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Post by Orcleous on Mar 1, 2017 17:10:26 GMT -6
It had been three days since Orcleous And Sigma had left there temporary base. The duo had set out on a mission to find themselves a new base of operations. As comfortable Argus home was the place was a poor spot to run a resistance organization. It first off not dependable, second it was easily destroyed, and third it was to easy to find. Shoot the moment they figured out who Argus was they could just walk up to his family home. The resistance was smaller and weaker than the eturian forces. They would need to use stealth and trickery if they wanted to win. If the enemy could knock down there dor that easily then they were doomed. What he resistance needed was a base that was located in the mountains as well hidden from common view. So he and Sigma set off to try and find a place that could work in there favor, a place the Order could call home.
"So, Sigma", boomed Orcleous as he rode on the back of a shaggy brown horse. Because of the nature of there journey and the amount of land they would have to cover Orcleous was not wearing his crimson armor. Instead he opted to wear some old armor he had from a year back. The suit he wore when he was working as a assassin. The armor was mainly made of leather, but had metal places hidden inside of it at the vulnerable points to add extra protect, but also add hidden defense. There was also a hood, in which Orcleous constantly kept over his head. He was not well known in Ilia, but at this point he was sure that Eturia was probably looking for him. It would be better to go the extra mile to avoid a problem than to run into one, even if that problem does not actually exist.
"When you first came into the region did you hear any rumors about bandits in the mountains?"
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Mar 2, 2017 2:18:12 GMT -6
It didn't take long for Sigma to get his first assignement as part of the resistance which made him extremely happy. He couldn't wait to start this new chapter in his life. Not only that, but he was travelling with Orcleous, the man who seemed to have more battles than Sigma could count... If that guy didn't look like the guys in those stories Sigma liked to read, then nobody would. Happy to accompagny the marshall to find the group a possible new base, Sigma quickly got his things ready to follow the man.
It had been a while since he had rode a horse, not like you could do it often in the city but it didn't take long for him to get the feel for it again. It had been three days in total but Sigma didn't feel any less fulfilled to be doing something he could say he was proud of instead of scummy criminal work. Having his spirits still high, the conversations he would have with the man were quite optimistic, even if they usually din't talk too much, in risk of alerting possible bandits and such.
Sigma was still sporting his usual outfit of leather clothes with his good old blue bandanna he always wore. He liked that outfit, it never restricted his movement which was near necessary for him to climb thigns such as buildings and trees. Although he wasn't as experienced climbing and jumping in trees, he reminded himself to try to get better at it soon to be able to sneak past soldiers and the likes in the Illian wilds.
"When you first came into the region did you hear any rumors about bandits in the mountains?"
Taking him out of his reflexions, the grey-haired youth looked to the marshall:
- Well, i didn't hear any rumors but i did almost get killed by someone so this area is pretty lively. She wasn't a bandit so i wouldn't know if there are any here or how many. However, It'd be strange for there to not be any, with the approaching Etrurians and the fallout of the Bernese rebellion, for there to not be bandits taking advantage of the situation would definitly be a rare occurence, near impossible. So for now, if we do find someplace, let's make sure it's not already occupied...
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Post by Orcleous on Mar 2, 2017 11:52:51 GMT -6
hmm, Orcleous took a moment to digest everything sigma said. "Of course there bandits." Orcleous gave off a long sigh. "There will always be brigands. However that was not the purpose of the questions. I was hoping to see if you heard any rumors of bandits hold up in the mountains. Birgands seem to have a knack for finding old forts that people have forgotten. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe that we could find some of them and kick them out of there home. It would make our job a lot easier. Still that is the easy way out. There is a decent size village about three quarters of a day from here. We will stay there for the night and then move on in the morning. If we are lucky the villagers might know something. We can ask around about local legends and old lords that use to rule the region. Let try not to be to direct though", spoke the champion as he adjusted his position on the saddle. Orcleous had gone though great lengths to hide who he was. Not wearing his armor, keeping his face always covered, and speaking in a neutral accent when in town. It was a valiant effort, but there was one thing that he could not truly hide, Xigshaw. The massive weapon was to big for people to ignore and it was to valuable for him to leave back in base. Orcleous had wrapped it up in bandages and a tarp to make it seem like a traveling pack, but anyone with enough common sense would realize that there was something more to it. The weight and size of the weapon was also bothering his horse, but Orcleous could careless about that. She would have to learn to adjust. There was no way around it.
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Post by Talus on Mar 2, 2017 12:28:00 GMT -6
Talus immediately came bolting down the sane way on his horse from the direction they were heading. He had just come from the mountains himself, and had barely managed to escape with everything on him intact. He cursed himself mentally that he hadn't listened to the rumors swirling about, that he had hired additional protection.
Now he had to travel all the way back to town to get help, which would be a pain to do. It was either that,or cut through the longer route, which he REALLY didn't want to do.
But then, as if by luck, he sighted two people that looked like mercenaries heading the same way he had. They looked pretty strong too, from what he could tell from the cloaks they were wearing. Perfect. Some muscle would be great around now.
"Maybe I can get them to help me deal with those bandits." He thought to himself as he went twoards them. "Hey, you two mercenaries! If you're heading twoards the mountains, then as a fellow mercenary, can I ask for your help with something? There are some bandits there that nearly killed me, and I want you to help me get past them. You in? My name's Talus, by the way. I'm a mage." He said, introducing himself cheerfully with a smile. He hoped they would say yes. Maybe if he was lucky, he could actually form a small band with them afterwards. There was safety in numbers, after all, and the stronger those numbers, the better.
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Mar 2, 2017 23:21:20 GMT -6
Hmmm, stealing a bandit group's base of operations... It definitly sounded feasible if they could find one, especially with an experienced fighter like Orcleous. Sigma thought to himself that he'd probably stick to the sidelines and pick off weaker foes if they ever had to fight. Or maybe they could use stealth which is much more Sigma's alley in terms of skills. But for now, they just had to get to the next town. The champion was right, it's a better idea to try to go find information than to just go randomly in search of an abandonned fort... Or at least that's what Sigma thought until a young man riding a horse showed up.
"Hey, you two mercenaries! If you're heading towards the mountains, then as a fellow mercenary, can I ask for your help with something? There are some bandits there that nearly killed me, and I want you to help me get past them. You in? My name's Talus, by the way. I'm a mage."
Bandits eh? This almost felt too good to be true in a way... But anyway, Sigma isn't the type to pass down a golden opportunity like this. First they'd need to actually clarify a few things but it did seem promising. However, there was still the misunderstanding that the both of them were mercenaries... Sigma decided to not correct Talus for now. Better to keep their true goals a secret until they know this mage a bit more. Could he become a possible ally? Hmm, well if it does happen, the resistance would be extremely well armed in terms of magical prowess, even more than it already is. Sigma decided to keep his optimism low for now though, not everybody is going to want to throw their lives for this cause.
Looking at the stranger, Sigma now having fully turned his horse around decided to ask something to him:
Bandits you say? Where are they located?
Quickly glancing at his travelling partner, Sigma gave an inquisitive look to Orcleous, almost like he was asking him if trusting this man would be a good idea.
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Post by Orcleous on Mar 3, 2017 14:28:51 GMT -6
Where the crap did he come from, thought Orcleous to himself as a mage popped out of the blue. To be honest Orcleous was not paying the most attention to his surroundings. He was mainly talking. Still the presence of this man reminded him of two factors. The first he was not paying proper attention and the second he was not wearing his crimson armor. His assassin gear was useful, but it was not designed to blow blows like his heavy crimson plate armor. Orcleous was going to need to be more careful on this mission. Speaking of careful.
"Brigands", spoke Orcleous as he turned his horse around so he could look at the man proper. Immediately Orceous came alarmed. First off it was way to convent for him that this man showed up when they were looking from Brigands and second he had not heard any rumors about them from any travelers. That would mean that either the brigands just got here not to long ago, or they were very good at there job. Dead man tells no tell. That being said the appearance of this mage looking for help to defeat them sounded more and more like a brigand trap. Still there was a chance that the guy was indeed a actual mage looking for help with brigands. If he denied to aid him he could cutting off a possible ally or risking the reputation of the Order. Neither of those two were acceptable, but the champion also had to keep in mind the dangers such cut throats could carry.
"First off Talus you are wrong here. We are not mercenaries, were adventures. If you don't know the difference then let me inform you. us adventures seek information while mercenaries seek gold. However that being said we will aid you in removing of these brigands. However we need to know a few questions. Where are these brigands located? Who is there leader? How many of them are there? How did you find out this information and who have you approached other than us for aid? Also how do we not know that Talus the mage himself is not a brigand?"
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Post by Talus on Mar 3, 2017 15:11:46 GMT -6
Talus sighed mentally. This wasn't gonna be easy. At least they weren't demanding pay though. Well, for now, anyways.
One seemed to be fairly trusting, asking where they were (well, both did), but the second one seemed to be immediately suspicious. He wished they didn't ask so many questions, but then, beggers couldn't be choosers here. Help was help.
He made note of the difference between adventurers and mercenaries though that the bigger of the two said. He had a feeling that would become important to know later on.
That being said, he should answer them, even if they said no to helping him afterwards. He had no idea how he was going to dispute that he wasn't a bandit, but he hoped that he could. Otherwise his next stop would be in a grave. Then he began to tackle their questions, ticking them off on his fingers as he answered them. "First off, they're located at the base of that mountain to the south of here. Second, their leader is a big nasty man named Grazale, and I know there's at least six of them, counting Grazale. Third and fourth, I know that because I just came from there, barely managing to escape, and you're the first people I've asked for help since then. Finally, i'm not a bandit, because if I was, I wouldn't have picked you two to try and bait. You could kill me way too easily, and I like keeping my life intact." He answered.
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Mar 4, 2017 7:43:04 GMT -6
Orcleous decided to quickly correct the mage by saying they were adventurers. Sigma guessed that being adventurers was a bit better than mercenaries but it wasn't really that closer to the actual truth. Though just saying out loud like they're part of a newly built resistance is defintly foolhardy. He kept his attention on Orcleous's barrage of questions, he was asking all of the things we needed to know. Eh, Sigma imagined he wouldn't really be a champion if he didn't know what to do under pressure.
Sigma was getting very intrigued when Talus mentionned that the bandits were located at the base of a mountain... Maybe they had set camp in a nice abandonned fort or something? Man, that could really come in handy even if it is slightly too convenient... Hmm, though the fact that there was six of them meant either two things. Either they'd go back and get more of the resistance to clear out the place or they would have to be very smart and discreet with how they take them out. Sigma did feel kinda stressed out with the idea of taking them on 3v6 but at least they had Xigshaw if things got really outt of hand... Though trusting this person right off the bat could be dangerous.
Looking at Orcleous, Sigma approached him on his horse to say something to him quietly:
"Hmm, well we don't really have any other leads right now, maybe we should try and scout that place to get a better idea for ourselves if what he's saying is true... Let's go offroad and go around their base so we can maybe a vantage point with that mountain. Oh and also let's try to keep an eye on him for now until his story checks out for sure.
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Post by Orcleous on Mar 5, 2017 20:00:42 GMT -6
"Good assessment Sigma", spoke Orcleous as he thought on the matter. Orcleous did not trust the guy completely, but his story seemed to make some sense. Brigands were a common problem everywhere, but most of them were poor gutter trash. This man was a bit to clean to be a brigand. The white and light grey gave that away. Still Orcleous could not completely trust him. It was more than his own life riding on the success of this mission. He was one of the heads of a organization. He could not afford to just throw his life away, or risk it on such small matters. At the same time Orcleous could not simply ignore this either. The Order needed a new base, and the base controlled by these bandits could be the key. There was also another reason why Orcleous could not ignore this. the Order was going to need the support of the people if they were going to fight against Illia. that means they were going to need to do everything in there power to bring the Order a good name.
"Very well", Boomed Orcleous as he got off his mount. The champion immediately went to his large pack and pulled Xigshaw off the saddle. He would risk losing his horse, but not Xigshaw. the weapon was far to valuable and besides Orcleous figured he was going to need it. It was like Seedle use to tell him, there aint no kill, like overkill.
"Alright your story has peaked my interest. I want to see this bandit hideout and these brigands. It will be a good opertunity to update my map, and to do the region some good. that being said I don't completely trust you. So I am going to be taking point. sigma can cover the rear. Kust point me in the right direction."
With that Orcleous began to lead the way. the champion had chosen point because it was the most dangerous position. If they were walking into a trap Orcleous would be the first to be attacked, he liked that. Orcleous has been in many battles before. His experience outwayed Sigma by far. If anyone was going to survive it would be him. Unknown to Orcleous he looked the fool, carrying a gigantic wrap of cloth that was Xigshaw.
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Post by Talus on Mar 6, 2017 12:01:17 GMT -6
Talus mentally cheered at the thought that he had those two at his side. Even if they didn't trust him that much, at least they were willing to help him.
Although the chap with the axe did give him a feeling not to piss him off. Even covered in cloth, he could tell that the axe was something nasty. He almost felt bad for the bandits that would be on the other side of the axe. Almost. "Sure. I'll help too then. They tend to try ambush tactics, is my guess, so i'll let you know when we get closento where I was jumped. I'll cover your right flank from there." He said. He had studied a fair bit of tactics back during his schoolboy years, and was fairly good at pen-and-paper war games as well.
He began to lead them to that point, eventually raising his hand to stop when they were within about 20 meters of the point where he had been ambushed. It was near the base of the mountain, which had a fairly thick thicket of trees nearby surrounding a clearing that had a path that led to the mountain on the other side. "Stop. Any further, and they'll attack us. I don't know exactly where they are, but I know they're somewhere in the trees. I think I have a plan, though, to smoke them out. You in? If this works, we just might be able to at least take away their element of surprise." He said in a hushed whisper.
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Mar 7, 2017 10:58:31 GMT -6
Orcleous seemed to agree to Sigma's proposal. Even if something happened at least the two of them would be on their guard. Seeing the man jump off his horse and grabbing Xigshaw at the same time, Sigma decided to get off his mount also. He inspected his shortsword, making sure it was ready to go when they'd fight these guys. Honestly, Orcleous would probably do most of the work with his giant club of his, but he had to at least help even though his fighting skills could still be worked on. He thought to himself that the best thing he could do is maybe try and get the jump on them from the woods when they'd be fighting the others. Dirty fighting was his speciality after all...
After starting to travel to where Talus said the bandits would be, Sigma was slightly nervous to be in the back of the marching order. He didn't complain though, somebody had to do it and they couldn't trust that new guy yet. Sigma simply decided to carefully watch his surrondings for any strange sounds or movements.
Seeing that they had reached their destination, Talus informed them that they might be hiding in the trees and that he might have a plan to smoke them out... Considering he was a mage, Sigma could already probably guess what that plan was going to be. He didn't know how to use magic himself but he always found it fascinating and wished he could learned it when he was younger. However, the life of a thief was wha life dealt him so he decided that he would use those skills to the best of his abilities to help the resistance.
Looking at the two men, he whispered:
"Well before you do Talus, I'll go hide in the woods. Maybe try to get behind the ones that they're hiding in. I think I'll be much more helpful if I can get the drop on them than if I try to fight them head on.
If he wasn't going to hear any objections, then Sigma would silently and swiftly head for the woods to prepare.
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Post by Orcleous on Mar 9, 2017 17:20:57 GMT -6
Orcleous paused for a moment to aces the situation. The way things looked at the moment the brigands forward scouts were currently hiding in the trees up ahead. The group had no idea of how many brigands were even in the trees, or to be honest if they were there at all. Orcleous gut however told him that they were there and that the enemy was prepared to rip them to shreds. So at this point Orcleous was ready to move, however they still needed to decide on how to move. The mage wanted to set the trees on fire. It was a decent plan, but Orcleous was sure that he did not think toward the terrain. First off the snow in the region would dampen the wood and make it hard to burn. Second if they did start a fire putting it out would be a serious pain. Not only that but the fire in itself would warn the other brigands of there movement. It was a fine plan, but there were a few holes in it.
"Alright", spoke Orcleous after he finished his internal meeting. "Sigma go ahead and swing around however watch your step. I don't want you to get ambushed by yourself. Mage, hold off on your fire. I don't think you have taken the time to consider the terrain. The snows will dampen your heat and the water will put out any flames. Not to mention that your tome of choice is trinity. The spell taps into all three primary elements, but the power of each one is weaken. If you had volcanon then things would be different. Trinity however I fear will not get the job done. Instead I will handle breaking up there little sneak attack. I want you however to focus your tome on its lightning powers. Hit them right after they hit the snow. The wetness should double the effectiveness of your attack. Sigma you have five minutes to get into position."
"Talus have you ever seen warrior magic", asked Orcleous after the five minutes was up. The Champion stepped forward into the view of the trees. Orcleous then closed his eyes and began to focus on the natural energy inside of his body. [Daunt] Orcleous then opened his eyes and allowed the force to manifest itself. A sudden and strong pressure rolled over the brigands. The force pounded down on them like balls oh hail. One by one they fell from the trees like ripe apples each one looking toward Orcleous with fear in there hearts.
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Post by Talus on Mar 13, 2017 13:35:29 GMT -6
He nodded at Sigma to indicate he understood. When the big guy gave the orders, Talus was honestly impressed. That was probably what he would have said and done as well, in hindsight. So it looked like that he wasn't all muscle. "Okay, yeah. The electricity was gonna make 'em dance anyways. That was kinda my plan to shock them, sorry for not being precise." he said to the big guy. Then he heard what the plan was for the skinny one. In those five minutes he was told to wait, he managed to prepare himself for this. He already had worked out how he was gonna fire the bolt, the tricky part was making sure he didn't accidentally zap his teammate as well. Which was tricky, but not impossible, and for the most part, he figured it was gonna be hit or miss, which made him wonder, just why would a man as smart as the big guy would send such a skinny person like his companion into something that was potentially harmful. A gut instinct told him to trust the big guy anyways. Something told him that he knew what he was doing.
After the five minutes, the warrior asked him if he had seen warrior magic before. Talus shook his head in response. "No, but I am familiar with it." he said, having read up on it before in an account of the subject. He was going to ask why when he saw the warrior exude some kind of pressure that shook the bandits out of the trees, and made them look at the big guy with fear in their eyes. He smiled. This was going to be interesting after all. The account he had read mentioned how, in combat, all beings feel their muscles tighten up, a burst of raw focus, instinct taking over. Just how much those muscles tightened and how much instinct was in effect varied, but typically, mages like him mostly let their instinct take over, going hand in hand with focus so that they could cast their spells. Warriors let their muscles tighten up more, so as to increase their strength. In this case, though, warriors referred to this as fighting spirit, and it was said this spirit could be used to accomplish great things.
He supposed this was one of those abilities. In his case, though, he was taught that the faster the focus came to him, the more powerful the spell would be when he instinctively tapped into the book's power to launch the thunderbolt. And in this case, he struck true, and it was one helluva bolt.
"Take this!" he said as he let it loose, striking the bandits. Already, several were down for the count, and others doubling over in pain. "Alright! We got them on the ropes! Nice one, big guy!" he said to the big one.
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Mar 13, 2017 23:07:24 GMT -6
Getting the go-ahead from Orcleous, he didn't take long to hide in the woods. With those five minutes, Sigma took the time to properly set himself up. It didn't take long for him to take notice of the ruffians hiding in the trees... Amateurs... He decided to hide behind some trees that were maybe around 10 meters away from the ones where the bandits were hiding in. Slowly unsheating his shortsword, he was glad that he had sharpened it before the mission. He thought to himseld that he should probably only try to support the others... Honestly going in there guns blazing could turn all of this in a hostage situation. He decided to stick to the woods and see what was going to happen.
Suddenly, a massive wave of energy seemed to have struck the entire bandits as they started falling like rocks into the snow. "What the hell was that!?!?" Sigma could only watch in awe as he realised Orcleous's true power. "Wow..." So he really wasas incredible as he thought! The power was almost like the one he would hear about in the taverns back home... The power of the true warriors... Watching all of them, scared half to death as they should be, he waited for Talus's lightning to come cracking down onto all of them. Yeowch, that did NOT seem pleasant... Nice use of the environment though...
Slowky crawling towards one of the bandits who wasn't fried to a crisp yet and slightly more distanced from the rest of the group, Sigma tried to sneak up on him as he was writhing in pain on the snow...Quickly reaching for the axe on the ground, he threw it as far away as he could to get the upper man on the still hurting bandit. Putting his sword to his throat while standing behind him, he slowly dragged him off away from the fight.
- Keep 'em busy! I can't do anything else right now!
They were gonna need info about where the rest of them were and how many there was...
Watching over the battle while keeping a close eye on the thin looking man he was keeping hostage, Sigma tried to stay calm and trust in the other two that they take care of the rest. Right now he was using his entire strength in keepin the guy restrained. The punches he would sometime throw out at him weren't helping. After receiving the back of his head on his nose, Sigma decided to take matters in his own hand. Grabbing his arm, he threw him over his shoulder by using his strength against him like the guys in the bar would show him. Quickly after, he stuck the tip of his blade right in the joint in between his right shoulder and torso. He twisted a bit further everytime the guy would resist. SIgma just hoped the others would be done by now...
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Post by Orcleous on Mar 13, 2017 23:49:17 GMT -6
"A severed head of a wolf can still bite", spoke Orcleous as he drew his longsword from his belt. The saying had a lot of meanings, but in this context Orcleous was warning the young mage against becoming over confident. A battle was not over till all the enemies were slain. The lightning attack had done a lot of damage. Two of them were dead and three wounded. However the wounded enemies needed to be eliminated. Orcleous did not have the means nor the desire to take prisoners. He simply wanted them eliminated. He had to think about the order first. He was on a mission and time was of the essence.
Pulling on his strap Orcleous dropped Xigshaw into the snow. The massive weapon was still wrapped up, but the handle was now visible. Orcleous ignored it for a moment. He had work to do. He did not want the massive weight throwing off his balance. Rushing in eith his longsword Orcleous had already chosen two targets. His sword came in hard and fast moving to sever the head off the first brigand, the only reason the man lived was due to the aid of his friend who tossed a hand axe Orcleous way. The champion took a step back dodging the blow. This gave the down man a opportunity to attack himself. His sword came in, fast and sharp, however Orcleous was ready. The champion parried the blade and redirected his opponent. The brigand with the axe came in strong. He swung his battle axe with both hands in a attempt to take off Orcleous head. The champion blocked his attack with one arm. The strength of his one arm more than matched the shaky brigand on weak legs.
"Is that all there is", spoke Orcleous as he tossed the man back. His axe flew out of his hand and landed into the snow. the brigand himself was forced to take a knee and look up to the hooded figure.
"Who are you", he asked with awe. While Orcleous was distracted by playing with his food the man with the sword rushed in and attacked with his blade. Orcleous quickly jumped back, but he was a step to slow. The blade cut right down the side of his leather armor. A crimson line appeared on Orcleous chest from the blow. It was not deep, but it was no a mere flesh wound either. It was a good reminder to the champion, that this was battle.
Feeding into the sight of blood the brigand picked up his axe and rejoined the battle. His opponent could bleed, he was mortal. The swordsmen came in first. He was meet with a entirely new Orcleous. With both hands on the hilt of the blade Orcleous deflected the man's attack with so much force that it ripped the sword out of his hand. As the man with the axe came in Orcleous ducked under his horizontal attack kicked him in the back of the knee and sliced open his back.
"One down", spoke Orcleous as he turned his gaze toward the man with the sword. The evil in his black eyes sent a chill down the man's spine. The crimson on Orcleous chest not only reminded him that this was a man, but also sealed his doom. Orcleous was no longer playing.
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