The Bat at Whitewall

From: Martin Laurie <MLaurie_at_compuserve.com>
Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 02:54:28 -0400

>What I am interested in asking the Lunar and Dragon Pass experts is:
>Whats the battle like?
>(The battle when the Crimson Bat is defeated and the Whitewall defenders=

suffer heavy losses.)

IMO the bat was defeated by ritual preperation, not direct military =

action. It has to be remembered that the defenders of Whitewall =

also numbered many Sartarites who were at the fall of Runegate =

and Boldhome. They knew that the Bat is the prime siege weapon =

of the Empire, used on any dangerous strongpoint. When Broyan =

resisted the Empire, he would have had to plan on facing the bat =

at some stage. Therefore I believe the Orlanthi prepared for this, =

possibly with a summons of evil ritual and cast the Bat as the =

wandering chaos creature on their tula. The ritual probably took =

many weeks, if not seasons and involved most of the defenders =

and certainly the more powerful priests. It also involved IMO a =

strong element of questing for the right tools and magics to =

implement the ritual as effectively as possible. The defenders =

also would have backed their ritual with the souls of many =

secondary participants. =

Therefore the defenders:

(a). Brought the bat at a time of their choosing
(b). Ritually cast the bat in a defeatable role
(c). Sucessfully found the weapons and the magics to boost their =

effort in the time before the attack
(d). Prepared a powerful group of devotees with a strong range of =

magics and masteries to focus the ritual.

The results were the repelling of the bat but heavy casualties on =

the part of those who led the ritual. The actual military side of the =

battle was probably small, this being a mythic clash IMO.

Martin Laurie

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