Illin Graels Book of tactics---An introduction

[Juzzo]

Well, to begin, Let me say hello friend. I, your author, Am called Illin Grael. I am unsure of my birth name as I am an adoptee, yet, unlike many in the same situation, It troubles me not. I come from a simple, and uneventful past. Raised on a farm by my adopted parents, the most exciting thing that happened in my life prior to the dream, was the day I milked 42 cows, beating my fathers record of 39, and, finally shutting him up about it. One day I dreamed of a dragon..I have heard many here have had the same dream..And woke, Lost and confused in Hlint. I wont bore you with the details, but in a nutshell, I grabbed a sword (copper...which oxidized and turned green before I could replace it) and set out to do what I could for the somewhat troubled people of Hlint.

    My adventures in hlint from that point on were at times glorious, foolish, or darn-right silly. I have conqured the ratman of the hlint sewers, felled a shadow deep in the crypts, Took the head of the goblin king in the red light caves, Hunted all manner of beasts for the town trapper, helped recover, and raise the corpse of an unfortunate little girl, eaten by bugbears,and found a frost onion for a poor half elf cooking co-ed.

    Beyond hlint, I have helped search for and find the lost elven library, and, Oh what an adventure that was! I have been to the bottom of the cave of the eye, and to the top of the grey-peaks. I have explored elven ruins in the high forest, and had an encounter with Storan the litch prince himself...

    Oh, how may life has changed in such a short time. I think the life on the farm, the structure and simplicity of it, has helped me to cope with my new life of an adventurer. I can shrug off the stress and worry, Knowing that the sun will rise tommorow, the rains will come, and the seasons will change.

    Anyways, faithfull reader. The actual point Im getting at, is that, I have become a Warrior. Yet, I couldent have done almost any of it alone. You need friends to travel with, and thankfully I have found many here. In my travels and adventurers, I have come to realize a few points of combat and tactics which I would like to share, And hopefully, They will help you on your own journeys..


NEXT CHAPTER...THE ART OF HAND TO HAND

[Juzzo]

On setting out on an uncertian journy A warrior should prepare a small travel kit. Mine usually includes six to eight heal kits (more are always helpful yet the priest looks unfavorably on me and always charges me outrageously). Two to four potions of healing (I find a quick skeleton bashing trip to the upper levels of the crypts will net me a number of knuckles, which local priests are always happy to accept for reduced prices on theyre heal mixtures). and lastly a bit of flint and tinder.

   How to start? Well friends, let me start with a simple bit of logic. When combating all but the weakest foes, I always try to attack the same opponent as another. Eliminating foes quickly is essential. Take two groups of three, Lets say three attacks from one individual will kill any one of the fighters. One group attacks one opponent each, and one group concentrates there attacks. Do the math. I personally would rather have one less Ogre (or whatever) hurting me, Then three hurt (and angry at that) Ogres knocking my head!

  Healing Is essential! If you are fortunate enough to have a priest along. Encourage him to stay back and heal! And priests! If a warrior is destroyed by it, what makes you think you can take it? Having to flee and hope the fighting priest notices, and heals you, Is not a good thing. the line can crumble, and any mages or support you have in the back ranks can quickly become endangered (or dead!). As a warrior, your choices are limited, yet with your kit, you should be doing alright. If hurt to the point of fraility (and providing there are fellow warriors holding the line) I will step back, Slap a bandage or two on myself, then look for any of my fighting friends who might be losing a little too much blood, and slap a bandage or two on them, Then and only then back to the fray....If you can successfully disengage from the fray, A quick field bandage is easy! And very Important!!!

   If you are unfortunate enough to be holding the line alone, and fortunate enough to hold a few healing mixtures..chug em! Pretty self-explanitory! Again, letting the line fail, can lead to all manner of nasty things happening to your less hardy friends throwing things from the back, Or to you yourself (I recall a diseased rat chasing me a few miles through the high forest Oh boy! I think that story is better told elswhere!)

   I guess the main points of this chapter are...

-Be prepared! Pack your heal kits, potions, and camping supplies (ahh the flint and tinder can mean a cozy warm place to cook and rest! Very helpfull in the wilds!)
-Eliminate foes quickly!! one less is better than a bunch hurt!!
-Heal yourself Thoughtfully! Heal others if you have the chance!
-And lastly Hold the line! This is the single most important job of a warrior!


NEXT CHAPTER- GROUP TACTICS

[Juzzo]

I fear good reader that I have quite a bit to learn yet in the finer arts of war, and am going to take a break from the tactical side of this text, and study up a bit. I have recently been in the company of some great heros and have seen things that I am still trying to piece together!

In the mean time, I would like to mention a few interesting folk whom Ive crossed paths with. Ill start with the drow, Synal'dur (I think ive pronounced that correctly, darn uncomprehendable dark elven tounge) Such a sad being. Ive had a discussion with him about his past, It seems his god (ess?) has turned a cold shoulder to him, I know little of drow gods, yet this seems to be the root of his unhappyness. I once sent the bard gal (something or other cant recall the whole name at the moment) (and by the way watch for this bard!! performing or not, he is an intense individual!! consider yourself warned!!) to try and cheer the poor elf up, I guess he got a smile out of old syn, which I was thanked for later. Syn thinks others look upon him with mistrust, and hate due to his race. (aye, I have heard dreadfull things of the drow) yet his actions have earned mine, and many others trust. On a journy to rescue some peasants captured by lizardfolk, he slipped easyly into a leadership role, and aside from one dwarf (a blackstone!) was followed quite happily by a number of adventurers. I will keep an eye on this one, I expect him to make a name for himself in the future.

As long as Im on the topic of drow, Id like to mention a more recent aquantiance of mine..I know not her last name, but Ive learned through translation that she is called Anayama. I found her recently wandering around the goblin hills outside hlint. To the eye she looks as if a child, yet (also through translation) I have found she is around 100 years old!!! Still, even with this knowledge, I think of her as a child. She only seems to speak the drow tounge (At first I thought her name was yirlilili) yet I have been able to communicate with her (somewhat) through hand gestures. Ana, seems extremely bright and I am currently trying to teach her the common language using the old point and say technique. She can be a little overenthusiastic at times, running ahead and getting into trouble, but Ive been able to keep her alive to this point. Last I saw her I noticed an amulet with Aeridin's symbol on it, turns out shes a priest of this fair goddess, and becoming one of note! I enjoy her company (I feel protective around her)but,as I know so little of her (due to language barriers) Only time will give me a glimpse into her character, and what makes this little drow tick.

dark races hu? Introducing Dragoneye Stonesoul, a dark dwarf I believe (I know so little of the underground empires) An extremely inquisitive and enthusiastic fellow, be prepared if he drops his cowel though, has a face only a mother would love (or would she?). Dont let his looks or stature fool you though, His eyes and speech burn with inteligence. I ran into this interesting fellow north of hlint, After introductions, he expressed intrest in syn and myself's small part in the quest to find the great elven library. Guy can write fast! later he studied my combat methods and listend to (and recorded) a tale I had of a little run in with storan. A very interesting fellow, can hide so well, he seems to disappear! If you happen to cross paths with him, say hello. Its always nice to run into one so interested!

My hand grows weary friends, I am a warrior (and a farmer) not a scholar! I will continue this later!

[Juzzo]

Let the wizards handle the rust monsters...If things start seeming really strange around umber hulks, the best course of action is probably to just sit down...And NEVER NEVER NEVER mess with vampires.

[Juzzo]

Hello again good reader, I have been honing my skills and practicing much in the past few weeks, and am proud to say Ive mastered a knockdown tecnique. (Mostly by watching princess chrio) Anyways, enough self indulgence, on with the tactics.

When traveling with a group you must gauge your strong points and weaknesses. on a recent trip to ruin some giants days, our group was comprised mainly of warriors, one ranger and a mage accompanied us. We used the luring tecnique for the most part (when we could keep spinning derrik down) and it worked fabulously. we planned our routs with rest points in mind (no healers and few bandage kits) and generally had our way with the giants. Point being..we had no healers, so rushing was out for the most part. While the thrill of charging a mass of foes cant be replicated (easyly) the danger multiplyes for every baddie that joins the fray. Healers are not neccisary for a succesfull adventure, you just need to change your plans a bit. A mass of warriors butchering some big lug of a hill giant is something to see. I guess another point would be, If you cant heal alot of damage (within your group) make sure you can dish it out! Id like to reference my second chapter and reinterate that a dead foe is MUCH better than a hurt one.

The luring tecnique is most Important if you dont have alot of warriors on hand(or am facing some of the more burly evil do'ers in the land). A single (or 2 maybe) warrior trying to hold off a mob of anything isnt going to last long. The hits just keep coming. Sometimes a creep from the mob will run after one of your soft friends in the back...and off you friend will run..no more help to you and quite possibly bringing more baddies back with em' (fleeing mages always seem to find the next group of monsters then come back with em on there tail yelling for you to help em'..but look! your hands are full already!ohh the headache of being tough)

Choke points are a must!! personally, I cant handle more than 3 or so ogres of haven mine alone. yet the place is full of small passages, bridges and doorways. (haven mine is a good example) Ill get a mess of them ogres after me and run to a door (or whatevers handy) and take em one or two at a time, usually felling roomfulls of em (the big lugs)...you can (with some creativity) find choke points almost anywhere! using trees and boulders, cliff faces and shorelines, you can minimise the amount of swings being taken at you, and thus the wounds recieved by seemingly unsermountable armies of creeps!

I will continue to look for fun new ways to slaughter your foes, and hopefully bring them into coming chapters. A quick tip to mages...Fireball BEFORE the hand to hand starts..thank you.

[Leanthar]

Juzzo,
  Sorry for the interuption on your book.
  I don't mind choke points but there is a fine line between getting a creature "stuck" and choke points.  Getting creatures "stuck" is an AI exploit and we will come down on that pretty hard... just be aware that this is looked on (including by me) and if we think a choke point is being abused we will do something about it.

[Juzzo]

no sir..there not getting stuck, just limiting the number that can approach at once due to space confines. If thats an exploit, I wont do it! but its more realistic(funny word for use in a fantasy context) than getting one at a time to attack you (and the others dont notice you)out of a group dont ya think?


And hey, If you think It gives people bad ideas, I can just delete that whole last chapter

[Juzzo]

I have had a bit of writers block as of late, yet, I recently thought it might be a good thing to fill in you readers, as to some tricks or powers some of the rarer creatures you come across might possess.

There is a tribe of gnolls which live on barbarian island, I believe they are the mercykiller tribe. They use a flanking tactic which, unless your prepared, will leave your back line friends seriously wounded or worse. once you engage them, there hidden friends will ambush your rear! If you run across these trecherous beasts, be sure to leave a warrior(or two) to the back of your group when you engage. A group of ogres in the greypeaks uses a crude version of a flank as well. be on guard for this.

In a cave near haven keep you will come across unberhulks, which will turn you against your friends. Rust monsters which ruin your metal weapons and armor (horrible beasts) and xorn, which can shake the very ground, and are extremely dangerous because of it. the xorn can hurt or kill your entire party.

recently, up in the silent reach mountians, the ground started to shake violently, yes there were jokes as to the giants bowling and what not. But It was a creature of another sort. the ground settled down for a minute, and then the largest beast Ive ever seen burst from it! It looked like a worm, yet it was all purple...It bit hard, but our group of 6 took it down. I mention it here because of the fact that none of us saw it coming. Things can just pop out of the ground!

I must cut this short friend. More soon!

[Juzzo]

Today I came across this old book of mine, at the bottom of my chest which holds my old adventuring gear. After flipping through the pages I got that old itch (no...nothing I should go see a priest for) My shoulders seemed to start aching for the weight of my old armor, and my arm for the heft of a sword. It feels like ages ago, that I packed up my gear and headed back to the old homestead to work the fields (and milk the cows) Many of my friends had moved on to greater things, and I was more of a hinderance to them than my pride would allow. I always seemed to be off adventuring when the realm needed help, and missed some great battles. (the drow in hlint!) I felt that my usefullness as a warrior had gone, and I could be more help producing food for the masses than trying to defeat the great evils threating all of us all the time.

Anyways...that was then!

   No amount of sowing seeds (I mean that literaly) or milking cows, can replace the thrill of a vanquished foe (or a pile of em for that matter) Yes, the call has taken hold, It is time to pack up the farm and strap up the armor. Im gonna go see what there is to see......