Omen 5: The Anarquendor arrive.
Jun. 5th, 2008 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzThe Anarquendor en Eglerion (lit: The Sun-Elves of Praise) are a group of archers & healers who have been self-reliant for a hundred years. And if anything, we have managed to convey this to the other players, who probably knew nothing about it. Some of our actions have portrayed this very well indeed: the fortification of our camp on Sunday is a good example. The members are hand-chosen by Nathreee and myself and we've been preparing for this since August, although the actual preparations only started in January. Roleplay has been our main intent, but the weekend turned out to be filled with battles.
The Anarquendor en Eglerion:
Friday
The drive to Zeeland was quiet and it was remarkable that I still knew most of the tricky turns, despite NoKey's best intentions. We dropped the OC tent on the campingfield and I persuaded NoKey to set that up while I went to help Ragar and Twi to set up the IC camp, soon followed by Remco, Keffie and Leona. In the end everyone helped out. Two SL's came to introduce themselves and ask if we were doing OK, which I thought was very thoughtful of them.
Ragar placed his sleeping tent in our camp, and the geteld and our 5m diameter safari-tent were placed as a camp. A linen overhang with a table would be Nessa's workspace, and the entire perimeter was surrounded by dead wood - a remnant from earlier events.
Our camp, as seen from the village. We were closest to the woods, a good dash away from the bar. Picture taken on Sunday by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
woran.
After dressing up, the incheck, bow-check, and safety-talks (to check if we are experienced enough to be using ballistic weapons), we sat down on the parking field to do a small talk amongst ourselves. Months of preparation can be completely wasted if a group of people decides to jump into the game without getting their goals straight. And we got them straight. SL Jeroen, with whom I had e-mailed, had promised and delivered to us two letters. One of them was from our Queen to us, conveying our mission(s). The other was a letter to the Marquis Alexander Gurakssohn of the village we were sent to.
Sairahiniel, being one of two who can actually read, read the letter from our Queen to us, and we talked about the last few things. Then we were done, convinced that Time In had already been called - but it hadn't yet! They were very late.
As we crossed the field to go to the Time In talk, people stared. We got some compliments on our costumes. A group picture was taken - which is posted on Nathreee's blog.
One of the SL's took us into the forest, a good five to ten-minute walk down a very, very, very dark path as the moon was nearly new and there was enough cloud cover. As there are some cross-motors that use the path, there were deep puddles and I stumbled a couple of times because I could hardly make out how deep these holes were. Then we were dropped with a "Good luck, the village is that-a way." and we were on our own.
There could be monsters.
I ordered my people to stick together and we walked in the direction the SL had pointed us towards. We encountered someone before we found the village though: a person named Shift. He went his way and we went ours. Then we came upon a small lake which was overgrown with cobwebs. We looked around for a bit, but there was nothing else there that wanted to talk to us or harm us, and we continued towards the village.
We spied a group of people coming out of the village and down the path towards us before they spotted us. They were talking loudly amongst themselves, and I held up my right hand, closed in a fist. The regiment sank down to their haunches and held their arrows trained on the group, who chatted on, oblivious to our presence. Finally they saw Amras and they stopped dead - scared out of their wits.
They were good kids, but they were just that: kids. They introduced themselves as the Woodwatchers and asked us if we had seen their leader. They went on their merry (and noisome) way when we replied that we hadn't, and finally we arrived at the village we had been looking for.
Sairahiniel and Arevalo, who had been carrying the banners, raised them a bit higher as we stepped into the ring of lanternlight. A few people halted to watch us and others ran to get more armed men. The fact that there was noone on guard was troubling enough in itself, but it took them a full minute to get enough men together to stop us - if we hadn't stopped ourselves. Five men with large tower shields came running to stand in line in front of us, though we had neither raised sword nor bow to stop them from approaching us. I think this patience and calm is what redeemed us as we were challenged, but not charged.
The man who greeted us said we had indeed found the right village and that the Marquis would be called for us. The Marquis came out himself to greet us, and he did so courteously. Though he did not invite us into his lodgings, we were given a place to stay (our camp) and welcomed.
We walked to the camp and put down our stuff, started to light lanterns and look inside the tents to see what was there. Soon enough people were at the gates, coming to introduce themselves. In the deep dark of the night, I told all of them to come back when the sun was high and we could actually see eachother's faces.
Sulein, my pengyll, and I went to visit the Marquis as soon as some of the lights were lit and we were getting used to our new encampment. We did not want to barge in on him especially seeing as how he was busy talking to some other people. So we stood outside, in the rain, in front of the door, and waited.
And waited.
After five to ten minutes of this and numerous people barging past us, walking through the tent etc., we were invited in (actually, he said he did not stand on ceremony) and I could present the letter Queen Tisaren Shanaehan had given us. The Marquis walked to a lantern that was suspended from one of the tent's walls and read the letter while we waited. When he returned, he said that the letter confirmed who we were and that we were welcome in the village.
That night there were some attacks from undead, but not one of the Anarquendor suffered severe injuries. There was a problem with one of the humans, who said "Where are the elves when you need them?" in a mocking tone and was unlucky enough that I was standing right next to him and that I have no problem grabbing him by the chainmail to make my point abundantly clear. After that battle we spent a good hour in our largest tent eating nuts and drinking fruit juices. Gralnjir shared his opinion, as did Eltha'rin, and it took a while before we went to our beds.
Saturday
The morning chores take a little longer when you're wearing facial paintings and armour, but we were not the last to arrive In Character and soon were called to help the village. The undead were back, and we joined the humans in defending the village.
Soon it became abundantly clear that the village was hardly prepared for the masses of undead coming to kill them. Saturdaymorning the battles of the previous night continued, and both skeletons and death knight came to fight us.
The death knights were tough, wearing bits of steel armour, it was quite hard to kill them, especially because normal (non-blessed weapons) had little to no effect on them. At first, the Anarquendor would pounce on them to kill them, and the Death Knight would attack us in turn. Later, when more weapons were blessed and holy water was brought out, we were ignored.
After the first bash of undead the leaders of the village agreed to come together to organise the defenses, and this meeting would be held in the Anarquendor camp, where peace and quiet still reigned. Francis the Judge, a man from the Order of the Hammer, Yuri the Sheriff, Krughal the Warlord, the Marquis and myself were present, and we discussed the defenses. Krughal and Francis were rather quiet, and though Eltha'rin was present and added some comments of his own, he was not formally part of the discussion. It was agreed that Yuri would organise better defenses and the meeting dispersed.
Soon after, we were called to aid a caravan that was attacked by undead. Balamaethor and Amras were already battling some of the undead, and soon some other Anarquendor joined them. I took to the woods, followed by my elves, and went scouting ahead. There was a bunch of undead surrounding what was left of the caravan, and when these undead spotted the contingent of men coming towards them, they lumbered down the path in their direction. We took this opportunity to loose our arrows into their flanks, and though it seemed to do very little, it was rather good that we could ambush them as such.
When calm returned to the village and the wounded were walking again, the Marquis called a meeting of the village. It was presided by Yuri, who introduced each and every one of the leaders that had attended the meeting that morning, including myself as head of the archers. I spoke to many of the archers afterwards, and asked them to come to train with us that afternoon. A man who had only just arrived in the village, a tall human called Klaas, needed some definite practice and we managed to convey at least a little bit of technique to him. He even managed to hit the target once - quite an achievement as it was a bottle on a stump nearly 20 meters away - and he was using a 20lbs bow.
While Sumolan, Sulein and Balamaethor took over the training, I talked to an elven archer that had come from the woods. Nessa brought cheese-soup for lunch, and all was well with the world for a short while.
Meanwhile, Yuri had set men to dig traps around the perimiter of the village and was only just done with that when the next raid of undead came. This included what became known as ghouls. The ghouls had brought their death knight friends, and this battle became even a bigger disaster than the previous one. Three death knights formed a line and advanced towards the shield wall, completely missing the traps Yuri had dug. What was worse was that the shield wall of Yuri dispersed very quickly and that the death knights started attacking all around them, as the villagers milled about in shock and fear. I kept the Anarquendor close, except for Arevalo, Nessa and Sairahiniel who stayed with the healers. Soon enough though, we found out that once again our weapons had little effect on the death knights. And what was worse was that while I was facing a death knight, a human male with shield and armour was standing behind the death knight, looking around him like he was taking a piss.
"What are you looking at, GET HIM!" I shouted, but the human did not act. We were attacked, of course, and we dispersed for we have no shields nor any means to defend ourselves except our swords and legs to carry us away from danger.
When the battle was over I looked him up, grabbing him by his shield. "If you have armour, and you have a shield, and there's a death knight standing with his back turned to you...then why will you not attack him?!" I shouted, drawing stares from the humans.
"It's just that...my weapon didn't seem to do anything to him. It wasn't blessed." he replied weakly.
"Neither did our weapons, but we tried our best to at least keep him busy and away from the wounded and distracted enough to allow those who do have blessed weapons to get to him!" I shouted, and I let him go. The Marquis was standing right behind me and tried to calm me, but it would be a while before I was calmed down enough.
Meanwhile, my armour needed mending, and there was news that at least a hundred more undead coming our way. Silverpeaks, the city of the High Elves, had fallen, and we were trapped. But this was not the most disconcerting news, for Amras had fallen into one of the traps Yuri had dug to defend the town, and Sumolan, who had run to get rope from the camp, had fallen in yet another pit. A zombie of some sort had jumped down to get to Amras, and Sulein had fallen into that same pit with them. As a result, three of my men were severely wounded (though Sumolan was best off of all of them) and needed to be freed from captivity soon lest they bleed to death.
The humans, dwarves and elves all helped to free the people trapped in the pits while I scolded Yuri and complained to the Marquis about the incompetence of his sheriff. The Marquis seemed to agree with me, obviously wishing for our alliance to hold as we had already proved our competence in battle.
From left to right: Eltha'rin, Amras, Sumolan, Nessa.
On Fridaynight we had already met this honourable man, but that day we saw him in action. His name is Reinard Bouillon de Poulet and he was but a humble paladin, serving his Lady Aimée Ferrero Rocher. He was very courteous, and during the battles he had stood his ground and done his best to keep the men hold the line. Though they did not listen to him very well as Yuri was their commanding officer, he had more results than the posh sherriff. All Anarquendor agreed with me when I told the Marquis that perhaps this Reinard would be a better battle leader than Yuri would ever hope to be.
I also paid the Lady Aimée a visit that day. The Anarquendor camp had already been graced with a small garden by Arevalo, and Sairahiniel had sung for the small plants struggling to adapt to their new environment. As the Anarquendor had a small herb garden, so could the healers, and so could the alchemists.
Sulein and I walked to the tent of the Lady Aimée and were admitted. I took off my helmet and presented my case. "It would be best, my Lady, if the healers would have their own herbal garden, where Blueleaf grows so all can benefit. The forest provides for now, but our need is great and the healing herbs will all be plucked and used before the war is over. We can not spare the men to guard forays to find more herbs farther away from the village."
The Lady frowned, as if I was suggesting she herself would dig the garden. "I do not have time to make sure that those plants are watered and the weeds are pulled." she sniffed.
"I would not presume that you would, but you surely can delegate the task to another." I replied, to which the Lady took out a small booklet and mentioned some people. Glad to see she would undertake action, we took our leave.
Our own garden had been raided that day, and it took until sunset until the perpretators were found. Lord Francis, the Judge, dispensed the justice and marked the thieves by burning, some of the Anarquendor standing by to witness the event. Only much later did we find out the 'thieves' had been forced to do this action by a bunch of wizards, who were nowhere to be found any more.
Meanwhile, the situation grew more dire. With the serving of a meal in the bar we noticed that the healers were all very tired, and though Nessa and even Lady Aimée tried their best to clean bandages by boiling them, supplies were running out and we were completely cut off from the outside world, with undead coming from every side, though the NorthWest was the worst direction and that army would reach us the soonest.
After dinner I gathered the Anarquendor in our encampment and we discussed the situation. Eltha'rin had voiced his concerns often and loudly these past two days, as he does not like humans. His loyalty to the Queen and the Regiment had kept him from deserting his station, but he did not like being side-by-side with humans who seemed to be too incompetent to fortify even such a small town - after Yuri's fiasco with the pit traps, no other fortifications were made.
The one thing that was most important for us was the knowledge that the Woodelves faced their own war, with the legions of undead pressing on another frontier of Weylin Woods. Our Queen had written in our orders that should this (as yet unnamed) village fall, the Woodelves would find their foes attacking them in the back, and none of us wanted that fate on our hands.
It is most unusual for a Captain to inquire about the desires of the troops - as wars go, orders are orders and a battle can not be won without a clear objective. If troops are asked for their opinion, no battle could ever be won. Still, without the option to go home, and even Eltha'rin somewhat silenced by the fact that he had been right all along, the elves were all convinced: this is where we make our stand. We will fight and die alongside humans if need be.
I bowed my head in acquiesense. "So be it. From this moment on, we will stay together, and we will fight alongside the humans. Let us make it be known to the Marquis and Reinard what we have decided."
The Marquis could only stare and bow his head in acknowledgement to our decision, but he managed to stammer a word of thanks. Rain had started to fall, and our bows were stored inside the encampment, as they would only be damaged by the rain. A plan for retreat and evacuation was made, a rendez-vous point was acknowledged, and then we waited.
The undead did not keep us waiting for long. Reinard formed his line, and we joined him. Eltha'rin formed one flank, dashing forward in daring moves to strike at the undead in front of him. We weaved, struck, and regrouped. We did a lot of damage, and managed to keep the undead at bay until humans with blessed weapons or mages could finish off the undead. Holy water was poured over the more fierce undead, and amongst it all we wove like pointy-eared death.
And then it was over. A fierce battle-cry came from the lips of the humans, and we joined in, panting, waving our swords overhead.
Moments after the battle, we came together for a prayer. "If our doom should come, we shall face it willingly. Sairahiniel will pray with us to Rystill, so we can make our peace."
We found a patch of earth underneath the great branches of one of the larger trees close to the forest, and we sat down, close to the earth and the forest, our hands on the bare ground. It started to rain in earnest, and the first flashes of lightning flashed overhead.
Sairahiniel prayed:
By the end, we were all crying, and a wonderful vibe went through us. A couple of humans had stayed close by, and the high elven mage had joined us in our prayer.
The thunderstorm broke over our heads, and everyone rushed inside for shelter. The undead did not show up that night (as SL stopped the game for an hour and it was 'too dangerous' after the rain). Sumolan and Eltha'rin had made a blood sacrifice to a small tree that had been planted by some ents, and returned in a state of near-beserk. Luthine, an elven bard, told a story. But the undead did not attack us again that night.
Franklin and Asterion returned that night. They had been sent by the Order of the Hammer to kill one of the higher undead: a lich. Seeing that Asterion was mentioned in our orders and he returned a hero, I stayed with him, sending Balamaethor to get the last of the elven mead from our tent to get him roaring drunk while Lady Aimée set broken bones and bound his wounds. He is a true hero indeed.
Sunday
The town is at war, that much is clear, and as the Sunday dawned and Time In was called at ten-ish, I walked through the village with some old bread in my hand, getting a cup of coffee to go at the trading post. I was greeted by Reinard and the Marquis, who were content with our efforts of the night previous.
The Anarquendor seemed more content also, at peace with their chosen fate. Regardless, the first undead lumbered into the village before I could full well finish my coffee. Bow in hand I sprinted to the trading post where the battle raged again. In the confusion, I loosed an arrow at one of the villagers, a man wearing fur on his shoulders. I thought Amras was fighting with him, but I was mistaken.
I had no time to repent my mistake, and I put my bow aside. Krugal pushed one of the undead against a tree, pinning him down with great strength. Likewise, Bereklauw - an elven druid - grabbed an undead by the arms and held him tight, chanting an incantation for bear's strength.
Sumolan and Eltha'rin were still half-dressed, having painted markings on their chests in mud and fighting like a bear with cubs, their long hair flailing. Eltha'rin fell, and an undead jumped onto his chest, trying to tear the flesh from his bones. I grabbed the undead by his belt, but was not strong enough to pull him off until others helped me.
When the battle was finished, I told my men to take some rest, eat and drink a little while we had this respite. We were all on tenterhooks, and I spoke to Reinard shortly.
"We cannot hold out much longer. The Anarquendor will fight alongside you until the town is lost, but then we will evacuate."
Reinard nodded. "This space is too open to take a stand. The circle that is protecting the healers in the Empire's tent is slowly shrinking. With your permission, we will draw a new circle in your encampment, where it is a little more hidden."
"I think that will be a good idea. The Anarquendor camp is more easily defensible if we strengthen the walls a bit, and we have several ways to retreat into the forest should we be forced to evacuate."
As Reinard was discussing this with the rest of the village, I spoke to the highelven mage that had joined us in our prayers the night before. He had spoken to me about his daughter, a young Highelf girl dressed completely in white. I approached him now and explained the situation. "My lord, we shall make a stand in the Anarquendor camp. Should we fail to fend off the undead, we will evacuate towards the west. The Anarquendor will stay as long as we can, and should we become separated, meet eachother again at the small lake. I trust you know where that is?"
"Yes, I do, there was a Bogspirit there."
"If you have something less conspicuous to wear, I suggest you put it on. And your daughter too. White stands out in the forest, and if we evacuate, camouflage will be our best defense."
Not five minutes later I saw him again, shaking out a brown tunic and putting it on, folding his white robes.
Reinard had managed to get most of the village to help. The defenses around some of the other tents were taken away to build up the wall around the Anarquendor camp. I greeted Lady Aimée and showed here where she could build up the field hospital. People dragged fallen trees and branches, piling them higher and reinforcing the places where the undead had broken through before. Quivers of arrows were placed near the walls, and horns to sound the alarm hung from the wall.
Then Reinard came to me with a conundrum. The High healer of the village refused to come into our encampment because he had been shot by one of the elves. I confessed it had been my arrow, and followed him to the man and offered my most humble apologies.
Eltha'rin, who had decided that this was the place where he would die, seemed more calm. He had told me the night before that he had made his peace with Rystill in that prayer and the blood offer that followed. In an attempt to bind him to this world and not to the next, I had made him my second-in-command. Should I come to fall in this war, he would take my place as Captain of the Anarquendor.
Though Eltha'rin did not shirk his duty or seek death, he was soon taken from us. He had disappeared from the village. Had I known that his life hung by seconds I would have made more haste - but of matters of magic I have little knowledge. By the time the village was mobilised and underway to a ritual circle of the undead, we were already too late.
The Anarquendor were told to stay out of the way of the High elven mage that was scrying for the circle, and so we took to the woods once more. The humans did not wait for our reports on the situation and charged ahead. By the time we had reached them, they had already engaged the enemy and had suffered heavy losses. Many people were wounded, some dead, and everyone was growing tired.
The Anarquendor had circled around the fray in an attempt to get to Eltha'rin and extract him, only to find that the elf had been on the path, charging into the lines of his former comrades. He was dribbling blood down his chest, and his eyes were not filled with their usual blue fire. Instead, a red haze and a shadow moved in them. We tried reasoning with him, and I pleaded for him to come back to us, but he attacked us and finally I realised that we had no choice but to cut him down.
When his body lay before us, we pleaded the priests to help us, but finally the words were uttered: he was lost to us and could no longer return. A last gush of holy water on his body would prevent him from rising again as a wraith, and we said our goodbyes.
Through pitfalls and wounded and distrust the Anarquendor have stood firm and held their ground. We did not abate and we did not abandon our station, even when our swords and arrows seemed useless against our foes. But with the death of our friend our spirit seemed to be truly broken. To lose such a dear friend is hard, but it is harder still when the elf in question had never requested to be there, fearing that the humans would be the death of him. In the end he made his peace with Rystill, only to join Her too soon.
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Anarquendor Website -- Luthine/Margriet's story -- Sairahiniel/Nathreee's story -- Lyavanna/Kelly's story -- Fithe/Alice's story
The Anarquendor en Eglerion:
- janestarz - Beriadanwen Námiëmelda, Captain of the Anarquendor en Eglerion;
- nathreee - Sairahiniel Onvolonda, High Healer;
- Nathreee's husband Remco - Arevalo Onvolonda, forestmaster druid;
- twilightbanana - Sulein Tauremenor, pengyll, archer;
- nokey - Balamaethor Erynion, archer;
- Dreek - Sumolan Elefel - beastmaster druid/archer;
- Ragar - Eltha'rin "Wolfclaw" Athiel - archer;
- Keffie - Amras Dhîrdholan - archer;
- Leona - Nessa Amandil, Field medic;
Friday
The drive to Zeeland was quiet and it was remarkable that I still knew most of the tricky turns, despite NoKey's best intentions. We dropped the OC tent on the campingfield and I persuaded NoKey to set that up while I went to help Ragar and Twi to set up the IC camp, soon followed by Remco, Keffie and Leona. In the end everyone helped out. Two SL's came to introduce themselves and ask if we were doing OK, which I thought was very thoughtful of them.
Ragar placed his sleeping tent in our camp, and the geteld and our 5m diameter safari-tent were placed as a camp. A linen overhang with a table would be Nessa's workspace, and the entire perimeter was surrounded by dead wood - a remnant from earlier events.
Our camp, as seen from the village. We were closest to the woods, a good dash away from the bar. Picture taken on Sunday by
woran.After dressing up, the incheck, bow-check, and safety-talks (to check if we are experienced enough to be using ballistic weapons), we sat down on the parking field to do a small talk amongst ourselves. Months of preparation can be completely wasted if a group of people decides to jump into the game without getting their goals straight. And we got them straight. SL Jeroen, with whom I had e-mailed, had promised and delivered to us two letters. One of them was from our Queen to us, conveying our mission(s). The other was a letter to the Marquis Alexander Gurakssohn of the village we were sent to.
Sairahiniel, being one of two who can actually read, read the letter from our Queen to us, and we talked about the last few things. Then we were done, convinced that Time In had already been called - but it hadn't yet! They were very late.
As we crossed the field to go to the Time In talk, people stared. We got some compliments on our costumes. A group picture was taken - which is posted on Nathreee's blog.
One of the SL's took us into the forest, a good five to ten-minute walk down a very, very, very dark path as the moon was nearly new and there was enough cloud cover. As there are some cross-motors that use the path, there were deep puddles and I stumbled a couple of times because I could hardly make out how deep these holes were. Then we were dropped with a "Good luck, the village is that-a way." and we were on our own.
There could be monsters.
I ordered my people to stick together and we walked in the direction the SL had pointed us towards. We encountered someone before we found the village though: a person named Shift. He went his way and we went ours. Then we came upon a small lake which was overgrown with cobwebs. We looked around for a bit, but there was nothing else there that wanted to talk to us or harm us, and we continued towards the village.
We spied a group of people coming out of the village and down the path towards us before they spotted us. They were talking loudly amongst themselves, and I held up my right hand, closed in a fist. The regiment sank down to their haunches and held their arrows trained on the group, who chatted on, oblivious to our presence. Finally they saw Amras and they stopped dead - scared out of their wits.
They were good kids, but they were just that: kids. They introduced themselves as the Woodwatchers and asked us if we had seen their leader. They went on their merry (and noisome) way when we replied that we hadn't, and finally we arrived at the village we had been looking for.
Sairahiniel and Arevalo, who had been carrying the banners, raised them a bit higher as we stepped into the ring of lanternlight. A few people halted to watch us and others ran to get more armed men. The fact that there was noone on guard was troubling enough in itself, but it took them a full minute to get enough men together to stop us - if we hadn't stopped ourselves. Five men with large tower shields came running to stand in line in front of us, though we had neither raised sword nor bow to stop them from approaching us. I think this patience and calm is what redeemed us as we were challenged, but not charged.
The man who greeted us said we had indeed found the right village and that the Marquis would be called for us. The Marquis came out himself to greet us, and he did so courteously. Though he did not invite us into his lodgings, we were given a place to stay (our camp) and welcomed.
We walked to the camp and put down our stuff, started to light lanterns and look inside the tents to see what was there. Soon enough people were at the gates, coming to introduce themselves. In the deep dark of the night, I told all of them to come back when the sun was high and we could actually see eachother's faces.
Sulein, my pengyll, and I went to visit the Marquis as soon as some of the lights were lit and we were getting used to our new encampment. We did not want to barge in on him especially seeing as how he was busy talking to some other people. So we stood outside, in the rain, in front of the door, and waited.
And waited.
After five to ten minutes of this and numerous people barging past us, walking through the tent etc., we were invited in (actually, he said he did not stand on ceremony) and I could present the letter Queen Tisaren Shanaehan had given us. The Marquis walked to a lantern that was suspended from one of the tent's walls and read the letter while we waited. When he returned, he said that the letter confirmed who we were and that we were welcome in the village.
That night there were some attacks from undead, but not one of the Anarquendor suffered severe injuries. There was a problem with one of the humans, who said "Where are the elves when you need them?" in a mocking tone and was unlucky enough that I was standing right next to him and that I have no problem grabbing him by the chainmail to make my point abundantly clear. After that battle we spent a good hour in our largest tent eating nuts and drinking fruit juices. Gralnjir shared his opinion, as did Eltha'rin, and it took a while before we went to our beds.
Saturday
The morning chores take a little longer when you're wearing facial paintings and armour, but we were not the last to arrive In Character and soon were called to help the village. The undead were back, and we joined the humans in defending the village.Soon it became abundantly clear that the village was hardly prepared for the masses of undead coming to kill them. Saturdaymorning the battles of the previous night continued, and both skeletons and death knight came to fight us.
The death knights were tough, wearing bits of steel armour, it was quite hard to kill them, especially because normal (non-blessed weapons) had little to no effect on them. At first, the Anarquendor would pounce on them to kill them, and the Death Knight would attack us in turn. Later, when more weapons were blessed and holy water was brought out, we were ignored.
After the first bash of undead the leaders of the village agreed to come together to organise the defenses, and this meeting would be held in the Anarquendor camp, where peace and quiet still reigned. Francis the Judge, a man from the Order of the Hammer, Yuri the Sheriff, Krughal the Warlord, the Marquis and myself were present, and we discussed the defenses. Krughal and Francis were rather quiet, and though Eltha'rin was present and added some comments of his own, he was not formally part of the discussion. It was agreed that Yuri would organise better defenses and the meeting dispersed.
Soon after, we were called to aid a caravan that was attacked by undead. Balamaethor and Amras were already battling some of the undead, and soon some other Anarquendor joined them. I took to the woods, followed by my elves, and went scouting ahead. There was a bunch of undead surrounding what was left of the caravan, and when these undead spotted the contingent of men coming towards them, they lumbered down the path in their direction. We took this opportunity to loose our arrows into their flanks, and though it seemed to do very little, it was rather good that we could ambush them as such.
When calm returned to the village and the wounded were walking again, the Marquis called a meeting of the village. It was presided by Yuri, who introduced each and every one of the leaders that had attended the meeting that morning, including myself as head of the archers. I spoke to many of the archers afterwards, and asked them to come to train with us that afternoon. A man who had only just arrived in the village, a tall human called Klaas, needed some definite practice and we managed to convey at least a little bit of technique to him. He even managed to hit the target once - quite an achievement as it was a bottle on a stump nearly 20 meters away - and he was using a 20lbs bow.
While Sumolan, Sulein and Balamaethor took over the training, I talked to an elven archer that had come from the woods. Nessa brought cheese-soup for lunch, and all was well with the world for a short while.
Meanwhile, Yuri had set men to dig traps around the perimiter of the village and was only just done with that when the next raid of undead came. This included what became known as ghouls. The ghouls had brought their death knight friends, and this battle became even a bigger disaster than the previous one. Three death knights formed a line and advanced towards the shield wall, completely missing the traps Yuri had dug. What was worse was that the shield wall of Yuri dispersed very quickly and that the death knights started attacking all around them, as the villagers milled about in shock and fear. I kept the Anarquendor close, except for Arevalo, Nessa and Sairahiniel who stayed with the healers. Soon enough though, we found out that once again our weapons had little effect on the death knights. And what was worse was that while I was facing a death knight, a human male with shield and armour was standing behind the death knight, looking around him like he was taking a piss. "What are you looking at, GET HIM!" I shouted, but the human did not act. We were attacked, of course, and we dispersed for we have no shields nor any means to defend ourselves except our swords and legs to carry us away from danger.
When the battle was over I looked him up, grabbing him by his shield. "If you have armour, and you have a shield, and there's a death knight standing with his back turned to you...then why will you not attack him?!" I shouted, drawing stares from the humans.
"It's just that...my weapon didn't seem to do anything to him. It wasn't blessed." he replied weakly.
"Neither did our weapons, but we tried our best to at least keep him busy and away from the wounded and distracted enough to allow those who do have blessed weapons to get to him!" I shouted, and I let him go. The Marquis was standing right behind me and tried to calm me, but it would be a while before I was calmed down enough.
Meanwhile, my armour needed mending, and there was news that at least a hundred more undead coming our way. Silverpeaks, the city of the High Elves, had fallen, and we were trapped. But this was not the most disconcerting news, for Amras had fallen into one of the traps Yuri had dug to defend the town, and Sumolan, who had run to get rope from the camp, had fallen in yet another pit. A zombie of some sort had jumped down to get to Amras, and Sulein had fallen into that same pit with them. As a result, three of my men were severely wounded (though Sumolan was best off of all of them) and needed to be freed from captivity soon lest they bleed to death.
The humans, dwarves and elves all helped to free the people trapped in the pits while I scolded Yuri and complained to the Marquis about the incompetence of his sheriff. The Marquis seemed to agree with me, obviously wishing for our alliance to hold as we had already proved our competence in battle.
From left to right: Eltha'rin, Amras, Sumolan, Nessa.
On Fridaynight we had already met this honourable man, but that day we saw him in action. His name is Reinard Bouillon de Poulet and he was but a humble paladin, serving his Lady Aimée Ferrero Rocher. He was very courteous, and during the battles he had stood his ground and done his best to keep the men hold the line. Though they did not listen to him very well as Yuri was their commanding officer, he had more results than the posh sherriff. All Anarquendor agreed with me when I told the Marquis that perhaps this Reinard would be a better battle leader than Yuri would ever hope to be.
I also paid the Lady Aimée a visit that day. The Anarquendor camp had already been graced with a small garden by Arevalo, and Sairahiniel had sung for the small plants struggling to adapt to their new environment. As the Anarquendor had a small herb garden, so could the healers, and so could the alchemists. Sulein and I walked to the tent of the Lady Aimée and were admitted. I took off my helmet and presented my case. "It would be best, my Lady, if the healers would have their own herbal garden, where Blueleaf grows so all can benefit. The forest provides for now, but our need is great and the healing herbs will all be plucked and used before the war is over. We can not spare the men to guard forays to find more herbs farther away from the village."
The Lady frowned, as if I was suggesting she herself would dig the garden. "I do not have time to make sure that those plants are watered and the weeds are pulled." she sniffed.
"I would not presume that you would, but you surely can delegate the task to another." I replied, to which the Lady took out a small booklet and mentioned some people. Glad to see she would undertake action, we took our leave.
Our own garden had been raided that day, and it took until sunset until the perpretators were found. Lord Francis, the Judge, dispensed the justice and marked the thieves by burning, some of the Anarquendor standing by to witness the event. Only much later did we find out the 'thieves' had been forced to do this action by a bunch of wizards, who were nowhere to be found any more.
Meanwhile, the situation grew more dire. With the serving of a meal in the bar we noticed that the healers were all very tired, and though Nessa and even Lady Aimée tried their best to clean bandages by boiling them, supplies were running out and we were completely cut off from the outside world, with undead coming from every side, though the NorthWest was the worst direction and that army would reach us the soonest.
After dinner I gathered the Anarquendor in our encampment and we discussed the situation. Eltha'rin had voiced his concerns often and loudly these past two days, as he does not like humans. His loyalty to the Queen and the Regiment had kept him from deserting his station, but he did not like being side-by-side with humans who seemed to be too incompetent to fortify even such a small town - after Yuri's fiasco with the pit traps, no other fortifications were made.
The one thing that was most important for us was the knowledge that the Woodelves faced their own war, with the legions of undead pressing on another frontier of Weylin Woods. Our Queen had written in our orders that should this (as yet unnamed) village fall, the Woodelves would find their foes attacking them in the back, and none of us wanted that fate on our hands.
It is most unusual for a Captain to inquire about the desires of the troops - as wars go, orders are orders and a battle can not be won without a clear objective. If troops are asked for their opinion, no battle could ever be won. Still, without the option to go home, and even Eltha'rin somewhat silenced by the fact that he had been right all along, the elves were all convinced: this is where we make our stand. We will fight and die alongside humans if need be.
I bowed my head in acquiesense. "So be it. From this moment on, we will stay together, and we will fight alongside the humans. Let us make it be known to the Marquis and Reinard what we have decided."
The Marquis could only stare and bow his head in acknowledgement to our decision, but he managed to stammer a word of thanks. Rain had started to fall, and our bows were stored inside the encampment, as they would only be damaged by the rain. A plan for retreat and evacuation was made, a rendez-vous point was acknowledged, and then we waited.
The undead did not keep us waiting for long. Reinard formed his line, and we joined him. Eltha'rin formed one flank, dashing forward in daring moves to strike at the undead in front of him. We weaved, struck, and regrouped. We did a lot of damage, and managed to keep the undead at bay until humans with blessed weapons or mages could finish off the undead. Holy water was poured over the more fierce undead, and amongst it all we wove like pointy-eared death.
And then it was over. A fierce battle-cry came from the lips of the humans, and we joined in, panting, waving our swords overhead.
Moments after the battle, we came together for a prayer. "If our doom should come, we shall face it willingly. Sairahiniel will pray with us to Rystill, so we can make our peace."
We found a patch of earth underneath the great branches of one of the larger trees close to the forest, and we sat down, close to the earth and the forest, our hands on the bare ground. It started to rain in earnest, and the first flashes of lightning flashed overhead.
Sairahiniel prayed:
rithannen i geven thangen i harn na fennas i daur ôl dûr ristannen eryn echuiannen i ngelaidh dagrar ristar thynd, cúa tawar dambedir enyd i ganed si linna i waew trin ylf Isto i dur i chuiyl i ngelaidh dagrar | Earth shakes Stone breaks The forest is at your door The dark sleep is broken The woods have awoken The trees have gone to war Roots rend, wood bends The Ents have answered the call Through branches now the wind sings Feel the power of living things The trees have gone to war |
By the end, we were all crying, and a wonderful vibe went through us. A couple of humans had stayed close by, and the high elven mage had joined us in our prayer.
The thunderstorm broke over our heads, and everyone rushed inside for shelter. The undead did not show up that night (as SL stopped the game for an hour and it was 'too dangerous' after the rain). Sumolan and Eltha'rin had made a blood sacrifice to a small tree that had been planted by some ents, and returned in a state of near-beserk. Luthine, an elven bard, told a story. But the undead did not attack us again that night.
Franklin and Asterion returned that night. They had been sent by the Order of the Hammer to kill one of the higher undead: a lich. Seeing that Asterion was mentioned in our orders and he returned a hero, I stayed with him, sending Balamaethor to get the last of the elven mead from our tent to get him roaring drunk while Lady Aimée set broken bones and bound his wounds. He is a true hero indeed.
Sunday
The town is at war, that much is clear, and as the Sunday dawned and Time In was called at ten-ish, I walked through the village with some old bread in my hand, getting a cup of coffee to go at the trading post. I was greeted by Reinard and the Marquis, who were content with our efforts of the night previous.
The Anarquendor seemed more content also, at peace with their chosen fate. Regardless, the first undead lumbered into the village before I could full well finish my coffee. Bow in hand I sprinted to the trading post where the battle raged again. In the confusion, I loosed an arrow at one of the villagers, a man wearing fur on his shoulders. I thought Amras was fighting with him, but I was mistaken.
I had no time to repent my mistake, and I put my bow aside. Krugal pushed one of the undead against a tree, pinning him down with great strength. Likewise, Bereklauw - an elven druid - grabbed an undead by the arms and held him tight, chanting an incantation for bear's strength.
Sumolan and Eltha'rin were still half-dressed, having painted markings on their chests in mud and fighting like a bear with cubs, their long hair flailing. Eltha'rin fell, and an undead jumped onto his chest, trying to tear the flesh from his bones. I grabbed the undead by his belt, but was not strong enough to pull him off until others helped me.
When the battle was finished, I told my men to take some rest, eat and drink a little while we had this respite. We were all on tenterhooks, and I spoke to Reinard shortly.
"We cannot hold out much longer. The Anarquendor will fight alongside you until the town is lost, but then we will evacuate."
Reinard nodded. "This space is too open to take a stand. The circle that is protecting the healers in the Empire's tent is slowly shrinking. With your permission, we will draw a new circle in your encampment, where it is a little more hidden."
"I think that will be a good idea. The Anarquendor camp is more easily defensible if we strengthen the walls a bit, and we have several ways to retreat into the forest should we be forced to evacuate."
As Reinard was discussing this with the rest of the village, I spoke to the highelven mage that had joined us in our prayers the night before. He had spoken to me about his daughter, a young Highelf girl dressed completely in white. I approached him now and explained the situation. "My lord, we shall make a stand in the Anarquendor camp. Should we fail to fend off the undead, we will evacuate towards the west. The Anarquendor will stay as long as we can, and should we become separated, meet eachother again at the small lake. I trust you know where that is?"
"Yes, I do, there was a Bogspirit there."
"If you have something less conspicuous to wear, I suggest you put it on. And your daughter too. White stands out in the forest, and if we evacuate, camouflage will be our best defense."
Not five minutes later I saw him again, shaking out a brown tunic and putting it on, folding his white robes.
Reinard had managed to get most of the village to help. The defenses around some of the other tents were taken away to build up the wall around the Anarquendor camp. I greeted Lady Aimée and showed here where she could build up the field hospital. People dragged fallen trees and branches, piling them higher and reinforcing the places where the undead had broken through before. Quivers of arrows were placed near the walls, and horns to sound the alarm hung from the wall.
Then Reinard came to me with a conundrum. The High healer of the village refused to come into our encampment because he had been shot by one of the elves. I confessed it had been my arrow, and followed him to the man and offered my most humble apologies.
Eltha'rin, who had decided that this was the place where he would die, seemed more calm. He had told me the night before that he had made his peace with Rystill in that prayer and the blood offer that followed. In an attempt to bind him to this world and not to the next, I had made him my second-in-command. Should I come to fall in this war, he would take my place as Captain of the Anarquendor.
Though Eltha'rin did not shirk his duty or seek death, he was soon taken from us. He had disappeared from the village. Had I known that his life hung by seconds I would have made more haste - but of matters of magic I have little knowledge. By the time the village was mobilised and underway to a ritual circle of the undead, we were already too late.
The Anarquendor were told to stay out of the way of the High elven mage that was scrying for the circle, and so we took to the woods once more. The humans did not wait for our reports on the situation and charged ahead. By the time we had reached them, they had already engaged the enemy and had suffered heavy losses. Many people were wounded, some dead, and everyone was growing tired.
The Anarquendor had circled around the fray in an attempt to get to Eltha'rin and extract him, only to find that the elf had been on the path, charging into the lines of his former comrades. He was dribbling blood down his chest, and his eyes were not filled with their usual blue fire. Instead, a red haze and a shadow moved in them. We tried reasoning with him, and I pleaded for him to come back to us, but he attacked us and finally I realised that we had no choice but to cut him down.
When his body lay before us, we pleaded the priests to help us, but finally the words were uttered: he was lost to us and could no longer return. A last gush of holy water on his body would prevent him from rising again as a wraith, and we said our goodbyes.
Through pitfalls and wounded and distrust the Anarquendor have stood firm and held their ground. We did not abate and we did not abandon our station, even when our swords and arrows seemed useless against our foes. But with the death of our friend our spirit seemed to be truly broken. To lose such a dear friend is hard, but it is harder still when the elf in question had never requested to be there, fearing that the humans would be the death of him. In the end he made his peace with Rystill, only to join Her too soon.
Anarquendor Website -- Luthine/Margriet's story -- Sairahiniel/Nathreee's story -- Lyavanna/Kelly's story -- Fithe/Alice's story
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Summary
Date: 2008-06-05 09:48 am (UTC)Re: Summary
Date: 2008-06-05 11:02 am (UTC)I have to admit there is a tingling feeling inside my stomach.
Re: Summary
Date: 2008-06-05 11:41 am (UTC)Re: Summary
Date: 2008-06-05 01:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-05 11:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 12:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-05 08:15 pm (UTC)I look forward to have more roleplay with you. It seems I didn't have the time to really get to know you. though I had a nice evening in the bar with Sumolan, Eltha'rin and Gralnjir.
Margriet aka Luthine
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 11:58 am (UTC)Great story! Thanks for mentioning me :)
I hope to have more rp with you next time, it seems I have less time on Omen then I want to have to sociolise and things like that. But I prommise to try next time.
Margriet aka Luthine
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 12:21 pm (UTC)Hopefully we'll have more chances to drink tea with various people. We just didn't get the chance at all this Omen!