Make It So

Benedict seems surprised at how many 'two' is, but brings everyone through anyway.

"Well Come to Avalon, or perhaps the Avalon/Tir frontier. Lilly and I are off to deal with the Silver Towers, and I need reliable defense and harrying of the Moonriders from here. We have two objectives.

"First: Keep them from getting to the mirror city.
Second: Keep them from diverting into Avalon proper and attacking the people here.

"I have three troops, only two of which are mounted, so please figure out your best tactics to delay and prevent them.

"Here's a quick sketch of the local terrain, it will help. They have to enter through the western hills, unless they take their horses over the mountains here or here. Or if they find boats, they can go around to the south, but the route is longer and the choke-points are the same."

He goes into detail on the troops and their strengths. It's a balanced force, but small, and suited to individual commanders.

"Questions?"

"Yes," Brennan says. "First, just to make sure: are the Stairs here as much of a chokepoint to Tir-na Nog'th as in Xanadu? Or do they have more leeway?

"Second," Brennan continues, "I saw evidence at the Xanadu border of Moonriders coming *down* the stairs before our battle could fully be joined with those approaching conventionally. Ossian reported something similar here after speaking to you-- forces coming down the stairs. I don't understand what I saw at all, so I'll ask as broadly as I can: If we see evidence of this again, where do they fit in those two priorities?"

Benedict nods. "A hundred yards from here, in a rough circle, is where my lands intersect natural shadow paths from which our foes are attempting to gain access to Tyr. That's what we're interdicting."

He shifts his shoulder and the weapon on his back creaks in its leather harness. "I don't know a lot about Tirna Nogth, but I do know it has oddities to do with time all around it. If you saw the stair when it wasn't supposed to be there, you saw the past or the future. You should ask Bleys or Fiona about it."

Brennan will not have wasted any time when they came through, either, in scanning the area: Is this the location of the stairs and what is the position and phase of the Moon, if visible?

The moon seems to change as he moves, which is another good indication of a natural shadow path. It's less than half full, the same as Xanadu's, and mostly visible. Mostly.

Jerod waits on Benedict's response. He is already leaning towards taking the unmounted units for a defensive "anvil" position at the chokepoints and having the faster units for the others to harry and channel the Moonriders to him.

Ossian looks around. This is his first time in Avalon. He tries to get a feeling for the place. How stable is it, considering the number of Pattern wielders around?

It's not quite Avalon, or at least Brennan thinks it isn't. It's reminiscent of the farthest reaches of Arden where it's impossible not to find yourself quickly lost. Bleys would describe it as a minor inflection point, which is almost certainly why Benedict needs it protected.

Brennan waits until they reach the circle, so he can have a look at it, including a probing look with Astral vision: How big is the circle? What does it look like? What kind of terrain is it?

The point Benedict is worried about is perhaps 40 yards across, and it intersects the forest, which looks to be temperate and not tropical. The foliage is not dense enough to prevent or even channel riders. It's clearly winter here, although the early part of it, before snow falls in this area.

But his biggest question is this: Are the Moonriders going to be constrained to come out in a particular direction, or do they have the freedom of choosing their orientation? This isn't a question of intent, it's a question of what they can actually achieve based on the terrain and the subtleties of Shadow paths.

If the answer isn't obvious to him, he asks the question out loud. And not just to Benedict, but openly-- he knows Jerod has experience with Shadow paths and suspects Ossian and Fletcher do as well.

Ossian does indeed have experience with Shadow paths. He turns to Jerod and Benedict. "How hard would it be to use Pattern to get them off the Shadow path? Or is that too dangerous?"

"Visualization of your destination depends on timing and skill." Jerod says to Brennan, looking around. "The more precise your focus, the better your orientation. Theoretically you can come out ten feet off the ground if you wanted to, but why you'd want to is questionable.

"That said, the more precise you want to be, the more likely you are to be detected and countered. Precision takes time and focus. Unless you're really, really good, you can't Hellride with precision. And hellriding a group is really difficult - you tend to lose bodies real fast.

"As for blocking..." and he looks at Ossian. "Depends on how much you're willing to break the place and how malleable things are. Stronger pattern means we have less options for making things weird, but conversely it means their ability to get closer is also reduced. They can only travel via probability to a certain point. Once they reach that, then they travel the old fashioned way.

"We'll want to know the boundary points for that sort of Pattern interference limit. If I were Moonriders, I'd be wanting to come out as close to it as possible. Arrive and assemble fast before defenders have a chance to organize for a counter. Power displacement for both sides is countered so you're down to manpower and tactics.

"If I were invading, forces incoming would depend on the intended target. If we're looking at occupation and control, I'd want a combination of fast frontal troops first to engage and delay defenders from countering new arrivals, with the next immediate group or wave as solid, heavy troops to secure the local area and allow reinforcements to arrive and organize.

"If they're just here to disrupt and pillage, then they're likely to be all fast and furious."

"They're scouting in force, looking for a path to a destination, which we have always prevented them from reaching." Benedict pulls his scythe blade off his back and uses it to point. "They have to come from the shadow they are in there and move to the exit from shadow here," he says, gesturing. "If we manipulate the shadow paths, we might move the path to somewhere we don't know and then we have to find where it is. It might not be as easy to defend as here." Benedict looks at Ossian. "If Bleys were here, I'd say let him change it. The man can turn a shadow-path into a Klein Bottle while wenching in a tavern three shadows away." He shakes his head, either at his brother's talent or his habits.

He turns to Brennan. "They have to come through here, but they are master temporal manipulators. If they can arrange to have come through in the future and return to attack you from behind while also attacking you from the front, they will have a definite advantage. You can't rule out the possibility.

"This isn't a feint, but it's only going to get their main force if they have already won. Looking tough and acting aggressive, without losing sight of the need to protect this place, will be adequate for the moment."

"You mean that more the geographically," Brennan says. It ought to be a question, but it's more of a realization. "Searching for a path through possible futures and actions. And if they break through or infiltrate here and now or in the future, they can cycle back and increase the likelihood of their prior break or infiltration. Or cycle around and attack Avalon proper, forcing a response, drawing power away from here to the same effect. Or cycle around and move to the Stairs.

"That's not stable. There's a feedback effect in their favor, which would argue for all force available here, if we can't destroy the path entirely. Except: If we can't rule out that they will have moved a sufficient force through to harass our flanks here and now, can we rule out that they will have done the same with an eye to attacking the City?" Brennan asks.

Benedict nods. "They are their own force-multiplier. They do not dominate all of shadow because there are so few of them. The have some additional troops, but there are hundreds of Moonriders, not thousands. And I can tell you from experience that you learn their ways if the same rider attacks you a dozen times in the one battle.

He looks grim. "We know the limits of their abilities in a full-out onslaught."

How far away is Avalon proper, anyway?

This is the Isle Avalon. The castle is a day's travel or more, depending on how you travel. Possibly several days for a strong force of armed soldiers.

Brennan nods, gravely. He's heard the stories and read as many of the first hand accounts as Cambina was able to find for him. This all still seems to argue for the main force positioned here, which is no doubt why Benedict brought them here as they discussed the situation.

"If I were them, I would want to come through with momentum. A company of foot to slow them and a company of horse to take their flanks seems prudent. So does keeping the second company of cavalry-- the faster and the lighter-- in reserve, to hunt down any the break through or infiltrate. Are there enough foot to form a second reserve to screen against a counter-attack?" Brennan would suggest an infantry square, but what he's seen of Avalon so far doesn't seem to favor the idea. Maybe Benedict's personal forces are different.

Brennan looks at Jerod, Ossian and Fletcher as much as to Benedict for their opinions. "If that's agreeable, I favor the reserve cavalry. It would put me in a position to use my sight to best effect."

"Agreed." Jerod says. "Put me in the front. We want them to come to us so maybe we manipulate their path to force temporal stability, ensure that all paths come right to me and the forces I'm holding. Probability isn't just about places, it's about timing. Let's give them a nice big temporal gravity well to fall into."

Benedict nods. "You should be able to make pikes quickly from the wood here. I have to go to the Tower to deal with the people there. Fletcher will come with me. Lily is already en route. We will count on you to hold this spot, and to let us know if they overrun this position."

Ossian decides to stay on foot. "Shall I sneak around in front of your line, Jerod, trying to lead them to you? I promise to try to not break the place..."

The officers of Benedict's small forces ask what your orders are.

Right now, their orders are to stand tight for about three minutes while Brennan, Jerod and Ossian sort themselves out.

They stand tight, all attempting not to look like the kind of soldier Brennan would order to lead a suicide charge.

"Jerod, you're going to be the one up close with the infantry and you have more experience with paths than I do. Expanding on Ossian's question: In general, how certain are you that this can be done, and how can we help? I don't know how much time we have, but as a mundane tactic I can knock some of those trees down quickly and we can get them lashed to others in ways that would make a cavalry charge unwise. Likewise, Ossian's suggestion of leading them to you. Ossian, are you thinking of taking the second company of cavalry for that?" Brennan asks.

"Or," turning back to Jerod, "is it more valuable to help you with Pattern?"

While Jerod and Ossian begin planning in earnest, Brennan says to Benedict, "If you're going to the Silver Towers, Conner and I were there recently. I offer my report, if you require it."

Ossian shrugs. "I was thinking of keeping a low profile, and go almost alone, but that might be too dangerous?"

"Unless we're dealing with an active power use, one that Pattern can be used to neutralize, then Pattern will only be good for the setup prior to battle engaging. Trying to use Pattern like you would Sorcery isn't going to work....too many variables for what we want. It'll help with quick things, certain localized probabilities but in those cases, you do what you see fit right then because you're the one dealing with it. Once they are here, physical obstructions are as good as any. If we can't control their ability to shift in and out, then any defenses we have won't be relevant anyway."

"As for how long it will take to set up a channel, it'll take as long as it takes. I'll need to adjust the local Shadow options to create natural funnels, especially in regards to time flow. Things they wouldn't be looking for so they won't consider them an obstacle, something to have to fight or avoid. So once we've got the force layout figured out here, I'll start."

"As for whether it'll work?" and he looks at Ossian. "Since we have no idea as to the level of power we're facing or their ability to counter Pattern or our tactics, I'll suppose I'll find out if it'll work if I survive being on the front line." and he smiles at that thought.

Ossian frowns "Maybe I should take the smaller half of the cavalry then, and travel just a short distance up the Shadow path, keeping the Moon riders on the path by force or Pattern whatever feels appropriate?"

"I think that's incredibly dangerous, no matter how large a force you take with you," Brennan says. "We have no way to communicate or coordinate if you're far enough along the path to be in a different Shadow. They can also back-skip through time on their side almost at will, except in your general vicinity. They can let you through and be in your way when you turn around to lead them back through, and then just cut you to pieces. We have that problem here, too, except we can mutually reinforce.

"What I think is, we know which direction they'll prefer to come out, because Benedict told us. We set Jerod there with infantry, just inside the circle, and let him reinforce that probability into certainty with Pattern. Let me knock down a dozen trees or conjure some chain lengths and use them to turn the foliage into a barrier for cavalry. It doesn't have to be impenetrable, it just has to slow them down. Station a force of our own cavalry here," he gestures appropriately, "to flank them once they hit Jerod. Their only obvious way to turn will be into the foliage which will keep them slowed down and give you enough time to do as much damage as possible. Ossian, I was thinking of you for that.

"But we still can't discount, as Benedict says, that some of them have already gotten through and will time-skip to hit our flanks here. So we'll need a reserve. I was thinking Regenlief and I for that, she the infantry and me the cavalry. Our job is to chase down any that might escape your killing field so they don't time-skip and flank us... or to protect our flanks if they already will have done. I will personally vouch for Regenlief's ability to fight and command," Brennan says.

"If we want to prevent them from time-skipping, then we need to get them to commit to hit me." Jerod says. "Once they're in the perimeter, I can see if we can use Pattern to prevent the skips. We lock them into a single time stream and they can't pop out because they can't end that flow until they win...and our objective will be to either hold them, or kill them."

Ossian nods. He knows that he's not the military man here. "I can do flanking. And while I don't do asteroid impacts as well as Jerod, I think I can help with Pattern too."

When Ossian agrees, a tension he hadn't been consciously aware of, and therefore couldn't hide, drains out of Brennan's shoulders. Visible relief briefly crosses his face before he catches it and puts a neutral expression back on. His poker face has gotten better over the years, but it still isn't perfect.

"Do we have the outlines of a plan, then? Jerod, Sir Korbie distinguished himself at Patternfall leading infantry. His talents are yours if you want them." None of the rest of the Knights of the Ruby that Brennan brought with have skills directly applicable, so he doesn't mention them. They'll be with him.

"Let's put Korbie in as a rover." Jerod says. "He can float with the troops, position himself to command units as needed if a breach appear likely to occur."

"As for the plan, I can use him to keep me from getting distracted if I need to do more Pattern work. If I manipulate for time as well as place, they'll try to counter it. The more resistance in general we can float, the harder for them to do their part. Ossian can reinforce Pattern as needed once we've got the main setup in place."

Jerod is looking to set up a probability manipulation based on the Shadow time flow. Time is tied to probability, with the forward flow of time being used as the factor for increased probability of occurrence. Attempting to subvert or reverse probability will be built to be increasingly improbable.

He also arranges a signal system with Korbie such that if Jerod suddenly needs to focus on Pattern to the point he may not be able to command, Korbie will know it and act accordingly.

Ossian nods. He is surprised by Jerod accepting his help.

Brennan and Regenlief are both reserves, but intend Regenlief as reserve infantry. Brennan is taking Benedict's admonition about being attacked from future-behind very seriously. That's not their only function (chasing down any who bypass Jerod and Ossian and who might therefore loop back to become a future-behind force is also a function) but if it can be done without compromising Jerod's force, some infantry should help with the defense. If it can't be done without compromising Jerod then, yes, Brennan and Regenlief both on reserve cavalry.

The troops are divided and arranged in their defensive positions. Regenlief goes off with her sergeant to learn the capabilities of her troop. The cavalry and infantries prepare and wait for the enemy to arrive.

When he does, it's sudden, as if they had appeared out of nowhere, or ridden moonbeams down from the sky. The cold air of the evening has given rise to tendrils of fog, just like at the stair.

They halt their advance and a horse whinnies from their vanguard.

It's hard to see how many of them there are, yet.

"Time to see who's here." Jerod says, mostly to himself. He brings up Pattern to reinforce the reality here, feeling the presence of outside forces by how the Pattern responds as he calls it up.

Jerod brings up the Pattern. It's difficult to read here. It's similar to the steps to Tir or the cave between Rebma and Paris, except it seems more erratic. As if each reality was attempting to assert itself. The only thing Jerod has ever felt like it was when two people were trying to manipulate the pattern in the same walk.

Jerod can tell there are people in the woods, but Pattern isn't perfect for picking out the difference between a mounted human and a centaur, or thirty rebmans and one triton.

It's probably not a triton. Or even 3.

Jerod's best guess is that they're massing for a charge.

Brennan, who with his forces is some reasonable distance away from Jerod, gives the newly arrived forces a critical and practiced eye. But he also trusts Jerod and Ossian to handle the close-in work and he himself is not a fool, either. This is one of the moments of maximal danger, so the bulk of his attention is not inward toward the forces they can see, but outward along the perimeters, looking to see if they are trying something sneaky from the future.

He also brings the Pattern to mind-- he always envisions it as, for the moment, no longer hiding who and what he is, but rather announcing it. Proclaiming it. As though he had taken off a hood from over his heart and his mind, letting spill forth the light from within.

It seems likely that the vagaries of gentle breeze cause the fog to swirl aside when Brennan looks in any given direction. Very likely indeed.

The setup reminds Brennan of the Great Phoenic Wars of Reman history. Either the line would hold or it would not. The battle would be won or lost based on the ability of each side to regroup and return to the battle afterwards. When Reme fought the Barbarians, they won most battles this way. With the Phoenegenians, it had been more even.

It was likely to be a classic hammer-and-anvil battle. It would be loud, and maybe one of the two would break.

Ossian stays hidden with his flanking team. He's waiting, but also brings up the Pattern, mostly to feel what's going on. If it's possible to keep his Pattern wielding quiet, he'll do that.

There is a moment of silence, and then there is yelling from the forest verge, and mounted troops are charging, with spearmen behind them. Not all of them are moonriders, perhaps no more than a half dozen, but they are amazing horse riders, and their mounts are equally fey.

Ossian holds back for a few seconds. Unless he detects another wave of troops coming, he will then bring his team to hit the troop from the side, or if that's possible, behind. (Priority is stopping them from getting around Jerod's line.)

"Incoming. Lots. Brace for cavalry impact," Jerod says. He remains focused on the other...someone else is there trying to make adjustments, perhaps to allow for time-shifting. He lets Ossian and Brennan handle the charge and keeps on the Pattern, suppressing, adjusting, and if possible, breaking his opponent.

Pattern is always easiest to manipulate if one is moving, except when trying to maintain the status quo. These are small armies and not a clash of amazing forces, but the stakes are high. If the vanguard comes through, it would be much harder to stop a main force, because they would naturally be at the attacker's rear. Stopping this in the microcosm is just like stopping this attack in the macrocosm.

All that was well and good, except here and now there were hooves pounding, ripping into the dirt to get traction, men with pikes advancing at a run, and swordsmen ready to fill in any gaps. The line was well-anchored on one end and did exactly what one would expect, bending inward.

Each side was testing the other. It wasn't clear who would commit first.

A few of the moonriders fell back, but a few more of Benedict's men did as well. So far, it was a battle of endurance, and neither side had committed their strength, or executed their plans, yet.

The flankers could come in, but it would go badly if the moonriders have significant reserves.

The Moonriders have to engage here, from what Benedict says, which puts them at something of a disadvantage.

Brennan's plan for this battle requires less in the sense of execution and more in the way of unfolding: Let the Moonrider main force come through, let Jerod's main force of footsoldiers absorb the impact and slow them down, which will let Ossian's main force of cavalry come in from the sides and tear them to pieces.

It's only if something goes "wrong" or unpredicted-- more enemy forces than expected, a second force coming from their own flanks, Moonriders using the main fray with Jerod and Ossian to sneak some their own numbers past the main front would all be good examples-- will Brennan act. Until then, he lets Jerod and Ossian do their jobs without interference. What Brennan does, is watch for any of those examples or anything else that requires intervention off the main script.

Ossian is waiting for the Moonriders to commit. He holds back for the moment.

Jerod's line bends, as lines are wont to do under attack, but does not break. The moon riders manage to retreat to the woods without losing cohesion. Benedict's hardened troops resist the impulse to chase them down.

The wait is not long. Perhaps they used their time advantage to regroup further back along the shadow path. A few soldiers have shifted, shoring up weak spots.

The quiet is broken quickly, as footmen step out of the forest and send a rain of arrows into the air at Jerod's line. Most of the soldiers get their shields up, but there are more casualties -- foot injuries, muscles pierced, and one unlucky soldier who caught a deflected arrow in the ear.

There is no corresponding charge. They may be waiting to see if they can weaken the forces from range first.

It's likely that they can.

Jerod trusts to his cousins to cover the battle and the flanks. These are Benedict's troops... they're not going to get any better so Jerod trusts them as well to do their duty, so he can do his. And his focus is to keep that force from time or pattern shifting.

Every twitch in Pattern, every shift in time, every stutter... they all get suppressed, forged into the main stream of the pattern flow stay in their thread... no jumping, no cheating, no avoidance.

All time meets here, at this battle point. They don't get a second try.

Brennan thinks Jerod has made the right call: advancing his men toward or into the forest is a sucker's bet. Still, they can't let the Moonrider forces stand there and whittle them away. And of the two mounted forces, Brennan had taken the lighter, faster one, thinking he might have to react swiftly to something from an unexpected direction or have to chase a force down... leaving Ossian with the hammer to strike across Jerod's anvil.

He wheels his force around, chooses an angle oblique to the Moonrider footmen and leads a flanking attack against them in two close waves. The first is to shock, with javelins, the second with horse archers. If the footmen scatter back into the forest after the shock of the javelins, the second can fire on their retreat in passing. If the footmen scatter away from or out of the forest, the second wave is to get the hell out of the way in anticipation of a main enemy charge.

Regenlief's infantry is to initially remain in place. They can't really help, here, but she's free to respond to the situation as it evolves.

"Brace for barrage." Jerod orders, keeping position, watching, feeling, monitoring. "Tighten shield ranks. They'll wait for us to be become inert then try a cavalry charge."

It's a hard-fought advance, and at first it follows Brennan's plan. The flanking attack pushes the footmen into the forest. After the javelin wave passes the attack zone and begins to regroup they shout a warning. On Brennan's flank, there aren't any Moonriders, and then there are. Brennan's troop at the edge is engulfed. Those with a bit more time to react defend themselves with their bows against the swords of the Moonriders, and by the time the fight reaches Brennan, his men are also armed with swords. The javelin squad charges back and breaks the momentum of the Moonrider charge.

In its place there's the chaos of the battlefield.

Moonriders are amazing sword fighters, but they die if stabbed enough.

If these are even Moonriders.

Ossian decides this is the moment for him to step in. He charges with his heavier cavalry troop. The goal to drive the fighting Moonriders and their footmen towards Jerod's line of soldiers. He tries to keep the charge as quiet as possible - no shouting, and hopes that will give them a few more moments before the Moonriders notice.

Oh, Brennan realizes, they can materialize like that not just standing still but in motion and on horseback. That's going to make this more difficult. There's not a lot of time to puzzle it out, but with small-c chaos of battle in the circle, it doesn't seem like they could pull that trick again at this moment in the exact same way. Not without running down their own. But they can probably pull that trick with more footmen or archers behind the treeline, if only to take advantage of that chaos in some way.

Brennan tries to manage a fighting withdrawal toward the edge of the circle but certainly not past it. His first goal is to keep the enemy forces occupied while leaving Ossian room to charge. Fighting withdrawals are hard-- Brennan expects to be bloody busy (if not damned bloody) orchestrating it.

Secondary to that, Brennan thinks his first instincts were right and this is going to be a battle of relief after regroup after relief after regroup-- once Ossian's group is in the thick, Brennan knows he needs to regroup with blinding speed. He knows the Moonriders will respond to Ossian's charge, if not with the archers he expects, then with something.

Brennan's fighting withdrawal is, as he expected, bloody and difficult. When Ossian's charge hits, the Brennan's side has some relief, and this is the moment to re-organize.

The moonrider cavalry is being pressed by Ossian, and the seem to be struggling. The response from the woods comes more quickly than Brennan expected, and in the form of a pike square rather than archers. Ossian is exposed and Jerod would need to move his troop to assist.

It's likely that there is a commander who hasn't left the woods yet.

Archers, then cavalry, and now the ground troops, Jerod is thinking. They've got one more push left, and it's time to draw them out.

"Time for the anvil to meet the hammer." Jerod says, turning to his men. "Formation Advance."

He moves his troops up to force the position and the hand of any remaining troops from the Moonriders. If they don't engage, then Jerod can push the remaining Moonrider forces into a press and they can be annihilated. If that happens, and Jerod can get his troops back to their previous defensive position, the Moonriders will have wasted their efforts.

So it's now or never, he thinks, as he pushes probability forward to this moment. If the Moonriders are looking for their "decisive" battle moment, he's going to make sure it's right now.

Brennan senses Jerod's advance by the change in the tenor of the battlefield before he even sees it, as such. And he's glad of it: Could his horse archers peck away at an infantry square, dancing in and out of their range? Yes, but it would take time, and it would tie him up when he can feel the presence of a final commander still playing for position behind the treeline. This is when (Brennan thinks) they'll try to sneak or dash past the lines to become (as Benedict observed) their own force multiplier.

Brennan doesn't waste time trying to figure out rationally what direction they'll break if they do make the attempt-- Moonriders will win that game every time. Instead he takes the respite provided by Ossian and Jerod to regroup at a position that covers multiple possibilities as well as possible, even though it probably doesn't cover even one position optimally. Effectively, he has to make even their easiest possibility as hard as possible, because that's the one they'll unerringly take. And he does it damned quickly because he knows the enemy can make their own decisions with unreasonable speed.

Since Brennan is maneuvering, not fighting, he'll also take a look around the field (or take reports) to make sure he still has a fresh picture of it. In particular, Regenlief's infantry is still fresh, correct?

The moonriders have positioned themselves so that Ossian's cavalry should interfere with Jerod's advance, but the two units are seasoned, skilled, and trained by Benedict. Watching them move past each other without hindering each other is a thing of beauty. And the moonriders take it hard. Their pike square wavers and collapses and the troops start falling back into the forest.

The only thing that keeps it from being a full-on rout is the return of the Moonrider's cavalry, who have regrouped, and are heading towards the exposed flank of both Jerod's and Ossian's troops. Brennan's counter-charge is swift, and breaks the brunt of the moonrider's force.

The riders who were charging at Jerod are gone, and no one saw them ride off.

The field is clear, and the last of the moonrider infantry is retreating into the woods.

Brennan is alarmed, to say the least, at missing Moonrider cavalry. Does the "no one saw them ride off" include Regenlief or the infantry under her command?

Brennan delegates one of his knights, Dame Patience, to get his forces formed up while he confers with Ossian and Jerod. He emphasizes speed.

"I don't like this," he says to Ossian, Jerod, and Regenlief. "Unless someone has a better idea, I need to take a moment and use some Sorcery to try and find out where those cavalry went." That is not mere politeness: Someone might indeed have a better idea, and Jerod in particular, to whom the heavy Pattern work has fallen, might have an objection.

If no one has an objection or a better idea, Brennan does the following:

First, standing in the stirrups for height, he scans the horizon (including the forest) with Astral vision.

Second, if there are no useful results and the sky has not yet fallen, he looks back in time directly. (Guess at stats: He'll concentrate for a minute (1), the target seems like the field (6), and working in his favor is that he's not looking back very far and that he can narrow the time frame he is interested in to a pretty tight window.)

Jerod shakes his head. "They're either re-grouping for another assault or circumstances have changed sufficiently that they are changing their plans." he says, delegating to his subordinates to move wounded to rear positions, regroup and rebuild their defensive position.

"Until we hear otherwise or we leave the Moonriders dead, we remain to hold the position. Let me know when you're done so I can re-engage for Pattern."

Regenlief says "I was watching, and then suddenly it was like they'd never been here. Look at the ground, not even hoof prints. I dislike this magic."

Ossian nods. "It would be good if we got them out of the woods. Can we make a forest fire behind them?"

"We don't love it either," Brennan says to Regenlief. "Let's get some scouts to be paranoid, look for tracks, and make sure they didn't do-over in a way that has them snuck past us."

Then to Ossian, "I haven't wanted to follow them through to the Shadow farther down that path, on the assumption that they'll foresee it and cut us to pieces. We have to force their hands. If we burn the trees down, we can set up so they have to retreat into archer fire. But," he says, "what do you think the odds are that the next Shadow on that path is forested? If it is, what do you think of trying to blow a forest from here-- which won't really hurt us out here-- into that neighboring Shadow?"

"You're thinking of creating a propagating Shadow effect?" Jerod asks.

Ossian frowns: "That sounds dangerous if it goes out of control. If we could confine it to the nearest shadows, though..."

"You're the one who brought up forest fires," Brennan says, with a wry expression. "I merely refine the idea for their capabilities and the Shadow geography in play. But yeah, it's dangerous. And I'm not suggesting we try to propagate the fire," he uses Jerod's word, "from here to Ygg even if I thought we could. I just want to make the bastards move, and cause them to understand we can make them move. Preferably, I want them to commit to the fight here." So we can kill them all.

"Are there better ideas? They can play this harry and retreat game for a long-- and I use the word advisedly-- time. And every time, they come back fresh while we're still fatigued and bloodied."

Regenlief doesn't offer any better ideas, neither do the troops. The moonriders await in the woods (until just the right time!).

Ossian shrugs. "We are not in the position to avoid danger. I say we try with the fire." He looks at Jerod.

"It would depend on how much of a hole we can punch in the localized shadow," Jerod says. "Shadows are variances in probability. Two shadows can be so much alike that the variance isn't worth mentioning. Our job is to create a situation where two variances collide, one where the Moonriders are, and one where the fire is. Shadowpaths are conduits for activity...if one doesn't exist, then we would be creating one, albeit temporarily.

"The option would also exist to create a fire by causing an effect to occur in a shadow that is close to the Moonriders and push it through. Like lightning strikes to start fires that bleed over.

"Assuming I can pull it off, I'll need time to set it up."

"The second is what I was thinking-- it sounds easier to me," Brennan says. "How much time do you need and other than obviously keeping the enemy off of you, how can we help?"

Ossian stays quiet, waiting for Jerod to respond.

"So," says Regenlief, "we're going to make the place they have to cross uncrossable with a ring of fire. When I tell Brynhildr about this, she's going to laugh so hard."

Ossian nods. "Something like that."

"As much as you can give me." Jerod says. "We've got too much Pattern influence to just bludgeon our way through. I need to find the hole. Once I've got that, then I go to work."

Regenlief nods. "I can command your infantry, so we can keep the two cavalry flankers at the ready."

With the lull in the battle, the typical sounds of the forest are audible again. The troops are using the few minutes they have while their officers confer to move the wounded further to safety and to repair lines, weapons, and anything that can be replaced on-the-spot is being replaced.

Brennan was going to suggest just that-- give Jerod some relief from command duty in order to mount the Pattern defense. If Jerod is amenable, he would suggest Regenlief commend the main infantry, and Sir Korbie lead a cohort whose only job is screen Jerod, because they'll be coming for him hard. This leaves Ossian and Brennan to command the cavalry again.

Also, Brennan was not working Pattern previously and (he says as much to Jerod, to be clear) that he intends to leave all the Pattern work to Jerod now. This is both because Brennan will be busy with the cavalry, and because (unlike with Sorcery) he is unsure of his ability to be helpful rather than harmful to Jerod's efforts.

Ossian is quite content with commanding one half of the cavalry. He also knows that Jerod really prefers doing his Pattern work by himself.

Jerod nods. "Keep them busy and keep them off balance. We'll see if I can pull this off.

One of Benedict's sergeants, a soldier named EeE (he's not from around here) asks if the they should prepare anything special, since the sun looks to be setting soon and the moon may rise.

"Be ready for fire. Lots of it." Jerod says.

Jerod is going to be digging into the Shadow actively. This won't be subtle pattern work like in Gateway, leaving little hooks and trip triggers to activate later. He's going to be actively pushing the boundaries, jamming probability as needed to create the effect he wants. He's not going to deliberately break anything, but he's going to punch holes in areas where it's suitable to force what he wants done. He's going to put up major blocks in probability against the enemy's movement, force channels of approach, seek out eddies and flow in probability that would show distortions in time flow indicative of Moonriders, and he's going to crush them down if he can.

He's also going to be opening up avenues to all the immediate surrounding shadows and forcing probability events to create fire. Lightning strikes, meteor impacts, spilled fuel, whatever it takes based on what he reads for the shadow that he encroaches onto. He doesn't care how much effort it takes, or how many nosebleeds it gives him. He needs the Moonriders harried, burning and compelled to attack now. He needs them afraid.

Brennan lets Jerod work undisturbed.

At the beginning of this interlude, Brennan had asked for scouts to check for tracks-- to make sure the Moonriders hadn't done something exceptionally clever to get past them with one of their temporal hacks. He'll take that report now, and in the absence of anything unusual sends them back out at reasonable locations to maintain a mundane watch. He sends them with signal horns.

This, Brennan thinks, is where both sides are going to deviate from traditional tactics and play to their specialties.

He also formally acknowledges Regenlief and Sir Korbie in their new roles: Infantry commander and cadre leader protecting Jerod, respectively.

To Ossian, he seems to be fighting an impulse briefly before he stomps down on it and says, "If in doubt, you go in first. I'm still worried about an attack from outside. Take care." Brennan's got nothing else. Unless Ossian does, he's back to form up his men and position himself for his role.

Ossian grins. "Will do". Then he returns to his cavalry unit, moving them into position.

The next set of waves is both like and unlike the first. The attacks come as expected, and are followed by flanking maneuvers from exactly the right location. The enemies were not there and suddenly it looks like they always have been. It takes every bit of flexibility the three commanders can muster to keep the lines from breaking and especially to keep Jerod undisturbed at his task.

The last wave, if it is, seems different. The infantry presses forward, moving to threaten the center of Regenlief's lines while pikemen protect their flanks and simultaneously calvary charges from the woods at Ossian's horsemen.

There's a strong smell of smoke in the air when both groups advance.

It feels like an all-out attack. Brennan could use his reserve to shore up either Ossian or Regenlief, But he also notices that the moonrider he'd tagged as "the leader" isn't on the field.

No. If Brennan moves now, that will offer the enemies a perfect opportunity to slip past, attack from behind, and become their own force multipliers. And the Moonriders, being Moonriders, never miss an opportunity. That they haven't been savaged from behind is evidence the Avalonian forces have been doing something right, grueling as it is. But more, every minute Brennan's opposite number stays in the emerging inferno weakens whatever force they're holding in reserve, so let them burn.

(The other possibility is that they already have slipped past, but the result is the same: Moving now will just create the perfect opportunity for the Moonriders to slash into them from behind. But Brennan's hunch-- and he knows it's a hunch, not analysis-- is that they haven't slipped past yet and are under increasing pressure to create the conditions to do so.)

Sometimes, the hardest right thing to do is nothing.

Jerod's work has been building, increasing probabilities, shifting the window of options, and making it likely that approaching fire would drive the enemy into Avalon's lines. It's difficult work that relies on Jerod's shear willpower to change the universe, or several universes, and it's not something even most pattern initiates would try.

The difficultly suddenly changes, and Jerod finds his efforts boosted, as if one of his cousins had chosen to help. Or someone. The fire grows exponentially and follows the path across the clearing towards the combatants. The smoke is thick and dark.

The wind, so instrumental in fanning the flames, takes a sudden turn, and the smoke follows quickly. The battlefield, never a place of clarity and ease, becomes a nightmare of no visibility and the threat of getting too close to the encroaching fire. The horses shy and even the best riders have trouble keeping a seat, much less fighting. Most of the fighters feel the horses have the right of it, and that it's time to leave the field, until the smoke clears. They await orders from Ossian or Regenlief.

Brennan watches while two small armies turn into a mass of heavily armed men in a conflagration. He spots, at the far side of the field, the trio of leaders he had seen initially. They are true Moonriders, with the supple joints and impossible grace that their kind is known for. Their horses are angular and all limbs, and are riding upwards on the smoke.

Jerod smiles just slightly to himself. He was wondering if someone might try to turn his work against him, but to do that, they would have to reveal themselves. That would mean using Pattern, and in a way that was more active than passive.

Jerod hammers the shadow now, seeking for the point where his "help" has been originating, to point it out to the others. So to hell with nosebleeds, or probability limits or anything.

He wants the "Other".

Ossian thinks this is the time for retreat. He shouts to his mean "Let the fire work on our enemies! Follow me!"

He tries to lead his company around the enemy and away from the fire. Ideally he wants to end up with the enemy between his boys and the fire.

Brennan sizes up the activity on the field, and singles out Dame Patience: "You're in charge-- support Lord Ossian, then follow his orders."

He sends his squire, Tenacity, to Jerod, or to Korbie if Jerod is under too much strain to receive her, with a warning/message: "Riders on the smoke-- things might get wild."

Then to Sir Crescent and Sir Flagstone, "You're with me. Hang on to your asses." He takes off at a tear across the field, aiming to follow the three "true" Moonriders. Whatever they're doing to the smoke to be able to ride up on it-- presumably for the purposes of riding over to where the Avalonian Stair is, which Brennan grudgingly admits is clever-- is either Pattern based, somehow, or immune to whatever Jerod is doing. He really hopes it is as easy as just taking advantage of that and following them. If not, well, Brennan is a classically trained Sorcerer himself. He'll work something out.

Jerod finds the shadow to be a roaring conflagration. It would've spread here regardless of influence shortly, but the source of interference is gone. It looks like it was a push with pattern just before the assault. If Jerod had to guess, it would be the three riders that Brennan's squire is pointing out.

Ossian's men attempt an orderly retreat. It's hard, but they do have discipline. There have definitely been casualties, and a few men are just missing in the maelstrom.

Brennan's orders are taken and acted upon.

He himself rides through the confusion, skirting the fire and the fighting, and uses his third eye to look at the riders. They've done something to their horses' hooves. It's like they're shod in smoke, and climbing upward with the rising column of thick, sooty, air. Brennan can't see an obvious way to follow, unless he can duplicate their magics with a spell, and quickly.

It would, Brennan thinks to himself, be a damn shame for them if that smoke cleared and they fell from the sky to their deaths. But whatever they're doing, its resisting Jerod's Pattern environment, and Brennan doesn't have any good reason to think he'll be more successful. And he suspects proximity will give them the advantage if Brennan tries to counter Sorcery with Sorcery directly.

So following them it is. It may be more elegant or less elegant than whatever working they came up with, but they had the luxury of planning this while Brennan has to react on the instant. He imbues the gaseous smoke with the properties of a solid, insofar as they are necessary for supporting other solid objects. He adds a double-twist of entropy to keep the smoke clouds from dispersing too much, so that a freak gust of wind doesn't blow apart their highway and so that it looks more like a broad stable path for the horses.

"It's like Rebma, but completely the opposite. Follow, but stay! on! the smoke!"

Brennan, of course, reserves the right to add another spell to himself that will let him move off the smoke when opportune, which is why he gave the warning so emphatically. He is fiendishly cycling through plans and counterplans to better the odds before they close with the Moonriders.