Umbra (Open)

[Sonneillon]

The village was quiet and still as the first rays of dawn crept over the horizon. Neil had already awoken; It had been days now that they were traveling, and they were near the border. Soon, they would be out of Ilia...

The shaman shook his head angrily. It had been his blunder that cost them the job and their reputation in the town. His weakness. It was all his fault. Vincent probably wished he'd been killed then and there. He was just a liability to the swordsman.

Standing up, the shaman looked out from the bell tower, gazing around at the quiet homes and the empty streets. All was calm; all was bright in the predawn haze. The light glinted off of the signs, the shop windows, the rows of weapons encircling the town, the merchants' stalls...

Rows of weapons?

Neil's blood became ice in his veins, and his chest burst into flames of righteous anger. A bandit assault. They were planning on overrunning this town, looting it, and then leaving it in ruins. It would be just another run-of-the mill day in the life of a brigand.

No. Not today. Today... Today was a day where good would triumph. Today was a day for victory!

The shaman grabbed onto the bell-rope, swinging with all his might and letting the mighty bell clang out, its rousing echoes awakening the townspeople from their slumber.

Turning to the guard in the tower, who'd been asleep when he'd entered, Neil said only the necessary words.

"Rouse the guard. Bandits."

The guard saw and believed, raising his bullhorn and blowing the unmistakable cry. The song of the horn boomed across the streets, calling the men of the village to take up their arms.

"Let's go!"

The shaman ran onto a large balcony of sorts, a semicircular platform extending from the tower. There was one on each of its four sides, providing an area where longbowmen and scouts could fire from.

"Get some bowmen up here. Assemble all able men at the two entrances to the village. The eastern and western gates are still closed, yes? Watch the walls, of course... And bring me your captain."

As the guard ran off, starting down the many steps, the shaman pulled A History of Military Strategy from his bag and flipped to the section on urban defense. It was fairly straightforward. He'd created bottlenecks, using the village perimeter. He'd soon have archers to fire into that bottleneck. And he held the high ground.

The only thing that was worrisome was the lack of activity from the bandit lines... They were still as stone. What were they planning?

[Orys Durrandon]

Orys let out a gruff sigh as Balerion flew trough the night sky. The two had been flying for a long while, and Balerion was getting tired. They would need to rest soon, and preferably with some good food. He was still not sure on where he was going. He needed... Many, many things. Too many. He couldn't decide what he should first pursue, and it annoyed him.

And then he noticed a town. And a tower. That should be a good spot for Balerion to roost on for a few minutes before flying off again. Surely the town would be asleep and no-one would notice. "Balerion, land."

And so the wyvern landed ontop of the tower.

[Sonneillon]

Suddenly, out of the haze, came a form. A wyvern, it seemed, and a rider. Now the thing with wyverns is that they're large, scaly, and a bit unnerving. Especially when one lands on top of the tower you're watching a battle begin from.

And so, naturally, Neil reacted accordingly. Diving down, the shaman rolled and then sprang to his feet, expecting an attack. None came. The wyvern simply sat facing the other way. The rider didn't move. In fact, had Neil not just seen them come in and land, he would have believed them to be stone.

"Uh... Hello! You! Up there! On the wyvern! Have you come from the guards?"

Damn it, what kind of fool statement was that? Would a lone wyvern rider have come from the guards? This was Ilia, not Bern...

The very first thing he said, and he'd made a fool of himself. Good job, Neil.

[Orys Durrandon]

Orys blinked a bit as a voice could barely be heard under Balerions panting. It came from behind him. He patted on Balerion's neck for a moment before leaping off of his back, landing down infront of the boy with a loud clunk. He quickly stretched himself, staring down at him.

"Guards?"

[Sonneillon]

"Erm, yes. There's a bandit group attacking this village. Have you come to lend your aid?"

Neil pulled his cloak's hood down, letting his purple hair show, and then extended a hand.

"I'm Neil. So at this point, I have the two gates, western and eastern, both closed. The men are beginning to assemble, and hopefully the captain of the guard will be here shortly.

Once we have organized, we'll use these bottlenecks to pin the bandits down and then eliminate them with ranged fire and a spine wall. I'm not sure why the bandits haven't started their assault yet, but I won't complain... We're fortunate we have time to prepare."

[Orys Durrandon]

Orys furrowed his brow. Bandits? He had seen none during the time he had flown towards the city. Could be due to the darkness. Or maybe his eyesight was getting bad. He shivered at the thought before letting out a rough cough as he hunched over to stare into the eyes of the shaman. Sure, he looked a bit young, and hell, he probably was. But something in his eyes made made him trust this little man... Boy. Manboy.

He then stood up, grunting a bit. "Mrhgn. Alright, then. Give Balerion a few minutes to rest and I'll be yours to use. In exchange for helping, I could use some food and water for my journey. Do we have a deal?" He tilted his head. He was offering a fairly fair deal.

[Bones]

"Alright we are finally taking it to the Ilian dogs", spoke Kimble as he stood in line with the rest of the brigands.

"Shut up Kimble", spoke Bones as she silenced the journeymen. "We are not here to fulfill your fantasy of taking back Bern from the Ilians. We are here to make a alliance with the Sharp Gang. So don't screw up. I can't have you making the skull bandits look bad."

"um... understood Second", he spoke in a low tone. Bones looked at the young fighter and saw he was a bit down. It was his first true raid since he joined. Beforehand he was only sent on patrols and aided Bones as her assistant. This would be his first true battle and the moment when he became a true skull.

"Hey", she spoke as she put her hand on his head and rubbed his hair. "Watch your head out there and don't stick your neck out", she spoke. "We don't want our cute Kimble's head rolling through the snow."

"Hey stop calling me cute", spoke Kimble as he pushed her hand from his head. As small blush crossed his face. The young journeyman regrouped himself and began to focus on the battle ahead. "Don't worry I won't make the skulls look bad", he spoke.

"You better not", spoke Bones as she looked over at the Sharps men. One of the bandits stuck out his thumb and the rest began to follow. Like a wave the motion traveled across the bandit line till it reached the last man who gave a roar and in a mighty scream the bandits attacked the town all at once. Like a horde of locus they rushed toward the gate. A few of them hooked the walls with grappling hooks and attempted to climb over while the rest of them took their log ram and began to slam it against both the west and east gate.

While the Sharps went to work trying to knock down the gate. Bones and the five skulls simply sat back and watched. Bones was not going to risk her men at the gate. They would only assault once the way was open.

[Sonneillon]

"The village has plenty of food, water, and ale. I will be glad to provide you with anything you need, I have enough coin at the moment. So I'll accept your fair offer. I'm not sure what your style is, but in our situation... Everything helps.

Oh, one thing I must warn you of. If I yell to 'retreat,' get the HELL away. Fall back is one thing. But I have some... Untested powers, I suppose, that I'd like to use. And I don't want to accidentally get you in the process."

Suddenly, a noise. The sound of footsteps. Two sets. The captain and the other guard had arrived.

"Sir! I have brought the captain!"

"Good. Well met, Captain. You may call me "Neil" or "Tactician" or whatever you fancy. I'm here to help send those vermin packing. This is... Actually, I don't know who he is, but he's with us. From the fact that he came here on a wyvern, I'd assume he's a wyvern rider.

So. I'd recommend moving your men to form defensive perimeters around both gates. We'll let the bandits try to break through, and then annihilate them as they mass in the traps. And... If I ever yell to retreat, please, please, get as far away as you can."

The shaman flipped his hood up, looking out over the town from the ledges.

"Let us begin. I want archers up here, and archers below on rooftops. Assemble the men."

Then the sounds of attack rang out through the air.

"They're attacking. All troops, move out!"

As the bandits began their attack on the gates, militiamen arrayed themselves in an arc, surrounding the inside with a deadly row of lances and blades. The few who had pikes tried to impale the bandits climbing over the walls, and the archers moved onto high points and began sighting at the foe.

As the captain ran down the tower and a dozen archers stormed up, the shaman turned to the wyvern rider.

"Okay, here we go... I guess I'll leave you to yourself, then. I'm not very well versed in aerial combat... So I suppose just... Don't die, sir. I don't even know your name."

Nodding to the man, Neil readied himself to enter the fray.

[Orys Durrandon]

Orys kept his arms on his spear as he listened the man... Boy? Manchild, went trough the strategy. He was surprisingly skilled, for someone seemingly so young. Skill at strategy was something he could approve of, and at the end of his whole little conference with the captain, he had even grown a slight confident smile to himself. Maybe he was right to trust himself under this manchild. Boy. Man. "I'll see what I can do."

Orys proceeded to leap onto Balerion, patting his back as he then whispered to his ear. "Right, Balerion. Fight for this and you will get some good meat." Those magical words made the Wyvern roar with joy, leaping into the air as the two then begun to fly towards the gate.

Orys looked at his potential targets for a while. It could be worth to try and swoop away the log ram, but he could also try and take some of the wall climbers. After a while of thinking he kicked Balerion gently, sending him swooping down as as the Wyvern then scratched his claws against the log ram, potentially knocking it down with the force before springing back into air.

[Bones]

"Counter attack", shouted one of the Bandits as the defenders rushed to fight them off. The bandits attempting to climb over the wall were spiked by spear men and archers began to shoot form the tower. The rams were doing well at smashing at the gate. At there current level they were sure they were going to breach at a few more hits, but then out of no where the screech of a Wyvern filled the air. The bandits looked up to see a lone rider swoop down and attack the ram with the claws of the Wyvern.

"Wyvern", shouted one of the bandits as the beast knocked the log ram apart. The straps holding the ram together snapped and the logs rolled back out into individual logs.

"Hey get that ram back up", shouted the leader of the Sharp bandits as he turned his head to a few of his men. "YOu all shoot that flying lizard out the air if it comes back around", eh spoke to some of his archers. "You", he shouted to another archer as he directed him toward the tower. The bandits began to fire back at the defenders.

"It seems you have your hands busy", spoke Bones to the over worked man as she stood and watched.

"I don't have time for you woman", he spoke as he looked at her. "If your boss wants a alliance with us you better prove your worth", he spoke. "Go aid them in restoring the ram", he spoke as he pointed to the pile of logs.

"I think not", spoke Bones as she looked the man in the eye. "We came hare to make a alliance, not a master servant relationship. I will not have my men get killed in place of your own."

"Well then", spoke the man as he stared back at Bones in the eye. "Well I guess you don't want a alliance. You promised to aid us in taking the city as a show of good faith and now", he spoke but Bones cut him off.

"We are going to aid you, but not as your pawns", she spoke. "Come on men we are moving to the north", she spoke to her five skulls.

"The north", he spoke with confusion. "There is no gate to the north".

"Exactly", spoke Bones as she continued to walk off. "No gate meaning less guards", she spoke as she moved out of ear shock.

[Sonneillon]

And he was gone. Well then. It seemed like he was more of the silent type... That was fine with him.

"Shoot at any who get through the defensive ring or over the wall."

One command. That was all they needed. And with that, the shaman departed, making his way down the ninety-seven steps of the tower. Once on the street, he moved towards the eastern gate. The rider was going to the west, so he'd take the east.

Soon, he saw a heartening sight -- the eastern gate was still up, although it was vibrating from the force of the ram. It wouldn't be long before it fell.

"Patience, men. Be ready."

Climbing up to a rooftop, the shaman pulled the ladder he used up with him, giving himself an island of buffer. The only things that could hit him now would be arrows. Thankfully, he hadn't seen any come towards him yet.

"Aeternis tenebris, circumda tibi nectens tuum sit!"

A group of three bandits who had dropped down into the city found themselves in an interesting predicament. Backs to the wall, they'd begun creeping towards the guard post that held the machinery to open the gate. But their stealth was their mistake...

Three tendrils of shadow had punched out of the stone wall like nooses, looping around the brigands' necks and slamming them to the wall, where they began to choke and sputter. Neil smiled as he increased the pressure and intensity until they all stopped moving, the weapons dropping out of their now limp hands. Releasing the magic, the shaman dropped to his knees, breathing heavily and watching the gate. Hopefully, the militia would perform well. A lot was riding on those defensive arcs.

[Orys Durrandon]

Orys laughed to himself at the destruction he had managed to cause. Good, good, fear! Now, where to strike next. The archers were clearly getting ready, and things would get very rough for him if Balerion took too much damage from trying to charge in and cause some damage. Although, it was dark... Hrm. Thinking now would just make him a bigger target. He then instantly swooped down towards the ground.

Balerion let out a snarl as he swooped towards the ground, arrows flying at him with some hitting his thick backhide, thankfully not causing too much damage yet, as Orys then kicked him once more, causing him to dash towards some of the bandits near the ram as Orys proceeded to swing his spear threateningly at them before once more motioning for Balerion to fly high up, more arrows barely missing them.

[Bones]

"Alright men one more", shouted the Bandit commander on the Eastern side. The bandits pulled back on the ram once more and smashed through the gate. A celebration of cheer and glee erupted from the bandit forces as they tore through the gate. However their voices were quickly silenced by the counter attack made by the defenders.

While the bandits struggled on both the western and Eastern front Bones and her small group of skulls moved to the north. With the defenders so heavily focused on the other two points the defense on the north was weak. The brigands stayed close to the wall to avoid detection and once they found a sport with no immediate patrol they began to make their move. One of the men placed his back to the wall and stuck his hands out. Bones ran forward and jumped onto his hand as he threw her up. The maiden then lashed out with the grappling hook and locked onto the wall. Quickly she climbed up and gave the others a clear sign. Quickly the followed in a similar fashion. A man would jump up and then grab the rope on the hook and finish the rest of the climb up the wall. Their method of climbing was much faster than the bandits on the other fronts and made their movement swifter.

Once inside the wall they regrouped in the back of a nearby house. "Kimble keep watch", spoke Bones as she and the other gathered in a corner.

"Understood Bones", spoke Kimble as he took up watch.

"Alright what is the plan", spoke one of the skulls as he looked to Bones for instruction.

"Alright our forces are attacking from here and here", spoke Bones as she drew a crude map of the city in the dirt and pointed toward the eastern and western points. "We need to create a distraction to draw the guards away from the walls and move them toward the center of the city."

"Fire", spoke another one of the bandits as he access the situation.

"My thoughts exactly", spoke Bones.

"But that would also burn up some of the loot", spoke another.

"Exactly", spoke Bones. "However this is not our loot", she spoke.

"Yeah, but won't that tick off the Sharps", spoke the first bandit.

"Oh well they are just going to have to deal with it", spoke one of the men. "Either they want their lives and some of the loot, or they want to be dead and have none."

"Good point", spoke another.

"Alright so we need to start to set fires", spoke Bones as she began to draw x in the dirt. "We need to hit ...", she spoke, but Kimble bird call alerted her to trouble.

"Crap", spoke a bandit.

"Follow my lead", spoke Bones as she grabbed her axe and moved toward Kimble's position.

[Sonneillon]

A breach! There was a breach at the eastern gate!

Rather than becoming upset or angry, Neil began laughing. In fact, his laugh became hysterical, maniacal, and completely uncontrollable.

"Ahahahaha! Finally, the time has arrived!

Eastern defenders! RETREAT! Move backwards! Form a line!"

And now...

"Aeternis tenebris, vestrum absolvo comprimenti furore!"

Standing tall on the rooftop, the young man must have made an interesting sight, especially as his arms whirled and strange swirls of darkness twirled and danced around him.

The defenders moved back, almost as if being chased as a dragon, and the bandits roared in triumph as they charged forward. Then, a small tear appeared in the ground near the gate. The small tear became a large rip, and suddenly there was a large roar of wind as the bandits were grabbed as if by invisible leashes and forcibly yanked into a mass of spinning darkness and screaming brigands. A few grabbed onto poles or corners, but soon the sheer force of the darkness yanked them into the pit of intense gravity as well.

With a huge breath, Neil cut off the spell, and the field rapidly reversed, throwing bodies out like stones from a catapult. All in all, over a dozen bandits were seriously injured. The militiamen, who had stood agog and aghast at the spectacle, now charged in again, forming the arc around the gate once more.

"Dammit, that's so tiring... Better get lost. I don't want anyone to get a sight on me."

Sliding the ladder down, the shaman dropped to the street and moved down back towards the west by means of the northern wall. What was the wyvern rider up to? Was he all right?

As he cautiously moved along, Neil shook his head in amazement. Such power was almost unbelievable. He'd need to master the finer points of control, of course, but Eclipse was immensely powerful. It was almost amazing how much energy it could bring to bear.

[Orys Durrandon]

Orys was doing just fine. But the bandits were not, as he found out while staring down at them from high up. He had already seen what the little manchild's magic could do, and he was very impressed. He should talk to this manchild some more after this whole ordeal with bandits is over, perhaps he could be a great asset to his cause with something more to offer than just food and drinks.

But enough about considering the usages of this manchild, back into beating these bandits. He gently kicked Balerion, who this time swooped down and picked up one of the bandits into his jaws, roaring loudly before biting down into the screaming bandit more, consuming the poor bastard. "That handles your hunger problem, Balerion!" Orys laughed.