Ashes to Ashes - A Mount&Blade: Warband RP

[AurianaValoria1]

Bellatrix barely registered all of the events going on around her; she was too embroiled in battle herself. A few of the bandits who had decided to make a stand against the comrades seemed to center in on her, and she did not have time to acknowledge the aid that was coming from Cameron as she tried to beat back her attackers. No shield, no helmet...she seemed easy pickings.

 

They were wrong.

 

The once-noble lady was not above dirty fighting to survive, and she made good use of her general knowledge in this situation. She gave one bandit, clad only in hides and a padded jerkin, a swift kick to the groin, followed by a knee to the face when he doubled over in pain. He dropped the shortened spear he held in his hands and clutched at his bloodied nose right before taking her blade just behind his collarbone. She then spun and slammed her elbow into the face of another who tried to come up from behind her. Two swift pommel-strikes to his jaw and down he went, finally falling to a slash across his throat. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a crude club come down towards her shoulder; she dodged, grabbed the club by the head and used its forward momentum to easily pull the bandit to the ground, yanking the weapon out of his hand and giving him a swift kick in the skull. A quick stab in his unarmored back, and he was done for.

 

Seven.

 

It was at that moment she suddenly noticed Cameron's charger beside her, with the knight atop the horse offering her a ride. Without hesitation, she leapt up on the steed's broad rump, just behind the knight's saddle; clinging to the cantle, she held her bloodied blade aloft with a shrill victory yell as she saw more of the cowards beginning to flee.

[Flipout6]

"I can't hear our foes when you're determined to drown them out, you know!" Cameron shouted to Bellatrix as her shrill war cries assaulted his ears even through his helmet. With a cleave of his blade he cut down another bandit that had previously been moving to intercept Bellatrix as Aristide got moving.

 

Cameron scanned the battlefield again, primarily looking for the highest concentration of potential kills he could find, but when he spied a figure barely standing, let alone fighting, his curiosity was drawn. It quickly became apparent that it was a wounded Komolov, and Cameron regretfully turned Aristide towards the archer instead of plowing through a frightened group of three that were gathering and trying to muster their courage. Realizing he already had a passenger, Cameron cursed and hopped off his valued steed, giving the reins to Bellatrix.

 

"If you steal Aristide there will be hell to pay. Be warned." He told her seriously. Then he grabbed Komolov roughly and hoisted him up on Aristide's back. "Losing a quarter of our fighting force this early would be simply shameful. Get him to safety, would you?" Or at least don't get him killed, that would be simply embarassing. He re-drew his blade after having sheathed it to free his hand and turned to face the rest of the game. He smacked the hilt of his sword against his shield, creating a resonating clong, and challenged them to face him.

 

"Any festering human refuse want to try their hand against a Swadian on foot? We're much less effective this way, I assure you!" He lied blatantly. "Where are the men amongst you? Did I slay them all?" As a direct result of his taunting them to prompt an attack, several of them turned tail and darted into the trees once they realized he was referring directly to them. Some had eyes on the Sword Sister and her vicious, admirably-pragmatic close-combat tactics, others were terrified of Bjorn's suicidal recklessness or saw a comrade take an arrow to the chest out of nowhere and die gasping. Whatever the reason, almost half of the foes Cameron faced fled.

 

"For shame!" He called out after them, amusing himself if nobody else.

 

He wasn't left unanswered for long, fortunately for him. At least one bandit, spurred on by his desire to prove that he wielded the biggest "sword" amongst them, charged right at him. He was barely old enough to be growing any noticeable amount of facial hair, being perhaps sixteen, but Cameron had no problem countering his clumsy blow and sweeping his legs out from under him with a sweep of his blade, finishing him by impaling him through the chest. Deciding that enough time had been wasted, he decided to initiate some attacks of his own. His shield slammed into one and battered through his defenses, an advantage that was swiftly used by the Knight as he cut the target down with a strike that cleaved through flesh and collarbone. Cameron left him to die in the dirt.

 

However, a considerable number of bandits still remained, and most of them still had the stones to keep fighting. Cameron managed to parry a blow that came in from his rear and to the right, driving the bandit's weapon away and throwing him off balance. An armoured knee between the legs and a pommel strike to the back of the head knocked him into the dirt, where Cameron impaled him through the back, leading to a quick and graceless death.

 

Somebody had the presence of mind to draw a bow and take a shot. Fortunately for Cameron, they were too frantic to consider flanking him, and he managed to barely block the arrow when he caught the slightest glimpse of something screaming towards him faster than his eye could trace. The archer frantically kept firing, his shots drastically off-target presumably due to shaking hands. Cameron bent his knees and put most of his body behind the shield, taking not a scratch. Two more arrows bounced harmlessly off the metallic bulwark while many more missed entirely. One actually almost hit Cameron's foot, had he not sidestepped reflexively. The quiver was emptied quickly, and Cameron closed the remaining distance as the archer scrambled backwards, tripping on his own two feet before being finished with a blade through the torso. His executioner impaled him through the chest so he wouldn't take hours to die of gut wound.

 

After one or two kills Cameron suddenly found himself with no more challengers. Any remaining bandits had been killed by his allies, surrendered, or had fled into the forest. Cameron didn't sheathe his blade, however. Instead, he looked towards the Nord.

 

"You may wish to reconsider your stance on following plans, barbarian." He warned, pointing at Bjorn with his blade before letting his arm hang by his side again. "Another stunt like that could turn the battle against us. You so much as attempt one again, and I'll put you down like a mangy dog. If the infection you get from running your thumb along your axe's edge doesn't end you first. Am I understood, Nord, or must I demonstrate and speak with fewer syllables?"

[AurianaValoria1]

Bellatrix quickly bounced over the cantle of Aristide's saddle to settle more comfortably in the seat as Cameron vacated it. She took the reins with her sword hand and was immediately forced to hold them taut to keep the charger's hot-blooded eagerness in check. She gave the knight a grin as he suggested she might steal the horse, "Steal this beauty? I would never." She could not comment further however, as she ducked an arrow and then had to keep Komolov balanced on Aristide's back with her other hand. Spurring the charger into a canter, she headed back in the direction of the woods to get Komolov well out of the range of fire, just beyond the treeline, "Looks like you're finished in this fight, Vaegir. Hold on." She then wheeled Aristide back around to watch the fight end.

 

The sword sister found herself smiling slightly in admiration at Cameron's prowess. He certainly was entertaining to observe...

 

At last, when it was all over, she let Aristide trot back towards them, and she assessed the damage they had done. Three fourths of the bandits were slain on their campground, the rest having fled into the darkness and scattered to the winds. She grinned at their success, but then that grin faded quickly as she saw one of the bandits was a female, a gaping hole in her chest...

 

Bellatrix's brow furrowed, her sapphire eyes flashing, "I thought I said to spare the women?" Glancing around furiously, she added, "Where are the others? Komolov," she shook the Vaegir behind her," you said there were more women than just one, yes? Did they flee? Or are they hiding?"

[Macman253]

Bjorn rended a the bandits head as he charged, the Swadian began to spout his words and Bjorn turned to him. He was covered in blood and towered a good foot taller then him unsaddled.

 

"I'd like to see ya' try that horse-boy!" He growled, he hefted his axe onto his shoulder and approached. He spat on the Swadians face as he came close. "I'd pay my last coin to see you try 'an take me one on one." The Nord was furious with anger, the battle-rage still gripped him and one more corpse won't make a difference.

[AurianaValoria1]

"Bjorn! Cameron!" Bellatrix barked, her own blade still in hand, "That's enough! Those with true skill have no need to prove it. Bjorn, Cameron is right...you left Komolov wide open for attack when you left his side. And now look. Cameron, stop provoking Bjorn. We don't have the time or energy for useless bickering." She turned around in the saddle and took some spare cloth from her belt pouch that she used for makeshift bandages. Swiftly, she wrapped up Komolov's wounds rather snugly to stop the bleeding and to protect them from further damage, "That will have to do until we can reach a proper doctor."

 

Unwilling to leave the injured Komolov to himself, Bellatrix stayed upon Aristide's back, sheathing her weapon as she glared at Bjorn and Cameron, "Now, you two care to make yourselves useful? There's a possibility these bandits had hostages with them. Check the tents...if there are any prisoners, cut their bonds and bring them out here. While you're at it, drag any loot out and let's see it. I doubt there's much on the wretches themselves worth taking, but search their pockets for denars, just in case."

[FreemasonGamer]

After Bellatrix and Cameron saved his hide by taking him to the outskirts of the camp on horseback, Komolov quickly felt the rush of battle escape him, leaving only the pain of his wounds. Despite his weariness and pain, the Vaegir stood weakly after Bellatrix deposited him onto the ground from Aristide's saddle, his back pressed against a tree for much needed support. When she asked about the women Komolov had heard during his initial scouting, he raked his scattered mind for a response.

 

"There were others, yes... Not many of them were sword sisters, though... They must have hidden, or fled..." He stumbled over his words in agreement, nodding his head as he held his bleeding left forearm.

 

When Bjorn and Cameron were at odds with one another, Komolov groaned weakly; now was the worst of times for them to be arguing meaninglessly. However, Komolov was slightly relieved when Bellatrix told them both to cease their immature bickering; Komolov also nodded weakly in agreement when she told Bjorn that his recklessness left the others vulnerable, the Vaegir in particular. As Bellatrix turned back towards Komolov with bandages in hand, he let go of his injured forearm just long enough for her to wrap his wounds; once they were bandaged, he managed a small nod. "Thank you. It will have to do."

 

Once Bellatrix issued orders to Cameron and Bjorn, Komolov thought bleakly for a moment before looking up to Bellatrix and admitting quietly, "There should have been three Vaegir women here; Rykoya, Beriya, and Emina Yuliy..."

[josh900]

As the fighting died down and the attackers seemed to quarrel with one another, Cair decided that the time to make his entrance was now, before they could collect their breaths. He gave a short, shrill whistle to his men, signalling them to ready to loose their arrows before he stepped forward from the tree-line, a good ways away from the attackers while his men kept themselves hidden behind the trees and brush as bet they could while still having clear shots at the attackers.

"Well that was a bloody bit of business wasn't it?" He spoke loud enough that they could hear him from his distance. "Commendations all around." He said with a playful bow. "Ya see a man with an ugly mug. give em a kick for me would ya? Bugger owed me some coin he wouldn't pay back. Oh wait..." He said after a pause, "They all owed me coin, well that settles that then! Do me a favor and move away from the bodies or you'll be facing down a good fifty arrows in yer guts, a wee bit more bite than what those saps could give I think you'd agree." He said with a grin so large that it could have been spotted even in complete darkness.

Edited May 27, 2015 by josh900

[AurianaValoria1]

Bellatrix whirled around in her seat and drew her weapon upon hearing the voice, Aristide prancing under her from the tension he felt through the contact of his bit. She narrowed her eyes and saw more bandits in the dark, the foremost of whom was talking to them in a strange brogue...he must have been a foreigner like her. Indignation filled her as she listened to his words. It sounded as though he had let them do his dirty work for him; she and her companions had slain the majority of the outlaws, and now the remainder were threatening them over the money that by rights belonged to her and her comrades. Her sapphire eyes glittered in the firelight. She knew that she and her companions were vulnerable, but not as much as this bandit might have hoped they were...

 

"So," she addressed the accented bandit directly, "How quickly can you fire these 'fifty' arrows, hmm? Faster than it will take me to close the distance between us and remove your head from your shoulders myself? How many can you knock and fire before a Swadian knight and a Nord warrior is upon you?" She gestured to Cameron and Bjorn, "We cut down nearly two score of your fellows...how well do you think a handful more of you will fare?"

 

She shifted in her saddle, "Or...we can do this the lucrative way by not fighting over pocket change. Instead, how about you come with us and you can share in the bounty that the local lord surely has out on your fellows' heads?"

Edited May 27, 2015 by AurianaValoria1

[Macman253]

Bjorn spat on the ground, he fell quiet. His issue with the loud mouthed Swadian would be resolved another day. The giant Nord turned to face the bandit that Bellatrix was speaking to. The long-hafted axe in his hand. He looked a frightful visage, covered in blood from head to foot, the once-white fur stained with blood, his chainmail jerkin rented from a blow taken to his ribs which only now begun to pain him. His battle fever was subsiding and now his bones began to hurt and his muscles ached. Blood trickled down his leg from the cut on his side which soaked his chainmail jerkin. He stuck a finger in the wound, the rib was sore but it did not hurt much.

 

"Not broken..." He thought as he felt the shallow wound, it stung like ice water on a burn from the sun, Bjorn hid the pain from his face before anyone could see. He would have to tend to it when they made camp.

 

"One more 'ead won't burden te' growin' pile." He said, nodding towards the field of corpses.

[FreemasonGamer]

Komolov cautiously watched the lone figure who stepped out of the treeline and listened intently to what he had to say; the act of deciphering through the man's thick accent and localized dialect was a heavy burden on Komolov's conscience all the while. When the bandit's true intentions of robbing the Vaegir and his companions of their rightfully-won spoils of war, Komolov scowled fiercely and pushed himself from the tree he had been leaning against. He was eager to insult the man and his anonymous companions the pathetic piss ants the Vaegir considered them to be, but he instead kept his mouth tightly shut as he pondered for several long moments as Bellatrix spoke to them. Once she had finished her quick verbal exchange with the bandits and after Bjorn briefly interjected, Komolov cleared his throat as he leaned against his halberd with a narrowed gaze.

 

"These men owed your denar? Then go ahead, collect their debt and claim your reward. There's quite a few of pockets to look through, so you all should best get started. All we need are a few heads to prove our work to the nearest lord." Following his serpentine attempt at diplomacy, Komolov cast his gaze to Bellatrix and Cameron, hoping that they would understand. "Isn't that right?"