You scavenge the boat for tools of use. Fortunately there is quite the selection amongst the dead, and you are not only able to loot an unlit firepot from the ship stores but obtain four handaxes which, after a bit of testing, seem balanced enough for throwing. The real haul is an iron buckler belonging to a former ship's mate. It's heavily dented where someone smashed it in and you've little training in using a shield effectively but you strap it to your wrist so you can still use your spear and hope for the best.
You and your band return to the
Sow and hang tight as it approaches the bank of the river. The majority of the Boars prepare to disembark from the ship, arraying themselves into formations. Your ragged band joins on with its initial posting in the third rank. To your dismay you see that the enemy troops in the camps have not been idle, and about two thirds of the camped force (some thousand men) have gathered on the river bank to greet you.
The ship grows closer to the bank and you try to steel your nerves for the slaughter. Closer, closer...
Orange blossoms burst into being through the arrayed ranks of the enemy force. You turn your head back to see the catapults aboard the two captured ships firing pitch-bombs at the gathered infantry, a sackload at a time. The display heartens you for a brief moment, then the ship shudders as it makes landing. The gangplanks go out and you find yourself pressed on by the march.
You disembark in full formation, spears raised, as enemy skirmishers rain arrows down upon the column. The raised spearshafts actually do a surprisingly good job of deflecting the arrows, though about a dozen men go down before the company is fully debarked and quick-marching toward the enemy, still outnumbered about three to one. The enemy army consists mostly of longer pikes and archers, with screening flanks of heavy infantry - macemen and axemen. Their mix of units puts yours at a dangerous tactical disadvantage as they simply engage your spearmen with pikes and start flanking you with axemen.
Even with the pelting of the firepots it soon becomes apparent that you are outclassed. The first and second lines start dwindling and soon enough you find yourself at the front of the battle, fending off stabbings from pikeheads. The enemy pikes have nasty hooks on the heads and one manages to catch yours by the pole and drag it from your hands. You deftly unsling a javelin from your back and hurl it through the mass of pikes, the shaft going straight through the exposed throat of one man and into the chest of the man behind. The pair fall over in an undignified heap, and the confusion of their tangled bodies causes a brief break in the line for you to rescue your own spear.
John fights right next to you, and while you are fending off further pike attacks you see his arm get scored by a lucky blade. He nearly drops his spear as well but you switch targets and jab at his assailant's eyes, causing the foeman to pull back into the press and give Jack the breathing space to adjust his grip. The pair of you continue fighting, but you aren't sure if you even score any more hits, most of the time just trying to avoid the enemy.
The call comes for a slow, fighting retreat toward the town. You begin a precarious backward march against the rest of your troop, nearly getting impaled on a couple of occasions. Soon enough the whole company is beating back toward the hopefuly safer city.
The company starts taking positions behind the ruined town wall, though the protection it offers is less than you would like from the bombardment it has suffered. Even so you manage to find a spot where you can use a piece of fallen masonry to half hide your body and hold that position, stabbing outward at the approaching enemy waves. The added protection works in your favour and you are able to sustain it for a couple of minutes, felling about half a dozen men, although your arms and legs are starting to scream from exertion. The rest of the line does not hold nearly so well, and you are forced to fall back even further into the twisting alleyways of the town. You join up with Tovey, Jack and the other surviving member of your band (a Jaeg named Mord) and form a front, fighting a retreat toward the keep.
The streets limit the enemy that can approach, but you are still pushed back by the sheer numbers of enemy pikemen. Men fall around you, but your four-man band at least manage to keep intact. You are starting to get the hang of the business when you here Tovey cry "Archers! Get to cover!" and have just enough time to look up and see the enemy bowmen on the rooftops before Mord's nerve breaks and he scatters. The rest of you have little choice but to follow suit as arrows pelt down around you. You rush to an abasndoned house, drag open the door and hurry inside but at the last moment an arrow thuds into your left breast - by sheer luck it is a glancing blow and the leather plate beneath your furs turns it, causing the arrowhead to slice along your flesh instead of going straight through to your lungs. Your entire world is pain, and it hurts far too much to lift your left arm.
You collapse into the building and to your relief the three figures that pour through the doorway are your band-mates. They slam the door shut behind them and drag a table in front as a crude barricade. Tovey takes a look at the arrow in you, hesitates for a moment, then snaps the shaft off (you can't help but shout at the pain). He promises to get the head out when you're somewhere more secure, then turns to appraise the room. Aside from the blocked front entrance, a quick examination reveals a back door and a ladder to the rooftop.
Quick decision time. Back alleyway or rooftop?
Age: 15
Wounded
Fur Armour
Basic Iron Spear
Iron Handaxe
4 Iron Throwing Axes
5 Wood-Tipped Javelins
Firepot
Illiterate
Average Persuader
Novice Gambler
Novice Spearman
Novice Armour User
Novice Thrower
Novice Surgeon
Dabbling Axeman
Dabbling Shield-User
Wages: Meagre
Purse: Pocket Change
Pack of Cards, Fair Dice
Debt: Serious (small basic debt, plus serious fine for evading debt collection)
Wanted for Debt Evasion.
Member of the Black Boars.
The Black Boars
Commander Brecht - Seen
Sea Captain Bors - Seen
Galen, Quartermaster - Neutral
Petras, Drillmaster - Hostile
Captain Tovey, your band captain - Respectful
Lieutenant Briggs, Tovey's Lieutenant - Amicable
John, your band-mate - Friend
Mord, your band-mate - Neutral
Karl, your bandmate - Slain in the Battle of Dewden
Brandon, your bandmate - Slain in the Battle of Dewden
Author
Topic: Courtier: A Suggestion Game (Read 11709 times)