The Taking of Woodsford Keep - RPLOG
Participants
Date
22/8/479
Log
The wagon carrying a load of Freeswords and other swords-for-hire from the capital slowly trudges on as it crests a hill. The village of Summerford is just visible to the north, a small pile of stone buildings surrounding a guard tower, and ringed by mud-and-straw cruck houses going all the way from the hilltop to the base.
They have been summoned here to help deal with a common crisis in the Kingdom's fiefdoms. Unwanted squatters. Apostates, bandits and murderers all according to the missive they were given, have taken claim over a fortification. With the Rangers busy, and the Army being of too high a strategic value to allocate to such a small fiefdom, it falls upon these private contractors to fulfill the eviction notice on these unwanted dregs of society.
The wagon bumps, and slowly rolls to a stop. With a sharp call from the driver the Freeswords are invited to dismount. All around is thick, lush forest, but just down the path the landscape opens into a large clearing, in the middle of which is a giant massif, the bedrock upon which the grand old fort is built on. Standing up on a rock and looking on into the clearing is one salamander, leaning on his spear as he gazes up at the castle in the distance. He turns as he hears the wagon, and with a knowing smirk Zane hops down from the rock and moves to greet the mercenaries.
Clayton Southfoot, whom had been travelling with the group, hops out of the wagon first, soon followed by a half-dozen Freeswords of various species. He moves up to Zane and salutes, and the others follow suit with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Shira hops off the wagon as the others do, making care to wiggle he war to the front of the crowd so she can see the salamander and better listen to him, in case he is the contact. The tiny mouse looks around herself and up at the various mercenaries that surround her, trying to figure out how large a group of squatting bandits must be to warrant calling in what amounts to a small private army. She does however not salute Zane, why is unclear.
Fenris is here today as Amos Longtooth, the grizzled old veteran who is most definitely not a member of the King's Spyguard. The tattered old tomcat eases himself down from the wagon and gives a whistle, cueing his gigantic, iron boar to trot up from where it has been following the wagon. "Zane," he rasps, nodding to the little salamander sheriff, "Clayton gave me the run down. You got anything to add?"
Angus hops out the back of the Wagon, taking his hat off to run a hand through his hair after the long cart ride. Placing it back on his head he looks around, stepping up to the rest of the crowd with his arms crossed as he studies the old fort and its crumbling battlments.
Zane, himself the captain of the Summerford militia, offers Amos a smirk. "He did, did he?" He throws Clayton a look and orders him to step aside with a nod of the head. "Well, for the benefit of all the other mercs.." He turns around and steps back towards the rock, gesturing at the ruined fortification. "Welcome to Woodsford Keep, or what's left of it. This gem used to be a trading post and army station, but as times change so do the needs for defense, eh?" He crosses his arms after turning back to the group. "Mission's easy boys and girls. That place is laden with apostates, murderers, thieves and bandits of all kinds. They've been using it as a launching platform for raids on the countryside, specifically on the nearby village of Lillup. They've stolen cattle, crops, burned up property. I'd not be surprised if they started extortion soon..." He turns back to look at the group, nodding at them. "We're here to make sure they don't wipe Lillup off the map completely, and never move on to pick on Summerford or any of the other villages here. Use whatever means you need to make sure this ends here."
Shira nods along with the briefing and lets one hand rest on the grip of her short sword, while the other tucks on hair and ear, the little rodent filled with determination and anticipation. Typical young fighter, still eager to get their blade wet. She does not ask any further questions, being pointed at the enemy and let loose on them seemed rather straight forward.
"Got it," Amos rasps, then looks from Angus to Shira, "Shall we?" The tattered old tom cat turns and starts to saunter down the hill, his hands jammed deep in his pockets. He does not charge or sneak or do anything but walk toward the gates of the ruined fort, his boar shaped golem thudding along behind him. "I think I will go knock," he says.
Angus whistles a little. "They managed to us this run down thing to stage all that? I'm impressed, damnedable thing looks like it's about to fall down on their heads." His ears flick as Amos starts walking up to the gates, smiling just a little bit as he shakes his head. "Remind me to never get that crazy when I get old." He teases, making sure his voice carries as he keeps an eye on the battlements.
The fort isn't particularly big, and is in somewhat of a state of disrepair. It sits atop a large natural rock formation - a massif - that makes a direct assault on the walls difficult. Luckily the fort has indeed seen better days, and while the walls may appear rather impregnable the main gate is partly collapsed and clearly non-functional, a permanent chink in the fortification's defenses.
The being-made clearing is somewhat overgrown with thigh-height vegetation, but devoid of any tall cover or trees. This ostensibly makes it hard for any invading army to approach the walls without suffering volley upon volley of bow fire.. but at the moment the walls lay bare, and the fort is approached not by an army, but by a small group of dedicated and crafty mercenaries.
As they approach without any effort to hide, a few heads pop out form atop the battlements. There is a rush of motion, a messenger travelling from one of the crumbled towers to somewhere deep within the fort, no doubt to report this latest development. A few guards, roused by the commotion, stand forward and take position near the main entrance, behind what looks like an improvised pallisade to try and plug the gap left by the non-functioning gate.
Shira hums quietly as she watches the bandits take positions and asks towards her allies, but no one in particular, "Shall we then? Would be rude to leave them waiting." She does not wait for an answer as she starts focusing on some supportive magic to enhance the mercenaries in the battle that is sure to come, slightly glowing mathemagical symbols glowing on many of the weapons that the beings are carrying, signaling their enhanced potential.
"Don't go wild just yet, newbie," Amos growls, "The best way isn't always the way that ends in the most destruction." Then the old tom raises his voice. "We're here to talk with Hulda," he shouts, stopping at the gate, "Open up before I gotta knock!" His monstrous golem tromps right behind, providing a possible cover should someone decide to take a pot shot at the threesome.
Angus flicks his ears, shifting his weight a bit as his stance widens in response to the defenders. His arms stayed crossed at his chest, counting the sorry sort of defenders. "Under armed, and uncordinated. Don't think they were smart enough to fill the rock bucket over the main gates, but keep an eye out in case for once we are unlucky enough they can think." He mutters quietly enough anyone near him can hear it.
A certain quiet comes over both the defenders and the dozen of mercenaries as Amos calls out Hulda's name. A rather lanky hyena being, one of the mercenaries, steps forward with his sword pointed at the palisade. "Yea, bring 'Hulda' out. We wanna have a word." He lets out a sinister snicker, which is cut short as the palisade opens to admit a rather imposing being. Tall and wide like a heavy clanner, this plant being - a cactus of some description - steps out to stand before the gathered. "Yea. Well the boss ain't takin' no visitors."
The other defenders peek over the palisade, eyeing the myriad weapons that these mercenaries are carrying. There's a sense of fear in the air, from all but the massive cactus being. "If you're the Lord's men, you must know what happened to the previous lot. So, ya wanna go back home in a box or a bag?" He grins widely, trying to be intimidating. It seems to have worked on the hyena, who clearly steps back to where he was in the line, clutching his sword defensively.
More defenders appear up on the battlements. Seems they've roused all the manpower they have in there, and they're all taking defensive positions as the conversation continues.
Shira sticks out her tongue and draws her short sword, fitted to her size its even smaller than a dagger for a regularly sized person. She steps forward and puts on a cocky smile, pointing the weapon at the cactus. "Funny, I was about to ask the same. Lay down your weapons and come with us peacefully, if you value your lives!"
"Shove it, Chuckles," Amos rasps at the overeager and underintelligent hyena before considering the Cactus, "You too, Squeaks. We'll get to fighting sooner than anyone wants." He looks the massive being up and down with a frown, considering his words carefully.
"Box," he finally says, "Ships better and doesn't bounce around as much. If Hulda isn't taking visitors, then who're you?" The rangy old feline does not seem to be all that intimidated. But then, up against a hulk like that in an open field in daylight, the old cat looks more ridiculous than intimidating himself.
Angus doesn't really change his stance, scoffing a bit at the remark. "And here I thought that they had respect for nobles here." He comments, waving a hand dismissively to the Cactus as he studies them, looking for weaknesses in their form and stance in case blades start being drawn.
The cactus being laughs out loud. "Ha, nobles!" He turns aside to the nearest defender, his grin wide and cocky. "Ya year that boys? We have ourselves a noble to ransom!" He turns back to the group and clenches his fists, clearly itching for a fight. "Name's 'Big' Hartman, shortstack." He says pointedly at Amos. "Welcome to Woodsford." He takes a step back and yells. "NOW!"
All the beings that had collected in the battlements were there for a purpose. They are not armed with any sort of proper ranged weapon, but gravity can be as deadly as any black powder. Large rocks, fragments of masonry, even a worn-out winch wheel come tumbling down onto the gathered Freeswords! The first large rock falls onto one of the mercenaries, a porcine being who was too slow to move out of the way. The rock hits him square in the shoulder, and as he falls with it it rolls and crushes onto his leg. The rest of the mercenaries roll out of the way, scatter or retreat - such as a certain hyena, who's already making a break for it.
Shira narrowly evades a rock that is being hurled her way with a well placed gust of air magic that throws her small body sideways through the air, still in the air she starts working on her counter attack, her eyes narrowing as she focuses on the battlements after sticking her landing. Dark clouds appear seemingly out of nowhere and get ready to unleash their fury upon those who threw the debris at them. "See what all that talking got us? A wounded."
Fenris steps calmly and purposefully to one side as the broken winch slams into the ground where he had been standing, not even six inchens from his elbow. "Good," he says, "Then there is no misunderstanding. Razorback!" At the sound of Amos's call, the golem, which has been mostly passive to this point gives a squeal of metal grinding on metal as it rears back and charges toward Hartman, steam billowing from its body plates!
Amos himself produces a long, wavy blade from within his tattered coat with a fluid motion to lash out at the cactus being!
Angus had been waiting for when it boiled down to a fight, his movements quick and fluid as he evades the ammo from above. Both blades are drawn, rapier and dagger almost leaping to his hands as he lets Amos deal with the cactus, moving around their fight to see if any other defenders want to try their luck. "Yes a noble, some poor old noble who clearly needs to be ransomed! Lets see how many it takes to capture said noble."
The battle is joined! Other than the mercenary who fled, and the one who got his leg crushed, all of them rush forward. They are met by a wave of defenders who clear the battlement armed with spears and clubs.
"Ha, now this should be a f-" The cactus' fun is interrupted by a meaty punch from the golem, which has Hartman backstepping to regain his footing. He grunts and hefts his fists, clearly intent on wrestling with Amos and his creation hand to hand. He gives the golem a mighty shove, trying to open a path to Amos, but is met with the wily old being's sword - a solid blow, enhanced by a burst of magical flame from Shira's earlier spell that has the cactus being howling in pain, his attack foiled.
The defenders leap the palisade, and two of them focus on Angus, armed with spear and club. The spear user, a rabbit, is clearly using his range to keep Angus at bay, and pushes with his spear once he sees an opening. A brave effort, but all he accomplishes is to scuff Angus' armor, causing no damage and getting the tip of his spear stuck in the fabric. His friend, a rather smallish hippo, fares much worse: The moment he tries a brazen close-range attack with his club Angus responds with a quick lunge of his blade. The rabbit lets out a screech of horror and tries to pull his spear out of the folds of Angus' armor as his companion is impaled in one clean strike, end-to-end, and falls over dead.
Shira's spell is brutally effective. A cloud of steam forms, that billows into a dark cloud, roiling with crossed winds and spitting lightning. The horrified screams of the beings in the battlements confirm several kills - or at least several routs.
"GET THE MAGE!" comes the shout from Hartman, and another poor defender - a rather lanky bovine - charges at her to try and spear her through. He misses. She's quite literally gone with the wind, his spear only hitting roiling air.
Shira grins widely and yells at the cactus. "I told you to come peacefully!" She ignores the bovine that attacked her for now, confident in her ability to evade again, should they attack her once more and keeping an eye on them as she focuses on Hartman. This time there is no loud thunder or dark clouds. It is focused and deadly magic, that quite literally knocks the air out of the plant being.
Fenris dances back behind the cover provided by his porcine golem. "Razorback, Burn," he commands, and the wicked attack golem starts to glow between its hard outer plates as burning Creator fire grows within. The golem rears back, opening its mouth to release a stream of glowing energy toward Hartman! Even if the Cactus dodges, the golem is pointed right at the ramshackle gates!
Angus had felt the impact of the spear, that would turn into a nice bruise when this is all over. "Shoddy work! You never lunge at a foe while their eyes on them." He snaps, knowing the hippo would not hear him as their blood hisses on his blade. Wrapping his arm around the imbedded spear he helps remove the thing from his armor seeing if he can't yank it out of the rabbit's hands. "Now, who else wants to try the noble?" He snaps the challenge as he brings his blade at the ready, the blade balancing at level with his throat as he holds his ground.
The rabbit being does the wise thing. The moment the spear is yanked from his hands he turns and bolts, scrambling back towards the palisade and trying to clamber up onto it, unsuccessfully. The bovine attacking Shira readies another attack, but he's met with a different obstacle - one of the freeswords, a leopard, interposes himself between Shira and the bovine. The two of them lock in combat, with the leopard appearing to have the upper hand for the time being.
Hartman hears Amos' call, and sees what is about to happen, but at that very moment the air is taken from his lungs by the wily mage. He can't call for help. His muscles fail him. He tries to roll out of the way, but the blast of fire engulfs him and sets him, the rabbit and the palisade ablaze. He's still alive, but won't be for long with the way those flames are raging.
More debris rain down from above - lesser in number and in size, anything from pebbles to fist-sized rocks. Four heads can be seen popping up and down behind the battlements, throwing rock after pebble after piece of wood. The pelting debris hit some of the mercenaries, but they are all glancing blows, incapable of causing harm. "Run Big Heart!" A voice from above cries out, but no reply comes from the oxygen-deprived titan of a being.
Shira dodges a rock that comes her way and does not even have to catapult herself across the battlefield this time. Being small has the advantage of making you relatively hard to hit after all. The mouse is still locked on her target and keeping up the spell that prevents the cactus from breathing.
Fenris stands behind his golem, allowing the thrown bits of debris to ping off the boar's iron hide instead of his own. "Door, please, Razorback," he directs his golem to ram the gate to the fort, "I'd get it myself, but I've some botany to attend to." The old tom cat saunters toward the burning cactus, removing his coat in a swirl of movement to batter out the flames. "Now, I suggest you yield," he rasps, producing a strange net and casting it over the recently doused hulk.
Angus steps out of the way of some of the debris, smacking another out of the air with the flat of his blade before lowering it. "Come now! Lay down your arms. You fight within the crumbling remains of a fortress, your defenses have already been shown to be weak. Rocks won't stop us, there is no need to all be killed here." He shouts his blade lowered, but ready to be brought up in an instant it is needed.
The forward defense is broken, just like that. Hartman barely moves - without air, a net over him, set ablaze and then doused in water. His life hangs by a thread, but the big guy has plenty of endurance to spare. His companions don't see it, however. The bovine is so distracted by these events that he's easily dispatched by the leopard, who kicks his body to the ground before spitting derisively. "Apostate scum. Who do you think you are?" He calls to the now-dead bovine, pointlessly. Every other defender has routed and broken, some back behind the palisade, others behind the battlements.
With a loud crash the palisade bursts open by way of golem, opening the way to the main courtyard of the fort. A few beings stand there, a loose line of poorly armed defenders cowering behind their leader. Hulda, the squid being, easily stands apart from the rest, not just for her unusual species but also for her well-kept uniform. Were it not for the grime and dirt that comes with living rough it might even be an outfit up to army standards - or navy, given it's nautical look.
Next to her is another being, who stands out for his weapon of choice - a skipjack beetle, he clicks his tongue audibly as he stands in a firing stance, rifle at the ready. "They got Big Heart. A shame." He says to Hulda, who replies with an annoyed growl. "This isn't like last time." She turns to the side and whispers to one of the defenders, who runs off back into the fort's central keep.
Shira sees the new arrivals from afar and instantly focuses on the beetle, detecting the probably most dangerous weapon on the side of the enemies and having decided that the cactus situation is under control. A few, surprisingly simple, yet effective calculations later and arcs of electricity shoot from the mouse's fingers and towards her new target.
Fenris leaves the incapacitated Cactus behind, hopefully weakened enough and restrained to keep him from rejoining the fight. The old tom cat limps through the broken gate behind his golem. "Hulda," he rasps, "Call off your people and I'll call off mine. This doesn't have to be a bloodbath." He stays behind his iron boar, just to be safe.
Angus keeps his blade lowered, wiating to see the response of this 'Hulda' and their forces as he keeps on the balls of his feet. With this somewhat pause in the conflict he could study the squid more directly now, eyeing up their uniform as he takes a deep breath to calm the adrenaline rush.
The roling cloud of lightning has many of the defenders scrambling for help, many of them escaping back into the hold. Hulda and the skipjack beetle hold their position, and as the lightning arcs over them and strikes near them.. it misses. It seems to arc over them and hit the ground, the lightning crashing into dirt and forming a criss-cross pattern of winding and bending lines as the electricity is disspated. The skipjack beetle clicks his tongue derisively, still holding his stance. "Told you." He comments at Hulda, who silences him with another annoyed snap. "Just shut up and continue doing what I pay you for, Conrad."
She steps forward a few paces, squaring down with Amos and the others. "You're not the Lord's cronies, are you?" She asks, raising her voice. "Most of them just run when they see Big Heart back there." She raises her voice. "You alright there big boy?" After a moment's silence, no reply comes from the great cactus, too beat up and worn out to say anything. "Pity. He's been useful." She draws her sword - a commander's sabre. "Now, I suppose you won't just leave -my- fort if I ask nicely, will you?"
In the distance, some beings can be seen descending from the battlements via a ramp. They seem quite small, and one of them runs towards one of the defenders that are in full retreat. The small being is picked up and carted off, bawling and crying about Big Heart being dead.
