un: drenched kitten of heated purrs, audio

[jeoha]

[ There's a pause, as he remembers how to use the magic, and then his voice comes through - crisp, low, commanding. He has his Prince voice on and he doesn't even notice. ]

You must go for the head. Decapitation is best, if you can manage it. Caving in the skull second best. Slice open the throat, third. No fancy footwork, no finesse. Your first priority is to keep yourself from harm, so only go for the kill that you know you can take. If you can't take it, escape.

[ He pauses, breathes. ]

We have been told to kill them, if we can. If you cannot, come to me. I will teach you how to fight.

We do not have the luxury of being ignorant.

Comments

[weifinder]

How creative should all our minds be aligned?

Mah, I'll see about coming along either way.

[jeoha]

Creative enough to win, I hope.

As long as our enemies aren't as creative as we are.

Are you armed?

[weifinder]

Assume they are, or at least are when it comes to numbers.

I have arms! I am not, however, traditionally armed.

( Just nontraditionally. )

Also good at throwing things.

( Like fits. Or arrows? Or all caution to the wind were he eighteen years younger. )

I have martial, sword, and bow arts, just didn't have any of the above on me when I was captured by summons as far as I know.

[jeoha]

[ He doesn't smile at the joke, though he does note it. Sorry Wei Ying, he's in Serious Prince mode and doesn't know how to laugh. ]

If you know how to wield them, that is enough. Finding you a weapon is faster than teaching you the art.

[weifinder]

Yes, yes, pending they have swords of even heft and straight blade, dual edged.

[jeoha]

It may be easier to craft a bow than to find or forge a sword.

We made many, very quickly, before the siege.

[weifinder]

Arrows would be more difficult, if we don't have the heads or enough fletching.

[jeoha]

They can be made, or found.

Though I admit the landscape here is far from my own.

Easier to barter for than a sword, if we can find reason enough to have them.

[weifinder]

Taken as parts it's even easier... and fletching can be worked with. You're also depending on areas having ready wood, which might not be the case. For example, if we end up at sea for any period of time.

( not that he's traveled by sea, just river and lake, but water doesn't provide... wood, that easily. )

Plains and such landscapes have the same difficulty... so planning for here, yes. Bows work. Planning elsewhere might be back to learning slingshots, ah? Or finding means to encourage the dead living to not see the fully alive.

[jeoha]

[ That raised a good point... ]

They wish to move us. Do we know what lies in the lands beyond this city? Then we may be able to attempt to prepare.

[weifinder]

We're somewhat limited in not knowing... destinations. I've been looking into finding any kind of maps, but I think our best chances there will be when the port opens and we have the merchant influx.

Beyond that, talking with those who sail or work in trading. When we don't know yet our destination...

( He trails off because that, too, is why planning in specifics over generals is difficult. They're not given enough information, yet. There's more and more to find, and it has him gleaning it anywhere he can, but it's hardly focussed in a larger sense. )

[jeoha]

Even without knowing a final destination, we can grow our knowledge in stages. The immediate surrounding area. The areas surrounding that.

[weifinder]

Prepare warmth.

( said in an upbeat tone of voice. )

First thing around here is not just defense against the reliving, it's the cold.

[jeoha]

The cold we can weather, as long as the terrain is even.

A ship may be a far greater problem.

[weifinder]

We're looking at ridges around here, I think. With ships, you need crews, navigation, supplies, awareness of the waters, knowledge of ports... to say some of what comes to mind. Rivers are far easier to sail, all things considered.

[jeoha]

Not with the infected.

[ He had seem a very, very grim example of that. ]

If they avoid water, we may be able to avoid them. But a ship makes it very hard to run from a horde.

[weifinder]

Presuming they're all good swimmers, but if you leave one mass of land for another, or a different enough region... these are not armies provisioned in the ways I'm familiar with, but they're still armies that require provisioning. Chasing singular ships with hordes is bad tactics, however you look at it.

[jeoha]

Those I knew could not swim. Water, in fact, was one of the few ways to destroy them for long enough to take their heads.

It only takes one hidden in the vessel to turn the rest of the ship.

Bad tactics, if we were ordinary soldiers whose worth was ordinary. I am afraid we do not know what we are worth to our foes.