Date: 36th of Ymiden, Arc 719
Weapons: Scythe, Shield
Status:
Weapons: Scythe, Shield
Armor: Leather
Current Magical Effects
- Prae: Chained Runes of Speed & Strength on both arms (Prepared)
- Prae: Rune of Endurance on torso (Prepared)
- Prae: Chained Runes of Sight & Sound on head (Active)
First
Previous
Praetorum scratched gently at Sivan's scales, handing her reins to Myron.
In a forest as dense as Bastard's Grove, their mounts would be more a liability than anything else, so Selyin had ordered half of the band to stay behind, both to protect their mounts, and protect the people gathering up anything salvagable from the now extinct village. More than a few villages had gotten the news that Farnham had fallen, and had sent scavengers to take what they could, corpses included. Cold, but that was Yaralon for you.
Up ahead, Selyin and Clarissa were conferring, a scruffy man hovering over their shoulders. That would be the hunter from Selby, he assumed. He hadn't spoken to the man yet, and probably wouldn't until they returned; until further notice, Prae was stationed on the band's left flank, keeping a watch out to make sure they didn't get ambushed while they chased down this mad mage. Edyn was doing the same on their right, while Selyin and the two trackers took the lead.
The band was somberly quiet when they set off into the forest. They were fifty of the Helping Hand's toughest, most experienced members, but taking down a mage was an uncommon job, even in Yaralon. But it was work that needed to be done, by all available hands. Before the situation got out of control. Ideally, they would have had intel from the scouts they'd sent into the forest, learned the lay of the land and found their enemy before launching an attack. But the scouts Selyin had sent ahead of them wasn't one of the corpses in the village, and they had no others who thought they were good enough to evade a wolf's nose.
So instead they were launching a lightning strike, chasing after the enemy through the forest as fast as possible and hoping to catch them off guard. Prae had prepared his usual set of runes for the occasion, and set a chained combo of sight and sound on his head. As he marched with the rest of the company, he kept an eye on the rest of the forest, watching and listening for anything out of the ordinary, anything that might signal an attack.
What he saw instead was nothing: no fleeing rabbits, no curious squirrels, no birds taking flight. He could hear no chittering or squawks or hoofsteps, even with his enhanced hearing, none of the usual activity of a forest.
<Creepy.> Sap whispered in his mind.
Prae couldn't help but agree. Even when entire armies marched to the sound of drumbeats, there were always signs of animal activity in a forest like this. Except now... the place seemed dead.
Something flickered in the corner of Prae's vision, and his head snapped to the side, scanning the forest as he marched. It was growing dark, and twisted trees of Bastard's Grove cast the strangest shadows, but he could just barely make out...
"Ricky." Prae said, forcing his voice to calm. "Send a message to the front: Two wolves are keeping pace with us on our left. Hard to make out, they're keeping their distance, but they don't quite look right."
Another wolf joined its companions as the message was passed to Selyin up front. A few bits later, Ricky fell back to Prae's side. "Edyn's reported the same thing, four on that side." He let out a soft huff of laughter. "Your sight would be damn useful right about now. I keep looking over and expecting to actually spot them."
"I barely can, even with this." Prae muttered. "They're being careful. Gathering in numbers?"
Even as he said it, another wolf joined the pack. And... it seemed to Prae there was movement even further beyond them, a flickering shadow he couldn't make out. Before he could report this, another message made its way through the ranks.
"New orders." Clarissa said. "At the sound of the horn, we turn right to attack the wolves Edyn's spotted. Praetorum and the defenders in the last two ranks, move to the back to protect against a rear attack."
Prae nodded silently, and began to slow his pace, falling back to accompany the rear ranks.
None of them needed to utter a word; the tenseness between them said everything. For a long, agonizing bit, they continued to march, readying themselves for action.
And then, the sound of a horn, bellowing through the trees.
And the ground erupted beneath them.
Previous
Praetorum scratched gently at Sivan's scales, handing her reins to Myron.
In a forest as dense as Bastard's Grove, their mounts would be more a liability than anything else, so Selyin had ordered half of the band to stay behind, both to protect their mounts, and protect the people gathering up anything salvagable from the now extinct village. More than a few villages had gotten the news that Farnham had fallen, and had sent scavengers to take what they could, corpses included. Cold, but that was Yaralon for you.
Up ahead, Selyin and Clarissa were conferring, a scruffy man hovering over their shoulders. That would be the hunter from Selby, he assumed. He hadn't spoken to the man yet, and probably wouldn't until they returned; until further notice, Prae was stationed on the band's left flank, keeping a watch out to make sure they didn't get ambushed while they chased down this mad mage. Edyn was doing the same on their right, while Selyin and the two trackers took the lead.
The band was somberly quiet when they set off into the forest. They were fifty of the Helping Hand's toughest, most experienced members, but taking down a mage was an uncommon job, even in Yaralon. But it was work that needed to be done, by all available hands. Before the situation got out of control. Ideally, they would have had intel from the scouts they'd sent into the forest, learned the lay of the land and found their enemy before launching an attack. But the scouts Selyin had sent ahead of them wasn't one of the corpses in the village, and they had no others who thought they were good enough to evade a wolf's nose.
So instead they were launching a lightning strike, chasing after the enemy through the forest as fast as possible and hoping to catch them off guard. Prae had prepared his usual set of runes for the occasion, and set a chained combo of sight and sound on his head. As he marched with the rest of the company, he kept an eye on the rest of the forest, watching and listening for anything out of the ordinary, anything that might signal an attack.
What he saw instead was nothing: no fleeing rabbits, no curious squirrels, no birds taking flight. He could hear no chittering or squawks or hoofsteps, even with his enhanced hearing, none of the usual activity of a forest.
<Creepy.> Sap whispered in his mind.
Prae couldn't help but agree. Even when entire armies marched to the sound of drumbeats, there were always signs of animal activity in a forest like this. Except now... the place seemed dead.
Something flickered in the corner of Prae's vision, and his head snapped to the side, scanning the forest as he marched. It was growing dark, and twisted trees of Bastard's Grove cast the strangest shadows, but he could just barely make out...
"Ricky." Prae said, forcing his voice to calm. "Send a message to the front: Two wolves are keeping pace with us on our left. Hard to make out, they're keeping their distance, but they don't quite look right."
Another wolf joined its companions as the message was passed to Selyin up front. A few bits later, Ricky fell back to Prae's side. "Edyn's reported the same thing, four on that side." He let out a soft huff of laughter. "Your sight would be damn useful right about now. I keep looking over and expecting to actually spot them."
"I barely can, even with this." Prae muttered. "They're being careful. Gathering in numbers?"
Even as he said it, another wolf joined the pack. And... it seemed to Prae there was movement even further beyond them, a flickering shadow he couldn't make out. Before he could report this, another message made its way through the ranks.
"New orders." Clarissa said. "At the sound of the horn, we turn right to attack the wolves Edyn's spotted. Praetorum and the defenders in the last two ranks, move to the back to protect against a rear attack."
Prae nodded silently, and began to slow his pace, falling back to accompany the rear ranks.
None of them needed to utter a word; the tenseness between them said everything. For a long, agonizing bit, they continued to march, readying themselves for action.
And then, the sound of a horn, bellowing through the trees.
And the ground erupted beneath them.
