Fire Emblem Tropera

Buck gritted his teeth; his nervousness made Nixie irritable, shying a bit and kicking at stray stones. Enforced idleness never sat well with him; true that the front gate seemed to be perfectly adequately defended, but all the same there were few things he was less able to stand than to watch a fight happen and not take part.

Then at a puff of flame he saw a chance. "Go doon, you scunner, go doon," he growled.

If Bandit 1 dies and Gertrude attacks Borgos

Exploiting neatly through the momentary gap in the line left by Gertrude's lunge, Buckley spurred Nixie onward, couching his lance at the charge, heart beating wildly at this chance. "Tigra an' Armstrong!" he cried (his voice cracking a bit near its upper range), aiming squarely for the big leader.

IF Eridan kills Bandit 1 and Gertrude attacks Borgos, move to G8 and engage Borgos. OTHERWISE shift to G3.

Two bandits stood in front of them. Grendan and Zeera had already went to dispatch one, which meant Eridan should now dispatch the other one. He moved forward and opened his tome once more, firing two more shots at the bandit in front.

Move to G4, Attack Bandit 1 with Flux, preferably before Gertrude attacks.

edited 16th Nov '16 11:40:47 AM by TehStanman

Round 4: Player Turn

• Grendan attacks Bandit 4!
  • Grendan deals 8 damage to Bandit 4.
• Zeera moves to F4 and attacks Bandit 4!
  • Zeera's first attack deals 11 damage to Bandit 4.
  • Zeera's second attack deals 11 damage to Bandit 4.
  • Bandit 4 dies!
• Eridan moves to G4 and attacks Bandit 1!
  • Eridan's first attacks deals 17 damage to Bandit 1.
  • Eridan's second attacks deals 17 damage to Bandit 1.
  • Bandit 1 dies!
• Gertrude moves to F9 and attacks Borgos!
  • Gertrude's first attack deals 7 damage to Borgos.
  • Gertrude's second attack deals 7 damage to Borgos.
• Gramps moves to G5 and heals Grendan.
  • Gramps heals Grendan for 15 hit points.
• Buckley moves to G8 and attacks Borgos!
  • Buckley's first attack deals 7 damage to Borgos.
  • Buckley's second attack misses.

_________________________________________

Two more bandits perished in volleys of fire and darkness, and no sooner had their bodies hit the ground than Gertrude and Buckley surged forward, laying into Borgos with blade and lance. The bandit leader yelped in pain as their blows found their marks, only managing to dodge Buckley's second thrust.

"Aiiieeee!" he whimpered, and turned and ran from the defenders-turned-attackers. "Get in there, you cowards!" he screamed at his men as he fled.

_________________________________________

Round 4: Enemy Turn

• Borgos moves to G14.
• Bandit 6 attacks the dead tree.
  • Bandit 6 deals 13 damage to the dead tree.
• Bandit 8 moves to M8 and flees the battle.
• Bandit 10 attacks Grendan!
  • Bandit 10's attack deals 4 damage to Grendan.
• Bandit 11 moves to B4 and attacks the dead tree.
  • Bandit 11's attack deals 10 damage to the dead tree.
  • The dead tree falls, bridging the river at C2.
• Bandit 9 moves to E2 and attacks Tigra!
  • Bandit 9's attack deals 1 damage to Tigra.
• Bandit 12 moves to F11.
• Bandit 13 moves to E11.
• Bandit 14 moves to M4.
• Bandit 15 moves to M5.

Round 5 Time Limit: 11:59 PM PST 11/17

edited 16th Nov '16 9:15:17 PM by Wryte

"Hey... Come back..."

Gertrude croaked as the bandit leader turned high tail, as if the bandit would hear her, much less obey her. He is wounded. He won't be able to go far. Gertrude was quick to pursuit, ignoring his confused and hestitant underlings.

Gertrude F9-G13 attack G14

edited 16th Nov '16 8:23:47 PM by RAlexa21th

"Coward yourself..." Grendan muttered under his breath. True, the leader was gravely wounded, but it was sheer hypocrisy to expect his subordinates to fight to the death when he himself retreated at the first sign of danger. Typical bandit selfishness...

Disregarding that thought, Grendan nudged Heath forward to commence the process of evicting that archer that had been antagonizing them from the trees he'd been using for cover. Fatally, if need be.

Move to F6, attack F7.

Zeera watched as some of the others began to pursue the bandit leader.

Seems they've got things covered.

Zeera turned to the side as she heard the tree splash into the river. One of the archers came across, and shot an arrow into Sir Tigra's armor.

Maybe I should do something about that.

Zeera moved for the bushes and conjured another fiery burst at the archer past the bridge. The others might come too, but Zeera wasn't too worried about that.

Move to E4. Use Fire Tome on E2.

"Yes, it's about time." Eridan muttered to himself satisfactorily as he saw his magic take the bandit down. What's more, it seems like their leader has decided to abandon the fight. All the better for them, with the significant morale advantage.

"Well, seems like the girl has everything covered," He said as he watched Gertrude chase the bandit down. "I guess I'll just take care of this nasty business."

He moved behind Grendan, and seeing him move aside after launching his attack, Eridan launched a magical salvo of his own into the bushes, hoping to root out the problematic archer once and for all.

Move to F5, Attack Bandit 10 with Flux.

Buck let out a war whoop at the way Borgos had run for it, a whoop that turned into a cackle as he stood up in his stirrups and pointed at the fleeing axeman (pursued in ignominious flight by a visibly murderous Gertrude). "Lookit yin run!" he gasped between laughter, accent growing increasingly thicker in emotion. "Aye, thaa's raight, whaur's ye courridge noo? Hi, rest o' ye reivers, throw doon ye weapons an' skedaddle, ain't worth gettin' skelpit fuir a wee shilpit lak' yon!"

Belatedly Buckley remembered something of his duty, sat back down, wiped away the tears of laughter, and urged Nixie into an easy canter after the fleeing bandit, taking a brief sidestep to avoid running into Gertrude before wheeling hard to drive his lance after Borgos.

Buckley to F14, engage Borgos if he's still alive (he won't be). Not the best action economy, but he's young and undisciplined.

"Careful!" Gramps exclaimed, sending another wave of healing at Grendan and his mount as the young man charged off.

"Give 'em hell, though!"

Heal Grendan before he moves.

Round 5: Player Turn

• Gertrude moves to G13 and attacks Borgos!
  • Gertrude's first attack deals 7 damage to Borgos.
  • Borgos dies!
  • Gertrude receives item: Angelic Robe!
• Gramps heals Grendan.
  • Gramps heals Grendan for 15 hit points.
• Grendan moves to F6 and attacks Bandit 10!
  • Grendan's attack misses.
• Zeera moves to E4 and attacks Bandit 9!
  • Zeera's first attack deals 9 damage to Bandit 9.
  • Zeera's second attacks deals 9 damage to Bandit 9.
  • Bandit 9 dies!
• Eridan moves to F5 and attacks Bandit 10!
  • Eridan's attacks deals 16 damage to Bandit 10.
• Buckley moves to F14.

Battle Complete! The party reaches level 2!

Borgos collapsed to the ground as Gertrude's sword hewed through flesh and bone, his death cries piercing the afternoon air and bringing the battle to a momentary halt as both sides took stock of the situation. Then, as if given a command from on high, the bandit host turned and fled, wanting no more part in the simple raid-turned-bloodbath. Every bandit, that is, except for one.

From his cover in the small stand of trees outside the village gates, the archer whom Eridan's magic had left on death's doorstep cowered, grasping his chest and heaving for breath. His wide, fearful eyes watched as his comrades abandoned the attack, and him, with his body too ravaged by the dark magic to make his own escape.

The call went out that the coast was clear, and as the villagers began to return to their homes or make their way to the gates to see the aftermath, Tigra exited the inn yard, discarding an arrow that had managed to barely penetrate a joint in her armor, and approached her victorious troop.

"Well done, all of you!" she said, beaming with pride. "With the strength you've shown today, these hills may just become safe from attack once again! But for now..." she turned toward the crippled archer, "we have a more pressing concern."

edited 17th Nov '16 12:26:29 AM by Wryte

Gertrude breathed heavily as she sat down besides the bandit chief. Her muscles were shaking and she could almost felt her sinews exploding from her biceps. She tried not to look at his face but the temptation was too great. His face contorted into a comical expression as the pain and horror of his inevitable death overtook him. I'm laughing, laughing at someone I've just killed.

Then she noticed something hidden under his pelt. A soft, smooth, almost glowing robe splattered with still warm blood. What is this doing here? Did the chief steal it from someone else? Gertrude looked back to the village and realized she has a long walk ahead. With the robe fastened on her belt, she began dragging the bandit back.

edited 17th Nov '16 12:43:32 PM by RAlexa21th

Grendan sheathed his sword and dismounted, nonchalantly waving a command at Heath to prevent him from attempting to eat their prisoner. "For now, we should probably bring him inside. We can find out if he knows anything useful later." He turned to the others, asking, "Does anyone have some rope we could restrain him with?"

"Well, it seems fortune is quite a fickle mistress indeed." Eridan said as he approached the wounded man with his index finger extended, dark magic still dancing at its tip with an eerie glow.

He kicked the bow and arrow away from the battered body before addressing his comrade's concern.

"Indeed, he's certainly in no condition to talk. We'll probably need our needlessly beefy medic to patch him up, and it would certainly be a good idea to restrain him beforehand."

"...That said, no I do not have any rope on me."

Zeera vaguely heard the others speak as the bandits fled from sight.

Seems like it's over now.

Zeera stepped out from the bush and casually walked up to the charred corpse in front of her. She had seen many like these on her travels, though usually her own flames didn't burn up anything valuable on her enemies. At least, that was usually the case.

Zeera knelt down and began inspecting through the archer's burnt clothing, seeing if there were any coins or any other objects of value on him, flipping him over when necessary.

Usually once she was done scavenging, Zeera left the bodies where they were, or hid them if there was some reason to do so, but she didn't know if this mercenary company did things differently around here.

With that in mind, Zeera lifted the corpse by the legs and began dragging it along the ground towards the entrance.

"Uh, Sir Tigra, what do we do with these bodies?"

There were also the other corpses over by the other end of the wall, and the ones in front of the main exit. It was possible the bodies might leave behind ghosts, though usually Zeera never stuck around long enough to find out whether that was true.

"Ah, to be young and foolish again!" Gramps said, giving Eridan a playful slap on the back.

"But before I treat any prisoners, first I must tend to our band. I believe I see an arrow wound over... there," he added. He approached Tigra and booped her with his staff, sending healing energy through it.

"Allow me, miss," said Buckley, dismounting and hoisting Borgos' corpse across the saddle with a somewhat disturbing amount of proficiency. It was heavy, but rigor mortis hadn't set in yet, and if he imagined a bit he could pretend it was a freshly-killed sheep or similar. "That was right va-lo-rous of ye, big miss, goin' after the big bastid," he added, leading Nixie by the reins. "I'm Buck, by the by."

"...Greeting... Name's... Gertrude" Gertrude shook Buckley hand, hoping the man would not mind her speech. Nevertheless she was thankful for the compliment. With Buckley as her company she absent-mindedly headed back to the inn.

edited 17th Nov '16 12:58:42 PM by RAlexa21th

"Leave them for now, Zeera," Tigra said, giving Gramps a gracious nod as he healed the flesh wound she'd sustained from the arrow. "We'll ask the villagers where they'd like to dispose of them later. For now, let's see what our new friend has to say."

Striding over to the stand of trees, Tigra stood over the mortally wounded archer, who stared up at her in turn with an expression of pain and abject fear.

"You will not run once we've spared you life," she stated as fact. "If you do, you will be cut down before you've reached yonder bridge. Are we in agreement?"

The bandit nodded as vigorously as his injuries would allow.

"Very good. Mister Gramps, would you be so kind?"

________________________________

Shortly thereafter, the company found themselves back in the common room of the inn. Villagers peered in the door at them, whispering mixed feelings of awe, gratitude, and anxiety.

"Did you see the flame that southerner hit him with? I've never seen anyone fight like that!"

"Forget the southerner, did you see what that big girl did to their leader? He was nearly split in two!"

"How can we ever repay them?"

"And will they turn on us if we can't?"

"Claudia!"

"Well, they are mercenaries!"

Away from the whispers, Tigra stood before her assembled troops and addressed them.

"Well fought today, everyone. We not only routed the enemy soundly, but prevented any damage to the village, and even captured a valuable source of information. I've had words with our captive, and not only has he given up the location of their camp, but also with details of their defense. With his advice, I have determined that the best time of attack will be the early morning. It seems that these bandits like to sleep well into the day, which will make them easy pickings if we can catch them before they are properly awake, fed, and girded.

"Our plan then remains mostly the same, but that we will be moving the schedule up a few hours. I want every one of you up before dawn and ready to depart at first light. The guide provided to us by the mayor will, well, guide us to the enemy camp, and with a little luck, we will descend upon them before they have a chance to rouse.

"Any questions?"

Gertrude suddenly remembered something. She had been keeping the strange robe with her for a while. She thought it would be best if the quartermaster decided what to do with it. She approached Malia and gave her the angelic robe. "Here... found it... on chief... Not sure... where it... came from..."

edited 17th Nov '16 11:34:57 PM by RAlexa21th

"At risk of sounding paranoid: Do they have any sponsors, or are they just common bandits?" Grendan asked as he wiped his blade clean, the sheath drying on the table in front of him after his attempt to wash the blood out. Couldn't risk rust, after all- mid-battle weapon breakage had been the death of many careless soldiers. "I've heard rumors that a few bands have connections to minor nobility and the like, but I've never found anything to prove it."

He glanced at the object Gertrude had found on the leader, his eyebrow raising nearly into his hairline. "Though I wouldn't be surprised if that counts- those are rumored to magically enhance a soldier's vitality. I've never seen one in person before." He shook his head. "I guess we should be glad they didn't know how to use it, or that battle could've gone worse than it did."

edited 17th Nov '16 11:33:55 PM by Suttungr

They're all cheering for us. For me even.

Zeera had never really heard anyone say anything praiseworthy about her, except maybe from a long time ago. Usually people just ignored her or gave her weird looks, though maybe they were just scared or something.

It's not like they did anything that significant.

Well, maybe there were more bandits this, but Zeera just did what she usually did.

Maybe this thing isn't so bad after all.

Zeera turned back from the door and listened in on the conversation.

Wake up before dawn. Sounds easy enough.

It's not like Zeera needed that much sleep anyway. The beds would be nice though. She wasn't sure when the last time she slept in one was anyway.

Gertrude pulled out a shiny, glowing robe. She thought she had seen a few of those, back in the city, but usually they were being worn by people who could probably kill her. She always wanted to wear one, but she never had the chance.

Magic.

Grendan said a noble might have supplied it, so maybe there was a rich person's manor they could take things from. Their houses were usually full of guards though, and usually ones with better armor than those bandits.

"It's so shiny..."

"'tis gey beautiful," agreed Buckley. He was giddy at being the subject of the cheering, but still anchored to earth by the knowledge that his own contribution was relatively small, especially compared to the mages or to that swordswoman (Gertrude? Something like that). It was a disappointingly familiar sensation.

Still, Buck wasn't one to hold onto envy, and he hustled about the group, shaking hands and introducing himself and trying (and failing) to hide the delight that for the first time, he was part of the raiding group. Never mind that even the youngest among them, the quartermaster Malia, seemed about two or three years older than he was; at least officially, he counted as one of the men, back from victory.

So it was with a cheerful volubility that Buck offered to share the carcass of the deer for a roast—"an atonement, ye know, fuir showin' up late?"—holding off the knowledge that tomorrow morning would bring another fight.

Tomorrow morning could wait.

Gramps shook Buck's hand and also escalated the contact to include a hearty, but brief, hug.

"Good to meet a lad who knows the importance of a proper introduction," Gramps said, eyeing the deer. "Ah, reminds me of the forests I was wont to wander through. Need any help setting it up, boy?"

Grendan took the belated introduction in stride, laconically introducing himself in turn before adding, "I think we should save some of that for jerky. Never know when we'll need it."

Tigra shook her head. "Word of mouth is that the bandits seem more organized in the last few months, but there's no particular reason to suspect the involvement of any noble houses, besides the usual conspiracy talk, and you know how I feel about those types. If you listened to them, you'd think Vissan invaded last week."

A shimmering object that Gertrude had given to Malia seemed to be commanding the attention of most of the troop, and Tigra made her way over to have a look, her eyes widening when she saw what the fuss was about.

"Good graciousness, where did you find this, Gertrude?" she asked, running her fingers gently over the silky material, as if afraid she would tear it merely by touching it. "Do you know what this is? It's called an Angelic Robe. It's a magical shroud that blesses the wearer with heavenly stamina. You say you got it from the leader?" She put her hand to her chin, stroking it as if in thought.

"What should we do with it?" Malia asked, transfixed by the beautiful cloth in her hands.

"We should make use of it, certainly," Tigra said. "The only question is who would most benefit from it."

"I think Zeera really did a god job today," Malia said, and then added more quietly so that only Tigra could hear, "and it might make her feel a little more like part of the team."

The knight nodded. "Good thinking. Unless anyone has any objections, Zeera, the robe is yours."

Returning to her position before the group, she cleared her throat for the company's attention. "Now, we have one last matter of business to attend to before we adjourn. The bandit we captured, once he was done spilling his intel on the enemy camp, made a rather surprising request. Rather than being set free in exchange for his cooperation, he wishes to join our group. He claims to have fallen in with the bandits of desperation, and would rather fight with honor beside us. I have my own thoughts on the matter, but I put it to you. Does anyone have objections to the bandit archer joining our ranks? Grendan? He did shoot you twice, as I recall."