[ You have been on the road marching for three days, now. This is no doubt wonderful exorcise, but you guys probably don't appreciate it much. ] [ In that time, you have covered a great deal of distance, and the different divisions of the defending army have split off to make their assorted stands. After getting out of the mountains, you've been heading more or less northward. ] [ It is nor early morning -- just before dawn -- and you are awakened, as you have been for the last few days, by the godawful rattle and bang of something called a 'juice drum'. A juice drum, it was explained, is a metal drum with metal balls in it. It makes a terrible racket when played, but this terrible racket can be heard for a good three hundered yards around and can wake up even the heaviest sleeper, so it's pretty much here to stay. ] [ As you have for the past few days, you've gotten a breakfast of dried meat, dried fruit, dry cheese, and a hard-tac biscuit, served with the the most hideously brackish coffee you've ever been near. Ethan, having an effectively infinite supply of much better food, has become very, very popular with your company. ] [ One thing is different this morning, tho; there's a big wall of dirt piled up around the sides of the camp, and they weren't there when you got here last night. Something else different is that the officers are going around handing out javelins and whetstones to all of you while you're sitting near your tents. ] [ Session start! ] ... either we've been attacked by a psychotic landscaper, or there be enemies nearby. Ugh... * Ada mutters irritably. "You think?" * Ethan idly puts a small pot of coffee out in front of Ada and Sei as he munches on a muffin. "On rare occasions." *munchmunch* Thanks, Ethan. *coffees* * Ada rubs at her eyes, foregoing the coffee. This is followed by a yawn, which is followed by more incomprehensible muttering. [ While you're talking, Aelbur, Virt, Rascha and Napper start sharpening the javelins they were just given, as well as their swords. Napper looks really, really happy, for some reason. ] * Nebrinel looks angry, but very awake. She looks different today only in that she has an absolutely massive longbow on her back. And has shoveled away most of her food already, at that. And hey, she starts sharpening hers as well. "Feels like a party." [ Napper chuckles at that. This is eerie and strange, but the others seem used to it. ] * Ethan ponders for a sec, then turns to the elves. "Hey, d'ya think the supply people would have metal spheres, rocks, anything small and heavy I could use to do a catapault impersonation?" * Ada yawns again. "Yeah, well." She stretches, then reaches for her javelin and starts sharpening. Wheee! * Sei shrugs and gets to sharpening, as well. [ The air is filled with the merry scraping of rock on metal for the next few minutes, and then it's interrupted by the juice-drum, which is playing a rattle and bang you haven't heard before. The seasoned soldiers near you, however, stand up and pick up their weapons. Napper looks about as giddily happy as you have ever seen anyone, in all your lives, and he fairly bounds towards the wall of dirt. ] ... whoops. No time, I guess. *draws his glaive, picks up javalins, heads to wall* * Ada gets to her feet, taking the javelin with her. She watches Napper and shakes her head. * Nebrinel smiles faintly, and stands. [ Rasha looks to you all, and helpfully says "Time to take the line. Er, except you, Sei." She adds a wink to this. ] * Sei stands up, his gear all collected. * Sei smiles, although there's not much mirth in it. * Ethan twirls the javalin idly, frowning. "Knew I shoulda paid more attention in Thrown Weapons class... ah well." * Ada just goes to the wall, next to Ethan (considering he'd probably freak if he didn't know where she was). "Better than nothing, don't you think?" * Nebrinel grins. "It can't be that hard. Although if they mean for me to throw this, I could have just used my bow." * Sei is following the group, but standing back a bit. Yeah, but I was hoping to get some heavy rocks or something, make a really large sling. [ You all take the line, 'scept Sei, and one there you notice a few things. First, you notice that directly in front of the wall of dirt (if you can call it a 'bulwark' with a straight face, well, congratulations) is a ditch, which explains where the dirt came from. ] Another time, I suppose... hmm. *eyes the makeshift wall/moat* [ You also notice that The Enemy is headed your way, and it seems, certainly at first, that there's a lot more of them than there are of you. ] [ Lastly, you notice that the enemy's banners seem rather... haphazard. Why this is is anyone guess. ] ... okay. We're not outnumbered. We've just got a really wide target selection. Always looking on the bright side of things. * Ethan grins. "I like to leave the pessimism to the other guys. They're the ones that're gonna need it." [ Oh, one more thing. You notice they all seem to be carrying something - shields. "Heavy infantry," offers Virt. "Aim low with your javelins, since they'll raise their shields to cover their heads." ] * OlafTheTrollGod is now known as ATom * ATom is now known as Atom Shields? Pfah. What a buncha sissies. * Ada snerks. Sounds like a good idea to me. [ That gets laughs from the soldiers - especially Napper. The enemy line begins to advance more quickly, and someone says "Here they come." ] Oh yeah, they're useful against an initial ranged attack. Hand to hand, though, they just weigh ya down. Restrict your attacks'n such. * Nebrinel says in a clipped tone, "Only if you're using a glaive." (What's their range?) * Ethan hefts his javalin, glaive in his other hand. "Break a leg, everyone. Preferably theirs." [ And come they do, breaking into a full charge, which brings them towards you a lot faster than you'd expected, and then they're bounding over the ditches and the earthworks and there's the sounds of hundereds of swords hitting hundereds of shields and it's time to roll initiative! ] d6+8 * Atom rolls for Ethan (d6+8) and gets 12. d6+9 * Atom rolls for Nebrinel (d6+9) and gets 13. d6+7 * Atom rolls for Ada (d6+7) and gets 11. d6+5 * Atom rolls for Sei (d6+5) and gets 8. (Good lord, Nebbie.) (What can I say? 576 years of experience never steers a gal wrong.) [ Order; ENEMY, Nebrinel, Ethan, Home Team, Ada, Sei. Go! ] [ As previously mentioned, the enemy troops coming bounding over the earthworks! Everyone but Sei needs melee defense! ] 2d6-2 * Atom rolls for Ada (2d6-2) and gets 7. 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Ethan (2d6-3) and gets 5. 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Nebrinel (2d6-3) and gets 6. (Made it.) [ Ada fails to parry a really heavy sword in time and gets it in her shoulder, although she manages to keep it from going *too* deep. The rest of you manages to avoid the initial onslaught, and it's your turn to do the hurting! Go, Nebby! ] * Nebrinel brings Plaguebringer up in a smooth slice towards the person who just tried to hit her. 2d6-4 * Atom rolls for Nebrinel (2d6-4) and gets 7. [ Nebby cuts a large gash in him and he goes down. Go, Ethan! ] * Ethan jabs at the guy who tried to hit him, steps back, and then goes for an overhand slash on the guy who hurt Ada. 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Ethan (2d6-3) and gets 7. 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Ethan (2d6-3) and gets 6. ( Made both. ) [ Ethan gets a two-fer! Around you, other enemies go down while your side defends itself pretty well, and then Ada recovers her senses and takes action. ] That'll learn ya! * Ada blinks as the guy attacking her goes down, then moves for the closest one and thrusts her rapier at his side. 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Ada (2d6-3) and gets 2. [ Ada stabs him, and he bleeds but doesn't quite fall. Go, Sei! ] * Sei steps towards Ada and casts Cure, while looking around for anyone else who's injured so far. [ Ada is healed! A few other people are injured, too, which is just to be expected. ] [ More soldiers come at you, yelling and trying to get over the earthworks to cut you into pieces, and so you all need defense rolls again, 'scept Sei. ] 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Nebrinel (2d6-3) and gets 3. 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Ethan (2d6-3) and gets 5. 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Ada (2d6-3) and gets 1. [ This time, nobody gets cut up! ] [ Go, Nebby! ] * Nebrinel almost flows around the attack and smoothly moves to slice Plaguebringer across her attacker's body. 2d6-4 * Atom rolls for Nebrinel (2d6-4) and gets 7. [ The guy's nearly bisected and crumples, over the earthworks, leaking blood onto the dirt, and now it's Ethan's turn! ] ( You guys are too violent. ) ( Try hugs. ) (*stabs Atom*) ( And friendly handshakes.. ow. ;-;. Don't stab the dicebot ) * Ethan jabs high at the guy who attacked him, then again slashes at the guy who attacked Ada. (Not the guy Ada wounded.) 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Ethan (2d6-3) and gets 6. 2d6-3 * Atom rolls for Ethan (2d6-3) and gets 4. (When you're giving me 11s? C'mon. I'd stab you, but I'm busy.) [ Ethan racks up two more points, and meanwhile the home team does their stuff; someone goes sailing away from the earthworks, and a lot of enemies die messily, and then suddenly it's all over and the remaining enemies are reatreating and you're all standing there breathing hard and being generally disoriented. ] * Sei hurries off to tend to the injured. * Ada is rather disoriented, yes. She shakes her head, trying to organize things in her mind. Yeah! Run ya bunch of shield-wielding sissies! [ Napper's still standing at the bullwarks, staring at the departing enemy as if willing them to come back. Virt and Rascha are both sitting and recovering their breath, as is Aelbur. Aelbur's arm is bending at an odd angle.] * Nebrinel sheathes Plaguebringer almost as smoothly as she dispatches her adversaries, and _then_ rolls her eyes. "Seriously, Ethan." * Ethan turns to Nebby and Ada. "You two okay?" * Ada nods. "I was cut, but someone - I think it was Sei - healed me during the fight." * Ethan grins somewhat abashedly at Nebby. "Sorry, got caught up in the moment." * Ada checks where the cut's supposed to be. Understandable. [ The cut's almost completely healed. ] * Nebrinel eyes Ada. "What is it with us and shoulders?" * Sei heads on over to Aelbur. "Hmm, what happened?" I have no idea. Yeah, it was Sei. Nice fighting, both of ya. *eyes Aelbur* Snuck one in. Ow. [ Aelbur chuckles. "Sonuffabitch... dislocated my fucking shoulder." Next to him, Rascha rolls her eyes. "That wouldn't happen if you'd just cut them instead of throwing them back over the bulwarks, Aelbur." ] * Sei hmms and tries out Cure again. * Ethan winces. "I hate dislocated shoulders... hurt like all hell. Anyone hungry?" *munches a cookie* * Nebrinel chuckles faintly. "Next time we play javelins, though, I think I'll try my bow out instead." * Ada sheathes her rapier. "Sure." She takes one. [ Between the spell and some shoving, Sei gets the arm back to new. Everyone turns down Ethan's food this time, since they know it's bad to eat on an adrenaline rush. ] ... it's probably too much to ask that all of Faydra's forces be that incompetant, but I doubt we'll be that lucky. * Nebrinel shakes her head. "She's dealing with the problem of mixed forces. And we were prepared." ( I... think I'm gonna end here. Y'all mind? ) Group was kinda ragtag for heavy infantry... yeah, didja see the banners? Pops woulda popped a vein at organization that crappy. ... too bad he isn't here. Him popping a vein would be kinda fun to watch. With the blood spurting and him dying... heh heh... * Nebrinel comments dryly, "I get the feeling Faydra is using others' forces to feel us out." [ End session! ]