Theres Bandits in those hills - RPLOG
Participants
Date
10/5/477
Log
The entrance to the path was rather busy this day, as it seemed a caravan loaded with supplies to be sold to the encampments around Mossy Stone was getting ready to head up. Armaments of all size and caliber, most cheap and of poor quality, along with food and armor filled all the carriages to bursting. Along the head of the caravan was a small group of four 'guards', all german shepherds with adaptable clan seals affixed to their vests, discussing something with a deer folk of the Gracefull clan clad in rich elegant purple silk.
A little farther down was a armored Vixen with a Lightbringer's seal affixed to the clasp of her cloak, yawning gently as she awaited the others to arrive as well so the 'owner' would give them the briefing before finally moving out.
Selena stretches, the wolfess looking a little groggy but otherwise okay as she approaches the highly touted caravan, offering a wave over to the lightbringer present. "So this is what we're escorting?" She calls over, aparrently not intending to waste any time before starting to inquire. "Kalt, so you're heading this one? Hm. Well, I hope the lightbringers are treating you well anyway." She chuckles.
Rixo makes her way towards the caravan, no less lacking in plate or arms than usual. Shield and spear at the ready, she steps up and taps the butt of her spear on the ground and nods. "Here as requested. And hello, Selena."
Jera screeches as his wings blot out the sun. And then he crashes majestically into the ground. "D-Damn it. Can't get used to flying like this." The kit fox grumbles as he picks himself up, thankfully quite immune to the minor battering of a crash by now. At least he found a landing spot with enough clearance, but he can't be inspiring a lot of confidence right now.
Angus walks up to the caravan, working on afixing the blade he had been using as a bayonet on the end of his Musket before resting it against his shoulder. "Oh hey Kalt, I see you already have your seal on." He comments, flashing her a smile as he eyes everyone else. "I'm guessing these are going to the Anima encampment or something?"
Of a mind that a potentially dangerous trip could use a bit of triage, Kaelli arrived at the caravan's location kitted out for such an activity. Not traveling alone, the tigress had a pair of strange machines with her and was chatting with them animatedly on the walk up. The conversation stopped once she was in casual earshot, of course. When it started raining kit fox, that brought a quizzical expression to her features for a moment but then a soft chuckle followed - there were stranger things out there. Raising a hand in greeting to the gathered beings, the pale feline offered a smile and simply awaited the caravan's departure.
Kalt shrugs gently as she smirks to Selena, the Vixen giving a slight nod. "Treatin' me well'nuff, ain't headin' this all up though... Just went an' beat all'ya'll slow pokes here first it's lookin' like." A loud laugh rising from her as Jera comes crashing down, causing the four 'guards' at the front to jump and panic for a moment before figuring out what had happened, before she gives a thumbs up to Angus. "Yep, ain't figurin' wastin' time will be doin' me any favors."
Soon enough the deer seemed to finish her conversation with the four up front, before meandering down to the group with a smile. "Ah, you must all be the freeswords~ My name is Leana Belware, the owner of this caravan. I'm thankfull for your aid, and hopefully it should just be a quiet trip... Now, my plan is to get the convoy through the main portion of the path, before being able to sell my wares on the other side to the encampments that need it. You all will be merely joining us through the pass, as a little extra safety never hurt~"
Selena rolls her eyes and bats the marble fox across the back of the head gently. "Slowpokes, she says." The wolfess chuckles. "Anima, though? Of all the places you could take supplies. Nothing has been done up there at all; the entire purpose of that encampment has been neglected." She grumbles with a shake of her head.
"Well, I guess I shouldn't be complaining too much. Might as well get this over and done with. I'm honestly a little surprised to hear nothing about Thera'dor." That said, the wolfess nods back to Rixo and offers Jera a hand up. "You may want to be a bit more careful with those wings." She quips - falling victim to a slight smirk herself.
Rixo props her spear up on her shoulder and nods. "Just get the thing going and I shall indeed follow, yes. Doesn't matter much to me where we go, I was just looking for something to do." She idly eyes the caravan over, tapping the side of her spear lightly against the helmet as she waits for the trip to begin.
"Miss Belware, would you rather I fly ahead and scout first?" Jera blinks and realizes that he's dropped out of his griffon form. He takes Selena's hand and squeezes it for a moment, holding on for support as wings spout from his back again and blowing small gusts of wind as they flap, sharp talons digging into the earth. And then he flops back down on all fours in his quadruped shape. Hanging from his neck is a spell foci that Selena would recognize. "Always an easier journey when you can see what's coming from afar."
Resting the butt of his rifle on the ground Angus leans against his musket. "Sounds like a plan, what cart do you want me to sit on?" He asks as his ears flick, giving Kalt a wink before he checks to make sure his pistols are holstered and his swordbreaker was in its scabbard.
The fallen being was given the bulk of the tigress' attention, if only because she had never met them before. Mismatched eyes scanned Jera's form as much to commit him to memory as to assure that he wasn't hurt from his landing. Tail flicking a moment, Kaelli's attention eventually wandered over to the caravan guards and their hostess. A polite bow was offered to their employer before the feline's attention turned towards the pass. "Very nice time for stroll.." she murmured, more to herself than anyone else though the statement was given without any vestige of sarcasm.
Resting the butt of his rifle on the ground Angus leans against his musket. "Sounds like a plan, what cart do you want me to sit on?" He asks as his ears flick, giving Kalt a wink before he checks to make sure his pistols are holstered and his swordbreaker was in its scabbard.
Belware giggles slightly and offers a gentle shooing motion to Angus before pointing to the carts. "Any cart you wish to stay on, mosy of what I've heard is mostly rumors anyways... We've five carts, and I believe that'd be more than enough room for everyone." Her gaze turning to Jera as she taps her chin lightly and resists the urge to laugh some. "Well, so long as you do not end up performing another fantastic display my dear, then by all means feel free~ Oh, and before I forget, you're payment will be rendered upon completion, and naturally based on how many carts survive the expedition."
Kalt gives a short nod as well before snickering at Selena. "Oi, ain't bein' m'fault if'n it's true! Anywho, plenty of room for everyone I figure... An' the fella's up front got their own mounts an' such as well. So, who ever wants to go sittin' where ever I figure it's all good an' such." She gives a short nod before grasping the side of the first cart, pulling herself up enough to sit on it's edge.
"Does anyone want to ride on my back and make sure they don't miss anything? Maybe shoot a few things on the way." Jera chirps! Clearly socially oblivious in his current state.
Selena rolls her eyes a little at as Kalt shooes Angus away, shaking her head amusedly and sighing a little. "Well, if Angus does happen to get more holes put in him I"m sure we could arrange for house arrest until he's completely recovered." She suggests, looking over to the fox from the corner of her eye.
"Jera and I both can fly, though I think I'd rather keep to the caravans at this point in time. There's probably more I can do from them than other- Wait, Jera, you're offering for people to ride on you after that display?" She asks incredulously. "Flying with another being is hard enough as it is."
Rixo chuckles softly and shakes her head. "I will refrain from flying for the moment, yes." And refrains from calling in her own steed as she climbs into a caravan. No need to scare everyone off yet, afterall! That'd be a bad start.
Jera laughs. And then his wings flap once, twice, thrice, ancient air math blowing up gusts enough to rustle the trees nearby as he takes off! This time with quite a bit more resolve, flying ahead of the caravan's intended direction and trying to scout through the treeline.
Angus sticks his tongue out at Kalt as he walks towards the Cart sitting right in the middle of the caravan, climbing up into it and resting his musket across his lap as he looks around, humming to himself as he listens. "Selena, I assure you I will not get filled full of holes today."
Kaelli perks up at the offer to see an aerial view but privately chastises herself for the thought. Now was the time to focus on work, not new experiences. Exhaling a breath though her nostrils and sulking at herself, the feline smiles towards Jera and softly replied, "Perhaps later, my children need attention at times.." To emphasize her meaning, she tigress directed her machine companions towards the end of the caravan and claimed it for her chosen perch.
Kalt chuckles and leans back against the armaments as she smirks, looking down to Angus as she raises her voice. "You'd best not go gettin' all wounded up an' such you know! I'd be right proper pissed if'n we'd have to go an' either drag you to a healer, or go an' clean your wounds cause you're goin' an' bein' stubborn again! Wouldn' go against that house arrest idea either, just go lockin' your doors an' windows on you." The Vixen enjoying her little tease before she waits for it all to start off.
Belware gives a soft chuckle at the entirety of the group before she hops up next to the driver of the first cart, the four guards mounting their steeds and unslinging heavy crossbows before giving a short nod. A cry is given then from the lead driver as the carts begin to rumble forward slowly up the path, making good time as it seemed the noises from the shipment and persons kept most of the creatures at bay.
As the convoy would get higher into the pass, and closser to the top they find the need to pass through a section that possesses a heavy woods to the left, and a ridge to high to climb upon the right. Jera would be able to easily make out two beings standing in the middle of the road with pikes in hands, just around the next bend in the convoy's path...
Jera flaps around and pulls up, making as wide a berth away from the guards as he can. He makes a soft bird screech, in it disguised an air magic to send a coded message in taps and dashes, likely understood by thise army trained, back towards the caravan before continuing his path onwards.
Road is blocked ahead. Armed guards. Stay alert.
Selena tsks quietly and sets herself up on one of the middle carts of the group, relaxing a little as they roll along. "You know, sometimes I wonder if beings out this way have heard the reputation of some of the freeswords." She notes to nobody in particular. "You'd think that after a while some of these people would recognize who they're attacking."
The odd tapping prompts her to look back up to the sky for a moment, sighing and pushing herself back upright and ready, bringing her elemental into existance just above the cart - after all, the tapping was deliberate enough...
Rixo furrows her brow at the sound. She doesn't really recognize it, but it doesn't sit well with her, so she shuffles towards the edge of the cart, ready to step out with her spear and shield at the ready, should the need arise. "Looks like we'll be having some fun afterall, maybe?"
Angus perks his ears up as he hears Jera's tapping, eyes narrowing a bit as they flick between the cliff on their right and the woods on the right as he reaches up to the two pistols holstered on his chest, cocking back the wheellock hammers before he does the same for his musket on his lap, his left hand wrapping around the grip.
The mention of healers caused the feline to run her hands across the front of her coat, the light assessment serving to take inventory of the items within. "Patient can always be restrained!" she cheerfully volunteered, calling the comment forward before scanning the area they were traveling through. While the initial stretch seemed calm enough, the return of the griffin and the message carried upon the winds caught her attention and caused her ears to perk up. Tail lashing, the tigress gestured lightly to ready her mechanical children for company.
Kalt shrugs gently as she calls out to Selena while laying lazily. "Well Selena, M'figurin' if'n you're desperate'nuff, it ain't gonna matter much who you're goin' to try an' kill an' such. They got what you're needin, an' you're gonna try an' take it from them. If'n they kill you, then they got it, an' if'n you kill them, well they won't be needin' it no more either." She nods gently to herself before grinning at Kaelli's call out, before sitting up at Jera's 'speach', not comprehending the message but moving to pull the war hammer from her back all the same.
The rest of the group seems mildly confused or annoyed at the screeching, and soon enough the round the bend to only come to a jarring halt as two Hyena's block their path with pikes and thick armor upon themselves. "G'day, you'll find the pass is currently being tolled by our good king, so as to draw revinue for a new project, and supplies for troops to come up and aid more whole heartidly in beating the undead back. If you'd be so kind as to relinquish... Let's see, five carts? Yeah, five thousand crown per car, you can be right and on your merry way."
Belware gawks slightly as she raises a hand. "I've heard no such proposal about the king taxing this path, and five thousand per cart is two steep to begin with! Where would I even turn my carts around at, the forest is too thick for us to do so!" Her four guards grumbling as the knock bolts into their crossbows and take up a line on the mounts to put themselves between the carts and the woods.
Selena tsks quietly and shrugs. "There's still probably a better way to get a hold of goods, though. Attacking a well-defended cart isn't the best idea." She notes. The beings stepping in front of the carts are met with a stern look. "That's ironic. The project up north is neither new nor in need of resources from what I've been hearing." She comments, keeping an eye on the forested sections and peering over, looking for any signs of movement or trickery.
Rixo hops out of her cart, chuckling. "Excellent," she mutters under her helmet, giving the spear a little twirl. "Yes, and I patrol Mossy Stone daily. And for long stretches of time. If there were anything going on up there, I would know of it." She keeps her intentions hidden under her armour for the time being, but she's completely ready to leap into the fray at the drop of a pin.
Jera doesn't see anything else interesting ahead and then makes a u-turn. It will be quite a bit before he makes it back, but he has an air spell at the ready in case the caravans had to break through.
Angus chuckles a little as his ears flick, his gaze turning up to the cliffs once more before he takes a deep breath and sighs. "Look, why don't you just drop the pikes and walk away while you still can, I would really hate to have to waste the bullets."
Kaelli sits rather serenely upon her cart. That being said, the feline's mechanical companions didn't seem quite so sedate. The turrets and barrels that arrayed one machine produced a series of clicking noises and soft whirs as the defender took aim upon the interlopers and the shield that matched it idled nearby at the ready. The tigress herself readied a bit of fire math should it come to that, but she left the forward facing bandits to the attention of her devices while her own gaze traveled backwards just in case there were any beings hoping to flank the group.
Kalt slips down from the cart, making her way to the left of the caravan to help block the side against the forest. The Vixen's grip on her warhammer tightening as she'd rolls her shoulders, eyes deadlocked on the two in their path.
The two hyena's merely shrug and turn around then, begining to walk away as they wave. "Fine then, don't pay the toll. But the King doesn't like being denied his crowns you know." As they were walking, Selena would see what appear to be either the shapes of beings or just brush... The thickness of the forest making it hard to tell, though the focus upon that was lost as six crossbow men appear on the ridge, leveling repeating crossbows as they open fire to dous the carts with bolts!
Two of the drivers end up on the ground, one with a bolt in his shoulder and another with a bolt in his leg. The four guards turning their mounts as they go to open fire at the ridge, missing their targets by an inch while Belware scurries under the cover of her cart. Kalt's armor brushing off a bolt that flew close to her chest, elliciting a growl from the Vixen.
Selena calls out to the group; "There are bandits in the forest!, it's not only the crossbowmen to worry about!" she announces, a bolt wedging itself in a layer of extremely tough stone conjured forth at recognition of the situation, the wolfess batting it off and turning her attention back to the forest, conjuring a thick mire between them and the attackers and her elemental to move up to the ridge and begin meddling with the crossbowmen - starting with a smoke grenade for good measure.
Rixo snorts as she brings her shield up to ward off the crossbow bolt. Lacking much of another way to reach them, and seeing as the ones from the forest were not yet upon them... She decided to try to give them a fright indeed, throwing her helmet at the ones on the ridge... Well, not just her helmet, if the weight behind it and the utter lack of head on her shoulders was any indication. It'd come back, of course, but what fun to see their reactions!
Jera is coming from behind. He moves into a diving array and just crashes into as many of the crossbowmen as he can with his talons first and flapping up large gusts later to buffet people and veer projectiles.
Angus leans back rather quickly to avoid the bolt flying at him before he sits up straight, ears flicking as he glares up at the Crossbow men before hopping off the Cart to face the forest, crouching and keeping his back to the cart to protect himself from the bolts as he brings his musket to his shoulder and looks down the sights. "Good thinking with the mud." He murmurs to Selena, flicking his gaze to Kalt to make sure he knows where she is as he waits.
Bathed in the light of her shield, Kaelli managed to avoid being made into a porcupine. Hissing faintly, the feline directed her gun-laden companion to return the favour and open fire upon the crossbowmen. Whatever math the tigress held at the ready was kept delayed for the time being, unleashing it blind into a forest would be risky move and she wasn't quite ready to go all out as it were.
Kalt gives a nod to Selena as she holds her warhammer at the ready, and begins to make for the forest, treking just into the mud as the guards stir their mounts forward to the front of the caravan, and after the two whom had turned to walk away.
Rixo's head finds purchase between one of the Hyena's shoulders, causing him to stumble forward before turning and staring at the headless woman, his eyes going wide as he screams and points. "UNDEAD! THEY GOT UNDEAD WITH THEM!" The duo quickly dashing down the road then to try and avoid the rather frightening situation.
The smokebomb does wonders in preventing the crossbow men from firing back down, as two fall from a hail of bullets by the creator tech, and another beneath Jera's talons. The remaining three turning their attention to Jera, as two try to reload their crossbow's quickly, while the third merely draws a pistol from his belt and fires a round into the poor man's shoulder.
Down below, Selena's call was more then accurate as two more bolts fly from between the trees, one smacking into Kalt's plate harmlessly, while the second find's slight purchase in angus' thigh... Thankfully away from the artery, and failing to shatter the bone.
As soon as the bolts had setteled though, seven more bandits rush from the trees. Brandishing pikes, swords, and shields as they're slowed by the mud in their attempt to reach the Caravan. The one closest to kalt falling just short of a swing with her warhammer, causing the Vixen to ditch it before drawing her longsword from her side.
Selena curses quietly as the attacking force closes in, yelling out to the others - "Get on the carts, we can start moving and try to lose them!" before she quickly makes her way over the carts to Angus, redirecting her elemental to rain fiery arrows over the bandits mired in the mud. "I'd rather not go and hurt anyone, but if we don't get a move on there's no option anyway." She grumbles, making a sweeping motion at the mire she'd created, prompting a violent tremor to throw up some of the mud and destabilize the ground even more. - then the calls of undead are processed, the wolfess shooting a glare at the then-headless body of Rixo; the kind that says 'We're going to have a nice long talk about this later'.
Rixo reclaims her head as it sails back into her grip, settling it down into place with a bone chilling cackle. It's mostly just a show, but if she can strike fear, then it works. Taking up her spear again, she brings her shield to cover her armoured self even more, placing her spear point-forward, rather like a phalanx. Charging at the first bandit to overcome the mud that she can, the panda seeking to impale them outright. "Yes, get it moving if you can! The longer we wait the more chance there is of them getting back up."
Jera howls out in pain as the bullet strikes true, coming close to crippling one wing already. He growls and stares darkly at the being that shot him and just lashes out with savage claws, wanting to tear him limb from limb.
Angus snarls in pain, cringing as the bolt sinks into his thigh! He reaches down with his right hand and pulls the bolt out before throwing it to the ground and taking aim with his musket once more before it barked, a cloud of powder coming off of the musket as he gets to his feet and limps over to the cart with Selena. "They probably have something set up for us later down the trail." He mutters.
