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Post by Firehead on Sept 20, 2010 12:18:59 GMT -5
(OCC: This is happening just after the troops return from the war in Gallica, so is early winter at the end of Year 655 or Jan 656)
Fisk doubled over just in time as the knife blade swiped through the air just over his head, where it had previously been, and recklessly lunged forward toward the tall, muscular warrior knife first. The Scotti spun quickly to one side, and Fisk flew past him, twisting and giving a lopsided side swipe with his knife. He missed again and landed with a thud on the solid ground. Even as the wind was driven out of him, Fisk tucked into a ball and rolled quickly away from the Scotti, coming to his feet in a smooth movement to face the Scotti's newest onslaught. He dodged swiftly to one side, but not quickly enough--the charging Scotti's blade sliced across the outside of Fisk's arm, opening a shallow gash six inches long. "Ow, damn it! Watch that!" Fisk yelped aloud in indignation. He glared back at the grinning Scotti, who approached light-footed as a cat. It reminded Fisk of Ryan--who wasn't here, of course--which made Fisk even more annoyed. "Ryan should be here for this." he muttered to himself as he flicked his gaze quickly over the Scotti's shoulder and then back at the enemy.
Behind the Scotti, things were going as well for the rest of the small troop as they were for Fisk. Putting even more venom into his glare, Fisk scowled deeply at the grinning Scotti, who appeared to be enjoying the totally one-sided fight. "Hey, listen, you! Just 'cause your winnin' don't mean I'm a gonna make it easy for you! Whoop!" Fisk dived back just in time to avoid the Scotti's sword swipe. The Scotti continued to advance calm and grinning, swinging his sword and forcing Fisk to continue retreating. With each step back, Fisk Fisk got more and more aggravated by the widening grin on the warrior's face. Finally, he had had enough. "All right you! I've had it! Yeaaaaaaaaah!" With a ferocious scream, Fisk charged recklessly forward at the startled Scotti, driving straight at him. At the last second, Fisk dropped, ducked to the side, and lunged in toward the Scotti's exposed ribcage.
The knife blade sank in to the hilt, and the Scotti grunted aloud in pain, giving Fisk no small amount of satisfaction to hear. Fisk twisted away from the warrior as he went down, and spun in a quick circle to examine his surroundings. The fighting was slightly spread out now, but it didn't stop Fisk from seeing the warband rounding the bend toward the fighting. "Hargh!" Fisk growled in frustration. This was not going to be a good day. Fisk hollered for a retreat.
As the remainder of his small troop gathered around him and moved back toward a small clump of shrubbery, Fisk thought over the past several hours. They were far from ideal: They'd run into a small band of Scotti up to who-knew-what, and in the fighting that had ensued, managed to push them back the way they had come. Straight into the Scotti's awaiting ambush. In the chaos that followed, Fisk and his troop had lost over half their mounts and four of their corades-in-arms...men that were sorely missed when they ran out of long-range missiles and wound up in a hand-to-hand melee. As Fisk looked around him now, he saw that, over the course of the past two hours, they had lost another three, possibly four. "Where's Alister?" he asked, referring to the troops' lone scout.
"Don't know. I lost sight of him when he went around that bend there, where those fresh boyos just came from." answered a sargent by the name of Jamison, busy bandaging a young woman's arm.
"Probably means he's dead then." Fisk scowled as he observed the Scotti approaching their stand slowly.
The others muttered agreement, also preoccupied with eying the warband and their approach.
"Shoot, I wish they'd be less cautious about it and just get it over with!" growled the woman as the sergeant finished wrapping her hand and gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
"Your not the only one, Private Kayle." the sergeant answered. "But think of it this way: the longer they take, the more time the captain here has to think up a plan to get us out of here alive." he winked at Fisk, who simply frowned back.
"Well you may have to put your thinking caps on to y'all. My brain ain't coming up with nothing but charge 'em-- an that ain't gonna work."
"How 'bout blowin' th' horn an' seein' if anyone nice is within earshot?"
Everyone turned to look at the tall, thin lieutenant that they all called Lanky. He was one of the few in the troop who could track almost as well as Alister, and one of the two bowmen left alive as well.
Fisk gave a shrug and turned to Junior, the youngest of the troop. "He has a point. Got it on you?" The horn was typically given to the youngest on the grounds that the youngest would get into the most trouble over his head, and so therefore, he would have to call for help so that the rest of the troop could come get him out of it. Of course, when the entire troop was in trouble,such as now, they could blow the horn in order to summon the nearest other troop available--if possible.
Junior nodded, and produced the horn from where it hung at his side. Fisk took it and gave it back. "Alright, now when the enemy charges, blow it! Give it all you got, understand?"
"Yes sir." Junior gave a salute as he took the horn.
Speaking of points, Fisk, how about puttin' some in front of the front line, where the Scottis over yonder can step on 'em?" Lanky suggested.
Not a word was spoken: they all went to work breaking branches off the shrubs and trimming them down to two sharp points, then handing them to Junior who thrust them into the ground at an angle, facing outward.
A spear thudded into the ground next to Junior's foot, and Fisk shoved him back from the front line. "Stay back there, and start blowin' that horn!" he commanded, turning to face the rushing front line of Scotti warriors. "Spears at the ready!" he yelled, kneeling down between two spears and in front of their holders, yanking out his dagger as he did so. From behind him, he heard Junior blowing the Help! alarm. It was two notes that started low and got louder and went up as it continued, lasting all of 10 seconds to complete--you just kept repeating it until either help arrived, or you died. The lancers let out a loud roar as the second note died, giving the charging Scotti pause. then the charge resumed, full-force.
"Ready...."
"We're gonna die!" yelled someone. It was the standing joke/superstition in their troop.
"Brace yourselves!"
The Scotti line was nearly on top of them now. Another second and-- "Forward!" Fisk yelled, and simultaneously the front line lunged forward as the Scottis hit the solid line of spears and stakes. Screams, yells, and enraged roars rent the air mingling with strained grunts, while above all the noise rose the sound of the alarm, loud, clear, and urgent.
The entire troop, Fisk not the least among them, hoped that someone friendly nearby would hear the call and come to their aid--preferably while they were still alive.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jan 18, 2011 12:12:43 GMT -5
Katrina was cold, hungry and tired of arguing with her mother. The trip from Araluen to Norgate had turned out to be quite a long one and as she had known from the moment she found out her parents were going to come with them, she had not had a moment alone with Dougal. There had been several times when she had attempted to ride off to scout in one direction with him going in another to meet up for a few minutes at least to talk and each time her father would end up cutting her off on a ‘scouting’ trip of his own. This was one of those times. She had just circled well to the south of the main path that the small, heavily armed party was travelling and was planning to meet Dougal up ahead in a thicket of pine trees and scrub brush when her father came cantering up on his old battlehorse, Ringo. The dark bay was still magnificent looking with his wide white blaze and four white stockings on the nearly black coat and Katrina was amazed that the 25 year old horse could even still be ridden, let alone move with such grace and speed with her father fully armored upon him. They were quite the striking figure of combat; she had to admit even as she scowled at his approach. He drew rein beside her, Ringo’s sides puffing out and her father looked at her apologetically.
“Father, I can’t believe you are participating in this game of mother’s.” Katrina said sourly, rubbing Ringo’s forehead. “You are going to kill this poor beast if you keep it up.”
“Well you didn’t have to ride away so quickly you know.” Her father tried to jest with her. “Made it harder on him to catch up.”
Katrina sighed. “I just want five minutes alone with him Father, is that too much to ask? We are going to get married afterall. No matter how much Mother interferes, she is not going to change that.” She eyed her father as they walked Ace and Ringo on toward her meeting place with Dougal. “Why do you persist in carrying out her every whim to break up Dougal and I?”
“Look at it from my perspective,” Duke David countered. “I have to live with the woman.” He stated it as if that said everything.
“Indeed and I thought that you had some modicum of control over her.” Katrina pouted, much like when she was a child. “Maybe you should take her over your knee and give her a spanking. That always seemed to work on me.” She said indignantly.
David chuckled, “and on your mother at one time as well.” He seemed to be recalling a specific incident and Katrina looked at him curiously. Then he sobered, not giving any further explanation, “I don’t believe I would get the same results now.” He said lamely.
“Well then-“ Katrina broke off abruptly and sat up in the saddle to listen. She and the two horses all turned their heads to the south.
“What?” Katrina stalled her father’s question with a raised hand, listening intently. Ace tossed his head and stamped his foot, taking a step in the direction to the south and then froze again, holding his breath to hear better. Katrina confirmed the sound she had thought she had heard and a look of puzzled alarm played across her face.
“Someone is in trouble and it is someone in the military.” She said softly, still listening. There was a very faint sound of a horn on the air, two long low blasts in succession that rose in pitch. Katrina judged the distance to be over five miles away through the dense forest. “Did you hear it?”
David nodded. “I heard. I will go get help.” He said turning back toward the trail and the knights that were accompanying Katrina’s family to Norgate.
“Be careful Father, there could be more than one group of people in these woods up to no good.” Katrina glanced around them but didn’t see any signs of anyone else. “Keep three of the knights with you and mother and ride hard toward that Inn we were going to stop at for the night. Send the rest here. I will leave trail markers.” Katrina ordered, taking charge as naturally as if she were born to lead, Duke David thought proudly, not the least bit ashamed his daughter was ordering him about like a common soldier. He started to spur Ringo into a canter again when she called back to him softly, “I love you Father, and Mother too. Remember that.”
David glanced at her sharply at her rather final words but Katrina was already cantering Ace through the foliage toward the sounds of the forlorn horn in the distance. David thought he heard a clash of weapons ringing against each other and then shook himself. There was no time to worry about his daughter. She was trained for this and she had inherited his talent with the sword. She would be okay and he had to get help back to her quickly to ensure that. He spurred Ringo back to the road and the knights that would protect his daughter.
Katrina sped through the forest, breaking tree limbs and stopping only for brief moments to leave a scrap of cloth to mark the trail for the others behind her. She hoped they would come quickly enough. As she grew closer to the horn, she could hear the unmistakable sounds of battle and from those sounds she discerned that it was no small skirmish really. By herself she wasn’t sure what help she might be. With the other eight knights under her command she felt they could take on a company three times their size, but by herself… She wondered if Dougal had been close enough to hear the horn. If so he would be here shortly.
Katrina wished she had a horn of her own as she grew closer, catching glimpses here and there through the trees of the battle ahead. She could let them know help was on the way, but on second thought, it would give up her element of surprise. She slowed Ace and took stock of the situation as soon as the battle came into view.
A band of Scotti warriors had a small group of Araluen soldiers pinned down. They looked like they might be Araluen Guardsmen actually, she thought upon closer inspection. Several of them were in bad shape and though there were several dead or wounded Scotti, the number advantage certainly lay with the Scotti. Up until now.
Katrina wished for a moment that she had her lance. She could mow through their front line from the side with it and take half of them out of the battle in one charge. The lance, however, was back in the supply wagon, it being rather awkward to carry through the dense forest on a scouting mission. She loosened her horseman’s mace and held it in her left hand while she carried her longsword in her right hand. She guided Ace by her knees and burst onto the scene at a full canter, yelling a blood chilling battle cry at the top of her lungs as she swung the mace down on a Scotti head on one side and chopped down with her sword on the other side as Ace plunged right into the thickest part of the Scotti force, not checking his speed.
Katrina saw a sword slash out toward Ace’s back legs and she pivoted his rear end away from the blow as she brought her own sword straight down into the Scotti’s neck just above the collar bone. The man looked up in surprise and slowly slid to the ground as she plunged on past him and broke through the rank of Scotti, her shield slung across her back taking a blow from a great axe that nearly toppled her from the saddle.
Reeling she regained her balance as Ace moved under her and Katrina looked back at the results of her first charge. Three Scotti lay unmoving on the ground and two others were trying to crawl away, one nursing a smashed shoulder and the other clutching at his neck as blood oozed between his fingers. The mace had seemed to have done more lasting damage since the Scotti were wearing nothing more than leather or studded leather armor, if that. She sheathed her sword and pulled her shield around to set it on her arm. Now that they knew she was here, she would have to work much harder to defend herself.
She heard the notes of the horn die away and spun Ace toward the young man who had been blowing it. He was looking at her with awe and completely oblivious to the axe that was about to clobber him from the side. Katrina spurred Ace who lunged and did a half rear, striking out with his forehoof. He caught the horn blower’s attacker in the shoulder and set the man spinning.
“Watch yourself!” Katrina glared at the boy, “and keep blowing that horn!” She looked around at the Scotti who were regrouping and making a move to attack her. In Scotti she repeated her command to the boy loudly so they would overhear, “Keep blowing that horn, Boy, loud now, so the others can find us!” Then she plunged back into the fray, her mace doing severe damage with every swing. She hoped Dougal and the other knights would get here soon. If not she could be in trouble. She also wondered if these were the ‘bandits’ that she and Dougal had been sent to find and capture, but she didn’t have time to spare attention to those thoughts. She was now battling for her own life against several Scotti warriors, not the least of which was the huge man wielding the double bladed great axe.
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Post by RacingBelle on Jan 28, 2011 22:35:29 GMT -5
"Come on Lightning. Might as well trot." Adriane murmured to her small bay horse. At the word 'trot' Lightning's ears pricked up, flicking back occasionally to catch any additional words. He too was bored of the monotonous pace they had kept up for most of the day. Adriane gave him a nudge and obediently the horse moved into a trot.
"Good boy. Norgate can't be much farther now." The brown haired girl praised, giving Lightning a pat. Norgate was where Adriane was meeting up with her 'mentor' or at least the Ranger that was looking after her at the moment. He had ridden ahead, he also had said he would tell her why when she got there. Though, Adriane couldn't regret being left behind. She actually liked being on her own for a while. Just a while. Then being alone starts loosing its appeal, it gets rather boring. The air was starting to feel a little bit colder than it had a few minutes ago or was it hours? Adriane pulled the cowl of her mottled gray and green cloak up and pulled it more firmly around her. Lightning startled Adriane out of her thoughts by turning his head to the south, ears pricked. Adriane was at immediate attention. She had been taught that Ranger horses tend to warn their riders about danger before the rider could even think about what was happening.
"What is it boy?" Adriane asked. She too strained her ears and caught the sound of a horn blowing. Now what did that signal again? The girl thought. Adriane's eyes widened in recognition as she remembered what it meant. With her knees, Adriane turned Lightning on his haunches to the direction of the horn. With Lightning's sure swift gallop they got within hearing distance of the battle quickly. Adriane let a grim smile touch her face as she pulled her bay up to a more silent pace. The forest was a perfect place for a Ranger to conceal themselves and shoot a few arrows.
Adriane stopped then dismounted Lightning when the sounds became more clarified. Checking to make sure her quiver was full of arrows and two knives were in their double scabbard were there, Adriane strung her re-curve bow with ease.
"Silent." Adriane gave the command to the horse as she lead him off the path and into the brush. Lightning nodded his head in response, seemingly saying that he had understood. A brief stroke on the nose was given as praise before Adriane moved off. With an arrow knocked onto the string Adriane slid through the forest, like her mentor had taught her. All at once the battle broke into sight. Adriane found a good place to take aim and did. Scotti warriors had cornered a small group of Araluen soldiers. A lady knight was also in this group on an impressive gray mare with two black socks and a unique diamond on her head, fighting as well as all the men.
Adriane didn't even think about missing when she fired at her target, a Scotti that was trying to get at the young man blowing the horn that she had heard. With a thud the black arrow embedded itself into the Scotti's chest. He fell with a thud. Adriane's next shot came within two seconds, more or less, of the last one barely taking aim again before firing. As all Ranger apprentices Adriane practiced for hours on end to get her shots like that. After all Ranger's don't practice till they get it right. They practice until they get it perfect. Adriane was aiming for the 'perfect' margin. The girl was surprisingly calm. This was her first skirmish but she treated it as if it was a regular thing, something that she had done everyday. After all this wasn't really too much different than practice, right? Except that your targets are moving and if you miss you might just hit one of your own. Adriane thought wryly. Once again the Ranger focused on hitting the targets she choose with only the precision a Ranger could.
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Post by Tandar on Jan 29, 2011 20:43:13 GMT -5
Armadal regrouped with his fellow Scotti warriors and eyed the newcomer. She had wreaked havoc on their party, but she wouldn’t surprise them again. Tightening his grip on his falchion, he advanced, determined to unhorse the female knight. She was probably traveling alone when she heard the horn and decided to aid the guardsmen. It was a valiant attempt, but she could not turn the tide of the battle by herself. Armadal was focused intently on his target and didn’t see the black arrow that transfixed his comrade. Over the din of combat, he heard hoof beats growing steadily louder from behind. Slightly confused, Armadal glanced over his shoulder in time to see a soldier mid-flight following a leap from a galloping charger. A split second later, the body slammed into him and the world was spinning.
Lieutenant Bolt Killington launched himself from the saddle of his galloping horse directly at the Scotti warrior. The warrior turned and saw him but had no time to dodge aside as the lieutenant hit him, knocking the Scotti to the ground. The pair rolled several yards from the momentum with Killington keeping a firm grasp on the winded warrior while attempting to dodge his weak blows. They came to a rest with Killington on top, and he took the opportunity to headbutt Armadal. The Scotti seemed unfazed as he craned his neck and looked off to the side where his falchion was lying, just out of reach. He had dropped it during the tumble. Killington looked too, but unfortunately, that’s what Armadal was waiting for. Bolt’s head exploded with pain as the warrior’s boot struck him on the side of his head. The warrior regained his footing, retrieved his falchion, and brought it up for a quick overhand chop.
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Post by Firehead on Jan 31, 2011 14:40:14 GMT -5
(OOC: Gee, didn't think people were going to go all gung-ho over it, but OK...)
The stakes and spears held the rushing line for the beter part of a minute but then they began to find themselves pushed back as the weight of sheer numbers drove into them, slowly finding gaps and wedging them wider unlit they buckled and colapsed. Fisk called for his troops to fall back yet again, and they moved deeper into the shrubery that afforded them at least a little protection. And not a whole lot of that, Fisk thought, as he found himself face to face with not one this time, but two hulking Scotti warriors. They were Scotti, right? The slight lapse of attention caused Fisk to drop his gaurd enough for one warrior to get his dirk through and slice the existing gash on Fisk's arm deeper yet. Fisk let out a pained yelp and threw himself backward to aviod getting spitted by the second. he rolled away from the two as they fought to untangle their weapons and scrambled to his feet.
He recovered his brath as the two turned toward him and threw himself at them with a flurry of knife thrusts. "Death before dinner! I'm starvin'!" he roared. He struck the one to his right in the gut with his shoulder, sending the man staggering backwards. Grabbing the man's undrawn dirk, he whipped it free and brought it across the mans' throat hard, twisting to face the second man before he had even finished with his first manuver.
As the first man fell away, Fisk felt the sudden urge to duck and did so just as a javelain hissed past overhead and struck the Scotti--who'd thought to take advantage of Fisk's position by killing him--squarely in the chest. Turning, he flashed a quick 'thank-you' to the soldier who'd thrown it. He now had a quick respite and a chance to take a look around and see how they were faring.
The horn blowing faded abruptly and Fisk swung to see why, even as it began again. Fisk spotted Junior out in the open and dashed across the space between them to yank the kid into the sparse shelter of the brush again. "Stay in the brush and stay down!" he commanded, not taking his eyes off of the crazy woman who'd come charging to their rescue. Apparently on her own. At least she was wearing some armor.
The sound of more galloping hoofbeats filled the air, and Fisk looked quickly about him to see that maybe the woman wasn't so alone after all. The second responder to their call for help threw himself off his horse at a full gallop, and onto a Scotti warrior intent on besieging the lady knight. They both went down, and Fisk's respite ended with the appearance of three Scotti's cornering Lanky. "Gawk at the kraken later, Junior. Keep blowin' that horn. I'll be back." he said, charging his way to Lanky's side.
He reached Lanky at the same time as Private Kale, and the three joined forces against their opponants. Fisk saw the knight was in trouble and alerted his companions. En masse, they broke away from their current opposition to engage those surrounding the knight. Ducking between two warriors and hamstringing them in the process, Fisk found himself standing practically at the warhorses sturrip. He immediately spun and found himself face to face with another opponant. We need to regroup! He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Regroup to Junior! Regroup to the horn! To the horn!"
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Post by RacingBelle on Feb 3, 2011 10:58:20 GMT -5
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! The bow string pulled taunt was released and each time an arrow flew out to met its target. Though nobody is perfect and sometime Adriane's arrows didn't hit exactly where she wanted them to but it was still considered a good shot on her part. At least an arrow hadn't hit one of the soldiers on the Araluen side. Yet. Adriane was hoping that a stray arrow wouldn't hit her allies, ever. Adriane took a deep breath, letting out the one that she didn't know she was holding, and reached back for another black arrow. Her groveling hand found one and Adriane set it on the bow pulling the string taunt again. The apprentice looked for someone who might just need an enemy with an arrow sticking out of his chest...or any where else that the arrow might hit. Adriane spotted the knight that was being surrounded by Scotti's. Now that isn't fair... Adriane thought with a mental grin. That was like saying everything in life was fair. All is fair in love and war. Oh so true. Adriane let the arrow fly, strong and true. She smiled, satisfied that it had hit its mark, one of the approaching Scotti that was going to help his buddies. A few of the Scotti's were looking around for the bowmanthat was taking down their men without much mercy.
Suddenly, the person who seemed like he was in charge started bellowing "Regroup back to Junior! Regroup to the horn! The horn!" It was true. The little force of Araluens needed to be together in order to defend themselves better. After all, it really helped to have someone to cover your back. A low, yet clear, whistle floated through the air. All Adriane needed was to call once and her horse would come. It would be good to have him closer to her if she needed to get the spare quiver of arrows from his saddle.
Back where Adriane had tied him, Lightning stood silently. The horse's ears were pricked, alert to any sound. To tell the truth, he wanted to pace or paw the ground in frustration. What happened if his rider was injured and needed his help? But Lightning still stood still as a statue. When the low whistle floated gently though the air, Lightning was more than obliged to join his mistress. The Ranger horse moved into a quiet canter.
Unfortunately, Lightning wasn't the only one who heard the whistle. Some Scotti did too, five of them to be exact. They pointed and headed in her general direction. Adriane slung her bow over her shoulder then quickly covering it with the flap that kept it safely hidden and held as still as her horse previously was. A statue covered with a whole bunch of moss. More than likely, the enemy warriors would just keep on moving. They would not see her until she moved. Adriane, once again, unknowingly held her breath. It was times like this when every muscle in a Ranger's body screamed to runaway into some real cover but Ranger's defied this and kept still. Most knew that a Ranger wasn't spotted by the enemy until one moves. These blustering idiots won't see me till one of them knocks into the tree... All her hopes of not being found were shattered by a bolt of lightning. Indeed it was, Lightning, that choose that moment to come cantering up to Adriane, unaware that she was trying to stay unseen. Adriane wanted to groan and smack her forehead against the palm of her hand. The five Scotti's smiled like they had already won. This was not the case, in any way. Adriane's bow was knocked with an arrow before all five could blink. The Scotti looked at each other a little uneasily but hey there were five of them and one Ranger. Big mistake.
"One Ranger, one riot!" Adriane yelled that old saying, shooting the first arrow into the throat of a Scotti. Adriane didn't watch any further as she shot the next arrow. Then moments later she was down five arrows and the Scotti forces were lessened by five men.
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Post by Tandar on Feb 3, 2011 21:03:24 GMT -5
Armadal’s falchion arced toward Bolt in a powerful downstroke. The blade came to a jarring halt as it clashed with the lieutenant’s scimitar, adding to the ring of metal on metal in the air.
Bolt picked up the call and repeated it to the forces scattered around him. “To the horn!” Drawing a stiletto with his free hand, he lunged at the Scotti, keeping the deadly falchion at bay with his scimitar while attempting to strike with the dagger. The warrior, sensing he was outmatched, fell back from the onslaught only to leap at Bolt once he was caught off balance by the failed attack. The soldier managed to fend off Armadal’s blow by parrying. Moving in close, Killington dropped the scimitar while the warrior tried to recover and stepped between his feet. Killington made as if to stab him, and the Scotti dodged backward, tripping on Killington’s boot. Bolt spun him around by the shoulder as he pushed him to the ground, plunging the stiletto into Armadal’s upper arm. The warrior cried out in pain and clutched his arm as the lieutenant jerked the blade free, rolled him over and straddled him as Bolt systematically bound his hands behind his back with a length of rope from around his waist. Killington tugged on the knot to ensure it was tight, eliciting a curse from the Scotti.
A javelin flew by Bolt’s head, ruffling his hair and burying itself in the ground next to some broken stakes. He jumped up, retrieved his scimitar, and, following the direction of the Araluen Guard commander, retreated to the horn blower. The lieutenant looked around, expecting the other knights to arrive at any moment. Killington was traveling in the company of Captain Dougal and Sir Katrina with the purpose of investigating and terminating the activities of a mysterious bandit group in Norgate Fief. He had been attached to the party of knights by his commanding officer, but he much preferred the camaraderie of the other soldiers in his unit. The knights were a little too stiff for his taste. Like Katrina, Bolt wondered if the warriors were related to the bandits they were hunting since intelligence suggested at least some of the bandits were Scotti. Killington had been performing reconnaissance for the party when he encountered Duke David riding fast through the woods. The duke informed him of the horn he had heard and sent him in the right direction. From there, the soldier was able to pick up on the trail Katrina had left and used until he was within earshot of the battle.
The knights were not much farther behind me. Surely they must be almost here.
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Post by Brandwyn on Feb 4, 2011 13:39:17 GMT -5
Katrina was hard pressed but just barely managing to hold her own with the help of Ace who was slashing out with a fore hoof there or a kick here and the occasional rake of teeth across a Scotti Shoulder. Riding her was like performing a macabre dance on horseback complete with the sound of screams, clash of metal on metal and the smell of blood in the air. So far Katrina had managed not to get wounded, but she was quickly growing tired. The Scotti knew who she was now and they were thronging to her as if each was trying to be the one to bring her down. For the first time in many years Katrina’s heart began to feel the cold clench of fear.
The huge Scotti with the great battleaxe was her most dangerous opponent and Katrina focused her attention on him, merely deflecting the other’s blows. She heard an arrow wiz by but didn’t spare any glances to find out if it was fired from friend or foe. There were a few of her knights that had crossbows, but not many. The Scotti tried to stab the pointed finial of the double-bladed axe into her stomach and Katrina blocked it with a sideways maneuver with the haft of her mace, barely missing her fingers. She slid the mace handle along the base of the axe blade until the head of her mace caught on the blade of his axe. For a split second their weapons were locked and Katrina seized the moment. She pulled back on Ace, giving her the cue to rear as Katrina gripped her mace as strongly as she could and jerked her arm back. Taken by surprise the Scotti tried to hold onto his weapon, nearly jerking Katrina from her seat before he lost his grip. His axe, now free from any restraint sailed up into the air above Katrina and Ace and flew backwards to go crashing through the trees behind her. Ace struck out with her forefoot and smashed in the Scotti’s face and he crumpled to the ground and didn’t move.
Noticing that there seemed to be a lack of opponents from the back, Katrina felt someone at her stirrup and raised her mace to bludgeon them. At the last second she realized it was the Araluen Commander and she checked her swing.
"Regroup to Junior! Regroup to the horn! To the horn!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs and turned Ace’s rear slightly so she could defend them as the slowly retreated to regroup with the others. It was only then that she noticed Bolt among the other Araluen guardsmen.
“Lieutenant!” Katrina nodded her head in his direction, but was interrupted by the sound of a female voice yelling out, "One Ranger, one riot!" Katrina followed the sound of the voice and saw a young girl in a familiar gray and green mottled cloak standing before five Scotti that were stalking her. Before Katrina could react, however, the girl had dispatched all five warriors in short order. She wasn’t out of danger however, because now the Scotti knew she was there and with the slight lull in the battle they were able to see the damage the archer had already inflicted. “Commander, we need to get to her or she is going to be in trouble quick!” Katrina pointed with her mace. “I have men on the way and they should be here any minute, but I am not sure she has that kind of time.” Katrina looped the thong on her mace handle back over the small horn on the side of her saddle designed for that purpose and drew her sword. The mace might be more effective, but it was heavier and her arm was already getting tired. She was much quicker with the sword and had better reach as well.
Their brief respite was over. A lone Scotti loomed in front of Katrina and faked a blow at her off leg under her shield. At the last second he changed and aimed for Ace’s exposed neck. Katrina saw where the man was looking and knew he wasn’t going for her leg so she ignored the feint and rather than leaving her right side exposed to the immanent attack by one of the Scotti’s buddies on that side, she flicked the bottom tip of her shield forward and into the Scotti’s face, smashing his nose with the point of her shield. Ace threw her head and butted him in the shoulder, striking it with Ace’s poll armor and sent the Scotti sprawling in the dirt.
Katrina knew strategy, but the area of command in this particular struggle went to the Araluen Commander at her side at least where his men were concerned so she deferred to him, keeping the Scotti off of him long enough for him to organize his men. Meanwhile the Scotti had regrouped and formed a line in front of them, broken by the trees, but formidable none-the-less. At the moment it didn’t look like they were going to be able to reach the ranger girl to protect her. Katrina kept an eye on her, but took out her frustrations on the Scotti as they began once again to press in on her, but this time they were actually using shield wall tactics and their men with shields were in the front protecting those with spears and polearms behind them. The formation set off alarm bells in Katrina’s mind. ‘Someone has been training these men in traditional shield wall tactics.’ She thought as she ran a shield-man through after getting him to drop his shield with a feint to his leg. ‘These have to be the men, or at least part of them, that we are hunting. Though there are a great number here, there are not enough for it to be the entire band.’ She tried to seek out a leader among them, but there did not seem to be anyone giving them orders. ‘He must be hanging back,’ she thought, searching the line of trees while still trying not to get clobbered.
Pain pierce Katrina’s leg in the calf muscle and she felt Ace shudder just before she squealed in pain also. Katrina brought down the hilt of her sword on the unprotected head of the Scotti that had just stabbed her with a knife. She couldn’t spare a moment to check Ace though, but her warhorse continued to fight, showing no signs of slowing down. Katrina ignored her wound too and moved into the gap made by the fallen Scotti. Ace stepped onto the man’s arm and Katrina heard it snap, but he was unconscious and didn’t scream.
'When are they going to get here?' Katrina wondered and finally heard the sound of horses crashing through the trees and felt the vibration in the ground that only comes with a cavalry charge. They were here! The Scotti heard them as well and some turned to face the sound while others kept the heat on Katrina and the Araluens. This battle was far from over.
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Post by Firehead on Feb 7, 2011 15:07:37 GMT -5
Fisk ducked his latest opponant's strike and landed a solid right to the man's jaw. Behind him, he felt the warhorse shift and half-turned to face the knight. She had turned her horse to gaurd their rear as they retreated back through the press of men surrounding them. Fisk gave a nod and turned back to his work, just in time to duck in order to avoid losing his head to a dagger thrust from one of his own men.
They made it out of the fray to the shrubbery where Junior still sounded the alarm cry on the horn. “Commander, we need to get to her or she is going to be in trouble quick!” Katrina pointed with her mace. “I have men on the way and they should be here any minute, but I am not sure she has that kind of time.”
Fisk looked around and finally spotted the cloaked figure standing near the forest's edge, bow in hand. "You know, I'm not sure we have that sort of time either!" he told the knight as he looked around him at the small knot of men who had arrived. Most, if not all, were wounded to varying degrees and all of them looked ready to drop, with the exception of the knight and the lieutenant. They were fresh as daisies in comparison.
Taking a deep breath, he rose to his full hight and issued his orders. "You," he said, pointing to Katrina, "if your horse is fast enough, I want you to get around those boyos out there, opposite to the Ranger girl there, and give it another charge. Lieutenant, I want you to get over there and give that girl some back up. Jaimison, you go with him. Rest of you, get ready for another go-round with the Scottis You have one minute to get yourselves in position--I think that's all we've got for time."
"You're right about that, Cap." Lanky interupted, pointing behind Fisk at the Scotti. "Here they come again."
Fisk looked and sighed reluctantly, shaking his head tiredly. "Great." Looking at Katrina he said, "Forget going around, just charge 'em." Raising his voice he added, "Lieutenant, Jamison, You have your orders--they haven't changed--go help that Ranger. Everyone else--CHARGE!" With a roar, those still on their feet surged forward to clash with the enemy once again. The sound of the cavalry charge was lost on those who had been there for the entire battle; They were focused solely on the rushing enemy before them, fighting for their very lives even as help swept into the fray to save them.
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Post by RacingBelle on Feb 7, 2011 19:44:38 GMT -5
Adriane shifted nervously, eyes darting to the point where the riders would most likely appear, as a pounding of hooves met her ears. But to her relief the Lady knight seemed relieved to see them and the fact that they were here. This cavalry must have been the people she was traveling with. Good that puts more of us onto the game board. Adriane thought shortly. The little force was still out numbered by a lot even with this new fighting force. Adriane fired a few last arrows after the remaining Scotti before there was a pause in the battle. The girl was just starting to feel the searing pain in her arms. She could also tell they were going to ache in the morning. If they made it till tomorrow.
Adriane didn't have the chance to catch her breath much during that brief respite. The Ranger's apprentice had unpacked her extra quiver from Lightning's saddle, slinging it over the saddle in case it was needed for further use, before mounting the horse. Adriane moved him out of the forest into the shadows still but in plain sight. There was no need for concealment now that what ever Scotti that managed to survive and see her location had more than likely told all their little buddies to come and take her out. Adriane felt a little bit more safe being on top of Lightning, besides he was her rock right now a rock that she could lean on. Adriane shuddered, making Lightning shift his weight nervously, a thought had just came into her mind. She had killed men for the first but not last time in her life. Not just one man but quite a few. More than a few really. Those thoughts were pushed roughly aside. These Scotti deserved what they got. They were the ones attacking us. It's only justice. Adriane told herself. Some men broke off from the main group as a wave of Scotti came again. The captain gave the order to charge. The men that could fight roared and met the enemy. Adriane let out a battle cry of her own, Lightning adding his own whinny of excitement after picking up on Adriane's rush of adrenaline.
"Nice to meet you all. Now, I'll shoot as many as I can, you can have fun with the rest of 'em." Adriane greeted the warriors, her gaze not leaving the Scotti force. The Scotti's broke in half, some heading to the main group of Araluens while the rest went to the small group by the trees. The searing pain in Adriane's arms faded to a dull ache in the back of the girl's mind as she picked up the rhythm of firing at the enemy again. The sounds of the rest of the battle became faded and far away as Adriane got more and more into her own world. It was just Lightning, the unfortunate targets, herself, and her bow.
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Post by Brandwyn on May 20, 2011 13:02:19 GMT -5
Eight knights broke through the trees, some with lances leveled, and charged right into the Scotti line from the side just as Katrina had done. She saw them out of the corner of her eye, heard the Commander’s change in orders and decided she could follow his orders and maybe save the girl who was bravely taking up her bow again with a fresh set of arrows.
Katrina didn’t have enough space to get up into a charge, but she pushed Ace up against the Scotti shield wall, looking for a weak spot. There was a smaller warrior toward the left side that seemed to be wielding his sword a bit awkwardly and Katrina fought her way in that direction. There was a tree to his left and a brute with a spear defending him from behind. Behind them the ground was open all the way to the group that was dodging ranger arrows, nearly surrounding the girl.
Leaving the main battle to her fellow knights, Katrina hollered to the lieutenant, “Follow me! I’ll clear a path.” She didn’t wait to see if he had heard her before plunging toward the pair of Scotti. Dropping the reins, she pulled out her short dagger with her left hand, brandishing her sword as a distraction; she flicked the knife at the brute with the spear and caught him in the cheek. “Damn!” She swore. She’d been aiming for his throat. Nevertheless, he staggered backward, dropping his spear with one hand and clutching at the dagger sticking out of his face, blood welling up from his mouth.
The young boy in front of him took a step backward in fear as Katrina lunged her horse straight at him. Feebly he tried to swing at her and Katrina knocked his sword aside with her own, and then pushed him over with her shield. His feet tangled in his buddy’s lowered spear haft and down he went, flat on his back, turtling up under his own shield. The spearman saw her coming and tried to roar, defiance in his eyes. Katrina grabbed the pommel and cantle of her saddle, turned and kicked him square in the chest with all her might as Ace thundered past. The man fell over backwards with a great ‘whoosh’ from his lungs as Katrina’s kick knocked the wind out of him. He flicked her own dagger back at her as he was falling and caught Katrina in her side, just in the chink of armor. The dagger didn’t penetrate very far, however, and although it stung and was bleeding heavily, Katrina could tell it was a minor wound. She pulled the dagger free and saluted the fallen man with it. “Thanks!” She called back to him and then set her sights on the line of Scotti attacking the ranger girl.
An arrow whistled past her head, dangerously close and Katrina pulled Ace around in a large circle. She realized then that the girl seemed almost in a trance and that she and the lieutenant, if he was behind her, were in as much danger from her as the Scotti were. She decided to go after the three Scotti that were making their way around to take the girl from behind and so spurred Ace forward in a large arc, hopefully out of arrow range. She glanced back to see if the lieutenant was there and indicated her intentions with a gesture of her sword toward the three men.
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Post by Tandar on Jun 17, 2011 23:49:10 GMT -5
“Lieutenant!” Katrina’s greeting carried over the din of battle as Bolt arrived at the small group surrounding the horn blower. The guardsmen deferred to a young man who seemed to be in charge. Sir Katrina addressed him as Commander, confirming his thoughts.
“Lieutenant, I want you to get over there and give that girl some back up,” Fisk ordered. “Jaimison, you go with him.”
Killington hesitated a moment, unsure if he should take orders from someone other than his commanding officer. Shifting his gaze in the direction of the girl, he watched as the Scotti mounted an attack to take her out. She seemed oblivious to the danger she was in.
“Lieutenant, Jamison, you have your orders.”
“Understood,” Killington replied.
“Follow me!" Katrina hollered. "I’ll clear a path.”
The lieutenant took off at a dash, following the female knight and desperately trying to reach the apprentice Ranger before the enemy did. Jamison tailed closely behind. The armored knights thundered into the battle and their attack coincided with the Guardsmen charge, cutting down a good number of the enemy’s front line. At the same time though, Bolt saw one of the mounted knights go down after taking an arrow. Killington acknowledged Katrina's signal with a nod of the head as he placed a foot in the stirrup and climbed into the saddle of the warhorse without a rider. He spurred the animal after Katrina, prepared to support her as they rescued the girl. The pair arrived at the apprentice just as a group of three Scotti warriors launched an assault. They advanced on her from behind, and one prepared to strike while she was firing at the main party. With a single, fluid movement, Bolt drew a throwing knife and sent it spinning through the air toward the Scotti. The warrior staggered and fell backward just short of his target, clutching the hilt protruding from his rib cage.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jul 16, 2011 14:38:31 GMT -5
“Nice one!” Katrina called as she charged ahead after the other two. The first one saw her coming and ducked under her blade, taking a slash at Ace. Fortunately Ace’s chest armor deflected the blow and as a parting shot Ace lashed out with her hind foot. The Scotti staggered, but did not go down. Katrina was beyond his reach for the moment though and engaged with the third Scotti. The man was wiry and fast and eluded Katrina’s blows or parried them expertly. She wheeled Ace out away from him for a moment and then charged back in an attempt to mow him down or at least throw him off-balance. That turned out to be a mistake as she felt the chain of a morning star wrap around her forearm. With a jerk she was pulled from the saddle as Ace plunged on ahead and the Scotti braced his feet and gave a yank on the wooden handle. The iron ball had spikes in it and they dug into her arm, preventing her from shaking it loose.
Katrina tossed her longsword to her left hand and turned to face her opponent, using the Morningstar to pull him closer. He was holding it in his left hand and refused to let go as they circled each other, testing their skills against each other. Katrina tuned out the rest of the battle, focusing on his eyes and the tell-tale tightening of his muscles. He was good, one of the best swordsmen she had faced in a very long time. The battled on, moving away from the girl with the bow and a bit deeper into the woods. Katrina knew she needed to get her arm free of the chain, but she didn’t want to leave the weapon in the hands of the Scotti. Unfortunately he seemed equally determined to hold onto it.
She flicked her blade at his head on the right side, following with a downward slice diagonally across his body. He jumped back, nearly jerking her off balance. He definitely had more strength than she and her movements were hampered by being tethered to him. Again she attacked his right side and he parried and counter-attacked. She blocked his blows and for several minutes they did a silent, deadly dance through the underbrush, neither gaining the advantage. Katrina studied his face and his braid as she fought him. She would be able to identify him later if the need arose.
Finally there was an opening, a slight extension of his right arm as she parried a downward slice on her left side. She blocked the blow easily and flicked the tip of her blade toward his left hand. The finely honed steel sliced into his wrist and he howled in pain as his fingers lost their grip on the Morningstar handle and his fingers curled up in a fist. She had succeeded in cutting the tendons in his wrist and he would likely never have full use of that hand again.
She shook the chain free of her wrist, but it took her other hand to pull the spikes out of her arm before she could drop it to the ground. That gave the Scotti the opening he’d been looking for. He attacked with vengeance and a speed that caught Katrina by surprise. She tried to pull away from him and tripped over a tangled mess of vines and went down in a thicket of thorns, her sword above her, barely blocking the rain of blows coming at her.
She saw his blade ricochet off her own sword and flick toward her thigh so she moved her sword hilt to block it, but his blade wasn’t there. At the last second he turned his wrist, rotating the tip of the sword and she felt it pierce her armor just below her rib cage. She screamed in agony as the cold steel felt like fire in her guts and kicked out with both feet, her sight going red. Extending her arm, she stopped his sword’s advance into her body by locking his hilt with her own.
The Scotti grinned down at her and leaned into his blade, cradling his right arm to his side. In Scotti he said, “I shall be famous, wench, for all will hear the tail of how Stefan MacIvor killed the Silver Unicorn!”
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Post by Firehead on Nov 30, 2011 13:56:38 GMT -5
“I shall be famous, wench, for all will hear the tail of how Stefan MacIvor killed the Silver Unicorn!”
Zzzzzship-thud!
The arrow came out of nowhere, striking the Scotti in the chest and sending him staggering, and sprawling backward. Unable to get out of the way fast enough, Fisk, who had been coming up on the Scotti from behind, found himself pinned beneith the body of the now-expired Scotti warrior. "Well, too bad you won't be able to tell them about it." Fisk muttered, as he wrestled his way out from under the body. Looking up he caught sight of the mysterious archer meandering slowly toward them. "Alister. You took your time showing up. Glad you could make room for it in your busy schedule. You were almost too late for the party--what took you so long?" he scowled at the grinning scout.
"W-all now, I was busy." Alister told Fisk, tongue in cheek. "Somebody had t' block they're entrance and exit, an' I was available. They was right unhappy about it for some reason, 'r other, but they got used t' it after I showed 'em the good it could do."
Fisk's scowl lessened slightly as Alister talked, and when Alister had finished, he turned to Katrina. "We didn't introduce ourselves earlier. "Field Commander Fisk, with the--as you can probably tell--Araluan Guard." he held out a hand. " And if I may make an observation, you have been extremely helpful. Thank you."
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Post by Brandwyn on May 15, 2012 21:01:25 GMT -5
“I shall be famous, wench, for all will hear the tail of how Stefan MacIvor killed the Silver Unicorn!”
Zzzzzship-thud!
Katrina felt the press of his blade into her side suddenly lesson and watched in amazement as the MacIvor warrior toppled over backwards, and arrow protruding from his chest. Carefully Katrina grasped the blade and slowly pulled it out of her side. Fortunately it had not penetrated very deeply, though it bled profusely when the blade was removed. She dropped it to the ground and swiftly pressed her left hand into the wound at her side.
She watched her rescuer approach and Commander Fisk address him by name. "Alister. You took your time showing up. Glad you could make room for it in your busy schedule. You were almost too late for the party--what took you so long?" he scowled at the grinning scout.
"W-all now, I was busy." Alister told Fisk, tongue in cheek. "Somebody had t' block they're entrance and exit, an' I was available. They was right unhappy about it for some reason, 'r other, but they got used t' it after I showed 'em the good it could do."
Fisk's scowl lessened slightly as Alister talked, and when Alister had finished, he turned to Katrina. "We didn't introduce ourselves earlier. "Field Commander Fisk, with the--as you can probably tell--Araluan Guard." he held out a hand. "And if I may make an observation, you have been extremely helpful. Thank you."
Katrina grasped his hand around the hilt of her sword which was pointed at the ground and let him hoist her to her feet. “Thank you Commander, and Alister for finishing that guy off. I must confess I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of that one.” Katrin shoved her sword into the ground and took a moment to examine her wound. “Damn, that going to leave another scar, but I don’t think he hit anything vital. Just got to stop the bleeding is all.” She muttered half to herself and half to the two Araluen Guards. She looked around at the battle and realized that it was pretty much over. Her men had a large group of Scotti surrounded and they were laying down their weapons. However an equally large group was swiftly disappearing into the woods. “It seems a bunch of them are getting away, pity,” Katrina muttered.
Katrina gave a low whistle and Ace trotted over, limping slightly. She examined the mare, checking her over for injuries and found the gash on her shoulder and a few other cuts and scrapes. “Well Ace, looks like we are both getting stitches this time.” To the men she said, “normally its just me that has to get patched up.”
Then she remembered an earlier question that had popped into her brain just before she had joined in the fray. “So, Commander, this seems to be quite a long way from any city, so what is the Guard doing out here anyway?”
She figured she better let him in on why they were there too. “We are out here trying to determine how many bandits there are and basically acting as bait to flush them out and take them back to stand trial. Plus we are escorting some civilians from Araluen back to Norgate. She didn’t mention that they were her parents. ‘Let them figure that out on their own,’ she thought.
Then she glanced over at the ranger girl, hoping the girl hadn’t been injured. It appeared she was unscathed. Katrina gave her a nod of acknowledgement, glad the girl was ok.
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