SDMB RPG: The Rule of Three - Game Thread

The Game Room
601

Henry uses a willpower to successfully attack the Roland, his sword sinking into the unprotected area beneath the armpit, dealing five lethal damage and one bashing damage.

Cyrus manages a meager swing of the taken Roland sword, using willpower and suffering a -2 penalty due to injuries. He deals one bashing damage to the Roland, the blade slapping against his armored shoulder.

Baldur spurs his horse and slams it against the embattled Roland in his brother’s defense, his sword dealing two lethal damage and one bashing damage and knocking the now-unconscious noble from his mount, which scampers away as fast as it can towards the Shedlund lines. Brute leaps upon the fallen man, going for his face.

*The second Roland, crying out in a rage, unhooks his weapon and makes for the Faramonds but is met midway by Harrow, who bowls straight into him from atop his massive frostbred, their paths meeting at a right angle. The Roland is t-boned and thrown from his horse as the Ironhall noble rides over him, sword raised and eyes on Dragton and the yeomen.

Dragton looks on, scandalized. His men seem about to ride into the melee but they hesitate, eyes fixated beyond the brawl. The Laughing Dogs are sprinting away from the Ironhall force and towards the fight without having waited for orders. Dragton and the yeomen turn and ride at full speed towards their own lines, which are quickly preparing for battle.*

“So much for negotiations. Thank the ancestors the Lord Ironhall wasn’t here to bear witness to this.” Harrow spits bitterly, face directed north.

The conscript force is on the move west, the men-at-arms south, poised to meet in the middle at the Ironhall army’s location.

602

For the record, Harrow, I wasn’t actually planning on taking him up on his offer. But I find negotiations always work better when you don’t tip your full hand in the beginning.

He then shouts to Sohanux:

Sohanux! I think Cyrus needs some quick patching up before things get really rolling. As in NOW!

To Cyrus: You’re no good to any of us dead. If you want to live through the next fight, you’ll let her heal you.

603

I will tend to Cyrus’ wounds immediately.

604

“I’m fine,” Cyrus says unconvincingly. If there is enough time prior to the fight, Cyrus will allow Sohan to treat him.

To Cutter, “The old Shedlund nobleman is frail, but smart. He’s the last of their leadership I could see. Might be able to end this thing now, if we cut the head off the beast. He won’t expose himself, but if you see an opportunity, take him down.”

In the coming battle, Cyrus will break away from the Bulls if any opportunity to capture the enemy noble arises. Cyrus will take him alive if possible, and attempt to intimidate him into surrendering his army.

605

OOC: I’ll be out of town in New York this weekend, so I can’t guarantee I’ll be around until Monday.

606

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while.

Naimar stays at a distance with his bow ready in case he gets a shot.

607

Baldur rushes back to his company of troops, rallying them for the upcoming skirmish as best he can. During the fight he will try to keep an eye on Henry and Cyrus if possible.

608

*An early morning breeze carries the sickly-sweet smell of the freshly-dead across the battlefield, unsettling man, hound and horse alike. The Sun is just above the eastern treeline now, its glare settled directly in the eyes of the battered Ironhall force. Sweaty, bloodied soldiers reform ranks in reaction to the dual-forces that approach.

Opek, the dark-skinned, eight-fingered Arcadian with a beardful of colorful beardwork is at the head of the Laughing Dogs about fifty yards ahead of the rest of the army. Many of them were able to recover both of their javelins, only a few having to make due with one and perhaps a handful reduced to hand weapons. They seem unconcerned, though whether that is due to a lifetime of hardening through casual violence is difficult to say.

The peasant force from the east is the first to draw near. The Arcadian skirmishers loose their missiles in two short volleys, the first killing or incapacitating perhaps fifty conscripts and the second wounding a little more as the first few lines halt in the face of the attack, only pushed on by the mass behind them. With their javelins spent Opek leads his Laughing Dogs back to the safety of the Ironhall rearguard.

Dragton slows his advance, waiting for the peasant force to make first contact. Hrothgar’s men-at-arms, Baldur’s Ram group and Cutter’s (formerly Cyrus’) Bull group all take the brunt of the charge. The armored and shielded men-at-arms with Hrothgar at their center form an island amid the sea of roiling combat while the two peasant groups, tired and frightened in the face of a superior enemy, balk and begin to lose ground. Even Cutter, formerly eager to fight, now shrinks to the back of his regiment to avoid the hectic and undisciplined carnage that’s erupting at the front.

Harrow, in desperation, calls for an immediate cavalry charge. The two units of light horse ride in from the south and slam headlong into the melee taking place between Ram group and the enemy peasants and preventing Ironhall’s right flank from collapsing.

After a few minutes of fighting things are close. The northern half of the battle, Ironhall’s left flank, is swinging towards a Shedlund upper-hand. Ironhall’s right flank, however, is doing much better, with the entrenched cavalry and Ram group slowly rolling the peasants up to the north like a carpet one inch of ground at a time.

The Laughing Dogs (their javelins spent), Sohan’s woodsmen (peasants disproportionately-armed with axes) and Dragton’s men-at-arms remain uncommitted to the battle as of yet.

As for the characters themselves, Harrow is observing, his bloodlust replaced by near-panic as he watches the fight alongside Henry. Sohan is tending Cyrus’ wounds at the rear of the force, the old warrior slipping in and out of a daze. At the very least the healer has staunched the flow of blood and eliminated his pain but his use in the battle is considerably diminished.

Baldur and Naimar are at the back of Ram group. Their attempts to direct the battle aren’t effective, with each peasant under their charge locked in a desperate struggle for personal survival. Hrothgar is at the center-front of his regiment, directing his awful, bone-splitting weapon wherever the line is breached. *

609

Privately thinking that this looks like a good day to die, Hrothgar bellows encouragement to anyone within earshot and lays on with a will, determined to take as many of the enemy into the shadows with him as he possibly can. He can sense that the right is gradually getting the better of the fight and wishes he could call for another attack on that flank, sensing that if it could be routed the other enemy flank would likely lose heart. But he has chosen his ground and must abide by his choice.

And oh, but had they had a hundred longbows here! It seems that their intelligence let them down; Hrothgar wasn’t planning on meeting this many of the enemy in plain battle. Well, but the survivors will be better supplied for a long siege, at least.

610

Fight on men! Fight as if your lives depended on it, which they do! Raw-hardy and cockatrice feathers, fight on!

Travelling for a few days back to Japan

611

Henry will ride over to aid his brother in organizing the peasant forces.

612

Back.

613

Baldur will spend a willpower to rally his troops, if he is able.

“Oh boy Týr, looks like we’re in over our heads this time. If I go down, you run straight for the woods. No heroics!”

To the men: “Raaaargh, put your backs into it, men!”

614

Baldur fights on for what feels like an eternity…

615

nudge nudge ACM, get this thread rolling! :smiley: