City at War (Open RP)

[Sir Nichtmar]

Mittelmarch is a battlefield. Harrow and the Jovians are held up in the Lord’s house compound within the city. Defenders, Dragoons, old Mittelmarch guard and other allies setup camp just outside the wall. There was an agreed peace for the next 3 days to take care of the injured and dead. Zigler converted the inn into a place for the injured. Nichtmar lays injured, his leg wounded. He asks to copy this message and give a copy to Anvil, Oof, and Baethor.

Each note read:

I’m not fit to lead the next assault, I plea that one of you would honor Mittelmarch by leading the forces. I trust that your tactics will lead to success.

For the Glory of Mittelmarch,

Sir Nichtmar


(ooc: If you guys have a scenario idea feel free to run it. My only 2 cents, it should be balanced so either side could lose.)

[Sir Storm Brightblade]

Storm walked the streets of Mittelmarch, staring around at the carnage that fell upon the city he had come to call home. He looked to those searching the street for their dead, wails of sorrow coming from every direction. He felt pity, on both sides. Storm was accustomed to being a dealer of death but that didn't mean compassion wasn't there in his heart. He saw a woman trying to load a Jovian man into a cart nearby. She was struggling but kept trying while crying for the man. Coming behind her and taking the body into his arms, he laid the body in the cart. She looked at him in astonishment, but Storm didn't look to her. Reaching out his hand, he closed the eyes of the soldier.

"May Paladine have grace on your soul and guide you to his bosom," Storm turned and left the woman.

Having enough of the sight on the streets he walked over to his uncle's inn and saw to what he could do about helping the Mittelmarch injured. Walking into the inn it's just as busy as it is on the streets. He walks up the bar where Zigler is standing there passing out drinks as usual. Signaling his uncle to set him up with a mug he makes his way through the crowd and sits on a stool. Setting the mug in front of him he asks how things are going.

"Doesn't get any easier out there Uncle, my only complaint is killing citizens of Mittelmarch within her own walls. I have no problems with death but by Paladine I hate killing her own." he takes a drink and sits there staring into, hoping that the three days will pass so that they can get this over with.

[Sir Nichtmar]

"Storm!" Nichtmar gingerly walks over and plops in the stool next to him.

"You fought well today. What hangs on your heart, lad?"

The ogre holds 1 finger to the bartender.

[Anvil]

Anvil sits on the wall above the Defender compound finishing the remains of a roasted chicken. Several dwarves from the Defenders are there as well.

"So as I was saying I know there are several tunnel complex's under the city, is there any way to expand one of them into the Lord's house?" Anvil says to the dwaves and watches them squirm about him knowing about the tunnels.

[drazz]

Drazz knows he will get in trouble but feels he must answer his commander ... Yes Sir It could be done in a short time ...

[Anvil]

"Get your timbers and tools gathered then, but look on the bright side if I can sell my idea to Sir Nichtmar and the others we'll get you all some tight quarters to hack some jovians up in."

Anvil stands and wipes his hands off after tossing the chicken carcass over the wall.

"Wish me luck!" he calls over his shoulder as he starts to look for the Ogre.

[Sir Storm Brightblade]

Storm turns and raises his hand in greeting as Nichtmar sits down on the stool.

"Oh it's nothing of any real importance. I know that in the long run it'll be worth it but the fact we're going up against some of the citizens of Mittelmarch is getting to me," he takes a sip from his mug and wipes the froth from his lips while turning to face Nichtmar, "and just thinking back to the old days of when there was unity here among races. I mean even when Telemachus was around everyone knew to put their differences aside. Now the city is divided it's just hard to look at knowing what she once was. But trust me, if I have to kill some of her citizen's to get Mittelmarch the way she was, I will. I just hope to be there when we breech the house and by Paladine I hope to be the one to run Harrow through for what he's done."

Getting a little heated up from his last sentence he finishes his mug and asks for wine. Zigler bends down and pulls up Storm's favorite bottle and pours him a glass. Taking a sip, he smiles as it goes down smoothly and calms his nerves.

"How's the leg?" Storm asks seeing it bandaged up pretty bad.

[ziglerrobertson]

Setting Storm's wine down Zigler ducks back under the bar and reappears with a cup of hot tea and a mug of Tillman for Nichtmar.

"Drink the tea if'n ye know whats good fer ya laddie, the Tillman's on me fer the moment," says the Inn Keeper in passing.

Turning his back on the bar, the dwarf strides into the kitchen and fishes out clean bandages from a pot of boiling water. Heaping them on a serving tray, he then dumps a load of 'used' bandages into the pot before exiting the kitchen and walking upstairs where the injured and their caretakers are currently housed.

[Sir Nichtmar]

Nichtmar nods to Zigler and takes a big gulp as he listens to Storm, "Thanks, Zig."

Takes another gulp.

"They were no longer citizens when they allowed the murder of innocents, all the men on the other side of that wall are dead already, they just haven't found my sword yet."

Gulp of brew.

"Now I'm not sure who this Paladine is, but if he is like Greybeard's Jesus, if he helps you, then we could use all the help we can get."

Gulp.

"My leg? Eh it'll heal, but not before we take the field again. I will fight through it."

"Zigler! Ya look different, dwarf. All be fine?"

[oof]

Oof sits in his camp in the greatwood brooding. It's been a long day of tallying the dead and injured. "I never wanted this to happen" he thinks to himself. The guild which once had over 100 members was down to a mere 14, all of whom are packed in the clearing along with their families and what few possessions they had managed to save from the terrible battle.

"Is this is?" one of his lieutenants asks softly.

Oof sighs "I'm afraid so." Oof stares into the flames "We have looked all day but with all the rubble in the city, I don't think we will ever find everyone."

Another man steps forward "So far we think both armies have been decimated, the invaders lost nearly three fourths of their attacking troops, and the of defenders nearly 90% now lie useless."

Oof looks at his subordinate "And the civilians...?" The man shakes his head sadly "The fighting was house to house, and neither side was giving quarter. Nearly two thirds of the city lies in ruins, how Cedric's survived I have no idea. If I had to guess I would say half the population is either dead or run away from the city, and the other half are trying to assist the injured and bury the dead."

Oof silently stares into the fire thinking about an old friend "I failed you" he whispers to himself. He looks up at the survivors of the guild. "You all know who entrusted this organization to me, just as you all know the mandate he gave us when he stepped down. Defend our home, use the underworld not to control, but guide our city not from daylight, but from the shadows. Death was an accepted part, but we forgot that we are not just a sword in the darkness, but a shield as well. This war, we could have stopped it, it was our failure. No, it was my failure. And so it is time for me to step down from my place as guild leader, dissolve the guild try to rebuild, that choice is yours. The damn dwarves have taken our guildhall and tunnel network and are using it for their own purposes, but with a bit of luck you can possibly reclaim them."

Oof stands up and begins to walk away from camp.

One of his former men calls to him, "what about you?"

Oof pauses and looks over his shoulder. "There is one death in all this mess that was not in any way my fault. The blame for our founder lies squarely on the shoulders of another, and I will not rest until I see that ogres head separated from his body." With that Oof turns and disappears into the greatwood.

[ziglerrobertson]

Meanwhile, Zigler had just returned to the bar as the wounded Ogre asks his question.

"Lad, I don' be known' why, but even after all o' this fighting an' the destruction right outside me door, I feel as though I coul' take on what left o' Harrows forces, an' shove 'em head first inta the ground." Zigler's eye's begin to blaze purple at the last remark and no one within hearing range doubts the dwarf's anger toward those behind the inner walls of the city.

"Were it not fer Baethor's warnin' an' my own 'equal' treatment to both sides before this war began, I doubt that even this place would be standin'."

[Anvil]

After a few inquiries Anvil finds out the Knight Nichtmar has headed to Cedrics. As he walks toward the inn a flash of green peaks out from beneath some rubble. Pushing part of a wooden wall aside he spies a form wearing a Defender symbol. He sighs to himself and finds a pole to stick in the ground by the body and ties a peice of cloth to it to mark the fallen body. If the crews gathering bodies haven't found the poor soul by the time he finishes talking to the ogre he'll collect it himself. He wonders who it was, the rubble had crushed the body beyond recognition and with so many new recruits lately he's not sure he would recognize them anyway.

After a silent prayer and thanks to the fallen defender he continues to the inn. A few minutes later he enters the main room and allows his eyes to adjust then spots Storm and Nichtmar at the bar. He waves a greeting and walks over to them.

[Sir Nichtmar]

"I understand the feeling, my dwarven friend."

Anvil steps through the door and Nichtmar waves him over.

Nichtmar gets up and grips his arm with a warrior's handshake. They slap each others back and grab a stool.

"You got my message then?"

[Anvil]

"Aye, and I have a proposal if none better have been put forth as of yet"

Anvil sits down and continues,

"We put forth a two prong attack, one as a feint at the gate to distract them as we break through building from the tunnels below. That should limit the amount of damage to non-coms and keep the fighting to just the lord's house."

[Sir Nichtmar]

"Good plan. I imagine you already have men at work on the tunnels?"

[Anvil]

"I've got them gathering the materials they will need but haven't given the order to start digging yet till I got the go ahead."

[Sir Nichtmar]

"I don't think there's anyone to tell you no, Lord Anvil. We need this battle done quick. Mittelmarch is suffering because of it."

[Anvil]

"Aye, then after I share a mug with you I'll go and see to it then. " Anvil looks around and calls out "Can a man get a wee bit o'hard cider here?"

[ziglerrobertson]

"A man could get a fair sight more than that if'n he be able ta pay." replies Zigler

"As fer all this here diggin' you thinks gonna be goin' on. Don't ya think it might be a fair bit quicker if yeah were ta simply follow the sewer till the proper point, the damn thing leads from one end o' the city out ta the river, an' then jus' blast yer way up?"

[Anvil]

Anvil slaps some silver on the bar and replies to the dwarf.

"I'm leaving the route to the dwarves under my command. I figure it's always best to leave the experts to what they do best. They haven't told me their route yet just that they can do it."

[Sir Nichtmar]

The ogre wished Anvil the best and told him to call on the guard when he needed them. He then sat in a booth, legs stretched and eyes watching the people. The healers saved people from death and eased the dying. He thought, I hope their gods are kind and give them a suitable place for their souls to rest.

He remembered Greybeard talking about the land of Heaven. A place where the Christians go after their body fails them. It sounded peaceful, and he hoped these fallen men and women would find their way there, they deserved a break. A light chuckle to himself, wonder if they let ogres in.

[Anvil]

Anvil finishes his drink and heads back out. He notices the bodies around this area have been gathered while he talked to Sir Nichtmar. With a glance toward the troops beseiging the Lord's house he makes his way back towards the Defender compound to order the digging to commence and start coordinating the different troops that will be involved in the final assault against Harrow's forces.

[ziglerrobertson]

Zigler's fist holds onto the silver coins Anvill had paid him as if to squeeze blood from them. As Nichtmar limps to a booth the Inn Keeper jumps down from the step behind the bar and quickly nods to another dwarf to take his place before disappearing into the kitchen and thence to the Inn's basement.

Once there he swiftly strikes a match one handed and lights a nearby oil lantern. In the flickering light Zigler opens his right hand to reveal not the silver coins Anvil had given him, but gold coins whose luster brightly reflect the lanterns light, casting strange shadows on the walls.

"By Gimel's Beard, what is Happening! I only thought about it fer a second, dinna even concentrate!" says Zigler as he continues to stare down at the solid gold coins he had subconsciously turned to gold. The Demon Dwarf reflects back on the few times he had used this power; that first day in Telamon's cliff dwelling, the day he went with Storm to rescue an elf, and the whole two weeks of concentration and pain it had taken him to pay off Harrow's harpies. And yet now, with barely a thought, he had turned those silver coins into ones of pure gold.

"Somethin' 'as been changed, somethin' is coming, mayhap's is even on it's way. If'n this is what it kin do at a distance, what'll be happin ta me when its within the cities walls....."

The Dwarf looks down at the coins and feels a cold, burning fear deep in the pit of his stomach.

The Demon looks down at the coins of gold and grins.

The fun is about to begin...

[Kaida NyteClaw]

A rider with two escorts, armed in case something bad happens ride down the road from the north to reach the very edge of Mittelmarch. Cloaked from the win and the rain and blistering sun they ride into the streets of the once magnificent city, seeing the ruin, the death, the destruction.

Signaling to the other two they ride a bit further up until they come upon a slightly ok building with bustling people all around, the riders dismount and walk slowly towards the doors that enter into this complex.

Upon entering the complex, they note that there are some soldiers and armed individuals in here. All three riders manage to seat themselves at a table. From a glance from other people within this room, you would notice that two riders wear maroon and the last individual wears a sapphire blue tunic. All three are armoured head to foot. And a symbol long forgotten is on the back of the cloaks.

"Men, order some food and wine. We must not falter from what we came here to do.", The blue cloaked individual said before taking some maps and charts from his satchel and putting them on the table to study them.

[Incognito]

A woman walks through the curtain to the back. Her hair black and long, skin white as the moon and her eyes a cold blue. She seemed to glide around the dwarf. Her hand gently touching his shoulder.

"Zigler, my pet, don't you have sssomething you desire? Something out there calling to you?"

She knelt down nose to nose. "Remember, the gate..."

"The other short one kept it in the mountains."

She gave him a kiss. Her teeth cut him a little. Her silver grin exposed her fangs.

"It needs to go to Mourna. There the keepers shall let you pass. We all serve the Dark Father and you will herald his return."


She gave him a wink and turned to vapor that rode out with the wind.