The Ghostfence rp: Playground 1 Options

[Olen]

Rothan

Rothan read the note then called to Dranas, "He says he'll carry his own things. But I agree with Eno, we'd best be moving as soon as you can get those things loaded."

He turned back to the note, the pilgrim would prefer to pray by himself. An offer for personal prayer, even by a junior priest, wasn't considered. It was accepted. Refusing was most irregular. He gave the pilgrim a look, there was something wrong. Something quite wrong but he didn't want to voice his worries in front of the pilgrim. He turned back to Dranas, "Need a hand?"

[canis216]

Dranas Heleran

Dranas answered the priest by motioning to the now open sack of Temple construction supplies. "You can help Eno move half that gear into this empty pack--once that's done I can load it on the guars myself; I'm real good at it and it'll get done right the first time that way."

A pause.

"And then we should be able to catch up to the caravan, and fast. Provided we get no more trouble."

[Colonel Mustard]

Erna

Erna had noticed the guar fall and the pilgrim, in his frustration, kick out at the animal. As the others had broken off from the group to investigate, so too had Erna, fading into the background like he usually did and escaping notice. He was suspicious of the pilgrim-something about him didn't sit right, and Erna had lived his backstabbing, brutal life long enough to know that when something didn't sit right, it wasn't right.

Now that the fuss over the guar had died down, Erna wanted to get back to the caravan. He hadn't, as he had hoped, had a chance to take a look in that pilgrim's backpack and now it was done he wanted to get back.

He had a gut feeling something else wasn't right, either.

[Dantrag]

OOC: decided to get things rolling.

Dralas

Just as the dunmer near him mentioned trouble, Dralas' eyes widened in surprise when an arrow whizzed by his ear. He didn't have to look around for long before he found the source. Out from behind a rock structure, a few dunmer were moving in such a way as to cut them off from the caravan. Dralas could tell that they were ashlanders, and assumed them to be rogues, like himself. The difference was that he didn't go around robbing and killing.

"Everyone who can't fight should get behind," he said as he brought out his bow and fired a shot, "They're getting between us and the caravan."

Unfortunately, help from the caravan was unlikely to come; it had already rounded a corner in the foyada, and was out of sight.

[bbqplatypus]

OOC: I thought it was established that Apelles would be the first to notice this - as I have previously stated, I've been busy all week with finals. I could not possibly have posted this earlier - I said I would get things started. I'm a bit miffed that you started this without me, actually. How about we pretend this post happened first, and then things will continue where you left off.


Apelles Velvus

Apelles stood watch, looking into the distance, looking for signs of raiders or creatures. Conversations continued around him - he ignored them. Too distracting. The caravan had rounded a bend in the foyada. They were alone. Apelles didn't like this one bit. Something felt wrong...

Suddenly, he noticed it. A rustling in a trama bush near the foot of one of the less steep edges of the foyada. A Dunmer, clad in chitin armor, was taking aim with his bow.

"AMBUSH!" he cried as the arrow whizzed dangerously close to Dralas's head.

To pull off such a shot from such a distance... Apelles thought. Clearly we aren't dealing with amateurs.

A few more Ashlanders emerged armed with swords and clubs, dashing across the foyada and positioning themselves between the dead guar and the caravan.

"Everyone who can't fight should get behind," the Ashlander declared. "They're getting between us and the caravan."

"I'll help them deal with the ones on the ground," Apelles said, turning toward Dralas. "You take out that archer."

He imagined that an Ashlander hunter would be more suited to take out an expert bowman than a Hlaalu scout.

Apelles drew his sword, braced his shield, and prepared himself for battle...

This post has been edited by bbqplatypus: May 16 2009, 02:32 AM

[Olen]

Rothan

An arrow flashed by the ashlander. People started shouting but he ignored them and ducked down to offer less of a target before looking around. There was a small group of ashlanders further up the foyada, between them and the caravan. He cursed, this was going to turn messy. Another arrow arced from the cover of the rocks the ashlanders had hidden in, it thudded to the ground in the midst of the group with a puff of dust. He put his hand to the cudgel at his belt but thought better of it; it would slow him down.

There was little enough cover in the foyada. The best he could do was hunker down behind a small boulder and hope the archer stopped firing.

[Colonel Mustard]

Erna

Erna ducked as soon as the first arrows sped towards him, rolling as he hit the ground and drawing a knife as soon he could. He drew his amulet from beneath his shirt and kissed it for the blessing of his patron, noting that its razor edge split his lip and sent blood welling from the wound.

"Somebody get that damn archer!" he yelled, as another arrow thudded into the ground, dangerously close.

They were ashlanders. He hated ashlanders.

[jack cloudy]

Eno Arval

Eno looked around in apparent confusion. It took him several precious seconds to realize where their assailants were located, seconds in which he stood still like a statue. Fortunately for him, he didn't get hit even once. Either the arrows missed their intended target, which was no surprise at this distance, or the shots so far had merely been a warning. Dralas ordered everyone without any fighting experience to move back. Eno had a feeling that with anyone, the man specifically meant him.

Despite that, Eno actually stepped forward, after laying his walking stick down on the ground.
"Excuse me! We do not mean to fight! Just tell us what you want so we can resolve this peacefully!" He then shouted, holding both hands open above his head in a sign of his goodwill.
"I mean, it's not as if there is anything valuable in those bags. Just what could have them interested in us?" He muttered under his breath.


Haz

"H..." Haz bit down on his tongue before he could complete his curse. Silent once more, he cursed his own fate.
"First this, and now bandits. Just which deity did I anger?" He thought to himself as he hunched down on the ground, trying to make himself as small a target as possible. An arrow stuck into the ground near him. He picked it up and snapped the shaft in two, hiding the arrowhead and a short piece of the shaft within his fist, his pilgrim's staff held low to the ground with the other. Now if only that damn archer would come closer.


OOC: Yeah, Eno is trying to solve things his way. He'll probably fail to pacify people though. So feel free to pull him back from the danger he's putting himself in. I'm off to bed. Also, I just remembered that both of my characters are armed with wood.

[canis216]

Dranas Heleran

As soon as the arrows began to fly Dranas ducked behind his guars.

"Damned archers! Curse me for leaving that crate of crossbows back in Balmora!"

He did have his throwing stars, but he couldn't possibly hope to hit the attacking ashlanders upon their rocky perch--too far away. No choice but to hunker down and wait until they came down into the foyada. Dranas drew his steel katana and waited.

[Colonel Mustard]

Erna

Erna saw the dunmer, Ano or Eno or something, try to negotiate witi the ashlanders, to end the blessed shedding of blood before it could begin.

Erna could have his fun taken away from him, not now.

He leapt up, grabbed the surprised elf by his collar and dragged him to the ground with a yell of; "Get down, you bloody fool."

[minque]

Rianne

"Everyone who can't fight should get behind," he said as he brought out his bow and fired a shot, "They're getting between us and the caravan."

She didn't hesitate to duck down behind a rock, as Dralas shouted, an arrow landed almost at her feet, she could see it was an ashlander arrow.

I can't kill my own people, have to find another way

She brought out her own bow and waited, waited for them to show themselves. She knew a sign or two that most probably would stop the rouges but she kept calm, for the time being.

She kept an arrow on the bow, ready to fire, just in case, but she watched Dralas, he would give her a sign, this was his world, he knew about fighting, when to do things.

Nobody really knows how skilled I am with this bow, I'll just do what I'm told, Dralas will understand, and maybe we can keep this not too violent, I hate killing!

[canis216]

Dranas Heleran

Dranas chanced a quick peek over a guar's back, to get some notion of the the enemy's position. A triad of archers were perched in the rocks--he had no hope of doing anything about them until they ran out of arrows. One of them was looking right at him...

Dranas ducked quickly as he could. He heard a thud as an arrow struck something metallic in one of the packs that still sat upon the back of Dranas' guar.

This was intolerable. Dranas could see the ashlander Dralas fire off an arrow at their assailants, but the one called Rianne just sat there at the ready. What the hell was she waiting for?

Dranas snuck another peek above his guar, this time looking up the foyada. A cadre of five attackers were jogging, crouched low, from boulder to boulder. They were getting close. Close enough, at least.

He pulled out one of his throwing stars and fired it fast as he could at the lead attacker, before diving once more to the ground at an arrow's approach.

[Dantrag]

Dralas

His first shot failed miserably, falling short of his target. It was a hasty shot, fired more out of surprise than anything else. On the second try, though, he took a bit more time with his shot. He beaded in on the archer and almost let an arrow fly. Almost. He knew the archer's face, and was at a loss as to what he should do. On one hand, an encounter with him wouldn't be peaceful anyway, and on the other, Dralas had no desire to kill him. He noticed that he knew the other two archers as well.

But when they ignored the music man's plea for peace, and responded with arrows, Dralas knew he was going to be forced to shoot back, and with three archers, he was shooting to kill. On top of all this, more were coming their way, ready for a melee.

After a few shots, he hit an archer in the arm, but nothing fatal. Hopefully it would at least keep him from aiming properly, if not from pulling back the bowstring altogether. He moved behind the same rock as Rianne.

"This isn't good," he said to her.

In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think that they were after him specifically; what would they possibly gain from killing and robbing the stragglers of a caravan? There was almost nothing valuable around them.

This post has been edited by Dantrag: May 16 2009, 03:00 AM

[bbqplatypus]

Apelles Velvus

Apelles crouched low and kept moving for cover. He could sense the battlefield around him - the arrows flying, the Ashlander raiders dashing across the foyada to meet them. Archers - three of them - perched above them on the ridge. Dralas was firing away at them, and Dranas Heleran had hit an Ashlander in the shoulder with a His every movement was focused, his every thought and heartbeat seemed in tune with the combat around him. Above all else, he refrained from panicking. Panicking in battle caused people to make stupid decisions. And Apelles was not stupid.

He watched the Ashlanders continue to make their approach. There was no way this underarmed, undertrained group could stand against both the archers and the the raiders at the same time. Even fighting against one of those two things was a stretch. Then again, if there were a way to stop the archers from firing...

Apelles slid to the ground beside Dranas Heleran as an arrow nicked his back (though he was fortunately protected by his armor).

"Listen - I have a plan," he said, just loudly enough to be heard by the people around him. "As soon as the Ashlanders get a bit closer, I want you to move forward with me to attack them. The archers won't risk shooting their own comrades. It's the only chance we've got."

[canis216]

Dranas Heleran

Dranas thought for a split-second. "Fine." He popped up quickly to fling another throwing star, then ducked back down to ready his sword. "I'm with you."

[Colonel Mustard]

OOC: Minque, why would Rianne dislike killing if she's an assassin? That makes no sense.

Erna

"What's this abou attacking?" Erma asked, scrambling over to the guard and Ash Boy, knives in both hands. "I'm pretty handy in a fight."

[Olen]

Rothan

Rothan was glad to see someone put Eno out the way. He looked around the group, Looks like I'd pass as a fighter... he thought and jumped out from behind his rock. An arrow tore at his robe missing his flesh by a fraction. He leapt and made a clumsy roll into the cover Apelles and Dranas shared.

"I can handle myself," he said.

The group of ashlanders were close now. They weren't heavily armed, short chitin blades and an axe or two as far as he could see. But they were armed. Idiot, he thought to himself, Hand to hand will be a great idea against them... He had a wry grin and pondered the cudgel, but they were a group, it wasn't fast enough when outnumbered. He calmed himself and waited for the move.

[bbqplatypus]

Apelles Velvus

"Well, glad the two of you could join us," Apelles said. "Now, on the count of three, we're going to get up and charge those Ashlanders."

He paused for a beat. "One...two...THREE!"

[Colonel Mustard]

Erna

Erna scrambled up, knife in one hand, crossbow in the other, alongside the scout and the priest. He raised his weapon and fired off a bolt, but aside from startling one of the ashlanders it did nothing. One of the archers, seeing the threat, loosed an arrow in his direction but it missed, thunking into the ashy soil several metres shy of the target.

Erna slammed into one of the ashlanders, using his weight to bowl the man over, and made a rapid stab with is dagger, trying to end the fight before it could begin. The dunmer dodged out of the way and slammed his elbow into the side of Erna's head, stunning the elf momentarily. He rolled off and scrambled out of the way before the elf could brain him with an axe, getting to his feet and grabbing a second knife from within his pocket, facing his opponent.

This was going to be interesting.

[jack cloudy]

Eno Arval

Eno landed hard and only the relative softness of the ash-covered ground kept him from injuring himself.
"Well, no need to be rude about it, sir." He protested as he got up into a crouching position and dusted himself off. Some of them prepared a charge he noticed and he sighed.
"Why, why can't we just settle things with words these days? This is so frustrating." He said, shaking his head.

Haz

Haz thought about joining the charge but decided against it. There was no need to increase his personal risk here. Besides, his skills meant nothing in open combat. He fought from the shadows, a quick jab to crush a windpipe, a finger dug into an eye. Nothing that would help him in these conditions.