Assault on Firebough - RPLOG
Participants
Date
4/5/478
Log
The setting of the sun casts an orange shade upon the mountain this day, those present from the initial approach of the craige would find themselves gathered just beyond the lip of the caldera. The booming thunder of the cannons along with the cracks of muskets near the top signaling the fight against the Craige forces that are currently attempting to make their way up the mountain, though have found hinderance to the natural advantages of the defenders. The Equine Commander is at the fore of those gathered, thick ornate armor and a gilded warhammer at his side as he looks over all present. "Men and Women of our kingdom! Today we stand in the face of ones that would attempt to butcher us, but shall instead fall at their own folly! As our front line holds them back for these precious moments, we shall advance to the second line along with the Musketeers granted to us by our king, and what Mages we have been granted! We have ensured a clear killing field for those at the front to fall back past, so we can ensure maximum usage of our weapons, and death of the enemies of our people!"
Aboard the incoming airship, a grizzled looking Corgi woman struts before the volunteers, her commanders insignia polished upon her jacket as she motions to those present. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am not here to give you a speech, but rather your orders. We shall be landing as close to the lip of the caldera as we can, and upon doing so, will remain for all the wounded, and civilians we possibly can retrieve, to be loaded up before -we- return! You lot will join the defending forces along the lip, under the local commanders orders. Remember, priority is to ensure any wounded, or non-combat personel are brought -off- the field -alive-!"
Cara nods and answers, "Understood." The feline smirks for a moment. The weather is looking just right for her to finally try something out if the need arises. Unfortunately, said need involves the loss of lives, so hopefully the fire won't be needed at all.
"Ah, it's just like old times." Rainer remarks, mostly to himself, hands on hips and hair... a complete mess, thanks to the wind. He's not even trying to straighten it out, not that there'd be much point while they're still in motion anyway. "Well, except the king was fighting right up with us back then, too. But he gets enough glory and praise as is anyway, right? More for us this time!"
With the proximity to home, Cassidy was there early. Even before the airship had arrived, she was hanging around near the back in her mask and suit, hiding the look of annoyance that was on her face. She remains quiet, just leaning over against Natska to whisper something to the jaguar.
Cirra herself shivers a bit. She's gotten super unlucky in most combats she has been in, doing damage but ultimately getting dragged out of the fight. She hopes to amend that this time, and is running through her Kata as she waits.
Natska tilts her head, then gives Cassidy a small nod, sighing softly. She murmurs something back to her fennec and gives her shoulder a squeeze, then straightens up, settles her black domino mask in place, and takes her spot with the other mages as she begins gathering her magic about herself. "Very well. I will not hold back."
Fenris is ready and waiting, standing near Rainer on the windy ridge, his considerable fluff blowing and waving in the wind. "I am sorry I missed that, Rainer," he says, "But if the King isn't here, it just means more points for you, right?" He carefully checks his gear. Heavy, sleeveless coat, silver plates strapped onto his fluffy arms and legs and rather vicious looking black and silver gauntlet on his right hand. "This ought to be something else!" he says with an expectant grin.
As the airship approaches, those aboard get a full view of the Craige assault, waves upon waves of the lizard like elementals weilding basic weapons are surging up to the settlement... Some may make a strange note, that the Craige in their singular focus are neglecting the Cinderglow estates. This couldn't just be an ordinary conquest for them if they arn't attacking all things present...
The Airship wastes no time for sights though, as it turns low and makes it's way over an entrie company of cannoneers and musketeers that are currently firing down upon the Craige. A large spike pit holds the remains of a large rhino like craige, while a plethora of walls and trenches have given the defenders a huge advantage in holding the craige back! Though, as the airship comes to a jeering halt just beyond the rim of the Caldera, the boarding plank is dropped and the dozens of volunteers begin to shuffle out. "Come on then! Out to the main group with you lot!"
The large Equine, Commander Targustus, raises his gilded warhammer as he looks over the reserve group. "Ranged forces! To the lip! The front will be falling back soon, and we shall cover their retreat! Melee, to the right Flank! You shall act as the axe to our block in cutting the head from these vermin!" At his words, most of the mages and apprentices approach the rim, along with a few of the archers... The rest of the archers holding farther back, near a blockade over the dedication spot.
Cara is the first one out of the airship and she runs directly over to the main group with the determination of a ready fighter. So far, everyone appears to be set in a duo, so the feline might as well find a partner for this as well. As she searches around the area, she smiles from the sight of the norse shark. "Hey!" The feline dashes over to the mute nurse shark and continues, "Want me to help you out with this?"
Rainer chuffs, casually stroking the pommel of the sword strapped at his hip with his thumb, as were eager to unsheath it. "That's right. And when I get the high score, you'll be covering my shifts for a month!" Wait, what? Does he get to just arbitrarily declare bets like that? The pup's brows lift when his attention falls to the ground below and he gets a gander at the surging Craige legions. "...Uh, you might need to keep count for me, too. I don't think I can go that high." On the ground, the swordswolf sets out to join the flank, though out of nowhere he seems to have taken ill. "...why'd he have to talk about cutting heads off?..."
Cassidy heaves a little sigh and cautiously makes her way with the magician unit, nodding at Natska and muttering something else under her breath, tail flicking behind her. "Yes, we'll go all out on this, I suppose. Don't have much choice."
Cirra moves to join Cassidy and Natska in the mage group. She is rather hard to place, given that she is mainly good at area control but also capable of going one-on-one with certain enemies. She waves to the others, confused by the statement of going all out.
Natska gives Cirra a small nod as she spots the nurse shark. "Good, Cirra. I am glad to have you." Her expression, and her tone, are as unreadable as her mask. "We are in a target rich environment, and if they try to tunnel past the defenses, we'll need a good earth mage to shut them down." Natska gives Cass' shoulder a small squeeze, then takes her place on the lip of the caldera and begins calling up her storms, holding them back on a hair's trigger until they are needed.
Fenris snickers a little as he steps up to join Rainer, closely followed by a lumbering, mole shaped golem. "Sure thing, Rainer," the tiger says, "But if I win, you get half of my training punishments." He waits for the word to charge, ready for the front line to drop back so he can get in there and cause a little havok!
Deciding that this is a good a time as any, the tiger bangs his metal gauntlet rhythmically on the side of his golem and sings an age old Creator war hymn! BANG BANG CRASH! BANG BANG CRASH! "Buddy you're a boy! Make a big noise! Playin' in the street, gonna be a big man someday!" he sings, expecting others to join in. Always a performer.
"FALL BACK! FALL BACK FROM THE FRONT!" Is called out along the musketeers as they grab their stuff and turn to make a run for the lip of the Caldera as the Craige forces begin to peek over the top of the ridge... Three Cannoneers whom stayed at their post, pouring shot into the ranks of craige are quickly overran, their screams drowning beneath the waves of stone scales and fire fueled eyes as the Craige chased after their initial prey. "MAGES! COVER!" Targustus orders out from his spot as he pulls a musketeer to safety. "Musketeers, reload and regroup behind the reserves!" An interesting strategy to force the craige to suffer for each inch with ranged volleys it seemed... And from the powder burns on some of the guns, one could only imagine how many they already brought down!
"INCOMING FROM THE REAR!" is shouted from the archers near the dedication sight, as they begin motioning in the direction of the setting sun... The harsh glare having hidden the approach of what looked to be a dozen winged Craige, each more like a dragon than a lizard! Their claws long and sharp, and flames seething openly from their scales as they take to the offensive to the rear of the defenders!
Cara hears the shout and grits her teeth in a rage. "Okay, in that case. A little air magic might be good here. After a tail flick, she runs directly back to the rear in order to handle the dragon. The feline takes the Wing of Aran out and concentrates, hoping to make strong enough whirlwind to either drop the Craige dragons onto the ground or better, direct them into the spike pit. Although the latter is overestimating her ability though.
Rainer half turns towards the cry from behind, face soon scrunching against the glare of the sun, which is when he starts to make out the shapes against the sky. "Guh! Rule 18, guys, c'mon!" The mutt makes a frustrated gesture with his claws, then twists, looking out across the crowd of soldiers. "Zevran! I'm gonna need a boost--" Blink. "Seriously! Why is he never around when the action gets heavy anymore!"
"Rocks don't fly," Cassidy says with a snort, not even pausing to think as she seeks to create some turbulance for the winged creatures, hoping to send them flying into each other and otherwise make flying an awful method of approach. "Not even rocks with wings."
The Nurse Shark smiles as she joins in Cassidy's offensive, casting her own sand storm to the skies, scouring the attackers. It's her own custom spell and is should sting pretty hard. She wordlessly creates the glyphs in her mind as she focuses on the targets.
"Catch their fire, if they breath it at us, love," Natska murmurs. As much as she'd love to swat the flying Craige around like flies as well, Cass and Cirra seem to have it handled, and so she steps up with the other mages from the detachment and turns her will towards covering the front line's retreat. With spells that would be familiar to the commander of the unit by now, she begins calling up a howling whiteout of a blizzard, lacing it with deadly-sharp shards of ice and hailstones.
Fenris finds his attention instantly drawn to the cry of the archers and the winged monstrosities swooping in. "Of course they fly now!" he growls, "Holy Mole! Attack!" He urges his golem forward into the ranks of the craige and charges after with a roar of challenge, golem enhanced arm swinging. "Let the magicians get the fliers!" he cries, "We have work to do here!"
Contrary to Cassidy's belief, it seems as these Craige Dragons are flying with relative ease, even perhaps aided by their own magics! Six of them tumble and crash into each other, falling earlier from the group to face a volley of arrows and musket fire as the archers and arriving Musketeers take their shots!
"Musketeers to the ridge on the double! Mage down to deal with the fliers! Get me some melee to take them on if they land!" No sooner had his orders finished than the first dagon nose dived right into the archers near the dedication sight! Their screams rising as the best disembowls two unlucky rabbits as his compatriarts land amidst the open ground between the ridge and dedication point as well... Seems they had a specific target as well!
Meanwhile, the last of the Musketeers to make the escape slides past the ridge of the Caldera, as Natska's spell coats the area in a thick fog and ice slows the Craige to a near crawl! Perfectly timed as well it seems, as Fenris' golem, himself, and a handfull of shieldmen crash into the Craige as well, felling a handfull as the craige struggle to strike back at the defenders!
Cara opens her mouth in surprise from the sudden landing and immediately glares at the dragon. "No." The feline immediately begins running directly over to the dragon like a crazy maniac. "You won't destroy that point!" She instantly leaps into the air, ready to break the stone dragon into pieces with an incredibly powerful kick.
"But they're going after that... naaagh!" Rainer finally lets his blade see light, putting on his war face ... which is basically just the same happy go lucky face he always has on, but his brows are narrowed a bit, in concentration or such. "Time to send these rocks rollin'!" I bet that sounded SUPER CLEVER in his head. The wolf does what he does best, charges headlong and starts swinging at everything that he doesn't know to be on his team!
Cassidy isn't about to let the other dragons land without a fight, so she quickly employs her magic to try to flip and bedraggle the others, trying to encourage them to keep flying and maybe even try to get away, rather than pursue a landing.
Cirra isn't out of tricks either. She follows her sand storm up with a hailstorm similar to that of the jaguar, enjoying the spray of ice as she batters her foes. She moves a hand to her sword, getting ready for the seemingly inevitable melee.
With the orders given, Natska turns towards the dragons jut behind her. With Cass and Cirra still working on the pack, the jaguar turns her ire on the closest one that had landed, raises her hand, and chops downwards in a knife-edge motion as she focuses on trying to impale it with a lance of ice.
Fenris frowns in dismay as the call goes up that they are targeting the dedication point. His moment of distraction very nearly costs him as a craige club skids past his shoulder, actually flattening the fluffy fur with its passing. "Hey!" he shouts, "Thinking here!" As his mole golem crashes around among the hordes of Craige, Fenris decides to help get a little breathing room, channeling a blast of earth magic through a stomp to the ground.
The Craige are buffeted once more by a shower of ice, though they seem less slowed as spears find their ways into some of the golems more sensative parts to damage it... Not disabling it however, but they've managed to take it from peak operations! Fenris' earth magic blast topples one or two, but it doesn't seem to assist too much as a slightly larger craige swings a primitive looking machete at the Tiger!
Cassidy's magic manages to flip one, whom goes to toppling to the side, dazed and stunned as it tries to recover. Cara's kick doesn't manage to destroy one of the dragons, instead it goes off with a resonding crack as one of the larger beasts goes reeling, broken rocks falling from it's face as it shakes the broken rocks away and snarls before lurching at her! Natska's lance of ice manages to impale into the chest of one of the dragons, the creature crumbling slightly against the ground as it's fires die out slowly... Rainer's own flurry of blows have caught the attention of another of the beasts, whom with a large clawed hand attempts to swipe him right off to the side!
More alarming however, was the largest of the dragons whom touches down... A serious of archaic and ancient runes carved into his stone scales seem to blaze with a firey light, as attempts to draw forth magic are suddenly made far more strenouis, as if he was trying to deny them that advantage!
Cara takes the blow to her right side and is forced back a few feet. "Oh you, lousy." The feline instantly pickes herself back up and runs to the side of the dragon that is partially shattered. She instantly brings out her sabre and attempts to slice the stone dragon apart.
Rainer doesn't seem to be as bothered by how his strikes are mostly of glancing off the stony hide of this one toughie as he ought to be. "Hah, yeah! You like that?! Have another! And -another-! What's the matter? Too big and slow to hit--" WHAM. And away he goes, spinning, even, both in the air and for a few feet more once he's returned to the ground. "...okay." The pup is looking pret-ty dazed as he swaggers back to his feet, contorting his face and pushing his jaw to one side, then the other, back again, then a quick wipe on his bandaged forarms to clear the initial trickle of blood from his lip and chin. "I let you have that one." Aaand back in he goes running. "RAWRGHABLE!"
Cassidy furrows her brow at the magical interference, but she doesn't let it bother her any. She just rolls her shoulder and slips a hand into her coat, withdrawing a throwing knife. She steadies her aim and lets it fly, not aiming to harm the dragon so much as puncture one of the runes on its scales. Magic equations usually didn't work once you remove one of the variables.
The magic drain nearly takes Cirra completely out of the fight, making her draw her blades, The Edge of Dawn and the Ward of Dusk. The nimcha is probably weakened by the large dragon, but it is still strong enough otherwise to fuction against the drake. She shakes her head, moving to try to engage the drake on foot.
Natska narrows her eyes, studying the large dragon. "Mmmhm," she mutters, her ear flicking. Experimentally, she tries to draw the beast's fire away from it with her math, more interested in finding the results than in scoring a solid 'hit'.
Fenris cries out as he sees his golem skewered by falling ice, and more than a little disappointed by the small effect of his earth magic. As a large, ugly specimen charges, he hurries to throw up an earthen shield, but the elements do not respond as fast as they should and the brute's club smashes through, sending the tiger tumbling! Fenris gasps, trying to catch his breath and desperately tries to channel earth and water magic to keep the Craige at bay while he adjusts his tactics!
Natska's attempt to draw flames from the rune'd dragon doesn't even solicite a single ember from the creature, instead of all things it seems to have -drawn- it's attention to her as Cassidy's throwing knife slaps into it's shoulder ineffectually. Without many words then it begins to pace forward against the casters, roaring as Cirra approached and struck out at it, drawing black blood from beneath it's scales from where she cut... Seems this guy doesn't have the toughness of the others! Though that doesn't stop it from rearing it's head back as flames lick at it's mouth before being unleashed at the Shark!
Rainer's blows wound his Dragon once more, eliciting a wounded his from the creature before it turns swiftly, trying to slap Rainer with it's thick tail! Cara's blows cause a pool of blood from the Dragon she is facing, though the beasty is still standing as it lunges at her with claws outstretched and it's jaws open!
Fenris' golem manages to find it's control once more, smacking away another handful of Craige from around it's master as he just barely manages to work through this oppressive aura, and saps the Craige's advantage of speed... Making the masses all the more targeted by the volleys of Muskets! The one that had landed the blow on him earlier though, raises it's weapon high as it aims for Fenris! It doesn't seem like a good spot for the tiger!
Cara leaps onto the top of the stone dragon and avoids its attacks completely, "Okay, you need to die right now." With stern determination in her eyes, she plunges her sabre into the dragon and runs along it's spine in an attempt to kill it outright. The blade begins cracking as she runs along it.
"Ho HO!" Rainer's on top of his game now. He's got that grin on his face that just screams 'gimme your best shot' as he switches from target to target as opportunities present themselves from limb to joint to midsection, but it's after weaving out of the path of the tail that his eyes suddenly narrow and his smirk spreads into a broad, toothy 'now I've got you.' Step, skip, and leap, sword held aloft with both hands, spinning it above his head like a helicopter blade. No, it's not for extra lift, it's RAZZLE DAZZLE. "SOARING SENTINEL STRIKE!" Hands clamp upon the hilt, halting the sword's spin with the blade aimed dead ahead, and swinging down for that extra bit of thrust as he plunges upon the dragon--!
Cassidy glances towards Natska and gives a nod. "Let's move. It's coming for us, and I'm not going to be here when it is." She turns and starts to wander off in the opposite direction of the advancing dragon, keeping herself away from it until the others deal with that pesky magic nullification.
Cirra rolls under the dragon's maw dodging the gout of fire. She swings upward, trying to find a weak point, currently oblivous to the Wolf and Tiger attacking the beast. She focuses hard and thrusts with all her might.
Natska continues watching the dragon, her attention rapt; not wanting to give up her duty, however, she aims another ice lance at a different one of the Craige, paying close attention to the larger creature's effects on her working.
Fenris roars and tries to roll away from the attacking craige, but is far too slow! The club crashes down and the tiger's roar of defiance turns into a cry of pain. There is an audible SNAP of bone as the club slams into his left arm! "Mole!" he cries out, unable to protect himself alone at this point. The tiger scrabbles at his soul pendant, trying to make a quick change of gems, left arm hanging uselessly at his side.
Cara's attempt to disect the dragon are not as fruitful as she had hoped, instead only managing to cause a large gash it's side from where she pierced into it... But it seems they are not -that- tough, and the beast is soon down in a puddle of it's own blackened blood before it begins to dry up, the tigres left with a broken blade in her hands.
Rainer's spectacular attempt sees him driving the sword straight through the Dragon's head, and pinning it into the stone below in one clean motion! Now it was most certainly dead... Though the wolf was left with the fact he now had to get his sword out of the stone.
The rune covered Dragon lets out a howl as Cirra hits it into the gut, it's runes fading slowly, but before their dispersal Natska would notice her ice lance was not nearly as strong as before, as if the magic was being denied it's full potential instead of out right blocked... Though, as the runes fade away fully, the Dragon's body cracks and crumbles same as the rest, and the two remaining Dragons let out a thunderous shriek as they turn and jump into the air, attempting to distance themselves from the conflict!
Fenris' Golem avenges it's master's pain, turning the Craige's head into pebbles, as it seems the rest of the Craige are turning to depart! Seems they failed at their original plan and were departing... For now. The 'victory' however, was rather bitter sweet, given the amount of dead that littered the ground. Seems they were left to take pot shots at the retreating craige, and regroup after holding the line!
Cara drops off from the dragon and looks at the large amount of the dead in front of her, "Darn it! All that work and it still ended in disaster!" The tigress promptly stomps the ground and runs back to everyone else in the group. "I'm sorry. I left my post because I thought that if the dragon destroyed the dedication sight, then the dedicants would lose their power." She hangs her head in shame and continues, "If only we could just bring the dead back."
Cassidy narrows her eyes at the retreating dragons, but she's not so keen on letting them get away after that. Another gust of air magic, now that she can do so again, as she tries to 'grip' one right out of the sky to slam it into the ground.
Natska watches the remaining Craige flee the battlefield, the corner of her lip turning up in a slight smile. With the enemies routed - and their mathematical interference dealt with - she looks around and begins moving up towards the front, where the fighting was heavier; as she approaches the triage area, she lets her inner fire go free. By the time she reaches the wounded she is resplendant in her full fiery plumage, and once she's found the ones most in danger she lets her divine math get to work.
Fenris sits still in the dirt as whatever ichor that ran in the craige's veins slowly ooze into the mud with his damaged golem flopped before him. Some sort of bluish haze surrounds the prone tiger while he attends briefly to his wounds. After a few moments, the bubble pops and Fenris stands ready to fight his way back to the lines, only to be met by the sight of retreating Craige. The tiger just stares after them for a moment, then he groans in pain, pressing his hastily splinted arm to his side. He leaves the fallen Holy Mole where it is and limps toward the medics' tents to offer his help there. And maybe to get a little. If they are not too busy.
The triage area is anything but small, and though Natska is able to offer much assistance to both the wounded, and even fenris as he approaches, those that are dead are gone now. The lessened amount of 'lesser' injuries taken care of in the phoenix's flames.
Cassidy's spell manages to catch one of the dragons, though he ends up losing his lift and crashing face first into the rocks as a volley of shots fire off to silence him, and try to take down the last one. The Mountain was safe for now though, and with the Craige falling back the defenders were offered their moment of respite as the form man made his way around, taking down the names of all whome aided in the defense.
