A New God Rising:  The Siege
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		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Extreme =&gt; Extreme Small Groups =&gt; Topic started by: Healergirl on 17-08-2012, 00:28:52</h2>
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				Title: <strong>A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>17-08-2012, 00:28:52</strong>
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				Captain of a tower.&nbsp; An honorary title, a meaningless duty given out to children of the plutocrats.&nbsp; Children playing at war, most of them.&nbsp; Not her, not this Guildmaster's daughter.&nbsp; She took it seriously, had armed and trained the garrison out of her own pocket.&nbsp; It had shown.<br><br>Of course no one was playing now, the horde camped outside the city walls had stripped away all pretense, all play.&nbsp; The field battle of the week before - if that frantic addled chaotic mess could be dignified with that term - had driven home the reality of war to all within the city.<br><br>But the enemy was outside, and she was one of the people charged with keeping them out.&nbsp; She glanced to her left as she stood at the tower top, another tower could be seen down the wall.&nbsp; To her right, much closer, a gatehouse.&nbsp; The gate most vulnerable to assault, as it happened.&nbsp; A gate she was tasked to support, to protect.&nbsp; And she would.&nbsp; The men (and a few women) of her company were very well equipped, well trained, and reliable.&nbsp; Their families were safe, spirited out of the city and safe - she had seen to that.&nbsp; It had been easy, the city was a port and the enemy had no real navy, just a flock of fishing and trading vessels.&nbsp; Their numbers made them dangerous, but real warships and blockade runners could push them aside, get past them.<br><br>At a cost.<br><br>Just like the land force, dangerous in numbers, not quality.&nbsp; But quantity made a quality of it's own, and there were just so so many of them.&nbsp; Their cookfires made the night glow, and they were building so many siege engines, they'd get some of them built right, even by accident.<br><br>Siege took time, and tlme... the enemy really didn't have it, not really.&nbsp; By land, the cordon was secure.&nbsp; At sea, the net had gaping holes.&nbsp; Supplies could get in, noncombatants could get out.&nbsp; For now.<br><br>So that left assault.&nbsp; That took numbers, a willingness to die, and the enemy had both.<br><br>But the city had time and money.&nbsp; Time to find allies, and money to buy them.<br><br>If the besiegers gave them the time.<br><br>If soldiers like&nbsp; Tower Captain Quinta Jana could buy that time with blood and horror drawn from the enemy.<br><br>Movement in the enemy lines, a small party was riding forward, dangerously forward.&nbsp; Stupidly forward.&nbsp; No flag of truth, bravado in the face of the enemy.&nbsp; Well.&nbsp; The captain almost smiled, her dark eyes as cold and pitiless as the chips of obsidian they resembled.&nbsp; She picked up her crossbow, made sure the quarrel was seated properly, sighted, sighted.&nbsp; She doubted she could hit a rider, but a horse?&nbsp; One horse caught her eye, a beautiful animal, well cared for and pampered.&nbsp; Loved by the rider.&nbsp; Now she did smile and her fingers tightened about the stock, on the trigger bar, and the crossbow kicked, a quarrel sped downrange and sank deep into a horse's neck, right where a big artery ran.&nbsp; A lucky hit, a gratifying hit, all along the wall cheers rang out as the horse dropped like a stone.<br><br>Screams from the rider.&nbsp; Man, woman, she couldn't tell, distance and grief and rage all distorted the voice.&nbsp; She waved her weapon over her head, made sure the rider got a good look at her.&nbsp; Her armor was distinctive, it had to be to give her troops a rally point, a person to look to for orders in the chaos of battle.<br><br>"If that doesn't provoke those yokels into doing something stupid, nothing will."&nbsp; &nbsp; A disparaging comment from a city alderman who stood close.&nbsp; She glanced at the older man, smiling slightly.&nbsp; His escorting retainers laughed aloud.<br><br>Captain Jana just looked at him, teeth slightly bared in what only a fool would take as a smile.&nbsp; The Alderman was a fool.&nbsp; The Alderman, his retainers, none of them had been in the field the week before.&nbsp; He hadn't seen chanting masses climbing over piles of their own dead to close with better equipped, better trained, outnumbered, exhausted City militia.<br><br>Training, equipment, a small number of cavalry, that was why the city still had an army to hold the walls.&nbsp; Another city, a city that didn't take war as seriously as her home did would have fallen already as zealots surged through the gates mingled with fleeing militia.<br><br>"They'll come."&nbsp; She said softly.&nbsp; "They'll be stupid about it at first.&nbsp; But they'll learn.&nbsp; They have to.&nbsp; What else can they do?"&nbsp; And she laughed with real humor for the first time in days.&nbsp; "Go home?&nbsp; They have none to return to, not anymore."<br><br>The Alderman didn't have much to say to that, made his excuses and left.&nbsp; Quinta Jana didn't blame him really.&nbsp; The tower was about to become a dangerous place to be.<br><br>The captain turned her attention back to the enemy.&nbsp; "All right you murderous yokels.&nbsp; What do you have in mind?"
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>17-08-2012, 02:58:56</strong>
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				Thane was there the day the snakes in the temple went mad. He saw a man who had been handling them for years get bitten to death as the snakes had sought to flee the temple, then the city, and then they just kept going. When it was known that it was happening everywhere the oracles had gathered and declared that Kolyat was letting it known that the land itself was cursed, and all who trod upon it would die. The faithful began to leave in droves, following the snakes, in order to get to safety. People thought that they were crazy, but they changed their tune when the ground started to shake. Now there was hardly anything left of his former home, but the faithful had been ready, and now there were few among the displaced that denied the power of the Serpent King.<br><br>Thane was preaching to his men, and to any men from nearby units who could hear him. Several of Kolats faithful had gathered to hear him speak, Thane was the kind of man who people liked to listen to. He was in the middle of explaining the injustices that happened inside the walls of the city, where laws were bent to the whims of feeble men with coin and not the ironclad commands of god, when a messenger arrived and passed him a note. His eyes quickly scanned over it and then he addressed the crowd.<br><br>“The unbelievers have cast an insult from behind our walls. They have attempted to kill our captain, a righteous man beloved of Kolyat. For this insult command had determined that the walls shall fall as soon as possible, and if we must tear them down with our hands that is what we shall do!” he announced, raising his fist in the air. “Return to your units! Hoist your ladders! We march upon the hour for the glory of Kolyat!”<br><br>He waited for his commands to be obeyed and for those not under his command, those he had not given his gift, to be gone before he gathered his personal unit close. “My brothers, I know you are eager to feel our gods power flowing in your veins but you must hold it close. Do not drink until you have made it atop the wall but once you are there drink deeply and strike without mercy.” he said to the crowd before releasing them to gather their weapons and ladders. Than had been given the dregs of the army to work with. Their weapons were crude, and their armor practically nonexistent, but he planned to make up for that by making them utterly without fear.
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Terian</strong> on <strong>17-08-2012, 03:05:31</strong>
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				What was in mind?&nbsp; Obviously something a little more cunning then "Ride in on your own and get killed by the opposite side"<br><br>"Who gave that order anyway?"&nbsp; Astra mused, looking up from her charts, her mail jingling slightly as she looked off into the distance to see it.&nbsp; "I'm fairly sure we haven't begun any real attempts on the walls just yet, and even then, we are so obviously outclassed on a one to one basis that sending a few people in accomplishes nothing."<br><br>She sighed, looking down at the charts--if it wasn't for the incredible need for this, she wouldn't even be here--attacking one of the toughest cities in the region?&nbsp; There had to be better ways of building up then this...&nbsp; But ultimately, it wasn't her call to make.<br><br>Probably a bunch of seers got into the venom too deeply and decided to see how many of their countrymen they could get killed...&nbsp; Case in point, one of the clerics getting up on a podium and demanding blood and reprisal--and there it was, the call to make a rush on the walls.<br><br>"Damn fool"&nbsp; Astra muttered, checking the charts again as she gestured to the others of the unit, collecting their sparse gear and preparing their weapons.&nbsp; You don't rush the walls unless you're either dramatically stronger then the other side, or they've already been starved out--doing so otherwise was just wasting your energy.<br><br>"Have our sappers managed to get underneath yet?"&nbsp; She asked, looking to her aide.&nbsp; "Please tell me that our sappers are finshed, we got them started right when this whole debacle started!"
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>17-08-2012, 23:14:24</strong>
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				<strong>Thane</strong><br><br>Handing out the sealed potion vials took time, and the leading edge of the mob was halfway to the walls by the time the Zealots were on the move.<br>The enraged horde had already been under crossbow barrage, now light ballista and catapults on the towers were bombarding the thicker clumps of attackers.&nbsp; There was one point in favor of the attackers:&nbsp; Since they had no formation, no organization, they had nothing to be disrupted by the barrage.<br><br>Thane felt something stirring in the back of his mind, a cold critical visage.&nbsp; Emotionless.&nbsp; Reptilian.&nbsp; Calculating.&nbsp; And perhaps in the tilt of the head.... disapproving.<br><br><strong>Astra</strong><br><br>The engineer liaison officer was watching the charge - the leading elements were already on the move, there was no organization at all - with an utterly appalled look on his face.&nbsp; "No, no, nowhere close we need more time!"&nbsp; He was almost stuttering, his eyes were glued to the wall now, examining the stir on the ramparts.&nbsp; He was one of the few officers of the old army left in the ranks.&nbsp; His piety was questionable, but his professional specialty had made him too valuable to sacrifice.&nbsp; So far.&nbsp; "Look at them, they're keyed up , they're ready, our people are gonna get massacred!"<br><br><strong>Tower Captain&nbsp; Quinta Jana</strong><br><br>"Bloody hell, I didn't think they'd do it."&nbsp; She had a slightly dazed look on her face. <br><br>&nbsp;Her Lieutenant, a big Northern mercenary named Odo lost no time.&nbsp; "Crossbowmen front, loaders stand ready!"&nbsp; One of the expenses Quinta hadn't spared was the number of weapons.&nbsp; More than one for each crossbowman, one to be loaded by assistants while one was shot by an expert marksman.&nbsp; The tower garrison shook itself into order, a similar shift of troops was seen all along the wall - but her men were slightly faster.<br><br>&nbsp;Her eyes swept her men, all were ready.&nbsp; "Shoot!"<br><br>They didn't stop the charge.&nbsp; they bled it but they didn't stop it.&nbsp; But at the base of the wall, the attacker's lack of organization cost them.&nbsp; Nobody was assigned to hold ladders, all wanted to climb them, nobody wanted to wait their turn, some actually came to blows with each other for position .<br><br>And death rained down on them.&nbsp; Men were pressed against the wall by those behind, crushed against the wall.&nbsp; And quarrels shot straight down, rocks hurled over the battlements, well, how could they miss?<br><br>They couldn't.&nbsp; Screams of agony, wails of fear began to overshadow shouts of rage.<br><br>And the less frenzied followers of Kolyat, the more disciplined units that had taken time to shake themselves into order before charging beheld the bloodbath at the base of the walls as the torsion artillery on the battlements began to tear holes in their ranks.<br><br>At the top of the wall, ladders sought purchase some found it, some of those kept it long enough for men to climb to the battlements, and each found himself facing three or more defenders in better armor with better weapons.&nbsp; That kind of fight ended only one way.&nbsp; Bodies began dropping onto their comrades below.
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Terian</strong> on <strong>19-08-2012, 21:02:20</strong>
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				"Charging in isn't going to work"&nbsp; Astra mused, pacing back and forth as her own forces rallied up.&nbsp; "And our tunnels aren't ready or prepared either...&nbsp; Okay, here's the plan"<br><br>Attrition was one thing, expending all of the enemy's ammunition against the masses of zealots in a force in a single, all powerful rush?&nbsp; It was chancy, but doable, but assumed the other side hadn't prepared extensively...&nbsp; But when you got right down to it, this city was a fortress, it was incredibly unlikely the walls would be in good repair, while the soldiers inside were poorly stocked.<br><br>So, there was one other option.<br><br>"Sight your targets"&nbsp; She said, her own cadre of marksmen lining up, with a group of larger troops with enormous wooden shields--more of a sheet of boards lashed together then anything more formal, but for this, they didn't need to be super accurate.<br><br>"Prioritize their shooters and rock throwers"<br><br>The other side could afford to spend ammunition, but their attention was fully on the barely armed zealots rushing them down, they didn't dare pay attention to anything else, or the tide would swarm them over anyway.<br><br>So they wouldn't be shooting back, giving her group a chance to pick off the wall's defenders with relatively little attention paid to them, and the tower-shield wall in front should be enough to keep any attacks they can spare from doing any real damage.<br><br>Make do with minimal materials, but it was the best she could could come up with on short notice.
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>20-08-2012, 01:12:40</strong>
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				Thane saw the chaos, the blood and the dying. It made a strange kind of sense, really. He had never been to war before the earthquake and never been on a siege before today. He had only seen the success of the fanatical mob as they swallowed up the enemy army on the field. Their number and motivation far outclassing their opponents, who despite their fancy armor and polished weapons could only flee or die in the face of the tide that rushed down on him. But the high stone walls were not a pack of weak Plutocrat’s puppets, and the screams of the righteous would not cause them to crumble.<br><br>Thane held up a fist, causing the men he was leading to come to a halt behind him. “Stay here and await my signal, this requires sorting.” he said and then pointed at two of his men. “You two, come with me. Keep your eyes on the battlements and watch for arrows. And try and see who commands them.” he ordered, and the led his bodyguards into the fray.<br><br>He shouted at the mob as he walked forward, trying to get some discipline into the proceedings. Men near ladders were ordered to stop climbing and assist their brothers up. Pileups were shouted to stop advancing and Thane did all he could to stop the crush and avoid doing the enemy’s job for them. When a man too wounded to live was come across, Thane raised his knife and gave him into Kolyat’s mercy. And insubordinate commander met the same fate very publicly. Thane was taking control of this charge, and no was not an answer he was going to accept.
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>20-08-2012, 03:03:27</strong>
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				<br><strong><br>Captain Jana</strong><br><br>Captain Jana ducked behind a crenelation, others were not so quick, screams rose on the wall.&nbsp; "Where's that coming from!"&nbsp; She yelled.<br><br>Indistinct answers, nobody knew, shooting at the mob below lightened up as crossbowmen began searching further afield for targets.<br><br>Odo's voice cut through the din "It's not coming from below, dammit, it's out there!"<br><br>Right, Quinta got a grip on herself, searched the field, if they were advancing they couldn't shoot, if they shot they had to stop marching... there, a clot of shields, shields dropping briefly as men shot at the walls, shield went back up, quarrels pincushioned wood and steel.<br><br>"There, there!"&nbsp; She whooped, "Right, we got them, lay our ballista on them, do it now!&nbsp; Send a runner to the gatehouse, the far tower, mark the target, mark it for them!"<br><br>Boys crouched low sprang from the doors, ran bent low, and the barrage slowly began to shift, to concentrate.<br><br><br><strong>Astra</strong><br><br>Heavy iron bolts, four feet long began crashing through tower shields, then a brief pause... and the barrage resumed, intensified, settled into the steady rythym that would smash her command to pulp and splinters.&nbsp; The mob at the wall seemed to be shaking itself into some order, but there were too few ladders left against the wall, too few, and more were going down than rising back up.<br><br><strong>Thane</strong><br><br>A cold cold voice in his head. <em> Better.&nbsp; Much better.&nbsp; But not enough.&nbsp; Withdraw.&nbsp; They chose this time, they goaded my children to strike, my children did not choose with their heads, they chose with their hearts, with the fire in their blood.&nbsp; Withdraw.<br></em><br><br>People were looking at him, his voice touched them through the chaos, order began to spread, a cold calm seemed to flow from his presence.<br><br>And the last handful of ladders came down with screaming men on them.
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>20-08-2012, 21:07:59</strong>
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				Thane watched the ladders fall with wonder. He was hearing the Serpent Lord’s voice in his head and now spoke with the authority of an oracle. The weak and the foolish would deny him, but he was chosen and would press on. He called a retreat and was surprised at the speed at which the mob moved to obey. He was used to being obeyed, he had been gifted by Kolyat with a powerful voice and the guile to use it properly, but this was something else entirely. His voice cut through the chaos like a knife and what was once a frothing mob was turning into an orderly retreat. It was if they could hear the voice of the serpent god speaking through him, and that thought pleased Thane greatly. <br><br>He kept his bodyguards close as he strode through the ranks, the enemy would notice what he was doing soon enough, and that would make him a target. He made sure ladders had enough men to speed them away. Anyone who could walk was ordered to their feet, and the rest were left at the wall. If they were strong Kolyat would see that they made it back to camp and the weak would perish, as was just. He also ordered a few healthy men to drag a few corpses back towards camp. He had an idea to let some of the faithful serve their god even in death.<br><br>And then the ballista changed targets. He looked over to see where they landed and saw the shields protecting a group of Kolyat’s own archers giving back some of the death that reigned down on the faithful. They were too far to be a target unless they were actually a threat to the men on the wall, and so Thane began to change his orders, sending anyone with anything even remotely like a shield to go reinforce the archers.
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>23-08-2012, 18:14:49</strong>
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				<strong>Captain Quinta Jana</strong><br><br>An orderly withdrawal.&nbsp; Well, more orderly than expected.&nbsp; A bad sign, perhaps.&nbsp; Using rabble to protect the crossbowman.&nbsp; Cold, cold thing to do.&nbsp; But effective.&nbsp; "Odo, take over here!"&nbsp; Quinta bit that out, then headed down the wall to the gatehouse.&nbsp; She didn't really think it took any real damage, but you never knew.&nbsp; And it made her more visible, got her better known to the cheering troops, many of whom clapped her on the back, credited her for sparking a death or glory charge by the enemy that hand ended in death for the enemy.<em>&nbsp; Why yes, I'm thinking about my future.&nbsp; that alderman will be a problem down the road.</em>&nbsp; On officious and avaricous fool, but his efforts weren't personal.&nbsp; Yet.&nbsp; That would change rapidly if he ever found out that his young wife had given Quinta&nbsp; a Thank-The-Gods-You-Came-Back-To-Me welcome after the lost battle outside the walls.<br><br>The Plutarchs could get away with bedding who or whatever they wanted, as long as it was kept plausibly deniable.&nbsp; A savior of the city?&nbsp; The citizens would shrug and say "Well of course she beds other women, what would you expect?"&nbsp; Let him fume and fuss, if he was stupid enough to do so.<br><br><strong>Astra</strong><br><br>the hammering barrage didn't lift, but the mas of people between her command and the wall mounted artillery soaked up the shots.&nbsp; Literally, blood fountained, screams tore the air, but the massed archers and crossbowmen were safe.&nbsp; But they couldn't shoot either.<br><br><br><strong>Thane</strong><br><br>Retreating wasn't quite the nightmare advancing had been.&nbsp; Not for those who listened to thane, anyway.&nbsp; Once those who heeded him had pulled back, the defenders full fury turned to those who remained beating uselessly at stone with fists and steel, and that fury followed them when they broke.&nbsp; They were closer than the formed troops, after all.&nbsp; many died.&nbsp; many many lay still or screaiing on the clered ground before the walls when the disciplined children of Kolyat returned to their camp.<br><br>Not much order was in the camp, Astra's and Thane's bands mingled at their edges, it was natural for both leaders to encounter each other as they checked on their troops.
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>24-08-2012, 17:48:50</strong>
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				Those that lingered at the wall were left behind. Brave or foolish, those who could not learn simple obedience at a time like this deserved their fate, and so once he’d pulled out the bulk of his forces he left the rest to fate. “Keep going! Get out of the line of fire!” he shouted at his retreating troops. Thane wasn’t sure of the range of the ballista, so he was pulling back as far as he dared in order to avoid another spectacle like the one he just witnessed. He would build a shrine to the sacrifice of these men, preferably with the hands of those who took their lives after they had been captured and enslaved. Once he was far enough back he sent out a runner to his squad of zealots to bring them to him. The next attack would not be such a disorganized failure and he would have need of them.<br><br>One of his bodyguards tapped him on the shoulder and then pointed at movement up on the wall. There was cheering at having pushed the faithful back and that caused Thane to sneer. “They will not have much to cheer for long.” he swore to himself as his eyes found what his bodyguard had pointed at. An officer of some kind, their armor in distinct from the rank and file, was carrying the jubilation with her as she moved from the tower towards the gate. “Keep an eye on that one.” he said to his bodyguards. He then turned and started to reorder those forces that he had managed to save, distributing ladders and men to hold him as evenly as he could.
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>26-08-2012, 18:10:12</strong>
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				<strong>Quinta Jana</strong><br><br>It was amazing how few defenders had been injured, and only four killed?&nbsp; The Children of Kolyat must be numbering their dead alone at close to two hunderd.&nbsp; And the screams of the wounded?&nbsp; Music to the ears of the veterans of last weeks battle.&nbsp; He made it to the gatehouse, more slowly than she had hoped, the captain of the tower on the other side of the gte was already presnet.&nbsp; She accepted the sack of rather good wine, shared it with all.&nbsp; And swept calculating eyes around her.&nbsp; Strong, building, thick outer portals, middle portcullis, strong inner gate. Murderholes galore for the passageway through.&nbsp; It would be taken by assault at both ends or not at all.&nbsp; Which made the towers flanking it vital strongpoints indeed.<br><br>"We have time."&nbsp; She sighed, in conference with gatehouse and far tower commanders.&nbsp; "But how much?&nbsp; They will try tunneling of course.&nbsp; Be ready."<br><br><strong>Thane</strong><br><br>Despair, grief, a hollowness inside.&nbsp; All around him, Thane could see it in the eyes of the army.&nbsp; The bright raging fire gained from last week's victory was dampend.&nbsp; but not gone.&nbsp; Shock and dismay were uppermost now, but the faithful would bounce back.&nbsp; The cataclysm they had survived back at what had once been their home had been worse than this.&nbsp; Far worse.<br><br>A man waited quietly nearby, for his turn to speak with a man some were already referring to as The Voice of Kolyat.&nbsp; "Your holiness,"&nbsp; he began respectfully.&nbsp; "I, I can't be certain, but there is an old woman alone in the woods.&nbsp; She told our foragers that if they would not bother her garden, she, she knew of a way to get past, no, she said under the walls."
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>27-08-2012, 08:55:10</strong>
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				“Praise Kolyat.” he said in response to the news. “Get me two men and feed them. They shall be sent to guard this woman and her garden from any who would disturb her. I will speak with her when I am done here.”<br><br>He spent more time ordering the troops and making sure that the commanders of nearby units would follow his lead with the order he was bringing to the ranks. The defeat, on the whole, was a good thing. The screams of the wounded and the dying would teach those still alive the value of obedience. Soon, he knew, his authority would start to be challenged. People were obeying him because he was clear headed enough to give orders, but there were others in the army who considered themselves higher ranking and he knew he would be challenged eventually. Those that he felt were acting in the interest of the attack would be given the respect they were due but there were enough petty tyrants even among those who weren’t recently converted that Thane knew he would need to put someone in their place, and soon.<br><br>Once he was ready, he had himself brought to the old woman. He had a pleased smile on his face as he walked up to her and asked her what she knew. The men he’d sent ahead were from his own unit, and they would obey him without question if he decided that this woman was wasting his time and would need to be made an example of. “You have my oath that if your words ring true, none of the faithful will lay a finger upon you or your garden.” he said, “And if you would see the wisdom of Kolyat for yourself, I shall gift you with a copy of the holy texts. Now please, tell me all that you know.”
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				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>27-08-2012, 20:16:10</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong>Thane</strong> <br><br>The old woman was old indeed.&nbsp; Not toothless, not feeble, in either mind or body.&nbsp; She was frail, her hair tin and white.&nbsp; But her eyes were as sharp as winter stars at midnight, and just as cold.&nbsp; And she wasn ot alone.&nbsp; A younger woman attended her, a mature woman in her thirties, perhaps there was a resemblance about the eyes and nose.&nbsp; She kept quite, bustled about the small house with deomestic chores.&nbsp; Another woman, still younger, barely an adul, watched from an upper loft with very calm eyes.&nbsp; Something seemd to move in the shadows behind her.<br><br>And there were others.&nbsp; half-seen things in the woods surrounding the small clearing.&nbsp; Dangerous things, that watched the armed Children of Kolyat who had escorted Thane.&nbsp; Watched them with suspicion and a confidence that Thane's troops did not share.<br><br>There was a reason scattered foragers had not already looted this deep-woods home.<br><br>"I have long beheld the wisdom and learning of the Serpent God."&nbsp; There were no serpents in sight.&nbsp; But there were no rats or mice to be seen, or even their scat.&nbsp; Something had to be keeping the house free of them.&nbsp; Certainly there were no cats lunging about.<br><br>The old woman gave no no name, no allegiance, her eyes bored into his like drillbits.&nbsp; "I do not worship as you do, but I respect the power you give homage to."&nbsp; her voice was dry and wispy, but clear and cold.&nbsp; Something about it reminded him very strongly of the voice he could feel as much as hear in his head.&nbsp; "You need a victory, Thane."&nbsp; He wasn't sure if his name had been made known to her or not.&nbsp; " A clean victory.&nbsp; Yuo need that city.&nbsp; you need&nbsp; not just a new home, you need a base, a springboard."&nbsp; She accepted a cup of tea from the younger woman, sipped it, passed it to him, accepted another from her companion.&nbsp; "You need the workshops, you need the warehouses of goods.&nbsp; You even need the people.&nbsp; Many of them anyway."<br><br>"You cannot starve them out soon, their navy is too strong for you to blockade them fully.&nbsp; You cannot go over their walls, you tried.&nbsp; Through their walls?&nbsp; That will take time you do not have."&nbsp; She sipped again.&nbsp; <br><br>"So, under the walls.&nbsp; Again, it will take time.&nbsp; But there is a way to dig deeper and faster than humanly possible.&nbsp; Tell me, have you heard legends of the Umber Hulk?&nbsp; A mystic beast.&nbsp; Very rare.&nbsp; But I know where a very few&nbsp; can be found.&nbsp; And you do not have to travel far."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>27-08-2012, 21:43:40</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				There was indeed an old woman here, among others. He would have to remember to instruct his messengers to be more forthcoming with certain details in the future given the things that lurked nearby in the forest. He had sent men ahead to guard as a gesture of respect, but it was obvious that it was pointless. Of course she had protection of her own, she could not survive out here otherwise.<br><br>The fact that she knew his name and gave him none was unimportant. Those weak in faith would question all they see around them, and would likely cost many their lives out of the fear that such a woman would stir in them. Thane felt no such fear, how could he? She was a gift from his god and he listened to her counsel carefully before speaking.<br><br>“Yesterday I would have had your lying tongue pulled from your lips and fed to dogs for wasting my time with fanciful tales.” he said. It was not a threat, it was simply a fact and he returned her gaze with the one of a man who is absolutely certain of the rightness of his cause. “But that was yesterday. Tell me of these beasts. More importantly, tell me how they can be put to use. As you have observed, I have neither the time nor the inclination to chase after monsters who won’t dig where they are told.”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>28-08-2012, 14:27:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong>Thane</strong><br><br>The crone smiled slightly, then broadly.&nbsp; "You will need only two.&nbsp; More would simply get in the way, and more would likely be impossible to conceal and sow panic in yourranks besides.&nbsp; Your miners will need strong nerve to work with even one at a time."&nbsp; She raised a hand, the younger woman stepped to her side at once.&nbsp; "This one will accompany you back to your camp.&nbsp; I will take it poorly if she is harmed in any way.&nbsp; But you will need her to bind and control the beasts, and such&nbsp; beasts will do grave damage if released too soon."&nbsp; Her eyes dropped to a scattering of what looked like twigs on a low stone table.&nbsp; "There is one among the defenders, a key leader in their defense.&nbsp; You will need her alive."&nbsp; She paused, and her smile became much less pleasant.&nbsp; "Alive, but not unharmed.&nbsp; And there are hints, strong hints, that you already know of the officer about whom I speak."<br><br>The cadence of her speech, her use of words all told him this was an educated woman and hardly a common woods-witch.<br><br>"I am an old woman, and I tire easily.&nbsp; The child will attend me, and I rest much better when left alone.&nbsp; Your God favors you, Thane.&nbsp; But be careful, the Gods may touch and twist the lives of individual men, but their vision of survivable harm can be a mite extreme, let us say."&nbsp; &nbsp; <br><br>And she left for a back room.&nbsp; No puff of smoke, no blurring and vanishing image, just the rather mundane sight of an old woman settling in for a mid day nap.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>28-08-2012, 18:50:02</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Thane tried his best to not look offended when the crone presented the girl who attended her to assist him with a warning that she shouldn’t come to harm. Thane was not careless with his tools, especially not the ones provided to him by the great god Kolyat, and if this girl could tame the beasts she deserved to be treated with respect. “Have no fear for her.” he said in reply, “I will keep watch over her myself.”<br><br>He glanced at the stones and twigs on the table, but they held no meaning for him. To Thane, the gods did not speak through stones and twigs but through the visions granted by the elixir of snake venom that was taught to the first among Kolyat’s faithful. Still, he could hear the truth in her words and he remembered watching the officer up on the wall. Capturing her alive would likely be difficult, but god was speaking to him even now and he would heed that consul. Her warning about what the god would view as “survivable harm” is the only thing that he ignored. It had occurred to him that he might be being groomed as a divine martyr, but so what if he was? Surely that only meant that the god planned to reward him in the afterlife for his service, and that Thane could proceed without fear. “You have been a kind host.” he said to the woman as she retreated to the back of her home. He then turned to the girl and beckoned her to follow and began to march back towards his camp.<br><br>“If you would be so kind as to give me your name I would appreciate it. Forcing me to call you ‘Girl’ all day would disrespect us both.” he said to the young woman that had been sent to aid him. Thane’s tone was friendly but impersonal, he knew how to turn on the charm when he needed to, but he decided that this woman was best treated like anyone of importance outside the church. Not an equal, not exactly, but deserving of respect.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>28-08-2012, 22:21:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Rowan, your holiness."&nbsp; A pleasant soprano, civil, but not warm in tone.&nbsp; A woman of average height brown eyes, light brown hair, a modest bosom.&nbsp; She was in sandals, not barefoot, a simple tunic belted with a rope hung halfway down her thighs, a large bag over one shoulder.Thane's troops didn't even look at her, they were clearly spooked by the forest foray.&nbsp; One thing thane did notice was the eerie silence of the woods, a silence that ceased abruptly a short walk from the small house, silence replaced by the normal noise of the woods.<br><br>The camp was unchanged, there seemed only a little more order brought from the chaos, but there were signs of improvement.&nbsp; An actual fence, not a true rampart, but better than nothing was being constructed along the seige lines, and at long last siege engines were drawn up, some of them were even shooting at the walls.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>28-08-2012, 23:42:05</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“Thank you Rowan.” said Thane. The silence was a funny thing, he hadn’t really noticed it until it was suddenly gone, causing him to pause in his step. He eyed the men with him, staring into the woods as if afraid of being attack and said in a disapproving voice, “Keep moving. We have nothing to fear from this place.”<br><br>He looked around and nodded to himself in approval at the changes being made at camp. He immediately sent for a pair messengers and barked out orders, “You, go and fetch me a novice’s robe. You have ten minutes. You, find whoever is in charge of undermining the walls, I would Things were improving, but the chain of command was meaningless if he could get the gates open, and he was damned if he was going to risk some weak willed fool trying to tell him no. He would get the gate open on his own, and then even the worst and most foolish of the officers in camp would know what to do after that.<br><br>Once the messenger had brought him the robe he requested he handed it to the girl. “Put this on. It will make things run more smoothly. If anyone asks you what you are doing tell them you have been assigned to be my aide.”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>artichoke hearts</strong> on <strong>29-08-2012, 02:54:57</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				A stranger found his way into camp, melding into the background of the downtrodden and the wounded. The roughspun cloak wrapped tight around him the hood shadowing his features, he could have been anyone, huddling with the others after such a devastating defeat: a messenger desperately waiting for good news, a ditch digger crafting graves for the newly deceased, or just a invalid. But on closer inspection there was there was something queer about the anonymous figure, his frame hunched to look small; he stood on the lightest of feet, the opposite of the way a soldier would stake claim to the very ground beneath him. he merely borrowed it; a prince with no claim; a king with no country, a wanderer; just a temporal entity that could be gone in an instant to be replaced by dust.<br><br>They were laid out around him, the dying and those that had thought they had already accepted death. These were religious men; the way that zealots died. They died gloriously for whatever reasons they seemed to deem fit; a even trade for how much they valued their own life. And what could be more beautiful than to fulfill your own self anointed destiny with your last breath. The closest thing a man could be to a god. He held fast to his pity as he carefully skirted around a soldier struck with a crossbow bolt to the neck, laying on the cool grass, those wet gasps through new orifices in his body; waiting for the chirurgeon. For in the theatre of war, there were far worse fates then death.<br><br>He arched his head and gazed up at the ramparts of the tower, and knew full well to where and to whom the cries of the dying were directed. His slate gray eyes even and unmoved to the suffering around him. The last leg of his journey had brought him here, and he flared his nostrils as he took in the smell of the dirt wet with blood. It stoked the fire within him, the murderous ambition that had driven him from the Capitol of the North all the way out here. A trail of vengeance that had taken a short lifetime and had left so many dead in his wake. He imagined that she looked down upon the field of battle from the tallest windows of the tower, that she would sense his presence and the ghosts of her past would rise slowly up her spine and demand the penance that was due to them.<br><br>He relinquished the thought with a cold grin. He kept his vengeance like a pet, nursed and nurtured while he grieved and then trained to become a horrific monster that he could unleash when he willed, that he set upon to perform the tasks that were unsavory but necessary in his line of work. It purred restlessly, now; beckoning him to loose the chains, but now wasn't the time. Now was time to seek the allegiances that would help him reach his goal. While their enemy was the same, this wasn't his war; but he would fight it. Casualty on both sides were irrelevant, there was only a singular measure whether or not he would be victorious here. And there was very little he would wouldn't do to achieve his own destiny.<br><br>And in a quiet moment when the others wallowed upon their misfortunes and their pains, the cloaked figure slipped behind the most prominent tent in the camp and deftly rolled beneath the canvas...
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>29-08-2012, 17:05:35</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong>Thane and Cambrioleurs</strong><br><br><br>Rowan donned the robe, slipping it over her tunic, not replacing it.&nbsp; having the extra layer of clothing between her ant the mass of humanity in the camp, well, clearly she wanted the extra emotional protection, the spiritual armor.&nbsp; And armor it was, her face was more srerene as she followed him about his business, accepted notes and token from variious officials he met with - and they were official of a sort.&nbsp; the rather disorganized mob was growing orderly, acuiring structure.&nbsp; And many decision makers were listening to thane, it seemed. <br><br>A line of petitioners awaited thane when he returned to his tent.&nbsp; Rowan paused to deal with them, opening a cased wax tablet, making notes as she listened to their entreaties.&nbsp; That left him with a moment of prized and rare solitude as he started to relax in his tent.&nbsp; Until he became aware that one of the shadows didn't move with the light.&nbsp; It moved with intent.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>29-08-2012, 20:28:36</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Things were going more smoothly than Thane could have hoped for. Much of the army must have been lost, in need of direction and had come to him because he was the only one providing it. And then the girl proved that she not only had the desire to be useful but the will to make herself so, stepping into the role of his aide so smoothly that Thane wondered if keeping her after she had served her purpose was an option. But that was after the uncertain outcome of the battle, and Thane now had more important things on his mind as he stepped into his tent to prepare for the line that was forming outside. <br><br>The shadow was close when Thane noticed it and he froze in place. There was an unknown visitor in his tent. It was close enough when Thane noticed it that he would have been dead or very near had his visitor wished to assail him, but with no attack forthcoming after a dozen heartbeats Thane recovered his composure and went about his business. “What do you want?” he asked aloud. His voice was measured and controlled, he didn’t want the unknown visitor to see him sweat any more than he already had.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>artichoke hearts</strong> on <strong>30-08-2012, 00:07:33</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The stranger let the moment of uncertainty hang in the air, he retrieved something from beneath his cloak, it was but an apple, red and shiny. And he broke the silence as his teeth tore into the hard flesh. He turned away from the cleric and gulped down the bitter sweet pulp. "I have come a long way..." He responded finally. The figure slowly drew back the roughspun hood, revealing an unkempt shock of sandy hair that fell to his shoulders, his features, strong and youthful, but with sunken eyes, and the dust of the road etched into his face with the barest bit of stubble. A prominent scar ran across his cheek. It was the face that was plastered across wanted posters in the region. "They call me the Scourge of the Western Woods." He raised his free hand; a sign of detente commonly used between nobility and clergy. "But my friends call me Finch, and you may as well. I understand you have come to a bit of a impasse here, and I have come to offer you my services. I have come to offer you: options."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>30-08-2012, 06:20:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The man was not an assassin, at least not one meant for Thane, but his flippant attitude and noisy apple eating got on Thane’s nerves. He realized they were likely calculated to do so, it was something Thane himself had done in the past, but this man was good at it so the effect was the same. “Options are not something I require.” said Thane as he made himself ready for his hike in the woods. He intended to make his interviews with those outside as short as possible, and then oversee the capture of the beasts himself.<br><br>“Options I have in abundance. Most of them are will result in the deaths of hundreds of my brothers. And those are the good ones.” said Thane, doing one last check to make sure he had everything prepared. He then stood and leveled his gaze at the rogue, speaking loudly to make sure he was heard over the crunching apple. “If you are here to offer me something Mister Finch, offer me results.”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>artichoke hearts</strong> on <strong>30-08-2012, 14:24:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Finch wagged his index finger as he took another bite of the apple. "Options like those today? Such acts of devotion might please your god, but I do think they have a different effect on your men. Those that still breath, anyway. They might put on a brave face today, take your words to heart and even rise to your rousing call to storm the walls on the morrow. But what of the next day? Fail too many times, and they shall lose the will to fight. For regardless of what overwhelming numbers you possess, the morale of an army is always of a finite quantity." Finch paused and scanned the cleric's face.<br><br>"No man can guarantee results, but what I can promise you is my skills." Finch pulled the cloak aside, revealing the sheen of an immaculately maintained suit of leather armor and a set of gleaming daggers. "I propose that you are approaching this from the wrong angle. You are attacking in a way that they are readily capable of defending, in fact the very way that castles are built to defend. But where an army has failed if certain individuals at certain times place themselves in the right places. Well.... that could change everything."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>30-08-2012, 19:19:45</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“It always comes down to the right man in the right place, does it not?” asked Thane. It seemed a rhetorical question because an instant later he walked to the flap of his tent and poked his head out, speaking to his newly acquired aide. “Decide what we will need to complete our expedition and give the appropriate orders and get me the underminers or tunnelers or whatever they are called. Everyone else can wait.”<br><br>He shut the flap and turned towards his visitor. “So tell me what a man of your skills can do for me. Can you get past the wall yourself or will you need to be placed there? And once there, what will a lone person be able to do? Can you get that gate open?”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Healergirl</strong> on <strong>30-08-2012, 19:26:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong>Thane and Finch&nbsp; </strong><br><br>Both men became aware of a quiet presence at the open doorflap of the tent - and neither of them had noticed it being opened.&nbsp; Rowan stood quite still in her robe, the hood drawn up over her hair, holding one hand out behind her in a "stay" gesture.<br><br>"Master Finch, your Holiness, you really must keep your voices down."&nbsp; She pulled down her hood with one hand, and nodded oback ver her shoulder as she entered.&nbsp; "Your Holiness's guards heard the commotion, were preparing to charge in when Your Holiness summoned me.&nbsp; They are rather unskilled, but very very energetic."<br><br>Her gaze swept the interior, her head dipped slightly in respect when Thane caught her eye.&nbsp; The gaze she fixed on Finch was cool.&nbsp; "I, my aunt and my niece know of you.&nbsp; We have not met."&nbsp; Her tone suggested such a meeting would have been memorable and dramatic.<br><br>She... changed, subtly.&nbsp; The way she carried herself went more passive, as though she was rising slightly from bent knees, sinking back from being on the balls of her feet.&nbsp; A quick come hither gesture directed out of the tent and a young woman darted in, handed her a stack of tablets and parchments, then ducked back out.&nbsp; A messenger used by crusade officials, awe and fear on her face.&nbsp; Rowan was clearly making an impression on what passed for Thane's staff.&nbsp; "A suitable force is waiting your Command, your Holiness."&nbsp; She glanced at Finch again and said with some reluctance "Master Finch is worthy of his reputation.&nbsp; May I suggest you allow him to accompany us?&nbsp; I do know the way, we will arrive at nightfall, in time to make camp and rest for the night.&nbsp; We will need it."&nbsp; She had clearly anticipated his needs.&nbsp; Or her needs, it was dawning on Thane that neither she nor the older witch had been very clear on why aid was being offered.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>caelcormac</strong> on <strong>04-09-2012, 22:05:28</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“Having Mr. Finch accompany us is an excellent idea. Thank you Rowan.” said Thane, never taking his eyes off the girl. He watched her transformation with interest, she was very adept at fitting in to her assigned roles for a girl who lived in the middle of the woods with nobody for company but a little girl and an old witch. She would need to be kept busy. It was a shame, Thane was quickly growing to like the girl and had entertained thoughts of keeping her in his service beyond the war if at all feasible. Now he would have to ask her questions he didn’t necessarily want the answers to. He just hoped he wouldn’t require him to give Mr. Finch a test of his ability to extract information from a captive.<br><br>Thane then turned back to his guest and offered an explanation, “Our god had seen fit to provide me with many tools to enter the city today, of which you are but one. In order to fetch another set, I will need many capable men. Aid in this, and you will have proven yourself a friend of Kolyat’s faithful, and then we will discuss what it is you wish in return for your service.”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: A New God Rising:  The Siege</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>artichoke hearts</strong> on <strong>11-09-2012, 00:10:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Thane's inquiry produced a wry smirk from Finch. He tilted his head and spat out some apple pulp onto the ground. "Baron Kirchner's manor. You heard of it? Never a more paranoid little lordling in the north. The fool neurotic's fortress. Sheer stone cliffs eleven rods high, moss ridden, stone smooth like virgin's thighs." He raised a finger. "Nothing but two pitons and a hemp rope even skinnier than your cock." He placed the apple in his other hand against his chest, overbrimming with bravado. He paused; cut off from the climax of his hyperbole-laden self aggrandizement. It was something he practiced, something that he was even better at then the actual deeds he described. And he frowned .<br><br>She was a strange presence, he should have sensed her entrance, perhaps he was too indulgent in his own crapulent gasconade. It was not a good sign. He instinctively raised his hands to pull his hood up. But paused again as she evoked his name. Stranger still. He let his hands drop and took another bite of his apple, chewing it slowly as he plied his gaze on her, wearing the dusky layer on his face like a mask, looking her up and down, before forcing the brilliant hue of his eyes against hers. Challenging that cool collected facade. Finch had an effect on women; or perhaps to say the Scourge of the Western Woods had an effect on women. Removed from the swashbucklery and the dash and derring-do; the reputation of a tried and true bandit king, in that comfortable rut as an outlaw. Practiced in the art of taking and leaving nothing behind. The stories that vilified him, even more "colourful" than the ones he told himself. But they seemed completely lost or irrelevant to this girl. As if she would somehow be... safe. And it roused an ire in him. He swallowed.<br><br>"I... regret not having made their acquaintances." He responded uneasily, unable to read the girl. "Perhaps we can rectify that sometime in the future." Finch pulled the hood up and let his cloak fall, concealing his features and armaments once more. "I am ready, as always. And you shall see that my ability shall far exceed my percentage of the spoils."<br><br><br>~~~<br><br><br>He walked among them, straying to the back of Thane's entourage, on back of a destrier carrying a spear with the cleric's banner. In case there was any confusion. An outrider it would seem, but he kept his gaze on the group and not the horizon. The cleric must have been desperate, to so easily accept Finch's allegiance, not to mention the woman. She stayed by Thane's side with unusual devotion and discipline. Finch had many questions to ask, but the opportunity did not present itself.<br><br>He urged his horse into a trot and pulled level with the main party. "Rowan? Is it?" He started quietly looking straight ahead, riding alongside her. "I feel I am at a disadvantage, my dear. I am a rather... private individual. Your family seems to know quite the lot of me. But I am at a loss where such knowledge would come available to you." He turned toward her searching out her gaze. "Stories perhaps? I hear the townsfolk like to crow haphazardly about my various exploits. Is that how you know me?"
			</dd>
		</dl>
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