The Transporters - RPLOG
Participants
Date
11/11/478
Log
It is a busy day in the market streets of Firmament, beings of all shapes and sizes going about their business. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, in an oasis of calm before a small warehouse waits a little cart, its armadillo driver and Hugo Snowmane. The avuncular lion is having a pleasant conversation with the driver and checks his pocket watch from time to time, his inordinately long tail draped over one elbow. "Load the cargo, Alexander," he says in a basso rumble, "Our escort ought to be here shortly."
Kazel walks up to the cart and takes off her helmet. "Kazel Silverwing, I heard you need an escort? Are you expecting trouble or just as a routine safety measure? And may I ask what the cargo I am guarding is?"
Lyas lopes over to the cart. Ignoring Kazel's presence, he grins up at the armadillo and lion. "Saw you were looking for Freeswords for an escort job?"
Millicent pats her yellow coat down as she approaches the wagon, tail flicking behind her. "I'd like to know what to expect, as well. Not going to make me turn away now or anything, but it helps to be able to anticipate the kind of resistance we'll be facing. Especially if it's going to be an organized resistance."
"I am always expecting trouble, Miss Silverwing," Hugo says, leaning on his ornately decorated cane. The armadillo vanishes momentarily into the shadows of the warehouse and returns a moment later with a large, ursine porter, the two of them carrying a heavy trunk between them to set gently on the small cart.
Hugo waves a hand, his ruby ring glinting in the sunlight. "You will be transporting this," he says, pointing to the box, "It is a particularly rare and delicate bit of equipment, and very important to my business here in Firmament and in Sweetwater in general." The lion paces alongside the cart, watching as his men secure the chest. "I have a number of competitors who would just -Love- to get their hands on it," he continues, "And since this will be the only time we will be moving it, I expect they will try to take it. If and when you bring the package to my representative beyond the pass, safe, sound and untampered with, you will be payed most handsomely for your troubles."
Kazel clicks her tongue and nods. Some piece of equipment that must be. She puts her helmet back on and rolls her shoulders. "We shall be exceptionally careful then." The bat readies her spear and walks up to the front of the cart, ready to head out as soon as the client wants to.
Up until Hugo states definitely that the package is not to be tampered wih, Lyas was inching closer to the cart, trying to get a good look at whatever it might be. He whisks his creeping hands away and puts them behind his back at the lion's words, feeling they may have been aimed more at him than anyone else. "Any chance you'd tell us what's inside?" he inquires politely, instead of outright clambering onto the wagon and investigating.
Millicent slips out of her coat, folding it up and tucking it away into her bag. She still had her armour on under it, so no use getting her coat all torn up in a fight. "Alright! Let's get this show on the road!" She says enthusiastically, adjusting the way her sword sits at her side, stepping up to walk alongside the wagon.
"I suppose you could call it a facilitator," Hugo says, a bit of a northern accent showing through, "That little thing makes sure that all of the other moving parts in my endeavor move smoothly." The lion looks at his watch once more and shuts it with a snap before slipping it back in his pocket. "Get along now," he says, "The sooner you begin, the sooner you are finished. No point in lolligagging." He raises a hand in farewell to the party as Alexander and the Bear porter settle into the driver's seat of the cart and the armadillo whips their sturdy little pony into action. "Remember!" he calls, "Safe and untampered with!"
The wagon moves slowly and without incident through the city and its surrounding countryside. Neither the Armadillo nor the bear are especially forthcoming with conversation as the pass looms ahead.
Kazel eyes the road ahead, spear in head and fully armored in her black plate. The bat is not much one for talking either it would seem, so she remains silent and walks a few meters ahead of the wagon.
Lyas whistles quietly as they walk for a while, but soon tires of the lack of conversation. "Haven't come this way in ages," he comments, idly checking the sword at his hip and various daggers tucked into his clothing. "Ah, well. Good to get some fresh air out of the city." He eyes the armoured bat; they have had words before. "So, I hope you're better suited to fighting than you are to getting by in normal society," he needles her, with little regard to the potential danger in teasing a fully-armed and armoured warrior.
Millicent glances between Lyas and Kazel, brow raised. "Do you two have history?" She asks, tail flicking behind her as she walks. "Hopefully it's not bad history. Don't need two people going at each other in a fight," she says, glancing around with a frown. "Besides, I think we're going to be having company soon. Keep your heads down and weapons ready," she says, moving to keep the wagon between herself and the ridge.
The pass is calm and quiet as the cart rolls sedately along. The driver is probably doing his best to keep the trunk from getting jostled. Both the armadillo and the bear look rather tense in the narrow confines of the pass, high stone walls rising on either side of the trail. Somewhere up ahead, a stone clatters down the sheer walls.
Kazel turns around and peers at the feline, taking a moment to recognize him. "Oh, it is you. I do just fine in -normal- society, thank you very much." With that she turns to Millicent. "Not really, and I agree, be on your guard."
Lyas grins across at Millicent. "I'm sure we can put our traumatic first meeting well behind us and work together." Not liking the silence, he keeps a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Might we want to spread out around the wagon? Cover each side?"
Millicent glances around, ears perking at the sound. "Hold up a moment. Beware of a landslide," she says, frowning. "They might be trying to drop rocks on the path, and the wagon too if it's there at the time. We don't want to get caught in it. Wait a moment to make sure things are clear before we proceed. And we can certainly try to cover the wagon's sides, but I'm going to remain here behind it."
It might be a little late to talk strategy at this point as a miniature avalanche comes crashing down the walls of the pass ahead of the cart, forcing the driver to reign in the pony! Most of the stones rattle harmlessly to the ground, but one or two fist sized stone ricochet toward the wagon and its escort, one bouncing off the side of the cart, another thumping into Lyas's shoulder and a third cracking against Millicent's heavy armor. Shouts and challenges follow quickly after the falling rocks as a cohort of ten beings come sliding down the steep rock face! It looks like Hugo was right to be worried.
Kazel is not one to talk first and focuses for a moment while the attackers are still at range, aiming to hex them with some dark math to be less effective in the battle that is sure to follow.
Lyas winces, knocked back by the blow to his already-bruised shoulder. He draws his rapier with the other hand and moves to engage the closest being, steering clear of Kazel's dark magic.
Millicent staggers a little with a soft grunt as the rock rumbles into her, she shrugs it off and draws her sword, waiting patiently by the wagon. She had no magic of her own, and was not keen on charging in when the order was to protect the contents of the cart. So she waits there on the defensive.
The beings slipping down the canyon wall are dressed in artfully tattered camoflage, which is probably what kept them from being seen on their ridge hiding spot. None of the attackers seem to be carrying ranged weapons, but they all draw sturdy looking kukri knives. The raider in the front suddenly swerves in their slide, seeming to be disoriented and crashes hard to the ground, though the rest of the cohort seems to manage alright. Lyas's quick thinking and quicker blade get him in close before the group is recovered from their speedy descent and he manages to land a vicious stab on one of the bandits. Unfortunately, that puts him right in the middle of the rest of them.
Meanwhile, Alexander and the Bear have produced a pair of rifles from somewhere and are lining up their shots!
Kazel avoids one of the attacker's strikes by assisting her wings with some air magic and taking off for a moment, only to nearly instantly soar back down, her spear aimed at the offending being.
Lyas brings up his sword to defend against one clashing blow, but is struck by a second while blocking the former. He attempts to use the momentum from being struck and knocked off balance to roll backwards, out of range of further attacks.
Millicent remains calm and steady as the raider approaches, bringing her blade up in a practiced motion to ward off the incoming blow, sending it to the side to glance upon the metal plating on her left arm. She follows through on the motion with a sweeping motion of the blade, aimed for the legs to try to reduce mobility.
The bandit attacking Kazel is momentarily stunned to find his target vanished before his eyes, and even more surprised to find her spear sprouting from his clavicle! The shrouded being drops with a loud cry as one of his fellows bellows a challenge and slashes at Kazel with his own blade.
Millicent also finds that her brutal sword swipe is powerfully effective, grinding along bone as it shears through armor and flesh, dropping her attacker with an agonized cry.
Lyas manages to roll to his feet near the cart just as the driver and porter fire their rifles. One shot lands right between the eyes of a charging bandit, but the other ricochets loudly off of a concealed metal plate.
Of the original ten bandits, Seven remain, though one is still looking dazed and disoriented at the base of the cliff.
Kazel leaves her spear in the defeated raider, favoring a quick attack on the new challenger that just struck her and swings her gauntlet clad head at his head after his blow fails to leave any impact on her armor.
Miscalculating his dodge, Lyas takes a near-incapacitating blow from a raider's kukri, the blade chopping into his thigh. With quick movement on his feet made significantly more difficult, he instead attempts to disorient his attacker by dropping and rolling under the wagon, standing up on the other side where the being hopefully cannot see him.
Millicent scowls as the blades bite into the thick fabric of her armour where the metal plates didn't cover. She pulls her blade back, as if preparing to swing, but instead pulls her left hand away from the hilt and lashes out with a fiery punch from the metal clad, taloned arm.
The bandit attacking Kazel bares his teeth, which are sizeable under all that shredded wrapping hiding his face, only to recieve a rather brutal punch to them. It is not enough to knock him from the fight, however and he charges back in, kukri swinging.
Millicent is rather more succesful with her hand made arts and crafts as she takes her opponent in the throat, sending the enemy to the ground with a horrible gurgle of pain.
Lyas finds himself bleeding rather badly beneath the cart, and he can be sure his pursuers are not far behind. There is a scream from Alexander, the armadillo driver as one of the bandit's kukri manages to find purchase in a broad swath across his chest, thought his bear friend manages to swing his empty rifle in a vicious arc, sending the bandit tumbling from the stalled cart.
Amidst all the commotion, one of the bandits has managed to climb aboard the rear of the wagon. "I've got her!" the large being shouts, diving for the box while the drivers and freeswords are otherwise occupied.
Kazel grunts rather annoyed at the fact that her attack did not knock out her opponent and draws her rapier with a quick motion and slashes at them once more, this time with much sharper metal.
Staying under the cart for now, Lyas takes the opportunity to detach a bolas from its position on the back of his belt. He aims it at the nearest pair of raider legs he can see.
Two down, one to go. Millicent brings her swords up to deflect the next blow, spinning with the movement first into a hipcheck to disrupt their balance before making the follow up with a straight cut for the abdomen. Not a particularly flashy move, but it'd proven effective in the past.
The bolas do not fly well thrown from a prone position under a cart and bounce uselessly on the ground as a second raider hauls himself into the wagon.
Alexander is of little use right now, as he presses his shredded shirt against his bleeding chest and only the bear is in the cart to defend the cargo. Unfortunately, from his awkward position at the front of the cart, there is little that he can do to defend himself from the bandits and he falls under two brutal kukri strikes.
Kazel's opponent's charge is cut short as he tries to dodge around her rapier, only to find it piercing his chest, right between his ribs. His teeth clench in a morbid rictus as he slides off the blade. Millicent's opponent fares no better, the panda's blade found its mark. And for all of its simplicity, the traditional attack does the job, slicing the being from collarbone to hip.
The dazed being at the bottom of the cliff has finally shaken of her stupor and shouts at the two in the cart, "Go! You idiots! Go!" The two bandits roughly shove aside the bleeding Alexander and the porter's corpse to take up the reins!
Kazel swings herself onto the cart after she pulled her sword from the enemy and engages the two raiders. The bat stabs at the raider who is about to grab the reins with her rapier, aiming for vital organs.
At the female bandit's command for her compatriots to flee, Lyas decides he'd best stop hiding under the wagon - as it isn't going to be there much longer. He crawls to the back end of the cart and pulls himself up on top of the cargo from behind, trying not to alert the fleeing bandits.
Millicent doesn't wait after the last bandit hits the ground, jumping up onto the wagon, reaching out with The Gauntlet to try to grab one of the aggressors by the back of the collar to throw them off. "Not with our cargo you don't!"
Only Kazel manages to get aboard the cart as the pony is whipped into a frightened gallop, sticking the being with the reins deep into his back, though his remaining friend is quick to respond, slashing angrily at Kazel.
Meanwhile, the last bandit standing is doing her best to escape, fleeing away in the opposite direction from the cart and cargo.
Many of the bandits still live, but with the way that their blood is fleeing from their bodies, they won't last much longer. And while the bear porter has obviously shrugged off his mortal coil, Alexander is still moaning on the ground, obviously in poor condition.
Kazel pose leaves her rapier in the now dead bandit for a moment, to take a swing with her gauntlet at the remaining enemy on the carriage, knocking him off the moving vehicle. The bat then quickly turns and slashes at the injured driver once more, but her strike is parried by the wounded raider.
"Well," Lyas says, wheezing as he sits up. Falling off a moving wagon didn't do him any favours on top of the wounds he already received. He looks over at Kazel, hacking away at her opponent atop the careening wagon. "She... seems to have that under control." He stands slowly, painfully; at this point he's not able to fight or pursue. "If you want to run after that last one, I'll take a look at Alexander there. Not that I know much about medicine, mind."
Millicent nods at Lyas, taking up one of the kukris from a fallen bandit. She eyes the fleeing one before pulling her arm back, taking a deep breath and hurling the weapon. She didn't expect her aim to strike true, so shortly after the weapon leaves her hand she gives chase.
The fleeing bandit must still be disoriented, since she is not especially fleet of foot. Millicent's improvised throwing knife also manages to be quite effective, slicing deep into the back of the bandit's knee and sending her tumbling to the ground.
On board the cart, the final bandit is reeling. He tears off his head covering as if he imagines it will help, revealing a grey fox well on his way to middle age. "Bastards," he spits, before his eyes roll back in his head and he tumbles from the cart, leaving Kazel to try and get the pony under control.
Kazel swings herself into the driver's seat of the carriage and grabs the reins and does her best to get the horses to stop, yelling at them to do so and pulling on the reins.
Lyas approaches the profusely-bleeding armadillo with care, checking behind him to make sure none of the raiders are getting up. The slash across Alexander's chest is well beyond his abilities to heal, but he decides that basic care ought to start with stopping the bloodflow. He cuts the shirt off a nearby dead raider and folds it into a pad, pressing it against the wound. "Still alive there?" he hazards, not sure if the being can hear him.
Millicent keeps running to catch up to the downed bandit. Once she gets there, she promptly sits herself stop them, huffing. "Oof, you put up a good chase there, miss. But I've got you now! You just stay right here," she says, positioning her legs on either side of the downed woman, keeping the arms pinned under her weight.
"Still hurts," the driver gasps, "So I guess so." His already wan face goes paler. "Grizz?" he asks, worry etched in his features.
Kazel manages to slow and stop the pony before it gets too much farther. The cart does not seem to be damaged and the cargo is still secure.
The incapacitated bandit cries out as she goes down and grunts in pain as she is sat upon. "Go on!" she spits through her mask, "Finish the job, Butcher!"
Kazel carefully directs the carriage to turn around and head back to Lyas and Alexander. While waiting to arrive the bat sheaths her sword and lifts the ventail of her helmet to eye the area for enemy reinforcements.
Lyas shakes his head in answer to the question. There isn't really a way to soften this blow, and he doesn't care to try. "Well and truly gone. So let's focus on you living, eh?" He calls out to Millicent and Kazel. "Hey! Can either of you do something for this guy? All I'm doing is keeping the blood in!" He keeps the pressure on, though he's not pleased about the blood seeping over his fingers. He has enough of his own everywhere already. "And, uh... I could probably use some bandages as well," he adds, checking his cuts.
"Now why would I do that?" Millicent asks, reaching down to ruffle the bandits hair. "I have not done anything but acted in self defense. You saw it yourself. I stood by the cart like I was paid to do. I didn't make any move to attack until you guys struck first. I didn't make the first move, just the last. So why would you go and call me a butcher, huh?"
The bandit's wide eyes stare around panicked at the corpses of her comrades. "I won't talk!" she shrieks, "You wouldn't let me walk away anywa-" The bandit's rant is interrupted by the crack of a rifle shot and she is gone in a spray of gore. "Damn right," comes a growl from the ursine porter, leaning heavily against the cliff where he fell, hand pressed to his abdomen and gun dropping from his fingers.
Kazel stops the wagon and jumps out of it, assessing Alexander and Lyas, before ordering the later to step aside. She proceeds to kneel down next to the armadillo and close her eyes, engulfing him into flames for a split second, leaving behind some scorched earth and a much healthier armadillo.
Lyas jumps and exclaims as Kazel apparently decides to give the armadillo a live cremation. When the armadillo comes out of it unharmed - healed, even - he looks at the bat, wearily cocking an eyebrow. "That's not how most folk use fire," he comments. "So... assuming that flashy little display's just for severe cases... can I get some help with bandages?" Turning back to Alexander briefly, he nods towards the bear. "Some good news for you over there, too. Turns out that's one hard-to-kill bear." Though the bear's revival might please Alexander, Lyas can't help but glare suspiciously. Why shoot the last remaining raider?
Millicent scowls a little, standing from the bandit. "I had it covered," she grumbles, before shaking her head and returning to the wagon. "But whatever. The sooner this cart is dropped off and I can stop worrying about it, the better, at this rate."
The bear is in bad shape. Too bad he was not in the range of Kazel's flames, because Alexander looks much better. In fact, the gaping wound across his chest is gone with nothing but a shiny, pink scar in its place. The bear, Grizz, leans his head back against the stone of the canyon and closes his eyes, his breathing shallow. That surprise revival does not look like it will last much longer. "Sorry. . . Alex. . ." he rasps, then goes still.
The armadillo gets shakily to his feet and goes to stand over his dead friend for a moment, then turns and resolutely climbs into the cart and begins to drive. "I'll come back," he promises.
The rest of the trip is uneventful and it is not long before the party is hailed by a waving figure on a low outcropping. "We were starting to wonder where you had gotten to," says the well dressed ass standing before an old grain silo, probably from before the fall of Mossy Stone, "We will handle things from here. I suppose you will be wanting your reward?"
"Naturally," Lyas grins, holding out a hand for the aforementione reward. "We don't work for free!" The whole affair has left many unanswered questions, but those are for another day.
Millicent nods, folding her arms. "Yeah, I suppose a reward would be nice. I am not exactly rolling in money, and I'm going to have to get my armour patched and keep the ship stocked," she says, ears flicking. "And I'll be glad to get home. The less I know about this shipment the better, I think."
The Ass divvies out the spoils while Alexander silently drives the cart. "Looks like there was trouble," he says cooly, "Don't worry, we will take care of the cleanup. And here is a bonus for your troubles." With that, he turns on his heel and leaves the Freeswords to make their way home on their own.
