|
Post by Butorega on Jan 28, 2014 11:52:24 GMT -6
Butorega ha finally gotten it. The one structure every boy wanted as a child, a castle. It was old, but was still made of strong stone. The halls were filled with dust and the furniture old as the soil. Roots and vines were growing over the walls. Still however it was gem to the eyes of the Paladin. Butorega immediately began to work. He first started in the master bedroom. He removed the old bed and had replaced it with a new one. The old wood he piled up in a side room. It would be good for burning later. He also made it an effort to stock up on torches and lamps. The people who designed this castle apparently did not believe in window, but there were a few in the main areas. They were just covered by vines which Butorega had removed. The castle was still far from completely clean by the time Butorega took a break. Still it was a working progress. He knew he could not have the place up in a day, though the lack of help and man power loomed ever greater in his mind. Butorega was going to need men, but gathering men who were willing to follow him was not an easy task.
Butorega hung on the far end of the castle wall. His legs hung over the edge as he sat on the stone chewing on some deer jerky. He looked out over the fields of grass and the slow moving stream. It was quiet and peaceful, something that was going to change in the years to come. “Man it is boring here”, spoke Butorega as the words left his mouth he noticed something coming around one of the corners. It was a horse pulling a carriage. Which was weird as the path crossings were this castle was hidden was rarely traveled. In fact it was not on any of the modern maps. There were only two things this could mean. The person coming down this road was either lost, or was trying to move in secret. Either way it was some entertainment for Butorega.
As Butorega prepared to move from his sitting position he noticed that there was another carriage following behind that one. Then there was another, and another. It seemed to be a caravan of five transport wagons. “I wonder if they are merchants”, spoke Butorega to himself as he as he rushed down the stairs to the ground level. Wallace was enjoying his evening meal of grass when Butorega grabbed hold of his reins. “Come on boy”, spoke Butorega as he hopped onto the massive black horse. Butorega rode out of the castle gate with the purpose of intercepting the caravan. In truth he was hoping to get some supplies for the castle. Maybe some chairs and some spare beds. It never hurts to plan early.
|
|
|
Post by The Madness on Jan 28, 2014 12:13:27 GMT -6
Oleg sat at the front of one of the carriages, whistling a faint tune, watching the roads calmly. It was a rather easy job to watch over a slaver caravan, and it paid well. Safe enough to leave Oichi back at a safe place for the time being as well. All in all a productive day, thought Oleg. Although it was boring and depressing as all hell. The caravans were loaded with slaves and brutal slavers, who cared for nothing else than their coin and the possible shepherd girl down the road they could sell for a few measly coins. Oleg hated working for those kinds of people, but he... No, Oichi, would need to money.
|
|
|
Post by Butorega on Jan 28, 2014 13:23:00 GMT -6
Crossing the field and the small bridge that crossed the stream Butorega was able to get in front of the caravan. His black horse pushed through the bushes and landed onto the deteriorating path. From the point of view of the first caravan driver it seemed like the Paladin appeared out of nowhere. Immediately he pulled on the reigns of his horse stopping the cart from moving. The paladin simply held his ground as the cart stopped.
“You there are you merchants”, asked Butorega. Immediately two men popped out the back of the first cart with weapons in hand their eyes told of their malicious intent. The first had an axe and the second a sword. The man driving the cart was armed too, but he seemed calmer than the other two. Screams from the other drivers could be heard from the back of the caravan. They wondered what was going on.
“A knight”, spoke the axe wilding guard as he sized up Butorega. The swordsman remained quiet and watched Paladin like a hawk. The drive gave a look to the axe man and immediately he stepped back and lowered his weapon.
“Yes sir Knight”, spoke the driver. “We are simple merchants from Lycia. In case you are wondering why we are taking this backwater path there was a dragon sighting and we were hoping to stay off the main road.”
“Dragon”, spoke Butorega as he ignored the title of knight. He was going to correct them, but the mentioning of Drax caught his attention. “Yes there was a dragon flying by here earlier”, spoke Butorega. A calm expression crossed the man’s face. “Though may I ask what items are you selling”, spoke Butorega. The paladin simply wanted to know if they had anything of use to him, but for the slavers it seemed as if he was interrogating them. Butorega’s stern expression and wolfish demeanor did not help.
“Just…, some furniture”, spoke the man. He had to think of something that was not regulated. With the chaos in Bern the local governments had put restrictions on what you could sell and could not sell. Weapons, thanks to the rebellion, were on that list of restricted goods. In order to sell such items one would need a pass.
“Furniture”, spoke Butorega. This was exactly what he needed. A few more beds and chairs would be useful. “Well then you won’t mind me looking at your wears”, spoke Butorega. The Paladin dismounted and began to walk towards the back end of the cart. His halberd and lance remained strapped onto his horse. As Butorega moved the driver gave a signal to the minions. Both men began to move to surround Butorega.
“Sure thing”, spoke the driver as he dismounted from his seat. He walked past Butorega and made his way to the back of the cart. His eyes signaled the driver of the second cart letting him know that there was trouble. Butorega followed behind the man, but took notice of the movement of the first two men. Something was not right. Butorega could not put his finger on it, but he could tell the hostility in the air. “Here take a look”, spoke the man as he pulled back the curtain. There Butorega saw a young boy in a cage like an animal. Immediately it all clicked.
The driver tried to draw his dagger, but Butorega front kicked him before he could. The axe man came from behind trying to strike Butorega in his spine. The paladin drew his sword as his iron axe was still strapped to his side. The blade clashed with the fighters axe, and to Butorega’s great surprise a roar of flames burned through the man’s axe and consumed his body. The fighter’s screams of horror alerted all the other slavers that something was wrong. From the other four carts they poured out. From the glimpse Butorega could put their number at fifteen.
Time to go thought Butorega, but before he could move the swordsman rushed in to take a shot at him with his blade. Butorega blocked the strike with his sword and retaliated with a slash of his own. The man jumped back, but the fire from the blade flew forward and consumed him in the fire. “Wallace”, shouted Buotrega as his black steed rushed forward. The best knocked over an incoming opponent and stopped in front of the paladin. With all haste Butorega remounted his steed and pulled off from the slavers position.
|
|
|
Post by The Madness on Jan 28, 2014 13:28:40 GMT -6
Oleg sighed as he watched the knight and the "merchant" move to the back. He was pretty sure soon they would return with the poor sods corpse and just dump him into the forest. But, to his surprise, he saw a horse run to the place where the knight was taken, and he then soon saw the said knight escaping. Oleg grunted and leaped off from the carriage, drawing his steel sword and examining the movements of the knight. Maybe he would gain some extra coin for his head. The knight still seemed like a better person than the slavers, but if he was not the one paying him, he would not give a damn about his position in the world.
|
|
|
Post by Butorega on Jan 28, 2014 13:51:47 GMT -6
That was close thought Butorega as he rode away. If he had been a bit slower than that might have been his head. Suddenly an arrow flew by Butorega’s head and cutting some of his orange hair. The paladin stopped immediately in his tracks. The slavers were now after him. They were hoping to stop his retreat with the aid of their archer. Unfortunately for him his angle was off and he only managed to cut a lock of Butorega’s hair.
The arrow had a very strong effect on Butorega. It was not fear that the arrow brought, but more like a realization. Why in the world was he retreating from this fight? He has taken opponents on way worse than these rejects, and not to mention he had a horse. To make things worse he was leaving a young boy in the hands of such men. The very notion pissed Butorega off. No man should own another. Butorega killed and murdered, but he never in slaved anyone. There was a certain line he would cross and slavery was not one of them.
As Butorega turned his horse around the archer took another shot. The Paladin cut the arrow down the middle and allowed it to burn to ash from the flames. He then pulled back his arm and shot forward a bolt of fire towards the man. The archer dodged the attack by retreating behind one of the carts, but an unexpected knight took the bolt to the face. Butorega took a deep breath as he sheath his blade. Sure the fire sword was a good toy to uses ,but for these people Butorega needed to feel his weapon cut through their flesh. The paladin drew his halberd and began to charge forward, but that time the slavers had sent out two of their own riders to intercept the paladin.
“Out of my way scum”, shouted Butorega as he cut the first man off his mount. The second charged forward with his blade , but suffered the same fate. Butorega’s black steed rushed towards the cart, but right before he reached it he swerved and turned off towards the side of the road. It was a smart move as the other Slavers came forward with longswords and horseslayers. Butorega knew better than to challenge their numbers directly. Instead he prepared to draw them out and strike them down in the field.
“Don’t let him escape”, shouted the first caravan driver. “If he gets away we will have the whole castle after us.” The slavers were still under the impression that Butorega was a knight. They figured he was doing patrol for some noble who held lands in the area.
|
|
|
Post by The Madness on Jan 28, 2014 13:58:50 GMT -6
Oleg drew his sword, taking a combat ready pose as he mostly kept to the sidelines. Gears were moving in his head. A knight of the local lord who could possibly pay him better for helping him than the slavers would. And the fact that the slavers would have their own items he could loot... Oleg slowly nodded to himself, charging for one of the archers, leaping into the air as he sliced his sword across the back of the archer, catching the sod on the back and surprising him, easily cutting him down. He turned around, noticing another archer aiming at him, slowly cursing as the archer released his arrow, it landing on his shoulder as he snarled in deep agony.
|
|
|
Post by Butorega on Jan 28, 2014 14:26:56 GMT -6
“Oleg you traitor”, shouted a slaver archer as he let loss a shot. The arrow hit the aged man in the shoulder. Butorega turned around for another assault. It was in that moment he noticed one of the enemy archers being cut down. Looks like someone else is also fighting the slavers thought Butorega. The paladin had two of his own opponents to fight. The first had a longsword and the second had a horse slayer. Wallace was good stead and Butorea did not want to risk him against these two. Two the surpise of the two men the paladin dismounted. Butorega stabbed his halberd into the ground and drew his iron axe from his side. He then pulled out his blade and held it in his right hand. With a bone chilling scream Butorega charged the two men.
The first to take a shot at Butorega as the man with the horse slayer . He stabbed forward with his spear, but the Paladin hooked it with his axe. At the same time the swordsman attacked with his longsword. Butorega jumped back, but the blade sliced across his chest. Sparks flickered across Butorega’s back armor as the blade scratched across his chest plate. It felt good to have armor, if he was fighting like he did before that would have been a major wound.
Together again they attacked Butorega, but this time the Paladin was ready for their duel assault. He swung his blade sending a bolt of fire towards the lance user. The attacked caused him to back off as the mercenary attacked with his blade. Butorega blocked the attack with his iron axe, but the force from the blow caused the weapon to break. It had quite the history with Butorega and the weapon had finally seen its last battle. Without wasting a moment Butorega attacked with his sword. His blade burned through the mercenary armor cutting the man down in his tracks. The soldier seeing that Butorega no longer had his axe tried to rush in and take advantage of the situation. Butorega barely sidestepped the spear allowing it to scrape his black armor as it skimmed by him. He then grabbed hold of the shaft and decapitated the man. Fire consumed his body as it fell lifeless to the ground.
|
|
|
Post by The Madness on Jan 28, 2014 14:37:48 GMT -6
Oleg snarled as he ripped the arrow off from his shoulder, holding his shoulder as it bled. "Damnit..." Oleg cursed, gritting his teeth as he lunged forwards with his sword, stabbing it trough the chest of the archer who had called him out. "I never liked you anyways." Oleg grunted, kicking down the corpse of the archer as he backed to the corner of a wagon, holding his shoulder and panting. "Gods be damned... Hnngh... No. No, focus Oleg. For Oichi."
|
|
|
Post by Butorega on Jan 28, 2014 17:45:28 GMT -6
Butorega whistled to his horse and called the beast back to him. It was best to stay mobile. He was not sure exactly of how many of the enemy were dead, but he was completely sure they still outnumbered him.
“The knight is coming back for another pass”, spoke the first driver. He had gathered the remainder of his me. They numbered six in total barely able to control their caravan. You two”, spoke the man as he pointed toward a knight and a soldier. “Go take care of the traitor we four will deal with the rider.”
“Understood”, they spoke as they moved to assault Oleg. The other four formed up and began to move forward. The two in the front held out spears as one in the back had lightning spell tome. The last who was the first driver had his mace and trusty dagger.
“Clinging to each other is not going to save you maggots”, shouted Butorega. Still he was wary of just chagrin in. He could do that on foot maybe, but with his horse it was not a smart idea.
|
|
|
Post by The Madness on Jan 29, 2014 8:07:53 GMT -6
Oleg continued to hold his sword, letting off a faint grunt as he heard the men were coming. He was low on options here. He had nothing to heal himself with, and the enemies were more healthy than he was. He needed strategy. "... Hngh, this is not going to end well." Oleg kept himself ready to surprise the first one to come near the end of the wagon he was hiding behind. He heard one of them coming, and sliced his sword in a sideways arc to cut off the head of the one coming. Soon afterwards a knights body fell down with a mighty thud. Oleg kept his sword ready, leaping out of the corner, facing the soldier. He snarled as he thrusted forwards, only to be met with the soldier's lance landing trough his chest. He gurgled a bit, pulling himself back before the spear could impale him. Damage had been done though, and Oleg held his chest in agony.
|
|
|
Post by Butorega on Jan 29, 2014 10:58:51 GMT -6
The first to attack was the enemy mage. She shot forward a bolt of lightning that stuck Butorega in the chest. The Paladin cringed as the blow struck him. Luckily for Butorega his armor gave him some resistance to magic, but the blow did knock the wind out of him.
“Alright got him”, shouted the driver as the mage prepared another shot. Butorega was not going to let that go down so easily. The Paladin sent his horse into a gallop disregarding the danger of charging these four men head on. The two soldiers in front held out there spears ready for the horse to impale itself upon them. The Paladin however showed no sign of stopping. Butorega charged forward and swirled his mount at the last second. As he passed by the soldier’s spears he swung his halberd hitting the mage in the chest. Blood filled the air as its blade cut through the woman’s body. The combine force of Butorega’s arms and the horse’s momentum almost cut the woman in two.
“Dang he got Jean”, spoke one of the soldiers as they turned around. Butorega rode past there positon and was preparing to turn around and attack again when he saw a soldier moving on the location of the mercenary.
Seeing an opportunity Buotrega charged forward and decapitated the man from behind. His horse passed by the opening in the cart and turned around. Before he charged back towards the others he looked at the man holding his chest. “I don’t know what your angle is”, spoke Butorega. “However at this moment we are on the same side.” Butorega tossed him his vulnerary. You can keep it I have a spare.” With that Butorega rode back towards the three man group preparing to finish them off.
|
|
|
Post by The Madness on Jan 29, 2014 11:05:50 GMT -6
Oleg nodded in thanks to the "knight", starting to rub his chest with the contents of the vulnery, along with his shoulder. He retreated to the insides of the carriage he was hiding behind, waiting for the wounds to heal as he noticed a few children around him, scared by the sounds of battle outside. He then sighed, not speaking a word as he sat next to their cages.
|
|
|
Post by Butorega on Jan 29, 2014 11:24:10 GMT -6
Once again Butorega was reentering the fray. He was quite pleased with the fact that he bought a horse. He could now strike at his enemies and move away before they could strike him back. With this new momentum he was able to take on more enemies alone than if he was on foot. Still thought the fear factor was a bit removed. Enemies no longer coward at his might. They rather blamed it on the fact that he was mounted.
Once again the soldiers pointed there spears forward. They had wised up since Butorega’s last assault. Rather stand in an open space they instead put their backs toward the cart. The change in tactic would prove difficult for Butorega to tackle. “Looks like someone has wised up”, spoke the Paladin as his horse moved in for another strike. As Butorega moved in he noticed the body of the mage on the ground. Then at that moment it dawned on him. The paladin turned his horse to the surprise of the last three slavers. He then replaced his spear onto its little lack on his horse and drew his blade. Realizing immediately what he was planning the two spearmen ran for their lives. They both took off in opposite directions.
“No you idiots”, spoke the driver as Butorega sent a bolt of fire towards the man fleeing in Oleg direction. The flames consumed his body killing the man instantly. The second soldier was a bit out of range so Butorega had to ride him down. Rather than burn him Butorega rode by him and decapitated his body. All that remained was the driver. The driver in fear jumped into the back of the carriage. He used his key to open one of the children’s cages and grabbed a young boy. Butorega , while still mounted on his horse, road behind the carriage. He had sheathed his sword as he figured it would be a good opportunity to use his lance.
“Stop right there”, spoke the driver as he held his knife at the boy’s neck. “now you back off or I am going to slit this youngins throat. You’re going to let me go and”, before the man could finish Butorega stabbed his lance forward. The lance shaved off a bit of the boy’s hair and stabbed into the thief’s heart. “Your…not…suppose…to…attack”, spoke the thief as he fell to the ground dead.
“Not attack”, spoke Butorega. “Who do you think I am a knight.”
|
|
|
Post by The Madness on Jan 29, 2014 11:31:05 GMT -6
Oleg grunted as he heard screams of agony. "Gods be damned, a knight this cruel... Were they not slavers, I would have not helped him." Oleg continued to wait for his wounds to heal, the children around him crying even louder, scared out of their minds due to the screams. Oleg tried his best to calm them down, but the best he could do was smile reassuringly and tell them that everything was going to be okay. To hell it was...
|
|
|
Post by Butorega on Jan 29, 2014 11:50:25 GMT -6
Shocked by Butorega’s actions the young boy stared at the body of the dead thief. The paladin restriped his lance back to the horse’s saddle and got off his beast. He jumped up onto the carriage and extended his hand toward the boy. In fear the boy jump backwards. He looked around and moved to grab the thief’s knife. Butorega however was faster, and with a quick kick he removed the blade from the boy’s grasp. “Don’t”, spoke Butorega and immediately the kid was frozen with fear. With the boy no longer struggling Butorega picked up the lad and placed him atop his horse. He then took the keys from the dead drivers pocket and hopped off the cart. It was in this moment that the boy realized that Butorega was not going to hurt him. The paladin grabbed the reins of the horse and waked it to the cart were Oleg was sitting.
“Here”, spoke Butorega to Oleg as he threw him the keys. “Let those kids out”, he spoke as he began to walk towards the other two carts. “Take care of this one and the one behind you. I will finish off the last two.”
Butorega arrived at the third cart in the line. Like the first he jumped up into it. He saw that there were three cages in this one . The children stared at him frighten and from what Butorega could tell hungry. As Butorega drew his sword the children took a breath. It was clear to Butorega that these kids had been mistreated, and possibly some of them even killed. Butorega stabbed the blade into the lock of one of the doors. The heat from the flames melted the lock off freeing the child from his prison. At the sight hope once again entered the kids eyes as they realized that Butorega was here to save them.
After finishing his two carts Butorega had the kids moved to the front of the caravan. He wanted to know how many of them were there exactly and needed to do a count.
|
|