The Southern Continent (part 2)

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC I'll edit a post in here later, got to get off my arse and do some christmas shopping! I'm planning the bring the walls down, enter the last stage of this fight and resolve it in the next page or two. Btw Dru, you should be know that Gabriel hasn't forgotten about their fight in the Goriel thread, he really wants the elf-bitch's head on a stick, and since they're both carrying durus blades... **star wars theme plays**/OOC
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Graybeard »

"<Ixnay on the indway!>"

"So do you want me to help or not?" Khoo asked, slightly petulantly, and not expecting an answer, which was fine since he didn't get one. It was too bad, really. That whirlwind had been giving him an idea ...

Well, there were always the basics to go back to. The bad guys seemed to be getting fewer, and now he could target them individually if they ever showed themselves. Lo and behold, one obliged, just as he was rallying energy for a Force Bolt. The rifle bullet whistled past his head close enough to part his hair, but a Force Bolt was easier to aim ...

Of course, that had been a little too close for comfort. I'd better stick to defense from now on, he thought, putting a Barrier back up as the man he'd exchanged fire (so to speak) with went up in flames.
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Alberich »

he really wants the elf-bitch's head on a stick, and since they're both carrying durus blades... **star wars theme plays**

[OOC: Yeah, but these riflemen don't shoot like Imperial Stormtroopers, at least not when they can see the target - I think Gabriel read item 56 on the Evil Overlord List - so I hope she'll finish off the Bullet-to-the-Back Boys before indulging in any one-on-one challenges here...]
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

The concentrated efforts of the torchbearers was beggining to tell, the tar-soaked vegetation aided it's spread despite the casualities the soldiers had suffered at the hands of Drusia and the martial-artist. Thick, black smoke was beginning to billow upwards and obscure the vision of the hunters in their elavated position, slowing the fire exchanged as both sides sought for a clear line of sight. Harsh coughing erupted from those who got too close.

"Axes to the walls! And gun him down!" Gabriel pointed a finger at the man who'd recklessly charged through the gap, two 'fire teams' (OOC The captain's term for a single rifleman flanked by two soldiers in case you were wondering./OOC) formed up and chased the martial artist, taking potshots as they closed the distance. The sound of thick steel slicing through degrading plant-matter filled the air, bringing the sharp scent of exotic sap as the humanoid's blockade began to crumble.

Gabriel returned his attention to the barrier and ,with another powerful blast from the watching Aleron, brought down Udo's barrier with a thunderclap that put a knot of fear in Tamina's stomach. The humanoid rose wearily from the latest casualty she'd treated and wiped a smudge of ash across her cheek. The kobold heard the elder's voice pierce the air as some fifteen soldiers, led by their Captain, finally crossed the threshold and into her home.

"Get that barrier back up! Protect the gah!"

Gabriel ducked a thrusting spear and neatly decapitated a charging hunter, unmindful of the defenses returning to prevent the last twenty or so of his men from getting through. The walls were at best, a couple of minutes from falling under the combination of tar, fire and well-crafted axes. He ran fearlessly towards the centre of the village, picking out Leli standing with her kinsmen in front of the largest hut on the jungle floor. Malice danced in his eyes.

Tamina, from her perch on the upper level, snarled and began running to the stairs.
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Graybeard
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Graybeard »

That, Khoo could do. "BARRIER!"
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Alberich »

When Gabriel came into the village to attack his barrier (Udo had peeled off to one side and had not gone back into the breach after Sensei had left), Udo knew he couldn't outrun him and he had no intention of running anyway. So he called out to Khoo in Tsuirakuan - "<Block the breach behind him!>" Which Tamina was also calling out for, and which Khoo did --

BARRIER!

The thunderclap blast took down not only Udo's shield, but Udo himself. That was it for him for now.

Khoo's barrier prevented too many of the enemy from getting in through the breach. The ones who did were facing Tamina's fury. The others, trapped outside by it, were getting cut down from behind along Drusia's Daisy Chain of Death, or chasing after unearthly-fast Angrist in an Exercise of Futility. (Yet not complete futility. Angrist's attacks were nonlethal.) The wall would fall soon enough. And after it fell, the flames would die down eventually so that men could climb over it. But there might not be much of anyone left standing outside it.

[OOC: I changed my mind about how I wrote the post because it worked out cleaner this way. But I can't send PM's now for some reason.]
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC That's cool, if it works better like that leave it as it is. As far as Dru and Ang go, bear in mind there's little cover thanks to Khoo's wind blast, and they're outnumbered near ten to one by heavily armored and well-trained soldiers, several of whom are packing rifles, so going through them like a combine harvester through a pet shop without getting a scratch would be pushing it./OOC
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Alberich »

[OOC: The Grim Reaper with his old-fashioned sickle would be quite sufficient for me. :) Angrist has taken his "inhibitors" off so he's Ensigerum-fast right now I believe, which makes things very bad for the enemy - especially if they're worried about friendly fire on each other. 'course a lucky shot or a Jon-against-Sara-type maneuver might still catch him, though preferably not until the cubs are safe and it's down to the Drusia-versus-Gabriel durus grudge match.]
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Browncoat »

Despite (or perhaps because of) the smoke, Angrist had taken a few grazes from passing bullets. He'd managed to take out a few enemies by using his cloak as a decoy, but now the "walls" were burning and he couldn't even see his opponents in the smog.

{Hmm, looks like I don't have much to go on right now, and I can't risk the time it would take to remove my inhibitors. Better try something new}

Angrist closed his eyes and concentrated. Gradually, a vague landscape formed in his mind. A few points of light were his right, moving away from him. {Lost in the smoke, no doubt} Left and behind was a multitude of varying lights with one exceptionally bright. {That'll be the leader}. Finally, ahead there were several more lights with another of exceptional strength. The stronger was systematically killing the weaker ones. {Looks like an ally. Better go introduce myself} He paused for a minute to make a quick bandage on his leg to stop some bleeding.

Using the smoke as an advantage, Angrist took down his former pursuers. Then he ran to assist the unknown ally he had detected.

[OOC: First off, Angrist took off his weights earlier , not his inhibitors. He's still wearing his amulets which inhibit his Ensigerum-style magic (almost ;) the only kind he knows). But his magically enhanced weights are off so he is moving a lot faster (the weights have caused his body to adapt in a significant way), but he's not at maximum speed yet. Still, he prefers to use wit and training more than physical advantage. The magic he's doing to see right now is an incomplete technique he's been developing. Finally, the ally I'm referring to is Dru. Angrist can meet her and give her a quick patch-up before her big fight with Gabriel]
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

The Ralkin fanned out in disciplined fire teams as Gabriel kept his straight advance with his trio of bodyguards watching his back. He signalled a soldier to shoot the kobold leader, who had held her position in front of the hut with a handful of her kind despite the danger of the advancing guard. The rifleman levelled his gun...

Gabriel felt the magic rising from the old kobold like a beacon, a flash ran down her body as the bullet struck the woman. She stood steady, her face set grimly as she pulled the metal missle from skin which had taken on the quality of thick bark.

"Your master has his tricks, I have mine." She said levelly.

......

Tamina hissed in annoyance as the invading soldiers met her halfway to the ground floor. The mage threw herself behind the cover of the trunk the stairway was attached to as bullets began to zip by. She stared, feeling the tang of desperation, as she saw from her vantage point the Ralkin leader closing the gap between him, Leli and the young kobolds sheltered in the building behind her.

She grimaced, slapped herself out of her fear, forcing her attention to the advancing footsteps of the men climbing the stairway. Tamina gritted her teeth and channeled.

She rounded the corner in a low charging tackle, slamming shoulder first into the armoured gut of the lead man, whose shot went clean over the kobold's head. His cry was stifled as the breath left his lungs and he flew backwards into the pair of men behind him. With a deafening crash and the snaps of wood and breaking bones the three soldiers made their way back to the ground, and out of the fight.

Tamina struggled to her feet and bit back a scream as pain lanced up her arm like a shard of glass was embedded in her bones. The spell had given her speed, but there were consequences to throwing herself into a solid sheet of metal with a bare shoulder. She took another pair of halting steps then stopped, as movement in the main fight caught her eye.

........

"<No! You can't have her!>"

Gabriel's advance was interrupted by the charging Alleece, who'd detached herself from a group of hunters who'd intercepted the Captain's bodyguard. The young kobold threw herself between the Captain and his prey with a whirl of jabbing spear thrusts. He was caught momentarily by surprise at the fury and speed of the humanoid's attack, stepping backwards and parrying the strikes aimed at his face, but the kobold's youth and angry emotional state betrayed her quickly. The Captain feigned a swipe, then reversed the blade at the hunter's attempt to parry, neatly cutting the spear in two. Gabriel stepped in and slammed his metal-plated elbow into the side of Alleece's head with a dull smacking noise, blood flew from her mouth and she collapsed in a heap. He raised his weapon to finish the job.

His blade clanged off another spear with flashing sparks of magic. The Captain wheeled and found himself facing the elder, her weapon glowing as though she'd channeled her mana directly into it.

'That's exactly what she's done.' Aleron whispered in his employee's mind. 'This one has caused me a great deal of grief over the last ten years. Kill her painfully if at all possible.'

'As you wish.'

As the pair began to fight, the crash of falling vegetation announced that the rest of the Ralkin forces were starting to make their way inside.

OOC I'd estimate there's about 25 ralkin soldiers left and maybe a dozen hunters still capable of fighting for those keeping count. Of course, not all the hunters have returned to the village yet.../OOC
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