The Story of a Khergit Soldier by the name of...

[ShadowGamer42]

Narabaatar

Prologue

That's a picture of me. Narabaatar. No idea what my name means, ask my dead Dad about that. Anyway... I'm a 'lowly' recruit in the Khan's army. You'll see how long I'll stay as a recruit; oh yes you will.

Well, first things first... Tulga. What a shithole! Got attacked by a bandit as soon as I entered the city. You'd think the capital of the Khergit Khanate would be, y'know, safe! Not true, I can tell you, not true.

I killed the bandit of course. What else would you expect? Let him kill and loot me? Of course not. I pierced his heart twice with arrows, followed up with a shot right at his face, ending with a bloodied-up eye socket. Then some merchant, by the name of Qutlugh Borijigin, ran up to me, telling me, 'The streets weren't safe at night,' and that, 'It was dangerous to wonder the city alone.' Hahaha! Honestly, as if I didn't know that already. And I'm sure he saw the corpse.

When he gathered me inside, he asked me to rescue his brother. As if. I was here for one reason, and one reason only. To join the Khan's army! I got accepted of course. You wouldn't expect anything less of a grand person like me. The best part was, I got to meet the Khan himself! What an honour. Though not as big an honour as the Khan got meeting me.

I got given some horrendous uniform. Ugly and barely protective. And the worse part was, I had to wear it! And I couldn't ride my horse! But at least I got to choose the weapons I will be using in the upcoming... campaign, shall we say.

________________________________________

This is my first AAR. And yes, I do have the game... I just haven't registered it yet. :unsure:

I'm using the Floris Gameplay mod-pack and I'm going to be a soldier. Huzzah. Though that's all I'm going to say for now.

Also, constructive criticism is welcome. And just generally what you think about it. ​

 

[ShadowGamer42]

Chapter 1 - The Tournament

Chapter 1 - The Tournament

Just got back from the Tournament. I'm achey all over after that! Got knocked out 2 bloody times, and I think I sprained an ankle or something. The Khan entered... surprisingly. Unlike those snooty Vaegir lords. I can't wait to go to war with them. Can't wait at all.

The first round went badly for me. Terribly. I got knocked out nearly instantly. Oh god, it was horrible. A lance smashed straight through my helm, flinging me off the saddle and straight down onto the mucky floor. At least the tournament was held in an arena, well, not an arena in the city, anyway. It was held on a plain marked out with fences outside Tulga with spectators in make-do stands. Well, at least my team won, giving me some points.

The second round wasn't much better... I managed to knock one person out before getting chased around 'till my, rather useless, team-mates took the last 3 lancers out. At least I stayed concious this time!

The round after that involved stuff which was rather boring. My team, green, destroyed everyone. I even got 2 K.O points plus 3 bonus ones for being one of the last men standing and in the winning team. Wasn't too bad in my honest opinion. In total, at the end of Round 3, I had 9 points. Not the best, not the worst. I was at least in the Top 10, for sure.

Round 4 was good, though not brilliant. I switched to a lance for that round which was very strong. And I mean strong, strong. I got the most points in that round, 7 in total. Put me 6th, though no where near good enough for 1st, I'm sad to say.

The ultimate round, round 5 was mediocre for me anyway. I was knocked out last, but I did get 2 points for knocking people out. Probably good of done better but I had a cracking headache which kinda distracted me. The hit to the head also didn't help afterwards!

In the end, all I got was some experience using two handed weapons and polearms. The top 3 (with their prizes listed) were;

1st. Khan Sanjar; 750 denars, some free training and Furs.
2nd. Sir Lucchino; 375 denars, free training, Wine. Though as well as that, his name spread around the Khanate like wildfire!
3rd. Guardsman Jeanne of Khudan; 187 denars, a small talk with the Marshall about combat and Wine.

I managed to get placed decently high, 5th, with 20 points. Was 1 point behind 4th and only 2 points behind 3rd. If only I had used a lance for the whole tournament. Well, we learn from our mistakes.​

 

[ShadowGamer42]

Chapter 2 - First Blood

Chapter 2 - First Blood

A day passed since the tournament, marching around on foot. Horrible, for sure. At least I got a promotion on in the evening. I became a, 'Tsereg'. Some type of infantry, I think, though my end goal is to become rich, famous and an officer. Then maybe I'll retire and try and become a lord or something like that. Just maybe.

Well, let's see... On March the 24th, early in the morning. About 7 O'Clock, the Khan charged some looters. The cavalry was magnificent, powerful, bloody dusty!

The screams of the dying mean curdled my blood, my head swirling. Then a looter, ran up to me, a deranged look in his eyes. The eyes of a monsterous, crazed killer. He lunged at me, trying to thrust a rusty blade into my stomach. I parried the lunge, knocking his sword away, then spinning around and slashing at his throat. It hit him, though his adrenaline, the mentality of a killer and insane man, kept him going. He battled through his pain, unrelenting. Though it was all too much for him in the end. He bent over for a breath, but then, I, a simple hunter and nomad, grabbed my sword in two hands and slammed it down into his back. He screeched, like a banshee, you might say. Then he flopped onto the ground, lifeless and like a ragdoll. He was dead. And I had killed.

A rare picture left of Narabaatar after his first battle.​

 

[ShadowGamer42]

Chapter 3 - Daily Boredom

Chapter 3 - Daily Boredom

The next days are boring, the Khan marching his army around, 'scouting' for the enemies. I doubt he'd find any enemies in the CENTRE OF THE FUCKING KHANATE. Hah. Sometimes I question the Khan's education. Those days are boring, achey and pretty useless. Why not charge to the front a let me show you why I should get a horse! That would benefit everyone. I'd be at home again, on a horse; and you'd have a really strong cavalry troop to fight for you.

We stayed in Tulga few days afterwards. Also very, very boring; though at least we had drink in the city. I walked around the shops for a bit, at the end arriving at the Weaponsmith. He had a really strong, well-balanced sabre which was a sharp as a knife and as light as a snowflake. Just the weapon of a cavalryman. The sad thing is, it costs more than 2000 denars; I have 191 denars and I only earn 80 a week (Though that wage is soon to be raised when I get promoted).

At roughly 8pm on the 1st of April, we set out from Tulga and started travelling. At 3 O'clock the next day, we attacked some Steppe bandits. Calvary... Like the better part of the Khergit army. I stood on a hill, overlooking the valley which the bandits were to charge through to get to our army. I smiled as one of the blood-thirsty marauders caught my eye and yelled furiously. He charged at me as I shot arrows at him. I only hit his horse before the cavalry charged and slaughtered every single one of the mongrels in the space of a minute. No kills but I learnt from the combat styles of the bandits. So not too bad overall. The cavalry makes it a pain to actually learn to fight for yourself. They just swoop in and take the enemy out themselves. Not very fair at all, right? Not fair at all! I'd protest if I was actually listened to... I sound so pitiful; don't I?​

 

[ShadowGamer42]

Chapter 4 - PROMOTION!

Chapter 4 - Promotion

The days after that skirmish were again, rather drab. Marching around Tulga, entering and leaving the city at the Khan's whim. Bloody 'ell, it was tiresome and worthless. I can see why people desert. Maybe I will. To the Swadians or the Sarranids most likely. I have no real ties here, not properly anyway. Only family in Ichamur and the neighbouring village of Dirigh Aban.

April 6, 7 O'Clock in the morn'. Another skirmish. Goodie, goodie. Steppe bandits again, though - those filthy scum. The lowlife of Khergit, I can tell you for sure. Even the looters don't attack the royal army! They have brains; though I don't think the same can be said for some of the people of the steppe. Me. Though I do have brains, I can read, I can write and I can talk Imperial Calradian and Khan's Khergit. Hmm... Anyway, the battle again was rather bloody, the bandits being cut down in single sweeps of the horsemen's swords. Severing limbs from them. Again, I was too slow to actually fight at all, though I did mount a horse and glimpse again the insane look in the murderer's eyes; before he was slain, though.

A drawing of me - on the horse that very day

The next days were dull. Horrible. Just... well... blegh. I had to wait, I knew I was going to get promoted. I had checked the Commander's report of me. It was good, it seemed. Well, on April the 9th, early in the morning, the quartermaster and Captain walked into my tent and handed me my 'new' gear (though it's most likely the gear of an old, dead soldier) and a picture of the horse I was to ride. Not the best, though not the worst.

Narabaatar​

 

[Nikolai II]

Nicely done.

Reasonably-sized bits of text and a good smattering of pictures.

 

[ShadowGamer42]

Thanks.

New chapter later sometime today. Though I do need to actually play the game first. >.<

 

[ShadowGamer42]

Adasq el-Sacras

Interlude - A Friend of Narabaatar - Part 1

Sorry for the large image. Sizing issues when making it. =/

So, people who may be readin' this, I'm Adasq. Friend of Narabaatar; the person who requested me to write this recount of my life since I had met him. He said it would be involved in a grand project sometime in the future when he was old and decrepit. Anyhoo, I'm also a soldier - though I'm in the Sarranid army, not the Khergit. Hahaha! I even remember when we had to fight eachother. I got the better of him, a lance always beats a sabre on horse, trust me. Unless the man (or woman) with the sabre is heavily armoured and very well trained.

Me and Narab' (as I call him) met at a pub in Shariz when he was still travelling around Calradia, hunting game and fighting against the bandit plague. We had a small fight, for sure, which I aptly won (Editor's (Narabaatar's) Note: It was actually reasonably long fight. A good 20 minutes, I'd say - and he was in light armour.) After that, I bought him a pint of beer and we drank together to the early-ish hours of the morning. Then he told me that he was a hunting nomad, travelling Calradia looking for all sorts of game. I responded by telling him I was a Memluk in the Sultan's army. That seemed to ignite a light in his eyes, I can say; he looked like he was in a military fever (as we call it here in Sarranid).

I asked if I could join him for a month or so, travelling around Calradia; being a merchant, a hunter, a fighter. He told me that he'd enjoy the company and told me to pack my gear quickly. We were leaving early the next morning...

To be continued...​

 

[ShadowGamer42]

Adasq el-Sacras

Interlude - A Friend of Narabaatar - Part 2


T'was dawn the next day when we set off for somewhere - Sargoth, I think it was. We both had horses; a boon, yes. Many hours were spent trotting, galloping and cantering on horse... Not very nice for my groin. It took about two days to get to Sargoth. At the time, it was quite a rich looking place, albeit mucky. Very mucky. We stayed in, 'The Humping Wolves'; a true Nordic name when you saw one. (Editor's Note: It was actually called, 'The Dancing Wolves'; though when you asked the barkeeper how he got the name, it didn't take a genius to work out what it meant!) Narab' went to the market late that afternoon to by Flax Bundles and Smoked Fish - though when he came back, he was beat up slightly and his leg had been sliced by what seemed to be an arrow. He had been attacked. He fell onto his bed and held the coins and the credit note, then murmuring like he was drunk, "I goat teeeee gods! Wheel seal 'em!"

God, he was unbearable that evening; he babbled on like an imbecile at some points, saying things like, "Bring me my Tej!" and "I woont to meet me god friend, Floris!" Who the hell is Floris and what the hell is 'Tej'?! I swear he must of been hit over the head...

To be continued...​

 

[Bran]

Will you continue this?

 

[ShadowGamer42]

Will you continue this?

Maybe, I just haven't found the time at the moment.