Atlatl by 0laffson on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Another drawing of Azad, one of my most recent characters. He's a nomad who wanders around riding his trusted war-chicken Tara.
His people, the Jedhazi, wander around the great desert called "Golden Sea", trading, hunting and occasionally attacking the settlements of their sedentary cousins, the Tol'kahir.

Compared to the soldiers of the Tol'kahir city-states, who deploy phalanxes of heavily armored infantrymen and small units of heavy bird-cavalry, the Jedhazi warriors use only use light bird-cavalry, moving quickly around their slower enemies while throwing hundreds of projectiles at them. Every Jedhazi warrior must master the use of the bow and atlatl.

(I really should make a reference only about the war tactics of desert people)