Fire Emblem: Soul of Heaven [IC/PG-16]

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"I see. So you are working underneath someone else. I'd like to learn more, but perhaps it's a bit too late."

 

Counterattacking Grass' attack as soon as the bandit whiffed it, Aleithe landed a solid hit before getting himself to position again, noting the interesting part from Grass' words in the meantime. At the time Aleithe said his words, Ada had moved in and attacked him with Shade, and she also asked Rona to sweep in to attack. However, as he thought about it more for a bit, he decided that perhaps it would be worth it to try squeezing out the information out of him. And for that, the bandit needed to live, at least for the time being. Well, he also had to be disarmed first, but point was, perhaps it would be best if he handled this delicate matter himself.

 

Without waiting for Rona, Aleithe went to attack the bandit, but rather than going for a shot meant to kill him, he instead went to disarm the bandit with his swing before attempting to have Reina ram and hold him tight underneath her. It might be a bit more initiative for him to safely do before telling Leon first, and technically speaking their goal would be over here anyway once the bandit was dead. However, Aleithe was never here just for the money from mercenary work, and finding the root of the issue and cleanse it from society was his responsibility after all.

 

"We don't have much time for chit chat and I reconsidered my position from before. Only death awaits you past this point, but perhaps if you tell us more about your boss, that might change for the better for you, somewhat."

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Aleithe attacked Grass with a nonlethal intent (disarming him by cutting off his weapon arm more or less), and attempted to force Grass to talk.

 

 

[Yui]

---

"What!? Grass the Pain is a terrifying name and my parents had great naming sense, you little-, ah whatever! All of you just die!"

 

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart!" Grass the Pain seemed to have no intent of turning himself in quietly. He even went to attack Aleithe, but his attack only wound up missing and he got a sword to his body in response from the guy himself. Guess we're doing this the hard way; bandits and diplomacy never got along. Though this shouldn't be that hard with all of us here. The rest of the Iron Falcons were already moving in to attack Grass, and Cassia wasn't about to let herself be counted out of helping in this fight. At the same time, she'd already been hit more times she'd like to have been hit, even if Layne was there to handle keeping the party healed up. Being hurt still hurt, and Cassia didn't want anything to do with that if she could help it. And so, instead of running right up to Grass's face, she opted to keep a bit of distance between herself and her target. Once she was in position, Cassia did what she did best.

 

She reached for a knife, and threw it at Grass.

---

[spoiler=OOC]Cassia moved two spaces up and attacked Grass with her Knife.

 

[Alaina]

As Grass the Pain's arm was removed from his body, he let out a pained scream, only to be silenced as the wind was knocked out of him by the giant bird. Being pinned to the ground, the man started to shout, "ha! If you think I'm trouble just wait until you see the boss! He'll drive a lance so far up your-" his taunts were cut short as a knife struck him square in the head, his expression staying plastered on his face, no longer able to move. 

 

With the leader down, Leon looked around, surveying the area around him. It appeared that all the bandits had been defeated, and the job had reached its completion. As this sunk in, doors began to open and with that, the sound of cheers soon started to follow. The people seemed to be happy that their town was no longer under siege from the strange bandit group, and they knew just who to thank for their salvation. The people began to come and congratulate the people of the Iron Falcons. Children would run to either Aleithe or Rona, interested in both of their mounts respectively, wanting to touch them or asking random questions about the creatures. Some of the adults, however, seemed to be far more wary of the Jouran and Wyvern, while others just seemed to intentionally keep a set distance from Ada urging the children not to get to close to either of them. In contrast, they seemed to have quite the joyous attitude when giving thanks to Layne, some in part giving prayers to the Sage, Roa, towards the man. Leon kept back for the most part, not quite comfortable with the crowd's cheers. "Well, mission accomplished. Good job everyone."

 

"Yes, thank you very much." The Iron Falcon's leader's attention was drawn to a middle-aged man who seemed quite pleased with the outcome as well. The man went to shake Leon's hand saying, "I'm the village chief Oren, the one who sent the request out. I wasn't sure if anyone was going to respond and well- thank you very much." He turned to the rest of the falcons, saying, "all of you, truly thank you."

 

Leon was taken aback slightly by the man's gratitude saying, "w-well, it was nothing really. Just our job." He felt slightly awkward moving into the next topic saying, "about that, the job part-"

 

"Oh right, yes yes! I will have your pay for you in just moment." He nodded vigorously at this. "I'll be sure to prepare a meal for your group in celebration as well, and please, feel free to stay the night here if you come from far away." 

 

As the man left, he had come back with a large sack of gold, giving it to Leon who would then distribute the money evenly across the entire group. While he seemed to be ready to go back into the large building behind him, likely to go back to work on the food, Leon thought about what Aleithe had asked Grass about before he was felled. "Oren. Do you know who these bandits worked under?"

 

The chief paused as he thought about it, "oh yes. They were a member of a rather infamous group that raid harass the people of this area, the Desert Riders." 

 

"Desert?" 

 

"I am not sure either, but yes. A nasty group that has a penchant for targeting caravans, wagons, any travelers on the road really. They've been around for awhile but have more so been a big nuisance than an actual threat to our livelihood." 

 

Leon wasn't quite sure what to make of this, though it certainly made him think. Regardless, he simply waved the man off and said, "thanks."  

 

[spoiler=OOC]

So, battle over. We are now in the down time period. During this time, just react to the cheers, the mission being over, or what have you. Feel free to ask Oren or the villagers any questions you might have, or just feel free to speak amongst yourselves as a group. Posting will not be done in rounds as it has been up to this point, but try not to go crazy with it. Things will move on either when everyone agrees that they're ready to go or if I feel enough time has passed. 

 

Also, everyone has gained 500 gold each, and this will be added to your sheet in a new column. Woo, money. 

 

"Oh, if only there was some lovely little place for them to spend it." 

 

...Yeah. Also, in immediate view of Rona, Aleithe, Cassia and Ada a perfectly fine and full (and lootable) Vulnerary pouch is near Grass's corpse. None of the other items lootable, just don't question it. 

 

You've all gained 2 levels. Yes. 2. The stats gained will be written down below and your stats will already be edited once this post goes up. 

 

Finally, if you have had any comments, critiques or what have you on the RP and battle system so far, tell me either in the skype chat or in the ooc. Good work everyone. 

 

[spoiler=Leon]

HP: +1

Str: +1

Mag: +1

Skl: +1

Spd: +1

Lck: +0

Def: +1

Res: +0

 

 

[spoiler=Rona]

HP: +1

Str: +1

Mag: +1

Skl: +1

Spd: +1

Lck: +0

Def: +1

Res: +1

 

 

[spoiler=Aleithe]

HP: +1

Str: +1

Mag: +1

Skl: +2

Spd: +1

Lck: +0

Def: +0

Res: +1

 

 

[spoiler=Yue]

HP: +1

Str: +1

Mag: +1

Skl: +2

Spd: +1

Lck: +1

Def: +1

Res: +0

 

 

[spoiler=Ada]

HP: +1

Str: +0

Mag: +2

Skl: +1

Spd: +2

Lck: +0

Def: +1

Res: +0

 

 

[spoiler=Layne]

HP: +1

Str: +1

Mag: +1

Skl: +1

Spd: +2

Lck: +2

Def: +1

Res: +1

 

 

[spoiler=Chitose]

HP: +1

Str: +1

Mag: +0

Skl: +1

Spd: +2

Lck: +1

Def: +1

Res: +0

 

 

[spoiler=Cassia]

HP: +1

Str: +1

Mag: +0

Skl: +2

Spd: +1

Lck: +1

Def: +0

Res: +0

 

 

 

 

[Sethera]

Yue breathed a sigh of relief. It was all over. She was a bit worried about the fact that the leader had talked about having a boss, actually, no, scratch that. Very worried. She had almost started to bite her nails, which was a bad habit that she had shaken off a while ago, but, but, this was bad. Very bad.

 

"Um...excuse me, um...I think...there's something wrong," she tried to get the others' attention, but her fear had made her voice even smaller and shakier than it usually was.

 

Nobody seemed in the mood to worry anyway. The villagers were cheering, and yes, it was a good thing that they had saved the village, but this was just temporary. People said she was pessimistic, but Yue liked to think she was just careful. The more careful she was, the less likely she would get herself into a situation she couldn't get out of.

 

Thankfully, after Leon had distributed the gold, he asked the question that the Yonian had wanted to ask, causing the girl to snap to attention. "Oren. Do you know who these bandits worked under?"

 

The chief paused as he thought about it, "oh yes. They were a member of a rather infamous group that raid harass the people of this area, the Desert Riders."

 

"Desert?"

 

"I am not sure either, but yes. A nasty group that has a penchant for targeting caravans, wagons, any travelers on the road really. They've been around for awhile but have more so been a big nuisance than an actual threat to our livelihood."

 

Leon waved the man off with a simple, "thanks." 

 

"Th-that sounds bad," Yue muttered. "Those people will probably want revenge. What should we do?" She wasn't asking this to anybody in particular, lost in her worries as she was. She couldn't even appreciate the gold that she had been given, not that she had ever really cared about that. No, what she cared about was the fact that...everybody was safe. Even if they might not be safe for very long.

[Ralsei]

"Ladies, gentlemen! Boys and girls, the bandits have been dispersed!" 

 

Layne called out to the villagers who were starting to gather around, a little smirk on his face as he held his staff up into the air. The tip of it shined as the crowd gathered around, a small burst of light causing sparkling showers to rain down from the sky as he puffed his chest out, letting the soft light fade into the air. "You all have nothing left to fear!"

 

He took a little glance around the growing crowd of people, noting how they seemed to avoid Ada with a little scowl. He didn't have the time to handle that just yet, instead he was getting to the point where people were starting to approach him, returning grins and nods as people thanked him and the Sage, rubbing at his neck for a moment as he laughs softly. After finally getting a moment to tear himself away from the crowd, he took his portion of the gold and slipped it into his pocket, a little sigh escaping him as he slipped over to Ada.

 

"So, I only have a moment, but I'm going to keep on getting the people's spirits back up properly. I think you could help me with that, if you don't mind setting the stage with your smokey tomes a bit."

 

He grins at her, poking his tongue out as he brings out a little strip of jerky from his pocket, nibbling on it as he smiles, "Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems like it would lighten the mood a little more, and a good light show always looks best on a dark background, you know? If you don't want to, I won't make you help..."

 

He pauses for a moment, then nibbles on the jerky some more anyway. He knew it was a good idea to snag this earlier! He scratches at his chin as he smiles a bit to Ada, "They said they wanna prepare a dinner for us, so we might be here a little while. Depends on if Leon is eager to get out...  Personally I could go for the food."

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona could do nothing but watch. Even as Ada opened the way for her to strike she was too slow. Aleithe had gotten there first.

Always Aleithe. Aleithe the better flier. Aleithe the better second in command. Aleithe was not just one step ahead of her at every turn. He was on the other end of the road entirely.

 

Rona lowered her axe as the fight wrapped itself up. She wasn't dead but was that really better? Instead of dying she just was so...useless. What good did she actually do? Everyone probably noticed that too. Especially Ada. Who had given her the chance to prove to be useful only to watch as she did nothing.

 

She didn't realize at first that she was surrounded by children. Most people would think that a grump like Cormag would lash out but Rona knew better. He enjoyed the children's attention. Not that he'd let on. He would allow them to pet him but would continue to look aloof about it and glare if any of them tried to climb up onto him.

 

Rona used the distraction that was Cormag, as well as Layne's little light show, to slip off her mount's back. He stirred slightly but, with one look of Rona, he didn't stop her. In fact he started to flap his wings a bit more, and raised his neck, making it slightly harder to tell that his rider had vacated her seat.

 

Rona moved away. Where she was going the Wyvern Rider wasn't sure. Just. Away.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

During the festivities following the death of the bandit leader, Aleithe kept herself silent. Cassia immediately murdering the bandit leader was not what he intended, and while he could chastise the thief about it, he did realize that it was mostly his fault for not communicating his intent first. Not that they had any time for it.

 

Thankfully, the elder of the village chimed in later, telling the group about the supposed leader of the bandits here. So that perhaps would be their next objective. For the time being, he focused himself to think about the implication of the elder's words while the kids played with Reina, giving occasional smiles now and then. Then he noticed Rona moving away. He hadn't seen whether she messed up or not today, but either way, Aleithe felt that it'd be an issue regardless. Hopping off from Reina, he followed her to where she was going, and started to yell to get her attention as he caught up with her.

 

"Rona. Perhaps I should inquire to you about you and the battle earlier, if I may? You looked quite distraught and it is my responsibility to make sure our group is still in a good position to continue with our tasks."

 

---

[Blake]

"Guys, w-"

Ada was cut off by Aleithe pinning the bandit, followed by Cassia finishing him off. She looked down at the lifeless body for a minute before letting out a sigh.

"It would have been better if Rona got to finish him off... She always gets moody when Aleithe takes the kill." She mused as she scooped up the vulnerary left behind by the boss. Letting down her hood and taking a breath of fresh air, she tried to follow the wyvern rider, only to be caught by Layne.
 
"So, I only have a moment, but I'm going to keep on getting the people's spirits back up properly. I think you could help me with that, if you don't mind setting the stage with your smokey tomes a bit."

"Um... I can do it, but I need to run. Can you work with just a smokescreen this time? I'm really sorry!"
 
Ada pulled Shade out and began to chant before the cleric's reply, filling the area around the pair with smoke. She kept an eye on Rona as she did, clutching the vulnerary tight beneath her book. Once there was a large cloud ready for Layne's theatrics, Ada gave him a pat on the shoulder as she rushed past him, following Rona. However, she was beat to the punch.

 

"Rona. Perhaps I should inquire to you about you and the battle earlier, if I may? You looked quite distraught and it is my responsibility to make sure our group is still in a good position to continue with our tasks."

 

Ada bit her thumb as she watched Aleithe go to Rona, knowing it would only make the issue worst. She considered her options for a minute, taking a breath as she decided on a plan. Walking with a brisk pace, she went straight past Aleithe and grabbed Rona by the hand, pulling her away.

 

"Sorry, Aleithe, I need to talk to Rona for a minute. You can have her when I'm done!"

 

She quickly dragged the Jouran girl out of sight and earshot of Aleith. Ada spun around and looked Rona right in the eye, scowling slightly.

 

"You're going to get killed if you keep charging in unprepared. So... take this." Ada grumbled as she shoved the Vulnerary that Glass dropped into Rona's hands. "I know you're not going to change your ways, at least not yet... So at least take this with you. Please."

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

She had gotten a fair distance away from the group. It wouldn't be long before she was outside the city itself. What she planned on doing there she wasn't sure. She just had to get away from all...that.

 

"Rona. Perhaps I should inquire to you about you and the battle earlier, if I may? You looked quite distraught and it is my responsibility to make sure our group is still in a good position to continue with our tasks."

Oh no. She halted instinctively. Aleithe wasn't her superior exactly but it often felt that way to her so her body tended to react as though he were. She didn't want to turn. He would be able to see it. Her weakness. Her panic. She didn't know what her face looked like but from the way her palms were sweating, her heart palpating, and extremely minor trembles running through her body she knew that it couldn't be good.

 

Rona turned around after a moment with the brightest grin on her face. "What do you mean, comrade? I'm fine just a bit hyped up from that awesome fight! Was gonna check around the city to make sure no leftovers were around. Figured I'd be more than enough for any coward that hides from battle."

 

That should be enough right? He'd let her be and she could go...do her alone thing for a while.

 

And then Ada came up. No. Grabbed her hand. NO.

"Sorry, Aleithe, I need to talk to Rona for a minute. You can have her when I'm done!"

NO

 

Rona didn't stop the girl from dragging her a bit away from the other flier. She kept an incredulous grin on her face while the smaller girl brought her off to the side. Inside she was screaming at her to let her go and get away from her. Of course she didn't let that show. Ada already disliked her for the way she fought she didn't need to give the girl any more reason, however valid it may be, to hate her.

 

"You're going to get killed if you keep charging in unprepared. So... take this." Ada grumbled as she shoved the Vulnerary that Glass dropped into Rona's hands. "I know you're not going to change your ways, at least not yet... So at least take this with you. Please."

 

"Ada you're so silly." Rona laughed. "I'm never unprepared. I'm a warrior, strong enough to handle a few bandits. But if it makes you feel better I'll hold on to this." She took the vulnerably and put it away to likely not be used again. "I'm the last person you should worry about." Rona said with a grin, patting Ada on the shoulder. "Now go back to the others, enjoy the celebration, I want to take a quick walk to make sure everything's fine. I'll be back soon."

Rona waved and moved away. The moment she turned away the grin slipped and she had to stop herself from throwing up all over herself.

 

[Alaina]

Leon looked around to see that most of the group had split off, likely to enjoy the town's celebration at the moment, leaving him to be left with his thoughts on what to do next. It wasn't as though the idea of a unified bandit organization was unheard of in these lands, though certainly uncommon. The fact that they had been brazen enough to try this, though, left him worried for what would happen in the future. This worry was not his alone, though, as Yue had seemed to voice this concern aloud. Revenge was certainly on the table for the bandits to do. Or, at least attacking again under the pretext of revenge. And a repeat attack was likely not to be as easy to handle as the one they had just fended off. Walking over to Yue he said, "well, we're mercenaries. So if there's a job to take, we'll take it. Though," Leon wasn't entirely comfortable to just let sleeping dogs lie at the moment. "I'll ask the others later." 

 

Once that was done, the boy then realized that the only person near him still was Yue. He wasn't really sure how to talk with the girl, as she always seemed to shrink away at most topics, or was preoccupied with something else. He wasn't sure if he was just always saying the wrong things or something else, but all the same it left him uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he merely said, "so. Um. Are you holding up alright from the fight? If you were hurt you should probably see Layne."

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Sorry, Aleithe, I need to talk to Rona for a minute. You can have her when I'm done!"

 

Aleithe raised his eyebrow for a moment at Ada's request, but in the end decided to comply with it, giving a nod of approval before Ada dragged Rona to have a private talk while Aleithe watched over from a distance. Was it related to the issues that made Rona looked to be quite distressed? Aleithe felt the need to listen to their words, but eavesdropping wasn't an act that a noble ought to do. So he simply patiently waited for the two to do their talk. After Rona walked away from Ada with a momentary grin on her face that soon disappeared, Aleithe was already turning his back to return to the festivities. Whatever was in the talk between Ada and Rona didn't seem to improve things much from his perspective, but there weren't enough of a lead for him to have a talk yet with Rona, so Aleithe would wait and see before taking any further steps.

 

If anything, once he got to write the after combat report and interview the rest of the group on how did it go, he'd be able to see whether there's any issues happening or not anyway.

 

---

[Sethera]

Leon walked over to Yue, "well, we're mercenaries. So if there's a job to take, we'll take it. Though," the swordsman paused. "I'll ask the others later."

 

At least he wasn't dismissing her words. Though she was still worried that they'd end up being caught off guard or something. But at least their leader was thinking about it. That was Leon though. He was pretty dependable. She could feel her worries lessen just being around him.

 

The boy continued to speak after a while "so. Um. Are you holding up alright from the fight? If you were hurt you should probably see Layne."

 

Yue nodded. "I didn't get hit, so umm, don't worry about me." She stood there awkwardly herself, realizing how little she had actually spoken to him, or anybody really. But, people could be scary, and talking with them more so. Or maybe it was just that she was too scared? Should she talk more? Maybe she should, but, but, scary people.

 

Leon wasn't scary though. He was nice. "Uhh, did you, um, get hit?" The archer had been a bit distracted during the fight trying to attack people and trying not to be attacked. She looked the mercenary over but didn't see anything except blood, which could have been from an opponent. "Oh, if you're hurt, then make sure to talk to Layne, unless, uhh, he already helped." She shook her head, embarrassment creeping over her. Talking with human beings was...hard. She missed the taciturn nature of her sifu sometimes.

 

Chang'e popped out of her collar and shot her a look that seemed to say, You're hopeless.

[Yui]

---

"Well, mission accomplished. Good job everyone."

 

And now with that done, what about our money? It wasn't long before the village chief - a guy named Oren - showed up. Some words were exchanged between him and Leon, about their pay and the generous bonuses Oren was willing to provide in addition to the money, as well as just who Grass the Lame worked for. So the boss had a boss? Interesting. Even more interesting was that Oren mentioned these Desert Riders as being the organization Grass belonged to, and them being more of a nuisance than an actual threat most of the time. Something must have prompted them to step up their game. A grand treasure perhaps? Bandits were stupid, but they weren't completely brainless. She couldn't imagine them stepping up to be a bigger deal without some sort of motivation behind it. At least, that wouldn't have been the case if she were in charge of them.

 

Cassia's attention turned to the boss. It was a theory worth presenting, right? Him and Yue were talking about the fight, it seemed.

 

"So. Um. Are you holding up alright from the fight? If you were hurt you should probably see Layne."

 

 "I didn't get hit, so umm, don't worry about me. Uhh, did you, um, get hit? Oh, if you're hurt, then make sure to talk to Layne, unless, uhh, he already helped."

 

It's like they're having a wallflower contest or something. The air between those two was just too awkward to bear for Cassia. She had to break the awkwardness between them, and the best way to do that was with direct intervention. The thief made her way to Leon and Yue, joking "Get a room, you two. It's like you're competing for who can be more awkward around the other one." Her eyes shifted directly to Yue as she continued, "I'll need to teach you how to talk to guys, Yue. As for you, Leon..." Now she moved her gaze toward the boss. "Call me crazy, but those Desert Riders probably have something really valuable if they're stepping their game up to taking an entire village. We should look into that, and if it turns out they do have some amazing treasure, it'd be good to take it from them."

---

[Alaina]

As Yue seemed to be totally fine, Leon simply said, "oh. That's good to hear then." A bit of an awkward pause between the two before the archer checked on how he was doing, to which Leon simply raised his as if to assure the girl. "Yeah, I got hit a few times but I already got fixed up so..." the boy trailed off, but spread his arms out to show that he was currently fine. It was at that point that Leon just stood there, unsure of what else to really say to the girl, when a much rougher voice broke between them. The boy sighed both in relief and out of habit as the girl made her comment to them. When Cassia had directed her attention back to Leon, it made him think about dealing with the bandits more. While he was sure that a large bandit group was bound to have a good deal of items on them, they were more than likely stolen and he wasn't exactly comfortable just taking those. Nevertheless, the more he thought about it, the more appealing it seemed to take them on. "Hmm..." the leader mused aloud as he looked back to his two team members saying, "Cassia, Yue, we should go meet with Oren and see what he can tell us about the bandits. Sound good?" Were they to agree to this, they would find Oren in the main building, merely directing people around to get the dinner they were preparing ready. 

[Sethera]

"Oh. That's good to hear then. ... Yeah, I got hit a few times but I already got fixed up so..." the boy trailed off, but spread his arms out to show that he was currently fine. Then he stopped speaking, and Yue didn't know what to do. Was what she had said good or bad or did she need to say more except she always had a hard time saying the right thing so--

 

"Get a room, you two. It's like you're competing for who can be more awkward around the other one." Cassia popped out of nowhere.

 

The archer flinched at both the sudden proximity and also the words. So she really did come across as awkward...oh no. She noticed that Leon had breathed a sigh of relief, which made a part of her curdle up inside from embarrassment. The girl's cheeks pinked, and she looked down, rubbing a circle in the dirt with her shoes. Her formal shoes were made out of cloth, but these were leather to help resist wear and tear as she walked.

 

"I'll need to teach you how to talk to guys, Yue."

 

The mention of her name caused the girl to look up. "W-what?!" her voice came out more like a squeak than anything else. "I, w-what do you mean, talk to guys?" Did she mean--no she couldn't mean...like that? No, of course not, right? Because she just had a hard time talking to people in general, or did they all think she l-l-liked someone whenever she stuttered? Oh Great Spirits no. This was a mess, but she didn't know how to fix it.

 

"As for you, Leon..." Now the girl moved her gaze toward their leader. "Call me crazy, but those Desert Riders probably have something really valuable if they're stepping their game up to taking an entire village. We should look into that, and if it turns out they do have some amazing treasure, it'd be good to take it from them."

 

"Hmm..." Leon mused aloud as he looked back to his two team members saying, "Cassia, Yue, we should go meet with Oren and see what he can tell us about the bandits. Sound good?"

 

"S-sure," Yue muttered, voice still shaky from the previous shock. She didn't remember who Oren was, but then again, she had a hard time remembering the names of human beings for some reason. They all just blurred together.

 

She soon found out that Oren was the village chieftain, who looked to be in the process of organizing dinner. The silver-haired girl stood awkwardly at the side, afraid to intrude on what was obviously a busy time for him. "Should we say something?" she asked the others, shoulders hunched down low as if to hide herself from the world. So many people together...this was still a bit scary for her.

[Yui]

---

"I, w-what do you mean, talk to guys?"

 

"I mean talk to guys," Cassia plainly answered. "We can nail out the finer details some other time." Indeed, it would have to wait, as Leon seemed to have come up with an idea on what to do next.

 

"Cassia, Yue, we should go meet with Oren and see what he can tell us about the bandits. Sound good?"

 

"S-sure."

 

Cassia gave a nod in response to the suggestion. Learning more about those bandits before going after them was by all means a good idea. Know the enemy and you will always win or something like that. Cassia tagged along as Leon and Yue went to go find Oren, who seemed to be in the middle of setting up dinner. Cassia couldn't wait to try out whatever he and whoever else was behind this had cooked up. But, even for Cassia, business always came before pleasure. There was a silver-haired girl in the room too, clearly leaving Oren be as he seemed to be a very busy man at this moment.

 

"Should we say something?"

 

"I've got this." Cassia stepped up to the plate (figuratively; the literal plate would have to come later), approaching Oren and speaking up to grab his attention. "Hey, Chief Oren, we've got a few more questions for you about those bandits. If we're going to go deal with them in their turf, it's good to know as much as we can first, right?"

---

[Alaina]

While Oren seemed to be hard at work, he was interrupted as the three members of the Iron Falcons had appeared. "Oh hello, yes, how are you all, what might you need?" The man seemed to be full of energy and like he was merely trying to get back to work, though this paused as he heard Cassia's question. "Wait, you mean to take on the Desert Riders? Truly?" 

 

Leon was taken a bit off guard by this and without any certainty in his voice, said, "it's on the table, at least." 

 

Oren seemed to deflate a bit, before perking back up. "Right right. Well, let me see what I can remember." He seemed to go a bit pensive as he said, "well, the Desert Riders themselves are stationed in an old abandoned fort somewhere in the middle of the Servan Woods, not too far from this town." The man's face seemed to scrunch up in a bit of disappointment, he said, "that's about as much as I know of them on their stronghold, and that's only from hearsay from travelers that stop by here." Leon pondered on this for a bit. While the information was pretty vague and general, given where they were located, it was likely to prove more then enough. Seeing the young man in thought, Oren said, "please, I'm not sure what we would be able to give if you were to help us, but it would mean the world to us all and many others."

 

Leon looked to both of the other members of his group who had come with him. They both seemed to have already been in favor of going after the bandit group, and Leon would be lying if he said he would be comfortable with letting them continue to harass the others around the area. Looking back to Oren he said, "then we'll take tonight's celebration as payment in advance." While Oren seemed to be absolutely ecstatic from this, Leon was quite sure if he was making the correct choice, and with only the opinion of the other two near him for it. Yet all the same, he had already made it and had to face what lied ahead. 

 

 

Chapter 1 - Towards the Desert

Date: 17th of Aeis 

Time: 12:27 PM

Location: The Entrance of the Servan Woods

 

The day had come and gone. The people of Tellan had cheered for their heroes, and they had been able to both eat their fill for the night and sleep in lodgings provided by the towns people. During the night, Leon had informed the group of what their next job would be. To defeat the Desert Rider bandits that had hid in the Servan Woods. Given that there was only one fort that was ever built inside of the woods, finding where it was located had not proven to be much of an issue. As such, the group began their march towards the Servan Woods, and after a day of travel had arrived at the entrance of the woods. 

 

The Servan Woods was a place that used to be a premiere hunting ground and place to forage for food and flowers in times long past. Since an influx of monsters had appeared though, that which they had hunted became scarce and the people who wished to gather from the area became even scarcer. Somewhat deep into the forest lies an old fort, an outpost that was created to surpress the monsters but has, at least thought to be, long since been abandoned. As most of what people used to scavenge has either gone extinct or become too costly to get, humans rarely ever step foot in here. 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Yeah, scene shift. We're basically just outside the woods and beginning to travel inside of it. Feel free to continue talking amongst yourself for this period, and feel free to talk about any interaction you may or may not have had in the day between this chapter and the last. If you have any questions feel free to ask. 

 

 

[Sethera]

"I mean talk to guys," Cassia plainly answered. Wait, so did she mean in that way, or just in general? "We can nail out the finer details some other time." And then they were off toward the chieftain. The thief, once more, seemed to know more about talking to people than Yue, which wasn't a surprise at all. "I've got this," the girl said, approaching Oren and speaking up to grab his attention. "Hey, Chief Oren, we've got a few more questions for you about those bandits. If we're going to go deal with them in their turf, it's good to know as much as we can first, right?"

 

Thus started a conversation with the chieftain, who seemed eager for them to take on the bandits. Their leader seemed hesitant, but eventually accepted, and Yue felt a rush of...fear, gladness that they were taking the initiative, and more fear. And worry. Always that.

 

The day had gone by really, horribly, terribly after that. There had been food and a lot of people clapping her on the back rather vigorously in their cheer. Yue's knees had buckled more than once under a slap from someone who didn't know their own strength. She also felt petrified with fear at being close to so many people, all of whom were so energetic. This was...not what she had expected when she had joined the Iron Falcons, but it was something she would probably have to get used to.

 

They set out for the Servan Woods in the morning, and after a day of travel arrived at the entrance. Here, Yue felt her stiff body start to relax. This was more her pace. She was useless with crowds, but hopefully she could show off her woodcraft skills here. Maybe. Or maybe she'd end up getting herself killed. No, no, think positive. The scary part was over, but now there was a new scary part, but this part was less scary, so, so yeah.

 

Breathing in a lungful of fresh forest air did much to calm her nerves, so after a couple more deep breaths, the archer stepped forward, resisting the urge to hide behind the nearest tree. She could not bring herself to meet the eyes of anybody though. "U-um...I'm really good with forests, so uhh, if you want, I can take point. Or uhh, if that's too much, I can just scout. I don't mean to impose, though, so if you'd rather I do something else, that's fine too." At the end of it, she wondered why she had even spoken up.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona had somehow managed to survive the night. She returned later that night but by then everyone seemed to be too caught up in their celebration to really pay her much mind. It likely helped that she kept near Cormag and he wouldn't really let anyone disturb her.

 

The next day she felt less nervous...at first. As they got closer to the forest she realized that they were about to go to the bandit's stronghold. The fight had been difficult before but this would be even worse. Attacking a stronghold was not something they should be doing. Siege warfare would be impossible with their numbers and with even the slightest amount of preparation the bandits should be able to set up an impossible to beat defense. She wanted to warn Leon, explain to him the tactical folly he was leading them to...but it wasn't her place. She was bound to serve Leon, not question his judgement.

 

And so she stayed atop Cormag and continued on with her back straight, head high, and pulse racing.

 

Honestly she didn't like forests. They were cramped, it was hard to fly, and there were dozens of potential problems that could spring up.

 

U-um...I'm really good with forests, so uhh, if you want, I can take point. Or uhh, if that's too much, I can just scout. I don't mean to impose, though, so if you'd rather I do something else, that's fine too."

 

Rona was relieved when someone elected to take the lead. So she wouldn't have to. Wasn't that pathetic? Letting this shy girl lead the way into a dangerous territory just because she was afraid of some wild animals and trees? She was the soldier here and yet...

 

"That's a wonderful idea!" Rona said, grinning at the girl. "I'll have your back, of course, so just keep your eyes forward!" So that Yue didn't look back at the pathetic Wyvern Rider cowering behind an Archer.

[Maeriberii Haan]

The next day

 

Aleithe managed to finish his report through the night, and he did indeed notice Rona's patented recklessness that almost got her killed. As much as it was nothing new, it's still quite an issue to be dealt with, but for the time being, Aleithe would defer to Leon's decision and only present his notes to him nothing this.

 

Right now they were immediately going for the desert. It was said that it'd be best to strike while the iron was hot. Taking longer would allow the news to reach the bandit's base, and they would lose a lot of advantage and take unnecessary damage they could've prevented. Right now they were going through the woods, and Yue and Rona had volunteered to scout the area. Aleithe heard about the presence of a fort nearby, and he thought for a moment that perhaps bandits would've made it their home now. Wouldn't hurt to see whether there's any dangers nearby or not.

 

With the scouting role had been handled, Aleithe instead decided to go around the group. Noticing Ada, he came closer to her and decided to start a conversation.

 

"Hae you eaten enough? You've done nicely in our last skirmish."

 

---

[Ralsei]

"Everyone! We're happy to have been able to help with your little bandit problem, and it's great to see you all in higher spirits!"
 
Layne beamed a little bit at the little gathering around him, the smog that Ada had created starting to creep upwards into the air behind him. He hefted his staff up towards the sky, the tip of it gleaming lightly as he let out a little laugh, "I'm Layne of the Iron Falcons, and today, the terror of the bandits ends!"
 
The tip of his staff began to flash, the light contrasting the darkness of the smog suddenly. The light pierced through the smog, dispelling it quickly as the light started to crawl through the shadows of it. The air around him shone for a moment as he pointed towards the outside of the village, "No matter where evil rests, we'll find it and take it out! You're safe now!"
 
He beams a little bit as he crosses his arms, before greeting and mingling with people for a little bit. His thoughts were running a little wild, his gaze flashing around the crowd to catch his allies talking to people, I wonder if there are more of 'em out there.
 

---

 
The dinner was more than welcome to Layne, the battle had worked up his appetite even though he had been snacking during the middle of it. The brief display he had put on wasn't the best of his abilities by far, but on short notice, it would have to do. After getting 'plenty' of rest, Layne rose up early in the morning, making his way to freshen up. He hummed to himself lightly, taking the opportunity to clean up before they prepared to continue their journey.
 
His washing took a fair bit of time, but thanks to the quiet morning with few people awake, he was free to take his time... 
 
Always feels nice...
 

---

 
As the group began to approach the forest, a few muffled grumbles escaped Layne. He kicked at the ground a little bit, pulling a bit of bread from his pocket to nibble on as they made their way towards the entrance of the forest.
 
"U-um...I'm really good with forests, so uhh, if you want, I can take point. Or uhh, if that's too much, I can just scout. I don't mean to impose, though, so if you'd rather I do something else, that's fine too."

 

Layne hummed a tiny bit, before letting out a little yawn, rubbing at his head softly, "Someone should probably handle the scouting, yeah... Don't go too far ahead of us if you do though. And come straight back if you get hurt so I can patch you up. Can't go into battle a woman down." He grins a tiny bit, poking his tongue out before taking another bite out of the bread he had hidden away at breakfast as he scratched at his cheek softly.

 

I really would rather be back at town.

 

He shook the intrusive thought out of his head quickly, before perking up a tiny bit as he jogged forward a tiny bit, "Did the chief have any knowledge about the leader of the bandits? It might be a good idea to know a little bit before we head into their hideout, just so we can prepare individually."

[Yui]

---

"U-um...I'm really good with forests, so uhh, if you want, I can take point. Or uhh, if that's too much, I can just scout. I don't mean to impose, though, so if you'd rather I do something else, that's fine too."

 

After the festivities in Tellan, a day of travel had brought the Iron Falcons here, to the Servan Woods. This was where those Desert Riders - and no doubt their vast hauls of treasure - were hiding. Cassia was getting excited just thinking about the riches those bandits must have had stored away, if they were getting bold enough to take an entire town for themselves. No small-time ring of thugs was that bold, right? The real question was what had changed their attitude. Cassia still suspected some kind of invaluable weapon, but there was no way to be sure. Whatever it was, she wanted it.

 

"That's a wonderful idea! I'll have your back, of course, so just keep your eyes forward!"

 

"Someone should probably handle the scouting, yeah... Don't go too far ahead of us if you do though. And come straight back if you get hurt so I can patch you up. Can't go into battle a woman down."

 

It seemed Yue and Rona would handle the scouting this time. Cassia would have joined them, but her gut told her it would be best to stick with the rest of the Falcons this time. Instead, her attention turned to the question Layne asked after his comments on the scouting.

 

"Did the chief have any knowledge about the leader of the bandits? It might be a good idea to know a little bit before we head into their hideout, just so we can prepare individually."

 

"Preparing is easy," Cassia commented. "It's all a matter of making sure your knives... er, spells in your case I guess, don't miss. It's all about target practice!" To demonstrate her point, Cassia reached down into her boot, pulling out a knife. She then took aim at the nearest tree, before throwing the knife at it.

---

[Blake]

"I'm the last person you should worry about." Rona said with a grin, patting Ada on the shoulder. "Now go back to the others, enjoy the celebration, I want to take a quick walk to make sure everything's fine. I'll be back soon."

Ada sighed as the wyvern rider walked away, sure that the vulnerary would never see the light of day ever again. She could take small comfort in knowing she did what she could. It was just up to her to keep an eye on Rona moving forward, so that she didn't end up hurt. With a shake of her head, she headed back to the town, just in time for the finale of Layne's show.

 

"I wonder if they enjoyed..."

 

She watched from afar, knowing that stepping forward would only upset the townsfolk. She smiled softly, but she did wish that she could walk around without the judgment. At least there was a feast, she figured.

 

After a night of the finest dining they could have in a small village, Ada rested fitfully. The townspeople did their best to serve her, and she got more than enough to eat... But she felt bad about how uneasy she made them feel. Her father had been much the same when she was younger, though he had only told her once she had grown up more. It wasn't their fault they were from a part of the world that felt differently about her magic. 

 

"... Maybe I'll write a letter home. Yeah, that'll help me get some rest."

 

-----

 

A day later, the group was arriving at the entrance to the forest. Between the early hour and the trees, Ada was able to take her hood down, though leaving her hair in a bun. She wished she could take it down, but doing so wouldn't help in the upcoming battle. It had just been so long since she could walk around in the light without her hood, unlike back home. Glancing around, Ada took note of what everyone else was up to. Yue was offering help to Rona, who seemed... oddly eager to not join the front lines? She looked to Layne, only to find him groggily nibbling on some bread, Cassia was showing off to him, and Leon was quiet as usual, and...

 

"Hae you eaten enough? You've done nicely in our last skirmish."

 

"Ah, yeah, I ate my fill," Ada nodded with a small grin, "And I'm glad to hear it. I just got lucky that I wasn't targetted, because I did rush in... Or maybe it was due to superstitious fear of me?"

 

Ada tapped her chin, considering the idea she had proposed. Is that why she got to where she was? She would think that bad omens would be attacked in a fight, not feared.

[Alaina]

Leon merely nodded as both Yue and Rona had offered to go scout ahead. He hadn't ever stepped foot in the place before, nor was he the most knowledgeable about the area, so he was glad that the others were starting to scout ahead. While the others were conversing with each other, Layne asked if they had any info to go on about the leader, to which Leon merely shrugged at. "He didn't seem to know much beyond his group's name and where they were located, and even that was a bit spotty. But," the leader pointed forward, "it's probably the only building in the forest, so it shouldn't be too hard to find." He had hoped at least. 

 

As the group continued to travel through the woods, they wouldn't be met with any sight other than the the natural dirt path that had been formed. Anything resembling a path would soon come to an end, though, the group's progress wouldn't be impeded any. However, as they kept moving forward there would be a faint rustling that only Yue would be able to pick up, coming from in front of her. if she paused, she would see a man, clearly not from around this part of the world, with a skin tone and build similar to Rona. The black haired man did not seem to be in the best of moods, with his two most distinctive features being the lance in his hand and the patch over his eye. 

 

Before she could approach him, however, another noise would be heard coming from the side. This one would be far more apparent to the group as a whole, as the whole forest to the side of them seemed to be coming to life. A low growl, from multiple sources, one that would be recognizable to most if not all members of the group. Leon let out a sigh as he looked to the side saying, "hounds." Drawing his blade, it was clear that there was a fight to be had against the beasts that made their home here. 

 

Meanwhile, from the other side of the woods. 

 

"Well, look at that, we got some trespassers here don't we." A man who seemed to be more dignified in stature, wielding a sword and shield amongst a group of bandits. Looking to the group of mercenaries his eyes fixated on one member in particular saying, "and would you look at that? Well, I would say lady luck is smilin' on us today. Wouldn'cha boys?" As the men behind him grinned and nodded he said, "c'mon, let's get going. We'll let the monsters rough 'em up first."

 

[spoiler=OOC]

[spoiler=Map]

Note: the map was edited after Yue, Rona and Raynor's turns were taken. 

 

Dark Gray are Iron Falcon. 

Orange is Mercenary. 

Red is Fighter. 

Red-Violet is Barbarian 

Light Gray is Skeleton 

Brown is Hound

Green Squares are "Thickets." 

 

Victory Condition: Rout all enemies. 

 

 

[spoiler=Hound Stats]

HP: 18 

Str: 7

Mag: 0

Skl: 6

Spd: 7 

Lck: 1

Def: 2

Res: 1

Mov: 6

 

Equipped with Fangs

 

[spoiler=Skeleton Stats]

HP: 16

Str: 5

Mag: 0

Skl: 5

Spd: 5

Lck: 0

Def: 2

Res: 4

Mov: 5 

 
Skeletons A, C, D, H are equipped with claws. 

Skeleton I is equipped with a Wight Axe. 

Skeleton B and F are equipped with a Wight Sword. 

Skeleton G and E are equipped with a Wight Lance. 

 

 

[spoiler=Fighter Stats]

HP: 18

Str: 7

Mag: 0

Skl: 6

Spd: 5

Lck: 3

Def: 4

Res: 1

Mov: 5

 
Equipped with Iron Axes

 

[spoiler=Barbarian Stats]

HP: 20

Str: 7

Mag: 0

Skl: 5

Spd: 6

Lck: 3

Def: 3

Res: 1

Mov: 5

 
Equipped with Iron Axes

 

 
[spoiler=Bossenary Stats]

HP: 23

Str: 7

Mag: 0

Skl: 9

Spd: 7

Lck: 0

Def: 4+2

Res: 3

Mov: 5

 
Bossenary is equipped with an Iron Sword and Leather Shield. 

 
[spoiler=Current HP]
Leon: 21/21
Rona: 21/21
Aleithe: 24/24
Yue: 17/17
Ada: 21/21
Layne: 17/17
Chitose: 21/21
Cassia: 18/18
Raynor: 25/25

 

Skeleton A: 16/16

Skeleton B:  16/16

Skeleton C: 16/16

Skeleton: D 16/16

Skeleton E: 16/16

Skeleton F: 16/16

Skeleton G: 16/16

Skeleton H: 16/16

Skeleton I:16/16

 

Hound A: 18/18

Hound B: 18/18

Hound C: 18/18

 
Fighter A: 18/18
Fighter B: 18/18
 
Barbarian A: 20/20
Barbarian B: 20/20
 

Bossenary: 23/23

 

 

[spoiler=Tutorial]

Monster units are not always equipped with weapons that humans use. In this case, Claw and Fang. Those are classified as "monster" weapons, weapons that are not affected by the weapon triangle and exclusive to monster use. 

 

Another new thing introduced this chapter is terrain. Rather than the impassable terrain that the solid blocks of color confer, these ones will just be outlines of a space, in this case the green bordered squares. Standing on terrain confers special bonuses, and penalties. In this case, "Thicket," causes you to spend one extra movement to enter the square, though not to leave it, and granted you +10 avoid while standing on it. Units that fly are both not affected by any of the penalties or bonuses conferred by the terrain.

 

 

Item Stats 
Player Stats
Active Combat Log
 
If there are any errors or issues please be sure to inform me. . 

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

They had gotten a fair distance into the forest, with Yue in the lead. Rona was glad she had chosen to travel with her, the girl wasn't the most talkative of the group so Rona wouldn't really have to open her mouth, and risk expelling the bile she felt in her throat, too often.

 

Though it wasn't long before they had other, much more pressing, issues. Monsters. A lot of them. And close by as well. Rona flinched at the sight. Not because they were frightening, which they were but she had been forced to fight such things as part of her training, but simply because there were so many nearby and Yue was unprotected. Which meant the only thing the archer had for cover was...Rona herself. At least she could prove to be useful in one way.

 

"Stay back!" Rona yelled at Yue. "Meet up with the group, don't get too close to them without backup!" Upon giving Yue this advice she proceeded to not follow it herself. Spurring Cormag forward, Rona flew towards the skeleton nearest, wielding a sword, and swung her axe down upon it. "Come at me, fiends!" She taunted the monsters.

 

She knew to keep an eye on the hounds, as they were the more deadly, so even while she attacked the skeleton she was ready for when the nearby hound struck.

[spoiler=OOC]Rona moved to the right of Skeleton F and designated Hound A as counter-attack