Lord Marksman and Vanadis: Maiden of the East
Chapter 1: Half-Blood (Order of the Griffon)
War is a terrible thing conceived by man. One should wish for the streams to flow clean with water for the people, instead flow red with their blood. Some of that blood was shed by my own blade. By the power of my Dragon Gear, my shield protects the innocent, and my blade is the guiding light when all else fade. My name is Wilhelmina, Lady of Acre.
I am a War Maiden. I am not one to flaunt my body even if I am comparable to a friend of mine named Sofy. Many summers have tanned my skin, and my eyes are as warm in color as tea. I sport a boyish cut to my brown hair to make putting on a chainmail coif that much easier. My armor is steel plate and chainmail. At the top, I wear a chainmail coif
A turban in a shade of dark blue with a face cover to protects myself from the sandstorms in and around my land. My armor is steel plate covering my arms to my hands, and from my thighs to my feet. Next is a chainmail hauberk with short sleeves protecting my chest, back and waist. Over my chainmail is a surcoat with my coat-of-arms in front.
I had my dark blue surcoat cut to expose my armored thighs and hips to make it easy to mount and dismount a horse. In my left hand I carry what is called a heater shield, and in my right hand is a longsword I named 'Hornisse'. My sword is forty-nine and a quarter inches long with thirty-seven and three-quarters being the blade, a formidable sword.
The blade width two and one sixteenth inches at the guard, tapering to one inch and four inches from the point. The cruciform cross-guard is eight and one-eighth inches ending at a perfume cap pommel. There are things I have pride in as much as I have in myself and my skill. One is in my city. My city is a trading hub and port between east and west.
"Lady Wilhelmina, an army approaches the Northern Wall!" said a soldier, kneeling and catching his breath before me
"Calm yourself, my good man, how many do they number?" I asked, getting up to help the soldier up to his feet
"At least three-thousand with mounted knights, Lady Claramond is seeing to it that the defenses are strengthened," he replied,
The Kingdom of Acre is known for it's gender diversity among soldiers. I feel a woman can fight, and hold her own in battle, as well as a man can. A footsoldier's armor is very similar to my own. The kettle helm is the popular choice of helmet for soldiers. For archers, the bow is the English Longbow. Our weapons vary in type from the spear to the axe.
The spear is seven and half feet long, and, including the socket, the spearhead is a little over a foot long. My soldiers wear a coat-of-plates protecting the shoulders, upper arms, chest and midsection. They wear plate armor in the same areas as me. Their swords are similar to mine, but made a bit smaller for single-hand combat and paired with a shield.
The axe and mace are alternatives to other weapons used by soldiers and knights. The axe comes in a single hand and two handed form. The two handed form is often used by the infantry. The head is a forged in a half-moon crescent blade with a trifoil cross. The mace comes in the flanged style, and used by soldiers and knights. We are a ready army.
I went over to the walls to see the attacking force. The spears of the soldiers at the wall stood as straight as pine trees, "What do you suggest we do?" asked Claramond, she is my second-in-command. I trust her with my life. Her hair is as golden as a wheat field ripe for the harvest, and often styled in a ponytail. She wears very similar armor to me.
She wears a chainmail coif with an aventail and a simple pot helm. I looked to her, and looked at our soldiers. Brave they are, and ready for battle should our visitors wish it. The city is protected by a standing army of twenty-thousand with five-thousand knights and five hundred archers. These are young men and women who answered the call to arms.
"There appears to be a young War Maiden at their head, we will see what her intention is," I replied to Lady Claramond,
Lady Claramond is as well-endowed and buxom in the hips as I am, "I doubt it is noble," she said back, clutching her single-edged crescent battle axe.
Lady Claramond put on her helmet, and we rode ahead of the advanced guard, "Stay in formation!" she ordered to the infantry,
"I know this little cornflower, Ludmilla Laurie of Olmütz," I said, and walked up to her on horseback on my handsome black stallion
Lady Claramond advised me to be careful. There was a unison rattle of armor as our soldiers marched behind us. A few mounted knights carried the war banner: a dark blue flag with a gold border and noble griffon in the center, "Is this it, Lady Wilhelmina? The Defenders of the City of Acre? A rabble of ill-trained soldiers and a bunch of ragtag knights?"
"Aye, Lady Ludmilla, I thought I was facing a War Maiden, not a strutting peacock on a horse, so a War Maiden you will face," I replied, resting a hand on the pommel of my sword. She seemed offended. My soldiers clutched their weapons at the ready. The archers on the walls had their longbows ready to fire at my say. No doubt we are in for a fight