Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Jul 14, 2011 13:03:45 GMT -6
It was clear the knight was favoring one of her legs over the other, and that made it hard to do with all this armor on her body. All those extra pounds could not be supported by her injured leg lest the wound become more serious than it was. it still burnt. Many of the teeth hadn't sunk in. due to the plate, but those that did, it was painful, like a hot poker continuing to stir in the wound.
Marle hadn't exactly paid much attention to the zombie she had lit on fire, to busy fending off the rest, but before she knew what was going on, the fire had spread quickly. Marle marveled at the sight of the burning corpses, until the smell met her nose, and made her want to vomit. The smell of burning flesh was a nasty thing. It wouldn't have been so bad if she had not known what it was that was making it, but the fact that she knew that's what humans smelt like when they burnt was a disgusting thought.
The zombies seemed to be easily dealt with after the fire began to overtake them, but the skeletons, however, were a different story, and the elusive doom wolves. The fire burnt, and the skeletons walked right through, becoming nothing but charred bones on their way through as they shambled across on bone feet.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Garnet's shield come up, and take the blow of the skeleton axe upon it. As the Hero fell, Marle stepped in close as the skeleton started to raise it's axe again to follow through. Both hands on her lance, Marle slammed the lance into the dead bone's rib cage, cracking it with the force, and driving it back with the crossbars of her lance just enough, to where she withdrew, and lunged forwards again, catching the neck this time.
Unbeknownst to her, a sword crossed her, and slammed into her side, cutting through a strap that kept her armor on, but never going through the plate and chainmail combination, though the hit caused her to shuffle to the side, and grasped at the point of impact, feeling a crack in her chest as it did. It hurt, a lot, and for the moment, took the pain out of her leg. Meeting the thing with a reprisal, she swung her lance back around, and knocked out it's legs, before stomping back down on it with her food foot, crushing the skull.
"I don't know how long we can last here. We need to think about withdrawing..."
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Jul 14, 2011 21:12:09 GMT -6
Garnet was looking into the empty eyesockets of death. He could make out the axe being raised and readied to cleave into him, but couldn't seem to get his limbs to work well enough to move him out of the way. As it turned out" however, this wasn't his time yet. A pair of brown-haired knights stepped into the path of the axewielding skeletons, and jabbed their lances into the ribcages of the monsters hard enough to crack them. The swordsman shook his head, and looked again. Oh.... Well, there was only one knight and one skeleton she was stabbing, but even so he was still alive. That was the important bit.
The knight stepped in again, this time catching the throat of the spine, and breaking it off. The fallen skeleton wasn't alone though, and the rest of the skeletons surged forward in the following moments. Garnet worked to scramble to his feet as he saw the Captain take a painful blow to her side. The hero stumbled a few times at first, before steadying and grabbing his shield's handle in both hands, swinging it like a giant paddle and battering away a couple of the light bone frames of the enemies.
Around the pair, monters continued to press forward. Moving in for the kill. She was right. Staying here would get them overwhelmed. Garnet gritted his teeth, and growled under his breath. He hated retreating when it wasn't part of his plan.
"Alright... Back towards the house then." The merc's bruised face wore a scowl as he acknowledged her words. He couldn't keep the snarl out of his voice though, if he'd wanted to. "I'll cover for us. You just stab anything that gets close."
Slipping his left arm back through the straps on his shield, and gripping it firmly, the swordsman once again flashed his slimsword out of his sheath. He adopted a defensive stance, using both shield an sword to knock away incoming strikes, and positioned himself between most of the enemies and his lance wielding ally. She was a formidable fighter. He would have been dead long ago without her supporting him, but without a shield, she was the one more open to attacks. Steadily, he retreated back towards the large burning house,at least ten monsters following, if not more.
Behind them, the burning structure's doorway beckoned. Promising shelter. Whether it was a true promise or not, was anyone"s guess. Shield's getting too heavy....
"Into the house. It's our best shot, Captain!"
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Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Jul 15, 2011 11:48:06 GMT -6
While gripping at her pained side, almost afraid to touch it with the way it hurt, Marle could see no end to them, though there couldn't be that many left, her army was fighting on behind them, she could hear their yells and their screams, but she could also hear other voice, those who have been broken off from the main of the group, still fighting. Again, another creature lurched forwards, and Marle was quick to strike it down, lance raised, she crashed it down on it's head as if the long weapon were a sword. Retreating a little bit, she noted the house's door as Garnet brought her attention.
Taking a short time to weigh the advantages and disadvantages, Marle could only feel fear grip her. It was from the Frying pan to the oven....but which was hotter? With a grumble, and repressed fear, she gave a nod.
"I guess so..."
She murmured aloud to herself, before seeing another skeleton cross her way, and was dispatched with another swing of her lance, though lower, taking it just below the pelvis, and separating it's spine. As Garnet took up the defensive stance to the rear, Marle pushed in through the doorway, well, hobbled in. Just before she did, she was met with a wave of heat, and stopped, not sure if this was the right idea...she could die from the heat along...but not all the places were on fire yet...in the next room, towards the rear, she could see the fires still somewhat dismal there.
With a breath she takes to help increase her courage, she ventures forth, moving quickly, not wanting to be in the heat for too long. The flames were everywhere, she swore she could feel them licking at her heels and her cheeks, it was hard going with a limp and her other wounds, but crossing the surface was quick, and she ended up in the room back of the house. Once there, she turned and called for Garnet.
"Come on Garnet! Hurry up!"
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Jul 16, 2011 11:21:13 GMT -6
Garnet's blocks grew more and more frantic as he backed towards the door. He could feel his shield arm dropping from the continued strain. He had to do most of his blocking with his sword arm now, and just leave his shield where it would hopefully get in the way of any attacks.
He was at the doors now. He couldn't help but wonder if they were the doors to Hell for him. The heat burned his back even through the coat as he stood there. After a moment, he heard the Captain calling though. It hadn't really been his intent to use her as a guinea pig, but at least he knew he wouldn't die right away on entering.
Stepping back into the burning house, he turned and ran through the place as best he was able. The heat made his eyes water as the smoke and ash burned his lungs. He coughed violently as he headed through the main area, and made his way into the back room, where the Captain was. It looked like some kind of storage room or hallway, likely connected to a dining room and a kitchen before it had ignited into fire.
"Right." Garnet ground out, after getting back to the the woman. Sounds of other fighters struggling in battle sounded from nearby, though he couldn't pinpoint the exact location.
"That leg's pretty bad, Captain. I hope your not planning on giving out and leaving all the work to me." The hero looked around the room, his shield arm hanging wearily at his side.
"Which way leads back out?"
Back at the front door, the skeletons paused, studying the strange sturcture before them for any hidden threats. It had swallowed the flesh-creatures when they'd run in. Strange that. The heated fires on the structure registered as a threat to bone walkers. Nothing for it but to plunge in after them. All flesh must be destroyed. And in they went.
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Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Jul 16, 2011 22:00:31 GMT -6
As Garnet came through the building, eventually, Marle flashed him a look at his remark about her not pulling her own wait. She wanted to laugh, she really did, but she wasn't in that kind of mindset right now, survival first. Marle was about to punch him in the rib for the joke, but she wasn't sure where he was injured. Instead, she reached out, and took his shield, noticing how weakly he held it. He wasn't used to the wait for long periods of time, she guessed.
Fitting it onto her arm, she noticed how light it was in comparison, and the weight difference. It was more balanced, for sure. Smirking up at him, she tried to bring some humor back to her life in this battle.
"Watch yourself, you can barely hold this shield up any longer. You need to get stronger, Garnet."
Musing, she noticed as the skeletons started to come in, and the ceiling of this room started to come down. a Beam crashed ontop of three of the constructs, but others just stepped over them, unphased. Turning around, she pointed towards the door at the back with her lance.
"Go through there. Its our best, hope, anyways...!"
Just then, the roof of this room as well, began to fall, burning planks falling, and lighting food, and furniture on fire. The longer the they stayed, the more likely they would die. Suddenly, Marle turned, and an axe was thrown at her, to which she raised the shield easily, and bashed the crude weapon away with the lighter shield, shortly before backing into the direction she pointed.
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Jul 17, 2011 20:41:42 GMT -6
Garnet raised an eyebrow, looking at the captain in a slightly annoyed manner. He'd just been beating away dozens of zombies, doomwolf attacks, and now, skeletons with the thing. But, nooooo. That was lightweight stuff. Clearly not difficult enough to warrant a limp arm....
Actually though, she's right. If all I can take is half a small battle with that thing, I realy need to work on my endurance with it....
He almost resisted as she took his shield, but it wouldn't be doing him much good. His entire left arm wouldn't be as usable as he'd have liked, in fact.
Seeing the rising embers from the flaming beam which had fallen, Garnet gave no argument about getting out of there. He only just managed to catch sight of the Captain's use of his shield to knock the ax aside.
Not exactly running, but hurrying as well as he could, Garnet headed through to the next room. Leading with his right arm, and keeping his tired lrft arm back, he looked around. It looked to be a kitchen of some kind. Hopefully, there would be a servant's entrance to go out. Otherwise it would be out the window: a very uncomfortable, and difficult trip.
The hero looked around the room. Pots, pans, a stove, and a table, a few low stools around the table,... and other things. These filled the kitchen, crowding the surface space and the floor space alike. Then he spotted a narrow door way out one wall.
"Captain, a way out!" He called back to the armored spearwoman. He almost rammed the door down with his shoulder before he thought to try opening it. It was unlocked. How many heroes out of stories had busted shoulders because they failed to check and see if the door was locked before trying to knock it down?!
Waiting to make sure the knight was still following, Garnet readied his weapon and stepped outside.... and into a fray. A small cluster of soldiers was fighting against another slightly larger cluster of monsters. Swinging his sword at a creatures neck, he slashed into a doom wolf's throat as it tried to maul a fighter pinned to the ground. The hell hound leapt back from the threat, disappearing into the mix of battle for the moment, but still staying just visible enough to continue prowling the fighters there.
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Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Jul 18, 2011 20:49:21 GMT -6
The skeletons were quickly advancing now. Not long after she had heard Garnet's yell for impending safety, did she see a lance come from across the beam next, and take her in the side while she looked back. The blow was glancing, and made a terrible metal screeching that sent a shiver down her spine...she hated that sound so much. Again, that lance retreated, and jabbed forward again with more purpose, and even more accuracy. Marle slapped it aside with the shield, and withdrew from the room, walking backwards as quickly as she could.
She could hear cracking overhead now, and the roof was coming down in the new room. The knight's backside hit a table, and then hell rained down on her. Bits of burning wood collapsed onto her, and before she could raise the shield to provide cover, a fair piece of wood slammed onto her head, knocking her down onto her knees and dazing her for a second, before she started to crawl towards the open doorway.
She felt like crying in pain, blood was running down her face as she wept silently, trying to hold the pain in, but it was too much, she hurt so badly. Just as she came through the door, the house began to fold in on itself. The skeletons were almost right on her heels, and as she got to Garnet, a few of the constructs made it out, before the building fully collapsed down on itself. She started to get up, but strength was lost to her legs, and vision was doubled from the impact. Looking around, everything seemed to be in slow-motion, relying now on Garnet to help her.
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Jul 19, 2011 15:39:21 GMT -6
The battle raged outside, Garnet heaving in blizzardy lungfuls of air to keep him moving. Every chance he saw, he took. He slashed through the pelvis of a skeleton engaged with a soldier, before stooping to pick up the legbone which separated from the falling monster. Continuing his forward motion, he swept in at another enemy, stomping on the neck portion of the fallen skeleton's spine as he brought it's thigh bone around with his left hand, and smacked it into the arm of a swordwielding bonewalker. Seeing another of the creatures aiming at him, Garnet stumbled backwards, grabbing the skeleton he'd just bone clubbed, and slinging framework of magically powered bones towards the third. It was enough to get him away from the fray for the moment, and to refocus the soldiers nearby, fighting so desperately.
The mercenary hero's whole body ached. He couldn't even tell individual hurts apart anymore. He just felt like one big mass of aches and pains. Occasionally, blood would dabble down into his eyes. Probably from the axe knocking his shield into his head. Unless it was someone else's blood. His arms felt like molten stone, heavy and burning with every movement. The only thing keeping him going now was necessity. Necessity, and a terror of what was around him now. A terror only controlled by the need to survive.
Behind him, the red-headed swordsman finally heard a terrible cracking sound coming from the house. He couldn't see the Captain outside, which meant....
She's still inside...! With a growled curse, Garnet hurried back towards the door, spotting the knight crawling through the exit just as the building started collapsing in on itself. She looked in terrible condition, blood mixing with tears down her face. He was surprised she was even moving anymore. He redoubled his pace as he saw three skeletons make it out as well.
One of the monsters reached the Captain just as he did. As he swung his slim sword at its neck, it responded by ducking under the blow, and ramming him. Or trying to. Despite the strength of the inhuman creature, its light frame allowed the hero to simply reach down, pick up the skeleton, and throw it at the other two, sending them all into a jumble of bones for the moment.
Pushing them from his mind, he bent down and took one of the Captain's arms over his shoulder with one arm, and clamped his other arm around the woman's armored middle. His muscles strained as he lifted her with a groan. The armor she wore threatened to drag him back down, until he got his legs under him. Even then, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up for long.
"C'mon Captain. Back to your feet!" He raised his voice as he helped her to her feet, making sure she could hear clearly. He looked around, and didn't see as many monsters getting back up. The living were winning the day, but the dead fought on, undisturbed.
Growling at his own spikes of pain, and the weight he was supporting, he turned his mind to what he needed to do.
"...You need a healer, Captain. Where will they be?
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Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Jul 19, 2011 17:35:13 GMT -6
Marle knew it was Garnet who had come back for her, and fought off the creatures, but her eyes, they would not focus correctly and she saw double. As he reached down to grab her, the Knight tried as hard as she could to just put one foot infront of the other once she was picked up. The shield felt heavy, as did her lance, but she couldn't be a burden. Her tears stopped, but it was hard to tell whether it was sweat or not. Her hair matted with blood among other things, Marle looked around, and used her lance for support.
She gave a wave of her hand, indicating that a healer wasn't necessary. She rested up against one of the few still standing and undisturbed buildings. She noticed that the other soldiers who were fighting nearby started to make a kind of perimeter around her and the knight, but at the moment, nothing tried to break through, there was a lull in the battle here, and she could see soldiers coming from around the building, and fanning out, slaying what creatures were left...had they won?
Her hand fumbled through her pouch, looking for a vulnerary, but she was too out of it to think clearly on where it was. With a sigh, she nodded her head finally, looking up at Garnet with unfocused eyes.
"Yeah...a healer might be a good idea.."
Her voice was shaky, and cracking as she spoke. She started to cough as buckled a little, and spit up some blood as she did so. Trying not to look weak, she stood back up fully, and wiped her lips of the red liquid.
"Is the fighting over?"
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Jul 20, 2011 17:46:57 GMT -6
Garnet was almost as relieved when she was able to take her weight off his shoulders as he was when he saw that she was still strong enough to stand on her own, albeit with care. Still, the way she looked reminded him of the way he felt.... not good. He could still feel sweat and blood burning in his eyes. The searing pain of his many scrapes and cuts wouldn't let him forget them either
He glanced around too, and saw the monsters being pushed back, broken to bits, set aflame, and any other manner of destruction. It was inspiring to see, even if he did have to wipe the blood from his eyes with an injured back of his hand.
"I think we'll be alright Captain. I just hope they stay in their graves this time." Garnet scowled, more in response to the pain he was feeling now that he wasn't worried about being skewered, than anything else. That's not to say that skeletons, and walking dead didn't bother him, but his injuries were staying more on top of his mind than the dark fears the monsters arroused.
Stepping through the pain, slimsword hanging loosely at his side, Garnet tapped two of the slightly less weathered looking defenders on their shoulders.
"You two probably ought to go and bring a healer back here, hmm? All these injuries aren't going to sow themselves up, you know."
The soldiers looked back at Garnet before looking to their Captain for direction on the matter. Garnet waited quietly. The woman seemed to still be a bit cross-eyed a moment ago, so he'd felt at liberty to make a suggestion.
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Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Jul 20, 2011 20:50:00 GMT -6
Already the fighting was dying down, a few men doing clean up on bodies that were left. Some of the creatures were not fully dead, so those with lances moved about, killing the already dead, once and for all. Marle, though still a bit unfocused in sight, gave a nod to Garnet. She waited for a moment, and then saw the healer coming into view, those white robes a dead giveaway.
The power of Staff magic was always a wonder to her, and it felt so much better when healed by it then it did with a vulnerary. The healing at first was quite cool, then it was freezing cold, her body reacted as if being dunked in ice water, and she gave a gasp, feeling as if she were actually in it. It took some time, she had bruises, cracked ribs, cuts, the works, but eventually, the healer set everything straight, thankfully, now she could walk again, but she still felt the pain mentally and emotionally. Her body didn't forget, though the injuries were repaired.
"..Feels...better..." She coughed and shivered almost all at once, before seeing her eyes fix. The healer gave a nod to her, and went right to work on Garnet.
"And don't worry...these things will stay dead...We'll burn the bodies so that nothing can remain to rise again."
With a steely resolve, Marle tightened her grip on her badly damaged lance, and threw it into the sling. Later, she would have to go find her shield...but that was small potatoes. She had to know the state of the men, how many survived...how many injured, how many dead. From what she could see, well, it didn't look good, nothing acceptable about these losses.
Before issuing order to destroy the bodies, she rose a hand to two men who were there still with her, and unhurt, lowering her finger on the two of them.
"Spread the word. Search the bodies and the homes for anything we can use. Supplies, weapons , money, food, materials, anything.. Afterwards, torch the undead creatures, and gather our own."
With a salute, they wandered off. Marle began to peel away her damaged chest-piece, a few of the buckles cut from, attacks, making it hang loosely on her form. Unstrapping herself as best she could, while with a head splitting headache from where the building had collapsed partly onto her. The armor fell into hr hands, and she set it upon a box, stretching her body out. Her clothes were cut up from where attacks had penetrated her armor, but she was quite alright. Despite the healing given, she still had bruises and bumps.
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Jul 21, 2011 19:34:41 GMT -6
Garnet was just relieved that things were over for the moment. Watching the Knight he'd fought beside earlier being healed was interesting, as always. The healer continued her staff waving and prodding, the end of the magic device glowing faintly in the half light of the clouds still above them. As she did, the many nicks and scratches on the knight, as well as the visible bruises and other abrasions slowly were replaced by unmarked, undamaged skin.
With relief, Garnet let the healer begin working on his own injuries. A slight cooling on his forehead marked the restoration of the head injury he'd gotten. The marks on his arms and sides followed, causing another slight cooling sensation. Last of all, he felt the healer setting to work on the bruises and other crushed pieces of his side. A cold shiver ran up and down him, and a furious itching in his side for a moment before it was done. He couldn't explain it. Healing Magic rarely elicited responses on the red-haired man as violent at those they did on other people. Maybe it had something to do with his parents being healers. Maybe not... What mattered was that he was fixed.
"Thankyou, Healer." Garnet said, meeting the woman's eyes and speaking quietly. He always tried to thank those who carried the task of healing the fighters. They were relied on completely by soldiers and guards, yet it was always the fighters who nabbed the attention. He kept the healers' importance in mind though.
Released by the healer, Garnet cleaned off his slimsword on a piece of stray rag he found, and sheathed the worn weapon.
"It's good to hear that they won't be able to trouble anymore travelers... Whatever caused this."
Garnet stepped closer as the Captain undid her damaged armor. He looked her over, trying to reconcile the strength that he knew was there to the woman's form that he saw before him. Despite the battle they'd just come through, the thought that she was a pretty young woman still crossed his mind. Even in her armor, she had these vibrant green eyes (when they were working properly) and a full head of walnut-brown hair. He was sure she'd clean up nicely when she wasn't all covered in ash and grime.
...Yep, you're still a young man, Garnet. Now stop fantasizing and come back to the moment.
What did you say after something like this? A battle with the dead, and other monsters? It was such a foreign concept. What did it mean? Would more come back? What about Etruria? Were these monsters showing up in the land of his birth as well? The doomwolves had been in southern Etruria, but that had been within a day of Ostia. Ostia was likely what had drawn them there. It was supposedly the most likely place to find the creatures.....
"I don't know that I caught your name, Captain." Garnet said simply in the end.
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Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Jul 22, 2011 12:43:40 GMT -6
With an idle nod of agreement, Marle watched as her soldiers systematically began to burn the bodies, not bothering to pick them up from where they lay to put them in a pile, there was no real evidence that they were all truly dead, so this would have to do. The fires began to burn brightly in most of the area, and soldiers were already coming back with downed comrades, though setting them to rest, and going back to fetch others. Marle seemed troubled by this sight. With everything that has happened, it was hard not to cry. This act of reviving dead innocents and sending them to do your bidding...it was unforgivable!
Gritting her teeth at the thought, she tried to relax, not to put anyone on edge who was around her, lastly they needed a commander who would take her anger out on them. With a hand on her head, and another on her shoulder across her front from her sore arm, she just sighed, and turned to Garnet, hearing his question.
"Oh, sorry...my name?"
Clearing her through a bit, and shifting in the snow, she gave a small smile, that seemed mostly sad.
"My name is Marle Daviau. Sorry, I thought I had told you earlier."
Looking away from garnet, she checked down at her damaged armor, a lingering thought of if she didn't have this on, would she have died this day like so many others?
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Garnet
Hero
The Scarlet Brand
You call these bandits? You should'a seen what I had to deal with in Sacae!
Posts: 330
Etruria Fame: 1
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Post by Garnet on Jul 24, 2011 13:23:26 GMT -6
Garnet caught onto some of her tension. He was just happy to be alive after the fight, but she was an officer. She carried the responsibility of leading her soldiers. They fought, and dies under her command, and she was the one that got the credit for whatever happened.
"Well... Captain Daviau. You were quite a fighter out there." He paused, glancing down and inspecting the trampled snow at their feet.
"Seemed like you knew just what to do, once Mavick said to go for the head, and your soldiers performed admirably."
He wasn't really sure what he was trying to do. Make a pure observation? Lessen the sting of her losses in the battle? Nothing could do that, but from what he'd seen, she'd pulled her forces together and given them the chance to fight off the enemy. Even one as impossible as these monsters had been. What had Etruria done here to cause this?
"If you'll let me stay with your troop, I'll make myself useful. I'm fair with a blade, and, to be honest, I have no interest in remaining alone in this wilderness. Not anymore." Later on, he'd be having nightmares about this battle, despite the calm he was feeling now. He was sure. The faces of the undead he'd defeated, the mortal remains that had stood to bring a vengeance on him.... It would not be forgotten quickly, if ever.
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Marle Daviau
General
The Lance of the North
One word of encouragement, One person believing in me, It's all I need to become stronger.
Posts: 436
Illia Fame: 2
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Marle
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Post by Marle Daviau on Jul 24, 2011 19:58:49 GMT -6
Though Garnet was paying her a complement, Marle wasn't in such a cheery mood. Still, she tried to appear more...pleased...with the result of the combat, but she had not matured to the point of accepting losses, no matter how little or small. This was the life of being a commander, she had to get used to it...but did she really want to?
"Thank you, Garnet...and just call me Marle, please."
She didn't bother to inform him she was only a Lance-Captain, no need to bring up that mess now.
"You as well Garnet...though training in a sword would be good for me...my lance is only so good.."
She breathed a sigh and really, really needed to repair it. At mention of her soldiers, Marle's heart sank as she saw them bring lined in rows, without their armor and weapons. Things like that in these times were not to be wasted in funeral rites. Marle walked away from Garnet, after hearing his wishes to join her unit. She heard him, he would, might notice that, but her mind was elsewhere. She Saw that no bodies were coming anymore, so this was everyone?
There were so many. Marle didn't have many to begin with...but this was far too many. She brought a hand to her mouth as she felt like crying, and everyone who was near looked at the Captain as she fell to her knees. She was still young, and so were many of her troops. What a horrible way to gain experience...this couldn't be blamed on her this time, no. She felt a little sick to be thankful for that. Sitting on her knees, she bowed her head, and said a little prayer on behalf of them all. Marle was not religious, but she needed to pray to something, someone, for the sake of those who were.
Before she started up, she struck the ground hard with her gauntleted fist, and looked across the desolate town, towards the north, and narrowed her eyes with grit and determination. She needed to do something. With a decision, she got up onto one of the carts.
"Soldiers of Ilia, to me! To me!"
Her voice boomed with unnatural sound and authority. Her cheeks were still stained with tears from before. Men and women gathered around, there were so few of her number left, she had only left with a couple of hundred, now there was only a fraction of that.
"This mission has become too dangerous to continue on. You fought valiantly, and you are true heroes now. This scourge was no easy, and they took many of us with them, but we prevailed. Our fight is not over, however. I will hunt down the men who did this, the ones who summoned the beasts of hell, and I see them pay for this abomination!"
Marle took a deep breath, and she rubbed her forehead, public speaking wasn't her strong suit.
"What I require of you are volunteers. I need some of you to come with me to do this...our numbers are too small right now confront them in force, so a smaller group will go on ahead. The rest of you, will be sectioned together, and to spread word tot he cities, the towns, and the villages, warn them under my authority, what has happened here, and to send aid. Have them rally at the village of Emmeline, also known as Emmeline's Crossing, to the north of here."
As she finished, there was a great deal of talking amongst the soldiers, most seemed to not understand her reasoning, but some did. As she stepped down, and worked through the crowd of soldiers which parted for her, a few came up and offered their services as volunteers. Most of them were the more veteran fighters. All in all, twenty, then thirty men, and women came to her, asking to join her. Thirty was more than what she had hoped for, she had been pessimistic about it the whole time.
Going back to Garnet, she gathered her things, and finally, addressed him properly, now that she was in a better mindset.
"Of course, Garnet, I'd be pleased to have an able fighter like you with me, but it'll be hard going, we won't have an army behind us anymore."
With a smile, Marle started to walk away, looking at the cloudy sky as it started to snow. Things were being done underway, the bodies were going to be taken to the closest village, and put to rest. The cold will keep the decay down, and the men will keep the animals away.
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