Fantasy RP

[Tikobe]

Othan

I didn't care. I came to see my son.

Of course, I don't let that show on my face and instead sport a smile. After all, Kallian would be mad if I offended another noble again.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Sir Boderick," I say as I hold my hand out.

[Bannanachair]

@ Othan: "Yours too, my lord," Sir Boderick said. "Assuming that you're the father of Northan's squire, from the things that I've heard of the lad, I'd say that you should be proud. Northan, Taran told me that you wanted to fight him, Chester and another three on-one. As I'd quite like to finally beat you in a fight, you surely wouldn't mind if I'm the third in this dueling practice of yours, do you?"

"Not at all," Northan said, walking off with his acquaintance to a more open part of the courtyard.

For the next half an hour Northan dueled his three friends, winning some bouts but losing more often. It was still impressive how much of a fight he could put up, especially considering that you remember from the Second Galbror War that Taran Gulyard is worth two average soldiers and that Chester and Boderick didn't seem too much far behind Taran in terms of skill.

After that half-an-hour your son arrived, and Northan finished the last of those bouts by tripping Boderick over and punching him on the nose (with a hand that obviously wasn't gauntleted). Your brother's squire didn't immediately go to him, though, but rather walked to you to ask a question. "Father, what are you doing here? You don't normally come out to the courtyard."

[Tikobe]

Othan

I try to make a smile, but in front of my son for some reason it came out weird and slightly awkward looking, an expression that became common in front of my family though not in front of anyone else.

"Northan was telling me this morning of your skill in combat. I was quite proud hearing of it, and since Northan and I will be leaving with Raethus for a few days after the morning ends I figured I would take the chance to see for myself. As such, I received Northan's permission to personally observe this morning's training."

[Duck14]

Alfred

My arms were stiff and I could barely let the rudder go when one of my men came to relieve me. I managed to tear my drenched form away from the device hoping not to handle it for some time. I had to get below to check on Garry, and to get myself out of the rain. The storm had eased considerably. But we still weren’t out of it. My mind was a mess after that downpour.

I reached Artie and clasped his shoulder. “I hope this voyage doesn’t put you off. Trust me, most days aren’t half as fun as this one was.”

[Bannanachair]

@ Othan: "Uncle Northan and uncle Kallian were talking about it last night with grandfather. I'm assuming that, as Uncle Northan's squire, I'll be going with you three."

"Thander, are you here to talk or are you here to fight?" Northan shouted at your son from afar, as he was helping his fallen opponents up. "You're going to fight... Those two over there!" Northan said, indicating quickly towards two fighters of seemingly average quality who arrived between you and your son had.

"Yes sir!" Thander Marthus shouted back, before running off to fight the two men who Northan indicated to. Your son managed to fare against them significantly better than you would have, though he lost his first bout. He won his next one against them after Northan gave him a reminder of some advice, and then he won a second bout against them. He lost the next one when they caught onto one of his tactics, and the fights continued on for a while longer. Your son could probably easily beat you in a duel, yet your brother could still probably easily beat your son and both of his opponents blindfolded.

(Winning a two-on-one fight isn't anything that's meant to be easy in the slightest. In fact, Thander Marthus and Northan are highly unusual in that they're able to do so.)

@ Alfred: "If I can weather this kind of storm, cap'n, the only thing you'll have to worry about is me losing my hearing," Artie said in reply. "Most storms hopefully won't be nowhere near as bad as this one."

As you and Artie got below deck you saw that Garry was in much better shape than you left him a few hours ago. In fact, except for the bandaging covering his entire torso, you wouldn't be able to tell that he was injured at all. "I still think that I should go up there," Garry said to the Ayomoran man who had healed him as you went below deck.

"Just because you feel better doesn't mean that you are better. You'll want to rest that shoulder for at least two weeks," was the response.

"I get that, but I could be up there helping organise... Captain, you're alive!" Garry changed his sentence as he saw you going down the ladder. "Gerhard said that with the conditions out there our best course of action would have been just to stay below deck and pray, and that you, Artie and Matt were surely dead! I'm glad that he was wrong!" From below the deck you could still hear the bursts of thunder as they broke out, finally less frequent than the now-eerie moments of silence between them.

(I could have stretched it out longer, but ten pages in a single storm is enough. Alfred is going to have other storylines, at long last.)

[Duck14]

(Agreed, there’s been a lot of storm fighting.)

Alfred

I nodded and slumped to the floor beside him. Exhaustion had begun to set in, we had been out there for hours after all. “I don’t blame Gerhard for thinking that way. If we had slipped just once that would have been it. The wheel took a bolt so we had to steer the old fashioned way.” I sighed. “If you want to make yourself useful tell the merchants that we’re out of the worst of the storm. I might take a little nap, it’s been a long day.”

I made my way toward my bedding. It would take some time to return to our normal course. Enough time to get some shut eye.

[Bannanachair]

@ Alfred: Before you get an opportunity to go to sleep, one of your crewmembers comes down the ladder. "Cap'n, the helm's gone. It looks like it's been completely destroyed. We'll have to try to find a port soon to make repairs, and we'll probably take a loss on refunding the merchants."

"The captain managed to weather the worst of the storm himself out there. If he managed that, then there's a chance that we could still get to Estermere in two days."

[Tikobe]

Othan

I look at the scenario with discerning eyes. The level of skill that Thander Marthus has acquired under Northan's tutelage is astounding. If only there were a way to teach common soldiers such skill. Even then, that might give them too much of a sense of empowerment. It would be problematic.

I keep a stoic expression with eyes sharp on what was going on, but in reality I was playing around with different scenarios and ideas as I waited for the training session to end. I had, after all, affirmed what I came to see on my own, and cared about little else.

[Duck14]

Alfred

I grumble slightly. Never saw the point in refunding our customers for something we had no control over. Most others ships would have sunk or lost a lot more than we had. We had lost at least one, man but we had done our best to keep everyone alive. We had got out of the storm and now we had made a loss.

I pulled myself up to a sitting position. “Just make sure we have someone on the rudder and sails at all time.” I lent back to rest my eyes once more.

[Bannanachair]

(Leggo's on vacation for a week-ish, so if just the two of us are online I won't feel too bad about doing lots of replies all at once if you guys are able to be online now.)

@ Othan: Your son trains with swords for another hour while your brother continues fighting against his opponents, but eventually it stops and Northan orders him to do archery practice. Your son is not quite as dismal at archery as you are, though his arrows still fly past the target more often than they land anywhere on it. After about half an hour of that dismal performance, a servant comes up to you and begins speaking.

"My lord, I have been informed recently by Sir Raethus that you're going to be heading to Castle Shan for a week. Would you like to have your bags packed, or do you want to have more say in the matter yourself?"

(If you want to do anything other than watch their training before you go to Castle Shan, this post is your opportunity.. If you want to just timeskip until you're going to be going there, just indicate that you keep watching your son's training.)

@ Alfred: You drift off into a slumber and dream of a storm, but you're sailing on an open sea this time and the waves are even worse than what you've experienced while awake. The waves keep crashing against you with the constant cacophony of thunder around you, but the strikes of lightning and the clouds seem to be making a face. You're distracted for a moment, staring into the eyes that the storm has, then a wave crashes into you and throws you overboard. You can hear the thunder laugh at you as you drown...

You're woken up hours later by the sounds of a heated argument.

"We have to make for port to repair the damages! We can't keep sailing like this!" Said the voice of one of your crew members.

"The storm's nearly died down completely, it's just a drizzle. We were paid to sail to Estermere, dammit, we'll sail to Estermere!" Shouted Garry's voice. The man's nothing if not stubborn.

[Duck14]

(I’ll just flit between this and scriptwriting. I keep meaning to write Verous but I can’t get the words down.)

Alfred

Despite the dream I felt refreshed and nothing was more refreshing than waking up to a heated argument on a swaying ship. “Alright! Alright! You’ve made your points, the both of you.” I was happy that Garry wanted to push through to complete our mission, despite his injury. “It’s not our choice to make though. We’ve got a shot ship but we could push through if need be. That need is the merchants, so unless most of them want to stop for repairs we won’t stop for repairs. Understood?”

[Tikobe]

Othan

"Start preparing my luggage. Pack lightly, and no fancy clothes. Include a suit that I can ruin with dirt and the like without any worries. In addition, make sure to pack a few cloaks for various purposes. I trust you enough to be able to handle this yourself," I order with a strict, though not hostile, tone, like how a military commander would talk to their subordinate.

Well, I suppose it literally is that scenario, but the subordinate here isn't a military subordinate.

Wondering about the word plays that could be made, I return my gaze to my son's training as I wait for the announcement of the beginning of our visitation to Castle Shan.

[Bannanachair]

@ Alfred: "Aye, cap'n!" They both said, saluting you and your air of authority. The sailor was looking at you with more awe in his expression than usual, likely because of what you had just weathered, and then walked off to attend his other duties or his recreation.

"It's good to see that you're alive, cap'n. Naroth, the man who healed my shoulder, said that Artie was likely to have pneumonia thanks to his experience, but that you're mostly fine. Still, he advised that all three of us rest until we're at Estermere."

@ Othan: The servant acknowledged your orders and ran off to go see them done. Your son did a full two more hours of archery, with your brother going back and forth between giving him advice on how to shoot better and doing his own duelling practice. After the archery, Northan trained your son in doing some specific advanced swordfighting move over and over again, trying to make it a natural reflex of Thander Marthus.

After an hour of that, Northan said some words to your son and he ran off. Your brother then approached you. "Othan, I reckon it's about time to head to the stables. Did Raethus tell you how many bandits there were? The four of us should be a match for a small group, but if it's a larger band I might want to get some backup."

[Tikobe]

Othan

"I'm afraid I failed to ask, however regardless of the size of their group I would still wish for more. After, it's impressive that we have such skilled fighters with us, but in group combat it's not wise to think you can handle everything with just pure strength. I had assumed that we would be travelling with some of the forces stationed in Castle Shan, but if you have people here you wish to bring I would recommend it as the more prudent we are the more successful our endeavors will be."

[Duck14]

Alfred

I nod. “Artie was out there far longer than anyone else, hopefully he recovers. I should have stayed out there to begin with.” The sleep had done me well but I still felt the effects of fatigue in my muscles. I wandered over to the merchants. “Right, we’re out of that mess. I suggest you lot write down any and all losses you’ve suffered on this trip. Hopefully they’ve been few and mostly insignificant. I also need to ask if any of you wish to stop prior to Estermere. We if the majority of you want off early then we can make port. Otherwise, we will push on.”

[Bannanachair]

@ Othan: "I'll check with the lads here. Bode, who I introduced you to earlier, might be willing to go. Lots would probably rather remain to practice for the tourney, unless you or I order them to go, but I'd still say that I could probably get one or two. Thander's getting my horse ready for me, and his own and Thurum's, but I hadn't told him to saddle yours. Don't worry about Thurum, by the way - he's just going to visit his mother, not to fight the bandits."

@ Alfred: The merchant nods and goes off below deck to the storage, presumably to check his inventory.

(I might get dinner shortly, so there'll be at least an hour until my next reply.)

[Duck14]

Alfred

I watched him go and returned to Garry. “Did I miss anything while I slept?”

[Bannanachair]

@ Alfred: "I set up rotating shifts of men to work the sails, rudders and oars. I got Ballus and Fritz to go through all the passengers and see if anyone knows how to repair a ship, though so far they've found nobody. You've also missed a few arguments about whether or not we should stop at another port before Estermere, but it's all the same as the one that you did manage to catch."

[Leggo]

(I’ve found myself with a little bit of spare time on my hands today)

Jonos

“Good work. Once we take this section of the wall and head into the city, I want you to split our forces into five groups and systemically clear the streets as we make our way to the palace. Once we arrive, myself and my household guard will storm the palace. I presume only a small contingent of their forces remain in the palace. Enough to be a challenge, but I doubt I’ll need my full forces. They’ll link up with the forces at the main gate, where hopefully they find the gate captured.”

My mind already thinks ahead to the next county, next battle, next siege. I’ve too much ahead of me. I need to focus on the task at hand. Steady myself.

I take shots at the enemy defenders with my bow in an effort to relax myself.

[Duck14]

Alfred

I nodded. “Nothing too dire then,” I mutter. “Our priority is to make it to Estermere. If we complete the job then the merchants may look a little more kindly on our efforts to keep them alive. No sign of Matt?” I knew the answer would be no, but I had to ask just to make sure. I sent him above and in doing so sent him to his death.

[Bannanachair]

@ Jonos: "As you command, your majesty," Wallace says, riding off to go shout orders at another column of soldiers under him. As for your shots, they generally strike their intended targets, though Solmyr stands out from among other horses and as such you are shot at just as much, with one shot glancing off of your armour.

@ Alfred: "None at all since he went up. The waves had probably killed 'im."

[Leggo]

Jonos

I think we’ve had enough dallying about, it’s time to take this wall. I spur Solmyr forward, and head to the top of the ladders my men are climbing. My goal is to establish a foot-hold. I aim for the enemies closest to the ladders and attempt to land Solmyr on top of them and crush them. Then hopefully my men will have an opening to get on the wall and start pushing forward.

[Bannanachair]

@ Jonos: You and Solmyr land on and trample some of Norbury's guards, allowing some of your men to climb up the ladders. The first man up one of the ladders was struck by lightning and fell off, but the men below him and on other ladders managed to climb up to the walls of Norbury safely. From atop the wall you can see in the distance that the combined Redscar-Talsworth forces managed to take a similarly sized section of the wall, setting a wooden watchtower in their vicinity on fire, and that the rest of your vassals have very nearly managed to take the gate.

In fact, the only thing that's really of concern for you is the worry that your vassals will start fighting amongst eachother in trying to get the gatehouse and thus Atrekara for themselves, and that's highly unlikely.

On either side of you along the wall your men have scaled it enough to form small lines three men across and fight the remainders of the Atrekaran army stationed in Norbury. Your men are being continually reinforced and are fully fed, while they're fighting starving men who they outnumber. The entire wall should be yours within an hour, and storming during the storm seems to have been a gambit that's paid off for you.

[Tikobe]

Othan

"I see. I've already had the servants get my preparations in order, so I'll be fine. Are you sure that Thurum will be okay with being near me though? I'll trust you when you say that you've talked to him about it and he understood, but even then, he seemed quite shocked with me last night."

[Duck14]

Alfred

“Aye, he’ll be a long ways back now. I best write a letter to his family, the only thing I can do really.” I sighed and walked to my desk. Matt’s death was on me, that much was certain. He followed my orders, just wasn’t careful enough while doing so. I grabbed a parchment and began to scratch ink over it. The waves made my hand shake so the text didn’t look so great.


For the family of Matt Miflem,

I am sorry to inform you that we lost Matt in the midst of the greatest storm we’ve seen in many years. Matt and another crewman went above to help a stranded crewman. But in doing so they found themselves swept off their feet. We could not retrieve his body. But he died doing something brave. He is a great loss to us all.

Signed, 
Captain Alfred Melling.