Return of The Emblem Chapter One: The Artifact

[EchoingPewter]

OOC: This is likely to be my last post until Sunday. I'll be away all of tomorrow and later tonight. If it's necessary, I give CC to Phoenix if Wolfgang and Hans need moved.

Wolfgang spent most of the trip in thought. Not only was Raquel's father kidnapped, now Lady Rusayev's fiance was also missing and could only be presumed to be a member of the Guardian Corps. This situation was growing onto Wolfgang's nerves.

"Well..." Wolfgang leaned back against the side of the wagon, looking at the covers flap around while they travelled. He was still speaking Neviskotian for the time being. It helped him relax when he was struck without not knowing what to do.

"Next time Wallace reports to me, Lady Rusayev, tell him everything you know about this. Tell him his name, description, and anything else you know about it. I'll make him scout out some information on him as well, see if we can dig something up." Wolfgang said, folding his arms.

"I've only had one job with the Guardian Corps ever. I'm amazed they asked even for my help. But it was only me and another of my associates. I know what their work is like. His status is safe with me, I know what's on the line for him." Wolfgang said while he continued to stare at the cover.

"Veronika," he started again with her first name surprisingly, this time turning his face to hers again.

"I know you are aware that I stated I will be repaying that bonus by assisting you in the affairs with your fiance. Luckily they coincide with Raquel's motives. However, you are capable of fighting, Raquel does not seem as experienced, as well as more pacifistic than yourself. She is my priority, your life is second to hers and Hans. Is that fully understandable? I will not take the field just to watch over you." Wolfgang stated bluntly, his scarred eye trying to immitate the stare of his other but failing.

~~~~

"Flying is so much more fun when on the back of a majestic pegasus. Sure beats out scaley wyverns when we're travelling fast." Hans stated as he kept looking out both ways over the landscape. He enjoyed all of this, it was such an amazing site. A nice bonus coupling with his request to ride this woman's pegasus. That reminded him.

"What's her name? And yours. I'm Hans." He said quickly, not entirely focused on one thing or another.

[RPG]

"Her name is Megaera, and mine is Jeanne. Nice meeting you, and such." Jeanne responded to Hans, turning back slightly to look at him. Though a strong wind could cause her to fall when her body was in this position, if there was anything Jeanne had confidence in, it was her pegasus. Jeanne knew that she would never let her fall. "I may have never ridden a wyvern, but I understand that a pegasus flight could be completely different." She began to speak without thinking. "Wyverns have a considerably larger body mass. Though their wingspan compensates more than enough to fly easily, I'd assume that they need to flap their wings more to maintain a stable trajectory. Though it's not a huge difference, pegasi are built for more stable takeoffs and gliding, with light skeletons and overall structure. Additionally, their wingspans are frequently larger than a wyvern's on a proportional scale. Megaera's wings are larger than average as well, so our flight will be extremely stable."

Oh damn. Sometimes I wish I'd never taken physics. Jeanne turned her body to face front once more after she finally realized that she was rambling. Once more concerned with the image she hoped to maintain, she let out a heavy sigh. "You can ignore what I said. Anyway Hans, glad to be working with your and your fellow mercs." I wonder if that was a good thing to say, if it sounded too soft or fake or something. If not, too late now.

[Snowy_One]

OOC: I apologize for absence. A friend got promoted to manager of a shop two days ago and there was a party to celebrate.

IC: Daloth gave a nod at Seliah's comment. He was glad that the child had chosen to listen to his advise in this matter, though she had made a small error. People tend to exaggerate details from memories as times go by, ignoring some things that they did not consider important while emphasizing things that they did. Plus, through the power of rumor, anything could become a terror.

"Thank you Dame Seliah." he said with a smile. "As these people are merchants, they have likely traveled in small groups that have been protected, but have heard and shared wild-eyes tales with customer and other merchants alike. It would be best to ignore a search for any actual fact as even if we did find a actual fact, there would be too much fiction for us to distinguish it apart. Additionally, we will likely hear many tales of people claiming various politicians that they despise use it for evil, or ones they like for good. Do not discount them, the deed may indeed have happened through divine intervention or fel manipulations. However, there can be only one emblem. The best stories for giving us any information will be the ones that seem too crazy to be true. The deed or feat described won't easily fit into the pantheon of divine beings. Stuff like leaders of nations sending out men in secret with oddly-described packages or symbols, or ladies be..."

Ladies being hunted by mysterious organizations after which guard quickly descend upon any scene of their incident? Could it be possible? Had his little poorly-thought out incident that had resulted in him stumbling into a fight of one man against twelve attackers inadvertently caused him to stumble upon the leadings of the object that this girl was looking for? A flag as red as the evening sun shot up in Daloth's mind.

"Ladies summoning mysterious monsters." he said, rethinking his next sentence. "These are standard story tropes, and will likely be mixed in with... likely mixed in with any facts so that the merchants can remember them better or impress others..." he finished, clearly distracted as his mind tried to go over the details of what had happened during his little encounter.

[-Cynthia-]

"Wallace was the man on the wyvern correct? Thank you for your assistance and discretion in this matter Wolfgang." Veronika replied to him in Neviskotian, looking at him intently.

"As for the fighting, do not concern yourself with my protection. I am capable of defending myself, not some Rexian maiden prohibited from combat. If our enemies seek the Fire Emblem they will be heading towards her, which means that someone should focus on protecting her. Since you are probably the most experienced fighter here, this should probably be your task." Veronika said to him, choosing to stay in Neviskotian for the time being. It was not necessary, but did feel more comfortable.

[Phoenix]

OOC: Starting the initial battle set up, but there are a few things to note here. Normally a battle gets handled all at one time but I realize that we probably won't have enough people on at once to do a quick/normal battle, so instead I'm starting this one, and it will simply go at whatever pace rper activity dictates. This may or may not become the standard. I dunno, we'll see.

-----------

To the field ...

A lone lightly armored cavalier rode out from the fortress followed by nearly a dozen others. He brought his horse to a halt and quickly whipped out a spyglass to get a closer look at the approaching group.

"... who the hell brings consorts to a battle? Maybe those two up front are mages. Whatever. If they do turn out to be helpless little things, I want one of'em. Capture the unarmed women if you can. If you can't, oh well. Kill the others. Jin, Mason, you two with me."

With the majority of the bandits ready to engage the incoming mercenaries, the remaining robed men made their escape into the woods led by Hayato. Meanwhile back in the holding room, Sardis emerged from the door to find Jethro charging straight at him! Without a second thought he hit the man with a soft energy wave that knocked him back into the seat and into a normal position.

"Get up again, and I'll be forced to do more than just make you sit back down, Jethro." he said. Then he looked over and saw the dead man in the other corner. He turned to Jethro with a slightly frustrated look on his face. "Was that really necessary?"

"Back when I thought I might be able to get out of these restraints and escape? Yeah." he replied bluntly.

"Understandable." he said looking over at the table decked with information. He suspected Jethro may have been up to more than just escaping and quickly checked him. With his arms tied there didn't seem to be a place on himself that he could actually hide anything. "Hmmm. I suppose I came in at just the right time then hm? Well then, enough of this." Pointing his arm out to the table, he let loose a dark haze of magic that began eating away at and disintegrating the table and everything on its surface. In just seconds it was a pile of smoking ashes.

"... that's a nice trick." Jethro muttered.

"Indeed. Now come." he replied aiming his hand at Jethro much to his surprise. The same haze appeared and nearly engulfed him, but he found that rather than being killed alive, he simply fell onto his rear as the chair broke apart under him. His ropes too fell away and vanished into dust. Before he could think of anything to do, new binds appeared around him in the form of dark energy. Both his torso and legs were tied and he immediately began floating into the air.

"Urgh."

"Come along." Sardis said as he exited the room. Jethro helplessly floated along behind him looking back at the corner just hoping someone would find what little he managed to save.

----------

BATTLE START

Primary Objective: Eliminate all enemies (+5)

Bonus Objective: Defeat an entire enemy combat team by the end of Player Phase #2 (+10)

Enemy Units:

Cavalier (A) Aggressive

Mercenary (A)

Mercenary (B)

----------

Fighter (A) Aggressive

Fighter (B) Aggressive

Thief (A)

-----------

Archer (A)

Archer (B)

Archer ©

ENEMY STATS: These stats apply to all units of that type/level.

Class: Level 2 Cavalier

HP: 4 STR: 4 MAG: 0 SKL: 4 SPD: 3 LCK: 2 DEF: 3 RES: 3

Weapon 1: Iron Lance E

Weapon 2: Iron Sword

Item: Vulnerary 3/3

HP: 12 MT: 4 Hit: 4 Evade: 5 AS: 3 Defense: 3 Resistance: 3

Class: Level 1 Fighter

HP: 3 STR: 5 MAG: 0 SKL: 4 SPD: 3 LCK: 1 DEF: 3 RES: 1

Weapon 1: Iron Axe E

Weapon 2: Hand Axe

HP: 9 MT: 5(-2 if HA) Hit: 4 Evade: 4 AS: 3 Defense: 3 Resistance: 1

Class: Level 1 Mercenary

HP: 3 STR: 4 MAG: 0 SKL: 4 SPD: 4 LCK: 1 DEF: 1 RES: 1

Weapon 1: Iron Sword E

HP: 9 MT: 4 Hit: 4 Evade: 5 AS: 4 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Class: Level 1 Archer

HP: 3 STR: 3 MAG: 0 SKL: 5 SPD: 5 LCK: 2 DEF: 1 RES: 1

Weapon 1: Short Bow E

HP: 9 MT: 3 Hit: 5 Evade: 7 AS: 5 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Class: Level 1 Thief

HP: 3 STR: 2 MAG: 0 SKL: 5 SPD: 5 LCK: 3 DEF: 1 RES: 1

Weapon 1: Iron Sword E

Special Weapon: Combat Knife

HP: 9 MT: 2(3 if CK) Hit: 5 Evade: 8 AS: 5 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

OOC: The enemies are broken into three combat teams. Each teams units are grouped together in the unit list while teams are separated by "---"s. At the end of enemy phase the unit list will be updated for convenience.

I'll take my first turn either in a little while or during the second player phase. 6 battle post wait minimum is in effect.

Edited January 23, 2011 by Phoenix

[Dark Sage]

"Damn! Bandits," Domovoi cursed. "Lady Merchant, get away from here. We'll handle this. No way some ruffians are going to beat us." With that, Domovoi and Miskavolv flew up high, Domovoi's lance gleaming. He swooped down to a swordsman, striking a blow right through the skull, brain decorating the lance head.

"Heh. No way some ruffians are going to beat us."

Link to Combat: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852032/

Domovoi (4,6,1) Hit! 6+5-1= 10 damage. Mercenary A 0/9 HP

Domovoi gains 5 points!

[Phoenix]

Amon uses steal on Cavalier.

Adds Vulnerary to inventory.

OOC: Amon just agro'd so if no one else goes after the cav Amon is guaranteed to be targeted on EP.

[Acacia Sgt]

With the bandits sighted, John ordered Gil to fly high. He dived after Domovoi, going after the other Mercenary. Aiming his lance, he managed to struck the man.

(1,1,2) Hit:3+1+2(WTA)=6>5 Damage:5+1-1=5 MercB HP: 4/9

The mercenary then fought back.

(6,4,5) Hit:6+4-2=8>4 Damage:4+4-4=4 John HP: 8/12

''Ugh'' John grunted as he got hit. 'Got a little careless there.'

Edited January 23, 2011 by Acacia Sgt

[ReformBlade]

Nanahm hopped atop the wagon like a boss and waited patiently until he arrived at their destination. When all of a sudden, there were BANDITS. Just as expected.

Well, he wasn't gettin payed to do nothing. Mustering all of his courage and strength he rushed at the Cavalier, landing a solid blow right on the man's leg.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852063/

The man countered with a powerful thrust got Nanahm right in the arm. Poor fella.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852065/

(Nanahm: 4/6/5: Hits like a boss dealing 11 - 3 damage to Cavalier, leaving him at 4/12)

(Cavalier: 4/4/6: Hits like a weak boss dealing 8 - 2 damage to Nanahm, leaving him at 9/15)

Edited January 23, 2011 by SlaveBlade

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika noticed the bandits and stopped her conversation with Aolfgang attacking the man with the axe.

(1,3,4) Fighter takes 3 damage 6/9

Fighter (2,5,1) Miss

She dodged the attack, but the man was still standing.

[roymbrog]

Great. Bandits. Time to do what she was being paid for, Synthia figured. She hopped down off the wagon, ran the few feet to John, healed him, and ran back.

“Hey, any of you that get hurt come back to the wagon if you can. I’m not running into the middle of these thugs to heal you, you got that?”

John’s HP: 11/12 (healed 3)

[Snike]

[spoiler=Roll]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852053/

Axel attacks!

2,4,5 = Hit! 7-3 = 4 points of damage! Cavalier is Defeated!

Axel 9/9 HP

Riding on top had been a quiet experience for Axel, as the merc beside him was busy performing maintenance and interacting with her cat. Under him he could vaguely hear Wolfgang and the Neviskotian lady talking about someone. He caught words like, "Military," and "secret", in their native tongue, so they must have been talking about a soldier. As they rolled along to just in front of the fortress, the man saw that they had a greeting party. Most of the other fighters had made it off of the wagon, but the soldier had arrived just in time to impale the enemy cavalier, just after he nearly struck down Nanahm.

"...Damn, I really was looking forward to that gold, too...," the bandit leader said, before he ceased to move. A tug, and the weapon was wrenched free, as crimson as its' owners' armor.

OOC: This is post-EP.

[Phoenix]

ENEMY PHASE

Cavalier attacks Nanahm. Rolls 5,6,4

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852104/

HIT

DMG -7 hp

Nanahm 2/15

Fighter A attacks Veronika. Rolls 2,1,2

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852112/

HIT

DMG -5 hp

Veronika 4/9

Fighter B attacks John. Rolls 2,1,1

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852114/

CRITICAL HIT

DMG -4 hp

John 7/12

Enemy Units:

Cavalier (A) Aggressive

Mercenary (A)

Mercenary (B)

----------

Fighter (A) Aggressive

Fighter (B) Aggressive

Thief (A)

-----------

Archer (A)

Archer (B)

Archer ©

PLAYER PHASE

Edited January 23, 2011 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

John prepared to strike once more...

(4,6,6) Hit:3+4+2=9>5 Damage:5+6-1*2=20 MercB HP: 0/9

The man received the lance on his chest. He had no chances of surviving that one.

(OOC: +5 Points, +10 for fulfilling bonus condition, 65 total)

Edited January 23, 2011 by Acacia Sgt

[Dark Sage]

The swordsman down, Domovoi saw from the corner of his eye his fellow wyvern rider fight a swordsman. A small lithe bandit ran by and Domovoi charged, but his lance shot over the thief's head, who rolled and gave Domovoi a small cut with his sword.

"Mmph. Damn bandit. Stay still you coward."

Link to Combat: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852141/

Domovoi (2,1,5) Miss!

Thief A (1,3,6) Hit! 3+2-4= 1 damage! Domovoi 11/12 HP.

[roymbrog]

The bandits closed in and attacked three of their allies, leaving all of them with serious injuries. Not good. Deciding that the dude with the axe looked worst off, Synthia ran over and healed him before returning to the relative safety of the cart.

Synthia’s mage ability used

+4 Mag

-4 Skl

Nom’s HP: 8/15 (healed 6)

Edited January 23, 2011 by roymbrog

[Phoenix]

Amon attacks bandit. Rolls 3,3,6

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852168/

HIT

DMG -3 hp

Fighter B rolls 2,6,2

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852171/

AUTOHIT

DMG -10 KO

Amon 0/9 (-5)

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika decided to heal herself of the axe wound.

4/9--> 9/9 Vuln 2/3

[Phoenix]

ENEMY PHASE

Fighter A attacks John. Rolls 2,1,6

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852219/

HIT

DMG -2 hp

John 5/12

Fighter A 9/9

Fighter B attacks Domovoi. Rolls 3,3,4

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852222/

HIT

DMG -4 hp

Domovoi 7/12

Fighter B 6/9

Enemy Units:

Cavalier (A) Aggressive

Mercenary (A)

Mercenary (B)

----------

Fighter (A) Aggressive

Fighter (B) Aggressive 6/9

Thief (A)

-----------

Archer (A)

Archer (B)

Archer ©

PLAYER PHASE

Edited January 23, 2011 by Phoenix

[RPG]

"Enemies? There's a good amount of them." Though nervous, Jeanne was determined not to lose out this time. "Hold on," Even with Hans riding on Megaera with her, Jeanne saw a chance to aim for a lightweight thief engaged in combat with a wyvern. Jeanne dove from above. She didn't plan to let Hans attack if she could avoid it, she needed as many kills as possible.

Combat:

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852190/

Jeanne (1, 5, 1)

Thief (3, 4, 3)

Jeanne: 7/12

Thief: 2/9

Jeanne winced as the thief countered her. Alright, at least I got a solid hit. Then she noticed the archers. "...Shit."

---

"How interesting..." Seliah thought she noticed Daloth thinking about something, and the odd break in his sentence seemed irregular. It's probably nothing important. She decided. She turned to her guards. "Oude, are there any towns nearby?" The cavalier turned his head. "Well m'lady, there is a port town nearby." He couldn't remember if Daloth had came from there, but it seemed likely. Seliah folded her arms, turning back to Daloth. "You came from there, yes? Though it may be a good place for leads, with all of the possible merchants, you wished to avoid running into the guards, correct? We should find another possibility." She hated to admit it, but she was clueless on where to go next.

[Acacia Sgt]

John now put his attention to the injured Fighter. He got his lance at the ready, blodshed as it may be, and struck with it.

(1,4,1) Hit: AUTO Damage: 5+4-3=6 FighterB 0/9

The fighter fell to the floor, death.

(+5 Points, 70 total)

[Snike]

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852223/

Axel attacks!

4,4,2 = Hit! 7-1 = 6 Points of damage!

6,3,6 = AutoHit. 6-4 = 2 points of damage

Axel 7/9 HP

Copyrighted Archer 3/9 HP

The first combat team had been wiped out, and the second team was well on its' way to follow. Axel let the rest of the group deal with them, and moved on to deal with the third team, which had just arrived. The lancer smashed one of them over the head, but the blow wasn't enough, as the attacked quickly embedded an arrow into the red armored mercenary's right shoulder. He acted as if nothing happened, however.

[-Cynthia-]

The wyvern rider cut down the fighter in front of her, so Veronika turned her attention toward one of the archers who had recently been injured. She cut him in two.

(3,2,4)= 4 damage. Archer dead.

[ReformBlade]

Oh sweet, that chick healed him. He would have to thank her for it later, maybe ask her out wait no that's not how it works... except the thanking part. Well, better make the most of what I've got, and I've got... AN AXE he thought as he charged at the next closest ruffian and chopped at his side, makin the man gurgle up some blood.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2852250/ (Nanahm)

(Nanahm: 3/6/1: Dealin 11-3 damage. Fighter A is dead)

[Mercakete]

As they'd gone along, Gytha found herself standing on top of the cart rather than sitting. I've still got me sea legs. It was a little unsettling how different the sounds around her were. The birds sounded different, the horses and cart moving along the ground was certainly not the same as a boat in the water... And when enemies attacked, it was much faster than seeing enemy ships in the distance. It didn't take long for them to come under attack. Startled and having nowhere to run for the time being, Maw remained on top of the cart.

Gytha took aim and attacked, leaping at an enemy who approched from the side who'd gone unnoticed. He wasn't all too skilled, but he was fast enough to avoid most of her attacks. One he recieved the sharp edge of her iron in the side of his neck, Gytha noticed an archer in the distance. He would be her next target. As she charged at the man, he turned his bow in an attempt to defend himself from the fast-approching mariner.

I have to stop his arrow before I'm shot! However, her sword cut only through the air. Blast! swung too soon!

As though reading her thoughts, the archer grinned and as he fired the arrow, he muttered, "And you left yourself wide open..."

Gytha tried to avoid the projectile, but she was too close. It lodged itself under her left collarbone as she fell right in her attempt to dodge it. "AGHHH!!" she roared, catching herself on her knee. This was bad.

Gytha attacks Archer B!

( http://invisiblecast...r/view/2852266/ )

(1+4)-7 Gytha misses!

Archer B counters!

( http://invisiblecast...r/view/2852273/ )

(5+2)-6 = 1 = hit! (3+6)-2 = 7 damage! No critical!

Gytha 2/15 (still -6 from the last battle)

Archer 9/9

Edit: Snike requested links

Edit 2: Fluff

Edited January 23, 2011 by Mercakete