BONUS ROUND 1: THROWBACK PROMPTS

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In this round, we'll be using prompts from last year's bonus rounds! You can either come up with a prompt based on the previous themes, fill a prompt from previous bonus rounds, or fill a prompt that's been posted this year!

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PROMPT: TEAM [TEAM NAME]

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FILL: TEAM [TEAM NAME]

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Fill: Team OC

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Ship: Deshavi/Ymira/the Captain (PC), from Mount & Blade
Words: 769
Notes: Yes this is a crackship from an ancient version of an old game. No I don't care, I am going to Not Shut Up about them. The Captain's speech is modeled on this deeply informative blog post by history professor and fantasy nerd Bret Devereaux, particularly the section "A Battle Speech By the Numbers."

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The morning is sunny and green, and birdsongs echo through the valley. It is, all things considered, a far too beautiful day to die.

The troops have formed up in ranks, pikes in the front, bolts in the back, board shields at the ready. Behind the lines, the Khergit auxiliaries mill about, until a shrill cry issues forth from their leader and they gallop off westward, morning sun glinting off their lances.

Deshavi has seen this before, from the safety of the camps. Ymira, she knows, has not. For all her bluster, she is a veteran of caravan raids and campfire stories, not pitched battles.

The Captain knows this. The Captain still trusts them with her life.

With the Khergits gone, the three of them are the last remaining on horseback. Having surveyed the lines to her satisfaction, the Captain wheels about, and, flanked by her honor guard, she addresses her troops:

“Rhodok soldiers! The Nords are upon us, and there is not much time. But you are men and women of many actions, not of many words, so I trust you will forgive me for being brief.

“The Nords stand to our west. To our east lie our homes, our lands, and our families. To the west lies ruin; to the east, all that we hold dear. The Nords have come to lay waste, and we have come to stop them.

“The Nord warriors are strong. They stormed Calradia in our ancestors' days, taking Wercheg and Tihr by force and Sargoth by siege, and they have held them for a generation. They raid our villages for slaves, and our caravans for gold. They are here today to plunder and kill. They think they can do it unopposed.

“We will teach them that they are wrong.

“The Nords’ shield-walls are feared and renowned. But who taught them to close ranks behind their shields? The Rhodoks! The Nords march out to seize our lands. But who seized these lands for ourselves from our Swadian overlords? The Rhodoks! The Nords issue forth from their castles to raid and plunder. But who built those castles with our cunning and our labor? The Rhodoks!

“Look to your right. Look to your left. These are your brothers, your sisters. When the fear of battle washes over you - and it will wash over you! ask me how I know! - remember who stands to either side of you. Remember who lies in our homelands behind you. Let the fear wash over you, and let it wash past you, like waves breaking over a rock - and when it is gone, like a rock amid the waves, you will remain.

“They say that the Nords do not fear death. And I tell you: they are wrong! The Nords are human like you and me. They bleed when struck, and they cower when surrounded, and in the heat of battle they fear for their lives.

“Rhodok soldiers - the battle will be terrible. But we are fighting for our families and our homes, and when the fear of battle comes upon us, we will not break and run. Can the Nords say the same? I tell you: they cannot!

“We will stand firm, like rocks upon the shore. And when the Nords come upon us like fearsome waves, we will not break, and they will break upon us!”

At this, Ymira unfurls the banner of the red rose, crimson and white snapping in the breeze. As the soldiers cheer, the Captain speaks in a lower voice.

“Stay close by me. Deshavi, if you have to carry me from the field, you tell them that I'm injured, not killed, regardless of the truth. Ymira, no matter what happens, our colors stay at the center. I am the focus of their courage. I can be broken, but their courage must not.”

“Our lives before yours,” Ymira responds.

Deshavi simply nods.

The Khergits return now, lances shattered. There are riderless horses, riders two to a horse, bloodied and broken as they stream to the rear. The Nords are visible too, in the distance, cresting the rolling hill’s ridge and loosing the first of their arrows, all of which fall upon shields or harmless in the grass. The Rhodoks respond in kind, the thwack of their crossbows blurring into a steady buzz.

As the lines grow closer, Deshavi leans to Ymira and asks: “Are you afraid?”

“Terrified,” Ymira responds.

If she says anything else, it’s drowned out by the roar of the soldiers as the Nords break into a run and the shield-walls collide, and then there is only battle.