The walk back to the town – Carrick – was slow but satisfying. Naturally, I had my character sheet before me:529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiMmhHKEBf
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Sean de Courcy, king of Greyland529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5d7VKnOSpv
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Fighter, Level 2 HP 16 AC 0529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXiKmfxwc7
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Str 7529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAu171aPsM
Dex 4529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9N4CVk28IJ
Con 8529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ260AlhLElJ
Int 16529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoLmrq87Mp
Wis 16529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcnFb3vjUF
Cha 4529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkiEKZE8e4
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Skills529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6oaCyD0sJ
Lunge 5529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKopJVSw1P
Parry 5529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0UMZ6F02x
Wield Shortbow 3529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4IfuCw2kg
Wield Rapier 5529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNEfYgwniT
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You have 1 attribute point to assign.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fYO3NFw9a
You have 5 skill points to assign.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMirfekPHS6
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XP 110/200
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I was heartened that the system awarded a new attribute point on levelling: one that further justified my risky decision to be a Fighter. The immediate question was not what attribute to increase but whether to spend it at all. If it proved relatively easy to get attributes to move up from very low scores, but very hard to say, train Strength from 17 to 18, then I should save all my level points until I'd achieved as much as I could from exercise.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCsIOVBW6k
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Then there was the question of skill points. From the speed at which skills increased, I might have made a mistake in my Min-Max approach. I tapped Carlena on the back and asked that she wait with me while I took a breather. The cleric, however, I gestured to continue towards the town walls, which were less than a mile away.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbH3VOWccl2
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'Can you tell me about how to improve skills?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbxcA4laEo
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'I don't have access to the menus that you do, so anything I can tell you is conjecture.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwr0MYus0b
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'I understand.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7n1Yik8J2
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'I believe that every time where you are in a situation where you have a chance to use a skill in earnest, there's the possibility you will increase your expertise in it. But you have to use a skill many times before you will be successful.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUzn8Hnjrx
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'Mine seemed to go up fairly rapidly.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoTUXutHXl
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Carlena looked at me thoughtfully. 'Tell me my stats.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftvySReuLR
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It took a moment to find the right menu, then I reported them to her: 'Strength five; Dexterity eleven; Constitution nine; Intelligence seventeen; Wisdom seven; Charisma eight.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5bWAl5j1n
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'Much as I thought. Although my Intelligence is slightly disappointing. Now, what are yours?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgb7FhaecZ5
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Although I felt reluctant to share this information for some reason, I reminded myself she was on my side after all. 'Strength seven; Dexterity four; Constitution eight; Intelligence sixteen; Wisdom sixteen; Charisma four.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoRe94w4KQ
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'By Miya's breath! Sixteen Intelligence and Wisdom? I never would have believed it!' Then she laughed. 'No offence, Sean, but I see the body of King Carlos and I see a very slow-witted man. It affects my perception of you.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfRJ73R6oj
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'None taken,' I smiled. It was the first time I'd seen the sorceress laugh and it all of a sudden, my doubts about her retreated.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsydtOR7dSb
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'That's the explanation: you will learn fast with those two attributes so high. They are extraordinary, I doubt there are more than a handful of people in the world with both Intelligence and Wisdom over fifteen.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusyTbdhuGI
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'What's the maximum an attribute can be at?529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTeCHWvJOR
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'Again, this is conjecture, but I think for a human, twenty.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3G8G4092qT
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I resumed my slow walk back to the safety of the town walls. It was hard to force my thick legs into motion, but my morale was high and the aches didn't trouble me. If I could get my core fighting attributes to increase, to at least to around eleven or twelve, then I could bump them up with my level gains. Meanwhile, I had a very advantageous situation in regard to skills. Obviously, I should spread my points widely, trusting to my Intelligence and Wisdom to bring them up fast. In time, I would be a very versatile warrior, capable of using a wide variety of weapons and actions at a high level, instead of a specialist in just one or two.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Uo7s5P9S5
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I put a skill point into each of Bash, Block, Deflect, Defensive Stance and Dodge, which would get me started in those. And I saved my attribute point for now.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0RFNRJ7Rp5
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By the time we reached the eastern gate of the town (a large metal portcullis that was already mostly down, I had to duck to go through), nearly four hours had passed. I hadn't forgotten the fact that the smithy was turning out pickaxes and as soon as the iron was all used up and I had twenty-four new pickaxes, I assigned them to the miners.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9SNtFYtSr
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The Cleric was just beyond the gate, waiting for us. My instinct was to thank her, but conscious of the looks of the guards and the townspeople, I simply said, 'be ready to do the same tomorrow.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiGg5AQ40o
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'Yes, sire.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtF3lHR4gIa
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With a promise she would join me for dinner, Carlena bid me farewell soon after and set off towards her tower, the one I had arrived at just two days ago (though it felt like I'd been here a week at least).529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiv9FJYt9Nv
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As I entered the keep, my thoughts were entirely on a bath and even a nap before dinner, when they were jolted into focus by the presence of Chancellor Parrin. My scout had been waiting in one of several chairs that were set outside of the solar for that purpose. My heart leapt. So much depended on his report. What did his face convey? Bad news, I thought, there was unease in the way his eyes caught mine.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsptDuVGRv
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After taking my throne and ordering the servants to leave, I called the chancellor close.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MjK3SBBl0
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'Well?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYXZ8l6pns
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'They are moving an army towards us.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QkYiEsYll
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'How many troops?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjITUDT68B
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'Sixty spearmen, twenty axemen, forty archers, thirty light cavalry, ten heavy cavalry…' he paused, 'with them are two commanders, one from each faction, and a Shaman with a sabre-tooth tiger pet, I couldn't determine their levels.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QctbYNzr2
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They had about twice the number of troops we did. And strangely that gave me some hope. Given Greyland's tiny army, it could have been a lot worse.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCP7MzxzsR
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'How long have we got?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBl2Zve5mnx
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'They will arrive at Three-Ways tomorrow, probably near enough to noon.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNeoeecQoh
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This was happening too fast. If I could have even had just a couple more personal levels, I could make a real difference to what happened in the melee. It was unfortunate too that the tower machicolations wouldn't be in place for this battle, one day and eighteen hours remained on that timer.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJnIUG3dpI
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Perhaps I was looking worried, because Parrin asked, 'can we stop them?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6psogRdky
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I smiled. 'Of course we can. In fact, I think they've made a mistake. They didn't bring their full army?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjpxiHU9v5
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'No, this is about half.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdfuTUrwjr
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That really did feel like a mistake. If they had risked everything on overwhelming us, that would have been far more dangerous. Perhaps they were worried about losing control of our farmland in the event of being thrown back. Or perhaps the two rulers were not entirely of the same mind. Whatever the reason, the encouragement I offered the chancellor was not at all bluster. 'A lot will depend on how you, Lord Arval and Carlena perform, but this will be a battle we can win. We have a ballista, they don't have anything with the same range?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdtEbI8ucj
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'No.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0m9aaCEvC
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'Because of that, they won't be able to mass their archers to eliminate ours and then drive us from the walls. They will have to come on fast and try to storm the fort while we are on top of them. And that's a big advantage to us.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡur6ZoXQ1sD
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'True enough sire.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZE3KvSaxq
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'Send a messenger on a fast horse with those figures to Lord Arval and tell him I'm coming; order a horse and cart big enough to carry me; let Carlena know to meet us at the fort tomorrow, early, and the cleric too, and any of the archers in the hospital able to fire a bow.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCNbDsb4E3
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We shared a look – for my part I tried to convey confidence and determination – and then he was striding out of the hall, his rapid footsteps echoing in the empty room. One day I would lead my armies from the front. If we survived this attack. But even if I couldn't fight in a battle effectively, I could be there to encourage the soldiers and give orders.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1Pf8NAvLa
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After a wash and change and a meal (fish again) I went outside the keep to where a man sat on a long cart, which was drawn by two horses. I was going to have to travel through an uncomfortable night on those bare planks and over a bumpy road.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrdpJpZViQ
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It really was a painful journey, several times I was jolted so badly even my bulky body rose off the planks. As best I could, I distracted myself by reading up on the game menus, giving particular attention to the stats on the soldiers. It was possible to get details on each soldier type, so our 33 archers, for example, read as follows:529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS5RkzZQSfx
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Greyland Archer529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjF6PSmD2q
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Fighter level 0529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUf9lZgUdYM
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Ranged attack: 15529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwFFUKNISp
Melee attack: 8529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOWsUELWVJX
Armour Class: 2529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zhAbEarGx
Hit Points: 5529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrg7mQp7hT
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Skills:529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAatxwE5vs
Wield Longbow variable, according to experience529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72RAqQ963K
Wield Shortsword variable, according to experience529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpd6vz2aa0e
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Monthly Upkeep: 4sp
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I had also been keeping an eye on the town menu and just after dawn, 4 iron ingots appeared in the resources area. That was excellent, it showed that applying steel pickaxes to mining really was an effective way to increase production. I allocated the ingots to the smithy, meaning I would have 48 new pickaxes in due course. Assuming we survived the day ahead.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmka5AJua5
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Lively birdsong accompanied the spread of grey light across the sky. Because we were making our way down a valley, I didn't see the rising sun, only a pink glow that became a bright yellow sun by the time it rose high enough to cross the shadows of the horizon. It was a beautiful day and I was struck by the realisation that it might be my last. Unlike a game, this could be the end for me. I was placing myself in proximity to 160 or so enemy soldiers who wouldn't hesitate to kill me if they could. And there was no possibility of escape if it all went wrong, not with this body.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcELEti7w1w
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Did every soldier feel the same, the morning before battle? A heightening of all the senses? An appreciation of the sky, the breeze, the birdsong? Even of the breaths I was taking. Yes, I felt a certain amount of fear, but it was very much in the background. I had to do what I had to do.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvv4hdTXhV
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Three Ways was the area at meeting of two valleys at the confluence of two small mountain rivers with a bridge over the emerging river. The fort was a wooden tower on a rocky outcrop to my right, the river I was following was on my left. Extending from the tower and all the way to the riverbank where there was another, much smaller, tower was a wooden palisade. There was a gate where the road passed through the wall.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPFdgeh5j3
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My first impression was positive. We had control of the main route up towards Carrick. In theory, you could march along the other side of the river, in the narrow strip of rocky ground before the hill began to rise steeply. That would let you bypass the fort, but it would be slow going and we could harass the enemy from our side of the river. The walls of the hillside were even steeper near the main fort tower, including slaps of sheer rock in places. There was no way an army could skirt around us.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iIuF7o1w5
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A picket of a dozen light infantry called on the cart to stop and as soon as they saw me, they stiffened to attention. With some difficulty I got myself out of the cart and over to the soldiers who looked at me with solemn expressions.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWasYoP9Amz
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'Show me to Lord Arval.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKnW8k7tVl
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A guard saluted and led the way towards the main fort tower; before we were half way there, a cluster of soldiers came out of it, Lord Arval at their head, body armour shining silver in the morning light.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4E1k8BQqsD
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'Well met, sir, well met!' Lord Arval offered his hand and shook mine earnestly. 'I have made my dispositions, but I'm glad you are here to check them and lead us in the battle.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFe0TyQO04
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'Thank you, Lord Arval. I don't suppose this world has invented coffee? No. Some hot water then if you can, while you explain your set up.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAgdM2cJ33
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'Certainly sire.' He gestured an aide to obtain my drink, then began his account. 'Our light cavalry, twenty-four of them, are scouting further down the road. They will bring us word of the enemy advance.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjR28fyVNfb
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I nodded.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhLzL4mznt
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'The ballista is on top of the main tower.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzfwtIJHS6
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'What's the maximum range for it?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6DPTsYUQe
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'I can show you, if you'll come up to the palisade walkway.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGmc5blPa4
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It took some effort, and I nearly had to ask for a push from behind, but I got up a narrow wooden staircase and stood with the Paladin above the gate. Ahead of me, the road turned left to cross the bridge and then follow the river downstream on its left bank. That valley was where our opponents would arrive from. From here I could see the other stream and the mouth of the other valley, which was around the corner to the right of our main tower, with the stream running across the ground ahead of us to the main river about four hundred yards from where I was standing.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8zNiS7DCd
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'See that reddish rock beyond the bridge?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGPM2Rn6Jm
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'Yes?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKGsZ5ghhT
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'The ballista can hit that. I know, I had them fire at it.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuZZtoVWge
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While it was good that we could be shooting at the enemy as they crossed the bridge, I wasn't sure about placing the ballista crew in a position where they could be fired upon once the enemy was over the crossing. Not at all.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9Tvte0wN7
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'All along the palisade will be our light infantry. They have been hauling rocks up ever since we heard the news. Also about half the archers. Only fifteen can fit alongside the ballista crew on the top of the tower.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkvNsVBi5K
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Lord Arval looked at me and then continued.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWjN5QZ7OU
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'I was thinking that the twelve heavy infantry and four heavy cavalry should be there on that rise, as our reserve.' He pointed back the way I had come from.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW20Io7PHV5
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'And what about you and the Sorceress?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwClDWT8qC5
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'It seems to me, she should be on the small tower, nearest the bridge, and myself with the reserve.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLczc9RmnQ6
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For a while I studied the position and everyone waited silently, the only sound that of our flags flapping in a light breeze.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcFu2kGZ4B
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'Suppose you were their general, what would you do?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0iKZBkCEu
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Lord Arval looked thoughtful and rubbed his bald head slowly as he considered the ground ahead of us. 'I'd probably rush my archers to the main tower and try to silence the ballista, maybe having prepared screens first, so as to protect from incoming arrows from the walls. If I succeeded, I'd clear the palisade next, as much as I could.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAsJHszTH9
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'I think the same. So would you consider putting our ballista with the reserve? Too far for their arrows to reach but within range of them?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhL2IE8wFV
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'We'd lose the opportunity to fire when they are crowding the bridge.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvM5X2UkhmC
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'If they are smart, they will cross in single file.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nHjKbpUlk
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'What if they stand close to our walls? We might not have the elevation for the ballista to see them?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDELTHzYzfm
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'We could put Carlena here, she has a fire dart spell that would do a great deal of damage or drive them off if they come close.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikVAgmVxPL
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'Aye.' He had a distant look, probably I did too. We were trying to imagine what the battle might look like. Though as any writer on warfare would tell you, no plan survives contact with the enemy. 'Aye,' he said again, more decisively, 'I think you are right.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWF8bz1apG
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'And the advantage of my idea is that we keep everyone under cover for the duel between ballista and their archers. Your way, we might win, but are likely to lose a lot of troops.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogDhm4uGGS
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'Very good sire. Shall I order it moved now, we need time.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhru0ppgqFs
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'Go ahead.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcrZsHXYpb
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It took over an hour before the ballista was set up on the rise behind the palisade, even with a pulley to lower the equipment down the side of the tower. Not long afterwards Carlena arrived with Chancellor Parrin, the Cleric and two more archers, who had recovered enough in the hospital to participate.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeuSiV1LMb
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The Cleric was put in the reserve and then the four of us: Arval, Parrin, Carlena and myself went to the small tower while we talked over the plan. In short, it was to win the artillery duel and therefore be able to have the infantry throw rocks and spears from the palisade without fearing incoming arrows.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vLDJ1vfTJ
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Time moves slowly before battle. It was still early in the morning and I wondered if it was worth feeding our soldiers in the near future or not. I asked Lord Arval.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzMrqOefIs
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'Does a soldier fight better on an empty or full stomach?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8trf3gi09n
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'No one knows sire. There is a story of an emperor who had the same question. So he took two groups of twelve soldiers and had them fight. One group did so after a hearty meal, the others with no food inside them.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLIvalc7nz
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'And?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe24S6t3Ozn
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'Inconclusive, sire, I believe the no-food side won, but only by a man. Personally, I find a small amount of food, especially fruit, optimum.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQo4hlDJ06
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'Very good, distribute it now, in case the enemy are making good speed.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJhMei3j6y
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Our opponents did not, however, arrive until after a long, long wait, the sun well past midday. Then time began to move rapidly, beginning with the return of our light cavalry: a distant dust rising into the clear blue sky, then the sounds of their hooves and finally the sight of them clattering across the bridge.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQyoEWBLrU
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When they were drawn up beside the four heavy cavalrymen, Lord Arval had the gates closed and barred.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNzv18piyn
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'Ready sire?'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlXiNDxvj7
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'Not quite, gather the soldiers, I'll speak to them.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAeLNIDsLX
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Lord Arval nodded approvingly, while Chancellor Parrin's long, bearded face was inscrutable. He probably had years of practice at hiding his feelings from Carlos. Carlena, however, was clearly sceptical.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajJKoqi38E
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From a rock on the rise, with a good view of the cavalry to my left and the infantry below, whose faces were tipped up towards me, I tried to remember some of the rousing speeches I'd heard in films.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJloy81zVL
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'What day is it?' I asked Chancellor Parrin in a low voice.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1Wkhpem0X
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'Twenty-fourth of the month of Abya.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVkE9R0l73
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'Soldiers of Greyland!' I began, my big body proving good for this purpose, with my voice strong and echoing from the rocks. The men looked at me with hopeful expressions. 'This day, the twenty-fourth of the month of Abya, is forever going to be remembered in the history of our realm. For it is on this day that we will turn the course of this war.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGzPo3dFJ3
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Lord Arval gave a roar and shook a spear, which encouraged many of the men to do the same.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWO0daCLiix
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'And you are the lucky ones. There will come a time when vast armies under my command will conquer the twenty-five kingdoms. And they will all know that it began here, with just a few of us, a lucky few. A band of warring brothers.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg20Ik0Vtiy
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'You will be able to say, with pride, I was there that day. With King Carlos, with Lord Arval, Chancellor Parrin and Sorceress Carlena, when we smashed the army that tried to invade our mountains and sent them fleeing back down the valley.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedUZyhvMCG
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'It will be a tough battle, they have more soldiers; but we have much the better position and the advantage of the ballista. Let no one think of retreat. Either we hold this fort or the enemy capture Carrick and enslave your families.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnVOHbn3mw
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'This is where we make our stand. This is where they will break. Fight for yourself, your comrades, and your families at home.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRuwfSUbmb
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'Those recruits in years to come who were not here will think themselves cursed. And listen in silence when any of you speak. You who fought at the battle of Three Ways!'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0oRu9qpbY
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Lord Arval gave another roar and this time there was a really satisfying response, one that resounded all around us.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANOWBby9J0
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'Positions!' Our Paladin, now on his horse, led the troops back to the palisade.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2Oly0ENPE
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Before she left, I called Carlena over. 'I think today might be the day for your potion.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGF7UTEb7B
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'You might be right.' She looked at me with an expression I'd never seen before from her: respect. 'You spoke well.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgego7fTPS
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Passing me a small bottle of turquoise liquid, she said, 'just drink and name the creature. Make it one around your size or it might fail. You will have eight minutes.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSxQMCJXdf
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'Good luck.'529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcXn4Q4Yav
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'And to you.' She walked towards the gate and her position.529Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvpRfYklxV
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Before Lord Arval had returned, a new sound came from the valley beyond the bridge, an ominous deep series of thuds. The enemy were coming, marching to drums of war.
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