Post by Eirik Reyksol on Feb 20, 2011 13:05:58 GMT -5
It was time to take more of a measure of these D'angelines. I'd managed to ally with two other clans, and the three of us were putting our warriors together for a concerted strike into Terre d'Ange. It was spring, the perfect time for such raids, and I hoped to not only gauge the D'angeline's strength, but to return home with enough stolen goods to make my name known amongst my own people as well.
We pored over maps and decided to take a three-pronged approach along the border of the place they called Camlach. I was leading one strike with my own men, though each of us clan leaders had our own men in each other's troops, just to guard against treachery. It bothered me that we could not trust each other, but centuries of infighting could not be overcome overnight, and I knew that for now I had to settle for what I could get.
In the small hours before dawn, we waited, hidden by brush and trees, having done our best to keep our presence hidden from the D'angelines until we were ready to strike. Their men patrolled the borders, however, and it was too soon to say if we had been successful.
When the first rays of morning sunshine peeked through the clouds, we made our move, pouring down out of the hills with war cries on our lips and bloodlust in our hearts. It was almost too easy, at first, but then the D'angelines rallied and came back with a ferocity that surprised and delighted me. What fun a foe who was unworthy?
We lost as many men as they did, I wager, but when we retreated - a planned retreat, for the purpose of this excursion was not to gain ground - I felt good about the way things had gone. Farmhouses and fields burned in our wake, and the D'angelines were forced to let us go to tend to their injured and dead and to deal with the destruction we'd caused.
All in all, it was a good day.
We pored over maps and decided to take a three-pronged approach along the border of the place they called Camlach. I was leading one strike with my own men, though each of us clan leaders had our own men in each other's troops, just to guard against treachery. It bothered me that we could not trust each other, but centuries of infighting could not be overcome overnight, and I knew that for now I had to settle for what I could get.
In the small hours before dawn, we waited, hidden by brush and trees, having done our best to keep our presence hidden from the D'angelines until we were ready to strike. Their men patrolled the borders, however, and it was too soon to say if we had been successful.
When the first rays of morning sunshine peeked through the clouds, we made our move, pouring down out of the hills with war cries on our lips and bloodlust in our hearts. It was almost too easy, at first, but then the D'angelines rallied and came back with a ferocity that surprised and delighted me. What fun a foe who was unworthy?
We lost as many men as they did, I wager, but when we retreated - a planned retreat, for the purpose of this excursion was not to gain ground - I felt good about the way things had gone. Farmhouses and fields burned in our wake, and the D'angelines were forced to let us go to tend to their injured and dead and to deal with the destruction we'd caused.
All in all, it was a good day.