Thane watched the ladders fall with wonder. He was hearing the Serpent Lord’s voice in his head and now spoke with the authority of an oracle. The weak and the foolish would deny him, but he was chosen and would press on. He called a retreat and was surprised at the speed at which the mob moved to obey. He was used to being obeyed, he had been gifted by Kolyat with a powerful voice and the guile to use it properly, but this was something else entirely. His voice cut through the chaos like a knife and what was once a frothing mob was turning into an orderly retreat. It was if they could hear the voice of the serpent god speaking through him, and that thought pleased Thane greatly.<br/><br/>He kept his bodyguards close as he strode through the ranks, the enemy would notice what he was doing soon enough, and that would make him a target. He made sure ladders had enough men to speed them away. Anyone who could walk was ordered to their feet, and the rest were left at the wall. If they were strong Kolyat would see that they made it back to camp and the weak would perish, as was just. He also ordered a few healthy men to drag a few corpses back towards camp. He had an idea to let some of the faithful serve their god even in death.<br/><br/>And then the ballista changed targets. He looked over to see where they landed and saw the shields protecting a group of Kolyat’s own archers giving back some of the death that reigned down on the faithful. They were too far to be a target unless they were actually a threat to the men on the wall, and so Thane began to change his orders, sending anyone with anything even remotely like a shield to go reinforce the archers.