By MC Gianni
© March 1998
Being a summary of the events which took place in SE Atrilia during the last week of the 1st month of Akhet in the 2nd year of Lalibêa’s reign (1st Akhet, 2 L).
The Pheacians took shelter in the bay of al-Zabdiyat while the Meshuesh kept circling round the Xola
island.
The morning after, the remaining Pheacian ships passed the straits of al-Zabdiyat and faced the
Meshuesh fleet who were waiting for them.
Situation before the battle.
Ship's name Gaming value Equipment Marines Crew quality PHEACIAN FLEET Mighty Moon 3 1 3 Kleshites Bane 3 2 3 Glory of Q. Khadash 3 Ballista 1 3 Bandogo Bane 3 2 3 Hammon Rules (C) 3 1 3 Abu Djafar (C) 1 1 3 (C) stands for a captured Meshuesh ship manned by Pheacians. The following ship was crippled and under repair in Bur al-Zabdiyat, with Admiral Yoram himself on board: Glory of Q. Qaton 0 (3) 2 3 MESHUESH FLEET Ibrahim 3 Magic 1 4 Oea 1 2 Corvus 1 3 Oea 2 2 Corvus 2 3 Mers al-Kibar 1 2 Corvus 1 3 Mers al-Kibar 2 2 Corvus 1 3 Terror of the Seas (C) 3 Magic 1 4 (C) stands for a captured Pheacian ship manned by Meshuesh.The Pheacian ships came out as the point of an arrow, directly straight into the centre of the Meshuesh fleet. Bandogo Bane was kept slightly in retreat, circling in front of them to protect them from boarding attempts.
Mers al-Kibar 1 boldly boarded Bandogo Bane, avoiding the other Pheacian galleys. The ships remained committed, and the marines of both ships closed for combat.
As the first bodies started to fall into the Siren Sea, the other ships met. Hammon Rules (now under Pheacian command) got next to Oea 1 and her archers meted out death onto the Meshuesh marines. Terror of the Seas (manned by Meshuesh) managed to ram into Kleshites Bane, her sea wizards killing the Pheacian marines intent on trying to repair the ship.
Then slowly and one by one, all the ships started to get inextricably committed to one another, changing hands as the marines boarded from one galley onto another. And the bodies of dead marines just kept falling into the water.
At one moment, the Meshuesh seemed to have won the day, but then Glory of Qart Qaton, fully repaired, appeared from behind the straits of al-Zabdiyat and joined the naval melee.
Then slowly, the crippled ships started to leave the fray, the Meshuesh rowing towards Bur al-Zabdiyat and the Pheacians toward some secret base on a neighbouring island. Abu Djafar, the Xola ship captured by the Pheacians the day before, was rammed into and sank by a Meshuesh galley. Several Pheacian marines on board the Xola ship were rescued by the surrounding Meshuesh galleys -- they are now prisoners in the Xola gaols of Bur al-Zabdiyat.
Situation after the battle.
Ship's name Gaming value Equipment Marines Crew quality PHEACIAN FLEET Mighty Moon 3 0 3 Kleshites Bane 0 0 3 CRIPPLED Glory of Q. Qaton 3 2 3 Glory of Q. Khadash 0 Ballista 1 3 CRIPPLED Bandogo Bane 3 1 3 Losses: Some marines (1 point) CAPTURED; Kleshites Bane CRIPPLED, Glory of Q. Khadash CRIPPLED; Hammon Rules RECAPTURED; Abu Djafar SUNK. Gains: None. MESHUESH FLEET Hammon Rules 3 1 3 Ibrahim 0 0 4 CRIPPLED Oea 2 2 Corvus 0 3 Mers al-Kibar 1 2 Corvus 0 3 Mers al-Kibar 2 2 Corvus 0 3 Terror of the Seas (C) 0 0 4 CRIPPLED Losses: Almost all marines and sea wizards DEAD; Ibrahim CRIPPLED, Terror of the Seas CRIPPLED; Oea 1 SUNK. Gains: Pheacian marines (1 point) CAPTURED; Hammon Rules RECAPTURED.So what has this second battle amounted to? There still is no actual winner -- the Meshuesh have sunk or captured many Pheacian galleys of the Siren Sea fleet, but have lost many men and fine wizards in the battle. This means the Pheacians will have to rebuild galleys if they want to remain the most important naval power in SE Atrilia, and the Meshuesh will have to recruit fresh troops to make up for their huge losses.
The actual winners are perhaps the non-Hammonite Meshuesh of Serendib, whose fleet is hidden somewhere in the Xola Islands and is now probably the largest in the Siren Sea, and the Omukama who has no fleet and whose interest is to buy some time to build his own.
2) THE HIPPO MEN ATTACK!
The ferocious Hippo Men who live in the high jungles of Klesh and fight for the Ómukama
attacked the small village of Kwuziyo in the province of Ngorodoro whose inhabitants had supported
Prince Nari’s coup in Ngorodoro.
The Hippo Men killed indiscriminately old and young, men and women. There were few survivors, but they
managed to show Emir Nari, who’d come to their rescue, the direction the Hippo Men had taken to
leave Kwuziyo.
The Xolas silently began to follow their traces. Then suddenly they saw them; the Hippo Men were slowly
walking westwards through the jungle, 20 to 25 of them, large muscular bodies with grotesque hippo
heads. They were carrying short iron swords and very small bows.
The Xola party split into three groups. One continued to trail the Hippo Men, one moved to the left, the other to the right. They slowly surrounded the unsuspecting Hippo Men before attacking them.
Thirty men from the front charged while the flank men prepared their attack with missile fire. The Hippo Men were quite surprised and many of them were hit by the arrows of the Xola archers. But none of them died! The arrows were driven in their nauseating grey flesh, yet they seemed hardly wounded.
They quickly turned around to form a triangular wedge, its tip against the Xolas. The melee was savage, but the men from Ngorodoro resisted well, wounding some of the front Hippo Men. The air was thick with the acrid smell of their pink blood.
Meanwhile, the unengaged Hippo men rushed towards the Xola wings to close in. The latter managed to
fire another volley onto their attackers. This time, ten Hippo men were killed by the Xola arrows. Their
left flank was now bare, but the Hippo men on the right were cutting the Xolas to pieces! Some men
who had stayed behind as reserves had to come to their rescue.
The melee was now general, the tall Hippo Men towering over the Humans. More of the latter fell, two
for each slain Hippo Man.
As more and more of them died, Emir Nari managed to cut through their ranks to join his reserves. Now
that they were surrounded from all sides, the Hippo Men fell one by one, to the last, without asking mercy.
The toll was heavy. All of the youngest human recruits were dead, as were half of the veterans. None of the elite died, but they were badly wounded. So they quickly set for Ngorodoro in order to get healed.
But as they were walking through the jungle toward Ngorodoro, the shaman who was with them all the time received a mental message from a fellow shaman in the city: Ngorodoro was being attacked by Hippo Men and rival Xolas from Ndaruga!
3) THE GREAT HUNT
The Nomadic Xolas are slowly gathering on an ancient sacred hill in the centre of Punt. Having set aside
their quarrels, all the clans from all the tribes have sent champions for the most important event in the
life of the Nomadic Xola warriors.
The Sheikhs of the various tribes haven’t arrived yet. Each of them is probably giving the final touches
to his accoutrement for the Hunt...