The Last Charge of Strizhakov

The Last Charge of Strizhakov
Written by Viktor Proniakin

On the first day of the Kos war, Vasiliy Strizhakovich was preparing to lead his men when his father, Strizhakov Grigorivich rode to him. "Vasiliy my son, you will not win this war with violence, but with strength and courage." Vasiliy looked to his father, an elder many years before, half blind and thought his father going senile. "Father, how can I win a war with strength and courage but no violence? I ride now to defeat the armies of the Kos and bring them into the empire of the Khards." And Vasiliy rode forth with his horselords, but was not able to defeat the cunning Kos.

On the second day of the Kos war, Vasiliy Strizhakovich was preparing to lead his men once more when his father, Strizhakov Grigorivich, rode to him once again. "My son, you do not understand my words. You attack, when you should lead." Vasiliy Strizhakovich once again thought his father senile. "Father, when I attack, I lead from the front, as all horselords do. You tell me to do something I already know." Strizhakov Grigorivich shook his head and departed, and Vasiliy Strizhakovich once again led his horselords into war, and once again was repulsed.

On the third day of the Kos war, Vasility Strizhakovich was preparing to lead his men for a final assault when his father, Strizhakov Grigorivich, rode into camp in full armor. With him were comrades of his, old Horselords, all aging and frail, but all in full armor and tack. "My son" Strizhakov Grigorivich said, "You do not understand my words, so I will show you what my words mean." Vasiliy Strizhakovich protested. "Father, you are frail and half-blind, if you ride into battle now you shall be slain for nothing." Strizhakov Grigorivich scoffed "A horselord is his own master, and will not brook being ordered by his own son." He and his comrades rode off to battle, and Vasiliy Strizhakovich returned to his preparations. Before the horn could be sounded to ride to battle, a great clamour arose from the Kossite controlled woods. Riding ahead of his men, Vasiliy Strizhakovich reached the site of the battle, where his father Strizhakov Grigorivich and his comrades lay dead, the Kos staring in awe. Vasiliy Strizhakovich howled in grief at seeing his father slain, and prepared to give the order to charge, when the Kossites kneeled before him. Their leader spoke. "We were shocked when the attack came, sooner than we expected, and we found that these were old horselords, frail and half-blind. The bravery of the horselords is unmatched, and something we had not believed until now. We will join your empire, and fight alongside you. With the Kossite cunning and Khardic bravery, none will stand before us."

At that moment Vasiliy Strizhakovich understood his father's words, and though he wept silently, he knew his father's brave soul would be immortalized in the Creator's eternal city, and his father's name in Vasily Strizhakovich's family.

Notes: It's a fine story, nearly three hundred years old as of this writing, and was commissioned shortly after the conclusion of the Rebellion by the newly-reinstated Strizhakov line in Feodoska. Its purpose is rather transparent though. By painting the conclusion of the Khardic subjugation of Feodoska as one of mutual cooperation, as well as highlighting the strengths of both groups together, rather than subjugation of a people by foreign nobility, it helps avoid tensions between the predominantly Old Faith Kossites and the predominantly Morrowan Strizhakov family. The truth is decidedly less happy, nor clear, but from what I can glean from period primary and secondary sources it is more along these lines: When Vasiliy Strizhakovich failed twice to drive the Kossites from their forest, his father, Strizhakov Grigorivich (half blind and frail as the story goes, this at least is accurate) led his comrades around the back and attacked the Kossite villages while their soldiers fought Vasiliy's horselords. When Strizhakov and his comrades were finally slain, the Kossites looked on in horror to see Horselords well past their prime as the source of all the damage. Fearing what would happen if the same thing occurred with younger, stronger horselords, they immediately surrendered. Not as nice of a story for a Kossite mother to tell her sons anymore.