I fear the hooded stranger is behind all of this....
Please, good people...! Keep alert to all happenings through out the lands.
I thank each of you defending the city and continued fighting in the Mercenary attacks.
We must work together to keep our realm safe. I will go have word with my advisers on this and make battle plans.
Take care, friends....
-Queen Dawn to gathered defenders of Britain
Oct 48, 377
Oct 48, 377
As reported earlier, Trubo Saius, the former puppet of Casca, who had been imprisoned within the royal palace in Britain, disappeared during the invasion by winged putrefiers.
This attack was thought, at first, to have been a repercussion from the recent string of citizen statements, refusing to surrender to the invading mercenaries.
Later, it became apparent that the attack was merely a diversion to the escape (or kidnap) of Trubo Saius, the crystals guarding his room shattered.
Queen Dawn implored citizens to keep faithful lookout over the coming days to the kingdoms under mercenary attack. At that point, the invasions had been containable, at least. Defenders proved capable, and the lines of defense held.
Then, all of that changed....
In the afternoon hours following the invasion of the castle, citizens on patrol of the mercenary moongate near the Girl Scouts' Meeting House spotted an impending invasion. Mercenary Scouts appeared through the gate and watchful citizens approached and, almost casually, flung energy vortexes at the would-be invaders.
They were the first to die....
Something... came through. A mercenary, sergeants' insignia emblazoned on his dragoon armor, but with deeply hidden eyes that glowed an unnatural gold from beneath its helm. Carrying the standard of Castle Blackthorne, he was riding what at first appeared to be an armored lizard, but which all at once reared back on hind legs, spewing arcs of elemental fire that instantly vaporized living flesh within its reach!
This was not just another attack!
In a matter of minutes, the battlecries of defenders charged through the trees of the Spiritwood, moongates opening to bring warriors and mages, bards and necromancers and rangers.
...followed by the sounds of their screams.
Lashing its tail, the lethal lizard and its rider took only seconds to find new mark, and strike! Hero upon hero fell having barely seen movement in the distance, the rider's eyesight apparently surpassing a bird of prey as it claimed victim upon victim.
Energy vortexes found no chink in armor. Flamestrikes seemed to make him laugh. Arrows glanced away. From the call of a tamer's horn, the beastmasters came, bringing dragons and drakes and mighty creatures of force and awe. Their carcasses soon littered the ground.
Combat seemed unbearably long and difficult. Then impossible. As more and more defenders were called to the scene and the battle waged for hours. Weary combatants took shelter in the nearby Scouts' Hall as the hostesses revitalized wounded with aid and cookie medication.
There were many, many casualties. Bodies littered the ground. As the battle waged on, many began to abandon hope and flee. This was surely an hopeless battle. The Mercenary Sergeant, glowing unnaturally, raised his voice in a booming, rasping tone that shook the hillsides:
Hahaha! Got cookies? I've harvested plenty, along with plenty of your lives. You will die for insulting me. Your blades are dull, barely a tickle they give.... I am no god, but I am powerful enough to take all of your lives! *Wicked laugh* Are you mere gargoyle lovers soft? Are you asking to be spared? Hahaha, that will ne'er happen! Come, challenge me and enjoy the separation of your body from your soul... a reminder of tonight's wrath!
While the defenders voices cried out...
...need all hands on deck!...
Aren't making a dent...!
...been fighting for hours!!
Over here! Behind the house! I can't heal you here...
Don't get anywhere near it! Stay back behind the trees. Don't let it see you!
...does anyone know the words to Armageddon!??
While the defenders voices cried out...
...need all hands on deck!...
Aren't making a dent...!
...been fighting for hours!!
Over here! Behind the house! I can't heal you here...
Don't get anywhere near it! Stay back behind the trees. Don't let it see you!
...does anyone know the words to Armageddon!??
Chip by chip, bit by bit, hour by hour, the battle waged on until at long last, the defiant, horrific abomination of a Mercenary Sergeant and its wicked steed collapsed in a lifeless slump.
Citizens inspected his armor, wondering where he had come from?? What under Virtue had brought this kind of power?!!?
The armor seemed to glow....
There was a weary relief among the people, but also the grief of tamers for their lost companions and the painful removal of bodies from the battlefield. Girl Scouts stayed secured in the meeting hall as corpses and shattered remnants of warriors were given their final rest.
Drained, depleted, citizens returned home to recover from what could only be described as a massacre.
Their rest would be short-lived.
The following afternoon, a patrol passed the moongate near the Defenders of the Shire, when ethereal gate rippled and an unholy armored terror, glowing oddly yellow, appeared riding a scaled steed snorting blue and yellow flames. There would be no rest today, and citizens still weary from the previous battle would rally to the Shire to once again, take on a demigod.
The battle began horrifically, and within minutes, it was clear that the defenders were far outmatched by the imbued Mercenary Sergeant. Healers (and one chicken) set up a medic station nearby the Shire, but could barely keep up with the wounded, at many points becoming victims themselves as the Sergeant charged, extinguishing life in a radius with each lizard's stomp.
It seemed that the Defenders of the Shire would fall, and the Shire with it.
...We must work together to keep our realm safe....
When all hope had gone, startled citizens turned to see a yolk-yellow cloak trailing a white dress, plunging into battle. Dawn, former Royal Knight, Queen of Britannia, lifted her grandfather's sword and threw herself into the melee, seeking out the Mercenary Sergeant himself, a patrol of Royal Guards chasing behind her...!
The Queen! Queen Dawn had come out into the battlefield herself!
There are those, late at night after an ale, who would say that Queen Dawn was a glorified secretary, a paper pusher. There are those who would say that while she was a fine ruler, she was more socialite than leader and in all respects, simply mediocre. Some would say that this woman had not earned the right to wear the crown but rather had inherited it by default....
...that woman was nowhere to be seen, the day that Dawn stepped on the fields of the Shire.
In her place stood something out of legend. A soldier of Virtue. A living weapon. Her blade gracefully flashed with the practiced dance of an artisan, swing after swing parrying an increasingly frustrated Mercenary Sergeant, whose eyes emanated golden hatred and who lashed violently out for bystanders. Even the fire breathing lizard seemed busy trying to reach acrid head around her lethal blade, attempting to spew death. All around, many continued to die, but some were spared who would not have been, and those who stood, invigorated by the presence of their leader in combat, rallied and increased their efforts. Dawn cheered them on!
Again, combat seemed to take an eternity. Those who came too close fell instantly. But through the stoic defense of a people's Queen and the persistent offense of a boosted citizenry, the glowing Sergeant's strength began to fade....
...until, at long last, Queen Dawn stood triumphant, bloodied, helping to pick her subjects from the ground and gather them around to praise their persistent defiance.
Well done Citizens! When I was told of the battle, I had to come help defend our land. I say to each: Well done. It seems the mercenaries have become more powerful. Perhaps... Trubo? No, it cannot be... Surely, he would not....
Peter Tarrant: ...and why not?
I cannot answer that, Peter... I am just in hopes he hasn't joined forces with these... people.
Peter Tarrant: Trubo was in Blackthorne's inner circle, was he not?
Yes. *Lowers eyes* He was. Ahh. I have a personal guard. Thank you, Handalf.
(A chicken in the crowd nodded his head.)
Peter Tarrant: Then I wouldn't put anything past the man, especially when Dragoons bearing Blackthorne's standard are involved.
I fear there will be more Blackthorne connections. Make your battle plans, people! Rally together. For Together, we shall beat them down.
(Victorious cheers and applause)
Now, I must return to the Castle. Once again, I congratulate you on your bravery.
...and, Thank You.
Peter Tarrant: ...and why not?
I cannot answer that, Peter... I am just in hopes he hasn't joined forces with these... people.
Peter Tarrant: Trubo was in Blackthorne's inner circle, was he not?
Yes. *Lowers eyes* He was. Ahh. I have a personal guard. Thank you, Handalf.
(A chicken in the crowd nodded his head.)
Peter Tarrant: Then I wouldn't put anything past the man, especially when Dragoons bearing Blackthorne's standard are involved.
I fear there will be more Blackthorne connections. Make your battle plans, people! Rally together. For Together, we shall beat them down.
(Victorious cheers and applause)
Now, I must return to the Castle. Once again, I congratulate you on your bravery.
...and, Thank You.
A grateful Queen departed the company of the survivors. All were left to ponder.
Was Trubo involved in whatever had made the mercenaries so powerful? If so, was it by his will or by the will of someone else? What was the limit of the mercenaries new powers and how could it be that a connection had been forged between Dragoons, Ninja mercenaries, and the standard of Castle Blackthorne?
Where would the wrath strike next??
One observation, however, was pondered little, to anyone who had been witness to the last couple of days:
This Queen had teeth and she knew how to use them. Perhaps the crown of Britannia that shone atop her head seemed to sit a little more naturally, today....