Durrandon's Ambition 1: Gold Fever [Ambition members only]

[Yorick]

Yorick was furious. How dare a Rebel scumbag speak to her like that? Conquering her homeland for his own foolish and misguided ambitions? It was time to knock this King down a peg.

As the wyvern sprang away, creating an opportunity for the intruder to charge into the gatehouse, Yorick motioned, and four of her men set off to subdue the intruder and ensure the gate’s closure. Yorick, smiling broadly, scraped her axes’ keen edges together, sending an unnerving screech through the air, and then bashed the flats together, her eyes narrowed viciously as she stalked forward, her combat boots clacking with pointed finality on the stone floor of the landing grotto.

”Your first mistake was coming here, ‘King.’ Your second was removing your sole advantage over me. Without your mount, you are no match for me. I was born of the raging waters of the Isles… They are my home. I am a fighter born and bred, and I will bleed you dry on this unforgiving stone. Men! Fight on. Defeat these scum. I shall sever the head of the snake itself. ...Alas, ‘King,’ your reign is destined to end before it begins. Prepare yourself. Death is nigh.”

Approaching the man, Yorick lunged forward, swinging her axe in a deadly horizontal arc at the man’s abdomen. He had no idea how strong she was; let him try to match her power. She would shatter the weak wood of his spear-haft and rend his armor. She would slice his flesh and pulverize his bones. She would annihilate he who sought to destroy her birthplace.

[Orys Durrandon]

Orys was not sure on his victory. Psh, foolish of him to doubt himself. All important men fell if they thought about their own weaknesses for too long. He did not need his steel to win this battle in the end. He needed his words, he needed them to sting trough the hide of this woman beast, make her confused, slow her down, and in the end, strike her down as she ponders those said words. If he could just keep himself defended long enough that she'd listen and slow down, he would be more golden than all the gold he would get from here.

"No, there was no mistake." He quickly moved himself so that the axe clanged against the shoulder of his armor. For now, the only force he felt was the heavy armor clashing against his shoulder, but he would be fine. But his armor would not keep him alive long enough for this all to end well. "I came here to fund myself. Maybe even gather some new blood into the cause." He rolled back, quickly drawing his javelin as he then threw it towards the female, then returning to his speaking. He had to keep going.

"You were born in the raging waters, but you could be risen to rule said waters, to bend them to your will, or to let them rage free, however you wish. You could, instead of wasting your clear talent here... Help be bend these waves. I do not destroy. I rule."

[Loreley]

A sickened fever seemed to reach into Lore's heart as she watched her arrow plunge home. She saw Morgan had rallied, Lore's own arrow having given the chance to do so. She knew that if her heart were in the fighting, she would be glad that she'd helped, but it wasn't to be. Even so, the current of battle drew her and her bow along the fight. She took aim at another soldier near the gates, and loosed her shaft. It grew easier as it became more instinctive. Almost rhythmic, like the waves on the night shore.

Her steady rhythm of draw, aim, fire was disrupted suddenly by a whooshing sound and a sudden smell of ash. Loreley looked up in time to duck behind Promise's rails and avoid a searing splash of flame falling on her ship from above. There were still mages loose on the walls of the fortress, and while they were mostly occupied with the fight, it looked as though one had made it to the battlements to disrupt the ranged support of the attackers. The fact that it was a fire mage made it worse. Fire was a ship's worst enemy. It would burn the lines and the sails, if it was allowed to take root. She shielded her eyes from the falling debris and looked up to see her mainsail singed and scorched. It was treated for rough weather, and wouldn't catch immediately. The fire barrage couldn't be allowed to continue though. That gave her something a little more agreeable to focus on for the fight.

Pushing herself up off the deck, she pulled an arrow from her quiver and drew it back to her cheek as she appeared from behind the railing. She spotted the mage, hand glowing with fire overhead, and let an arrow wing its way towards him. It passed by harmlessly over his shoulder, though he took note. She saw him reach out his hand as fire began to erupt around her on the Promise. She started to dodge away, but there really wasn't anywhere to escape to except the sea. It was with the last buried spark of defiance in her that she wildly drew and let fly a shot. One swift motion it was, but this one felt divined for success as she let it fly. The fires abated abrubtly, as her arrow lodged itself in his extended hand. That took him down a peg, and she watched as he dropped his tome as he clutched his injured hand. He bent to scoop up his tome and she saw it in his arms as he ran for the gatehouse and other defenses. He'd find it difficult to make full use of his abilities with the gift she'd given him though.

[Captain Morgan]

Another arrow came from the boats and hit the closest soldier that was coming in after Morgan in the back of the leg, dropping him to one knee. Either the girl that fired it was a great shot, or extremely lucky. Morgan decided to count on it just being luck, and waited around the corner of the gate winch room. The ones holding it were frozen in terror, waiting to see who would come out of the battle alive, Morgan or the soldiers.

What Morgan needed was a plan. The blood loss was starting to make it harder and harder to think, but she was safe for now at least. The entrance was narrow and lances didn't work around corners. If the guards charged in, she could wait until their lance points were past her, then close in on them before they could draw a different weapon. If they were too careful, it could mean the end for her.

She saw the lance tips coming through the doorway. They were too focused on finding and killing her, that was her chance. As soon as the lances passed her, she jumped at them, pushing all of the lances out of their hands. Her axe felled one of the guards before the other two could draw their swords in panic. They backed up to catch their breath in front of the gate, while the guard who had been shot staggered to join them. Morgan knew she needed more assistance, some backup. She couldn't keep them on the edge forever.

[Deleted]

Lucius could hear commotion above deck. "Well boys, it would seem that the time is upon us. Let us storm ashore by the dozens and flush them all out." Lucius stood, towering and menacing. He called himself a merchant and a map maker but he was still a mercenary and a killer.

A wide grin crossed his scared and disfigured face. "One gold for every pair of ears you all return with. You had better not slow down however, lest your targets surrender." The men cheered from below the echoes sounding above. "Now, we break them all!"

With a fierce cry he swung open the hatches of the ship pouring forth dozens of mercenaries and pirates alike. When they had all cleared out Lucius joined them up above, axe resting upon his shoulder. He watched as the men swarmed the caverns of the mine all crying out for blood and victory. The wild vigor these men carried should serve well in demoralizing the opposition. A sudden thought crossed his mind a moment too late, who will mark out the caverns now? It would simply have to wait he supposed.

Lucius leaped into the fray tackling the first guard he saw chopping down with his axe ferociously. The fear and realization was brief before nothing. He looked from his kill and saw the captain struggling. "Oi, Captain Morgan! Thanks for the ride! I suppose it's time I return the favor?" A soldier charged for Morgan but Lucius was faster. Swiftly passing the Captain he dodged the lance tip with a spin and carried the momentum into a powerful blow that knocked the young boy to the floor. "That one ain't dead. Yours if you want him, otherwise maybe we can turn him later." Lucius shrugged, either way the boy was unconscious

Lucius looked around as much as circumstance permitted. "Where is Durrandon?"

[Orys Durrandon]

He frowned as he suddenly heard the battle slowly turning into their favor. The element of surprise he and his band had was taking the toll on the defending forces, and with the mages that were furiously trying to keep something along the lines of bombardment being distracted and slowly but surely dealt with, the victory was all but theirs. Now he would need to get in connection with the captain and Lucius. "Excuse me, miss... But I shall stop giving you opportunities, and instead I offer you freedom. Run away now, and you will not be killed. I hope you heed these words wisely."

With that, Orys proceeded to grab his lance as he ran forwards, before using it like a pole as he leaped above the woman as he then ran towards the mine entrance. Balerion in the meanwhile was having a wonderful time. The wyvern, while aged and lazed down, was waking up to his instincts he had not been able to relish since years past, when he was free in the wild. He took in on the carnage, he enjoyed ripping apart lesser men, and he enjoyed the crunch their bones made when they hit against his sharp, gleaming yet bloody teeth. Needles to say, Balerion was partly holding a whole group of the guards alone.

Orys continued his running as he struck away the few that came close to him. There weren't many, and most were focused on battling someone else already. He proceeded to announce his entrance to his servants by stabbing his spear trough the throat of the boy who had fallen, wiping blood, grime and sweat from his forehead afterwards. "Status report. Lucius. How many of your men are alive? Get them into the mine and get them to move the gold. Morgan, send someone to handle the rest of the mages and stay with me." He nodded quickly.

[Deleted]

"Hah! You almost sound concerned. None of my men have yet to fall. The promise of gold has them flooding the tunnels like blood hounds." He glanced at the young lad that Orys destroyed with his spear. Lucius frowned slightly. He never intended to kill him. He was a scarred kid. But alas he was here on a field of battle. Mercy was not a highly sought trait here.

Placing his axe on his shoulder he grinned. "As for the gold, that will be handled shortly. Can we hold out for another... say twenty minutes? If so we will clear this place out and make this our own mine permanently. If not..." He nods to some of his men. "They are setting up mines on the unneeded tunnels. This way any that escape us and hide will be trapped within and die out that way. I will leave the decision to blow anything up to you but if needed I will make the call myself." He proceeded forward into an off branching tunnel. Along the walls was gold and lots of it. It shone and glimmered in the torchlight.

Lucius paid no mind to the disfigured corpses over which he tread. This was going to be a victory worthy of song. He laughed. "Fame or infamy. One of these will be ours after this day. All up to the victors I suppose." Pulling him from his thoughts were two of the pirates each running joyously with a multitude of ears in hand, Captain Lucius, we brought as many as we could. This tunnel is cleared of anyone.

"Good, move to the others. Any 'dead tunnels blow to hell. Be careful not to get killed."

[Yorick]

...What?

As soon as the man had made his crypic "Well you can be a king too! Let's all be kings!" speech, he polevaulted away in a manner so uninspiring of respect that she couldn't help chuckling. It was clearly a ploy to get her to drop her guard, allowing him to kill her, but since she didn't bite, he decided he had better things to do.

What an unstylish exit.

Yorick smiled grimly as the battle swept nearer to the gates, leaving her standing alone in the entrance to the grotto. The two ships of the invaders sat before her like hens, plump and laden with all sorts of goods. Supplies, no doubt... And pitch, and torches, and flints...

If she couldn't stop them from invading, she'd make sure they never left.

Running down towards where the ships had made their abrupt 'landing,' the Halberdier took advantage of a ladder and quickly hoisted herself up, looking over the expanse of the two ships. She was on the larger one; on the smaller, which was nearby, there was a figure looking up at the parapets. A scout, maybe, or a mage of some sort? She'd have to eliminate this problem before she tried to set the ships ablaze.

So Yorick reached for her javelins, but then, looking down at the deck, noticed a long coil of rope and a few iron heads, like those of siege hooks or grappling heads. Tying one onto the rope, she twirled the makeshift tool and then hurled it as hard as she could in the woman's general direction.

While it missed its target by a mile, it embedded itself in part of the rail with a dull thud, and the Halberdier seized her chance, looping her arm over it and listening to the keen sizzle as the rope brushed her smooth armor as she slid.

Soon, she approached the ship, and, grabbing onto the rail, hoisted herself over, immediately ducking to the side and drawing out her axes.

"All right, that will be enough out of you. Drop whatever weapons you have and sit down on the deck. I'll spare your life then. If you don't, I'll slice you up neater 'n a cucumber."

[Captain Morgan]

Morgan slumped a bit, after being saved by Lucius and Orys, and spat a bit of blood that was in her mouth on the ground. She looked at the last kid, who was still unconscious, and kicked him in the ribs. "There, he'll feel that in the morning." She was starting to get dizzy from blood loss, but she wasn't about to pass out in the middle of their first battle.

Accepting Orys' orders, she walked to the gate and took a torch out of her bag, lighting it and throwing the torch into the air as a signal. The pirates under her command knew the signal, and a branch of them broke off and headed up to where the mages were. The signal specifically meant "Danger above" but of course, pirates were not afraid of any danger. Morgan's signal system was simple and effective, unlike most other systems that required a mage on board.

Morgan turned to Orys, barely seeing straight. "What say we wrap this up quickly, I cannae keep the three of you straight, bosses." She was cut all over and beardless, but still standing. Fighting really wasn't her strong suite, she was more of a leader role, but at least when she was on the battlefield there was nobody more foolhardy than her. "Point me in the direction you want me to go in Durrandon, and I will mow a path down for you." As proven before, there was nothing that would stop her from accomplishing what her leader told her to do. "

[Orys Durrandon]

Orys nodded to himself as he smiled, stroking his beard. He had noticed that the captain was missing his beard, but he could talk about that to him later on once they were on safe waters. He shook his head a bit at the captain, giving him a good pat on the shoulder. "I don't wish for you to die yet, Morgan. In my kingdom, we don't sing songs of those who died due to going in alone." He seemed serious, but one could sense that he meant well with his arguably harsh words. He then looked towards the ships with a frown on his face.

"I -would- like a good pathway to the ship from here. Lucius and the others need a way to the docks without having to swing a sword while carrying a bag in the other." He actually laughed for a while before analyzing the battlefield. The mages were being taken of, good good. The guards were being handled, mhm. This wouldn't last too long. "But yes. Make sure we get a good pathway to the docks, don't die, and..." He looked to him for a moment, his brows furrowed once more as he gave his admiral one last pat on the shoulder. "Just don't die."

He proceeded to then head inside the mines, looking around for a moment at the lit up tunnels. "Lucius, once this is done, just head down the path Morgan did... It should be marked with corpses." He laughed to himself for a long while as he then turned to look outside. Balerion was still at it, although by now he had flown to the skies, a lone screaming man between his jaws as he disappeared into the clouds, possibly to enjoy his meal. Orys could not help but grin at the carnage.

[Deleted]

Lucius looked at the walls as Orys spoke. It may have appeared as though he were ignored but he was attentive. "Corpses huh? That could take us down any of these tunnels." He smirked with a hardy humph. Lucius stared at the gold placing a hand along the wall. His reflection shone in the metal. His face staring back was that of an older man with peppered slicked back hair. His face was covered in gore and one eye was missing covered by a patch.

He sighed. Orys's laughter was maddening, though he would not say it. "Relish your victory friend. You earned this. These caves are beautiful and the gold here is plenty. I could fund five armies with this and then some." He frowned at the gold walls for a moment before facing his friend, his captain, his king. "Will we claim the mine for our own? Or shall I blow it away? If we intend for victory this is our only opportunity to take this place. If we leave then it will be secured and fortified. The opposition should have no access in order to cripple their own funding."

With that advise he handed Orys a small parchment with a red wax seal. "I know now is not the time for such things but... this letter came from a man that claims to be my son. His details are... disturbingly accurate. He says he will be coming for me and 'my lord' meaning yourself. Let us finish here but, I just wanted you to know."

Axe in one hand and a sack of gold in the other Lucius began the walk following the body trail. "Morgan sure knows how to rally a mob!"

[Orys Durrandon]

"Claiming this mine will do us no good in the end, Lucius." Orys shook his head with the grin still on his face, although it was already subdued by now. "We simply do not have enough men to ensure ourselves a safe transport for all this gold. Or would you instead suggest we leave the pirates here to constantly ferry gold back and forth our base?" He tilted his head at Lucius for a moment before shaking it, spitting onto the ground. "I do not trust them. Not enough. Besides, they are our main naval power. If we put them on this job, our naval might would collapse."

"And if we still hold this mine when my kingdom forms... Imagine the outrage of the Lycian nobility. While they lost the mine in a fair fight, it would harm my relations to them in a manner that could easily gain us an enemy. We can think of war upon Lycia, or anyone else, only after we have established my kingdom as a major power." He nodded in a sagely manner. He was never good at politics. He admitted that to himself already, but he knew the very basics that ensured his kingdom would not die.

He then raised his eyebrow at the parchment that was handed to him. He raised it more at the details he was provided as he stared at the letter, the grin on his face gone. "Let him come." He proceeded to then rip the letter apart, throwing it away with a laugh. He turned his eyes to Lucius. "Let him come... I, and Balerion, shall crush him. No one else shall intervene, Lucius. Not you, not Morgan. Man to man until the death. I will take this thorn from your side. Take it as a friends offering."

[Loreley]

Loreley was just beginning to breathe a sigh of relief. The fighting was settling somewhat, at least near her little splash of the battle, and there wasn't anyone shooting or firing at her immediately. Her head whipped around when she heard a solid thump sound though. She didn't see anything out of place immediately as her golden eyed gaze swept across the deck where the sound had come from. Promise seemed fine, but it wasn't. By the time she saw what was incoming and heard the source of the hissing sound, it was too late to take aim at the armored figure sliding down the rope towards her, and far too late to try and lift loose the hook on her ship!

Her eyes grew as large as saucers as the warrior landed on Promise's deck, long brown hair streaming in the wind, and brandished a pair of axes. Conscious thought took a back seat to panic and she yelped as she dropped her bow out of her hand. Surprisingly though, she didn't comply with the demand. Given the chance, she would always question after: What was it that had spurred her defiance. The only answer was that it must be whatever had brought her here at all in the first place. Reaching up, she gave a yank on a rope she'd had lightly tying the sails down, and then dove for the deck near the side railing as the sails suddenly caught wind and were yanked taut! There was a groaning as the timbers on her sloop suddenly shifted around, boom swinging freely, and about head height across the deck. Anyone too slow to get out of its way would be in for at best a nasty knock on the head, and at worst, strung up by the lines on the rigging or knocked to death by the harsh impact of the main sail's support strut.

There was a strained sound as the boom finished swinging and hit the end of the lines preventing it from swinging out too far. There was a lurch, followed by another groaning sound as the small ship began to turn into the wind, and heel over to one side, wind dragging the sloop into a tilted position, fighting to pull the ship over all the way. Buckets, arrows, and her bow clattered across the deck to the far side of the ship as Promise nearly tipped all the way, stopping just short of broaching the waters.

The only reason she hadn't flown across the deck or into the water was because she'd dived for the rails and was hanging on for the life of her to keep from going over. She looked to see how her unauthorized passenger was fairing. This would only buy her a moment though. In a moment, the ship would turn fully into the wind, and then it wouldn't be heeling over so hard. After that it would be unguided, and it would need some guidance or they might very well wreck all over the coast. The wind would carry them out of the bay if it didn't wreck them, but she couldn't remember off hand what she had to contend with here.