| The Willow Sourcebook |
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Nockmaar had no army before Queen Bavmorda assumed control. Through her magic, and by her strength of will, she transformed the land from a forested wilderness into a war machine. Villages, scattered at the forest's edge and along River Troon, became slave-labor camps; mines pitted the hillsides and polluted the river; forests were cleared for bivouacs, their trees turned into tent poles and war chariots. Bavmorda drafted every able-bodied man to serve her dream of conquest. Her press gangs roamed the trade routes, pulling every young man into service. She turned thieves, thugs, and assassins out of the jails, imposing military servitude on them that was only slightly less confining. Once her army began its conquests, its ranks swelled with captured soldiers from the vanquished side. There were even volunteers. A soldier who enlisted in Bavmorda's army needed no identity papers; in fact, they were prohibited. His past was kept secret. So the Nockmaar army became a haven for felons, deserters, husbands fleeing their families, and anyone whose crimes were horrible enough to merit exile from his home. No individuality was allowed. As in any army, all soldiers ate together and slept in common barracks. They wore helmets that covered the face and muffled the voice. Commanders stressed obedience and teamwork, as in any army. But in Nockmaar's army, conditioning went deeper. Every recruit learned this oath by heart: "The army is all. The army is the father, the mother, the family. There is nothing but the army. The army is here. [The soldier struck his chest.] The army is here. [The soldier held up a fist.] Fight for the army. Kill for the army. Win for the army. The army is all." The recruit screamed this oath a dozen times a day, at meals and exercises. Officers woke soldiers from sleep and had them shout it. After each repetition, commanders showed a straw dummy of an enemy trooper and trained the soldiers to either scream hatefully at it or, more often, to kick and stab the dummy with any weapon at hand. A soldier's basic training ended with a two-day marathon hike, with a full load, little food, and no sleep. Soldiers who fell by the wayside were whipped mercilessly and sent through training again. At the end of the march, the dazed survivors shouted the army's oath. Then the commanders brought out living prisoners of war, unarmed and helpless. The Nockmaar soldiers attacked the prisoners with rabid hatred, customarily leaving no body parts intact. Anyone showing mercy was sent back to training. Those who showed true ferocity graduated, becoming minions of Nockmaar. THE ARMY'S ORGANIZATION The Army of Nockmaar was far more regimented than Airk Thaughbaer's knights of Galladoorn. The basic unit was the six-man squad. Five squads formed a platoon; two platoons a company; and three companies a battalion of 200 soldiers. Four battalions made up a regiment (800 men), and three regiments a division. At the height of Nockmaar's power, Kael commanded four divisions of infantry, cavalry, archers, and charioteers against Galladoorn alone. The entire Nockmaar army included perhaps 15,000 men. The Army of Nockmaar was also better disciplined than the knights, at least in one sense. "Discipline," defined as unthinking obedience to orders and unanimous hatred of the enemy, flourished in the Nockmaar army. But the troops lacked ideology, and though slavishly obedient to Bavmorda, they had no great loyalty to her - only to her army. Their discipline was that of ants in a hill. NOCKMAAR WHIP-KNIVES AND WAR CHARIOTS When Madmartigan and Willow fled from the tavern, the minions of Nockmaar followed them. One rode in a fearsome Nockmaar war chariot. Drawn by two to six warhorses, a chariot can carry up to four warriors and attain speeds of twenty to twenty-five miles an hour. Sharp blades are sometimes mounted on its frame, though never when it is ridden among other Nockmaar troops. The horses are trained to leap over prone soldiers in their path, so the chariot can run over victims with its iron-shod wheels. This vehicle was invented for the Nockmaar army shortly after Bavmorda seized power, though it is unlikely Bavmorda herself created it. The sorceress-queen never showed a mechanical turn of mind. But her underlings proved ingenious in creating new weapons of death and destruction, such as the whip-knife. This deadly weapon is a heavy four-pointed steel star, the points sharpened to a razor edge. It rests in a long loop of leather edged with steel. The user whirls the loop around, then gives it a snap that sends the star whirling toward the target. The weapon is used only at a distance, never in confined quarters. The whip-knife requires great skill, but can be fatal at close range. Most Nockmaar soldiers receive basic training in its use. A few, perhaps three or four in every company, achieve mastery. They become artillery troops, useful in cavalry units when a bow or crossbow would be too clumsy. GAMING NOTES 2nd skill-level (infantry) or 6th skill-level (officer) fighter SKILLS Sword, bow, whip-knife, or other weapon; cavalry units know horsemanship; other skills appropriate to function in army, always at low level. Whip-knife users have dexterities of 15. THE WHIP-KNIFE Users must have a dexterity of 15 or higher and train intensively for two to four months. The whip-knife requires a dexterity check to throw successfully, and the gamemaster may assess penalties for range or confined spaces. Failure means another dexterity check, unmodified; if this one also fails, the wielder takes 2d6 damage. A successful dexterity check allows the wielder to make an ordinary to-hit roll against the target, modified by range. The whip-knife's maximum range is the same as a sling's. If your game doesn't include slings, use the range for a throwing star (sha-ken) or short bow. The wielder takes a -1 penalty to the to-hit roll for each full 10% of this distance to the target. For example, if the target is at 40% of the maximum range, the attacker takes a -4 to the to-hit roll. If the target is at less than 10% of the maximum range, there is no subtraction. If the whip-knife hits, the target takes 6d6 damage, modified by range. For each full 10% of maximum range to the target, roll one less die for damage (minimum damage 1d6). In the example above (target at 40% of maximum range), the whip-knife's damage would be (6d6 - 4d6 = 2d6). THE WAR CHARIOT SPEED Equal to the fastest coach in your campaign. ARMOR When a rider in a chariot is attacked from outside it, roll 1d6. On a 1, the chariot is hit instead of the rider. Three hits on a side of the chariot destroy that side (either left or right) and it gives no further protection. DAMAGE Running over a prone target inflicts 5d6 damage. |
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