• Solo • [Astedia] To protect

Job thread Marshal

15th of Saun 717

The capital city of the of Rynmere, here is seated the only King in Idalos.
User avatar
Xander Andaris
Approved Character
Posts: 726
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:16 am
Race: Mortal Born
Profession: Single father | Duke of Andaris
Renown: 142
Character Sheet
Character Wiki
Plot Notes
Templates
Letters
Wealth Tier: Tier 6

Contribution

Milestones

RP Medals

Miscellaneous

Events

[Astedia] To protect

Image
15th of Saun, Arc 717

Xander stood on top of the cliff looking out over the vast ocean before him. Next to him stood his two personal guards and behind him an archer. Two other men were also there, bound and lying face down on the floor. Each of them bruised and bloodied from the earlier engagement. Their weapons were nowhere to be seen as they lay somewhere in the tall grass that graced the clifftops of Astedia’s coastlines.

He was ready and as the sun began to fall behind the horizon he turned to Lian who was by his side. “Stay here with him.” He pointed to the Archer who seemed to be preparing a special arrow with cloth and oil. “Make sure these two don't escape and if you see anyone approaching come and warn us.” He spoke with absolute authority, the voice of a commander although he would more often address to them as equals in more casual situations.

She nodded complying and moving to stand over the tied men, the blunt end of the spear digging into the soil. Xander’s attention returned to the sun, still dropping lower behind the horizon while the other blazed on above. The fact their was no true night in Saun had made this mission more difficult.

Originally the young Baron had planned to have row boats come in under the cover of darkness and storm the cove. However, as this was not possible he instead had sent the men on foot and then by rope down cliffs to either side of the entrance. They were shielded and hidden by rocks as well as with grey fabric that covered their armour.

Finally the first sun dropped fully out of sight and Xander looked to the archer, his bow already knocked and ready to be lit. The woman removing a box from her pocket moved beside the soldier and removing a flint and steel set fire to the arrow's tip.

The flames licked the air as he raised the bow up and drew the string aiming off into the middle distance. Xander took one last scan of the water in case a ship or enemy boat was approaching from the smugglers and then raised his hand. With an abrupt swing he dropped it to his side and the arrow was loosed.

“Guard them and keep an eye out.” He instructed the two and then patting his companion, Bron, on the back began to take to the steep cliff path that lead down to the cove. It was half slope and half steps, luckily dry from the hot Saun days making the journey easier. Still it was not safe to run down and so walking at speed was the best he could do as without a railing he was almost guaranteed death if he were to fall.

As they approached the bottom of the path the sound of steel clashing could be heard unmistakably from behind an old wooden door in the rock face that blocked their entrance to the hideout of the smugglers.

“Ready?” He looked to the other man who responded with a nod. Then with a loud thud Xander kicked his foot out at the old weak door forcing its lock open and the door to swing open. Behind it was revealed a mess, friendly troops were all mixed up among the enemy and the whole thing was uncomfortably unorganised. It surprised Xander how quickly formation had been broken without his direct command, he hadn’t expected a need for sub commanders with such a small force. Still he did not have time to stand around and think about his tactical errors, he needed to get into the thick of it. So drawing his sword he stepped forward towards the nearest smuggler who stood swinging a giant axe around somewhat wildly.

There was a clear lack of skill in the way he wielded it, this afforded Xander an advantage as the man was all but unable to stop the heavy weapon when he launched it into a huge and stupid large arc. So as the man swung the weapon towards Xander who simply stood back and watched it sail past too heavy to stop he stepped into the void and plunged his sword into the man’s stomach. He quickly pulled it back out leaving the man to drop to the floor clutching at the hole in his stomach while the axe clattered to the floor.

The Baron continued his advance into the cavern and came face to face next with one of the more skilled smugglers, wielding his own longsword the man looked at Xander with a wicked smile. He clearly found joy in the fighting, in a way that made Xander feel uncomfortable. He was not a defensive fighter it seemed as he wasted no time in launching an attack at Xander, swinging his sword in a horizontal arc but controlled enough not to be unstoppable. The Baron hopped back voiding the blade as he launched his own counter attack. He lunged his own sword from the plough guard, the force coming from not only arms but also legs. He was close before the smuggler managed to pull back his own blade, steel glancing off steel as Xander was forced to use the momentum of his opponent's blade to carry his own in an arc upwards and round to the top of the enemies shoulder, his blade was met again just in time with the smuggler catching the swords and attempting to slide his own blade along Xander’s.

The move was one Xander knew himself, he had seen it done by Doran seasons earlier when he taught it to Xander. This allowed him to predict the move and smoothly transition out of the swords path, stepping to the right side of his sword and pulling away from the connection. He wasted no time in taking another attack at the man, swinging for his thigh this time connecting briefly before getting knocked once again from the man. Not trained but practised would be how Xander described the smuggler’s style. Still Xander came back yet again, feeding off the fact there was no counter attack on this move.

The Baron saw his opening as the man’s sword stayed too low, his yelp from the cut in his leg showing his distraction from the combat. The lapse in focus gave Xander the chance to catch the smuggler on the neck, blood spurting out from the wound as the wolf grimaced slightly. Turning from the man he clutched his neck in shock he looked around him.

They were winning, quickly defeating the smugglers in battle. Astedia’s troops were proving their worth here, good news for the Baron and Marshal as even though they had failed to keep formation, a lack of foresight on his part they were still well trained enough to take down the enemy. Orders had been given in an attempt to try not to kill as many people as possible and he could see his wishes being carried out as a few smugglers were already being taken by the Astedian’s who were in groups.

He heard someone behind him, he quickly turned to see the man who’d come from a wooden shack built further into the cave. He was wearing a mix of old armour, not matching but providing him with more protection than others, the plates of steel and iron secured to him. Perhaps the leader, he was certainly better armed than the others and Xander readied himself, lucky the sound of the clinking armour had alerted him to the enemy's presence.

Xander placed his left hand on his blade, remembering what he had been told about fighting armoured enemies. Half Swording was how he would win and he tried to spot gaps in the mismatched armour before he was interrupted with his opponents first swing. Xander jumped to the side, avoiding the blade and advanced quickly with a step and lung. His forehand guiding the point towards the man’s armour, power provided by his rear hand as he searches for a gap. Unluckily for Xander the armoured bandit knight was not unfamiliar with his weapon and quickly retaliated bringing the sword back around his head and in for a cut from above.

Quickly twisting the blade from forward to sidewards the young Baron pulled it up to meet the falling blade, sparks flew and the sound rang out through the cave as Xander finally spotted an opening under the smuggler’s arms that were currently raised. Twisting away from the attack the wolf stepped off to a side and allowed the blade to drop free, the overextended smuggler tumbling forward after the momentum. He passed Xander revealing a second hole behind his knee where two plates crossed. Acting quickly Xander lowered himself in a squat and lunged forward guiding the tip of his blade into the space behind the knee.

A howl came from below the helmet as he jumped forward, the blade scraping against the plate as it came free. Still it was not over yet as the injured man turned to face him once again, timidly testing his injured leg. Xander wasted no time and came at the man now, taking advantage of his injuries and fainting a lung at his neck, he moved to block as Xander adjusted his path and moved swiftly behind the already swinging blade. He came up and quickly sliding his hand even further down for more control of the tip forced it into a small opening under the arm. Xander continued to push the blade with both hand feeling it sink deeper into the man he screamed and dropped his blade.

Xander removed his own weapon from the man and kicked aside the sword that had clattered to the floor. Leaving the man clutching at his armour on his knees for the time being. Looking around again it was clearly not a good day for the smugglers as more than half of them lay dead and the others were beginning to throw down their weapons choosing imprisonment over death, only a few were left fighting and then not for long as they were quickly defeated by the soldiers. “Tie them up men, we will take them back to Astedia and they can be judged for their crimes.”

The men cheered and began to tie up the men and put them together, Xander turned to face Bron. “Let’s find the drugs so we are sure we haven’t missed them, we can’t have them getting out of here.”

The men smugglers were tied up and sat by the exit, all unarmed and patched up with temporary bandages if injured. They were all ready for transport back to the city for their trial. Xander and Bron though were not with them, instead they were searching for the drugs said to be there. The “Liquid Purple” had been banned in the Kingdom and Xander would not allow it to corrupt his Barony or the rest of Rynmere if he could stop it.

So they searched the caves until they finally came to two sloops moored in the water, not to his surprise they were filled with barrels. He dropped down into one and Bron the other, he pushed the tip of his sword under the top of the barrel and pushed down. The wood came free and the bags were revealed.

He took one out and opened it up, the mushrooms inside what they had been looking for. “They’re here.” He said as he moved onto the next and searched it another barrel of the mushrooms, he continued checking each and finding a mixture of non illicit but damaging substances. Sighing he stepped off the boat, not even closing them as he walked along the edge of the boat and cut the sail free. Throwing it over the drugs he moved over and collected a lantern from the cave wall, blowing it out before removing the small oil canister and emptying its contents onto the sail and deck. Finally he took a torch that was in a holder on another wall and lit the sail, flames dancing in the air as the oil lit and then the rest of the boat followed, drugs and all burning away.

Bron did the same with his boat before joining Xander in front of their prisoners. “You are all under arrest in the name of the King, Rynmere and Andaris, you will be escorted back to Astedia where you will await trial and sentence.” He looked over them all and shook his head, shocked at how many had been corrupted with the promise of what? Drugs? Money? Freedom? He was not sure which if not a mixture, either way they would end up with likely none of those things thanks to their actions. Most before him were not only smugglers either, some had tattoos he had seen on posters and around the naval ports, they belonged to a group of pirates.

“Lets move out.” Xander commanded his troops and the prisoners who stood, all 12 of them bound together in a chain as they began to follow the lead soldier out and up the cliff path. “Come Bron, they will need us once we arrive back at the city and on the journey.”
[/color]
word count: 2244
Image
User avatar
Muse
Prophet of Old
Posts: 323
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2017 11:36 pm
Race: Prophet
Renown: 0
Plot Notes
Office
Templates
Wealth Tier: Tier 1

Contribution

[Astedia] To protect

Your review is ready!
Clean out that Astedia Barony of scumbags! Yeah! Stab 'em and get your guards to help you! Nice, well-written combat thread with Xander doing his business.

Xander

Points

XP:
10 | These points cannot be used for magic.

Fame:
Baronly Business +8 = Enforce a city law +2, Kill some bad guys +6

Loot

Satisfaction of a job well done.

Injuries + Overstepping

N/A

Knowledge

Skill Knowledge:
Blades (longsword): Search for gaps in plate armour
Blades (longsword): Use force of arms and legs in a lunge/thrust
Blades (longsword): Behind the knee and under the arms are a good place to strike plate armour
Tactics: Make sure to appoint Sub-commanders
Tactics: Plan you attack ahead of time
Tactics: Take into consideration the climate and season

Other Knowledge:
N/A
If you've got a question or concern or if I've missed anything, don't hesitate to PM me!

Now that your review is complete,
don’t forget go back to your review post here and drop this image in!

Image

Code: Select all

[center][img]/gallery/image.php?album_id=39&image_id=12206[/img][/center]
word count: 190
Locked Request an XP Review Claim Wealth Thread

Return to “Andaris”