Author Topic: Chapter 1: Attrition  (Read 30970 times)

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #100 on: April 22, 2013, 01:10:55 AM »
"Have you, uh have you any --" the sergeant has grown paler and paler as he's taken in each of you in turn, and is very glad when Yan presents the medallion, as it gives him a chance to move this up the chain of command without having to think about it.  "Yes, of course, I will send a runner for the General."

A young man hurries away, and in short order returns leading a cadre of soldiers and officers. At the front of the group is an older man in general's regalia, clearly a veteran as he is missing an eye ((and has a badass eyepatch!)).  He is accompanied by a man who is even older, but built solidly as weathered oak, stumping around in heavy boots, breeches, and a threadbare green robe that flaps in the wind like a battle-torn flag.

The corps remains back, many of them visibly shaken by the sight of you.  The general, however, seems unfazed as he moves to within 10 feet and speaks. "I am General Dryon, and this is Viceroy Anroth. I take it you are the adventurers sent by His Eminence to aid us in our cause?"

The other man snorts. "That, Charles, is a stupid question.  They have the amulets, and they approached with words instead of arrows.  Stop wasting time, and let us be about this." He turns on his heel and stumps back towards the center of the camp.  Dryon frowns, but nods. "My apologies for the Viceroy's shortness, but I believe he is right.  We must expect an attack at any time, and the sooner we may plan this campaign, the better.  If you will follow me?"

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Offline ariasderros

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #101 on: April 22, 2013, 02:17:52 AM »
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #102 on: April 22, 2013, 02:27:07 AM »
Natsumi nodded, shifting the casket in her arms and following, one eye trained on the extremely loud brain in a jar. Strange thing.

Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #103 on: April 22, 2013, 02:53:01 PM »
"No need for apology. Expedience is a trait that I'm sure any military man can appreciate." The monk noted towards the general as a means of smoothing potential ruffled feathers.
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Offline Endarire

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #104 on: April 23, 2013, 12:45:45 AM »
Chef nods.  He surveys the troops, checking for signs of malnutrition as well as any field mess halls.  "General, sir.  We have heard from His Eminence that we're facing something like Undead,  We know them to be fierce, dangerous, and numerous.  Do you have any further information on this?"

Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #105 on: April 23, 2013, 09:48:13 AM »
Yan frowned towards Chef as if in thought, "I thought the God-King specifically mentioned they were not undead?"
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Offline Greybender

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #106 on: April 23, 2013, 11:02:07 AM »
As Yuuko brings about a sinister smile, she hurries to float along side general Dryon in her head a certain kind of music is playing itself, as she observes the assembled troops, those who listen closely can hear her hum to the songs tones.  For a while she continues to float alongside Dryon, then as suddenly as it began the  humming ends with Yuuko clumsily striking invisible inaudible air drums. She turns her eyes to general Dryon speaking to him in a clear and distinguished voice:
" General Dryon, circumstances have brought upon a necessity in which I must indulge upon, that is to ask a question of paramount importance, which can be answered by only your specific assemblage of knowledge, therefore I must insist it to be responded to immediately and in all straightforwardness by you, no matter how nonsensical it may appear in its paralingual and semantic properties. Hence the question is as follows:
There she stops for a second before continuing, closing her eyes and drawing her breath deep within, concentrating on her question, with hands clenching in front of her breasts  and in the last moment before blurting it out, smiling in the right corner of her mouth:
"Where did you get that badass eyepatch and missing eye?!?? It's sooooo coooool!
She halts in a pose with widely open eyes(a tear seems to be hanging from her left one) and hands gripping in front of her mouth, hoping her strangely diplomatic approach will fruition in an honest and epic answer.

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #107 on: May 07, 2013, 11:38:58 AM »
To Chef and Yan: "They are most certainly not undead -- or at least, no undead of whom knowledge is recorded in the God-king's Archives. And they do not seem overly fazed by the priests in my army, so I think it's doubtful. But I will have more detail for you in the briefing."

To Yuuko: Dryon double-takes slightly. "It's... a long story, and one more appropriate for telling over mugs of ale, not on the battlefield."

(click to show/hide)

The command tent is a large pavilion of canvas, high quality but unadorned. Inside is a frenzy of officers and special consultants, moving from map to map and shouting across the room at each other. As the flaps open and Dryon leads you inside, all talk ceases, everyone staring (many open-mouthed) at the newcomers. Into the silence, Dryon speaks in a voice of quiet authority. "Clear the room, please -- everyone except High Command."

After a moment's pause, the pavilion empties of all but a handful of people. Dryon and Anroth remain, as do a huge man (over 8 feet tall -- he has to crouch to fit in the tent) in chain and leather, a priestess of the God-king, and an angry dwarf in ornate clothes carrying a large bundle of scroll cases.

Dryon then moves to the central map table, which shows a scale model of southern Amantanea, bordering the Obsidian Desert. He inspects the model, and says over his shoulder, "Make yourselves comfortable. First, some introductions. You've met myself and Viceroy Anroth. These others are Warlord Krug, my second-in-command; High Canton Selluria, the God-king's personal representative; and Chief Engineer Hannik of Stonehold, assistant dean at the War College in Aldmount.

If the rest of you would make introductions, I would appreciate it. I don't know how well informed you are of our situation, so I believe it would be best if you simply ask questions, and I'll try to paint you as complete a picture as possible.  I've been told to give you whatever assistance you need, but I can only do that to the best of my ability if you share your plans with me. I won't have us stepping on each others' toes."
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #108 on: May 07, 2013, 11:57:55 AM »
"Natsumi of Herx, Crown Princess," the goddess said, setting the casket down by the edge of the pavilion and folding her arms, trying to determine the most useful question that she could ask. Not, however, being particularly experienced with, for instance, determining the origin of unspeakable indeterminate monstrosities and much more at home with working out puzzles, she stayed silent and waited for someone else to ask the questions. It was a skill she would really have to work on picking up.

(click to show/hide)

Offline Geigan

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #109 on: May 07, 2013, 02:54:31 PM »
If Klaus is relaying the convo and the fact that they're asking for questions like I asked, then:
(click to show/hide)

Mauthe looks about the camp specifically for the sentry posts still sneaking, but from within shadowy concealment within their line of sight to see if he is particularly noticeable. See how close he can get and stay within concealment to see if they notice him by some method or another. If they don't appear to take notice then Mauthe begins heading over to the command tent.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2013, 03:08:20 PM by Geigan »
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Offline Clanjos

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #110 on: May 07, 2013, 03:08:22 PM »
One of the badmouthing soldiers would suddenly hear something pounding in his head.

YOU. SIX DAYS. FALLING OFF A HORSE. THE SURGEON FAILS.

Mentak, however, levitated his jar where it could get a clear view of the map, his skeleton butler dropping two preserved eyeballs in so he could see.

"I am Mentak. You could say I know this desert quite well, but I have not been here for quite some time. Being a brain in a jar is rather hindering to travel plans, you see."
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Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #111 on: May 07, 2013, 04:58:38 PM »
"Your knowledge of the area should still be useful. You have the most experience in this group at fighting in desert areas, I believe. It should make for interesting stratagems."

The monk gazed over the map. Most of the right questions had already been asked, so as he waited for answers, he thought of logistics. The creatures were obviously not indigenous to the region, but if their movement had not been noticed before the first attack, then...

"Portals." Yan thought aloud.

This complicated matters. Standard warfare tactics would ill suffice. No cutting off supply lines, no pushing the enemy back to a killzone. The only feasible strategy in such a scenario would be making their attacks too costly for their worth. Without knowing the enemy's exact size or point of origin, preemptive attacks were impossible. The monk would thus need to improve the soldiers' ability to repel assault.

But aside from that single loud thought, Yan shared nothing until the first explanations came forth.
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Offline Greybender

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #112 on: May 07, 2013, 07:09:18 PM »
Yuuko changes her outfit slightly as to incorporate a hand puppet representation of Mauthe(not sure if I can do that without transforming, due to unknown interactions between Vestiges, feats and class abilities, if I can not, then there is a 6 seconds transformation sequence with her usual tentacles, mouths,... appearing, before making the change to her clothing)
"Hello I'm Yuuko of Herx, second princess to the kingdom and founder of the dungeon adventurer transportation company and this...", her left hand pointing to puppet Mauthe: "is Mauthe, he would like to ask you a few questions."
She puts the puppet in front of her face and tries to imitate Mauthe's voice and mimicking her words with it :
  "What do they appear to be attacking for? What is their objective? Baw, baw.
Where are they coming from/leaving to? Baw!
What are their typical methods/abilities/tactics/strategy against them? Baw baw baw.
What forces does this army have, including especially any atypical units/resources? Baw baw.
Are there any other forces afield aside from this one and the enemy? Wuff!!"

She turns puppet Mauthe towards her face, asking: " Is that all you wanted to ask Mauthe?"

She smiles and takes cookies out of her Yukata, giving one to puppet Mauthe:
"Here you go, good puppy."

She pats the puppet on it's head while producing *crunch, crunch crunch* sounds.
(click to show/hide)

Offline Geigan

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #113 on: May 08, 2013, 06:43:38 AM »
(click to show/hide)
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Offline Endarire

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #114 on: May 11, 2013, 05:57:06 PM »
Chef, in his battle chef regalia, turns to Yan and says, "Now you're thinking with portals!"

Regarding Natsumi's comment about being dead, Chef has Knowledge: everything.  Taking 10, the minimum result is 22.  If it's Knowledge: Religion (which tends to deal with life and death), it's 33.  If it's Nature or Planes, the result is 30.  Otherwise, see here.

Chef turns to Dryon and says, "Sir, I specialize in keeping my posse well-fed and well-sheltered.  Off the battlefield, I'm a chef and handyman.  On the battlefield, I prefer terrain alteration and astral constructs as reinforcements.  As for questions needing answering, sir, what would you most want to know if you were coming into this battlefield in our situation?"

Offline Clanjos

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #115 on: May 11, 2013, 07:09:46 PM »
"I, Mentak, THE MAGNIFICENT, rely on my ENDLESS UNDEAD HORDES to overrun the enemy. Failing that, I simply SCREAM INTO THEIR PATHETIC MORTAL SKULLS!"

Any semblance of a threat with this statement would likely be undermined by the fact that the two eyeballs in the tank were drifting off in odd directions.
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Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #116 on: May 12, 2013, 12:13:26 AM »
"With all due respect, my mostly disembodied friend, I do not think migraines factor into the most frightening combat method."
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Offline ariasderros

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #117 on: May 15, 2013, 12:11:31 PM »
Elgin, at last, speaks up.

"Portals are one means that they may be using to get around, but there are many means of travel that allow rapid assault, ambushes, and covert transit, and combinations thereof. It would be best not to lock ourselves too quickly onto one possibility, or we may find ourselves paying for our assumption with our lives.

As far as combat strategies, and the fearsomeness thereof...
It is simple: In battle, you are either killing, or dying. The trick is to continue on with not dying.
Our enemy is fearsome because their strength and endurance lets them do this with ease. That is the problem to be overcome. Their appearance is not relevant. The fact that they are hard to find, hard to kill, and find it easy to kill back, those are the problems.
In battle, I merely attempt to outdo my enemies in this regard. I too, am hard to find, hard to kill, and find it easy to kill in return.
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Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #118 on: May 15, 2013, 04:28:18 PM »
Elgin, at last, speaks up.

"Portals are one means that they may be using to get around, but there are many means of travel that allow rapid assault, ambushes, and covert transit, and combinations thereof. It would be best not to lock ourselves too quickly onto one possibility, or we may find ourselves paying for our assumption with our lives.

As far as combat strategies, and the fearsomeness thereof...
It is simple: In battle, you are either killing, or dying. The trick is to continue on with not dying.
Our enemy is fearsome because their strength and endurance lets them do this with ease. That is the problem to be overcome. Their appearance is not relevant. The fact that they are hard to find, hard to kill, and find it easy to kill back, those are the problems.
In battle, I merely attempt to outdo my enemies in this regard. I too, am hard to find, hard to kill, and find it easy to kill in return.
"


"I am not certain I completely agree with you. True, there are likely other options, but I find it easier to believe portals are involved because the God-King's army is neither stupid nor inefficient. Had they been able to give chase and attack preemptively, they would need only regular reinforcements, not us.

And while it is true we should not lock ourselves into only one possible outcome, do not underestimate the enemy's resources without even knowing what they are. We risk a marginal, pyrrhic victory otherwise, something we cannot afford."
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Offline Zionpopsickle

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Re: Chapter 1: Attrition
« Reply #119 on: May 16, 2013, 02:46:04 PM »
There is a light ruffling as the entire command tent is lifted up and tilted so that the giant crab can lean in.

This sounds like a right pickle of a situation.  You will find my fortitude rather indefatigable against a foe we can corner.  But if these nasty fellows are moving about all willy-nilly and such my effectiveness may be diminished.  Oh, what a woeful day it would be if I could not get these roustabouts in my claws.