Byzantine Soldier Quest

soldier in Cilicia

>You are a Soldier in Armenia, or at least on the borderlands. Your family is used to the mountains, and you are solid in your constitution. You are a proud man, and you have gone to serve in the Armeniacon theme, one of the two largest in the empire.

Armenian master race.

>>376055
Soldier from Cappadocia, a hardy man living near the Zagros mountains

>>376075
>>376071
>>376069

Good, good we've got some fellow Byzaboos to get started.

What year is it?

File: heroic guard.jpg (4MB, 3029x4665px) Image search: [Google]

4MB, 3029x4665px

>>376087
If it's 1452 I move that we desert and flee to Venice.

>>376087
Undefined year following the establishment of the Themes. After the siege in 717.

So the first iconoclast period? Fuck them we'll be a zealot soldier trying to restore orthodoxy once more

>>376113
Sure, if you'd like, But first, where?

Roll OP, it's been long enough

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>376122
Alright

Rolling for Starting position:
1: Armenia
2.Cillicia
3. Cibyrrhaeoton

wait so is each poster a different soldier?

File: 09585c0e43ccab12f00428dabf814ced.jpg (41KB, 236x336px) Image search: [Google]

41KB, 236x336px

You are an Armenian, born and bred, the land of many Emperors, and the land of solid men. The lands of Armenia will not falter to the arabs, and you know in your bones that you will see Theodosiopolis retaken, it's god's will. You have lived all of your life on your family's ranch in the mountains, farming horses for the Theme. A few years ago the Arabs took the horses, and left your family unable to pay the theme. In lieu of horses, they sent you, as a pledged soldier.

How did you feel about this? Being traded as tax for your family?

>Excited?
>Angry?
>Terrified?
>Write in?

>>376135
No.

>>376156
>Excited, you can't wait to kill some Arabs who ruined your family's life

>>376156
>Angry, the Arabs must pay for ruining your family's life.

>>376168
>>376175

Just got to pop out a moment, Post will be up soon enough.

>>376156
>calling Moslems Arabs
>not Moslems
>not Saracens
>not Turks
>not Seljuks
>not heathens

Dammit Op

>>376279
why dont we go with the correct terms
>Shitskins
>Sandniggers
>Terrorists

>>376279
You're making a compromise in any case, unless you happen to be a linguist trained in Byzantine Greek. And the terms did vary a lot by locality and period - 'Byzantine' itself is an anachronism.

>>376279
Alright, Only two of those are applicable, Moslem and Heathen. The Turks and Seljuks aren't even bordering Eastern Rome right now.

>>376168
>>376175

You march, somewhat childishly, to the small fort near to your village. It is called Lula, and it is not that impressive. Even as you walk along the mountain passes, having seen only small hovels for days, Lula is not impressive. It is a squat thing, built of stone into the face of a small crag. Within, perhaps fourty men, including you, headed by a Decarch, who you know from your father is named Alexios.

What is your role in the theme, what shall you be?

>A scout?
>A Sentry?
>A Messenger/
>A (God forbid) actual full time soldier?

File: GottaBe.jpg (799KB, 986x1369px) Image search: [Google]

799KB, 986x1369px

>>376414
>>A (God forbid) actual full time soldier?

>>376414
Actual full-time soldier, and btw we know Greek because our father is a Greek priest in Armenia or something

>>376414
>A (God forbid) actual full time soldier?

>>376436
>chalcedonian priest in armenia
that's not how it works you little shit

>>376414
A MESSENGER CARRYING MESSAGE TO SAVE THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

>>376474
>not having a proud Helleno-Roman priest to convert the well-meaning but heretical Armenians
lrn2empire

File: Byzantine 6th century.jpg (20KB, 236x355px) Image search: [Google]

20KB, 236x355px

>>376439
>>376436

You are an honest to god full time soldier, or at least you soon will be. You are wearing your father's armour as you walk into the fort at Lula, a thick padded leather jerkin, a metal helm, and a spear, along with a small shield. You are perhaps the best armoured man to be seen in the fortress besides two cavalrymen and Alexios. As you arrive, you are sent to Alexios, who sends you immediately off to drill, with a friendly push in the right direction.

The fort's courtyard plays host to a small set of training dummies, a bin of javelins and a few targets. Along with that, there are a few pieces of stone to lift to increase your strength, or you could just go for a run in your armour, it would all help.

Stats at the moment are:

>Strength: 4
>Constitution: 6
>Skill: 3
>Endurance: 4
>Resolve (Very Malleable): 5
>Equipment: A pound of dry biscuit, along with a packet of cured meat and a small sack of salt. Along with that, you have a thick leather jerkin, a copper cross necklace, a spear, a javelin, a wooden shield and a metal helm

>>376564
Endurance is always key
Let's run our asses off

>>376564
Let's go for a run.

>>376564
Run, just in case we lose and we need to run from those dirty arabs

File: Byzantine_Empire_Themes_1025-en.svg.png (988KB, 2000x1280px) Image search: [Google]

988KB, 2000x1280px

>>376587
>>376574
You tell Alexios that you plan to go for a short run, and he smiles approvingly at you.

"Good to see someone who has their affairs in order. Be back for the night shift, I'll set you up on looking out, by the beacon. It'll give you some rest, and you'll learn something while you're at it"

He hands you a skein of water, and off you go. Initially, it's nothing, as you build up to a run out in the mountain passes, but quickly enough every step begins to burn, your throat begins to dry out and the mountain ground becomes harder on your feet. Your leather armour weighs on you, and acidic sweat pours from your forehead down into your eyes. Your hair, long, flowing and black, sticks to your skin, and gradually your arm begins to fall, your shield scraping the ground. It is agony, by the time you return to the fort, and as the night falls you slump down onto a wooden stool in the guard tower, drenched in sweat.

Alexios finds you, and you hand his skein back to him. He laughs for a moment.

"Bit off more than you could chew? Everyone does, when they first get here. You'll be up here with a partner, Alaric, and the two of you have to watch for any raids, or for a beacon either side of you. If you see a beacon, toss a torch onto the fire, wake me up, then the rest"

Alaric arrives half an hour into the evening, a mop of blonde hair followed by pale skin, like one of the slavs brought from Europe to the borderlands. He doesn't talk much, and looks away from you for most of the time, seemingly skittish.

>What do you do?

>>376714
Make small talk, see if he understand greek

>>376714
>>376752
Seconding

>>376714
Make small talk

>>376752
Do we even understand Greek?

>>376752

You greet him with a friendly enough manner, and he smiles back at you, greeting you rather warmly with heavily accented greek.

"Evening, I am Alaric, who are you?"

You respond, giving him your name, and he smiles warmly, as if half understanding you. He is rather well turned out, his hair intricately combed, his body large and muscular, though his slowness of speech and mind would seem to indicate a lack of intellect.

>What is your name?

>What do you say to Alaric?

>>377002
>The name's Manuel
>Ask him about himself

>>377002
>Aleksandr
>Ask him about himself and his life.

>>377035
Supporting. But Manuel is retarded, how about opilio II

>>377098
Supporting

>>377035

Alaric smiles for a moment before speaking

"Manuel is a good name, a strong name. I am Alaric, I am not much of speaker, do not have many words. Grand-Father was Slav, with Avars, captured by Romans, father born in ranch, with sheep, on mountains. I grew up with sheep, was sent to Lula for tax."

He grins for a moment, looking out towards the border. Your fort is the fifth in the line of beacons, from the Cillician gates to the capital. You have just realized quite what that means. You will be perhaps the tenth person in the Empire to know of any raid. You will know if a Heathen Horde is breaking in to charge the Capital once more before any other man, and it will be your duty to light the fire if they do.

>>377145
Alright, Aleksandr, not Manuel.

>>377151
Go on

>>377274
The night passes gently, in genial, half understood conversation with Alaric. The two of you bunk together, with you taking the top bunk due to being rather light, and the denser Alaric taking the bottom bunk. The two of you train together, and you gradually become a more proficient runner, becoming more able to endure the mountainous passages.

As the winter progresses, the solstice comes near. During the small feast of unsalted meats, fruits and spices, you have a chance to talk to many of your colleagues. There seem to be three or four groups in the fort, they are:

The Cavalrymen (+Sycophants), who are the professionally soldiers and those that follow them. These are generally the best trained of the soldiers, but there seems to a rigid sort of subservience to the Cavalrymen, Macronius and Phokus.

The Messengers, who are exactly that, the simpler and average runners, who bring news and supplies, making them more popular.

The Farmers, who are referred to as such disparagingly, are those of your colleagues who just want to go home, and to mind their farms.

>Or, do you want to form your own little grouping, and if so, with which type of person?

>>377390
>The Cavalrymen (+Sycophants), who are the professionally soldiers and those that follow them. These are generally the best trained of the soldiers, but there seems to a rigid sort of subservience to the Cavalrymen, Macronius and Phokus.

>>377400
+1

>>377390
The messengers, definitely

>>377390
>>377400
Backing

>>377390
Farmers. I have a shitty hero complex I need to fulfill damnit.

>>377400
>Cavalrymen
We're going to become an Elite soldier.

>>377400
>>377416
>>377565
You join with the men surrounding Macronius and Phokus, and listen intently to the tales being told by the two senior cavalrymen. The older men regale you with stories of how their grandfather's fought against the Persians, how Phokas' family is originally from Alexandria, a land now far off, but once very close. You feel very suddenly miserable at the tale, how the east was lost. You are not just in despair, but instead, angry, and the others at the feast are amused at your fervour, most supportive, but a few of the farmers sniggering at you.

The next morning, you are training, running out in the wilderness, when a pair of soldiers from the farmer faction step out before you, grinning at you.

"Aleksandr, good friend... Me and my friend have been off at work for hours, perhaps you'd care to give us... oh... I don't know.... your water skeins? I am sure you can find some more once you retake Alexandria"

The two of them wear leather jerkins with cudgels oddly ready in their hands. You wield your spear, wear your jerkin and helmet, along with your shield. Alaric is with you, without his weapon or shield.

What do you do? Roll a 1d100 to see how well you do.

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>377781
Threatens them with our weapon

>>377792
What a roll

>>377870
Yep if run away for sure as we spin the spear our in circles showing our skill

>>377792
:) Threaten them, they're ours now and better behave.

Seduce them ,

>>377949
no. just no.

>>377881
Yeah actually, we can make friends and allies amongst the farmers this way, extra trust in fighting side by side.

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>378011
Better to raid some Muslim settlement for women and give those away to make friends...
>>377781
rolling,rolling, rolling

Arse. I just wrote a whole thing and it just got fucking deleted for no reason.

>>378083
Sorry :^( I'll still be here for you.

>>378083
Don't give up! You're the first story I started playing :) I'm new here

>>378083
Save what you write on a word/notepad so if you lose connection or delete via dumb shit you can still plan and recover. Pro tips from common sense.

>>378126
dice+1d10

Test roll

>>378207
Put it in the options field just like that, above the commenting space

>Armenian

disgusting

>>378211
Testing, hope it works! Thanks btw kind anon :)

Rolled 3 (1d12)

>>378326
Ah. Got it!

>>378318
No better than a filthy kebab I know, but that's what makes it so much more entertaining, when we peel the mask and we run the emperor through with our shekel whoring hands.

>>378117
>>378126
>>378172

You laugh for a moment, before pulling out a javelin and tossing it full force into the path, where it embeds itself a few inches deep. You smile, and begin to speak to the two of them, Alaric Backing you up.

"Perhaps in exchange you could give us some target practice? We are hunting the heathens, after all, perhaps a pair of traitors could serve as some training?"

The farmboys, rather understandably, piss themselves, and apologize immediately, handing over some of their bread to you and Alaric. The two of you are rather well respected after that, and every time you run you pass by the javelin, still stuck in the path, occasionally with a small chunk of bread or a message for either you or Alaric. You are respected over the winter, and when spring comes, you return to your post on the beacon, apprehensively waiting for the inevitably oncoming Arabic hordes, and the following call to desperate defense. You pity the poor bastards in Cillicia.

You do, however , have some time to get things done in the early spring, while you wait and watch, what will you do with your time?

>>378342
Get ripped

>>378342
Hang out with Alaric, try to learn his language while teaching him more Greek.

>>378342
Spar with Alaric, your bff, to prepare for battles to come

>>378342
Work on our close combat skills

Get swore with Alaric whilst teaching him civilized speech.

>>378397
Swole is the same thing as swore guys, there is no argument here

>>378395
>>378384
>>378382
>>378360
You and Alaric spend almost all of your free time in the courtyard at contests of strength,chattering to one another. Alaric seems to have taken it as a challenge to learn more greek, and you learn more of his language, the tongue of the Avars. As the days pass into weeks, you and Alaric are good friends, and the two of you joke and laugh through your night shifts.

And then, it comes. The beacon to the east is lit, at around two hours after midnight, and you rush to light the beacon to pass on the message, tossing a torch onto the oiled wood of the beacon. As the flame lights, and Alaric runs to alert Alexios, the fear sets in. Every shadow is an arab scout, every distant movement in the night is the oncoming horde.

You've heard stories, and you know one thing concretely. You cannot fight the Arabs, not really. They outnumber the Empire every year, and even in Armenia it is unlikely you will be able to do anything beyond hamper them. You cannot even save the civilians.

In a few minutes, the fort is a flurry of movement, with swarms of messengers heading out to the local villages to warn them, and to all of the small forts nearby. A few minutes more, and Alexios, in full armour, summons you and the few other actual soldiers to the courtyard, along with Phokas and Macronius.

"We have four days, five at most, before the Arabs are here. The beacons tell us it's a large force, so it looks as if this is our raid for the year. Standing orders are to save as many civilians as we can without hindering our movement, and pull back to the fort at Koloneia. If Koloneia falls, Neocaeserea, if Neocaeserea falls, Amaseia or Euchiata."

He gives you the order to take command of a group of 9 men, including Alaric, and to march them to the nearby villages before retreating to Kolneia. You will see active combat against Arab forward scouts, he wishes you luck. Your men are each given a few days water, a few days food, and you are given an Icon representing the theme, giving you the seniority to requisition resources from the villagers.

>What do you do with the first day? The nearest villages are two or three hours away, and your men are loyal enough.

With that, Goodnight, I'll keep going tomorrow.

>>378552
How many villages do we have to travel to?
What would happen if we preformed scorched earth tactics to deny the enemy extra supplies? Will we be able to heal the farmland afterwards?
I don't know anything about the byzantine/Arab war but i'll still try to win.

>>378555
Night op

So reviewing the situation i think we should have Alaric along with the other 8 men to grab some basic ranged and entrenchment equipment, setup a fall back line halfway between the village and our designated retreat point in good terrain, then have those men dismount to hide the horses and setup some rudementary camaflouge and cover amongst the rocks and bushes, we will ride into the village with our theme and order the villagers to get heirlooms, weapons and other rudimentary essentials and book it to the fall back point in as orderly a manner as possible within the timeframe of preferably a minute. We have our soldiers prop up from the cover and cover the retreat of the villagers if shit gets real, overall it's a risky plan but I don't like last stands where literally anyone and everyone dies. This seems like the best way to minimize death.

>>378555
Set up some basic defences and traps around the village. The villagers can aid with the general logistics, and be prepared to fall back with essential supplies when the main horde arrives. Ideally it would be best if all 9 soldiers survive, because 9 can't hold against a horde at all.

>>378782
If our objective was to hold the village that would be one thing, also incredibly suicidal and stupid on the part of the higher ups, like hell were gonna listen to that kind of order. I just want to evacuate the place, don't care if the village is in a good position to risist attack or not, last stands are what we're going to be walking into trying to defend a village with 9 men and no overarching battle plan with the rest of the imperial army.

>>378838
Naw the standing orders are to evacuate as many as possible, doubt we'll actually die unless there's a surprise vanguard force to crush us out something.

I don't wanna die too :(

>>378555
Should set a twitter up for the quest

>>378661
>>378679

We'll only be wasting time setting up fortifications, we'll do best to get a move on and get to the villages as quick as possible to get the people moving.

At most we might could do with blocking some passes

>>378552
>Standing orders are to save as many civilians as we can [...]pull back to the fort at Koloneia
Get to the villages, only as much baggage allowed which they can get to Fort Kolneia within three days. Look for some pretty women to keep company, was a long time since our last time...
>>379350
>get to the villages as quick as possible to get the people moving
Yes, quick and get done.

I am telling you now, your entire fort would be annihilated in moments by the Arab raiding party (Probably numbering in the thousands) The only hope you have is to avoid the main army and flee to the larger fort. You need to understand that the Romans did not beat the Arabs at all for a good number of years, they were just utterly outnumbered. The themes only exist to patrol, to warn, to evacuate, and to harry the Arabs as they cross back over the border.

>>380314
Let all the villagers march in close formation.
We and three of our men guard the back, watching out for enemy's and making sure no one falls behind.
2 of our men are securing the flanks, one at each side.
2 men at the front, watching out for enemys.
Alaric will scout ahead but in hearing distance. We instruct him that if he spots enemys, without them noticing him he should make a bird sound to warn the caravan.
In case this warning sound is heard the soldiers at the front shall stop the caravan silently and inform the other 5 warriors and us.

>>379350
Here:https://twitter.com/Leo_III

File: tegaki.png (12KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

12KB, 400x400px

>>380348
Quick drawing of marching formation.

>>380353
+1 I support this but maybe bff Alaric could be next to you when shit goes down. Sub him for a nameless soldier

>>380348
>Let all the villagers
We have to warn more than one village: Warn the first, get them going quickly, go to the next, try to link up all the villagers... but those are hundreds, no? our squad can't do more than prod the slow walkers...
>>380351
twitter, cool!

>>380387
Shit I though we would only have to evacuate one.
Send out our men to alarm all villages, the villagers should all come together in the village nearest to Kolneia. In this meeting village we ourselfs wait and set up guards. The villagers should only take food and light stuff. Weapons and armor (if they have any), should be given to our men, if any is left after that, the strongest village boys shall take it. From the meeting point village we march to Kolneia, using the march formation (way to many villagers to offer good protection, but we can keep an eye on everyone making sure no one goes missing)

>>380397
>no one goes missing
no good looking lasses go missing, priorities...

Rolled 96 (1d100)

Your men fall into a marching formation until they reach the first village on the road to Koloneia, and then you give the order. Your men will fan out and alert as many villages as they can, and then direct them all to either hide or run to Koloneia. Your men are then supposed to head to the fort at Koloniea itself, where they will await the fleeing villagers. You have never seen Koloneia, but you know how to get there from Alexios, so you lead a few of your men, along with a column of confused and scared villagers along the road to Koloneia.

They do not seem surprised, but the fear is in them. They do this every year, but the hordes still scare them. You grow ever more paranoid, every snap of a twig could be a scout, every rustle a bowstring. Two days into your trip, all but two of your men have returned, with them are about a hundred villagers, adding to the fifty you are guarding. You pause for the evening in a sleepy hamlet, keeping watchful for the Arabs. It would seem, as you awaken in the night to the sound of boots thundering on stone, you were not watchful enough.

You call out your men and step out from your humble night dwellings, an abandoned old farmhouse, ready to defend the village. The enemy is a party of five or six arab forward scouts, you outnumber them, but their equipment is better than yours. They stand in a rough formation in the road before you, looking ready to attack with swords and spears.

You have seven men with leather jerkins, spears and metal helmets. Three of them, including you, have wooden shields. The arabs number six, wielding swords and spears, and wearing armour embedded with leather.

>What do you do? Roll to see how your men do.

>>380646
Seems our men do very very nicely, 96/100. We'll take their equipment after we're done with them.

>>380646
>>What do you do?
Attack in formation, steady wins the day.

Isn't Alaric a Gothic name? Though I suppose there's not enough Avar attested for even onomastical study.

>>380663
Seconding this

>>380676
Not his real name? Or he lied about his origins?

>>380661
I hate to break it to you, but that was the Arabs rolling...

You guys need to roll to beat them.

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>380690
wut, that was too good a dice role...
Cut them in half with a perfect 100/100!!!11

>>380646
D100 roll? Maybe 96 is the enemy's roll. Yes we stay in formation and try to get a small encircle since we have slightly more men.

>>380691
so... they beat us and take us as slaves? or we just have to retreat a bit, lose one or two men, but come back for round two?

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>380690
Dammit roll moreeeeee

>>380690
dice+1d100

>>380704
dice rolls into the options field
>>380699
oh noes! or maybe dice rolls get added together? :)

>>380691
The Arabs laugh, taunting your men. A younger soldier, inspired by Macronius and Phokas, rushes forwards to fight. As he clashes spears with one of the arabs, another one slams his sword hilt into the poor land's knee. He screams, and your men engage the fight is quick and deadly, as you hack your way through a particularly stubborn Arab, and Alaric leads the others to push them back and attempt to surround them. The Arabs see this coming and fight with unknown ferocity, forcing you and your men back. You have lost a man, and the Arabs have lost the man you killed, but they still stand confident and ready. Your men are tiring fast, and the better trained Arabs seemed to have staved off fatigue for a short while.

They look to be forming into a wedge, about to rush you.

>What do you do? (Rolling in secret for the arabs, please roll 1d100 for how your men do)

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>380690
Roll
>>380711
Sorry

>>380713
Use that roll to attack wedge on wedge with us in front. Feint with a high attack/jump and then sweep the legs when their shields are up.

>>380717
:D 98/100. Smash them now!

>>380733
and take their stuff!

>>380713
>>380717
We still have a javelin, right? Throw it in the face of their leader.

>>380747
impale the from a distance, yes!

>>380717
+1

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>380747
>>380717
Come on attack throw our javelins at them

Op is dead :((

>>381371
probably sleeps and will reappear tomorrow

>>381467
True

Hey OP, I just wanted to say, as a late era byzantine historian, I enjoyed the read. Hope it continues.

>>380676
He is an Slav yet an Avar, with a Gothic name. Looks like he was just pasted together from random parts.

>>380713
Well they already rolled some excellent fucking combat rolls, so a vote for

>counter wedge charge, with the biggest redshirt in the front and Aleksandr and Alaric supporting him

>>380676
Yeah I never understood that.

>>380713
Fight arabs and kill them, then use their fallen bodies as a food for victory feast

This a fucking awesome quest! always wanted to do something related to the early arabs conquests period

>>380713
OP is quite merciful even though Arabs won. Phew :D

I'll start a new thread on Wednesday at 3pm GMT.

>>385019
gewdo

>>385019
Thanks for the heads up. See you on wed OP!

>>385151
continue to be the heroes of the peasants that we protect. After we take our enemies' stuff, we'll at least look the part - real armour...

Can't wait to kill more mohammedians and remake the pentarchy

I want to see javelin impale now

For what emperor we are fighting for?
Carthage is still there so Heraclius maybe?!

>Wednesday

well that's a shame

It's Thursday now, so another good thread is dead? Shame.