Since I wasn't going to sleep early and was already in nerd mode after finishing my HW,
I lost my standard issue crossbowman board shield in the worst way possible... A small squadron consisting of myself, another sharpshooter,two veteran spearmen,four recruits and our sergeant had been sent to a mountain bandit lair near Dumar to rescue a goodwill caravan that had been on it's way to Uxkhal. Tensions between the nations of the Swadians and Rhodoks had been very high for months and many feared that war would soon erupt as a result. This goodwill caravan, carrying riches and many other things was meant to try and extend an olive branch of sorts to our neighbors to the north of us. Having this caravan not reach it's destination would have proved disastrous in terms of diplomacy and as a result, my unit was dispatched to investigate and follow the trail of the group of vagrants responsible for the caravan's disappearance.
With the rest of our army waiting outside the forest, we crept into the surrounding area easily enough, covered under the night's thick, dreary shroud. We were well within their territory when it happened, an arrow flew seemingly out of nowhere directly into the throat of the recruit to the left of me. We quickly took cover within the dense cluster of trees throughout the area. We had been spotted by one of the bandit's scouts who was now quickly retreating in the direction of his camp, no doubt to warn his friends of our intrusion, My sergeant instructed me to stop him before it was too late. I lined up my shot and almost systematically squeezed the trigger. As I watched my bolt quickly fade into the abysmal darkness several feet in front of me, I almost instantly heard a grunt followed by a sickening "thud". We had gotten the bastard, but not without losing one of the most promising, energetic members of our party. Quickly blessing the make-shift grave of our fallen member, we continued on towards the camp.
The camp seemed relatively deserted. The surrounding caves were completely devoid of any light, no doubt full of sleeping bandits. Not a soul appeared to be stirring about aside from two night guards who appeared to be looking around nervously, just behind them, a subdued group of weary, battered merchants that could only be the missing caravan group. As soon as our sergeant gave the order, my sharpshooter counter part and I coldly and stealthily felled the two guards, each with a bolt in the head. We quickly moved towards the caravan members and began to untie them while urging them to keep quiet, suddenly, a frenzy of bolts flew directly into our line from nowhere, one bolt flew directly into the chest of the spear man behind me. Just then, one of the darkened caves was illuminated. There stood a line of Swadian Crossbowmen with a Swadian Sergeant behind them. It became disgustingly clear that we had met little resistance for a reason. All but a few bandits and had been killed off so as to not make us suspicious. There was never any chance of good will between our two nations, they had planned on wiping out the caravan and the search parties sent after them from the beginning, all while making it look as if they never received any good will from us and to use that as an incentive to go to war.. What fools we had been... We had been riding to meet our bloody fate the entire time. With a twisted grin on his face. He commanded his men to reload in his hoarse, unpleasant tone of voice . We then braced ourselves, knowing that we would all surely be shot down before we could even reach the tree lines fifty feet behind us. I looked to our wounded on the ground, the determined, yet terrified looks on the faces of the three remaining recruits then to my sergeant. Without pause, he gave us what I was sure would be his final order. "After their next volley you are to take those still alive and retreat, tell those in Estroq of what took place here" .Half a second after those words left his mouth, another wave of bolts flew into us, two recruits, a caravan prisoner and our other sharpshooter hit the ground immediately. I looked over to my commander, who had now adorned his war torn Rhodok faceplate and was grasping the bolt now firmly lodged into his right leg. He calmly asked me for my board shield without looking away from the line of enemies. I immediately knew of his intentions, and why he had ordered me to relay this information and not him. I handed him my board shield, and while I could not tell, I could almost swear that my commanded was smiling under his face mask. As he raised his shield he screamed "GO NOW!" as he pressed forward with his shield up. As we all ran towards the tree line another wave of bolts flew into us, flying into the leg of a female caravan member next to me. As she screamed in agony I quickly draped her arm around my shoulder and proceeded to yell for the rest of us to "run and dare not look back"..As we reached he tree line we could hear a clang of swords and several man quickly screaming out in pain seconds later.
We regrouped with the rest of the army very quickly and I relayed the orders I had been given. As I and a hardened group of soldiers ran back into the forest immediately I could only think about my Sergeant's unwavering confidence and how he had been so willing sacrifice his life for ours. I was running so fast and so hard that it felt like my feet were being rubbed raw within the soles of my mail chausses. We arrived back at the camp about an hour and a half later, only to find eight freshly slain bodies on the ground, my sergeant among them. I saw not a single sword wound on him, but he had been shot many times and was sitting with his back against a the wall of the cave the cowards had been hiding in. He must have been too weak to give chase to the remaining cowards as they fled and slowly began to bleed out. I clenched my fists so hard at the thought of those cowards escaping after what they had done that blood started to drip down my palms. Without saying a word, we carried him and our other fallen back to the village Dumar were they were given a hero's burial. Maybe it was because I was young at the time,but I expected us to go to war immediately and right the wrongs done to our own by these heartless bastards. Instead, I got more diplomacy, drawn out talks of treaties and compromises, all while the Swadians claimed to have no knowledge of this attack and quickly dismissed it as a random attack by renegade soldiers; something our king was too ready to believe and accept. Listening to the continued politics play out between our two nations over the next few months made me not only lose my stomach for the military, but for those who ran the affairs of the lands I lived in.
Shortly after I heard of a group of elite warriors hailing from a foreign, broken nation called "Stratia" that were doing business far in the north. Taking my crossbow and the clothes on my back, I headed north, looking to see if I could join up with this broken group of nomads and start a new life with them. After fighting tirelessly for someone else for so long, joining a group of warriors who "fought only for themselves" seemed like the right thing to do. Soon after I joined up with the Chosen Hands of the Ascended Order of Stratia(CHAOS). This was many years ago and although I have left my life as Rhodok well behind me, I don't think i'd be able to sleep with myself at night If I ever wore another board shield on my back. I keep my back shield-less as a reminder of why I am still here today. Maybe it's stupid, but I feel it is the best way to honor a fallen friend. SO YEAH, ENJOY YOUR BOARD SHIELDS, KIDS.
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