New Rules
Morale Modifications for Arabic NPC groups in mass combat.
+1 for impressive oratory in the troops' native language [Oratory skill, Lang: Arabic]
+1 for PC leadership having 15 or greater PRE
+1-2 for demonstrating Area Attack
+1-2 for demonstrating great prowess in battle
0 always represents woman & children, who individually and as a class can have no positive effect on morale
Late 1888. On the Hadramaut-Oman border, not far from Al Ghaitan.
The Wadi Hadramaut is a sometimes dry river valley (some 12 days long, on foot) running along the southern Arabian peninsula from the major mountain pass back into Yemen to the Dhofar, a range of hills that is the only barrier to the fertile coastal plains of Oman. To the north of the Hadramaut and to the north and west of Oman lies the Rub' al Khali, the deadly desert, the Empty Quarter, in which the Party believes lies the remains of the City of Brass.
The army of Yemen was expected to march across the Hadramaut; thus the Sultan of Oman had chosen to make his stand on the rising ground of Al Ghaitan above the valley. The men of Our Adventuring Party were given a tent somewhat apart from the military encampment. Dr. Davis and Miss Costorari, who were expected to live in the sultana's enclave, met them there for meals, to discuss information gathered.
Ava: "Qidan said they've captured some 50 or so guns."
Costorari: "The sultana said that there was no time to make more guns, but if we can teach them how to use the guns they have...."
Ava: "It would be quite a change; they'd have to be taught not to fight from horseback. From horseback, the Yemeni seem to fire once and not reload."
Penrington, to Blake: "Were you in the military, Mr. Blake?"
Blake, stiffly: "I was a junior lieutenant for a short time."
Penrington, recalling his stint - twice - as a sergeant snorted, "Right," stretching the word out to three syllables. "Maybe you ought to be making ammunition."
It was determined that Forester, Blake, Ava, and Penrington could, in various degrees, teach rifleman-ship. Dr. Davis gave Penrington her rifle to replace the gift he'd made to the sultan.
Lord Ava then explained the subtext of the discussion with the sultan. "The sultan treats Qidan's information very highly. Qidan is your back channel into the sultan. But all must be done so that the sultan does not lose face. He was really saying, 'If you help us, we'll help you.'"
Miss Costorari added thoughtfully, "The sultana is another back channel."
Lord Ava nodded, "But it is the sultan who will make the decisions, not the sultana." Then he looked at the other men. "You may have wondered why I did not speak up during our interview. In this culture, he who does not speak, seems to be in charge. It seemed that someone should take that role." Viewing the others' understanding, he went on, "If we reinforce our anti-Yemeni stance and indicate a willingness to join the Omani side, in order to gain revenge for our maltreatment by the Yemeni, we will be favourably viewed."
The group nominated Mr. Blake as spokesman and various suggestions as to topics and wordings were made.
Blake: "Allow us to assist you with guns and ammunition...."
Ava: "Col. Miles tried that approach three years ago when he came down from Qatar to try to establish relations with Oman. It is very military. It did not work."
Penrington: "Offer to join his troops and raid the Yemeni."
Ava suggested: "I doubt there will be raids on Yemen, we would have to cross the Hadramut to get to them. It seems apparent that they are expected to come here. " Turning to Blake, "Tell him we feel uncomfortable fighting without rifles. Say anything else that can save face for him."
Po: "We will be in his debt if he will allow us to fight Yemeni."
Costorari: "It would be an honour to be in his army."
Blake: "We could learn from his troops."
Then the discussion turned away into a consideration of leading troops behind Yemeni lines via whatever transport mechanism the Inscriptions indicated. Reminded of the distance back up the Hadramaut to the last such inscription known to the Party, Penrington postulated that there might be a similar cave somewhere in the nearer Dhofar hills. From thence, Penrington and Po engaged in a discussion about revenge.
Blake continued to run his speech through the "Lord Ava filter". His lordship said, "Whatever you say must not sound rote." Dr. Davis nodded, "You must mean it." Mr. Blake looked at the doctor somewhat stiffly, "I can only say what I know is true."
Qidan, although not housed with the Party, was present at each interview with the sultan, as translator.
The next day, Blake was called forth to renew his conversation with the sultan. Mr. Steele, Mr. Forester, Lord Ava, Smith, Penrington, and Lok attended him. The radiologist did take every opportunity within his speech to use derogatory terms when he mentioned the Yemeni [in far more picturesque language, faithful reader, than I can recall]. "Thank you for your kindness, your excellency. We beg a boon of you. We have reason to wish uncouth Yemen defeated and would assist in whatever way possible. Please allow us to fight by your side that we can experience the victory over the vile Yemeni. However, we are most comfortable fighting with rifles and believe that your troops should be notified, when we practise, that it is not a cursed Yemeni incursion. Nonetheless, your people have far more experience than we in fighting the Yemeni pigs, and we would ask for the opportunity to learn from your warriors about such tactics."
The sultan (after Qidan translated) responded favourably in Arabic, "I understand your wish to take revenge. We do have instructors in the ways of fighting our enemies. Those rifles we have captured are no doubt in poor condition but we would be pleased if you would make use of them. We will detail people to protect you while doing so. Are there any viziers amongst you?"
Qidan explained, "Wizards. Radiologists."
Blake: "Mr. Forester and I have some small talent."
Sultan, in Arabic: "We suggest that you meet with our viziers. My most loyal servant Qidan will escort you through the army. He will see that you are recompensed for all that you have lost so that you will know that not all Arabia is as those vile Yemeni."
Blake: "You have amply showed the difference. It is our privilege to be instructed [blah, blah, blah]." Mr. Blake spoke fervently for several minutes.
Qidan, in Arabic: "He says 'thank you', my lord."
Thus Smith gained access to a smithy where he made replacement parts for the steel man. Blake and Smith discussed combining their skills, perhaps in conjunction with the mechanical man, to create yet more destructive potential. Eventually, Smith was able, at least, to install some improvements in Mr. Steele's grapple.
Po, meanwhile, was herded with the other camp children. He used the opportunities to ask about the Inscription and about caves. He learned that the north side of the Dhofar - which are only some 2000 ft high - was riddled with caves. Some of the kids showed him a similar script near some Arabic writing. That locale was on the coast as the mountains sheered down into the Abyssal Desert. There, odd stone basins were carved into mountain rock, in the shape of river punts about 6-ft long and 2.5-ft across. On them was the script. Po found no symbol for Ad, no symbols repeated for emphasis, and only one symbol that might be different from the 10 already known. It looked like a square shape albeit it might have been a poorly-carved circle.
The sultana had detailed guards and servants to accompany Miss Costorari and Dr. Davis whenever they chose to leave camp. Voronika explored the bazaar in Al Ghaitan so, touching many of the wares, searching for artifacts. Dr. Davis, in general, observed the native peoples. Upon learning of Po's discovery, the two women made an excursion to the coast. The gypsy gained nothing from the inscription, but did have a vision of people in shaggy loincloth lining the basin with palmwood that was then lifted up; then the vision ended. The guards said that this inscription was "older than Ad." Dr. Davis made a mental note that that phrase might simply indicate unexplained things older than tribal accounts.
Back in the military encampment, Forester and Blake found, somewhat to their surprise, that the viziers' lab skills were quite good. So Blake had no trouble teaching the making of suitable ammunition for the guns. Opportunity was also taken to ask about Yemeni tactics. (Qidan provided translations as needed.)
Vizier: "The most common vizier on the Yemeni side commands a djinn. To combat such takes a rare material that comes from the Dhofar Mountains: the sap of a tree that is allowed to crystallize.
Blake: "Frankincense?"
Vizier: "Indeed. Would it be efficacious if used in an ammo round?"
Blake speculated that it might make bullets effective against djinn but doubted that it could be deployed so that the organic matter actually touched the djinn. And, of course, there would be no way to test aforetime.
Vizier: "We do not truck with djinn. Our skills tend to the fine artifact. For that reason, I would ask permission to investigate improvements in your mechanical man."
After some misunderstandings, Blake finally managed, "He is a man bound into the mechanical structure."
Vizier: "Ah, a failed vizier."
Blake: "Uh, no. The vizier died. This man was nearby at the time."
Vizier: "Who was that great vizier?"
Blake: "Nasmyth. Steele is a Nasmyth engine. It is a well-known name in Anglia."
The Viziers nodded knowingly to each other. "Ah. Nasmyth."
During this time, Dr. Davis asked the sultana about the legendary traveler Sirina. The sultana called in professional storytellers. "Nothing is known of her origin but that she came from the far eastern court of Ashoka and is associated with the phrase "Mohen-daru". We have no understanding of the phrase's meaning. She traveled much of the world and was wise in the magiks of her people. She arrived and the statuettes were made during the first appearance of the City of Brass after the wicked people of Irem were destroyed." The storytellers went on at length with what Dr. Davis had come to think of as "professional exaggeration". [The faithful reader would recognize that the adventures of Sirina were what we now know as the Voyages of Sinbad.]
The Party learned that, once upon a time, there had been direct trade between Oman and India via camel, across the Abyssal desert. This trade - whether the route or relationship was unclear - was destroyed by the Yemeni. There remained some small trade up through Qatar and around into India and Pakistan, mostly of gold, silk, and spices in return for Omani frankincense. In general, the Omani were very self-sufficient. Being the only part of Arabia able to raise cattle, they did export beef to Qatar. The other major outside contact was the annual trek across the Rub'al Khali to Palestine. That caravan traditionally left at winter's beginning and returned shortly before spring. It gathered at the Last Oasis and traveled the entire desert without re-supply.
After a week, the Party was once again called into the sultan's presence. "The reports are of an army advancing, burning Hadrami villages as they come. We expect to see their campfires tonight and meet with them tomorrow. There are half again as many Yemeni as there are of us. Any one who gets close to their headquarters dies. But the person giving orders is wearing odd head gear." Eventually the Party made out that the commanding officer of the Yemeni seemed to wear Penrington's old slouch hat.
Final battle preparations. The Party males were fitted out with traditional Omani armor of hardened leather. Po relegated himself to protecting the children's compound. He invited the doctor to establish a mental link in case the camp was over-run, but Dr. Davis hesitated and then demurred, establishing a link instead with Lord Ava on the front line. The women were invited to help prepare the victory feast, because, as one explained to Voronika, "Either our men will win and will deserve a feast, or it will not matter." Unable to confine herself to so little action, Voronika spoke with the sultana and gained her permission to watch the battle. "It is understandable," that wise lady said, "that you would wish to view your revenge." The doctor and gypsy were, however, gratefully astonished to see that a platform had been built for them atop some palm tree trunks and that the area was posted with guards and braziers of protective frankincense. At dawn, they climbed aloft to wait out the battle in their own individual manners.
Penrington and Ava, taking over active disbursement of the squad of 50 men who had been delegated to "protect" the foreigners teaching rifle skills, chose to center the entire squad before the sultan. The radiologists and steam magi opted to stay with the rifle squad. The sultan's 5 viziers spread out along the length of the Omani army.
[Faithful reader, I owe most of the phrasing of the battle description to Pat who does a far better narrative then my listing of rounds and turns and actions could be.]
In the morning, the camp of the enemy dissolved slowly in the early light as the line of horsemen formed up, as far across the horizon as could be seen. The Omani were outnumbered indeed, by at least half again as many Yemeni. The enemy line stopped out of effective rifle range, shouts and taunts distant in the air, letting the defenders see their number. Slowly the enemy line began moving forward; the Omani stood waiting. Then in a surprise move, the radiologists let loose their first volleys at the central section of the enemy lines. Sudden flashes of blue light surrounded groups of horsemen. Tiny bits of disruption to the great mass of the enemy as it moved forward, gaining speed. The enemy's wing to the left of the Party veered at an angle further left.
More flashes and five djinn appeared spaced out along the battle front. They were as tall as Smith and bright blue. Dr. Davis found she could barely see them; but barely was enough. She started targeting EGO attacks at the djinn along the right flank of the army. The jinni cast storms of stone and sand against the troops, damaging and panicking them as the Omani viziers, in return, cast magics against the supernatural foes. Suddenly one of the radiologists' explosions miss-targeted, exploding in front of the center of the Omani line, possibly causing fear amongst the allies but no damage. Smith managed to entangle a djinn; Steele waded towards it. Thus he had opportunity to observe vizier steel magic in action: an explosive Jet Fighter embedding itself in the djinn's chest. Two djinn winked out as one Omani vizier went down, then two more djinn, and finally the last vanished leaving Mr. Steele alone where a squadron of Omani had been.
Mr. Smith's continuing Entangles disrupted the enemy advance across large areas; but could only slow, not stop, them. In the center, wounded but dedicated enemy troops picked up speed for the final charge. Ava and Penrington held the rifle squad's fire until the enemy was one hundred yards away (measured by a small flag Ava had planted before the battle), while the enemy's fire whistled around them. Suddenly the disciplined ranks fired in sequence; the opposing enemy unit was obliterated. Penrington felt a rush of vindication in his rifle squad: what might they accomplish with more than a week's practice!
Then the right flank made contact, the Yemeni rifles driving off some of the Omani troops as the opposing armies met in a swirl of dust. Nonetheless, the right flank continued to do well during the battle, in part because djinn had been allowed to do less damage there and in part because Forester had concentrated his fire in that direction. (Forester hit soldiers more often than Blake, though seldom the unit he was aiming for.) Forester went down in the backlash of a failed spell, but, despite his wound, managed to heroically continue casting once he was again on his feet.
As the center troops of the enemy delayed, recovering from the initial onslaught of radiation and steam magiks, the magic users found fewer and few effective targets for their actions. The Omani left flank (where one vizier had dropped and the other had gone to his rescue) continued to take a pounding, nearly failing. So, as the center seemed well-enough protected, Blake -- followed a few moments later by Forester -- mounted horses to try to shore up with their blasts where the native viziers had fallen back. Gradually the left flank rallied. Despite the many Omani squads who had had to retreat due to damage and fear, none failed to recover and return to line fighting (though two Omani units were obliterated, and many sustained substantial casualties).
The battle was engaged in melee up and down the line. No further djinn appeared. The Omani rifle squad, unlike their Yemeni opponents, continued to reload and fire until the horsemen actually rode up into hand-to-hand. Then they too drew swords, fighting upwards against mounted opponents. As the rifle squad appeared about to be overwhelmed, sudden rescue came as a successful Omani horse troop from the right rode through the dust and drove off the enemy. The squad recovered their rifles and resumed fire.
The sun was high as the troops disengaged. Ava and Blake brought Forester to the palm-tree observation post where Dr. Davis waited to provide Healing spells. "He'll need your big heal, doctor," advised Mr. Blake, fatigue or anxiety adding a harsh note to the man's normal tone of assured authority. The big heal was sufficient. Shushing the tutor's stammered thanks, Davis recommended that both radiologists go rest and recoup their energies.
[See Aftermath.]
In the aftermath, Penrington's hat and rifle were recovered from the battlefield. Dr. Davis tried to heal Omani soldiers as subtly as possible, for as long as her energy would allow. Over the next day, the sultan had Yemeni captives questioned. The Party thus learned that the Prince of Yemen, his chief advisors (viziers?), and his Camel Troops were never with this army. Dr. Davis felt a heavy weight in her chest; where else could the evil prince be but heading towards the lost City of Irem?
Next Run: Perhaps the Rub' al Khali?
Note: There will be no run the following week. Feb. 5
(a) Cumulative (b) Cumulative since Volume II
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