Maavoimat

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

Uh...

Did we die?

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

:(

...sorry.

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

Hjen, Imperial Palace

“Murder! Murder!” Ajir, the younger son of Oleg II shouted out from the sunlit corridor of the palace as he knelt down beside his elder brother, who bled profusely from a knife wound that penetrated his mid-torso.

Ajir pressed his now bloodstained hands on his brother's wound, trying to block the blood from pouring out of his body. He called out again, and finally several nobles that resided in the palace rushed into the hall. They were dressed in similar decorative colorful clothing, a telltale sign of their wealth.

“What happened, my prince?” a nobleman asked, rushing to Ajir's side and kneeling before the dying emperor.

“There is an assassin! Alert the guards! No one enters or leaves the palace!” Ajir shouted at the nobles, who stood uselessly around him.

“What about the emperor?” one asked, gesturing towards Oleg III.

“I will take care of him. The capture of that assassin is more important. Now, go!” he ordered again.

As the nobles hurriedly left the corridor, Ajir returned to his dying brother, whose eyes were barely open. His body permitting, he smirked slightly.

“I'm impressed.” he mumbled. “What will you do as the next emperor?”

Ajir continued pressing down on the wound. “I thought you would figure it out. Were you suspicious?”

“Hardly. But you didn't answer my question.”

“I will do what you didn't.” Ajir explained. “I will destroy your inefficient policies and expose the true power of our nation. I will give the people a reason to be proud of Verigarde.” he proclaimed, brandishing a small pillow that he once used as a head rest.

“I wish you good luck. Where did you find someone who would wield a knife against their prince?”

“For the right price, anyone will do anything.” Ajir responded as he placed the pillow on top of his brother's face and slowly pressed down, suffocating the emperor.

Roughly 20 kilometers from Hjen, two hours later

As the sun set in the west, large gusts of wind peacefully buffeted the long blades of unkempt grass that billowed restlessly in the softly rolling hills of the north-lands. In the far distance, through the light mist that crept down to mask the formations in the distance, was the city of Hjen. With the echo of horse hooves tracing his step, a lone rider steadily approached a band of horse-mounted men, most in military uniforms, but others dressed in fancier dress clothes. The rider stopped just short of ten meters from the leading figure.

“Prince Ajir has completed his task. If all goes according to plan, his assassin will be captured and executed, he will ascend to the throne, and what was started can be finished.” the rider reported, moving to remove the hood that shrouded his face.

“Excellent. I assume there were no witnesses?” the lead figure asked, also removing his hood to reveal his identity: Asha Temujin, a recently outcast officer of the Verigarde infantry

“he informed me of a few noblemen that were sent away. They suspect nothing. So far, our movement is invisible.” the rider then pointed towards the other soldiers behind him. “What of these men? Are they loyal?”

Temujin looked back at the thee military horsemen. “I trust all three of these men with my life. Two of them are cataphract leaders, one of which being the famous Arasen. And the other is a light cavalryman. He has miraculously recruited 200 horsemen to assist us in the assault. His contributions have been invaluable.”

Tutei cracked his knuckles. It was no easy task to convince so many of Verigarde's most loyal soldiers to agree to taking part in a coup. Unknown to soldier and civilian alike, the infantry of Hjen was transformed into a taskforce headed specifically by the emperor to carry out his own operations within the city. The infantry began performing illegal activities, including the kidnapping of Hjenni women specifically for the emperor's pleasure, the execution of family members as a form of punishment, and banishing of those who are suspected of being enemies of the emperor. The result, of course, was what was simply known as “The Movement”. A gathering of disgruntled soldiers and politicians that seek to destroy what the Infantry has become and remodel Hjen with a new emperor and a new aristocracy.

“Well, then. Excuse me, sirs, I was not aware of your statuses amongst us.” the rider apologized respectfully. “We can no longer wait. Hjen is in disarray.”

Temujin nodded. “I agree. We will not catch them at a better time. Move quickly, we must maintain the element of surprise as long as we can.”

As the leaders began moving towards the walls of the city, a small army of 500 horsemen of various disciplines moved behind them, with weapons brandished. As they grew closer and closer to the city, their speed increased, and what was once a calm trot evolved into an aggressive gallop. As Temujin expected, the main gate was left open. The army advanced through the open door, slaying the guards who desperately tried to close the gate. Temujin drew his blade and pointed it towards the imperial palace.

“Today, we take back Hjen!”

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

I apologize for the delay. That will not happen again.

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

He lowered his spear, directing it towards a wooden target, which was one in a straight line of targets. Facing these wooden dummies was an equal line of heavily armored cataphracts, all in similar positions. Among these cataphracts was Arasen, a famed warrior that led several successful attacks on the nomadic tribes that harassed the northern Verigarde cities. Now a seasoned cataphract, Arasen's days were now spent training new members of the heavy guardsmen, transforming young boys into Verigarde's iron fist.

Arasen's horse slowly moved forward. “Watch, and you will learn.” he shouted coldly as the horse gained speed, charging towards the wooden man that stood some 50 meters away from him. The spear connected with the wooden soldier, dismembering it immediately with a loud wooden crack. He triumphantly drew his lance upward, holding it in the air as the horse rotated to face the new recruits. “Now, repeat the process. Destroy the enemy for Verigarde!”

The cataphracts all lowered their lances in a similar manner before charging their own wooden targets. Arasen watched as his students mimicked his form perfectly, hitting their targets directly in the upper torso before trampling over what was left.

After they completed their exercise, the warriors formed three rows of eight, all waiting for their leader to inform them of their performance. Riding up to the front of the ranks, Arasen congratulated his trainees before looking back towards a hill in the distance, where the furious galloping of a horse rapidly droned closer and closer. In the distance was a child, no older than fourteen, riding the dark brown horse. Arasen turned to face the boy's horse, which stopped nearly ten meters away from the cataphract.

“The Tabudai are attacking!” the boy shouted, clearly exasperated. “There are dozens of them!”

Arasen exhaled furiously before turning back to his cataphracts. A part of the unification process was the destruction of the northern nomadic tribes that preyed on unprotected villages that were under the influence of the Verigarde. While the mission was mostly successful, handfuls of these nomadic people still dwell within the northern regions, occasionally raiding unprotected border villages.

“Remember your training. Prove yourselves as true Verigarde cataphracts.” he held his spear up towards the air before starting his charge back to the village, which was a little over a kilometer away. The cataphracts followed closely in formation, spears extended and ready for combat.

The village remained intact, with no visible fires, which led Arasen to believe the defenders were doing their job of protecting the infrastructure. However, the messenger was right. The raid was much larger, and the nomadic forces vastly outnumbered the Verigarde cataphracts. With that in mind, the cataphracts charged fearlessly towards the village. The raiders on the outside began calling out in their primitive language, warning the others about the incoming soldiers, but their cries were almost pointless, as the armored horsemen broke rank and began forcefully dismounting their opponents. Arasen wasted no time, entering the village almost immediately. As he rode, his spear impaled a raider that had left his horse, presumably to continue the assault on foot. The man's body broke under the force, tearing open the left side of his torso, killing him almost instantly. The cataphracts continued unopposed, striking down their enemies in a similar gruesome manner.

Arasen threw himself off of his horse after most of the raiders were presumably dead or captured. Before him stood half a dozen raiders, all of which were using villagers as meat shields to protect them from the vastly superior cataphracts. He drew his sword before holding out his other hand, as if he were telling the invaders to stop. Particularly, he was looking straight at the one in front of him, for his hostage was none other than his younger sister.

“End this. Now.” Arasen ordered flatly. Of course, the underdeveloped savages wouldn't understand his sophisticated and sensible language, but his priority was the safety of the villagers, especially his sibling.

The barbarian literally spat at him, holding a sharpened piece of metal to his captive's throat. All of the raiders slowly stepped back defensively.

“Let them go!” he ordered again, a fierce tone in his voice. He slowly stepped forward, lowering his hand and raising his blade in a threatening manner.

The barbarian shouted something in his own language, which was incomprehensible to anyone other than his fellow animals that stood beside him.

It was that moment that Arasen realized that the hostages were all dead, their throats just had not been slit yet. He wished his sister could see the apologetic gaze in his eyes, but they were masked by his cold steel helmet. After taking in a deep breath, he advanced towards the leading raider.

The raider, without hesitation, drove his knife into the young woman's throat. Almost immediately as he did, Arasen intercepted him, driving his sword into the barbarian's lower torso. The raider staggered backwards before falling over, tossing his hostage to his side. As the other cataphracts engaged the surviving barbarians, Arasen turned his attention to his dying sibling, who was bleeding profusely from the wound in the side of her neck. He removed his helmet and placed his hands around her neck, slowly suffocating her. Small tears ran from the corners of her eyes, but after an uncountable amount of bitter seconds, her breathing stopped, and her lifeless body rested on the ground.

Arasen rose to his feet, and it was then that he noticed the carnage that was left behind by this futile attempt to strike back at Verigarde. Deceased villagers lay strewn across the streets, many of which were women and children. Arasen bent over and picked up his sword upon noticing the barely breathing barbarian that he had struck down. He stood over the figure, with the blood on his palms slowly clustering and falling down to the ground. The raider began babbling in his own language, but was cut off by Arasen's blade, which was driven through his upper torso. Reluctantly, he turned back to the other caraphracts, who observed his actions silently.

“What are our casualties?” Arasen asked one of the riders.

“None of our cataphracts have fallen. Some fifty villagers dead, probably more.” the cataphract reported flatly, his hands resting on the back of his horse.

“Prepare our column.” he ordered, referring to the 500 cataphracts that were under his command, most of which were situated in a neighboring village. “We ride at dusk, and we will not return until we have properly cleansed our land of these impurities.”

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

Oh, my. I've been out of it for a while. Exams can do that to you, I guess.

So sorry. Post incoming, 24 hours tops.

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

I am mostly asking for army size reasons. Considering my nation is not at war, their army size would be fairly limited. I use a percent rule for calculating typical sizes, with 2% of the total population for peacetime, 5% for wartime, and 10% if the war goes belly-up.

With these numbers in mind, my lowest population (220,000) would mean the army size would be as follows:
4,400 for peacetime
11,000 for wartime
22,000 as a last resort
I personally like these numbers, as they are nothing that can be used to launch a world war, but are big enough to defend their territory. Again, though. I have no idea what other army sizes look like for other nations.

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

Might have missed it, but did we talk about population size? What are the other territory's sizes? Originally I planned on saying Verigarde had 170,000 inhabitants altogether, with some 12,000 dying in the unification process, leaving the territory with 158,000. After 100 years of peace, I figured the population from there would be around 220-250k. However, how do these numbers compare with other countries?

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

Is there a rule regarding post length? I personally strive for 1,000 words at a minimum, but I noticed others seem to be doing much more than that.

Do The Eagles Circle The Mountains? - A Eastern "Middle Ages" Fantasy RP

The implementation of the crossbow was supposed to be both an advantage and a limitation. It is an advantage because crossbows generally pack a greater punch, and are a lot easier to use and master compared to regular bows. The limitation would be the reload speed, obviously, but also the mechanics involved are much more complicated than the regular bow.

In summary, it's an attempt to appear somewhat different to everyone else, while also trying to keep the last of the Medieval Europe elements that still influence the nation.