>Jumping over the gate in the middle of the night is hardly the same thing
as having a siege train. And once you're inside the town the danger is
much greater as your ability to keep your distance from the enemy is now
limited. If OTOH the Esrolians were forewarned and had guarded the gate,
the grazers are going to have a nasty surprise...
Avar Talespeaker would have you know that those four warriors were very careful to keep the advantage of surprise. Then they rode into the village and defeated every man (and woman) who stoood against them. If folk attacked them from inside a building, they gleefully burned it down. They even burned down the chief's house! The one building they were careful NOT to harm was the Ernalda temple. (Ernalda is kin to the Feathered Horse Queen, you know.)
Then, with the town at their feet, they demanded tribute - horses and gold. The diggers brought out all their valuables - silver jewelry, heavy pots and tapestries, statuary, and slow, dumb cattle. In disgust, the intrepid warriors left town, taking only the magic gate-post and a few trinkets of silver. That is the _real_ reason the Grazers don't raid Esrolia too much.
(It may also be a reason the Esrolians don't keep many horses.)
Why didn't Avar and his buddies take the cattle? Cattle are slow. And the young Grazers had been told it was important to not meet any of the fearsome Scarred AxeWomen. The women are terrific fighters, and loosing to them is a fate worse than death. Thus, the mere reputation of Babeester Gor helps Esrolia a lot.
Pam
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