The ice storm helped scatter and disperse the Huns.  They can't form a solid wall against the horsemen, so some of them begin to work their way around the flank.

Maki shoots arrows to soften up what line the Huns do have.
(He does not have bard spells, but he does have other bard powers, including a few that can be very valuable with a large group of troops.)

The two worg riders rally their few troops for a spirited defense, as Tugdual charges in with the cavalry.

The blond girl with the magic looks back at Maki.  She calls out to him in very strongly and strangely accented Germanic:  "Come with us, keep up!"

It takes him a moment to place the foreign accent.  She is one of the Slavic people- Maki has heard of them, but they are rarely seen.

 Tugdual rushes forward with the cavalry, ready to tear through armour and flesh alike with his oversized and magically enhanced claws and fangs.

 He saves his magic tricks for now, and while targeting one of the orcs to pounce on, he wonders who the leader is... a champion, a shaman, a demon ? That would have to be his priority target once they have broken the line of defence.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:43, Mon 16 Sept 2013.

Maki fires one more arrow, before their cavalery hits the defending Orc position. Once they do he quickly puts his bow away and starts to folow big man that casted a spell just moments ago.
He was suprised that the man has not stayed back and fought from the distance. But judging by his size, he wasn't an ordinary wizard by far.

As he moved, he started to sing quite loudly, so even those fighting could hardly over hear him.

Climb into the ring for a battle that you can't win
Swing as hard as you can swing, it will still mean nothing
Should’ve seen it coming
It had to happen sometime
But you went and brought a knife
To an all out sword fight

And the only thing to save
Is the banner that you wave
To be wrapped around your grave....

OOC1: Maki inspires courage to allies

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
OOC2: If you can't guess it, original: This Means War - Nickelback

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This message was last edited by the player at 16:59, Mon 16 Sept 2013.

Backed by Maki’s song, the cavalry makes an uphill charge into a very weak Orc line.  Tugdual goes in with the others.   The Orcs are cut down quickly… except for the two riding Worgs.

One of these makes his own desperate charge, into the flank of the attack, unseating a rider and hurling him down.  The Orc is instantly in the thick of the Human cavalry, outnumbered, by fighting ferociously, with desperation and fury.

The other is… well, clearly not an Orc.  Not an Orc but trying to look like one- Hun armor conceals almost all his features.  But where it does not, bright red skin can be seen.  And the proportions are off, like the big hump on the back. And there is the tail.  Orcs do not have tails.  This one does.

The rest of the Orc troops are moving to intercept, but their position is terrible.  Scattered infantry, facing a wedge of rushing cavalry.  It does not look like there is any

Quite suddenly and unexpectedly, between the horsemen and the flags, a wall of fire shoots up.

Maki continued to sing, though he stopped and took his bow and arrow once again.

"Say anything you want
But talk will get you nowhere
The only thing you've brought was psychological warfare
Well there’s no getting out
And now you got to wonder
Who will dig you out when you’re six feet under"

As the last word is spoken, the arrow flies towards one of the scattered Orcs. Although Maki does not believe they are a match for the cavalery, they could still pose a threat if they managed to regroup and flank. He was going to prevent that.

With a corner of an eye he noticed the fire, and wondered if the Huns might have a shaman on their side.

OOC: Firing at U13, R12

 Tugdual wanted to tell the cavalrymen to go around the wall of fire... but the only thing that came out of his throat was a powerful roar. He did not now what it could achieve, perhaps chill the orc's blood, or cheer up his own allies...

 The leonid druid had found his target. A demon riding a worg. That would make for a fantastic story. And there was a bard there to witness it first hand...

 The oversized lion charged and pounced on the red-skinned rider, his claws aimed for the rider, he tried to bite his head off in the same motion and bring him to the ground in a deadly grapple.

Tugdual engages the Demonic worg rider in a fierce one-on-one battle.  Both combatants have unnatural strength.  There are two cavalry men nearby, but they hesitate to join this fight.  It’s too quick, too fluid.

Instead, one of them attends to one of the fallen, the other keeps a lance at the ready… in case Tugdual needs help.

Tavi uses an Entangle spell.  It creates a “killing field” for Maki, who finds it easier to hit Orcs who are caught up in the entangling brush.  It also further disrupts the Orc response.  They are forced to move around the Entangle spell, and they can only respond to Maki and the cavalry in a scattered, uncoordinated way.

The cavalry reaches the area of the flags, and the opposition is still light.  But they can see… if they wait to long, the roles of attacker and defender will reverse.  From up here they can see the force the Huns have dispatched to counterattack.

 Suddenly, Tugdual was lost in a duel to the death. The battle around this confrontation was still going on, troops were fighting, moving, recovering, decisions had to be made, but on this small corner of hill, the Lion and the Demon were fighting without a thought for all this.

 The two of them had turned into a whirlwind of fur and claws, of blood, leather and pain, and only one of the two would come out standing on its paws...

 The two riders had best stay away from the frenzy of this deadly grapple. If the druid was in serious trouble at some point, he would return to his human shape to recover some of his health ; and surely the two soldiers would then move in to help.

 Lost in his duet, Tugdual had no idea that reinforcements were on their way... and not on their side.

Maki saw and heard the ferocity of the lion. He got gosebumps just from watching, and he was glad he was nowhere near them.

Although he wouldn't mind sitting back and watch the duel unfold, he saw that they had to act quick. More arrows shot from his bow towards his enemy.


OOC: Continue shooting with my bow, until the huns get to 10ft or so.

Tugdual’s Demon opponent fights like, well, a Demon.  One of the two nearby cavalrymen, exploiting a moment of opportunity, hits the Demon with a spear.  It snaps.  Tugdual recalls a warning given to Arctos at the Battle of Beda:  “Conventional” soldiers are not effective, fighting against Demonkind.  Their chances of hurting the Demon are slim amd they put themselves in great peril.

The battle between Tugdual and the Demon is a close match.  Both wound the other, neither can gain much advantage.  But while it is a one-on-one draw, it has wider effects.  The Demon is focused on Tugdual, and cannot rally or command the Orcs.  The cavalry scatters the last of them from the hill.  With a rope and grapnel, one of the horsemen topples one of the flags.

This, the Demon sees, and it is not happy.

Meanwhile, the Orcs on the “lower flank” do not see that behind them, the hill is fallen.  They are after the “wizard”, Tavi.  From what they are shouting, they seem to think she is an Elf, and Orcs hate Elves so strongly it is psychopathic.  Even as Maki hits and kills another one, they run towards the both of them, having bypassed the Entangle spell.

Tavi is strong and quick but not very skilled at close combat.  She wounds and Orc, hitting it with her staff, but then she is wounded, struck hard by an Orc’s mace.

Maki does not hasitate. In a blink of an eye he already has two swords in his hands. He uses speed to his advantage as he tries his best to defend the elven woman.

"Try and move behind me." He said to her, as he slashed with both his weapons towards the two orcs.

 Tugdual relentlessly continues the fight. The large jaws bite through the armour and the demonic flesh... but that hardly seems to be enough. The grapple grows in intensity, but the druid has no choice but to keep on fighting, slashing with his claws, biting with his fangs, and generally hoping that he has not underestimated the might of this otherworldly warrior...

Tavi backs up behind Maki as four Orcs close in.

The cavalry men take the flags down, and break the pennants free from the poles.  It’s not just a pride thing.  They don’t want to stay here, and this will keep the Huns from simply putting the flags back up again.


Demons are not completely invulnerable to the acts of ordinary mortals.  Just mostly.  And the difference between mostly and completely…

Tugdual is fighting the thing to an exhausting, bloody draw.  But after tearing down the remaining flags, the cavalrymen loop back to see what’s going on.  And several of them decide they are going to help.  The captain of the troop, a young Burgundian named Glarigg- with the look of a young glory-seeker about him- rushes the Demon from behind while the horrid thing is focused on Tugdual, and scores a hit with his lance.

It is the opening Tugdual needs to turn the tide.  With the Demon’s attention divided, he lands several mortal blows in rapid succession.

The Demon howls.

At once, the Orcs, who have been closing on Tavi and Maki, sense something has gone wrong.  With a Demon at their fore, they will fight unto certain death, but when that power fades… Orcs can know fear and self preservation and they look around… their hill has fallen.  They turn and flee, as Tugdual and a small knot of the bravest of the riders finish off the Demon.

Maki, although determined to fight, was still glad that the Orcs began to flee. One or two he might handle, but with four he would could be in serious trouble. Luckily it didn't came to that.

"Are you allright?" He turns towards Tavi. "We should return to the main group, before their reinforcements reach us." He added, as he headed to his horse. Once up he went towards Tugdual.

"My good man that was some impressive work worthy of a song. May i learn your name?"

 Tugdual was bloodied. A bloodied lion with overgrown fangs, scary claws and a worn out suit of leather armour.

 The demon fallen, he considered his task done, or almost so. He wished Arctos would have witness the scene. They should talk about this later over ale and a pipe.

 The gathered its strength and roared over the melee, a powerful roar that would be heard all over the valley, chilling the orcs to their bones. The last drops of hie energy had gone into that last stunt, and the king of the jungle resumed his mere human shape.

 Once again, Tugdual was an old man, in grey tunic and worn out armour, resting on his oaken shillelagh.
  "Tugdual, of Vosego Sylva," he finally introduce himself. "Good to meet you, young man."

 Despite the intensity of the duel, Tugdual had noticed the bard and his inspiring abilities. He advised :
  "Spare no details when you recollect the story of flag hill... and get that young Burgundian name ; his lance pierced a demon heart."

  "Gather the flags ! Wave them in all directions, confuse the orcs and their officers. Most of them will not fall for it, but a few will."

Almost instantly as the Tugdual announced his name, Maki got inspired.
With a swift move he already had his double headed lute in his hands. As he striked the strings while still on his horse, it was a good thing the animal heard him perform a few times before, so it did not get spooked.

His wild germanic nature showed as soon as the Skald opened his mouth as the words were rough and hard, aimed at the enemy that has already fleed.

Weil Tugdual, of Vosego Sylva uns gesandt
verkünden wir den Hun's Untergang.

Er ist wie ein Gewitter
er kommt zu dir du kannst es hören
es kund zu tun ist ach so bitter
er kommt zu dir um zu zerstören.

Die Wahrheit ist ein Chor aus Wind
kein Engel kommt um euch zu rächen
diese Tage eure letzten sind
wie Stäbchen wird Tugdual euch brechen.

As soon as the inspiration for the song ended, Maki realised what language he has used. He grinned as he sang the song again, but this time in common language.


Because Tugdual has sent us
we're announceing the Hun's downfall.

He is like a thunderstorm
he comes to you, you can hear it
to reveal it, is oh so bitter
he comes to destroy you.

The truth is a choir of wind
no angel is coming to avenge you
these days are your last
Tugdual will break you like little sticks.

OOC:The original of this song:

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Der Meister - Rammstein

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The troops on flag hill realize they don't have a lot of time for playing games with the captured Hun pennants.  The Hun reinforcement troop is on its way up the hill and the light cavalry is much better suited for raiding instead of defending.  And, they would be very outnumbered.  They know its best that they don't get pinned down.

 They regroup to head back to the main force, but there, just a little way further down the hill, is Gondioque, daughter of Gundobad.

One of the Burgundian riders recognizes her and rides up.

“You would have witnessed a spectacular battle,” he says.  “Not on our part, the Huns could hardly hold the hill against us, and we are hopefully befuddling them with their own flags.  But we must leave, many more are coming.”

Geoff stiffens, but Gondioque takes the lack of honorific in stride. Time to go, but two things are necessary: The Lady Tavi must be taken with you, and the demon's body also. The Huns can make a magic implement from at least one part of it.

Gondioque then turns and starts toward the west and a little south.

 Tugdual whistles and Vurambix comes near. The mighty aurochs had followed the cavalry this far, and his dangerous gore would once again come to service if they were to charge again.

  "Done and done, Lady Gondioque."
 The druid had no idea who she was, but if the riders looked up to her, there had to be a good reason.

 With help from a few solid young men, the old Tugdual loaded the corpse of the demon on his faithful companion. The large bovine did not seem to like it very much, but with the druid speaking in a soothing voice and riding with him, he executed the task pretty well.

 In less than a minute they were ready to leave flag hill.

Maki aproaches as well. "My Lady it was a swift and clean victory on our part. They seemed to have a demon in their ranks as well, but good man Tugdual made short work of him." The skald smiled, and briefly looked over to the man near them.

He sure had a good story to tell from all of this. And thanks to the victory his moral was as high as ever.

Good says "Lady Gondioque." One wonders if there's time to take the flags. Then I think one should worry about being flanked. Ad she adds something strange...Just making observations.

  "Taking the flags with us will not take long... What do you mean, being flanked ?" asks the druid with an air of suspicion.

 He makes sure the demon is properly tied on his aurochs and starts moving towards the small town.

  ooc : is it normal for NPC to appear in the middle of the battlefield ? do we know about "lady gondioque" ?

"I agree, they are getting close. Maybe we should let them recapture the hill, but strike them later again. Though no doubt they will fortify it harder." Maki said, looking around to assess the situation.


OOC: She leads my unit
This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Mon 30 Sept 2013.

ooc : all right, I did not read your thread from before you joined us, so I was a bit surprised...

Why so few troops with the flags? Stupidity? Hoping to catch you with the reinforcements getting between you and the main body? Distraction? If the enemy has brains, they'll want to partially surround you, at least, or move you in the direction they want, probably into forested land. Has Forestfriend Tavi here (gestures) talked with you or the commanders?