Michael
"Oh, it's dinner."

*Ling springs up at the smell of food, following Machi. Simple and delicious, just how she liked it. Though, she's not _too_ fond of bread. Rice was better. But food was food. She walks towards the campsite, her swords still by her side.*
Stacey
It is at this point, the sharpest eyed member of the party who happens to be looking southeast might notice something. 

A figure popped out over the top of the ridgeline to the southeast.

It had two horns - the silhouette clearly skylined. He seems to be dressed in lamellar armor, and held a long metal club in one hand, with a kite shield slung over his back. The figure stood around two point two meters tall. He rested his club against his leg, and then raised his hands to block out the sun, looking in the direction of the camp. 

```
Turn 1
```
Robert
After eating her part of the meal, Machi stretched a little lazily. She shook her head, taking a drink of her waterskin, waking herself up a bit more. Wandering the desert did sap one's energy.

She didn't realize however a figure was watching them. She took a moment to look over her katana, with a soft sigh. She sheathed the blade, patting it, and glanced about the area, thinking.
Michael
*The macen wouldn't engorge herself in food, despite being quite hungry. Not only was it uncouth, but she couldn't fight well if she had a full stomach, right?*

*The sun was setting, and it cast beautiful pink and orange rays. Despite the desert, she was glad she could share it with a friend.*

*She turns around to look at Machi, then the river, then the landscape. The colors just mixed so well together, the golden rays from the sun illuminating the shining sands.*

*But there was something else in the distance. A figure, which looked like it had horns.*

*Ling squints, trying to get a closer look.*

"Machi, you see that?"
Stacey
The figure stepped forward on the ridge, skylining his entire silhouette now. He pointed at the people a mere hundred meters away, and behind him, more shapes appeared. 

He reached for something on his waist - his horn, if someone recognized, and then blew it. The sound of the war horn bellowed through the distance. 

The caravan master panicked instantly,"It's the local tribe! Damnit! I didn't expect this!" He looked around at his goods, and his soldiers, while everyone removed themselves from the campfire, scrambling to take up their weapons and armor,"We have to run for our l- Wait! No! Hey, can you two lady fight, can you two? Fight very well? Know magic!?" 

The master practically pleaded as the enemies gathered on the horizon. 

```
The group can see at least five figures to the ridge now. They all seems to be holding spear and shield.
```
Michael
*The macen just finishes a piece of the flatbread, still looking out towards the figure, when several more appeared. She didn't know exactly what they were, until she heard the horn blow and the caravan leader.*

"I can fight! Just let me get my armor..."

*Ling rushes to go grab her armor, now that it was cold out, Swiftly, she tries to throw on her lamellar cuirass, but there might not be enough time to get it all on.*

"Machi! Mind giving me a hand here?"
Robert
The Okamimi glanced towards the noise of the horn blow, and her ears perked a little. She'd nod.

"Yeah. On my way."

The Wolf woman said, rushing over to help Ling into her armor. She glanced at her own, trying to think if she had enough time to slip on her own armor. She shook her head, focusing on helping Ling in the immediate moment. She glanced towards where the horn blow came from, concernedly.
Stacey
As the two got into the armor, more of these figures appeared. Following closely behind the four spearmen would be a group of large people - their races are unclear, because they are far away, and most of them wore helmets, though not any type of significant chest armor - mostly light gambeson. 

Two archers appeared, holding longbow and arrow in their hand, with a spear on their back, then a group of other soldiers appeared, some of them holding spear and shield, other axes, and one of them a sword.
Michael
*Once Ling got her armor on, she was nearly unrecognizable, the only thing giving her away being her twin swords. The armor hid her body shape, the intimidating mask and helmet she wore hiding her face and hair, and she stood tall, well over most of the other caravaners. She draws both of her blades in a single swift motion, preparing herself for the encounter.*

"We'll be alright."

*Shields. Ling hated shields. Fighting against them was annoying, as they covered so much. Fighting with them, while protective, was cumbersome and restricting. She preferred freedom of movement herself.*
Robert
Once the female Okamimi was geared up, she drew her katana. She looked at the blade that was older than her, with a sigh. It was still scratched up, and she worried about it being damaged. But she shook away her thoughts.

Like the Macen she traveled with, her armor hid her body shape, her hair, and the fluffy tail and ears she had. While slightly uncomfortable like this, she didn't risk anything being chopped off.

She looked to Ling, with a nod. "We can do this." She said, confidently, and slid on her armor's mask.
Stacey
The group of shielded and armoured spearmen moved in a single, cohesive group to the north, while the rest started to form an impromptu battleline on the ridge. 

The Oni in lamellar armour took the lift, and lowered a mask on his helmet - He seems like he would be impervious to most ranged attack, covered in a full suit of lamellar. 

The armed merchants and mercenaries in the camp looks horribly disorganized - perhaps they'll listen to any order they receive. The caravan master is well armed himself, outfitted with a set of almain rivet armour. There were three archers among them, equipped with an open top helmet and light linen clothes. There were several armed merchants, mostly armed with just a sword and a shield. Plus. There was one mage among them - from what the two could recall, they know about healing magic and fire balls.


```
Turn 4
The camp is disorganized! Some of the defenders don't even have their armor on! 

The baggage train are to the left, and valuables are inside the building. 

The enemy gather in a battleline
```
Michael
"Get your armor on! We don't have time to loiter around!"

*The caravan seemed to consist of archers and swordsman. They had shields, maybe they could do something. There was also a mage, with healing and fireball magic.*

"Mage, do you have any other spells? Do we have any other equipment?"

*A shield wall would be possible, but Ling would far prefer spears instead. They would have to make do with what they had though.*
Robert
The Okamimi looked towards the approaching tribals. She shook her head a little, as she focused herself. She glanced about the camp, with a small sigh. She had had a feeling about how unprepared this group would be.

She looked over the field, more or less giving a quick look over, to gauge how many more tribals might be coming to fight. She didn't like the odds thusfar.

"Indeed! If there's fighting to be done, armor is a necessity."

She said, trying to think of possible actions to be taken. The Wolf woman never was really clever in the concepts of strategy. Action was more of her thing. But, she never really gave it a shot either.
Stacey
At Ling's command, the soldiers scrambled to grab their shields and armor - Now the odds was starting to look a bit even. The merchant scrambled to put on their imported almain rivet armor - which looked to be slightly lower quality models, imported from Salvainia. Typical sallet, chestplate and tassets, without any of the arms protection. There were some shields stored too, but it look like the merchant won't be ready yet. 

The merchants gathered in front of the abandoned building, scrambling to put on their armor. The archer continued to stay on the ridge, readying to shoot. 

The mage responded to Ling's question,"Well! I know how to shoot out a spear and a dart.
Michael
"Alright. Good to know. Form a shield wall! Mage, I'm going to need you to keep firing along with the archers once in range. But if the bandits reach the shield wall, that's the target there."

*Now the question was where Ling and Machi going to be. They could probably be in the frontlines before the shield wall, since neither possessed shields themselves and staying back... Wasn't exactly what they were hear for. Plus, Ling didn't like doing nothing. She hops down, putting herself in front or the organizing merchants.*

"By the way, that big guy there? He needs to be hit with a spear."
Robert
The Okamimi would follow after Ling, with a faint nod. She trusted the Macen's plan so far. It was better than she could come up with at least.

She readied her katana once more, as she looked a the tribals. She thought of why the tribals might be attacking, but decided now wasn't *Exactly* A good time to ask either. They were looking mighty angry to her, but she hoped they might be dissuaded from combat.

"So... Uh, I'm guessing the plan is we attack them?" The Okamimi asked, taking in a deep breath. She calmed herself, prepared for the coming battle.
Stacey
The group of well armored and armed spearman broke off to the north. The battleline started to spread apart, with the spearman led by the armored oni in the middle, while two archers and axe-and-shieldman broke off to the left. However, they face a ridge that'll funnel them. 

The archers on the ridge shot their arrows at the enemies, who were around **40 meters** Away. The mage shot a fireball at one of the spearman. All of the projectiles missed. 

```
Turn 5
```
Michael
*Wait. The river. The bandits would take more time crossing that. Ling hops off the ridge and begins to run towards the ridge and river, near where the spearmen are, her swords pointed behind her.*

"Come on! Let's take the fight to them, before they can spread out through that ridge! Mage, when they reach that point, that will be a good place to fire."
Robert
The Okamimi sighed a little, when all the shots missed. She noted the river, and nodded. She readied herself, and charged with Ling towards the ridge and river. Her blade ready to swing once she had the chance.

"Good idea! I like it."

Machi called out, with a nod. She was honestly glad, the Macen was around, she doubted she would have figured out such a plan on her own as it was.
Stacey
And so, the two warriors jumped off the ledge - at the easternmost end where it was in fact safe to do so - The ridge being too tall otherwise to jump off. At its highest point, it seems to be somewhere between six to eight meters tall. 

The spearman started to cross the river at its eastern end - It is a shallow creek, but the wet and muddy ground made it slow to cross, and only the first two had managed to start crossing at this point. 

The left and middle wing of the enemies started to funnel into a single group - Although the passage was wide, it was not enough to accomodate their original formation. The archer and mage fired again, with the mage slinging a war dart, and archers shooting at the middle of their formation. 

One arrow hit the lamellar Oni, to no effect, while another hit one of the archer in the arm, injuring him. The war dart disappeared mid air, as it was barely out of range. 

```
Turn 7
```
Michael
*The macen continues to run, while observing the other ranged battle going on. It seems that an archer was hit in the arm. That would render his arm difficult to use, which was good.*

*Other than that, she would continue to run towards the northern group.*

"YOU DON'T WANT TO FUCK WITH US!"

*Ling would attempt to intimidate them, yelling out in a far deeper voice than normal. Bandits wouldn't exactly be scared of a high pitched scream.*
Robert
The Okamimi followed after Ling with a nod. She noted the wounded archer, with a small smirk. Otherwise, she too kept running.

When she heard Ling shout at them, she could feel an instinctive noise coming deep from her throat. It was something she never knew she ha it in her to do, and that was...

The Okamimi Samurai began to bark loudly, and warningly at the bandits. She even surprised herself, slowing for a second, before she began pushing herself once more.