Sword of Sacrifice

And so, Braavos and Dathdr met up with Zak and the fledgling mage, both of who had been doing their own things.

Thirty minutes later, they joined the garrison along with the rest of the stragglers.

With a mighty blow of the war horn from Eremy Thag, they were off to battle. Fort McAlesworth was but a few hours away...

(I just noticed I only have 4 spent points. Add point to strength!)

Dathdr marched with the convoy, using his bow to help him along, and noticed a squad of archers maintaning their weapons on a small wagon. Dathdr hopped up, and said, "Greetings, friends! May I examine your bows, for sake of comparison?"

Exchanging weird looks, one of them finaly handed over his iron bow. Dathdr looked it over, then fired off one of their arrows. He picked one up, and said, "To make them fly farther and more accuratly, use feathers from the tips of the wings of a goose, not the body, and position them pointing toawrd you. And when you are next at the smithy, have them narrow the arrowheads, and end the two points in two small hooks, to make them harder to remove."

Satisfied he had amazed the young soldiers, Dathdr jumped down, tripped, then marched off to find Braavos and the others.

- -Braavos- -

The march was long and his mind was full, but still Braavos carried on near the head of the procession. Twice did his brother try to start a conversation, and twice did Braavos remain silent. His left hand, which had been busy clenching and unclenching out of anxiety, dropped to rest on the pommel of his sword.

He sighed, attempting to relax. It was unlike him to be so nervous before a battle. Perhaps it was what he knew what he was up against, or perhaps he was afraid for something totally unknown to him.

Either way, the knots in his stomach told him that something was wrong, and in the back of his mind he knew that an unparalleled slaughter would take place today.

His thoughts drifted elsewhere for a few moments. The faces of his children, the children he'd never even met... They filled his mind. He wondered if they would survive this war.

And he was afraid.

Dathdr readied for battle, restringing his bow, sharpening his dagger, reparing any arrows that had imperfections. All around him, the rebels were doing the same, organizing into squadrons, donning armor, preparing the seige machines. Dathdr donned his steel armour, with the symbol of his nation to inspire fear in his enemies, and donned the steel helm he had been given, which he customized with ancient elfen war characteristics, making him look like a demon to his enemies. On the march, Dathdr had found a large log, and with the help of several men, built a large shrapnel ballistae bolt, which would explode over the enemy, covering them with deadly shards of wood and metal.

Finaly, near dawn, the fires of the fort were visible over the next hill. Sounds of battle were heard, and Dathdr gathered with his companions, ready for whatever the battle would bring them.

A flash of light, and nothing happened.

Another flash, and this time a tiny gnome flew against a wall. Immediately shouts were called, and the whole mine was awake. Half of them were already awake, and fighting some dark enemy.

"Medic!", a gnome scout shouted. "The Overlord has arrived in battle!"

Tia gathered Tinie up and ran as fast as she could past the enemies that besieged the Halfling refuge. With a swiftness she had not known she possessed she darted past blow, under swings, and over fallen soldiers.

"What has happened?", Tia breathlessly asked.

"Undead, they came from nowhere, but they came. They came from the north-west, it began a few hours ago.", the scout explained. "They arrived a little after Lord Gurog left. He went on some sort of raiding party, but we haven't seen him since."

"What about Fort McAlesworth", Tia asked.

"It's got its own problems.", the gnome said.

"Prepare for battle.", Tinie ordered. "And fetch me some medicine. I'll pay for it."

Tinie & army(4) vs. Stray Legion

Sold: Steel armor-100, Iron knife-25
Bought:Healing Draught-50, Field Pack-75

"Thar be no contact, yet.", Dangoth was sitting over a map, deep in thought. There had been worse sieges of the mine, but this was different. Normally when he hacked through things they stayed dead.

"They're just standing around..like they're waiting for something.", Tinie said.

"Maybe orders. They serve one of them higher powers, and when not giv'n somethin ter do they tend ter wander around.", Dangoth said.

"How many times have you fought them?", Tinie asked. "How many have we lost?"

"We faught them only once. I think we won."

"Good enough for me. Lets go."

__Battle__

The gate gave a terrible view. Something new had joined the battle, and now rallied, the Legion finally turned their attention to the stronghold.

Tinie alone ventured outside the gate. The Legion could be seen mocking him, pointing and laughing their raspy, breathless laugh. Tinie pointed with his right hand at a portion of the army, causing them to laugh even louder. A cannon crash echoed, and there was no more laughter.

The Legion exchanged glances before charging at the gnome. They charged with swords and lances, they charges with axes and spears. They were within twenty feet when they hit the first trap. A large hole, filled with water. An ice spell by Tinie froze it slowly.

Useless hands were left exposed by the ice. Those trapped in its depths were unable to be released. The second wave charged, and walked over a large puddle of a mysterious black substance. A single spark from the end of Tinie's staff ignited a trail that led from the gnome to the puddle. Those caught in the flames were reduced to dust. After the fire subsided, only one creature was left.

The supposed leader of this siege was several feet taller than any normal man would be. It also appeared to be made up of several men.

Out of traps, Tinie charged the creature. The creature took a large swing, and missed the small gnome completely. Tinie crawled under it, attacking with his sword the legs, knees, and ankles to no avail.

It stooped down, and dragged a scuffling gnome to its eye level. It stared at the small thing. 'How did something so small take out so many?', it asked itself. It was about to bash the small thing in when a large metal ball struck it, scattering it across several yards. Tinie was thrown several feet away from the impact.

Small pieces of the creature began to inch towards each other, building and attaching to reform the hulking mass of bone.

Tinie was exhausted, and the creature didn't seem to be able to die. It returned to normal, and set upon the downed gnome. Tinie, using all the strength he could muster, stood up to face the creature. They locked gazes, staring deeply at each other. Tinie slammed his staff to the ground, casting his final spell.

The feeling was of liquid, water running past his clothes and all around him. Time slowed when you were about to die, and Tinie could only watch the last seconds of his life tick away. The shambling beast was poised to strike, but Tinie could hear its faint groans of the spell working. Water trickled into its very core, softening it. The spell was done.

To others, Tinie stood up for a final spell. A large blue flash, and both were encased in ice. Tinie tried his best to hold his breath, for he knew that he would be pulled from the block soon.

Not soon enough, Tinie lost consciousness. A dull clicking sound could be heard behind him, followed by a frantic screaming. Tia? His thoughts descended into darkness.

-------------

Air never felt so good. Tinie took a deep breath, then several more. When he finally looked up, he saw several worried faces. Dangoth had tears in his eyes, an odd action for a proud dwarf. Tia scooped Tinie up, almost squishing him in a hug.

"Tinie, you were dead for a half hour...", Dangoth said tearfully. "We only just now got you out and resuscitated you."

Add Point into Strength.
---------------------------------

One of the two traders that survived turned to Ryan, "None of us were guarded by the dwarf; his owner was killed in battle. But I apologize on his behalf, nonetheless. My good friend, Foiel, the elf, has survived worse battles than this. He should b-".

The other trader turned around, "He's nearly dead. Didn't you see, his lung was pierced! We should be on our way to help him. Ssa Taf already has him halfway to town...but they might need our funds to pay for his treatment."

The first trader nodded, "Of course. Here, I'm a medical merchant. The bandits destroyed most of my supplies during the attack, but I have a Healing Draught you can have."

Zay snatched the Healing Draught before Ryan could take it.

"Mine."

Zay slinked away, leaving the traders very confused. They simply turned around and walked away briskly.

Zay suddenly turned back to Ryan, "Wanna share?"

Before he could answer, she poured half of the draught down his throat, and chugged the other half herself, leaving them both partially healed.

Zay heard a chuckle from behind her, and she spun around. She had forgotten about the Sylvari.

"The name's Lianhan Sidhe. Looks like you two could use some help. For only 15 bolsa, I'll accompany you wherever you like," said Lianhan.

Zay smiled a bit, and handed over 15 bolsa, "Of course. Help is... always appreciated."

She then spun around, took 4 steps, and collapsed from battle exhaustion.

Tinie sat shivering under a large woolen blanket. It was scratchy, and the ride was bumpy.

The view from a trade wagon was not very good, and the smell of ox was overpowering. Tinie had hopped aboard a wagon with the intent to see what was happening at Fort McAlesworth, and the dwarves had recently mined some iron. The wagon was headed to somewhere. Vital supplies for the resistance. He didn't know if it was true, what the dwarves did with their stash was their business. He didn't ask any more questions.

No one had accompanied Tinie on this journey, he say alone on the back, sitting amongst boxes and crates. Occasionally he could hear the caravan guards talking to each other, setting a course because this road was too bumpy, this road was a shortcut, there is a fallen tree ahead, this road ends.

There wasn't many bandits on these road, and the goblins kept it that way. Farther away, farther north would pose the real threat.

Ryan coughed and sputtered as Zay poured the drink down his throat, swallowing nontheless. He heard a chuckle behind them both and turned, seeing the Sylvari and hearing her say, "The name's Lianhan Sidhe. Looks like you two could use some help. For only 15 bolsa, I'll accompany you wherever you like" Zay pulled out 15 bolsa and handed it over to her, saying, "Of course. Help is... always appreciated"
Ryan watched as she turned, following slowly, then he saw her start to fall and darted forward, catching her in his arms and sighing before straightening up and lifting her like a child, "Where's the nearest inn?" he asked the Sylvari.

- -Bisiteros- -

"Alright, here's how this is going down." Bisiteros said as the mighty convoy came to a stop, and everyone attempted to gather around the three generals. Loose and Eremy waited in silence as Bisiteros took out a large piece of parchment and nailed it onto the side of a wagon until it was flat. Taking out a quill and an assortment of different colored inks, he began drawing.





"You see this green blotch at the bottom? That's us." He said, pointing with his finger.

"And over here..." He said, moving his finger towards the other green blotch. "Is the rest of our force, who've been laying siege here for quite some time."

"As you can see, they've already forced their ways past the main gate." he said, indicating towards the open gate he had drawn. "Now Fort McAlesworth isn't your average fort. Actually it's a fort WITHIN a fort. If the main gate is taken, there are enough supplies hidden behind the fifty foot walls of the desperation gate to keep a small army going for a year."

"This is precisely why we're here. our comrades within the fort simply cannot take down a gate of such magnitude. They've only got two trebuchets and two ballistae at their disposal, and that‘s assuming they haven‘t been destroyed since we set out." he explained, pointing at the two olive coloured and two orange circles.

He then pointed at the two dark red circles and continued, "Our enemy on the other hand has two trebuchets of their own, and they've been quite content with hurling damn near whatever they can get their hands on. Boulders, dead bodies, you name it."

“Additionally…” he added, pointing at the red dots across the gate, “Our enemy has quite a few archers positioned along the walls. They aren’t much of a problem though, considering how many objects and buildings there are to use for cover.”

Suddenly, it grew very quiet before he continued.

“Now this is our mission.” Bisiteros said, a foreboding edge creeping into his voice. “Ninety percent of our force, lead by myself and Eremy, will be joining Borneos’ group within the city with our siege engines in tow.”

Then Bisiteros pointed at the curvy blue line leading into the reddened part of the fort. “This is one of the many sewage systems, and the only one that leads behind the Desperation Gate. Now the area is very tight, so only ten percent of our forces lead by general Loose will be going in. Their mission is to penetrate into the Fort and find some way to open that damn gate without being torn asunder. Any questions?”

Someone from amongst the crowd spoke up, “But won’t it be heavily guarded?”

“You bet your sweet ass it will.” Loose said, answering for Bisiteros. “That’s why I volunteered for leading the team myself.”

He smiled, as if the battle was already won.

“Yes, well… If there are no further queries, we’ll be on our way now.” Bisiteros stated with an air of finality.

Silence reigned.

“Then let it begin!” Eremy Thag shouted, before letting off a deafening blast from his war horn. It was not nearly as loud as the shouts and cheers that erupted from the troops a mere instant later.

And suddenly they were off, rushing towards what may very well be their deaths.

The wagon stopped, and everyone got down from wherever they were for some much needed rest. There was a man and a dwarf armed with swords, and a gnome with a bow. The man had his own horse, so that meant that the Dwarf and gnome drove the wagon.

"So Tinie, why are you going to the fort?", the man asked.

"Normally bad things are stopped early, they don't have a chance to assault any cities.", Tinie said.

"I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I'm not a part of this war, yet I feel that I have some civic duty to my people to defend them from harm. The resistance seem to be the right choice, all they want is for everyone to be safe. The Empire however, always kept the people safe. Sure, they were taxed unfairly, but what will happen when the gladiator wins? The damages will have to be paid for somehow. My people lose anyway you see it. We're not useful to either side, and at this rate, I don't think we'll last for 50 more years."

"That's.....a way of looking at it.", the dwarf said.

"Yeah...I'll be back.", Tinie said. Nature had called, and Tinie needed to answer it. There was a particular bush a couple yards back that looked promising.

Zipping his pants back up, Tinie heard a strange growling.

"I'm not hungry....", Tinie said, checking his stomach. He looked up, and looked directly into the eyes of a bear. It roared again, showing all of its teeth.

"Tinie! Go into the fetal position!", the man shouted.

Tinie complied, and the bear sniffed him a little bit. It picked him up and carried him away.

"Tinie! Abort the fetal position! Abort!"

Tinie whimpered as he was carried off into the forest.

Dathdr joined the main force of the rebels, with Braavos and Zak by his side. A small part of the legion breaks off, marching towards the sewer, while the legion marches on. Dathdr readys for battle, chanting elfen war chants, getting louder and louder, until he realized the army has joined in. Up ahead, a notable hush has entered the battlefield, as both enemy and friend alike watch in aw.

Tinie admired the swordsman's new bear coat, and he had to hand it to the dwarf for his quick thinking, not letting the bear carry him off.

They hopped on the wagon and continued their journey. It was not far until the Fort, but the view was terrible.

"Halt!", a voice from the trees shouted. Tinie, not really knowing what to do, hid under a blanket that covered something.

Muffled voices, and the wagon continued moving. They stopped for the last time. Tinie crawled out from under the blanket. His eyes were wide from his discovery.

"They say they have something. Is he it?" Voices murmured things."Really? I have never known a gnome to be good for much. Greedy little things."

"Resistance! I am Tinie, Gnome Overlord of the God Spike mountains! I bring a gift to your cause, may it decimate your enemies!"

Tinie ripped the blanket off a shiny new Mithril cannon. The previously laughing crowd lay silent.

"May it tear through the Empire!", Tinie shouted, hopping off of the cart. The few men that had gathered took the sides off the cart and made a ramp. Several other men gathered the boxes that the ammunition for it.

They wheeled it away, and Tinie tried running after it.

He rose from the ground, his hunger was the only thing keeping him alive, other then the hunger he felt nothing. He still had his dagger, he cluched it well for it was his only tool that would be used for him to feed.

He looked around, he learnd from his first experience that fighting off random strangers would cost him, so he went into a town that was closest to his location. He walked into what he thought was an eatery, he orderd a mutton. He ate it, he ate the bone, he ate the marrow and he drank the liquids.

other people that were eating at the eatery were staring at him "What a strange boy" they thought, he was frustrated, he wanted to kill them for judging him. He was about to lose his temper when a women tapped him on the back, so he turned around.

- -Sally- -

She had been slinking about, plotting all sorts of nastiness, when she decided to stop by a random eating establishment. She had no need for food, but the fact that an animal would be brutally killed to prepare her meal was a very appealing thought.

Walking in, she noticed a rather odd looking person tearing viciously at a chunk of mutton. "Interesting." she thought to herself. Of course, being alone in a forest for six days can make just about anything interesting. Without being fully aware of her actions, she walked over to the odd character, and tapped him on the back.

As he turned around, she cranked up her charm to it's maximum level and said, "Hello, what's your name?"

The cannon was sitting near a large group of assorted tall creatures. They were getting ready for a war of sorts, but this really didn't concern Tinie. Win or lose, he needed this Fort to become operational again. The creatures stirring in the northwest.....they needed to be stopped before they came for his people again.

They were going to attack the fort, from the sides and from the front. It seemed like a good plan. Once some of the crowd dissipated, Tine moved up to check out the map that had been nailed to the cannon wagon.

"Bisiteros, right?", Tinie asked. "I could have sworn I've seen him before, or someone like him, or someone very unlike him. He was familiar though."

nick follows the smaller body of soldiers.

zak looked onward towards the battle.

"friends where do we go, who do you want to follow, i will follow you to the end"

- -Braavos- -

Drawing his swords, he began to run towards the sewer entrance with Loose's group, but a hand clasped over his shoulder.

Turning around, he saw Bisiteros holding on to him. "You're staying with me." He said in a voice that demanded compliance.

Braavos cast a look at Z and Dathdr, and then nodded at his brother.

together, they began hurrying towards the gate.

POST 1 of 2

*Note = Loose’s name has been changed to Les, due to titular conflicts between him and my DF character.*



- -Bergram- -

A snap of light and a gust of smoke exploded out of nowhere, followed by the queasy feeling of his stomach attempting to catch up with the rest of him. "I don't see how you get used to that." Bergram mumbled, rubbing the stump of his arm as had become his habit. Vicar ignored this, and simply hissed, "Do not fail, Captain. You will not be saved a second time." And with that, the sinister magician disappeared in another loud, smoky, explosion.

Coughing, Bergram loosed his greatsword that had been strapped onto his back, and held it in his remaining arm, fairly confident that he could wield it with one arm less than what was required.
From his perch atop the wall, He could see the full expanse of the fort that he had been dispatched to protect. A boulder whizzed by overhead, alerting Bergram of the opposing faction assembled within the city as they attempted to force their ways past the desperation gate. Their trebuchets, although annoying, wouldn’t be yielding them much in the near future.

Bergram grunted, and began to weigh their forces. The Red Patriots possessed a similar amount of soldiers and twice the siege engines, however he wasn’t worried. They had an ace in the hole they had yet to play, although he had no idea when that ace would show up.

“Sir! Sir!” A solitary archer shouted, running up to him, and pointing at the horizon. “Look over there!!”

Sure enough, Bergram saw the last thing he had wanted to see. Over the shouting of the soldiers below, it was difficult to make out the sound of the war horn, but the sea of incoming enemies was plain enough to see. “Fuck!” He cursed, flinging the archer off the wall out of anger. Screaming, the man fell to his messy death on the concrete below.

Before long, most of them were aware of the enemy reinforcements, but at that point there was little that Bergram could do in terms of combat, so he just watched and waited. “If that gate falls, I’ll simply kill them myself.” He thought with an irritated smirk.



- - Braavos - -

The ragtag group of warriors followed Bisiteros and his men all the way to the main gate, which had been left wide open following the battle that had occurred days earlier. The walls were much larger than any Braavos had ever seen before, at least a hundred yards in height. However, he didn’ have time to gawk at the scenery, as an encoming ballistae shaft hurtled into their group, impaling a dark skinned man through the torso, killing him instantly. Blood and viscera littered the ground under him as he was blasted backwards ten feet. “Take cover!” Bisiteros shouted, and everyone immediately ran for the buildings within the fort, using them as shields against the giant arrows of death.

It was a terrifying thing to be sure. Small holes had been cut in the arrowheads of the ballistae shafts, creating a horrific whistling noise as they careened through the atmosphere towards their unlucky targets. Ever wary of the airborne menace, they advanced deeper into the fort towards the large group amassed at the desperation gate nearly two hundred yards away. Fortunately for Borneos’ group, ballistae weren’t a problem because the wall served as a shield for them as well, since the deadly siege engines in question were placed on the ground behind the gate, rather than on top of the wall where they might have been more useful.

Braavos looked behind him as he crept forward, his back to an unidentified wall. Dathdr was right behind him, and Zak was on the other side of the street. Both appeared apprehensive, but showed no signs of fear. This emboldened Braavos, who looked forward and continued edging his way towards his goal. It was then that he noticed Nick was not among them. He assumed that the mage had gone off with Les. Suddenly, he was jerked out of his musings as a howling shaft blew past him, missing him by merely a few feet. He heard a gut wrenching squish followed by several horrified yells, signaling that the oversized arrow had done its job.

Ignoring the dying man, Braavos snuck into an alleyway and went around the building he had been creeping along. Perhaps it was a large detour, but it rendered him untouchable by enemy artillery. Sneaking around the other side, he moved forward some more, and then snuck into another alley so as to continue safely once again. Many of the others had picked up on this little trick, and had begun either following him, or going in and out amongst other nearby alleys. Indeed, it was a great deal less dangerous than trying to sneak up the main road, albeit longer. However, Borneos had held out for nearly a week already, so Braavos figured that time wasn’t much of a factor. Oftentimes, the alleyways had backdoors, which allowed him to bypass the main road directly. All of the buildings he traversed were empty, save for his fellow men at arms. During this whole process, few spoke. Ten minutes quickly turned to thirty, and the desperation gate began to grow larger and larger in the distance.



- - Tinie - -

Meanwhile, Red Patriot artillery had to take the direct approach. Each of the four siege engines plus Tinie’s cannon were far too large to be shoved through alleys, not to mention how long it would take. Therefore, they had to advance down the main road, where they were most susceptible to enemy fire. The streets themselves were relatively narrow, so the machines had to be moved in a single file lines. Luckilly, the large hulking weapons provided portable cover, lowering casualties drastically, however someone’s head tended to go flying at least once every five minutes or so. Normally the artillery would have been moved with horses, however the deadliness of their current situation reduced them to merely pushing. Nonetheless, progress was made, and they weren’t far behind the troops that had gone on ahead.

Tine had pretended to push for awhile, but now he just sat atop his cannon, which was located safely at the back of the line. As far as he was concerned, he had greatly increased their fire powerful single handedly, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to risk scoliosis over an act of charity.



- - Borneos - -

Over the course of his aggravatingly long siege, Borneos had gradually become more and more aware of one single fact.

He was tired of this mother fucking gate.

Unfortunately, he lacked the manpower to both assault the enemy through the sewer, and rout them at the gate. It was either one or the other. Fortunately, the enemy wasn’t doing too well either. The entire situation was as unprogressive as a stalemate could possibly be, and it had long since eroded his tolerance.

He had once considered retreat, but that was before he lost his brother. Just two days prior, Bouros had taken an arrows to the heart from an enemy archer, and had died in Borneos’ arms. At that moment, Borneos decided that none of the fuckers behind that gate were getting any mercy as long as he still drew breath. His men felt the same; there wasn’t one among them who hadn’t already lost a friend to the siege.

Unfortunately, the reality of their situation didn’t place them in a position to wreak any real sort of vengeance. Not without help. Looking behind himself in frustration, he was pleasantly surprised by what he saw. “Speak of the devil…” He thought to himself as he saw a fairly large force bearing the Red Patriot colours advancing towards them. He immediately was able to pick his younger brother Bisiteros out of the crowd, and was shocked to find his youngest brother amongst the newcomers as well. They were still a good distance off, but he waved to them, assuming they could see him. Bisiteros waved back in confirmation.

Borneos smiled, it was certainly a sight for sore eyes after a week of bad news. From the other side of the street, he was also able to spot Eremy Thag, however Les was noticeably absent. “Going in through the sewer eh?” he thought, guessing the whereabouts of the missing general. “I certainly hope he can get the job done.”

At that moment, a young soldier ran up to him to inform him of the advancing reinforcements, but stopped and turned away, realizing his commander was already aware. Giving the boy an odd look, Borneos begin rolling his shoulders to release the tension, and waited patiently as reinforcements neared.



- - Nick - -

It stank of human waste, and it was wetter than wet, but Nick figured that it was better than having his face shot off by the enemy artillery. It was unnaturally wide for a sewer, but then again, it had to be large to keep such a massive fort running effectively without feces and urine flooding the street. Trying his best to force the disgusting thoughts and smells from his mind, he set his eyes on Les, who had been unnaturally quiet since they split with the main force. Out of the two hundred people in the sewer, Nick was near the front of the congregation, and he could plainly see that something was up with the general.

However, Nick figured that it wasn’t his place to worry about it. Being responsible for the success of an entire siege with over a thousand lives on the line would weigh heavily on anyone’s mind, he figured.

As their trek continued, Nick began to marvel at the complexity of Fort McAlesworth’s sewage system. It was a veritable labyrinth of interconnecting waterways. He was glad that Les knew where he was going, because it was the sort of place that you get lost in and never find your way out. On top of that, the place was just plain creepy. There were no light sources to be found, so they probed their ways around using the faint light from those who were smart enough to pack torches. Nick, however, didn’t have this problem. He used magic to create a ball of fire that floated overhead, illuminating his path. The place was as quiet as a grave. The occasional jittery squeaks of the rodent population where the only noises to be heard. However, the entire place seemed to gently buzz, most likely from the reverberations of the armies massed aboveground. Nick would have hated to know how loud the buzzing would sound during open battle.

Suddenly, a light could be seen in the distance. “There’s the entrance.” Les said, motioning with his left hand, while drawing his bow with the right. Nick clenched his spell book tightly, focusing on the mission at hand. Their task was to break through the enemy enough to win their way to the gate controls on top of the wall, and open the blasted obstruction for the rest of their forces to sweep in. It was quite possibly a suicide mission, but it was the best they could do without wasting a year trying to starve the enemy out. It had also been possible that the sewer had been booby trapped or some ambush had been laid in anticipation of such an attack by the Patriots. This was chiefly why they didn’t send more troops than they did.

A growing noise from behind him interrupted Nick’s thoughts. Apparently the rest of the troops had started growing raucous on the onset of the battle to come, shouting their various war cries and random exclamations of their impending victory. Nick was amazed at their stupidity, and could do nothing but keep moving, and hope that their enemies couldn’t hear the commotion coming from under them. To his relief, they must not have, because the sewer remained unperturbed by enemy units, even as they arrived at the large chamber door separating them from the surface.

Slowly, Les turned around to look at his men. Quiet immediately followed. Everything was still, except for Nick’s heart, which was pounding erratically.

After a few moments, Les nodded, drew and arrow, and kicked open the door. With a combined shout from everyone, they rushed out into the light.

And into a trap.

Les only smirked as they were instantly surrounded by enemy soldiers. Notching his arrow, he pulled it taut and turned around to face the men he had led to their deaths.

- - - Boss Battle 3 = Les - - -

Surely, the gods are laughing.

“Long live the empire!!” Les shouted, raising his bow, and releasing it’s munition. The arrow exuded a menacingly dark shade of orange as it flashed across Nick’s field of vision, landing with a grisly explosion in a crowd of Patriots. Sinew and bone alike were ripped apart as limbs were severed and internal organs littered the air, like rain in a typhoon. Yelping, unable to believe what was happening, Nick rolled to his right, narrowly avoiding the horrific blast.

Outraged, and in shock, the rest of the Patriots charged out at full speed, trampling the remains of their liquefied brethren. Unfortunately, the exit had been located right next to the wall, which made it possible for boiling grease to be dumped onto many of them as they advanced. Their screams were the stuff of nightmares as their skin burned, boiled, and fell from their bones in disgusting searing chunks. All the while, Les laughed in a voice indicating obvious insanity as he fired off more of his hellacious arrows. Nick was luckily ignored during all of this, being among the first out, he had instantly cleared the opening, escaping the notice of those on the wall who were busying themselves with the Patriots that were immediately exiting the sewers.

However, this grace period only lasted a few instances. The grease depleted, and Les’ arrows being limited, the foot soldiers had closed with the remaining patriots as Les fired normal shots into the crowd, piercing skulls with frightening accuracy. However, three of the enemy swordsmen took note of Nick, and quickly advanced on him, chuckling at what they thought would be a quick victory.

His anger flashing, Nick fired a jet of flame from his palm, engulfing two of the soldiers in raging, burning, death. Their pained exclamations were music to his ears as they flopped around in the mud, dying horribly. Suddenly, he heard a whistling noise, and bent backwards, narrowly avoiding the third soldier’s longsword as he dealt a horizontal slash at Nick‘s face. Losing his balance, the mage stumbled back a few steps, and was sure he was dead for a moment as his enemy rushed him.

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However, an arrow found it’s way into the man’s eyeball and out the back of his head, killing him. Swiveling his head around, Nick discovered his rescuer to be a middle aged bowman who threw him a half smile a few instances before a mace from behind blew out half of his cranium.

Silently grieving the death of his savior, Nick was shocked out of his mourning by an angered scream from one of the Patriots, “THE GATE!! WE”VE GOT TO OPEN THAT FUCKING GATE!!” This was followed by a raucous explosion of vigor, as the patriots surged forward, hacking their way through the enemy with a renewed sense of purpose. “FOR FREEDOM!!” Someone yelled, and “FOR THE SLAIN!!” shouted another.

Unbelievably, they were able to break through, but to what?

Sprinting towards huge stone steps leading to the top of the wall, the remaining hundred or so Patriots were rained down upon by a flurry of enemy arrows. Many were killed as the shafts pierced bloodily through mail and hauberks, ripping apart whatever organs they skewered. Meanwhile, Nick had followed, casting plumes of flame at anyone he saw wearing imperial colors. When the arrows came down, he cast waves of pure energy, obliterating the arrows approaching him and protecting the people near him. He noted with sadness that he did not yet possess the magical fortitude to cast away enough arrows to save very many people besides himself.

As they ascended the steps, Nick spotted the command terrace, and the lever that undoubtedly controlled the gate not twenty feet from where the steps ended. Unfortunately, it was guarded by a flock of javelineers, who began hurling their spears at the approaching rebels. Nick was not strong enough to disengage them like he could the arrows, so he was able to do little more than dodge, and watch as his comrades where dispatched terribly, several falling to their messy dooms off the side of the stairwell.

Nick retaliated by hurling fire back towards them, but by that time his magical reserves were beginning to wane. What were once powerful miniature infernos were now little more than flares. Nonetheless, it served as a sufficient distraction as their own archers killed the javelineers with several well placed shots. Nick was rather surprised that they were able to take aim while climbing stairs at such a rapid pace, but he decided that now was not the time for curiosity.

It was at this time that Les finished charging a particularly powerful arrow, which had begun to pulsate an insidious purple and red color. “Hold still you little cunt…” He whispered to himself, taking aim at Nick as he reached the top of the stairs.

Sprinting with all his might ahead of the pack, Nick made for the lever, knowing that victory would be assured if he could just pull it. As he ran, he looked out into the enemy controlled side of the desperation gate, into the courtyard bellow that was filled with enemy troops and the ruined carcasses of a great deal of his friends. His heart caught in his throat as he spotted Les, aiming a glowing arrow directly at him.

Throwing his sight back to the lever, Nick attempted to blast it, but he was out of power. He would just have to pull it manually.

He did the only thing he could do. He kept running.

It was the longest ten feet of his life.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

An ear splitting explosion rocked his soul, forcing Nick to the ground. He was certain he had been killed, until he realized that the pain never came. Opening an eye, he noted that he was still alive. Forcing himself to a knee, he looked behind himself to find that Les had fired his dire shot, barely missing Nick by a few yards. It was amazing that he had hit so close considering the sheer distance between him and the traitorous general.

Suddenly, Nick realized with horror that the blast had taken off a huge chunk of the topmost part of the wall, either liquefying or plunging the rest of Nick’s comrades to their dooms. A tear welled up in his eye as every moment of his life raced through his mind, knowing in his heart of hearts that he would be next.

But death didn’t come. Nick could only assume that he was presumed dead by the people below. There was currently no one on the wall that could see him directly, so, for all they knew, he had been obliterated as well.

A cheer erupted from his enemies below, as they celebrated what had been a nearly flawless victory.

Taking advantage of their presumptuous sentiments, Nick sprang to his feet and leapt onto the lever, pulling it backwards with a loud cranking noise. The lock on the gates had been disengaged.

Shocked that he had succeeded, Nick shouted down at his comrades on the other side, ecstatically informing them of his success.

He never even felt it as Les’ arrow smashed through the back of his skull and shot out his left eye socket, spraying bits of brain, blood, and chunks of flesh out of the hole. He died instantly.

Sagging over the edge, Nick fell from the wall a hero.

___CONCLUDE___

Nick has been killed, but has gained 2 levels and 250 bolsa



- - Bergram - -

Unfortunately, Bergram had been on the adjacent wall during the whole debacle, and had been unable to intervene. He had known of, and helped plan Les’ betrayal months prior, but had not expected that one of the rebel mutts would be able to win his way to the gate. He was infuriated, and began cursing every god he knew of as he sprinted down the steps and into the courtyard as the gate began to slide open. “SHOW THEM NO GODDAMN MERCY!!!” He shouted to anyone who could hear, as he held his greatsword over his head.

Les was very solemn, during the whole thing, obviously highly troubled over his failure. He muttered, “Mission unsuccessful.” and suddenly disappeared in a crack of light.



- - Braavos - -

Unaware of the battle that had been raging within the desperation gate, Braavos and his compatriots finally reached Borneos, suffering only a few casualties to enemy artillery along the way. “Brother!” He shouted, clasping Borneos on the arm, as Bisiteros came up close behind. “How fare you and Bouros?”

Borneos’ smile immediately disappeared. “I am fine, but Bouros… He was felled two days past by an enemy arrow.” He said, a foul aura beginning to permeate around him. Bisiteros and Braavos were silent for a moment, registering the information in their brains. “That’s two brothers I’ve lost in a single week.” Braavos thought to himself, his anger and sadness beginning to rise uncontrollably.

“And I take it you’ve heard of Bahntalos?” Bisiteros responded, his eyes closing. Borneos nodded, gravely. “I received word yesterday.”

The three were silent for awhile, until Bisiteros spoke up, “We should act quickly, and get our artillery in place. Les and his men should be cracking open that gate any minute now.” he said, with a half smile.

“Sounds lovely. I supposed he was off doing something of the sort.” Borneos responded, switching his attention to the five artillery units that were wheeling their way forward. “I’ve already mapped out where the units should be placed. I wasn‘t expecting that cannon though.” Borneos continued, taking a step forward. “If you’ve no further suggestions, I’d like to go direct them.” Bisiteros shook his head, and Borneos went off to set order to their heavy duty weapons.

Looking over his shoulder again, Braavos noted that Dathdr and Z were both within ten feet of him. He addressed them, “Hey guys, be sure to stick together when that gat-”

His sentence was cut off a string of continuous explosions, followed by screaming and the sound of steel on steel filled the air. “What the hell was that?” Braavos demanded, not particularly happy with the loud noises he was hearing. Bisiteros responded, “Sounds like Les and his men are taking care of business. I didn’t expect the enemy to have cannons, though.”

The sounds of burning flesh, and the accompanying smell began to saturate the air as the seconds rolled by. Suddenly, an explosion knocked off a chuck of the topmost part of the wall, sending a load of destroyed men and chunks of rock over the edge. The grisly pile landed noisily, and several ground troops ran over to render aid that would be of no use. From behind, Braavos could hear Borneos shouting orders at the artillery units.

A broad smile spread across Bisiteros’ face as the desperation gate began to slowly grind open with a course, grating sound. “Success!” He said, quite obviously pleased. Then, a figure could be seen from the top of the wall, shouting something at them. For a second, Braavos thought it was Nick. However, the person suddenly fell noiselessly from the tower, exploding gruesomely on the ground, not thirty feet away. The body was far too mangled to possibly identify.

Eremy Thag, who had remained quiet the whole time, suddenly shouted, “CHARGE!!!” at the top of his lungs, hefting his humongous axe high above his head. Everyone except the artillery, which Borneos had just finished setting up, charged in through the gate, shouting wildly. Their hearts were as fire as they prepared to take their vengeance.

“FIRE!!” Borneos shouted as he drew his swords, signaling for archers and artillery alike to begin reigning death upon their foes.

And Braavos followed, his mates close by. In his peripheral vision, he could have sworn he recognized a certain spell casting gnome.

- - - Culmination of Boss Battle 2 : Garemiah Bergram - - -

Eradicate

The two forces exploded against each other in a flurry of blood and sparks. It smelled of sweat and death, but that didn’t matter to Braavos. Swinging his sword, he took off someone’s arm, and hoped it had belonged to an enemy. From behind, Dathdr began putting arrows through whatever needed killing while Zak electrocuted a swath of enemy soldier. Spinning around, Braavos decapitated a halberdier, and looked up just in time to see the first arrow, ballistae, and boulder volleys crash into the enemy. It was utterly sickening, but Braavos found himself unable to look away as people were crushed to death, their life as well as their blood seeping out from under the enormous hulking stones. The ballistae and arrows where equally as effective, stabbing through the enemy legion like a spear through paper. The Mithril cannon was especially fierce, each new cannonball punching through more enemy units as the last.

A pain in his side alerted Braavos to an enemy at his flank. Luckily, the man’s spear caught on one of Braavos’ ribs, narrowly shielding him from death. He attempted to hack at the man with his left sword, but stopped as one of Dathdr’s arrows did the job for him. Pulling out the spear, Braavos flung it to the ground, and killed another foe who had poised himself to strike an unwary Patriot. Meanwhile, Dathdr continued to feather his enemies, collecting any arrows he could find. Zak simply did what he did best, turning man after man into ash, his spells becoming more and more noticeably weaker.

Suddenly, a terrible crash was heard, sounding as if a rhinoceros was charging through the crowd. Looking up, Braavos discovered Garemiah Bergram, the man who had defeated him in Jerdy. He was wielding a greatsword with one arm, and was gruesomely severing whole rows of men with one forceful slash after another. “I’LL KILL EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!” Bergram shouted, obviously deep in a frenzy.

“This is dangerous.” Braavos commented, thinking of how to approach the captain without being cut in two. Suddenly, Eremy came charging from the crowd, and interlocked his weapon with Bergram’s in a shower of sparks. “Sorry we had to meet like this, old friend.” Eremy said, pushing the captain away with the haft of his great axe. Bergram spit, “I’ve no friends in traitors.” Eremy did not respond, he simply rushed at Bergram, swinging at his old friend with a vertical slash.

Eremy’s axe struck the ground as Bergram dodged to the side, and the blade became stuck. Bergram laughed and swung his weapon, but Eremy dodged it, abandoning his axe and drawing a sword.

Meanwhile, Borneos and Bisiteros where engaging enemy units back to back, careful not to let their youngest brother too far out of sight. Both were highly skilled swordsmen, and by the end of the first minute, each had decapitated or otherwise mortally wounded at least a dozen foemen. Tinie had deemed it wise to remain near the powerful generals, but he certainly pulled his weight, encasing a good deal of enemies in ice he had taken an arrow to the leg early on, but was otherwise uninjured.

Successfully beheading an axe wielding soldier he had been dueling, Braavos addressed Dathdr and Zak, pointing at Eremy. “We’ve got to help him!” he shouted, and then began sprinting to the general’s defense. Zak and the elf quickly followed, Dathdr already letting fly several arrows at Bergram, who turned his head in time to witness himself being struck in the forearm by the tiny shafts.

Grunting, Bergram ignored Eremy in order to swing at Braavos, who had just entered his range. “So you survived after all!” The crazed captain shouted as the red head rolled to the side in response, barely avoiding the deadly stroke. From behind Bergram, Eremy poised himself, waiting for the right moment. “This is the end for you!” Braavos yelled, charging in as Zak and Dathdr opened fire.

Bergram fell right into their trap, fending off his attackers with his sword arm. His hysterical laugh was broken as Eremy imbedded his sword in heart through his ribs. Armless on that side, he had been unable to defend himself.

The captain’s eyes widened, and in that moment, he knew his life had come to an end. Summoning the last of his strength, he died with one last, exceptionally violent slash, opening a small hole in Braavos’ side and taking off the top part of Eremy’s head.

___CONCLUDE___

Tinie, Dathdr, Zak, and Braavos gain two levels

150 bolsa obtained

Falling to the ground, Braavos clutched his side in pain. Dathdr rushed over to him, checked the bloody gash, and said, “Luckily, tis not a mortal wound.”

Meanwhile, Zak had rushed over to aid Eremy Thag. Unfortunately, the general was beyond help, his brain having been sliced in half. Both halves were oozing out of what remained of his skull.

It took the three several moments to realize that most of Bergram’s men had already been defeated, and the enemy trebuchets had fallen.

The day was won.

(3 points in strength *I still have one unspent point D :*)

Dathdr picked up Braavos, stuffing a piece of not so bloody uniform on the wound and helping him to a nearby medical tent, set up almost immediately after the battle was won. "My friend, that was the bloodiest battle I have seen since the Battle of the Nine Serpents! Now, we must nourish our minds after such a battle!"

With that, Dathdr grabbed two nearby bottles of whiskey being used to sedate the wounded, handed one to Braavos, and drank.

- -Braavos- -

Braavos drank deeply, and threw a bottle to Zak. Leaning back, he allowed a medic to dress his wound.

Suddenly, Bisiteros came running in. "Brother, are you alright?!" He asked, genuinely concerned.

"Fine, fine, don't worry about me, how's Borneos?" Braavos responded.

Bisiteros smirked, "He'll live." Suddenly, the frown left his face, and he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I had not expected to lose Eremy, and Les is nowhere to be found. This is quite a situation I find myself in."

Braavos shrugged, not really having anything to say on the matter.

Bisiteros cast one quick glance at Braavos' newly patched up side and said, "Don't go sticking your finger in the wound. It'll get infected."

And with that, he left.

And Braavos drank.