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Post by Nina Popov on Jan 29, 2015 20:54:20 GMT -5
 I FEEL IT ALL IN THE CENTER OF MY HEART you're the love of my life The clatter of wooden wheels on rocky roads resounded around them. It was all you could hear as the caravan moved through the Draconian Mountains. The caravan consisted of nine carts all drawn by oxen. It was mundane in a world of magic and phantasms. None of the animals were particularly powerful animals or phantasms. None of the merchants were mages to utilize magic to ease the travel. This caravan moved forward by hard work and the desire for coin. The path was rough. This was not a trip for the weak.
"And that's where you come in!"
The team's employer sat on a fine chest in the back of the wagon. It was packed nearly to capacity with crates. There was room enough for the six of them to all sit, though typically on something, and for a driver to have the wagon pulled. The young woman appeared to be closer to adolescence rather than adulthood. Her hair and clothes were spotless for being in such a rough environment. It was clear that her skill set was not one of transport.
"I hope you all are getting along well. There have been reports of bandits residing in these mountains and I'm not about to have my goods or myself involved in any of that. If everything goes well nothing will happen, we'll get back to Ba'dagar, and you'll get your pay for taking a ride. However, if anything threatening comes out of those crags I expect you all to fight for you coin."
She gave them a sincere smile while fixing her dress. "Not that I don't trust you all. We wouldn't be here right now if that were the case. So let's sit back and hope for the best."
Almost on command everything comes to a screeching halt.
"Oh c'mon!" The voice of the driver called out over the sound of crunching gravel and grinding wood. "We've got a group blocking the road ma'am!"
Nina didn't waste a moment to climb over the crates to look out through the front. Nearly thirty meters in front of the groaning oxen was a group of three dressed in rags. They weren't looking in their direction at the moment. They seemed to be idly sitting. The stretch of road they were passing through was only about three meters wide. The edges of the path were blocked by rocky walls that were higher than the tops of the wagons. The merchant in charge narrowed her eyes.
"I don't trust this... It's time to earn your pay dears. The rear guards should be able to handle anything that might try to sneak up behind us. Go run those guys off and check for anyone waiting." words Lots and lots! Who could count them all? |
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| something I'm sure they just want to tell about their lord and savior, it's cool guys. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2015 23:37:51 GMT -5
It was difficult trying to nap on this thing, or even get a comfortable enough position where Lawrence could just relax. Then again, it wasn't like he could. With a caravan that actually held something worth stealing, the chances of this thing meeting up with a couple of other brigands would definitely shoot up. Sure, having a couple of hired hands to act as a guard of sorts was helpful but that wouldn't completely deter some of the more numerous groups out there. Hell, the people that Lawrence used to work with would have already struck the middle of the caravan to cut off the communications and let chaos spread by this time already. Not that it mattered at the moment. The beastfolk wanted to test out the new spear he'd managed to pillage from one of the targets in another area and this seemed like a pretty good place to start. Sure, he'd gotten some training with it, but nothing gave you experience like an actual fight. Stretching his hands over and behind his head, the silver haired mercenary took a glance over to the left side of the caravan and kept half an eye on anything that may or may not be out of the ordinary.
At least until he and the other guys who were hired for this got a call from their employer. Stifling the groan that wanted to escape his throat, the spearman rolled on over and sat up properly. Keeping the annoyance off of his face, the metal faceplate over his mouth helping out with that, the 20 year old mercenary soon found himself in the company of not only the teenager that was supposedly their employer and the other hired hands for this particular job. He only listened with half an ear on what was asked of him. It wasn't like there was anything different from this protection detail. It was always going to be from point A to point B in his opinion. His physically sharp ears twitched however when he heard the blue-ish haired girl jinx the group. Their little cart stopped and, after a bit of scuffling, the hired hands were informed that they were to head on over and deal with a couple of potentially hostile targets down the road.
Raising an eyebrow at it and taking a look himself, though with a lot more ease in his movements, the eyes of the beastfolk called bullshit. He decided to let the team know as much. "Bound to be other guys hiding." He started off before turning his head back to look at everyone else. Taking note of their more pronounced gear, and for anything that could hopefully tip him off about anything else, the young mercenary decided that he might as well offer an initiative for them. Sure, it might be their job to beat up some thugs and he was really looking forward to it, but he'd definitely prefer coming out of this alive and breathing. "Any of you good with sneaking? Wanna see if you can get an angle before we engage?"
He didn't particularly expect anything from the others but a shot in the dark was better than not trying at all. Besides, Lawrence mused, even if none of them were good with it he still had his Hawk to help do the job. Speaking of which, said beastfolk adjusted the sturdy leather armour he wore over his torso before giving a low whistle. Reaching his hand out as if he was going to grab something, a fluttering set of wings soon made itself known as the hawk landed on the offered limb.
The brown tailed hawk flapped its wings one last time to balance itself before settling a piercing glare at everyone in the vicinity, Lawrence included. Receiving it's own set of instructions, the animal squawked in agreement and began to fly overhead. The thing was smart enough to at least not get shot down immediately anyway, even if it had yet to properly prove itself to Lawrence.
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Post by Maeldir on Feb 1, 2015 22:04:24 GMT -5
Money, money, money.
Soren almost detested the idea of the stuff. It seemed to enrapture so much of what people cared about these days, and it sickened a good, nature-loving hobo person such as himself. Although there was the fact that he never had any that probably had something to do with it. That's how he wound up here: Taking a nap on the back of his trusted steed and companion Pegasus, Horserer. Get it, like sorcerer, but horse. A lack of funds to do anything. Normally, he wouldn't need funds; After all, he was very adept at staying out in the wild and "living off the land" so to speak. Problem was, getting almost anything from people cost money. And while he did love nature, he also loved clothes. And actual cooked food. And plenty of other things that, while not necessary, made life a whole hell of a lot easier. There was also the fact that his Sister's and his since, y'know, twins Birthday was coming up, and he had nothing to get her. He had long since learned that while she enjoyed material things quite a bit more than he did; And he couldn't exactly get her a lion as a present two years in a row. That'd just be classless.
It was a true skill to sleep while riding horseback, Soren liked to think. Especially when surrounded by people incessantly talking. He'd managed the good majority of the trip asleep in his saddle without falling out, before being roused out of his dazed half-asleep state by their caravan leader barking orders. If by barking, I mean more like calmly asking.
"Hm, hru, what?"
A quick shake of his head cleared most of the fogginess out of his brain.
"Right, stuff, gotta do the stuff."
He made a clicking noise with his mouth, signalling Horserer to speed up and accompany the rest of the "hired muscle." [He didn't bother with reins anymore, it wasn't worth the hassle and they knew what he wanted them to do anyway.] A wide yawn was his verbal response to one of the others, Lawrence he thinks his name was, asking if they knew how to sneak. Who needed to sneak when you could fly?
"Yeah yeah, I got this."
Another clicking noise signaled his ascent as the Pegasus beat it's massive wings, lifting them a few feet off the ground.
"Oh, right, before I go."
His hands waved through the air, Soren muttering ancient words under his breath. A moment later, lights seemed to shimmer out of the air, coalescing into three shapes independent of one another. Although the bolbous forms took a few moments to coalesce into recognizable forms, by the end of the spells three wolves now stood, growling lightly under their breath in the midst of their small group of hired help. They each looked at Soren for a moment, before they sat obediently, transforming from menacing wolves to "Puppies-in-Wolves-Clothing" in less time than it took to summon them.
"Stay with them."
It wasn't really clear whether he was talking to the Wolves or to Lawrence and Co, but without another word he flew into the air to scout ahead, joining Lawrence's hawk high in the sky hovering above the area they were about to enter.
Actions Taken: Used Call of the Wild twice, and left Phantasmal Companion Wolf+Summoned Wolves with Lawrence and the rest. Scouting with the Hawk on Pegasus-back in the sky above the enemies.
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Post by Sasha Rivello on Feb 6, 2015 17:06:31 GMT -5
Sasha had remained uncharacteristically quiet on the journey so far, not speaking to anyone past polite greetings and introductions once she had hopped into the back of the cart and they had gotten underway. Normally she would want to get to know the people travelling with her, full of questions and enthusiasm, but instead she was looking out over the side of the cart, back turned to most of them with her eyes on the horizon.
The people, she reasoned, would still be there later, but the view was only here for the moment and would disappear once they got deeper into the mountains. Her tiny village in the middle of the Windy Plains was all Sasha knew of the world, apparently she had lived in Andor as a child but she didn’t remember, and the sight of the Terran Plains stretching out beneath them as they climbed higher and higher up the mountain pass, being able to see forests and towns and mountains and even the large city state they were leaving behind all in one panoramic sprawl, was captivating.
The world was a lot wider than she imagined.
Even when the view was replace by high rocky walls she didn’t turn away, continuing to stare and trying to picture it again. She had never felt like such a small town girl before; she knew she was one but it had never bothered her like this before. Someday sights like that wouldn’t amaze her anymore. That would be a sad day.
She was jostled out of her thoughts and her seat when the cart came to an abrupt halt. Grabbing the side to keep her balance, Sasha opened her ears to what everyone was saying and began to piece together the situation. It sounded like there was trouble ahead, meaning it was time for her and the rest to start earning their pay.
Standing in the back of the cart and craning her neck to see further she could make out the figures blocking the road ahead; nothing about their appearance or the manner in which they were acting exactly screamed ‘bandit’ to Sasha, but the way they were just sitting in the middle of the road and hadn’t reacted at all to their approach or the commotion they were now making was enough to put everyone on edge.
Sasha reached for where she had stowed her belongings and retrieved her gauntlets, imaging that she would have need of them soon. As she slipped her hands into them one of her allies, a spear-wielding Beastfolk, called down a hawk from somewhere above before letting it fly again.
She watched it fly, ascending before being joined by a large, winged horse and rider. That was another thing that amazed her, stories really did not do justice to some things, but this wasn’t the time to focus on that. Nor could she focus on the magically summoned wolves that now accompanied them, no matter that it was the first feat of magic she had ever seen performed.
With her gauntlets in place Sasha straightened and began shaking her arms and rotating her shoulders to work out any stiffness, showing none of the tension her fellow hired muscle showed. If they were to be attacked by bandits then she would handle them, nothing to worry about; if anything it would feel good to get out of this cart and start moving around.
A wide grin stretching across her face was the only indication of the building excitement Sasha felt as she hopped over the side of the cart to the dirt below. She steered clear of the wolves as she walked towards the front of the cart, past the driver and stopping level with the horses. She could see the figures in the road more clearly now; she still saw nothing alarming about them, seeing nothing more than a group of vagrants wearing rags.
However she couldn’t deny that something made her feel uneasy and she itched to do something about it. She turned her head to look up at the sheer, rocky walls on either side. If there were more people hidden above them, as was suggested, the easiest way to find out would be to lure them from their hiding spots and take care of them.
“Hey!”
She called out, seeking a reaction from the three blocking the road. Striding confidently Sasha advanced another ten feet down the road, isolating her from the rest of the group.
“You’re blocking the path. Would you allow us to pass?”
Her eyes were on the group in front of her but she strained her ears to be able to hear any noise which suggested she was about to be ambushed. She kept her body loose so she would be able to react to anything quickly and was fully prepared to bolt back to the safety of the group if she felt she couldn’t handle what came her way next.
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Post by Nina Popov on Feb 7, 2015 21:51:40 GMT -5
I FEEL IT ALL IN THE CENTER OF MY HEART you're the love of my life The vagrants further down the path didn't react at all to the caravan coming to rest. They seemed to be talking among themselves when the pegasus took flight above them. As far as appearances went they didn't seem to have any weapons or armor on them. Whether or not that was to make them 'appear' harmless would be up for interpretation. Sasha's instincts to listen around her would prove useful as the reverberating hum of an arrow being loosed would alert her. She would soon learn she was not their target.
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Maeldir would notice shortly after taking flight that these bandits were as predictable as he had thought. Four bandits laid in waiting on either side of the path above the road. It was clear they had never dealt with a caravan with any source of flight with how long it took them to even notice the pegasus above them and how shocked their expressions were. Most of them jumped to their feet, but only two had any means to fight back. Two of the bandits held bows and loosed arrows at the flying horse in hopes of bringing it down. The other six came barreling down the stone walls into the path of the caravan. They appeared to be fairly standard brigands wearing fur armor and wielding basic weaponry.
The brigands stood their ground, winning an arrow into one of them. The man staggered from the impact. The wooden stick stood erect while lodged in his chest. It would appear his armor absorbed most of the blow. The archer cheered nonetheless.
"Take that you dirty scoundrel!" The beastfolk girl who had brought all of them together didn't seem content just sitting on the side and watching, though her efforts were only mildly helpful.
A blow for a blow. Combat is usually about trading hits until one of the targets go down. The group on the ground would find themselves assaulted by magics. An alert eye would notice the caster of these magics were the vagabonds behind them. Appearing helpless was an act after all. Needless to say just the slightest provocation would spark a full-on battle and the powder keg seems to have been lit.
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OOC: As of this time Rathia will be skipped and the order will be as it is above. Should Rathia return, she can post anywhere in the rotation and will take that position from then on.
Allies, Enemies, & Actions
Allies
Nina (HP - 50): Basic Attack (5 Damage) to Bandit 4
On the Cliff
Archer 1 (HP - 50): Inflict 7 Damage against 1 target (Maeldir's Pegasus)
Archer 2 (HP - 50): Inflict 7 Damage against 1 target (Maeldir's Pegasus)
On the Road
Bandit 1 (HP - 50): Nothing
Bandit 2 (HP - 50): Nothing
Bandit 3 (HP - 50): Nothing
Bandit 4 (HP - 49): Nothing
Bandit 5 (HP - 50): Nothing
Bandit 6 (HP - 50): Nothing
Vagrant 1 (HP - 50): Inflict 5 Magic Damage against all targets (Sasha, Lawrence, Nina, & 3 Wolves)
Vagrant 2 (HP - 50): Nothing
Vagrant 3 (HP - 50): Nothing words I think I broke my dictionary |
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| something They're worse than door to door preachers! |
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