It was mid-day, and although the sun was shining strongly in the sky, the moral among the small group of Sommerlending soldiers was quite low. They all were huddled under the shadow of a rock jutting from the closest promontory, and while the group had set an haphazard camp around the plce, it was clear that the work done for it was shoddy, not up to the standards a proper military unit would be expected to hold. In fact, there was not even a solid surveillance, except for a small group of troopers stading behind a - clearly recently and badly built - earth wall, looking with fear to a small fort that was within sight on the top of a close hill.

In fact, it was evident that the soldiers had just recently been hit by some severe attack; many were bloody, their body carrying the signs of severe wounds, certain even had casts on their legs or arms, and in a separate corner of the camp, a small group could be seen lying over stools, with closed eyes and the pale color of death on their face. In fact, all over the camp the stench of defeat was so evident it was almost a physical, tangible presence, showing on the face and attitude of the soldiers as much as in the haphazard conditions of the camp.

This was the spectacle that the group of six Kai found staring at them when they finally reached the area; they were but the scouting point for the much more massive unit - almost six hundred men strong - that was in marching to help assess the situation and, if possible, retake the fort these soldier had lost just four days ago. It was clear, however, that if any will to do so was still present among these men, it was hidden very deep, and certainly nowhere in sight.

The leader of the Kai patrol looked at everything with a skeptical yet very intense gaze, blowing his hairs - which looked blonde in the light, but were actually a light brown color - out of his face with a huff, and then commented, turning toward the two girls and three boys, all younger than him, which constituted his team:

"They don't really seem like the kind of people that would manage to last during a siege, do they?"

He sighed, turning back to the camp and added, waving toward the soldiers at the edge without moving forward:

"Let's hope they at least have some sort of command structure still in place, or it'll be a pain to make them do anything like preparing their camp for the reinforcments we're brining..."

If you want, you can post a reaction here - it'll take some posts before we reach the point where you get to disagree with Sparrow. Remember that, at this point, Sabre Fox is just an 11 year old, even if a tall and well built one, and Sparrow a teenager, so the dynamics might be slightly off from what we played them as in your other memory. Not to mention, of course, that they're not as good friends here as they were there. :)

Also, about your unit:

Green Rabbit, age 13 - along with you and Sparrow, one of Starfire's own disciples and, as such, a frequent sparring partner for both you and Sparrow. She's Weaponskilled in the Axe - she always carries two, just in case - and she's really loyal to Sparrow himself, and always follows his orders. She's still alive in the present day, also a Primate (5 disciplines), and still very loayl to Sparrow; you might remeber her fighting Starfire at the beginning of the game. She has dark brown hairs and eyes; physically, at 13, she's still a bit chubby, and also rather more endowed than any of her peers.

Grey Sword, age 14 - he's been selected for the Order by Phantom Steed but never really stabilized under anyone's tutelage, spending a bit of time with all the Starting Five but never getting any as his mentor. He trains with you occasionally, and is a good swordsman, but that's about all Sabre would know about him, except that he heavily dislikes psychics. He's a rater silent guy, who deosn't like to socialize or speaks, especially about himself. In the future, he became a Primate eventually and struck up some kind of friendship with Summer Wasp's group (of which Laughing Shark is a member) and took the distances from Starfire and Sparrow's group. As for his look at 14, he's skinny and wiry, with very light blonde hairs and grey eyes.

Sun Nightingale, age 12 - she's a jack of all trades Kai, as well as a disciple of White Mantis and this team's resident medic. She has a friendly and chatty aptitude, and was a friend of Sabre Fox - she laughed a lot at his jokes and found him funny. She died later on in the Gnaag Wars, during the naval battle against the Ironclad blockade that cemented Sparrow's leadership skills, on a ship that was sunk during the portion of battle when he'd let Sabre in command. She has very long, well cared for blonde hairs, as well as longer legs and arms than average, making her look a bit taller and more skinny than she really is.

Storm Ash, age 11 - enlisted by Lone Wolf himself and disciple of Starfire, he's a specialized tracker and a man of the wood; his archery is very good - close to Sparrow's own - but he's also competent enough in close combat. He saw Sabre Fox as a sort of rival, feeling overshadowed by him, and always tried to enter into competitions with him in an effort to prove himself better - although, at this point in time, the balance would have been a tie overall. He died eventually at the route of Shadow Pass (which was the battle where the Order faced the higher number of casualties in the whole war) in another effort to outshow Sabre Fox. Currently, he's short but muscular and well built, with blonde hairs kept in a military cut and very expressive eyes of an acid green color.

You might get up to two of these Kai to accompany you on your crazy suicide mission, if you want... we'll get to the "how" later, when the matter actually comes up in play, and depedning on who you want along, the difficulty in getting them to follow you will vary, but I thought to give you some time to thinks it over, considering their strenghts to decide if you want them, and their personlity so you can figure out the best approach to get the ones you want to come along... assuming you actually want any - you can go by yourself (well, you and some soldiers), if you want.

I hope this will be fun! ^_^

This message was last edited by the player at 18:21, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

Amongst the crowd was a young Kai known as Sabre Fox, at the tender age of 11 he was no stranger to the battlefied. Most children of his age would wilt in terror at the mission that was now on thier shoulders..... but not his one

"Insumountable odds, demoralised troops and a massive army coming for us........... no problem! Just makes it all the more fun!" Fox chuckled

Turning to look at his group, he spoke again

"What does everyone else think? A nice walk in the gardens right?"

This Fox is more fun and joyful than the other one! haha ;)

The first to react to Sabre Fox's words was Storm Ash, who quickly replied, his tone challening:

"Just you wait - if for you it's a stroll in the garden, then I will be able to do it even blindfolded!"

Golden Sparrow simply shook his head in a mix of amusement and defeat at the two kids reaction, whil Sun Nightningale let out a clear laugh. That seemed to finally catch the attention of the soldiers, for two turned toward the Kai and hurriedly gestured for them to come forward, relief over their face.

Sparrow straightened his posture and said, his voice now gaining a decidedly commanding tone:

"Alright, now act serious for a few minutes if you can - I'd like for these people not to think of us as a bunch of kids, but rather as a solid team of Kai Lords."

That elicited a quick response from Green Rabbit, who assumed a more martial conteinance, while the others were slower in doing the same, but they all more or less did complied with Sparrow's order.

As they passed through the camp, murmurs followed them, the soldiers turning as they walked by in what was clear awe; however, when they reached the centre of the camp, they found that three people were arguing very vividly.

One of these was a very big, burly man, with a wide black beard and muscles covered in sweat; he was dressed fully in leather, and was gesturing widly with the hammer in his right hand while shouyting against a different man. This one had wild blonde hairs, a pale complexion, and apparently civilian clothes, and was witstanding the other one's verbal onslaught with decision, his arms crossed over his chest and his gaze unwielding.

The third man wore the uniform of the Sommerlending Army, and from the way he was acting, he was quite uncertain and unsure of himself; he seemed to be trying and failing to pacificate the other two, occasionally swiping the sweat from his bald head in a gesture that clearly showed his frustration.

When the soldier who'd accompanied the group there approached, before he could even announce the Kai, he was silenced with a gesture from all three of them, and then stood there, clearly not knowing what to do, while the trio reprised their heated discussion.

Sparrow, meanwhile, raised his hand in a silent command for the Kai to wait before interfering, while he seemed to study the situation between them with a critical eye, clearly waiting for something rather than interrupting them immediately.

Reactions?

With a mishevious look in his eye, Fox winked to the others before silently approaching Sparrow and whispering behind him

"So your waiting for what exactly? Sizing up who will win the fight? Ill bet on the big guy"

Sparrow chuckled and answered, amused:

"I don't know... he's very energic, but the medician seems unyelding, and we don't know who holds the highest authority here."

He paused, and then continued, in a bit of a worried tone:

"And until we know that, I can't really take action; I'm waiting for the winner, Sabre, because that's the person we'll have to treat as the commander here, and that might tell us what we can expect from the rest of these people."

He half-turned and added, his voice curious:

"Why, you want me to interrupt their discussion? Or do you want to do so yourself?"

Sparrow raised an eyebrow, as if curious on Sabre Fox's opinion of the situation.

"Well!" Fox said with a grin. "You know me, ill interrupt by all means! That is if you dont mind me using my usual tact and charm of course" He said with a mischevious grin

Sparrow chuckled, while Sun Nightingale laughed again.

"You know, Sabre Fox, at times I wonder whether you're going to just charge headstrong into a Darklord someday. Can't you wait for things to settle down on their own, rather than always having to involve yourself personally?"

Before Sabre could answer, though, Sun Nightningale spoke up, her voice still carrying a bit of laughter in the tone:

"Aw, come on, Golden Sparrow, if he wasn't so brash, he wouldn't be our Sabre!"

Sparrow shook his head, clearly amused, while Storm Ash huffed and commented, voice dark:

"Yeah, he's never happy if he's not showing off."

Before anybody could comment, though, Green Rabbit spoke up, shooking Golden Sparrow by the shoulder:

"They're done."

Sparrow turned toward the three quarreling men and, sure enough, the discussion had ended, with the big burly man having moved away with a clearly disgruntled expression, while the soldier and the doctor were speaking with a soldier, who was clearly pointing in their direction.

Golden Sparrow nodded to the group, and then moved forward, ready to introduce himself, but not before saying to Sabre Fox, with a smile:

"It seems you've lost, Sabre Fox; I hope you're not feeling too bad about it?"

And he winked, clearly wnating his words to be intended as a joke.

If you have any comments before you meet the camp's commanders, here's your chance to make them.

"Well since you didnt actually make a bet, I didn't loose" Fox winked back to Sparrow before looking at the others

"And the Fox is right here ya know!" he said feigning annoyance "Jeez you lot should learn about tact!"

"And you should learn about true modesty sometimes."

Storm Ash was clearly that of someone willing - perhaps even eager - to start a discussion just for the sake of it, but Sparrow cuffed him on the head and said, in a tone halfway between mocking and serious that adressed both him and Sabre Fox:

"Act like adults for five minutes, you two - I won't have these people thinks that the Kai are a bunch of kids who can't take things seriously when they're on the battlefield."

That said, he strode forward, nodding slightly in greeting to the two people in front of him and saying, his tone respectful but firm:

"Sers, I'm Kai Warman Golden Sparrow, leader of this group; these are my fellow Kai Green Rabbit, Sabre Fox, Storm Ash, Grey Sword and Sun Nightningale. We're here as the frontline of a force six-hundred strong of the Sommerlending army who is marching to bring reinforcement to this force; they'll be here tomorrow at sunrise. Who might I refer to as commanding officer?"

There was a pause as the man in sommerlending armour glanced to the doctor, who shrugged and said, hesitantly:

"I'm sergeant Lovas, and I'm currently the higher ranked officer among this force, so I guess that would be me. And this here is ser Ralon Abhenar, second son of Lord Veynor Abhenar, Baron of Anskaven; he and the Knight of Sommerlund he was training under where in visit to our outpost when it was attacked, and he's currently acting as our chirurgeon, seeing as the force's medicwas taken out during the assault."

At that, the noble cut in, his tone serious and commanding:

"Speaking of which, these men are in no condition to fight at this time, Warman Sparrow. I managed to save the life of about a dozen of them, but the more severe cases were beyond my limited skill; in fact, if any of you has any skill in handling wounds, I would like your competent help to go over everybody who's wounded and determine their recovery time."

Golden Sparrow nodded seriously, then made a commanding gesture toward the blonde girl in the group:

"Sun Nightingale, assist ser Abhenar in this job of his."

The girl nodded, then turned to the group and said, with a smile:

"Sabre, what do you say about lending me an hand? I might need somebody strong to help with keeping the wounded in place and stuff like that."

Your choice, you can follow Nightingale and the nobleman, or stay with Sparrow and the shaky sergeant. :)

"Why of course my lady" Fox winked towards the Kai lady before addressing Sparrow

"Am i dismissed for this service Sir?"

To anyone but the Kai, it sounded like a serious request, but the glint in Fox's eye was enough to clue them in about him mocking Sparrows request for them to 'act like adults'

Sparrow nodded curtly to Sabre Fox, although the glint in his eye was enough for the Kai to know that his friend and commander knew what he was doing.

"You're authorized, Sabre Fox."

And with that, he and the other four moved to speak with the sergeant, while Sun Nightningale took Sabre Fox's hand and dragged him away toward the direction ser Abhenar was already moving into.

As they closed him, the noble turned toward them, taking in their look, and then said, in a doubtful tone:

"Young Kai Lady and Lord, forgive me for asking, but have you really that much experience i treating wound? I know your Order is still recovering from the Darklords' last attack, but you two seem incredibly young for a task of importance like this one is."

I'll give you some time to answer this if you want to, Sabre - if, when I check back this evening, you haven't answered yet, then I will have Sun Nightningale answer it. :)

The young Kai Lady assumed a solemn expression that made her look older than she was, and then said, in a tone completely appropriate to the appearance she's conjured for herself:

"I'll have you know, Ser, that I trained under the current head of the Monastery's healers, Master White Mantis, who you might have heard, earler this year, healed King Ulnar himself from a disease that even some of the greatest medician's in the kingdom had failed to cure? And my friend Sabre, here, is one of Master Starfire's own disciple - the same Starfire who is currently in command of the Order. I assure you, we are the most qualified members of the Order that could be here on such short notice, and are more than capable of taking care of your wonded."

She put an harm around Sabre Fox's shoulder, dragging him next to her, and then offered a blindingly wide grin as she added, her vboice back to her more carefree tone:

"Isn't that true, Sabre?"

"But of course!" Fox echoed. "You wouldnt want fresh faced recruits here would you sir? Top of our class we are"

The noblemen nodded, apparently satisfied by the comment, then lead the two Kai to the group of wounded that were lying on the ground.

While Sun Nightningale studied the soldiers and started to heal them one at a time, ser Abhenar commented, a serious expression on his face:

"This force is in no condition to keep fighting, don't you agree, my lady and lord? Not that they were all that good soldiers to begin with, of course; losing a Sommerlending outpost to the enemy's forces is such a shameful act, they shouldn't even be allowed to keep wearing the ensigns of our kingdom. Could you believe that the blacksmith was even speaking of mounting a counterattack to take the fort back?"

He scoffed at the thought, then turned a disdainful glare over the camp and concluded, in a very matter-of-fact tone:

"These aren't men worthy of such a task; I'm glad that some true soldier of our kingdom will be coming in the morning to actually carry Sommerlund's banner with honor, and show these waste of air how a true Sommerlending soldier fights."

At the mention of a counter attack, Fox's ears immediately picked up

"Counter attack? Why does he think that's possible?" Fox asked

The man looked quite annoyed at the question, but answered nonetheless, his tone turning venomous:

"Because he's an overconfident fool, that's why. There remain only ten men still fighting-capable within the camp, while the assault force that now occupies the fort is at least two hundred strong. And beside, that force was good enough to push the entirety of these soldiers - and the many more who actually died in the attack - out of the fortress they were holding; the mere idea that an even smaller force would be able to retake the fortress is simply ridicolous."

He scoffed to give his opinion more strenght and then added, in a more disdainful tone:

"Beside, these men woudln't be able to win a fight if they had a four on one advantage, how anybody could think them good enough to win when outnumbered twenty to one is beyond me."

The grin across Fox's face was evident as the morning sun

"Becuase they would be a smaller sneak attack force of course. Headed with Kai to even out the score"

Fox's eyes then wandered for a moment

"Where is this blacksmith of yours? I think he and I could enjoy a chat"

Ser Abhenar looked disdainful, but then waved into a direction vaguely to the southern edge of the camp and said, his tone filled with dismissal:

"Somewhere in that direction, although why one like you would want to talk with such a fool, Kai Lord, is something I don't understand."

"Well if he is a fool, then who better to truly label him as such than a Kai" Fox sniggered. "Then again, he might have some merit for such a bold action. And I like bold actions. So hearing him out is all good!"

Fox funded to interrupt his Kin for a moment

"Mind if I sneak away for a moment Night?" he asked

Sun Nightingale, who was getting up from a wounded soldier, looked up at Sabre Fox with curiosity, but then nodded, with a smile, while saying:

"That's ok with me - it deosn't seems like I'll need your help with any of these wounds, they've all been treated pretty well already; all I can do is speed up the recovery process."

She nodded in direction of ser Abhenar, then turned to Sabre Fox again and added, with a smile:

"Just try not to take too long, ok? I don't know when I might end up needing your help, and timing at times can be crucial when treating wounds."

"Okie dokey" Fox smirked. "Try not to get into too much trouble now you hear?" he said like a parent before heading off in the general direction that he had been indicated

Even as he moved away, Sabre Fox could hear Sun Nightingale laugh at Sabre Fox's parting words.

It didn't took the Kai long to locate the blacksmith; the big, burly guy who'd been arguing with ser Abhenar and sergeant Lovar was settled among ten soldiers, and the group was quickly discussing among each other, but they suddenly shut up when they noticed the young Kai getting closer. Then, the burly man turned toward him and aked, his tone curt:

"What do you want, boy? Here to carry some more insults on behalf of that prissy noble who's all posturing and no substance?"

"Boys stay at home and look after thier mothers. Warriors are on the battlefield like us" Fox grinned. "And I came to find the man who gave such a bold statement as to try a counter attack that I heard. And I'm a fan of bold things and wanted to see what you have planned"

All the soldiers exchanges suspicious glances with each other, while the blacksmith took a moment to study Sabre Fox's look before speaking, in a less aggreesive - but still quite rude - tone:

"You're a Kai, aren't you? I hadn't realized that initially; I suppose that gives you the right to stay among men as if you were one. Even so, I'm not planning anything - so you can go and inform that sycophant of a sergeant that I'm not going to be so stupid as to give him a reason to put me in chains."

Even if he had yet to develop Sixth Sense, Sabre Fox could easily tell that the man was lying - but, of course, if he was doing so not to be arrested, it was hard to hold it against him.

"I'm not here to play games with you Sir, I'm here to fight, as it looks like both you and these men here are. If you have some form of plan then I'm here to tell you I'm in. If both another sword arm and one of a Kai is not good enough for you then feel free to sit and wallow in your own self pity. I've credited you my attention Sir as well as the respect as to not insult you despite not getting the same in return. I've better things to do than tell tales to your superiors, but if you want my help you have it, but it will be no doubt difficult if you do not include me"

Fox knew how to rally troops, it had been one of the first things he had learnt in Weaponskill training, and his tone was both commanding and serious enough to convey just that

The blacksmith looked stunned for a moment when Sabre Fox adressed him so agressively, then let out an hearty laugh.

"Ah, boy, it seems you're really a spitfire, aren't you? Alright, I take you along on this offer you're making - but if I have or not a plan, I'm not going to tell you; you understand, I've met you just now, I can't really trust your word like that. However, if you really do are honest in your offer, then I will inform you when we're going to leave, and if you come along, you will know of my plan at that time, once we're far enough that I'll feel sure you're not going to rat us out. Do we have a deal?"

And with that, the man offered his big hand for Sabre Fox to shake, in a gesture that, if a bit gruff, was certainly also meant to be friendly.

Fox accepted the handshake with a firm grip of his own despite his young age.

"Done" He said simply. "However, perhaps at least some information or at least letting me know that you indeed have a plan  whether you tell me or not would be helpful. After all, you could potentially have five Kai onboard if I can pitch this to my Commanding officer, who I do have the ear of by the way"

The blacksmith offered a solemn look to Sabre Fox, and then shook his head.

"I'm sorry, young man, but I really can't tell you anytHing. I don't know your commanding officer and cannot be sure he wouldn't just report my intentions. If you can persuade him to see things the same way you do, you're welcome to try; I would be glad of having more than one Kai along, if I was to go on a dangerous place - but, as I said, I'm not going to confirm that I'm about to do any such thing."

It was clear that the man had no intention of being swayed from his position.

"Well for such a small force against an enemy that size, it's not unreasonable for you to have a plan. After all, throwing yourself to your deaths wouldn't be fun would it?" Fox smirked "But I will rejoin my commrade before consulting my Commanding Officer, I will return soon"

Unless the blacksmith had a change of heart, Fox knew he best return to Nightingale promptly

When Sabre Fox turned to reach Sun Nightingale, he found that she was not where he'd left her - rather, it seemed she was now in a different point of the camp, clearly checking over those wounded who could move.

Once he got closer, the girl turned toward him and smiled, then asked, in a quite curious tone:

"So, was that blacksmith as interesting as you hoped?"

At the words, Ser Abhenar, who was walking nervously, turned to regard Sabre Fox with interest, clearly curious about the young Kai's opinion on the matter.

"He wouldn't tell me anything. He was worried what other people might think of him" Fox said, sneaking a glance to the Knight

"It's not something worth talking about" Fox said, giving a knowing wink to Nightingale hoping she would catch on. "How are the wounded?" he asked

Sun Nightingale nodded in undertanding to Sabre Fox's word, clearly understanding that there was more to them than what he'd said, and then answered, her tone more professional:

"I think most of the men are not as heavily wounded as they first appeared. It's likely that, with a couple hours of rest and some more of my medication, about half of them could be on their feet, probaly even fighting-capable."

She didn't added anything more, stealing a glance to the nobleman who scoffed and muttered, in a dark tone:

"They never were fighting-capable in the first place even when they had perfect healt."

"Well I know you will do your best" Fox smiled. "You have that touch" He then winked

He then turned to the nobleman and shook his head

"Be that as it may Sir, I highly doubt that your words are good for morale. And to further kick a man when he is down when we are all fightning for our lives isnt gonna fill them with puppy dogs and sunshine feelings"

He then looked back at Nightingale, not even waiting for the noblemans reaction

"Perhaps we should visit the more seriously wounded together?" He spoke to her. "We could perhaps raise morale" He added again with a wink

Quick question, how many Kai are there at this point in time? The entire Order I mean

At this point in time, there are between 70 and 80 Kai Lords - the starting five, plus the full second batch. About half of the second batch will be dead by the end of the wars, since in the present time the second batch is only 34 people. Anyway, that means that a six-people teams like the one you're into is a considerable deploy of forces - close to 1/10th of the entire Order.

Why do you ask?

The nobleman muttered, in a dark tone:

"Raising the morale of such incompetents is a waste of your valuable time, Kai Lord; I can't understand why you care about these failures."

He shook his head, but before he could add anything else, Sun Nightingale smiled to Sabre Fox and said, in a cheery tone:

"Even if they can't fight, at least being happier will help them survive - laughter is a great medicine, after all!"

Ser Abhenar grunted, clearly not persuaded, but Sun Nightingale was already moving, putting her hand under Sabre Fox's arm and dragging him toward another group of soldiers.

As soon as they were a reasonable distance from the nobleman, though, she slowed down her stride and asked in a whisper that carried all of her curiosity:

"So? What did the blacksmith really told you?"

"He is planning a counter attack with the best men. But he is worried he will be thrown in chains for it" Fox said bluntly.

"And ive agreed to help" He added with a dark tone. "Im gonna try and pitch it to Sparrow. He must have a plan to get in with a small force to retake the base. And you know how much i like a good fight"

"You in?" He said with a cheeky wink.

Just for that really, since its only a small amount of Kai sent, it transfers into a considerable force, so they are serious about man power in retaking this base

Plus it puts into perspective what Fox went through to survive such times and such with all the harsh battles coming after this.

Well, yeah, of course they want to retake the fortress for real - that's what the six-hundred reinforcements are for. :)

I'm not sure if I say it anywhere else, but I would consider Holmgard, as the more popolous city in Sommerlund, to have about twenty-thousand people; with Toran numbering fifteen thousands, and the other three Baronies (Anskaven, Tyso and Ruanon) having ten-thousands each, they would account for about two thirds of the entire Sommerlending population - which would thus be nearly one hundred thousand people. In our times, a standing army is usually a tenth of the population, but in medieval times, the percentage was a bit higher, so let's say one eight; that would make Sommerlund's army at about twelve thousands people, so six-hundred is a pretty big strike force, one twentieth of the entire Sommerlending Army.

Sun Nightingale was clearly surprised at the comment, and seemed to think it over before answering, with a smile:

"Well, if Golden Sparrow does decides to go along with this plan, I don't think he'll leave the team's medic behind, don't you agree?"

She chuckled, then continued, in a more thougtful tone:

"However, that blacksmith's prudence is not unwarranted - thet Abhenar guy is clearly not so keen on these soldiers, and he seems to have quite the strong handle over the sergeant. And we failed to make nice with him, too... I don't think Golden Sparrow will be happy about that."

"Well I can make Sparrow be like a friendly little budgie if I want" Fox chuckled. "If we get Sparrow on board, no doubt the force will be better off with the Kai behind it. Hopefully the blacksmith is banking on a multi pronged strike since reinforcements are coming soon"

Yea, im just getting it into my head the kind of attack force they have on the whole so I know the setting. Since Fox is battle orientated, he does think of stuff like this, even if he is hot headed ;)

Yeah, I understand. :)

Sun Nightingale laughed.

"I don't think Golden Sparrow would suscribe to that so easily as you say!"

She shook her head in soft amusment, then nudged with her head in the direction where the commander of the Kai force was now moving away from the sergeant and walking to a raised platform of rock, clearly to survey the force.

"Perhaps you should just go and ask him now? He seems to have ordered his puppy not to follow."

And she pointed to Green Rabbit with a wink, showing how the older girl was stitting on a rock at the feet of the rocky platform, a disgruntled expression on her face.

"Yea, I think I will. Catch you later" Fox said with a wink before heading off towards Sparrow

Once Sabre Fox reched the raised platfrom, he found that Golden Sparrow was standing near the edge, studying the small fort with a very critical view. At first, it didn't seemed like he'd noticed Sabre's presence, but then he spoke, his voice dark:

"It's so sad, isn't it? One of the symbols of Sommerlund's resistance against the darkness, now corrupted by them, standing as an insult to everything we fight for."

He pointed to the black flag carrying the symbol of an hammer smashing a burning skull, the emblem of Darklord Taaktal, that was stadning almost proudly on the higher tower of the fort, where only four day earlier had been the Sommerlending flag. Sparrow let out a long, pained breath, clearly thinking over what the flag really meant: the first real attack that had struck against Sommerlund directly, rather than one of its many allies - the first battle to bring the war to their homeland's soil.

"Then lets take it back and send them back to Naar then" Fox said moving to stand by his friend to observe the view

"I take it your meeting didnt go well by that look on your face" Fox said glancing  his friend. "But I have news you might be interested in"

Golden Sparrow shrugged in a tired manner.

"According to the Sergeant, the force that conquered the fortress is quite strong; at least two hundred giaks with an appropriate contigent of doomwolves, as well as a Vordak leader mounted on a kraan. And his men, according to Loval, are in no condition to fight - especially not on what will likely be a siege."

The young Kai let out a pained breath and concluded, turning toward Sabre Fox:

"At least we know that, when captain Agamor divisions arrives tomorrow, taking the fort will be easy enough, if bloody. What did you learned from Abhenar?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:08, Tue 19 Mar 2013.

"Apart from the fact he wouldnt spit on half of them if they were on fire? Nothing" Fox said all cheerly like.

"However, the blacksmith was more forthcoming. He has a plan to retake the fort tonight with a small force. But he needs help and fears bein clapped in irons for so much as suggesting it, due to thier attitute. Kai assistance would be helpful......." Fox trailed off, studying Sparrow's reaction
This message was last edited by the player at 10:46, Wed 20 Mar 2013.

Golden Sparrow seemed to consider Sabre Fox words for a moment, then asked, his tone very neutral:

"How small a force are we talking about here?"

"Ten of his best men who are still willing, and able to fight. I think they planning on infiltrating the fort through secret means with such a small squad"

Im hoping for the purposes of this, sparrow doesn't have Sixth Sense!

Well, he has eight Kai disciplines out of ten, remember? If it was you, which two would you have let for last? ^_^

Don't know! Haha. I'll try have to extra sneaky to avoid his Senses sniffing me out!

:) To help you in that, remember that Sixth Sense is not Divination - he can tell when he's lied to and if a danger is upon him, but he can't really sense much of your emotions with it.

So... be careful on how you word your questions! ^_^

Golden Sparrow took some time to think everything over, and eventually he shook his head, saying:

"That's not a good move, tactically speaking. Even if all six of us go along with him, those wouls still be sixteen against two-hundred; really not good odds. It's better to just wait for dawn - then, we'll have six-hundred soldiers to work with, enough to mount a real assault while also sending a truly consistent force through this secret passage for a pincer attack. Go tell the blacksmith to wait until the reinforcments arrive, it's the smartest way to go about it."

He paused, then offered a smile and added, in a thankful tone:

"And thanks for telling me, Sabre Fox - having a secret way in will be a great tactical advantage; as always, your friendliness is a perfect way to collect information."

That said, Sparrow turned back to look at the fort, apparently in deep contemplation and thought.
This message was last updated by the player at 20:58, Wed 20 Mar 2013.

Fox didn't know what to say for a moment until finally he spoke

"You can't be serious Sparrow" he said. "He clearly thinks he can do it without us as it is. So there must be more to it. We could take that for without further loss of life!"

The young Kai let out a long sigh and answered, in an annoyed tone:

"Sabre Fox, we're talking of men who saw friends and colleagues getting slaughtered and want revenge on the ones who did it - that's not the kind of peple who thinks straight or can craft a working plan for the liberation of an occupied fort. You don't really think they can be thinking clearly at this juncture, do you?"

"Sparrow, I saw them. I know they are not wanting to throw thier lives away for revenge. They want to retake the fort, not simply die in vain. They must know they can do it"

Sparrow shook his head.

"No, they believe they can succeed - that's quite different from knowing they can. I'm not saying they don't have a plan - I'm saying that no plan is going to succeed if it's carried on in a situation with a twenty to one odds. Is there any reason you're even arguing about this? You can't honestly believe that these soldiers have a clearer tactical view of the situation than I do, right?"

There was a slight notice of arrogance in Sparrow's tone - although it wasn't all that offensive, and more similar to the kind of matter-of-fact tone Sabre Fox himself might have used when bragging about his own fighting skills.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:38, Wed 20 Mar 2013.

"Oh Sparrow, dont even start with that line of bull shit. Thats not a fair question and you know it. I only wanted you to consider it, and besides, these men have been here. They know the surroundings and may know things you dont. Dont just dismiss it immediately"

Sparrow's eyes narrowed at Sabre Fox's insult, and he answered, his tone starting to carry a hint of clear irritation:

"I can see you're not going to listen to reason, are you? We're not going in, Sabre Fox, not until the reinforcements get here, and that's final. If those men want to go, I won't stop them - far from me stopping grieving people from making their attempt at revenge - but I want you to get the information about how they're going in from them before they go, and that's an order. There's a reason I'm in charge of this group and you not, and since that's the way things are, I'm the one taking decisions, are we clear? I'm not going to just go along with this reckless idea of you just because we're friends, and if you think I'm going to skirt my command duties just because you asked me to, then you don't know me well enough."

While Sabre Fox had witnessed displays of Sparrow's explosive temper before, this was the first time he was on the receiving end of one, and being chewed out. And the fact that the older Kai was not shouting, but actually speaking in a very mild - if clearly enraged - voice made it all, somehow, even more hurtful.

After a moment, Sparrow turned back to look at the fort and the hill it was built upon as he added, in the same tone:

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm trying to memorize tomorrow's battlefield and plan our battle strategy... as well as attempting to calm my mind before the assault, something which you completely ruined. I don't want to be disturbed, especially not if you're going to carry on with your pointless arguments, Sabre Fox. Leave. Now."

"Fine" he said simply. "But out of respect for those men, I ask you not to inform thier commander. They fear reprisal as it is for this more than death, so at least give them that courtesy"

His own anger rising at being treated in such a way, Fox said no more he simply descended back towards the camp where Nightingale was.

When Sabre Fox found Sun Nightingale, the girl took in his fuming expression with a single glance and asked, in a worried tone:

"It didn't go too well, did it?"

"Am I that transparent?" Fox said clearly flustered, before letting out a sigh

"Sorry, Sparrow just riles me up the wrong way. He cant see that these men must have a plan. He thinks they are acting on revenge alone, I mean its not like those forces are gonna be reinfo........."

Almost like a lightning bolt, Fox's mind clicked

"The enemy are awaiting reinforcements" He said looking towards the fort before back to Nightingale.

"Think about it, the men here are demoralised and dying, so why doesnt a superior force simply come out and kill us all? They are waiting for thier own troops so they dont leave the base unmaned! The Blacksmith must be aware of this, theres no other reason why he wont wait for the army to reinforce us"

Hope this reasoning isnt out of line, just with the backstory it makes sense for Fox to figure this one out
This message was last edited by the player at 13:54, Thu 21 Mar 2013.

Sun Nightingale seemed quite shocked at Sabre Fox's words, then said, in a worried tone:

"Well... perhaps you're overestimating this blacksmith of yours... Sparrow do is the only one of us who has Sixth Sense after all, he might really have noticed something we haven't. But... if you're right, and what you say does makes a lot of sense... shouldn't we warn Sparrow of it? I mean, he'd want to know that the enemy is awaiting for reinforcements, right?"

She was clearly worried at how the whole situation might end up playing out.

"He'd just feed me a line again of his 'tactical knowledge' bull shut again" Fox replied angrily. "He won't have it from me"

Thinking for a moment, he spoke again

"Unless we pose it together? He might take it better from both of us?"

Sun Nightingale seemed to consider Sabre Fox's idea, then shook her own head.

"No, I doubt it - I'm not sure if you noticed, but you're the one person in the Order he likes the most; if he won't listen to you, I doubt he would particularly care that I was around. Beside, we have no proof that your idea is right, even if it's a sound one in theory."

She let out a long breath, then asked, sounding worried:

"So, what do you think to do now?"

"That I go with them as I said" Fox said resolutely. "If Sparrow won't help then I'll have to do it myself..... And I'd love to have you along with us"

Sabre Fox's proposal left Sun Nightingale pretty surprised.

"Me? But... I'm just an healer, you know that - I've no combat skills to speak of. What help could I be?"

Sun Nightingale disciplines are Healing, Camouflage, Mindshield and Mind over Matter.

"That's exactly why I need you. That healing touch of yours" he said with a wink. "a small force needs an excellent healer, and I can think of no one better"

Sun Nightingale laughed at Sabre Fox's words, and then nodded.

"Alright then - I'll come along; if nothing else, to keep you from killing yourself by charging a dozen soldiers headlong or something."

She paused, then added, more serious:

"Master Starfire and Master White Mantis are going to ground us at the Monastery for months because of this, you do know that, right?"

"Let them. We make it back and only loose ten lives to the rest that are coming tomorrow, then they can ground me for the rest of my life. My conscienc will be clear"

Thinking for a moment, Fox continued

"Think we can get any of the others on board?" He asked

Sun Nightingale seemed doubtful, then said, in an uncertain tone:

"I don't think Green Rabbit would go against Golden Sparrow, but then, I wouldn't have though you would, either... and I don't know enough about Grey Sword to tell. He might come, but then again, he might not. We'd have to risk it. And then there's Storm Ash... it wouldn't be the first time you get him to do something dangeous by doing it yourself first, but then again, he could decide the best way to show you off would be to stop you."

She paused, then looked at Sabre Fox with an uncertain expression on her face.

"What do you say? You think any of them might actually want to help?"

"Im not going against Sparrow" Fox said matter of fact. "Im saving him from his own arrogance. If we do take the fort, he will get all the credit, and thats fine, because ill know i did the right thing in the end"

Thinking it over, Fox decided

"I think Storm Ash, and its only because I think I can trap him in his own pride. So I think we should try and find him"

Sun Nightingale nodded, then she and Sabre started to raom around the camp until they found their target, standing in a small, reserved clearing while swinging his sword around.

He looked up at the two, and an annoyed expression fromed on his face as he asked, his tone curt:

"What do you want?"

"I came to see how my favourite buddy is doing" Fox asked cheerily. "Wanted to see how his technique was coming along and if he cared for a little wager"

Storm Ash looked interested for a moment, but then quickly hid it under a scowl.

"And what would you want to wager on?"

"A simple contest of our martial prowess of course. I have a rather bold action in mind that would benefit from your assistance, and short of Naar suddenly turning all cute and fluffy, its hardly something you would endorse. I simply ask that if I best you here and now that you grant me your unconditioal assistance. Your prize in return would be anything you wish........ Not that you will win of course"

Storm Ash grinned at Sabre Fox's challenge.

"So, let me get this straight: you want to fight me, and if I lose, I have to help you with something, but if I win - which is what will happen - you'll do whatever I want? Even publicly declare that I'm better than you and stop showing off forever?"

"If that's your wish then yes I will" Fox smirked

Alright! Time to fight then.

Now, you keep the same stats you normally have for this game, but of course, you have none of your Magnakai Disciplines or special equipment, and without Huntmastery, you won't be able to use Acrobatic Manouvers either... You do have Weaponskill though, and that should count for something, I hope.

Storm Ash Disciplines are Weaponskill, Hunting, Mindshield and Tracking.

So, Storm Ash has your very same stats, meaning 17 CS and 28 END, and since he's a relatively improtant NPC, he gets half the bonus CS a major NPC would get, which is +6; thus, his total CS is 20, putting you on a -3 Combat Ratio.

We can do it with five rolls at a time, or one roll at a time; it's your choice, just make an attacking post where you include your decision and an appropriate number of rolls, as well as any special ability you want to use, if you're left with any.

Storm Ash grinned, and raised his sword in front of himself in a fencing position as he shouted, is voice challenging:

"Then bring it on!"

Drawing his own sword, Fox smirked.

"Just don't feel so badly when you loose" Fox smirked before charging to attack

rolled them all, and typical Fox good combat rolls! 8,4,2,7,8 so he should win this easily :)

Ok then! Pretty close battle, I see... in the end, you lose 13 END and Ash 29 - or he would, if you were fighting for real, which you weren't, of course. :)

As Sabre Fox charged forward, Storm Ash took a step back, raising his sword in a guard position; that allowed him to stop Sabre Fox slashing attack, but the power of the blow did pushed him backwards, making him fall on one knee.

However, despite the precarious position, he kept himself ready to react, and when Sabre Fox thrust his sword forward for the next attack, he nimbly rolled out of the way, bringing a swiping slash toward Sabre Fox's back as soon as he had stable footing.

Sabre Fox, however, had expected such a counter, and dove to the ground on his knees, letting the arc of his opponent's sword travel above his head... and, in doing so, he put himself within Storm Ash's guard.

The blonde boy realized the mistake, and quickly jumped backwards, only barely sidestepping Sabre Fox's follow up attack - a swiping motion of the sword at shin height - but even so, before he could put his sword back into a guard position, Sabre Fox quickly moved his sword in a raising arc, stopping it just a millimeter from his opponent's groin.

Storm Ash, sweating profusely, turned a enraged glare on Sabre Fox and said, in a tone filled with spite:

"Alright, you win... this time. So, what do you want me to do?"

"Help us retake the fort before the rest of the guys get here" Fox said casually. "And hey it's a good plan really! If we do it you can use it as another chance to get ahead of me!"

Storm Ash raised an eyebrow, then his gloved hand pushed away the tip of Sabre Fox's swords from his where he'd left it and he answered, in an arrogant tone:

"I'm already ahead of you - you're simply that much more lucky, just as you were right now. Don't worry though, I'm not going to back down - if that's what you want, then I'm ready to go through with it: I'll show you who's the better of the two of us!"

He smirked cockily, then added, in a more businesslike tone:

"So, where do we go to start this mission?"

"Whatever you say kind sir" Fox said in a mock bow. "The blacksmith is mobilising his forces right now. I suggest we head there now to join them, wouldn't you say so?"

Storm Ash nodded, and then the two - followed by a Sun Nightingale who was shooking her head at their antics - quickly headed to the place where the blacksmith and what few soldiers who had decided to help him were standing.

The burly man turned his eyes toward Sabre Fox, assessing him and his group, before speaking.

"So, you three are all unwilling to sit here and wait like that idiot of a nobleman and that spineless sergeant would want us to do?"

"Well I'd have put it a lot more politely but pretty much" Fox smirked.

His expression then took a dark turn.

"The outpost, you must realise the enemy are awaiting reinforcements don't you?"

Some of the soldiers' eyes widened at Sabre Fox's comment, although the older one of the bunch seemed to be thinking over the young Kai's words. The blacksmith, however, seemed annoyed at the comment and asked, in a harsh tone:

"And how would you know that?"

He paused, then shrugged and continued, a steely determination entering his voice:

"Either way, it doesn't matter how many there are inside; we'll kill them all, and higher numbers will just mean having more of them to kill. Come on men, let's go!"

And with that, he started moving, the ten soldiers following along, apparently leaving it up to the three young Kai to decide if they wanted to follow them or not.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 16:48, Sun 24 Mar 2013.

"Your reaction was enough" Fox said to their backs as they moved away, he then turned to address his crew.

"Looks like this is it! We all ready? Good then let's go!"

Both of his fellow Kai nodded, then followed in silence as the blacksmith lead the way out of the camp and through an apparently empty area of rocky ground, until they reached a hidden cave that clearly led to an underground tunnel.

The blacksmith turned to Sabre Fox and pointed at the tunnel before saying, in a no-nonsense tone:

"You go in first, Kai Lords and Lady; once we're inside, I'll explain what our plan is."

"As you wish" Fox said peering at the tunnel. "I think at least with our advanced senses it would be prudent for us to take point anyway"

The blacksmith nodded, but said nothing else until everybody - the three Kai and the ten soldiers - were deep enough in the tunnel that no light filtered from outside. At that point, the blacksmith stopped walking and said, in a serious tone:

"Alright, men, I'll sum up the plan for us, as well as our Kai allies who don't know of it. This tunnel is the one we used to escape from the fort during the attack; the enemy don't knows of it, so we'll be able to surprise them. We will find ourselves in the warehouse; that should give us time to prepare to launch opur best attack. Remember, we need to be silent to kill them in their sleep without being noticed. And if we're discovered, at least we'll be able to say that we've died with honor, as true Sommerlending."

The group of soldiers shouted a collective "Yes!" to that comment, then the blacksmith turned toward Sabre Fox and said, in the same solemn tone:

"Kai Lords and Lady, I'm glad you're willing to help us in this mission; your skills will be invaluable for us."

He paused, then added, in a more pratical and friendly voice:

"So, can your abilities help bring the plan along, in some ways?"

What's Nightingales full skill list please?

Sun Nightingale disciplines are Healing, Camouflage, Mindshield and Mind over Matter; Storm Ash disciplines are Weaponskill, Hunting, Mindshield and Tracking. Your own are Weaponskill, Mind over Matter, Mindblast and Hunting.

Basically, the only two you lack of the entire lineup among the three of you are Animal Kinship and Sixth Sense. Does that helps you plan?

"Well let me introduce you to the team!" Fox gleamed before indicating Storm Ash

"We have our resident tracker Storm Ash here and sword arm, please forgive his sour face. He was born with it" Fox chuckled

"Next we have the lovely Sun Nightingale, healer extrodinaire and our infiltrator"

"Finly we have me, your best sword arm, all round good bloke and your acrobat expert. I hope this helps? For we are at your disposal. Hopefully not too disposeable though"

The blacksmith nodded at Sabre Fox's explanation.

"I'm sure you all know how to employ your talents better than I could - just make sure that you will be doing your best; we're glad of having the help of Kai on this mission. Thanks for your help."

A murmur of assent came from the soldiers, then the group moved forward. They wlaked in the dark for about two hours, until finally they reached a point where the wall ended into a ladder, raising up to a closed trapdoor. The blackmith stopped and turned to Sabre Fox, ecplaining:

"Here we are. Who do you think should walk up there first?"

"Well we need eyes and ears so care to take point Storm Ash?" Fox questioned. "Bonus of potential first kill and all!"

Storm Ash smirked at the comment.

"I will manage to make a better show than you in this mission, you just watch."

Then, without hesitation, he climbed the ladder, opening the drapdoor and peering around for a moment before climbing outside and gesturing for the rest to follow.

Once upside, Sabre Fox found that the group was inside a wide warehouse filled with a considerable amount of crates, sacks and baskets filled with various type of non-perhisable foods, as well as cereals.

While the soldiers filled the warehouse, Storm Ash moved to the door, trying to open it gently oonly to scowl and comment, in an annoyed tone:

"It's closed. Does anybody has the keys?"

The blacksmith shook his head, clearly surprised that the team's point of access had been so unexpectedly blocked.

"Oh Storm Ash!" Fox exclaimed in a quiet fashion. "Falling at the first hurdle!"

Smirking, he looked towards Nightingale

"Shall we show them a team effort on the door here?"

This will be a joint Mind Over Matter attempt on the door between the two

That would be 1 WP. Are you willing to pay it, or do you prefer to have Nightingale pay in your stead?

Ill pay in this stead, dont want to exhaust the healer too quick!

:) Smart thinking.

The door quickly opened under the combined effort of the two Kai; Strom Ash let out an annoyed huff at being shown up once again, while Sun Nightingale simply chuckled, before checking through the small opening in the door... and then quickly pulling her head inside and announcing, in a worried wishper:

"There are three giaks standing near the beginning of the corridor we're in. They've not noticed that we opened the door yet, but if we all charge out, they'll definitely know, and we'll risk they launching the alarm."

Even if she was reporting to the full group, her eyes were fixed on Sabre Fox, clearly expecting himt o be the one making the decision.

"Well your our infiltrator" Fox said to Nightingale. "if you stealth towards them, we can get the drop on them and Incan give you an advantage with Mindblast. Then us Kai can sweep in and take them quickly so they don't see our full force"

Sun Nightingale seemed uncertain at Sabre Fox's suggestion.

"You really think that I'll be able to take them down? I mean, sneaking close to them I could do easily, but... even with your Mindblast support, killing all three won't be easy for me - I'm not a fighter like you two."

"Well we can go along with you, but if not we can try and snipe them at distance. How far are they roughly?"

"Well, we're at one end of the corridor, and they're guarding the access to it - it's about eight meters from the door."

"Right then, here's what we will do" Fox said also indicating for the blacksmith to join them.

"We will take position ready to snipe them. If Nightingale sneaks close, once we have fired, then she can engage them while we charge if we don't kill them all. With a sneak attack, they should be easy to kill. Are we agreed?"

If Storm Ash has Weaponskill in a bow, or has a bow at all, then he can fire too. Also, what are Nightingales stats please? Just so I can determine her combat efficiency

Storm Ash has weaponskill in Sword, just like you do, but he does is carrying a bow. You will have to roll for him if you go that route. His own stats are completely identical to yours, as you already know.

As for Sun Nightingale, she has CS 13, END 26, and WP 16; she's armed with two daggers.

Is that helpful any?

Rolled an 8 for the bow shot :)

Yeah it helps, since I wouldn't want to send her to her inevitable death too early!

:) I understand. You don't have a bow, do you? I gave you a rope instead, I think... oh well, it all will work together after a fashion.

Assuming Sun Nightingale uses her stealth to attack a giak and Storm Ash use the 8 in bowshot to kill another, what are you going to do for yourself?

Well is dagger throwing an option? And what would be the dc?

Regardless of this, Fox would then charge the remaining Giak. Nightingale would engage it while he Mindblasts it. Then she will gain an advantage in the first round, hopefully enough time for Fox to finish the charge and slay the Giak with her

Throwing weapons is a special ability that falls under Weaponsmastery, so at this level none of you can do it.

So, since there are three giaks, am I right that you are chargin one while Mindblasting the other one which Nightingale will be attacking? Also, are you using the normal Mindblast, or the Stunning Mindblast? They've different effects.

Stunning Mindblast in this case, since Nightingale will need all help she can get. Rolled a nice 7 for that too :)

Nodding to Sabre Fox's command, Sun Nightingale quickly exited the room, keeping hidden in the shadows cast by the low ceiling of the corridor they were into; meanwhile Storm Ash put himself near the door's opening, aiming his bow toward one of the giaks.

Then, suddenly, Sun Nightingale appeared from the shadows to strike with her daggers at what looked like the smallest of the three giaks; her daggers opened wide, bleeding gashes in the beast's sides, but despite the pain the giak was already reaching for the shortsword at his side. Before he could, however, he fell to its knees, as if he'd just been hit by a crushing blow from a warhammer; clearly, Sabre Fox's stunning mindblast attack was working.

Meanwhile, Storm Ash let out his arrow, putting it squarely through the head of the tallest of the three giak; and, while that one collapsed, Sabre Fox suddenly charged out of the room and toward the last remaining one, who raised it's axe to defend itself despite the clear fear in its eyes.

Giak: 15 CS, 22 END. Roll five times for combat, if you will. :)

Also, make sure to pay the 2 WP for using the stunning mindblast, too.

11:52, Today: Secret Roll: Sabre Fox rolled 34 using 5d10 with rolls of 2,9,9,6,8. Combat.

So, your CS is 18 (17 roll +1 Weaponskill), which puts you at a +3 Combat ratio; as such, you kill your opponent in just three turns, while taking damage only in the first; you lose 3 END. An interesting tidbit: had you had Weaponsmastery, the battle would have been won in just the first two turns... interesting, isn't it? ^_^

Completely unrelated, I'd like to know if you plan to answer Rain Feather's words in the main thread; if you are just postponing because you lack time, that's perfectly right me, but if you don't plan to answer, then I need to know so I can move things forward. :)

Even as Sabre Fox charged in, the Giak closed his eyes and swung blindly at him; the young Kai had not been expecting that type of attack, and got hit in the shoulder as a result; even so, he did managed to thrust his sword forward well enough that he opened a wide gash into the creature's side.

That seemed to be enough to terrify the Giak even more; the beast let out a scream of pain and completely failed to protect from Sabre Fox's following slash, which opened a wide gash in his chest. Still, the beast had some life still left in itself as it fell to the ground gurgling, so Sabre Fox thrust his sword in one more time, finally taking it down.

He then turned to help Sun Nightingale, but found that Storm Ash had been faster than him, having closed with the girl's opponent and finished it himself. He even turned toward Sabre Fox with a smirk and added, in his usually arrogant tone:

"That's two to one... and I didn't even got wounded. Losing your edge, Fox?"

Sun Nightingale shook her head to their antics and turned a questioning look toward Sabre Fox, clearly wanting to know if he wanted her to heal his wound.

Yea time constraints at work today and low phone battery! Answers will come by this evening at latest

"Well we need to make sure your useful after your debacle with a simple lock now don't we?" Fox sniggered before looking at Nightingale. "How about i get that healing touch of yours? Then we can move on quickly" he said with a smile

Sun Nightingale nodded, and placed her hand over Sabre Fox's shoulder; she closed her eyes in concentration for a moment, and a small glow went through her fingers, quickly closing the wound.

She then opened her eyes again and smiled; meanwhile, the soldiers and the blacksmith had just exited the warehouse, and were watching the scene with clear surprise in their eyes.

"Thanks darling" be winked to her before looking at the soldiers

"Were you expecting us all to be dead?" he smirked

The blacksmith hesitantly shook his head, then explained, his voice betraying a little bit of awe:

"Well, no, but... you took them down like... like it was nothing! We would have expected it to be... harder?"

A good number of the soldiers nodded at the comment, and then one explained, his voice shaking a bit:

"When... when they attacked... it... it often took two, or three men... just to slow them down..."

It was clear that, in the eyes of the soldiers, what they'd done had been quite impressive.

"Well I did say id recruit good help didnt i?........ and Storm Ash, he's more like a spare part" Fox sniggered. "Anyway, let give these Giak search before we depart"

Storm Ash looked disgruntled at the comment and said, in an annoyed tone:

"Hey, I'm leading right now, so if anything, you are the spare."

You find a spear, a shortsword, an axe, and two boiled leater cuirasses, each of whom grants 1 END.

As for your question in the main thread... Sun Snake asked specifically about the tunnel that was giving him a sense of danger; that's the tunnel you focused on listening in, and that's giving you a slight sense of vertigo.

"Yes you are leading...... Due to my excellent tactical decision making, good for you!" Fox smilled before looking to the blacksmith. "Care to lead the way sir? After all you know this place and it's routes"

I'll take a piece of armor, and Nightingale to equip the other if that's possible

Yeah, that's possible - but only because you're still kids and, as such, young enough that you can fit within giak's armour. :)

The blacksmith looked at Sabre fox with a confused expression when he saw the young Kai putting on one of the giaks' cuirasses, but then shrugged and moved to the front, leading the group as he explained:

"I was thinking that, first thing, we need to kill the flying beast their leader used to attack us; it was nightmarish to hear that thing screaming at us from above, making people go mad, without any mean to stop it. I think it must be staying atop the tower; this way."

And, with great determination, the man lead them forward, along a couple of corridors, until they found themselves at the edge of a wide all; on one side, the blacksmith pointed to the stariway that lead upward... but, unfortunately, two giaks were guarding it - and six more were roaming around the room, peraphs having been meant to patrol it for security but clearly just waiting for something and wasting their time in the meanwhile.

"Hmm tricky" Fox said looking at the situation quietly. "I don't suppose a fight here wouldn't draw a lot of attention?"

Sun Nightingale turned to look at Sabre Foxas if he'd grown a second head.

"Sabre, you know full well that the sound of us fighting in a place like that would surely attract attention - not to mension how quickly the giaks will give the alarm once they see us!"

She huffed, clearly showing that, this one time, she was not amused by the younger boy's antics.

"Well I'm open to suggestions, since I doubt that sniping them all will be possible this time" Fox said looking around the room

Anything in the room? For example to use as a distraction?

Sure thing. The room is lighted by torches fixed to the walls; also, there are some tapestries with the symbol of Sommerlund dangling from the walls, although most have been ravaged by the giaks and are thusly in tatters.

Additionally, all of the Giaks are wearing plenty of meaningless bone and stone jewelry that could easily be made to tingle and provoke chaos with Mind over Matter, and the floor is covered with enough waste (blood, straw, dust, etc.) that might perhaps be manipulated into making them slip.

Does that helps?

Fox thoughtfully rubbed his chin as he assessed the situation considering what Sparrow would do in this situation. however a second later anger rose as he realised it was Sparrows own arrogance as to why he wasnt here in the first place. Then again, plans were forming

"Had you been a Magnakai, I'd have said you pretend to be a Giak Nightingale" Fox sniggered "But you will some day" he smiled. "For now I've two options i can see. We can either try and incite the tapestries to the flames to create a fire to slip by, or even suprise them. Or we can manipulate thier trinkets to cause confusion so they investigate noises while we slip by"

He looked at his fellow Kai and the blacksmith

"What say you all?"

Just wanting to see what they think :)

Storm Ash answered almost immediately, an excited gleam in his eyes.

"The flames are the better solution. Not only will they cause enough widespread panic and chaos among them that we'll be able to launch a surprise attack on them with much greater chances of success, but with the ground being what it is, we could even manage to trip some of them into the flames."

Sun Nightingale, who had smiled bashfully at Sabre Fox's compliment, looked worried at Storm Ash and said, in a more level-headed tone:

"If we do that, thought, there's a danger that the ruckus would attract the attention of other guards froum outside the fortress; whereas, if we try the other trick, they might well think it's spirits, and escape. After all, giaks are superstitious and easily scared - it would be a more prudent plan."

Storm Ash didn't seemed to like that suggestion, for he answered, in an annoyed tone:

"Or else they figure that there's a mage around, call on their Vordak leader, and we're all dead. Do you really want that to happen?"

Sun Nightingale took on an expression just as annoyed as Storm Ash's; clearly, neither one of the two was willing to accept the other one's suggestion as the better one.

"I think Fire is the better option in this instance" said Fox. "We need only cause a small fire enough to grab their attention, then when we have slipped past, we can douse it mentally so they think the panic is over"

Double MoM attempt then :)

That would be 1 WP and a DC 7 roll; you also have a+1 modifier from Sun Nightingale's help.

After much re rolling, lol, got an 8

You don't need to reroll - this is a task you can attempt repeatedly. However, for each retry it's 1 extra WP - so yo have to pay 3 in total for it to work. :)

It took the two Kai a couple of tries, but eventually, they managed to make one of the tapestries swing over a torch for long enough that it finally caught fire, something which caused the entire group of giaks to suddenly turn in that direction with exclamations of surprsie, before running there to put out all the flames - wand that included even the two giaks that were standing near the stairway, thus leaving it unguarded.

So, what now, rushing to the exit, or surprise-attacking the giaks?

This message was last edited by the GM at 18:22, Fri 29 Mar 2013.

"Right we move now! Get to the stairway!"

No fighting, just avoidance right now to not tempt fate :)

:) I see.

Storm Ash looked disgruntled at Sabre Fox's order, but he complied, being the first to reach the stairs. The small group quickly moved through the room, the mud strewn through the place making it so that the heavy boots didn't created enough sound to attract the attention of the giaks, who were all focused on dousing the flames.

Once the group was back on the stairway, they immediately slowed down, moving at a much lower speed to avoid making any dangerous noise, while the blacksmith explained, in a serious tone:

"The tower has three floor, with a room on each and the stairway moving around it. The room at the top includes the lodgings of the outpost's captain - I'm sure the leader of this group is in there. The two lower plan are the luncheon room, which was at the ground floor, and the amp room, which is that door there."

As he spoke, they passed the room he was speaking about, and then he asked, uncertain:

"Do you think we should check if their leader is staying in the captain's apartment, to make a decapitation strike? Or is it better to take care of that ugly flying beast on the roof first?"

"To kill the Vordak will demoralize the Giak, and the Kraan without a rider, will still be strong, but not as strong as them combined. We go for the leader" Fox said

The blacksmith seemed uncertain, but then shrugged.

"If you feel confident that you can do it..."

The soldiers, though, looked uncertain, and Sun Nightingale put a hand over Sabre's shoulder and whispered, worried:

"Sabre, if we face a Vordak... how we going to stop it from shrieking? It might alert the giaks, and... you haven't learned Mindshield yet..."

It was clear the girl was quite worried for what that might mean for the young Kai Lord.

"Well again I'm open to suggestions, rather than simply sewing it's mouth shut, and I doubt it will let us do that"

Storm Ash turned toward Sabre Fox with a smug smile.

"Well, I and Nightingale could just go and take care of the Vordak on our own - if you're so scared of its powers that you won't even take the risk, you should just stay here, quivering in your boots."

"Wasn't I the one wanting to fly straight into the hornets nest?" Fox said to no one in particular "Seems like your going cenile early Storm" Fox sniggered

"Perhaps a multi pronged strike is in order. Do you think you and your men can handle the Kraan while we take on the Vordak sir?" Fox asked the blacksmith. "With them both dispatched, our task will be much easier"

The blacksmith nodded seriously, while several of his men took grim expressions; Sun Nightingale, however, furrowed her brows and asked, uncertain:

"Sabre, I might not be a tactician like you, but... what is the advantage in splitting up our force? How... how does that help us take down the Vordak more easily?"

"we can't silence both the Kraan and the Vordak" Fox said. "The entire camp will descend the moment we strike, it will make the task mch easier if they are both taken out at once, the enemy may even flee with thief commanders dead"

Sun Nightingale sounded uncertain, and then she said:

"Perhaps you're right, but if so, why not attack the kraan first then, with our full force? If we can get the drop on it, keeping it from shrieking will be much easier than with the Vordak, right?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:37, Sun 31 Mar 2013.

"I suppose that's true" Fox said. "Yes, let's take the Kraan first. Lead onwards Sir" Fox said to the blacksmith

Storm Ash muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "cowars" when Sabre Fox made his decision, but the blacksmith didn't seemed to hear, for he just nodded to Sabre Fox's words and moved upward, leading the group along a last flight of stairs that ended up in front of a small, wooden door.

Sun Nightingale moved closer to use her Mind over Matter on it, but it turned out it was already open; she pushed it cautiously, and soon enough, the group could see the large, winged form of a kraan coiled over the rooftop, clearly sleeping while the sun was setting on the horizon.

Storm Ash let out an annoyed huff and then spoke, turning toward the other Kai Lord:

"So, what are your plans, oh supreme leader?"

What's the current area like again?

You are standing on a stairway that ends on a door that opens on the rooftop of the tower. The rooftops itself its surroundded by merlons and built in stone, with the kraan sleeping in the center of it being the only creature standing there. You are currently hidden behind the wooden door that gives access to the area.

The stairway is pretty barren, with a torch each floor being the only fixture on the otherwise unadorned stone walls. You also have ten soldier, a blacksmith and two kai at your disposal, with a bow, nine swords, one warhammer, six spear and fifteen daggers (one each plus two for Sun Nightingale) among the lot of you.

Sun Nightinale and Storm Ash might or might not have some potions and other random equipment like you do - however, wether they want to offer it to your use or not will depend on how you go about asking for it. All of you Kai are wearing the standard Kai attire - green cloak and white tunic - and the soldiers are wearing chainmails or light cuirasses ofvarious fashion under their red sommerlending unifrom, all except for the blacksmith who's wearing a light armour made in black boiled leather.

The kraan is sadded, but from here you can't tell if it is carrying any saddlebags or anything else on itself.

Is there anything more you want to know/ask about? :)

Fox looked out towards the Kraan with a raised eyebrow

"Think you can get close and slice its wings Nightingale?" He asked. "If we ground it we can kill it easier"

Before Sun Nightingale could answer, Storm Ash prepared his bow and said, in a deadly serious tone:

"I think I can pin his wings to the floor from here - they're a pretty big target after all. Also, that way, I can delay the shot until you're in position to stop it with an hit to the throat, or something like that."

He then turned a smug grin to Sabre Fox and added, raising an eyebrow:

"Where would you be without me here to bail you out of trouble? You know, I think I know now why Kai favored you in our duel and granted you the lucky strike you needed to win - it was so that I could prove you just how much less awesome than me you are."

"Maybe he also could have sent me a competant bowman too" Fox said. "So with that in mind, care to prove that point?" Fox sniggered. "We will run with that plan then as you suggest Storm. Makes a change you having to use your brain for a change! I hope it doesnt hurt much"

Storm Ash, who was busy nocking an arrow to his bow, absentimendendly answered, in a far away tone:

"No, it doesn't. Why would you think that using my brain should... hey!"

He looked up, an expression of almost outrage at the comment, but then Sun Nightiningale started to laugh, and soon enough, the hilarity moved among the soldiers, all of whom seemed to relax while they chuckled or sniggered at the two kids' antics. Storm Ash himself, on the other hand, simply muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "stupid showoff" before turning toward the kraan, taking aim, flexing the bowstring a couple time before finally nodding.

"Ready when you are, Sabre Fox; no need to shout, either, once you lot are close enough to the Kraan that you're confident you can silence it with your first strike, just make a gesture, and I'll shot. Stay out of my line of fire though - you wouldn't want my arrow to hit your ass if my brain suddenly stops working, right?"

The arrow shot DC is a 5, which you will have to roll. You will also need to roll for your first attack; to stop the kraan from calling for help, you'll need to inflict more damage than you take on that first roll. Taking good tactical decision on how to use your soldiers in this battle might increase your CS for the fight, while bad tactical decisions would lower it, so be sure to lead them well! ^_^

The Kraan has 14 CS and 32 END. Feel free to take your time planning how to launch the attack - I won't be able to post again until tomorrow evening, so there's plenty of time for you to think into. :)

With a sly smirk, Fox addressed the team

"Right, we need to fan out here. The Kraan will no doubt try to fly away, so we need to keep it grounded. Form a circle formation around it but be careful of wings should it try to use them."

Fox started pointing at various people as he spoke

"You with the Warhammer, try and crush it's other wing, front line fighters stay close to keep it busy, while spear guys stay behind the front line and jab it while it's down. If it does manage to try and fly, spear it down. We all clear?"

Rolled a 6 for arrow, and 2 for opening round. Using Mindblast also pumping the CS to 20 so even that low roll should stop it calling for help
This message was last edited by the player at 08:19, Mon 01 Apr 2013.

Well, I'd say that you didn't made any evident tactical mistake, so we can go with your CS as is - which means a combat ratio of +6, so you manage to silence the kraan. Nicely done! ^_^

You also receive 3 END Damage, while inflicting 7 yourself and having Storm Ash inflict 3 more with his arrow and the rest of the soldiers inflict 5 with their various attacks.

Following Sabre Fox's direction, the group moved to surround the Kraan; then, at his gesture, Storm Ash let loose his arrow while the blacksmith smashed its hammer into the creature's wings.

Sabre Fox himself lunged forward, his sword opening a wide gash into the creature's throat at the same time the other two hit the beast's wings. The kraan awoke with a start at the pain of its wounds, but when it tried to let out a call, all that exited its beak was a gurgling sound, even as blood poured out of the wound.

However, as Sabre Fox jumped backward, he wasn't quick enough to avoid the counterattack, as the kraan's beak opened a wound on his side.

19:33, Today: Secret Roll: Sabre Fox rolled 17 using 4d10 with rolls of 5,4,4,4. Combat.

Nice! With those numbers, you take him our in two rounds, and lose 4 END; the +5 damage from the others soldiers is not enough to fell it in one round.

Sabre Fox's next attack was a direct thrust to the beast's eyes, which managed to blind it; the monster trashed about at the hit, but the soldiers were quick to dispatch it once it could no longer aim attacks at any of them - although he did managed to hit Sabre Fox with his neck, toppling him to the ground.

Sun Nightingale helped him to his legs, and then asked, a bit worried:

"Sabre, you ok? Needing any help?"

And so, the Kraan is dead. Next move?

"Not this time" Fox said chugging away at his laumspur "We have a Vordak to slay. But first we check to see if the Kraan had anything interesting"

As Sabre Fox moved to examine the dead kraan's body, he found that, just like he was hoping, the beast was carrying saddlebags on its back. In one was an parchmenty, clearly made from human skin, which was covered in thick lines of the darklands language; on the other saddlebag was a rope, a sigil with the emblem of smashed skulls that could be recognized as that of Darklord Taaktaal, and a thin whip that seemd to be made out of darksteel, with green gems in the handle that glowed softly and seemed to produce an eerie feeling.

However, suddenly Storm Ash, who had moved to the merlons and was looking at the surrounding terrain, called, in a worried tone:

"Sabre Fox, you might want to check this... there's something in the distance that looks like it's coming this way, and it's not our reinforcments - they're coming from the other side of the Durncrags."

So, if you want to take anything, let me know; the sigil and scroll are special items that can be carried in your pockets, the rope would take 1 of your backpack slots, and the whip is a small weapon so it would go at your belt.

"On crap" Fox muttered before joining Ash. "It's as I suspected. It's enemy reinforcements" he said before looking to the blacksmith. "We need to hurry and kill that Vordak now, and try and signal the army to attack"

I'll take the lot then :)

The blacksmith nodded grimly, and then Sun Nightingale pointed at the flagpole at one corner of the very same rooftop they were on, as she asked:

"If we raise the Sommerlending flag, wouldn't that be enough to signal Sparrow that he should hurry up here with all those he can muster?"

"It's worth A try" Fox said. "Plus if the army storms the gate we can slay the Vordak in relative peace in the confusion"

The blacksmith let out a sarcastic laugh as he said, in a bitter tone:

"Boy, there is no army to storm this gate out there, and I don't think Lavos or that stupid nobleman will let any of the others join us... but I guess getting three more Kai to join us here can't hurt."

Then, with a shrug, he moved toward the flagpole, lowering the darklord's flage to replace it with a Sommerlending one - which he made by having one of the soldiers remove their tunic and cut it apart so that it could be affixed.

Meanwhile, Storm Ash moved closer to Sabre Fox and said, in a serious tone:

"I don't think we should wait for any storming of the gate - I think we should go and ambush the Vordak now, while we still have the benefit of surprise; that way, when Sparrow does launch his attack, the enemies will go into confusion when they'll be lacking their leader to coordinate their efforts."

So, what do you think, is Storm Ash one to always go for the most dangerous route? And, perhaps more importantly... is Sabre the type to go along with it? :D

This message was last edited by the player at 18:39, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

"I agree" Fox said. "To waste this opportunity now would be foolish, if their chain of command breaks down it will mane it easier to route them"

Vordak dangerous option it is!

The other two Kai nodded to Sabre Fox's decision, and so, once the blacksmith had raised the Sommerlending flag back atop the fort, the group quickly headed down, stopping in front of the door which lead to the captain's office and thus, if the blacksmith's suppositions were correct, to the Vordak.

Once there, the other two Kai looked at each other, before turning their gaze over to Sabre Fox and asking:

"So, what's the attack plan?"

"We do this with a small group" Fox said. "Us Kai go in first to draw it's fire, then three of your best men Sir should accompany us. The rest will guard the door for it's escape and preventing the enemy swarming us since nomsoubt it will shriek"

Everybody nodded to the orders, then the five he'd choosen to go along with himself reunited around Sabre Fox while the rest of the soldiers placed themselves in a tight formation that was blocking the stairway.

Then, the blacksmith looked to the young Kai with a grim expression and said:

"Lead, Kai Lord; we'll follow."

Feel free to make a post where you charge in, and then I'll give you the tactical situation and the Vordak's stats. :)

"Ash, Nightingale, you go first. You may throw it off if it attacks psychically. We will strike immediately after" Fox said. "No comments till after" he added looking at Ash.

With that he prepared to open the door....

The two young Kai nodded, then they charged onward, following Sabre Fox's instruction. He waited one moment, then suddenly quite a familiar shriek echoed from isnide, and only then did he gestured for the tohers to follow, and they did.

As they entered, Sabre fox found that the office was a small place; a desk had likely been standing at the center, but had now being sent aside as the Vordak was trying to hit Storm Ash, who was dodging, while Sun Nightingale was on the ground, an hand on her head where a rivulet of blood was clearly visible...

So, the Vordak is a CS 19, END 23 foe; after the first two rounds, his CS will go to 21 when he starts to use his shriek on you. Good luck! ^_^

Roll of 8,7,2,2,7

CS 17 + 1 weaponskill + 2 Mindblast = 20

So, your CR is +1 in the first two rounds, and -1 in the following three. As such, you inflict 21 points of damage and receive 1 in the first two rounds, then you inflict 3 and receive 5 on the third round - also, your leather armour gets destroyed. You do survived though, and that's good, right? ^_^

With the Vordak focused on Storm Ash, Sabre Fox was able to charge uninpeded and easily impale it with his first attack; the beast turned quickly, trying to grasp at him with skeletal fingers, but only managed to scratch him on the cheek - and then stumbled and shuddered when the young Kai Lord brutally ripped his weapon our of the beast's chest, almost ripping it in two.

However, after that the monster suddenly got its bearings, and let out another of its terrifying shrieks; that was enough to make the three charging soldiers collapse to the ground in a seizure before they could even reach the Vordak, while Sabre Fox himself was pushed to his knees and forced to keep an hand on his temples from the sheer pain. The monster quickly abused this, grabbing a splintered plank from the remains of the table and thrusting it straight at Sabre Fox's chest. While the improvised weapon was barely effective, the sheer strenght of the undead was enough to make it easily puncture through the cheap armour Sabre Fox was wearing and also piercing his chest, scraping against his ribs and making the boy bleed, although it did not caused any lasting damage.

However, what it did was sending Sabre Fox toppling to the ground, and the Vordak raised its mace high over its head, clearly preparing what would be a deadly blow... but then, Storm Ash's sword pierced all the way through the monster's ribcage, holding it still for a moment; but even if it was only a slipt second, it was enough for Sabre to thrust his sword up and straight through the undead's skull, exploding the gem that he knew to be inside it and causing the monster to liquefy instantly.

Once he had no more need to hold the Vordak still, Storm Ash, who was bleeding deeply from both his shoulder and his side, and panting heavily, slowly limped forward before saying over the red robe, smugly:

"Well, that wasn't so hard after all, was it?"

And then, he offered his hand to Sabre Fox, clearly so that he had some help to get up...

"Do i dare even take your hand? Or are you just gonna withdraw it?" Fox said.

He extended his hand in return, but also prepared himself to stand incase Ash did withdraw it.

"Its dead and we arent. Thats a good win. How is everyone else?" Fox said

For once, Storm Ash ignored Sabre Fox's jibe and instead helped him to his feet, then looked around; the three soldiers had stopped convulsing, although it seemed like it would take them a bit to be able to get up.

Meanwhile, Sun Nightingale got closer, cleaning her forehead where there was no longer any cut visible, and moved to heal the other two as she asked, sounding a bit tired:

"So, what now?"

"Well firstly let's search this room for supplies. No doubt the Vordak will horde them here. After we can regroup and start clearing out the fortresses. Ill check on the blacksmith too and see if his men are in combat on the stairs"

As Sabre Fox moved to the stairway, the blacksmith and the other soldiers were standintg there, a bit uncertain, but no giak had showed up yet, although they could hear the clamoring coming from the ground level of soldiers preparing for battle.

The blacksmith raised his eyes over Sabre Fox when he exited the room and asked, sounding a bit tense:

"Did you had any problems?"

"Your men will need a few ments to recover but that's about it" Fox said. "Keep watch for now while we see of the Vordak had anything of value"

Search roll for the room?

No need.

As Sabre Fox was speaking, Storm Ash emerged from the door. He shook his head and said, in a serious tone:

"There wasn't anything of value in the room - the only thing the Vordak had on himself was his mace, and the office only seems to contain the captain's belongings."

He moved next to Sabre Fox, unsheating his sword as he continued:

"Nightingale is taking care of the other soldiers, they should be back in fighting shape very soon."

The sound of metallic footsteps echoing over the stairway suddenly filled the air, and Strom Ash grinned:

"Well, it seems like we're going to have a bit of a fight, isn't it?"

Do you want the group to hold the stairs, or charge down at the incoming enemy?

"We charge" Fox said "the higher up we get the easier it will be to push us back. Let's see if we can beat them to a lower floor for better positioning. It will give the others more time to recover"

The blacksmith nodded, and then, the group of soldiers charged onward, surprising the giaks who were climbing the stairs and pushing them back, while forcing them to a disadvantageous fight thanks to the benefit of position.

You get a +1 to CS for this one combat, and I need you to kill this enemy here:

Giak: CS 15, END 24.

Also, for Sun Snake's question - you didn't saw any trace of big animals, much less humans, in the area - and anyway, if any was around, he would have know it before you did, thanks to his Divination.

In reply to Shadow (msg # 175):

20:39, Yesterday: Secret Roll: Sabre Fox rolled 23 using 5d10 with rolls of 10,2,5,4,2. Combat.

Mindblast on, Weaponskill should push me to 21 Cs

That's a +6 CR, and you critted first turn... one point more of CS, you'd have 1-hit-killed it. Nice. :)

Unluckily you didn't, so you need to use the 2 and take 3 damage... still, I'd say Sabre Fox is presenting himself as pretty awesome in these fights, isn't he? ^_^

Thanks to the energy of their charge, the soldier were easily able to overpower the giak's forces. Sabre Fox himself focused on the one who had a big bone helmet on his head, clearly looking like the unit's leader, thrusting his sword straight into the giaks belly, and then moving it upwards in a move that cut apart the beast's head and helmet in a single, swift strike.

At the sight of their leader, as well as their entire first line, being esily slain by Sabre Fox's soldiers, the giak seemed to lose any courage and, filled with fear, started to retreat down the stairs at breakneck speed, uncaring that they were exposing their backs to the soldiers...

Up to you to order the soldiers what to do now: charging at thei Giaks' backs to get in some easy kills, or waiting for Sun Nightingale and the other three soldiers to exit the office so you can reorganize the troops?

"Sir!" Fox said shouting to the blacksmith "Send one of your men to retrieve the others!" we charge these bastards down the stairs to take the tower!"

Bit of both lol

The blacksmith nodded, then the group charged down the stariway, pushing down the giaks who kept escaping in fear. In fact, they were so terrified that, even when they reached the ground floor of the tower, they kept running rather than reforming their ranks to take advantage of the greater amount of space to surround the numerically inferior sommerlending. This ended up dragging all the troops into a route that saw the giaks throwing open the doors of the tower and escaping outside, on the court of the outpost.

Seeing their enemy still escaping, the soldiers kept charging, taking advantage of the situation to kill as many giaks as it was possible by striking their undefended backs. However, once the group was outside, a sudden, deafening roar filled the area, making the giaks suddenly stop. Even as the soldiers and the two young male kai looked around, they could not make out where the sound had come from in the darkness of the night, but they heard heavy footsteps approaching, acoompanied by a sound of claws clattering on metal.

Then, all of a sudden, the giaks turned, their eyes carrying a crazy light and foam slowly forming at their mouth, as they seemed to have lost all fear and have entered a sudden battle frenzy as they charged forward, ready to impale the soldiers on their spears...

Sabre Fox, you're now facing a new opponent!

Frenzied Giak: CS 17, END 18.

Wondering what could have made the giak suddenly gain the will to fight? ^_^

16:37, Today: Secret Roll: Sabre Fox rolled 34 using 5d10 with rolls of 10,3,8,3,10. Combat.

Mindblast on, full attack! Lol

As one of the frienzied giaks charged at him, Sabre Fox didn't let himself be caught by surprise, instead slashing downward with his blade as he dodged the spear and almost splitting the giak's hear in two.

What surprised him was the giak pushing through the wound, as if he wasn't even feeling the pain; the creature managed to open a wound on Sabre Fox's side before the young Kai could finish it off.

A brief moment later, Storm Ash was at Sabre Fox's side, a wide grin on his face while he said, in an excited tone:

"Well, it seems we get to kick some ass now! And I'm totally gonna kill more than you, you bet!"

Before any answer could be delivered, though, the blacksmith and his men regrouped around the two young Kai; Sabre Fox could see that they were all bloodied - the blacksmith had an eyes closed and seemingly crying blood - and two of his soldiers had actually been killed. Thus, the blacksmith's tone when he spoke was quite fearful:

"We can't take them, they're too strong and too many! We need to retreat and try to hold the tower!"

Storm Ash scoffed at the comment, then pointed his sword in front of himself and said, smug:

"I say we punch through their forces, open the main gates, and then use them as a chockepoint to kill them all. Wouldn't that be much more heroic?"

There was no hesitation in the boy's voice - he clearly was certain of his plan, even as the blacksmith regarded him as if he was crazy.

Is opening with a critical a new tradition you've decided to establish? ;D

Combat Ratio is +3, so that's 16 damage you inflict in the first turn, and 7 in the second - during which you also receive 3.

So, what do you do now, try a retreat, or try to push for the fort's gates?

Has nightingale and the others rejoined us yet?

No, they're still inside the tower.

"Heroic but without out lives!" Fox said "Some of the men are dead, we hold the tower till the others regorup then we take the gates! That's not open for discussion!" Fox roared

I'm assuming that the others are aware to regroup since Fox said to retrieve them?
This message was last edited by the player at 08:27, Tue 16 Apr 2013.

That sounds feasible, yes.

Storm Ash grumbled, but he, just like the rest, followed Sabre Fox's order, and the group quickly started to walk backwards toward the gate - having to fight the frenzied giaks every step of the way as they fell back.

Frenzied Giak 1: CS 14, END 20
Frenzied Giak 2: CS 15, END 22
Frenzied Giak 3: CS 17, END 17
Frenzied Giak 4: CS 14, END 19
Frenzied Giak 5: CS 16, END 18

Give me the usual five rolls for the five round of combat, Sabre Fox; to succesfully complete the retreat, you need to kill all of them in five turns. You can face them one at a time, or group them together however you wish, just remember that, if two enemies are together, they both get a +2 to their CS, and the bonus increases by +2 for each additional enemy you decide to face. You can add new enemies at any round, but once an enemy is added, you must fight it until it dies.

If any of the giaks survive the five turns, that will mean that your retreat toward the tower will have failed... so, good luck, and roll well! ^_^

13:23, Today: Secret Roll: Sabre Fox rolled 5 using 1d10 with rolls of 5. Error, meant to be 1!
13:22, Today: Secret Roll: Sabre Fox rolled 28 using 5d10 with rolls of 1,5,5,9,8. Combat.

After a reroll fail :/ rolling 5 instead of one the end result is 5,5,5,9,8

Gonna have a look at some figures for optimal targeting. Is there no assistance from the unit in these fights?

They're fighting their own Giaks... have you forgotten how many there were in the fortress? ^_^

CS 20 with the usual modifiers, using the three 5's to kill 15,17,16 Giaks. They should all three die in the third round, then the remaining 9,8 will clear up the 14 Giaks easy if my maths are correct?

Very nice! You take 18 damage in total - which I think you can survive, right? - and kill all five of them. :)

How much END do you have remaining at this point?

The first group of giaks to attack Sabre Fox was savage and brutal; while none of them would have been an hard opponent for the young Kai to deal with, together they were quite the challenge, and he had to hack and slash brutally to keep them from just skewering him - and even so, he got a great number of serious wounds in return.

When the two fell, he was almost inside the tower; two smaller giaks closed in on him, but he noticed that they seemed less frienzied than the rest - as if whatever was pushing their charge influenced them less the closer they got to the tower.

However, the was no time for Sabre Fox to consider the implication of this realization, as he just slashed twice to down his opponents and then entered the tower, pushing the doors closer with the help of Storm Ash.

As he looked around, he found that some others of the soldiers hadn't managed to make it; of the eight that had charged outside, only four had survived, one of them the Blacksmith who had took unofficial leadership of the group, and even he - the one less wounded among them all - was covered in cuts and blood.

A brief moment later, Sun Nightingale emerged from the stairs, following by the other three surviving soldiers, and looked sickened by the sight as she asked, her tone worried:

"What happened here?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:27, Sat 04 May 2013.

"We charged them after the Vordak" Fox said looking towards the now barred door. "But something outside made the Giaks fight again. I just hope it's not another Vordak"

On my phone at the moment but I'll check my figures later. Pretty close to death I imagine!

Storm Ash shrugged.

"Whatever it is, it's a commander of the Darklands; I bet it's ready to get all those giaks killed if it opens the doors and let the rest slaughter us, and with that many troops, it's not going to take long."

One of the soldiers, a bit trembling, then asked, his voice hesitant:

"Well... if they're going to just bring down the door anyway... why don't we just... escape from the tunnel in the storehouse? The one we came in from?"

Storm Ash scoffed, but glanced back to Sabre Fox nonetheless, as if wanting him to speak first.

"We don't escape because once we regroup and have Nightingale treat the wounded, I'm gonna go out there and kill whatever it is myself. And while im doing that, your gonna open those gates to let the others in. We clear?"

The soldiers looked troubled at the thought, but Storm Ash just grinned and commented, in an amused tone:

"Now that I like! I'm now up to twelve kills in this place, by the way... how are you keeping up?"

Sun Nightingale, who had moved closer, let out a long sigh before swatting Storm Ash on the head.

"Honestly, you two are crazy; you'll end up killing yourselves at this rythm."

She healed most of their wounds, but not all - a clear look of apology appearing on her face - and then moved to the soldiers, trying to patch up what she could on them.

You recover 12 END for the upcoming battle - and before you go outside, we need to do the math on your END and see what the situation is.

Also, if you have any suggestion-questions-discussions about the situation you want to make in character, now is the time - we're getting close to the end of the thread, as you surely had already realized. :)

Just questions for now since I won't be in till later to do my score's. For the Gourgaz and the attack, were you planning to do the full fight? Or simply scripted? Since the damage Fox will take to receive that scar will no doubt be a lot, then he will have to survive the fight

We will do the full fight, of course; don't worry, it's going to work in exactly the way we want it to to make your backstory come together the way it should, and we'll be going about it one round at a time, to have perfect control of the proceedings. I'm sure you will enjoy it, the result should be suitably awesome, and the key element of it - you getting your trademark scar and only surviving out of a strike of sheer luck - will be impemented in the best possible way. Trust me, will you? ^_^

Well a good few criticals should do the work! :) then there will be the argument and bonding with Sparrow

It's strange how Fox always fights so well, even in this sense there was 0 chance of him being killed in this thread he still fights as if he will!

Well, the opponents he faced in this thread were all weighted so as to take into account that he's less powerful here than in the main game - so, considering that, it's not surprising he managed to survive relatively well, although it does is true that he was even more successful than I expected him to be. :)

That said, I agree, Sabre Fox's great potential as a fighter is never in discussion in any fight he's been into so far - he really does deserve his role of heavy hitter for the Maakengorge team. But then, that was the entire point of the character, wasn't it? ^_^

Right, Fox after chugging his last Laumspur will be on 21 END. Pretty decent for the last fight! And I wasnt neglecting it, just leaving it some time to concentrate on the main thread  ;)

:) I understand. So, is there anything you want to say to your soldiers and fellow Kai, before you launch the attack? Or do you want us to move immediately to the part where you heroically lead the charge outside?

Smiling to Nightingale's efforts, Fox looked towards the battered soldiers and spoke

"Right men, the time for us to make our mark on history is here! So far we have beaten the odds when the rest of the army would not even make an attempt! Lets show them the power that we hold and send those spawns of Naar right back to him! For Sommerlund!" Fox said raising his sword in the air

"...and the Kai!"

Storm Ash's answer to Sabre Fox's call was filled with energy, and the soldiers seemed to feel safer; even Sun Nightingale smiled softly at the comment.

Then, Storm Ash threw the swords open, pushing backward the giaks that had been waiting behind the door in preparation for attacking it, and then the soldiers charged onwards as Sabre Fox had ordered.

Sabre Fox himself, as he'd said he would, run out at the back of the group to try and identify the leader, but before he could, a frienzied giak charged at him with foam at its mouth and eyes showing a crazy abandon, trying to plant a dagger into his ribs.

Crazy Giak: CS 14, END 21.

15:24, Today: Secret Roll: Sabre Fox rolled 26 using 5d10 with rolls of 5,4,9,7,1. Combat.

Usual CS of 20 with modifiers

That gives you a nice +6 CR, so you win in three rounds and take only 4 damage. Nice. :)

All that the Giak managed to do was scratch Sabre Fox's sides, while the young Kai Lord quickly disarmed the beast before dispatching it with a determined slash through its neck.

However, just as he did so, he felt a ferocious roar echoing through the courtyard; he suddenly turned, and could now see the massive creature that had let it out.

Standing near one of the torches that lighted the area was a massive, black scaled Gourgaz, its body almost three meters tall and covered in shining dark scales. The beast had lifted something high above its head, showing it to all of its giaks follower, and when Sabre Fox focused on it, he recognized with dread that it was the blacksmith; the man was still alive, trying to free himself from his enemy's grasp by swinging wildly his warhammer, but unable to hit due to his current position.

The gourgaz continued to shake the man like a throphy, until its small eyes finally turned over Sabre Fox, narrowing in a cruel fashion as it recognized the green cloak and white tunic that identified the boy as a Kai. Then, in a sudden motion, the gourgaz claws dug deep into the blacksmith's belly, and with an almost annoyed motion, the beast tore the man in two as one would a loaf of bread, before tossing the two halves to the sides without the slightest consideration for the former human being.

That done, the beast unsheated a massive darksteel Broadsword from an harness over its back and, wielding it easily with only one of its clawed hand, it started to charge at Sabre Fox with a cruel roal that almost sounded like a laugh...

Ane here we are!

Black Gourgaz (with Broadsword): CS 24, END 35.

This creature is immune to Mindblast, as is normal for Gourgaz, we'll be going one round at a time, and you're in the middle of a battlefield, so you're free of improvising as much as you want. Have fun! ^_^

16:09, Yesterday: Secret Roll: Sabre Fox rolled 4 using 1d10 with rolls of 4. Decisive Battle!

Might be scar time here! :/

ANy strategy you want to go with that roll, or are you just standing your ground and counterattacking when the Gourgaz comes within your striking range?

Whats the current area like? Corpses for it to fall over, enemies to hide behind it can kill in a wild swing? etc

If you can think of something that would be on this kind of battlefield, then it's there; corpses and enemies are of course around, as are discarded weapons or broken armours or anything else you like.

Well of there is a small enough thing like a dagger that Fox can move with MoM to stab it with even if in the foot that will help! Lol

Nexus would allow you to stab somebody with a dagger - Mind over Matter would at best allow you to trip somebody with it. Still, if you're ok with that, I can allow it. You would inflict no damage this turn, but you might get a bonus to your damage next turn. Are you ok with that?

With a low roll this round I think it's best! With luck as it trips I could try and disarm the Gourgaz?

That would require you to inflict no damage next round too - but, if the trip attempt succeeds, that'll make the disarming easier. If you feel alright with that, just say so and post your disarming roll.

Given the CR of -6, you take 5 damage this round; since you took more damage than you inflicted, the Gourgaz only stumbles rather than falling, but that will still mean that next turn you will get a +2 damage for the round. If you go for the disarming attempt, you'll only succeed if you would inflict more damage then you'll take, although, as I said, you would have to forego that damage to make the disarming attempt - but if the damage attempt succeeds, the Gourgaz will lose 2 CS since it will be fighting barehanded.

As the Gourgaz charged, Sabre Fox seemed to be standing his ground, but then, at the last moment, he suddenly dodged to the side, using his Mind Over Matter to move a dagger straight under the beast's feet. That made the monster stumble and fell on one knee for a moment as it roared in pain from the weapon entering the underside of its foot, but even like that, he still managed to wildly swung his sword in the general direction Sabre Fox's had dodged toward, the lenght of the blade opening a thin line of blood on the Kai Lord's chest despite the lack of coordination from the movement.

Rolled a 5 and going for straight up damage here. Need to finish it quick! Lol

:) Ok! That, of course, means that the Gourgaz keeps his Broadsword and won't lose CS. That means that the CR remains -6, so you take 4 damage but inflict 6.

Black Gourgaz (with Broadsword): CS 24, END 29/35

Sabre Fox's eyes darted at the Gourgaz's weapon for a moment, but then he seemed to forgo the idea and simply swung forward, aiming for a decapitating blow to the still kneeling form of his opponent.

The gourgaz, however, managed to move at the last minute; the sword bit deeply into the beast's right shoulder, but missed its intended mark of the creature's neck, allowing it to make a sudden movement with its head that hit Sabre Fox in the middle of his chest, sending him toppling backwards and stealing his breath for a moment.

While the young Kai shook his head to regain his bearings, the massive lizardman slowly got back to its own feet, raising his sword even as its malicious eyes aimed a deadly glare at Sabre Fox that promised great pain...

Actions?

Fox gave a glance of his own to the Gourgaz and pointed his sword towards it

"Come on you ugly bastard! Don't just stand there looking mean! Back it up and do it!"

Trying to enrage it to throw it off its game for a moment. Combat roll of 6

Nice. I'll rule that this will apply a -1 damage penalty to its next five rolls (including this one), but you would have to forego your damage this round, as always when you're using a combat ability. Are you fine with that?

Ooh, we'll ill stick to that decent roll after all! Don't want to loose a potential good attack!

Well, you'd be also quite reducing the amount of damage you would be taking, but I understand your point. :)

Enraged by Sabre Fox's words, the Gourgaz charged, thrusting his sword forward with a brutal motion; the young Kai, though, had been expecting that, and dodged to the left, making a wide, swiping motion with his sword that opened a long, linear wound in the beast's belly, making it bleed.

However, in making the attack, Sabre Fox had to enter the Gourgaz's reach - which resulted in the lizardmen's left hand striking forward, the claws on it piercing through Sabre Fox's leather armour and pinning him to one of the nearby walls of the fortress.

A growling sound that seemed almost a chuckled came from the gourgaz as it raised the browasword high over its head, preparing to strike down the young, pinned Kai...

Next turn, you can't make any kind of tactical move that would require you to move from your place, but things are fine other than that so don't feel like you've only attacking as your possible choice. :)

For this turn, you inflicted 5 points of damage and took 4. Current situation:

Black Gourgaz (with broadsword): CS 24, END 24/35

Sabre Fox: CS 18, END 4/29

Actions?

Well if its directly infront of Fox and its hands are raised with the broadsword, Fox will make a strike at the creatures throat. Hopefully severing its jugular or something will stagger it so he can get a precious second or two to move to a better position, hopefully it might even drop its weapon as it clutches its throat!. Rolled a nice 7 for this
This message was last edited by the player at 17:46, Sat 11 May 2013.

Even as the Gourgaz blade fell on him, Sabre Fox blindly struck forward, planting his sword deeply into the beast's chest with all of his strenght.

The hit was so brutal, even the Gourgaz staggered back, letting go of Sabre Fox; as the boy fell to the ground and the monster took a couple of steps back, the blade of the darksteel black sword, which would have otherwise split his head open, only hit him superficially with its tip; he could feel the steel leaving a thin crack in his skull even as his skin was ripped open, red blood falling from it and covering his eyes with liquid, the head exploding in pain.

Staggered, Sabre Fox heard the roar of the Gourgaz above himself, and as he looked upward, despite the blood almost blinding him, he could nevertheless see that the monster was once again preparing itself to strike...

So, current situation:

Black Gourgaz (with Broadsword): CS 24 END 18/35

Sabre Fox: CS 18, END 1/28

Roll your next attack: you're getting a +6 to the roll thanks to the Gourgaz still having your sword struck into its own chest! ^_^

This message was last edited by the GM at 18:39, Sat 11 May 2013.

Rolled a 6 :/ don't know if that will get me through, but the strategy is this, literally charge the beast to drive the sword further in its chest. Holding onto the sword for leverage, literally punching it continuously in the face like a mad man since Fox is at deaths door, and hopefully being that close it can't strike with its weapon

You do realize that 6+6 gives you a result of 0, yes? ^_^

Also...

Just as the beast was about to strike, suddenly, an arrow cam sizzling out of nowhere, and embedded itself into the Gourgaz's eyes; it had been thrown with such strenght and precision, only the fletched end was still sprouting from the eyes, and Sabre Fox could even see the shaft inside the beast's maw, where it had pierced downward through it's palate.

As Sabre Fox looked in the direction of the tower's doors, he could see a figure with light brown hairs and a green cloak for a fleeting moment, guiding what looked like a great number of men in the red uniform of the Sommerlending army, who was discarding an used bow to wade into melee with the giaks closer to its position, leading its troops in the attack and disappearing from the young Kai's sight.

Then, the sudden sound in front of himself drew Sabre Fox's arttention back to what he was facing. The Gourgaz had let go of his broadsword, which had clattered to the ground with a metallic sound, and was now clawing at its head with a sickening howl of pain, clearly completely unaware of its surroundings.

So, things as they stay now are as such:

Black Gourgaz (unarmed -2 CS, distracted -2 CS, blind to one eye -8 CS): CS 12, END 18/35

Sabre Fox: CS 17 (using Broadsword), END 1/28

That gives a +5 Combat Ratio, and as we've said, your roll is a critical. I'll leave you a present, and allow you to describe the killing strike yourself in your next post, as well as Sabre Fox's removing himself from the battle because of tiredness/his wounds however you like.

I hope you liked the battle! :D

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:09, Sat 11 May 2013.

Fox was disorientated, he didnt really pay attention to the fact that the Gourgaz had lost an eye........ he felt the blood trickling down his head........ and the red was getting in his eyes....... and thats when he felt it, pure rage.

With a roar that could have make a Darklord quiver he charged the Gourgaz despite being almost at deaths door himself. With a leap he jumped at the sword sticking in its chest and drove it in harder. He could almost feel the sword piercing its organs as the Gourgaz roared flailing is arms

With a surge of strength he pushed it again further and further until finally the Gourgaz's leg strength left it and it fell to the ground on is back with Fox still on top of it. Rushing along its body he sat on its chest and started punching it hard in the face, over and over and over again.

Even the enemy around him did not dare interfeer, the sheer bloodlust they could see on the young Kai's face and what he had done to the Gourgaz was enough to shake any of their resolves.

Several minutes later, Fox's hands were covered in blood, and the Gourgaz's face had been beaten to a bloody pulp. Looking at his hands, Fox saw they were raw from punching the hard scaly skin for so long. Stnding up, the din of battle all around him, he smiled for a momen realising the allied forces were there.

Seeing the stables nearby, he hobbled towards them, once again the enemy not paying attention, he fell to the floor on the hay, his own blood already staining them.

"You did good Fox........" He muttered "You did good......" He said passing out

I misread it as a +6 to CS! Hahah! There we go!

Very cool post - I think I'll give you a FP for it. Nice work. :)

When Sabre Fox came to his senses again, the sounds of battle had quieted; he could still hear the sound of people moving around and the moaning of the ones dying, sign that the victors were now collecting their spoils and finishing what of the enemies had been lethally wounded but not slain during the fight.

Then, a shadow loomed over him, and although he couldn't see who he was, as he was lying face down, the voice was unmistakable.

"So, despite my orders to the contrary, you launched your attack to this place anyway, Sabre Fox. You've also lost all but one of the men who followed you, although you were so crazy lucky that all three of you Kai survived it. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

Golden Sparrow's tone was not enraged, but instead icy and scolding in a way Sabre Fox hadn't ever heard from him before today.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:10, Wed 15 May 2013.

As he lay there, his own body was throbbing. The fight with the Gourgaz had pushed him completely to his limits, and he felt like he couldnt move. Pushing himself up slightly he suddenly felt another sensation on his face. Reaching up he found it was bandaged, but he could already feel what was under there..... a scar across the middle of his face

"What do you expect me to say?" Fox said weekley

Golden Sparrow brsitled at that, and shouted back:

"Anything! You got ten good men killed with your recklessness despite my explicit order not to do it, you almost got two of your own brethen killed, and if we hadn't come to your rescue, the enemies might well have discovered the secret passage and used it to take the jump on our forces and kill us all in our sleep!"

He slammed his fist on the wall of the stables before adding, his voice almost a growl:

"So, do you have any excuse for your reckless behaviour? Or are you really going to just stand there and fail to justify your insubordination in any plausible way?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:56, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

"Because you we're wrong Sparrow" Fox said weakly. "They reinforced...... Those brave men knew it and gave thier lives to make sure that outpost was took with minimum casualties without a bloodbath........ You were wrong" Was all he could say

"Those men knew nothing; you only discovered the reinforcements were coming when you noticed them from the top of the tower, the soldier who survived confirmed it to me; they only wanted their revenge, and look what that got them!"

There was a pause in Sparrow's voice and then he added, his tone very dark:

"Yes, your stupid assault allowed you to dicover the coming reinforcment, which in turn gave me enough reasons to require a forced march from a part of the reinforcements so that we could bring them here earlier. And yes, if that hadn't happened, then taking back this outpost would have costed us more than we can afford to lose with the Darklords turning their armies toward Sommerlund right now. And that's the only reason I'm not deferring you to Master Starfire for court martial."

The young man's voice filled with a harsh tone of disappointment, as he added:

"However, I expected better from you, Sabre. I thought you were smarter than this, that you could become a worthy leader. Instead, you recklessly put in danger the life of many just to satisfy your crave for glory. How can you call yourself a Kai after doing something like this, how can you expect me to ever trust you again if you can't see how idiotic your actions were!?"

By the end of the speech, Sparrow was shaking, his voice filled with a sense of pained suffering that was impossible to miss.

"I knew it well before that" Fox spoke weakly. "So did they, they have figured it out....... and I knew you wouldnt listen Sparrow. For all your intelligence, you only ever consider yourself right....... and in this instance our instincts proved you wrong"

Weakley crawling onto his feet with his back still to Sparrow, he reached up and touched the bandage across his face, taking it of satisifed his own natural Healing skills had stopped the bleeding, he kept talking

"The only one with glory here Sparrow ......... is you. No one will ever remember us or those men that gave thier lives here today....... They will remember you, the man who led the charge to take back the outpost, the stalwart commander. Idiotic as it was, it needed to be done...... to stop you taking more casualties...... You think I have glory?"

It was at this point he turned round to face Sparrow

"My glory is now with me forever" He said referring to the scar. "Thats no glory"

Yeah, you guessed it early... but the soldiers didn't knew; they didn't launched the attack because they expected reinforcements, Sabre Fox. Your character misread the soldiers reactions there - I didn't told you because I was keeping it for this point in the thread, as I knew it would make this conversation more emotionally charged. :)

Golden Sparrow was first surprised, and then astonished by the scar that ran in a diagonal line though Sabre Fox's face, then wordlessly moved forward and pulled him into a strong, warm hug.

He stood there for a long moment, before finally saying, in a whisper:

"You are an idiot, Sabre Fox, you know that, right? I... I suspected reinforcments could be coming but... I couldn't risk it... I couldn't go there and risk the life of you all just because of my own hunch. You're like a brother to me, you knucklehead; I didn't wante you to die."

Fox was actually suprised to be in Sparrow's embrace. He had never seen him like this before, he was always usually so cold or hot headed. Never actually seeming to feel genuine emotion. Fox didn't really have the strength to return the hug

"For all my courage, this is what it gets me, scarred for life while you take all the glory for this. That's really why I did this, to do what you could not because you don't act on your hunches like me....... I wasn't throwing my life away.... Or Nightingale or Ash....... Maybe Ash" Fox sniggered

Fox allowed himself to slump forward onto Sparrow for support

"just remind me not to do this again hmm?"

Well Fox misread the reaction. Of course I knew different in this scenario, I was just trying to play it in character after all

:) I just wanted to be sure you knew.

Golden Sparrow scoffed, then took a step back, keeping his hands on Sabre Fox's shoulders and then looked down at him seriously for a moment... before grinning widely.

"I'll do a better one - next time you say me to do something crazy, I'll try it. You might be a reckless moron... but you are a ton smarter than you look, and those instincts you follow, they're not always wrong."

He chuckled, then all of a sudden let go of Sabre Fox shoulder and punched him - lightly - in the stomach, and added, in a provocatory tone:

"And how about you promise to follow what I say from now on, rather than doing whatever the hell you feel like?"

Sparrows punch despite being only a friendly gesture felt like being hit by a wall after his recent ordeal, and he found himself falling back onto the shoulders of his friend

"Im not always right" Fox said, the wind well and truly took from his sails. "But just promise me this instead........ that if i tell you something....... you'll listen....... none of that tatician bull shit your used to........ just listen to someone to oppose you and not dimiss it out of hand......... Who knows when ill disobey again and it will get my killed right?....... You know i know your smarter than me in tactics..... that will never change....... but just listen to me...."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:14, Thu 16 May 2013.

Golden Sparrow patted the much smaller, younger Kai on the head in a very fond manner.

"As long as you do the same, I think I will manage, my friend. But, tell me, how are we going to decide what to do then, if we both listen to each other?"

"Because you will know" Fox breathed, holding once more on Sparrow for support. "You know that I give you my opinion........ and I dont often agree with it........ But I go with it because in the long run your right........ But like when we observed the Outpost ealier...... and I have that look in my eye......... thats the time you should really listen to me........."

Fox's lungs deflated for a moment before he continuned

"The blacksmith and his men........ they believed like me it could be done with a small force...... and we did. We killed the Vordak and the Kraan easily......... Thats the power of our instinct and willingness to survive  despite the odds........ You should remember that...... because I dont want you to die in a wrong yet tactical decision either"

Sparrow chuckled at that, then sat down, dragging Sabre Fox to do the same at his side, and then passed him a flask filled with a red liquid.

"Laumspur, I think you really need some. And I will keep your suggestion in mind."

He paused, then grinned and gestured at the battlefield, and commented:

"So, you were bragging about your kills, weren't you? I saw the last one - nasty piece of work. Want to tell me how did you managed to get the better hand on that thing?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:09, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

With a weak smile, he accepted the drink and swilled it as quick as he could, feelng some of his strength returning.

"Without you taking one of its eyes out?" Fox said, his strength returning. "Probabally couldnt" He admitted. "Yes, I know it was you........ even if i couldnt see probablly, theres no better shot than you" He smiled.

"Rage.......... It boiled up in me...... Even though i didnt know what it had done to me, I felt rage boil up in me like nothing before. The will to survive and to win. Thats what I did. I just wanted to make sure that we would win........ even if it killed me......"

Golden Sparrow nodded, turning serious.

"I understand that, Sbare Fox, I really do... but, I think having that within ourselves, is what makes us such good warrior. It's like a roaring fire, and fire is an aspect of the Sun, isn't it?"

The patted him on the shoulder, and went on, smiling softly and looking faraway in the distance, as if checking over something only he could see:

"Yeah... I know it well. Doing the impossible and be ready to the greatest sacrifices to do what is right; that's the way of us Kai. But, you know something? I wouldn't want it any other way, because that willigness we have to make sacrifices, that determination to see things through no matter what, is what will make us win in the end."

He paused, then turned and smirked in Sabre Fox's direction, adding in a companionable tone:

"And hey, at least I will have one like you on my side to point out what's the next impossible thing I need to do, right?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:10, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

"Every time i fight....... i dont worry about dying" Fox breathed, some of his strength now returned "I just do it, throw myself against impossible odds and just know somehwere deep down....... that ill win no matter what"

Returning the smirk, he continued

"And you can at least tell me when its beyond possible right?"

Touching his new scar, Fox sighed heavily

"What are we gonna do about this?" He said

Golden Sparrow frowned, then placed an hand over Sabre Fox's eyes, closing his head; the younger of the two Kai felt the headache from his wound getting lighter, but after a moment, Sparrow opened his eyes and shook his head.

"I don't think anybody but Master White Mantis can do anything more about your wound, Sabre Fox... and even she might not be able to remove the scar. The bone has been nicked, and if anything goes wrong when treating it, you would risk breaking your skull open. Unless you want to risk that, you should keep the scar; I've not the energy for it right now, but later I can strenghten the bone so that we can avoid any incidental damage from creating any more problems."

He smiled and added, with a grin:

"You really do have an hard head, don't you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:06, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

"Obviously not hard enough" Fox sighed. "Is this what the heros get? Nothing but maimed and scarred trying to do thier best to send Naar's forces back to him?.......... Wheres the sense in that"

"You know very well what the sense behind it is, Sabre Fox, and I won't insult you by explaining it."

Sparrow paused, then offered a small smile as he added:

"However, I can say this: no matter what people will say, I will explain to Master Starfire that you were crucial in our victory. It might not carry the same recognition that people's rumors do... but I hope being commended by a man like him would be a good enough prise for your crazy yet effective efforts?"

"The fact we have the outpost without our troops being decimated is enough for me" Fox said.

"Tell Master Starfire the truth, I dont care what happens to me, ive already did what I needed........ and paid the price for it"

"And I don't care how much you want to commiserate yourself right now, what I said is the truth; your actions were determinant, and that's all that matters about them. How they came about will remain among us, and us alone; we are friends, Sabre Fox, and if one of us has to break a couple rules to save some lives and help each other, well... we can keep that to ourselves, can't we?"

And he winked, letting out a chuckle as he slung his left arm around Sabre's shoulder in a brotherly one-armed hug.

I think there's not much more we need to still speak of in this thread, but if there is still some character development you want to craft here, I'll be happy to play along. :)

"Why are you so nice to me?" Fox asked all serious. "I disobeyed orders even of they were right....... Why do you do this?"

Just a few more :)

Golden Sparrow looked at Sabre Fox with a perplexed expression.

"Because, as you just said, your insubordination saved a lot of people. You really think I would care more about going against orders than about saving people?"

There was clear disbelief in the teenager's voice.

"Becuase I know you" Fox said. "You value master Starfire as a father, so why would you do this for me?"

Golden Sparrow smiled softly at that and answered, in a open, heartfelt tone:

"Because I value you as a brother, that's why."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:27, Sat 18 May 2013.

Almost of out character, Fox could not respond for a moment, until he saw the conviction in Sparrows eyes

"Do you think things would have been different if we didn't meet over that Giak that day?" He asked

Golden Sparrow shrugged and answered, his tone a bit whimsical:

"Thing would have been very different indeed, if the Grand Master had failed to slay Zagarna, or if he hadn't been killed by Gnaag's trap. And perhaps we would have met in other circumstances, but does it really matter?"

He smiled and patted Sabre Fox's shoulder very fondly, before adding:

"The way things are now, though, we are brothers in all but blood, and as the elder, it is part of my duty to avoid you being soclded for your small mischiefs, especially when everybody ended up the better off for them in the long run."

"And it looks like its my job to knock some instincts into that logical head of yours" Fox smirked.

Lookin around, he raised an eyebrow

"How is everyone? Cause I really could do with a healer right now"

"Then you're sorta out of luck, my friend; Nightingale should be sleeping now, she was exhausted after healing everybody, and I already used what few Healing skills I had. I guess you'll have to wait."

Golden Sparrow's tone had been that of a friendly apology, but then he smirked and added, with mirth:

"If you're too tired to move though, I could always carry you like a bride, little kid. What do you say?"

"Oh my hero!" Fox chuckled. "Just make sure to pass by Ash along the way so I can make some quip about the perks of being a hero"

Sparrow nodded and grinned at the comment, before answering:

"You can count on it."

Think we're done? Anything else you'd want to ask or do?

This message was last updated by the player at 18:04, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

Yea, done :)

Nice to know! So, what do you think of it? Was it an interesting thread? Or was it boring? :)

Also, I'm curious to hear if you have any comments on everything that happened, or if you want to ask me any questions about the details we didn't explored in the thread.

Well im interested to see if there were any bad decisions that were made, since the point of this thread was the origin and we knew how it would begin and end, but how well it went in the actual middle was up for grabs!

Also, would you say i brought along the Kai that was going to come? Since Rabbit was pretty much a no and Sword was quesionable at best

If you offered them the proper motivations, everybody could come - but, not all of them.

To get Sun Nightingale to tag along, you had to accompany her see the wounded and then ask for help; if you hadn't accompanied her she'd have been too swamped with her healing job to come, and if you hadn't asked, she wouldn't have volounteered by herself.

Ash was pretty straightforwad, you only had to challenge him in some form to get him to tag along - although he wouldn't have come if you'd had one of the other two along, since he wouldn't have found the challenge interesting if he might end up being overshadowed by one of them.

Grey Sword might have come if you went to ask his help first and managed to motivate your request in a manner that would make it look like you desperatedly needed help. That also mean he would not have come if you already had two companions, because he'd have thought that was enough support and thus his effort was not necessary.

Green Rabbit had moved closer when you'd approached Sparrow and overeard your conversation - if you had been alone, she would have shadowed you and eventually offered her help when you were leaving the camp, on the ground that Sparrow would not be happy if you died. However, that would only happen if you failed to recruit any of the others - once she saw you had Nightingale along, she didn't interfere any further.

Do you find that interesting? :)

This message was last edited by the GM at 18:08, Wed 15 Jan 2014.