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Post by Ivan Zakharon on Mar 9, 2010 19:09:58 GMT -6
Arren started to follow Garnet as he began to make his way down the hill. Arren carefully found his footing and took his first step down the steep hill. Arren turned around as he thought he heard footsteps. He was right and there were many of them. Arren took a step back trying to see better. There were possibly 10 to 15 of them marching down the road. Arren forgot about the steepness and ran down the hill.
Arren lept from the hill and tackled Garnet to the ground. Garnet was a rather big man, but at the force Arren was going, he was hoping he didn't break anything. Garnet and Arren tumbled down the hill but quietly not enough to be heard. On the way down they ran into Francis as well. The horse was no where that Arren could see.
The came to a stop at the bottom and Arren shoved them out of sight until the soldiers past. "Sorry but I had to get us out of sight." Arren said out of breath.
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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 Mar 10, 2010 19:46:28 GMT -6
OoC: I think Garnet might have a fear of falling down hills. lol Read his history if you feel more curious about that. IC: Garnet was just getting close to where Francis was at, when he felt a rough impact from Arren knocking him headlong into the axman. Of all the things that could have happened, that was the one he was prepared for the least. The threesome bounced down the slope before miraculously landing somewhere close to cover. Garnet stayed quiet as he watched the soldiers check the bodies of the men up by the road. Not seeing anything to point them in the right direction, it wasn't long before they pressed on towards where Garnet and the crew had come from, still looking for what caused the trouble. The redheaded merc picked himself up, turning to the mage when they were gone. "Gahhh! Trying to kill me? Rolling down hills is not on my to do list. Just how do'ya think I got these?" He asked, pointing to the weathered dents and scrapes on his armor. He felt extra riled up at having just rolled down the hill. The last time... He shivered at the memory. He gave a quick sharp whistle and Fable put his head out from around a bush. The sight was so comical that it immediately shook him loose of his foul mood. "C'mere, you big chicken." He patted the horse, and took a handful of treats from one of the cargo bags, before letting the grey munch the snack from his hand. "That's enough. It's off road for now." - - - They headed west, towards the trees and hills he'd seen there earlier, wondering if they'd made it away cleanly. It was almost time for them to turn north, to begin the sweep to the around the city. What if there's still a full sized army here? What if they send out scouts? There was still a risk of being discovered. That they hadn't been found so far was only thanks to... A noise of irritation escaped the merc's mouth. "Eargh... you did the right thing tackling us back there, Arren... I... just really hate... falling." He kept his head forward, and tried to keep the embarrassment from showing. Truth was, since his tumble down the slopes near his village, he'd had a morbid fear of falling down hills. He thought it a silly thing to be afraid of but couldn't really help himself.
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Francis
The "Before" years
[M:0]
I Hate Small Towns
Posts: 34
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Post by Francis on Mar 10, 2010 23:03:03 GMT -6
"I hate hil-"
Next thing Francis knew he was flying. no wait not flying...falling with style...minus the style....unless the hill's name was style... in which cas- OOF!
They landed, and the Bandit rose, rubbing his sore rear end, before stretching his arms and legs: nothing broken,"...as I was saying: I hate hills..."
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As the group kept moving, Francis remained silent, grumbling to himself about something or other, but hey...at least he had SHOES! The thought made him smile, as he looked back to them," Yeah, lest we be dead now...however I still hate Hills...and falling...and thickets..." he wanted the points to get across, especially the hill part, as he kept his axe at the ready as a precaution: this wasn't the kind of job he was expecting as a Mercenary...wasn't that Crowley dude fighting Dragons?
...or was it the undead...or undead dragons? Yeah it had to be those darned Undead Dragons...not that Francis had seen any...
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Post by Ivan Zakharon on Mar 11, 2010 20:02:54 GMT -6
Arren got up once the soldiers had walked past. Garnet and Francis made it clear that hills were not their favorite thing. "Yeah, It wasn't the best idea, but I had to get us out of sight. I think I'd rather roll down a hill than get captured by the prophet." Arren said following Garnet.
"Anyway, you guys did good back there, looks like you've had some experience." Arren said thinking back to the fight. It felt good to use his magic in battle again. Maybe someday he'll be able to get a new type of magic.
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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 Mar 11, 2010 22:42:55 GMT -6
"You could say that. Guard work did offer plenty of chances for honing my skills. But what you did back there was incredible." The merc glanced over at Arren. "You roasted them, and there was no stopping it."
Oh...yes. "Francis we need to talk. What gave you the idea to coin "Garnet the Glorious" back there?" Garnet's tone wasn't quite annoyed, but more curious. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of having a name like that.... "It sounds like that mercenary hero that I've heard stories of, though personally, I've not heard much. The leadership of Etruria suppressed those tales."
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Francis
The "Before" years
[M:0]
I Hate Small Towns
Posts: 34
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Post by Francis on Mar 11, 2010 22:57:18 GMT -6
Shrug.
" There was this guy, a hero to us common folk named Crowley the Magnificent. he kicked ass." he flashed a smile as he spoke," He fought dragons, ressurected heroes, and even fought The Prophet himself, then died to help some people escape. He was a real man's man...man....ya know man?" he was being silly but it got the point across: Crowley was the man. He'd heard the stories from various people, who considered him, in Lycia that is, the greatest man in the world besides that one knight...what was his name again...?
" The point is, we need some cool mercenary titles if we want more jobs. More jobs is more money which is more food, more shoes, and the sort!" he beamed before pointing to Arren," He shall be...uhhh... Arren the Burninator! I shall you be Francis the...uhhh...Fighter!" he was out of ideas," And our fearless leader is none other than the famous Garnet the Glorious! Defender of the People!"
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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 Mar 13, 2010 0:50:07 GMT -6
Garnet listened as Francis explained who, and what a Crowley was. The man sounded incredible, possibly a little too incredible to Garnet. Dragons were truly fearsome beasts, from what the merc had seen. Still, if everyone was saying it then surely it would have to be true... right?
"He sounds skilled." Garnet said his friend. "And you bring up a good point. Names are a good thing, but I've not done anything particularly glorious. I've mostly fought things... and killed them...and been stabbed by them.... I'm the people's gladiator."
Something more than fame and jobs had begun playing in his mind. If Crowley had gained the favor of so many people, then maybe Garnet could too. And if he succeeded, then the merc would be able to turn those people against his enemy, the Prophet of Etruria. From there he could begin gathering opposition in order to-
No! How could I even contemplate using people in that kind of way. Turning them into helpless pieces on a board, for me to spend against the Prophet.... He couldn't seem to completely forget his thoughts though.
"Francis, you could be...ahuhh..." Flinty, Flintstone.... nah... ferocious,... "The Formidable, Haha, I'd say those men back on the road would agree! Alright we'll do names." The red head glanced over at Arren. ...but...Burninator? Sounds like some kind of... poorly named...dragon.
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Maria
The "Before" years
Posts: 2
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Post by Maria on Mar 14, 2010 0:04:58 GMT -6
(Sorry if I am bumping in)
Maria was being chased by bandits and she always had that. Just because she was a dancer and they loved to play with her then. So she run fast, looking as the bandits came closer. Suddenly after she turned around again, she bumped into Francis. She got up and dust her dress off. "I am sorry, but I got to run again."She said as she looked to the Bandits. "You might want to distract those bandits that are chasing me."She said as she wanted to run away again.
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Post by Ivan Zakharon on Mar 14, 2010 17:20:54 GMT -6
OoC: You're fine
IC:"Yeah we might have to work on that name." Arren said as he walked down the path when all of a sudden a girl ran straight into Francis. "Bandits?" Arren questioned as he looked up and saw a small group of Bandits coming their way. The couldn't waste their time with this, they had to get going. Although, If they didn't deal with the bandits, nothing good would come of the girl. "Get behind me then" Arren said as he opened the page he marked by bending the parchment. Arren muttered the words written on the paper this time without looking. It had worked, because his arm started to tingle. Arren put both hands together to make the flame bigger. Arren sent the ball of flame right towards the middle bandit and it hit him dead center chest. The fire knocked him back several feet hopefull killing him. It had also had caused one of them to trip and fall down, that didn't stop the other bandit.
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Francis
The "Before" years
[M:0]
I Hate Small Towns
Posts: 34
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Post by Francis on Mar 14, 2010 18:03:06 GMT -6
The bandit that hadn't been stopped by Arren was met with headbutt from the large axeman to knock him back a ways, and then was laughing," HA! THAT WAS AWESOME ARREN- THATS IT! YOU BANDITS! TREMBLE AT THE POWER OF FRANCIS THE FORMIDABLE, GARNET THE GLORIOUS, AND ARREN THE AWESOME!" with this he readied his axe and leaped into the fray, giving his target and fellow axeman a hearty punch to the face before swinging his weapon. unfortunantly the punch and oh so unluckily knocked the bandit out of the arc of the former bandit's attack, allowing him to stabilize himself and draw his own weapon.
Francis wasn't really too concerned for the girl at the moment, and was sure Arren the Awesome could protect her well enough...perhaps she was rich and that was why the bandits were after her...maybe when this protection was done they'd get some money for some food or maybe a better axe, or something!
Things could very well be looking up for the man.
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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 Mar 15, 2010 12:46:44 GMT -6
Bandits to turn my blade on now?... Garnet sighed, before speaking to the girl. "Don't run. Stay near enough and we can protect you." They had no understanding of the situation, and now that his friends had started the battle, no chance of a parley. Not that this really needed much explanation. These bandits must have decided to come and prey on the area surrounding Ostia, and this girl had gotten caught up in it.
"I am NOT GLORIOUS!" The merc yelled as he ripped his weapon and small shield out once again.
He stepped up next to Francis, and thrust at the enemy axmen with his weapon, forcing the man to falter back or be run through with the ferocity of the the blow. Garnet didn't chase the man though. He stepped off to the left and engaged another fighter, blocking a blow with his sword, before stepping in and kicking the fighter in the knee, either unbalancing him, or breaking the joint.
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Maria
The "Before" years
Posts: 2
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Post by Maria on Mar 15, 2010 23:47:04 GMT -6
Maria stopped running as she turned around, looking to the group. They were saving her. She couldn't do anything as she looked to them. She then started to dance as she gave moral to the group and hoped it did something to them and made a weakness for the bandits, atleast made them weaker. "I have nothing if you think that, I am just a dancer."She said as she danced further, hoping it would help them.
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Francis
The "Before" years
[M:0]
I Hate Small Towns
Posts: 34
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Post by Francis on Mar 21, 2010 13:02:48 GMT -6
Francis as he jumped backwards to cover Garnet's back, out of the corner of his eye watching the woman dance. It was quite motivating, if not rather odd to have in the middle of a battlefield...oh well, best not to spend so much time thinking about it, as he swung up and around in a whirlwind-like fashion, axe coming down on his previous target, sending the bandit to the ground as he was struck by the flat side of the weapon, before Francis slammed the weapon into the man's spine, not watching the twitching corpse as he hefted the weighty weapon back up and returned to his position at the back of his ally:
These bandits picked the wrong people to mess with!
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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 Mar 23, 2010 14:56:39 GMT -6
Garnet didn't so much see as feel what Francis was doing to his attacker. His thoughts echoed what he had decided when he first met Francis: He was glad they weren't fighting each other.
His own opponent seemed to be recovering from the attacks Garnet had delivered a moment ago, though he still looked in pain. He seemed to be contemplating whether he wished to keep fighting, or pull back and escape. When his eyes seemed to be drawn to something behind the red-headed mercenary, that was all the opportunity Garnet needed.
The bandit Garnet was facing was distracted by pain, and other things which were less of a pain. It didn't help his lot that Garnet had been in plenty of scuffles and fights before, and so had enough experience to completely outmatch the thug. With this being the case, it was a simple matter for our red-headed guard-turned-merc to simply step in, grab the man by his tattered coat and hurl him backwards into the path of another criminal. Just for good measure, he slapped his sword through the man's throat as he fell away, opening a crimson flood as the soon-to-be lifeless body impacted the enemy still rushing up.
Their fighting back had bought the group some time. The bandit's were no longer sure about taking on such stalwart warriors as they'd encountered. Garnet himself felt positive that they could take the remaining group. He didn't know why, but right then he felt he could take on the whole Etrurian Army by himself. Ordinarily, he would know that that was foolishness, but he felt hyped up on confidence right then, and his attacks seemed to be stringing together smoother and faster than he'd ever done before.
He looked at the other group. There were still about six other bandits, that meant two bandits to each of Garnet's Brigade. Garnet sneered derisively over at them, deciding to say something to the antagonists at last. "What a sorry lot! Ten men chasing a girl through the woods, and now you've lost a third of your number!" The mercenary wasn't really that concerned on getting his numbers exactly right. For all he knew, they couldn't even count. "Come on then, and I'll send you to the pit!"
The part of his mind that wasn't fully immersed into battle was trying to tell him that his words would either goad them into attacking again, or cause them to lose confidence and flee. He waited to see which, ready to loose the final payment for a persistent attack on himself and the others.
(OoC: Basically the next post will tell me whether you all want to continue the fight or move on, to Etruria. You've got three days to post before I move it myself.)
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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 Mar 29, 2010 19:48:31 GMT -6
OoC: Woe is me... Lol. I feel like I'm the only one posting in this thread.
BiC:
He heard the group of bandits growl and saw them launch forward. The first one was met by the red-headed mercenaries, sword in his gullet. From there, the battle degenerated into a maelstrom of wild axes, and ragged blades. Blows rained from him, and on him, one moment filling him with the energy of conquest, the next, driving him under the crushing embrace of defeat. Time didn't seem to make a difference anymore. Both parties were locked in an inextricable embrace of life and death combat.
They would all have stayed there until one side or the other was dead, except, there was yet another partner to this dance. Garnet, and the others would see that there was a group of black, and white armored soldiers charging from behind the bandits. They were likely the ones who had missed them on the road.
Worn and tired from his fights, Garnet snapped out of the berserker rage that had been driving him. This was their chance to break away. Not only that, but if they didn't take it, more soldiers would arrive soon.
Grabbing the man that he was fighting with by the arm, he gathered his breath for a shout strong enough to reach his friends over the din of battle. " Francis! Arren! Break away! We're leaving!"
Pushing his struggling partner off balance was simply a matter of positioning. It was something that the swordsman had always believed in. Strike exactly where you want, quickly, and powerfully. Don't just flail the blade, pick a specific target. Why should I Swing hard enough to break a brick, when a light tap on the elbow's weak point will render the arm useless. His technique was to swiftly, decisively end combat by hitting with strong, fast, precise strikes. Somewhat direct when compared to other swordsmen's styles but no less effective for it.
Once his opponent lost his footing, Garnet began to spin, whipping his victim on a head long course towards one of the enemies assailing his friends and allies.
"C'mon, We need to get away from here." He said, grabbing Maria's (who he still does not know the name of) arm urgently. Bolting into some of the brush cover from the trees, he started in the direction he thought was north, while the bandits were forced to turn to this new threat...
(OoC: Time skip of a few hours due to trying to get out of Ostia. BTW, it should be nearing dark by now I think, if not dark already.)
Garnet thought that maybe they were in the clear. He hadn't seen a patrol or anything of the sort since they'd made their break, and they'd been traveling far enough that they were probably north of the ruined city.Plus, by some miracle, Fable had shown up again, bringing their supplies too. That horse amazed Garnet sometimes.
The Merc reached up and felt some of the crusted blood on the side of his head. That wasn't his. Then he felt the blood on his chin, he'd been given a good wallop there in the fray and and apparently else where too, as he started feeling around for aches and pains.
"I think we made it." Simple words for managing to slip past such a large army in Ostia. Thankfully, the army's general doesn't seem to have deployed a full blockade out of Lycia.
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