Sword of Sacrifice

- -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.

Tinie surveyed the battlefield as far as he could see as a field medic tended to his arrow wound. It hurt a bit, but a small frost spell numbed the leg so the pain subsided. This last act depleted Tinie's last bit of magic, a feeling Tinie had never before experienced. Odd.

Dathdr noticed Tinie quite a while before Tinie noticed them. Tinie had been staring in their general direction for the last twenty minutes and had not seen them. 'Must be the elf thing', Tinie though to himself, walking over to them.

Braavos was bruised but OK, Dathdr looked at his peak, and Zak was somewhere around there, apparently.

"I would rather like to talk to you again, but I would also like to visit a temple soon.", Tinie announced. "May we meet again.."

Tinie bowed himself away from their presence, making his way towards to town.

(add points to strength and lucks)

Zak surveyed the battle, and took a long drink

"well this was a big battle but not the biggest i have ever been in and i have been in a lot let me tell you, and also where is nick, i was meaning to ask him about his magic and where it comes from"

So many wounded....so many dead. Cries for aid, cries for lost friends could be heard everywhere. Some cheered for the victory, some mourned the losses. Tinie had a field medic tend to his leg near the gate, and continued onward. The chapel itself had been lightly shelled, but was otherwise intact. The doors still swung open when Tinie pushed them.

The altar of the temple was near the far side, and rubble was strewed over the area. He bent down on his knees, and read the inscription. Tinie chuckled after he was finished.

"It's a sad day indeed when I find myself in a temple that does not want me. I find myself in the very lair of the goddess of human superiority. How odd.", Tinie chuckled to himself, and began his gnomish prayer. Muttering in a language that he was never taught, but born knowing. A soft breeze ruffled his robe, a reminder to him that Janova was always watching.

Tinie finished, and turned to find a soldier in the front pew. She was unarmed in church, as was the human custom. Her long black hair fell over her reddish steel armor. She was an archer by the way she sat, and by some tell tale marks on her armor.

"Janova, the patron saint of Gnomes. It is said that she herself gave birth to the first gnome, and has treated all gnomes since as her children.", she said. "Sometimes I wonder if any other god could exist, except for Daren the God of Wine."

"And how do I look upon such a scholar?", Tinie asked. "Few other than Dwarves know of such matters, and many gnomes save me are quite seclusive about the refuge."

"Gnomes are not fighters Tinie, why are you so far from home?", she said. "What force compels you to adventure? This road will only end in tragedy, and you know it."

"Something stirs in my nightmares. I cannot see the true face of the villain, nor can I foretell his intentions. Darkness threatens my brethren, and I cannot sit idly by and watch as it engulfs them.", Tinie replied. "This fort, it is a stepping stone. With it in control by people who wish peace, maybe my people will have a better chance of repelling the darkness."

The soldier was up from her seat, and embraced the gnome. Unable to do much of anything, Tinie accepted the hug with more than normal patience.

"And that is why you are my favorite.", she said, slightly sobbing. When Tinie was sat down again, the female soldier was gone.

"Hello?", a voice echoed throughout the empty church. A soft breeze ruffled his robe. The ruffling got more and more fierce until he awoke.

"Wake up, I was told to find you. Follow me.", a soldier ordered. Tinie sleepily complied.

Zak was asking around for where Nick was when i soldier came over two him

"eh, sir..." the solider stumbled over his words, wondering how to address him and Zak let out a laugh

"please, call me Zak, i am a fighter just like you."

the solider nodded more confident now

"well Zak...we think we found Nick, but its bad he wa..."

"where is he" Zak said already walking in the direction the soldier had come from, he didn't bother to check if he was being followed by his friends.

when the solider suddenly stopped and pointed at a broken and beaten body that was laying on its sides with its eyes closed

"why inset there a medic here treating him, are you stup..."

Zak then walked over to Nicks back side and saw why he wasn't being treated.

"oh, well that's why"

there was a gaping whole in the back of his head

"sir, hes dead" the solider mumbled, having resorted back to calling him sir at seeing one of his comrades dead.

"i realize that, a whole that size in the head makes it easy to tell if someones dead"

Zak then noticed there was a few tell tale sparks flying over nicks head

"but i think i can help him"

Zak then took off his right boot and reached his hand inside, pulling out a small leather bound book. he then put his boot back on and sat down and started to read allowed from the book, his voice at first was shaky, but then after a few lines, it started to take on power, getting deeper and starting to boom.

A ground shaking rumble shook Tinie. Being closer to the ground, he was able to pick up the source, Zak the wizard.

The fact that there was a large electrical orb hovering over a mutilated corpse, and lightning shooting off of it was also a good cause to find it.

The orb grew steadily larger over time, and the nearby soldiers vacated the area.

"What in the name of Janova....", Tinie whispered to himself.

The orb lowered itself to the ground, and touched the corpse on the ground. It and the body sank into a small blue pool. The pool grew upward into a pillar of sorts, and began flattening itself out. It stood as a blue door about the size of a man. Zak thrust his hand inside.

Out was pulled a man. Coughing and wheezing, he lay outside of the portal. The doorway began to sink back into a puddle when it spiked viciously. Zak looked generally worried at this new event, and readied his knife.

- - Barthathos - -

"... What the fuck do you mean, 'you were defeated'?" Barth asked in a voice that shook with rage, but a facial expression that denied he felt anything at all.

The messenger's next sentence caught in his throat, which was immediately opened with a snap of the king's fingers.

As the bearer of bad news went limp to the floor, Barth drummed his fingers on his throne, wishing he hadn't bothered to return to the capitol.

"Why in the name of FUCK must I do EVERYTHING myself?!" He asked. No one in his throne room answered him.

Upon receiving no answered, the king stood from his seat, donned his jacket, and killed everyone in the area within the reach of his thoughts. He had never been sure why he kept advisers. He didn't heed their "advice" anyway. Perhaps it was better that they were dead.

Plus... Their blood decorated his hall quite nicely. This he noted as he disappeared into the blue, once again. And he meant not to return until he had his answers.

“Look there,” said the old smiling man timidly.

Zyllus looked through the woods to see a large stag grazing in a field. He took an arrow from his pack and drew his bow. The stag was shocked as pain bolted through him and slowly he fell to the ground after running a short distance.

Zyllus took after him and knelt down beside the stag staring at the blood seep with a morbid fascination for it.

“Father!” he said pulling out the arrow and gripping it in his hand and smiling, “We will eat plenty tonight!”

“Good job my son!” shouted his father still standing where they had been hiding.

Zyllus took out his blade and was preparing to cut the stag down when he noticed a dark purple object dug up from its home in the ground by one of the fallen stag’s horns. Zyllus picked it up and looked at it curiously. It was a small purple gem that sparkled even when covered with soil.

Kill

Whispered a voice in his head as he continued to look at the gem.

Kill.. Kill… Kill… KILL.. KILL!! KILL!! KIIIIILLL!!!!

The voice came louder and Zyllus gripped his ears and gritted his teeth.
------
Zyllus stood up looking behind him at the man standing there. He was shaking as he stood looking at the man his hair in his eyes and blood on his hands. Slowly he walked to the man who was now looking back at him confused.

“Is there something wrong?” said the old man looking at Zyllus.

Zyllus lifted his head and brushed the hair out of his left eye. His eye glared red and he body still shook violently.

“What has happened to you?”

“Kill.”

Zyllus lunged the arrow into the old man’s throat. The old man gurgled and choked up blood as he was slowly lowered to the ground. Zyllus bent his head to the side and smiled at the peacefulness of the now dead man. He reached out to close the man’s eyes then stood back up. The gem began to tingle his hand and Zyllus watched as something inside it rippled like water.
---
The village wasn’t far from were they had been hunting. Zyllus had reached the small village while there was a small amount of daylight still left. The blood on his hands had now dried and he looked back at the people who stared at him as he walked by. Something about the people made him sick; he was unsure what is was though. Zyllus walked over to the blacksmith’s shop and went into the building.

“What is it young Zyllus?” said the blacksmith washing his hands in a bucket of water.

”A want a sword,” he said extaticly.

“Why do you need a sword?” said the blacksmith looking at him curiously, “You plan to join the guard?”

“No!” he said laughing, “It’s to kill you silly (<3)”

Zyllus grabbed a sword from the table and lunged it into the blacksmiths chest before he could reply. Zyllus took a moment to watch the man die then took another blade and walked outside.

A woman walking by was swiftly beheaded and a man was stabbed threw the jaw. Zyllus knocked over a torch setting a building on fire. Another man ran at him with a pitchfork but Zyllus sidestepped and stabbed him through the chest. A farmer attempted to run away but his skull was split by the sword. A woman cried out and Zyllus slowly pushed the blade into her stomach then cut her throat. The gem continued to tingle after every person fell. Zyllus slowly began to smile now covered completely in blood and cut threw each person in the village until none were left standing…

Zyllus left the village after setting it on fire then set out toward the castle to seek the king; but first he needed to seek a place to rest. Zyllus set out to the nearest place he could think of… McAlesworth.
--

As Zyllus reached his destination he quickly found an inn to stay at. Tomorrow he would ask around town about where he would most likely find the king.

- -Barthathos- -

"What's the point of having subjects if you have to do all the work yourself?" Barthathos grumbled to himself as the smoky remains of Fort McAlesworth appeared in the distance.

Despite his aggravation towards his incompetent military, he was nonetheless pleased with the fun he was about to enjoy.

(Having a wizard gnome stopped being as amazing around page 35. The thing we are fighting looks like this).

Tinie's Demise

A tail burst through the portal and sent Zak sprawling. A hulking beast emerged where the tail ended. Masses of muscle and bone rippled across the thing, and the wings seemed to pulsate. Twenty times the size of a man, it stood proud and hideous. Nick lay helpless on the ground near the portal.

"The void was none too kind", the thing uttered.

"Sweet baby Janova!", Tinie shouted for no particular reason. "Its Kixxen!"

Zak began firing blasts of fire at Kixxen the Plane Shifter, but he laughed and shrugged them off. Zak turned to the other elements, but they did little better. Tinie drew his dagger and stabbed the back of the creatures leg to hopefully kill it with no effort at all. It didn't work. Kixxen didn't even notice the attack. He spread his wings, and took flight.

Tinie hung onto the back of the leg with all the strength in his body. It was fairly easy to hold onto, plenty of leg muscles to grab, but a single move would now send him plummeting to his death.

Tinie shot an ice spell, aiming for a wing to maybe slow the creature down or make it land. Both wings were frozen together and the creatures wings became useless. Tinie and Kixxen flailed towards the open ocean at a high rate of speed.

They crashed heavily into the water, sinking into the dark depths. Tinie felt soft hands pushing him towards the surface. Choking and coughing up water, Tinie looked around for Kixxen. Something that horrendous wouldn't be defeated with just water.

After a half hour, Tinie began to think that water could kill Kixxen, and by the hour Tinie was sure Kixxen was dead. Water nymphs twittered around the ice mass that Tinie had created.

After two hours on the water, the water nymphs became bored of the gnome and his constant chattering and left.

'I can see Sof', Tinie thought to himself. The water around Tinie was getting a little rough.

Tentacles as large as mountains burst from the water, and Tinie knew why Kixxen hadn't come up, and why the nymphs had left. Tinie said and did nothing as they formed a circle above him and lowered him into the octopuses mouth.

Tinie is dead

"By gummy, what ha'e I gotten meself into now?" Horker the Porker said to himself as he rode atop a tortoise named Torty, in the middle of the sea. "I say, lad, might you let me off upon dry lan'? Me hooves 'ave grown soggy."

The tortoise only shook his head slowly and responded, "I'm afrai' not. I'm late for me appointment with a certain fishy bloke along the trench of Kalamazoo."

Horker frowned. Pigs weren't particularly adept at breathing underwater, especially in trenches. "Well wha' abou' me? I 'ave appointments of me own, and I'll miss them all if I'm to be found along the trench of Kalamazoo!" Horker retorted, prancing back and forth on the tortoise's back. Torty tried to think of an acceptable compromise, but was interrupted by an eruption of water and waves from beneath them.

Horker and Torty found themselves atop the tentacle of a ferocious octopus, and it looked rather hungry.


Horker the Porker vs. The Octopus

___COMMENCE___


"Oh, dirty bollucks!" Horker exclaimed, not expecting such an unwelcome interruption. "Excuse me lan'uage." he immediately said, in apology.

"Alas, this is a right nasty pickle we find ourselves in." Torty commented, searching lazilly for a method of escape.

"Not to worry lad, I've got a plan, see?" Horker responded, rooting inside his backpack with his snout. Finding his dynamite, he pulled it out and lit it with his hooves.

"Ah, that should do nicely." Torty said, agreeing with Horker's use of explosives. Horker responded with a muffled "Indeed," the dynamite in his mouth making it difficult to speak.

He then then tossed the dynamite into the open mouth of the abrasive octopus, which promptly exploded in a blinding torrent of blood and chunks of octopus innards.

Horker and Torty where launched through the air, however they landed nicely, with Torty on his stomach, and Horker still atop his friends' shell.

"Well, I'm certainly glad tha' was resolved quickly." Horker said, sighing in relief. Torty only nodded in agreement and continued on his way to the trench of Kalamazoo.

___CONCLUDE___

Horker the Porker gained 4500 bolsa

Horker the Porker gained seven levels