5E20

I can feel the sun beating down on me, and it is making me so thirsty. My canteen is almost empty and as much as I want to take a drink I can't. The Legion has marched us for a day straight to some city known as Mournhold. The veterans say that it is only going to get hotter, and that I should be happy I am in the Calvary.

There is no way that I can be happy about this. I talked myself out of a post on the borders of Hammerfell. It was three months ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.

I was helping my father plow the ground for this year's harvest when an Imperial Legion recruiter approached our small farm and informed us that the Legion was conscripting troops for a two year service. With no other choice I accepted the Emperor's conscription orders. My mother wept and my father placed a hand on my shoulder and told me good luck.

The Recruiter handed me a red tunic and a Legion Broadsword which was attached to a Cingulum. I was told to equip both items and that these where to be worn at all times, and to fall in line behind the others. I looked down the road where a second recruiter was approaching with 12 men in tow.

It was at this point that I made my first mistake; I asked the recruiter if I should bring my horse. I will always remember the look in his eyes after I asked. It was a look surprise and glee. He told me no and then handed me a white sash. I now know what that sash meant. It informed the rest of the recruiters that I was selected for the Legion Calvary

After several hours of marching we arrived at the Imperial City. The entire surrounding area was turned into a barracks and several training grounds. There where recruits sparing, mages learning how to target there destruction spells to an area, archers firing arrows down range, and men ridding horses. The Legion was preparing for some type of offensive.

We where all funneled into different areas by the color of the sash we wore. A recruit without a sash was sent to the School of Infantry. Those with a crimson sash were sent to the School of Offensive Magic, those with a orange sash were sent to the School of Support Magic, and those with a blue sash where sent inside the city. I later learned these were healers.

Then the Legion Coordinator got to me, by this time I was one of four people that wore a white sash. He looked at me and smiled before he informed me that the Legion needed more people with my skills. I still had no idea what they where talking about, so I decided to reply with "Glory to the Legion". By Julianos that was my second mistake.

Needless to say the Champion that I was assigned to found my enthusiasm a bit less to be admired, the man's name was Champion Darius. He taught me everything I now know about the martial art of war and Calvary tactics. I could ride a horse with the best of them, but my sword and lance skills where subpar. Sergeant Darius' final words are still on the forefront of my mind, "Kid, I only had three months to teach you the basics, and the rest is up to you. Use what you learned and maintain a leveled head, and you just might live through this.

Now we are marching from the Imperial/Hlaalu controlled city of Narsis, based at the split of the River Thir, to this God forsaken city of Mournhold to help some group known as House Hlaalu. All the Commanders told us was that Morrowind was in a civil war and the House Hlaalu was losing.

The Dunmer are?it looks like we have encountered a House Dres army, who ever they are. We where told that the armies of the Dunmer did not have any Calvary force, but I am still afraid of my first battle even if the chance of being involved is low.


OOC: Would any object to me using the Latin terms used by the Roman Legions? It would just be their formations and what not; I would still keep the ranks to that of TES. Finally I would place a glossary of terms when I introduce new terms.

I say go for it. Good story.

5E20 Hearthfall 13th

I killed my first man today, and it sure was not what I thought it would be. Because of the lack of Calvary fielded by the House Dres army we of the Equites Legionis where not sent into battle until the Dunmer retreated.

The 128 of us road down upon the fleeing Dres army. Our four Turmae killed about 2 to 3 hundred of the remaining army, and scattered the rest into the fields. I had no idea that I would be killing men that where fleeing from me and defenseless.

We captured the House Dres General, whom happened to be their Grandmaster, our General and the Knight Protectors took him for interrogation. They must have obtained the information that they sought because the Dunmer's body now hangs strapped to a tree outside the fort. Kinght Errant Sirollus Saccus, the Equite's commanding officer, informed us that it was a statement of what will happen to anyone who defies the Empire. I think this practice is completely wrong. We are Imperials and we should be more civilized then this.

Since the battle we have made camp. I am sitting here in front of my tent with my Contubernium. To my knowledge I am the only one awake. I am on watch; even though we are in a palisade fort we always post watchmen. I have yet to remove my armor, well accept for my Imperial Steel helmet which I have placed on the ground next to me, there is just something about the armor that makes me feel safe.

A note about armor and something I noticed. The Legion is all uniform; everyone wares the distinctive black helmet, steel boots, and depending on rank and status either Imperial Steel Cuirass or Imperial Chainmail. We Equites' ware steel http://outlander.solsector.net/va_armor_files/Armor/brass02b.jpg, chain greaves, steel gauntlets, a large oval shield made of wood, and the distinctive helmet and boots.

Now the Dres they were a hodgepodge of different equipment. Most of their army was leather, but not even a full suit of leather. They wore bits and pieces and I think only 10 or so wore a helmet. Some only wore cloth. Now their veterans and officers wore some type of golden armor. I do not know what this is, but it was hard as steel or harder. I am going to ask one of the Agents, because I do not dare break chain of command, what it is in the morning, and I will write the answer down tomorrow.

I always knew war was horrific, but experiencing it is worse then I could ever imagine. We killed 2000 Dunmer today and only lost 100 men. After the battle the Commanders told us we won a great victory with minimal loss of life. Minimal loss of life? How can that be? The Dunmer lost 2000 of their people and we lost 100 of our own. How can anyone be happy with losing any number? This is a topic I can not seem to understand, and I feel like the only one.

Oh good Marcus is coming out of his tent looks like my watch is over, and time for bed. I will continue to write after we reach Mournhold.


Equites Legionis - These were the cavalry units attached directly to the Legion, just Equites for short.

Turmae - The smallest basic unit of cavalry and one Turma consisted of 32 troopers.

Contubernium ? this was a "tent group" consisted of 8 men. I see this as being like a squad or even a platoon in today's military.

Palisade - a fence of pales or stakes set firmly in the ground, as for enclosure or defense.

Ok I think I got all the Latin. If I missed anything please pm me so I can fix it.

Nice job so far.

Keep up the good work.

I know I'm being a grammar cop, but some mistakes are making me rip out my hair!



You mean except methinks.



Methinks it should be wears.

And for the love of Sheogorath, don't use numbers!





Spell the numbers out.

Ex: .... about two or three hundred of......

IMO, it just looks cleaner and better presented that way.

Using the Roman terms would be great. You should note though that Calvary is a hill near Jerusalem where three crosses used to stand. The military unit is the Cavalry. You've also used "where" when you meant to say "were".

With these types of units, I don't think there's much of a chance of a cavalry unit not being in action. They can tear through infantry like a knife through yogurt. They would be put on the edges of the battle lines to try and get behind the enemy infantry and slaughter the heck out the ranged units and footsoldiers. If the Dark Elves don't have a way of diverting the cav, the Dark Elves die.

Also for later on in the story, take a hard look at how you want the legion to play out in the dispute. Think of the trouble it causes if they loot what they conquer, or what can happen if they give too much material support to one faction over another. It's hard to quell a civil war when large outside forces are fueling it (like Vietnam).

There's no need to tell us much about the armor I think, people here have played the TES games. You mentioned two thousand enemy deaths, but is the friendly number deaths or casualties? I don't think any commander would take the field if there was a notion that they would kill one hundred and lose two thousand. The armies have scouts too, to report on strengths and movements. An awesome ambush usually doesn't net a ratio that good of kills.

Also some misspells, wrong words in there, etc. BladeMaster pointed those out.

all good points and I will address each.

First will be the cavalry. This is only a detachment of 128 compared to the Legion that had 5,300 ( I am using standard Roman Legion numbers) fighting men. Also they are light Cavalry which the Romans used as scouts and runners. It was not until the Late Empire that the Roman legion focused on heavy cavalry.

Your formation of the cavalry on wings or "Alae" is correct for a feudal/medieval army or a late roman army. Early roman armies would use their better experienced troops to cover their flanks. The story of our low ranking trooper does not know why the Dres army engaged the Legion. Not everyone in the army knows why things are going on or even why they are fighting (we see this today as well)

The armor was added for two reasons, one to show that not all armies (only well funded armies) had steel and chain armor and two to show that the Equites were of the light variety.

"It's hard to quell a civil war when large outside forces are fueling it (like Vietnam)." At first I was not going to say anything about it because it is foreshadowing. But that aspect is going to come into play very soon. Good spot on that element

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Thank you BM for the grammar stuff and I will write out the numbers from now on. I went and changed it in my draft and wow it read a lot better.

This is exactly like reading the private journals of the soldiers in Iraq except the setting is different - riveting details!

Look at Caesar's use of cavalry at the battle of Ruspina (46 b.c.). If they had few horseman, they would be interspersed with the infantry at the flanks. Then see Pompey's use of them in the same battle.

And generally they'd only use their experienced troops to cover the flanks when they didn't have something they needed. If they didn't have enough cav to cover one flank, they'd use the experienced guys there. If they didn't have a physical barrier to help them on one side, the experienced infantry goes to that side. Otherwise they were most useful in the middle.

It's not as if in your story you point out which period of Roman history you're taking the inspiration from. Since TES is generally medieval you can see why I assumed you were using more recent history.

5E20 Hearthfall 18th

It has been five days since my last entry; this is because a lot has transpired. We arrived at Mournhold four days ago; well we arrived at what was left of Mournhold. The entire city was razed; I know this first hand because I was part of the scout group that discovered it.

The city was destroyed, but nothing was burning everything looked as though it was destroyed years ago. The Battlemage, which accompanied us, informed us that it was the work of some great magic. Although his voice was calm his face revealed a sign of fear and terror.

He mentioned the name Telvanni. They seem to be some group of mages, and if they where the ones responsible for this destruction I fear for the success of our campaign. The Commanders on the other hand did not appear to be worried.

We then rebuilt the Palisade fort, and began to send scouting parties out in search for the Telvanni. General Darius sent out all of the assigned Lancearii as scouting parties, but we could not find anything that first day.

Day two the party I was apart of discovered a group of Dunmer farmers walking along the road, and they informed us that they saw a group of Dunmer mages heading north toward the Inner Sea. When the Agent asked if the mages were Telvanni they mumbled something to themselves and then replied that they did not see as to where they where going. I found this to be odd, as they had just informed us that the group was heading to the sea.

The Agent noted their response and sent them on their way. Before they left Agent Gaius told the Dunmer that we are not here to disrupt the daily activities of the commoners, but here to put an end to this civil war. The Dunmer in turn asked if we knew the reasons for the war. Gaius told him what we where told; the Dunmer declared war on the Hlaalu and their Imperial allies. The farmer shook his head in dismay and went on his way.

We all shook off the response, but now I can not get the image out of my head. Why did that mer have that look of dismay? We are here for them, and yet they acted fearful toward us. They acted as if we were the invaders, and not peace keepers.

Knight Errant Saccus asked me if I wanted to enlist today. This is the third time he has done so. He said he wants to promote me to the rank of Agent so that I can lead my own scouting parties. Saccus told me that the Legion needs more riders like me, but they can not promote a conscripted soldier. I told him I would think about it, and that I really do not want to fight in this war in the first place. He then placed his hand on my scale armor before saying, "The offer still stands. Your abilities have not gone unnoticed". What could he mean by that? Yes I can ride better then some of the officers, but my fighting ability is poor. What is unsure if he could defeat a single opponent one hundred percent of the time?

Oh, there is movement at the gate. Looks like a scouting party has returned, I wonder if they found anything. Now a runner returned with one of the Knight Protectors, and it looks like they are discussing something. Wait now he is looking over here at the rest of the Equites Legionis.

Looks like we might have a new mission?

Well, I figure I'm gonna keep beating the proper where/were uses into your head until you get it. Just like a teacher!!!



".... if they were the one's....."




This one made me giggle like a school girl. You finally used "where" properly to describe a destination/location and only two words later you mis-used the other were. It should be:

"..... not to see as to where they were going...."




Nothing to do with a location/destination/etc. Should be:

"..... what we were told...."

As for the story itself, I was slightly disappointed a the length after the opening line read:



I know it's a journal writing and honestly length isn't a huge deal to me anyways, but I just got the impression like we were ( ) in for a nice juicy chapter with lots of details about the war and to be honest, nothing all happened in those five days. With the exception of finding a major city in complete ruin.

Sorry if I seem very nagging an annoying about the whole word use thing, but it will help you become a better writer and make it easier for readers to read it!

Yeah Mournhold destruction really but a kink in the Legion's plans. Our trooper has little details to why the Legion stopped their advance, he is under the impression that the Legion is scouting for war parties?we will find out what they are really doing later.

I won't go into too much detail of the next post but there will be a battle.

Yeah, six months ago I started have problems with transposition. My English Lit professor has provided me with a few strategies to counter this and I hopefully can rid myself of it. Pointing out any transposition mistakes that I make is also very helpful.

Great read! You make the reader feel they are actually there!

5E20 Hearthfall 19th

This morning the fort is a buzz with roomers on what occurred last night, but at the same time there are only one hundred and twenty-eight men who know what truly happened. I am one of them.

Last night we raided and razed a Telvanni supply depot that was masquerading as a costal fishing village. The scouts I mentioned in my last entry located this village on their northern patrol. The General quickly mobilized the Equites Legionis, so we could quickly hit the depot.

We rode out under the cover of night to the location the scouts reported. The depot was at the bottom of a small hill. They had no chance; this would be the beginning of our pay back for Mournhold. We rode down the hill in a full charge; each man with is lance couched and ready to strike.

Knight Errant Saccus placed me in the first line as we charged down a dirt path into the village. There were only five armed soldiers; they must have been the ones on duty at the time. All these soldiers wore that odd looking gold armor that I saw before. These five men took up a defensive position at the mouth of their depot while the off duty soldiers ran for the boats and houses.

By the time we reached the Telvanni I was at a full gallop. My lance was securely couched under my arm. The soldier that stood in from of me wielded a large oval shield and a very sharp looking ax. The twelve foot lance was only six feet in front of the horse because of the couched position, but when it hit the shield it hit with the full force of a fully galloping horse.

The lance tip priced through the shield like butter rendering it useless, and then broke through the mer's briastplate. Acting on instinct I released my grip on the lance and it feel to the ground along with the Dunmer. I rode past him and drew my sword. I then began to cut down the fleeing soldiers, and the rest of the Eques did the same.

We would have spared them if they had surrendered to us, but retreat is still a military action and had to be met with a military action. We killed all the soldiers, there were around 20 of them, and we then went looking for the supplies. When found the grain and fish store, Saccus told us to load it up in the near by wagons and take it back to the fort. We then razed all the buildings and boats before leaving the depot.

I have to say that this short skirmish was invigorating. I felt pridful for being part of the group that struck the first blow to these dogs. We even received praise from a group of Hlaalu refugees for our deed.

We will be mobilizing today because we are advancing on the Indoril. This House of Dunmer has remained neutral so far. The Knight Protector's want to try and seek the aid of this group, but Knight Errant Saccus informed us that he doesn't think we will succeed. He informed us that the Indoril have always been hostile to Imperial law.

The lunch bell in ringing, so I will end this here because the cooks do not wait for late soldiers.



Equites Legionis - These were the cavalry units attached directly to the Legion and were considered regular Legionaries of immunes rank

Eques ? Cavalryman

Lance ? A long spear used by cavalry, normally 12 to 14 feet long. The weapon would be called a pike if used by infantry.

Couched Lance ? Technique used by cavalry were the lance is tucked under the arm and held tight to the body. This is how "shock" damage came about, because the lance struck with the full force of the rider and horse.