Shadows of Darkest Soul (An Elder Scrolls RP)

[AurianaValoria1]

Faeryn Sethandas, Fort Floodgate Battlements

 

Faeryn was about to address his Temple comrades, who had joined him on the walls, when a sharp pain flooded his chest. He glanced down, and to his horror saw a steel arrow buried there. The razor-sharp projectile had managed to slip in at an odd angle between his pauldron and breastplate, likely because of the way he had been holding the ballista. Now, crimson blood dripped down his golden armor in slow rivulets.

 

One of the Ordinators shoved his way forward...Faeryn recognized his build as that of the knight Elam Gols. The Hlaalu ripped the arrow out of his friend in one fluid movement, and then clapped his hand to Faeryn's chest, a wave of blue magic sealing the wound.

 

"Always getting yourself hurt, Sethandas," Elam growled. He then jerked Faeryn down to his knees as another volley of arrows whistled through the air.

 

Ivela Helothren, recognizable by the ebony bow slung over her shoulder, took hold of said weapon and crouched low, knocking a matching ebony arrow, "Looks like we arrived just in time for the party."

 

Kareth Athrys had readied her signature Disentegrate Armor spell and knelt with them, gloved hands pulsing with ominous red light, "Now isn't the time for joking, Helothren!"

 

Ravos Terilu, who had drawn his mace, was the only one not on his knees - hiding behind a tall crenelation of Floodgate's wall and carefully peering out over the Ashlands, "Your orders, Faeryn?"

 

Faeryn looked around, trying to formulate a strategy. The soldiers were already being quickly overwhelmed by the rush of mercenaries.

 

"Terilu and Gols, get to the breach and cut down anyone who tries to come through it. Athrys, Helothren? Kill those damned archers!"

 

With that, he jumped from the walls to join the fray.

 

 

Velanya Therys, Fort Floodgate Courtyard

 

Everywhere the battleaxe fell, Frostfang was quick to meet it. Her attacker must have been an orc - he never seemed to tire of swinging the huge weapon.

 

Finally, she spied an opening in his defense, and Frostfang's blade plunged into a gap beneath his armpit. He fell with a cry as Velanya pulled the weapon and whirled to face...

 

...Faeryn! Her friend was standing back-to-back with her, preventing anyone from taking her from behind. He reached around and locked his free arm with hers, so they wouldn't get separated, and together they advanced against the intruders. Any foe who came near was quickly beheaded or impaled by scimitar and sword.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Velanya saw an Ordinator in a flowing skirt, seeming to dance amongst her foes with a combination of disintegration and fire spells. On top of the walls, another Indoril-clad warrioress fired ebony arrows rapidly along with Serra. And at the head of a troop of legionnaires, two more Ordinators fought off the advancing horde at the gatehouse breach.

 

The Temple had arrived.

[SoulofChrysamere]

Nenalaamo - Fort Floodgate Battlements

 

 

Nenalaamo quickly glanced around as Faeryn, fresh from an arrow in the chest, and his fellow Ordinators supported the beleaguered legionnaires with their signature skills. Nenalaamo recognized that his captains and sergeants were holding together the Imperial companies just fine. He followed the principle of letting his officers do their jobs, and instead of trying to micromanage the hectic resistance, produced two matching bearded imperial steel axes with serrated ebony blades and cloaked his fists in destructive magics. He leaped from the walls to join Velanya and friends in the battle for the breach below.

 

No sooner had Nenalaamo touched the ground than a large, stout fellow clad in cheap-looking steel raced toward him. Nenalaamo ducked, weaved, and parried to avoid the long slender blade his assailant swung. The Altmer became very cautious; he had always hated fighting against dai-katanas.

 

The pace of the battle denied Nenalaamo the opportunity to use the fire and electricity encircling his fists, but the wily commander handily displayed his prowess with physical weapons in the few seconds that followed. A last flurry of countered chops and slices from the mercenary revealed a flaw in his technique to Nenalaamo. He made lunges toward the mercenary, trying to coax him into swinging again. After a few feints, the dai-katana came forward again in an overhead blow. Nenalaamo, however, was ready. He caught the katana's blade in between the beard and handle of his right axe and let its own momentum carry itself downward into his right steel legging. This jerked the mercenary forward, throwing him off balance. In the same fluid motion, Nenalaamo brought his left axe down on the man's hand. The axe's razor-sharp ebony edge effortlessly sliced through the cut-rate steel and severed the hand at the wrist. The man reeled back in pain as Nenalaamo raised both his axes, kicked the soldier in the stomach, and then lunged forward, plunging the axes into the cruxes between his neck and shoulders. The mercenary then fell to his knees and Nenalaamo wrenched his axes loose to meet his next opponent.

 

The second opponent came quickly. Another steel-clad man rushed toward Nenalaamo from behind a glittering spearhead. This time, however, the Altmer had the seconds he needed to use his magic. He speedily threw a lightning bolt at his attacker. The bolt struck the spearman and he fell to the ground with a metallic clang. Nenalaamo then left the man's convulsing body and searched for Velanya and Faeryn.

 

After a few seconds, he spied them off to his left back to back, fighting a pair of more nimble infantrymen equipped with shortswords and a combination of steel and leather armor. Nenalaamo ran to reach them, but a big, beefy steel mannequin even taller than he and carrying a massive warhammer interposed. Immediately, Nenalaamo took up his defensive stance. He wanted to preserve his magicka reserves for when he had clear shots at large groups of foes or ones armed with very annoying weapons such as spears and halberds. Despite the imperial steel's weight, the mer deftly dodged and parried his opponent's flailing hammer. After about twenty seconds of evading and vain counter-swings, Nenalaamo at last found the gap in the brute's style. The legionnaire saw that when the man performed a downward swing, he shifted his grip on the hilt before raising the weapon again, consuming precious seconds. The next time one of his overhead chops came, Nenalaamo pounced. He sidestepped the blow and then latched onto the hammer's handle with his left axe's beard as its wielder shifted his grip. Nenalaamo then jerked the weapon off to the left and cut into the man's left thigh with his right axe. The huge mercenary let out a bloodcurdling scream and fell onto his back where Nenalaamo delivered a double death stroke by slamming his two axes into the person's chest.

 

Nenalaamo then finished making his way toward Velanya and Faeryn, who had dispatched the light soldiers.

 

"It's been a while since I've had to do this!" Nenalaamo said.

Edited March 15, 2012 by SoulofChrysamere

[AurianaValoria1]

Velanya Therys, Fort Floodgate Courtyard

 

She gave the commander a lopsided grin, "I've been getting more than my fair share."

 

Suddenly, a shimmering claymore swung sidelong, straight at Nenalaamo's unhelmed head. Velanya instinctively threw herself into the commander, knocking him down and away from the blade. They landed on the ground with clang, the sword singing as it passed overhead. Velanya suddenly felt Faeryn close the gap, dueling the mercenary almost on top of them, his scimitar meeting the claymore at every blow.

 

 

Kareth Athrys, Fort Floodgate Courtyard

 

After doing her best to thin the herd within the Fort's walls, the mage rushed back to the battlements and Ivela's side.

 

Ivela had already taken care of most of the archers. All that remained were the few who were taking cover behind rock cairns. Because of the boulders, Ivela couldn't get a clear shot.

 

"Turn your attention to the warriors, Helothren. I'll take care of the archers," Kareth said, readying a pair of spells.

 

Ivela wordlessly nodded, her pace never faltering: knock, fire, knock, fire, knock, fire. She never missed her target - a man fell with each arrow.

 

Kareth loosed a powerful noise spell toward one cairn. It had the exact effect she wanted. The archer behind the rocks rose without thinking, clamping his hands to his ears to stop the cacophony. As soon as he did, she unleashed a lightning bolt, and the archer fried in his steel plate.

 

Rinse and repeat, she thought with a wicked smile.

[SoulofChrysamere]

Nenalaamo - Fort Floodgate Courtyard

 

 

The hard "thwoomp" of a speeding claymore's blade sounded overhead as Nenalaamo felt himself get tackled by Velanya. A second later, the unique clatter of steel on ebony was heard as Faeryn crossed blades with the mercenary. Nenalaammo began to rise, but the mercenary neared him as Faeryn kept dancing around him. During a slight pause between sword blows, Nenalaamo locked his legs around the steel giant's knees and rolled to the right. The leverage caused the mercenary's knees to buckle and he went to the ground with a metallic thud. The Altmer then sprung to his feet with his axes and spells still in hand.

 

The first tastes of combat had passed, and now Nenalaamo felt his rhythm returning. A mercenary dressed in a rather exotically designed steel suit charged the commander with an equally ornate katana. The man's lavish gear belied his inexperience, however. He made a sprinting sideways swing at Nenalaamo, who quickly deflected it while stepping off to the side and then planted his other axe in the bladesman's backplate as his own momentum carried him right past.

 

Nenalaamo's next challenger proved to be an oddball, however. Said challenger locked eyes with Nenalaamo from about twenty paces away and then sped toward the High Elf. In the few seconds afforded him before the fight ensued, Nenalaamo saw that he was a Khajiit, most likely an Obmes or Obmes-raht judging by his human stature and apportionment, he had a cream-colored, helmless, argyle cotton armor suit on, and in each hand, there was the gleam of a deadly hooked blade. Nenalaamo's countenance soured; he hated fighting against hook swords more than he did dai-katanas.

 

The Khajiit immediately showed his experience and respect for his opponent upon stopping short of Nenalaamo's defensively-placed axes. After a few seconds of squaring off, Nenalaamo made the first move. He made a feigned lunge with his left axe at the Khajiit's right leg, but the Khajiit simply sidestepped and countered with a deliberate swing at Nenalaamo's right hip. Now, however, the cat made a mistake. The counterattack left him off balance for a second and unable to properly follow through with a second blow, but he attempted it anyway by slicing diagonally downward with his other hook blade. Nenalaamo seized the opportunity and caught the crook of the hook in his left axe's beard. Nenalaamo then let the circular motion of the parry reach its trough before pulling hard toward himself. The Khaajit did the same, but the legionnaire made the harder yank and pulled his feline aggressor in. The Khajiit made a last-ditch thrust with his free hook sword, but Nenalaamo pressed it straight down into the cobblestone while simultaneously springing forward and giving his opponent a punishing headbutt. The Khajiit's head snapped back for a second, and Nenalaamo took the chance to wrench the blade caught with his left axe free from the cat's grip. No sooner had the mer done this, however, that the Khajiit recovered and swung for Nenalaamo's face with his disarmed hand's claws. Nenalaamo pushed his arm forward again immediately and in one fluid motion, blocked the Khajiit's wild swing and then tackled him to the ground with a punch to his windpipe. The Elsweyrian's larynx crumpled as his neck struck the stone. Nenalaamo quickly pushed himself up off of his suffocating kill to prepare for his next fight.

 

Next though, Nenalaamo saw the chance to use some of his conserved magicka. A small column of fresh insurgents crashed through the breach in the wall, waving their guillotines through the stubborn imperial defenders. Nenalaamo did a quick glance around to check for personal threats and, not seeing any, dug deeply into his arcane Aldmeri veins. Huge clusters of white-hot, crackling lightning robed his fists. After taking a moment to focus, Nenalaamo shot forth the bolts. The lightning struck the front of the column and surged throughout its remainder. It was difficult, but Nenalaamo managed to control the lightning's flow and keep it from zapping any friendly troops. Within seconds, the opposition's latest bolster was reduced to a pile of twitching steel caskets.

[AurianaValoria1]

Velanya Therys, Fort Floodgate Courtyard

 

As soon as she made sure that Nenalaamo was safe, Velanya scrambled back up to the walls to assess the situation, wondering how many of the fools were left. With the combined efforts of the troops and five Ordinator veterans, the mercenaries' ranks were thinning considerably.

 

Indeed, as she looked out over the Ashlands, some of the mercs were fleeing across the dunes.

 

The Knight Errant shouted to the archers, "Slay the stragglers! We don't need them reporting back to their commanders!"

[darkedge42392]

Adrynn Indarys, Ashlands, to Kogoruhn

 

Adrynn's hands clenched tightly. He could feel the brand on his left palm burning steadily. Something had happened when Azura had named him and Velanya as her Chosen. Some link had been formed between them. One deeper than blood. It was something he could ponder on later now. He and the others had somewhere to go.

 

"Kriak, I do believe we have gained all we have from this poor wretch. And there is only one option now. Since we can't leave him here and hope he doesn't run back to his commanders and we can't take him with us, I say we," Adrynn said as he walked over to the Ashlander and drove his flaming katana through his skull, killing him instantly, the smell of burned flesh permeating the air, "leave him here . . . " The Redoran pulled his sword from the broken skull of the Ashlander and wiped the blood encrusted blade off on the tattered remains of the prisoner's armor.

 

He turned his ruby gaze to the Khajiit prisoner that Caius held. "What about this one?"

[AurianaValoria1]

Caius Cosades, Ashlands, To Kogoruhn

 

Caius's face bore no expression, but inwardly, he was wincing. Adrynn's brutal actions were a sign that this war was bringing out the worst in everyone. Of course, he realized that the Redoran really had no other choice - they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

He took the khajiit by the collar, forcing the cat to look him in the eyes, "Why is the Blackwood Company here? Who are you serving?"

 

The prisoner snarled, "Why should I tell you anything? Just kill me and get it over with!"

 

Caius's katana flashed upwards, it's razor sharp blade shaving the fur from the khajiit's neck. The Spymaster pressed the sword to the cat's throat, so hard that blood trickled from his skin, "Don't tempt me. Now, I'll ask you again...why is the Blackwood Company on Vvardenfell?"

 

The khajiit's voice flew a few octaves higher, "G-gold, of course!" he bore a fanged and goofy grin, "What else? The almighty Septim!"

 

"Who's paying you?"

 

"Wha-" the cat's eyes went wide, "You don't know? How could you not? Ahhh...." the khajiit grinned, "Sweet irony, yes? The army that protects and guards Tamriel is now destroying her."

 

Caius growled fiercely, pushing the katana farther, "Enough with the nonsense! Tell me who's paying you!"

 

The cat began to laugh, obviously no longer afraid of death.

 

"The Imperial Legion, of course!"

 

The Spymaster was very still for a moment, his stormy eyes flashing with unbridled fury.

 

And with a cry of loss, betrayal, anger, and pain, he then cut the cat's head from his shoulders.

[SoulofChrysamere]

Lecuaro Sulnair Marczon - The Ashlands, To Kogoruhn

 

 

Lecuaro had trouble digesting what the two prisoners had revealed. The entire collective Ashlander warrior caste duped by a Nerevarine doppelganger, and now a comment about the Imperial Legion itself causing all of the suffering. The violent executions were simply garnish -- aftermath. The things on which there should be thought were what the captives had said prior to their deaths.

 

Of course, Lecuaro cast a concerned look over Caius following the spymaster's angry beheading of the Khajiit. He knew the old man had a temper about him...and this war was only corrupting it more. Lecuaro knew full well how war could bring out the worst sides of everybody. Throughout his years in the Legion, he had witnessed countless sinners and saints alike lose themselves in their own bloodlust, greed, and other dark desires.

 

Lecuaro swallowed hard, and then spoke. "Adrynn and Kriak, I hope you don't mind waiting for a bit..." He said as he walked over to Caius and forcibly took him by the shoulder and spun him around. "Lets take a walk, master." He said as he pulled Caius toward a small clump of trama root shrubs a score paces away.

[AurianaValoria1]

Caius Cosades, the Ashlands, to Kogoruhn

 

Caius forced himself to sheathe the bloodied katana and followed Lecuaro wordlessly. The implications of the khajiit's words had him tied in knots inside.

 

Who was the traitor?

 

What if the enemy who was paying the Blackwood Company was at Fort Floodgate itself?

 

He couldn't open his mouth to speak, not without screaming. Instead he silently stood and awaited whatever speech Lecuaro had in store, seething with a smoldering fury.

 

 

Velanya Therys, Fort Floodgate Battlements

 

As the Knight Errant surveyed the archers, something caught her eye....the glint of armor, coming from the Foyada Bani-Dad, to the south. But it wasn't steel. At least, not the mercenaries' steel.

 

She ran across the walls to the southern turret, winding her way up the tower stairs and to the upper crenelations. Squinting hard, she tried to make out the figures approaching.

 

They wore Akaviri steel.

 

They were Blades.

[Zephyr2011]

Kriak, To Kogoruhn

 

As Adrynn slayed their prisoner a grim smirk flitted across Kriak's face for a brief moment. It was ironic how he had suddenly ended up doing exactly what he had tried to leave behind: interrogation, subterfuge, espionage and assassination. The situation was not without its humor to the woodsman, there he sat, trying to help save a realm as he watched a man, a good and honorable man, for whom he had much respect, even would call him his friend, was slipping down the dark path of rage and malice that Kriak had seen so many times before while they used Kriak's terrible magical capabilities to force confessions out of poor foot soldiers. He had even taken up his old armor and raiment! Suddenly his brand burned like Hellfire, the sensation was keen and searing, Kriak couldn't force it out of his mind, a cursory glance at Adrynn revealed that his own brand had been troubling him, albeit to a lesser degree. Kriak's face did not bely his inner pain but he set his jaw forcefully and rose. A vision rushd to him, the fort was in grave peril, he had felt the rumblings of pain and energy from a struggle there but now, now it was different, something worse was coming, what he could not tell, which was all the more troubling to him.

 

"I must go, there's something amiss at the fortress and I'm the only one of us mobile enough to get there in time to help. I will still meet you all at Kogoruhn if I can, I'll send you a message through the other one branded by Mora." Kriak addressed Adrynn tersely, time was of the essence and his brand only got more painful. Without a sound Kriak melted into Adrynn's shadow.

 

Kriak, Fort Floodgate Southern Turret

 

Kriak emerged near Velanya, on one of the many towers that ringd the fort. He could see by the scene below that the mercenaries were being dealt with quite well and he need not waste his strength on them. His brow furrowed as he saw the gleaming soldiers in the distance. "Who are they?" Kriak whispered to Velanya. His brand burned more furiously as his trepidation mounted and the soldiers grew nearer...