Moreau
Acolyte
Posts: 17
Profession: Former Monk
Affinity: Light
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Post by Moreau on Jan 4, 2018 2:48:12 GMT -6
Moreau began sweating at the brow when he saw the bandits approaching their motley group. There weren't terribly many of them, he had pictured worse, but still only slightly less than how many people there were in the group the town had formed. He firmly planted his staff in the ground with his right hand and pulling his light tome out from the satchel over his shoulder in his left.
The archers with him behind the main group as well as Amica all attacked first, and Moreau focused on one oncoming cluster of brigands in particular. Two of them had already had been struck by arrows, but both were still advancing if somewhat impeded. Moreau held out his tome and fired a beam of light in their direction. It wasn't perfect aim, probably would have missed if it was a lone person he had been aiming at, but it struck square into the shoulder of one of the men who had already been struck by an arrow, and sent him crashing down, his comrades leaping over them as they closed in closer yet.
The group of lumberjacks had already met the attackers before anyone else, but now the towns guard were bracing in front of the main group, which the bandits were about to contact. There weren't enough of the guards to form a real line to rival the group of bandits, so some of the townsfolk had stepped up to fill it out. There were relatively few people with ranged capabilities defending, but between the handful of archers and two mages they had taken out four of the bandits before the melee began, with the bandits ferociously hurling themselves at the group of defenders.
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Amica
Mage
Posts: 17
Profession: Mage for Hire
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Amica
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Post by Amica on Jan 4, 2018 11:36:17 GMT -6
In the meantime, the rest of the town's clergy was busy healing the wounds of each of the townsfolk that were being engaged by the bandits, but it was too late to save one or two of the lumberjacks; those took many injuries at the hands of the bandits. Their bravery wasn't missed, but Amica's next fire spell wasn't the best-aimed either: rather than hitting the axe-arm of the targeted bandit, it hit an arrow - which caused the bandit hit by it, behind the bandit initially targeted to have its worn-down clothing set on fire, jeopardizing its position. And it was then that the other bandits began to loosen formation around the burning bandit, but the melee was still ongoing, with the town guards still holding the ground. In the confusion created by a burning bandit, the remaining townsfolk were able to cut down a few bandits, or at least their limbs, even though they knew the battle was far from over. Now it was best not to advance haphazardly, and the nomad will probably go in flank, in fact, cavalry will, she thought, while realizing that the villagers mostly fought as infantry would; the only cavalry was the nomad scout, who just rode from street to street in an attempt to harass bandits at range amid the confusion the burning bandit caused: the longer he lived, the more confusion he might create. With said bandit running like crazy, he was puffing smoke on his own side in an attempt to put out the fire.
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Moreau
Acolyte
Posts: 17
Profession: Former Monk
Affinity: Light
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Post by Moreau on Jan 6, 2018 2:13:11 GMT -6
Moreau lowered his light tome for a moment while he watched the almost comical display of the bandits tripping over each other to get out of the way of the one whose vest had been set ablaze by the fire spell. The victim himself was frantically trying to put out the fire, totally unaware to the carnage he was bringing to his comrades, causing them to scramble and push each other out of the way, sometimes into the sword of a defender.
"Well done" he said with a chuckle to the mage. Seeing that the fairly disciplined towns guard as well as some of the townsfolk had made advances on the brigands using the chaos in their own group, he lifted his tome once more and began to haphazardly cast beams of light into the cluster of bandits. Sometimes a stray ray would land a hit against one of the bandits, but more so it simply added to the disorder, where the bandits were already scrambling away from their flaming teammate they now also fled from the beams of light. The bandits were not used to dealing with magic users in their isolated mountain camps so the impact on them was greater than it would've been against most foes.
Moreau ceased his casting and leaned heavily on his staff, as he saw that the bandits were being pushed into disarray, and some had even began to turn and flee. The monk was exhausted from his onslaught of attacks, but their own casualties were minimal in comparison to those they had inflicted. It seemed almost too good to be true, but then it turned out it might've been, as looking out Moreau noticed rustling and movement in the trees beyond the town which couldn't be accounted for from the bandits they had already seen. The monk's grip tightened as he feared that they had underestimated the threat at hand. Without making it too obvious, Moreau made a gesture towards the woods with his staff to Amica and the clergy in the back line with them, to point out it might not be done yet.
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Amica
Mage
Posts: 17
Profession: Mage for Hire
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Amica
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Post by Amica on Jan 6, 2018 10:02:32 GMT -6
Not used to magic, all right, the bandits' effectiveness was much worse, only killing two more townsfolk while the bandit with the burning shirt just jeopardized the main group, with the other bandits being killed before the burning bandit breathed its last, while only losing two more townsfolk. And then Moreau signaled that the fight was not over. Losing the main group was a blow to the brigands, but by no means the only one. In their flight, Amica just cast another fire spell, supported by the archers and, more importantly, the nomad doing its flanking maneuver to shoot arrows at those bandits that were fleeing the town, incapacitating one or two on the go, or even killing those bandits. Yet, the monk could sense movement in the woods, which was signalled to her in a rather subtle way.
"Stay on your guard: another group of bandits may be on the move"
It was a smaller group, but she knew that it was not a given that making that flaming shirt trick work once will ensure that it will be working again. So she may as well be going for the direct hit once the second group of bandits actually do close in on the town, and time was short for her and the town: they had only a few minutes to collect the spoils from the dead bandits before battle would be renewed. The surviving lumberjacks would probably have to choose between using the old axes and the bandits' axes from now on.
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Moreau
Acolyte
Posts: 17
Profession: Former Monk
Affinity: Light
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Post by Moreau on Jan 8, 2018 0:02:40 GMT -6
The people in the town began to cheer as the bandits began to rout. The ranged defenders behind the main group continued to fire upon the fleeing group, except for Moreau who was giving himself some time to rest, knowing that the fight was most likely not over. The nomadic scout who had also been pursuing the brigands continued to fire some shots before abruptly stopping and turning around. He had keen eyes and also noticed the movement in the woods. With a panicked expression he rode back into town at full speed shouting "Quit cheering! We're not done yet!" The townspeople looked around in a confused manner, forming back into their group and some replacing their makeshift weapons for those that the bandits had dropped.
After about a minute of confusion, where even Moreau and the scout had lost sight of the ruffians, they began to emerge from the woods. They weren't coming in a massed group anymore, but were all spread out in a type of crescent moon closing in on the townspeople. Some of the brigands who had fled noticed that the attack was reforming, and turned around again to rejoin their comrades. They were beginning to pick up pace and advance at a run, when Moreau and certainly everyone else in the back line heard a loud crash behind them. Turning around the monk saw three bandits walking towards the two mages and archers. One had just kicked down the door from a hut which they must've entered through a back window, and one was both more physically intimidating and well equipped than his lackeys. He was carrying a large and well crafted double sided axe, and had a wicked smirk as he approached.
"It's pointless to resist," he said with a low and steady voice. He was clearly not the same type of deranged woodsman as he led into battle. "Perhaps if you lay down your arms we can work something out."
Moreau looked at Amica out of the corner of his eye, but it was one of the church's priests who would "respond" first. And this response came in the form of a light spell which struck down one of the bandits at the leader's side.
The man audibly sighed, "Now you've done it."
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Amica
Mage
Posts: 17
Profession: Mage for Hire
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Amica
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Post by Amica on Jan 8, 2018 8:11:07 GMT -6
"We're not going to go down without a fight!" Amica screamed, driven by burning aggressiveness.
The whole scene where the surviving bandits regrouped in a crescent, in an attempt to surround the village, took Amica aback, and, while the double-sided axe was well-crafted, it was crafted out of the finest steel. As a result of such quality steel crafting, she feels compelled to try another type of attack after the priest hit the henchman with a light spell, which she feels could be more effective than a fire spell: thunder. However, she only had limited mana left, given the equally limited rest time, to cast it, so she knew she had to make even a small bolt of lightning count. A daring move could potentially destabilize the bandit, but time was of the essence here. So she knew her mind was racing against a clock that depended on the speed at which the leader could swing that large axe around. As he was about to throw the axe Amica's way, she realized that the casting speed of that spell was not the best. She was lucky to be able to hit the axe with one lightning bolt moments before it could leave the leader's hands, and then move out of the axe's path. As a result, the leader was a little bit shaken, and its movements were going to be somewhat impaired but he still lived. But at this stage, the leader was vulnerable, but the window to exploit the vulnerability is rather small.
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Moreau
Acolyte
Posts: 17
Profession: Former Monk
Affinity: Light
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Post by Moreau on Jan 9, 2018 0:21:58 GMT -6
Moreau was in awe as the electrically charged axe sailed past Amica, missing by an uncomfortably close margin. It was a true sign of prosperity for this man that he would use such a well crafted axe as a ranged weapon, it was in better shape than the weapons of most of his comrades yet he discarded it without a second thought. But Moreau quickly regained his focus as he saw the bandit recoil briefly and grab his wrist, having been struck somewhat indirectly by Amica's lightning spell.
Quickly, Moreau began to focus in on the stunned brigand, light tome in hand. As the man began to pull out a new axe, the monk unleashed and struck him square in the chest with a beam of light, knocking him off his balance. He let out a roar as he fell onto his back, having already been knocked a little off balance by the lightning spell. He was put off his feet momentarily but the bandit leader quickly pushed himself back up to his feet and gave Moreau an evil sneer.
However, in his focus Moreau had entirely not noticed the bandit henchman at his side begin to charge at Amica after she had struck the leader with the lightning spell. He had his axe raised high and a maniacal grin on his face, clearly not so experienced as his superior, but an entirely valid threat nonetheless. Lifting his tome once more Moreau quickly launched another beam, as the bandit was closing on his mage ally quickly, but it missed entirely knocking open the door of a small house behind the attacker, and the brigand's charge was unimpeded.
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Amica
Mage
Posts: 17
Profession: Mage for Hire
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Amica
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Post by Amica on Jan 9, 2018 10:07:06 GMT -6
That was very close, too close for my comfort she thought, while the electrically charged axe of the leader was sailing past her so close it could almost scrape the skin off her. His henchman was charging towards Amica, unimpeded thanks to Moreau missing his last spell. She definitely feels that the clock was racing against her once again, but there wasn't much space left to dodge a charge without touching the electrically-charged axe.
However, her fire spell being faster to cast than the lightning spell, she did manage to cast one, although her aim was not that great either; rather than to hit the brigand's shirt she was aiming for, it instead hit the handle knob, causing the henchman's axe handle to burn right in his hand, with smoke clouding its vision as the handle burned. Which made the brigand liable to swing the axe much more wildly than ever before, even as the axe handle was causing some discomfort in his axe hand. Before he knew it, the bandit was blinded by the smoke of its own axe; the cloud of smoke would perhaps allow Amica to jump out an open window, or otherwise slip past the bandit, evem though jumping through an open window may cause her to jump right into the remaining bandits, which was tantamount to suicide in her mind.
Meanwhile, outside, the city guard held fast, killing a few more bandits, but the townsfolk were taking more casualties than in the previous round, with each killed bandit forcing the bandits to plug the hole in their line.
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Moreau
Acolyte
Posts: 17
Profession: Former Monk
Affinity: Light
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Post by Moreau on Jan 11, 2018 0:24:10 GMT -6
After a few wild swings certainly not lacking in strength but entirely lacking in aim, the flame began to spread along the wooden shaft of the axe, causing the brigand to drop it to the cobblestone street. Having used the confusion to regain his bearings Moreau fired off another beam of light at the bandit, as he pulled out a hand axe, but this time his aim was true, and his beam struck the assailant in the shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards.
By now the apparent leader of the bandits was fully recuperated, but his first attack was directed at the priest who had killed his first henchman. With one thrown axe he incapacitated the relatively young priest, and one of the other clergymen quickly dragged him away to attempt to heal him. The bandit who had taken out his hand axe hurled it at Moreau, or rather, in Moreau's direction, sailing clear over his head. He had attempted the attack as a counter after he had been struck by the light spell but had left himself unequipped, having thrown away his last weapon and after giving a frightened and quick glance between Moreau and the bandit leader, dove behind a barrel on the side of the road. When Moreau's next spell knocked over the barrel, he scrambled to his feet and sprinted into the woods outside of the town, leaving the boss as the last direct threat to Moreau, Amica, and the back line. But he was a direct threat indeed, and began moving towards the monk after drawing yet another one handed axe. Having just casted several beams in fairly quick succession Moreau was not yet ready to attack again, and began to back away slowly. Looking around he saw that two of the townspeople had come to join him after hearing the commotion, and the hunters had directed their attention at the bandit as well, though their arrows appeared to have little effect.
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Amica
Mage
Posts: 17
Profession: Mage for Hire
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Amica
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Post by Amica on Jan 11, 2018 10:40:30 GMT -6
With the arrows having had little effect, perhaps because these arrows missed the leader, the nomad was now giving chase to the bandit stragglers into the woods. Meanwhile, Amica was now facing the leader as another direct threat: she now realized that, even as he recovered, the leader was down to its final one-handed axe. The leader's moves may be a little slower than they used to be, but it was still a threat, that Amica feels compelled to just burn the bandit's legs: with some luck the leader will realize that there is something fishy, and, in her mind, either the leader would trip over or just lose mobility, potentially charging into a cloud of smoke - provided, of course, that her aim is true enough to actually hit those legs. Fearinf for her safety, she would be jumping out the window before casting another spell, which led her to the town guard closing in to their position. Yes, the town guard was kept busy by the remaining bandits, which have been wiped out with a few more deaths among the townsfolk, just that killing those bandits gave her some room to breathe outside.
Once out of the window, she was casting the spell at the charging bandit leader's legs, in an attempt to impede movement; its aim was true enough and, even though the bandit was still alive, its knees were being eaten by fire. So the leader knelt to the ground, in an attempt to douse the knees that were ablaze, and the fire spread to the pants, provoking a scene very similar to what caused the first wave to fall back and regroup. Now was the time for the remaining hunters to lob arrows at it, hopefully not not missing this time around.
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Moreau
Acolyte
Posts: 17
Profession: Former Monk
Affinity: Light
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Post by Moreau on Jan 14, 2018 3:58:10 GMT -6
Moreau glanced over his shoulder as he found that more and more townspeople were coming to join them against the bandit leader, and saw that the bandits had been almost entirely repelled once more. A substantial amount of them had been killed in the combat, (it saddened Moreau to see that, while not as many as the brigands, quite a few townspeople had been cut down as well) while a handful of others haphazardly attempted to flee into the woods while the towns guard chased them.
Amica had done a number on the remaining brigand already with several fire spells, and the group of townspeople that had come to their aid were beginning to close in on him. From one knee, he wildly flailed at them as they approached accompanied by an inhuman yell. The swings did cause the villagers to jump back a bit, but the archers continued to fire and the arrows disrupted his defense. Forcing himself to his feet, using his axe as a type of crutch, the man shouted "This isn't the end of me! Not yet!" and turned running towards the forest outside of the town.
But it would be the end of him in fact, as the villagers took chase accompanied by the Sacaen scout as well as the band of archers, and the ruffian was struck down before he reached the trees. While the others pursued the bandit Moreau looked over at Amica, and really couldn't think of anything to say with his mind still racing. But while he was thinking he remembered the priest, and turned to go and see how he was faring. He found that one young cleric was standing over him in the shade of a short and stout tree between two small huts.
Moreau was shocked to find only one of the clergy helping the man, but quickly remembered they weren't the only people in the town, several of the villagers had been wounded as well. He assumed that a priest probably wouldn't have wanted his peers to focus their attention on him while others required aid. The monk assumed the worst while he was approaching seeing the priest slumped against the tree, but the young cleric turned and gave him a smile. "He's only unconscious, he'll be fine" she said, rather cheerfully considering the situation at hand. Her attitude surprised Moreau. "O-oh, well that's very good to hear! Truly a testament to his character that he sent off his comrades to help the others before himself." He said gesturing to the other priests and clerics tending to the villagers wounds. The girl smiled and said, "Oh no he was already passed out by the time we got him here. I told them they could go, I knew I could do it!" Moreau found her confidence slightly frightening for the circumstance but nonetheless responded with a smile of his own. He assumed this cleric must be an apprentice of the priest, he hoped she had some relation to him anyway. "Well then, well done! Let's hope for his sake you did it right!" He said with a laugh.
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Amica
Mage
Posts: 17
Profession: Mage for Hire
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Amica
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Post by Amica on Jan 15, 2018 9:50:39 GMT -6
It was a saddening scene to say the least. Yes, the region was (mostly) safe from the brigands, now that the brigands were taking heavy casualties. Yes, the town guard gave chase to the surviving bandits in the woods, and the haphazard nature of the bandits' flight made it easier for the horseback combatants to give them chase. But Amica knew that she couldn't make it work without some casualties, much less when most people are fighting afoot. That sometimes one town bleeding for the others was an acceptable cost to ensure security on a greater scale. I've finally avenged my failure on the Ilian side of the road, she thought, while the aftermath of the plan to flush out the bandits was mostly a success, with limited material damage, it caused the town's clergy to be spread out among the wounded survivors. Injuries were everywhere, and, once the survivors were properly wounded, the dead should be buried so that the sacrifices of the brave but unfortunate townsfolk would be remembered, and perhaps some people in the other neighboring villages would attend such a joint funeral where the cause of their deaths would be made clear to the region. An ode to their victory would be sung beforehand, before the identity of the dead, if funerals dedicated to such occurrences were anything to go by.
"In the funeral, the wounded will be seated on the first row pews" the most senior of the town's clergy announced in front of the survivors among the townsfolk.
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Moreau
Acolyte
Posts: 17
Profession: Former Monk
Affinity: Light
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Post by Moreau on Jan 29, 2018 1:33:52 GMT -6
It was one day after the battle and the funeral processions were being held for the townspeople who had fallen. The bandits who were killed in the battle had been buried, as they knew it was unlikely the brigands would come back to retrieve their dead, but no funeral honors were to be dedicated to them, spots in the cemetery were enough.
Moreau was standing in the back of the church, as the town's residents filled the pews in front of him. The mood was much different than the day before, where the adrenaline of the battle and the thrill of victory had placed an exuberant aura over the town. Thankfully, the town's deaths had been light as the clergy had done well in tending to the wounded. The priest who had been wounded in the fighting and the cleric who had tended to him spoke briefly with Moreau but soon joined the rest of the clergy in preparing the ceremony.
After the funeral concluded, Moreau exchanged some words with some of the townspeople as well farewells to Amica, as he was preparing to be on his way once more. "Well it's safe to say it didn't go entirely according to your plan." Moreau said to the mage with a smile. "But I do doubt it could've been done without you. I never would've even tried!" Moreau felt his satchel to see that his tome was still there, the only belonging he needed to account for, save for the walking staff he was holding in his hand. "Well, I shall be going now, my friend. I've still got much more to see. Perhaps our paths shall cross again someday, perhaps even not in preperations for battle."
The monk turned towards the path leading out of the town and into the forest, opposite of where he had entered but a few days earlier. "Fare thee well, my friend." He said with one more glance over his shoulder before he set out on the path once more.
--Moreau exits the thread--
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