• PM To Join • Fire on the Water

73rd of Vhalar 720

Beyond the city of Rharne lies the Stormlands, which is home to a number of farms, forests, fields, Lake Lovalus, and the River Zynyx. This subforum also includes the Stormwastes to the south.

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Praetorum
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Fire on the Water


Date: 73rd of Vhalar, Arc 720
Status: Waiting

Weapons: Tower Shield
Armor: Platelike Leather

No Current Magical Effects
Bandits. It was always bandits. Prae sighed, shaking his head as he listened to the mercenary explain the situation. First from the hills and woods, and now along the water? They got bolder and bolder every trial. Not that it was unexpected; it seemed like all of Rharne was stretched thin. First the justicars had to bring in mercenaries, and now those mercenaries had to hire freelancers. 


Well, Prae shouldn't complain. He was one of those freelancers they were hiring, after all. 


In the last few trials, bandit camps had started springing up along the shore of the lake; small, mobile encampments that were really only there for the bandits to moor their ships and rest their heads, in between sailing the river to harrass merchants and travelers. Catching them on the water was possible, but generally facing an enemy on their home turf was inadvisable at best. Which was why these mercenaries had decided to go for the smarter approach, and catch them at night while they slept.

Prae tapped his claws against his muzzle as he considered the situation. This was going to be a somewhat large scale battle, at least for a bandit raid. There were just over thirty mercenaries and freelancers, going up against... the scouts hadn't been able to get an exact number of bandits, but somewhere between thirty and fifty—reports noted that they had a longship, two keelboat, and five sloops, but kept a great deal of space open for stolen cargo. 


The three largest ships were visible now, bobbing gently in the moonlit lake. From this distance, the much smaller sloops weren't visible, but there was no movement either out on the water or in the camp, save for a few wandering patrols. 


"Right." The mercenary leader said curtly. "Those of you who can stay hidden, follow me; we'll take out the guards. Once we give the signal, or they start sounding the alarm, move in to attack; those of you with bows or crossbows, use the fire arrows and light up their ships so they can't escape."


He gestured at several of them to follow, and started to make his way towards the camp in near complete silence. His second in command stepped up, bow in hand. She nodded at them, and took a knee, crouching to keep hidden from the eyes of the bandits. Praetorum did the same.

"Be ready." She said, and settled down to wait.

word count: 430
Let's play 'What's Weird About Prae'

Head

  • A fiery rune shines under his right eye
  • A firey glow in the back of his mouth

Arms

  • A ring of blue runes floats over each of Prae's wrists
  • A silver shield marks the back of his right hand
  • A ring of light around his left forearm

Misc

  • His tail is about eight feet long, usually knotted around his waist
  • His body temperature is uncomfortably high

Surroundings

  • Wind gusts with every step he takes
  • The area around him is slightly more static-y than normal
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Elisabeth Black
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Re: Fire on the Water



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“Train as much as you can…” Those had been Lore’s words to her what seemed like a million trials ago. When the opportunity had arisen to go with the mercenary group to take care of some bandits, Elisabeth jumped at the chance. After telling Yeva of the mission, she as well had decided to join the group. The young women journeyed out to the rendezvous site together, talking about...everything. Elisabeth was slightly nervous about the mission, realizing she wouldn’t know anyone but Yeva...but true growth didn’t happen within one’s comfort zones. At least, that’s what Lore always said.

Things had changed at Storm’s Edge. Plans were being put into motion. A battle was coming and as much as she might want to, she had to be ready. Doing smaller missions would help her gain the experience she needed – not just in swordsmanship but in all the smaller little traits that weren’t so obvious and couldn't be taught.

After arriving, things happened quickly. Instructions were swiftly distributed, and she gleaned as much information as she could about the situation. Between thirty and fifty bandits and it was thought that they had a longship, two keelboat, and five sloops. Considering there were about people in the group, those odds were…interesting.

One of the main reasons she had decided to join the mission was Praetorum had signed up. The Ithecal was quickly becoming something of a mentor to the young woman and she wanted to see what else she could learn from him.

She had considered not telling Yeva about the mission. It had nothing to do at all with whatever skills she did or did not possess. Elisa had never had friends before and the thought of one getting hurt or worse wasn’t pleasant. But she was a big fan of free will and Yeva could make whatever decisions she wanted to. Elisa would just have to watch her back and make sure they both stayed in one piece.

In the dark of night, orders were given. Elisa stayed with Praetorum's group, crouching down and staying out of sight until the next instructions were relayed.

Last edited by Elisabeth Black on Tue Dec 29, 2020 2:50 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 366
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Yeva
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Re: Fire on the Water

73 Vhalar, Arc 720
The best way to get better at fighting? Get into fights.

Yeva could count on her hands the times she had gone into a scuffle and the last time she ended up going on a mission with an Ithecal? Well...

That was different.

This time, they were facing things that made sense. Dispersing a bandit camp wasn't exactly entry level territory, but she wasn't as fragile as she once was and these men weren't made of flame (at least, not as far as she knew). Baskara could help. She was smart. Sojourn had made her tougher, ready for the twists and turns the adventure would throw her way. Mentally, the biggest challenge she could face would be having to murder someone if necessary. And there was a good chance there would be. Was she ready for something like that? Yeva walked alongside her friend, talking about a number of subjects, and with each smile, she felt more resolve. If push came to shove, if her hand was forced...

Yeva shuffled beneath the weight of her buckler, growing quiet the closer they moved towards the encampment. Looking at their group, she realized how terrifying some of her companions were. She was standing among mercenaries! And she wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for hearing about it from Elisa. Holding a sword, the scholar's daughter was so impressive! Even in the dark of the night, she moved without fear.

She would make for a good person to imitate.

Quietly, she slowed her footsteps, listening to the soft rapping of claws against thick hide. To her side, the Ithecal was thinking. The leader gave his commands and that was that. At once, the teams began to disperse.

'Go with them,' Yeva commanded mentally, looking at the rangers who would soon light the sails aflame, 'Cross the water, sink their ships.'

'It is not ssssafe,' the spirit whispered against her consciousness, 'I will not leave my Fireforged alone.'

'I am not alone,' she answered confidently, reaching into her curls. To onlookers, it might look as if she was merely scratching her scalp, but she was swiping at the invisible diri, who began to uncoil and slither through the air towards the water. Invisible to those not touched by Faldrass, the Diri was a fading sliver of flame that flew outwards to linger against the bow of the first ship. From there, Baskara awaited Yeva's command. Yeva waited too, for the alarm that would begin their fiery assault.

It wasn't long now.
word count: 430
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Praetorum
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Re: Fire on the Water


Praetorum watched as the forward scouts disappeared into the darkness, before turning to his own duties. With a wave of his hand, Prae dug out a ditch along the front lines of their group, haphazardly piling up the excess dirt on one side. Once, he could have formed it into a short wall for their archers to hide behind, but his defiance spark had grown into an unruly one, so this was the best he could do.

A few of the mercenaries tossed unlit torches into the ditch, and Prae carefully lit one, watching to make sure it wasn't too bright. Between the ditch and the pile of dirt, the dim light of the torches were blocked out from the bandits' view, while giving their own archers something to light their arrows and bolts off of. 


With that done, Prae turned back to the encampment, and the bandits he could just barely see patrolling around it. He counted eight—

There was a flicker of movement, and then they were down to seven. It was starting, then. Creeping off to the side, Prae gestured for the melee fighters to come with him. They would circle around, while the archers stayed here. The plan was for them to be in position to attack by the time the archers loosed their first volley.

Prae waited a little longer, until most of the patrols were taken care of, then started making his way towards the side of the camp that had been cleared out, with the melee group following behind him, trusting that the rest of the patrols would be taken care of by the time they reached the encampment. 


Everything seemed to be going well—they were almost at the camp, close enough to make out the few people still awake and tending the campfires—right up until they started going badly. Prae was about to gesture for his group to stop when there was a sudden alarmed shout—from the other side of the camp. Had one of the scouts been discovered? It didn't matter, he supposed, because that shout marked the start of the battle. 


Within a few moments, a volley of flaming arrows shot overhead, and slammed into the largest of the ships, setting its sails and hull ablaze. The noise from the camp redoubled at that, and Prae turned to his team. "You lot," Prae said, pointing at five random people, "circle around the camp, and kill anyone who looks like they're trying to go for the ships. If there aren't any, meet up with the forward scouts and support them. The rest of you, with me. We're going to cause as much confusion as we can—knock out or kill those that are still sleeping first, and don't let them get organized."


Prae waited a few moments for the five he'd pointed out to slip away, and summoned his scythe to his hand, pointing it at the enemy. As he did, all the campfires within a hundred feet of Prae exploded, only adding to the chaos. "Go!" He hissed, and charged.

word count: 520
Let's play 'What's Weird About Prae'

Head

  • A fiery rune shines under his right eye
  • A firey glow in the back of his mouth

Arms

  • A ring of blue runes floats over each of Prae's wrists
  • A silver shield marks the back of his right hand
  • A ring of light around his left forearm

Misc

  • His tail is about eight feet long, usually knotted around his waist
  • His body temperature is uncomfortably high

Surroundings

  • Wind gusts with every step he takes
  • The area around him is slightly more static-y than normal
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Elisabeth Black
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Posts: 1726
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:51 am
Race: Human
Profession: Little Wonder-Bunny of Anger
Renown: 1035
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Wealth Tier: Tier 8

Re: Fire on the Water



Image

Elisabeth watched as Prae attended to the work he needed to do. Using Defiance, she assumed, ditches were dug, and the archers given cover. Then there was the thing with the torch. They may not have been fighting yet but already she was learning a lot about tactics. Sometimes there was more than just jabbing someone with a sword, and she was eager to learn everything she could to be a better warrior. If Prae glanced at her, he would notice that she was always there and always watching to absorb what could be learned.

Prae motioned for his group to follow and they were on the move. Her eyes were open and alert. So much so that she noted a few of the guards vanishing from sight. Where he said to go, she went…. until things went sideways. Shouts sounded; something had gone wrong. Overhead, the rain of arrows flew towards the ship and Prae started giving orders. It was time.

Confusion. Chaos. Unconsciousness. Perfect.

As they started their run, the campfires in the nearby area exploded, causing only the slightest flinch in Elisabeth. There had been no hesitation in movement or intent – just a bit of surprise. She was sensitive to fire due to the Flameborn. It was an issue that was being actively addressed by Balthazar and Prae himself. Charging quickly into the camp, she did as she had been told – find sleeping people and knock them out cold. A sharp hit from her sword hilt always did the trick. She understood the logic behind the decision – the more unconscious people, the fewer people they would have to fight in the end. A quick glance up found Prae nearby and Elisabeth found there was a small piece of comfort in that. One, two, three…. she swiftly made her way through the area and disabled those she could. Some she came upon were already dead – he had said kill or knock unconscious. She preferred the latter if possible. Disabling someone was far better than killing them in her eyes…but she wouldn’t hesitate to do just that if push came to shove.

word count: 355
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Praetorum
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Re: Fire on the Water


The thing Prae liked about polearms was how versatile they were. With the blade of his scythe, he cut open the side of a tent with ease; then, with the butt of it, he knocked out a bandit just starting to rouse from sleep. At his side, Elisabeth did the same with the hilt of her sword, before moving on to the next bandit. She managed well enough when the bandits were asleep, but he worried about what would happen when they were conscious enough to fight back. Taking a step back, he wrapped his tail around her arm, and pulled her close enough to quickly draw a set of runes on her—resistance on her back, twofold sight and eightfold focus on her head, as well as runes of threefold strength, threefold speed, and fourfold endurance on her limbs.

Glancing around, Prae took in the state of the battle; on his left, a decent number of bandits were dead or dazed, and his team was facing little resistance, but to his right, more of the bandits were awake and armed, leaving a handful of his men facing a rapidly growing group of bandits. They were too scattered to fight effectively; he needed to gather them. 


Uncoiling his tail from around Elisa's arm, Prae gestured for her to follow him as he leaped into the fray. 


Two bandits facing down one of his: coming in swinging from the side, Prae caught one of them across the shoulder with the blade of his scythe—the bandit let out a litany of swears that would make a sailor blush as he dropped his blade—then slammed his elbow into the man's head, before twisting to whip his tail into the other bandit's back, sending him stumbling just long enough for the mercenary to skewer him. "With me," he barked, before moving on to interrupt the next fight.

Last edited by Praetorum on Thu Feb 04, 2021 4:00 pm, edited 2 times in total. word count: 318
Let's play 'What's Weird About Prae'

Head

  • A fiery rune shines under his right eye
  • A firey glow in the back of his mouth

Arms

  • A ring of blue runes floats over each of Prae's wrists
  • A silver shield marks the back of his right hand
  • A ring of light around his left forearm

Misc

  • His tail is about eight feet long, usually knotted around his waist
  • His body temperature is uncomfortably high

Surroundings

  • Wind gusts with every step he takes
  • The area around him is slightly more static-y than normal
User avatar
Elisabeth Black
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Posts: 1726
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:51 am
Race: Human
Profession: Little Wonder-Bunny of Anger
Renown: 1035
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Point Bank Thread
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Wealth Tier: Tier 8

Re: Fire on the Water



Image

Elisabeth stayed with Prae. He seemed to sense she was nearby and didn’t object to her staying in close proximity. In her mind, staying near him was her best insurance policy. If she encountered something she couldn’t deal with, he would see, or she could call out an alarm. It wasn’t cheating – it was good tactics.

Feeling the nudge, Elisabeth turned and nodded to him, seeing the issue immediately and following as he began his attack. She had a firm policy on not attacking unless provoked and the bandit coming at her was very provoking. His voice raised in something of a scream as he barreled down on her. Arching her eyebrow a bit, she moved offside a bit as he reached her, ducked down to avoid the strike coming for her head, turned and kicked him in knee to disable him. A healthy ‘snap’ sounded as her well-placed heel found its soft target, having aimed for the side of the knee instead of the front. As his head followed his body to the ground, he made a last-ditch effort to hit her with his dagger but instead, found air as she pivoted to the side and smashed her hilt into his head, knocking him unconscious. “What was that language he was speaking? I really need to add it to my list…” she muttered to herself.

Hearing a noise, she quickly turned and found another bandit coming at her from the side. Elisabeth decided to outwit him by taking the offensive this time, running swiftly at him, closing the distance between them so he had less time to consider his options. A direct attack wasn’t ideal, but she had cast her stone with her choice to engage. Lowering to a kneel, she swiped across his thighs to get his attention, spun and stabbed the bandit in his sword shoulder, kicking him off her sword once the strike had landed.

Spinning around, she looked for Praetorum…

Last edited by Elisabeth Black on Sat Jun 19, 2021 2:13 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 331
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Praetorum
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Re: Fire on the Water


Elisa took out two bandits, freeing up another mercenary. Prae glanced at the mercenary, a biqaj with a pair of sickles, and gestured for her to follow as well. That brought them up to four in a group, a number Prae was well used to. The battle had started to scatter into individual fights, and it seemed like all the bandits were either awake or unconscious by now. 


Catching them by surprise and focusing on knocking out bandits before they could wake properly had cut down more of their numbers than Prae had expected, evening out the difference in numbers. Bandits still outnumbered the mercenaries on the battlefield, but the strength and determination of thieves who preyed on the weak was incomparable to that of paid professionals. The other mercenaries could hold their own for a while—long enough for the mercenaries who'd started at range to close in and reinforce them.

A quick look confirmed that the ranged team were about halfway to them—that gave them some time to gather more mercs for the next stage of this battle.


Glancing around, Prae spotted, some two tents away, a group of bandits closing in on three mercenaries. "There." Prae said to the three with him, starting to head over. "Priority is to get those three out—once they're with us, we disengage and meet up with the ranged team."

As they moved closer, Prae scanned the bandits nearest to them. "I'm going ahead to break through their encirclement." He said. "You three, make sure they don't close back up behind me—keep that exit open for us."

Then, readying his shield in front of him, Praetorum charged. At this close distance, he couldn't get a proper run up, but what did that matter to a Paltharnum? By the time he reached the first bandit, he was already faster than the average human, and far heavier to boot. Combined with the fact that he had deliberately charged at an angle, all together, it meant that when Prae slammed his shield into the first bandit, the man was sent flying into his comrades, knocking two of them over, and possibly saving their lives as Prae continued on past them to skewer a fourth bandit with his scythe.

word count: 381
Let's play 'What's Weird About Prae'

Head

  • A fiery rune shines under his right eye
  • A firey glow in the back of his mouth

Arms

  • A ring of blue runes floats over each of Prae's wrists
  • A silver shield marks the back of his right hand
  • A ring of light around his left forearm

Misc

  • His tail is about eight feet long, usually knotted around his waist
  • His body temperature is uncomfortably high

Surroundings

  • Wind gusts with every step he takes
  • The area around him is slightly more static-y than normal
User avatar
Elisabeth Black
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Posts: 1726
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:51 am
Race: Human
Profession: Little Wonder-Bunny of Anger
Renown: 1035
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Wealth Tier: Tier 8

Re: Fire on the Water



Image

The ranged team was closing quickly but they still had more work to do. Elisabeth stayed on Prae’s flank, eyes open, watching for any new potential threats. When he spotted the group of mercenaries that were being hunted down by a group of bandits, instructions were given.

As Prae barreled through the bandit group, she followed in his wake, knowing that the best time to act would be while reorganizing from the attack. The young woman quickly found a dazed bandit, still trying to recover from the hit. All it took for her to take out that one was a quick smack across the head with her sword hilt. But her problems were just starting as another bandit, already recovered, took advantage of her position and the chaos to sneak up on her. Grabbing her hair forcefully, he pulled her back against him with every intention of cutting her throat. The grab caused her to cry out from the sheer surprise of it all…but her mind was still calm. As the bandit pulled him to her, she did the only thing she could think of. Smashing her heel down into his foot with her boot, she jammed her sword hilt back into his gut as hard as she could. Instinctively letting go of her to protect himself, she turned and slashed his leg open, disabling him. Just to make sure, a knock to the head and lights out.

The rest of the group seemed to be handling the remainder of the bandits they had engaged. Elisabeth looked around for Prae and once finding him, she swiftly made her way to him. It was becoming increasingly important for them all to stay together so they could make their way to the ranged ground safely.


Last edited by Elisabeth Black on Sat Jun 19, 2021 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 295
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Praetorum
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Re: Fire on the Water



Thanks to their attack, the circle of bandits had turned into a curved horseshoe instead: Elisa was cleaning up the bandits Prae had knocked over, and the other two were each fending off one end of the horseshoe from closing up again. The trio of mercenaries were engaged in combat with a group of five—the three were trying to retreat towards him, but couldn't disengage from the fight safely. Not wanting to waste time in such a precarious situation, Praetorum stomped on the ground, hard, his flow spark flaring in his chest as he did. 


The earth responded to his call, and there were five shouts of confusion as the earth beneath the bandits betrayed them, shaking violently as if they were in the middle of an earthquake. The three mercenaries, still on steady ground, seemed bewildered for a moment, so Prae barked out an order to catch their attention: "Fall in!"

That was enough for them to snap out of their confusion, and they turned to run towards Prae, who in turn, turned to take stock of the battle. Elisabeth had finished off her opponents and was coming towards him, while the other two were still holding off the bandits, but were starting to get overwhelmed. 


Prae didn't go to either of them. Instead he gestured, and ran towards the gap between them, using omnivision to make sure all the mercenaries and Elisa were keeping pace. As the group escaped from the encirclement of bandits, Prae reached for the wind, and called on it to pull the two mercenaries out of their fights, a blast of air knocking their opponents back while lifting the mercs into the air and bringing them to Prae. 


Prae didn't stop after they escaped the pack of bandits, continuing on towards the outskirts of the camp, where the ranged team had just arrived. "This side is cleared out." He said as soon as they were in speaking range, pointing to where they'd knocked unconscious all the sleeping bandits. "We can surround them and sweep them up, make sure as few of them get away as possible. They're not organized to break through one spot." The leader of the range team just nodded. They were being paid per bandit, after all, and Prae's suggestion netted them the most nels. 


"I'll break into the middle, keep the ships still intact from sailing off." He continued. There was no immediate objection, so he turned back towards the camp, and the still burning ships beyond it. "Elisa, hold on." He wrapped his tail and an arm around her, and leaped into the air. As Prae reached the apex of his jump, the wind caught him, and propelled him and Elisa forwards through the air, shooting them towards the far end of the camp.

They landed (with the air cushioning the impact) just behind a pair of bandits boarding a sloop. It was still in pristine condition—the arrows had mostly landed on the two larger ships—and past it, Prae could see two other sloops just starting to sail off into the lake. They were still very closer, maybe fifty and sixty feet out from the shore respectively. 


"Elisa, keep them off me." Prae said, slinging his shield onto his back and dismissing his scythe. Thrusting his hand out towards the water, his claws closed around nothing, and pulled. And the water responded, beginning to spin under the ships, quickly increasing speed. 


Three bits. That was all the time Prae would need to drag those ships back to shore.

word count: 599
Let's play 'What's Weird About Prae'

Head

  • A fiery rune shines under his right eye
  • A firey glow in the back of his mouth

Arms

  • A ring of blue runes floats over each of Prae's wrists
  • A silver shield marks the back of his right hand
  • A ring of light around his left forearm

Misc

  • His tail is about eight feet long, usually knotted around his waist
  • His body temperature is uncomfortably high

Surroundings

  • Wind gusts with every step he takes
  • The area around him is slightly more static-y than normal
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