Krane
--the foothills near the coast--
to ALL
: My back was pressed hard against the rock face, the overhanging shelf above my head concealed me from the tarns circling in the sky over my position. My feet were on a narrow path leading along the ledge climbing to meat a narrow winding trail through the hills. The path itself was concealed by bushes and a few scrawny trees. Beneath me was a trail, just wide enough for three men to march abreast and winding along that trail was a column of heavily armed mercenaries. Concealed from their view I waited, motionless, watching them pass counting the number then suddenly emerged from cover, thrust my right fist upwards then jerked it down sharply
(15:19:57 )
Krane
--the foothills near the coast--
to ALL
: On my signal, a rope was pulled causing rocks to cascade down on the lead elements of the column. At the same time, javelins were thrown from either side of the path, impacting on several of the mercenaries then I and two others sprang from the path at the rear of the column, my spear took a man in the throat, I kicked him hard against the mercenary next to him sending them both sprawling to the ground and my spear thrust down with a blow that would impale them both. From the corner of my eye I saw my companions strike at other mercenaries. I had counted to five in my head since leaping from the path and now shouted at the top of my lungs “AWAY!” and with my companions spun away from the chaos we had caused and raced back to the path, well clear before there was any thought of pursuit
(15:27:00 )
Krane
--the foothills near the coast--
to ALL
: The ambush had gone perfectly, I had not expected such a complete success, surprise had been total and they had not been prepared, no way should they have taken that path without scouting it first. They had not expected an ambush so soon, they had thought they were still on their own ground. My men had scattered in different directions, we had scouted routes to our rendezvous point, the tarns would likely catch glimpses of some of us but it would not be enough to guide pursuit, not yet at least
(15:36:43 )
Krane
--the foothills near the coast--
to ALL
: As a training exercise, it had pleased me so far, our Leader who was accompanying the main column as an observer was less likely to be happy. The rock was just small stones and scree, causing some bruises and raising a choking cloud of dust. The javelins were light with a blunt wooden end, our spears were practise staves lacking blades. For all that, we had wreaked chaos against a superior number. They would learn from this but it would not be forgotten and we would gain prestige in the band. It was worth the lack of sleep for me and three others when we had slipped from the Citadel last night to ready the site for this ambush and scout our escape routes. Not strictly sporting perhaps but it let us strike before they would possibly expect it. Be prepared - it could almost be a motto
(15:47:16 )
Krane
--the foothills near the coast--
to ALL
: Rumour had spread that we had a new contract though no one was sure what it was or where, then our Leader had announced a large scale training exercise in the foothills aimed at practising coordinated action between infantry and tarn forces. Then we all gathered we were going to be hunting bandits, some city or group of merchants likely pushed too far by their attacks and plundering had hired us to clear them out of their nest
(15:56:31 )
Krane
--the foothills near the coast--
to ALL
: For the purpose of this exercise, I was leading a group of a dozen men and we were taking the part of the bandits. Our task was to evade capture as long as possible, harass our pursuers and show up any flaws in tactics and communication between air and ground. We were off to a good start but things would only get worse. As we ran we would have to live off the land, our pursuers would be resupplied from the citadel. We were also carrying practise weapons and real weapons, in case we came upon someone who didn’t want to play our game. We could not hide forever from the gaze of the tarns and they could move men swiftly to surround us once they knew our approximate location. We could make life difficult for them for a while and intended to do just that
(16:07:38 )
Krane
--the foothills near the coast--
to ALL
: Dusk was falling now and would make it easier for us to rendezvous undetected, we had already selected it as a good place to camp for the night. It had been a long day, we had left the Citadel at dawn,given a three ahn start before the column started in pursuit. If the panthers had been watching, that should have stirred their curiosity. Security at the Citadel would be stricter than ever in our absence, enough men were left to defend it but they wouldn’t take chances. I was content for now, putting me in charge of the “bandits” was another test and so far I thought I had passed
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