[D9LA] Wooden arguments (Expecting)

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Can't have a cake and eat it Shiba-san.

A compromise if one has access to wood in the vicinity of a potential battlefield is to craft basic shields and light spears out of it, literary just big rectangular planks and long pointy sticks, and to give them at the frontline soldiers. They'll do a good enough impression at breaking volleys of projectile and the first charge, and once the battle has devolved into melee, soldiers can just abandon them in favor of their usual weaponry.

One of my ancestors won a battle where her troops were outnumbered three to one that way. A lot of generals underestimate how efficient makeshift weapons are, at least in the short term."

[Shiba Raizo]

"Oh, we've been working on our 'cut down some trees to make sharpened stakes' game ever since things between our Clan and yours got... tense. I'm more than familiar with the concept."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"And the Unicorn has, unsurprisingly, had to face that strategy for centuries now.

So, while it's a good move, we've definitely got quite a few countermeasures for it by now."

She shrugged:

"However, if things reach the next level of... tense, both sides are going to throw their magic into the mix. And from that point onward, classic strategies aren't going to cut it, on any side."

[Shiba Raizo]

"Eh, for us, inclusion of magic is our classic strategy... at least in large-scale stuff. My outfit doesn't even see a shugenja half the time, and we have one with us maybe once or twice a year. But the Elemental Legions... their whole deal is using magic in conjunction with units of dedicated shugenja."

He shrugged.

"But I think a lack of understanding of Unicorn magic is at the root of this whole mess anyhow, so if things get much worse, I suppose we'll see how it goes."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"When water hits fire, neither the one holding the torch nor the one carrying the bucket has any control on where the steam will flow. Both sides can just hope that the wind will or will not change its course at that exact moment.

I definitely don't look forward to that front. While the war with the Lion will likely very bloody, humans and beasts can only damage the land to a certain point. Magic however... There are numerous hints the Burning Sands used to a fertile land you know?"

[Shiba Raizo]

He paused. Glanced at her.

"No, I hadn't heard. Would you indulge me by telling me about them, Moto-san?"

[Moto Mitsuki]

"We don't know what happened. But there are ruins. Dried-up river beds. Fractured mountains. And one of the few things the legends of all people of the Burning Sands agree on if that the change was swift and cataclysmic.

We call it the Day of Wrath. The history of the Moto start when the Ujik met Shinjo. The history of the Ujik start at the Day of Wrath. Everything that was before has been lost but for a few memories.

Of course, you can imagine there are many theories about the how and the why of this event. Two advanced civilizations clashing with such magical strength they reduced themselves and everything around them to rubble is the third most popular I would say."

[Shiba Raizo]

"Well. This is perhaps a poor thing for a Phoenix to tell a Unicorn, but... given the way we revere the kami and the natural balance, I... suspect we'd draw a line before it got that far. Some defeats aren't as bad as the consequences if victory."