Chapter
Four: The Bastion
“Lady Yishana, it is such a pleasure
to see you again. You and your... fifty heavily armed Askaris...”
Grigor Sanson, the self proclaimed 'Ubar' of the Bastion, smiled and
bowed in greeting as he met us halfway along the the wave soaked
causeway that led from the narrow harbour front to the high rock that
formed the base of the Bastion. As a defensive position it had many
advantages, not least of all the imposing vertical height of the
island's cliffs. An army could only ascend it by a series of wide
stone steps that centuries ago had been hewn from the rock itself.
Aerial assault by tarns would be difficult as the Bastion was located
far out to sea in the southern Thassa territorial waters, maybe
twenty pasangs from the shores of the Black Ubardoms and as is
commonly known, tarns – those mighty war birds of Gor – are
loathe to fly out over the Thassa once they lose sight of land.
Controlling them in such circumstances is next to impossible, though
it is said that Tarl Cabot (him again!) came up with an interesting
way to utilise tarns in naval combat at the great sea battle that
took place between the armadas of Cos and Tyros against the fleets of
Kar on the 25th of Se'Kara, over 50 years ago.