Copperfox
Well-known member
The following is a sort of one-shot story, no pun intended. It owes its existence to concepts developed by Sir Godfrey, when Godfrey was helping SusanII to create the Knights and Ladies social group. Think of this story, or should I say this episode, as being background history for my social-group identity as King Theocrites Whitebeard.
On one of the two ridges flanking a long ravine stood a broad-shouldered man in his forties, armed with a longbow. He was watching the southern end of the ravine, where it faded into the Gnarled Forest. Beyond that grim forest, in turn, rose the mountains which were the center of this very large island or very small subcontinent. The veteran archer knew this territory well, since it was the inland frontier of the kingdom which he ruled.
"Your Majesty," said a falconer at his side, while pointing into a part of the sky over the woods, "my hawks all appear to have sighted our expected guest."
King Theocrites of Christinople, son of King Nestor the Contemplative, nodded. "You trained them well. Pass the word down the line, and to the men on the other side." Theocrites had fifteen bowmen with him, plus ten good pikemen; a similar force, positioned on the opposite ridge, was led by Priest Anskar of the Orthopraxic Church, the King's chaplain and also an archer in his own right. Anskar was fond of quoting Bible verses that referred to archery; he could do this because, when human beings had first come to this world through a mysterious portal, some of them had brought the Bible with them.
Christinople having more hill country than the other three kingdoms on this broad island, its army paid more attention to developing good infantry than the others did--though this did not mean that there was no Christinoplite cavalry. Horses were sometimes panicked by the really large reptiles, so King Theocrites favored using well-equipped footsoldiers to slug it out with the monsters. The bowmen accompanying the King today were alert and ready; their morale was high, with the pride of knowing that their monarch stood in the ranks as one of them. They would all wait for the order to loose arrows before anyone made a shot; for if they shot too soon, their reptilian enemy might simply decide to turn and go back into the forest to avoid the stings. But being on opposite sides of the ravine, they did not want to start shooting too late, either; for once the massive beast was directly between them, one of the two platoons would have to dash farther north along its ridge, to avoid the risk of the two archery groups shooting each other by mistake.
A sergeant of pikemen remarked to his King, "Really strange, how it doesn't make more noise coming. I'd think we'd be hearing trees break."
"No doubt there was a time when he would have had to break trees," replied Theocrites. "But remember, this Upright Grendel has been raiding the farmlands for months now; he will have cleared his customary route long since. Of course, it is to our advantage that he has assumed a predictable route. Now, everyone stand by." The creature they had come to slay was called a Grendel (as were others like it), because that name seemed fitting to borrow from legends of Old Earth.
Presently, the ground vibrations from the huge carnivore's footsteps became noticeable. None of the assembled warriors was dismayed; men like them had slain monsters like this repeatedly, over the ten or more generations that mankind had occupied this planet. It had been necessary, if any stable society was to exist. The fact that Christinople, Angelonia, Servantium and Beezeldur all enjoyed an organized civilization was due to men's success in combatting these fearsome beasts.
On one of the two ridges flanking a long ravine stood a broad-shouldered man in his forties, armed with a longbow. He was watching the southern end of the ravine, where it faded into the Gnarled Forest. Beyond that grim forest, in turn, rose the mountains which were the center of this very large island or very small subcontinent. The veteran archer knew this territory well, since it was the inland frontier of the kingdom which he ruled.
"Your Majesty," said a falconer at his side, while pointing into a part of the sky over the woods, "my hawks all appear to have sighted our expected guest."
King Theocrites of Christinople, son of King Nestor the Contemplative, nodded. "You trained them well. Pass the word down the line, and to the men on the other side." Theocrites had fifteen bowmen with him, plus ten good pikemen; a similar force, positioned on the opposite ridge, was led by Priest Anskar of the Orthopraxic Church, the King's chaplain and also an archer in his own right. Anskar was fond of quoting Bible verses that referred to archery; he could do this because, when human beings had first come to this world through a mysterious portal, some of them had brought the Bible with them.
Christinople having more hill country than the other three kingdoms on this broad island, its army paid more attention to developing good infantry than the others did--though this did not mean that there was no Christinoplite cavalry. Horses were sometimes panicked by the really large reptiles, so King Theocrites favored using well-equipped footsoldiers to slug it out with the monsters. The bowmen accompanying the King today were alert and ready; their morale was high, with the pride of knowing that their monarch stood in the ranks as one of them. They would all wait for the order to loose arrows before anyone made a shot; for if they shot too soon, their reptilian enemy might simply decide to turn and go back into the forest to avoid the stings. But being on opposite sides of the ravine, they did not want to start shooting too late, either; for once the massive beast was directly between them, one of the two platoons would have to dash farther north along its ridge, to avoid the risk of the two archery groups shooting each other by mistake.
A sergeant of pikemen remarked to his King, "Really strange, how it doesn't make more noise coming. I'd think we'd be hearing trees break."
"No doubt there was a time when he would have had to break trees," replied Theocrites. "But remember, this Upright Grendel has been raiding the farmlands for months now; he will have cleared his customary route long since. Of course, it is to our advantage that he has assumed a predictable route. Now, everyone stand by." The creature they had come to slay was called a Grendel (as were others like it), because that name seemed fitting to borrow from legends of Old Earth.
Presently, the ground vibrations from the huge carnivore's footsteps became noticeable. None of the assembled warriors was dismayed; men like them had slain monsters like this repeatedly, over the ten or more generations that mankind had occupied this planet. It had been necessary, if any stable society was to exist. The fact that Christinople, Angelonia, Servantium and Beezeldur all enjoyed an organized civilization was due to men's success in combatting these fearsome beasts.
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