Ghost Forest - RPLOG
Participants
Date
21/9/477
Log
The avian soldier who placed the bounty is waiting in the forest. His military uniform is evidently of Cliffside design, along with his annoying accent and pompous, slightly proud stance. "Mind you. These are no simple cannon fodder you're fighting. They've been trained under some of Cliffside's harshest training. The existence of the Ghosts wasn't even supposed to be made known...but we can't send an army into Sweetwater even if it's to catch fugitives. I won't be heading into the fray with the rest of you, mind. It's at least been a few hours. They have defenses set up."
"I'll answer any questions you might have, and then I wish you the best of luck on your hunt." A small salute is given.
A youthful looking plant being, clad in his usual body covering heavy cloak, moves towards the avian soldier, his jasmine scent wafting around him as he walks. Stopping a few inches from the soldier, Rokarion speaks in his usual neutral and polite tone, "Hail and well met. So, may I ask why did the Ghosts desert in the first place? Seems a bit odd for a unit that was thought of as nothing more than a rumour to suddenly appear deserting its country."
Thelergramor was already by the soldier. Heard everything. He grins, not wearing his plague mask for one. Nor is his typical black coat present. Instead, the wolf is wearing a blood red gambeson with a matching hood. A golem grasper is worn on his right arm, leaving his left to hold a pistol. His golem, Rhomlyn, stands by his side. "I have no quesions. Just point me at the target."
Angus tugs on the straps of his his leather gauntlet, only looking up as he gets closer to the Avian. He frowns as he looks them over, the little silvery golem on his shoulders laying their motionless as Angus puts a hand on his hip. "When you say they have their defenses up what do you mean, have they gone to ground and dug in?" He asks curiously, wanting some insite before they charge in.
Cassidy tilts her head as she approaches the avian, adjusting her mask. "Oh ho! So trained military targets? This will be ~exciting~ then. What are our rules of engagement? Do we capture them alive? Kill them?"
Natska approaches the military officer alongside Cassidy, the jaguar's jaw set in a serious cast, her black domino mask not doing near as well at hiding her expression as Cassidy's does. She gives the bird a small nod, and waits to hear the answers to the questions from the other Freeswords.
Fenris had arrived shortly after the summons had been posted. Creators above! It was so much EASIER to get around when one was no longer two feet tall! The liger listens carefully to the briefing and the usual questions from his compatriots, all the while fiddling with his twirligig defender device. Handy little thing. "The longer we wait, the deeper they dig in," says the liger, "We should get moving." He was all for having all the information, but had had enough experience with military and with Cliffside to know that there would not be many straight answers here. Fenris straightens his long, black coat, showing the top of what seems to be a red heart emblazoned on his belly and readies himself for travel, and for battle, checking his sword under the coat and the spear strapped to his back.
Kalt yawns as she stretches for a moment, giving Angus a pat on the back as she grins. "I ain't got many questions... But M'figurin' if'n we can, gettin'em routed up an' all will be a right quick ordeal an' such. But, we gonna be havin' any aid from the military proper though?"
The silent Nurse Shark approaches. She looks for the person leading the expedition, having written on her chalk board. <Cliffside fugitives? Cirra will help. She might even know their tactics a bit.> She signs further with her hands rather than chalk. <Former Cliffsider here. Details not important. Will use knowledge to advance mission.> She puts the chalkboard away in her satchel, shifting it back under her oilskin coat.
A few branches cracking, and the rustle of leaves announces Sara's arrival who apparently only arrives moments after the briefing. After resting her hands on her knees, panting heavilly after her dash through the forest, and brushing off a couple leaves from her cloak, the lizard woman looks around and asks, "Uh.. since everyone's asking, how many of these.. uh.. ghosts?" the term comes out more as a question, unsure what she had signed herself up for, though it does pass before she continues, "How many are we going up against? And what will they be armed with?" After asking what questions she had Sara notices both Cassidy and Natska who each get a brief wave.
The soldier takes a moment to process how best to answer all the questions without getting into trouble with his superiors, shaking his head a little before looking up again. "They've had many hours to set up what they need to do. Sentries. Traps. Ambushes. For all you know they might already know we are here." He tells Angus, squinting a little. "I would have thought a Solacious would know more about military tactics. Especially one so...renown."
"No aid, I'm afraid." He addresses Kalt. "Like I said. We would like to settle the matter inhouse, but crossing the border with an army would be breaching quite a few agreements."
"A full, if small unit. They outnumber you guys maybe two to one? Three? But most of you are soulless, I bet. Shouldn't be too tragic.
Rokarion's question is left unanswered. "They're that way. Tread lightly." The soldier points, and then takes flight out of the forest. Moments after the soldier leaves. Echoes ring all about the forest. "Echo-o-o Echo out loud! Ghost troopers never let you down." The voices are scattered, and seem to come from all directions in a disorienting fashion. Echoing all throughout the forest.
Rokarion raises a petal for an eyebrow as the soldier departs, his question was indeed quite critical and he didn't expect a proper answer. His line of thought however is quickly interrupted at the sudden voices appearing around the group. Deciding to take the more cautious road, Rokarion uttered an equation attempting to cover himself in a protective layer.
Thelergramor waits until the soldier is out of site. "Yeah. Fuck you too buddy." He spits on the ground. "...I'll give him fucking tragic..." The wolf looks to his golem, then to the rest. Completely unmoved by the echoes of their enemy. He just shrugs. "They'll have to do better than that."
Angus flicks his ears, not even bothering to give them a retort as he instead just turns around and rests his right hand on the pommel of his sword. "Hm, odd." He states as they start speaking up, ears flicking back and forth as Mister starts to stir on his shoulder, sitting up to look around. "Everyone be on guard." Is his only statment as he frowns.
Cassidy folds her arms and looks over towards Natska. "No word on the rules of engagement! I guess that means they all die if they attempt to harm either of us. I wonder how terrifying of an end I can make it." She strokes the chin of her mask as she contemplates just that, ears perking a little at the sound.
Natska gives Cassidy a small nod, drawing her parrying knife as the ghosts call out. "They are just trying to unnerve us, Angus. If we fear them it will be easier. Go on towards their camp, Cass and I can watch our flanks to keep them from ambushing us from the side. Rokarion, do you want to be in front? I've seen you take a beating pretty well."
Fenris stays relaxed, allowing his twirligig to spin away in its loose orbit. "To the Northwest," he says quietly, "Small group, not the whole unit. Probably a scout." The liger nods to Natska, and starts to jog briskly in the direction indicated by the Cliffside commander, trusting his divine shield to protect him from any pot shots.
Kalt stretches and grins. "You got it boss!" The Vixen stomping her feet for a moment before cupping her hands around her mouth as she yells. "OOOOOH GHOOOOST TROOPERS, COME OUT TO PLAAAAAAY~!" Grinning as Fenris jogs by her, and quickly picking up to catch up with him. "Oi, don't go figurin' you're leavin' me from the front!"
At the sound of the echo, Cirra prepares her own arrangement of magics, summoning a water wisp and a coating herself in the protective dirt. She continues her trancelike state, setting up more spells to be ready once she has a better idea of the battlefield.
Sara looks to the commander as he flies off, quite shocked about his asshole-ness and mumbles a dark, "Well.. guess we know his take on the /gifted/.." stressing the politically correct terminology. As soon as her brief grumping is done, Sara pulls the musket from her shoulder and follows Fenris at a distance, her rifle, while pointed at the ground, remains ready to fire.
The moment Fenris starts his movements and Kalt yells back, the forest falls deathly silent again. It's a dark night with little moonlight illuminating the forest, and it almost always seems like there's something hiding in the forest. A shadow here, a rustling bush there. A track placed juuuust the wrong way. It feels like they've been here for years with how well they have things set up. The moment they stray just a little too far from the group, they get to see a well armed trooper with his arms folded smugly across his chest. "Echo-o-o Echo out loud. Ghost troopers never let you down." It seems like he's just one man making a distracting voice! He laughs out afterwards, a thick, dense fog rolling in and obscuring vision in the forest for the rest of the group. Making it hard to even see past one arm's length!
"Firers watch your front. Cock and put to safe. Targets never seemed so small, so small before..." Echoes all about the forest once more. Loud gunfire surrounds the two who'd trudged ahead! The flares of the guns being fired giving the pair a rough idea where the shooters are. But the flares are moving, and moving, and moving each shot. They seem to keep firing. Bullets ricochet about, though Fenris' shield does an excellent job of stopping most of the gunfire. One of them sinks into Fenris shoulder and another bullet grazes Kalt's thigh. Once the barrage stops, the attackers start to beat a hasty retreat back into the safety of the now foggy forest...
Rokarion,now covered in a protective layer, looked around into the fog, his leafy ears perking up at the sound of gunfire, however his serene facial expression remaining as it is seemingly unaffected by the sudden turn of events. Rokarion, not knowing what Natska was exactly asking simply nodded. Not having anything else to do, Rokarion's body started glowing a pale white light, as something slithered from under his cloak and appeared above his head, a vine with a blossom for a tip. Then the glow around his body started fading, and focusing on the tip of the vine hanging above his head, until it gave out a shimmering light, allowing his vine blossom to act as a makeshift lantern for the group, and most likely marking himself as a target too.
"Great. Gunshots. I knew these pansies wouldn't fight face to face!" Thelergramor calls out loudly; both hoping to demoralize and draw fire. Not making any mention of the fact that he has his own firearms. He points his golem towards where Kalt and Fenris went. "Go slaughter somethingn Rhomlyn. Uh, not something friendly." Afterword the wolf just hangs back and looks to Angus. "Orders? Or am I free for now?" The wolf grins, licks his lips.
Angus narrows his eyes as the fog starts to thicken, and the light doesn't help as he sighs. "You're free." He answers as he steps away and pulls his shortened musket with his left hand, cocking the hammer back as he stays low within the fog.
Cassidy peers at Natska for a moment, then looks towards Fenris and Kalt before scoffing. "Those daft fools. I ought to just smash them in the back now. I'd be doing them a favour, yeah?" When the bullets fly towards them, she only snorts softly before nodding at Natska. "I'm going to be a little more -subtle- and tactical in our approach. I'm going to set up for a flank and ambush. Try to take them from behind. Care to join me?" With that said, she kicks up a bit of air magic and vanishes into the canopy to begin seeking out the 'scout' in a more discrete way.
Natska sighs, ears pinned back at the sudden onslaught of gun fire; she nods her head then, and quickly follows after Cassidy. "Fog is my thing. I've got your back, Cass." She quickly moves along with the fennec, moving quietly through the fog.
Fenris grunts and grits his teeth as the ball slams into his shoulder, stepping out of the open before dropping to a knee to tend his wound. He had not expected them to be so close! This was not a chase, this was a trap. He couldn't charge into battle with a disabled arm! The liger reaches into his coat and produces a small device, his personal sacred doctor! Hopefully, the little thing could patch him up enough to be battle ready. "Run first aid protocol," he whispers, holding the device to his injured shoulder, "Primary user." As the fog surrounds the group and the little device starts its work, Fenris is free to devote his attention to a little air magic, attempting to clear the air a bit.
Kalt lets out hiss as the ball grazes her thigh, patting her ribbed pants with a growl. "Oh... M'gettin' what you're plannin' an' all... Go gettin' a shot, an' then runnin' off to hide once more eh?" The Vixen taking in a deep breath as she closes her eyes for a moment and punches her hands together to let the metal gauntlets slam together! "Oh Ghosts oh Ghosts, Can you go keepin' your boasts? I kill men bigger than you, just what you figurin' you can do? Oh Ghosts, oh Ghosts, don't you see I stay true to my Boasts? You ain't runnin'way this day, 'cause you that fight we're gonna slay!" The Vixen calling out loudly as she pushes forward, trying to match their own rhyming as she keeps pressing on, knowing that diverting the enemies focus, and making them think they have the upper hand will go a long way.
The large amount of suspended water in the air gives Cirra a devious idea. She hadn't been planning on taking her other elemental out just yet, but with the fog blocking her vision, she decides that there's enough water to serve. She uses mathemagic to condense her titanic water elemental from the fog, clearing both a patch of air in front of herself and giving herself another ally. She uses the opening to try to scan for targets among the enemy.
