[Ashivirsthargon] Meditations on Battle

[Ashivirsthargon]

Defanging the Snake

It is common for warriors to determine their targets by what will end the fight most quickly. Depending on the race you are fighting, this tends to be the head or the chest - somewhere where there are vitals. In unarmed combat, particularly, we see warriors targeting the head above anything else in the hopes of knocking their opponent unconscious. It can be almost humorous, watching two foes vainly trying to punch each other in the head and ignoring every other tactical possibility.

The quickest way to win, however, is often neither the surest nor most satisfying way.

In the first place, these vital targets tend to be well-protected. Myrian anatomy encases their vital organs in bone. Armor is designed primarily to protect these areas, and shields are most commonly used to protect these areas. Warriors often train in stances and ways of moving to protect their vitals. While even a weak Constrictor should have no trouble breaking frail, inferior bones, this does not change the fact that vital targets are oftentimes the most difficult to damage, and when you finally land your blow, it may not do sufficient damage to your target.

There are times when speed is of the essence in a battle. Also, of course, if an opponent is foolish enough to open himself up for a killing blow, by all means, take it. In the chaos of combat, such an opportunity may not come again. However, it is my experience that spending all your effort trying to disable vital targets quickly - making that the primary rather than a secondary objective - does not fit well with Dhani combat capabilities.

Rather than spending all your effort and attention trying to strike the head or heart, consider what your opponent presents as the greatest threat, and neutralize that threat.

Does your foe carry a weapon? Break that weapon. Disarm that weapon. Immobilize that weapon. Control that weapon. Is your foe unarmed? Break his arms as he attacks you. Trap his legs in your coils. Hack off his limbs at the furthest joint you can reach. Move so that his punch lands on thick, Dhani bone. Lock him when he closes to strike. The Myrian anatomy is static and predictable. Use this to your advantage.

As you neutralize your opponent's threats, you accomplish a number of goals:

First, you are protecting yourself. A Myrian with a broken arm and no sword can threaten you much less than one who is whole and carries a weapon.

Second, you are wearing your opponent down both psychologically and physically. The frail Myrians must rely on the swift kill. For the Dhani, the longer the fight goes on, the more the odds favor our raw strength and endurance. They will become tired. Your focus on disabling them will cloud their thoughts and motions with pain. They will begin to despair as you systematically remove their capacity to do damage. Contemplate the fact that our lifespans far outstrip the Myrians, and you will see how this principle plays out among our peoples. They may seize the immediate victory, but they cannot hope to outlast us over time.

Third, you are clearing the path for those vital strikes that will finish your foe. An enemy whose weapons you have removed and limbs you have punished will be much more vulnerable than one who is fresh and ready for your attack.

Fourth, this mode of combat blends well with how we have been created. Look at your body! In every form, it is built to crush, break, envelop, and suffocate. Do not fight against this by using the combat tactics of weaklings who cannot change form and lack any notable size or strength. Use these gifts to your advantage.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this style of combat honors Siku and is also far more enjoyable. If sweeter music has been composed than a Myrish howl of pain following a loud crack of bone, I have not heard it. The sweet aroma of their fear as you compress their sword arm against their own bodies is a fragrance to which none others will compare. It is an exercise in the drawn out enjoyment of their pain, and as you take pleasure in this act, Siku is smiling, for few things does She love more.

[Ashivirsthargon]

Philosophical Questions

"How many monkeys does it take to kill a boa?"

I ask myself this whenever I venture into Myrian territory.

[Ashivirsthargon]

Teamwork and the Importance of Not Having It

One on one, it is close to impossible for a Dhani to be bested by a frail Myrian. Unfortunately, it is close to impossible for a Dhani to fight a Myrian one on one.

We number about two hundred. Of that number, the majority are the women who rule and the hatchlings who are still being trained. We cannot risk our females on the battlefield. That leaves a relatively small number of battle-worthy males. Each of their lives is valuable. Our race cannot go on if our males die.

What this means is that a Dhani ranging excursion will likely involve one, possibly two males. We do not travel in small squads. While it would take a great many Myrians to bring down such a squad, the loss of five males at one time would have dire effects.

By contrast, the vermin-like Myrians virtually always travel in small groups when they hunt near our borders. Groups of three to five, typically divided between archers and spear or archers and sword. The spear and sword protect the archers, and it is usually the archers who do the killing.

You see, then, the heart of Myrish strength: numbers and teamwork.

The Dhani who leads a valiant charge into the teeth of the foe is a dead warrior unless the front line is inexperienced and they break. To destroy them, you must destroy their ability to work as a team.

How is this done? This shall occupy my next meditation.

[Ashivirsthargon]

How to Kill a Myrian Squad the Hard Way - Configuration

There is, sadly, not an "easy" way.

1. Configuration

Your typical Myrian squad is three to five warriors divided into ranged and melee forces - typically archers and the short spear. Their females also range and, by all accounts, are just as effective as the males.

The squad will either be entirely on the ground, entirely in the trees, or some combination of the two. I have found that the last scenario is the best for us, and I am amazed they continue to do it. I suppose it is vanity.

If They Are All On the Ground

In some ways, this can be the hardest. The humans can typically see and hear each other quite well and can swiftly change their formation, even going back to back.

Do not think of them as men. Think of them as a knot that you have to untie.

If the undergrowth is thick, you may have some success in snake form, ambushing them one by one. This should only be attempted if you have a reasonable distance between each Myrian. Otherwise, you will kill one only to be slaughtered by the others.

In most cases, I find breaking the knot up is best done at range, preferably hiding in something. Find one of the archers and throw something at it. Stones work well, but make sure it is a stone that a human could not lift easily - something that will crush their face or snap their leg when it comes barreling through the air at them. Your greater strength is an asset - use it at all times. Do not come down to their level.

In one encounter, I had great success hurling an actual Myrian head I tore from one of them who was running away. It was not as concussive as a heavy stone, but it still knocked over the archer, and the disruptive value was immense. They all stared at it. Quite humorous, really. I threw one of the arms for good measure, and I was in business.

The other side to breaking up the knot is separating the group. This is the hardest thing to do when on the ground. Use the terrain. Create a noise in one area and slither to another. Get the squad leader to send someone to "investigate." If the mists are thick, use that as well. Pull people into foliage. Do whatever you can to spread the group out and pick them off one by one. A Myrian alone is a dead Myrian. This is the situation you must create. Be patient. All but the most veteran of groups will begin to disintegrate when its members begin to die in the darkness one by one to an unseen killer.

However you choose to do it, the following principles apply:

• Do not be seen until only one remains. Possibly two if the ranged attackers are down.
• Break up the knot. Spread your targets out.
• Ranged attackers go down first, but do not pass up any opportunity to make a kill if it can be done safely.
• Isolate the group from one another. Sever their line of sight and ability to communicate.
• Do not be overcome with bravado or battle lust. Do not charge or yell "For Zinrah!" or such things. Take your time. Wait for minutes... hours between kills, if necessary. The longer fight favors the Dhani. Never be reluctant to hide and wait for a better opportunity.

If They Are All in the Trees

The hard part of killing a squad in the trees is that they are reluctant to separate very far. However, this difficulty is more than offset by the fact that they cannot easily reconfigure their group. Also, gravity is your friend, but it does not like Myrians, much.

In the trees, serpent form is an excellent choice. You are harder to see, can move swiftly between trees, have many choices for your angle and elevation of attack, and you can stay in the tree much more easily than a Myrian.

The other forms can also work well and carry some of the same benefits, however it is harder to distribute your weight among branches in Dhani form, which limits your mobility. You are also much easier to spot. Human form has few advantages over a Myrian. I never like to fight a man as a man if it can be helped.

That said, the same principles apply. Do not be seen. Ranged first. Break up the knot. Kill them one by one. Most Myrians will scream as they fall from trees, and while this does alert the others to your location, the effect on their coordination is glorious. Make your kill and leave as quickly as you can.

And when it comes to killing. Remember. Gravity. Don't be fancy.

If the Group Has Split Elevations

Somebody must have told the Myrians that having archers in the trees while your spearmen are on the ground is some kind of unbeatable fighting formation because they do this all the time. I suppose the thought is that the archers are untouchable while the spearmen do the front-line fighting. I have never seen them try it the other way around, which is interesting.

In conquest, that may be true. But the Dhani have no front line. The Dhani have a battle circle.

A Myrian patrol in this arrangement is carrying a big sign that says, "Please kill us," and you ought not to disappoint them. Keep your principles in mind, and you will do fine.

Ignore the spearmen and take to the trees. In a tactical maneuver soluable by any toddler, you have appropriated for yourself the advantage they hoped to gain for their archers. From here, it is business as usual.

Use your principles to divide and slay the archers. Then, take to the ground and finish the spearmen. Or don't. They have no easy way to attack you without taking to the trees, themselves, which is quite impossible when they have a roaming Dhani to contend with.

This concludes my thoughts on configuration, but above all, it cannot be stressed enough that the way of fighting that is most effective for the Dhani is -not- the same as for the Myrians. Their power is in numbers and unity, so you must disrupt both to make progress in battle. Do not fight unless you can fight them unfairly.

[Ashivirsthargon]

Parabolic

One day, I hope I will be able to train warriors as I was taught. And when that day comes, I will do something like this:

I will pull out my scimitar and say, "Who would like me to shove this blade into their face?"

When no one takes me up on the offer, I will ask why.

"Because we will die," they will say.

"The odds are good that will happen," I will reply. "But you do not truly know for certain what the outcome will be. Perhaps the blade will break. Perhaps your skull will turn it aside. Perhaps it will slice directly through the center of your brain, leaving you still functional. Just because no one else has lived does not mean you will not."

I will wait.

"Still, no one? What about the glory? Imagine, you will be the first warrior in Zinrah's history to survive a scimitar being shoved through your face. What other warrior will want to contest you, then? They will call you an immortal. Your name will go down in the annals of our history. Is not such glory worth such risk?"

I will wait for their refusals once more.

"Then will someone please tell me why these same reasons are compelling enough for every new warrior to wish to take on five Myrians by himself?"

[Ashivirsthargon]

The Weaknesses of Grappling

Grappling is powerful, and nobody does it better than the Dhani. We can move in small bursts of speed. Our entire bodies are built for entangling. We have muscles much stronger than any human's so that we might overpower, squeeze, choke, dislocate, suffocate, and break.

Furthermore, grappling itself is an amazing disabler. Even a very powerful warrior can be brought low if you can choke him or bend his limbs to extents they were not designed to go. Many people do not train to deal with fighting in the unusual positions one finds oneself when one is being grappled. When you put two, unarmed opponents together, a highly-skilled grappler who can turn the fight into a grappling match has a very high chance of victory.

Why, then, do I also train with a scimitar? Why should any Dhani learn to use weapons? Why not just use our bodies how they were built? Why rely on implements?

Because there are two situations where grappling alone can become very dangerous: when you are outnumbered, and when your foe has a blade.

Lisha's father once told me that, if you lock someone, you are also locked. In other words, even if you are winning a grapple with someone, you yourself are still entangled in that same grapple. If there are still other foes around you, or if more foes appear, you will not be able to respond to them.

By the same token, grappling occurs in close quarters. As close as you can get, actually. And in that range, a fast blade becomes very dangerous. This is why, when I grapple, I try to control the arms. Only in desperation will I ignore this. This ties back into what I wrote about Defanging the Snake. You have to neutralize the threats before going for the kill. If I am not safe from the weapon when I go for the grapple, then it is not yet time to go for the grapple.

My true love will always be killing the natural way - with my body. But it is not the answer to every question in combat. I suppose I must pick that scimitar back up at some point.