Growling in annoyance that a blade evaded his defenses, A'kos strikes out at the offending Rus and his neighbor, scoring hits on each.

19:44, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 6 using 1d8+5 with rolls of 1.
19:44, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 7 using 1d8+5 with rolls of 2.
19:44, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 22 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 17.
19:44, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 18 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 13. duh...sry - to hit.

Armin wheels around his Arabian and brings his scimitar into play, the curved blade slashing at the lightly armored Rus warriors around him.
11:01, Today: Armin The Persian rolled 9 using 1d8+3.
11:01, Today: Armin The Persian rolled 14 using 1d20+3. attack Rus.

Balthazar needs a bodyguard.  He picks out the toughest Rus he can see and casts charm person on him, then gets his attention to come over and help him out.

Loukas, Miroslav and 6 of the Varangians hit the beach and the rear of the attacking Rus. Loukas is unable to capitalize on this opportunity but Miroslav and two of the Varangians each kill a Rus and a third Varangian wounds another.

Jaleh and some of the Varangians let arrows fly at the ranks of Rus marauders. Jaleh manages to hit once and miss once, the Rus she hits is finished off by one of the Varangian archers. The Varangians also manage to kill another.

Jean and his mount go on a rampage on the shoreline with Jean killing one Rus with his longs word and his horse making short work of another.

Roderychus and his mount also make short work of a marauding Rus, the man is decimated before he even knows what hits him.

A'kos cuts down two of the marauders with his blade. Both he and his mount are covered in the blood of their foemen.

Even Armin manages to cleave through the skull of one of his attackers with his scimitar.

A particularly large Rus approaches Balthazar and hovers near him weapon in hand. He is able to defend the mage against two attacks by his fellow party. Both the Rus look at the Charmed man with surprise but say nothing.

Even though the Rus seem to have a beam on Armin they do not take well with being attacked from behind and both Miroslav and Loukas have to defend themselves and they do so successfully. Two of the Varangians that jumped off the ship with them were not so lucky and go down under the Rus blades.

Roderychus, Jean and A'kos each get attacked twice but the Rus are unable to land a clean shot. Four of the Rus manage to hit Armin and he falls off his horse onto the ground. The Rus near the area swarm the body on the ground.

Oddly during this whole time none of you have heard any of the Rus speak...also they do not seem to be very efficient warriors but what they lack in skill is made up for in shear numbers.

The Rus were focused upon the Armin and Loukas intended to fight his way through them to where he, A'kos, and Roderychus were. He felt his blood rise as he pounded across the beach and came into sword range of his first opponent. Although the Rus were oddly quiet, the Vangarians weren't and the din of the battle combined with the crashing of the waves were still significant enough that the warrior did not note his approach. It seemed as if Loukas would be able to cut him down and move quickly on to the next one. Nevertheless things did not work out so well for as the Greek sailor swung his spathion he tripped over an unseen clump of seaweed that had washed ashore. He managed to keep his feet, but rather than cut deep into the Rus his shoulder was jarred as he buried his blade into the sand.

In frustration he yanked it out, but his target had moved further along with the tide of battle, so Loukas quickly identified another, hefted his shield and heard his uncle's chiding voice ringing in his ears as he attacked, If your feet aren't working with your hands, boy, your head's not likely stay long on your shoulders!
This message was last edited by the player at 16:30, Wed 09 Sept 2009.

Roderychus will turn his horse to where the rus are swarming over the persian, and will try to press them on with his horse, making them clear enough space so he can reach Armin.

OOC: I've made some really crappy rolls this time.
14:50, Today: Roderychus Venturos rolled 12 using 1d20. horse attack.
14:50, Today: Roderychus Venturos rolled 6 using 1d20. horse attack.
14:50, Today: Roderychus Venturos rolled 3 using 1d20. horse attack.

Noting all the nifty horsemanship, A'kos charges Storm's Wind into the fray, driving his tempermantal beast in the direction of the fallen Persian.

"Go Wind!" he cries, and the beast attacks the foes before him.

16:43, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 2 using 1d3.
16:43, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 1 using 1d6.
16:43, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 2 using 1d6.
16:42, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 2 using 1d20. Storm's Wind To hit #3.
16:42, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 12 using 1d20. Storm's Wind to hit #2.
16:42, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 20 using 1d20. Storm's Wind - To hit.

OOC: A critical hit, a possible hit, and I'm pretty certain a 2 misses...

While Jean continued to attack, he offered to the foes near him, "If any of you lay down your weapons and surrender, your life will be spared!"

Jean rolled 6 using 1d20+4. to hit, Jean first.
Jean rolled 11 using 1d20+4. to hit, Jean second.
Jean rolled 14 using 1d8+6. damage, in case hit.

Jean rolled 19,11,20 using d20,d20,d20. to hit, horse. (hit ac: -3, 5, -4)
Jean rolled 1,5,1 using d8,d8,d3. damages, horse.

Are nat 20's critical?

Natural 20's are indeed critical!

Jean what language were you speaking to the Rus in?

OOC: Confused by the sitation, he will try in German first.

Alexander the aide of Armin has stayed on the ship up to this point. When he sees Armin go down in the crowd of Rus he leaps off the ship and rushes into the fray. He does not seem all too intent on finding his employer though.

Poor Armin!

Balthazar hides behind his bodyguard and turns invisible.  He will then attempt to make his way to Armin and see what can be done in turns of rescue.

Foregoing a swing of his sword, A'kos continues forward toward fallen Armin.

OOC: Once there he will dismount, slap Wind on the ass and lay about the Rus with his sword.

Loukas finds himself in the thick of the melee and this time he swings hard with a double shot in mind. The first swing is so hard and on target that one of the marauders drops instantly spraying brain matter all over his chest. The man drops so fast that his second shot just hit nothing but air.

Roderychus works his way towards the fallen Persian but is unable to break through the frantic mass of Rus warriors. His mount does happen to grab a hold of one of the Rus with his teeth and deliver a nasty but non-lethal bite.

A'kos and Storm's Wind rip into the mound of Rus right after Roderychus and also have little success in breaking through...these men seem obsessed with getting at the Persian. One of the Rus fall beneath the ferocious attack of Storm's Wind guided by the expert horsemanship of A'kos.

Two of the Rus fall to Jean and his mount trampled, bitten and skewered by the knight and his mount. He finds that speaking in German is wasted on this crowd...they obvious do not understand him or perhaps they do not care...but most likely they just don't grasp what he is saying due to language.

Being on foot and invisible, Balthazar is able to squeeze through the press of bodies to get a look at Armin on the ground.

Jaleh misses with her two bow shots as do most of the other Varangians onboard the ship, one manages to injure a Rus. Likewise only one of the Varangians on shore manages to injure a Rus other than Miroslav who slays one outright with his axe.

As Loukas admires his own work, Alexander quietly sneaks up behind him and plunges his dagger into the young mans back as he says something in his ear.

The Rus having dealt with the Persian begin to head back to their ships...not really a retreat but they are heading back and are actively attacking as they go.

Two of the Rus attack Loukas who still has the knife in his back but both are unable to hit even this injured man.

Miroslav and the two remaining Varangians who were with him and Loukas are attacked by a mass heading for the ships, Miroslav and one of his mates ward off all the attacks to them but one of the crewmen fall when a Rus axe cleaves his skull.

Both A'kos and Roderychus manage to avoid being hit but being in the path to the ships leaves Jean open for more attacks but his armor and skill protect him well. Only a single blow form a Rus axe lands on his left arm.

As the Rus flee back to their ships you note that they seem to be trying to get to the left ship and the one in the middle. Most likely abandoning the ship tot he right. Bodies of fallen Rus are strewn all over the beach as if tossed there by some enormous bored child.

Miroslav watches in disgust at the Rus run past him to the ships..."These are no Rus...these men fight like frightened peasants!"

As the warrior falls Loukas looks up to identify his next target all the while thinking that he needs to get to wherever the Persian is on the beach. Taking a breath he begins to move into the fray when he feels a sharp pain and hears Alexander's voice in his ear... Then the other two Rus attack him in addition the ferocious anger he feels overcomes any fear he probably should know. Pushing the words out of his mind he spins away from Alexander's attack he faces the man, "I would like to hope that your skills with a pen are better 'scribe', than they are with the knife!"

Without speaking another word he attacks.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:33, Mon 14 Sept 2009.

As Jean being in the water remained between the beach and the ship on the left, the pirates were trying to get by him one more time.  He returned the favor by attempting to stop a few.  At the rest, he yelled in Latin, "Surrender and your lives will be spared!"

OOC: To those that do not surrender:

Jean rolled 11 using 1d20+4. sword, to hit. (ac7)
Jean rolled 12 using 1d8+6. sword damage.

Jean rolled 19,10,18 using d20,d20,d20. horse to hit. (ac's -3, 6, -2)
Jean rolled 1,2,3 using d8,d8,d3. damages, hoof/hoof/bite.

The invisible Balthazar attempts to cause some chaos among the enemy ranks.  In their midst, he says loudly in Greek, "The head, the head of the Persian is lost!  Stay and find it!"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:20, Mon 14 Sept 2009.

A'kos watches the Rus retreat with mild disgust, disappointed that he was just warming up when they decided to leave.  Dismounting, he found one of their dead, and wiped his blade clean.  Swiftly he checks over Storm's Wind's legs, expertly eying the mount for any injuries before turning to look about and find the Persian Armin had been riding.

Briefly he notes the lad from the ship fighting Alexander, unsure of the intent of either.  Disregarding it as politics, he grab's Wind's reins and makes his way to the Persian.

The paladin spins his horse around, assessing the messy state of the shoreline. He spurs the stallion towards the rus that are retreating from the place Armin fell, trampling them and stryking with his sword.

01:27, Today: Roderychus Venturos rolled 11 using 1d20+4. Roderychus sword attack.
01:31, Today: Roderychus Venturos rolled 7 using 2d4+4. bastard sword damage.
01:34, Today: Roderychus Venturos rolled 11,5,7 using d20,d20,d20. warhorse attack.
01:36, Today: Roderychus Venturos rolled 4,3,3 using d8,d8,d3. hoof/hoof/bite.

OOC: lame rolls, bah...

The flat of Loukas's blade smacks into the side of Alexanders head nearly dropping the unarmored man. His dagger falls from his hand as he staggers back and into Miroslav who grabs him and slams him to the ground knocking the wind out of him.

The Rus that are passing Jean do not respond to his command in Latin either as he and his horse make short work of two of their number. They do not even seem interested in attacking in defense anymore, they are just trying to get on the ships.

Roderychus hits the fleeing Rus marauders from behind, cleaving through the helm and skull of one man while his horse strikes with his hoof and wounds another.

As A'kos approaches the pile of bodies he can clearly see that Armin's headless corpse lays amongst them, the fine Arabian mare approaches him and nudges under his hand like a dog forcing a pet.

When Balthazar calls out in Greek...the nearby Rus freeze for a moment in panic but then the head is spotted held high on the tip of a sword nears the frothing shore causing the Rus to again make their way onto the two ships.

As it stands now, unless the characters are going to chase after the Rus the battle is over and most are boarding the two ships leaving the third to sit empty. The beach itself is red with the blood of both Rus, character and Varangian but mostly the Rus. Three of Thorfinn's crew are dead and several of the characters are wounded though none severely.

The Rus on the other hand did not fair so well. 46 dead bodies line the beach, the warriors on their horses took a heavy heavy toll on the relatively unskilled marauders. 8 wounded men were left behind and 8 still sleep under the effects of the spells of Armin and Balthazar. The lone standing Rus is still under the charm of the Hedonite. Alexander lays on the ground clutching his head where Loukas caught him with the flat of his sword.

The splat of the flat of his sword against Alexander's skull was extraordinarily satisfying, but he did not hesitate and savor the moment. Rather, as Miroslav throws the would-be murderer to the ground, Loukas took advantage and quickly moved forward, placing his boot on the man's neck and holding his sword ready to strike, and speaking in Persian, "Well, Scribe, let us review your work... Is my uncle in hell or were you using a bit of dramatic verse to make my 'passing' more vivid? While you are at it, explain what the hell has happened here."

And before Alexander has a chance to reply he puts a bit of extra weight on his foot, pressing down on his neck, "And DO IT QUICKLY if you do not want to visit hell yourself THIS day!!!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:06, Tue 15 Sept 2009.

Oh he stuck around?  Good.  Balthazar voluntarily ends his spell and approaches the man, speaking in Greek.  "So what was this all about?  Why kill Armin the Persian and take his head?  Why do you look Rus but speak Greek?  And how did you know Armin was on our ship?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:59, Wed 16 Sept 2009.

In reply to Loukas Ouranus (msg #97):

The scribe does his best to squirm out from under the foot on his neck but fails...Your uncle is indeed dead, by my own hand, by the order of the Logothetes tou Dromou, Nicephorus. Your uncle plotted against the Basilius and was a traitor and he sent you here on a traitors mission! As for the Persian...his death was important in that it would spoil the growing alliance between the Persians and the Rus. That heathen bastard Sviatoslav has become more than a thorn int he paw of the Basilius. So now you know all that I know...kill me and get it over with!"

In reply to Balthazar the Hedonite (msg #98):

The man drops his sword and falls to his knees clasping his hands together..."Please I know little of whay we do this. My name is Michael, I am but a simple farmer from Ithaca. Up until a week ago I was in a debtors prison in Byzantium. Most of us were from there...a few spoke of having family members held captive. We were given armor and weapons and told we could win our freedom plus 500 gold if we survived. The one who took the head would get an extra 500 gold. I do not know why we must kill the Persian nor do I know who made us do this. I can only guess that it was some high official. Please spare me!"

As the Marauders leave the area, Dobryny and Thorfinn secure the dragon ship left behind as well as deal with the three dead Varangians. Dobryny and Thorfinn can be seen arguing with each other. The Slav throws his hands in the air giving a clear indication that he has given up and let Thorfinn have his way...whatever the argument is about.