Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Phoenix]

Resisting Arrest

"Seems Mason's instincts are as sharp as ever," the pegasus knight bit out as she readied her lance. She quickly leveled it at the two avians. "Winged Cleric, surrender at once or you'll leave me no choice but to use force!" Joanna flinched, realizing she had already been identified. There was no other option, now. A fight was going to break out no matter what, and it was her fault. If she'd stayed behind, maybe Liam could have found some way to handle this peacefully. She didn't know, and things were unraveling too fast for her to be sure of anything, now, anything that is, other than her own failure to do anything to help the situation.

"I'll back ya up, Liam," Greta called out, "but I've only got one shot, so be careful!" A thought suddenly occurred to her. Should she use that shot? She was more likely to hit the pegasus than the rider now that her target was airborne again. She didn't need berating from the pegasus enthusiasts, that was for certain. Perhaps it was just as well, since they were still close enough to the city gates for a gunshot to draw some unwanted attention.

"Stand down," the pegasus knight shouted as she compelled her pegasus to charge forward. She had nearly every intention now of running Liam through and then ramming Joanna, all in one move.

Shoot

"The 'skotians are back, ey?" The voice belonged to a tall, muscular man with short black hair, dull blue eyes, and enough stubble for two or three men. He wore an ursian officer's outfit, dyed black, with plain steel armor covering his most vital areas. It was more or less the look of a officer specializing in the bow and arrow, and he had the bow and quiver to match. His men knew him as Carlos Lich. Neither Carlos nor his men were expecting an attack from the 'skotians. They had an arrangement of sorts, after all. Still, he wasn't surprised, especially considering it was Sonya spearheading the attack. He'd been warned by the Neviskotian commander that the unit's dragon wasn't very fond of criminals, bandits in particular, so she might be looking for ways to get rid of them. Fair enough, Carlos thought, but he didn't really consider himself a bandit. The only way to get land for yourself these days was to take it from someone else, and that's all this was. The mountains would be his territory soon enough, but first, he and his men had to do something about the dragon.

"Sir? Your orders?"

"You need orders when there's a blasted dragon up there?" Carlos cocked an eyebrow at the annoying request. A second later, he realized why his subordinate was confused. Carlos recognized Sonya as one of the 'skotian dragons and so did everyone else. They weren't supposed to be fighting each other at all. "Right," Carlos shook his head and smiled. "Go'head and bring her down. If the 'skotians still want to fight after that, we'll fight, but they're the ones that started this. I'll be sure to rub that in the 'skotian commander's face before I kill him. Now, send some men to the entrance to watch out for signs of any ground forces, and get a few more eyes on the eastern side. They might try to breach the wall, and that's the best place to do it from." Carlos took a moment to rub his chin in thought. "Get our new fliers ready. It might be overdoing things, but I want to be ready for anything."

"Understood," the man said before running off to relay Carlos' orders.

"... hmm," Carlos considered Sonya, and the situation as a whole, wondering if she was acting on her own or working with the 'skotians, or perhaps working with a third party. "No explosions, so they either broke the mines or slipped past them. They might also be coming solely from the air. That's what I'd do ... I just don't understand what they could want more than dead ursians, right now. What the hell is going on, today?"

An Eyeful

The ballistae were already manned, even before Sonya had arrived, so it was no time at all before they began firing at her. Having to keep an eye on four at once was quite a pain, and she'd nearly been hit by the forth bolt they sent up. On the bright side, she'd accurately remembered how much anti-air power they had, which meant there wouldn't be any painful surprises. She still needed a bit more information if she was going to time and angle her passes more effectively, and make it easier for her allies to breach and overtake the fort.

As she suspected, the fort was designed to deploy troops to the west, while completely stonewalling all other angles of approach, and she could see half a dozen men making their way toward the northeast and southeast watchtowers. They were definitely mistaking this for a 'skotian attack. Their behavior also seemed to suggest that they weren't aware of their casualties, the bandits that had been lost while out operating in the south.

Sonya took in more of the fort as she began to get closer to it. She saw what could only have been a small house, likely Carlos' personal residence, along with a barracks. These were toward the northeastern edge of the fort. She saw the stables toward the northwestern edge, which made her wince. That was farther from her allies than she would have liked. The southwestern edge was host to nearly all the bandits' supplies, foodstuffs, weapons, materials, and so on. While it wasn't enough to feed even half of them, the southeastern edge of the fortress had some small crops, though Sonya wasn't sure what they were using them to grow. Everyone was in position, so she decided to begin her next 'attack' run, and kick up enough turbulence to floor the enemy this time.

Preparing to Breach

Shadrak was shocked to see Sonya coming back down from the southeast at such a steep angle. Rizen wasn't handling the cooperation too well, but Norbert seemed to have it under control ... broadly speaking. Shadrak was more concerned about the battlefield they would be fighting on. They would be fine where they were, but Sonya was going to uproot tents and scatter supplies everywhere if she came in that fast. The risk of mistiming the sweep and crashing inside the fort went without saying. Shadrak placed his hand against the outer wall, giving it a quick feel before turning to Angelica. "Are you doing the honors or am I? We don't want to keep the help waiting. Besides, once the ballista are out of commission, Sonya can stop scaring Bert's pegasus half to death."

"Did you see that other dragon? I can't tell where it went, but I'm sure there was another one out there," one of the soldiers murmured before Jamilla got his attention. "Strategize? Sure, I guess ... point them out and we'll bring them down." He wasn't expecting Jamilla to actually chase down stragglers, herself. She didn't have the build for that sort of grunt work. He supposed she could have some special talents that would help, but he hadn't picked up on anything like that."

"Sounds like a good idea, actually," the other soldier nodded, "feel free to trip someone if you get the chance, but don't take any unnecessary risks. We've got the armor so let us cut them down." He was nearly cut off by a small explosion of wind beside him. It sent up just enough dust to blind him momentarily and mark a strange trail that arced over the wall and into the fort. "What was that?!" the soldier said between coughs.

[CobyTheGoober]

(Those winged guys are not gonna stand a chance) Rolo thought as he bit his lip. The only way to stop this, is for Greta to shoot the pegasus rider, but even if the bullet hits the Rider, the Rider might die, and Rolo really wouldn't want to witness his first murder.

[-Cynthia-]

Well, that went even more poorly than I anticipated, Liam thought to himself as the pegasus knight charged. Greta shooting the pegasus rider might only complicate things, but there wasn't much time to think about that. He released a blast of light energy aimed at the woman's face, intended more to blind and stun rather than kill her.

[Toogee]

"Trip?!" Jam replied, almost insulted. All her magic skills and sword play weren't exactly obvious, but she supposed she would have to prove her worth when the battle began. Before she could adjust their strategy, a surge of wind had created a wall of dust. Jam had to cover her eyes with her right arm to keep the debris out. When everything settled, the dancer found a trail of dust leading over the wall and into the fort.

"That," Jam said to the soldier, "was the dragon. Let's hope she keeps hitting them and not us. Time to get ready."

The dancer unsheathed her sword, making an effort to show off to the soldiers.

"Oh this? This is my tripping weapon."

Edited January 9, 2016 by Toogee

[Phoenix]

White Out

A little light shouldn't have affected her so badly, the pegasus knight cursed to herself as everything went painfully white. Training with a pegasus, however, had taught her that the animal's senses were just as, if not more important than her own, and her steed had surely been blinded by that light spell, as well. She was still on course to run the avian through, but it wasn't worth the risk now that he had the initiative, so she quickly steered her pegasus to the left, hoping to avoid any follow up the fliers might have planned for her.

Greta was relieved to see the pegasus knight pull out of that aerial charge, but it wasn't over just yet. As soon as she recovered, she would probably come at them, again. She wished to the gods the woman would just give up, otherwise they would have to fully incapacitate her. That was the last thing she wanted to do, now.

Joanna was surprised at how effective Liam's light spell was. She supposed in the air, with ones own altitude and momentum serving as a danger, blindness was at least a little more effective at discouraging attacks. She considered trying something like that herself if the pegasus knight got too close to her before this was all said and done. Even she knew that they would have to knock this woman out or talk her down to have any hope of escaping, however.

"Liam, get in there and conk her before she tries that again," Greta called up to the male avian. "Hurry!"

[-Cynthia-]

That did work temporarily, but it was fairily obvious that they had little chance of outrunning or outflying the pegasus knight. Liam decided to take Greta's suggestion. Just like training...you can do this, he convinced himself as he flew up behind the woman on the pegasus, grabbing her from behind and lifting her off her mount. Hovering in midair, he wrapped his right arm around her neck, hooked his right hand to his left forearm, and put his left hand on the back of her head, holding his forearm against her neck for several seconds before releasing.

[Phoenix]

Ragdolled

With no pegasus beneath her to use, either for support or leverage, the pegasus knight was helpless, and had lost consciousness before the severity of her situation had even fully registered, her last thoughts on how best to tear herself free. Her weapon fell straight down and stuck in the ground as Greta and Rolo rode past at near top speed. "YES," Greta cheered, glad they'd taken care of things before any reinforcements showed up. She was even happier about the fact that she didn't have to shoot the woman. If would have solidified her as a criminal, and gotten the attention of the guards near the gate. She supposed Liam's light spell might have already done that, but that could be mistaken for just about anything. A gunshot was difficult to downplay, especially after a pegasus knight flew out in this direction.

"We need to get out of here," she said, mostly to herself.

Joanna approached, wanting to make sure the pegasus knight was okay before they left. "Is she ... going to be alright?" she asked, hoping Liam hadn't gone too far in the choke hold. It looked a little too effective to her untrained eyes.

Chasing Rules

The soldiers figured a lance would be better for shenanigans like that, but Jamilla could more make up for the comparatively lesser reach of a sword with swift footwork, and she seemed fit enough to have that covered. "Okay, this could work out, then. Remember, though, don't overdo it, and try not to get flanked or surrounded."

[Ether]

"I suppose I can." Angelica replied, looking over the wall before starting. As expected, it was mostly makeshift... they just didn't have access to heavy-duty building materials and equipment out here. It'd be a rather easy breach, at any rate.

"Stand clear." The wind adept noted, giving a moment for the way to open, before beginning her assault on the wall. Firing small wind shapes into the structure to create multiple pinpoint holes and weaken the structural integrity, before further opening those breaches with wind, and forcefully breaking the structure apart from the inside, brought the wall down without much of a struggle.

"There, done."

[Mercakete]

The wall was breached, the dragon had the bandits' attention, and the initial panic from the sudden dragon in the sky was somewhat lessened. Now was the time to head in and keep the bandits away from those captured pegasi while Eva freed and escorted their rightful riders to them. If it wasn't for Sonya's presence, it would be the perfect time to speed in.

However, Rizen still didn't want to go anywhere near the dragon's assault. While Norbert understood this, he also knew that there was no time for delay, and, quite frankly, they needed the pegasus' speed right now. Otherwise, he would've just gone on foot. With a frustrated sigh and a shake of his head, Norbert hurriedly mounted up between bouts of Rizen's aggressive protests. Riding a spooked pegasus was far from ideal -- in fact, it was the danger he was currently the most worried about -- but it was necessary. Hopefully, once they were with the other pegasi, she wouldn't be so afraid. .. Unless the other pegasi were reacting the same way. Which, given that wyverns and dragons were their natural predators, was very possible. While he wasn't looking forward to trying to keep a herd of spooked pegasi in check, he was glad he didn't have to do it alone. As soon as Lumi was ready, the rider encouraged Rizen towards the bandit base and into the air. Rizen, of course, was still fighting him tooth and hoof to turn around and get away from the giant, angry predator, however.

"Sorry, Riz," Norbert grunted as he kept a firm grip on the reins and more or less strong-armed Rizen into heading the way he wanted her to every time she began to veer off-course. The result was that Rizen's flight patterns were embarrassing erratic, more comparable to a slowed bolt of lightning than a flying creature. If anyone not used to flight had been mounted on the pegasus, Norbert was sure that things would have been even worse than they currently were... Still, he was a little too occupied with trying to steer Rizen to apologize to his passenger at the moment.

As for Rizen, her mind was more or less a state of terror and wondering what in Mercy's name was wrong with her crazy human. You do not go towards giant, loud things that will eat you, you go away from them. And so, the pegasus decided that if by some miracle they survived this, her human was getting a piece of her mind. Stupid, suicidal humans.

[Nanami Touko]

Things were going well. At least, from the outside look of things. While there hadn't been much for her to say on their approach, now that the battle had sprung open, things were looking to get exciting. Sonya had taken off and started harassing the fort, keeping the ballista in check. And, the wall blocking their entrance had just been taken down by some well placed wind magic. Eva grinned.

"<You ready, Sasha? Let's bash some head in!>" Letting Norbert take off into the sky, Eva chose to have Sasha bound through the busted wall, hopping him straight into the confusion. He roared, she laughed, and the flat end of her sword smacked an unsuspecting bandit to the ground. "<Charge! We've got some riders to save!>"

Meanwhile, Sasha, having been denied a meal thus far, was looking forward to, hopefully, finding something in this forsaken stone box to eat. And he was not pleased about it. Perhaps the extra roaring from down below, combined with Sonya's from up above, would serve to confuse the bandits further.

[Phoenix]

Strength of Numbers

The guard captain's jaw dropped at the sheer number of bandits heading toward the western entrance. They easily had twice their numbers. He could only hope bottle-necking them at the gate would take away that advantage. "Move up," he ordered, feeling they were a little bit too far from the gate to effectively cut off the bandits' retreat. He wasn't sure why they were trying to retreat so early to begin with. They were probably up to something else. Either way, they had to be stopped before they could do anything to put him and his allies at an even bigger disadvantage.

They were spotted almost immediately as they started moving up toward the open gate, and the enemies that were already there came running at them, swords and axes raised for the kill. The mad charge seemed to lose most of its momentum as the two sides closed in on each other. The four bandits coming at them realized that there were far more patrolmen than they were prepared to face, and with their allies still making their way toward the entrance, they would likely be dead before help arrived. They turned tail just before the Ursaean guards reached them, and narrowly avoided getting bowled over. "Take them out and hold the gate," the guard captain ordered, "shields to the front and flanks!"

The order almost came too late, as several arrows came whistling into their formation, from both the lookout towers, as well as from just inside the gate, itself. One of their number was struck in the shoulder, but the rest either passed through the charge, or were met by unflinching shields. Another volley would be too late to stop them from reaching their destination.

An Opening

The ballisticians had Sonya in their sights, despite the commotion at the gate and around the southern wall, they couldn't afford to let the dragon get too close. If they made that fateful mistake, they would see their allies picked off two or three at a time. Even still, several of them felt like something was very off about this whole attack. For one, the dragon hadn't even tried to kill anyone, yet, despite appearances.

The ballista at the southwestern corner of the fort was the first to be met with yet another oddity in this battle. The loader for the ballista was suddenly knocked to the ground. The shooter had just enough time to register his partner's plight when he was slashed across the chest. His gambeson made the attack impotent, but he was still struck with such inhuman force that he was thrown from the siege weapon. Without his armor, he might have been cleaved in two. He didn't see anyone, which made things that much stranger ... and terrifying. The ballista wasn't damaged, but the operators were both dazed and confused, which opened up a sizable gap in the fort's air coverage. It was an opening Sonya spotted and quickly took advantage of. She flew toward the northeastern edge of the fort, drawing the attention of the remaining ballisticians there and giving the infiltrators an opening too obvious to miss.

Haythem even saw that they had time to get in close now. All but one of the ballistae were aimed northereast, and since he was just south of the fort, now ... "There," he smiled, "Get ready to land, everyone," he called out as he steered Isis toward the inside of the fort. Their allies on the ground were already heading inside through the breach and the main gate, so it was best to join them as soon as possible. It didn't take Haythem long to get Isis into the fort, but he almost regretted doing so, as the numerous archers inside quickly realized Isis as the more immediate threat. She took several hits, but she was simply too massive to be brought down by just a few arrows. Her incredibly loud protests still got them the attention of the whole enemy garrison, however. "Everyone get off, now," Haythem pleaded, desperate to get back into the air before Isis got seriously hurt.

Just as Haythem started pleading with his passengers, the stables erupted with the cries of equines, and four pegasi came bursting out from the roofed structure. They had burly male riders on them, each with old but well maintained lances. They were heading straight toward Isis and her passengers, hoping to add to the injuries inflicted by the archers. Their weapons had some special properties, however, properties that would eventually bring the wyvern down, even if she did escape, and they had every intention of using them.

Mr. Lich Challenge

Angelica made short work of the wall, though not as quietly as Shadrak personally would have preferred. It wasn't enough to bring the whole fort down on them, so they might be able to take some of the bandits by surprise. Hopefully they were all still looking up. As the wall came down and they headed through, the dark mage was surprised to see several bandits rushing toward them, already. They were only carrying melee weapons, so ranged spells would be the appropriate preempt. Before he could prepare such an attack, however, Isis came swooping down over them, casting a shadow over the area as she came down to land. Several archers sent arrows right into her sides, causing her to let out shrieks that could have shattered glass. They made Shadrak want to cringe. Why was she even here, flying this close, no less. The bandits rushing them turned around to face the massive wyvern that had just landed, leaving their backs to Shadrak and everyone else. The dark mage supposed he wouldn't look a gift wyvern in the mouth, and simply cut down these idiots as quickly as possible.

When the pegasus riders showed up, making a beeline for Isis, Shadrak supposed the rider rescue might become a secondary objective after all. "Well they tamed at least four of the pegasi, it looks like," he grimaced as he began preparing a spell for one of the exposed grunts on the ground. An arrow went speeding by his head just as he started, drawing his attention to a taller, more impressive looking bowman in the distance.

"I don't know how you got her to work with you ursians, but it's not going to be enough," Carlos said, eyeing the whole group. He knocked another arrow, but this time, there was no telling who he was going to be aiming for. "Trespassers don't get to leave my territory, not alive. Blame yourselves for this. Riders, on me! Archers, shoot at will! Everyone else, cover duty! GO!!!"

Objective: Defeat Carlos and his ballisticians

Standard Difficulty Team Limit: None

Battlepost limit: 6

Known Rewards: Reward money for the capture or head of Carlos Lich, and Adaptive Book unlock.

[spoiler=Enemy Stats]

Carlos Lich

Class: Level 1 Marksman

Raw Stats

HP: 10 STR: 10 MAG: 0 SKL: 16 SPD: 7 LCK: 5 DEF: 2 RES: 2

Simplified Stats

HP: 30 MT: 10 Hit: 20 Evade: 12 AS: 7 Defense: 2 Resistance: 2

Weapon 1: Great Bow

Special Weapon: Dual Knives

Overall Stats

HP: 30 MT: 10(15-GB)(12-DK) Hit: 20 Evade: 12 AS: 7 Defense: 2(0-GB) Resistance: 2(0-GB)

Sniper A/B/C/D

Class: Level 2 Sniper

Raw Stats

HP: 6 STR: 8 MAG: 0 SKL: 10 SPD: 7 LCK: 6 DEF: 1 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 18 MT: 8 Hit: 12 Evade: 13 AS: 7 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1: Improved Short Bow

Weapon 2: Long Bow

Overall Stats

HP: 18 MT: 8 Hit: 12 Evade: 13 AS: 7 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Swordmaster A/B

Class: Level 1 Swordmaster

Raw Stats

HP: 7 STR: 7 MAG: 0 SKL: 8 SPD: 9 LCK: 3 DEF: 1 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 21 MT: 7 Hit: 10 Evade: 12 AS: 9 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1: Brave Sword

Overall Stats

HP: 21 MT: 7 Hit: 10 Evade: 12 AS: 9 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Falcon Knight A/B/C/D

Class: Level 1 Falcon Knight

Raw Stats

HP: 6 STR: 6 MAG: 0 SKL: 6 SPD: 10 LCK: 3 DEF: 1 RES: 4

Simplified Stats

HP: 18 MT: 6 Hit: 7 Evade: 13 AS: 10 Defense: 1 Resistance: 4

Weapon 1: Poison Lance

Book: Renew

Overall Stats

HP: 18 MT: 6 Hit: 7 Evade: 13 AS: 10 Defense: 1 Resistance: 4

Ballistician A/B/C/D

Class: Level 5 Ballistician (Second Tier)

Raw Stats

HP: 12 STR: 0 MAG: 0 SKL: 11 SPD: 8 LCK: 1 DEF: 9 RES: 7

Simplified Stats

HP: 36 MT: 0 Hit: 13 Evade: 9 AS: 8 Defense: 9 Resistance: 7

Weapon 1: Ballista

Special Weapon: Wind Rune

Book: Nihil II

Overall Stats

HP: 36 MT: 0(22-B)(0-WR) Hit: 13 Evade: 9 AS: 8 Defense: 9 Resistance: 7

[ballista]-A siege weapon; the user's MT is 200% of their SKL stat while in use.

ENEMY TEAMS

Carlos HP 30/30 (SIEGE)

Falcon Knight A HP 18/18 Poison Lance (Passive-Subvert)

Falcon Knight B HP 18/18 Poison Lance (Passive-Subvert)

Sniper A HP 18/18 (Aggressive)

Swordmaster A HP 21/21 Brave Sword (Aggressive)

Ballistician A HP 36/36 Ballista (Passive-Aggressive) (SIEGE)

Sniper B HP 18/18 (Aggressive)

Swordmaster B HP 21/21 (Aggressive)

Ballistician B HP 36/36 Ballista (Passive-Aggressive) (SIEGE)

Sniper C HP 18/18 (Aggressive)

Falcon Knight C HP 18/18 Poison Lance (Passive-Subvert)

Ballistician C HP 36/36 Ballista (Passive-Aggressive) (SIEGE)

Sniper D HP 18/18 (Aggressive)

Falcon Knight D HP 18/18 Poison Lance (Passive-Subvert)

Ballistician D HP 36/36 Ballista (Passive-Aggressive) (SIEGE)

ALLIED TEAMS

Norbert HP 18/18

Lumi HP 18/18

Shadrak HP 24/24

---

Eva HP 30/30

Angelica HP 21/21

Jamilla HP 15/15

---

Nadya HP 21/21

Luther HP 27/27

---

Amon HP 21/21

Hoshi HP 18/18

BATTLE START

PLAYER PHASE #1

Edited January 11, 2016 by Phoenix

[CobyTheGoober]

"W-woah!" Rolo never expected that the winged beings would be able to do that to the pegasus rider. Not only that, but as the rider dropped her lance, Rolo felt a feeling of relief run down his body. He was extremely glad that no one had to get shot, or run through.

[scorri]

Hoshi had barely managed to make it to the ground when she spotted a nearby archer and sword user. Grabbing a tome, she sent a sphere of dark magic at the pair. It slammed into the ground, sprouting outwards as it did. When it reached the men, the dark magic crawled up their legs, burning through clothing and leaving the two barely holding on. The archer managed to keep some attention to his surroundings though and landed a return shot on the mage.

[spoiler=Combat Stuff]

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109620

Hits both!

12+5-1=16 damage to both!

Archer counter hits!

8+2-5=5 damage

Sniper A: 2/18

Swordmaster A: 5/21

Hoshi: 13/18

[Mercakete]

The battle had begun. It was on a much bigger scale than Norbert's raids in the past had been. It also involved significantly more dragons and wyverns. Eva was on her way to do her job, so that was good, not that Norbert had much attention he could spare for noting that. It was hard to keep Rizen under control, and he worried that that task alone might tire him out before he even had to defend himself.

It was ironic, therefore, when Rizen -- for reasons unknown to her rider at the time -- suddenly and speedily not only stopped trying to turn back, but raced in the direction Norbert had been steering her in. In fact, with a shout of surprise, he nearly fell out of the saddle. As he worked to right himself, the rider looked back past his passenger, just in time to hear Isis' pained screeching. This fresh wave of instinctual panic had the pegasus simply trying to hurry away from this new predator. Ironically, that made steering her a lot easier, especially considering their destination. About halfway there, archers from below began firing at the flying mercenaries, but Norbert hardly noticed it. They were simply flying too quickly for him to care, and besides that, he was more concerned with directing his spooked pegasus.

Soon, Norbert had successfully flown Rizen over the battlefield and landed her right in front of the stables in the northwestern corner of the base. While the stables' wall wasn't right up against the fort's wall, the gap between the two structures was too narrow for someone to fit through, so there was no fear of an attack from behind. Once landed, Norbert went ahead and rode Rizen into the stables before pulling her to a halt. Though Rizen was still panicked, she felt a lot safer hiding in these covered stables. There were even four other pegasi in here. Maybe her rider had some sense after all.

"Alright," Norbert said as he dismounted and began appraising the pegasi. They were clearly nervous but didn't show any sign of physical abuse. He was impressed they were so calm, not that they were very tranquil. "They seem okay."

Resting a hand on his own pegasus' neck and looking back towards the stables' entrance, he added, "Not sure how long it'll be before they come after us. I'll go guard the door and keep an eye out for Eva and the Ursaean riders. I'll leave Rizen in here, too; it's safer for her here and she'd be useless out there with those wyverns and the dragon anyway."

Looking to Lumi again, Norbert asked, "Do you want to check out the pegasi and make sure they're okay? I can probably hold off any bandits until you're ready to help, assuming you wouldn't rather watch out for these guys directly until their riders get here."

[Toogee]

The roar of charging bandits indicated that the battle had begun. Jam steeled herself for a fight, but then she looked up in the sky. Haythem's wyvern was on the scene, with fellow Rexians in tow (among others)! The dancer was glad to see some of the others here to help. She was less than happy that they were getting immediately peppered by arrows. With numerous peg riders (oddly manly ones at that) headed straight for him, the group could get overwhelmed.

"We've gotta clear everything out here so we can help our reinforcements," Jam said to the two soldiers she was accompanying. As much as she wanted to drop everything and save the day, they had to make sure their foes didn't escape and increase their numbers further. Yet there was one thing she could do that would benefit all.

She could dance.

From her perspective, Jam saw many of their foes as swift fighters capable of dodging several hits. Her team needed a bit more finesse with their assault. The dancer opted for a sword dance, using the sword in her hand as a baton. She twirled the sword all around her, light flashing off the twirling blade from its reflection. Jam ended by tossing the sword above her head, allowing it to twirl in midair before catching it perfectly by its handle.

As she finished, Jam saw Hoshi attempt to take on two fighters at once. She managed to wound both of them, but they'd be on her soon enough. Wanting to help her, Jam rushed from the soldiers, sheathing her sword along the way.

"Got your back!" Jam said to Hoshi as she ran past her. Unfortunately, the swordmaster was faster, immediately slashing at the dancer. Jam jumped back immediately to avoid the first, then ducked for the second. Jam quickly followed up with light magic as she picked herself up. Her aim hindered from her posture, the hit was easily avoided. Now Jam was facing a pissed off swordmaster, who was going to try much harder to stab her.

"Uh..." Jam said with an awkward smile.

Jam dances! HIT +2

Jam: 12/15

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109770

SM A: vantage, brave sword: misses both times

Jam: Critical miss

SM A: 5/21

Jam: 12/15

Edited January 12, 2016 by Toogee

[-Cynthia-]

Into Battle

Well, this is already lookin' bad... "I think we gotta fight here Haythem. Isis ain't gonna outfly those pegasus knights in the shape she's in," Nadya noted, bending down with her staff to heal the arrow wounds that the wyvern had suffered. Nadya shuddered inwardly at the thought of what would happen if Isis collapsed, all her gold spilling over the mountain...

Avoiding Battle

Liam flew down and laid the pegasus knight gently on the ground. "She be conscious in a few minutes, which means we should leave. Now," he stated before preparing to take off.

[Ether]

That was certainly an impressive looking bow that this Carlos Lich was sporting, that was for certain. He seemed a pretty good shot with it, as well... both of those factors, as well as him being the obvious leader, made Angelica's course of action quite clear. Taking off at a running start, and launching into the air with a back-blast of wind, the adept propelled herself straight at Carlos Lich, coming to a stop practically on top of the brigand, daggers drawn, and having erected a barrier of wind to absorb any retaliation.

"It'd be a damn shame if you never got to use that bow, huh?" Angelica taunted with a smile, functionally right up in the man's face, as she prepared to strike. She'd have to keep an eye on those ballista, too... as far as she knew, she had closed too far to be a viable target, but they might have other tricks in store.

Angelica closes to siege range with her newfound friendo Carlos Lich, and equips Firewall

[Nanami Touko]

The battle had begun! Without any way for Eva's large target to get her close without being pin cushioned, and with Isis having just flown in and landed (what timing!) Eva felt it'd be best to continue searching for the riders, to see if she could get them some extra help. Spotting their tiny mage blasting some of the bandits with a nasty dose of magic, she pushed Sasha over to her, putting the lizard in front as a shield. "Hoshi, we've gotta find those riders! You keep blasting, I'll cover you while we search!"

Eva defends Hoshi

[Phoenix]

Let's Go

"You're sure?" Joanna winced at the unconscious pegasus knight. In the distance, the pegasus had already landed, and was keeping to a safe distance, curious about the fate of her master, but unwilling to risk being taken as well. Joanna didn't have to wait for Liam's answer; he'd obviously meant what he said. There were no noticeable injuries for her to tend to, so she prepared to take off, as well, not wanting to be here when the woman's allies arrived.

"Keep up, guys," Greta called back to them as Luca carried her and Rolo further eastward along the road leading through the mountains. "I guess I should tell ya who those two are," Greta said to Rolo as they rode off ahead. "The one who took out the wrathite is Liam. He's Joanna's bodyguard or somethin'. Joanna's the other one you saw. She's one of our healers. Total pacifist, heheh."

Hold the Line

The guard captain's men and Fizza managed to get to the gate and secure it from both sides. The archers in the northwest and southwest towers couldn't target them, now, but there were still about two dozen skirmishers heading their way with murder in their eyes. Sonya swooped down unexpectedly and bowled about half of them over through sheer force of wind, and that was when the guard captain finally realized what kind of person he was working with. Fizza raced forward, she was moving so quickly that it took his eyes a moment to adjust before he realized it was her. It didn't matter how good she was. She couldn't take on that many enemies on her own. "No don't," he called out to her, uselessly, "there's too many of them!"

"Dammit, woman, we've gotta hold here, not charge straight at them," Doran shouted.

To their surprise, Fizza seemed to stopped her approach, breaking left, and, possibly by accident?, avoiding several arrows that might have otherwise beat her to the struggling bandits. Just as she broke off her attack, two explosions occurred, one immediately following the other. The explosions both came from somewhere in the middle of the group of charging bandits. Fizza dove for cover behind a tent and disappeared from view.

"Grenades?" Doran guessed. He couldn't believe it. He thought she had decided to rush in and cut down as many of the staggering bandits as she could, but she'd only intended to blow their formation to smithereens with a couple of grenades ... something she had to get quite close to pull off successfully. He hadn't even seen her roll the grenades into the group before she broke away. It was too quick and too subtle. The guard captain was just as surprised. The charge had been terminated, even though most of the bandits survived. Those that hadn't survived were obvious, and the ones that had were now struggling to overcome the paranoia that came with unseen explosives.

The guard captain was now struggling, himself. His group could easily cut them down, now, even while being attacked by archers, but was it worth it? For now he had them hold steady at the gate. They couldn't deviate from the plan now, even with such a tempting follow up available to exploit.

The Siege

Carlos had picked his target. The other mage that had just arrived was a clear and obvious threat to his men that had to be dealt with. It was a shame, really. His people needed mages now more than ever, so recruiting some was far preferable to killing them. He couldn't let her get away with trying to kill his men, however. Just as he was beginning to draw back for a shot, another mage came down right in front of him. He was surprised to see her whip out a pair of daggers to face him with. "Two can play at that game, darling," he smirked, securing his bow over his back and drawing a pair of his own knives. "After I win this little game, why don't you consider joining my army?"

"Isis can't fight on the ground," Haythem said. That wasn't entirely accurate, but the wyvern was a far bigger threat when she could attack like a bird of prey, swooping down on targets at high speed and picking them off before they could react. She was no different from a stationary horse in a melee while grounded, and even the bandits on the ground were a considerable threat to her. She could thrash about, injuring quite a few of the less agile attackers, but eventually they were going to inflict enough damage to keep her on the ground, permanently. "Nadya stay up here with me for now and keep healing Isis! Everyone else get off so we can get back in the air! I'll bring Nadya down to help after we shake off the fliers!"

Amon nodded his understanding and then leaped from the massive wyvern. His timing couldn't have been better, as Jamilla was fighting one of the bandits a short distance away. He wasn't surprised to see her right out in the front like that. Fortunately, it was just the opening he needed. The swordsman wasn't going to see him coming from this angle. He was wrong, but still, Amon hit the ground running and came up from the bandit's right side, tearing his own sword from his grasp before spinning counterclockwise at blinding speed and driving the blade into the bewildered bandit's chest. He was too shocked by the move to do much more than stagger backward, gripping the sword that was now thoroughly lodged in his torso. He was effectively out of this fight.

There wasn't much point in asking if Jamilla was alright. She didn't have a scratch on her. "We came to help, but now we're the ones in trouble," he said instead, glancing toward Isis and the incoming pegasus knights. Belated, he felt pain coming from his arms. Glancing down at them, he saw his wristguards, drenched in blood, and practically falling off. How had that happened, he wondered? "Urgh, that's not good."

Swordmaster A counters Amon because vantage+brave sword! Rolls 4,1,3

MISS!

Rolls 5,4,5

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109829

AUTOHIT!

-11 HP

Amon attacks Swordmaster A! Rolls 3,6,2

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109786

KO!

Amon HP 10/21

Edited January 12, 2016 by Phoenix

[Ether]

"Darling, huh? How suave of you... I must say, I do like a man with some confidence... even if it is in excess~" Angelica replied, matching Carlos' smirk with one of her own, as she settled into a defensive stance, holding her guard. If he had that bow put away, it would certainly help some of the less sturdy amongst their group to keep from being skewered.

"Mmm, but hey, if it works out being the better deal, I just might consider that offer~ I should warn you though, I've... danced with some talented gentlemen, in my time~"

[scorri]

Lumi had barely heard Norbert speaking as she rushed over to the pegasi. They were clearly distraught and so she quickly called back to Bert, "Do whatever you need to do. These guys need my attention." She spoke again, this time to the pegasi in a calm voice, "Hey you guys. Don't worry. It'll be ok. Your riders should be here soon. That'll be nice, won't it? They'll be here and you'll be back together and things will be ok again."

[Mercakete]

Norbert, initially, was a little surprised at how quickly Lumi acted, and with such focus. He gave the scene a little smile as the woman began calming the nervous pegasi, even as the chaotic sounds of battle boomed and clashed outside. It was all the attention he could spare it, however. If no one guarded the door, then all of his fellow pegasus handler's promises were empty. Of course, it also depended on Eva reaching the captured riders... They just had to hold out long enough for them to come for their pegasi, then all of them could join the battle and help the others take the fort.

Looking at the door, though, it would be difficult to defend alone. After all, it was wide enough for three pegasi to get through at the same time. Bert glanced at Rizen, but decided that he wouldn't be able to trust her not to bolt. If anyone got past him, he was sure that Riz and Lumi could take care of them. For now, though, he needed a weapon with better reach.

So, Norbert unstrapped his poleaxe from Rizen's side and hurried to the stables' door. The pegasus herself was dubious about her rider heading back out, and even neighed her protest, but was surprised when she heard him begin fighting so soon. As it turned out, Norbert's short run to the door had almost been too late.

One of the bowmen who had been shooting at them on their way to the stables had run over to get a clear shot at them and defend their captive pegasi. What he hadn't been expecting was for one of those who had taken cover in the stables to run out so soon, and with a poleaxe in-hand, no less. He hadn't had time to nock an arrow yet. Norbert was a bit surprised to see a bandit right around the corner, too, but unlike him, the rider had his weapon ready, and he quickly brought it down on his foe.

Norbert attacks Sniper A! (Flavored as a different combatant than one Hoshi had attacked)

((2+10)+3)-13 = 2 = HIT!

(10+3)-1 = 12 damage! KO!

http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=109831

Norbert 18/18

Sniper A 0/18

The bowman wound up dropping his bow and falling as Norbert, pressing a foot against the bandit's chest, removed his axehead from his opponent's neck and collarbone. He was still a little stunned by the quick assault. Right, then. Pulling himself together, Norbert positioned himself right in the center of the entryway to the stables and held his poleaxe at the ready. If he had anything to say about it, no bandit was getting by him.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Mercakete

[Afterglimmer]

Haythem’s announcement was more than convincing as Luther dismounted and moved to intercept any overzealous bandit that felt cocky enough to charge the grounded Isis. If they thought they were going to cripple their healer or means of escape, they were due for a nasty surprise.

[Phoenix]

Order vs Chaos

There was no telling where Fizza was, now, not after the bandits recovered and came crashing into the men at the entrance. There was no real weight behind the charge, now, and the bandits didn't gain any ground by crashing into the waiting guardsmen. In fact, it only made fighting them easier at this point. The guardsmen up front all had shields, which let them literally shove their attackers back, and then make room for those with guns to step up, shoot, and then disappear back into the safety of the unit. With no support from the archers, Carlos' men couldn't counter this simple tactic. They no longer had a formation to maximize the effectiveness of their numbers. Carlos was too distracted to order them to regroup. They were a disorganized mob trying to individually overcome their adversaries. The guard captain had a feeling they were going to wind up killing almost all of them before they realized just how hopeless all of this flailing about truly was.

Doran appreciated the turn of events. No one on their side had been killed yet, and despite the odd injury here and there, they were completely overpowering the bandits. That was good, no matter how tough these people were, against a proper formation, and lacking one of their own, they should be cut down with contemptuous ease. Doran even took part in the shooting, stepping forward into one of the gaps between shield bearers, and unloading a shot into the forehead of one of the bandits that had almost disarmed one of his allies. "How long til they run away, do you think?" he asked the captain, smirking as he did.

"Give'em a minute," the guard captain replied, unable to resist a smirk of his own, "they'll figure it out." Some of them did seem to be picking up on the hopelessness of the situation, and began urging their allies to fall back in order to regroup. They weren't stupid, but most of them seemed to realize too late that their massive numbers advantage was negated by the recent explosions and the collapse of their formation. Without that, they could only attack individually and be dealt with individually. Some still didn't realize the severity of the situation, though, and they were paying for it in blood. There was also something else, something the guard captain noticed. He'd only seen it once, but one of the bandits had collapsed a few moments ago. The odd thing was that no one attacked him. He'd been injured, certainly, but he was faring just fine until all of a sudden, a wound opened up in his neck and he simply collapsed. Business of battle prevented him from dwelling on it long enough to form any solid theories, however.

Forced Ascent

One of the pegasus knights came up on Isis' left side, hoping to achieve just a little damage, a slash, a slight nick, anything, but the wyvern was in no mood, and snapped at the flier, her massive jaws nearly catching the pegasus by one of its wings. Its rider had no choice but to abandon his attack run. The pegasi were too valuable to lose over such a simple mistake. At the same time, one of the bandits on the ground was swept off his feet by Isis' tail, which was swinging and writhing erratically to defend her backside. She threw her wings out as she prepared to take off, and that move alone bowled over a few of the enemies on the ground, and even blew back one of the pegasus knights approaching from the right. Isis didn't care what the plan was, she had no intention of being killed here. With all of her strength, she beat down her wings and propelled herself back into the air. Haythem wasn't sure if he'd be able to convince her to come back here, but for now he was in full agreement with getting off of the ground.

The gusts generated by Isis' struggle to escape reached Carlos and Angelica, but the former had no intention of having his attention pulled every which way when he couldn't effectively help his fliers or his infantrymen right now. The wind mage didn't look distracted, but the sudden gust was cue enough to begin their violent exchange. "Show me you've got what it takes to be one of my people, mage," he said as he closed the remaining distance between them and attacked.

ENEMY PHASE #1

Carlos attacks Angelica! Rolls 2,1,6

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109832

HIT! -3 HP

Angelica uses stun counter! Rolls 5,6,1

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109835

STUN!

Ballista A attacks Hoshi! Rolls 4,6,1 Eva defends!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109836

HIT! -19 HP

Eva HP 11/30

Sniper B attacks Amon! Rolls 6,2,3

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109837

MISS!

Swordmaster B attacks Norbert! Rolls 6,1,5

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109838

HIT! -4 HP

Swordmaster B doubles! Rolls 5,6,6

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109847

CRITICAL HIT! -16 HP! KO!

Miracle activates!

Norbert HP 1/18

Sniper C attacks Jamilla! Rolls 4,1,2

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109839

MISS!

Sniper D attacks Norbert! Rolls 3,4,1

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=109840

HIT! -7 HP KO!

Norbert HP 0/18

ENEMY TEAMS

Carlos HP 30/30 (SIEGE)(STUNNED)

Falcon Knight A HP 18/18 Poison Lance (Subvert) (<---look closely)

Falcon Knight B HP 18/18 Poison Lance (Subvert)

Sniper A HP 0/18

Swordmaster A HP 0/21

Ballistician A HP 36/36 Ballista (Aggressive) (SIEGE)

Sniper B HP 18/18 (Aggressive)

Swordmaster B HP 21/21 (Aggressive)

Ballistician B HP 36/36 Ballista (Passive-Aggressive) (SIEGE)

Sniper C HP 18/18 (Aggressive)

Falcon Knight C HP 18/18 Poison Lance (Passive-Subvert)

Ballistician C HP 36/36 Ballista (Passive-Aggressive) (SIEGE)

Sniper D HP 18/18 (Aggressive)

Falcon Knight D HP 18/18 Poison Lance (Passive-Subvert)

Ballistician D HP 36/36 Ballista (Passive-Aggressive) (SIEGE)

ALLIED TEAMS

Norbert HP 0/18

Lumi HP 18/18

Shadrak HP 24/24

---

Eva HP 11/30

Angelica HP 18/21 (CLOSED IN)

Jamilla HP 9/15

---

Nadya HP 21/21

Luther HP 27/27

---

Amon HP 10/21

Hoshi HP 13/18

PLAYER PHASE #2

Edited January 12, 2016 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

Relatively soon after Norbert took up his position, two more bandits hurried over. One was holding a bow, so at least he may have been another who had been trying to shoot him down on their way to the stables. Unlike his rent and bleeding ally -- who was likely dead by now -- this bowman had brought some help in the form of a bandit swordsman. They didn't seem too happy, but Norbert didn't expect them to be and he didn't particularly care why they were angry. There were plenty of reasons for them to be, after all, and even more not to be nice to him. Though it'd be tough fending off two at once, at least the bowman could be expected not to try to get past him until he had been cut down or something. Ranged fighters seemed to think that way, most of the time.

Norbert didn't want to give the pair any room to get by him and into the stables. So, he didn't move from where he stood. Instead, he was already thinking on how to cut them off if one tried to get by him and how to use his weapon's length to best keep them out. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it was the right call. After all, his objective was just to buy Eva and the Ursaean riders time and safeguard the pegasi, Rizen included.

The swordsman didn't bother slowing his pace. Rather, as he approached, he quickened it, raising his sword for a brutal strike with a loud cry. As expected, the bowman hung back, watching. Norbert was only able to observe that much from him as he soon found himself having to defend from the more immediate threat of the swordsman. Whether the bowman was looking for a place to plant an arrow, or waiting for an opening in order to get into the pegasus-housing structure, Norbert couldn't discern before the swordsman reached him.

The sword-wielding bandit's weapon crashed against Norbert's polearm, deflecting it enough that, even though the blade continued its forward momentum, its edge bounded relatively harmlessly off of Bert's armor. With a growl and a hard shove, practically lunging, he managed to push the bandit back a couple paces. The less unruly weapon of the bandit, however, recovered a lot more quickly than Norbert did. He'd pitched forward some in his effort to gain some distance while standing his ground. The next attack was a horizontal cut. While Norbert did manage to defend himself from this attack, it was minimally, and he wasn't quick enough to do much about it.

He'd released his poleaxe with one hand, and the attached arm jerked up reflexively. The sword's blade, therefore, managed a good cut into Norbert's upper arm, but went no further. Norbert certainly felt the pain, but his minor flinch quickly turned into a focus. Rage flashed in his eyes and he grit his teeth in determination. In an attempt to gain more room again, even as the swordsman's attack was completing, the pegasus rider thrust the head of his poleaxe directly into the bandit's face, bashing him in the nose, making him lean backwards, and forcing him back.

That was when he saw the bowman try to dash by. Evidently, he'd decided that his ally had Norbert occupied well enough to run by. No, you don't! As the swordsman staggered back a pace or two, Norbert gripped his poleaxe with both hands again and swung it wide at the passing archer, roaring in his determination. The bowman, seeing the axehead before it could connect, hastily ran several paces backwards and, still a bit wide-eyed, darted his attention to Norbert and the swordsman.

He knew why it had happened as soon as he felt it. The swordsman had taken advantage of the giant opening Norbert had given him and thrust his sword right into Norbert's side. His armor protected him only for a moment before, in part thanks to Norbert's own refusal to give the swordsman ground into the stables, it was punctured by the blade and said blade pushed a good four inches into his flesh. Norbert's initial reflex was to give a loud, pain-filled grunt, but he didn't move. Now, he could really only move in one direction with that sword stuck in him. Instead, he sent out a furious cry and swung his axe in a wide sweep off to the side to force the swordsman back again. It worked, and the sword was removed from his side as the man backed off.

Norbert was only partially aware of his fatigue, such was his focus on defending the stables. Yes, he had sustained injury, but he could still fight. Or at least he was able to until he heard a thnk and felt the arrow bury itself just above his left collarbone. "Urrgh!" Bert gritted his teeth in pain and he felt his strength leave the upper left side of his body. The cut he'd recieved to his arm had also been on the left, and had been bleeding since it was made. He didn't have time to recover from this blow before the swordsman rammed his shoulder into the rider, sending him flying into the stables and landing with a pained gasp into his back, poleaxe still gripped in his right hand.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Mercakete