[Ywyngyll Forest] New Alliances

[Faye]

35th Vhalar, 720

Light breathing. Slow movements.

Despite how long she'd been doing it, sneaking wasn't Faye's strong point. Humans and other humanoid races had it easy, they could crouch and linger without a single noise, no tail to worry about - no glimmering scales to reflect in the light. With as cautious of a movement as she could she made her way through the woods slowly, doing her best to prevent her tail from dragging across the floor and giving away her position. Faye had seen a small group of fighters come out here, had watched from a short distance. It seemed at the head of them was an Ithecal, tall and proud with a Shield on his back. It seemed like an opportunity. Wherever they were going would need help. Yet signing up so blatantly wasn't her style. She'd rather assess the danger first, see what she would be getting into. Show up at the last moment to help. While she was too proud to be a coward - she was too smart to be a hero. If the situation was more than she could handle she'd be gone.

Keeping her distance from the crowd was the best way for Faye to sneak as of now, knowing that the closer she was the more risk of getting caught she had to deal with. One day she would be faster, more refined in her movements. This wasn't the world of a child anymore, where every look you received was of a warm smile or perceived innocence. Nobody would assume her innocent anymore. She'd only grown to an adult a couple of Arcs ago and she was small for her age, standing at the same height as some of the weaker races. To the vultures of Rharne and every other city she was a target, a weaker being, small and frail - at least visibly. They knew nothing of the venom in her teeth, they knew nothing of the combat she was trained in or the magic that she bore. Soon, once she had trained herself to her peak, they would never see her weakness. They would never see her coming. Just one final moment.

It was a beautiful thought.

Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to what felt like an hour. The group moved and searched, Faye watching from afar, barely able to make out what was happening. Yet it didn't take a master assassin to notice when the fighting broke out. Loud cries, metal on metal. Some bandits, not too many, about equal in size to the group. Yet one, in particular, caught her eye. On her side of the woods too. An archer with a short bow, clearly on the side of the bandits. If the fighters were smart that would probably be their main target, yet Faye was closer than they were. Why not help them out a little? Win them over, join their side, claim some reward perhaps. Saving people was a part of what Faye did in her usual day, but this was something else, this was another Ithecal. A brother, though she hoped not tainted by the Leeches that called themselves gods. Even if he was, he was perhaps just misguided. Ithecal were more than the other races, she couldn't hold them to a judgement as harsh, as much as she wished to.

After a few more trills of sneaking and making her way through the forest, she was close. Yet the leaves beneath her revealed her as she lunged forward. Fortunately for her, she still had enough time to swing, her fist colliding with the man's stomach with the hope of knocking the wind out of him as he turned to look at her failed stealth attempt. Yet he was stronger than her, dropping his short bow and letting out nothing more than a small grunt before charging and tackling Faye to the ground. Should any from the group watch they'd see the fight blatantly, meaning they'd see what came next. As the man struck her once in the mouth and prepared to strike her again she lunged her head forward, sinking her teeth into the side of his neck and injecting venom. Seconds went by of his balance lowering and within a moment he lost his strength, Faye throwing him to the floor before standing herself up.

"Fleshbag" she hissed, kicking him once while he was down before glancing to the group, placing a hand on her jaw.

[Praetorum]

Date: 35th of Vhalar, Arc 720

Status: Warming up.

Weapons: Scythe, Tower Shield

Armor: Platelike Leather

No Current Magical Effects

If Prae had learned one thing this season, it was that the Justicars were spread too thin for how large Rharne was. First the wildfire and now these bandits.... 



Well, Storm's Edge seemed to be holding together just fine without him, and if he was needed, he would only be a dream away. Until then, Prae thought he ought to make himself useful, and earn some nels while he was at it. 


Praetorum waited under the shadow of a large tree, surrounded by the five mercenaries he'd managed to pull together for this. It had been surprisingly easy to convince these five—catching bandits out on raids was one thing, but they all knew none of them was capable of storming their hideout alone, tough as they might claim to be. Not to mention, the reward for clearing out an entire group of bandits was large enough that even the fraction of it that Prae was paying them was too enticing to pass up. 



A few moments later, Sneabru appeared and nodded, pointing in a direction, and showing nine claws. Prae nodded, then gestured to Clarissa and the mercs. "Right, come on then. No point trying to be too sneaky"—not when Prae was eight feet of bright orange—"but let's surround them. Sneabru and you two," he pointed at a pair that had introduced themselves as scouts, "flank them, and come in at my signal. The rest of us will wait five bits for you to get into position. We'll hit them hard, and don't forget—let one of them run."



"Aye, we got it." A lotharro Yari grinned at that as the three flankers slipped into the forest. "Follow a rat to its nest to wipe them all out."


Praetorum nodded at that. After five bits passed, he gestured, and the five of them set off in the direction Sneabru had pointed out, following the markings the wyvarnth had left for them. Before long, they could see the glow of a campfire through the trees. 



"Three—" Prae summoned his scythe to his hand, and unslung his shield from behind his back. 



"Two—" Clarissa raised her bow, arrow in hand



"One."


The campfire exploded into a blaze, just for a trill—just long enough to startle and blind the bandits huddled around it—and Prae's mercenaries charged. 



No matter where you fought, who you fought with and alongside, a melee like this was always a chaotic mess. Almost immediately there was the clash of steel on steel as the bandits recovered quickly, snatching up their weapons to defend themselves, and shouts of anger and pain from both sides as they fell on each other.


Prae slammed his shield into one of the bandits' faces, sending the man sprawling, before slashing at another bandit with his scythe—the man blocked the swing, but left himself wide open for Prae to thrust the blade into his throat. 



Arcs of battlefield experience had taught him how to keep an eye on everything in a fight. So when an unfamiliar blur of blue appeared in the corner of his vision, Prae turned in alarm, just in time to see a stranger sink her fangs into a bandit's neck. He blinked in surprise, but elected to deal with this new Wyvarnth later—for now, she seemed to be on their side, and able to hold her own. 



Turning back to the battle at hand, Prae threw his off hand outwards, deflecting an attack meant for the Lotharro, before slashing at the bandit who'd made that attack. The bandits' numbers were down from nine to six already, while Prae's had increased by one somehow; by his guess, it wouldn't be long now before they started trying to escape.

[Praetorum]

As it turned out, it took even less time than Prae had expected for them to break and run. One of the bandits, with the bearing of a leader, raised his voice to try and rally his fellows—which was quickly cut off when an arrow sprouted from his throat, turning his roar of encouragement into a wet, bloody gurgle. 



That seemed to be the breaking point for the five that remained, and they scattered, all trying to get away in different directions. Now that wouldn't do at all. A quick look at the battlefield showed one of the scouts coming up behind a bandit, with another about to be cornered by his mercs; they wanted one to escape, so that left two bandits. Easy enough for a defier—summoning fire to one hand and wind to another, Prae slammed them together to create lightning, before shooting two bolts at the backs of fleeing bandits. 



Each hit their mark, and the two bandits dropped, twitching, while the last one vanished into the woods. Reaching for his attunement spark, Prae reached for Sneabru's frequency, and was satisfied to feel him following the last bandit. 



It was obvious enough the lone survivor would make his way to back to the main encampment—once they knew where that was, Prae and his team would wait until nightfall, and hit them once they were asleep. Of course, if that survivor made it to the others, they'd be on high alert, so Sneabru would kill the man before he reached them. Prae didn't need the man to lead them to the exact location of the other bandits—he just needed to get them close enough that Prae could douse for them. 



"Alright, rest up and—" Prae turned, only to find Clarissa and the mercenaries already looting the bodies. "Already ahead of me I see." He said dryly. "Anyone see that blue wyvarnth?" 



"Think I saw him disappear back into the woods." The Lotharro reported. "Didn't say a word, but the bandit he bit died quick, so he wasn't one of theirs."


"She." Prae said absently. 



"You can tell?" The lotharro frowned



"You can't?" Prae shook his head. "Doesn't matter. If she's gone, she's gone. Right now, we need to focus on the task at hand. We move out in another five bits."


Closing his eyes, Prae began to attune to the campsite they were in. This was where the bandits had chosen to set up, which meant there was some of their frequency here—if he could get a good grasp on what this campsite sounded like, he should be able to douse for others. 



He could hear.... notes of violence, of triumph, of blood. There were notes of fear too, but those were shallower, more recent, and Prae suspected that those had only emerged when Prae and his group had arrived to cut down the bandits. There were some more subtle notes that took more time for Prae to tease out too, of destruction and crime, and a little bit of guilt quickly swallowed up by greed. 



Praetorum memorized every note, weaving them together into a rough shape. It should be enough. "Finish up." Prae said. "We're heading after them in two bits."

[Praetorum]

They caught up with Sneabru some time later, sitting on the dead body of the last bandit. Prae nodded, and patted the Wyvarnth on the back, before turning his attention to the forest, and its frequency. Prae had never tried to douse much more than a couple of notes before, but now he listened for over half a dozen at once, brow furrowing as he tried to work through the cacophony of noise in his spark, searching and sorting until...


There. "Let's go." Prae said, and set off in the direction of the clearest call, like the melody he was dousing for was echoing back at him. It was a deeply strange feeling, feeling the notes vibrate and resonate somewhere in his soul. Following the trail his attunement spark led him down, Prae guided the mercenaries through the forest, with the scouts taking turns running ahead to check for traps, trails, or anything else. 



It only took a quarter of a break to find evidence of the bandits' passing—



ody of the last bandit. Prae nodded, and patted the Wyvarnth on the back, before turning his attention to the forest, and its frequency. Prae had never tried to douse much more than a couple of notes before, but now he listened for over half a dozen at once, brow furrowing as he tried to work through the cacophony of noise in his spark, searching and sorting until...


There. "Let's go." Prae said, and set off in the direction of the clearest call, like the melody he was dousing for was echoing back at him. It was a deeply strange feeling, feeling the notes vibrate and resonate somewhere in his soul. Following the trail his attunement spark led him down, Prae guided the mercenaries through the forest, with the scouts taking turns running ahead to check for traps, trails, or anything else. 



It only took a quarter of a break to find evidence of the bandits' passing—tracks and traps that spoke of frequent traffic—and Prae sent the scouts to follow them to find the encampment. 



It took another fifteen bits for them to return, with a rough estimate of numbers and a crudely drawn map. "Eight of us against fifteen bandits." The lotharro frowned. "Not sure I like those odds. Even with magic and surprise on our side, it seems like we have even odds of bringing them down, at best."


Prae just smiled, studying the map. "Well, don't worry. I think I have a plan that will tip the odds in our favor."

[Balthazar Black]

Review Rewards

Name: Praetorum

Points Awarded: 15 (5 for Attunement)

Knowledge: Attunement: Dousing for multiple notes
Tactics x 5

Renown: +10 for leading a bandit hunt
Loot None.
Injuries/Overstepping: None.
Wealth Points: None.
Skill Review: All Skills used appropriate to level. I would have included discipline and meditation in the skills used, just to show how Praetorum is managing all the combat and magic throughout the battle, but you have the skills so its not a problem.

Notes: Well I'll say the Faye post certainly set up what seemed like an intriguing collab premise so I am a little sad to see her go, but this turned out to be a great read regardless. I love a good combat thread and reading about Praetorum organizing and executing an attack on a small bandit group was excellent. You wrote the chaotic battle well and Praetorum seemed to adapt quickly to the surprise appearance of another ithecal in the battle. I always enjoy reading how different Defiance mages write the magic and Praetorum's use of refinement was impressive. I think you do a good job of portraying how Praetorum's experience helps him keep a level head in the heat of the battle while alternating between his magics to both stop his enemies and keep track of his allies. It may be dark, but I laughed when Praetorum turned to find his team was looting the dead before the dust of the battle had even settled.

The only thing that pulled me out of the thread a little was that in the last post you have a chunk of action that repeats and I was confused for a few minutes until I figured out what had happened. Removing that repeated section cuts the word count down a little but you're still about 1,500. Apart from that I really enjoyed this thread and I'm curious to see where it goes.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!