Year 487 Summer Campaign

[Geoffrey]

"It would seem my concern was unfounded." Rodric said to Valka.

"They were truly that unprepared for an assault of any kind.

Come, let us join the others and burn the ship.  The Romans have already done so to one other." he indicated the smoke off in the distance.

[Artaigne]

Seeing the nod from Cedwyn, Artaigne was happy to have the permission to press home the fight.  True, the plunder would not be what he would have liked, but there was glory in felling a foe and accomplishing their stated purpose. Now that the fighting had closed outside of the ability to charge, the Irishman discarded his spear and drew his sword, launching an attack against the Saxon dog.


Attack roll 7
Damage roll 21

[GM Craig]

Arne whirls his horse around and rides up to his target. The Saxon fumbles with the spear, and cannot bring it to bear in time. Arne easily slashes at the Saxon,catching him on the neck. The Saxon falls back, quite dead.

Artaigne has some difficulties. His opponent gets his spear around and set. Artaigne manages to partially deflect the blow with his shield, but he still takes a hit. He easily keeps his seat, and stays in close contact with the Saxon.

Meanwhile, Valka and Rodric start a leisurely canter towards the boats.

Opponent	Weapon	Armour	Major Wound (HP)	Glory
3x Spearmen	Great Spear 10 (5d6)	Leather (4)	16 (24)	10

Character	Roll	Opponent Roll	Opponent	Result
Arne	11/20	13/5 Fail	Saxon Spearman	(16-4)12 damage: now -3/24
Artaigne	7/15	5/5 Crit	Saxon Spearman	Artaigne takes (18-8-6) 4/29 damage
Cedwyn	-	-	-	Unconscious, Major Wound

[Actions?]

Arne and Cedwyn are clear. There is still no sign of reinforcements.

[Artaigne]

While briefly contemplating if he should have given up the peaceful life of the cloister, Artaigne slashed again at the enemy in front of him.  He would never convince anyone that he was a worthy warrior if he continued to fare so poorly in combat.

Attack 6
Damage 20

[Cedwyn]

Cedwyn unlimbered Witchbane, ready to assist Sir Artaigne if need be.

He kept his wits about him and watch of the area.

[awareness: 12 vs. skill 12. Crit success.]

[Arne]

Arne flicked his sword downward to clean it of blood, and laid it across his lap as he watched the combat between Artaigne and the last Saxon.  The scum had been very fortunate in getting his spear grounded, and only the quick reflexes of the Irish warrior robbed his enemies' strike of most of its force. 

He was tempted for a moment to simply dismount and hew the dog from crown to navel, but he'd not rob his comrade of his kill unless he called for assistance.  For now, he was content to watch the fight.

[GM Craig]

Artaigne lashes out again, this time landing a solid blow. The over-matched Saxon collapses like a sack of flour.

Opponent	Weapon	Armour	Major Wound (HP)	Glory
3x Spearmen	Great Spear 10 (5d6)	Leather (4)	16 (24)	10

Character	Roll	Opponent Roll	Opponent	Result
Arne	-	-	Saxon Spearman	deceased
Artaigne	6/20	7/5 Fail	Saxon Spearman	(20-4) 16 damage (-4/24)
Cedwyn	-	-	-	Unconscious, Major Wound

Your group holds the field, and there are no other opponents visible.

Rodric and Valka trot up, and you get to the business of the ships.

The longships are smaller than the ones Valka and Arne used to escape their slavery. A quick examination reveals there is some plunder in the shallow hulls. Sacks of grain and other items lay in the small hold. You can take them, for personal gain or to turn over to the Praetor, but the load will slow you down. Your orders were to burn the ships, not recover plunder, and the army likely has much more than the bits and pieces present here. The total value of the plunder in the ships, at a quick glance and some guesswork, would be less than half a £.

From the warriors you can salvage three sets of leader armour [~10d each] and six great spears [~1d each]. The great spears are far too large to use from horseback.

[Actions?]

Burn the ships, or take time to go through the plunder?

[Cedwyn]

Cedwyn got firestarting materials together.

"We need to burn this and keep moving."

He made to strike up a torch and flame the tar that sealed the ship tight.

"Once caught, we should move out a fair pace and see if any Saxon dogs come a-running. If we are back far enough, we can ambush them as they attempt to quench the flames."

[Geoffrey]

Rodric dismounted and began to help Cedwyn with the preparations for burning the ships.

"If we do wait, we should not wait too long.

I caught smoke roughly a mile further along the river.  Either the Saxons have a larger camp or the Praetor's men have already claimed their first ship."

[Cedwyn]

Cedwyn nodded as he struck the torch a-light.

"West?"

[Artaigne]

Silently lamenting the lack of time and opportunity to plunder the ships, Artaigne followed Cedwyn's lead and made ready to fire the ship.  He prayed that the time would come when he might find opportunity to improve his financial situation.

[Geoffrey]

Rodric nodded his head.

"It is to the west.  And if it is not the Romans then the next battle is much less likely to have the odds in our favor."

[Cedwyn]

Cedwyn frowned...they were furthest west of the Praetor's forces. It's much more likely those were Saxons. And smoke meant a much larger contingent. The five of them had no support militia to help them combat a large group.

"All right...distance and hills means there's a good chance they heard very little but odds are those are Saxons then. They will see the smoke and send a detachment at least. Possibly the whole camp will come with a detachment to watch the ships that are there."

"We may already have dogs coming here to investigate noise. Likewise, their relief could be on their way. No matter though, once we fire these ships they'll come out."

"Let's fire the ships quickly and be about things. Approach the smoke obliquely from where they are relative to the ships."

[Arne]

Arne nodded his agreement to Cedwyn's plan, although he shot a regretful look at his fallen foe's armor.  Speed was vital now, and tarrying to loot the corpses would be folly.


OOC:  Oops, forgot to add this when I first posted.  Arne will help to fire the ships.

[Artaigne]

After setting his torch to the ship and ensuring that it was well and truly lit, Artaigne recovered his spear and horse before looking again at the weapons of the Saxons. 

ooc: Is it just the length of the haft that makes them unwieldy from horseback...could they be modified to be serviceable?