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Post by Vincent on Dec 20, 2016 21:37:26 GMT -6
Vincent sat patiently in the tavern sipping on his hard cider. He looked over the papers that detailed the job he had been paid for in advance. A convoy was going to be approaching the city and they were expected to be assailed by a group of mounted bandits. Apparently they had been in the banditry game for a long time and were seen with impressive arms and armor. The leader of them bore a shield with an as of yet unseen crest. The letter even included a rough drawing of it. An axe broken by chains around a splintered throne. It was an odd design but concerning.
'You think there is a power play being made?' he heard the blade ask of him. 'I do. After Hargus the banditry was nearly reduced to nothing, what remained was all small time thugs. But these riders have strong weapons and a new crest, at the very least there are those that want to fill the void.'
'And that is why they hired you to intercept instead of protect?'
'Exactly, they need answers and proof of something bigger, of course I am not alone in this. I have a partner by the name of... uh... Alvis? The papers are smudged.'
In truth it was another name of Eris. Thus the young mercenary began to look for the wrong person. He was looking for a man instead of a woman.
'Only one partner?'
'Yeah, only one. Guess they don't want a crowd. It is what it is I suppose. I just hope they live up to expectation.'
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Eris Coulson
Soldier
"Sometimes goodbye is a second chance"
Posts: 106
Profession: Mercenary
Affiliation: Ambition
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Eris Coulson
OoC Alias: Tsunderis
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Post by Eris Coulson on Dec 20, 2016 21:56:20 GMT -6
How had it come to this? From soldier to sellsword. Actually, from what she so often heard, that was relatively common. Soldiers weren't as important when wars ended. Pay raises become less and less frequent, but the duty remains just as demanding. Men and women alike grow fed up, unable to climb ranks, and quit. They place their stakes on the road and forge on, most likely to die at the crap end of a bandit's blade.
Eris just never imagined herself making that same wager. She, however, was not simply throwing in the towel. No, becoming a mercenary was another step, just as becoming a recruit in Bern's army had been. Fate had thrown her from her previous ladder, but nothing would deter her from reaching the top this time.
So, with pride and focus, she marched into the tavern. Eris was to meet with another man hired to share her role in this job. The task was to intercept some "experienced bandits" as they attacked some convoy, while others served as guards. They were middlemen. The "reinforcements". She supposed that explained the low numbers. Too many armed men and women would stand out, and could wind up noticed by the bandits depending on the path they took to reach the convoy.
In all honesty, though, Eris was not entirely happy with what she knew about the job. Eris never managed to get all the answers to the questions she had, such as "what was in the convoy"? She supposed it really wasn't her business...unless it was. Gah, Eris never did like having details be kept from her. So she was a bit...salty.
As if that was any different from her natural state of being.
Still, she had only been told a vague description of how to look out for. "A young man with a sword." Her employer clearly did not realize that he had accurately described half of Elibe.
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Post by Vincent on Dec 20, 2016 22:55:49 GMT -6
Vincent began to nibble on a sweet the bar specialized in. It was rather flaky with a jam inside the middle, it was actually delicious and well worth the trip in its own right. He sighed as he was halfway done with it. Watching the doorway for his associate to be, he sighed when he saw, to his disappointment, a young woman and not the Alvis he expected.
'If this other does not get here soon you will have to go alone. While you may be able to handle bandits I have yet to see you win any duels.'
'Hey, I've won duels in the past, just none you've ever seen, the feathers aside anyway.'
'Hahahah! You did not win that duel! The man was more skilled than that Duma fellow you lost to. The only reason you 'won' is because I rejected him for you.'
'Then why did you go for me if he was better? Huh?'
'Because your will burned hotter. Therefore you had the potential he never could. He was at his peak, but you have yet to reach yours. There is far more strength for you to gain.'
Vincent opted to ignore the blade's ramblings and decided to head out. Loath to go alone however he spoke up, "If anyone here wants to take on some bandits feel free to tag along! My partner never showed up so I could use another hand." He waited for a response. "You'll get his portion of the pay." He added for clarity. In truth that just meant splitting his part of the wage, and he was loath to do so, he may work for free to help people but he still needed paying jobs to survive.
Some looked vaguely interested but none spoke up. With the increase in monsters and the infrequency of bandits these days the hard reality was that there was more money in monsters. He sighed hoping someone would take it.
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Eris Coulson
Soldier
"Sometimes goodbye is a second chance"
Posts: 106
Profession: Mercenary
Affiliation: Ambition
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Eris Coulson
OoC Alias: Tsunderis
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Post by Eris Coulson on Dec 21, 2016 0:13:50 GMT -6
"There's no way I got this all wrong." Eris, internally, was beginning to fume. Half the damn tavern carried swords, and she was not about to start marching up to each and every single man with a blade to ask them if they were the mercenary she was looking for. Gods, in a tavern of all places? She would be guaranteed to get the sleaziest responses from at least half of those men. That was a quarter of all the people in the tavern!
Despite her irritation, she continued to attempt to make her way through the place. Even among taverns it had a vile stink to it, and judging by how pungent the odour got when she bumped into a large bellied man, she could definitely tell it was because of the clientele.
"Ugh, forget this." Eris mumbled under her breath. She crossed her arms, rolled her eyes, and sucked in a breath. She was going to give one good shout, loud enough to shake even the most drunk of patrons into paying attention to her, and call out for her partner. Better to deal with a few sleazy remarks all at once than be ground down by them one by one.
However, another young man beat him to it. White haired, carrying a sword of course, and relatively young. He looked to be about her own age, in fact. More importantly, during his shout across the tavern, he mentioned that he was missing a job partner and...that anyone who joined him took their share of the pay?! Like hell Eris was going to let these sleazy shits take her job. Gods, they smelled of so much ale and piss that she doubted any of them were even remotely capable of swinging a weapon in the first place.
"Ignore him! He's found his partner!" Eris barked out before any of the patrons could say a word. One particularly shitfaced buffoon looked a bit disappointed. Good.
Eris marched up to Vincent, eyeing him from head to toe. She supposed he looked capable, but looks could be deceiving. Unfortunately she didn't have the time to test his strength at all before the mission, so Eris decided she'd have to make do.
"You're Vincent, right? I'm Eris. Eris Coulson. The other party hired for this job."
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Post by Vincent on Dec 21, 2016 0:36:38 GMT -6
He was met with a response, and a favorable one at that. "Yes, I am in fact Vincent, Vincent Clark if we are using our full names." He flashed her a smile and offered a gauntleted hand to shake. He raised the letter up to check the name, it read Alvis Coulson. Had the boy been but a bit thicker he would have thought they were relatives. "Looks like our employer is dreadful at writing letters. Had me looking for a man! And well, a man you are clearly not."
He shrugged leaning his head into it. With a sniff he spoke up leading the way out of the tavern. "I can't say I know what to expect but if there is really only four opponents against a caravan they are either much more skilled than a paper could ever convey, or we do not have much to really worry about." He spared a glance to eye her up and down giving her weapons a special attention. He pointed at her lance with a grin, "Looks like you are far better equipped to face off with them than I, but I like a good challenge." He jested. In truth he was quite well off with a lancereaver and a sword, at best his opponents would face him on equal terms, plus the horse.
Walking along the dirt road to their ambush site he decided to get to know his partner a little better. "So, Eris, what do you specialize in? I assume your good, but I don't want to get in each others' ways while we are out here. Team synergy and all that noise, ya know?"
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"To think, we used to be a group of ten. Then some three brats split us up, wipe out half our crew and the other gets himself blown up, literally blown up, in bloody Ilia!" A helmed paladin complained.
"Shut it would ya? You keep going on and on about that, just let it go. We've done better for ourselves now than we ever did with the whole gang. 'Sides, no one is looking out for bandits when there's mobs of corpses clawing at ya."
"Yeah, but intel says they have backup for the convoy, that they are looking out for us."
"It also said there were only two kids, hardly anything to worry about; and the more we show the crest, the more the aristocrats are gonna worry. With Hargus done in life got easier for us, they don't think we are a threat anymore."
"Maybe, but just wait til they realize we were Bernese knight."
"Exactly."
The four riders spurred their mounts forth at breakneck speeds, they were ready to fight and to kill, but most of all, to make a statement.
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Eris Coulson
Soldier
"Sometimes goodbye is a second chance"
Posts: 106
Profession: Mercenary
Affiliation: Ambition
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Eris Coulson
OoC Alias: Tsunderis
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Post by Eris Coulson on Dec 21, 2016 1:29:39 GMT -6
Looking...for a man? What, was Vincent not given a proper description of what she looked like? Oh gods, did she look that mannish? First those demented mercenaries with that insanely bus...preppy archer, and now this?
Her expression fell into a noticeable scowl. It wasn't this Vincent kid's fault, she tried to tell herself. So she grit her teeth and clasped his gauntlet cloaked hand with her own, though her grip was probably a bit tighter than she had desired. "Well met, Vincent." There was a decent bite to her tone, despite successfully suppressing the urge to impale Vincent. "Glad we managed to meet each other despite the...miscommunication."
Yeah, that's right. This was the employer's fault. If she remembered she'd have to try and get back at him for that, somehow. Really, though, she did not have the time to waste her energy being spiteful over...genetics. Hah, really she'd spent the vast majority of her life doing just that anyway, albeit for a far less ah, shameful reason.
"As for our opponents I wouldn't underestimate them. Prepare for a real threat, even if you're not sure." Eris uttered as she followed Vincent out of the tavern. Forget having served in the military, and having witnessed first-hand what happened to men and women he didn't think their foes a proper threat, that was an opinion Eris had decided to hold fast to during this new career. If the problem was such that common-folk and nobles alike would be willing to part with coin over it, then it was likely that the threat was to be taken seriously, regardless of who they were or what the situation was.
"Though I AM glad we have their numbers confirmed. Just the four of them." In terms of her and Vincent, those odds were still not in their favour. Eris hoped that much was clear to the white-haired swordsman. Though she did acknowledge his compliment to her with a small smirk. Eris had made sure all of her gear was in top shape before this mission, and even had an adjustment made to her lance. The spearhead was sharper than ever before, perfect for piercing light armours and rending flesh.
She crossed her arms over her chest and kept her good eye on their surroundings. From recent experiences you really did never know when danger was coming. Be it random wyverns dropping from the sky, or stupid, perverted starving men. She ah, had been evading the small-talk that Vincent had thrown out there. Preferred to focus on the mission at hand. Still, a good working rapport was needed for the two of them to succeed and survive, so it would probably be tactically wise for her to just ignore his questions all together.
"First job as a mercenary. Used to be a soldier. Front-line infantry, so I specialize in impaling people and surviving to grace you with my presence now." A bit ah, blunt, and cynical, but that couldn't be helped. Eris still had sour feelings regarding her past life. She greatly preferred to focus on the future. "As for combat style, I prefer having a fair bit of room to actually use my lance. Shouldn't be a problem, since you don't have a mount. I'd want to keep the fight on the open road. We'd both be at a disadvantage if the raiders stick to the treeline."
That point right there was why their presence needed to remain undetected. If the raiders caught wind of them they could stick to the shadows of the surrounding woods. They were apparently riders, so the odds were that they'd come up the road and not from the bushes. But writing off that possibility could lead to a shitty way to die.
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Post by Vincent on Dec 21, 2016 1:54:14 GMT -6
"First job huh? That is surprising, to have been called on by an employer I spent weeks building a rapport with just like that? Must have been one heck of a soldier... or just really lucky." Looking over her again he added, "Or maybe he just liked your face," He shrugged.
"You like to swing wide huh? Must be fast to not have gotten skewered with that style," he teased. "Hey, if you're up to it, what do you say we have a spar after this is all over? I don't get to take on a lancer one on one hardly ever, and I may just surprise ya." The two reached the fork in the road, and the expected raiding point.
A disadvantage in the treeline? Vincent had to laugh to that. "They have horses and you say we would be disadvantaged?" He smiled, "Alright, hahah, the road it is. Fight them on their turf." He looked about the woods in ponderation. But that did not mean they couldn't put it to good use. "I have an idea." He unstrapped a rather large, sword was it, from his back. It looked vaguely like a sword, and equally akin to a large slab of rock; to top off the odd weapon it was much larger at the tip of the blade than the forte. "I'm toppling some of these smaller trees while we have the time. Help me get them into the road if you don't mind too much?"
He began to get to work. "A front line soldier huh? I used to be a farmer," Whack, thwack, he hacked at the tree. "Been a mercenary for... well, two years now, boy time flies. I'll tell you this, and I'm sure you don't need to hear it, or maybe just don't want to, but this life is going to kick you at your lowest, it'll knock your teeth out and make you cold and cruel if you let it." He stopped from his work to wipe away sweat and guide the tree as it fell into the road. "But, it will also give you some incredible friends if you let it, and its never boring."
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Eris Coulson
Soldier
"Sometimes goodbye is a second chance"
Posts: 106
Profession: Mercenary
Affiliation: Ambition
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Eris Coulson
OoC Alias: Tsunderis
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Post by Eris Coulson on Dec 21, 2016 11:58:05 GMT -6
Things only got so much better, as Vincent evidently felt the need to give Eris some advice about life, namely that the life of a mercenary was quite difficult, but ultimately rewarding. Eris really hadn't started down this path in the hopes of making invaluable friends. It was...something else. Partially her conscience, but mostly her need to do something. She couldn't just wander along whilst barely scraping by any longer. Eris needed to have a purpose, some goal to work towards. It was all that kept her sane.
She chose to ignore his comments on her appearance, and didn't care for confirming just how good a soldier she had been. If anything she had been ultimately underwhelming compared to the greater warriors that fought for Bern's freedom. Again, frontline infantry. That was not the position of someone whose strength was invaluable to an army. That was the position of fodder that could be replaced by any farmboy with a sharp stick.
And Vincent appeared to be one such farmboy, at least once upon a time. Still he went on, throwing "playful" jabs at Eris' supposed combat style. "Swing wide", pfft. Could he not SEE the lance that she bore? Even if she stuck purely to thrusting she needed elbow room, and plenty of space behind and in front of her. If he got in her way they'd BOTH wind up dead. Still, Eris supposed he had just been joking around. Perhaps to lighten the mood before a mission. A few soldiers and even some commanders had liked to do similar.
"Yeah, I swing wide, kinda have to given the polearm I'm wielding. So watch yourself, unless you're looking to gain a new hole." How was that for teasing? Eris shot Vincent a small sneer before she shrugged her soldiers. "Anyway, I'll keep all of that 'it's a wonderful life' stuff in mind, provided we survive this mission." Of course Eris preferred to shoot higher than mere survival. Success was her real goal here. Start her first mission off well, begin to build some sort of reputation for herself. Get stronger and wealthier, and build off that foundation...
As Vincent began to cut down some small trees with his admittedly strange blade, presumably for a roadblock, Eris thought on his words regarding their tactics. He appeared to be short-sighted, and a fair bit too relaxed about the whole situation. Granted that was better than being a bundle of nerves, for sure, but still not the sign of the most reliable partner. Either way she gripped onto the fallen logs, grateful that they were small in size as she forced herself to lug them across the dirt road.
Still, that blade of his was impressive, able to cut through bark faster than a lumberman's axe.
Once she had finished dragging one such roadblock into the path, she wiped her brow with the back of her hand and gave Vincent a look, having gathered her thoughts.
"As for tactics, remember that our only real advantage here is the element of surprise. But we're also to stop them from reaching their objective. We don't have the luxury of using the trees. If we retreat into the shadows, they won't follow. They'll take their loot and run for it." Eris frowned as she spoke. She had figured that much was obvious. They could attack FROM the shadows but once, and after that they were forced to fight the bandits on their terms as it was. Eris had little problems with their horses, though, given the reach her lance allowed her. It was as optimal a situation as could be, given the circumstances.
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Post by Vincent on Dec 21, 2016 12:30:43 GMT -6
"A new hole huh? I think I will pass, I have enough scars already. I used to be handsome but now look at me, I'm gorgeous!" He laughed. He had his share of scars and only one was visible upon his face, though he was not looking to add to that number.
The girl was clearly disinterested in what Vincent had to say about being a mercenary and pinched the bridge of his nose to it. Not everyone is hesitant or cares to learn from others he decided. "Provided we survive? Nah, rule one of being a mercenary, you're always going to survive. If they pay you thinking you'll die you have no respect in the business." He wanted to talk more, and to talk about the simple things but the girl was too... stubborn was the word he decided to use. He had to wonder why she left the military but he suspected it'd be the same to her as someone asking him why the headpiece? So he never did.
Vincent nodded to what the girl said about the bandits. "Now, call it reading between the lines but I don't think this job has much to do about protecting the carts and their goods. Not once does it say protect the cart, only intercept and capture. I mean," he shrugged, "if we protect it and get our prisoner then perfect, pat ourselves on the back, but there is some bigger picture we aren't seeing yet, and it has to do with this." He pointed to the crest picture in his letter. He did not know what all was detailed out in hers but he wanted to make her think.
"Who has their own crests and banners? Nobles and whole countries. If these bandits are parading around with one of their own, and not one that can be linked to any noble houses, its a sign of something bigger, or at least that's why they want someone captured." With a second tree felled Vincent, helped to place the logs so that the oncoming convoy could pass but any unwanted visitors from the other directions would be inconvenienced and certainly not making off with the whole carts.
Some time after his piece he heard a voice. 'Hey partner, I can sense great powers approaching.'
'What do you mean by that?'
'Other weapons like me.'
Vincent's color seemed to drain a little at the revelation. "Into the woods. We're about to get started."
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Eris Coulson
Soldier
"Sometimes goodbye is a second chance"
Posts: 106
Profession: Mercenary
Affiliation: Ambition
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Eris Coulson
OoC Alias: Tsunderis
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Post by Eris Coulson on Dec 21, 2016 15:22:25 GMT -6
Gods, nothing Eris said phased him, did it? Really she...supposed it was for the better. Though she'd at least get some sort of a kick out of him getting riled up over her not-so-subtle insults. Overall a cool head was far more reliable than a hot one, and no, the irony of her acknowledging that fact was not lost on her. So rather than grind her teeth at his good humor, she had merely rolled her eyes. As far as she was concerned he never looked as though he was all that handsome, though even with some scars Eris had definitely seen worse.
"If they pay you thinking you'll die then you were hired by idiots." Respect? Sure, Eris understood that reputation was key in the mercenary business. Rep gave a merc a lot of sway over what jobs they took and how much they were paid. However, if you were paid even half of your total earnings before the job was done, then you were paid by a buffoon. As far as Eris figured: most mercenaries were hired with a fair expectation that they were going to fail. And failure so often meant death in this wonderful world of theirs. "But point taken all the same."
As Eris had grabbed another log for their roadblock, which ah, still confused her a bit. Wouldn't they block off the convoy? Either way, it had seemed that Eris had definitely not gotten the full story when it came to this job. Which she had already known before, but as Vincent approached her and pointed out details on the job pamphlet, that she had never gotten, her brow furrowed more and more.
"...You have this pamphlet but never bothered to ask for further details?" Eris was actually not irate when she asked him that question. She, too, had failed to get full clarification on the details of the job. Ugh, her eagerness to start down this new path may have gotten her into a rather risky situation. When Vincent gave the command to move into the woods she couldn't even question it. He genuinely knew more about the job than she did, and whether that was frustrating or not it was still very much a fact.
So she followed him into the treeline, lowering her voice to more of a whisper as she trudged through the underbrush. "What's the plan of attack you have here?" Moving on from her...frustrations about the job, she returned once again to focusing on their success. Capturing a man was a hell of a lot more difficult than killing a man, and they were still outnumbered to boot. Really, the odds were not in their favor, unless there was some unknown factor Eris could not see...
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Post by Vincent on Dec 21, 2016 23:23:54 GMT -6
"A rich idiot's coin is just as valuable as a smart one's as far as I am concerned," he grinned. The girl seemed to be a huge cynic, nothing he had not worked with before. Her type was easy enough to work with though. You just keep talking and not listen to their statements so they can not rock you. All the same, it seemed the girl was taking his words to heart if only begrudgingly or subliminally.
"A pamphlet? No, I never got a pamphlet, I was written a letter of request." He laughed, "Is that how you got the job? A flyer?" If so, maybe that explained it, did not change his concerns about her inexperience but an old soldier was still a capable fighter. He rubbed the back of his head as only one path of the road was open.
In the treeline he gave her an explanation of the method to his madness. "Look at the road, the convoy can only pass through one path now." He pointed for emphasis. "Even if the raiders were to get the carts they can't take everything unless they want to stay and fight. Its not exactly a large advantage for us but it is something that should help minimize losses." He shrugged.
"As for the actual plan of attack..." He hesitated as he thought to the warning, three magical weapons. He visibly frowned, he had to tell her. "The convoy will come from there," He showed the now only open road. "The bandits from there," one of the blocked roads. "The plan is to wait for now. When the bandits come we jump them." He pulled out his roped dagger. "A good throw I can drop one of them outright."
The convoy soon came into sight. The enemies were certainly on the nose for timing. "The riders have magic weapons. I don't know if you were informed of that, and I don't want it coming as a surprise." His face was fixed on the convoy and his voice soft.
'They are here!'
Suddenly the earth before the convoy exploded forth with pillars of rock blocking the road. "They have a mage! Blast!" He moved about the treeline independent of Eris, one of his flaws as a mercenary was his propensity for solo acts.
"HELLLLOOOOOOO!!! I hope you have the goods for us!" A voice rang out from the bandits.
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Eris Coulson
Soldier
"Sometimes goodbye is a second chance"
Posts: 106
Profession: Mercenary
Affiliation: Ambition
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Eris Coulson
OoC Alias: Tsunderis
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Post by Eris Coulson on Dec 22, 2016 11:10:12 GMT -6
Gods, every damn word that came out of Vincent's mouth was enough to make her good eye twitch. It was like he had an answer for everything, but every answer was wrong. Worst of all was that Eris had to be subservient to him in at least some manner. Not because of his experience as a mercenary. Eris was a soldier for longer than he had been a sellsword, that much she'd wager, but because he knew more about this mission.
Fortunately, or perhaps not, Eris no longer had the luxury of chewing the white-haired man out for calling her out on her wording. 'Pamphlet' had not been what she meant to say, but it still worked all the same. For instead he spoke of something for more sensible after the fact, that being his apparent strategy for handling these raiders. That strategy was to funnel the convoy to force the bandits to fight them if they wanted to haul off all of the loot. It was...a very poor strategy, but even Eris wasn't so cruel as to force all of the blame on him. This mission was very rushed, with the two only having met that night.
If they had been given more time, Eris was sure she could formulate a far better strategy. To Vincent's credit, whatever little credit Eris deemed to give him that is, he likely could as well. Desperate times called for desperate tactics.
"Reasonable. We'll wait for you to throw that dagger, then. If you take down one of the riders that puts us two on three. Far better odds." Not to mention the two still had the element of surprise. Eris had to rely on Vincent's skill in the matter. She herself did not have a javelin, and the lance she wielded had not been made to be thrown. To stab, strike, and sweep yes, but not to be hurled into her enemies.
But of course, things still managed to get worse. While Eris was relieved they did not have to wait long for the enemies to come around, Vincent decided then had been the best time to give her some of the most important news. The look she shot at him upon hearing that ALL FOUR enemies could be carrying ENCHANTED WEAPONS was one of utter shock and fury. She grit her teeth and scowled at him, the result of a monstrous effort towards not screaming and cussing the man out. Eris did NOT have the gear to deal with enchanted weapons, which notably WAS an enchanted weapon, and Vincent sure as hell hadn't mentioned if he had one.
Then, of course, the ground had to erupt. There was no lava or magma to accompany it, of course, but it hadn't quite been an explosion either. Heavy chunks of dirt and rock landed before the convoy, effectively blocking it's path. Eris normally would have assumed a mage, but she had just been informed that these supposed bandits wielded f**k**g magic weapons!!
"We're screwed." She thought, and yet did not feel deterred. Eris had been tired of running, and yet she refused to actually accept defeat. Instead she...she acknowledged that situation was grim, but that would make her success all the sweeter. As her mind began to analyze various attack patterns and small tactics that she could use to gain the upper-hand against the magic weapon bearing raiders, she heard one of them cry out. Given their dialect, it was undoubtedly one of them at that.
Vincent moved to ready himself, and Eris waited for him to hurl his dagger. She really hoped he could take down at least one of them.
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Post by Vincent on Dec 22, 2016 12:57:08 GMT -6
"Trust me, you four don't want any of what we have in our carts." Thwing! One of the convoy guards received an arrow to his chest dropping him in gurgling pain within moments. Vincent gritted his teeth and his 'hero' side took over in an instant.
"Does anyone else want to tell us what we do and do not want?" The paladin grinned wickedly before suddenly receiving a surprise. Am ivory white dagger was on a direct course for his face and no helm would keep him safe. However a mage with the barrier spell would. [Barrier Used]
The dagger bounced harmlessly off the shield as the rider looked for the briefest of moments shaken. "Th-thank you friend."
Outed Vincent was not going to stop with just that. With a skilled jerk of the rope he pulled the dagger back so it would be his again and from out of the hillsided treeline he leaped grabbing it reverse grip in midair. "Got you!" A shield to stop a weapon was easy, to stop a man, that took a bit more.
The paladin, still off balance raised his lance to try and retaliate but only haphazardly succeeded. The shaft of the weapon raised he kept the boy at a distance, but he was still knocked sideways and off of his mount. The mercenary, with focused fury, stabbed the paladin's arm in just the right spot to avoid the armor.
"GAAAH! SON OF A-" The paladin dropped the lance but before he could finish his expletive Vincent offered him a gauntleted fist to his jaw. [Paladin Uses Pavise] The paladin's head shot back but he was unfazed by the blow and looked down his nose at the mercenary in hatred. "YOU AGAIN!"
Did this man know Vincent? The idea had suddenly crossed his mind and he did not like the implications.
During Vincent's exchange not all was still. In fact the road had completely exploded into anarchy. The men that were once with the convoy began to fight or run as the other three riders killed them indiscriminately. They were as unstoppable forces of nature.
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Eris Coulson
Soldier
"Sometimes goodbye is a second chance"
Posts: 106
Profession: Mercenary
Affiliation: Ambition
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Eris Coulson
OoC Alias: Tsunderis
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Post by Eris Coulson on Dec 23, 2016 1:53:52 GMT -6
Eris rapidly absorbed details as quickly as she could manage. First off she managed to count four convoy guards. Each and every one of was armed and looked experience, but one of them reacted poorly to the situation and took a lethal arrow to the chest. Er, so there were three guards. That still gave Eris' side a numbers advantage over the raiders, but they still had enchanted weaponry.
And they did have a mage, as it turned out. Vincent's aim had been true but magic barrier protected his target from it. Eris cursed under her breath and gripped her lance. Their cover had been blown and not one enemy had been taken out of the fight. The situation did not bode well for them. At least, as far as Eris was concerned, she had a primary target: the mage. The range and support he could provide the other bandits made him by far the largest threat. Unfortunately, before she could quickly relay that information to Vincent, he launched himself from the tree-line and charged the leading horseman.
"Damn it!" Eris could choose to wait in the shadows for a chance to strike, but her target would never be in range, and she needed to relieve pressure off of Vincent if he was to live. More over their mission was almost entirely dependent on the survival of the convoy cards, and the safety of the convoy itself. If they could keep the riders busy enough to get the cart moving again, then the mission could still be considered a success.
So, without wasting another second, Eris sprinted from the tree-line. All four men were on horseback, but only one held a staff in his hands. That was her target. There was no point in double teaming the horseman knowing he could just receive another barrier from the mage. To Vincent's credit, however, he had managed to dismount the man. That evened out the playing field for his duel with him, if nothing else.
"Haah!" Eris let out a cry as she lunged towards the mounted mage. His focus had been forward, lightning crackling about his fingertips as he hurled bolts of white electricity towards one of the convoy guards. The terrible, gargled scream that range throughout the road was all Eris needed to know about the man's fate. Damn..the fight had gone south so damned fast!
Even worse still was that the mage's horse reared back, and the mage was lifted just out of range of Eris' thrust. She had fully extended her arms for it as well, and by the time she pulled her arms back to her body she received a fierce kick from the mage's mount, right in the chest. She felt the wind be knocked out of her, nearly as badly as when she got cranked by that wyvern's tail in Ilia, and was knocked clear off her feet.
The damned mage hadn't even been the one to stop her, but his freaking mule. Eris cursed under her breath, forced wheezes doing what they could to restore air to her lungs. Her hands trembled as her fingers tightened around the shaft of her weapon.
There was no way she was going to let it end here.
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Post by Vincent on Dec 24, 2016 20:38:18 GMT -6
"What do you mean me again?" Vincent slid back to keep distance as he switched from his dagger to his newest sword, the one he used to cut the trees. With both hands on the blade he readied to fight.
"You were part of that group that wiped us out. YOU killed our leader by stabbing him in the back like a coward!" Unable to use his lance the bandit drew his sword instead. "I will have justice for him."
"Back on the plains?"
"So you do remember. I'd be disappointed if you didn't!" The paladin rushed in with a wide swing of his sword. Ducking below Vincent stepped forward raising his fist into the man's jaw again and followed it up with a swing of his own. Still unused to the blade's more axe-like nature and weight his opponent easily deflected him.
"I remember you as a bunch of jokes!"
"Go to Hell!"
"Been there, and clawed my way back out!"
The great knight and ranger were still busy with the convoy guards allowing Vincent and Eris time to deal with their respective enemies as easily as it would get.
"Well, I do believe my horse just killed a girl." The mage laughed. The electricity dancing between his fingertips crackled and hummed lightly. "Children should stay home instead of seeking out battlefields." He laughed. With a short incantation of Gaea the mage raised a great pillar of stone from the earth moving it so it would rise above Eris. "It's a bit excessive, but I like to make a point. We are out of your league b****."
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