Return of the Emblem Chapter Eight: Affairs of the World

[Phoenix]

Head Off

"Wraaathdammit. I knew I should have just run these guys over." Gabbie said with a big sigh following it. "Connor, you know the drill; stay insoide, don't open the doors unless we need to toss an injured person in here, etcetera, etcetera."

The words 'emblem' made it to Raquel's ears and her gaze swiftly fell. Oh not agaaaaaain! Is this just how life is now?! Every few days we get attacked by people looking for the emblem? How the heck do they even find us?! Raquel yelled to herself. I wanted to test out the Dragon Head's advice with the emblem, but this is the worst possible time to be using it. My emblem is better off inside this gemstone for the time being. Unless it starts glowing, they probably won't know this is it, and maybe they'll leave it alone. And I'm still hungry but the roll should do for now. She quickly tossed the rest of the roll into her mouth and tried to stand up.

[Mercakete]

Gytha had wound up falling asleep in the wagon, lulled by the hum of the deflectors and the warmth. There hadn't been any reason to stay awake, so for now she snoozed. It was only a light sleep, so she began to wake up after people were talking a bit again. "Mmmhrrmm?" she mumbled as she came to, "Heh? Wha's goin' on?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rizen and Norbert lazily flew along the updrafts for most of the traverse. The heat made it difficult to focus, but at least up in the air there was the wind chill. He'd been mostly mulling over what to think about various people. Raquel was his leader, Lilith was a being of immense power he generally agreed with, but very much disagreed with regarding her last action before leaving, Robin was hard to figure out in general... They were primarily the ones he was thinking about, though Amon had crossed his mind, too. Apparently the Rexian wasn't coming with them and had said his goodbyes to a few of them and requested it to be passed on to the rest, which it was. If he was planning on leaving so soon... the pegasus rider pondered, why did he say that? We weren't really on the same side, but he turned against his own for my sake anyway. Then there's Lilith... She seemed to be pretty helpful to us, but then she did that to Raquel... Raquel even seemed to have agreed to it without knowing just what Lilith was going to do to her. I guess that sort of makes it Raquel's fault, but Lilith should have known better, too. Sure will be great to put this nightmare behind me. Cursed deser-- ... What's going on down there?

Norbert directed Rizen to descend until he was at a comfortable altitude in case they had to fight or something, though he was generally confused for now. It sure looked like combat was looming.

[-Cynthia-]

Getting Ready

"We're going to be in a fight again?" Connor asked Gabbie, looking up from the shoulder plate he was working on. "Be careful out there," he warned Gabbie before going back to work.

Veronika made her way out of the wagon and drew her sword. This is almost habit now, drawing my sword upon meeting strangers. I don't see this ending well.

Nadya sighed and had her staff at the ready, someone asked for the emblem, which meant someone was getting their head smashed in. I'd place money on Robin gettin' knocked out, but I don't think anyone here would take me up on such a bet.

"In Rex-Avaz, we usually negotiate by showing our faces and using words little merchant," Omar said, tapping his foot impatiently, hand on his axe. The Rexian rebels were tense, ready to strike given the order.

[Mercakete]

Well, that answered it. Someone was asking for Raquel and the others were readying for battle. That could only mean these people were enemies likely out to get Raquel's emblem. It's too hot to fight. he mentally grumbled, even if the sun is going down, there's all the heat from the day still on my shoulders. I'm not dealing with this without a fight. "Who, exactly, are you looking for?" Norbert asked the one who seemed to be in charge, quite unamused himself as he landed Rizen to talk with who appeared to be the leader.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We're fightin' soon?" Gytha asked, trying to put herself in a mental state more ready for battle. She was about to say "better get ready, Amon" but then she remembered he'd stayed behind in Sanctuary. It was an unpleasant fact, but she had others under her guard now. Instead, she looked over to see that Raquel was awake. "Ye want t' stay in th' ship?" she asked her, "Ye think yer feelin' a'right t' head out inta combat?"

[Snowy_One]

"Raquel can not head out into combat. She is the thing we are supposed to protect and we can not do that if she is on the front lines. Raquel, I must insist you stay on the back lines, out of combat and out of harm."

[Phoenix]

We Are Dauntless

"Yeah we're gettin' ready to foight." Gabbie affirmed, quickly getting out of the driver's seat and grabbing her new lance.

"I'm helping too!" Raquel said, quickly turning to a nearby crate and pulling its lid off. She immediately began digging around through the various staves. Most were healing staves, but that wasn't what she was looking for.

"You've been out cold for almost a day. I'm incloined to agree with the archer for once. Besoides, how are are you gonna help?" Gabbie inquired.

"Don't worry about me. I trust Gytha and Blake ... and I get it now. I know how to empower other people. It isn't much, but it's a start ... and if I can find what I'm looking for in this crate, I can help even more." she explained. She hauled out about ten staves and began carefully but quickly placing ones she hadn't been looking for back into the crate. She was left standing there with two staves, one in each hand. "Okay, I'm ready. Gytha, Blake, I can empower both of you at the same time, but I need you to keep them off of me. I can't heal your injuries, but I can get rid of a few kinds of other problems with this staff. I wish I had more than one, but they're really hard to find ... both are, actually."

"What's the other one?" Gabbie asked, suddenly curious.

"It's a variant of a warping staff. I can get people out of danger if I have enough advanced warning."

"You know how to use that? Did it come from the memories?"

"Not really ... I've been reading up on staff use for weeks. These kinds of staves don't require a lot of raw power, so I can use them just as well as anyone else. I wasn't sure I could use them properly in a battle until now, though. I'm still not one hundred percent sure, but we just lost Amon and it's only going to get worse if I don't do something. Come on, let's go."

Gabbie shrugged. "Have fun with this one, Gytha ... Blake. Robin, come on. We've got a fight to win here." With that, she rushed out of the wagon after Veronika and took up position. Hopefully the others would get into some kind of formation soon, as well.

Raquel quickly came out of the wagon as well. "Listen you!" She sounded kind of pissed just then. "We're tired of getting into fights with you maniacs! It always goes the same way! You try to take the emblem from us ... and almost all of you get killed! Is that what you want?! Just leave us alone and no one has to get hurt!" she pleaded aggressively.

"I feel like on any other day, that speech moight ... have had an effect of some koind."

"If only." she muttered, slowly looking down.

[Mercakete]

And then Raquel came out of the wagon (well, it was good she was conscious again) and began making herself indisputably known to the enemy. The result for one pegasus rider, at least, was to drop his shoulders and allow his head to loll back momentarily. "I can't believe it..." he groaned. Out of all the times she chooses to be conscious, let alone an assertive leader, she just had to pick the time I could make a practical, feasible bluff that they had the wrong merchant being escorted by mercenaries. The one ti-- Are those staffs? "Why are you carrying two staffs?" he asked dumbly. Please say they're for someone else. Mercy, she's not thinking about joining combat, is she?

Gytha followed Raquel's lead. She really didn't know what Raquel meant by "empowering" but it didn't really matter. Her job was to make sure nothing bad happened to Raquel and by Leviathan she was going to do just that to the best of her abilities. She stayed right beside Raquel with her sword drawn as she marched right up to the enemy and began lecturing them. She was actually feeling kind of proud of Raquel. The merchant was saying exactly what she wanted to say and taking matters into her own hands, forgoing her previous timidity. It had to be a step in the right direction, right?

[Acacia Sgt]

John and Gil kept to the same altitude as they approached, the human putting his helmet just in case. Once that other group came near and made their intentions known...

<Ah, not regular bandits then huh.> John thought. <If they know about the emblem and the fact Raquel has it... then highly likely these guys are with the Organization or hired by them. Looks like the fact we escaped was discovered quickly enough.> All in all, time to get into position, drawing out his lance and shield. <That empowerment came at a good timing, the day isn't over and we're already in a fight.>

So it is a battle. Sophia thought, grabbing her staff. But they found us so quickly... well, I guess their determination of the lengths they'd go was already shown back at the fort.

Edited March 14, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[GoD]

"Just leave now... we are not in the mood to fight and kill you all, so if you value your lives then get out of here. Otherwise we shall paint this desert red!"- Chelsea attempted to threaten the bandits as she hopped on Nesha and began flipping through the pages of her Light Tome. She did not know why, but she suddenly felt like fighting these guys... after all, even if they did not have Amon, they could still beat some bandits with some ease... right?

"Raquel are you gonna help? Well just try and not get yourself killed, and if you get in trouble just call on me. I'll get you out of trouble... probably~"- the troubador told her leader with a playful tone, though her eyes told others that she was serious... maybe~

[-Cynthia-]

Omar gave a dismissive glare towards Chelsea before responding to Raquel.

"Maniacs? Maybe we are by some definitions- but one cannot defeat a 'goddess' with weapons of wood and steel. Perhaps you have a just reason for retaining the emblem, but I doubt it is the same as our own. If you refuse to give up the emblem, we have no choice but to instigate violence," he said decisively.

[Phoenix]

(Insert something with 'Daunt' in it here)

"I don't have time to explain right now. Just get ready to fight them off." Raquel shot back to Bert. She wasn't sure how to reply to Chelsea's odd statement, mainly because of the way she said it, so she decided to address everyone and 'give the order'. "You all heard him, he's not going to back off, so we're doing the 'instigating' for a change. Attack!"

"Don't expect a eulogy or a proper burial, you pricks!" Gabbie called over to the enemy.

[-Cynthia-]

The rebels prepared for battle as the enemies from the wagon moved towards them. Omar's eyes scanned the horizon, the reinforcements from The Horsemen should be arriving soon...

Omar

Class: Level 3 Warrior

Raw Stats

HP: 10 STR: 10 MAG: 0 SKL: 7 SPD: 8 LCK: 2 DEF: 4 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 30 MT: 10 Hit: 7 Evade: 10 AS: 8 Defense: 4 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1: Lethal Axe E

Weapon 2: Upgraded Swordreaver Axe

Item:

Special Item:

Special Item:

Overall Stats

HP: 30 MT: 10 Hit: 7 (+4 if Swordreaver) Evade: 10 (+4 if Swordreaver) AS: 8 Defense: 4 Resistance: 1

Jamal

Class: Level 5 Thief

Raw Stats

HP: 5 STR: 2 MAG: 0 SKL: 9 SPD: 9 LCK: 5 DEF: 1 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 15 MT: 2 Hit: 9 Evade: 14 AS: 9 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1: Poison Sword E

Weapon 2:

Item:

Special Weapon: Grenade (3/3)

Overall Stats

HP: 15 MT: 2 (9 Grenade) Hit: 9 Evade: 14 AS: 9 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Jalil

Class: Level 5 Thief

Raw Stats

HP: 5 STR: 2 MAG: 0 SKL: 9 SPD: 9 LCK: 5 DEF: 1 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 15 MT: 2 Hit: 9 Evade: 14 AS: 9 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1: Poison Sword E

Weapon 2:

Item:

Special Weapon: Shock Grenade (3/3)

Overall Stats

HP: 15 MT: 2 (4 Shock Grenade) Hit: 9 Evade: 14 AS: 9 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Wyvern Rider A, B

Class: Level 4 Wyvern Rider

Raw Stats

HP: 7 STR: 8 MAG: 0 SKL: 4 SPD: 4 LCK: 1 DEF: 5 RES: 0

Simplified Stats

HP: 21 MT: 8 Hit: 4 Evade: 5 AS: 4 Defense: 5 Resistance: 0

Weapon 1:Defending Lance E

Weapon 2:

Item:

Special Item: Bulwark

Special Weapon:

Overall Stats

HP: 21 MT: 8 Hit: 4 Evade: 5 AS: 4 Defense: 5 (9 DL) Resistance: 0

Archer A, B

Class: Level 4 Archer

Raw Stats

HP: 5 STR: 3 MAG: 0 SKL: 8 SPD: 7 LCK: 3 DEF: 2 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 15 MT: 3 Hit: 8 Evade: 10 AS: 7 Defense: 2 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1:

Weapon 2:

Item:

Special Weapon: Crossbow E

Overall Stats

HP: 15 MT: 3 (6 Crossbow) Hit: 8 Evade: 10 AS: 7 Defense: 2 Resistance: 1

Mage A, B

Class: Level 4 Mage

Raw Stats

HP: 5 STR: 0 MAG: 8 SKL: 6 SPD: 4 LCK: 2 DEF: 1 RES: 2

Simplified Stats

HP: 15 MT: 8 Hit: 6 Evade: 6 AS: 4 Defense: 1 Resistance: 2

Weapon 1: Precise Thunder Tome E

Weapon 2: Heal Staff

Item:

Special Weapon:

Overall Stats

HP: 15 MT: 8 Hit: 6 (9 PT tome) Evade: 6 AS: 4 Defense: 1 Resistance: 2

Myrmidon A, B

Class: Level 4 Myrmidon

Raw Stats

HP: 5 STR: 5 MAG: 0 SKL: 7 SPD: 8 LCK: 2 DEF: 1 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 15 MT: 5 Hit: 7 Evade: 10 AS: 8 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1: Disabling Sword (Spd) E

Weapon 2:

Item:

Special Weapon:

Overall Stats

HP: 15 MT: 5 Hit: 7 Evade: 10 AS: 8 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Fighter A, B

Class: Level 4 Fighter

Raw Stats

HP: 8 STR: 8 MAG: 0 SKL: 4 SPD: 4 LCK: 2 DEF: 2 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 24 MT: 8 Hit: 4 Evade: 6 AS: 4 Defense: 2 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1: Steel Axe E

Weapon 2:

Item:

Special Weapon:

Overall Stats

HP: 24 MT: 8 (10 Steel Axe) Hit: 4 Evade: 6 AS: 4 Defense: 2 Resistance: 1

Shaman A, B

Class: Level 4 Shaman

Raw Stats

HP: 5 STR: 0 MAG: 9 SKL: 6 SPD: 3 LCK: 1 DEF: 1 RES: 3

Simplified Stats

HP: 15 MT: 9 Hit: 6 Evade: 4 AS: 3 Defense: 1 Resistance: 3

Weapon 1: Defending Dark Tome E

Weapon 2:

Item:

Special Weapon:

Overall Stats

HP: 15 MT: 9 Hit: 6 Evade: 4 AS: 3 Defense: 1 (5 Defending Dark Tome) Resistance: 3

Primary Objective: Defeat 60% of all enemies by turn 7 10 points

Hint: Watch out for reinforcements coming from behind, they add to the total.

Secondary Objective: Defeat all enemy units by the end of Turn 7 10 points

Hint: Try to keep the number of active combat teams to a minimum.

Omar (Erratic) 30/30

Jamal (Erratic) 15/15

Jalil (Erratic) 15/15

--

Wyvern Rider A (Defending) 21/21

Archer A (Subvert) 15/15

Mage A(Aggressive) 15/15

--

Myrmidon A(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

Fighter A(Passive-Aggressive) 24/24

Shaman A(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

--

Wyvern Rider B(Defending) 21/21

Archer B(Passive-Subvert) 15/15

Mage B(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

--

Myrmidon B(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

Fighter B(Passive-Aggressive) 24/24

Shaman B(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

Raquel 18/18

Gytha 21/21

Blake 15/15

--

Norbert 15/15

Veronika 15/15

John 24/24

--

Ranyin 15/15

Robin 12/12

Gabbie 18/18

--

Nadya 21/21

Mireille 18/18

--

Aneda 15/15

Sophia 12/12

Chelsea 15/15

Battlepost limit: 7

Player Phase 1 Start!

Veronika headed straight towards the leader. Maybe they'll scatter if I kill him...she thought to herself, striking him with her sword.

(4,5,4) = Autohit. 12-4= 8 damage. Omar 22/30 +1 Veronika, Bert, John

He swung back, the broad side of his axe catching her by surprise and knocking her unconscious into the sand. "Is that the best foreigners can do?" he asked.

(5,6,5)= Autohit. 16-1= 15 damage. Veronika KO'D! -5 points

Nadya decided to attack the wyvern her newfound light magic skills. Here goes nothin... she thought to herself, her light magic searing the wyvern rider quite heavily.

(5,2,2)= Critical hit! 10 x2= 20 damage. Wyvern A 1/21 +1 Nadya, Mireille

The wyvern rider swung back with his lance, narrowly missing her. (4,5,3) Miss.

Edited March 15, 2012 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

We Fight

"Veronika!" Raquel called out. "Gytha, Blake! We have to move up!" she instructed. After that she began to try and focus her powers. Her aura lit up again like it did after she was assailed by those horrible memories, and she began to cast off some of it in large amounts. Two separate streams of power flowed away from her body and traveled in Gytha and Blake's direction. The energies became invisible before making contact, being too spread out to remain visible, but the two of them were still saturated in it.

Raquel activates Bard ability!

-2 hp

"Okay ... now I need to help out more directly ..." Raquel told herself as she struggled to concentrate. She quickly scanned the battlefield looking for someone who was in imminent danger of attack, someone she could whisk back a ways with her rescue staff. Veronika was already down, but she knew Nadya could help her soon ... but she was in the thick of it, as well. "Nadya, help Veronika, please!" With that, she aimed her staff at the nomad and she was warped right over to Veronika, and away from the wyvern rider Gabbie was now engaging.

Nadya rescued!

2 turns remaining!

Gabbie charged forward hoping to remove one of the wyvern riders Nadya had just caught off guard. She launched a powerful attack, but the wyvern rider parried her, and then launched a similar attack with his own lance. Gabbie then parried him and leaped back. "Fucking hell!" she cursed, feeling that she could have killed him if she was just a little quicker.

Gabbie attacks Wyvern rider A! Rolls 4,3,3

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3415989/

CRITICAL HIT!

-0 HP

Wyvern rider A counters! Rolls 4,3,3

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3415995/

MISS!

Gabbie HP 18/18

Wyvern Rider A HP 1/21

[Snowy_One]

"Raquel! Get back inside the carriage! This is not a place for you... or me... But I am expendable! You are not!" cried out Robin as she knocked her first arrow. "<Goddamnit! She's in danger! Take out the ones in the dresses first; they're the biggest threat!>" she said to herself as her focus narrowed in on one of the mages. Soft, squishy, a perfect target. She didn't wait a second. Taking aim at him she targeted his shoulder, hoping to disable the arm and make him incapable of using his tome. She let her arrow fly only to see it impact the man square in the shoulder... and not in the right location to actually disable him. A word spoken in Skotian, but easily understandable as a implication of the mage being heavily attracted to his mother in any language, slipped forth from her tongue as she cursed in frustration.

Robin attacks Mage A: 3, 4, 1 http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3416017/

Hit! 9 damage dealt!

No counter!

[Mercakete]

Well, that was that, then. People began fighting and then... "What the--?!" Raquel was glowing and using some sort of weird magic on Blake and Gytha apparently and then warped Nadya. She was even giving orders and actually acting like a leader. Well... Norbert's dumbfounded, confused expression began melting into a small, satisfied smirk. I guess she's not as frail as I thought.

Then, Robin began yelling at Raquel and Norbert shot the archer a glare. After she fired and started yelling...something...Norbert started to do some yelling of his own. "Hey! Are you forgetting who's in charge here? Raquel's proving right now that she's not as fragile as we thought she was! So stop trying to boss around the woman you're following and do your job supporting her!"

With that, Norbert and Rizen launched into the air and charged right at the wyvern rider Nadya had weakened, whipping out Splinter and Crunch as he did so. At the last moment, Riz ascended and Norbert dropped onto the wyvern's back since it was difficult to use his maces in the air from his own pegasus' back.

WTA!

((4+2)+6)-5 = 7 = hit!

(6+2)-9 = no damage!

The rider was quick to twist where he was seated and parry Norbert's attack, though, which, combined with a sudden dive was enough to knock Norbert back into the sky. Riz had been waiting, though, and flew by him, so he could easily throw himself back into her saddle, then they pulled up again. The wyvern rider was already charging at them, though, and there was no time to fly away. "Oh sh--"

WTD!

AUTOHIT!

(8+4)-4 = 8 damage!

Rizen dove to avoid the wyvern's snapping jaws, but the rider's lance still whacked Norbert's side hard enough to knock him out of the saddle. Riz whinnied in unbalanced protest as Norbert dangled from her side, having held onto the saddle after he'd been knocked off. Now his arms hurt and his side was probably bruised, but he couldn't just let Rizen flap as wildly as she was right now, straining to remain balanced in the air. It hurt, but he pulled himself back up into the saddle, then breathed deeply as he rested there a moment.

Wyvern Rider A 1/21

Norbert 7/15

When Raquel began to saturate her in energy, Gytha felt...different. She felt almost lighter. It was...weird, but not bad. Still, she didn't move from Raquel, and raised her sword defensively. "Don't worry, Captain. I'll protect ye as best I can," she reassured her leader.

Gytha defends Raquel!

Edited March 15, 2012 by Mercakete

[Snike]

And of course, right after he offered to protect the principal, he failed his task monumentally. For mere moments after Blake said he would guard Raquel, the merchant fell unconscious thanks to Lilith ...imparting memories? That point was a little sketchy, as Valcyn was covered with and aura, and had a meltdown before fainting, but regardless, Lilith had left the party, the employer had left consciousness, the party was freaking out, and the swordsman was left with one knocked out woman, one group of worried co-guards, and one sense of guilt in not interfering. What if she never woke up? Bert busied himself with explaining the situation to wyvern rider lady while he brought Raquel into the wagon. Gytha, on the other side of the spectrum, volunteered to drive, which was mostly met with silence. Eventually, it was settled that wyvern rider lady (why hadn't he learned her name yet?, he wondered), would drive the wagon until Raquel awakened, if she did. Twenty hours later, eight of which he regrettably slept through, the merchant finally opened her eyes, to the swordsman's relief despite his general impassiveness. Veronika and the newer Ursian healer immediately attended to her, while at the same time some foreign group was detected. Directly in their way. Great. While Blake normally would welcome a fight, Raquel had literally just woken up and he was assigned on guard duty. If she passed out again or something, he couldn't really attack as independently as he wanted to. Furthermore, they were at a bit of a disadvantage at the moment due to the whole desert combat aspect. The group, the swordsman included, stopped as the bandits tried to negotiate, readied their weapons, and charged, with Raquel- of all people, the young merchant- leading their side.

The charge, of course, was less than successful. Veronika went down on the first counterattack, and while Nadya successfully nailed a wyvern rider, it was still up, after both wyvern rider lady and Bert's attacks. Furthermore, Robin and Bert seemed to be getting into an argument over whether or not Raquel was fit for the fight, as the fight was progressing. Seriously, guys? There was a time for arguing, and there was a time for defeating enemies . This was the latter time. Blake wanted to smack them both upside the head, but there were better ways of doing that. Like solving the wyvern problem. Gytha had Raquel covered.

Just then, the aura that came from Raquel really kicked in - if one could say that. The whole battlefield slowed down. It was surreal. He could see the almost every single detail on the allied and opposing fighters, and for him they seemed to be moving in slow motion. Blake dashed towards the weakened wyvern rider, drew his sword, and slashed the throat of the drake. As the dead dragonkin dropped to the dust, he easily stepped out of the way of the falling beast, and stabbed its' master in the chest moments later. After withdrawing his blade, the sellsword returned to his employers' side, in preparation for retaliation.

[spoiler=Roll]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3416095/

Blake gains Bard bonuses! +2 SKL + 2 SPD.

HIT is now 15/16, AS is 10, and Evade is now 12!

[1,4,3] = Hit! 13-9 = 4 points of damage! Wyvern Rider A is down!

Team RPG gains 5 points.

Blake 15/15

W. Rider A 0/21

Edited March 15, 2012 by Snike

[Acacia Sgt]

And so a fight broke up, what a surprise... not.

Veronika tried to go after the leader, and with not much success unfortunately. Meanwhile, others had more success against the underlings, if a little difficult.

Robin tried to attack a mage, although it only managed to wound it, and...

<Wait, what did she just said...?> John shook his head. <Now's not the time, I must focus.> ''Come on Gil!'' He ordered, and with a grunt, the wyvern flew straight at the mage.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3416109/

(2,5,6)

6+2 = 8>6 HIT

6+5 = 11-1 = 10 DAMAGE

[Remaining HP:

Mage A 0/15

John 24/24]

Success, the mage was stabbed, and added to his previous injury, it proved to be fatal. John withdrew the now red-coated lance. <Hm, looks like it can still fare well for actual combat.> John noted.

[+5 points for Veronika/Bert/John. John's current total: 24.]

Meanwhile, that wyvern was resisting well it seems. Or not, until it finally fell by Blake's attack, empowered by Raquel.

Incredible. Sophia thought. So despite what she had to go through, it did proved to be effective.

However, it wasn't the time to be amazed. She quickly noticed Bert, flying somewhat in elevation, but it could be clearly be seen he was injured.

She quickly headed over nearby. Can my staff reach him? She thought. Well, one way to find out. She closed her eyes and focused. The released energies went for towards the pegasus rider... and success!

[bert HP's +12. Bert's current HP: 15/15. +2 points for Aneda/Chelsea/Sophia. Sophia's current total: 10.]

Edited March 15, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[ReformBlade]

(Aneda defends Sophia)

(Dammit)

[-Cynthia-]

Having defeated the swordswoman with relative ease, Omar switched to his weapon effective against fighting swords before attacking the woman guarding the merchant, cutting through her defenses easily, though she did not fall.

(5,2,5)= Autohit! Omar uses Cleave! Gytha takes 12 damage. Gytha 9/21

Jamal then launched a grenade in the direction of the merchant, Omar making sure to move out of the way beforehand, though several of the merchant's group was caught in the blast, causing massive damage.

(4,4,1) Jamal hits Raquel! Raquel takes 13-1= 12 damage! Raquel 4/18

(4,4,1) Jamal hits Gytha! Gytha takes 13-4= 9 damage! Gytha 0/21

(4,4,1) Jamal hits Blake! Critical hit! Blake takes 13-2= 11 damage! Blake 4/15

Jalil made her way towards the healer in attempt to disable her but was waylaid by a pegasus knight. She swung at the pegasus knight but missed.

(1,5,9)= 1+9 Hit -2 WTD= Miss!

The archer took aim at the opposing archer who had shot his mage comrade, shooting her solidly.

(3,4,3)= Autohit! Robin takes 10-3= 7 damage. Robin 5/12

Omar (Erratic) 22/30

Jamal (Erratic) 15/15

Jalil (Erratic) 15/15

--

Wyvern Rider A (Defending) 0/21

Archer A (Subvert) 15/15

Mage A(Aggressive) 0/15

--

Myrmidon A(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

Fighter A(Passive-Aggressive) 24/24

Shaman A(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

--

Wyvern Rider B(Defending) 21/21

Archer B(Passive-Subvert) 15/15

Mage B(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

--

Myrmidon B(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

Fighter B(Passive-Aggressive) 24/24

Shaman B(Passive-Aggressive) 15/15

Raquel 4/18

Gytha 0/21

Blake 4/15

--

Norbert 15/15

Veronika 0/15

John 24/24

--

Ranyin 15/15

Robin 5/12

Gabbie 18/18

--

Nadya 21/21

Mireille 18/18

--

Aneda 15/15

Sophia 12/12

Chelsea 15/15

Player Phase 2 begin!

Edited March 15, 2012 by -Cynthia-

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

Raquel did some kind of magic on her and warped her near Veronika, whom she has instructed to revive. However, Raquel and her group was soon blown up by a grenade. Lucky that wasn't me she thought to herself, urging Luca over there to check the wreckage. Raquel and that mercenary guy looked pretty badly injured but weren't dead. Gytha was worse.

She decided to heal mercenary guy, since she figured he could protect Raquel from any incoming assaults. Or at least jump on the grenades before they hit the boss. She healed him and got away on Luca as quickly as she could, trying to stay out of the line of fire.

Blake 4/15-->15/15 +2 Nadya, Mireille

[Rothene]

Why can't we just travel peacefully...grumbled Ranyin. But now was a good time to try out his new powers. Pulling from his magical reserves, the Kigenese spellcaster released an aura of magical energy that galvanised his comrades as he placed himself between Robin and his foes as he readied his Slim Dark Tome.

Ranyin activates Bard Ability! -2Hp, Robin and Gabbie Ski/Spd +25%

Ranyin Defends Robin!

Ranyin Equips SLIM DARK TOME

***

Raising her shield, Mireille braced herself against attacks directed at the healer behind her as her lance of lightning cackled with power, ready to punish foes both in melee and range.

Mireille Defends Nadya!

Edited March 15, 2012 by Rothene

[Mercakete]

They'd lost a good amount of altitude in their fight with the wyvern rider. Suddenly, Norbert could feel the bruises and strained shoulders begin to ease. A look to the ground revealed the source of the healing was Sophia. A moment later, the wyvern was falling with its rider and Blake finished it off. Norbert glared down at the mercenary and the dead wyvern rider, his rivalry beginning to surface. Hey. "I could've done that. No problem. He was just able to because I tired him out a little," Norbert muttered to himself before pulling on Rizen's reigns and flying higher to pick out a new target.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sure enough, the enemy leader came running at..either her or Raquel. Gytha couldn't tell, but either way, she tried to catch his axe on her sword, but he maneuvered it around the weapon, landing a nasty, deep gash into Gytha's side. "EEYARGGH!!" the mariner cried out as she gripped her new wound with her free arm. Her eyes were tightly shut only for a moment before she refocused herself, making sure to keep an eye open so she could defend against any more attacks that might harm her team. Around that time Blake came rushing back and an enemy threw a grenade at them.

"Look out!" Gytha bellowed as she slashed at the explosive to try to deflect it as best she could. It only wound up exploding, though. It was farther away from the other two than it would have been otherwise, however. Unfortunately, the blast knocked Gytha back and to the side, unconsciously laying on her wounded side.

+3pts Raquel, Gytha and Blake

~~~~~~~~~~

As he watched the battle from the air, Norbert couldn't help but notice the explosion. Well, Raquel and the two mercenaries were in trouble since the leader and a couple competent-looking seemed to be targeting them. Plus, one of the sword-wielders had thrown a grenade. A grenade. "They're not doing so well... That's it. I'm stepping in," Norbert muttered to himself before having Riz dive for the one who'd thrown the grenade at them. Splinter and crunch at his belt, Norbert took his poleaxe off the side of Rizen's tack. Time to use this again. "Hey, broomstick!"

WTD!

((6-2)+5)-14 = miss!

The grenade-chucking sword-user saw him coming and rolled out of the way of the dive as the axe swung harmlessly overhead. Norbert didn't fly very far away, remaining in the air but close to the ground as he turned, laughing at the enemy. "It's a good thing you're fast. You look like one hit could break you in half!" Jamal had no idea what the pegasus rider was talking about, though, and so just decided to counterattack.

WTA!

((9+2)+5)-6 = 10 = hit!

(2+1)-4 = no damage!

Norbert just flew Rizen quickly past him as he charged at him at high speed. The sword's tip scratched at his armor, but didn't do any harm. Norbert remained near the man with the grenades, flying above him, looking down at him with superiority. I hope I have his attention now. Raquel and the ones guarding her need time to recover.

Jamal 15/15

Norbert 15/15

Edited March 15, 2012 by Mercakete

[Snike]

As usual, things went to hell on the counterattack. Gytha was injured by the man that appeared to be their leader, and then a grenade was thrown at the team, which the mariner slashed - SLASHED. WHY would someone do that?-. The blast knocked Blake off of his feet, as if a hammer had slammed into him. After a few moments, the swordsman rose from the sand unsteadily, head pounding. Damn, that hurt. The pain was quickly alleviated by the Rexian healer, and the sellsword's main concern was now Raquel - who had been hit just as bad, but still stood. She needed medical attention, and stat.

"Medic to Raquel!" Blake shouted, as he just noticed the unmoving form of Gytha. Well, there went two of their top fighters. He'd have to take up the slack, so to speak. The swordsman uncorked his stimulant, drained the last third of it, and dropped the empty bottle.

Blake uses a stimulant! MT + 4, Hit + 4! Now 13 and 17, respectively.

[Phoenix]

Boom

Raquel's thoughts were scrambled the instant the grenade hit. The shockwave alone nearly knocked her cold, and she was flipped like an omelet onto her stomach. Instead of an explosion, the last thing she saw before coming to in the sand was a woman in black delivering a devastating axe kick to her face. "Raquel, stop screaming every time a bomb goes off. The Skotians use fire and explosives all the damn tiiime." a male's voice came. "Uuuuuug ...." She looked up from the dirt and saw the battle still going on. "I ... really hope those weren't the same grenades I sold Paz yesterday ...." She then picked herself up and tried to stay balanced. "Okay ... where's my staff?" She only had the restore staff at the moment. The rescue staff appeared to have been knocked right out of her hand during the blast and was lying on the ground a short distance away. After she hurried over and picked it up, she noticed Blake taking a stimulant. She'd heard about this kind of setup before, and it could be a powerful aid, but if he got attacked before then ... not going to happen. She had her staff, so she warped him out of the way and then began to focus her energies a second time. This time the strain was significant and almost forced her onto the ground, but she still gave the same effect as before.

Raquel rescues Blake!

2 turns remaining!

Raquel uses the bard skill!

-2 hp

Raquel HP 2/18

"Alroight, worry about the leader, later, Robin. We're ALL going to die if we don't take these guys down, so focus on that. Pick a target and I'll cover you." Gabbie suggested to Robin.

Gabbie defends Robin!

[Acacia Sgt]

The sudden noise alerted both of them of the ensuing explosion.

<Explosives?> John thought.

Oh no! Sophia quickly made her way to them. Gytha was down for the count, and while Blake was healed, that still left Raquel to tend to; which Sophia did in short order.

[Raquel HP's +12. Current HP: 14/18. +2 points for Aneda/Chelsea/Sophia. Sophia's current total: 15]

<That just proves it, they did managed to track us down here. But when could they? Unless...> He shook his head. <I'll think on it later. We are in the middle of a battle after all.>

They were going after Raquel, well, that made the next course of action obvious. John had Gil fly back to them.

[John defends Raquel.]