Unfortunately the important leg guards, which protected the half-giant’s vulnerable legs against smaller attackers, had been hacked apart and were unusable. Later, the Draji templars had tried to organize the slaves into units, but the darkness prevented them from getting much accomplished and they gave up. Alrin-Ga and Anticus had done what they could to heal the companions’ wounds from the day before. Now the companions tried to rest, but fear and apprehension of what awaited in the morning made their sleep fretful. An hour before dawn, Ral meed was the first up. He stood on the makeshift barricade starring out at the horizon. Despite the previous day’s battle and the poor sleep, he felt ecstatic; better than he had felt in weeks. If he had given some thought to it, it was because he was out beneath the open sky again instead of trapped in the slave pits. But Ral meed did not care to think about it. Instead he just reveled in the feeling. When the other companions began to wake, Ral meed started talking, and he would not stop. The companions were use to the elf as reserved and aloof, and were taken aback by this wildly talkative personality. Ral meed talked incessantly about anything, laughing at any small thing. “He’s gone mad,” Ramsus whispered to Anticus. “He must have been hit in the head yesterday. I’ve seen it happen once in the arena.” “Hehehe. You don’t know many elves do you? That is how they are. They are always like that. I hear say that when elves are enslaved many of them whither and die. They don’t take well to slavery.” “Huh, I still say he is crazy,” Ramsus retorted with a shrug. Ral meed was standing on the barricade again pointing at the sky, “Look at it. Isn’t it gorgeous? All those bright points of light illuminating the dark sky. Wonderful. And look over there the sky is beginning to lighten. A dawn is coming and it will be exquisite to behold…” With the pre-dawn light came the sound of the war drums. The Draji army uses drums to communicate simple orders to large numbers of troops. At the sound of the drums, templars and other officers began pushing through the sleeping masses wakening the army to prepare for the come day. Slaves and soldiers alike who were too slow in rising were encouraged with slashes of whips or from long reed clubs the templars carried. All the while as the army awoke and moved to the barricades, Ral meed remained standing tall on top of a section of the barricade, ignoring Anticus’s suggestions that he get down. Finally the half-giant, Alrin-Ga gently but firmly pulled the elf off the barricade, when he saw a group of templars approaching. There was movement from the invaders lines, but it was still too dark for any of the companions to see. “Can anyone see what is going on over there?” Ramsus asked. “I just see a large black mass, can’t make out any details,” Ral meed was the only one to reply, his elven eyesight giving him an advantage over the others in the dim light. “Hold on a second. I’ll see if I can tell you more.” Ral meed then quieted and focused inside himself. Similar to Anticus, Ral meed could tap into his inner nexus, but unlike the dwarf he had never been trained properly in the Way, but like many people on Athas he was simply a wild talent who could use his inner energy in only one or two ways. In Ral meed’s case, he could use his nexus to enhance his senses. Tapping into his nexus now, Ral meed was able to greatly improve his eyesight. “They have prepared defenses too. Looks like they are lining up for an attack, though. I think they are grouped by race. I think I see gith there, a lot of humans there, and I think there are elves behind the humans over there. I cannot be sure. There are a lot of standards, but I cannot make out the colors in the dim light. Maybe when it gets more light. They’re all foot soldiers. Don’t see any cavalry.” “There would not be any here. We are in the middle of the line. Any cavalry would be on the flanks to face our cavalry,” Anticus said. The group descended into silence again, with each lost in his own thoughts. Ramsus was thinking about the day before. It was not his first fight but it was his first battle, and he had been filled with fear. Earlier he had felt ashamed by the fear, but now he was more concerned that it would return today. He did not want to let down his friends and companions but he was worried that the fear would overcome him and send him fleeing away from the enemy just when his companions needed him most. As he thought of this he unconsciously would clench his right hand into fist then relax the hand and clench it into a claw and relax it again only to continue as before. “Get ready. When they come, we hold them at the barricade,” the dwarf ordered. “Wall weak,” Alrin-Ga said shaking the make-shift barricade, “I guess it not hold.” Anticus thought about that for a minute and then spoke up. “I have an idea. We will meet them at the wall. But on my signal, which I’ll give if we are hard pressed, we all take two steps back. The barricade is flimsy. It is more of an obstacle than a protection. They will be more occupied climbing over the wall than in fighting, giving us the opportunity to slaughter them.” The others, having no better ideas, agreed and spread the word to the slave warriors around them of the plan. The code word to signal the maneuver was ‘sand storm.’ Once that was agreed upon, Ral meed went back to staring at the sky. As he did so he nervously tapped his hands against his thigh. He could not wait for the fight to get started. His feelings of euphoria gave him the sense of being invincible. No one could best him, not on this day as he tasted the freedom of being outside of the city’s confines. The elf watched the enemy line for the small indication of when the attack would start. Finally, Ral meed shouted a warning, “Here they come!” As the elf spoke, a twisted cacophony of horns and drums broke out from the invaders’ line. Seconds later, the war drums of the Draji took up as everyone tensed for the coming battle. The first attack did not strike the line where the companions waited, but attacked the line farther down to their right. With a roar heard over the noise of the war drums a large band of savage looking humans, both men and women charged the Draji line. The Draji line was manned by armed slaves at that point, who leveled spears and pole arms at the attackers. The battle cry of the attackers threatened to unnerve many of the untrained slaves. However, this group of slaves was mostly gladiators and so only a couple of them broke and ran at the sight of the attackers. Officers waited behind the lines to stop men from fleeing and force them back into line. A half-giant grabbed one of the fleeing slaves and pushed him hard back into line, while a soldier with a whip chased after another who tried to run off behind the line. The two battle lines came together with a jarring impact. Most of the first wave of attackers was impaled on the leveled weapons of the defenders. Some defenders had been shaken by the ferocious charge and had not held their weapons true, allowing some of the attackers to reach the barricade and strike back. Ramsus watched a large woman batter aside spears with a large obsidian battle axe to reach the wall. She leapt up onto the barricade and brought her axe down with both hands hard on a defenders head. The woman gave a crazed shout of jubilation and tried another swing. Before she could two spears struck her and she fell over off the wall into the mass of attackers who promptly trampled her in their haste to reach the wall themselves. As he watched the fight, Ramsus felt the fear from yesterday returning, and had the urgent need to use the bathroom. Ashamed he looked away, and tried to get a hold of himself, telling himself he would not be a coward. Anticus looked on, hardly moving, but grinding his teeth as he willed the men to hold the line. Unnoticed, a small muscle on the side of the dwarf’s neck began to twitch. Anticus was concerned about the upcoming battle. He was not afraid of the battle, he told himself, but he was more concerned about failing. He had sworn an oath to kill the four templars he most considered responsible for his enslavement. The path to fulfill that revenge was now the center of his being. Like all dwarves, Anticus had a single-minded determination to fulfill this goal. But Anticus had heard the rumors and myths of what becomes of dwarves when they die, failing to complete a life focus. It is said they become mutilated undead monstrosities that haunt the living. Anticus was not sure if he believed the rumors or not, but he did feel the need for revenge with every fiber of his being. He had no desire to die this day and not see his revenge carried out.
#2 brun01 Mar 16, 2006 10:38:27	Where can I find the other 23?
#3 gab Mar 16, 2006 10:46:24	They're on the Dark Sun mailing list. A search of the archives with the key words "Sand and Ashes" will give you the other episodes. http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?S1=dark-sun-l
#4 brun01 Mar 16, 2006 10:55:53	Thanks!
#5 Band2 Mar 16, 2006 11:07:02	Gab is right. You can find them in the archives of the DS mailing list. They start back in February of 2005 and went almost weekly until August, and have mostly stopped since then. I am trying to get back into a regular retinue, though I do not expect it to be weekly. Maybe every two weeks or so.