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Oliver D. Bernuetz's Stories Back to my home page - back to stories In the Skies Above Whitewall Kagrada Rollasdotter pulled on the horns of her golden ewe Sky Runner to make her go higher. The Cloud Ram bounded from cloud to cloud gaining altitude. The last thing they needed were some sky lizards getting above them. The sky was overcast and there was the promise of rain, perfect flying conditions-for the Ram Riders specifically and the Orlanthi defenders in general. The beseigers of course preferred the sky to be clear and sunny so that the priests of the Evil Emperor could unleash their sunspears on the citadel. Kagrada shook her head, the weather systems around Whitewall were a mess what with the constant dueling for control between the priests in the opposing forces. She felt sorry for any farmers in the surrounding area. She smiled and shook her head as she saw Mad Ram and Stinky doing somersaults up the clouds. She herself had never felt brave enough to try somersaults, but Mad Ram was something else. The man had no fear. Or sense for that matter. The Ram Riders always echoed his battle cry of "Tea and crumpets!" when attacking. Not that any of them was sure exactly what a crumpet was. She caught sight of Ortossi out of the corner of her eye and felt happy at the sight. It was the smartest thing they'd ever done, allowing the big Orlanth Thunderous worshipper to join their band. He'd proved invaluable time and time again. His big sky bull had a weight and authority the smaller cloud sheep lacked. She still remembered the surprised look that wyvern rider had on his face when Bonecrusher had dived out of the clouds and crashed into his red and white painted lizard. He had been in hot pursuit of Mad Ram when Ortossi and Bonecrusher had knocked him out of the sky. Unfortunately two of his wing mates had caught the wyvern and its rider before they'd hit the ground and a patrol had seen the wyvern moving around the camp since then.The skies over Whitewall had become increasingly crowded. It was true that the Sun Priests had abandoned their levitating pretty quickly, none of them had the stomach for a head butt or a lightning bolt she smirked. She frowned though when she remembered the surprise they'd gotten when the wyvern riders arrived. They'd lost some good people and sheep that day. Besides the wyverns and sky rams there were also wind children, who unfortunately weren't much help being too lightly armed, though they were great with kolating spirits, the naked Vanganthi fliers who were somewhat useful, various storm priests, umbroli, even some Lunar priests using renegade wind daimons! The wyverns were the worst though. The Ram Riders only hope against a full flight was if there was lightning. Then the skies were theirs! All the Lunars had the sense to lie low then and the Ram Riders revelled in the strafing runs they did of the camps. They probably didn't kill too many but they sure raised hell while they were doing it! Probably their crowning glory though was the attack on the moonboat. That had been glorious. It had been early in the seige and the moonboat had come in without any escort. The Lunars had learned a hard lesson then! She squinted off to the northwest. Was that another moonboat coming? Sure was a big one, if that's what it was. She had a premonition of disaster though and urged Sky Runner to catch up with Stinky. Time to head for home. Last updated April 03, 2017 Glorantha is a trademark of Chaosium, Inc. Gloranthan material on this page is copyright ©1997-2016 by Oliver D. Bernuetz or by the author specifically mentioned on an individual page. Glorantha is the creation of Greg Stafford, and is used with his permission. Email me at bernuetz@mymts.net
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