The Invasion of Black Ravine

Scene run by Lark for Veritas and Hunting Mist. Xp to Lark, please.

 

The intensity of the bandit raids in the Hundred Kingdoms has become an international problem, and the Confederacy Defense League has put the legion in full alert. But the legion can’t really go bandit hunting through neutral lands, so for now all they are doing is intelligence gathering. But the Champions are not so limited, being just private individuals with some national backing. The problem is there are just a handful of them, and the organization is yet lacking of everything. So they have scattered over the threatened lands to see what good can they do. Veritas assignment is Black Ravine, a place that does not welcome Dragon-Bloods, but has no problem with god-blooded. It is obvious the place has been attacked, there is ash in the air and black clouds rising from the ground. The city itself, however, is still standing, the dark grey walls are impressive for a small city state.

 

Veritas enters the main city gates, scanning the area he clears his throat, "I am Veritas, Knight of Albrion, Priest of Mars, I am here to find out who has done these things, Mars looks well on those who breed war, but looks down on scavengers who attack defensless places, and for profit and theft. Tell me where to find these blasphemers, and Mars will look well on you in the future."

 

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "roll charisma + presence to see how the guards at the gate react to that speech :)"

 

(Judge) Veritas rolls 5: [ 2 3 3 6 <10> ]

        Resulting in 2 successes.

 

The guards at the gate look at Veritas with surprise, that is not the kind of thing people hear around this region. But they are surly folks and like is typical in the Hundred Kingdom, wary of strangers. (Also, that completely fails to get through their MDV). "Oh, yeah? Well, I am sergeant Conrad Kell, of the city guard of Black Ravine, son of my old mom, may she be reincarnated as a she-wolf!" There is some laughter from the other guards. "And also, this ain't no defenseless place!"

 

Veritas nods, "I can see that your walls are strong, and your men valiant. But tell me do you have the man power to hunt down the jackals who did this?

 

The sergeant loses the smile at that, looking over Veritas, to what must be still burning villages and hamlets, and frowns. "We will, we always do, at the end. And we will rebuild." He doesn’t seem so sure of himself, though.

 

Veritas says, "I am offering to go look for them, while you rebuild, I just need to know where to start. The worse that happens is they kill me, and they are kept busy for a few hours, delaying their return, the best is that I succeed and you don't have to worry about them, I ask for no gold, no payment for this."

 

The sergeant raises an eyebrow, yes, he had assumed Veritas was a mercenary looking for work. "There are hundreds of those bastards out there, boy, you would get killed. Not that I care, mind you."

Veritas smiles, "consider it Natural selection then, the insane should be allowed to die how they wish."

 

"Ain’t that true?" Replies the sergeant, "alright, so why did you come here instead of going straight there?" He nods to the distant fires. "If those bandits are still there, they will be pillaging the ranch and homesteads." There are some wagons coming from that direction, probably refugee, they come slowly, people limping, a couple horsemen as only guards. "Damnit," mutters the sergeant, he turns and barks some orders, half a dozen men in heavy armor trot out of the gates to meet the wagons.

 

Veritas nods and turns to head in that direction, he will stop a few places, to ask refugees about the bandits.

 

For now the guards seem to have forgotten Veritas, they help the people inside, mostly elders and children, with some wounded adults. The horsemen look tired and angry, and have little to say but that they have to return. But the sergeant makes them come to the city to talk with some officers and the major. Listening to the people talking Veritas gets some idea of what has happened. An army of brigands came and demanded tribute, when refused, they proceeded to pillage the countryside, killing and raping and taking survivors as slaves. When the local army, the rangers, went to fight them, they were badly outnumbered and were soundly defeated. And they blame the Realm, claiming these bandits must actually be mercenaries.

 

Veritas collects what information he can, about where they went and where they have hit to try to figure out thier location, or thier next target.

 

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "roll int + war"

 

Veritas collects information, speaking with people, blessing children, he takes the information he can collect and sits sketching out in the dirt a map of the area, he prays to his mother, then looks over the map, working out where he would attack next, what he would do, trying to predict the bandits next moves.

 (Judge) Veritas rolls Intelligence + War + War/Smallunit + 1: [ -1- 2 4 6 6 8 <10> <10> ]

        Resulting in 5 successes.

 

It is hard to get the people of this town talking, but after a few hours of buying drinks in a tavern and talking to other foreigners, Veritas gets a picture of what happened. The bandits came from the northeast, and that is the area they have attacked. The western side of the nation is still intact, and the people there are armed to fight, although they mostly live in small homestead the bandits can raze one after another. The army of Black Ravine is divided in two units. The city guard is heavily armored and armed, but they lack quick transportation, they are not good for hunting bandits. The Warden Rangers are horsemen and were supposed to prevent this from happening, but half of them are dead or wounded, the rest has gone guerrilla to slow down the bandits, which seem to be over a thousand strong.

 

Veritas asks for any sign of exalted amongst them, any sign of magic powers or demons.

 

There are rumors of dragon-blooded and demons among the bandits, but they are all third-hand ones. Something the rangers that directly fought the bandit may have said, none of the refugees or visitors has personally seen any.

Veritas nods, and then shoulders his axe, heading toward the next attack point. He heads on foot, alone, with no escort. He does not ask anyone to go with him, but if anyone asks he makes it clear what his intention is.

 

The guards at the gate do ask, and seem to appreciate what Veritas is trying to do, even though they probably think he is insane. Or maybe he is an exalted, so he can do what he says. Regardless, nobody stops him from walking into the sunset.

 

Yes, the night comes quickly, although the moon is almost full and it is not difficult to keep walking, at least if keeping to trails. Black Ravine lacks the dense forest that cover much of the East, the terrain is rather dry, the people are not usually farmers, but cattle herders. There are also the fires, as the bandits seem to like to set the ranches and villages on fire after stealing everything.

 

Veritas makes camp as night falls, he doesnt bother with watches, sleeping with his axe in his arms. Prayers to his mother for her blessing both before, and after bed.

 

Veritas barely has time to close his eyes before he hears horses coming. If sleeping at night in a warzone is dangerous, riding horses so fast at night is definitely crazy. But there is at least dozen horsemen doing that and heading his way.

Veritas rises, rolling to his feet he withdraws a bottle of lamp oil from his pack, and pours it over himself, as he turns to face the incoming horseman a step from the fire.

 

It is not a single horseman, it is half a dozen. They ride along the road, vaguely visible at the light of the moon. The city is several miles back, but the city lights are visible in the distance. "I think we lost it!" Says a voice. "We are too close to the city! We need to go back!" Another one. "Are you stupid?... look! A fire! Who is there!?"

 

Veritas calls out, "A traveler, why do you ride so hard, so late?" he lets the answer bellow out loudly.

 

         Yoshi has been toying with these mortal bandits for the better part of half an hour now. He moves, blends in, leaps amongst them, scattering them and taking a swipe, runs after one of them briefly, and dives back into cover to start the game again. His predatory nature is satisfied with the play, even as he mentally understands that these mortals simply do not stand a chance. Mist is walking in Yoshi's wake, keeping a kind of pace. Now that there is a possible witness to this Yoshi pauses his game to assess the newcomer, and how the bandits approach him. He considers going back and getting Mist as an option, but either way, he'll be along shortly.

 

The men look dirty and unkempt, they dress wear cheap armors and are armed with spears and short swords. A couple have bows, and another couple have round shields. Half of them move towards the fire, pointing spears to Veritas. The others look behind them warily. "We have no time for this," says one of them. Another replies, "shut up, he looks like a soldier. I say we kill him."

 

Veritas smiles softly and shakes his head, "I am no soldier, just a priest, do you have something against soldiers?" He smiles and leans back toward the fire, not quite stepping into it.

 

         From the darkness, there is the ominous sound of...someone clearing their throat. "*aHem*- Gentlemen, if you had simply given up when it was first offered, you would not be moved to such drastic measures as you are now. Lay your weapons down, I say, and surrender. Last warning. Leave the 'priest' alone, or do you all feel like another jog through the darkness?"

 

The bandits turn to face the voice, squinting eyes to try to see Yoshi in the darkness. One of them looses an arrow in the general direction, and another spurs his horse, deciding to ditch his friends – he only has to be faster than the slowest one, after all.

 

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Join battle?"

-= OOC =- Veritas hasnt had combat in 9 months, so may need baby steps :)

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "we can do it slowly. It shouldn't take long :)"

(Judge) Blithe Lark Spirit rolls 4: [ 2 6 9 <10> ]

        Resulting in 3 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "they are extras, so just 2 in JB"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Yoshi uses Striking Cobra for 2m"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "+5 suxx"

(Judge) Hunting Mist rolls 8: [ -1- 2 3 3 5 6 7 <10> ]

        Resulting in 3 successes.

 

(Judge) Veritas rolls Wits + Awareness: [ 4 6 6 6 8 ]

        Resulting in 1 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "Yoshi acts in tick 0, the others in tick 6. JB can't be pushed beyond a 6 ticks advantage :)"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Yoshi shall strike from stealth, flurrying a leap and an attack on the archer. Time to cull the aggression from the bandits."

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "Now, Yoshi is in the darkness, about 30 yards away."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "He will make a claw attack. -3 dice. No stunt at this point."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "He can leap horizontally 42 yards."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "That's *without* monkey-leap up."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Claw attack is base 13, -3 for the second part of a flurry, is 10 dice."

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "Alright. Step 1 is declaration. Step 2 is defender declaration. The bandit will use his dodge DV since he has no weapon ready."

(Judge) Hunting Mist rolls 10: [ -1- -1- 3 4 5 5 5 7 8 <10> ]

        Resulting in 4 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Nrr."

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "that is a hit with 2 overhead"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "That's 12L base, +2 overage."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Soak?"

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "3L, so he takes 11 and is KO and badly injured (extras do not roll damage, just take 1 wound for each 3 dice, and they have OK, -1, -3, Inc only)."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Alright. Five left?"

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "4, one is running away."

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "what is Yoshi speed?"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "A Tyrant Lizard's claw is 5."

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "So he acts again!"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "So, he goes again. With Foe-Vaulting up, he'll flurry a re-establish surprise attempt with another claw on a second rider."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "First, the stealth attempt..."

(Judge) Hunting Mist rolls 17: [ -1- -1- 2 2 2 2 4 5 5 5 6 6 7 8 9 9 <10> ]

        Resulting in 6 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "The opponent gets a Wits/Per+Awa roll"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Whoops, +2"

 (Judge) Blithe Lark Spirit rolls 4: [ 4 6 7 9 ]

        Resulting in 2 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "Dv goes down to 0 :)"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "So this is an unanticipated attack."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist *CRUNCH*

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "You guys turn."

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "pretty much, yes. Takes 14L and is cut in half."

 

-= OOC =- Veritas says, "so 2 dead one running?"

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "that leaves 3 bandits standing. One is going to try to skewer Veritas, the other two attack Yoshi."

-= OOC =- Veritas takes a step back lighting the oil on his body on fire, and takes the hit.

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "I thought you said a half-dozen at the beginning :)"

-= OOC =- Veritas says, "that would be 6"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Yoshi's dodge DV is 3 right now"

-= OOC =- Veritas says, "'s action is activated Essence bite, fire body already on, i will not take my principle focus actions at this time, since they arent worth it :)"

-= OOC =- Veritas says, "9 motes on essence bite, bashing"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "That turns it into 3 levels of Bashing for attacking you?"

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "Veritas:"

 (Judge) Blithe Lark Spirit rolls 5: [ 2 3 4 7 8 ]

        Resulting in 2 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "Yoshi"

 (Judge) Blithe Lark Spirit rolls 5: [ 2 6 8 9 <10> ]

        Resulting in 4 successes.

(Judge) Blithe Lark Spirit rolls 5: [ -1- 2 2 4 5 ]

        Resulting in a Botch!

 

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Yoshi's soak is 17B/9L"

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "the bandit damage is 6L, so the sword bounces, extras do not ping."

 

The bandits scream generic warnings as Yoshi jumps in the middle of the group and starts slashing with huge claws. One falls at the first strike, another is almost decapitated by the second. Then they react, clumsily. One drops her spear, another manages to hit Yoshi, but in a place his scales are so thick the sword just scratches them. The third one decides to run Veritas through and run over him, the attack is clumsy, but Veritas lowering his defense means it hits him squarely on the chest.

 

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "bam! Essence bite!"

 

Fire lights across the oil on Veritas's skin, and it jumps down the spear engulfing the bandit who dared touch the son of Mars. Veritas turns to the one who dropped her spear and points at her, "Kneel and surrender and you live."

 

-= OOC =- Veritas says, "9 dice of bashing to the one who hit me"

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "They are speed 4, so they go with Yoshi now... Veritas action was probably a miscellaneous speed 5 action (set himself on fire)"

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "The bandits declare they will try to escape, making the horses dash!"

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "do you let them go? Yoshi can smack them if he wants."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Hrm. Move and flurry on the last two. One hit each, pulling for non-lethal. -3 and -4 on the attack."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "No, he's only letting the one who ran *first* go."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Screw it, these guys are toast."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Lethal damage. -2 and -3 on the flurry."

 

Seeing his opponents suddenly turn and bolt sets off Yoshi's predator-prey instincts, and he joyfully lunges after them and in a few quick strides catches up and mauls both the riders, first pulling them both from their saddles, then...performing a suflex in a maneuver he saw the Boulder do once? Yes, it seems that Yoshi is a fan of the Mighty Rocky one, for he then follows up with a pile-driver onto the other stunned rider, and finishes them both off by tapping his elbow and performing the Dragon Elbow Vortex of Doom!

         The bandits are, indeed, down for the count.

         Yoshi then sheepishly turns to look at Veritas, going still for a moment, then slips into the darkness.

 

Veritas picks out the female bandit as she lies bleeding of her wounds, "Why do they never surrender....just once I would like to see them surrender." He tries his best to stop the bleeding, but frowns, not sure what he can do.

 

         You can hear something, if you are still and quiet. It sounds like something...horrid. A wounded beast perhaps, dragging its crippled leg? Some predator, dragging its prey, large and stiff from mortis? The sound approaches, getting closer, more clear, and with it, a second stream of sound lies under the first, this one distinctly more...human.

         "*grumble*mumble*mumble*grumble* ...damn lizard can't carry its own damn saddle... *rumble*drag*drag*grumble*"

         In time a black-clad man appears, dragging something that could only be described as a saddle in more fertile imaginations, if the horse is was for was at least four times as large, and most oddly proportioned. Or a very large bipedal lizard.

 

Veritas looks up seeing the approaching man he raises an eyebrow, he takes a moment to extinguish the flames, then clears his throat. "Do you have first aid skills?

 

"That all depends. Seen a big lizard run through here recently?", Mist replies. He looks at Veritas as he speaks, then looks around and says, "Well, looks like he was here. You hurt? Did th'raiders getchya?"

 

Veritas shakes his head, "No they didn't hurt me, but it seems they came out a little worse for ware, I wish I could do something to save this one, to interrogate her.

 

Mist clears his throat and yells out, "Yo-SHEEEEE! Getchyer butt over here! Needya t'play doctor! C'mon, lazybones, ah know yer around here *somewhere*!". He then drops the saddle and kit-bags to rifle through them for a satchel with leatherworked markings on it. He unrolls it, and therein are medical tools and supplies of all kinds. He lays it down beside the woman Veritas indicated, leans back and waits.

         In a few moments, the rather large and darkly coloured claw strider from before slides smoothly out of the darkness and picks up the tools to get to work immediatly. Mist just glares at his familiar, and grumps. "Got any hot water? We'll need t'ward th'infection spirits away with a brief cleansing ritual."

 

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Yoshi's Int+Med is 8"

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "diff is 3, since she took 3 HLs."

(Judge) Hunting Mist rolls 8: [ -1- 2 2 3 5 7 8 9 ]

        Resulting in 3 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Blithe Lark Spirit says, "if you succeed, she won't bleed to death."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Done."

 

Veritas sits back, watching as the creature begins fixing the wounded bandit, he turns to his fire, and recovers the rabbit that was slowcooking over it earlier, he offers some to Mist.

 

Mist looks to Veritas, "Ah asked fer hot water; this all ya got?"

 

Veritas chuckles softly, and shakes his head, "It will take time for the water to heat up, I figured you might be hungry. He then puts a helmet on the fire, filling it from his water skin.

 

         Nodding, then grunting, Mist just responds, "Well, Yoshi seems t'think he's got it under control. Now, what information d'ya think you canget from her, mgih ah ask?"

 

Veritas says, "Their base, thier numbers, who is in charge....there is lot to learn, never underestimate the power of information to a battle."

 

         Mist grimaces, shrugs, and spiels, "Amber Scorpion, 'round ten thousand or so, Crimson Hollow is where they're all operatin' out of. There ain't no real structure to it beyond groups gathered fer raidin'. Ah can go inta specific details, with a bit o'time, in regards to Black Ravine, an' that may help fer defendin' this place, but we need a more permanent solution to this issue. You talk to th'folks at Black Ravine at all?"

 

Veritas says, "Only enough to find out the raids have been coming pretty regularly, that they have shown no sign of magic amongst them, and that they have been pretty brutal."

 

Mist nods, goes still for a moment, nods again. He looks in the direction of the bandit that got away and says, "Well, It's better t'co-ordinate actions with folk, so as t'be on better footing with them after th'fact. Scorpion an' his group are dragon-blooded, an' ah'm aware of about one sorcerer in th'group with them. We need all sides of this anarchy t'be able t'stand up t'Amber an' his fledgling nation. Looks like this is where th'fire is, so ah guess ah'm gonna be workin' here fer a bit."

 

Veritas says, "Do we believe these 1000 and the 10000 in Crimson Hollow are the same? And do you know how many Dragon Blood he has?""

 

"Ah don' know, specific-like. There's a handful in Hollow, an'there may be 'raid leaders' that are directing their particular efforts that're Blooded. But all banditry and raiding is either caused by or directed by Amber Scorpion. Make no mistake, he's put himself in charge of makin' a mess here.", Mist says while taking off his hat. "By th'way, ah'm Master of th'Hunting Mist, an' ah aim t'do somethin' about all this.", he declares while extending his hand to offer a handshake.

 

Veritas take the hand, "Veritas of Albrion, Priest of Mars, I figured this was something to look into myself."

 

         "Priest of Mars? Well, that might be handy after all. Y'unnerstand that Ravine's missing a chunk of their army, an' are lacking leadership an' could do with a morale boost of some sort? Show them that Mars blesses them this day, this fight, an' have'm pick their spirits back up and get back inta th'fight. Ah'll lend support an' aid any way ah can manage it.", Mist says.

 

Veritas nods, "I can see what I can cobble together, I am more of a priest then a general though" He smiles "I can see what I can do though.

 

         Mist nods, glad he managed to give the god-blooded a nudge in the right direction. "Thng is, these Ravine folk are my kinda people. Ah hate t'see them get clobbered like this. It sorta hits a bit too close t'home. When Yoshi's done here, ah'll saddle up an' hunt down that bandit that bolted, an' bring him back in one piece. We'll hit Ravine together, an' ah'll make a speech t'whomever is in charge, an' have them thinking 'bout this fight an' what comes after. Ah'm sure they're proud, an' what they've lost must've hurt. Give me a hand, here, Veritas. Ah'll make it right."

 

Veritas hmmms slowly, and then nods, he rises and offers his hand, "It sounds like a plan, usually I tend to try to deal with these problems personally, I am more of a warrior then a soldier, but with these kind of numbers I can see how one man will not solve it.

 

Mist takes the hand affably, pumps it vigorously, and smiles. "Well, ah hafeta see what-all ah can do for these folk, but ah'm glad t'have you on board. Mars is more than just a fight, she's about all aspects of War, an' there's a lot here that could use her guidance. Me'n Yoshi here are tryin' t'co-ordinate all fronts of this war at once, trying t'get a stiff resistance an'make th'raiding unprofitable. Preventin' a nation from bein' overrun is definitely part of that plan.", he declares, and looks over to Yoshi as he works.

 

Veritas nods and turns to the beast, "I am pleased to meet you both, Mom always said never start a fight you can't win, but never walk away from a fight you can't afford to lose.

 

(After some more chat, the heroes go on separate directions, with Veritas going into the warzone and Mist heading for the city)