Mercenaries (IC)

[The Bandicoot]

The Fifth Cohort is a long-standing mercenary group. In it's prime it held well over five-hundred of the finest fighters the world over but it's hit a rather long dry spell. Now numbering only one-hundred The Fifth Cohort has separated into fifteen groups, each one designated by the letters A through O and about five or six men strong except for 'O' which has twenty-five and holds the commander. Each group remains more or less independent adventuring parties, reporting back once a year to pay dues. Occasionally a big job requires more than one group and it is at the end of one such a job that we begin.


You all are L group and are making camp outside what was, up until a few days ago, a rather substantial kobold cave complex. You, along with groups M, N, and O recently cleared it out with minor casualties. The kobolds were dug in deep and used traps and tactics galore but you had more than a couple tricks up your sleeve.

Anyways, make your introductions and roleplay a bit.

[Andrezitos]

Drildo (my chars name) stands alone near a tree while the rest of the company cheers the recent victory. For him, such skirmishes seems so insignificant. What a cave full of kobolds would represent in the larger scheme of things? he asks himself. He than looks at some other distinguishable warriors and wonders who they may be.

[OtterITP]

Davra sits by the fireside, polishing a tiny notch out of her enormous blade where it had caught on a kobold helm. She is grinning from ear to ear, and talks, half to herself and half to anyone nearby, as she works. "Ah, I love clearing kobold dens. Like walnuts, only spikier - hard to crack, but so delicious when you do. And this one was almost worth calling a battle!"

[Dr Mushroom]

Demetrius warms his chilled extremities by the fire, and thinks: "I've never seen so many groups of the Cohort together at once. That was a tricky fight, to be sure."

[Amphetryon]

Tallin looks up from cleaning and maintaining the edge on his falchion, the hint of a smile at his lips. "The tactics those little cave-dwellers use almost lend some credence to their claims of dragon ancestry. . . but only almost."

[BassWalker]

Sophia sits beside the fire, chain armor in her lap and brush in hand. As the rest of the gathered revel in their victory, she scrubs in silence at the great amount of blood that had stained her armor over the past few days; never mind that her formerly-green tunic was almost entirely dark red now. A small, faint wine escapes her throat as the red refuses to come off the expensive metal.

[The Bandicoot]

After a couple hours Commander Ironclaw walks over, taking a long draw from his pipe tightly clenched in his gauntleted fist. The fingers on his gauntlet end in sharp claws that aren't just for show, having torn apart more than one kobold in this job. A short and stocky man, Ironclaw has been leading The Fifth Cohort for the last four decades after serving as a distinguished member for a number of years before that.

"Dirty dirty job....." he says, looking wistfully at the horizon "they deserved everything they got and the pay is good but....this small act of genocide still sits wrong in the pit of my stomach." he sits down, his full-plate clanking loudly. "Or perhaps I've smoked too much pipegrass...." he lets out a small, quiet chuckle and turns his attention to you all. "and how is Group L doing? Not too many injuries I hope...."

[OtterITP]

Davra gives a basic salute for the Commander, and gives a full rundown on the casualties for L company, and expected time out of action. The list and times are relatively short - the company having its own cleric eases downtime significantly.

"...And three men caught in a gas trap while I wasn't there. They'll need light duty tonight, and I'll be down some spells tomorrow, but otherwise we're fighting fit, sir. And with respect, sir, this job's no dirtier than the others. The foe's just as dead."

[The Bandicoot]

((Crap guys sorry, I forgot about this thread in a haze of work and family issues))

Ironclaw grins with a twinkle in his eye. "Good point, work is work." he studies the group for a moment. "Which brings me to why I'm really here. I just got word from the southern border......" he takes another puff of his pipe. "Let me start from the beginning.... About a year and a half ago group A went quiet near the southern border. This, in itself, is not unusual. Jobs come and go and some require a bit of subtlety and long hours." he empties out his pipe and sighs. "Now the word I previously mentioned, from the southern border, is that a group of bandits flying our banner has been seen in that area. Now there's a number of possibilities as to the how and the why of this and none of them sound good, so I'm sending you down there to figure it out."

[Dr Mushroom]

Demetrius begins to ready his equipment.
"What are we waiting for, then? We should leave at once."

[Andrezitos]

(Don't worry pal. Gaming and living is perhaps the most challenging quest one can face)

Drildo looks to the commandant and nodes in acceptance regarding the new assignment.