Chariot
Thunder, be my wheels.
Lightning, my weapon.
Thousand Spears are a tribe suspicious of technology, believing as they do in the weakness it has breed into the other 'so-called great tribes'. Small muscles, and plump bodies. Piteous; despicable.
But the inherent power of the machine, and of the secret lightnings that sustain it, are undeniable (no matter how much they might like to). Sandships are still the single greatest tool for nomadic tribes to travel the vast distances required to be truly prosperous, and while Thousand Spears tactics and doctrine strains hard at working itself around the necessity of ranged weapons, they cannot do away with them completely - there are some battles that simply cannot be won with spears and steeds alone.
The tribe's chariots, then, are a compromise: lash a pair of steeds to a wheeled chassis, add a rotating, pneumatic shard cannon for showering the foe with projectiles (no need to hit - suppress the foe's willingness to fire long enough and the Lancers will do the rest), mount a pair of warriors on it, and begrudgingly add an engine of just enough power and complexity to get the whole thing moving. Acceleration, steering, foes who think that they might like to board: the steeds will see to these things, directed by bellowed commands and the occasional prod from their masters.
Other tribes mock these chariots, joking that only the dense, obstinate Thousand Spears would deploy motor vehicles and then use animals to pull them. This is followed by much laughter and thigh slapping about not knowing what a motor is for. But though there may be some small truth to these jibes - the chariot is certainly a product of obstinacy - they largely miss the point.
The machine's riders are mostly freed from its operation, allowing them to focus on fighting. The motor itself is compact and manageable, taking little fuel and responding smoothly to the pull of the steeds, adding and subtracting power as they speed up or slow down. At its fastest, the whole thing moves at the maximum speed of the saarka beasts tethered to it, with the weight of the chassis, riders and weapon totally ablated by the engine's additional power. And saarka are very, very fast creatures indeed.
Lightning, my weapon.
Thousand Spears are a tribe suspicious of technology, believing as they do in the weakness it has breed into the other 'so-called great tribes'. Small muscles, and plump bodies. Piteous; despicable.
But the inherent power of the machine, and of the secret lightnings that sustain it, are undeniable (no matter how much they might like to). Sandships are still the single greatest tool for nomadic tribes to travel the vast distances required to be truly prosperous, and while Thousand Spears tactics and doctrine strains hard at working itself around the necessity of ranged weapons, they cannot do away with them completely - there are some battles that simply cannot be won with spears and steeds alone.
The tribe's chariots, then, are a compromise: lash a pair of steeds to a wheeled chassis, add a rotating, pneumatic shard cannon for showering the foe with projectiles (no need to hit - suppress the foe's willingness to fire long enough and the Lancers will do the rest), mount a pair of warriors on it, and begrudgingly add an engine of just enough power and complexity to get the whole thing moving. Acceleration, steering, foes who think that they might like to board: the steeds will see to these things, directed by bellowed commands and the occasional prod from their masters.
Other tribes mock these chariots, joking that only the dense, obstinate Thousand Spears would deploy motor vehicles and then use animals to pull them. This is followed by much laughter and thigh slapping about not knowing what a motor is for. But though there may be some small truth to these jibes - the chariot is certainly a product of obstinacy - they largely miss the point.
The machine's riders are mostly freed from its operation, allowing them to focus on fighting. The motor itself is compact and manageable, taking little fuel and responding smoothly to the pull of the steeds, adding and subtracting power as they speed up or slow down. At its fastest, the whole thing moves at the maximum speed of the saarka beasts tethered to it, with the weight of the chassis, riders and weapon totally ablated by the engine's additional power. And saarka are very, very fast creatures indeed.
Chariot image by Clementere, background is Creative Commons media
Comments
Post a Comment