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Post by Banez Gladpath on Dec 28, 2010 14:39:33 GMT -5
1.) More or less open, but be reasonable with who you bring. This is a warzone.
2.) You don’t post in two days = we skip you.
3.) Bring it on.
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…Where was everyone?
It seems like they should be here by now. Two weeks, he had said, hadn’t he?
Banez looked back at his troops, who were more or less prepared for the search, keen noses aside. He could tell that the longer they waited, the antsier they were getting. Why weren’t the wereanimals coming? Had there been some sort of problem? The sun was finally reaching mid-afternoon when Banez turned to some of the idly attentive soldiers at his back. There was no time to wait any longer, and while the captain wasn’t willing to make a full search, he could at least scout some of the mountain.
“Trevor, take a group and scout for Harrier’s and Chey’s captains. Come back in a watch’s time if you can’t find them. Nathan, keep this area secure, and Simon, Cruz, bring a fraction of your unit with me. We’ll take a closer look at the mountain in the meantime.”
Simon, a well-built redhead, went to organize a small group, while Cruz, a young man with vivid blond hair and keen eyes, did the same. Trevor, a man with curly brown hair, had already seemed to predict the command and was scouting off with a group of five. Banez’ own group totaled a number of nine before, armed with steel and a pack of torches and healing kits, they started making their way through the wilderness at the base of the mountain on foot. Four out of the nine carried bows and short swords, while two carried spears and the other two wielded longswords. Simon toted a halberd, while Cruz was one of the warriors with a recurve bow and short sword. Their armor clattered softly through the warm air, and Banez had one hand on the strap that held his shield to his back, while his arming sword hung faithfully at his side.
They’d just check for the first sign of vampires. That couldn’t be so hard.
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Post by Valmar Diodorus on Dec 28, 2010 15:59:36 GMT -5
On top of a ledge, near the peak of the mountain, Valmar had a perfect view of what would be the battlefield. The general, garnished in his black armor and red cloak, smiled at the lack of werecritters in the formation. Clearly, their plan to divert the two races into war has worked. This shall be an easier victory than expected.
"Sir, two small groups of humans are diverted from the main formation," reported Brutus, Valmar's second in command. "It seems the larger of the groups is heading towards the caverns, what are your orders?"
"Let them explore the caves," smirked Valmar, "They might get a burning surprise."
The general had already placed traps in the caverns, ranging from hidden spike doors to "Greek" fire releases. Meanwhile, the bulk of his forces are hidden within and behind the mountain, ready to overrun their intruders. All he has to do is wait and see.
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Dec 28, 2010 16:38:43 GMT -5
Everything seemed quiet by the time they approached the gaping mouth that led into the bowels of the mountain. Falling to the side, they lit a few torches before poking their heads into the cave.
"What stinks so bad?" a soldier with a darker complexion asked.
"Please tell me you can smell vampires, then," a soldier with a scar on his cheek replied.
"It could be sulfur. And anything could have died in here," Simon pointed out.
"Lower your voices," Banez said as he pulled his shield into his hand and adjusted it to his arm. Taking point, he led the way into the caves, wishing that the torchlight extended farther down the tunnel walls.
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Post by Valmar Diodorus on Dec 28, 2010 17:29:35 GMT -5
Valmar smiled as he watched the group of nine enter into the cavern. What a bunch of unexpecting fools? As he would describe it, placing your hand in a hornet's nest. He turned to his second in command, "Brutus, go to the other side of the mountain and prepare our forces. We're going to try and drive their force up here. When the conditions are right, you'll flank them and we'll drive them off the mountain."
The Colonel nodded his head and ran though the path to the other side of the mountain. Valmar then turned to Alexis, a short vampire (5'6 to be exact) wearing a similar black armor as Valmar, only armed with a crossbow. "Alexis, get the archers and seige weapons ready. We need to create the bait."
Inside the main cavern, a small group of vampires man what appeared to be a fire hose connected to several barrels containing flameable liquids. In charge of the small group of eight was Tartus. His group wore the armor of his general. Besides their flamethrower, each member had their own set of weapons. Two were armed with large square sheilds that covered their bodies and down their knees and short swords. The other six had smaller shields. Two were armed with spears. Two were armed with maces, and Tartus and the other soldier had one-handed battle axes.
Tartus hoped that the darkness of the cave would hide their position well. He could smell the humans walking closer and closer to them, their getting stronger. He wanted to wait for them to be at the perfect distance so they could all get crisped. Though before they were even close enough, they should have tripped a trap...any second now. -snap- The echo of a wall of spikes snapping the bones and turning the victim in to minced meat could be heard through out the cave...
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Post by Zephyr Strife on Dec 28, 2010 18:03:31 GMT -5
She stepped up beside Valmar, practically dwarfed by his size. She wore her hard leather armor, something that showed her confidence in her skills. It was black like her outfit and it matched her hair. She tapped the toe of one of her high boots on the ground, shifting the strap that held the broadsword to her back, then flipped the white braid aside and looked up at the general with those cat's eye yellow eyes of hers and blinked.
"Want me to wait here with you?" she asked, a small smile beginning to grow on her face. "Fine with me. I'd like to see you fight, really."
It was easy to see how excited she was for this slaughter of the humans. She gazed down to where the groups of humans had started, blinking again.
"They really aren't smart, are they?" she said, talking to no one in particular.
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Dec 28, 2010 18:14:29 GMT -5
There was the sound of a latch, and Banez felt a rush of wind pass his side and heard a snap and cry of pain. He whipped around, and while most of his soldiers had avoided it, a pale-eyed archer was pinned to the wall with spikes through his gauntlet, tense and trying to hold himself together.
Banez hurried to the pale-eyed archer and, with the help of Simon and the scarred soldier, pulled the trap up enough for the pale-eyed soldier to recover his arm. Dammit... The captain inspected the trap and the grooves it left in the wall, and then back to the others. The pale-eyed archer was holding his arm, which had to be completely useless now.
"We need to go back," he decided. "I'm not going farther without the wereanimals. I think it's obvious that something is here."
All the soldiers appeared to be relieved with the decision.
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Post by Valmar Diodorus on Dec 28, 2010 19:13:28 GMT -5
Valmar looked back at Zephyr and didn't realize that she was behind him. She was a sneaky, even more sneaky than him. "Of course, I need someone to protect my back." As he examined the woman.
Alexis retuned to the general with great haste. "Sir, our archers and ranged weapons are ready and in position." As the general looked down the mountain, he could see lines of archers positioned at the lower cliffs, in range of picking off the humans below. A few trebuchets were even pulled out. Valmar smiled, for hell was about to rain upon them.
"Alexis, sound your horn," he ordered "We shall strike first on our guests." The vampire archer drew his horn to his mouth and blew into it. It's sound echoed across the mountain for all to hear. As the sound died down, the first wave of arrows and stone was already in the air, providing a short amount of shade for the victims below.
It seemed the humans were about to turn back. Tartus didn't want that. He wanted to burn the invaders into a crisp, but he wasn't sure if they were in range. The flamethrower did shoot quite far, but it won't be as effective. Seeing that they might get away and that he might get some victims, he ordered his crew to fire it up. He smiled as he watched a long stream of fire traveled through the cavern.
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Post by Zephyr Strife on Dec 28, 2010 19:41:39 GMT -5
Zephyr looked down at the archers with a wide grin. Finally! Some bloodshed to ease her tension! She watched the rain of arrows and stone fly out, then looked up at Valmar. Much like a child ready to go play, she was almost bouncing with excitement. This was something she'd been preparing for since she'd come to join Valmar's army. And now she wanted to be part of the action, though she wasn't about to go after being told she could watch the general's back. No, she could wait. She was patient. She looked back down when a question popped into her head.
"Where's that new recruit you had?" she asked, sounding curious. "The mercenary."
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Dec 28, 2010 20:05:27 GMT -5
The small group had picked themselves up and had started moving back, which Banez at the back and glancing over his shoulder in case something was hiding. Needless to say, he was expecting a shadow jumping at him, instead of a flaming stream of orange light. The captain spun around again, and the flames parted as they met his shield. "Retreat! Now!" he ordered the soldiers, and they hurried out of the flame's range, although Banez would have to be careful not to touch his shield directly for a while.
They broke out into the wilderness again, and Banez furrowed his brows when he heard a battle horn. What in the world...? He looked up when a shadow passed over the group before his eyes widened. Were those-- Suddenly the distant sounds of screams and whinnies of panic rose from the main force, and the captain gestured back to it, "Come on!" The small force rushed out of the wilderness, only to come to a scene of carnage. Several soldiers had been impaled with arrows, and some were laying unmoving or trying to pick themselves up from where rocks had pelted them.
"Who's there?!"
"MY LEG! DEAR GOD, MY LEG!"
"GOD, HELP US!"
"What's going on!?"
Trevor was rushing back on the scene. "Captain Gladpath, they're nowhere! What should we do?"
"Hurry, organize everyone to pull out! We have to get out of here!" Banez replied, glancing back at the mountain. This was bad....
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Post by Valmar Diodorus on Dec 28, 2010 20:39:30 GMT -5
Valmar watched the carnage below. Clearly, the human forces were confused and disorganized. He was enjoying the scene so much, that he almost ignored Zeph's question. He turned to the young female and answered coldly, "He's quite busy at the moment, so he couldn't join us. Besides, he doesn't like harming humans." He turned back to the battle and figured that it was time to add more chaos. "Captain, I think it's time to rain fire and brimestone on our guest."
Alexis nodded and sounded his horn again. However, he played a different pair of notes, signaling the archers below to spice up the ammo. A line of fire appeared in front of the archers, allowing them to have fire arrows. The soldiers manning the siege weapons armed the trebunchets with an explosive shell. When everything was set, they fired their burning arrows and explosive shells at the army below.
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Post by Zephyr Strife on Dec 28, 2010 20:49:58 GMT -5
Zephyr made a face. Didn't like harming humans? Why the hell had he joined the damn army then!? With a disgruntled sigh, she turned back to watching the carnage and her irritation was wiped away almost instantly. Oh how fun! Fire! She watched the burning arrows and things fly toward the ranks of humans, anticipating the screams of pain. Nothing like a good battle to get her bloodlust going. She swallowed and leaned away from the edge, noting that she'd inched forward until her toes were beginning to hang over the edge.
"Think any of them will get this far?" she questioned, yellow eyes watching the scene below.
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Dec 28, 2010 21:17:08 GMT -5
As the captain barked orders at his soldiers and started his commanders on loading the wounded onto horses as quickly as they could manage, he found his palomino hoofing the ground nervously. Then there was the sound of that horn again, and Banez turned back toward the mountain. Fire arrows, and.. what in the world were THOSE?? Well whatever they were, one was practically heading toward him! Banez grasped the reins of his horse. "Incoming!" he called to the other soldiers near him, who immediately took it as their cue to go bolting.
Banez started running, but then the force of a nearby impact knocked him off of his feet. He let go of the reins and hit the ground, raising his arms to protect his head from anything else that hell spire was raining down on them. His ears were ringing... He felt arrowheads strike his armor, and although they didn't pierce, they left good dents in it.
Then someone was pulling him up; it was Simon. The redhead's mouth was moving, but the captain couldn't hear anything else but the ringing. The confusion must have shown, because Simon pushed Banez towards his horse and make a gesture of a 'v' mounting his vertical palm.
Okay, Banez understood that. He mounted his horse and, while he was disabled, Simon took over with ordering the troops to just drop their things and run. They had to leave a few dozen mortally wounded and dead, but the human force hurried out of the range of fire.
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Post by Valmar Diodorus on Dec 28, 2010 21:43:11 GMT -5
The general smiled with glee to see how his war machine had created so much damage and chaos to the forces below. With the human forces retreating to a safe distance from projectile fire, it was time to strike them with his infantry. "From the look of things, it seems they will be retreating back to their Capital," he replied with a smirk, "It is time to strike the final blow in this battle. Today is a new beginning for our proud race, the day we hide no more."
Down below, the left side of the base of the mountain, Brutus's forces finally made their rush down the mountain and in flanking position of the human army. With the enemy scattered and disorganized, the battle was going to be more like a masscure than anything else. The Colonel ordered his soldiers charge; the legion of vampires rushed towards the unexpecting humans and finally swords and shields collided.
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Post by Zephyr Strife on Dec 28, 2010 21:49:38 GMT -5
Zephyr watched in awe as Valmar's plans came into order and everything fell into place. Times like this, she was glad she was on Valmar's side rather than a rebel or something. Though, she was wishing she was part of Brutus's forces, getting into the bloodshed and gore. Her time would come, though. Maybe she'd get to storm the castle! She looked up at Valmar as he said it as the time for vampires to show themselves proudly, to no longer hide. And she felt very happy about that fact; living in the mountain for so long hadn't really been all that fun. So maybe she could go live in Cados with Scipio. Now he really could be her pet... Or slave. You know, either way. She looked back down, yellow eyes sparkling. Finally, she didn't have to hide... It was a nice feeling.
"We will be the rulers of this world," she said, quietly, sounding very much like Valmar.
Below, the sound of clanging metal and yelling rang out as the battle raged.
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Post by Banez Gladpath on Dec 28, 2010 22:04:00 GMT -5
Banez looked over as an unknown force was darting down the side of the mountain at an inhuman speed. So the vampires were nesting in the mountains, and they had just walked into a trap. The captain drew his spear where it was sheathed on the side of his mount, jabbing it down on the vampires that got close. Finally, his hearing was starting to return, although the sharp sounds of steel on steel were muted and muddled.
Simon's light blue eyes caught onto the leader of the force, and as the armies clashed, he charged for Brutus. Some human soldiers were attempting a valiant, but equally just as vain, defense as they stayed behind, probably to buy the others time to escape. Some archers were turned to fire a shot at a vampire's head, and of course, Simon, gritting his teeth, readied his poleaxe and came up behind Brutus, swinging the long weapon horizontally to take off the bastard's head.
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