Endil stepped forward out of the shadows. “I see that we are at last come to the great battle of our time” he said “and I wish to know more about these Knights of Benezel. Never again within this lifetime of men shall this great a battle be seen, and I would not find myself worsted through lack of knowledge.
I traveled some miles spying out the land this evening,and found a ranger-cache. I have a maille-shirt on me now, for I deem that even I shall be hard pressed before this battle is over."
He produced a shortbow and quiver from under his cloak. “I wish to give you this” he said to Gualbert
it is a bow of the type rangers use in battle, and and you may have need of it before all is said and done. On the quiver there is a hunting knife of the kind my people call a Longrist."

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Lamont stepped forward, both blades unseathed and attached to his wrists via the strings. "I don't know about any of you. But this is a fight I look forward to facing. After seeing these peoples' strength under the pressure of a whole corrupt kingdom, I won't let them down!" Lloyd stepped forward, facing sideways down the familiar direction of the destination. "Who else is ready?"

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Goten is dead!

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OOC: August wasn't a very active month ^_^
I'll post in a couple of days
Thanks again guys for this most excellent roleplay.
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Gualbert gripped the bow in his hand. Holding the sight to his eye he aimed and shot an imaginary arrow toward the castle Benezel."A fine gift Endil, thank you," said Gualbert throwing it across his back. "As for your question about the Knights of Benezel, not much can be said save what I have already told you. They are the best warriors in the Kingdom, chosen by King Pendare himself. They are not all from the Kingdom's fighting companies neither. Some were swords-for-hire or mercenaries from even more distant lands than most folks have ever heard of. I have heard though, come to think of it, is that they wear armor etched with strange markings, like on Ouur'mm, and something like Gregory's armor. Gregory may know more about them than I, perhaps if we meet him before the siege you can ask him."

The evening passed and the morning dew fell softly over the ruins of Tempos. The reluctant soldiers followed solemnly behind the leaders Gualbert had appointed for them as the small mass of tattered exiles sped toward the Grand Castle of Benezel. They took an old forest road that had been a trade route before the Kingdom conquered the late day ruined port of Tempos. Several exiles served as guides along the twists and turns of the ancient road. One of the them was named Kenday.

Gualbert followed behind the scouts, although ahead of the main entourage, on one of the few horses the exiles were able to herd. "Captain Kenday," said Gualbert, after he had gathered Lamont, Vevis, Ouur'mm, Endil, Jargg, and Wolem together. "Do you know of a Natoneya?" "Yes, she is my mother," said the confident but reserved young man. Kenday was about twenty five and already an accomplished soldier for the Tempos militia. He was dark, very dark, like his mother, and he commanded a respect about him like a good and just King or prince. "Then this letter is for you," said Gualbert pulling out a letter from his satchel and giving it to him. Kenday read the short letter with great intensity. "Thank you all," he said, and went off to the other guides who were arguing over whether a nearby tree was the oldest they have ever seen or not. "That was odd," said Gualbert, reigning his horse, "I wonder what that was about."

Within a couple of hours the ragged band reached the outskirts of Benezel and had unpacked the Grand Trebuchet with the masterful help of Ouur'mm. As it was, they did not have time to get the range far enough from Tempos so the weapon had to be packed and took with them. The Trebuchet, in order to make it harder to locate, was left in clearing in the woods about five miles from Benezel under the command of Ouur'mm. There the band rested. Gualbert explained his plan to the group: "After the wall is breached, Ouur'mm, we will make our way toward the castle. The scouts have reported that because all the Kingdom's fighting company's are out searching for exiled cities to pillage only a small guard of troops are defending the capital. After the assault begins they will be even more confused as they send scouting parities out to find us. This is when we must strike.

"Beyond the outer walls are another set of inner walls and the main keep. Our party, by that I mean our little group, will sneak into the main keep and capture King Pendare. I warrant that the Knights will be with the king. Does this sound like a good plan? Assuming there is no objection, Ouur'mm, you may launch when ready."

Jargg's hands fidgeted on the handles of his short swords, he was anxious to get this over with and nervous about the part that he would play. Essentially everything would have to go perfect once they got inside the castle and they were relying on a rumor that there weren't many knights in the castle. "Let's get going" he muttered, his voice hinting at the nervousness that he had bundled up inside.

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Endil strung his bow and fitted an arrow on the string. “I am ready” he said.

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Ouur'mm ordered the Grand Trebuchet to be unpacked quickly. The whole thing assembles rapidly sliding along the rails on the frame. In a few minutes, the trebuchet finishes assembling. Ouur'mm orders to the other workers "Dig out the pit traps in the forest, when you are finished, we will repack and assemble at location Beta. Set the load distance at maximum, angle 60 release.." He walks over and says to Gaulbert " This should impact from high which will make it harder to find our location. We will volley 5 shots, then disassemble and move to the second location. Then we will follow the same plan to the third location and then join the fight ourselves. The ammunition teams will already be at the other locations. Attack from a different direction from our direction of volley to avoid their scouts. Hopefully they can't determine our true direction until it is far too late hmm mmm"

Ouur'mm waits a while for the others to move on to their locations and then orders the volley. The massive stone is hoisted into the air hurdling toward the fortress. Moments later the thunderous sound of the stone's impact can be heard. The crew continued loading and volleying until finishing the load and disassembling the trebuchet and moving it to the second location.

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"The good warrior knows when to fight, and when to withdraw."
- Sun Tzu

I'll smith anything up to 93 smithing if you have the material for me to make it with
My Story, Horrors of Myron County
RV's Drawing archive topic, post yours or comment on others

A deep hush came over the castle as the huge stone made its way into the air. Nothing moved; no one made a sound. Then with a noise like thunder the stone smashed into the fortress sending ruins of the bulwark crashing down into the city. The band of exiles rushed out of their forest concealment and charged the Grand Castle of Benezel. Too amazed to even reach for their bows the castle's defenders only watched as another stone flew toward their fortress. For many, this city was their world, and as the pillars of it fell so too did their perceptions of life, of reality. The army of exiles was not large, they were not clad in shining mail or holding jeweled swords. They seemed like a fly trying to fell a horse to King Pendare as he watched out his narrow window. Yet something about them struck fear into the heart of the bloodthirsty king. They moved onward toward to the immense fortress with the thoughts of their homes burning and their children lying dead at their feet. All the sacredness and dignity that had been taken away from them returned to be never taken away again. They were the personification of Hope, an ideal that had descended from its heavenly home and cried out for vengeance. The castle quaked beneath them. The first wall crumbled and in splendor the host of exiles scaled the breach to finish the filthy task before them.

The second wall was breached, and six figures could be seen diverging from the chaos and making their way to the main keep. The two sentries at the door fell, then four more at the stairs. At each passageway guard after guard make his way toward the party, only to be sent sprawling, or to rise again no more.

Then before the party rose the doors of Maxirex, the king's chamber. They were magnificent. The keep once belonged to an ancient and noble king who had built it for his daughter. A man named DeShernon Pendare lead a coup that slayed the the royal family and took the castle. Thus the Glorious Kingdom was born. The door shone with a brilliance as the rays of the morning sun hit upon it's perfectly crafted gold and silver facade. Upon it was were these words in a language long forgotten, "Beware as ye enter in. Therein reigns justice and vengeance. Therein reigns their servant. Be ye of humble heart, be ye of good conduct and noble intentions, then enter in. May the kingdom last forever, as it is good for the people. A light like the sun, and hope to the hopeless." Gualbert, caught up in the moment, never even noticed the writing, though he wouldn't have known what it said. He flung open the doors... and took a bolt right in the chest. He fell back limp, gurgling an incoherent phrase.

The room was as incredible as the door. Neigh sixty feet high and that much in length, the room was decorated with magnificent tapestries along the walls and huge stain-glass windows between them. Each window had the image of an ancient king on it. Seven pillars on each side of the long passageway, the Passageway of Kings, stood emblazoned with carvings of long forgotten tales. The two pillars closest to the party were strangely blank. Inside, on his throne, winding an ornate crossbow, was king Pendare and six splendidly arrayed knights. Beside the king was Bal'doll. "Welcome" was all the king said before the knights charged the group standing at the door.

It was as if the earth itself quaked in joy as the castle was bombarded open with the stone. Cheers erupted and dull 'thunk' was heard and Gaulbert fell... Wait, what? Gaulbert was down... Lamont stepped forward, watching Gaulbert's eyes roll into the back of his head. A quiver went down his body as he glanced up at the king, hearing the solemn "Welcome" before the knights charged.

With Gaulbert down, it was four against eight. The seventh, horribly enough, had a bow on his side. Lamont was shaking incredibly as the knights charged. "Gaulbert..." The armor's clanking kept getting louder as Lamont looked up, seeing the king and Bal'doll. "You..."

Lamont crossed his arms and put his blades out to his sides, rushing through the knights like a berserker until he sliced a bolt right out of the air. Lamont jumped in the air, both blades held high as he started descending toward the king. "You monster!" It was practically a shriek, all of Lamont's fury and indignation pouring down as his blades rent through the crossbow Pendare held in defense. It shattered as Lamont glared up, having picked his two targets early for Gaulbert's revenge.

OOC: So. Six knights & two royalty vs a dwarf, elf, machine, and me. Where's Aquinas, or Knux? D:

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Goten is dead!