[Draelmar Hold] Tasad meets his Company

Tasad R'rowl · May 17, 2008, 10:33 AM

2nd of Kalendryas, Winter Era XV

Tasad left his meeting with Commander Veleraen and headed for the training grounds where his company was training. The meeting had gone fairly well and Tasad had been brought up to speed on the situation. Simply put, it stunk. The orcs were attacking everywhere and the 2nd Regiment was going to be called upon to set matters straight. And there were only a few little things, like the fact that the 2nd Regiment was filled with recruits so green that you could douse them in combustibles and they wouldn't catch fire, or that their weapons were not the best suited for the job, or the fact that they weren't exactly sure how long they had to train before being thrown into the meat grinder, that they had to overcome first.

Tasad had never been one to complain and he hadn't. His commander had enough problems on his plate right now and Tasad wasn't going to add more by complaining. He had served for over ten ears in the Defenders and had seen this several times before. Like the old saying went 'We do the hard stuff first and the impossible takes a little longer.'

Tasad had timed his meeting to the company grounds so that the men would be finsihing up for the day. He had the training schedule that Veleraen had given him, and while it was very good, it didn't really do much for heavy infantry and so Tasad was going to have to rectify that problem, but first things first. Time to meet the men.

Upon reaching the field Tasad found Sgt. Verde drilling the men and had to admit that he was impressed. the Sgt. was an elf who had a hard look about him and a number of scars to go with those looks. The way he carried himself and bellowed orders like a champion spoke of long familiarity and labeled him a veteran from the get go. Tasad watched his men as they were put through their paces and had to admit that Verde had done a good job with them. They appeared to be in good shape, and could march in step and follow marching orders with little difficulty. And they apparently already had it instilled in them that they were a team, which would make his job that much easier. Looking over the ranks as they manuvered Tasad saw humans, elfs, kattari and dorins. The later surprised him somewhat. He had long ago set aside his dislike of dorins in the name of military comraderie and discipline. He didn't necessarily go out of his way to talk with one, but he didn't think they were the evil murdering bastards that many katta did. Well, at least not very much. But to see dorins and katta in the same unit like this, a green one, surprised him. They worked alongside each other well and there didn't appear to tensions that would cause problems. Still, better to keep an eye out till he got to know his company better.

When Verde called a break Tasad approcahed him before he walked away. Seeing a Captain walking towards him Verde saluted, fist to heart, to which Tasad responded. Getting closer Tasad growled out," At ease Sgt. I'm Captain Tasad R'rowl and I'll be assuming command of this company. I watched you put the company through their paces, and I'm impressed with what you have accomplished. What do you think of them?"

Verde thought for a moment, a look of relief flahing across his face before he resumed his hard stare and said," Well sir, they are about as green as they come, but I've had these men since they came through recruit training and there good lads. Most of them are farmers, potters, or some other types of craftsman but all of them are dedicated to defending their lands and their people." Verde stopped to think, chewing his lip then said," They know basic marching manuvers and fighting techniques, but we didn't really learn until a few brighteneing ago that we were going to be HI and I didn't want to start training them up until I knew how their Captain wanted them trained. Now that your here we can get them started. Sir"

Verde fell silent and Tasad processed what the elf had said quickly. In response he said," Thats fine Sgt. I'm guessing that you already have everything set up within the Company itself and it will stay that way. I'm not coming in to muck up what you have done so rest easy about that. Could you get the men together, I want to address them before they leave retire for the night."

Verde simply saluted and set about bellowing for the company to fall in. Once everybody was on line Tasad stood in front of them, looking them over. Most of them seemed so young, but that was usually the case. In a growl that was pitched loud enough to carry to every ear Tasad said," At ease. My name is Tasad and I am your new Captain. I wanted to say a few words to you before you retired to let you see me and for me to see you. I watched as you performed your drills and I am impressed. Sgt. Verde has done well by you and you have done well by him. Starting tomarrow morning we will be starting a new training regimine that is designed specifically for heavy infantry. Believe me when I say that it will make what you have been through thus far seem like a pleasant dream. Heavy infantry is the first line to meet with the enemy and must be able to stand against whatever is thrown at them, this training will ensure that. In the days ahead I can only promise you two things. The first is that I will not ask any of you to do something that I myself will not do, I will be the first to step onto the battlefield, and I will be the last to leave. The second is that I will leave no man behind. Alive, wounded or dead we will all come home to our families."

Tasad paused for a few moments to let those words sink in and then continued saying," Your uniform and armor have no distiguishing colors or emblems upon them, because it is the perogative of the Captain to pick these. Our colors will be ebony and crimson and our emblem will be a bloodred crow in flight upon a field of black. And our name will be Battlecrows. Our motto is 'We hold true." True to ourselves, our comrades, our people and our country. I will meet each of you over the course of our training, and yes I say our training because I'll be right here with you under the tender loving care of Sgt. Verde, and will be getting to know your names. I have an open door poilicy, so you can bring anything to my attention, ideas, suggestions, problems, anything at all provided you follow the proper chain of command. When you are dismissed you will be allowed your free time to do with as you please, but I suggest that you hit the racks early as we will have many hard and long days before us learning the ways of the HI. Whenever you are dismissed the correct response is 'We Hold True'. Company!!! Dismissed!!

The company bellowed the correct response and headed on their way till the next morning. Tasad walked over to Sgt. Verde and said," Now Sgt. lets look over this training plan and prepare to burn the midnight oil shall we?"

Tasad R'rowl · May 20, 2008, 12:00 PM

Tasad and Sgt. Verde headed to the quartermaster's area and Tasad drew his necessary equipment, a command tent, which was larger than the average soldier's tent since he would have to have all his reports and the like there as well as his cot and personal belongings, a field desk, field chair, writing implements, parchement, cot, and the various other little things that would be required over the days ahead.

Finsihing that Sgt. Verde detailed a few men to set the tenet up in the center of the Company area, which was laid out in typical laegion fashion. The command tent was in the middle of the Company, with the mess tent nearby and the different platoons arrainged around there. There was plaenty of space in between the platoons to make streets for wagons and horses. Around all of this was a palisade of dirt with sharpened stakes driven into the slopped earth on the outside and at the bottom of the slope was a trench that most of the dirt came from, which was also filled with sharpened stakes. Typical of a camp. As they walked Tasad quizzed Sgt. Verde about the cam and discovered that the recruits had built it and could do so in the required time, about two hours.

After esting wit the men, and Tasad was able to meet with a good number of them, both Tasad and Verde retired to Tasad's tent and took seats.

Looking at Verde Tasad growled," Okay while we ae in my personal quarters just call me Tasad, and I want you to tell me what you honestly think so you have permission to speak freely in here as well. If you think I'm making a mistake I want to know cause I'm mortal just like everybody else and will eventually miss something. Is that clear?"

When Verde apllied an affirmative Tasad said," Okay, I assume that you've seen the training schedule that is posted. Well, we are going to change that around to meet the criteria of the HI. Here is what we have now.

Secrets :

The dawn forced march will be taken at a trot to begin with and each day we will increase the pace until we can run it. Now, I don't know how long we will have before we are called upon to fight, but I want to make the most of what we have. This will be difficult I know, but the main handicapp of heavy infantry is that they are slow. I want to change that. Eventually I want us to the point where we can run cavalry into the ground over the long haul."

"The calisthenics will last for the required time but we will increase the number and methods of the excercises to strengthen the men for all of their gear. haevy infantry ain't light."

The morning training will be done in full gear, and the weapons and shields at least will be weighted down with lead if we can find it, rocks if we can't. I would like to add weight to the armor as well but I don't think that would be feasible to do. The after lunch training will be done by us as well since we already know the men can march and perform drill. We will start them on fighting formations and manuvers, as well as continue weapons training. And we already know they can build a breastworks for the camps so we can just continue weapons training and marching manuvers."

With the evening operations, sentry duty, and patrols we can simply set up a rotating schedule and one of us will take charge of that, also rotating so that we each get sleep. If we have any troops that seem particularly capable we can set him in charge of the sentries but I want one of us to go out with the patrols, preferably myself since you are going to be bust training all of us, but in the event I can't make do it you'll have to find a reliable soldier to do so. As a matter of fact get me a list of names of the recruits that show promise and I'll interview them. As long as they meet my requirements we'll make them Sgts. and give them platoons to look after. We'll also set up some corporals to lead each squad in the platoons."

"The evening march will be anything but light. We won't run this time but we are doing five miles and that will be at a forced march. Now any comments or suggestions?"

Verde thought about what the Captain said and after reviewing the information for a while replied," Aye sir. We'll be wearing the men out quickly if we follow this routine. I think we should cut back on the evening march and the morning march as well. Everything else is pretty much what I had thought of."

Tasad pondered what Verde said and then shook his head growling," We can't. We don't know how long we have to train and the more we sweat now the less we'll bleed later. I know it is a grueling schedule but it can't be helped. At the end of each cycle we'll have a mock battle. Weapons sheathed and sealed to prevent casulaties, and place hald the Company against the other. After that they can have a day of rest. I'll talk to the Commander about it and should be able to get that approved due to the intensity of our training."

Looking at Verde Tasad said," We're both veterans here Verde, and we know what these kids are getting into. I know we will lose men but I want to keep our losses to a minimum. I want the men to be rock hard stone cold bastards in a fight, because you can bet that the orcs are going to be. We got to be harder than they are and I intend to to do so in the time we have available to us, however long that may be. Now, I believe that takes care of the schedule. I'll draw a copy up and get it approved by the Commander and we'll implement it tomarrow morning. Instruct the men to be ready at first light with full gear and kit, including shields and swords."

"Speaking of swords, we will be getting a shipment of short swords in tommarrow, so collect the longswords and have them ready to be loaded on wagons once we have unloaded the gladius. Also see to it that the men enamel their armor with the colors and emblem I showed them today. The quartermaster should be able to provide you with what you need. Have them do it now so the enamel will be dried in the brightening. Now, if there is nothing else see to the men and then get some sleep, wake me a half hour before you wake the men."

Verde saluted and left the tent making his way to each platoon to set them about their duties and orders. In the meantime Tasad set about penning the new training schedule for approval by the Commander.

Tasad R'rowl · May 21, 2008, 11:33 AM

Tasad was woken by Sgt. Verde at 0230 in the morning, a full half-candlemark before the men were to be awake. Growling deep in his chest Tasad arose from his cot and set about his morning absolutions. Definately not a morning person, despite eras of the military life, Tasad used this wake up time to losse his grouchyness before dealing with his men. Or anybody else for come to think of it.

After his absolutions were taken care of Tasad set about donning his armor, weapons and pack. He had found a rather large pile of racks that would fit nicely in the packs yesterday and had had them piled in the company area in preperation of the morning run. After ensuring that everything was in order on his person, after all he was supposed to set an example for the men to follow, Tasad stepped out of the tent.

Gods it was cold!!! Tasad's breath was misting in the cold winter air, and he pulled his cloak closer about him to ward of the chill. arriving at the Company area early Tasad filled his own ruck with rocks and with littel effort replaced it on hi shoulders, testing the weight. Good, his physical conditioning with Drill Instructor Icewind had not lost their results. Tasad was willing to be that he was stronger, meaner, and more of a bastard than any being else in his command and he was going to prove that today, first thing.

Setting his pack on the ground and emptying it again, after all the men had to see that he filled his pack with the same rocks they were using, Tasad set about waiting, standing at parade rest. Not long afterwards the men arrived at the Company area and lounged about, not seeing the Captain standing in the shadows. After giving them a few moments Tasad strode from the shadows that concealed him and bellowed out in his throaty growl,WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE aETERNIANS DO YOU THINK YOU MEN ARE DOING!!!!! FALL IN!!!!"

Smiling inwardly while keeping a scowl on his face, Tasad watched his men fall into formation quickly an efficently. Verde had done an admirerable job with them and it showed. Now he had to hone their edge till they were razor sharp, starting now.

Pitching his voice to carry to every ear without shouting himself hoarse Tasad growled," Every morning you will fall in without being told to do so. You are no longer recruits, you are Battlecrows and will conduct yourselves accordingly. Is that understood? And the correct response when answering in the affirmative is to reply 'Battlecrows."

Two hundred and fifty voices bellowed back the correct response then silence reigned. Tasad continued," This morning we are starting earlier than you are used to. Deal with it. We are heavy infantry and we are the most hardcore, stone cold bastards in this regiment. We train harder, fight harder, and play harder than any other unit in the regiment. If you can't deal with that then you are now allowed to leave and go to your mother. Any takers?"

After allowing a moment for the soldeirs to make their decisions Tasad growled," Now, before you is a very large pile of rocks and I am sure that you are wondering why they are littering up our Company area. Well, your curiosity is about to be cured. Each of us will load their ruck full with these rocks and then we will set out, at the run, for our five mile stroll. By the numbers load your rucks."

Tasad watched as the men filled their packs quickly. After each man was staggering under their load Tasad walked up with his oversized pack and loaded it with the remaining rocks, about half again as the men had, and with no apparent effort replaced it on his back. Turning to the Battlecrows he said," By the time I am done you men will be ready to face the enemy, determined and hard and utterly in the best shape of your lives.[b]Company!!! Double Time March!!!!"

Wih the last order Tasad set off at the head of the Battlecrows, running lightly despite the heavy pack. Tasad made it seem effortless but in his mind he was thinking he was getting too old for this crap! But still he had to prove to his men that he was the better Katta, and had earned the right to lead them and this was the way to do it, by showing them that he was harder, codler, and meaner than they would ever be. First earn their respect, then earn their hearts.

The five mile run, in full armor, with tower shields, and heavy laden packs was not fun and was made more difficult by the route Tasad had choosen. Up into the foothils of the Khardan Mountains and then back down, across a shallow ford, and then into rocky hill country, eventually ending back at the Battlecrow's company area. Anytime a soldier fell out Tasad circled back around until the soldeir got back into formation and then continued on, not stopping running at all.

Upon reaching the Roost, which was the new name for the Company area, Tasad stopped running, panting lightly, even though is muscles were burning and he wanted to lie down and die. Taking a moment to allow the men to pant heavily Tasad fell them into formation and growled," Well done men, well done!! When you are dismissed place the rocks back where you got them from and then your allowed half a candlemark for chow. Eat quickly but eat well and drink plenty of water. Even though its cold you will still get dehydrated easily. Battlecrows!!! Dismissed!!!"

Responding with the Company motto the men fell out, some of them literaly, and replaced the rocks in their original spot. Many of the men cast glances at Tasad, most with a healthy respect for this katta made of iron. Once the Roost was clear of the men Tasad sat down and stretched out his aching muscles, and tempted to just stay there till he absoltely had to get up.

Shaking his head at the stray thought he finsiehd stretching and headed to his tent to get breakfast. He needed to remember to submit a requisitions form for a valet to take care of the things he wouldn't have time to do himself. Marching quickly back to his tent Tasad focused his thoughts upon what was needed for the day.

Tasad R'rowl · May 23, 2008, 11:54 AM

After eating a hasty breakfast, Tasad returned to the company training field in full armor, with his gladius and tower shield already in place, and waited for the company to return. He had a productive morning, Sgt. Verde had provided a list of names of the individuals that he considered to be ready and who would do well as either a Sgt. or Corporal. Tasad planned to interview theses canidates after the daily training was done, later this brightening.

The men came back from chow right on time, and with now hesitation fell into ranks, although they could not see Tasad from where he was standing. Striding forward quickly and standing in front of the company he growled," I hope that you ate lightly men, because Sgt. Verde is going to do his level best to make us lose our lunches!!! What do you think of that?"

There was a general bellow of denial, and voices stating that there was no way that would happen, to which Tasad responded," Aye, thats right, we're Battlecrows and it will take more than just some training to do us in, right!!!"

The return bellow was even louder, voicing their agreement with his words. Tasad turned and walked to Sgt. Verde and in a low growl said," We don't stop till at least one whole squad has lost their lunch. Drive us hard and make us sweat, understood?"

At Verde's nod Tasad returned to his position in front of the Company and said," I just tolded Sgt. Verde that there was no way he could make any of you lose your lunches, and I even wagered on it!! He said he could make at least one squad worth of you spew in the time we have allowed for training, and I took that bet!!! Twenty crowns if I win lads so don't make me regret betting on you!!!"

Tasad fell in line with the rest of the troops, ready for what Sgt, Verde was going to do. He knew what was coming, and despite the fact that he had eaten a light lunch, was not looking forward to it.

Sgt. Verde came forward and took control of the company, putting them through their paces. He showed different strikes that were used in combat, and how to hold the shield so that the force of the blow was redirected rather than absorbed by the arm and thus breaking it. He also went through lance training, showing how the positive and negative sides of striking overhanded and underhanded. He made them form a shieldwall, the most common formation in the Serpents, and how to protect the man to your left with your shield wihtout breaking the line and opening yourself to a strike.

By the time he was finished at least two squads had vomited and they were all tired. Resuming the front Tasad said," Aye, he made us spew lads, but we'll get him next time!! Time for chow, and you get a half-candlemark, and then we are back to trianing. Battlecrows, Dismissed!!!"

Shouting the appropriate response the men fell out and ehaded for the mes hall, while Tasad headed for his tent to plan the next phase of the training, and to eat.

Tasad R'rowl · June 9, 2008, 02:35 PM

After the half-candlemark had passed the men returned to the training grounds to find Tasad already waiting for them with several wagons. They were coming to learn their Captain's ways rather quickly and were finding that he mhad meant what he said about doing everything they were going to have to do.

When the men had gathered Tasad growled," At ease men. This protion of the day is given over to building a breastworks, which you all already know how to do, so we will skip that particular protion of the training for now. Tomarrow you will be shown how to build marching camps, battle camps, and the more permanent camps that are the norm in places where there has to be a presences at all times, but is not considered important enough to warrant a full keep or fort."

Looking around Tasad looked the men over, feeling every one of his 27 eras. Although not that old he was considerably older than the faces looking towards him. He growled out," Who can tell me what the heavy infantry is and what it's main mission is?"

A large Dorin raised his hand and when Tasad called on him he said," The heavy infantry is the finest finghting machine in any army. It's mission is to hold the line and only give up ground when no oterh alternatie is available."

The dorin stepped back into line and Tasad nodded saying," Aye, your right soldier. That is the textbook answer and a mighty good one." Again looking over the faces Tasad said," That is what the heavy infantry is to the man who wrote your manuals, and had never seen combat or heard a cry in anger, much less been in heavy infantry. The truth is that the heavy infantry, while the finest fighting machine in our era, is also the toughest and meanest of any army. Only the best, the strongest, the most dedicated are heavy infantry."

Tasad allowed that to sink in for a moment and then continued," Their mission is to follow orders plain and simple, no matter the cost. To not give an inch of ground until it has been drenched in the blood of their own men and the enemies. Often, we are given the most difficult and impossible jobs of any unit in the army. We are either the first to engage the enemy and to stop them cold in their tracks, or we are the last to see the enemy and are holding them back while the rest of the army draws back to regroup. Often we are fighting alone and against impossible odds. And yet, despite this we survive. How is that? It is because of the men standing to our lefts and our rights in the line. We know that no matter how bad it gets we must defend our bretheren, and bretheren they are. Race, creed, species, or language does not matter, nor any other name than heavy infantry. And that is what we are, heavy infantry. In the days ahead we will be thrown into battle against the orcs and no matter what we cannot fail in this fight. We will carry out our orders, we will hold true, until our weapons are shattered, and our brothers have fallen around us. And then we will still hold true, with our hands and claws until we stand before the Gods. And when we find ourselves in this position we can have our heads held high and we can look them in the eyes and say,'We held true'.

I do not know what our orders will be, but we will be as ready to fulfill them as I can possibly make us. Now, every tenth man gather your camrades longsword and place them before me. In the wagon you will find gladius shortswords. Take an equal number and pass them out. We now have our shortswords men and we will use them well. Once the weapons are exchanged and the longswords loaded back up you have half and candle mark to yourselves to think over what I said, and I will be speaking with some of you in my tent at this time. Get to it!"

With that Tasad headed for his tent and the first interview.

Tasad R'rowl · June 23, 2008, 05:21 PM

Upon reaching his tent Tasad interviewed the soldiers that Sgt. Verde had suggested would make good Sgts and Corporals. With a few exception he approved of the Sgt's choices and implemented their change in rank. Surprisingly, at least to those who didn't know Tasad, many of the were Dorins. Tasad, while a katta, didn't totally think that all Dorin were bad and responsible for what had happened in the past, and besides, they made excellent NCOs.

After finishing with the interviews Tasad made his rounds, ensuring that each man had recieved his new weapons, and was pleased to find out that they were made of Hymn steel, which gave off a loud and pleasnt sound when struck. He thought that he could make that work for his benefit but knew he needed to think about how to do so.

The remainder of the night, until lights out, Tasad met as many of his recruits as he could, regardless of race, and tried to memorize their names and some few details about each. He knew that a commanding officer had to know his men and that such an effort was appreciated. That and the fact that he was enduring the same training and conditions as his men would eventually lead them to respect him and maybe even admire him.

When the lights out call came Tasad returned to his tent, thinking of how the day went and was also wondering how his new recruits, Private Fowle would perform in their private training the next few days.