The Crowfeather Bandits I - RPLOG
From Rusted Promises
Participants
Date
25/2/479
Log
The canyon is the right one. It got to be, as it is the only one. The stones of the road are hidden under a cover of fresh snow and the wind is like a whip to the face and the curves of the road make it impossible to see far ahead. It does not come as a surprise that bandits would lay ambushes on an important trade route with conditions like these.
Fenris is riding atop his shaggy, purple buffalo, which is a rather interesting sight. A huge, tiger striped bunny on an even bigger buffalo. What a pair. The rabbit has his oversized ears tied back carefully to rest against his back, though they do blow about a little in the wind. Thanks to his thick, fluffy fur and long coat, he seems unbothered by the chill. He is also rather more heavily armed than usual, a number of large weapons situated in holsters on his mount's harness. He hums as he rides.
Lucas stands at he opening of the canyon, a hand resting on the belt holding his weapons, fingers tapping at the handle of the pistol in it's holster. He pulled a hand away, adjusting the leather sleeve resting on it's harm, the leather squeaking softly as it settled. "Should have broken this armor in more..." He muttered, tail trying to sway from side to side to stretch out the leather. His head pitched from side to side, cracking as he began checking his weapons, ears catching sound of the appraoching buffalo.
"So, this is the place the merchants spoke of?" a young voice can be heard saying as its owner appears into view, a youthful squirrel dressed up like the heroes of romantic fiction, large tail gently swaying with the winds. "Very well, let us find those dastardly villain old friend and show them the error of their ways." the squirrel says to his companion in a distinctive trill to his sing-song voice, an accent a well-travelled being would associate with Andrussian.
The elephant sighs at his companion, looking up at the taller being briefly. "I'd say this is the place." He looks over at Lucas and Fenris, glancing at them up and down judgingly. "Winds preserve us.. this looks like a motley crew if I've ever seen one." The elephant is wearing heavy robes, and with each step forward he taps down the staff he's holding. Strung from his neck are various rolls of prayer beads, many of which are inscribed with what are clearly mathemagical symbols. "I hope you're right that this may be a good way to explore this land. Even if it means getting up close with the rabble."
As the beings gather it becomes clear that the weather is only going to get worse. Snow is starting to fall and the wind has picked up even more, flinging the tiny flakes of frozen water through the canyon and against the group of four.
Fenris raises a hand in greeting to the others, his oversized ear giving a little twitch at the conversation between the Elephant and Squirrel, but if he actually heard anything, his easy smile does not show it. "Let's get moving, shall we?" he says lightly, tapping his mount into a slow walk, snow crunching beneath the beast's big hooves and steam puffing from its wide nostrils. His brow furrows in concentration for a moment, though it is hard to see what, if anything he might be doing.
Lucas seeing the elephant and squirrel, he double checks his dagger before stowing it and unsheathing his rapier. He nods to the the rabbit and then to the pair. He faintly hears the conversation between the elephant and squirrel, but not enough to gleen any information. "I'm ready if you guys are I suppose. Oh, Lucas Riverkin, by the by. Pleasure to meet you..." He looks to the rabbit and nods. "Though I think I recall briefly meeting you at the training grounds in firmament. Don't think I caught your name I'm afraid."
The squirrel takes off his hat and takes a short bow in front of his two other travel companions, "A pleasure, good sir. You can call me Aloysius, and please do excuse the grumpiness of my companion. I fear that his keen interest in divine maths left little time for him to refine his tongue." With that said, the squirrel puts his hat back on and walks towards Fenris, "An odd creature you have, stranger. How, dare I ask, did you manage to procure such an oddly coloured mount?"
Jugu stays close to his companion for now. The elephant pulls himself forward slowly, moving unhurriedly with the inertia of stone itself. "Let's." He peers over at Lucas as he introduces himself, raising an eyebrow. He looks forward again, not introducing himself. Instead he slams his staff down and closes his eyes, murmuring to himself as he calls upon the moisture that surrounds them and manipulates it with mathemagic, seeking to counter the inclement weather with some of his own power.
While the elephant's magic can do little to keep the wind from whipping at the group, at least the snow is no longer soaking them. As the party presses forward, they pass a couple of curves in the road, but they alway more or less cancel each other out. It is not long into a somewhat straight section of the canyon as suddenly a yell is nearly drowned out by the wind and several boulders fall from the cliffs behind them.
"Tezky's brother, right?" Fenris asks Lucas, as they walk, "I remember. You can call me Fenris. Since that's my name." He turns a smile on Aloysius and his little elephant friend. "Always a pleasure to meet new faces," he says, "And it's sort of a funny story how we met." He pats his lumbering mount on the shaggy shoulder fondly. "See she was-" he is cut off by the cry and the rumble of falling stone. The rabbit stops his story immediately and wheels his buffalo around to scan the clifftops and throws up a hand, willing falling snow and stone away from the group and hoping that a volley of arrows aren't already on their way.
Lucas nods his head at Fenris. "Yep, we're twins, not that you'd notice from looking at him and me." He nods to the elephant too. "Pleasure to meet you-" He looks around at the yell, eyes casting to the boulders falling. He sees Fenris trying to stop the boulders and widens his stance, trying to add to the rabbit's math with his own, throwing his hands out to push them to the side with a gust, hoping to at least throw the boulders out of the way of the four of them.
The squirrel continues walking with the group as he listens to Fenris's quickly interrupted story. The willowy being quirks his brows and turns around to look up, "I see that the bandits around this parts are ever so fond of impractical tricks. I do wonder how long does it take them to clear up the path between each ambush." Aloysius says with a shrug.
Jugu grows alert as the rumbling sound of tumbling earth rains down around and behind them. The elephant's floppy ears twitch as he regards his surroundings and quickly assesses the situation they're in. Frowning he moves close to his squirrel companion and touches his shoulder, calmly visualizing another set of mathemagical phrases in his mind to try and raise a protective coat around him from the very earth itself.
The boulders come crushing behind the group and effectively block the canyon for carts and carriages, but an able bodied being could probably climb the 30 feet high wall of rock. And as luck would have it for the group of beings, it IS climbed. By a group of three rough looking beings, dressed in hardened leather and furs, while on the other side five similarly dressed beings lower themselves quickly on robes from the walls of the canyon, together with a heavy clan mouse with a broken left antler and a heavy looking plate armor.
Fenris turns his buffalo to face the five beings on the open side of the road. "Can you all handle the three on the rocks?" he asks, just loud enough to be heard, "I can handle the big guy and keep the rest busy while you take care of business here." He urges his mount forward a few paces, putting himself between the bandits on the road and the rest of the group. "Trontus, isn't it?" he calls out in a loud voice, "I've seen your portraits! They are much more flattering than the reality!" The burly bunny looses his huge sword from his buffalo's harness.
Lucas yelps as the boulder crashes down, jumping away in surprise from it's impact. He turns back around and looks, sighing in relief. "At least it didn't land on us..." he muttered and looked at his hand. "I really need to work on my air magic more." His eyes look up at the beings as Fenris speaks. He sighs and draws his sword with his right hand, his left pulling out his pistol and drawing back the hammer. "I... I might be able to deal with a few." He aims the pistol at one of the three beings, eye closing as he directs it center mass at the being in the center.
Aloysius shakes is head as the layer of earthen armour begins to cover him, "Pity, I did not want to ruin my clothes so soon." the squirrel says as he turns around towards the five other bandits, "Do help our otter friend. I think I will deal with the other five, can't let the rabbit hog all the glory."
Jugu raises his staff in a defensive posture, looking up at the squirrel and smirking. "Can always clean them later. Don't get killed." He twirls the staff as he dashes forward next to Lucas, and with one mighty heave he slams his foot down on the ground next to him. As the impact ripples out away from the the very earth itself begins to churn and crack, becoming a mire that may take some effort to cross. "That might buy you time to fire again." He holds his staff with both hands in the stick fighting 'cat' stance
The cat Lucas aimed at takes a shot to the chest, screams, and falls backwards down the boulders, while the other two take cover behind some of the rocks and draw their weapons, a rifle and a crossbow. They both aim, shoot and miss. On the other side of the road, Trontus rolls his shoulder, "And? What is it to you?" He draws a nearly comically large warhammer from his back and marches towards Fenris while three of the lightly armored ones swarm out towards Aloysius. The other two stay behind, one of them with his axe and shield ready, the other appearantly unarmed and focused.
"Mage!" Fenris shouts, pointing his own ridiculously large weapon at the focused being, then charges toward Trontus, huge sword out to the side, swinging at the combined speed of burly bunny and charging buffalo!
Lucas barks out a laugh as his shot hits, looking at his smoking pistol with pride. "Hah! I hit him! I can't believe I act-" He squeaks in surprise and launches himself back with the two shots fired at him. He sighs as they impact the ground then looks to the elephant. He grins and nods his head, not wasting the breath to speak as he quickly stabs the tip of his sword into the ground and begins reloading his pistol, focusing his attention on the gunpowder and the ammunition. "Feel free to let them come after I fire off another shot. I'm better with my sword than I am my pistol," he mutters, packing the round into the barrel.
Shakes his head as three bandits rush towards him. "Hark, villains. Put down your arms lest you suffer the wrath of justice at my hand." the squirrel says as he idly claps a couple of times, the innocent movement causing the elements surrounding the bandits to explode.
The elephant frowns as the two bandits take cover, and flinches to the side as they open fire. He leaves his fighting stance now that it's clear they're not going to be attacking them directly. "Alright.. let's see if we can force them to come to us, or stall them out." He twirls his staff and slams it onto the ground, channeling his divine maths to try and change the very balance of this battleground. He imposes his will over the very earth beneath their feet, and attempts to raise a protective wall between themselves and the two bandits, something they can duck behind and use as a bracing platform for returning fire.
Cover raises around elephant and otter, and just in time too, as it is quickly adorned with a bolt right in the middle of it. Fenris' opponent takes a mighty blow that rips off part of the armor on his right arm and goes for a counter, missing the bunny with his huge weapon. Jugu feels even colder as before as the mage focuses her wrath upon him, but thanks to the magic of elephant and his own fortitude the icy spell does no harm to the squirrel.
:does not slow his charge to turn toward the moose. Instead he carries on toward the frowning bandit, intending to disrupt whatever magic they might be wielding. He whips his monstrous sword around his head, using the recoil from his prior strike to add speed and power to his next attack.
Fenris does not slow his charge to turn toward the moose. Instead he carries on toward the frowning bandit, intending to disrupt whatever magic they might be wielding. He whips his monstrous sword around his head, using the recoil from his prior strike to add speed and power to his next attack.
Lucas primes the hammer on his pistol, kissing at the bridge of the barrel. He nods to Jugu in thanks, then squeaks as he hears the bolt impact. "Oof, quick thinking," he said to the elephant, leaning towards the edge of the wall. He takes a deep breath and leans out, taking aim at one of the two bandits. Holding his breath, he close an eye, slowly pulling the trigger until the round escapes the end of the barrel in a puff of smoke and fire.
Aloysius shakes himself off after that cold assault before eyeing the injured beings and preparing his rapier. "Surrender villains!" the squirrel shouts before attacking one of them, aiming to knock them down with a pommel to the face.
Jugu huffs and smirks at Lucas as they both hide behind the rock wall. His trunk warbles as he nods. "Don't mention it." He takes a deep breath, pulling from the last vestiges of his magical might as he reaches over to touch Lucas' sleeve for one last spell. "It's all on you now. Go get 'em." From where he touched three layers begin to spread: The first one soothing water, the second protective earth, the third flaking metal. The layers criss-cross, forming a protective sheen. The tuckered-out hearth mage stays behind the wall, his job done.
A shot is fired from behind the boulders and Aloysius is hit in the back, between the stone flesh and the armor of the squirrel, there is not much the bullet can do to the being though and the he proceds to strike at one of his opponents wihth quite the might, sending them to the ground. The mage, a dreadlocked crow, retreats backwards as Fenris charges her and only avoids certain death because of her weasel guardian who throws himself in the rabbit's way and tries to block the attack with his shield. However first the shield is pierced and then the weasel himself, causing the gasping crow to unleash a might stream of air at the attacker, who cancels it out with his own magic. On the other side of the battle field an elementally protected otter has finished another bandit, who drops his crossbow as he goes down with a hole in his head.
Fenris does not have time for this! That moose shaped mountain is bound to have recovered by now, and he does not want anyone at his back. The mounted bunny turns his buffalo about and charges again, hopefully with both the crow and Trontus the moose in his sights. Frost crackles and spreads along his brutally large sword as he charges again! Not the most creative of strategies, but so far it is working.
Lucas looks at his arm, flexing it at the strengthening of the armor covering his armor. He smiles and nods to the elephant, grabbing his sword. "Much obliged sir, I'll do my best to put your math to good use." He pulls his dagger from it's sheath and turns, low in a running position before he bursts out from behind the wall in a sprint. Legs pushing hard at the ground, he conjures air magic to propel his steps faster, trying to bridge the gap between himself and the last bandit.
Aloysius shook his head as he felt the bullet dig into his back, "Honourless scoundrel." the squirrel said before he went towards the next being in the group, aiming for another knock-out pommel strike.
Jugu takes this time to rest and regard the battle going on the other side of the canyon. The pygmy pachyderm bites his lip as he watches Aloysius at work, unused to seeing his lover quite that close to the action. He pushes himself back to a stand, leaning heavily on his stick, still too tired to pull off any more Divine Math for the time being.
Aloysius punches a husky in the stomach and he grits his teeth, but still manages to strike back, as does the wolf at his side, both miss narrowly. A similar situation has unfolded for Lucas, who landed right next to the rifle wielding toad, who now pulls out her dagger and slashes at him, missing as well. Trontus deflects the charge attack and it scrapes past his arm, the already damaged armor on it now completely falling off, his counter having a very similar result as his first, narrowly missing Fenris's head. The crow has taken the breather to summon a thick fog that hides her from the eyes of the group.
Fenris growls, the sound rather incongruous with his endearing, fluffy appearance. It was obvious that the Crow was the truly dangerous one here. And probably the leader with the way all the others have tried to protect her. "Surrender, Desa!" he calls out, "You and your people can come out of this with your lives at least!" The tiger-marked rabbit wheels about, stowing his giant sword in its holster on the buffalo's harness before starting another headlong charge. This time, instead of swinging a weapon, he throws himself headlong at the gigantic moose, allowing his trusted steed to charge beyond, hopefully keeping the Crow on the defensive instead of being able to mount an attack!
Lucas dodges the slash from the dagger and takes a fencing stance now that he was in attack range. "Been waiting for a good sword fight. I hope you don't disappoint," he quips, tip of his rapier pointed at the toad, his dagger in the other hand ready to deflect any other incoming attacks. His feet shuffle forward and he lunges, a gush of air pushing his body in an attempt to make the attack strike quicker as the razor sharp tip aims for the toad's heart.
Aloysius smirks as his pommel collides with the husky's abdomen before quickly ducking down to dodge the first attack then sidestepping away from the second attack, "Ruffian, you choose to fight after my generous offer of not splashing your blood onto the snow?" De Vale retorts before he raises his rapier and aims to once more pommel strike the husky's face.
Jugu turns to look at Lucas, noting the otter seems to have made the break and engaged with the bandit on that side too. Things seem to be largely under control, so the elephant starts walking towards Aloysius, using his staff as a walking stick. In his mind he's visualizing another mathemagical equation, but he does not issue it forth yet, too early for that...
The toad is surprisingly good with her small blade and blocks Lucas's attack and even manages to swipe him off his feet with a well placed kick. Aloysius takes a hit with a mace, but does not even blink an eye at it as he knocks out the husky. The battle between bunny and moose has turned into a fistfight, the later having dropped his hammer, and thrashing around and attempting to get rid of Fenris, but the rabbit holds his own against the raging giant.
Fenris has taken down plenty of giants in his time. This meathead didn't even make the short list. Even so, it would not do to get sloppy. Frigid mist curls from Fenris's hands and he latches on firmly to the Moose's remaining antler as his other fist comes crashing toward the behemoth's jaw. It would not do to drag this out. Especially with that crow still out there.
Lucas's brow furrows as his attack gets deflected, but is not ready for the sweep. He yelps in surprise and lands on his back, wincing at the pain of the hard rock against his spine. He glares at the toad and his long tail sweeps at the toad's own feet, trying to take out his feet from underneath him.
Aloysius shakes his head as the husky goes down like a sack of brick before turning around to look at the last standing foe, smiling as his mace hit the thickest part of his armour, not to mention the layer of stone over it, "It appears all your efforts are for naught, bandit. By thankful that I do not thirst for your blood today." and with that, the squirrel's rapier goes for yet another pommel strike at the opposing being's face.
As the elephant nears the frontline of combat he picks up speed, holding his staff in front of him with both hands as he starts to bellow. He takes one mighty leap at the being that Aloysius is currently engaged with, taking a swift jab at him to try and force him to split his defense from two fronts.
The toad goes down, but is already trying to get onto her feet again, while Jugu knocks out the mace wielding wolf. The fog is creeping closer to the group as the moose finally manages to throw Fenris off and towards the duo of squirrel and elephant. The giant of a being grab his weapon and sprints for the fog, vanishing from sight.
Fenris grunts in pain as he rolls to a stop. "Not so-" the rabbit starts to say, then grimaces in pain, "Forget it." Another rib. What was with fighting oversized brutes that had this effect on ribs!? Whistles, summoning his mount back and extends his hand, focusing his thoughts and lining up a blast of air and water math to clear the fog away.
Lucas laughs triumphantly as the toad goes down. He lifts his arms and drives them back down towards the ground, forming air underneath his arms and hands to create a cushion to push himself up onto his feet. He clenches his sword and flips his dagger into a reverse grip, hoping to use his momentum forward, to drive the poisoned blade into the toad's chest.
Aloysius shakes his head as the third bandit falls, "Few are those who listen to advice." the squirrel comments before looking into the fog and clapping his hands in another gesture to cause an elemental explosion inside the fog.
Jegu the elephant sets his staff down and stands straight and proud. He briefly smiles at he looks at Aloysius, but quickly regains his composure. "Hm... well done." He turns back to look at Lucas, checking up on his situation and nodding in approval at his success.
The toad dies with a rather horrible scream as Lucas pierces the woman's chest, downing the last of the bandits that remained outside of the fog, which is now being blown away by Fenris and at the same time blown up by Aloysius. As the dust from the explosion settles however, the two remaining bandits are nowhere to be found.
Fenris sighs and slumps in the snow. "Of course," he groans, then raises a hand to pat his gigantic buffalo on the snout as it crunches up through the snow. The rabbit does a quick scan of the battlefield, but finding it empty of combatants, he reaches up a hand to fiddle with his exposed soul pendant. Time for cleanup. He drags himself to his feet with a grunt of pain, and starts to search around for any bandits that are not beyond his help.
Lucas grunts as the dagger pierces the toad's chest, resting on her dead body for a moment as he breathes heavily. After a moment he sighs and shudders, slowly sliding the blade out of the toad's chest. His shoulder slumped, he holds himself above her motionless body. He shudders and closes his eyes as tear roll from them. Dropping the bloody dagger, he pulls a hand up and covers her eyes with the palm of his hand. "I'm sorry, for everything," he muttered darkly, head hanging low.
Aloysius shrugged as the fog cleared to expose nothing but a purple buffalo, "It appears that our quarry has eluded us." the squirrel says before looking down on he bandits underneath him, "Well, we got at least three alive. Friend, would you mind using some earth magic to fashion some bonds for them?"
Jugu peers up at his companion and nods. "Alright.." He walks over to each of the captures prisoners, and slowly fashions a crude set of manacles for each - really, little more than a ball of stone encasing both hands, and another hobbling their feet together. That should ensure they can't get away very quickly if they try to escape.
