reiklands raiders ic

[bramblefoot]

dawn is a few hours away in the drakwald, and the dark is dangerous. men and women sit around flickering campfires, glum and unhappy. you did your duty, and saved the imperial army, but at what cost? everyone in the company lost a friend or two in the desperate night defense. now you wait for the light of dawn to broach the trees, so you can move again

please introduce your characters, and give me a montage of their roles in the desperate night defense

[Volthawk]

Looking at the fire, Garren sighs as he drinks from his tankard. He'd hefted down his keg from where it had been strapped onto his horse and filled his tankard with ale, offering the others around the fire the same opportunity. While he sits, drinks and tries fruitlessly to not think about what happened too much, he takes stock of his equipment. He still had a decent supply of gunpowder and balls, and bolts for the crossbow. Good. He'd known there was going to be a risk of getting caught up in the mercenary company's business when he decided to travel with them, and it was hardly like he would walk away from the army needing help, but...he hadn't expected so many.

The leader of the Reikland's Raiders had called for those who could ride to scout out the enemy and start pulling their attention towards the mercenaries and away from the main army, and naturally Garren had ended up among that group of outriders. The only reason he survived that task was that the enemy's cavalry happened to choose some of the other riders as their prey, not him. There were only a few of them, but that was enough - clad in dark plate and riding horses that more monstrous than anything he'd seen before, they tore through most of the outriders despite the rest of them firing at them, and then...Garren got out of there. He wasn't too proud to lie about it either. He was only thankful that when he met up with the Raiders and they engaged the enemy, those riders were nowhere to be seen. He hopes that he'll never see them again, but can't shake the dread that he will. When it came to the thick of the fighting, his horse meant he that was personally out of the thick of it, and able to keep moving and shooting, which was a small mercy, but that didn't mean he didn't see many of the others die. They'd seemed like good people, or at least good company, in the time he'd travelling with them, but now that didn't matter any more.

Shaking himself out of thinking about it, he looks across the fire at the others and speaks up to break the moody silence. "So. What now? We need to get out here when dawn breaks, yes, but then..."

[Burning_Templar]

Arthuro di Cantona

With weary eyes, Arthuro returned to the fireplace. He had volunteered to stand guard the last couple of hours, but he doubted he would find sleep before dawn came.

A few of those gathered here wore the colours of Talabheim, like himself; most were Reikland's Raiders, though. And a road warden, if he remembered correctly.

If things had gone according to plan, he wouldn't be here. He would have managed to retreat like the rest of the army; those that were not dead, anyway.

Arthuro had been positioned at the left flank of the formation. In his unit of spearmen, tightly packed together, he had trouble even gaining an inkling of what was going on on the battlefield. He just marched and fought with the others, listening to the barked orders of Sergeant Hermann.
The Raiders were supposed to cover their fighting retreat, he had heard, but that was all.

They came into combat, as hordes of Norscan berserkers threw themselves into their shieldwall - he had stabbed from the second row, into the mass of attacking bodies, until the comrade in front of him fell, then it had been his turn to step up and hold his shield steadfast against the furious assault of the Chaos Marauders. It was harder to get good hits in while fighting in front - Arthuro had mostly worked to keep himself and the men beside him safe. Fighting as one was everything in the unit, a fact of war Arthuro had learned well in his time with the Talabheim army.

They had withstood the chaos assault, wave after wave - until they had not. Somehow, enemy cavalry had flanked them, and broken their formation. Sergeant Hermann had been cut down with the impact and their unit, which had held together so long, simply dissolved. It was a slaughter, and pure luck that he got away.

Some of the guys and Arthuro had regrouped in the forest, and fought alongside the Reikland's Raiders, who were the first people of their side they found. That's why he had ended up here, far away from the retreated army.

Leaning on his spear, he stood near the road warden as he broke the silence with his question.

"We are not in a position for another fight." he spoke, slowly, with a slight Tilean accent. "We should try to evade the marauders until we get the chance to join up with ours again."

[bramblefoot]

dawn breaks, and reiklands raiders break camp. at a head count, you number 65, when before the battle, you numbered around 250. by maps and such, you have a two day hike before you are outta the drakwald

wdyd, and where are you all planning to head?

[Volthawk]

At least now they were on the move, Garren could saddle up again. His odds felt better now he had that mobility, and wasn't just sitting around waiting. He kept moving as the survivors started moving, riding a short way out and around them to make sure they weren't about to walk into more fights that they couldn't handle.

Eventually, he finds his way back to the Tilean he talked to during the night. "So what's your plan once we get out of this damn forest and back to civilisation? Back into the army to get thrown into the fray again?" He shrugs. "Just been thinking since that battle, and...I guess nearly dying makes you look at things again. Surely we can do better than what we were doing before this."