The Bowshot King (A Nomad Quest)
- Thread starter Laplace
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- He/They
[x]- A dangerous rival. Look, he obviously thinks that Atil's up to something, and the fact is, Atil is. The canny old bugger needs to go, or Atil needs to play nice and wait him out. Preferably the Xige Angha Khan will do Atil the favor of dying before Atil makes his play for universal hegemony.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X]- Actually not bad! Obviously he's a bit wary, but look: Atil's got all of his war loot, and he's got the ability to form his own band with the Khan's direct blessing. That's pretty good, and a lot to thank the Xige Angha Khan for.
- Location
- USA
[x]- A dangerous rival.
[X]- A dangerous rival. Look, he obviously thinks that Atil's up to something, and the fact is, Atil is. The canny old bugger needs to go, or Atil needs to play nice and wait him out. Preferably the Xige Angha Khan will do Atil the favor of dying before Atil makes his play for universal hegemony.
- Location
- [REDACTED]
[X]- A dangerous rival. Look, he obviously thinks that Atil's up to something, and the fact is, Atil is. The canny old bugger needs to go, or Atil needs to play nice and wait him out. Preferably the Xige Angha Khan will do Atil the favor of dying before Atil makes his play for universal hegemony.
- Location
- in the trash
[x]- Actually not bad! Obviously he's a bit wary, but look: Atil's got all of his war loot, and he's got the ability to form his own band with the Khan's direct blessing. That's pretty good, and a lot to thank the Xige Angha Khan for.
Chapter Nine: Promenade of Horses
- Location
- boundless optimism
Sixty third year of the Jiaqi Emperors, the solar term of the Awakening Insects. The Khan of the Serpi sweeps the nation, looting and pillaging in an efficient and profitable manner. From the north his army, his nation strikes from cold pines. His sons accompany him like braying dogs, slavering at the hunt.
Sixty third year of the Jiaqi Emperors, the solar term of the Spring Equinox. The hostage prince Atil, his heart that of a dog's, betrays the glorious state, slaying faithful servants of the state in a vile ambush. He is a petty person who thinks that schemes can translate to greatness. He is like a thief who thinks that wearing stolen vestments will turn him into a gentleman. We shouldn't offer rewards for this criminal. When he is captured he should be tattooed and enslaved like any common lawbreaker.
"This essay is superb," Atil remarked. He was sitting stately in the office of a county magistrate, surrounded by papers and scrolls all strewn over the floor. Serpi hooligans stomped around that office, their greed for gold not limited to the portable. They were carting furniture off if they looked good, and they were prying the gilt off of the walls with daggers. In the garden, to the weeping of the old groundskeeper, the Serpi bands were kicking over flower bushes and stabbing spears into the earth, in the vain hope of buried stashes of gold and silver. "Your choice of simile is superb. This is supposed to be a cup of poison, but to me, it's the sweetest wine. You're wasted as a magistrate." He waved the scroll containing the denunciation of his actions at his target.
"The young hero is the most magnanimous, he possesses the qualities of a gentleman…" fawned the magistrate, who had pressed his face so hard against the floor that Atil almost thought that there would be a permanent hole there.
"Ah, shut it. You know and I know I'm here for your money. Bowing and scraping might get you out of trouble with the investigator but it won't save you from me." He waved the scroll at the magistrate, gesturing like an operatic depiction of the incorruptible official, berating incompetence and corruption. "Now, my boys have pretty thoroughly ransacked your manor. Yet, sir, we have reason to believe that you are hiding your wealth!"
"I'm but a poor county official. Master, you have to believe me. My family survives on nine bags of rice a year. You've been at court, you've seen the lists."
"Yeah, and I also know you people take bribe money. Where did you buy this? Perhaps you found it in a bamboo grove?" He tapped the table, a thing of dark black, oily wood chased in gold patterns. The style was unmistakably Serpi-- deer locking horns in leaflike scrolls. "So as I see it, you may pony up any caches of bribe money you have accumulated and enjoy the comforts of your manor when we are gone. If you do not, after we finish burning your manor, we'll chop your family into fishbait. Oh, but don't worry. We'll leave you alive, because I like your essay. What say you?
"Are you actually thinking about it?" Atil asked incredulously when the magistrate was silent. "It's your family, man. Do I need to start taking your son's fingers to make you decide?"
"Well, master," the magistrate whimpered, really, "wives and children are like clothes, but brothers are flesh and blood."
Atil and some of the Serpi exchanged looks. "Alright." Atil nodded. "Fetch me my saber. And make this fucker watch."
"Wait, wait wait wait!" the magistrate cried. "I changed my mind. There's a jar in the pond! Just dive down and clear off the dirt!"
This sordid scene happened in Xiangdong province, a hundred miles from the frontier garrisons. Xueyang City's order had dissolved as Xige Angha Khan's army sent braves to open the gates from the inside. The first come, first serve model of looting rights served the army well. Spurred on by the thought of plunder, Serpi warriors charged into the city, their greed overpowering crossbow bolts and spears. Some of them died, which was very sad, but on the plus side, the survivors of their shads inherited their shares, so it wasn't all bad.
Men roasted meat with temple rafters. Men wept about lost brothers over priceless wine, shared from the jug. Men carted treasures away, escorted slaves newly made and those recaptured, to the merchants who'd send them to the steppe for resale. Atil and Ayiz stepped out into this scene, that heavy jar full of gold held between them as they trundled to their cart at the edge of the city.
They were huffing and puffing from the weight when there was a clatter of hooves and a whole procession of Serpi stopped them in their tracks, but in a friendly way. Or at least, the friendliest that Eren Sahd, second son of Xige Angha Khan could manage. "Cousin! The hell are you doing walking around?"
"The weight makes it sweeter. What's the occasion?"
"Honorable Xige Angha Khan wants you out of the city once you've finished your looting! You're part of the scouts now, after old Mezghe Bey took a bolt into his lung. We're going south."
"South?" Atil questioned. "Isn't that a little too deep? There's richer prizes east and west of us, why risk our enterprise now?"
"What the khan wants, the khan gets!" Eren Sahd spat on the ground. Not at Atil's feet, that's an insult, but as it is there's an ambiguity whether he did it because he'd like to see Atil get shot and killed for being a thunder stealing son of a bitch, or because he did it because he thinks the old man is going senile. "Any case, saddle up and report to my brother. He's out there in the garrison commander's fort that-a-way."
They exchanged farewells. "You think the Khan's trying to get out of the way?" Ayiz, once a faithful soldier of Xige Angha, asked Atil.
He considered it. 'Maybe," he agreed, "but that's a little bit too paranoid. I think he really just wants me to do some scouting. In any case, let's be off. We're just about finished here."
"Hell," Atil swore, stomach against the ground. At his side was Istami Sahd and his retinue. They were perched on a cliff, their way south barred by a nightmarishly impenetrable labyrinth of mountain crags, forests, and river. Hardly horse country. That however, wasn't what he was swearing at. He was swearing at the glint of sun on armor, moving through the trees hundreds of feet under them.
"Hell," agreed Istami Sahd. "That's an armored column. Looks like… hey, Sada, get your fareye out." Sada takes out the fareye, extending the glass and bamboo contraption and focusing it on the column.
"I count… one squad of horse. Anywhere from fifty to a hundred. Triple that in pikes and crossbows. There's also some wagons. Could just be rations," he reported.
Atil shoo k his head. "Unlikely. They're, what, a couple days' march from the nearest garrison commandry? Makes no sense for them to use carts. They'd just man pack them."
"You're the expert," Istami Sahd shrugged. You're the expert, Atil translated. You're not really one of us. "So what's in that?"
"Could be anything," Atil shrugged back. "Taxes. Maybe some weapons. Firepowder."
Istami Sahd chewed on a strand of grass. "Alright," he decided. "Let's get down there and take their stuff."
"You sure, prince?" Sada asked, still attached to his fareye. "They look pretty tough, and this is all mountains and crap. We might get stuck in."
"We'll risk it. Saddle up, let's cut them off."
Does Atil Agree?
[]- Yes, because…
-[] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
-[] It's blood. Daring raid, his name burnished, and most importantly, it'll be heaps of fun. He'd be mounted, he'd have the initiative, all factors that mean he can show off his bravery to the audience with the minimum of risk.
[]- No, because…
-[] It's work. Ugh, the sun's hot, there's no wind, and he just wants to be done with it. So he'll let Istami Sahd do the work and he'll back Istami Sahd up, which is practical tactics and certainly not an excess of sloth and a deficit of valor.
-[] It's risk. He's not a coward, he just wants his skin intact. If, and Heaven forbid, something goes wrong and Istami Sahd gets cut to pieces after he gets lost in those mountains, someone needs to get the message that the Moths are massing and probably killed a prince.
Sixty third year of the Jiaqi Emperors, the solar term of the Spring Equinox. The hostage prince Atil, his heart that of a dog's, betrays the glorious state, slaying faithful servants of the state in a vile ambush. He is a petty person who thinks that schemes can translate to greatness. He is like a thief who thinks that wearing stolen vestments will turn him into a gentleman. We shouldn't offer rewards for this criminal. When he is captured he should be tattooed and enslaved like any common lawbreaker.
"This essay is superb," Atil remarked. He was sitting stately in the office of a county magistrate, surrounded by papers and scrolls all strewn over the floor. Serpi hooligans stomped around that office, their greed for gold not limited to the portable. They were carting furniture off if they looked good, and they were prying the gilt off of the walls with daggers. In the garden, to the weeping of the old groundskeeper, the Serpi bands were kicking over flower bushes and stabbing spears into the earth, in the vain hope of buried stashes of gold and silver. "Your choice of simile is superb. This is supposed to be a cup of poison, but to me, it's the sweetest wine. You're wasted as a magistrate." He waved the scroll containing the denunciation of his actions at his target.
"The young hero is the most magnanimous, he possesses the qualities of a gentleman…" fawned the magistrate, who had pressed his face so hard against the floor that Atil almost thought that there would be a permanent hole there.
"Ah, shut it. You know and I know I'm here for your money. Bowing and scraping might get you out of trouble with the investigator but it won't save you from me." He waved the scroll at the magistrate, gesturing like an operatic depiction of the incorruptible official, berating incompetence and corruption. "Now, my boys have pretty thoroughly ransacked your manor. Yet, sir, we have reason to believe that you are hiding your wealth!"
"I'm but a poor county official. Master, you have to believe me. My family survives on nine bags of rice a year. You've been at court, you've seen the lists."
"Yeah, and I also know you people take bribe money. Where did you buy this? Perhaps you found it in a bamboo grove?" He tapped the table, a thing of dark black, oily wood chased in gold patterns. The style was unmistakably Serpi-- deer locking horns in leaflike scrolls. "So as I see it, you may pony up any caches of bribe money you have accumulated and enjoy the comforts of your manor when we are gone. If you do not, after we finish burning your manor, we'll chop your family into fishbait. Oh, but don't worry. We'll leave you alive, because I like your essay. What say you?
"Are you actually thinking about it?" Atil asked incredulously when the magistrate was silent. "It's your family, man. Do I need to start taking your son's fingers to make you decide?"
"Well, master," the magistrate whimpered, really, "wives and children are like clothes, but brothers are flesh and blood."
Atil and some of the Serpi exchanged looks. "Alright." Atil nodded. "Fetch me my saber. And make this fucker watch."
"Wait, wait wait wait!" the magistrate cried. "I changed my mind. There's a jar in the pond! Just dive down and clear off the dirt!"
This sordid scene happened in Xiangdong province, a hundred miles from the frontier garrisons. Xueyang City's order had dissolved as Xige Angha Khan's army sent braves to open the gates from the inside. The first come, first serve model of looting rights served the army well. Spurred on by the thought of plunder, Serpi warriors charged into the city, their greed overpowering crossbow bolts and spears. Some of them died, which was very sad, but on the plus side, the survivors of their shads inherited their shares, so it wasn't all bad.
Men roasted meat with temple rafters. Men wept about lost brothers over priceless wine, shared from the jug. Men carted treasures away, escorted slaves newly made and those recaptured, to the merchants who'd send them to the steppe for resale. Atil and Ayiz stepped out into this scene, that heavy jar full of gold held between them as they trundled to their cart at the edge of the city.
They were huffing and puffing from the weight when there was a clatter of hooves and a whole procession of Serpi stopped them in their tracks, but in a friendly way. Or at least, the friendliest that Eren Sahd, second son of Xige Angha Khan could manage. "Cousin! The hell are you doing walking around?"
"The weight makes it sweeter. What's the occasion?"
"Honorable Xige Angha Khan wants you out of the city once you've finished your looting! You're part of the scouts now, after old Mezghe Bey took a bolt into his lung. We're going south."
"South?" Atil questioned. "Isn't that a little too deep? There's richer prizes east and west of us, why risk our enterprise now?"
"What the khan wants, the khan gets!" Eren Sahd spat on the ground. Not at Atil's feet, that's an insult, but as it is there's an ambiguity whether he did it because he'd like to see Atil get shot and killed for being a thunder stealing son of a bitch, or because he did it because he thinks the old man is going senile. "Any case, saddle up and report to my brother. He's out there in the garrison commander's fort that-a-way."
They exchanged farewells. "You think the Khan's trying to get out of the way?" Ayiz, once a faithful soldier of Xige Angha, asked Atil.
He considered it. 'Maybe," he agreed, "but that's a little bit too paranoid. I think he really just wants me to do some scouting. In any case, let's be off. We're just about finished here."
"Hell," Atil swore, stomach against the ground. At his side was Istami Sahd and his retinue. They were perched on a cliff, their way south barred by a nightmarishly impenetrable labyrinth of mountain crags, forests, and river. Hardly horse country. That however, wasn't what he was swearing at. He was swearing at the glint of sun on armor, moving through the trees hundreds of feet under them.
"Hell," agreed Istami Sahd. "That's an armored column. Looks like… hey, Sada, get your fareye out." Sada takes out the fareye, extending the glass and bamboo contraption and focusing it on the column.
"I count… one squad of horse. Anywhere from fifty to a hundred. Triple that in pikes and crossbows. There's also some wagons. Could just be rations," he reported.
Atil shoo k his head. "Unlikely. They're, what, a couple days' march from the nearest garrison commandry? Makes no sense for them to use carts. They'd just man pack them."
"You're the expert," Istami Sahd shrugged. You're the expert, Atil translated. You're not really one of us. "So what's in that?"
"Could be anything," Atil shrugged back. "Taxes. Maybe some weapons. Firepowder."
Istami Sahd chewed on a strand of grass. "Alright," he decided. "Let's get down there and take their stuff."
"You sure, prince?" Sada asked, still attached to his fareye. "They look pretty tough, and this is all mountains and crap. We might get stuck in."
"We'll risk it. Saddle up, let's cut them off."
Does Atil Agree?
[]- Yes, because…
-[] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
-[] It's blood. Daring raid, his name burnished, and most importantly, it'll be heaps of fun. He'd be mounted, he'd have the initiative, all factors that mean he can show off his bravery to the audience with the minimum of risk.
[]- No, because…
-[] It's work. Ugh, the sun's hot, there's no wind, and he just wants to be done with it. So he'll let Istami Sahd do the work and he'll back Istami Sahd up, which is practical tactics and certainly not an excess of sloth and a deficit of valor.
-[] It's risk. He's not a coward, he just wants his skin intact. If, and Heaven forbid, something goes wrong and Istami Sahd gets cut to pieces after he gets lost in those mountains, someone needs to get the message that the Moths are massing and probably killed a prince.
LucidProp
Pocky Eating MafiaDoka
We didn't really spec Atil to be a warrior or commander. He's much more of a sly smoothtalker and bookkeeper.
[X]- No, because…
-[X] It's risk. He's not a coward, he just wants his skin intact. If, and Heaven forbid, something goes wrong and Istami Sahd gets cut to pieces after he gets lost in those mountains, someone needs to get the message that the Moths are massing and probably killed a prince.
[X]- No, because…
-[X] It's risk. He's not a coward, he just wants his skin intact. If, and Heaven forbid, something goes wrong and Istami Sahd gets cut to pieces after he gets lost in those mountains, someone needs to get the message that the Moths are massing and probably killed a prince.
- Location
- boundless optimism
I want to point out that Jigei Tolma is an excellent tutor in martial arts and more pertinently, Atil has fifteen experienced ultra hard core Serpi veterans to guard him as well as his gathered retinue (younger, less armored, but more enthusiastic). I'm taking a hm, 'realistic' view of things where what decides victories is more based on plans and how many people you have on your side than how swole your biceps are.
He's also a pretty good commander because half of a commander's job is keeping up morale and he's good at that.
- Location
- Wörms, the half continent
This is somewhere between two hundred to four hundred men and like... we're better horse than they are, and probably better archers than their crossbowmen are crossbowmen, but I don't know how many men we have, which is not a great starting point.
- Location
- boundless optimism
You've got a hundred and thirty plus or minus some. Atil's got roughly 50, Istami Sahd's got the rest. About forty are in their full panoply, lamellar over mail, the rest are in thick robes with a mail shirt at most, since they're all scouts. Atil knows from reading military manuals that crossbowmen should not be expected to stand and fight while ambushed, and should instead retreat to form a wagon circle while cavalry drive off the threat, buying time for them to form up.
Atil and Istami Sahd do not believe that the mountain passes contain enough room for that. The main point of contention is that if a sudden attack will spook the column into panicking, and if they don't, are the Serpi able to withdraw in order.
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- Location
- USA
[x]- No, because…
-[x] It's work.
-[x] It's work.
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X]- Yes, because…
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X]- Yes, because…
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
Regency
PFP by vanathema (previously yubishines)
- Location
- Morioh Town, Mt. Ebbot
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I forgot the tally when the previous vote was closed. The "dangerous rival" option won that one right?
Is there a path where we could potentially at least curb Serpi slavery? At least attempt to eliminate chattel slavery like post-Z*nj Rebellion Abbasid Caliphate did IRL? I hope so...
The terrain isn't really favorable to us...but Sahd striking out alone means he could get outnumbered 2 to 1 or even 4 to 1. Granted, I'm also confident we could best them in favorable open terrain - but this isn't that.
[X]- No, because…
-[X] It's risk. He's not a coward, he just wants his skin intact. If, and Heaven forbid, something goes wrong and Istami Sahd gets cut to pieces after he gets lost in those mountains, someone needs to get the message that the Moths are massing and probably killed a prince.
Voting this for now.
Very "cultured mafia boss" of Atil here.
God damn dude, you even got our ruthless future conqueror baffled by your greed.
Fuck...
Is there a path where we could potentially at least curb Serpi slavery? At least attempt to eliminate chattel slavery like post-Z*nj Rebellion Abbasid Caliphate did IRL? I hope so...
Hmm...I'm not sure.
The terrain isn't really favorable to us...but Sahd striking out alone means he could get outnumbered 2 to 1 or even 4 to 1. Granted, I'm also confident we could best them in favorable open terrain - but this isn't that.
[X]- No, because…
-[X] It's risk. He's not a coward, he just wants his skin intact. If, and Heaven forbid, something goes wrong and Istami Sahd gets cut to pieces after he gets lost in those mountains, someone needs to get the message that the Moths are massing and probably killed a prince.
Voting this for now.
- Location
- [REDACTED]
[X]- Yes, because…
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
- Location
- in the trash
[X]- Yes, because…
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- He/They
[x]- Yes, because…
-[x] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
-[x] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
[x]- Yes, because…
-[x] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
-[x] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
Theaxofwar
Definitely not a Bunny Cat in disguise.
- Location
- Standing right behind you
[X]- Yes, because…
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
If you want greatness you need to grab it by the throat.
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
If you want greatness you need to grab it by the throat.
- Location
- Wörms, the half continent
[X]- Yes, because…
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
We've got as many horse as they have horse, probably, quite possibly more by a significant amount. Besides, after we win we can probably tell everyone the moths are massing and have treasures and profit to prove it.
-[X] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts.
We've got as many horse as they have horse, probably, quite possibly more by a significant amount. Besides, after we win we can probably tell everyone the moths are massing and have treasures and profit to prove it.
Fleurs de Merde
horde captain dipshit
[]- Yes, because…
-[] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts
Secure! That! Bag!
-[] It's loot. More money, more cash, more of the things that make the world go around. When he returns to the steppe, he won't be scraping with a single herd of sheep and horses, he'll be flush with money enough to buy silver bridles for all his mounts
Secure! That! Bag!