Next one.

OOC: Maybe a bit unrealistic, but everyone makes mistakes at time. Big mistakes.

Flint Ironwood.

Flint threw down the bow with a growl of frustration. His remaining arrows joined the weapon a moment later.
,,Screw this! I'm too old to do this kind of stuff. I'm going to help with the retreat. Feel free to use these arrows." He spoke to no one in particular and made his way for the stairs.

He stopped at the bottom of the breach. So far, no snakemen had crawled over the pile of rubble yet. The Breton looked at the stacked bricks and then begun to climb. At the top, he could see the defenders who had fallen.
,,I wonder why they haven't stormed over the place yet. This close to the wall, the archers can't shoot at them." He thought to himself.

At the top, an unwelcome surprise awaited him. One moment, he was looking at the cloudcovered sky. The other, he was blinded by a red flash.
,,Aah!" Flint screamed as he tumbled backwards. Somehow, he managed to fire off a telekinetic blast on pure instinct that smashed the top off the improvised wall he'd been climbing. The old man groaned when he came to a halt at the bottom. He didn't feel well. His forehead was throbbing, his right hand felt as if it was on fire and his knees weren't doing much better either. And he still couldn't see. Something was running into his eyes, something warm and liquid.

He heard a hiss. He then heard the thunderclap of air moving to fill an irregular vacuum.
,,What was that?!" Flint thought. He had been unable to see the snakeman that had first attacked him at the top of the wall, then slithered after him as he fell, finally to be teleported away by Aleatoire. Or at least, partially. What was left wasn't in any condition to do anything. Flint heard a crack.
,,And what was that?" He mumbled and used his left hand to wipe the liquid out of his face. The pain had now almost ceased as he'd become numb to it. Now he could finally see again and he looked at the hand he'd used to wipe with. It was covered in blood.
,,Oh, crap."

He looked at his other hand. The mashed piece of flesh didn't look like it could be saved. Somehow, it looked a lot worse than it felt.
,,Ugh. I'm never ever going to climb a wall again during wartime." The Breton muttered as he staggered to his feet. The archers up on the wall were too busy holding back the enemy to notice what had happened. Flint wiped the blood from his face again.
,,Ok, legs hurt, but still functional. Right hand, not recognizable as a hand anymore. Head, big bump on the back, gash at the front. Glass got split like paper. Ugh...swordslash? Oh, this is not good." He thought.

He looked around him. There was something off to his right, with what looked like a formless lump of golden scales in the center. The end result of the Aleatoire's victim. Just beyond it, there were the fallen defenders, some of which had rolled down after he'd fired that telekinetic blast. One form he felt he recognized.
,,Green-Root....Damn...Damn you. You just had to do a heroic sacrifice, didn't you? Damn you. I hope you enjoyed your moment of glory." He spat. Another snakeman reached the top of the breach. Flint struck it down with a telekinetic needle without giving it any further thought. He then turned and began to move to the assembly point, leaning on the walls of the buildings he passed. He was beginning to feel lightheaded.
,,Not a good sign. The wall won't hold much longer once those snakes get enough people across to flank the archers. I should warn some melee-fighters." He knew. He felt oddly unconcerned, however.

This post has been edited by jack cloudy: Dec 21 2007, 09:17 PM

Flogir

Flogir nodded at his companion's words. "I'll try to hold off the retreat as long as possible. I do suggest you find whatever you need with the utmost haste though. Once you return, the retreat will start full swing. Good luck," Flogir finished, clasping a hand on the Altmer's shoulder.

Dan

After posing his question to Rann, Dan received the kind of answer he wanted. Dan smiled at hearing that the leaders of the current defence force were a former minor officer, a petty murderer and whatnot. The fact that he himself had been giving advice to the leaders of the defence showed just in what situation they were in since, in his younger days, Dan never gave his oppinion to those leading him yet always requested of them his purse of drakes as payment.

At least we're in good hands.

"Still, I heard talk of others which seemed close to you. Your sister and father if I'm not mistaken. Should we not join them?" Dan asked in a nonchalant way, not knowing of the conflict between Satyana and Rann.

Flint Ironwood.

Flint's vision was beginning to fail him.
,,Ok...not good, not good." He thought when his legs failed him as well. He managed to crawl a bit further but in the end, he passed out.

A pair of retreating soldiers unceremoniously picked him from the street and carried him away to the improvised healer's camp.


Sinyaramen Fenasim, Cloud Ruler.

Sin jumped up from his stool and held on to the desk for support.
,,Haha! I got it! I am a genius, a genius!" He shouted. Moving frantically, he began to pile all of the books he wanted to 'borrow' from the library. Once he'd made a good pile on an empty part of the floor. He grabbed his cane and walked to one side. Once there, he froze.
,,I will get these books, one way or another. Yes, an hour or two should do it. Now, let's begin."


in the Barracks, one of the Blade battlemages looked up from his enchanted axe he had been cleaning.
,,Damn it. Drained, just when I need it. Hey, Jeric! Go and take a look at that old guy in the library! See if he isn't doing his tricks again!"

Rann

"That's my mother and father walking ahead," he answered, "And we left my sister Amrita back there."

He made no mention of Satyana, preferring not to delve into details regarding his family problems at the time.

Altair

Altair left Flogir to his duties and immediately started on his own.

Voltar, he called through the amulet, Meet me at the palace entrance as soon as possible. We have work to do.

He reached the palace a few minutes later and sat on the steps, waiting patiently for his assistant.

Voltar

Voltar had been among those retreating to the next sector when Veric's message reached him. He calmly replied that he'd be there shortly and made his way to the palace entrance. Once he got there he found "Altair" waiting for him.

"What are we doing here?" Voltar inquired.


Amrita

After Flogir left, Amrita set off to the battlements where the archers were attacking. Once there, she instructed all but the few necessary archers to the northern district, leaving herself with about 50 archers to slow down the advancing horde. She also notified them that she was temporarily in command of them. By witnessing her archery prowess, none complained about the change.

"We only need to buy enough time for the retreat to succeed, fellas," she said calmly as she hurled a fireball into the enemy ranks.

The archers around her grimly nodded as they carefully launched another volley.

Altair

"Nothing," Altair replied, motioning for Voltar to follow him inside. There was not a soul present in the palace, seeing as every spare person was needed holding the wall or aiding in the retreat.

They walked a short distance through the darkness before Altair finally stopped.

"We're going back home," he said, obviously referring to his extra-dimensional pocket where he often stayed, "There is a tome in my possession that describes a spell that we could use against the Silhouette. We need to modify it to our own purposes."

Imperial Prison

One of Dunmer spearmen guarding the bridge to the Imperial Prison thought he heard a metallic thud nearby. It was difficult to tell over the noise of the crowds shouting and running down the staircase to the shore.

"Did you hear something fall?" He asked one of his comrades.
"Yeah, sounded like someone's tried to smash one of the gates open with a hammer." They both glanced back through the prison gates. "You want to check? It doesn't look like the Akaviri have taken notice of us yet."

Silently, they pushed the gates open and marched in, hands on their spears. The sun was getting low on the horizon, lengthening shadows and gradually turning the sky into a sea of blood. They slowly ascended the ramps, forming a two-man phalanx.
One of the gates leading to the other half of the complex swung slightly in the wind, hinges creaking. The two spearmen abandoned their phalanx, and continued on. As they passed beneath the archway, a sphere glinted in the shadows above...... a reptilian eye scrutinized them for a moment.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Jan 1 2008, 09:08 PM

Brianna

She nodded too tired to even talk.

Focus, focus, this will be over soon

Repetedly she returned for more injured, there was no end to the amount of dead and heavily injured men scattered around. It was a picture of hell as it must look like. Suddenly she fell to her knees, swaying from side to side...

"I...I think I´ll have to start healing..." she mumbled before she passed out...

Silhouette.

The Silhouette looked at the archers that held back his forces. He was taking losses, acceptable losses, but nevertheless losses he could avoid. He thought about his options and made a decision.
,,Call back the assault, let them reform just beyond the archer's range. I'll go up personally and remind them why they should fear." He called to an Akaviri messenger who blowed the retreat signal.

As one, the wave of Akaviri rolled back, slittering around arrows, rarely getting hit. Another signal, and the wave stopped, aimed at the wall but not moving.

The Silhouette's mount moved forward, splitting the wave as it went, forming a path. With a casual flick of his hand, the cloaked being hurled an abandoned wagon at the archers on the breach. He then focussed his eyes on who appeared to be their commander. A woman, barely an adult.
,,I wonder what makes those so much more experienced than you, accept you as their leader. Is it charisma, or is it some hidden strength? Would you care to show me?"



OOC: Yeah, he's coming for Amrita. Nothing decisively, let's just play around for a bit.

Rann

Rann had barely finished his comment to Dan before he saw his mother collapse and fall on the cobblestone street. He barely knew her, but he still felt the need to help where he could.

Breaking into a run, he caught up to them within a few seconds. Rahvin had already put down the soldier he had been carrying and was kneeling over Brianna, gently trying to wake her.

"She okay?" he asked his father.

"I think so," Rahvin answered, "You and your friend here carry these two soldiers to the rafts; I'll get your mother."

Rahvin carried Brianna in his arms while Rann scooped up one of the soldiers.

"Coming, Dan?"

OCC: The Plys'Iea sent a messenger to the Sil with Intel on the evacuation, it can arrive later on thought, and it's approaching sunset...... Where's Rann (the giant otherwordly-lizard slayer) anyway?

Plys'Iea

At first it looked like a simple, albiet deadly, accident. An avalanche of misc. junk suddenly began falling onto the path the civilians and soldiers were using to evacuate. A barrel smashed upon the back of a priest as he was encouraging the scared civilians with speechs of deliverance and he was abruptly silenced.

Many people took accidental steps off the path and tumbled violently down the steep incline. Most of the rubble that struck crippled those unfortunate enough to be hit. As the already traumatized civilians flew into a panic and made disorganized scrambles for the waterfront, one of the soldiers looked up and spotted a large shape plummet down from above.

The hunter absorbed the fall in his knees, the stench of fear and blood filled the air. He turned to face those coming down the path toward him, and by extension, the shore. The nearest people to him were soldiers, guards in chainmail to be specific.
Behind them were dozens upon dozens of civilians. The masses still at the bridge and further on didn't understand why there was a hold-up and pushed against those before them. He stared into the eyes of the guards and civilians with his cold, alien eyes.

Many people yelled for those behind them to stop shoving and warn them of the obstacle standing in their way. If anyone heard or cared, the warrior would never know. Unmoved by their fear and despearate plight, he leveled his staff, head first, at the guards in front.
Shields were raised to blunt the blows, but harm was not the point, for the hunter, it was a simple matter to shove the lighter men and mer off the narrow path. Swords were useful weapons, but the greater reach his arm and staff afforded was more than a match for the longswords the soldiers wielded.

The soldiers posed an annoyance, but now that they were out of the way the civilians had nothing to hide behind.......

Vasha's Narza'Tai pack.


The meeting had to be cut short as rumours of an evacuation came. Vasha felt relieved, strangely enough, even though her proposal was all but forgotten. The task she'd suggested felt too close to that of the old Brotherhood, and it plagued her thoughts that she'd so easily dismissed the Narza'Tai's true purpose for a short-term gain.

Now, she and her group stalked the rooftops along the path of the evacuees, hiding behind chimneys. When the giant Argonian warrior came, she barely blinked. By now, she was beginning to see a pattern. This one would appear wherever it could do the most damage to the morale of the army. It always acted on its own, but the Breton also admit that any support would more likely hinder it. No matter.
,,Remain at a distance, try to get a shot in with the crossbows. Be accurate, don't reveal your location. Relocate immediately after firing, do not wait for your bolt to hit. That armour must have a weakpoint, somewhere. Try to find it. Kalsh, hand over....." Vasha looked at her group. Then her expressione grew fierce.
,,Where is Kalsh?"



Kalsh, at the breach! (big surprise, not)


Kalsh looked down on the corpse lying amids the pile of other corpses. Even she could barely recognize the Argonian, trampled and cut as he'd been. She had barely any eye for the Akaviri army waiting just beyond the range of her crossbow, nor had she any eye for the sole being that approached, sitting astride a giant cat. She only had eyes for Green-Root.
,,I must leave soon. Farewell....we'll fight the snakes for you now." She hissed solemnly and uncorked a vial whose contents she sprinkled liberally over the dead Argonian's body. She bent down and picked up the silver spear. She turned to leave, flicking a minor fireball over her shoulder. The fireball instantly grew into an inferno, fed by the flammable liquid she'd spread.
,,Farewell."



(Heartbreaking? I dunno, I don't like writing farewells for my characters.)

Amrita

Amrita grinned as the Akaviri retreat was sounded. The archers upon the battlement whooped with joy. The celebration was shortlived though as Amrita noticed that the enemy army was reforming just out of bow range.

Suddenly a column opened up and the atrocity that was the Silhouette was calmly making its way towards them. Many of the archers paled at the sight of the huge enemy leader but Amrita hid her anxiety and glared at the Silhouette.

"Stay on guard everyone, expect the unexpected. We might need to get the hell out of here really quickly," she told the archers as she studied the enemy commander, waiting to see what it would do.

OCC: It really depends on whether you want that to be case, we never delved deep into how Root got along with the 'Tai.

Plys'Iea

Most of the crowd was human, with some elves here and there. The hunter disliked the races of men and mer more than the other species of Nirm.

They were too similar to the Naryyn, a loathsome species that had been the greatest enemy of the Plys'Iea.
The last war with them, the very one he'd fought here on this world, had ended in defeat for his people.
In a way this was nineteen years of bitter hatred and anger being vented.

Generally the civilians he'd encountered were to panic-stricken and defenseless to put up any form of struggle. So when he swatted aside the last row of pitiful creatures it came as any immense surprise that something might put up any effective resistance.

No sooner did the row before them perish then three mages unleashed a combination of spells and curses.
Two curses simply didn't take affect, but the concussive force of a fireball gave pause to his murderous rampage. The hunter planted his right foot to stop himself and snarled at the mages.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Jan 6 2008, 02:04 AM

Brianna

She slowly regained consciousness while resting in Rahvin´s arms, faintly aware of a somewhat familiar person...

Is it Rann? My Rann?

"Ahhh, she whispered silently, Rannie is that you?...Rahvin I..I think I´m ok now...I have work to do"

Then she faded away again...

Nooooo....I have to...have to help these men...ahhhh



OOC: Gah I have no idea where Satyana is just now, can someone tell me?

Silhouette

The warcat stopped. By now, the Silhouette was within reach of the archers, having stopped merely a stonesthrow from the wall. Yet not a single arrow had been fired yet.

The cloaked being drew a pair of curved scimitars as it stood tall on his mount's back.
,,Now, let's see who you are." It thought. A curse flew out to the archers without warning. While potent, it was merely a distraction. The Silhouette itself had leaped up, landing on the ramparts. It made no furhter hostile moves, merely standing there, to observe the reaction of the Tamriellans.

Dan

Before Rann could finish his reply he dashed off to a woman who had fallen on the ground because of exhaustion, his mother apparently. Nearby was Rann's father as well. Dan didn't exactly like family affairs, since he had lost his own family a long time ago. Seeing others spending time with their own families made Dan think about what could have happened if he wouldn't have left his village at an early age, and if he would have spent more time with his own family.

You'd have died with them, that's what would have happened. Time to help in a matter of actual importance now. The past is the past and it's best you don't remind yourself too often about it, old man.

With that, Dan scooped a wounded soldier on his shoulder and started following Rann.

Amrita

"Duck!" Amrita shouted instinctively as the curse was hurled in their direction. When she rose, she stood face to face with the leader of the enemy army. The being was massive!

For a moment, Amrita's confidence wavered but quickly her dark smirk crossed her face once more as she held her ground. She noticed the archers were backing away slowly.

Good, hopefully they won't get hurt, she thought.

OCC: Seeing as Vasha seems a little pre-occupied I'll assume the attack hasn't started yet. Rann and Dan (didn't realize that rhymed until now) will be running into a traffic jam pretty soon, nobody's getting anywhere......

Plys'Iea

The mages began hurling fireballs and clouds of ice after witnessing the ineffectiveness of curses. While the armored plating of his armor was very affective at deflecting directed energy and tolerant of temperature extremes, the hunter protected his unarmored head by using his bracers as shields.

From his limited understanding of Nirm's magicka, mages did not possess infinite reserves. Forging a helmet will the the next thing I do when this battle is over.... Suddenly, the warrior slid his his grip down on the staff and threw it at the three clustered mages.
One of the mages got halfway through a shield spell before the flail smashed into her ribs. The other two were distracted enough to foolishly take their attention away from the Plys'Iea for a moment. Before the people behind them could warn them, the hunter was upon them.

Ian

After setting a crate of foodstuffs down on the raft the vampire paused. The air carried the scent of freshly spilled blood. The fighting's too distant for the wind to carry it here. Then a slight sound came with the wind, the echo of a familiar shriek!

Ian froze, Rann had claimed to kill the champion of the Akaviri. "Apparently he wasn't thorough enough," Kirana commented.
"Satyana, Issac, you two stay here!" He ordered to them as he disentangled himself from the large, but not increasing, mob of soldiers, assassins, and civilians.