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+--- Thread: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes (/showthread.php?tid=183781)
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RE: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes - Thunderer - 10-05-2020
The emir was thrown into his thoughts. It was not hot inside the cave, but a droplet of sweat slid down his forehead. "Paşa!", he exclaimed as if angry. "They are four thousand, all on aatlar! If we set out with only 200, or even as many as we have, they will all die. I cannot lie to my men that I am not sending them to certain death. It is against the Prophetess' word and it will poison our future."
Fatima threw a glance at a sealed casket that stood by the cave's end. Her language from earlier made no dismay for her father, but now, without any obvious reason, his thick eyebrows shriveled into a night coloured embodiment of anger. Fatima's glance dropped on floor and she made sure not to look at the casket again.
The emir nodded to the paşa. "Only volunteers. Each must know the odds. Efendi Seth?", he looked at him, as if expecting a miracle from the stranger.
Fatima threw a glance at a sealed casket that stood by the cave's end. Her language from earlier made no dismay for her father, but now, without any obvious reason, his thick eyebrows shriveled into a night coloured embodiment of anger. Fatima's glance dropped on floor and she made sure not to look at the casket again.
The emir nodded to the paşa. "Only volunteers. Each must know the odds. Efendi Seth?", he looked at him, as if expecting a miracle from the stranger.
RE: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes - 'Scorpion' - 10-05-2020
A part of the Centurion felt the pressure, but the vast majority of his being reminded itself of the fact that he chose this life. Vengeance was rarely a comfortable or safe path, and he had no need of such luxuries either, not with what his life had become. With a shake of his head, he spoke up. "I need fifty of my men transported to perches from which they can fire down upon the enemy. When their rounds make contact and detonate, they will cast up plumes of sand. Confused, unable to see and taking constant losses which will test the resolve of any man, they will be entirely ignorant of how many of us there really are." The primary objective could afford to wait, the Emir had to be protected from the incoming force. "When the enemy finally arrive where they believe us to be making our stand, they will find nothing. They will be mowed down by foes unseen, trapped in the descent of the Wadi with swirling sand around them. Without their proper senses, the warcries of my men will seem like thousands. I'll be the lure if your men are hesitant. A scorpion should have no trouble concealing itself in the sand." Spending only a second to deftly put his helmet in place to show readiness, Seth snapped his attention to the Emir again. "My presence here is no mere coincidence, I will break the army coming after you. I know I can. You will have not just your throne again, but a victory that history will remember." Perhaps more than even the Emir, Seth wanted this victory. And that was good, because it meant he would hold nothing back in the pursuit of glory. He looked ready, and so did all of the men he arrived with. The Emir could hold his forces back until the opportunity to flank or spring an ambush presented itself. Seth did not mention this, because he believed it to be an obvious implication behind everything he'd just stated. Still, the decision did not rest with him, so he could only watch with the singular eye represented by his visor and wait for an answer.
RE: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes - Thunderer - 10-06-2020
The emir was a politician as much as he was a warrior. What came after the battle was his concern as much as the battle itself. But his greatest concern was to maintain authority. Still, he was also just a man, and truthfully, he had no notion of what plan was the best nor what would the end of the day bring, yet it was his obligation to instill confidence into others. He made it appear as if he took a moment for a deep thought, and then spoke to everyone.
"Both of these plans tempt my heart to stop, my skin to pale and my stomach to retch. They will cause a great butchery of men: both mine, and my brothers, yet we must not forget that my brother's men also serve Akhisar. Fortune was not kind upon us - everything we have is limited: soldiers, time, choices. We must make ready now, so I must, although I do not like it, choose efendi Seth's plan. I do value my good paşa's opinion, such a sacrifice of brave sipahis will be unnecessary: if they confront our enemy and perish, our enemy may think that they sacrificed themselves so the rest could escape. This is good, because our soldiers' sudden appearance will surprise them. However, it is also not good, because if we had to make a sacrifice, then they will know that we must be disadvantaged, and will not fear. No aatlar will set out in this battle. Our home was visited by a scorpion", he referred to Seth's visage, "And this must have a meaning. We will fight like a scorpion: hidden, we will all jump out of the sand at once, and sting. And like a scorpion, we will be frightening. I remind you that my brother's men do not only fight for my brother, but also for Akhisar: if frightened, they might change sides, and then we shall replenish what we had lost. Our soldiers will spread out over Wadi-Gihon, to make it appear as if they are many. My brother knows that my forces are few, so it must seem as if our Iberian reinforcements are many: every Iberian soldier must be given a ranged weapon. My Tuareg are good with scimitars too, and if the enemy approaches where they are hiding, they will prove that. My dear daughter, you must dismount Arslan's weapons as Rıza Paşa has said, and give them to him to use as fit. I will not hide, but I will fight with you: it does not befit a lord to kill his men, but it no more befits his men to raise their hands upon him. If I hide, I will not be well defended, because our soldiers are spread out; if I am well defended, then the enemy will know where I am; yet if I fight with my soldiers, dressed as my soldiers, then no one will know it is me. And if I perish, then my brother's claim is legal, and we needn't spill more blood. My dearest daughter Fatima, you and yours will fight beside me, for if I perish, I would wish it to be beside you. Our baggage and our treasure we will dispose in this cave: if we are victorious, then we will easily take it out as we took it in, and if we are not, then it will be useful to my dear brother. Paşa, go and deploy your soldiers and make use of Arslan's teeth. Efendi Seth, you must call your king and request reinforcements here immediately. If we cannot win, then we must only endure until they arrive.
My brave fighters, I have lived long enough, and I can tell you: fortune is fickle, and inşallah, it will turn to our side by the end of this day."
The emir solemnly finished his improvised speech, and saw no response better than the immediate execution of his orders.
There was another reason why he wanted his daughter by his side: battles are disorderly, and murders in battles are a usual occurrence. He was equally suspicious of his brother's soldiers, as he was of his own and of the foreigners. It was only his daughter that he could trust.
"Wait!", exclaimed Fatima. "Our people must be administered a prayer. It would be hubris to go to battle and not consult with the other world. We did not have a prophet, but a prophetess: I will do it", she said with much more gravity and determination than she had after preparing her soldiers' weapons.
"Both of these plans tempt my heart to stop, my skin to pale and my stomach to retch. They will cause a great butchery of men: both mine, and my brothers, yet we must not forget that my brother's men also serve Akhisar. Fortune was not kind upon us - everything we have is limited: soldiers, time, choices. We must make ready now, so I must, although I do not like it, choose efendi Seth's plan. I do value my good paşa's opinion, such a sacrifice of brave sipahis will be unnecessary: if they confront our enemy and perish, our enemy may think that they sacrificed themselves so the rest could escape. This is good, because our soldiers' sudden appearance will surprise them. However, it is also not good, because if we had to make a sacrifice, then they will know that we must be disadvantaged, and will not fear. No aatlar will set out in this battle. Our home was visited by a scorpion", he referred to Seth's visage, "And this must have a meaning. We will fight like a scorpion: hidden, we will all jump out of the sand at once, and sting. And like a scorpion, we will be frightening. I remind you that my brother's men do not only fight for my brother, but also for Akhisar: if frightened, they might change sides, and then we shall replenish what we had lost. Our soldiers will spread out over Wadi-Gihon, to make it appear as if they are many. My brother knows that my forces are few, so it must seem as if our Iberian reinforcements are many: every Iberian soldier must be given a ranged weapon. My Tuareg are good with scimitars too, and if the enemy approaches where they are hiding, they will prove that. My dear daughter, you must dismount Arslan's weapons as Rıza Paşa has said, and give them to him to use as fit. I will not hide, but I will fight with you: it does not befit a lord to kill his men, but it no more befits his men to raise their hands upon him. If I hide, I will not be well defended, because our soldiers are spread out; if I am well defended, then the enemy will know where I am; yet if I fight with my soldiers, dressed as my soldiers, then no one will know it is me. And if I perish, then my brother's claim is legal, and we needn't spill more blood. My dearest daughter Fatima, you and yours will fight beside me, for if I perish, I would wish it to be beside you. Our baggage and our treasure we will dispose in this cave: if we are victorious, then we will easily take it out as we took it in, and if we are not, then it will be useful to my dear brother. Paşa, go and deploy your soldiers and make use of Arslan's teeth. Efendi Seth, you must call your king and request reinforcements here immediately. If we cannot win, then we must only endure until they arrive.
My brave fighters, I have lived long enough, and I can tell you: fortune is fickle, and inşallah, it will turn to our side by the end of this day."
The emir solemnly finished his improvised speech, and saw no response better than the immediate execution of his orders.
There was another reason why he wanted his daughter by his side: battles are disorderly, and murders in battles are a usual occurrence. He was equally suspicious of his brother's soldiers, as he was of his own and of the foreigners. It was only his daughter that he could trust.
"Wait!", exclaimed Fatima. "Our people must be administered a prayer. It would be hubris to go to battle and not consult with the other world. We did not have a prophet, but a prophetess: I will do it", she said with much more gravity and determination than she had after preparing her soldiers' weapons.
RE: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes - TheShooter36 - 10-11-2020
Rıza Paşa waited until Arslan's weapons were dismounted. These weapons were not many and were not portable easily either. As Paşa and his cadre of one thousand warriors made it to Wadi and started spreading out, he called a dozen of his men. "Take those weapons to a suitable place within the Wadi. Those are to be used from long distance, do not risk retaliation against you. If you get discovered, reposition rather than trying to hold position and then continue laying down fire." Then he looked at rest of the warriors under his command. "Warriors, sons of Akhisar, you have your orders by now. We shall fight for Emir and die for Emir this day, we will gain much honor and glory. Inşallah, the desert will consume our enemies and bestow us victory. Today, we have brought our swords with us, to spill our enemy's blood through the old ways. Thus, trust in your sword arm and brethen, find the strength you need from the very sands you ride on and bring the victory."
As cheers and warcries filled the skies, Rıza Paşa has seen one of the warriors coming to him on a modified 'aatlar' for extra speed. "Paşam, our artillery is ready, the unit commander reports we can use those weapons with effective range of 1 kilometer." Paşa answered. "Good. Now go back to your duties. This range will be enough for what we want to do." Then a scout came in. "We have the sight of enemy, sir. They are taking position to counter Efendi Seth's forces." Rıza Paşa was surprised at their enemy's efficiency. He did not expect it to start this soon.
Seth's forces and the enemy started to exchange gunfire and grenades. While Seth's forces had the advantage of positioning, the enemy also had a good selection of ranged weapons and was able to somewhat retaliate. Rıza Paşa ordered the artillery crew to hold fire. It was unnecessary to reveal their considerable advantage at the very start. The fight got near their position and he ordered his forces. "Now, sting them and make them bleed!" As Seth's forces gunfire stopped for a brief second, the enemy also got disoriented slightly. Then Seth's forces fired the explosive rounds. Paşa's forces joined into the fray, ambushing the enemy from behind, however, Emir's brother, Abdul, was as cunning and tactically knowledgeable as Emir himself, the enemy were still hardened warriors that fought on the region. Suddenly the enemy forces started to spread out as well and some of them used the chaos to reposition. That was when Arslan's weapons started to fire as well. However not at the intended targets. While the artillery was being deployed into rear-lines of where would the battle occur, the enemy vanguard forces ambushed artillerymen and captured Arslan's guns, before they could even fire a shot in the name of Emir. Instead, the wonder weapon of Emir and Rıza Paşa was now working in tandem with the enemy ambitions.
As the Cretan weaponry thundered across the battlefield and plasma fire seared Emir's men into atoms, Rıza Paşa roared. "Sıçayım! What is happening? Why our guns fire at our men?" He ordered some of the more experienced fighters. "Go and check the artillery we have deployed. If it is captured, kill the captors, if you can not kill them, disable the weapons." However the weapons only began to fire faster. Rıza Paşa sweared. "Siktir. I will drown you into the sand naked, Abdul."
After heavy losses and many injured men screaming, a series of explosions could be heard by Emir's men and seen by some of Seth's forces. In addition to the explosions, the agonizing fire of Cretan ship weaponry ceased their presence. Now heavily outnumbered, Seth's and remnants of Emir's forces had to regroup. Seth's soldiers were professionals, dwarfing dwellers of desert in experience, regardless of regional familiarity, yet, nothing could face sheer enough numbers in the end. Although they gave the enemy a hefty amount of losses, they took a bigger loss themselves, Emir Ali Yusuf sheated his scimitar with his left hand and took a pistol to his right hand, alongside Rıza's remaining 81 men and what remained of Seth's forces as well as the tiny amount of defectors. They tried to hold the line as best as they could, yet it was a hopeless last ditch effort, with no news from their would-be reinforcements. The only way out of this was the desert granting them a miracle...
RE: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes - 'Scorpion' - 10-18-2020
In the end the plans meant nothing, all it took was one unforeseen consequence to unravel every thread of strategic consideration. With every thud the enemy made against the slowly crumbling shield wall, whether it be from their own bodies or from bullets, the Iberians pushed back firmly. Backed into a shallow cave, nowhere to run, the truest test of what courage men had. Against the backdrop of occasionally howling wind, Seth and his men screamed against every charge, unwilling to concede defeat, even if its obviousness was lethal. The only reason the enemy had not managed to break through was the constant barrage of tear gas billowing out from the confined space, it rendered them devoid of the energy necessary to overpower the thinning wall of shields. But gaps did form, and the enemy did try to take advantage of it. From the looks of his gear, it was if one of the enemy officer's had broken through the line and made a dash straight for Seth. He was successful in doing so, knocking the Centurion to the ground, locked in a struggle which would only last a few seconds. Seth gripped the man by his neck, despite being on his back, and allowed the beams of light unleashed by the mandibles on his helmet to do the rest, they were very much a practical feature. With this, he emerged again and joined the wall, who were relieved to see that their commander was not dead. A small consolation, considering that the wall was now beginning to buckle. If this was how they died, then there would be more honor if their deaths came to them on the field of battle, rather than cramped up and on the verge of cowering in a cave. "Iberia Invicta!" Seth screamed and rallied his men with him, leading what looked to be a purely sacrificial charge through enemy lines. They made some headway, surprisingly enough despite the absolute numerical advantage of their foes, but the enemy would soon begin to pull back and surround the isolated shield bearers and their commander. Fully aware of how this would end, with their blood in the sand and the mission a total failure, Seth and his men steeled themselves and occupied the full attention of the enemy forces for the briefest of moments. Till the sand felt like it was beginning to rumble from the slaughter, or so they thought. The rumbling only worsened, to the point where fighting slowed, almost to a halt. The men collectively too distracted by the sight of sand being rapidly displaced beneath their feet to focus on one another. Something which Seth soon saw the need to capitalize on.
RE: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes - Thunderer - 10-28-2020
One of Abdul's soldiers flung a grenade into the Iberian formation, but it deflected off of a shield and fell back into Abdul's ranks, and killed many men. But the hole was filled by more of the endless river. "Maşallah!", cried out Ali, who was awaiting the inevitable with an unsheathed sabre, to his daughter, thankful to his gods for such a gift, even if small. But his daughter wasn't there. "Fatima!", he exclaimed with sudden distraught amidst the clutter, but it made his cries inaudible. A soldier from Abdul's ranks who yelled something in Hellenic threw an object into the Iberian formation, but this time it wasn't a grenade, it was an incendiary cocktail that shattered on impact on a shield and engulfed the Iberian that was holding it with flames, and set fire to the sand under him. Seth's formation was forced to withdraw a few steps. "She must have gone for the casket", thought Ali, ominously. The casket was at the end of the cave, and he ran towards there. His men, who were supporting the Iberian formation from behind them, thought that their emir had lost courage and fled, and they shattered. A gap was starting to open in the disciplined Iberian formation.
At the end of the cave, Fatima stood next to the open chest. The chest was filled with artefacts. Some of them were glowing. She was holding one of them, which resembled a flute, or was adapted into a flute by Tuareg carvers. "No!", exclaimed Ali at the top of his lungs when he saw her. She blew into the flute and no sound came out. But the ground shook. "You will curse us all!", said Ali, who wanted to stop her. But at the same time that basic, visceral survival instinct urged him not to. "You will..." His will faltered in the middle of the sentence. He just stood there motionless, and his men that had followed him now arrived and grouped around him to witness Fatima's great sin and sacrifice. But they didn't know it was sin and sacrifice: they knew little about how to use an active artefact, and of the consequences. Such knowledge was reserved to the nobility and priesthood, and kept strictly secret.
No sound could be heard from the flute, yet the ground shook and the sand ruffled. It seemed that, when the right frequency was hit, the cave served as a magnifier. Great noise suddenly erupted outside: a stone appeared to have exploded by itself, and shredded the surrounding Abdul's soldiers with shrapnel. And then the next one. And then the sands lifted as if in a sandstorm without wind, to disorient everyone who was outside of the cave. Sporadic inexplicable screams and noise were heard from the outside. The few of Abdul's soldiers that had managed to occupy the cave entrance found themselves between Seth's men and inexplicable chaos outside, and they laid down their weapons and surrendered. And then Fatima stopped playing.
After the sand had settled, the wadi was filled with many of Abdul's soldiers, some of whom were gruesomely torn to pieces by inexplicable forces. Every paşa that led them was dead or dying - and most of them seemed to have snake bites on their skin. But the army that was sent was numerous and many still survived - though they were shocked and leaderless. They too laid down their arms, and pledged their service to Emir Ali, who seemed to have "the blessing of the stars and the ancient prophetess" behind him.
"What have you done...", the emir rebuked his daughter, but quietly, devoid of the will to oppose, his focus drawn by the miraculous victory. His men around him cheered and muffled everything he could say.
At the end of the cave, Fatima stood next to the open chest. The chest was filled with artefacts. Some of them were glowing. She was holding one of them, which resembled a flute, or was adapted into a flute by Tuareg carvers. "No!", exclaimed Ali at the top of his lungs when he saw her. She blew into the flute and no sound came out. But the ground shook. "You will curse us all!", said Ali, who wanted to stop her. But at the same time that basic, visceral survival instinct urged him not to. "You will..." His will faltered in the middle of the sentence. He just stood there motionless, and his men that had followed him now arrived and grouped around him to witness Fatima's great sin and sacrifice. But they didn't know it was sin and sacrifice: they knew little about how to use an active artefact, and of the consequences. Such knowledge was reserved to the nobility and priesthood, and kept strictly secret.
801 AS, Akhisar, Planet Crete.
"Emir!", bowed a messenger before Ali's father, Emir Ali, who was ruling at the time. He was sitting on the many soft pillows of the royal diwan. "Something... has happened". A servant brought in a chest from the royal treasury, which was full of artefacts. "When did they start to... glow?", asked the puzzled emir. "This morning, emir. By the stars, we didn't do anything!" "Bring me the great imam!", he ordered.
Emir Küçük (The Younger) Ali remembered his father Ali as a stubborn traditionalist. He listened to the imams about everything. But to Küçük Ali, artefacts weren't items to be revered, but used. He knew each had a purpose. His interest and laic experimentation on artefacts was a passion, and also somewhat of a public secret: everyone rumoured about it, yet Küçük Ali would still go out of his way to hide it. But on that day he was seriously confronted about it by his father. And yet, he remembered, with pain, it was also the day when he convinced his father to be more open to innovation. A couple of years ago he had tried to use an artefact which looked like it was supposed to power something, as a battery for a Correo freighter, though failed. But that morning the freighter activated and started levitating on its own. It seemed like if Akhisar's issue of power supply was suddenly solved.
Believing that they were divine relics that gave extraordinary powers to those that were close, the royal family started wearing active artefacts as jewellery. And they did give extraordinary powers: the one that Küçük Ali wore made him a champion racer and an expert chess player. His father wore a number of artefacts and had them integrated into the crown as well: and these sometimes allowed him to peek into the minds of those that he spoke with eye to eye for a protracted time - and perhaps exert a little influence too. A very useful ability for a monarch. The only side-effect, it seemed, was a faint pink glow from the eyes.
In 803 Emir Ali died of cancer. He had tumours on every place on his body where he wore an artefact. In 804 his favourite wife also passed away. Küçük Ali survived, but as he discovered later, Fatima, who was born in the year when the artefacts activated, was the only child he could father. The use of the artefact had rendered him barren. When he succeeded the throne, his first ferman was to ban all artefact usage and to keep them all under lock - destroying them, as feared by the imams who greatly treasured the items, would bring the wrath of otherworldly forces and an even worse calamity.
It was all because he thought it wise to play with the divine. Tradition and religion won in Küçük Ali, over innovation and reason.
"Emir!", bowed a messenger before Ali's father, Emir Ali, who was ruling at the time. He was sitting on the many soft pillows of the royal diwan. "Something... has happened". A servant brought in a chest from the royal treasury, which was full of artefacts. "When did they start to... glow?", asked the puzzled emir. "This morning, emir. By the stars, we didn't do anything!" "Bring me the great imam!", he ordered.
Emir Küçük (The Younger) Ali remembered his father Ali as a stubborn traditionalist. He listened to the imams about everything. But to Küçük Ali, artefacts weren't items to be revered, but used. He knew each had a purpose. His interest and laic experimentation on artefacts was a passion, and also somewhat of a public secret: everyone rumoured about it, yet Küçük Ali would still go out of his way to hide it. But on that day he was seriously confronted about it by his father. And yet, he remembered, with pain, it was also the day when he convinced his father to be more open to innovation. A couple of years ago he had tried to use an artefact which looked like it was supposed to power something, as a battery for a Correo freighter, though failed. But that morning the freighter activated and started levitating on its own. It seemed like if Akhisar's issue of power supply was suddenly solved.
Believing that they were divine relics that gave extraordinary powers to those that were close, the royal family started wearing active artefacts as jewellery. And they did give extraordinary powers: the one that Küçük Ali wore made him a champion racer and an expert chess player. His father wore a number of artefacts and had them integrated into the crown as well: and these sometimes allowed him to peek into the minds of those that he spoke with eye to eye for a protracted time - and perhaps exert a little influence too. A very useful ability for a monarch. The only side-effect, it seemed, was a faint pink glow from the eyes.
In 803 Emir Ali died of cancer. He had tumours on every place on his body where he wore an artefact. In 804 his favourite wife also passed away. Küçük Ali survived, but as he discovered later, Fatima, who was born in the year when the artefacts activated, was the only child he could father. The use of the artefact had rendered him barren. When he succeeded the throne, his first ferman was to ban all artefact usage and to keep them all under lock - destroying them, as feared by the imams who greatly treasured the items, would bring the wrath of otherworldly forces and an even worse calamity.
It was all because he thought it wise to play with the divine. Tradition and religion won in Küçük Ali, over innovation and reason.
No sound could be heard from the flute, yet the ground shook and the sand ruffled. It seemed that, when the right frequency was hit, the cave served as a magnifier. Great noise suddenly erupted outside: a stone appeared to have exploded by itself, and shredded the surrounding Abdul's soldiers with shrapnel. And then the next one. And then the sands lifted as if in a sandstorm without wind, to disorient everyone who was outside of the cave. Sporadic inexplicable screams and noise were heard from the outside. The few of Abdul's soldiers that had managed to occupy the cave entrance found themselves between Seth's men and inexplicable chaos outside, and they laid down their weapons and surrendered. And then Fatima stopped playing.
After the sand had settled, the wadi was filled with many of Abdul's soldiers, some of whom were gruesomely torn to pieces by inexplicable forces. Every paşa that led them was dead or dying - and most of them seemed to have snake bites on their skin. But the army that was sent was numerous and many still survived - though they were shocked and leaderless. They too laid down their arms, and pledged their service to Emir Ali, who seemed to have "the blessing of the stars and the ancient prophetess" behind him.
"What have you done...", the emir rebuked his daughter, but quietly, devoid of the will to oppose, his focus drawn by the miraculous victory. His men around him cheered and muffled everything he could say.
RE: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes - TheShooter36 - 10-28-2020
Rıza Paşa eventually figured out what happened when Emir Ali ran and returned to his troops quickly. Moment later, he has seen an unthinkable scenario. As his enemies torn to bits and rest surrendered, he ran to Emir, only to see Emir shocked and Fatima with an artifact. He could not say anything as the voice of victorious cheers filled the cave and echoed back and forth. Yet the Paşa was not unaware of what artifacts signified. He knew using them had a cost even though they brought great power, just as Emir himself did. As he slowly walked towards Emir, all he could give was a worrisome look and the wonder of what kind of brutal fate awaits Fatima.
Even though he was trained to not show himself wavering in front of his troops or in Emir's presence, this kind of dread and fear of possibilities was not something he could entirely repress. After some moments, he could whisper, "Fatima...". His skin pale, eyes wide, he could not find courage to continue speaking. He stopped looking at Fatima and forced himself to focus on the victory that came at great costs.
RE: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes - 'Scorpion' - 10-29-2020
In the aftermath of all this, with all the bodies surrounding them, as if the Iberian wall of shields were a dam against a halted tide, the survivors stood winded but invigorated. Their commander, the young Centurion, was momentarily preoccupied in putting some of the mortally wounded enemies out of their misery. Those that did not surrender and became victims of the grenade's shrapnel and the stings of whatever erupted from the sand. Even with the slight limp that plagued his pace for the moment, he still marched with discipline, amidst the scattering scorpions that provided his former namesake.
When he did return to the Emir's formation, he took note of the fleeting commotion that was otherwise disguised by cheering soldiers who felt they deserved this victory, or perhaps merely happy they could live to tell tales of it. But he just found himself to be curious of all that he'd seen transpire. Having prepared to die in the field, cut down by a horde and yet survive through the intervention of something he could not understand, of course the natural human tendency was to question. "Did you do this?" Seth questioned the Emir's daughter, not seeming angered by what might have been the workings of alien artifacts. No, that was very much a tendency of a past that was now long behind him, forsaken as were the sacrifices of the men under his command and himself.
Noticing the fact that their commander had relocated, the surviving Iberians lined up in formation around his new position, not feeling the need to celebrate when there was still work to be done set out before them, and most certainly not when the Centurion seemed to be engaged in something important. They bore silent witness to whatever might transpire next.
When he did return to the Emir's formation, he took note of the fleeting commotion that was otherwise disguised by cheering soldiers who felt they deserved this victory, or perhaps merely happy they could live to tell tales of it. But he just found himself to be curious of all that he'd seen transpire. Having prepared to die in the field, cut down by a horde and yet survive through the intervention of something he could not understand, of course the natural human tendency was to question. "Did you do this?" Seth questioned the Emir's daughter, not seeming angered by what might have been the workings of alien artifacts. No, that was very much a tendency of a past that was now long behind him, forsaken as were the sacrifices of the men under his command and himself.
Noticing the fact that their commander had relocated, the surviving Iberians lined up in formation around his new position, not feeling the need to celebrate when there was still work to be done set out before them, and most certainly not when the Centurion seemed to be engaged in something important. They bore silent witness to whatever might transpire next.
RE: The Princess With Snake Coloured Eyes - Thunderer - 11-19-2020
"No!", the emir exclaimed with regained determination and snatched the artefact from Fatima's arms. Fatima did not say anything, but stared at the floor as if in shame, not in triumphal ecstasy. "These are otherworldly powers you don't understand, I don't understand, she doesn't understand, and yet she meddled with them! You think we have been saved, but she has cursed us all! Time will tell what our curse will be." The emir called for his pasha. "Rıza! This place is now unholy. We must leave for Akhisar immediately. The city should be under siege by now and my brother will surely surrender when he sees me alive. Bury the dead quickly and make everyone ready to depart."
The men's good mood for having lived through the day was only temporarily spoiled by their emir's dismay.
The men's good mood for having lived through the day was only temporarily spoiled by their emir's dismay.