[IC] When Armies Clash: Mass Combat in Fifth Edition

[jkat718]

The sun rises over the boughs of the Thanderyn Forest, and the town of River Rock slowly wakes up. The townspeople begin their daily routines—the guards change shifts, the farmers fill troughs, and the shopkeepers open storefronts. River Rock is awake. Yet, something is still amiss. The market-goers lack their normal cheerfulness, the animals are skittish, the night shift seems more anxious now that they are laying in bed than they ever were while keeping a keen eye to the woods. Somehow, though, life goes on in River Rock.



JACK "ONE-EYE" MONGER
Race: Human
Age: ???, at least 60.
Notable Traits: Matted gray hair, one bloodshot eye, and a permanent hunch from years of sitting at bars.
Bio: Not actually missing an eye (he just squints a lot), this crotchety old man is a fixture of the town's inns and watering holes. There isn't a night that goes by without him challenging a poor sap to a drinking contest, and then promptly out-drinking them by pints upon pints. Jack's pessimism seems to be tied to his blood alcohol content because, when he gets particularly sloshed, Jack tends to start raving about how "the beasties in the woods'll come kill us all!"
MARGARET "MARGIE MAGE" FENNIMAN
Race: Human
Age: 28
Notable Traits: Thick black hair, large green eyes, and a nervous tick.
Bio: Margie is River Rock's resident spellcaster, a great honor for such a young wizard. Margie studied at the school Vrelius Lorescribe, high sage of Tarmeria, and earned grades high enough to warrant a commission, but not quite enough to keep her in the capital. When she heard that the Colonial Expedition was looking for spellcasters, she took the opportunity to leave the city where she had been working and come to Bakarria. Now, she spends her days providing magical healing, as River Rock has no cleric to fulfill this service.

LARS FREDRICSSON
Race: Human
Age: 53
Notable Traits: Blonde hair with streaks of white, dark blue eyes that sometimes look black, and a nasty scar running along his jaw.
Bio: The hard-faced Major Fredricsson has little time for laziness or stupidity in his men...and women, but he tries to ignore those. A strict, but fair, officer and an excellent judge of character (or so he says), Lars likes to take a "hands-on" approach to discipline, favoring public whippings as punishment for many offenses, even minor ones. He, of course, metes out the punishment himself, proclaiming for all of those in the audience that it will teach people how to comport themselves in "his" town.
GILEAD STERN
Race: Human
Age: 31
Notable Traits: Mousy brown hair, large eyes and nose, and a muttered conversation with himself
Bio: Gilead was born fifth of eight children—all boys—in a family that couldn't afford three. When his parents shipped him off to join the clergy, Gilead was just happy to be away from the commotion of his home. Unfortunately, his lack of faith disturbed:) his professors, and he was asked to depart the seminary. He used his knack for organization to gain employment at the school's library, and there was recommended for a position in River Rock. He currently runs the small school in town, and harbors a secret crush for Margie (she knows).

TANELIA "RAEN"ELENVAL
Race: Elf, High
Age: 140
Notable Traits: Long, silvery hair, gray eyes, and regal features, with a slight smirk playing at the edges of her mouth.
Bio: Tanelia is a traveler, on her way to Plainsfort with her companions, Sadron "Sel" Aldaloth (a distant male cousin) and Areira "Min" Elenval (a younger sister). She is meeting her father and uncle there, with her brothers and mother to follow soon after. The three elves are quite conspicuous in the human-dominated town, and are well aware of it. They keep to themselves, sitting in a corner of the common room at their inn, the Vulgar Beetle (Areira liked the name), and try to avoid attention.



You can start wherever you want, doing whatever you want. Feel free to make up details about your surroundings, or even NPCs if you want. Some common places would be the harbor, the barracks, or the library/school.

[Foodle]

Quin Mossgrow, Human Fighter - 40/40hp | 19AC (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=188591)

Heaving himself up each rung of the wooden ladder, his chainmail jingling and his breaths coming harder the closer to the top he got; Quin climbs to the top of the meager wall surrounding the town. He almost questioned his decision to wear the heavy armor this morning, he wasn't on duty until later that afternoon, but seeing the green haze of the forest far in the distance he knew he made the right choice. Goblins were sneaky. They had scouts out watching as best they could, in place to give them some warning should another attack come. But sometimes a small band would slip through unnoticed. It was then, when an arrow slammed into your chest, that you thanked the gods you decided to put on that armor under your surcoat.

He recognised the solider on duty along this stretch of the wall and raised a hand returning his salute as he walked towards him and rested his arms against the edge. "Anything happening?" he asks gesturing to the area to the southeast.

"Saw a deer get taken down by a couple of wolves a hour or two ago. But no sir, nothing worth worrying about," the soldier, Joten, replied.

Quin just lets out a grunt in reply, continuing to look out over the area himself for a few minutes in silence before standing up straight again. "Might go do the rounds, remind everyone we're here looking after them. I hear there's a couple of elves in town too," he says turning and making his way back to the ladder.

"I'll come find you after my shift, you owe me a rematch!" he calls out, hoping to earn back some of the coin he'd lost in a dragon chess match again Joten a couple of days earlier. Then adjusting the axe at his waist he climbs back down and begins to wander through town talking to the townsfolk.

[Thrasymedes]

Darnell stood outside the Mayor's office mentally kicking his heels. He had been trying to get a chance to talk to him for the last three hours in order to try and get a job as one of the local constabulary. He had just entered town last evening on his way in from yet another city whose guild had some unfortunate knowledge of him and the price on his head. If this town, didn't have one yet (and the guard seemed the closest thing) then someone needed to start one to ensure that the wrong type of criminals didn't get started here.

Didn't the mayor understand that a properly functioning police force was essential to establishing law and order in the town, especially in terms of eliminating low-life criminals. At the rate this was going, he might have to find or create some criminals himself to get the town to take crime seriously...actually...

[Geodude6]

Xarran A'dargorn, Drow Sorcerer - 25/25 HP | 16 AC (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=191493)

They came without warning.

My party had been traveling west for several days, tracking a svirfneblin rogue wanted in the nearby town of Underdale. Not even Kyluk, our tracker, noticed them. All at once, four arrows shot her in the chest. The white kobold fell to the ground, her red eyes lifelessly gazing up to the canopy above. That was when we realized we were under attack. So many of them came pouring out of the background. I shot magical energy to form a web to slow them down, and the druid Jandar shifted into a white spider to do the same. It seemed to slow them down, but a volley of arrows came straight through the web, not even slowing down. Lodelg, a duergar warrior, grew to giant size and tore through the goblins with his warhammer, crushing them, but even he was swiftly overwhelmed with sheer numbers.

Jandar was trying to fight about ten of these devils at once, and was knocked out of spider form quickly. It was then, with Kyluk dead, seeing Lodelg on his last stand, that we understood what we had to do. We locked eyes for a moment. Then we hightailed it out of there.

We ran, full tilt, through the forest, no longer concerned about our abandoned allies. Several of these goblins chased after us, gaining speed. I threw more webs at them, but they just crashed through them. I remember thinking, "there's no way we're getting out of this alive." Then I saw a way I could.

Looking at Jandar, tears streaming down my face, I managed to croak out, "I'm sorry." And I shot a burst of electricity at him. As he was knocked back, I could see the raw emotion on his angelic face: anger, hurt, betrayal. Disbelief. I kept looking long enough to see him morph back into a spider. I turned back around, kept running, and never looked back.

===

That was three days ago. I have since arrived in River Rock and procured temporary residence. Last night, I spent the evening alone at the tavern, drinking and crying. Jandar's face is still seared into my brain.

An old human by the name of Jack Monger comes up to me. He says, "You look like you've got something on your mind, poor sap. Care to wash it away with me?" "What, like a drinking contest? I guess." I barely choke the words out. I don't even get through my first pint before I black out and hit the floor.

===

The next morning, I wake up in my room at the inn, with a pounding headache. It appears some kind soul had deposited me here. On the bedside table, I see a small bottle of green liquid that wasn't there before. The top is tied with string around the neck. Attached to the string is a card that reads, "This'll help with the hangover. -Jack" I drink it, and instantly feel my head clearing up. I retrieve my staff from the bedside, and set out to the tavern again. I need allies, and adventurers tend to congregate there for some reason. There's strength in numbers, after all.

[Scarlet Dragon]

Music, Tiefling Bard, 27/27 HP | 13 AC

One day ago
Taking one last look at the parchment in her hands Music reads Your target is the mayor, I don't care what you have to do but I want him out of office. I'd prefer it if he left in a box but we can't always get what we want. After reading the passage she carefully burns the paper with the candle she had been using. While she may have the ability to see in the dark it wasn't particularly useful when one needed to read. And while she would have preferred to use her magic to conjure a light, the candle was less conspicuous.

She had arrived in River Rock a few days ago and during the few days she had been here she had met with a liaison of her current employer. She assumed the liaison was to shield their identity from being known but she had already figured out that it was a well to-do merchant by the name of Drevor Guther, who had narrowly lost the last election to become the mayor.

Today

She makes her way to the Mayor's Office to scope out the potential problems she might encounter and also to see if she could resolve this without having to kill him. Not that she had any aversion to killing, it just would make it harder for her to slip out of town if the guard was in an uproar.

[jkat718]

Location: Wall District

"Ho, Sergeant! How's the wall holding up?" A street peddler approaches the armored soldier, chuckling to himself. "No cracks, or anything? 'Twould be a dark night if it fell down, he he. D'you want anything? For an officer like you, I might be convinced to lower the price some, for protecting us townsfolk."


Location: Town Square, outside the Mayor's Office
A messenger, carrying a hammer and a courier sack, darts out the mayor's door, nearly bowling over the man loitering by the door. The messenger rushes to the announcement board in the town square and tacks up a flyer from his sack. He then continues down the street, heading towards the guard barracks.


Location: Dancing Deva Inn
The bartender sees Xarran enter and calls over, "Aah, the darkling lightweight, awake at last. How was the bed? Comfortable, I hope." The burly man grabs a chair from a nearby table. "Have a seat, grab a bite; the porridge is hot and the wall still stands."

[Thrasymedes]

Darnell spotted the man and started to follow him but stopped for a good minute to read the poster:

Anything anyone ran that fast to put up has to involve the chance to benefit me.

[Foodle]

Quin Mossgrow, Human Fighter - 40/40hp | 19AC (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=188591)

"As strong as ever," he replies smiling in greeting as he stops in front of his stall and politely looks over his wares. He didn't need anything the fellow was selling, most of his daily needs were provided as part of the job, but it helped to foster trust between the citizenry by making them feel valued. "Cracks?" he asks feigning shock and offense. "Not a chance, those walls were built using the finest techniques devised back home. My father was, is, a mason. The designs they used, well i wouldn't be worried unless an army of ogres appeared on our doorstep," he says looking fondly back towards the wall.

"Goblins, hah! More likely to see flying pigs than those little runts breaching the walls," he says with a laugh as he fishes some coins from his pocket and indicates a charm necklace meant to provide good luck. Giving a small bow in thanks, he carries on his way. He felt peckish, so he decided to head towards the tavern and see what they had cooking.

[Geodude6]

"Thank you. Some breakfast would be much appreciated. I would not object to a beverage either."

"So, *munch slorp munch* any other newcomers arrive lately? *slorp slurp*"

"Could I get a second bowl of this porridge?"

[jkat718]

Location: Dancing Deva Inn
"Just a few. Most are elvish, like you, headed towards Plainsfort. Is that your destination as well?" The door to the common room opens, and the small bell attached to it jingles, cutting through the murmur of the last few patrons enjoying a mid-morning meal. The proprietor's head snaps up, trained to that sound after years of business. "And here comes another one now." A blonde human in the uniform of a Tarmerian office steps through the door. "Oh, it's just a soldier. Never mind, then. I'll grab you that porridge." As he strides towards the kitchen he calls over his shoulder, "Good morn, officer. I'll be with you in a moment."


https://doc-08-b0-docs.googleusercontent.com/docs/securesc/ha0ro937gcuc7l7deffksulhg5h7mbp1/7fqh3filfojvcdls0h2486kq0ptcjvp1/1432476000000/17810118047650689292/*/0B4ebNko__G-Nc2p2eE0yT2Rhbms

[Thrasymedes]

Darnell glanced at the poster and grumbled aloud.

Why don't they ever say where it is going to be? Oh well.

Just as he started towards the better parts of town he thought better of it and took a detour through the worst sections this small town had to offer. He kept his eyes open for any individuals who might know where the Lord was or who looked fit enough to fight.

They almost always give bonuses or better positions to those who bring in others...let's see if this works.

He emptied most of his purse's contents into an inner pocket leaving himself some silvers and coppers worth about a gold in a prominently displayed coin purse, which he then watched. If anyone grabbed it, he should be able to grab them...then let's see how good his golden tongue was here.

[Foodle]

Quin Mossgrow, Human Fighter - 40/40hp | 19AC (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=188591)

Quin pauses just inside the door, blinking rapidly waiting as for his eyes to adjust and absently waves away the proprietor's worry. He was in no rush, he could wait just fine. Gazing around the room he takes in the rest of the inn's patrons this morning. Alighting upon the single drow elf he frowns to himself, finding it strange none of the soldiers that had talked of the elves had bothered to mention it was a group of their black skinned cousins.

Putting on a welcoming smile he walks over to the table and catches the elf's eye. "Hail fellow, well met," he says indicating one of the spare seats at the table. "May i join you?" he asks moving over to the chair and extending his hand out to shake.

"Sergeant Quin Mossgrow, what news do you bring?" he asks as he introduces himself.

[Scarlet Dragon]

Music, Tiefling Bard, 27/27 HP | 13 AC

Seeing the man rushing out with a paper Music decides to stick around and see if she can speak to the mayor, to sort of feel him out and get a good impression of his abilities. Going up to his office door she knocks politely.

[jkat718]

James Farimol: Human Noble, HP: 16/16 (2 HD) | AC: 11 (unarmored) | PP: 10 (normal senses)

Glancing up at the sound of the knocking, Lord Riversedge calls out, "Come in, come in!" His guards open the door, standing at attention, and Count Farimol rises to his feet. "How may I help you, Madame...?"

[Scarlet Dragon]

Music, Tiefling Bard, 27/27 HP | 13 AC

"The name is Music, I happen to be new to town so I thought the best course of action was to pay a visit to the town hall so I could facilitate finding employ. I was also curious as to what that paper the lad left with in such a hurry was about and I figured it would be faster, and easier on my lungs, if I just asked the source." She says laughing lightly. "As to my skills, my name happens to be an apt description of both the mundane and magical portions."

[Geodude6]

(OOC: Sorry about the delay; real life caught me in a death grip)

"Hello Sergeant. My name is Xarran. I just arrived in town after..." He chokes up for a minute. "My party got attacked by goblins. We got separated. I was hoping to get someone in town to cast a Sending for me, but I don't know of anyone that can. Might you know of someone in town that can cast such a spell?"

[Foodle]

Quin Mossgrow, Human Fighter - 40/40hp | 19AC (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=188591)

Quin frowns at the news and slides into the chair. "I'm sorry to hear that friend. We've been having trouble with them of late, i get the feeling they're not too fond of us setting up shop so close to that forest they claim," he says running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "We're in a stalemate really. We have enough men to defend the town, but while they hide in the forest we can't spare a large enough force to rout them out and drive off the survivors. And luckily, they don't have the technical know-how to attack our defensive position. So meanwhile the roads are plagued by their raiding parties until we get some reinforcements or someone in charge makes a hard choice."

When the owner comes back he orders some meat pie and an pitcher of water. "Margie might be able to help with your message, she trained at Vrelius Lorescribe and i wager knows a fair bit more than she lets on," he suggests as his meal arrives and he starts to eat.

[Thrasymedes]

Darnell made his way to the barracks after discovering that most of the pickpockets seemed to have made themselves scarce. As soon as he arrived, he pushed open the door and entered:

I am here to volunteer to help defend this town, where do you want me and what would you have me do? Also, how long do we have until the fight starts?