[IC] Invasion of Kutan I: Storm Front [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

blazinghand

2014-08-02, 07:10 AM

Just the 12th Fleet represents a joint operation between 3 of the 4 branches of the Imperial Armed Forces-- the Army, the Navy, and Intelligence. It's one of the biggest convoys ever, and one of the largest operations to be conducted in secret. If successful, this surprise attack on Kutan will cripple it and allow for supply lines to be set up before the Kutanese government has a chance to react appropriately. The opsec work for a mission of this size must have been tremendous. The 12th Fleet contains 3 Tier-1 Battleships including the Retribution, 7 lesser Battleships, dozens of frigates, scores of armed troop transports, and countless smaller ships and vessels. No other nation has the ability to put together a fleet that could possibly oppose this one in naval combat. The troops are the merged remnants of 2 battalions (the 2nd and the 4th), each recovered from a previous campaign and ready for new combat.

Five days have passed since The 12th Fleet launched for Kutan. It's usually a 2 week trip, but today marks the your exit from Imperial waters. The weather has been calm. You are on board the flagship of the fleet, ISS Retribution. Retribution is a beautiful Tier 1 Battleship, with 6 masts, 100 guns, and room for nearly 800 crew and passengers. Looking out over the bow, you see the sun rising. It's dawn and the crew are up and about. It's no surprise to see so many crew on deck and testing the guns. Starting today, The 12th Fleet is on alert. Although in theory the Kutanese have nothing that can match an Imperial vessel on the open sea, Admiral Wang is a cautious woman. Were it not for her paranoia, the Nokadan revolutionaries would have gotten their hands on Imperial vessels during the civil war 15 years ago, which could have spelled doom for The Empire.

---

Although Admiral Wang calls the shots while on the water, General Chang will be taking command once the troops are on solid ground. Chang has called you for a meeting on the Retribution about forming a seperate Company for covert ops in Kutan. You dont know why you were selected or recommended, but as you enter the conference room you start to get an idea. The conference room contains a large wooden table in the center, with a map of Kutan on top of it. Various pins go into the map, showing Kutanese troop distribution and naval projections. Around the table are a few chairs. At the back of the room, sitting in a large chair with the windows to his back, his General Chang.

Chang is a hard man, toughened by decades of war keeping the Empire together. During the Nokadan uprising, for a few months, it was said Chang single-handedly held the country together himself. Looking at those big hands and that huge, muscular frame, you think he might have been able to do it. His dark eyes are keen, and when you catch his gaze, it feels like he is staring into your soul. Were it not for the scar lengthening the right side of his mouth 2 inches into his cheek, he might even be handsome.

Chang begins speaking immediately.

"Good to see you all. Be at ease.

I'm going to state it plainly, soldiers. This is one of the biggest surprise attacks in the history of the Empire. If things go well, we'll land on Kutan at the port of Segat and overrun them within a few days. With our base of operations in place, the Kutanese won't be able to resist us. We'll pour in more supplies through our teleportation gates, and what we can't bring via gate we'll have on hand or take from the locals. We've got enough soldiers on these ships to start a small war, and that's what we're planning to do.

Thing is, it might not go that easy. This duke, Tanaka, might be pulling our legs. Maybe he lied about the Kutanese government patrols, or maybe he got suspicious and we'll land right on top of the whole damn Kutanese army. Whatever happens, if things go pear-shaped, we have contigencies. But we need one more. That's you lot.

I know half of you are 2nd battalion and half of you are 4th-battalion, but I'm putting you outside the normal chain of command for this mission. Effective immediately, Major Guō reports directly to Brigadier General McNally, and you lot report to her. You can draw a company of 90 soldiers from the 4th and the 2nd once we make landfall. Your mission is to move fast, ahead of the army, disrupt the Kutanese chain of command, destroy their ability to fight back, and gather intelligence."

Chang clasps his hands together and regards the 10 of you.

"Any questions?"

He gives you a big smile, baring his teeth in the new fashion. Somehow, Chang makes it look more bearlike than comforting.

Regissoma

2014-08-02, 01:32 PM

Regi looks directly at the general and clears his throat due to nervousness.

Sir, Do we know of any high priority targets as of right now that I...we should keep an eye out for in the enemy lines?

Hattish Thing

2014-08-02, 01:37 PM

Mogrym wasn't a particularly calculating individual, preferring to simply go with what his gut told him. He knew the calculating, analyzing, hypothesizing individuals straight from first sight. You could tell by a certain feverish darkness in their eyes, a mad dash occasionally as their eyes flit across the room. A tic regarding the balling of fists, or the shrugging of shoulders. Mogrym wasn't a schemer. He was a warrior, a hunter, and a leader. But never a schemer. He sits in the small room, gazing intently towards General Chang, his mad and wild gray-blonde hair falling down to his shoulders, his scarred face easily the most interesting in the room. And certainly the ugliest. The wear of war, clearly many years of it, were evident. Not just physically, but in the way he carried himself. He had a silent air of authority, demanding respect without even speaking. He most often didn't need to. General Chang was a schemer, and in a very good way. Captain Mogrym could never do what the general does every day. It was so much responsibility. Thousands of lives at stake. Mogrym was always a man to respect death, but he never enjoyed seeing it. He didn't like seeing men and women die, especially those under his command. He shudders lightly, imagining the incredible stress that comes with the title, "General."

He adjusts himself in his chair, looking around at the others as they file in. Mogrym had been here first, having always been fond of a head start before these sort of things. Running tended to really hurt his knee, no matter how tightly he bound the prosthetic. Sure enough, a metallic gleam shines from beneath a table, torchlight reflecting off it. The man seemed to have some kind of metal leg to replace what was once flesh. It looks incredibly well-designed too, with several pressure coils built into it, leather keeping it strapped and bolted to his knee. He finishes gazing towards the others and quietly listens to General Chang. Once the man finishes his speech, Captain Mogrym will nod appreciatively before asking a simple question. "Yes, sir. One question, sir." His voice is gravelly, sounding like some sort of wheel grinding against small pebbles. It's certainly an interesting trait of his, his voice. "As I understand it, we're to take a small group of soldiers up towards various cities, sneak in and take it all? Are we to allow survivors, sir? Are we to raze the cities? If we head with a mere ninety foot soldiers, we're not going to have the manpower to hold a city full of angry civilians, most likely raised with weapons in the house, sir." He sighs deeply and awaits the answer, adjusting his dark brown overcoat over his steel plate armor, stroking his beard thoughtfully. He seems sure of himself, and reassuring. To be honest, to most, he wouldn't look the kind most capable in combat. He looks more like one of the older war veterans you'd see at resting homes. Perhaps there's something more to the old cripple than meets the eye...

blazinghand

2014-08-02, 02:30 PM

Chang nods.

In Segat, it's important to capture and not kill the mayor, Satou, and the duke, Watanabe.The invasion of the castle might be quick, or it might be a drawn out siege-- but if you can find a way to make it quick and capture the mayor and the duke, that would make things easier for us.

In terms of what you do after, I'm not asking you to capture cities or take on the Kutanese single-handedly. For the most part, the battalion under my command will be able to handle that. The problem is, there are many small things that are difficult to do for a large unit, which is why I need you. Despite being barely civilized, the Kutanese probably have some sort of magic, tamed beasts, and other war instruments that may not be killable just by muskets. I'd guess they're also skilled archers and know how to build walls.

I'd like to have 2 full battalions, but with the forces we have here, it means we can't afford to simply overwhelm with numbers as we'd like. If we come across a walled city, we don't want to be tied up for weeks besieging it. Even with cannon, we have issues getting through magically fortified walls. If we come across a powerful mage or priest, we will be able to kill him with massed musket fire, but not before he kills many men. A unit like you should be able to move out ahead of the army and take out small valuable enemy assets, be it drawbridge levers, magically reinforced gates, or enemies that are capable of killing dozens of soldiers singlehandedly.

RustyVenture

2014-08-02, 03:46 PM

Tomly sat silently at the conference room table, nodding as General Chang explained the nature of the mission that awaited them on the slowly approaching Kutanian continent. As he listened to others in the room get answers to their mission-related inquiries, he knew there were no simple answers to the questions that consumed his thoughts.

It was just a month ago that Tomly was dreading going home to the capital. He had been dispatched for 5 months to the northwest of the Empire to gather information on the growing Orc threat. After much of that conflict died down so did potential sources of information on the growing horde beyond the Wall. As the 4th regiment prepared to withdraw to rest and recuperate, Tomly fully expected to be recalled by his superiors to the capital for debriefing and reassignment. Returning to the capital always meant returning to his family, and while Tomly loves his parents dearly they recently have become more vocal in their concerns over his career choice and lack of a family and grandchildren.

Tomly never had to worry, however, as new orders had suddenly come through. The 4th regiment was to move south to join up with the remnants of the 2nd. Tomly's superiors had instructed him to remain with the 4th and to join the newly amassed fleet in the trip across the great ocean. It was the rapid nature of this deployment and how seemingly offguard it caught everyone that has Tomly so concerned. Surely there were other more-rested troops available for such an important task? In any case, while General Chang may have insight into these issues, this was surely not the time or place to ask him. So Tomly remained quiet and continued to nod softly as his new companions continued their questioning of the General.

PersonMan

2014-08-02, 06:00 PM

Bella enters the room like a model soldier. Wearing her dress uniform, which she has kept so spotless that one might think she's expecting to parade in front of the Emperor at any given moment, moving with the crisp military step that is borne of discipline and endless drill. Both speak of the constant repetition that fill many of her hours each day. By now, almost everyone on the ship has seen her performing or heard mention of the hours of drilling she does each day on her own. Drilling, cleaning, inspecting, sketching - that's all the strange woman seems to do when she isn't eating or completing some task she's been given. Her devotion to every aspect of being a soldier is visible in her step, in her uniform, in the way she moves with a rifle in her hands. This only serves to further emphasize how little she looks like a normal soldier - Bella lacks the height of most troops, lacks the bulk of those who still fight with a blade and, as she enters the room, the stiff military facade that's drawn over her face fades away. In its place is a still-disciplined gaze and a perfectly neutral expression, one that remains on Bella's face as she casts her eyes across the room. Before Chang speaks his second words, she has already given a proper formal greeting to each other person in the room, although her eyes avoid Guō's as they always do.

Then Bella sits, her attention riveted on Chang as he speaks. She nods several times as he explains multiple aspects of their mission, each curt movement of her head kept short and sharp. As other voices fill the room, she turns to their sources, giving each one the same undivided absolute focus she gave Chang. At the end of each question or statement she nods, finally turning back to the general as he replies. Throughout the entire exchange, her gaze never flickers away from whoever is speaking, her expression never changes. She doesn't speak up, offer her own questions or respond to one of the ones her comrades pose - Bella is purely passive, sitting and absorbing everything that is said, each movement showing the ever-present tension in her. It's the quality that keeps her at attention even after it's not necessary, what has kept her essentially on alert for the entirety of their trip, pausing only to draw their fleet or scenes of the voyage, always making a brief note that explains the situation and lists the date as well as approximate position.

Sketching one rather than joining a conversation herself, drawing faces and drilling every movement, listening to each syllable rather than speaking a word of her own - Bella stays as she has been for the entirety of the trip so far.

Calenestel

2014-08-03, 02:53 AM

Major Guō Juān had been among the first to enter, always taking special care to be on time. She's a short woman, even shorter than Bella, and slightly built. But she walks with a powerful tread that quickly gives the impression that she is both strong and resilient, albeit not a graceful dancer in any capacity.

To someone who doesn't know them Juān actually seems similiar to Bella. Both are slender women with a powerful dedication to the military life. But aside from those fundamental similiarities it is usually quickly understood just how different the major and the sergeant is.
Juān is shorter, but somewhat more heavily built, and as neither's figure is completely hidden by heavy armour it is quite clear that the major is the one with at least the promise of curves, having what a grandmother or matchmaker would call "child bearing hips". Her face is more conventionally beautiful, even if the impression is dulled by a distinct lack of smiles, her jet black hair is worn longer, it would fall to the shoulders if she hadn't gathered it up in a man's haircut, and her dark brown eyes are more lively.
But the greatest difference seems to be in attitudes. Major Guō arrived wearing not the stiff dress uniform but the padded armour worn under her exotic plate armour with only a tabard with the imperial army's crest to mark her as a part of the army and her rank in it and a pendant around her neck to show her favoured deity. While strict and unsmiling she still seems more relaxed and at ease when not on guard or sparring with her squire and she has spent a lot of time during the sail to move among the private soldiers: talking to them, getting to know them and building a presence that would grow into trust in the field. There she seems another woman than in the officers' company, wearing a friendly half-smile and giving friendly advice and good natured reprimands. Never loosing her authority, however.

Here and now, though, she seems sterner and less inclined to smiling, but that might be partially because of the nature of the assignment. She stays silent during the start of the briefing, only standing up and giving a small bow when named to show that she complied and to make sure everyone of the gathered group knew her face. After that she sat still and silent for a while. Not letting it show the nature of the assignment bothered her a bit. She had hoped to command a company of her own but in the main force, this seemed to fit her expertise a good bit less not to mention that it involved assassinations, she prefered to meet her enemies on the open field. She wouldn't object, though, it wasn't her place. She would just simply carry out her orders to the best of her abilities, and when it came to underhanded tactics she would find out who under her command had the best knowledge, doubtless there would be more than a few agents from Intelligence to ask. If she could find them. And a group on the size of a company were hardly stealthy anyway.

While she brooded one or two of her questions got answered but others remained and eventually she cleared her throat softly. "Sir... I wonder... how are we going to know our targets to begin with? she asked. Do the army have a list for us? Or do Imperial Intelligence have agents already established?" The tone of her voice clearly showed that she didn't expect the latter but she had seen enough these fifteen years past not to put it entirely in the realm of the impossible. Spywork had helped, and hindered, her before. In many different ways. "Also... would the composition of this company be up to me and my "staff" or the general staff?"
At the mention of "her staff" her gaze flickers towards the rest of the gathered officers and specialists with a gleam to her eye that might have been humorous. Might have.

runehawk

2014-08-03, 03:14 AM

Vincent

Vincent was partly surprised to be ordered to attend a meeting of bigwigs with the general but he figured after seeing other Reconnaissance specialists standing quietly in the back with him. He'd just made a list of men selected for the company the General was talking about.

Vincent remains seated at attention like the other rank and file. It wasn't his place to question his superiors especially in assembled meetings like this. But it seemed the mission lacked critical forward intelligence. Usually intelligence had embedded itself long before the actual troops got there.

He idly scratched his tactical field uniform, a dull grey green in camouflage and wished he could switch back to his armor and cloak back in his bunk.

His eyes roll as he saw a soldier in dress uniform shuffle by and perch at the front.

There's always one

The soldier next to him catches his eye, He turns to see a smile , and a nonverbal "Get a load of her". Vincent puts his head down and bites back his silent laughter. It was only for a few seconds and his attention returns to the general's words.

Unbelievable. He wants to insert a whole company instead of a squad to recon and take out targets of opportunity. Going to have to stay on my toes

TachyonBlade

2014-08-03, 11:40 AM

The unnoticed man who stood at attention in the back, wearing a rather old combat Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) was carefully listening to the General, smiling giddily at the prospect of the assignment they were being given. Being under a non-Imperial Intelligence commander lessened that, somewhat, but he was sure the Major was just as good, since he had served with and around her in the Fourth. This was the kind of op he preferred over just intel gathering, as he had done with Orc's. Assassinations, and deep strike missions were always more action-filled, and didn't always require skulking around, and just listening to some bloody Orcs talking together about girls. Ugh, those weren't great memories for him to have. Or trying to Enchant the hell out of some Orc, and getting nothing, as the chaps were too dumb to answer, even when under magical compulsion. Or maybe he'd just gotten an especially dumb one. That would be his luck.

But he wondered what kind of methods he could use to accomplish the task with the least amount of casualties and time...

blazinghand

2014-08-03, 02:44 PM

General Chang nods at Major Guō's question. "The IIS has some number of agents scattered throughout Kutan, though I don't know who they are and where they are. My counterpart in ImpInt, Colonel Xu, knows who they are. He only relays information to me as he sees fit, however, for reasons of operation security."

He flashes his toothy grin again, and the scar at the right side of his mouth twists as though it doesn't understand the motion.

"Not that anyone here would be untrustworthy, but the fewer people who know how many agents we have and their identities, the better. I don't even know if the Duke and the Mayor are working for us, only that we're supposed to capture them. Segat has a few priests, but none powerful enough to pose a serious threat. That being said, targeting their Ecumenical Temple will be a priority in this mission. Most of the mages in the area live outside of the city, so we don't have to worry about them at first.

As we move forward, I'll be in touch with the Xu via the comms clasp. Although yours is only capable of a full minute of sending communication, it can work as a receiver all day. Mine is somewhat more powerful, since I give more orders via clasp than you do. If you need to contact me, my comms clasp ID is idn031. I already have your ID, ihq736, recorded. I will be able to relay intel about targets to you as the operation continues."

There's a moment of silence, and the old, wiry man standing next to Lt Jaros asks a question. "Surely you have more information than that for us, General. At this point, we're almost fighting blind." Those of you from the 4th recognize him as Gorda, an ex-spy for the Jaros household. Ancient and unremarkable except for his way with words.

Chang looks around, his eyes resting Lieutenants Sanguinius and Jaros. "I'm not any more pleased than you are that ImpInt is holding our hands on this one. I'm also afraid that with the depleted nature of our forces, one company is all I will be able to spare for this vital mission. Each of you here was handpicked for your effectiveness in combat or leadership. You'll have your pick of the forces, as well as access to specialty equipment like cannon if necessary. I can talk to Wang about setting aside a troop transport for the company as well, though don't expect anything until tomorrow at the earliest. Reorganizing two battalions like this on the move is enough work as it is.

I recommend Captain McAllister will be your Executive Officer, but how you organize your staff is up to you."

The meeting draws to a close, and soon you find yourselves on the deck of the Retribution. Chang seems to schedule his meetings back-to-back, either to keep them short or because he's a phenomenally busy man. As you wait for your transfer ships back to your troop transports, you have a few hours to talk amongst yourselves.

Calenestel

2014-08-03, 03:01 PM

runehawk

2014-08-03, 03:12 PM

Vincent

Standing on the deck of the Retribution, Vincent turns up his collar and rubs his hands together to fight off the chill. He awaits any further briefing from the Major.

TachyonBlade

2014-08-03, 04:06 PM

Now that the briefing was basically at an end, the Lieutenant in the back decided it was time to work around with his own suborders. He looked around at the rest of the company as the whole military term went, and quickly began deciding the possibilities of any of his fellow soldiers being suspects. He could safely rule out everyone in the 4th who had served with him... or could he? How long had the invasion been planned for? Could the Kutanese have sleepers? No, that was too unlikely, and wouldn't have too much impact as a normal soldier. He'd have to look at the other officers then. Not Magnus, of course not him.

And then his second set of orders would then be synergized with his first set, except this one required him to look at the top officers. He saw how General Chang disliked the II's presence. Was he hiding something? Shame he didn't have experience with the man himself, but he'd have to request a dossier on him. He could safely leave Wang to her own, since she was Navy personnel, but suspicion was an Agent's best friend.

Hattish Thing

2014-08-04, 01:56 AM

Listening attentively to the general, Major Guō doesn't nod or make any other gesture acknowledgning what she hears, she just looks very attentively on her superior. Not until at the last bit where she gives a curt nod in agreement when the general suggests captain McAllister as her second-in-command. She glances to the rest, finding the captain and giving him a quick, searching look, his was a new face but he seemed reliable and experienced. Very well. She could do worse. "As you say, sir. The captain it is. As for our objectives... Little to work with, at least right now. But we'll make do with what we've got. I'll get to work out the details for this company right away. As for cannon... well, it might be for the best if I talked things through with my staff, but I do think that it would slow us down too much. I will have an answer on the matter as soon as possible." It didn't sound like she was convinced by the idea.

Captain Mcallister responds to her look in kind, his startling blue eyes looking over her quizzically. He had seen this woman before, and heard of her. However, he doubted she had ever truly taken the time to notice him. Mogrym never was a particularly sociable person, preferring the feel of the sea against his skin, and the glorious boom of cannonfire against stone. He preferred the feel of cold metal to warm skin, now. He couldn't even remember the last time a human being had touched him, or even smiled at him. Well, technically he could remember. Quite well, actually. He simply didn't want to, at times. Mogrym accepts the General's offer with a silent nod, never taking his electric colored eyes off Major Guo. He doesn't pay extremely close attention to the others, though some may notice his feverish glances, his eyes moving like wildfire over each person. He seemed so calm on the outside, but his eyes were always moving. Always assessing and calculating possibilities. Always suspicious. The Captain ponders over a few things regarding his new mission, but seems fairly pleased with it. He didn't remember the last time he enjoyed the pleasure of fighting something a tad more worth his time. Most men met quick ends around him, for his cudgel had bashed many a skull in it's lifetime, and Mogrym had grown quite good at it. He speaks to Major Guo gently, and extends a large and leathery hand to her, lurching forward across the deck as his metal leg clunks against wood. "Pleased to meet you, Major. I look forward to working with you." Very formal, though it seems he doesn't quite say what he wants to.

RustyVenture

2014-08-04, 09:44 AM

Tomly couldn't help but chuckle at Gorda's candidness. The old man had a way with words and he was always trying to get answers. However as Tomly suspected, even if General Chang had more information on the mission, here was not the place to share them.

After General Chang adjourned the meeting, Tomly observed a large brute of a man wielding an enormous cudgel made from a ram's horn walk up and introduce himself to Major Guō. That must be Capt. Mcallister, Tomly thought to himself, I suppose I should take this chance to introduce myself. Although Tomly had worked with the Major previously as part of the fourth, he had yet to interact directly with her.

As Tomly stood up and proceeded across the room toward the Major, he motioned for Gorda to follow. The two arrived just as the Captain finished his introduction. "Major Guō, I do not believe we have been properly introduced although I have been attached to the 4th regiment for some months now. I am 1st Lt. Tomly Jaros from ImpInt. This inquisitive old-timer next to me is Gorda Spymaster, a talented and insightful servant of the Jaros household. I hope I am not being too forward, but I would love to speak with you regarding a place on your staff. ImpInt has provided me with some extra information on this mission and it's critical that you are in the loop."

Calenestel

2014-08-04, 02:48 PM

TachyonBlade

2014-08-04, 03:14 PM

Sanguinius refocused himself, when he realized the Major was taking names for her staff selection routine. Obviously, the second in command was the Captain in the room, which went without a doubt, but the chain of orders would have to be set properly. He looked over to the right, and saw the other Intelligence Agent who was posted on this advance company introducing himself. He'd have to do the same now, wouldn't he?

He stepped forward, still in stand-at-ease, and removed his glove, while also beckoning Magnus to come along with him for introductions. He was a slight bit worried about saluting with the Pyrotex gloves on, but that wasn't of concern right now, since he had just taken it off. He saluted, surprised that the rest weren't following military protocol, and snapped "Second Lieutenant Julius Sanguinius, ma'am!"

He wasn't particularly fond of the military protocols, but he'd have to use them while he was taking part in the joint op. The other Agent wasn't, and was probably going to be looked at with suspicion, since there was always enmity between the spooks and the grunts, unless they took a liking to an individual. Which was why he was trying to make a good impression.

PersonMan

2014-08-04, 03:45 PM

Leaving the meeting, Bella's posture and movements don't change at all. It's clear that the stiff, regimented aura she has is more than a show put on for a commanding officer. It seems to permeate every part of the woman's movements, enforced by her clothing as much as her clothing seems to be drenched in the drilled-in discipline that Bella exudes. Moving onto the deck, walking across it, following immediately as the group moves to discuss command, she looks like someone in a parade, not a hair out of place. As introductions begin, she remains silent, once again soaking in the words uttered by others, watching their movements as names and ranks are exchanged. Finally, it's her turn.

"Sergeant First Class, Bella de Acie Belli, M-Major," Bella says. The quiet, briefly stuttering introduction is accompanied by a flawlessly executed military salute. For the first time, something stands out from the otherwise perfect military mold. Her voice is soft, lacking entirely in the self-confidence one would expect from an officer of any sort, especially one that had risen up from being a common soldier. "My specialization, um. I mostly fight with the rest, I kill the other ones so we don't lose,"

Regissoma

2014-08-04, 04:26 PM

Regi will proceed onto deck and look out toward the seas and then go back to his assigned bunk to grab whatever rest he can while he can.

Hattish Thing

2014-08-04, 04:44 PM

As soon as the group is all back up on deck the major motions for them all to gather up by the port railing, as much out of the way as they can hope to be for the time being.
First she shakes the captain's hand with barely any hesitation at all, quickly catching herself when she was about to answer his greeting with a bow. The Empire was great and held many different customs. As a capitol born hand shakes were almost foreign to her, but she had grown used to it during her service. Almost. "Likewise, captain. Let's get all the formalities out of the way, shall we?"

Unsmiling and unblinking, but not unfriendly she turns to the group as a whole. Well... after she gives Lieutenant Jaros a quick nod: "Good to meet you, lieutenant. I have a feeling we'll need ImpInt for this. I think your place on the staff is given. But then I have a feeling the general intended us to be the staff." Her tone had a hint of a joke to it, but her face didn't show it.
"Now then. Some of you I know at least a little, others I don't. You all know my name and rank. I can add that I am a consecrated paladin of Arkhanya who have served on the Wall and in various battalions these past fifteen years. That should tell you all you need to know about me for now. If I'm to know where to put you on this staff of mine, however, I'd like to know a little of each of you. I'm sure there are files somewhere, but they're not here now. So. Name, rank and specialization, if you'd please. And then we'll go from there."
Efficient and straight to the point without coming off as rude except for the quarrelsome the paladin major seemed used to commanding, that's for sure.

Mogrym raises a somewhat burnt eyebrow slightly as she moves strangely, as if she was about to bow to him! Hmm. How strange. He'd never been bowed to before, however, so maybe he just completely missed her intention as she moved bizarrely. He shrugs lightly, his pauldrons relaxed on his broad shoulders, his tattered coat draping behind him. He nods lightly, respect adamant in his tone. This woman was obviously incredibly capable, and the Captain always appreciated the chance to work with a tactical mind. "Agreed, Major. Never was one for long and drawn out introductions." He smiles lightly, his scarred and somewhat burnt face crinkling a tad as he does so. The man looked as if his entire body had been through some kind of horrific razor trap a few times in his life. He was not a very attractive individual, but he was at least somewhat kind, and wise. He turns to the others, leaning on his large cudgel and listening to his agents. He liked this group. They seemed quite capable, and with someone of higher rank around, he'd finally get a chance to crush some skulls. He briefly fantasized about spending some quality time with an enemy wizard, should the small group encounter one. It'd been many a year since he heard the eerily relaxing crack of wizard bone. After the others have finished introducing themselves and talking, Mogrym speaks, his gravelly voice sort of crackling. Maybe he had allergies. "Hmm. Yes, hello, all. I am Captain Mogrym Mcallister. I've served aboard vessels for a good many years now... And before that, I was a hunter of... sorts. I am capable of first aid as well, and should one of you fall on the field, I will do my best to save you. Yes." He stops awkwardly as he speaks, clearly not one for intricate conversation. "I look forward to working with you all."

blazinghand

2014-08-04, 05:29 PM

The lithe, tall man slouching by Julius also snaps to attention. "Private Qiu." It looks like any amount of effort spent looking presentable is loathesome to him, but he puts on the mask regardless.

Calenestel

2014-08-05, 12:59 AM

If the major was ever so slightly unaccustomed to shaking hands... well, salutes were a different matter all together. She returns lieutenant Sanguinius' and sergeant de Acie Belli's salutes with crisp and exact movements. "Glad to have you, lieutenant. This is really looking to be a joint effort for ImpInt and the Army, that means we'll need to work closely across whatever division there is." Again there is that hint in her voice that she made a joke but her mouth doesn't even twitch to make a smile.
Turning to Bella she continues: "Good to see you again, sergeant. I am sure you'll expertise will come in handy more than most." Her mouth even twitches ever so briefly into one of her rare half-smiles.

However... In the corner of her eye she notices that a halfling from the meeting is actually not joining the rest of them. Without even glancing to the side she raises her voice a little: "Xiaoguang! Would you kindly fetch that man for me? Gently?" As she points out Regi a half-orc in a tabard with the holy symbol of Arkhanya, previously slumped over the railing a little off from the group, moves into action, wiping his mouth.

Before moving on she looks to Vincent, a face she hasn't seen before this meeting and knew nothing about. An eyebrow raised she silently waits for the man to speak up.
But behind that mask of patience the attentive can see the little cogs and wheels whirl already. The very attentive might hazard to guess that she's already putting every man in her staff in their right places, maybe even considering how to outfit her company-to-be. Those who stay too silent might end up drawing a somewhat shorter straw than the otherwise might have.

blazinghand

2014-08-05, 02:39 AM

The crisp, almost bitter early spring air whips around you as you stand on the deck. You'll never truly get used to the smell of the ocean or the salt on the wind, though the sailors tell you most people get used to it relatively quickly. The deck of the Retribution is massive, with room to spare for meetings and lounging abovedecks. The morning sun has moved behind some mist, provided some welcome respite from the beating rays. You never thought you might get a lightburn out on the cold ocean, but apparently it can happen. You aren't in sight of land, but the navigators say you'll soon be out of the great horn and passing by the Otarsean Peninsula. From then on out, it's a straight shot to the south of Kutan.

The sailors seem a little more nervous than you'd like. But how could anyone be nervous on such a magnificent vessel! The weather is perfect for a chat, and in these calm winds the crew does not mind your conference. Indeed, there are others milling around waiting for small craft to travel to and from this, the flagship.

How The Empire ever came to build six-masted ships you'll never know, but they're beautiful as they are strong. The ribbed, multi-boomed sails catch the air perfectly and allow for even a large ship like this to perform turns into the wind that pure square sails would never be able to do. Despite being the largest, most powerful warships in the world, Tier-1 Imperial Battleships are still faster than anything the barbarians have ever made. With a hundred cannon, a single Battleship can blockade a harbor on its own while laying siege to the piers. The engineeers tell you that they're so sturdy, you can punch holes in the wall and only individual sections flood, not the whole ship. You wonder how they got that to happen.

The burly half-orc moves blocks Regi Braveheart's way. He eyes the slight halfing Specialist who looks like he might at any moment turn sideways and disappear into thinness. He reaches out and grabs at the halfling, somehow failing to get purchase on the small felow. Nonetheless, the half-orc is in the way. Regi can't advance along his current route without diversion. Xiaoguang tries to speak quietly, but it seems his two volume settings are "growl" and "battle cry", and for the moment he has chosen growl. The orcish accent is unmistakeable.

"Hey there, buddy, you heard the boss. Stick around and introduce yourself. I'm Xiaoguang, PFC in the Imperial Army's 4th. I don't recognize you, so you gotta be part of the 2nd, eh? Well, I don't know if you were listening, but there's a change of plans. You're part of our company now. You work for the Major, so when she says she wants your name, rank and specialization, you stick around."

He slaps one mailed fist with the other as though his sentence needs physical punctuation.

A few of the sailors nearby glance his way before turning back to their work.

Rumors are circulating amongst the men that Tianfei, god of the oceans, does not have power beyond the Otarsean peninsula, and that mighty sea gods and creatures may oppose the expedition further along. Nobody says this where they can be heard, because the punishment for insolence is harsh on a ship.

Regissoma

2014-08-05, 05:22 AM

Regi looks at the half-orc without batting an eye.

Oh sorry, must've not heard her.

Regi will then turn around and head towards the Major to introduce himself.

Regi Bravehart, Specialist from the 2nd at your service. However my services do extend to "taking care of" certain problems should it occur.

Upon saying taking care of he will show a smile and apologize on not hearing her before due to the prospect of getting some fresh air before trying to get whatever rest he can while he can. He will then salute and ask if he may now be dismissed.

RustyVenture

2014-08-05, 09:30 AM

Tomly watches everyone take turns to introduce themselves. Just before his turn, Tomly observes the Major's half-orc squire return to the group with a sly-looking halfling in tow. After the halfling introduces himself, it is once again Tomly's turn.

"As I was just telling the Major, I am 1st Lieutenant Tomly Jaros. I will be representing Imperial Intelligence on this mission." Tomly then motions toward Gorda. "This is Gorda, a long-time servant of my family's household."

After his short introduction is complete, Tomly waits for the remainder of the introductions to be made.

runehawk

2014-08-05, 11:48 AM

Vincent

Seeing the round of introductions proceed until the Major is looking directly at him. He steps forward to a pose of attention and smartly salutes.
"Corporal Vincent, 2nd Battalion, Reconnaissance Unit, Recon & Infiltration specialist"

He remains at attention until her attention moves on before returning to at ease.

Calenestel

2014-08-05, 03:52 PM

When her half-orc squire stops Regi in his tracks Guō Juān cannot help but smile again, but she manages to keep it at a twitch of her mouth. Xiaoguang was really making progress with his efforts at diplomacy.

The look the major gives the halfling is decidedly less amused, however, and has a hint of reproach to it as he presents himself. So... this was probably one chosen for eliminating key enemies: mages, officers. An assassin of some sort considering how he talked of "'taking care of' certain problems". That in itself made her prone to distrust and his lax attitude only compounded the problem.
Still. He was chosen to be under her command and he was thus her responsibility, both his actions and his well-being. She wasn't going to mistreat anyone under her command. She nods quietly but when he asks to be dismissed she moves on without a word, giving him no choice but stay for the time being.
She also gives the corporal a quick nod as if to say that she had heard him and made a mental not as to his field of expertise.

With introductions made she moves on to the matters at hand.
"Well and good," she says and decides to make one thing sure from the get-go. "Now, we all represent the Empire. The Empire expects a certain amount of decorum from those who would serve it. And I expect no less from those under my command. That means that you give a proper salute to a senior officer and either adress me as ma'am, sir or major. I expect that is simple enough for any of you." She pauses to draw breath and glance around before continuing on, not enough for anyone to speak up however.
"Now. Captain McAllister will be my second-in-command, that much is decided already. Lieutenant Jaros seems to be the most senior member of ImpInt and will primarily be my liaison with your organization, at least to begin with. As for the rest here. Sanguinius, what experience do you have with leading troops? Will you be able to lead a platoon in the company? Vincent and Bravehart, you will stay on my staff more or less as advisors in your own specializations, at least for the time being. You'll also be my first pick to be sent on appropriate missions as I see the need arise. The same goes for you, de Acie Belli."
There was a bit of doubt to her mind why the sergeant actually should be on her staff but the way she saw it the general wouldn't have invited her if he didn't think she'd contribute in some way. So Juān would keep Bella close at hand and see what came of it. The same could be said for Vincent, really. Normally both of them would serve better put in a squad that fit their specialisations, but things were as they were.

PersonMan

2014-08-05, 04:51 PM

Bella listens intently as the conversation continues, noting the apparent reluctance on the part of of the specialist who had been retrieved by the Major's squire. The half-orc was someone she'd seen a few times, but never truly interacted with - as was typical for her. She got to know people, in a sense, by observing them and their interactions, but only rarely actually spoke with them. This was doubly true for anyone who tended to be around the Major. It was obvious that something about the woman eleven years her senior unsettled her, and as a result Bella did her best to keep her time with her as short as possible. Of course, her other dealings didn't vary much in that regard. She spoke when spoken to, but rarely did more than try to end the conversation after a few words were spoken. Ideally she wouldn't even say anything and simply stare away the question in question.

As the Major continues, and eventually mentions her, Bella nods curtly, acknowledging the mention. She would straighten, were she not already at attention, but instead her only reply is the wordless nod. No need to do more, after all.

runehawk

2014-08-06, 01:10 PM

Vincent

Vincent blinked in surprise when the Major reassigns him with a few words.
He remains silent and at ease but nods back to her with understanding in his eyes. He continues to discreetly observe the other senior staff jockeying for her attention and get their bearings in this new 'special operations'.

He'd have to tread cautiously and ensure the junior officers did not view him as a threat for the CO's favor. He heaves a long slow breath.

TachyonBlade

2014-08-06, 11:25 PM

Julius paused for a moment after hearing the question that the major posed to him. Did he? Did he really? Yes, he did, or at least technically, since he'd worked with a group of field agents as a spymaster and handler, so that would count as a somewhat truth. "Yes, ma'am, I can confirm the fact that I have experience in leadership."

Calenestel

2014-08-07, 01:21 AM

Overlooking or ignoring Bella's acceptance and Vincent's look of surprise Juān gives Julius a quick nod. "Good. I think a company of two platoons will be best and you'll have one then. Lieutenant Jaros, if you have any experience leading troops you will lead the other in addition to your other duties. Otherwise I'll request that the general staff assign a third lieutenant to the mission. but I'd prefer to keep this staff as small as I can while still getting the job done right." That and she'd have to pick one from the fourth batallion to balance out that Sanguinius was formerly of the second. She knew one or two who would fit the bill but no matter how she put it some would grumble about favouritism. Some always grumbled. After getting an answer from Tomly, one way or the other, she nods curtly and says: "Captain McAllister, if you would come with me to hammer out the details? The rest of you are dismissed."

RustyVenture

2014-08-07, 01:44 AM

Tomly nods at the Major, "I do have leadership experience and I am certainly comfortable leading a platoon of men."

blazinghand

2014-08-07, 01:54 PM

Your ferries arrive and you're transported back to your ships. Over the course of the next couple of days, Major Guo̅ and Captain Mcallister plan the formation of the 24th Advance Company, and Wang reorganizes the fleet enough to spare up a troop transport for the new unit. It's on the 8th day of the voyage that the last of you is transferred to your new transport, ISS Roval's Return.

Roval's Return was at one point a large merchant vessel of some sort, but now is functional as a troop transport. Her peeling paint and rough deck remind you that not every ship in the Navy is a battleship. Still, she has 3 masts, each sporting a large multi-boomed triangular sail, and below-decks she has 12 cannons. Even with such a meager armament, Roval's Return can probably outshoot anything Kutan has simply on strength of having any cannon at all. Despite her good cruising speed, you can see she's not built for maneuverability, and she would have trouble outrunning or avoiding a determined enemy in a real battleship.

She can house up to 120 soldiers, with room for a certain amount of storage, as well. She is commanded by Captain Jiang, an young, dark-haired slim man whose face has been mutilated and deformed by a large scar. You don't want to ask, but it looks like something at some point shredded the skin all along the left three quarters of his head, blinding one eye, making him half-bald, and removing his ear entirely. He often wears a hat or bandana in an attempt ot hide his deformity. He's talkative, and you find yourself learning more about Roval's Return and maritime philosophy than you thought you would ever want to know.

In the Age of Wars, Roval was a mighty king who conquered several coastal cities and united them into a single kingdom. Unlike most tyrants, he spent his days working hard to improve the welfare of his citizens. He negotiated trade treaties, used his standing army to protect the people from bandits and conquerers, and made the sea lanes between the cities safe for travel. For 40 years, there was a kingdom spanning 100 miles and 3 cities along the coast of the Empire that knew peace in the time of war. His kingdom's unity died with him-- his sons warred over his inheritance and the weakened kingdom was torn apart by neighbors. Nonetheless, one wonders how things might have been different if Roval's descendents had held things together.

Jiang keeps Roval's Return in formation near the front of the fleet. There are two escorts nearby: ISS Golden River, a heavy frigate, and ISS Valiant, a mid-sized battleship. A few other troop transports are close by, staying within 30 li of the Valiant in case something should challenge the fleet before landfall. In a fight, it is better to start under the range of your escort's guns. Also, although the short-range comms units in the CIC of each of the ships are more powerful than what most infantry units carry, they always work best at short distances.

Now that The 12th Fleet is out on the open ocean, past the Otarsean Peninsula, the weather is gradually starting to get worse. If the fleet were smaller, or had a different composition, it might not be a problem, but with so many cargo ships laden with soldiers and gunpowder, going gets a slower. Wang has to set a pace that lets every important vessel keep up. The short-range comms flicker constantly as positional information is transmitted between the fleet and the flagship, and new orders go out. There are mutterings about the crew that the sea god is angry, and prayers to Tianfei and to Yuraern.

The 9th and 10th day of the voyage pass uneventfully, and you start thinking about what will happen when you touch down in Kutan. It'll be a new world, dangerous and full of uncivilized creatures who aren't part of The Empire. Your mission to rescue them is righteous. The storm picks up as you settle down for sleep, rocking the boat heavily. He's seen tougher storms than this, Jiang assures you. Still, you're no sailor and the turbulence is unsettling. Eventually, sleep comes.

Suddenly, you're awakened by a loud noise despite being asleep belowdecks. It sounds like gunfire and cannonfire, and you feel Roval's Return shudder beneath you, violently. In an instant you're alert and ready for action, but something feels wrong-- you want to puke. You look around at the others who share the room with you and see them stirring as well in the deep darkness of the cargo room. Your legs are like jelly, but you're needed abovedecks, or at least on the firing deck. If there are boarders, or there's a fight happening, you're useless down here.

Roll a DC 15 Fortitude Save for seasickness. Navy Veterans and Navy Officer Veterans do not need to make a roll, as they are immune to it.

Failure makes you seasick. Someone who is seasick suffers from the Sickened status condition, which gives -2 to attack rolls, damage, saving throws, and ability checks.

You can end your seasickness by barfing for a minute, or through any effect that removes sickness. If the storm calms or you make it to dry land, you recover after an hour. While in the storm, every hour, you may make an additional Fortitude save to recover from seasickness naturally. Someone who succeeds on a save against seasickness is immune to it for 24 hours.

Your comm clasps briefly buzzes to life, tersely relaying some information from the higher-ups.

"Enemies two fliers, unarmed, possibly mages. Lightning magic."

TachyonBlade

2014-08-07, 04:37 PM

Julius awoke rather quickly, and in a less than perfect physical state. He swung his legs around, and jumped off the bunk in which he'd been sleeping, narrowly avoiding the roof with his head, only to find that his legs felt like the magical background static of the materium. Or dead. From what he knew, this sort of thing happened a lot, but he could shake it off, if he was lucky.

But what concerned him more was the noises that seemed to be erupting from the decks above. Sounds of cannons firing and gunfire, which was a pretty bad sign. He immediately put his hand to the pistol at his side, and the ammunition that he had, pulling it out, and began to fill the pistol with ammo and powder, and moved forward towards the stairs up.

He was generally not in a happy mood most of the time, and this time didn't seem to be much of a change. Especially since there was seemingly going to be combat on board a ship.

RustyVenture

2014-08-07, 05:43 PM

Tomly woke with a start to the roar of gunpowder exploding above him. He reached down to floor from his hammock in order to seek out his pack. Reaching in, he pulled out his pistol and ammunition and proceeded to load it. Carefully stepping down off the hammock, Lt. Jaros is able to collect himself and shake off any nausea (likely due to sleeping in a hammock rather than on the ground, a lesson he learned after his first night on the voyage).

Tomly decides to seek out Captain Jiang to learn how he can best be of help and immediately heads for the stairs heading up to the quarterdeck. The captain would likely be there or on the poop deck, and while Tomly was eager to not be knocked overboard he knew he likely had to head outside to investigate.

Hattish Thing

2014-08-08, 02:27 PM

With a growl, Captain Mcallister is awoken from his fitful sleep. He never got many solid hours of sleep, due to the unfortunate case of insomnia he's had since he was young. However, he had just finally got into some pleasant slumber, and most likely would have had a dream or two, but of course that's right when the sudden booming noise startles him up. He rubs his eyes a bit, before taking a deep and hearty swig out of the small canteen at his belt. It must have been a particularly disagreeable brew, for the taste wakes him up most immediately, his face crinkling at the unpleasant mixture. He quickly slams on his armor, buckling and setting it with skill collected over many years. He's done this thousands of times, and his quick fingers make that apparent. He'll storm out of his room, leaving his musket behind, but grabbing at the heavy cudgel by his door. He didn't trust himself to wield a ranged weapon after just getting up, but he knew his aim with a cudgel was perfect. Why rely on a weapon that could misfire due to something as simple as a poorly placed finger, when you could just bash something's head in? As he's striding towards deck, his comm begins to buzz lightly. He listens intently, already formulating a battle plan. Mages? Flying casters, with lightning magic? They definitely sounded like evocation specialists. Mogrym smiles lightly as his prosthetic limb finally touches the deck, before he looks around for the source of the explosion heard below.

Calenestel

2014-08-09, 01:31 AM

Major Guō Juān at first doesn't realize what's happening. She's woken grumbling after too little sleep and the first thing she is aware of is another bout of seasickness and the sounds of attack is for a second drowned out by her struggle not to throw up on the floor? The deck? It mattered little.
Then, as she tries to force the sickness down but has to settle on the pyrrhic victory of at least not loosing her dinner Juān realizes that what she hears isn't the waves crashing over the vessel... it's gunfire!

Wobbly from both the sea state and the nausea the major stumbles for the door in search of the ship's captain to find out what was going on, not even thinking straight, when her communication's clasp crackled to life and makes her pull herself together. Enemy spellcasters? Lightning? Well, then. She had her Duty to do! Pulling her tabard over her head and snatching up her sword (the rest of her stuff can stay where it is until she's gotten a clearer view of the situation) she makes haste, as best as she can, to the captain's position. Wobbly and pale faced and with her hair loose the paladin major still suddenly seem much more in command of both herself and the situation. On her way she bellows for her squire.

Juān sleeps in her masterwork gambeson. She has the magical equipment that she can comfortably sleep in but won't drown in her full plate but she wasn't expecting to need that much armour and is thus not fully geared.

runehawk

2014-08-09, 02:33 AM

Cpl Vincent

*BURP!*

The wave of nausea fades. With a nonplussed look, Vincent slings on his gunbelt and loads his gun before holstering it.

Staggerring deckwards as the ship lurches he considers the possibilities he is about to face.

blazinghand

2014-08-09, 06:19 AM

The Roval's Return is suddenly alive with soldiers and sailors, scrambling all over the place, securing items, arming themselves, grabbing for weapons and bumping into each other. The ship shudders violently-- she either just launched a broadside, or took one. The sounds of battle are now unmistakeable, and in the dark, damp night you see the soldiers around you pull their weapons together, buckle on their sword belts, and get ready to fight.

In the officer's quarters, things are a bit more organized, if only because there's less traffic. Captain Mcallister begins the 4-minute process of doing a rush job of putting on Full Plate, a task that normally requires a squire or assistant, but can be done alone in a pinch. Lieutenants Jaros and Sanguinius, as well as Major Guo, all head towards the poop deck and arrive quickly without much traffic.

The sight on deck is impressive and terrifying. Sheets of rain pour down in gusts and spurts, hammering the deck pounding the sails. The sky is dark, the moon covered by clouds. The main sources of light are the massive illumination globes at the top of each mast, and the multicolored magical flares constantly flickering and shifting as the onboard comms unit relays tactical information from HQ and sends status updates through the network.

The light reveals a scene of a struggling ship. Roval's Return was already pushing her limits with this speed in such a strong storm, and now she's getting close to the breaking point. Two of her three massive mainsails are luffing in the wind, their mainsheets snapped. There are no obvious signs of invaders, But between the lightning and the winds, Roval's Return is not moving at full speed.

On deck, several crew members are wrestling with the massive, uncontrolled sails, trying to get them to provide propulsion again. Small fires are being put out through the deck near the forecastle and the front mast, but they seem to be contained by the storming rain and the ship's active anti-flame magic. The Captain is conferring with the musician operating the complicated comms unit, gesturing and pointing at something off to the right. Following his finger, you see he's pointing in the air, and at the nearby escort ship.

Overhead, you can't see whatever airborn threat there is, but judging by the lights you see around you, but the escort ship is spotted easily enough-- the illumination globes and comms relay make it stand out brightly, even in the stormy night. You can see it has 5 masts, so it's probably the Valiant. The Valiant's illumination globes are running at full strength, shedding light on another ship in front of it.

The unknown ship isn't of any design you recognize-- it has already taken heavy damage, and the hull is bulging hideously in the center where it struck the Valiant. It seems to have lost at least one mast, so you have to judge based just on the hull size-- it's a cruiser or battleship. It's deck-to-deck with the Valiant and seems attached somehow, either via ropes or some other method. You can see fighting taking place on the decks of the two ships. The Valiant was carrying some soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, and they are the sort who would put up a good fight.

Roval's Return is gradually falling behind the Valiant. With only one sail, it seems unlikely you'll be able to stay near your escort. It doesn't seem like your particular ship is under attack yet, but you can't imagine that there's only one enemy vessel attacking the fleet. A few moments after Sanguinius, Tomly, and Guo arrive on deck, Xiaoguang comes thundering up the stairs as well, wearing a light chain shirt instead of his usual heavier plate.

Something about this weather seems off. The storm built too quickly, the pressure fronts changed too rapidly. This is not something you'd expect to come on like this, at this time of year, and in this particular fashion. This weather is either a freak occurrence or was somehow deliberately made to happen.

PersonMan

2014-08-09, 06:24 AM

Bella's dreams and the world that awaits her outside of them aren't too different. The noise is a bit different, the explosions more powerful in reality than those in her dream, the higher pitched bursts of gunfire interrupted by the deep rumble of cannon. Darkness, confusion - everything but fear. The shaking is entirely new, and is part of what makes her realize that something is wrong as she is pulled up out of sleep. Still in her half-dreaming state, Bella realizes that something is happening, something important, that she must awaken immediately. Ripped from her slumber by her own efforts as well as another thunderous explosion of cannonfire, the soldier's feet hit the floor a moment after her eyes open. Standing, she takes a moment to steady herself as the ship shakes, struck by the apparent rebellion of her body; the urge to vomit fills her and her legs shake for a moment. Gritting her teeth, remembered smells of blood and sweat filling her nose, Bella clamps down on the sickness, a wave of tightening muscles returning feeling to her stomach and legs, driving the feeling of diseased weakness from her body. The moment she takes to regain her composure is the only one in which she doesn't move, seizing her weapons from their resting places as others awaken around her.

As part of her constant readiness, Bella slept in her armored combat uniform - one of the reasons that she washed it with her other equipment multiple times each day. Now she reaps the benefits of her decision, needing little time to grab her remaining equipment and move for the door, not even pausing to pull on her shoes. Instead she loads her musket, the chain of her unusual favored weapon clinking with each stride as she makes her way through the ship. The deck was her only goal, the coming battle everything that her mind focused on. One last time, Bella's hand touches on the dagger at her belt, one of the weights of her chain and returns to her musket as she closes in on the scene of the battle.

It was finally time. Emerging onto the deck, Bella looks across the ship first, spotting no enemies already on board, then turns her gaze to the other ships, eyes flickering between spots of light in the chaotic darkness to try and get a clear understanding of the situation. Coming to a simple conclusion, she then looks up, a simple adage of the family running through her mind. First, the close area. Then, further off. Then, up. Whether monsters or magic, the sky could hold threats far greater than that which could be ignored in combat. Not spotting any clear enemy in the sky, Bella looks around the deck for a source of command - her own information was limited, perhaps more so than what the higher up officers might have. So, still barefoot, she moves over to the most high-ranking figure she can spot on the deck of the ship.

Calenestel

2014-08-09, 08:21 AM

Juān marches up to the captain of the ship, making sure not to get in the way of any orderlies or other messengers. With an air of authority, albeit slightly hampered by still working on keeping her dinner down, the major raises her voice to the point where she can be heard over the din comfortably without just screaming. A level, confident voice beats screams nine times out of ten when you're an officer. "Captain! This is your ship so you have both the authority and the expertise! When would you expect us to close with an enemy and where do you want my company?!"
It did look like the Valiant had a chance: the enemy vessel seemed on the verge of breaking... but with fighting on both ships she couldn't be sure. And while cannon were powerful weapons, enemy mages could level the playingfield.

If there seems to be enough time Juān will send Xiaoguang to fetch her armour and help her don it.

RustyVenture

2014-08-09, 09:42 AM

Arriving on the poop deck, Tomly takes in the scene before him. Although the downpour makes it difficult to see, Tomly follows the Captain's attention toward the battle on the deck of the Valiant and the ship with which it is engaged in battle. He scans the air, looking for anything the Captain may be pointing at, but is unable to make out any potential threats.

Turning his attention back on deck, Tomly notices sailors struggling with some of the sails, trying to wrangle what appeared to be broken main sheets. It was clear the Roval's Return was losing ground to the Valiant, and Tomly knew it was crucial to be able to maneuver in this situation. Thinking that perhaps he could be of some use on deck (and lacking any orders from his superiors), Tomly turns and heads down to the main deck where the sailors are working to fix the sails. Thankfully I prepared Mending twice today, he thought to himself.

Tomly will try to work with the sailors to fix the main sheets by using Mending. Two broken ropes and two Mending spells, hopefully that works. He will definitely ask the sailors on deck if he should repair the sheets before doing so, but I would guess that would be a useful thing to do.

blazinghand

2014-08-10, 03:28 AM

A gust sweeps across the poop deck, and everyone hunches slightly to avoid getting blown over. Captain Jiang is lying face-down, and one of your medics is attending to him. The sailor in charge is Jiang's first officer, whose name is eluding you for a moment. Her salt-damaged hair is tied back and her face is white with the stress and difficulty of being put in command of a damaged ship under attack in the middle of a thunderstorm. At first, the officer doesn't notice you, absorbed just by keeping her ship afloat. In the light of emergency illuminators and the ship's control system, you see her face light up at the sight of you.

Prepare for boarding! The Valiant doesn't have a full Army complement like this ship does. We're going to get alongside and defend her! We have grapples and boarding ladders, and our sails should be back up soon. I need your soldiers ready to go over in ten minutes! Don't use flame weapons on the Valiant, we need to keep her seaworthy. Protect the gunpowder stores!"

She looks like she's about to say something else, but a bolt of lightning comes down from the sky and strikes the Return's main mast. The heavenly bolt casts the entire ship in bright light, and the scene before you is burned into your eyes, an instant perfectly captured. The lightning briefly lights the mast aflame before the ship's automated anti-fire system puts it out. The acting captain looks up at the mast, curses, and shouts something to one of the naval staff, as the ship shudders violently. Suddenly, the deck jumps, then falls, and the sails, now held taut by ropes, snap from one side of the Return to the other for reasons you don't understand. You almost expect the ropes to snap under such violent force, but they hold-- for now.

* * *

Tomly makes his way down to the upper deck, fighting against the wind and rain. Things are less crowded up here, but the flapping sails tell the real story-- Roval's Return almost dead in the water, and is falling out of formation, assuming that the formation is holding at all in this gods-forsaken storm. He comes to the rear mast and finds the sailors trying to knot the backup sheets together, their skillful hands deadened by the pull of the sails, the rain, the cold, and the stress of battle. The sailors pull the two lines together at Tomly's command, and his Mending spell repairs it. One down, one to go.

Tomly almost slips on the deck and falls flat on his face as the boat rocks in the storm. He's not a weak man, but he's not strong like these sailors are. The wind, the rocking of the boat, and the torrents of water might all be manageable individually, but in combination they make the simple act of going from one end of the ship to the other nearly deadly. He makes it past the center mast and to the front mast, and finds the sailors there have managed to just get the situation under control, though the knot in use seems haphazard. No matter, a second Mending and it will be well. Now, to--

*crack*

The sail comes swinging around, its massive wooden lower rib bowling over several sailors and striking Tomly Jaros. Tomly is protected by his chain shirt, but the others around him are not so fortunate. The sail control area is suddenly populated by the dead and dying, as sailors who moments earlier were working at the sail level are clubbed by the force of the wood and the wind. In sight are 3 sailors unconscious or dead on deck, and 1 who is alive, clutching his ribs and rolling around. The others avoided the mast, but can't stop their work to help their comrades.

Remember the First Officer's name
Perai

Calenestel

2014-08-10, 04:16 AM

"Understood!" the major replies to the ships first mate. Damned if she could remember the woman's name, but it didn't matter.
Turning she quickly takes in the scene, looking for her officers. The McAllister was not in sight and Jaros was tied up trying to salvage the sails, too important a work for her to stop. Quickly she looks for Sanguinius and de Acie Belli and bellows to be heard across the storm. Where she usually spoke with a soft but unbending voice now her voice is stronger than the squall, under better circumstances she could probably have been heard all the way to the Valiant. Sanguinius! Gather your platoon on the main deck! Near the poop deck! Sergeant Belli! You have the second platoon! Form up next to Sanguinius'! Near the quarter deck! MOVE!" The sergeant was probably not the best choice, but she was the only choice for now. Jaros could take over later.

With that taken care of all she could do was monitor the situation in case something changed and wait for Xiaoguang to bring her armour. She would need it. She didn't plan on leading from the front, her place as the commanding officer was in the rear. But she knew from experience that she might well end up on the front line anyway. Battles were like that.

I'm going ahead and assuming that my char already sent her squire to fetch her armour and other gear. Including her backpack. It won't weigh her down more than the armour. :smallbiggrin:

[roll0]

blazinghand

2014-08-10, 04:48 AM

Xiaoguang returns shortly with Major Guō's equipment and armor, and begins to lengthy process of attaching the plates and pieces to her.

RustyVenture

2014-08-10, 09:35 AM

Tomly catches his breath as he picks himself up off the deck. While his chain was able to absorb much of the blow, he knew that he'd be sore later. This is not the time to worry about bruises, however. The front sail's main sheet still needs repair, and Tomly knows that it is imperative to restore control of the Return. Bracing himself against the pounding wind and rain while keeping an eye out for any more violent tacks he moves over to the broken rope and casts Mending.

Now it was time to help the sailors in the sail control area.

I guess Tomly will move up to the sail control area and tend to the unconscious sailor's first. What does the situation look like? How many of the 3 are dead and how bad does the sailor who's still alive look?

TachyonBlade

2014-08-10, 09:53 AM

Sanguinius immediately sprung into action, and yelled in a almost hoarseningly loud voice, over the sound of everything else, "Yes major! Form up on me, platoon alpha! Come on, you sons of guns, do you wanna live forever?" and literally ran for the area where he'd been instructed to form up his platoon, grabbing three of his men on the way there. He was pretty pissed now, since his pyrotex gloves, a large part of his offensive artillery arsenal were soaking wet already, therefore useless for now.

And he was also winging the leading of the platoon, by literally quoting multiple different military play's and books that he enjoyed.

blazinghand

2014-08-10, 04:36 PM

Tomly quickly evaluates the situation around him. The wounded man will live, but he won't be useful without magical healing or at least a day or two of rest. Of the three lying on deck, unmoving, one is dead, and the other two are bleeding out and dying.

* * *

Soldiers are still dressing themselves, buckling their sword belts and grabbing their weapons, and gradually 2 platoons begin to form on the upper deck of the Return. She shudders with force as she changes direction again. This time, the crew is prepared for the swinging sails and there are no problems. Although she fell behind the Valiant when she was only operating on a single mast, now she's faster than the laden-down battleship, and is slowly pressing closer. It will not be too long now before boarding. The captain has decided to come up on the other side of the enemy ship, sandwiching it between the Return and the Valiant, for the boarding action. Although this route is a little slower, and puts the Return on the outside border of the fleet, it will let the soldiers on board to get directly onto the enemy vessel.

The Valiant's comms go dead-- no more lights overhead, no more magical communication with the fleet. Either the comms officer is dead, or the comms unit has been destroyed. As you draw closer, you can see the fighting more clearly. The back of the ship, with the helm, the comms, and the command room, is under the control of the enemies. They are wearing uniforms-- Kutanese sailors and soldiers. The rest of the ship is still awash with fighting in a furious melee. You hear a series of booms as more of the Valiant's cannon fire point-blank into the Kutanese ship, and you see smoke coming out from the bulge in the center of the ship.

Calenestel

2014-08-10, 04:53 PM

"Steady now, men!" major Guō bellows as the Return closes on the two ships locked in battle. Looking out over her company she manages to look dignified despite the half-orc fussing over her and still not done strapping on her armour. It would be done in time, but it would be a close call. She meets the eyes of a soldier here or there, setting an example in calm readiness for the action that was coming now. "Our friends of the Second Batallion is in a bit of a pickle but we have their backs! You are the best this expeditionary force has to offer! I picked you myself and I know each and every one of you have seen action just as dangerous as this and just as rewarding, just as glorious! We have all been chosen, given a trust to do our duty! Now is our time to show the general and the Emperor, may he live forever, that we are worthy of that trust! 24th Advance Company! The Kutanese seem to want a fight! So LET'S GIVE IT TO THEM!"

PersonMan

2014-08-10, 05:07 PM

On the Major's command, Bella moves into the ship to gather her group of soldiers, taking the opportunity to cover her feet as well. With the storm she's forced to raise her voice, although belowdecks it isn't quite necessary to shout. In her typical brief style of speech, she relays the bare bone facts of the situation so that the soldiers know, to an extent, what they'll be seeing and doing once they're on the deck itself. Then she emerges back into the storm, weapons readied as they were before, musket held to keep its precious cargo of gunpowder from being ruined by the rain. With the soldiers placed under her command forming up, Bella moves to their head, moving them to where the Major instructed her to and providing a beacon of sorts. While she wasn't particularly impressive, she was their commanding officer, and her moving into place gave them what they needed to move into theirs. More than the explanation belowdecks, Bella offered a person to move behind, a position to gather around, confidence in knowing that, despite the chaos of the storm, flailing ropes, crashing thunder and roaring cannons, they were in the right place. A silent reassurance that the machine of organization was working.

As the Major gives her speech, Bella watches and listens with all of the attention she always gave her superior officers. The speech itself, however, didn't truly impact her. After all, she wasn't fighting for the Emperor or Empire, or glory or to prove herself. She had nothing against the Kutanese, no quarrel with the men and women she'd soon be sending to their watery graves. Bella remains silent, turning back to the enemy ship once the Major's speech is done. Regardless of the effect it had on the soldiers behind her, she remains at stiff attention, body tense and mind clutching at the support given by her absolute discipline. Her eyes go over the battle, noting the enemy's strong points and the position of the Return. Idly, she wonders if the Kutanese will surrender if their own ship falls.

RustyVenture

2014-08-10, 05:50 PM

Thinking quickly, Tomly decides to stabilize the two unconscious sailors just as he hears the Major bellow out some muffled orders. Hoping his presence isn't missed at the stern, he kneels beside the two unconscious sailors and casts Cure Moderate Wounds on each of them in turn. Satisfied that they will live, Tomly then turns to the conscious-yet-injured sailor and casts Cure Light Wounds.

blazinghand

2014-08-11, 01:39 AM

McAllister's last piece of armor snaps into place and the soldier who was helping him rushes off to get onto deck. The boat rocks as he makes his way up onto the upper deck in accordance with the Major's orders. The soldiers rush around him and the boat suddenly tilts as it changes direction, again. Every time the helmsman makes a slight course correction when heading in this direction, directly with the flow of the wind, it seems like the sails come snapping around, sending tremors through the sturdy timbers of the vessel.

* * *

The deck is alive with soldiers-- there are over 80 men and women all over Roval's Return ready to go over the side and provide supporting fire when it comes level with the enemy ship. Several sailors have moved to the port side of the boat, reading grappling hooks, ladders, and ropes to bind the ships together and allow for travel from one to another. The entire operation, despite the conditions, is orderly and efficient. You can't help but be proud of such disciplined soldiers.

Magnus Qiu is perched up in the rigging and has his crossbow raised, ready for battle. With his camouflage cloak wrapped around him, the skinny man is nearly invisible. Xiaoguang finished strapping the last piece of plate onto the Major and reaches into his pack, drawing out a slim piece of rolled-up paper. He pushes it up his sleeve and fastens it there, muttering something to himself. In one hand he draws his longsword. Gorda approaches Major Guō and salutes sharply, his ancient hand steady, then falls into rank.

* * *

The three sailors rise to their feet, disoriented but ready to work. They don't know what happened, but they're conscious and whole again, and Roval's Return needs them. They spring into action, adjusting the sails and hauling heavy sheets, keeping the ship running. One even thinks to thank Tomly before doing his duty, leaving Tomly alone with the corpse.

* * *

Roval's Revenge is now overtaking the enemy vessel that's tied to the Valiant. For a moment, the dueling ships slip out of sight as the crest of a massive wave comes between you and them, but soon you can see them again. At first you're 100 yards behind, then 90, then 80. It seems like even with the full 3 sails, you're somehow only a little faster than the powerful vessel dragging the other. 70 feet now, 60 feet now. You hear another set of booms, smaller and fewer this time, as the Valiant fires point-blank again into the enemy vessel. 50 feet, then 40 feet. You can see the Valiant has only 3 sails running, the others completely sheared from their masts by some force. 30 feet, then 20, then 10, and now you're alongside, just 20 feet starboard of the enemy vessel.

You finally get a good look at the ship, a large cruiser with a misshapen hull and a single mast. It's quite unlike the normal design for an Imperial ship, which uses multiple multi-ribbed sails, with only a couple sails per mast. Instead, it has a single mast with 3 large, obsolete, inefficient, dual-boom square sails, and a large jib running out the front. Instead of having high decks in the front and rear like a normal vessel of war, it has high decks in the rear and the mid. As a non-Imperial vessel it also lacks space for cannon. The deck is crowded with enemy sailors and soldiers, some of them manning the ship, some of them preparing for your boarding action. It seems you have been spotted-- about 30 soldiers are waiting on deck with weapons in hand.

Roval's Revenge shudders as she simultaneously gybes to move towards the enemy vessel and fires her 10 port-facing cannon. The cannonballs pierce the wooden outer hull of the ship and disappear into its interior. There's another sickening crunch as she presses up against the enemy ship, and then all hell breaks loose- the ropes and grapples come out, the ladders come down, the boats are lashed together, and the Empires finest go over the top to face the Kutanese. One soldier falls into the water and finds himself lifted back onto the boat by a large, tentacled squid. Some take arrows going over the rail, some fall into the water, but most make it over okay. Battle is joined!

Mcallister and Guō each have about two minutes before the ships come together, and everyone else has six minutes of prep time since they're not spending 4 minutes being strapped into full plate. Let me know what you do with the prep time, and what you do when the boats come together. Also, roll for initiative.

runehawk

2014-08-11, 01:56 AM

Vincent

After spotting the Kutanese Ship, Vincent had gripped the gunwale and attempted to Psionically focus only to experience the lurching of the ship. Cursing, he hangs on for his life until the ship handles the storm more aptly.

Hearing Major Guo issue orders for platoon formation, he recalls his assignation to company staff and makes his way to her side.

He smiles with satisfaction as The Return banks and moves to pincer the Kutanese Ship with The Valiant

Ungracious of us to refuse this kind gift of the Kutanese

His mind idly plotted the possibility of capturing and utilising the enemy ship for their covert operation.

His smile goes flat when the Valiant's lights flicker and die.

Musician down

He breathes and focuses as the chaos mills around him. Subconsciously aware of it as time slows and then speeds up. The Major's speech warping as it slowed and speeded He awaited the flare of wakeful alertness that would signal his successful attainment of focus.

Remember First Officer Wisdom = [roll0]
Psionic Focus (Concentration DC 20) =[roll1]

Calenestel

2014-08-11, 02:38 AM

After being strapped into her armour Juān has no more personal preparations to see to. Instead she makes sure her company is lined up properly, calls for Jaros to take command of his platoon and look for anything amiss. Content with what she sees the major motions for her second-in-command: "McAllister! You keep an eye out for enemy spellcasters. I want them taken down immediately. If you we're too far away, guide some of our men to take them out with musket or crossbow."

When Vincent joins her she gives him a nod and quickly amends her plan. "Specialist. You've told me you're stealthy. I want you and Bravehart to keep a low profile when the battle starts. Disrupt their chain of command. Don't kill their officers if you can avoid it, we could use someone to ask questions... but make sure the enemy is leaderless. And if it you get an opportunity, seize any codebooks, letters, orders or anything of the sort you can."

There. Everyone in a place fitting their area of expertise. Everyone but her, but this was her Duty now: to lead and inspire, not to fight and help the fallen.

Nothing really to do before battle. My only buffspell is too short duration to cast in advance. So Juān will just wait for two min. And when we go into combat... well, we'll see.

[roll0]

RustyVenture

2014-08-11, 09:28 AM

After the three sailors rushed off, Tomly momentarily found himself alone with the lone dead sailor. There was no time to deliver last rites, however, and Tomly wasn't really that kind of cleric anyway. He gave the dead man a small bow, silently thanking him for his service before departing the sail control area to head back toward the stern. It was clear the Return was once again gaining on the two ships locked in battle, and it would likely be time to board the enemy ship soon, if only to help out those on the Valiant.

As Tomly returns to the stern, he sees the two platoons are in formation in preparation for the boarding. The Major shouts at him to take command of his platoon and he follows her motion to the front of his soldiers where he sees the diminutive and intense looking Sergeant from the meeting with General Chang a few days ago. Her look of stoic ferocity jogs Tomly's memory and he realizes he recognizes her; she was part of the 4th and she was an excellent warrior who excelled in combat. Excellent, he thinks to himself, it's never a bad thing to have someone like that in my squad.

He arrives at the front of the platoon as the Return quickly closes in the remaining distance between it and the Kutanese ship. "Sergeant, I have command for now. I want you here at the front with me when we board, however. When we board I want you to take as many men as you can from the platoon and immediately head for the Valiant. We need to get control of our ship back." Tomly's thoughts land on his ImpInt superior, Colonel Xu, and the fact that he is on the Valiant. "Hopefully that isn't a coincidence," he mumbles to no one in particular.

PersonMan

2014-08-11, 12:00 PM

"Understood," Bella replies as Second Lieutenant Jaros gives her her orders, easily adjusting to her new place in the chain of command. In the end it didn't matter, as she'd obey and do what she was ordered to do no matter what, but taking command of a part of a platoon with a specific goal feels significantly more doable for her than her former task. Learning that the Second Lieutenant had been given command of the entire platoon was enough to ease Bella's thoughts - knowing that she simply needed to rally some of the soldiers to her and kill a path to where she needed to do the majority of her killing made her feel more confident about how the conflict would go.

"Should I offer them a chance to yield?" Bella asks after a few moments of thought.

RustyVenture

2014-08-11, 12:12 PM

"If you are able to capture any Kutanese officers without undo risk, then do so. If it's too difficult or it puts your men in too much danger, just kill them all. It's imperative we recapture the Valiant." After a brief pause, Tomly smiles at Bella. "I trust your judgement, Sergeant. Do what you think you must to get the job done."

Just FYI (and it's not super important) but Tomly is a 1st lieutenant :smalltongue:

TachyonBlade

2014-08-11, 12:22 PM

Julius got a hold of his bearings as the ship wobbled around him, and looked at the ships incoming for him. His offensive list of spells was rather fire based, which was really something he'd have to rectify later, and fire spells in rain wasn't great. He'd see what he could do.

He glanced upward to see Magnus at the top, doing what he did best, and grinned for a moment. He then looked back at his squad, and yelled, his wet hair now going into his eyes a bit. "Alright, men! In about three minutes, we're about to have ourselves a banquet of absolute, decisive victory! And when they ask who we are, we tell that we're the god's own anti-son of a bi*** troopers, ain't I right? Now, prep your asses for a fight! And all you greenhorns who wanted to fight the Kutaneese up close, its your lucky day!"

PersonMan

2014-08-11, 12:38 PM

My bad, I looked one row up on the table in the OOC.

Bella nods. Only the officers? That meant that no mercy for the regular soldiers. The soldier stores the information without a thought as to the people that were being condemned as she did so. She had her orders; she would kill all of the soldiers and only spare the officers if it was not an issue.

"Yes. Thank you," Bella says, nodding to the First Lieutenant.

runehawk

2014-08-11, 02:08 PM

Vincent

"Affirmative"

He nods and smiles in agreement at the Major.

The smoke coming from the blasted Kutanese Ship could spell its doom. This might be the last chance for any vital intel.

He whistles at 2 nearby men. 1 of them a Halfling with a custom crossbow and Reconnaissance Insignia on his uniform.
What had the Major called him?.... Bravebark?

"Recon!, With me! Enemy Ship. Neutralise HVTs.Kill or capture. Sticky fingers! You know the drill."

Once they nod their understanding. They cry "For the Empire" in unison and steel themselves for the boarding.

RustyVenture

2014-08-12, 04:44 PM

Seeing his faithful servant among the assembled men, Tomly gets an idea. "Gorda! Sing these men a song, inspire some courage in them!"

I'm hoping Gorda will use his Inspire Courage ability if he isn't already. He won't be coming over on the other ship I would guess, but the effect should last some rounds into the battle.

blazinghand

2014-08-14, 04:35 AM

Roval's Revenge shudders as she simultaneously gybes to move towards the enemy vessel and fires her 10 port-facing cannon. The cannonballs pierce the wooden outer hull of the ship and disappear into its interior. There's another sickening crunch as she presses up against the enemy ship, and then all hell breaks loose- the ropes and grapples come out, the ladders come down, the boats are lashed together, and the Empires finest go over the top to face the Kutanese. One soldier falls into the water and finds himself lifted back onto the boat by a large, tentacled squid. Some take arrows going over the rail, some fall into the water, but most make it over okay. Battle is joined!

Bella, Julius, Tomly - You come crashing over the rails, holding onto ropes and leading on ladders to land on the central deck of the enemy ship. Up close, you can hear the ship creak and moan beneath your feet, and ahead of you you see a cluster of enemy soldiers, armed with swords and spears. In the center of the group of about a dozen Kutanese soldiers stands a 10-foot tall monstrosity, wearing plate armor and holding a heavy club. If you want to get to the other side of the ship, or get belowdecks, you'll have to fight or get around these men and this.. creature. It looks like it might have one been an ogre, or an unusually large orc, but now its features are twisted by magic or a hundred battle scares. You can barely make out eyes and a nose. The maw gapes wide as you come close, and the creature roars a blood-curdling scream. Even the Kutanese men near it look a little afraid

Vincent, Regi - Leading one soldier, you make your way over the rail and find yourself on the enemy vessel's poop deck. It's not very busy, and you see 6 enemies on the poop deck. One is holding onto a large wheel, and is probably the helmsman. 2 are wearing stiff boiled leather and holding spears. The remaining 3 are wearing some kind of fancy Kutanese uniform, died orange, possibly officers. For the moment, they haven't noticed you-- they're looking at the fight on the center deck.

Juān- From the deck of the Revenge, You immediately make a few observations as the battle starts. With your forces, you outnumber the Kutanese 5 to 1-- you won't be able to fit more on the deck for now. You weren't sure of it before, but now you realize that the bulge you see in the center of the enemy vessel is actually part of the vessel design-- possibly to provide storage for large creatures or some unknown weapon. Lastly, the enemy vessel is trembling and rumbling.

runehawk

2014-08-14, 10:38 AM

Vincent

With a look of mutual understanding at each other. Vincent, Regi and the recon trooper move into position and draw out their pistols, picking their separate targets out. Regi and Vincent aim at a spearman each and an unlucky officer is in the sights of the last pistol.

All Use move action to draw weapon.
Vincent
Attack roll=[roll0]
Damage=[roll1]
You should roll for Regi and "Ricky"

PersonMan

2014-08-14, 12:23 PM

Immediately focusing on the massive beast, clearly the greatest threat among the Kutanese on the ship, Bella raises her musket and fires at it once. Then she returns her musket to a position from which she can easily prepare it again, but intends to switch to her meteor hammer - facing a massive beast in melee would be significantly easier with that than her musket.

Standard: Fire at the big guy.
Free / Move: 'Put away' or 'drop' musket, prepare meteor hammer if possible.

A: [roll0]
D: [roll1]

If crit:
CC:[roll2]

blazinghand

2014-08-14, 12:40 PM

Bella and Vincent both fail to connect with their attacks!

RustyVenture

2014-08-14, 03:04 PM

Tomly shouts to the rest of the men on the central deck of the Kutanese ship. "This beast was once an ogre, but the Kutanese have corrupted it in some manner; it possesses an extraordinary resistance to both spells and non-magical weapons! Use magical weapons if you have them!"

Of course, Tomly didn't have magic weapons, and even if he did he wasn't particularly good with them. Perhaps it would be wise to summon a creature to deal with the Kutanese host aboard this ship.

Tomly takes a step back behind some of the men, and carefully braces himself against the tossing of the ship. He begins to concentrate, focusing his thoughts in order to cast Summon Monster III to call a Fire Elemental to this plane.

Concentration check (DC 15): 1do20+11

I know it's not Tomly's turn yet, but unless anything big happens prior to his turn this is what he'll try to do.

Calenestel

2014-08-14, 04:31 PM

The sight of the hulking brute of an ogre, or whatever it was, makes major Guō profoundly nervous. Especially when combined with the strange shape of the very ship itself. That... thing... looked like it could tear through half her company before it was stopped and who knew what other monstrosities the enemy ship hid below decks? For what felt like an age to Juān her rational thoughts as an officer battled with her paladin instincts but eventually, after an infinitely long second she finds the middle ground. Looking to what was left of her staff, captain McAllister and Xiaoguang, the major nods towards the enemy's side of the Return. "If that thing gets out of control I want to be close enough to put it down myself! If need be. Let's move the command post a bit closer to the enemy!"
Not exactly waiting for a response she stomps off clattering. Shouting when necessary and glaring when it's not she makes a way through the ranks of the part of her company that's still waiting to board the enemy vessel and takes up a new position by the railing, between to gangplanks that has been secured in place between the two ships.

It's probably not possible to do more than full round movement for Juān this turn, but that serves me fine. Her 10' Aura of Courage is now a bit better placed, too. :smallbiggrin:

TachyonBlade

2014-08-16, 01:43 AM

Julius was sort of worried about where he was, currently, since being on the front line wasn't the place for a wizard, or a political agent. But he had his fare share of combat experience, and so decided to cast one of his signature spells, right into the middle of the grouping of enemies, hoping it wouldn't get fizzled out in the rain. Invoking the air and water runes of arcana to create fire, using the bat guano and sulfer he had in his pouch, he chanted his runes in a monotonous manner, and concentrated, attempting to loose a ball of fire, and directing it to directly behind the group of enemies.

Concentration: [roll0]
Damage
[roll1]

blazinghand

2014-08-16, 02:37 AM

Julius
Julius waves his hands, says the words, and a fireball detonates in the center of the clustered enemies and around the ogre. The Kutanese soldiers are burned to death where they stand, many of them dead before they hit the ground, charred to ash, burned through by the enormous sphere of fire. Even those who half-edged away from the flaming death are at least knocked unconscious.

Some Enemies
In the center of where the soldiers stood remains the massive ogre. The flames lick and circle him, and he cares not about them. The spell is repulsed from him, and he steps forward, swinging his mighty club down on the Imperial soldier in front of him.

The Imperial soldier raises his sword to parry the blow, and cries in agony as both his arms and the sword are broken by the massive club coming down on him. The cry is cut short as the swing is completed, and he is nothing but a smear of blood, bone, and muscle on the deck. The Ogre yells a battle cry.

On the poop deck, the helmsman stays at his post. The two of the orange-uniformed men draw swords and step behind the spear-bearers. The spear-bearers both attack Vincent, and both miss.

Death to the Empire! I will destroy you all!

Juān
The soldiers cower away in fear, seeing their dead comrade. Major Guō arrives at the frontline, and the soldiers become stone-faced and ready for combat again.

Regi
Regi Braveheart fires her pistol at a spearman. He drops like a stone.

[roll[1d10+1

Tomly
Tomly begins casting his spell of summoning, and two soldiers step in front of him, swords drawn, to cover for him until his spell completes.

Other Enemy
The third orange-uniformed man steps back behind the spearman. He waves his hand speaks a word, sending 2 white lances out, which strike Regi in the chest for 6 damage.

Mogrym
Mogrym folows Major Guō.

Cohorts and Soldiers
Xiaoguang stays by Major Guō's side. A crossbow bolt thuds into the Ogre-- Magnus is shooting from the rigging of the Return-- but the Ogre shrugs off the wound.

A soldier cleric casts a spell, and one of the soldier's swords glows with power. He and 3 other soldiers are close enough to attack the ogre with swords. His attack fails to connect. The attack of his three compatriots with mundane weapons fail to deal damage and/or connect. There is a pattering of small explosions as several soldiers fire pistols at the ogre. Several of the bullets hit, but most seemingly do not effect it. One draws blood, a minor scratch.

Ricky fires his pistol at a soldier in orange, and misses.

Round 2
Status at the start of round:

Midship: Guō Juān, Mogrym Mcallister, Tomly Jaros, Julius Sanguinus, Bella de Acie Belli, and about 40 Imperial Soldiers are staring down a monstrous Ogre that seems impervious to weapon damage. Jaros in the process of casting a summoning spell. The Imperial soldiers are shaken, and one of them has died. One of them is holding a glowing short sword.

Poop Deck: Vincent and Regi are up against a spear-bearer, a helmsman who is focusing on the helm, and 3 men in orange uniforms. 2 of the men in uniforms have swords. One of them cast a spell that damaged Regi.

24 - Bella <-- this is where we are now.
24 - Vincent
20 - Julius
15 - Most Enemies
12 - Juān
09 - Regi
08 - Tomly
05 - Mage in Orange
00 - Mogrym
00 - Cohorts and Soldiers

Calenestel

2014-08-16, 03:03 AM

That enemy is too powerful for my men to kill easily in close quarter fighting! the major realizes in a brief flash of panic, not true fear but a sense of concern for her soldiers great enough to almost resemble it. She had known it just from the look of it but the men mumbling the Tomly's words about magical weapons being the only way to kill it and the ease with which it destroyed that poor soldier really drove point home. In a fair fight company against ogre she might loose half her company or more before they brought it down, and how many more of the monsters dwelled below decks? She contemplated ordering everyone back, wait until the men in close combat died, and then order concentrated fire until it died. She'd even consider ordering the Return to cut loose and sink the enemy vessel from range.
But she couldn't leave her men to die and she couldn't leave the Valiant to it's fate either.

And if she couldn't rush the ogre down with her men without abandoning the mission afterwards and couldn't destroy it from afar only one option remained.
She knew a commanding officer should lead from the rear, that if one abandoned that position one ceased to be a commander and became just another grunt with a sword. She knew that the road to victory was not to join the fighting personally nine times out of ten. This was the tenth time.

Looking to the Mogrym on her right the paladin major drew her huge sword with an ease that accentuated her own physical strength. "Captain! I don't think the lieutenants should face this alone! With me! Xiaoguang, kill any enemy footsoldier that tries to help the beast! MEN! Fire after my squires instructions!"

Stepping up on the gangway between the two ships Juān stops being a major in the Imperial Army and becomes, once more, the paladin. With a scowl that could curdle cream she slams down her visor but the metal doesn't muffle her bellow, it only gives it a metallic sound:
"THE EMPIRE AND ARKHANYYAAAAA!!"

If she can close with the ogre this turn: Smite Evil-time!

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

Otherwise it's just another movement turn. :smallwink:

runehawk

2014-08-16, 04:55 AM

Vincent

Vincent drops his pistol as it misfires. Mentally cursing he dodges the spearmen.

Seeing a spellcaster hit Regi, He moves back to a safer distance, materialises a mindblade and flings it at the enemy spellcaster.

D: [roll0] +[roll1]

PersonMan

2014-08-16, 05:01 AM

Bella evaluates the situation with a look, not stopping to search for the source of the magical flame or worry about details such as the fate of the soldier the beast had killed. It was clear what she needed to do - the less important enemies had been cleared away, so now there was only one target for her to engage. In a sense it would be like the old days, back as she learned to fight. Just her and someone bigger, going head to head.

Chain coming to life in her fingers as she moves, Bella rushes forwards, surrounded by spinning steel as she rapidly gains speed, a grim smile coming to her face. Blood and death once again.

Reaching the ogre, Bella shoots one end of her chain forwards with all of the crushing force of her charge behind it.

Charge. Seeing as this thing can probably hit AC 17 or 15 fairly easily I'm relying on it rolling badly, so I'm going to go ahead and use Heedless Charge, taking a -6 penalty to my attack roll via Power Attack, which I shift to my AC. So I have AC 9 until my next turn and get +2 attack and +9 damage.

A: [roll0] +1 = 27
D: [roll1] +1 = 19

EDIT: I even made a note of the Inspire Courage thing. Woops.

CC: [roll2]

TachyonBlade

2014-08-16, 07:17 AM

Julius grunted, as the Ogre basically shrugged off his magic, and said "Absolute bollocks.", before he tried again, with a different spell, to squash the Ogre's physical capability. Chanting once more in the monotonous voice the arcane control syllables of the universe, created another rune in mid-air, using the dexterous movements of his finger, which fired off a thin laser-like ray.

ranged Touch Attack!
[roll0]
STR damage
[roll1]
Spell Resistance
[roll2]

RustyVenture

2014-08-16, 09:45 AM

For a moment after Tomly finishes summoning there is only the sound of the wind and rain. Suddenly a crackling sound permeates the air and where there once was empty space in front of Tomly and the soldiers protecting him there is now a small being of pure fire. This should bring a smile to Sanguinius' face, thought Tomly, recalling the wizard's love of all things fire. Turning to the summoned elemental, Tomly simply points at the ogre and mouths the word "burn." Seemingly understanding, the elemental immediately turns to attack.

His spell complete, Tomly can now fully process the scene on the ship. As he thanks the soldiers who stepped up to protect him, he takes note of the ogre's club and the ease with which he used it to turn that soldier into a bloody pulp. If the ogre lost his club, this fight would get a lot easier... but can I overcome it's magical resistance? And would it even understand? It wasn't speaking Common or Kutanese there. Only one way to find out... Once again gathering himself and bracing against the tossing ship, Tomly casts Command with the intent of ordering the ogre to drop his club.

This will likely not work for a number of reasons: spell resistance, and the ogre may only speak Giant. I figure it's possible that the ogre's Kutanese handlers would have communicated simple things to it in Kutanese, including "Drop," much like how my dog can drop something on command but still doesn't speak English. It's probably a waste of a spell but if this works it'll be worth it. I just don't want to see anyone get hurt by the greatclub.

Tomly will speak the command in Kutanese unless it's known to him that Common is used frequently on Kutan or he has another reason to believe that Common would work better.

Concentration: [roll0]
Caster Level (to overcome SR): [roll1]

blazinghand

2014-08-16, 04:01 PM

Bella
The chain comes down with huge amount of force, striking the armor-clad ogre square in the chest. The ogre staggers back from the blow, eyes bulging, winded. The plate on its chest is dented inwards, and it coughs up a gout of blood.

Vincent
Vincent leaps back, avoiding the spear-bearer's clumsy attempt to stab him as he does so. His blade goes flipping through the air, striking the spellcaster, sinking into his arm.

So why is it dealing 1d6+1d4? I may have missed something here. It should probably be dealing 1d6+2 since you get 1 for enhancement and 1 for bardic courage.

Julius
The dark ray shoots out and envelopes the Ogre, sapping its strength, even as it turns and twists. It roars in confusion and dismay.

Most Enemies

The Ogre, despite being weakened and bloody, roars furiously, growing stronger and more terrifying, drawing energy seemingly from its own indignation at being damaged. Furiously, it swings its club at Bella, but misses, denting thick timbers of the deck by her feet.

The two swordsmen in orange jump forward to attack. One swings at Regi, but fails to connect with the wily halfling. The other attacks Ricky, the soldier with you, and but his long sword is parried away by the soldier's short sword. The spearbearer brandishes his weapon at Ricky, drawing blood but not knocking Ricky out.

The helmsman stays at the helm, but you see him glance wild-eyed over at Regi and Vincent.

Juān
Juān leaps forward, and the Ogre attacks her as she tries to get past its long reach. Its massive club comes crashing down, dealing 17 damage. Juān is not staggered by the blow, and her greatsword comes down with a divine force, rending its plate armor and sending blood spurting through the air.

Regi
Regi draws repeating crossbow and he one-handedly fires a bolt at the other spear-bearer. It connects, and she falls to the deck.

Tomly
Tomly's spell completes, and a small flaming form appears in front of him. It launches itself at the ogre and swings itself at the giant, but misses.

Tomly manages to retain concentration on the storm-wracked deck and cast his spell of Command. The Ogre's natural resistance to spells briefly opposes him, but he pushes through it. Then, he overwhelms the Ogre's mental defenses. Lastly, he has to communicate to the beast, which may be a challenge. However, the Ogre understands Kutanese, and will drop the club on its next turn.

Mage in Orange
The mage curses in Kutanese and grabs at his wound. He throws out his arm and hurles white lances of arcane energy at Vincent, dealing [roll0] damage.

Mogrym
Mogrym weaves a spell of Searing Light against the Ogre, but can't keep his concentration in the storm and the spell is lost.

Cohorts and Soldiers
Xiaoguang follows Major Guo and swings his long sword at the ogre. He strikes, but does not deal significant damage. A crossbow bolt from Magnus hits the deck near the mage on orange.

The soldier with the glowing sword attacks the ogre, his sword sinking into the creature's thigh, drawing blood. The Ogre roars in agony.

The soldiers with nonmagical weapons have backed away from the ogre, and some of them are furiously reloading their muskets while trying to keep them dry.

Ricky reloads his pistol and backs up a bit.

Round 3

Status at the start of round:
Midship: Guō Juān, Mogrym Mcallister, Tomly Jaros, Julius Sanguinus, Bella de Acie Belli, are all close to the ogre. There is a Fire elemental and a Soldier with a glowing short sword fighting the Ogre. The Ogre is bleeding badly, its armor is torn and dented. Most of the Imperial Soldiers are reloading since only their firearms seem to be able to do enough damage to reliably harm the ogre.

Poop Deck: Vincent, Regi, and Ricky are facing off with the 2 swordsmen and the mage in orange. The mage in orange has been wounded, but the swordsmen are uninjured. Ricky has taken a spear wound and doesn't look too great. Vincent and Regi have each been slightly damaged by white lances of energy.

Initiative Status
24 - Bella <-- this is where we are now.
24 - Vincent
20 - Julius
15 - Most Enemies
12 - Juān
09 - Regi
08 - Tomly
05 - Mage in Orange
00 - Mogrym
00 - Cohorts and Soldiers

PersonMan

2014-08-16, 04:21 PM

Bella smiles, shifting to a more defensive stance, her chain whirling around her as she spins, sending both weighted heads flying at the beast before her.

Full attack, woo!

A: [roll0]
D: [roll1]

A: [roll2]
D: [roll3]

A: [roll4]

A: [roll5]

runehawk

2014-08-16, 11:03 PM

Vincent

Vincent smiles intimidatingly as the spearman goes down.

He materialises another mindblade and successfully hits the mage.

"Surrender and your lives will be spared"

Intimidate=[roll0]+1 (Bardic Courage) -? (The friendly invader who just killed 2 of your men)

TachyonBlade

2014-08-16, 11:25 PM

Seeing as his spells were once more working just damn fine against the horrendous monster that was the ogre in front of them, Julius decided to ram more firepower down its throat. It was the simple, explosive things in an Intelligence Agent's life that made it worth living, didn't it?

With the air runes and chanting done once more, he launched the powerful ball of death that was the fireball, straight at the Ogre.

Concentration:
[roll0]

SR Overcoming [roll1]

Damage [roll2]

Calenestel

2014-08-17, 01:32 AM

Accepting the blow from the weakaned ogre Juān smiles grimly behind her visor and grunts through the pain. Good thing Julius got the thing with that spell or things might have gone differently. As it stood, though...
Channeling the power of Arkhanya through her sword the paladin deals a grieveous blow to the ogre in retaliation and with a wordless yell she keeps up the attack, pressing the ogre away from the soldiers if possible, holding her own otherwise. She had felt the divine power work against the creature, it was Evil and She defended good. For the time it was just that simple and the short woman reveled in it.

Punch it!

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

Edit: Kinda meh. The first attack might be a miss and it does crap damage anyways. The second attack might be more promising, though.

Should the Ogre go down before my turn Juān will move to help out with the poop deck. Should that be cleared up as well she'll return to command the attack from the enemy poop deck, ordering her soldiers to advance and sending her sneakier staff members down below on the enemy ship to look for enemies and enemy paperwork.

blazinghand

2014-08-17, 02:10 AM

Bella
Bella spins, her meteor hammer a whirling tornado of heavy iron death surrounding her. The soldiers near her step back from the furious flurry of metal she becomes. The end comes around, smacking the ogre in the side of the head, dazing it. The Ogre takes one hand off of its club, clutching its dented helm, trying to wrench it off as it presses in on the wound.

Vincent
Vincent shouts his words at the Kutanians, and they look at each other, and out at the Ogre in the midship.

Julius
Julius can't weave the words of magic in this tough environment, and the energy he puts into his Fireball spell is wasted, as the spell fails to come into reality.

Enemies
The Ogre drops its club in surprise and dismay. It looks at its own hand in confusion. Why did it do that? It needs that club, for smacking imperials. No, wait, it wanted to drop the club. Wait, what? Through the haze of pains, wounds, and enemies, it perceives something has gone horribly wrong, but it has no idea what.

The two swordsmen in orange scoff at Vincent's words, but the mage looks over at the front of the ship and shakes his head. He shouts at them and they drop their swords and raise their hands, palms out, towards Vincent. The helmsman furrows his brow and stays at his station. The officers have surrendered.

Juān
Juān steps forward and sinks her blade deep into the ogre. Its roars are cut short, and blood spews out of its mouth in place of words. It's dead before it hits the ground.

Encounter End

The enemy ship is yours! The rest of the Company spreads across the decks to the Valiant and all ships are secured without serious further resistance. The boats are unhooked from each other, and a detachment of sailors from the Valiant as well as several officers take over the Kutanese vessel to keep it floating while your ships get back into formation. There's still a storm to navigate through!

You've captured the following enemies:
1 Kutanese Mage
2 Kutanese Officers
15 Kutanese Soldiers or Seamen

You've captured the following equipment:
KFN Angrydog - A heavily-damaged, seaworthy Kutanese Cruiser.
Several regular-quality swords and padded armors
1 Half Plate sized for a Large creature.
1 Greatclub
Whatever is in the hold of the Angrydog

Your company had the following casualties and injuries:
1 soldier died in combat with the Ogre. His name was Jun from the Kang family in the Capitol Province. He was 17 years old.
4 soldiers were injured taking the Valiant, but were healed post combat.
Regi, Ricky, and Vincent were all lightly wounded in combat, but were healed post combat.
Major Guō was modestly wounded in combat, but was healed post combat.

Provisionally, the Angrydog is under the command of Captain Ping formerly of the Valiant.

The storm rages on, and the boats won't last too much longer attached together like this. You have time while prisoners and sailor transfers are worked out during which the boats will remain attached. The current prisoner plan is that the captured officers are going to be taken aboard the Valiant, and the soldiers who surrendered are going to be chained to the oars of the Angrydog until they can be housed somewhere more secure.

Calenestel

2014-08-17, 03:11 AM

The combined might of several members of her company staff brings the ogre down. Not the paladin's kill alone even if she got in the killing blow. In a gush of gore she rips her greatsword free and, leaning against it, raises her visor to get a better look at the battle so far. Quickly ordering the men to advance to assist the soldiers on the Valiant major Guō then moves to supervise the surrender of the officers. The day was mostly won already. The only thing that was left was to settle the butcher's bill. Aside from searching the enemy ship, of course.
"Vincent! Bravehart! Go below decks and see if you can find any enemy orders, codebooks, the works! Sergeant de Acie Belli, secure the prisoners! Take as many men as you need to keep the common soldiers in line and set a few to guard the officers. Keep them separated."
She points out directions onehandedly with the greatsword. It wasn't really possible to use one handed as anything more than that, but sometimes it impressed people. When the rain finally had cleared away the last of the ogre blood she sheathes it and stays on the enemy ship until the fighting dies down, an extra guard as much as a commanding officer.

After that there was prayers to make and a certain letter to write. She would never really grow used to that... And this time she would have to find out the boy's name. She didn't know her men yet...

runehawk

2014-08-17, 04:33 AM

Vincent

Vincent stands erect as he receives Major Guo and nods and salutes his understanding.

"Permission to take one of the officers?, Ma'am. They'd know the traps, locks, hidden compartments...", his voice trails off with an expectant tone.

If the Major agrees, he'll pick one and go off with some men. He will salute the enemy officer as well. This will a briefer more perfunctory salute.

He will be respectful and amiable. And express a professional form of admiration in hushed tones at the effort the Kutanese made.

"Good effort boarding our ship, Sir. Your ogre almost had us. This way, thank you Sir."

He will be particularly alert to information regarding what the ship's mission was and what they were doing out here.

PersonMan

2014-08-17, 04:37 AM

Bella, splattered with blood already, returns her chain to its normal position without bothering to wipe it off, trusting in the rain to do that for her. With a nod, she turns to the soldiers given to her command, directing them to follow her as she rounds up the surrendered Kutanese. She has the officers and mage bound, with two men guarding them, then turns her attention to the common soldiers. For the time being she has them placed in one group at the edge of the ship, bound together in a line with the soldier on either end tied to the railing of the ship and dissuaded from any hostile action by eight riflemen, set far enough that no sudden charge could reach them. Two more men stand closer, keeping eyes and ears on the soldiers and wielding swords rather than rifles.

It was a simple system, effective for the time between the end of combat and when someone higher in the chain of command had time to deal with the surrendered enemies, and Bella returns to the Major with a salute once she's finished.

RustyVenture

2014-08-17, 09:44 AM

Watching the soldiers quickly tie up the few Kutanese survivors, Tomly pauses a moment to wipe the splatter of ogre blood from his brow. He wasn't particularly squeamish when it came to blood, however this ogre's blood had a peculiar and rather pungent smell to it that Tomly did not appreciate. It did not matter, however; the ogre was dead and the battle was won.

Eager as he was to discover what was in the odd-shaped hull, Tomly knew his skills would be better served interrogating the Kutanese officers. He singles out the captured mage and tells the Major, "I will need to speak with the captured officers, and I would like to first start with the mage if that's alright with you."

Calenestel

2014-08-17, 12:15 PM

Major Guō looks to the officers as Vincent and lieutenant Jaros makes their requests. After a quick hesitation she nods, which is barely visible because of the helmet, and says: "Very well. But be careful. Vincent, I don't want any accidents below decks so keep an eye out for any tricks. Take an extra man or two with you, just in case. Captain, go with the lieutenant. If the mage tries anything... funny, shut it down. Hard." Realizing that that might be misunderstood or misconstrued she quickly adds: "But don't kill him."
Looking directly at Jaros she explains: "In no way do I mistrust you or ImpInt, lieutenant. I do however mistrust enemy spellcasters."

TachyonBlade

2014-08-17, 12:43 PM

Julius needed a bit of rest, for the day had already been hectic, but he knew there was no such thing allowed in the current situation. With all ships here being battered to all hell, and raging as it was, there'd be problems. He decided to head to the bridge, and ask the Captain questions. But before he did that, he'd have to order his squad down.

Heading over to where his squad was, he ordered them to help with the regular sailors, while also cutting breaks in shifts.

blazinghand

2014-08-17, 01:54 PM

The Kutanese soldiers and sailors who surrendered are quickly tied up and secured. The Imperials scowl at them but otherwise do not jostle them too baadly. It's not like the Kutanese can make a break for it. With the guns and swords pointed at them, and themselves disarmed and on the water, there's no point in resisting. They don't seem to understand what the guns are, and are mostly keeping their eyes on the soldiers with the swords.

Vincent, Jaros, and Mcallister take the officers belowdecks to talk to them. Vincent and Jaros speak Kutanese, but Mcallister does not. Gorda materializes as the men make their way down. You're now in a bare meeting room on the Return, with a table and several chairs. The Kutanese men give you their names. Jin, the mage; Devin, the ship's captain; and Shinju of Bree, whose military position is related to the army but different somehow. The Imperial soldier and Bella, who are with you, look pleased to be in out of the rain. One starts cleaning his musket. The other stands by the door.

The Kutanese officers stand at attention. They are disarmed, but still wearing their uniforms. You've taken the spell component pouch from Jin, but you can never tell with mages what they have up their sleeves. They wait for you to speak.

RustyVenture

2014-08-17, 03:12 PM

Once the men give their names, Tomly turns to Gorda and quietly asks him if he knows whether there were other ships in this attack, and if so how many. If Gorda does not know, Tomly will ask him to go find out as quickly as possible and return with the information.

Tomly turns back to the Kutanese men and smiles warmly. He begins speaking to the men in perfectly unaccented Kutanese. "I am Tomly of house Jaros. We have traveled the sea in service of the Emperor, Jin of the Jiang name. Why have you attacked our ship?"

How do you want to do diplomacy and/or bluff checks? It's fine with me if you roll them but I'm happy to do so as well. I'm not trying to do anything particularly diplomatic yet, I'm more just gauging how cooperative these guys will end up being.

blazinghand

2014-08-17, 11:04 PM

runehawk

2014-08-18, 04:34 AM

Vincent

Vincent stands before Shinju with infantry men flanking him. He throws a smart salute that is too brief to be considered a formal salute to an officer as befitting his enemy status.
"Cpl Vincent,Sir."

"By order of the CO, Major Guo Juan. The Imperial Army has accepted your surrender. We require your co-operation in turning over all documents, magic items and assistance in preparing an inventory of your ship "

"If you would follow us please"

His tone and words are in contrast to the hard look in the eye he has. His poise is not one of subserviance either. Clearly the politeness was a formality. And formalities had a way of ...expiring.

Vincent's gaze fell on the Kutanese rank and file.

If Shinju resists, Vincent will repeat in a lower tone.

"The vessel is already ours, Sir. Courtesy isn't collusion and it improves your standing with my CO."

blazinghand

2014-08-18, 05:16 AM

Shinju of Bree turns to look at Jin. Jin says to him in Kutanese, "Show them about the ship, as they ask. If they ask questions that you cannot answer, do not make up answers. Refer them to me."

Jin turns towards Vincent, and speaks Imperial: "The man you are looking at is named Shinju. He is an army officer and will be able to show you about the ship with ease."

The transfer from the Return back to the Angrydog is uneventful, as the storm seems to be claming down somewhat. The search of the ship is quick and revealing. The Angrydog is clearly of inferior design to any Imperial vessel. It has fewer sails, and relies on oar power to move. It has a large cabin in the midship designed for housing Ogres-- it looks like four would be able to live comfortably in such a space. The cabin also serves as an armory, and you find an assortment of large-sized clubs and armors. There are racks for weapon shapes you have never seen before. You also find racks for storing some kind of heavy, large-sized armor you're unfamiliar with.

A search of the Officer's cabins is more helpful. You find several books, some of which may contain magical writing-- you're not sure-- as well as a map of the Kutanese waters and a book showing the events of this voyage. The most recent entry in the book:

The 79th of Winter, sunset: our early warning system detects a massive fleet approaching. We do not know how many there are, as there are more than 20 ships. It could only be the Empire. My blood runs cold at this knowledge, but I cannot deny the truth. Our messages are sent, and the die is cast. With only two armored units and an Ogre, we are unlikely to be able to hold them for long, but we will do what we can. This will be my last entry. Long live the Federation!

RustyVenture

2014-08-18, 09:41 AM

Devin stiffens, and snarls in Kutanese, spitting his words: "You imperial pig-dogs--"

Jin cuts him off with a wave of the hand and a bark. He speaks lightly-accented Imperial. "You are the ones who attacked us. We are the crew of the KFN Angrydog, a Kutanese Federation naval vessel operating in Kutanese sovereign waters. By illegally entering these waters with your fleet, you have committed an act of war. Our defense of Kutanese sovereignty is legal and justified."

Tomly waits until Vincent and Regi collect Shinju before responding to Jin in Imperial. "Unfortunately you are mistaken. We are simply a large trading convoy, invited by Duke Tanaka Watanabe. We carry a bounty of grain, milk, cheese, wine, weapons, as well as many magical items." Tomly feigns a thoughtful look, as if he suddenly just realizes something. "The Valiant--the ship you just attacked--carried a gift to your Duke from the Emperor himself! I hope it was not damaged after you attacked and boarded her..."

He trails off. The lie was fairly bold given the size of the fleet, but Tomly wasn't sure if the mage knew the size of the whole fleet or not. He also wasn't sure exactly what to expect as far as Kutanese loyalty to their leaders. He hoped the mage's response to the lie would provide some clues.

Before Jin has a chance to reply, Tomly continues. "How many other ships are with you? How did you know where we were in such weather?"

blazinghand

2014-08-19, 03:34 PM

Jin regards Tomly for a moment, thens switches to Kutanese, and says, "You honestly believe that, I can see. You're just a soldier. You don't know the plans of your generals. What were you told, what lies did they tell you, to make you willing to kill men defending their country to protect your... convoy? Maybe this is a peace mission, maybe you do carry a bounty of grain and milk and wine, but I tell you this: you also bring armed warships, more than our wards could detect. Whatever you were told about this mission, it is wrong.

You don't seem like a bad man. You think you're here to help us, and forge peace. But that's not what's going on. There are over 20 warships with you, filled to the brim with soldiers and guns. You know as well as I do that The Empire will not benefit from a war with Kutan. Maybe you can defeat our knights and armies, but we are not some imperial-speaking minor kingdom on your border. We are an island nation with our own heritage and language. You know that no Kutanese will ever bend knee to the Empire.

And that is what is going on here. If you don't believe me, look for yourself, Tomly of House Jaros. This is not the trade convoy you think it is. Look at the other ships and tell me what you see. Your leaders have been lying to you."

Jin continues, but now in Imperial.

"I know this because we are guarded by Yuraern, god of the oceans. He tells us of your approach, and of your mighty ships of war bursting with men armed and clad in steel. The gods do not lie. Not to us."

TachyonBlade

2014-08-19, 03:53 PM

Julius stood near the helm of the ship, watching the crash of the sea's waves, and the cries of her unrestricted power. Ships were dumb. One day, he'd have to try his hand at refining the teleportation process along with the rest of the non-Intelligence wizards.

And the sea itself... what ever divines that existed, those of the sea seemed the most powerful and unrelenting. Not to mention unmerciful.

PersonMan

2014-08-19, 04:44 PM

Bella stands guard silently, gaze cold but utterly devoid of malice or anger. She listens to what's being said, but moreso out of habit than interest - the reasons of these men didn't really matter. They knew they were being invaded, and would fight to keep their freedom. Bella respected that. It was a fight for survival, a fight to keep their old world standing, in which they would give their lives to hold upright until the weight of the Empire came crashing down through their defenses. She held no affection for her homeland, didn't even know what reasons the Empire had for attacking Kutan. The rage one of the officers had displayed was already a dozen times stronger than what she felt when her emotions ran wild; she simply fought for the Empire because that was what she did. There was no place for her but the military, nothing for her but killing on the front lines. It was why she never paid much heed to her mother's letters about suitable husbands or continuing the line. Until she had completed enough great deeds to be decorated with medals and honors, she would stay far from home, killing until she was told to stop.

RustyVenture

2014-08-20, 12:30 AM

Tomly smiles at Jin as he speaks. If Kutan is to become part of the Empire, it is crucial to know the Kutanese, he thought to himself. If Jin's resolve is shared by his brethren, then the Kutanese may be worthy of assimilation after all.

After Jin finishes speaking, Tomly responds in Imperial. "I am not surprised you know this is not a trading convoy. I simply wished to test your conviction."

"You are so certain you and your countrymen will not bend a knee to the Empire. I urge you to use your time in confinement to ponder something. While it is impressive that Yuraern saw fit to warn you of our approach, why did the warning not come earlier? Surely such a large invasion would have been prepared months in advance."

"I will tell you why. It is the power of faith. Faith in the Empire by its citizens lends it power and prevents your gods from conceiving of our plans. It is faith in the Empire which drives us across the ocean to conquer your land. And it is faith in the Empire that will see us succeed in our mission."

"Notice the storm has already begun to die down; already the Empire's influence encroaches on your land! It is inescapable. And the sooner you and your countrymen realize this, the sooner you can embrace your destiny as part of the Empire of Man."

There is a brief pause before Tomly continues, "Where is your spellbook? Our mages would be pleased to get their hands on some Kutanese magic."

blazinghand

2014-08-20, 04:30 AM

Devin looks at Jin, and Jin briefly summarizes what Tomly said, but in Kutanese. As Jin talks, with each passing sentence Devin's face grows darker and angrier.

Devin turns and glowers at Tomly. "Kutan will never bow down before you, Imperial pig-dogs! No matter how many men and how many boats you send, nothing can break our spirit. If you want Jin's book, it's in the officer's cabin in the Angrydog. But know that you are in for a long and costly war. You will regret your impudence, your presumption. All you imperials are the same."

Devin spits on the polished floor of the Return's meeting room, and snarls, "I spit on your Empire! I spit on your boats and your lighting sticks! I spit on your foul language! I spit on your lies and your treachery! I spit on you!"

Jin tries to calm Devin with a look, but Devin isn't hearing any of it. He tries to spit on Tomly, but doesn't have quite the reach to make it. He spits on the floor halfway between him and Tomly.

RustyVenture

2014-08-20, 07:47 AM

Tomly continues to smile, this time at Devin. When captain finishes, Tomly speaks to him in Kutanese. "I did not realize the Kutanese named ships after their captains. I clearly have much to learn about our new brothers."

Tomly turn and begins to walk toward the door. Before leaving the room, he stops for a moment and turns back to the captives. "Welcome to the Empire!"

runehawk

2014-08-20, 07:50 AM

Post deleted

blazinghand

2014-08-20, 09:02 PM

Though it's dark, it seems like the storm has finally abated, and the worst is over. The surprise attack was, well, a surprise, but nonetheless could not stand against the might of the Empire. What were they thinking, attacking a cannon-armed ship? Sure, maybe things were a cut a bit closer than you'd like, but you can't always get what you want.

Those of you on the Angrydog hear a mighty boom and feel the damaged ship shudder beneath your feet. Just as you get your bearings you hear a series of loud cracks-- musket fire! The Return is close by, sailing only 20 feet deck to deck, and the gunfire is loud enough everyone on board the Return hears it as well. Whoever the musician for the Return is, he's quick. The Return's illuminators quickly flare to maximum power and turn to focus on the deck of the Angrydog. The scene is quickly revealed as you run out of the cabins and officer's quarters and onto the deck.

Standing before you are two massive ogre-like chimera-esque constructs. If you looked at the bottom half of one of these half-beast, half-machine creatures, you would see what looks like an Ogre in full plate. Thick, powerful legs are encased in overlapping metal plates, but instead of the usual leather and mail beneath the plates, all that's visible is more steel. The creature may well be metal plate all the way through. The thick legs grow upwards and join together into a solid, rounded torso. Here, the similarities with an ogre ends. About where you'd expect the ribcage to begin, instead sprouts on each side an arm from an oddly bulbous pair of metallic shoulders.

Above these unusually squat and low shoulders, the construct becomes much narrower, and the top half of it looks much like a human does, with an additional (!) pair of arms, this time obviously biological and human, connected to an additional pair of shoulders and what appears to be the top half of a normal human. The top half is even dressed in bright orange Kutanese officer's uniform. You recall stories of the Centaurs in the southern forests, and this creature seems much the same, though obviously artificial rather than natural, and with 4 arms, 2 legs instead of 2 arms, 4 legs.

One of them has long, dark hair that whips around him in the wind and rain. His upper right arm is bleeding badly from a bullet wound, and hangs limply at his side. He's leaning forward on himself, bracing against his lower shoulders with his upper left arm. His lower left arm holds a huge metal shield, large even for a giant creature like himself. His lower right arm is holding a long, curved blade, stained with blood. At his feet are two dead or dying imperial soldiers, their bayoneted muskets still clutched in their lifeless hands.

The other has no hair, and is uninjured. His upper arms seem to be fishing around for something inside his lower torso, while one of his lower arms holds a sword and the other one, instead of being a proper arm, is a long chain whip with a spiked ball at the end. You witness him swing the chain-arm around and knock away the musket of a soldier who just finished reloading-- the weapon clatters to the wet ground. Another soldier fires on him, but his weapon doesn't go off, the lock too damp to spark. His eyes go wide, but only briefly, as the bald ferrotaur skewers him.

There are still 8 soldiers on deck and out of reach of the ferrotaurs. They're taking turns, 4 reloading and 4 firing at any given moment. You witness 4 shots go off. 2 miss entirely. One bounces off the plated shield of the injured ferrotaur, and the other, despite being on target, seems to be deflected by some unseen force. The dark-haired ferrotaur smiles wickedly and turns away from the soldiers at his feet, looking at the soldiers on the far end of the ship from him.

The fight is on!

PersonMan

2014-08-21, 10:29 AM

Bella gives the Kutanese a look as the gunshots erupt from their ship, moving out onto the deck and assessing the situation quickly. A thought coming to her suddenly, she grabs one or two of the men who had been with her guarding the officers and gestures for them to return to the room, before loading her musket. Taking aim at the already-injured ferrotaur, she opens fire.

Move to reload; I think I can try and get the guards to head in as a free action?

Standard to attack injured ferrotaur.
A: [roll0]
D: [roll1]

blazinghand

2014-08-21, 11:44 AM

The bullet strikes the fleshy upper torso of the dark-haired ferrotaur, clipping the edge of his injured upper arm. He shouts in pain and surprise. It looks like this bullet was not deflected.

Calenestel

2014-08-21, 11:55 AM

With all that needs to be done after the short battle major Guō hasn't even gotten below decks when fighting breaks out again on the Angrydog. Whirling around the paladin immediately lays eyes on the two strange creatures that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. From her position on the poop deck she has a clear view, not that it helps her much. Arkhanya help me, where did they come from? What ARE they?

Not that she lets the questions slow her down. Yelling for her lieutenants to rouse the men again the paladin looks about for the parts of a new battle plan. Where was the acting captain of the Return? Would they be able to board the Angrydog again? Could they kill those abominations with musket fire? Was the men on the captured Kutanese ship lost? Should she just scuttle the ugly vessel? She didn't like that part, she would never abandon men under her command lightly.

Catching the first mate's attention Juān points to the Angrydog with an armored hand. "It seems the kutanese had a trick left for us! I'd sink the godforsaken tub but we have men there. Would you kindly get us close again?"

runehawk

2014-08-21, 11:58 AM

Vincent
Vincent and his men in the officer's quarters had just finished packing their backpack when the ship shuddered.

Emerging on the poop deck with Shinju in tow, Vincent bears witness to the carnage before him.

Cursing he materialises a blade, and holds it against Shinju, "You idiots!!!, Make them stop!!!! or the lives of your men are forfeit."

Addressing the 8 men adjacent "Squad!, Abandon this ship NOW!!!"

They need to sink this ship RIGHT NOW or we're going to lose more men.

blazinghand

2014-08-21, 12:54 PM

The dark-haired ferrotaur looks over at Shinju, who his helpless and with Vincent's blade against his throat. He glares at Vincent and starts walking towards the soldier, the hostage, and the 8 musketeers, holding his shield in front of him, quickly closing most of the gap. Each lumbering step causes the wood beneath him to creak as his iron body gleams in the light of the illuminators. He does not appear to be surrendering.

TachyonBlade

2014-08-21, 02:37 PM

Julius was quiet for a moment, as he stared at the creatures on the other ship, his eyes slowly widening, and his mouth opening to deliver a barrage of curses, in Common, Kutanese, Elven, Dwarf, Halfling, and finally, the arcane chant. Anyone close enough to hear the stream of words would have preferably closed their ears, if they weren't so busy at the moment.

He took action immediately, considering his current offensive arsenal, and setting down on a fiery ray to melt the suckers. Raising a palm right at the closest ferrotaur, he fired a "Scorching RayTM".

Ranged Touch vs. Touch AC
[roll0]

Damage
[roll1]

RustyVenture

2014-08-21, 05:41 PM

Tomly sees the two horrific looking creatures on the deck of the Angrydog and is immediately repulsed. These things were either created magically or were the product of some natural process, he thinks to himself. He isn't sure which possibility was worse. If they are indeed naturally created then that means some Kutanese man was lonely one night, and... He shudders at the thought.

Realizing he had to act, Tomly searched his brain for some knowledge of these abominations. He likely wouldn't be much use against them in combat, but he could play a valuable support roll here.

"Major, let me give you some assistance in fighting these monstrosities," he says as he reaches out and casts Resistance on the paladin.

Knowledge (Nature) check on the ferrotaurs: [roll0]

Concentration check for Resistance spell: [roll1] (if this is still needed due to weather)

blazinghand

2014-08-22, 02:58 AM

RustyVenture

2014-08-22, 07:14 AM

The beam of fiery magic lances through the middle of the dark-haired ferrotaur's body, burning him badly. He grunts in pain as his wound is instantly cauterized and melted. That together with the gunshot wound put him in bad shape-- he's bleeding and leaking some kind of fluid from his lower torso onto the deck.

Tomly tries to think if he knows anything about the ferrotaurs, but his Nature knowledge doesn't seem to cover them. Whatever they are, they're not animals, fey, giants, monstrous humanoids, plants, or vermin.

Watching Julius's spell damage the ferrotaur, and realizing nothing in his studies of the natural world covered such a creature, Tomly concludes it must be some kind of magical construct. Surely something in his studies of arcana must apply to these creatures.

I think I can just make these out of turn given they require no action, correct?
Knowledge (Arcana) check: [roll0]

blazinghand

2014-08-24, 03:50 AM

Major Guō
Major Guō issues her commands quickly, and the men start to muster on the deck of the Return, she spots the first mate. He nods at her request and relays the appropriate orders. The two ships come together, and are now just ten feet apart.

Regi Braveheart
Not wasting any time, Regi draws her crossbow and fires at the injured Ferrotaur.
Attack Roll: [roll0]
Damage Roll: [roll1]
Crit stuff (if nessary):
Attack Roll: [roll2]
Damage Roll: [roll3]

NPCs and Ferrotaur
The soldiers muster on deck. Magnus fires at the wounded Ferrotaur, lightly wounding it. Gorda is abovedeck and is using Prestidigitation to dry off as many muskets as he can. Xiaoguang's musket is already dry and loaded. He fires at the wounded Ferrotaur, missing it.

4 soldiers fire at the wounded ferrotaur, and they all miss.

The bald Ferrotaur turns its attention to the disarmed soldier at its feet. It raises its cruel, chain-spike arm up, getting ready to kill the man. The soldier is helpless, and he screams in terror. He will die on this ship, alone and far away from his homeland. There is no-one close enough to save him. His eyes are wide in panic.

Morgrym Mcallister makes a running jump, aiming to land above the disarmed imperial soldier. As he flies through the air, the Ferrotaur's chain whips up and strikes him, absorbing some of his momentum but not drawing blood. Captain Mcallister makes it almost far enough, but falls just short of the Angrydog. He doesn't fall into the water, though, which is lucky; his full plate would surely drown him if he did.

As he falls short of the deck, he reaches out with both guaranteed hands and grabs onto the rail. His momentum slams him against the side of the ship, hard. His grip stays true. Mcallister doesn't know how to swim very well, and even if he did, it wouldn't work with all those pounds of steel strapped to him. He can't afford to let himself fall.

He's a strong man, though, and almost pulls himself up when suddenly his hands are both severed by a massive blade. Mogrym's last sight before the ocean swallows him up is the sadistic grin of the bald ferrotaur, and his own stumps in front of his face, unable to hold onto the rail any more. He drops like a stone, and is lost forever in the angry seas.

Finally, the ships come together, deck-to-deck. Too late for Mcallister, and too late for the disarmed soldier, who now too is dead at the hands of the bald ferrotaur. But not too late for you, who are still alive.

PersonMan

2014-08-24, 05:30 AM

Bella stows her musket, moving to get back onto the other ship as quickly as possible. Her chain is spun from her waist as she moves, coming to life once again between her fingers and lashing through the air around her as she moves onto the deck of the other ship.

This is just putting away the musket, moving and taking out the meteor hammer again. Ideal position is somewhere within 60' of the ferrotaurs, without getting too close - I want to charge next turn, so I don't want to get into melee yet.

blazinghand

2014-08-24, 03:55 PM

Bella
Bella gets into position, her Meteor Hammer ready. She's just about 60' away from the ferrotaurs, though the wounded one is closer than the bald one.

Vincent
Vincent throws his weapon at the wounded ferrotaur. The blade of magic sinks into its upper torso, and the ferrotaur stumbles, for a moment. He's bleeding badly.

Dark Haired Ferrotaur
The ferrotaur is wounded, badly, he looks down at his own cooked flesh where he was speared by magical rays, and grimaces. His bullet wounds are leaking blood, and the gash from Vincent's blade looks particularly unpleasant. He looks at the forces arrayed against him-- 8 musketeers and two heroes, with more at the ship that just pulled up alongside.

He turns to the bald Ferrotaur and says something, and the bald Ferrotaur shakes his head. The dark haired ferrotaur yells something back, and raises upper arms in surrender. His lower arms drop his sword and shield to the deck, and he kneels, his eyes full of fear. One of his upper arms reaches into his coat and pulls out a white hankerchief. He waves it over his head, back and forth.

The bald Ferrotaur does not look ready to surrender.

TachyonBlade

2014-08-24, 04:20 PM

Julius grins as the slag from his spell became apparent. With the kind of artillery and and power he was providing, nobody was gonna think that he was II personnel, so he was pretty much set for fitting in. But as the Ferrotaur wrecked the Captain, and threw him overboard, Julius's grin became smaller, and in a half joke to himself, he thought 'Well, he's not a termite in this information-ship.'

But the bald ferrotaur was still there, and that had to be changed, otherwise there would be even more casualties, something nobody wanted.

Swiping a hand with only two fingers extended in the air, he let off another one of his Scorching Rays, aimed right at the bald ferrotaur, hoping to cause even more damage, and bring it down.

[roll0]
[roll1]
*prayers*

blazinghand

2014-08-24, 07:50 PM

The scorching ray strikes the bald ferrotaur, burning him. It wasn't like the first one, that dealt a massive amount of damage, but it's respectable. The ferrotaur is a large target and easy to hit with ray spells like this.

RustyVenture

2014-08-24, 08:33 PM

Tomly wracks his brain trying to remember anything in his studies that covered such a creature, but he was drawing a blank. As he watches the dark-haired ferrotaur surrender, however, he suddenly recalls an intelligence report he read in the days prior to joining the fleet. The report itself was one of many provided to him by ImpInt on the Kutanese, containing information, rumors and hearsay from the faraway continent, all compiled with the intention of giving Tomly as much chance as possible to blend in on Kutan. But this one stood out as an almost fantastical tale, the kind Imperial parents told their children about those savages an ocean away.

There was something about a man, no, a nobleman. Turning the knights of Kutan into horrendous monsters, he thought to himself. Florian? Forian? It was something like that, being made to serve the King's wishes. The report mentioned little of what the aberrations looked like, but Tomly remembered it was called a 'ferrotaur.' I will have to find that report when this is over, Tomly resolved to himself.

Tomly sees the one ferrotaur remaining, and knows there isn't a whole lot he can do. However, he is an Imperial officer and he does have a pistol. He isn't the greatest shot, but he might as well do something.

A: [roll0] (Pistol is 50' right? Is Tomly even close enough?)
D: [roll1]
CC: [roll2]
CD: [roll3]

blazinghand

2014-08-28, 04:26 AM

Tomly
Tomly aims his pistol and fires, but inexpertly he fumbles keeping the lock dry in the storm, he fails to shoot the bald ferrotaur.

Guō
handling this since I'm sure Calenestel is going to be spending a few days with his newborn daughter

Major Guō bellows, "Fire at will!" and suddenly, her Musket is in her hand. The other soldiers are always amazed at how quickly their CO can draw a weapon-- a skill likely honed by years of planning and fighting battles. She levels the weapon and fires it, then hands the weapon to Xiaoguang. "Reload this." Although the shot sails wide, soldiers are getting the idea.

A: [roll0]
D: [roll1]
CC: [roll2]
CD: [roll3]

Regi Braveheart
Regi is now in position to shoot more quickly, and unleashes two crossbow bolts from her heavy repeating crossbow in rapid succession. Her first shot sails wide, but the second one strikes the ferrotaur in his fleshy, unprotected upper torso, digging into his abdomen. He grimaces painedly.

A1: [roll4]
D1: [roll5]
CC1: [roll6]
CD1: [roll7]

A2: [roll8]
D2: [roll9]
CC2: [roll10]
CD2: [roll11]

Bald Ferrotaur
The Bald Ferrotaur is bleeding now, and although he looks like he still has fight left in him, he looks unlikely to hold up to sustained fire. The curved chain arm of the bald Ferrotaur reaches down and scoops up the musket from the deck. He looks around, and sees himself vastly outnumbered and outgunned. He jerks forward and his lower erupts into a set of four metallic wings, each over 6 feet long and straining hard against the storm. He leaps off the boat and begins flapping, not trying to gain altitude, but to fly away from the Angrydog. Amazingly, his wings can keep his massive frame airborne. He hasn't gone far yet, he's about 50 feet upwind of the Angrydog and it seems to be tough going.

Cohorts
Xiaoguang reloads the Major's musket and holds it ready for her to use.
Magnus makes two shots from his repeater crossbow. One strikes the bald ferrotaur, and the other comes very close to hitting him, but is driven away by some unseen force at the last moment.
Gorda shoots at the bald ferrotaur, but his shot goes wildly off-target
The 30 or so soldiers on the Return's deck are in various states of combat readiness, but at least 10 manage to fire their muskets this round. 2 of them hit the bald ferrotaur, one of them wounding him badly. The rest of the shots bounce of his iron hide or miss entirely.
4 soldiers on the deck of the Angrydog shoot at the ferrotaur, and they all miss.

runehawk

2014-08-28, 02:42 PM

Vincent

"Find the wounded!!" he orders the men beside him.

Squinting at the airborne monstrosity, he materialises another Good-aligned Mindblade and charges it with psychic energy before flinging it.

A: [roll0]+10-1(range increment)
D:[roll1]+1+[roll2]

blazinghand

2014-08-28, 02:58 PM

The blade sinks into the armored skin of the ferrotaur, and it shudders and loses some altitude, but is still flying. You can see some kind of foul dark substance leaking out from its lower torso. He is not looking very healthy, and is barely keeping aloft.

PersonMan

2014-08-28, 03:14 PM

Bella frowns as the beast takes to the air, unceremoniously dropping her chain and moving as close to its current location as she can while preparing her rifle. Once she's finished moving she reloads it, keeping the ferrotaur in her sights as she quickly goes through each step of the process with the drilled-in speed her training had given her.

Free: Drop chain.
Move: Move 30' towards fleeing ferrotaur. Draw rifle.
Move: Reload rifle.

Calenestel

2014-08-30, 03:08 AM

Major Guō noted captain McAllister tumbling to the depths with a subdued feeling of sadness and a detached realization that she'd have trouble finding a fitting replacement. The rest of her staff was green as summer grass in comparison to the greying wizard hunter. But Death didn't wait for anyone's convenience and neither did battle. It's all the paladin major can do to send a wordless prayer to Arkhanya, more of a general feeling of solemn acceptance and imploring, before they have closed enough for joining the battle again. Shouting orders and firing at the monsters Juān temporarily put Mogrym out of her mind.

And when the bald... whatever-it-was took to the sky she just took the offered musket with a shout for her men: "Keep firing! Do NOT relent! We're not letting that abomination geting away!"

[roll0] (don't think so...)
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

Also: I take this as a "no" on my earlier question about retconning my character's musket into a pistol. :smalltongue:

runehawk

2014-08-31, 03:05 PM

Vincent

Moving along the side of the ship ,Vincent again materialises another Good-aligned Mindblade and charges it with psychic energy before flinging it.

"DIE!!"

I'm assuming the range increment has increased
A: [roll0]+10-2(range increment) = 25
D:[roll1]+1+[roll2] = 7
Confirm Crit: [roll3]+10-2(range increment)
Bonus Dmg: [roll4]+1+[roll5]

RustyVenture

2014-09-01, 09:18 AM

Tomly didn't need to hear the Major to know what needed to be done. He reloads his pistol, carefully keeping the sensitive cartridges out of the rain and hoping this time he can at least hit the aberration. He takes aim at the fleeing ferrotaur and fires.

A: [roll0] (assuming it's still within 100ft, subtract another 1 if it's further)
D: [roll1]
CC: [roll2]
CD: [roll3]

blazinghand

2014-09-02, 08:21 PM

Bella
Bella reloads smoothly, closes some of the distance with the Ferrotaur, and is ready to fire.

Vincent
Vincent flings his blade, clipping the Ferrotaur's wing. The Ferrotaur is barely keeping aloft now, and both his wing and his torso are losing fluid-- his wing is spraying it everywhere.

Julius
OOC-- no posts from tachyonblade for a bit, so I'll run Julius' turn.
Julius delays until Gorda's turn and shouts for the man to dry his Pyrotex Gloves in addition to the firearms that Gorda is already drying.

Lt Jaros and Major Guō
Jaros and Guō both fire their firearms, and both miss.

Regi
Regi fires two bolts, emptying her clip.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

The first bolt flies wide, but the second one strikes the ferrotaur in the back of the head. He drops into the water with a small splash, his iron body sinking him deep beneath the surface.

Encounter End

The Ferrotaurs are dead or have surrendered!

You've captured the following enemies:
1 Kutanese Ferrotaur with dark hair

You've captured the following equipment:
1 large-sized longsword
1 large-sized tower shield

Your company had the following casualties:
Captain McAllister died in combat with with Ferrotaurs, knocked off of the Angrydog as he tried to jump to it.
3 soldiers died in combat with the Ferrotaurs. Their names were Alto, Zychlin, and Ountus. Alto and Ountus were Imperials from the capitol province. Zychlin was from the borderlands and had served on the wall. They are each survived by families.

The storm quells, and dawn is ahead of you on the horizon.

runehawk

2014-09-03, 05:14 AM

Vincent

Gathering himself, Vincent stalks over to the cowering Shinju.

"You just violated a formal surrender.." he grits through clenched teeth.

"...and cost the lives of our men.". His face is a mask of suppressed fury.

"GET him out of my sight!!" he barks.

How could they have been so stupid. Their lives are forfeit now and justifiably so

He waves over men from the Return, "Chain that creature up and get it to Sgt De Arcie"

"The rest of you, attend to the wounded"

blazinghand

2014-09-04, 01:41 AM

The Return and the Angrydog remain alongside each other as soldiers and crew move over to the Return to secure Shinju and the new prisoner. Of the 8 soldiers near Vincent, 4 head down towards the fallen soldiers and the surrendering ferrotaur. They keep their weapons trained on him as more soldiers come across from the Return to gather his weapons and tend to the dead and dying. One enterprising soldier brings a length of chain that they use to bind the Ferrotaur's limbs and retracted wings-- rope alone wouldn't do the job. The upper arms are bound with regular manacles.

The Ferrotaur doesn't struggle, though. He knows he has been beaten. The soldiers look around, unsure where to take him. He won't fit belowdecks on the Return. The Angrydog has space for large creatures, but is even more scarred, now, but it's holding together well. Despite being foreign-made, it's a solid vessel. With repairs and retrofitting, it could make a solid addition to the permanent fleet. It would need some time in drydock.

The other 4 soldiers put away their muskets and draw their swords, keeping an eye on the Kutanese officer, Shinju. Although he has surrendered, the Kutanese are inherently treasonous folk and not to be trusted. The young one glances over to the soldiers lying on the other end of the deck, dead or dying, but keeps focused. Their faces are a mixture of grief and anger. The short one with brown hair walks over to the cowering officer as the other three keep their distance. Shinju's fine Kutanese officer's uniform, bright orange, is stained dark with sweat and rain, and stiffined with sea spray.

The short Imperial has a dark look on his face. "I know you can't understand me, and only speak your disgusting barbarian tongue, but I want you to understand that you're scum. There's only one way to teach a dog his place." He punctuates his sentence with a heavy kick to Shinju's gut.

Shinju doubles over and falls to the deck. The soldier raises his booted foot and slams it down on Shinju's arm, then again on his hand, smashing it against the deck with all his weight. You hear a sickening crunch. "You killed Alto Xiao. You made him die. You, who would never even deserve to lick his boot!" The other men look on. Two are grinning. One is frowning, but does not intervene. They keep their swords out and pointed at Shinju. The short man raises his foot off of Shinju's ruined hand, and sets it on his face, forcing him against the deck. He leans onto his foot, pressuring the officer's head. Shinju makes a gargling noise, trying to resist, but unable to do anything other than slightly push against the deck.

He raises his sword over his head, hesitating. "I ought to kill you. The gods would reward me well in the next life for slaying so vile a creature."

Shinju's eyes widen. He may not speak Imperial, but he knows the look of murder in a man's heart.

PersonMan

2014-09-04, 04:26 AM

Bella stays on the deck of the Angrydog, keeping an eye on the ferrotaur and the Kutanese officer. She decides to stay with the ship unless ordered to leave - if more Kutanese fighting beasts emerge, she wants to be there to attack them immediately, rather than having to fire at them from range while the ships close again. There was something inherently dissatisfying about trying to get into melee, then watching the enemy take to the air.

So Bella waits, her gaze going over the remaining ferrotaur with some curiosity, although she says nothing and makes no move towards it. From time to time she looks over at the Kutanese officer, the man already secured by four soldiers, with less interest. It's when she hears the distinct sound of violence - something she'd been trained to identify from a young age - that Bella immediately turns. Surely the man couldn't do anything against four imperial soldiers; although a small part of her wishes that he could, that they would scatter so she could charge in and be in melee once again.

Instead of a fight, what Bella sees is a scene that brings her away from the ship, back to a time and place far from the seas outside of the empire. The clanging of metal on metal fills her ears, almost covering up the sounds of breaking bones and dripping blood. For a moment she stands still, entirely caught up in the scene from her youth, before she suddenly shakes. Eyes dark, Bella stalks forwards, chain coming to life in her fingers, filling the air around her with the deadly whistle that the chain made as it flew through the air.

Bella moves, gaining speed and momentum with her entire focus on one man. There's just enough thought left in her that she changes the angle of her swing at the last moment, sending her chain flying not directly into but just past the soldier above the Kutanese officer. A moment later she charges into the midst of the four soldiers, grabbing the shoulder of the Imperial if he hadn't already turned to her.

"Your orders," Bella speaks, although the words hardly seem to matter, her gaze somehow in the past and filled with rage at the same time. "What are they?" She asks, chain-wrapped hand closing on the soldier's throat. Her entire body presses down on him, forcing him to either move to the side, off of the officer, or risk Bella's chain crushing his neck - something that seems entirely possible, given the look in her eyes. "I do not think you were told to attack the prisoner. This is insubordination," the word is all but spat into the man's face. Bella's grip lessens slightly, but she keeps him firmly in her grasp.

"We kill and die for the Empire. We do as we are told. Insubordinate soldiers are worth nothing. You want to fight and kill Kutanese? Wait for orders. You want to disobey orders? You want to stomp on the honor of your battalion? I don't care. I don't care if the enemy used to be Imperial or if they're Kutanese. But I will fight you, I will kill you, just like every other enemy. You want to fight for our dead? You want to win the war?" Bella pauses, staring into the eyes of the man in her grip. "Wait. For. Orders. Dismissed," she finishes, shoving the man back, still away from the officer, before turning to the others. While they don't feel her chain-covered hand on their necks, or receive a similar threat, her look makes it clear that the same fate that she promised that man could befall any of them.

With that finished, Bella helps the Kutanese to his feet, expression devoid of sympathy for his pain but movements taking his new injuries into account. Before she heads off to the Return, to the Major, she turns and says one final thing to the four men.

"Secure the deck. If more fighting comes, make sure you die first."

RustyVenture

2014-09-04, 10:12 AM

After the battle is finished, Tomly retreats the poop deck. He wanted to examine the ferrotaur, but he'd have time for that later. Right now, he just wanted to sit and meditate. Shun Po, his patron diety, did not require traditional prayer. Rather daily reflection, meditation and contemplation was required of his clerics, and it was something Tomly particularly enjoyed.

Arriving on the poop deck, Tomly observes aftermath of the battle. Imperial soldiers nervously watching the ferrotaur, medics tending to the wounded, and the Major tending to the dead. That woman has seen more dead than most, yet she seemed to be the most bothered by it. That's a paladin for you, Tomly thought to himself. While Tomly himself didn't particularly care to watch his fellow Imperials perish, he knew it was a required consequence of this campaign. "May they find the answers they seek in their next life," he mutters as he sits on the poop deck, crossing his legs and closing his eyes.

The sea was much calmer now and the air was quite pleasant. Tomly works to push the day's events from his mind, and just as the thoughts begin to clear he hears a loud crunch resonating through the air, followed by the sound of raised voices. Without thinking, he jumps to his feet and immediately sees the source of the commotion: a soldier was in the midst of attacking a defenseless Shinju. "Damn it!" he curses to no one in particular. He was worried about this kind of thing, and knew it was exactly this kind of thing that could jeopardize this entire campaign. Before he can even react, however, he see's the Sergeant charge forward, chain raised in the air. Transfixed, he watches as she immediately puts a stop to the violence. She was clearly extremely upset with this display of force by the young soldier and dealt with it swiftly.

As Bella carries away the injured mage, Tomly smiles. While her reasons for stopping the violence are likely different than his own, she clearly understands it serves no purpose here. Noting the ferocity with which she acted both in the recent combat and just now, Tomly resolves to keep her under his command for as long as possible.

Confident the situation is under control, and resolving to have a chat with the violent soldier, Tomly returns to his meditation, waiting for landfall.

runehawk

2014-09-04, 11:55 AM

Vincent
Major Guo's Chambers

Saluting the Major, his men bring in the material gathered from the Angrydog[I/].

"This map maybe useful in determining our landing point Ma'am"

"I'm sure it's best left to you and the officers"

"If that is all. Command will want those [I]things for analysis. I'll help secure it"

He awaits dismissal.

blazinghand

2014-09-04, 04:37 PM

The man turns in anger at the hand on his soldier, but when he realizes it's Bella, his expression melts into fear and obedience. As she spits her words at his face, he does his best not to tremble and to stand at attention. The three others stand firmly at attention and are looking at the prisoner (now gasping on the ground) or straight ahead. Despite their disiplined stances, you can see the fear in their eyes at Bella's threat. She shoves away the man, and he stumbles and falls on his rear, before quickly getting back to his feet and standing at attention. His trembling is noticeable as he complies with the orders.

Shinju, the Kutanese Officer, stands carefully with Bella's help. He doesn't understand what just transpired, but he's not being killed any more, and for that he is grateful. His uniform is bloody and his hand is a tangled mess. His face his streaked with tears and blood. He's still afraid, and his wide eyes dart back to the soldiers. He turns towards Bella, and one of the soldiers shuffles around him, worried he's going to try something-- and he bows deeply, before he half-limps alongside her back to the brig.

Gorda takes a seat next to Tomly. "We should talk."

Gorda speaks quickly and candidly, gesticulating lightly as he shares information. "I've been listening to the Kutanese sailors and soldiers, and trying to figure out what we are up against. It looks like those creatures are pretty common in the Kutanese army. They serve as knights, leaders, and commanders. Some, but not all, can fly. All of them are capable of a very small number of spells. The creatures themselves usually have two attacking limbs made of meta, and two human limbs for fine manipulation and spellcasting. The metal limbs can move and attack independently of the bottom half, which is why they look so fast. It looks like the metal torsos are pretty much worthless at ranged combat, though the rumors tell of some of these Kutanese Ferrotaur Knights who can shoot bolts of lightning a decent range. I suspect these two are not capable of the feat, since they didn't use it against us."

RustyVenture

2014-09-04, 04:57 PM

Tomly nods, still seated on the deck. "Thank you, Gorda. I had read a report a few weeks ago about similar creatures being made by a nobleman in the Kutanese capital, but I dismissed it, figuring it was just another tale told in fear about an enemy we know little about. Clearly that is not the case."

He sighs. "Please compile a report on these ferrotaurs and share it with the other Captains as well as General Chang. I want the other ships in the fleet to be aware of what they are and what they can do. It would be best if this were done as quickly as possible to avoid the spread of misinformation and rumors. Ideally every officer is aware of these creatures and their capabilities prior to landfall." Tomly pauses a moment to consider the old man he has known his entire life. "I can already tell this is going to be a rough journey, and I truly appreciate you coming along Gorda. I know I don't have to say this, but anytime you have any insight like this, please do not hesitate to share it with me."

blazinghand

2014-09-04, 10:09 PM

Gorda nods. "I'll get right on it."

On main deck of the Angrydog, two men stand side by side and look out over the wreckage the battle has wreaked on the two ships. They both have the easy confidence of expert soldiers, even though in most ways they couldn't look less alike. They served together in the Fourth, in that long drawn-out war with the orcs. Though each of them had their own officers to tend to-- Qiu to Lt. Sanguinius, and Xiaoguang to Captain Guō, they had become friends in a way that only soldiers can know.

Qiu is tall, thin, and wiry. He seems to slouch no matter how straight he stands, but even so, he still looks unbelievably tall and narrow, like a mast on a ship with small sails. You can't help but notice his sloppiness, but it's a studied sloppiness. You don't get to be 40 as a soldier unless you have refined your craft down to an art. Anyone who saw Qiu in the battle alertly rattling off crossbow bolts at his enemies, unyieldingly raining death upon the foes of the empire, would know that his slender dishevelment covers a deadly nature.

Xiaoguang is built like a beast, with thick muscles and a bulging frame that reminds you of an untamed horse, or a wild orc. He's tall, but not like the tall man. Closer inspection reveals he's not a man at all. With that jaw and those eyes and those hands, you see the unmistakeable signs of orcish heritage. Everything about Xiaoguang is stiff and disciplined and honed. Even at ease, he seems to stand at attention, and though his armor is stained and wet, you can tell that it is well cared-for. This is not a man who would balk at killing for even a moment, when ordered to.

Qiu looks at the twin smudges of blood where Captain McAllister's hands briefly held the rail of the Angrydog. Xiaoguang notices him turning his head and follows his eyesight. Qiu remarks, "I can't believe the man is dead. The highest-ranking officer in our company from the 2nd, and we let him get killed in the first engagement of the war." He scuffs at the deck with his boot. "The brave bastard even saved the life of that kid, Ho. McAllister saw Ho get disarmed and tried to make the jump. His death distracted the beast long enough for us to start firing on it, and then it tried to flee. It was a fool move, a Captain's life for a Private's."

Xiaoguang furrows his brow. "The 2nd was sent to put down a rebellion, Magnus. That's not a job you give to officers and soldiers unless they're utterly loyal to the empire. You and I? We were sent out to the borderlands to beat back the darkness that threatens our home. Anyone can do that. Ho is from the 2nd, too, from what the Major told me. These people give their lives for The Empire without a second thought. He traded his life for that kid's, and yes, it was a fool move, but it's the kind of move that inspires loyalty. How many soldiers should die to preserve the life of a CO? That's no calculation I can make. I'm not a smart guy like Guō or Sanguinius. But I know patriotism when I see it. Fool move or no, Captain McAllister died for the Empire when he jumped to save Ho. Maybe someday Ho will do something as courageous"

Qiu snorts. "Maybe, boy. Maybe. But these old bones have seen men as courageous die for better reasons. This was a tragedy today, you'll see. Those Secondies don't like us. They'll like us even less with their man on the command staff dead. Guō, Sanguinius, Jaros, they're all Fourthers. Everyone in charge is a Fourther now, with the token Secondy gone. But our best soldiers? All Secondies. Regi, Vincent, Lee, Gresham, Wong, Ryda. Yeah, the Fourth has got you and me, and that Ginyie guy. But when it comes down to it, if I were a Secondy what I'd see here is a bunch of Fourthies commanding people they shouldn't be. Whoever's in charge upstairs can't, or won't see that. They don't know what it's like on the ground and in the barracks."

Qiu reaches into his pocket and takes out a small metal rod hands it to Xiaoguang. "Hold on to this, boy. Break it in half if you need me.

Xiaoguang looks skeptical and pockets the rod. "Nothing's going to happen, Magnus. Really. You worry too much."

Qiu just shakes his head. A dark look comes over his face as he gazes at the bloodstain that used to be Captain McAllister of the 2nd Battalion.

Calenestel

2014-09-05, 10:24 AM

Major Guō Juān

After the last resistance died down Juān was finally able to get over to the Angry Dog and care for her men. She only had to look to the prisoners to see that Vincent had that part under control - the man was proving to be an asset, maybe even officer material. So instead she looked to the losses: pointing the field medics to the wounded and tending to the dead herself. Her own background as a field medic made it natural for her to look to the wounded and she might have micro managed that a bit. But the dead were her duty now. She took careful note of each of them and sent a silent prayer to all the gods for each of them, all the while thinking of what to write in the letters she'd have to write when they were safely back on their transport ship.

For a while she is interrupted by the commotion around the prisoners but the major notices with a half-smile that de Acie Belli has it well under control. Another very loyal and very capable person under her command. But probably most suited for the life as an NCO. Maybe. Time would tell. With everything finally taken care of the commanding officer of the small and dwindling company returns to the transport, steps heavy but still powerful and with a determined set to her jaw.

Later that day:

Major Guō is busy writing letters of condolence and brooding over what to do with her officer's staff. She had lost most of her members from the second battalion and worried. Morale was a fickle thing and if there was one thing she couldn't afford it was that her small company was divided into factions. She'd have to think of something and for a while the letter lay there forgotten.
She had from the start made sure that the platoons were mixed as evenly as possible with members of the fourth and the second. In time fraternizing in the word's true meaning would meld the men into one group that didn't think of themselves as anything but members of the 24 advance recon company. But now that plan was in jeopardy. She'd have to do something...

A sudden knock on the door snaps her out of her recursive thoughts and with a sigh Juān pushes the letter to the side and raises her voice: "Enter!"

"Ah, specialist Vincent... Have a seat," the major says with a sudden smile and a strange light to her eyes when she sees who had just entered. A memory from before had suddenly sparked an idea. "The map will most certainly prove useful... but Command will have to wait just a little while. So... as I said: Have a seat."

RustyVenture

2014-09-05, 05:07 PM

After a period of quiet reflection on the poop deck, Tomly stands up. It's time to examine the ferrotaur, he thinks to himself before immediately heading for the captured beast.

He finds the ferrotaur guarded by a group of Imperial soldiers he does not recognize, all wearing insignia from the Second Battalion. As he approaches the captive, the soldiers standing guard give him an odd look, but he simply ignores them. He's used to getting weird looks, and although he's never sure if it's due to being an Intelligence officer, his status as a high-born Imperial, or something else entirely he doesn't particularly care. He was here to figure out more about what potential adversaries his allies would face on Kutan.

Tomly recalls the information provided to him by Gorda. Hoping his faithful servant is correct in assuming that this one cannot shoot lightning, Tomly stands roughly ten feet away from the wounded ferrotaur and begins to speak in flawless Kutanese. "I am Tomly of house Jaros. What is your name? What is your rank?"

Can I prepare spells again or has it not been long enough? The period of meditation can serve that purpose (Tomly was probably sitting for roughly an hour), but the reflection/meditation/prayer is something that Tomly does more than once a day anyway regardless of whether he is preparing spells or not. How much time has passed since we were first woken up in the night by the Angrydog's attack? Also, is the ferrotaur on the Return or the Angrydog?

blazinghand

2014-09-05, 06:33 PM

The Ferrotaur looks up in surprise to hear someone speaking his language. He quickly regains control of his facial expression and says, "I am Nobu of no house, Knight in the Kutanese Army."

He shifts uncomfortably in the enlarged room on the Angrydog. Despite being obviously sized for a Ferrotaur, you can only make so much space for large creatures on a boat. In the 2 hours since you were woken by the noise of battle on the Return, the Angrydog has taken a fair amount of damage. Despite the Empire's fame for craftsmanship, there's only so much even imperial shipwrights can do at open sea without a dock. Still, the vessel is seaworthy enough, and it has enough space to accomodate the captured man.

He grimaces as his shifting causes his wounds to become unsettled. "What do you want?

RustyVenture

2014-09-05, 07:19 PM

runehawk

2014-09-05, 08:01 PM

Vincent

Vincent quietly takes a seat. There is a quizzical look on his face but it passes and he sits and waits expectantly for his briefing.

blazinghand

2014-09-06, 05:07 AM

"I would like to know more about you, Nobu. You were once human, but now you are not. Who did this to you? Why did they do this? I understand you are a ferrotaur, and other knights of Kutan have become ferrotaurs like you. But what I want to know is why? Surely this was not done in anticipation of our invasion. Yet here we stand, in a Kutanese ship clearly outfitted to carry large creatures such as yourself. Why do the knights of Kutan volunteer to get their humanity stripped from them? I cannot imagine that the knights of Kutan exactly line up for the procedure."

"In short, I seek to be educated, Nobu of no house. I seek to learn about those who would become my brothers in the great Empire of Man."

Nobu seems to have eased himself into a more comfortable position. "You look at me, and you see my metal body and all you see is deformity. Do you know what I see? Do you know what I feel?" He clenches together the fingers of one of his hands together, and you hear the sound of metal grinding on metal. "I feel power. I feel domination. Today, you and your men may have bested me with your thunder-wands, but I have more stories to tell than you may ever know. Before, I was nobody, barely even noble. Now? I am a leader of soldiers, a god amongst the peasants, a knight. I have not had my humanity stripped from me. I have become something more. One day, when our stories will be told beneath the lights of the Gods' fires, my kind will be remembered for our strength."

RustyVenture

2014-09-06, 06:24 PM

Nobu seems to have eased himself into a more comfortable position. "You look at me, and you see my metal body and all you see is deformity. Do you know what I see? Do you know what I feel?" He clenches together the fingers of one of his hands together, and you hear the sound of metal grinding on metal. "I feel power. I feel domination. Today, you and your men may have bested me with your thunder-wands, but I have more stories to tell than you may ever know. Before, I was nobody, barely even noble. Now? I am a leader of soldiers, a god amongst the peasants, a knight. I have not had my humanity stripped from me. I have become something more. One day, when our stories will be told beneath the lights of the Gods' fires, my kind will be remembered for our strength."

"To say I only see deformity is simply untrue, Nobu. I do see strength, but I also see potential. Imagine your metal body, but outfitted with our thunder-wands? Imagine the stories that would be told of your strength and power then? We have much we can learn from each other, Nobu of no house."

Tomly pauses, eyeing the ferrotaur's reaction to this sentiment. "So teach me, Nobu. How many knights are like you in Kutan? Hundreds? Thousands? What is the process like to become a ferrotaur, and who oversees this? Surely there must be powerful Kutanese magic at work."

blazinghand

2014-09-06, 07:22 PM

Nobu chuckles, and the chuckle turns into a gasping cough. "Your sweetened words do not fool me, Imperial. I've seen that face a hundred times, a thousand times, a lifetime of times. You want what I have, you thirst for the might of my ferrous body. But like all the others, you hve no chance of becoming like me. Only the royal court's Archmage, Forian, can create us, and we are many, so many I do not know us all. Over a thousand, but probably not by much."

He smiles. "Do you see now? Only Kutan has this magic, and there is no way Forian would ever do this for you. You can never be like me. You soldiers are all the same, all envious of me."

RustyVenture

2014-09-06, 08:35 PM

Tomly works to contain any outward sign of laughter at Nobu's notion that he wants to be a ferrotaur. I can't imagine anything more repulsive to my very being, he thinks to himself, but if this is the angle he gives me...

Tomly does his best to put on a look of reverence and admiration. "You are correct in that I am very envious Nobu. I see how the other Kutanese soldiers look at you in awe, I see how my Imperials look at you with fear. You are a powerful creation indeed!"

"What other abilities do you ferrotaurs possess? I have heard some are capable of evoking powerful bolts lightning at will. How far can you fly? The other ferrotaur who attacked us with you, he took off in flight but was unable to get away before our soldiers knocked him from the sky. Surely you cannot fly all the way to shore from here under your own power? Tell me, Nobu, what other powers do the mighty ferrotaurs possess? I wish to know everything."

blazinghand

2014-09-06, 10:44 PM

Nobu grins. "Those of us capable of flight can fly indefinitely, even while asleep-- our metal bodies don't need sleep, so we can have our weaker selves rest while our stronger self works. Our other powers are as varied and many as the stars in the sky. The most famous of us can shoot lightning and call down thunder, yes-- but there is more than that within our abilities. Some can darken the skies to bring night to brightest day, some can generate smoke or repulse metal, and some have an array of spells and abilities of which even the greatest wizard would be envious. I have seen wonders that would bring even myself to my knees. I am but one of the least of the ferrotaurs, with no powers beyond my flight. You see, now, how hopeless your attack us? How worthless your struggles? We are many and we are powerful. Today, with all the men of two ships, you overpowered two of us. But the odds will not always be so bad for Kutan."

RustyVenture

2014-09-07, 09:07 PM

Making mental notes of all the information the ferrotaur is providing to him, Tomly endeavors to keep the ferrotaur talking. He continues to feign amazement at the information Nobu is providing.

"Incredible! But surely there must be some drawbacks to the process? After all, everything in nature has a balance. For example, I noticed that both you and your compatriot were not particularly skilled at ranged combat, although your admitted lack of spellcasting abilities may be to blame for that. There must be some flaws to balance out the raw power that is a ferrotaur."

blazinghand

2014-09-07, 10:46 PM

Nobu laughs, seemingly uproariously, before he is again interrupted by a coughing fit. He coughs blood onto his tied hands. "Ferrotaurs have no weakness, you insolent imperial mudling pig-dog! We are superior, better in every way, unstoppable by man or beast. We are the Sword of the Federation, we are justice and strength combined by magic and our own wills to become something greater than what you mere humans could ever be. Don't think you have any advantage over me. Your thunder-wands worked this time, but what happens when you face a dozen of my brothers, or a score? You are foolish to think there's any way you could be superior, your envy shows itself through your words. If we had a weakness, you might be able to justify not being like us. No, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Tomly of House Jaros. We are strictly better than who we were before. Wallow in your jealousy."

RustyVenture

2014-09-08, 05:59 PM

Figuring he's got all the information he's going to get from the ferrotaur, Tomly decides to end the discussion. He begins to chuckle. "Nobu, it truly amuses me that you believe I wish to become a ferrotaur. I can't imagine anything more repulsive to my very being! It's clear to me that you believe becoming a ferrotaur was your only path to greatness, and perhaps that may be true. But look at you now. Tied up in the hull of your own ship! There may be a legion of ferrotaurs awaiting us on Kutan; if so I await the challenge. It took just a handful of small thunder-wands to bring the both of you down. We have many larger such wands that are capable of destroying even the mightiest of ferrotaurs in one shot!"

"We also have many more ships with many more men, all equipped and capable of bringing down more ferrotaurs. By my count it took 20 men to take the two of you; we have thousands more armed and ready on our ships. When we make landfall it will be only a matter of time before we set up magical conduits for more men and supplies to come across the ocean instantly. We have powerful mages who have already studied Kutanese magic, and what you have told me of the capabilities of the best of the ferrotaurs is nothing new to me and is certainly child's play to our mages."

"Make no mistake, Nobu of no house, Kutan will become part of the Empire. All the knights of Kutan will either submit, as you have done, or be killed. The gods have willed it. Consider the fact that it stopped raining. Where is Yuraern now, Nobu? He knows, as you must know, that the inevitable has come. The great Empire of Man has come to Kutan and will bring this once-unassailable continent to its knees."

"As for you, Nobu, I pray for you. When our mages get a hold of you, they will very likely dissect you piece by piece to discover all there is to know about ferrotaurs. Perhaps that is your true ticket to greatness, Nobu: you will be the key to understanding the best of what our enemy offers us and the key to destroying the rest of your kind."

He turns toward the soldiers standing guard and quickly switches to Imperial. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but if he makes any moves to escape, kill him. Dead or alive, he will be of use to our mages. Just be sure to keep the body intact." And with that, Tomly departs the hold of the Angrydog.

Back on the Return, Tomly seeks out Gorda. When he finds him, he works with Gorda to write down all the relevant information the ferrotaur told him, including their number, their magical abilities and their endless flight. He has Gorda amend the previous report he sent to the other Captains with the additional information obtained from Nobu. Tomly also personally files this same report with Col. Xu, and includes in his ImpInt report the fact that the royal archmage Forian is the man who is creating the ferrotaurs, as well as the Kutanese attitudes of fear and reverence toward these beasts. He knows every bit of information can help the Imperial cause, and he is sure to mention that the ImpInt mages examine the imprisoned ferrotaur as soon as possible so that all knowledge can be gained from the captured knight.

blazinghand

2014-09-12, 02:02 AM

The sea is unexpectedly quiet, and for once that suits Wang Jiu Lien, Admiral and commanding officer of The 12th Fleet. She sits in her office aboard the ISS Retribution, her paperwork and communications with the naval command finally all lined up. As much work as possible had been done on the Kutanese ship, now ISS Glorious Succession, and it was outfitted with 30 cannon and enough crew and officers to act as an escort. She smiles wryly at the appointment of Lieutenant Commodore von Gundahar to the command of the Succession and the Return. He and his first mate, Rustedclasp, had earned their demotion from command of the Sword of Fei and the Winged-Goddess. A reclaimed savage vessel and a troop transport is just about right for those two, and maybe as an elite strike force the troops would actually mesh well with their personalities. She chokes out a laugh. A woman can hope, can't she?

The entire command staff of the 24th Advance company from Sergeants on up stands on the deck of the Glorious Succession. They’re joined by its new captain, the infamously intractable Al Gundy, and the captain of the Roval's Return, the deformed Captain Jiang, and their senior staffs.

Vice Admiral Zychlinski and Major General Leong also stand on the deck of ISS Glorious Succession. Zychlinkski is a pale, spherical man, almost as big around as he is tall. His great roundness requires special tailor-made uniforms and armor, and it always amazes you the man is capable of movement. Too much time spent in command eating rich food at the Imperial Court. It's somewhat surprising to see him on assignment away from his home-- he must have stepped on some toes. He grimaces and shifts his weight from one leg to another. The man is clearly not comfortable standing for long periods of time. Leong is a muscular man with a broken noise. His mouth is set into a permanent slight sneer by his facial shape, making him a singularly unattractive man to look upon.

Leong, seemingly unaware of the Vice Admiral's discomfort, continues his very slow and and monotone description of the new orders for the 24th Advance Company. There will be no replacement for Captain McAllister, and Specialist Braveheart as well as a few of the more talented soldiers from the 2nd are being transferred to another unit. It would seem that command noticed the situation brewing between the elements 2nd and the 4th Battalions sandwiched into in the 24th Advance Company and has reacted by removing the most powerful, useful secondies from the company, and keeping the fourthy-only command structure in place.

Leong begins to share intel about potential landing sites and the Kutanese defences at Segat. The Segatians are traders and merchants by nature, their port harbor allowing them easy access to the open ocean and the rest of Kutan. Despite the supposed embargo of the Kutanese Federal government on trade with the outside world, it's not uncommon for an Imperial trader to stop by from time to time. the Duke of Segat, Tanaka Watanabe, and the Mayor of Segat (Segat City the capital city of Segat Duchy, as it were-- I'll never understand these insane Kutanese naming conventions), Satou of no house, will co-operate to an extent. The plan is to sail into the harbor under the cover of night and use the shipboard cannon to knock out any siege weaponry that could damage the ships. The troop transports will get boots on the ground, and from there it should be a fairly straight shot to the castle.

Segat City has only two walls, neither of which would stand up to cannon fire. The outer wall won't be a problem for us, since we're landing inside it, but the castle wall will be an issue while we can't bring our land-based cannon to bear. We have planned for this, however, and two of our battleships, ISS Lu Zhong and ISS Following Years are capable of enhanced range bombardment which should be able to take down the gate, as Vice Admiral Zychlinski informs us...

Zychlinski, looking exquisitely pained by Major General Leong's verbosity, tries to take this opportunity to seize control of the conversation, but Leong presses onwards, blathering for several minutes about bombardment patterns before returning to the orders for the 24th Advance Company.

The 24th Advance Company, and by extension the Succession and the Return have an important role during this bombardment and the ensuing castle invasion. Our best estimates say there will be at least 40 ferrotaurs and 10 flight-capable mages in and around the Duchy of Segat. How many of those will be in Segat City, and how many of the ferrotaurs will be capable of flight we're not sure, but judging from the intel you've gathered for us, we won't be able to fight them without using magic or cannon. We can't afford to fire on our own ships, especially the Lu Zhong or the Following Years which need to remain in the best shape possible to allow us to breach the castle. Furthermore, our inability to deploy land-based cannon quickly is the other weakness of this plan. Most of our spellcasters will be in place defending our bombardment ships, which means we can't spare any arcane support for the landing troops to assist them against any shore-bound ferrotaurs.

At this point, Zychlinski's pale face has grown red with strain, and he collapses onto his corpulent rear, which amazingly only lowers his head by about a foot. The thud of his mass slapping against the deck is audible even over the wind and sea spray. A corner of Leong's mouth twitches upwards for a moment. Zychlinski looks aghast and embarrassed. Leong finishes his briefing quickly, his verbosity suddenly replaced with efficient curtness.

Your orders are to fend off the ferrotaurs while our battleships begin initial bombardment. After that, protect the landers until the troops and land-based cannon are able to defend themselves. The final step will be to raid the castle and capture our targets. They have informed us they will be on the 2nd floor from the top of the castle keep, and will attempt to surrender if possible. The ferrotaur knights act independently, but the men-at-arms at their command will follow any orders the nobles give. If it is not possible to capture Satou and Watanabe, I leave it to Major Guō's judgement.

Any questions?

Zychlinski's face seems to sag with relief that Leong's part of the briefing is over. He gets back to his feet, and seems more steady now. Is it possible the Vice Admiral hasn't found his sea legs?

BOOPYPUTT

2014-09-12, 11:28 PM

Lt. Commodore Gundahar swaggers forward to examine the men he will be transporting. He examines the soldiers closely, stopping occasionally to grasp a soldier's bicep, or tap a pronounced belly. He pauses for a moment before a female soldier, eyeing her with disdain, then spitting on the deck in front of her. He swivels on the spot to face Major General Leong, hangs one hand off a belt loop, and gestures at the soldiers with axe in hand.

"Vith ze paltry force you haf givink me, I schall be destroyink zees Eisentaurs. Zis vessel is schwift, and mobile, and vee schall be interceptink any Eisentaurs which dare to be crossink der vasser."

He hooks his axe back into its sheath, and steps closer to his commanders. He gives Zychlinski a long, disgusted look, and turns back to Leong.

"I schall be needink to make my own modifications to ze Succession before I am beink ready. I am preferrink more adjustable ketch-style sails. I schall be in my cabin, conferrink vith my first mate." He gives one last grim look at Zychlinski, "Get zis fat ****ink pig-dog off my ship or I schall be tyink him to my prow and callink him a vhale."

Zychlinski looks at Aelfryd aghast, too insulted for words, but before he can collect his anger, Aelfryd has slammed the cabin door behind him.

RustyVenture

2014-09-13, 01:39 AM

Tomly stands at thr the back of the assembled officers, listening to the Major General explain the mission details. Much of it he already knew from ImpInt reports, but the estimated number of ferrotaurs as well as the plan for taking out the castle walls was new to him. What was also new was the appointment of a new commanding officer of the ships that were to take the strike force to shore: Lt. Commodore Alfreyd Gundahar.

Tomly knew of Gundahar. A former pirate, caught and offered a place in the Imperial Navy in lieu of execution. Tomly recalled his father telling him this story as a child. It was the talk of the Imperial Court at the time, and his father strongly disapproved of the decision to grant leniency to the privateer. "If it were up to me he'd be hanging from the ramparts with the rest of the marauding scum!" Tomly recalls his father shouting to no one in particular. Tomly silently resolves to send to his father the news that he is now technically under the former-pirate's command. "He'll love that," he mutters to himself and chuckles slightly at the thought.

However Alfreyd was now supposedly a staunch supporter of the Empire, and an expansionist to boot. Tomly can't help but notice it is somewhat odd that he was given command of the strike force fleet. Most flag officers would consider such an assignment beneath them, but perhaps Admiral Wang put him here to keep him out of the way or as some kind of punishment. He wasn't sure, and he didn't particularly care, but he did hope his time in the former pirate's company would be short. He didn't care much for arrogance, especially what he perceived as undeserved arrogance by a man who was lucky to even be alive after committing crimes against the Empire.

A loud thud causes Tomly's thoughts to return to the scene at hand. Vice Admiral Zychlinkski, a very rotund and boisterous man Tomly knows well from his childhood at court, just fell flat onto the deck. Tomly works hard to stifle his mirth, but can't help it as some laughter escapes. He quickly covers it up with some coughing, more as a courtesy to the fallen man rather than concern for what others would think.

After Major General Leong wraps up her briefing, Tomly watches the new CO appraise some of the assembled soldiers and insult the Vice Admiral. How this pirate not only survived but prospered in the Navy is beyond me, Tomly thinks to himself, but better out here than at Court. Clearly the Commodore's lack of tact would not serve him well back at the capital!

PersonMan

2014-09-13, 02:11 AM

Bella stands at attention for the briefing, saving away every tidbit of information on the plan to take the port. As always, she says nothing - during the actual briefing she's obviously completely silent, even as the Vice Admiral falls she acknowledges it as much as she does the movement of this ship. Which is to say, not at all, beyond making sure it isn't a threat. Even when the question comes, opening the possibility of asking for more information, Bella says nothing. She doesn't have questions - the plan is complete, and her role in it clear. As the captain steps forward, she turns her attention to him, eyeing the man with a mixture of apathy and attention. His brief inspection complete, the man speaks, Bella listens, and then he leaves. Noting his attitude, she looks over to the remaining commanding officers to see if they have more to say.

Calenestel

2014-09-14, 02:45 AM

Guō Juān

Major Guō stands at attention with the rest of her staff while the major general gives his wordy briefing. More of a speech actually. After the battle she had hardly been seen without her armour and while it was polished to a shine she looks more ready for battle than the senior commanders in front of her. Not that it was a challenge when it came to the rotund vice-admiral.
Even to those who know only fleetingly the major looks especially stone-faced today. And to the men and woman of her command staff it was small wonder. She had requested that she was allowed to pick one or two new men from the ranks of the second to join her staff to make up for the losses and she had requested that Vincent would be promoted for his actions on the Angry Dog. It had all been denied. For some reason they hadn't even deigned to trust her with how to handle her own company. It galled her something fierce. Not because of personal prestige (well maybe a little, she'd have to admit in the name of honesty) but because it jeopardized her company's ability to carry out it's Duty.

So she stood there with a stony face and listened to a windbag never getting to the point and watched a ball of grease slump more and more until he... it collapsed on the deck. She barely managed to stop herself from shaking her head in disgust but at least the major general hurried up a bit at that point. When the briefing, and now it could actually be called that (thank Arkhanya!), was ended the major salutes crisply and answers: "No, sir! No questions! We are to form the vanguard in the landing. We protect the ships from ferrotaur attacks until the major landing party lands, then we switch to protecting the debarkation, sir!

When the captain of the Glorious Succession insults the vice-admiral in that weird accent of his and stomps off major Guō gives him a hard look. Not that she didn't agree with the man's assessment but that man was undisciplined to the point where he was a likely liability. She'd have to watch that one carefully. For the time being she stays at attention, though. And she makes no move to dismiss her staff or her company. She'd have to speak with the men when the higher-ups were out of earshot.

The look the vice-admiral gives Gundahar as the captain leaves almost makes her smile, though. Almost.

blazinghand

2014-09-16, 01:32 AM

On Deck

Vice Admiral Zychlinski turns, red-faced, back to the main group. Flushing with exertion and anger, he begins to speak, but is cut off by Leong.

Vice Admiral Zychlinski, I'm amazed you let yourself be spoken to like that, especially by the notoriously insubordinate Gundy. If I were in your position, I'd have him relieved of command immediately, says Leong.

Zychlinski sputters for a moment, then collects himself. My hands are tied by Naval Command, Leong. You know that as well as I do. I know there's no love lost between you and Gundy, but that doesn't mean I have to risk my position to help you. If you want to discuss this furhter, we can do so in private.

War Room of the Succession

As the naval officers are dismissed (Jiang seemed unusually keen to get off of the Succession, Major General Leong calls a meeting of the 24th Advance Company's command staff and enters the war room of the Succession. Lt Sanguinius, Lt Jaros, and Major Guō file in and are offered seats. Leong dismisses his aide.

Leong frowns. I'll make this brief. I understand your requests for additional officers, and I tried to pass it up along the chain of command. I advocated on your behalf, but there won't be any transfers happening before the next battle. I don't know what Army command is thinking, combining units from two battalions like this, or drawing the entire command staff from the Fourth.

I know you have a lot on your hands, so here's what I can offer you. Once the battle starts, or after the battle, you can promote Vincent like you requested. Right now he's on the Specialist Track, but if you promoted him to Sergeant, I'll approve it. Do it during the battle or during the aftermath, and there won't be any contesting it.

On Deck

Gorda sidles up to Vincent, leaning heavily on the rail. For a moment, there's a silence between the two of them, then he says, I think we both know things won't go as smoothly as planned. You worked for ImpInt, didn't you? You must know, these Ferrotaurs are only the tip of the iceberg. What else are we up against?

On Deck

Xiaoguang and Qiu, together as usual, are chatting with some soldiers near Bella. All the soldiers are Fourthies, of course, and Bella knows them well. Ginyie, the marksman-- a better shot than Magnus, if the stories are true. His dark skin suggests he's from the south, but he speaks with a proper Capitol accent. Lewis, Grue, and Huang are all unexceptional men, but chatty enough, and eager to hear the discussion between two of the best marksmen in the 4th. Huang and Grue are under Bella's command. After a discussion of how awful it will be working with Lt. Commodore Aelfryd von Gundahar, the soldiers turn to bragging about their prowess with firearms. Eventually they're debating whether Ginyie or Qiu is a better shot.

Ginyie chuckles. A contest, then? The man who downs the most soldiers in the coming battle wins.

Qiu looks annoyed. Let's up the stakes, boyo. If you're as good as they say you are, this won't be interesting unless we go for a real challenge. The man who downs the most Ferrotaurs wins.

Lewis, Grue, and Huang all pale at the mention of the Ferrotaur. Ginyie shakes his head. Look, Qiu, I know you're a bear-wrestling kind of guy, but Ferrotaurs-- that's one bear I don't want to wrestle. You saw what happened to that secondie, Xiao. Those creatures will rip any of us apart in an instant.

Qiu frowns. They're not invulnerable. Enough musket fire can bring them down. We saw that three days ago.

Command Room of the Succession

Urist Rustedclasp is sitting in the command room of the Succession as Aelfryd von Gundahar bursts in and slams to door behind him. Urist is polishing his compass and examining the chart in front him, and acknowledges Aelfryd entrance with a wordless grunt, not looking up from his work. It's the kind of grunt that only passes between two men who know each other well enough that such things as greetings and everyday banter are not necessary. Urist and Aelfryd have fought horrors and barbarians and pirates and anything other than a wordless grunt would be far too formal for the first mate and the captain.

BOOPYPUTT

2014-09-16, 02:03 AM

Aelfryd sits at the table across from Urist. He glances curiously at the maps his first mate is pouring over, then pulls out his whetstone and begins sharpening his axe.

"I vill be needink you to be handlink a few thinks before ve are departink ze fleet, Urist." Neither man nor dwarf look up from their work, and the first mate prompts his captain to continue with a simple grunt.

"Ve vill be needink to be keepink ze infernal komm kontraption, but I vant you to be strippink ze Succession of other devices. Ze fire suppresants, ze lights, everysing must be goink. I vill not have any more vitchkraft on zis vessel zan is absolutely necessary. Ve schall handle such thinks ze old fashioned way, as true sailors ought to."

Aelfryd unpins the obscene communications clasp from his uniform, and tosses it into his satchel. The thought of having such hocus-pocus so close to his heart makes his skin crawl.

"Ze Succession is kurrently manned by Kutanese slaves. Zis vill not do. Bring ze boys over from ze Sturmkralle, and set ze day and night schifts. Ve vill also be needink to modify ze sails, Kutanese design is gaudy and fat. I vant ze succession to move like a kat across ze vasser. Reinforce ze ram as vell, I plan to be usink it."

"Mmph," replies Urist.

runehawk

2014-09-17, 10:45 AM

Vincent

Vincent stood at attention with the rest of the men as the MG addressed the 24th Advance. He hadn't been in a good mood. Mcallister was dead. Other 2nd Officers and men were being transferred out. Men he knew and worked with. Plenty of recon troopers. He'd said farewell to Regi earlier. The 4th were alright but mainly engineers and heavy infantry with some ImpInt mages - analysts possibly rather than field operatives if he were any judge. It made no sense to him and only threatened his cover as he wasn't truly a reconnaissance specialist.

He'd sent off a coded message through normal channels. It'd take forever for them to get it and he was doubtful anything would be done about it. He was pretty sure his covert status was the only reason he hadn't been transferred out.

This is primarily a reconnaissance mission. Being deployed to both combat Ferrotaurs and disable cannons whilst removing men capable of scouting ahead made no sense to him

This disorganisation seemed atypical of the Empire's usual ruthless efficiency. The hushed silence brought his focus back. From the berating the MG was giving the vice-admiral, he assumed the new Ship's CO had just been insubordinate.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LATER...

Vincent was surprised to see Gorda sidle up to him as he stood staring idly.

"ImpInt?...Me?", he laughs.

"Not sure what you heard Gorda. I'm a listed man just like you. You were there at the briefing. That's all I know. Charge the beach. No Mage support. Ferrotaurs galore. Also Kutanese Mages. Fun"
he sounds flippant but Gorda can probably tell his mood is a little morose.

"I dunno about you but wouldn't sneaking into the castle and setting up cannons in there be a better idea while the ferrotaurs are distracted by the frontal assault?"

"Maybe nudge the CO a little. Some actionable intel from that thing we captured. Some mage to set up a portal and we can hold the castle long enough to take the city"

blazinghand

2014-09-20, 02:59 AM

Three Days Later

The 12th fleet has made good time. The attack on Segat has been meticulously planned, from the formation of the ships to the angle and time of attack. The 12th Fleet attacks just before dusk, coming from the west with the sun at your backs, unseen by the Segatian sentries. ISS Lu Zhong, ISS Following Years, and ISS Retribution make up the core of the fleet, each of them a Tier 1 Battleship with 6 masts and over a hundred guns. They're escorted and protected by a Tier 2 Battleship, ISS Invincible, as well as several cruisers and smaller ships, including ISS Roval's Return and ISS Glorious Succession. The Lu Zhong and the Following Years are under the effect of some kind of lensing, warping magic, and their cannons seem longer and distorted as they swing around to aim their broadsides at the cities and the castles. This is the famed enhanced bombardment effects in action. The Retribution is set up differently, its decks covered with old-style dragonslayer cannons, aimed skywards and loaded with a variety of ammunition designed for battle against flying enemies.

The rest of the fleet is moving at full speed directly into the harbor, hoping to unload troops and scatter defenders before a serious counterattack can get underway. The comms of all the ships are alive with orders, reports, and updates. Any moment now, the Tier 1 Battleships will come into range with their long guns and battle will be joined. The soldiers on board the Return and the Succession hold onto their half-cocked weapons and look at each other nervously. The 24th Advance Company will be taking part in all major parts of the invasion, and will probably be going up against Ferrotaurs all three times. Do these secondies and fourthies have what it takes to kill such powerful enemies?

Spellcasters should mention what spells they have prepared. Make sure to state which ship you're on and what you're doing, and how many soldiers you bring with you, who you're commanding, and what their orders are. The Succession has comms but no light systems or anti-fire systems. The Return has comms, light systems, and anti-fire systems. Both ships are outfitted with about 20 surface-to-surface cannon each and have the crew to use them.

RustyVenture

2014-09-20, 06:31 PM

*The previous day*
Tomly made sure to remain aboard the Roval's Return. The new CO of the ships carrying the 24th Advance Company, Lt. Commodore Gundahar, had ordered the newly outfitted Glorious Succession's magical anti-fire and light riggings removed. Tomly couldn't think of a more foolish thing to do. Thankfully, Gorda's keen eye had noticed what the dwarven first-mate was doing and mentioned it to Tomly. Tomly made sure the same protections weren't removed from the Return (and he figured some of the other sailors had fought for the same protections). The idea that those magical devices could be dangerous was absurd, and the last thing Tomly thought a CO should be doing is sowing distrust of the equipment that had surely saved lives during the previous battle with the ferrotaurs.

While biding his time awaiting the day of landfall, Tomly made a few preparations. To begin, he prepared and cast Deeper Darkness on his family signet ring before placing it back in his Handy Haversack. He also restocked his powder cartridges spent in the battle with the ferrotaurs. Finally, he enjoyed a nice meal on the deck of the Return with Gorda, trading rumors about the upcoming attack as well as news from back at Court.

*Present Day*
Tomly waits on the deck of the Return with the rest of the soldiers. He is sure to remain close to the Sergeant Bella de Acie Belli after witnessing her prowess in the battle of the ferrotaurs, and also so that he may issue commands to the soldiers through her when needed. As the battle is about to begin, he simply takes a deep breath and hopes that they can make it to land without much hassle.

BOOPYPUTT

2014-09-20, 09:27 PM

Lt. Commodore Aelfryd Von Gundahar stands on the poop deck of the ISS Glorious Succession, wearing his full Commodore's uniform, breastplate, and plumed helmet. He even wears the decorative golden knots and medals of his rank, which most officers only wear for formal occasions. He breathes in sharply, smiling at the intermingling scent of salty sea air and gunpowder. Urist Rustedclasp's heavy footsteps bring Gundahar out of his revelry, and the first mate's gruff "Mmph" tells Aelfryd that he is here for the pre-battle report.

"You haff makink ze modifikations I am rekvestink?" Gundahar asks, as he steers the ship more southerly than the rest of the fleet. "Mmph" replies Urist. "And ze Dragonfire Kannon is installed in ze cargo hold, vith ze liftink platform?" Another grunt tells the Commodore that everything is as he requested.

"Goot," say the Commodore, "Ve vill be foolink ze eisentaurs into thinkink ve are an easy target, zen ve shall be raising ze cannon and unleashing ze hell upon ze ostrich-****ers. Haff two ranks of soldiers report to serve on ze deck as small arms support against eisentaurs and boardink parties. Haff a water barrel and some buckets put on each deck for fires, and be doublink up on ze gun deck, vun barrel aft and vun fore.

He turns and looks at the ISS Roval's Return, lumbering behind. I shall be unleashink such fury zat ze eisentaurs cannot be ignorink me, and zat shall buy ze ground troops enuff time to be landink. If I am to die zis day, let me die killing filthy Kutanese pig-dogs for ze glorious Empire of Man.

PersonMan

2014-09-21, 04:06 AM

So this'd be while Guo is taking care of the your-guy-died letters.

Earlier that week

After a slight knock, Bella silently enters the Major's office, a handful of papers that seemed to have been carefully torn from a book in one hand. Walking to the paladin's desk, she places them on it without a word. On each page is a charcoal drawing of one of the fallen - most of them are in everyday scenes from the time at sea. Some of them aren't the focus of the picture, but all are clearly recognizable. At the bottom of each are a handful of numbers; a date and another which ranges from almost 241 to as low as 011.

"For the families," Bella says after a few moments, shifting slightly in place. Despite whatever drove her to do this, she's clearly not comfortable.

Before the attack

Bella is on the deck of the Return, having prepared precisely the number of soldiers sh was ordered to or however many are planned to move on her command. Although she's sure to pass on any and all information she receives that is important for them, she doesn't seem to have any plans of her own for them apart from 'follow the plan and attack head on'. As always, Bella is entirely calm, an aura of utter confidence in the success of their attack seeming to fill the air around her. A particularly perceptive soldier might notice that, despite her descriptions of how they would advance and defeat all enemy forces they met (her contingency for things like enemy reinforcements being 'kill more of them', for example), she doesn't address the topic of losses at all, and that her confidence isn't necessarily in the success of her and her troops, but the attack as a whole.

blazinghand

2014-09-24, 06:19 AM

More preparations

Major Guō
Writing letters and preparing for battle, Major Guō mentally and physically prepares for the fight ahead. Xiaoguang relays her orders, and quickly the force distributions are figured out. 20 soldiers, led by Vincent-- she'll promote him to Sergeant First Class on the battlefield and hopes it sticks-- will be on board the Succession. She'll command the main group on the Return, because it's better equipped to hold them, and the captain isn't insane.

Lieutenant Julius Sanguinius
Sanguinius relays his orders, and prepares his spells for the day. He'll stay on the Return and be prepared to do battle with Ferrotaurs.
0 - Dancing Lights, Light, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand; 1 - Charm Person, Floating Disk, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Enfeeblement, Mage Armor; 2 - Fog Cloud, Scorching Ray, Scorching Ray; 3 - Fly, Fly, Suggestion

Vincent
Vincent is on board the Succession, preparing for his first time in command of any unit. The soldiers assigned to him are all Secondies like himself, and seem pleased to be commanded by a comrade.

Cohorts
Xiaoguang and Gorda are on board the Return, embedded in their units. Magnus is on the Succession, ready to put his repeater crossbow to good use. Urist spends most of the time putting together a covering for the dragonslayer cannon mounted on the deck of the Succession. Although he doesn't manage to fully hide the cannon, he gets it to look pretty convincingly like a barrel with some rope wound around it.

Fleet Action

The 12th Fleet comes closer to land, the ships are masked in shifting mists and illusory blue walls as close to the color of the sea and sky as the magicians can get it. It uses a lot of juice, but just as the sun is setting, the 12th Fleet essentially sales directly into Segat's harbor without raising the alarm. Then, at a seemingly impossible distance, the Lu Zhong and the Following Years come around to begin bombardment. About a fifth of the fleet, including the Retribution, outfitted for anti-dragon combat, stays back to guard the Tier 1 Battleships. ISS Roval's Return comes about and circles behind the Tier 1 Battleships. Jiang is eager to stay near the capital ships and carry out his mission.

The rest of the fleet flits across the water towards the docks, ready to erupt an army of Imperials onto the docks. The first and second broadside from the capital ships are aimed at the ships in dock, and now the guns are turning towards the castle. For a few minutes, the steady firing of the Lu Zhong and Following Years is the only sign of battle any of you can sense. Isn't an invasion supposed to be more exciting? Well, some soldiers look bored, but the more experienced ones are tense and ready to fight. The counter attack could happen any moment.

It doesn't take long for the first response from the Kutanese.

For once, you see the enemy coming. Three separate troop transports aim their Illuminators skywards, painting a flying ferrotaur with bright light. He's heading into the sun, but somehow he's got a good idea of where the barrage is coming from. He flies high over most of the fleet and begins to descend as he gets closer to you. He's still about a quarter of a mile away.

The FerrotaurThe Ferrotaur is carrying a massive shield in one metallic hand, large enough to cover about half his metal body were he to hold it in front of himself. The other metallic arm isn't an arm at all, but some kind of cruel barbed and spiked chain whip, dangling below him as he flaps his wings.
The Ferrotaur's upper arms are carrying a heavy crossbow. His flesh body is wearing an orange officer's uniform, and his metal body is painted with a some kind of sigil.
The crossbow looks like an inferior non-repeating model. It will require reloading between every shot.
The marking on the Ferrotaur's chest is the mark of a noble house. He is a landed Knight.
It's the mark of House Tsuda, which rules a few small towns near Segat.

The Docks
It looks like fighting has broken out on the docks, but you can't make out any Ferrotaurs from here.

It will be some time before the Ferrotaur is in range of the Dragonslayer Cannons, but he's coming nonetheless.

Battle is joined!

BOOPYPUTT

2014-09-24, 04:40 PM

The Succession moves forward swiftly on the wind, with the Return lumbering behind. Aelfryd nods down to Urist on the quarterdeck, who nods back. Urist nods to the Oarmaster in turn, who begins to beat a tempo for the oarsmen.

DUM BUM DUM BUM

Oars slide out their slots on both sides of the succession, and it shoots ahead of the fleet. Aelfryd steers the ship southerly, and Urist looks up at his captain with a confused look, "Mmph?"

DUM BUM DUM BUM

Gundahar smiles, and looks to the sky. "I haf beink here before, many years ago. Zere is beink a strong south vind, vich cuts across ze bay before turnink vest back to ze sea. Ve shall ride it to move sviftly across ze bay." Aelfryd moves into the bay, and as soon as he feels the wind on his face, he steers hard to port. The Succession is swift and numble, and the modified jib steers easily. He aligns the ship with the gale, and lets out a holler, "Ze vind is at our backs, If ze Kutanese are thinkink zey know speed, zey are beink wrong!" Urist nods again to the Oarmaster, signalling him to pick up speed

DUM BUM DUM BUM DUM BUM DUM BUM

The Succession lurches forward as the wind catches in the sails, and then shoots like an arrow across the bay. The ship moves within range of the city, and Gundahar shouts with a volume few men could muster, "FIRE ALL ZE STARBOARD KANNONS!" A loud cascade of BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM answers his cry, bombarding the city with reckless abandon, and no mind for targets. Cannonballs crash into markets, homes, storehouses, and ships alike. The Succession's swift sweep of the bay bombards much of the city, before the wind pushes it out toward the sea.

"If zat does not call ze ire of ze Eisentaurs, I am not knowink vat vill."

runehawk

2014-09-25, 09:00 AM

Vincent

Vincent sees the sole ferrotaur officer charging into the main fleet but it is too far for him to do anything about. He also notes that there is an absence of ferrotaurs on the shore.

"Guns at the ready!!" he orders.

He'd issued his orders to his squad. Every man had to buddy up and prepare to repel boarders while the navy commenced bombardment. Anyone who could sling a spell was ordered to cast at will.

Vincent had a an alarming thought.
If the ferrotaurs weren't in the air..... a submerged enemy action might be in order. Even squids wouldn't be able to handle masses of magic resistant ferrotaurs

RustyVenture

2014-09-25, 09:59 AM

On board the Return, Tomly watches quietly as the bombardment commences. So it begins, he thinks to himself. As the Return comes about and points almost directly into the wind to maintain its position with the Tier 1 ships, Tomly notices the Glorious Succession break ranks and begin to tear across the Bay.

"I hope Gundahar knows what he's doing," Tomly mutters under his breath, shaking his head, "the man is quite literally a loose cannon. We need those troops in the 24th Advance so hopefully he doesn't get any of them killed." He looks toward Major Guo to see if she sees the Glorius Succession tearing across the Bay. Surely the paladin can't be pleased with the Commodore's plan!

Just then, he notices the Illumanitors shining on a lone ferrotaur up in the sky. Where's the rest of the flying host, he wonders uneasily, but nothing we can do yet. Hopefully the dragonslayer cannons can make short work of him before he tries anything crazy.

blazinghand

2014-09-25, 07:31 PM

Glorious Succession
Just as Aelfryd predicted, there's a strong south wind, blowing up along the bay. The Succession pulls away from the reserve fleet, flitting away on the strength of oar and limb, abandoning its post protecting the Lu Zhong and the Following Years. AS it pulls closer to the shore, its cannons rumble with indiscriminate fire as it rains projectiles onto Segat's coast and dock districts. several buildings are punctured, and a few collapse. It's hard to make out what exactly is being hit, but it's entirely plausible that a military building may have neen damaged alongside all the crushed civilian buildings.

The entire sweep will take about a half hour, but after just a few minutes, the city is alive with the sound of bells and horns. They know they're under attack, now.

Vincent and his squad of 20 soldiers stand ready on the deck, alert, armed, and ready to fire. Vincent keeps his eye on the Ferrotaur, which has noticed their ship breaking formation and firing on the civilians. His soldiers are scattered around the deck, and Magnus is on the forecastle.

Roval's Return
Captain Jiang has a brief and forceful discussion with the comms officer, and stays in formation. Whatever Jiang tried to communicate to Lt Commodore Gundahar, it must not have convinced him. Jiang keeps the Return in formation, with eyes on the Ferrotaur.

Ferrotaur
After about ten minutes of the Succession bombarding various random buildings in the town, The Ferrotaur changes direction, despite having almost reached the reserve fleet. It's now heading towards the succession, and moving quickly-- much more quickly than when it was approaching the reserve fleet. It soars towards the landers and the Succession. It's about a hundred feet in the air and a quarter-mile from the succession and the landing fleet. Although it was within the theoretical range of the Dragonslayer cannons, the Retribution hasn't opened fire yet.

Main Fleet
The main fleet is drawing closer to the docks-- they're close enough that their own cannons and muskets are now firing on the soldiers that are starting to gather on the docks, and soon they'll start unloading soldiers. A flock of arrows, flaming and non-flaming, rise from the town, but fail to damage any ships that you can see. In these small beginnings of combat, the Empire has the advantage.

runehawk

2014-09-26, 05:54 AM

Vincent

"INCOMING!!"

He points at the ferrotaur and hopes the Succession's sailors will man cannons and blast it.

He draws his loaded gun and waits for it to get into range. He will switch to his mindblades once it is confirmed to be magic resistant

blazinghand

2014-09-26, 06:47 PM

Magnus moves up next to Vincent. Again, you can't help but imagine the man is barely held in place by his weight, that he might be blown away by a gust of wind. his jacket is tied back at the bottom and is bulging over the bulk of his Imperial-issue padded armor. He cradles his repeater crossbow in his arm and loads 5 bolts into it. The repeater crossbow is yet another advantage the Empire has over the barbarians. Whereas the Kutanese have yet to design a big crossbow that can be fired repeatedly, the Empire's mechanics and engineers have mastered the art of producing repeater crossbows easy enough for peasants to use. Kutan will have to sink years into training each and every ranged attacker, but you can hand a crossbow or musket to any peasant, give them a month of boot camp, and remind them to point the business end at the enemy, and as long as they're led by a good officer, the Empire can easily train up massive armies of ranged attackers. The repeating crossbow isn't as noble a weapon as a firearm, but it fires more quickly and is silent.

A grimace crosses the skinny man's face, and his slouch changes into something else, a skulk, at attention and yet making himself small. The other soldiers give him plenty of berth, not quite trusting the 4th Battalion's famous sharpshooter. "Sergeant, we should fire on him early, when he's still at least a tenth of a li away. Give the soldiers time to fix bayonets. These Ferrotaur fellows are pretty rough up close, we'll need to be ready."

The Secondies eye Magnus with disdain as he makes this suggestion.

runehawk

2014-09-27, 11:26 PM

Vincent

Vincent was scowling at the sailors who had not reacted to the inbound ferrotaur.
He did not disagree with Magnus. He'd seen 2 ferrotaurs slaughter many good men.

The problem was not everyone carried crossbows.
Looking at the crossbowmen in his squad. He gives a nod of acknowledgement to Magnus.
Magnus was a specialist and Vincent had recommended he operate at his own discretion.
Part of him wished he could do the same but these men needed a squad leader to co-ordinate them.

"Crossbows!! Hold!! Hold!! Hold!!..."

He waits until the ferrotaur is in crossbow range and then give the order to fire.
He will repeat the order of reload and fire until it is within gunshot range and then get the gunwielders to co-ordinate a fixed pattern of ranged firing as they had been drilled.

Sorry. I assumed everyone carried guns and were limited to a shorter range. Thanks for the hint.

The damn ship's mage better start casting..

blazinghand

2014-09-29, 06:19 PM

Succession
A volley of projectiles lances up to greet the descending Ferrotaur, then another as the soldiers reload.

Several of the attack miss or are deflected off of the beast's armor or shield. A couple strike true, gouging his body and sending spurts of dark blood or liquid slashing through the air. As the Ferrotaur closes the last of the distance, the gunfire ceases for a moment and the soldiers fix bayonets or draw their swords. The ferrotaur swings around, stabbing his long chain-arm down to impale one soldier, who drops to the deck in a pool of blood. As he turns to make another pass, the hidden dragonslayer cannon is unveiled and it fires a single shot up at the Ferrotaur, catching it in the wing, tearing it off the creature's torso.

The Ferrotaur comes tumbling to the deck, but somehow lands on his feet amidst a group of 3 soldiers. You can see him up close, now-- the sigil-painted lower torso, the orange officer's uniform up top, and the heavy crossbow in his biological hands. His large shield shield and spiked chain whip arm are menacing in the light of the sunset. Blood blacker than the night seeps from the stump where one of his wings was, dripping onto the deck by his three-toed feet. He scowls, and raises his crossbow and his two metal arms, ready for battle!

Return
Your attention is drawn by the Ferrotaur's descent to the Succession, but you're on guard as the water explodes around you in plumes of mist and ocean spray. Four Ferrotaurs come out of the water-- two go for the Following Years, and two land on the deck of the Return. Although the emergence surprises you, it takes the Ferrotaurs a moment to gather their wits as well. You get a good look at them.

The first Ferrotaur is a tall woman holding a wand in one human hand and a regular-sized metal shield in the other, which protects and covers much of her upper body. Her hair is cut short, and she is wearing a helm made of some gold metal. Her lower metallic body sports 3 arms rather than two. One curls out from the back of the torso, where you would normally see wings on a ferrotaur. It holds a massive sword. The two that come out of the lower pair of shoulders are less traditional. Each of them starts off as a spiked chain assembly, but instead of ending in a massive spike-ball at the end as you've seen on other ferrotaurs with this limb, each end is a ball joint with three multi-segmented spikes coming out of it, equidistant around the ball and curled inwards to form a sinister grasp. Looking at the tips of each of those jointed spikes, you shudder to imagine what they are capable of. The spikes pull apart and together like a man twiddling his fingers, but infinitely less reassuring. The ferrotaur's torso is armored differently than the ones you've seen before, but you're not sure how exactly. Looking down at the feet, you don't see the familiar massive 3-toed metal blocks you're used to, but instead a set of 8 metal tentacles, like an octopus forged in steel. Despite their metallic appearance, these tentacles seem to move and grasp and bend without any noticeable joints, like the biological limbs they are based off of.

The second ferrotaur looks like he was a Dwarf before the change, and he is holding a long spear in his upper hands. His upper body is wearing the same. He thankfully has only two lower limbs. One holds a large shield, large even for a Ferrotaur-- enough to completely hide his body behind if it's positioned properly. It looks like that hand is struggling to move the shield around well, but it potentially protects him a great deal. The other hand holds a massive trident with a haft once and again as long as a man is tall, with a sharp point and runes running down the length of it. It glows a soft purple in the day's dying light. His torso is also armored differently, in the same way the way the gold-helmed ferrotaur's is, and he too has the octopus legs.

Battle is joined!

Initiative Order on the Succession:
Vincent
Urist
Ferrotaur
Aelfryd
Magnus, Soldiers, Sailors

Initiative Order on the Return:
Bella
Julius
Dwarf Ferrotaur
Helm Ferrotaur
Tomly
Juān
Gorda, Xiaoguang, Soldiers, Sailors

PersonMan

2014-09-29, 11:50 PM

Bella watches the battle begin, readying her chain as the ferrotaur falls from the air onto the deck of the Succession. She's somewhat agitated, both by the behavior of the other ship and by the fact that her own has not come under attack. Would there not be any true fighting for her until she got to the shore? The thought almost makes her frown, but instead she does nothing, until the ferrotaurs emerge from the waters near the ship. In a single motion she looks at both, taking in everything she can with a split second of observation before her chain whips to life in her hands. She points to the wand-wielding ferrotaur, then moves forwards, more cautious than in the last battle, stopping just inside the striking range of her meteor hammer but not swinging it at the Kutanese yet. For the time being she simply stares into her eyes, a smile beginning to form on her lips.

Move up until I'm in range to attack the Helm Ferrotaur.

Ready an action to attack, then 5' step back, if she moves towards me or uses the wand.

blazinghand

2014-10-01, 02:14 AM

Return
Bella moves up to the Helm Ferrotaur, her weapon ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Julius waves his hands and casts a spell, shooting forth a beam of destruction, horribly burning the helm ferrotaur. Its skin cooks in its shell and its metal melts away against the fiery heat of the burning lance that spears it. Blood flows, then coagulates, then burns and vaporizes in an instant, cauterizing the wound and sending a fine mist of blood-steam out from behind the Ferrotaur. Amazingly, the beast is still standing.
0 - Dancing Lights, Light, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand; 1 - Charm Person, Floating Disk, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Enfeeblement, Mage Armor; 2 - Fog Cloud, Scorching Ray, Scorching Ray; 3 - Fly, Fly, Suggestion

The Dwarf Ferrotaur stabs out with his trident at a nearby soldier, a southern woman holding a musket. She deftly manages to avoid the attack, moving into the shadow of his shield. She suddenly finds herself impaled on the longspear, which lances down from over the shield at an angle that would be impossible for a normal humanoid. The spear pulls out of her and she falls to her knees, coughing up blood-- conscious, but barely.

The Helmed Ferrotaur turns away from the kneeling woman and regards Bella. "Charging into battle with a Ferrotaur. What foolhardy courage! I will kill you, then come after you idioic mage" She coughs blood and dark liquid, and though she does not bleed from her wound, you can tell it has slowed her down greatly. She raises her wand and points it at herself, and suddenly finds herself attacked by the meteor hammer.

Meteor Hammer Attack [roll0]
Meteor Hammer Damage [roll1]
Meteor Hammer Crit Attack [roll2]
Meteor Hammer Crit Damage [roll3]

The attack nearly knocks her off her feet, and she is dazed for a moment. The Helmed Ferrotaur spits on the ground before her and curses. "Imperial dog! I shall enjoy gutting you!" Although she seems stunned by the attack, as if by its own accord, the lower body steps forward and swings the two sinister segmented-spike ball chains at Bella, while the third metallic arm brandishes the massive sword at a nearby soldier.

Spike Ball Attack [roll4]
Spike Ball Damage [roll5]
Spike Ball Crit Attack [roll6]
Spike Ball Crit Damage [roll7]

Bella is struck by the first attack, a powerful blow as the sharp "fingers" of the spike-ball slash at her.

2nd Spike Ball Attack [roll8]
2nd Spike Ball Damage [roll9]
2nd Spike Ball Crit Attack [roll10]
2nd Spike Ball Crit Damage [roll11]

She swings her Meteor Hammer around again and uses it to parry the next attack, stepping towards the outside of the arc and throwing the ball off balance.

Sword Attack [roll12]
Sword Damage [roll13]
Sword Crit Attack [roll14]
Sword Crit Damage [roll15]

The young soldier sneaking up on the Ferrotaur from behind is not so lucky. He tries to parry the attack from the arm on the Ferrotaur's back, but finds his sword-arm severed at the elbow. He falls to the deck, screaming in pain. Blood is everywhere, and he won't be conscious, or alive, much longer.

Initiative Order on the Succession:
Vincent <--- here
Urist
Ferrotaur
Aelfryd
Magnus, Soldiers, Sailors

Initiative Order on the Return:
Bella
Julius
Dwarf Ferrotaur
Helm Ferrotaur
Tomly <--- here
Juān
Gorda, Xiaoguang, Soldiers, Sailors

blazinghand

2014-10-01, 02:15 AM

Touch attack [roll0]

RustyVenture

2014-10-01, 07:22 AM

Tomly regards the scene before him. Two soldiers were already down and dying, but Tomly knew getting close enough to heal them would mean he'd be within range of the ferrotaurs' many armed limbs. Instead he resolves to stop the beasts from doing any more damage.

"Soldiers! Follow your Sergeant's lead and be sure to prevent the one with the helmet from using that wand to heal herself or the other one!" Tomly bellows to the assembled troops on deck. Turning to the dwarven ferrotaur, he gathers his thoughts and points at the beast, muttering the words necessary to cast Hold Person.

Caster level check if it has SR: [roll0]

runehawk

2014-10-01, 11:32 AM

Vincent

Cursing, Vincent Lines up his gun and fires.

Pistol= [roll0]
Damage = [roll1]
Declare Dodge vs Ferrotaur.

blazinghand

2014-10-01, 04:18 PM

Succession

The Ferrotaur has his large shield in front of him already, and Vincent's shot deflects off of the angled shield. Urist grabs control of the helm, and draws a pistol with his free hand. The Ferrotaur roars and lunges forwards, swinging his spiked chain-whip at Vincent, going for Vincent's pistol.

Ferrotaur Disarm: [roll0]
Vincent Anti-Disarm: [roll1]

The pistol goes clattering to the deck. The Ferrotaur grins wickedly and uses his upper arms to bring his crossbow to bear on Vincent. He fires.

Crossbow Attack: [roll2]
Crossbow Damage: [roll3]
Crossbow Crit Attack: [roll4]
Crossbow Crit Damage: [roll5]

The shot connects, grazing Vincent and drawing blood.

Return

The Ferrotaur manages to shrug off Tomly's magical attack, through will or some innate resistance to the spell.

Initiative Order on the Succession:
Vincent
Urist
Ferrotaur
Aelfryd <--- here
Magnus, Soldiers, Sailors

Initiative Order on the Return:
Bella
Julius
Dwarf Ferrotaur
Helm Ferrotaur
Tomly
Juān <--- here
Gorda, Xiaoguang, Soldiers, Sailors

BOOPYPUTT

2014-10-02, 01:04 AM

Aelfryd hands the wheel over to Urist, draws his axes, and lets out a cry of fury. "YOU VILL ****INK DECORATE MY ****INK PROW, YOU ****INK PIG-DOG!" He vaults down to the quarterdeck, slicing some of the rigging as he charges the Ferrotaur. The ropes snap under tension, and fall upon the Ferrotaur. Aelfryd charges under the Ferrotaur's long reach with reckless abandon, and then pulls on the rigging, trying to get the Ferrotaur to tangle in the ropes and trip. As he tugs, he shouts "LET US BE SEEINK HOW ZEES ****INK OSTRICH-****ERS FIGHT ON ZEIR ****INK BACKS!!"

Aelfryd rages, then charges the Ferrotaur and makes a trip attempt.
Trip Attack: [roll0]
Edit: I forgot to include rage. +2.
Edit: See OOC

blazinghand

2014-10-10, 02:59 PM

Succession

Aelfryd
Aelfryd goes flying at the Ferrotaur, attempting to knock it off its feet, but it swings around, battering him down with its tattered wings. Aelfryd hits the deck, hard.

NPCs
Seeing the captain knocked down, Magnus shouts, and he and the soldiers open fire, peppering the Ferrotaur with bullets and bolts. Most of the attacks bounce off its hardened metal hide, but two bullets and a bolt manage to get past the shield and strike the aberration in the soft upper torso. Two sailors begin the slow process of reloading the Dragonslayer Cannon.

Though it can exert an unreal amount of force, the Ferrotaur doesn't seem to be too healthy, and even the movement of knockign Aelfryd to the deck has taken a toll on its wounded body.

Initiative Order on the Succession:
Vincent <--- here
Urist
Ferrotaur
Aelfryd
Magnus, Soldiers, Sailors

Initiative Order on the Return:
Bella
Julius
Dwarf Ferrotaur
Helm Ferrotaur
Tomly
Juān <--- here
Gorda, Xiaoguang, Soldiers, Sailors

runehawk

2014-10-13, 08:12 AM

Vincent

Vincent recovers from his wounding.

He seems completely unfazed about being disarmed.

A purplish-blue energy appears from one of his hands shaping into a short-sword which he then flings at the Ferrotaur

-1 Power Point to Align weapon as 'Good' for purpose of dmg reduction.
Mindblade retain previous Psychokinetic Enhancement.
Attack:[roll0]+10
Damage: [roll1]+1 + [roll2]
Confirm Crit: [roll3]+10
Crit Damage: [roll4]+1 + [roll5]

blazinghand

2014-10-22, 09:43 PM

---Retcon Mode Active---

The Return shudders violently as a second Ferrotaur comes crashing to the deck. The flying contraption that was carrying it was shredded easily by the dragonslayers, but...

Beams crunch under its mighty tentacles as it wraps itself around the 3rd mast. More magic and machine than man, the abomination reaches around with its sawlike chained hands and begins slicing through ropes, sails, and human flesh and bone alike. Its moments like these, when the monsters of your grandfather's tales come alive in reality, that you see the measure of a soldier. Some run screaming, going flying over the rail and into the cold water, destined to drown in the harsh currents of the waning tide. Some go mad with awe and terror, dropping their weapons or standing transfixed.

Many, more than you might expect, stand fast against the darkness. The ferrotaur unleashes a horrible roar like metal grating on metal, like the sound of a thousand blackboards skitting along a pavement of chalk, like the feeling of endless despair only a shipwrecked man can know. The soldiers tremble, but when Major Guō's barked orders somehow pierce through the noise, their training takes over and they aim, and fire as one.

Juān grimaces as the shots mostly bounce off the creature's hardened hide. She gives the order to fix bayonets. While it's not the first time she's had to lead men into melee combat against a monster, this is surely the worst such battle of her career. Somehow through the lines of ships protecting the bombardment unit, this monster had come to within one ship's-length of the Following Years. The Roval's Return had moved to intercept, but in doing so regressed to the beginning of combat-- now the game is deadly with melee that favors monsters over men.

The deformed ferrotaur crashes into the ranks like a cannonball, shredding two men alive and sending one over the rail and into the water. Its strength is so incredible that the men who still have their hands on their weapons can barely parry or block its attacks. In a heartbeat, four more soldiers die for the Empire. Juān knows that if anyone will stop this beast, it will be her. She drops her musket to the deck and reaches for her sword. At that moment, the ferrotaur lunges for her, sensing an opening in the unit commander's guard. In another lifetime, perhaps, the ferrotuar would have killed her-- but not this one. Xiaoguang's shield, emblazoned with the mark of Arkhanya, rises to block the sinister spiked limb streaking towards Juān. His enchanted long sword comes down on it, snapping the sharp end off of the rest of the limb. As he raises his blade for another blow, a second limb holding a spike shoots out from the creature's twisting torso, impaling the Half-Orc through the chest, puncturing his plate armor.

Juān lunges forward even as Xiaoguang slumps over the creature's blade. She thinks a silent prayer to Arkhanya for Xiaoguang's soul, but knows that there is no time for an open display of sorrow. Arkhanya teaches her followers to avenge the fallen, not cower or despair over losses-- not during combat. Juān raises her enchanted blade overhead and brings it down on the creature's shoulder while it struggles to pull itself free from Xiaoguang's corpse. She strikes a glancing blow against the abomination's tough hide, and a dark hand of fear flickers briefly at the edge of her consciousness, a whisper that she, a Paladin and an Officer, no longer heeds.

Juān gains more space as four soldiers lunge forward with their bayonets, forcing the creature back momentarily. In an instant, they are Julius and Magnus stand at her side, preparing another volley of magic and crossbow bolts. These men, at least, are able to damage the creature. They have a moment's respite as it halts its attack to yank down the sails, cracking the mast in half and sending falling forwards onto the rigging of the mast in front.

The Ferrotaur lifts up an arm and sends it lancing through one part of the deck, tearing wood and steel. Three more arms spout out of its spinning core and begin to tear the ship apart. As soldiers move forwards, they are spitted like pigs and killed on the spot. Juān shouts out an order to retreat and get out of the creature's reach except for herself, Magnus, and Julius, who are able to harm it and withstand its attacks.

The three soldiers advance towards the ferrotaur, who flicks a heavy chained-spike arm at Juān. She blocks it with her sword, and manages to keep a hold of the weapon as the chain wraps around the blade and tries to yank it from her. Her hand is numb from the impact. The creature pulls its limbs back into itself to block a volley of gunfire, then advances on Juān, Magnus, and Julius again. All but the three of them are now safely on further away from the Ferrotaur.

It is not that Major Guō does not trust her soldiers, it is not that she does not have faith in the Imerial flintlocks they have-- she is simply the CO. The responsibility for this mission is hers. She has more experience, more training, better equipment, and the power of Arkhanya at her side. Juān believes in duty. She believes that a sense of honor and responsilibty can make a person more than she was, and can push a human beyond her limits.

As the blows fall, it seems for a moment she might be right. He plate armor deflects one claw, and she slides around it, bringing her weapon down on it, severing it from the limb. With a flicker, she's in the air, flying with the power lent to her by Julius. The night sky is alight with glowing bolts of energy and enchanted, grimly-blue crossbow bolts as Magnus and Julius both unleash their most powerful attacks. Magnus doesn't have many clips of magical crossbow bolts, and uses them exceedingly sparingly. For him to fire more than one or two in a fight shows his concern.

The fire burns the creature, melting the joints of its chain body and limbs together, reducing its mobility and power. One scorching ray punches straight through the ferrotaur and sets fire to the pitch-laden sails, mast, and deck behind it. Suddenly the ship is alive with warning sounds and water comes spurting out of the fire suppression system. Julius, who was raising his hands to activate his magic gloves, finds himself suddenly drenched and unable to get them alight. He curses, fumblingly casting a spell of cleansing to dry himself, when his hip is truck by a claw, tearing at his flesh and causing him to beed, badly. In his concern for his spells, he had lost concentration on the enemy. He falls to the deck, clutching his side.

Magnus has seen more and better men than Julius die in combat, and keeps his attention on the monster in front of him. As he loads another clip of magical bolts, the Ferrotaur sends 3 elongaged spiked-chain limbs at the sniper. Magnus is ready, and dodges the first two. He slips on the wet deck and is forced to block the final one with this crossbow, which shatters and snaps, worthless. He curses and draws his long, curved dagger. He takes a moment to carefully apply something from a bottle in his belt to the blade dagger, and grimaces.

At this moment, Juān switches to the defensive, realizing the danger of the situation. Her Shield and Morningstar are quickly in her hands as her Greatsword falls to the deck, embedding itself into a plank point-down. With a shield and a weapon both, she's able to better contend with the creature's limbs. She strikes two blows hard against the partially-fleshy areas of the Ferrotaur, and it stumbles backwards. She eases herself around it, absorbing blows with her armor and shield when she can, and dodging tripping and disarming attacks.

The rearmost mast falls onto the helm, and Magnus is suddenly behind the Ferrotaur. He leaps up and sinks his dagger into its human flesh, grinning darkly. The Ferrotaur convulses, blood and black liquid shooting out of its wounds, and screams again, that awful scream echoing out into the twilight. It looks for a moment like it might collapse, but it continues to stand. With the poison in its system, though, it probably won't last long...

The Return shudders violently as several dozen cannonballs burst through its mid and upper decks, shredding wood and punching holes throughout the ship. Looking up, you suddenly realize why. Jiang's set the comm system to launch the flare pattern Blue-Red-Red-Green: Ship no longer under Imperial control. And it's true, the Return is on a collision course with the Lu Zhong, and unless it sinks the next 30 seconds, the Ferrotaur may have a chance to board the bombardment vessel. With its wings shredded, the aberration will die with the Return. A coldly calculated move, and exactly the right one to keep the mission from failure. There are only two linchpins to the mission without which things would certainly fail: ISS Lu Zhong and ISS Following Years. ISS Golden River tacks, bringing its second broadside to bear, and fires again.

The Return is breaking apart, now, but too slowly. Julius begins to rise above the listing ship, pulling out of the monster's reach using his magical flight, still bleeding badly. Juān is struck by the urge to escape, to get off this dying vessel and away from all these corpses. She does not fly into the air, however. Duty has made her a greater woman than any other aboard this vessel, and duty keeps her here to see this monster to its watery grave. She shouts her commands, rallying what few soldiers remain. If they can injure it badly enough, perhaps it won't be able to make the jump. There are only 5 soldiers left on deck besides Juān and Magnus. They and Julius are all that remain of the 24th Advance Company, the best and brightest of the Imperial Auxiliary division.

They will not make it out alive. Not against this monstrosity. Not without cannon to back them up. Even as Juān the woman gives up hope, Major Guō the officer stands firm and shouts the commands. The 5 Imperial footsoldiers have no enchanted armor or ancestral swords, no divine favor or paladin's courage to push them forwards. Nonetheless, they follow their commanding officer to certain death, charging into the whirling monstrosity of spikes and chains, their bayoneted muskets striking forwards into the darkness.

Guō dies first, leading the charge and tangling her arm in the creature's core of writhing chains. It starts to tear at her armor, but is tangled with Qiu and the last of the 24th Advance company. They are struck down almost instantly, but the weight of their corpses and the momentum of their physical bodies cannot be denied. They impale themselves on the Ferrotaur's limbs, stabbing and gasping and dying, with faith that their weight might slow it down, might save Imperial lives, might save the mission and give freedom and justice to the oppressed people of Kutan. As the ship draws close to the Lu Zhong, the Ferrotaur finds itself unable to move. Its limbs can't reach for purchase with seven bodies weighing it down, purposefully impaled on its many claws. It lets out a scream of frustration before it sinks beneath the water. The names of those 5 soldiers will never be known, their corpses dragged to the bottom of Segat bay.

They died for the Empire.

---End Retcon---

Succession - Vincent, Bella, Icafon, Aelfryd, Urist, Jaros, Gorda on board

Your attention is drawn by the Ferrotaur's descent to the Return (which is the other boat, not the boat you're on right now), but you're on guard as the water explodes around you in plumes of mist and ocean spray. Two Ferrotaurs come out of the water and land on deck. Although the emergence surprises you, it takes the Ferrotaurs a moment to gather their wits as well. You get a good look at them.

The first Ferrotaur is a tall woman holding a wand in one human hand and a regular-sized metal shield in the other, which protects and covers much of her upper body. Her hair is cut short, and she is wearing a helm made of some gold metal. Her lower metallic body sports 3 arms rather than two. One curls out from the back of the torso, where you would normally see wings on a ferrotaur. It holds a massive sword. The two that come out of the lower pair of shoulders are less traditional. Each of them starts off as a spiked chain assembly, but instead of ending in a massive spike-ball at the end as you've seen on other ferrotaurs with this limb, each end is a ball joint with three multi-segmented spikes coming out of it, equidistant around the ball and curled inwards to form a sinister grasp. Looking at the tips of each of those jointed spikes, you shudder to imagine what they are capable of. The spikes pull apart and together like a man twiddling his fingers, but infinitely less reassuring. The ferrotaur's torso is armored differently than the ones you've seen before, but you're not sure how exactly. Looking down at the feet, you don't see the familiar massive 3-toed metal blocks you're used to, but instead a set of 8 metal tentacles, like an octopus forged in steel. Despite their metallic appearance, these tentacles seem to move and grasp and bend without any noticeable joints, like the biological limbs they are based off of.

The second ferrotaur looks like he was a Dwarf before the change, and he is holding a long spear in his upper hands. His upper body is wearing the same. He thankfully has only two lower limbs. One holds a large shield, large even for a Ferrotaur-- enough to completely hide his body behind if it's positioned properly. It looks like that hand is struggling to move the shield around well, but it potentially protects him a great deal. The other hand holds a massive trident with a haft once and again as long as a man is tall, with a sharp point and runes running down the length of it. It glows a soft purple in the day's dying light. His torso is also armored differently, in the same way the way the gold-helmed ferrotaur's is, and he too has the octopus legs.

Battle is Joined!

Initiative Order on the Succession:
Bella <--- current initiative
Vincent
Icafon
Ferrotaurs
Tomly
Aelfryd
Gorda, Urist, Soldiers