[h2][center][b][color=aba000]The Aedelfaari - Turn 6[/color][/b][/center][/h2]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/8cYGW0Ql.jpg[/img][/center]

[hider=Order Summary]
[b]To Battle![/b] The Aedels enter the fight between the forest and the pirates. Tactics include: Eric enters the battle line with his men, blowing a horn in an attempt to gain the attention and musical aid of the deerman. An attempt to communicate with the lead bear so that the birds of the forest can fly ahead to the ship to attack and distract the pirates manning their strange tube weapon in order to buy the ent time to close the distance. The Aedels form a spread out battle line to take advantage of their superior numbers flank past the pirate battle line. 

[b]Order at Waebury. 
F)[/b] Improve technology (Healing items) - The civilians of Waebury begin preparing for the wounded. Cleaning and boiling bandages with the new clean water of the well, scavanging on the edge of the forest for barks and herbs that could make poultices ect.
[/hider]

Events were spiraling out of Eric's control with each passing moment. He only had short amount of time to take in the chaotic scene that was unfolding before him and to try and make sense of all of it. This would prove to be a challenge in its own right for this day would confront Eric with an array of things for him to discover for the first time. The most shocking among them possibly being the tree that walked. Over the past few days Eric had congratulated himself over taking the strange encounter with the Deerman in stride and turning it to the advantage of his kingdom, now he saw that there was so much more for him to learn about this forest and just how over his head he had found himself. He could only thank the angels above for granting him enough wisdom and humility to offer the hand of peace to these creatures and to make of them an ally. 

It was a shame the same could not be so easily done for these new comers but perhaps that was for the best. For these were no windswept traders or explorers but self proclaimed reavers! Any pans of peace talks or desperate measures to deescalate this matter faded from Eric's mind. For one could never have peace with corsairs and raiders. As a man descended from such types himself Eric knew this better than anyone. To scavengers and honorless hounds such as these safety could only be bought through tribute, for to give a pirate and inch was to give them a mile. 

This was not just luck, this was an act of divine providence proving to Eric yet again that the angels had guided them here to meet the lord of this forest who had wrecked these bandits of the waves so that the Aedels could meet them with an advantage before falling prey to their vile appetites. With his heart steeled for what was to come Eric could look upon the shifting battle lines with a calm eye and take in his foe and troops with a leader's eye. The Aedels outnumbered the pirates two-to-one and that was before he counted the writhing army of wolves and bears that was amassing by their side. He had no doubt these pirates were a hardy band but they would be hard pressed to beat such odds. 

Yet these strange weapons they menaced at the tree line were reason for him to pause. Eric had never seen such strange inventions but they seemed to embolden the pirates more than simple clubs should. The worst of all being this tube of iron that was being shoved to the edge of the ship by the repulsive troll that was hailed as their leader. Eric had to assume there was some arcane magic at work within if they were confident that it would allow them to do battle with the oaken giant that had emerged from the woods to throw one of their crew as if he were a skipping stone on a pond. Ad still through all of this the lord of Woodhenge whose music had once acted in defence of the woods and had summoned the storms that had brought this about. Surely if he could be reached then the winds and storms could come to their aid again or something to that effect!

"So be it." Intones Eric in all solemnity as turned from the sailors gathered below him to swiftly rejoin the ranks of his men and animal allies. 

It was with an agitated stride that he found the bear that had so often acted as a mediator between the two groups. "I know not if you can truly understand me, but you seem a knowledgeable fellow so I can only hope my point is clear enough. Send your birds! Send your birds and your fastest climbers to those on the ship. Their weapon will kill your champion, we must stop them until we can reach the ship." And like a mad man Eric went on to wave his hands back and forth between the trees and the beached ship, the red skinned troll in particular. Upon mentioning their champion he spared on wave of his hand for the walking oak tree but only once in case he confused the message. 

There was only a short amount of time left to him to explain, as both forces were becoming impatient and readying themselves for the attack. The time for grand plans was done. Eric had time left for one last gambit. He had no doubt that the forest lord had heard the mighty roar of his tree champion and had still been silent but he could still hope that if he sounded off a war horn of his own then the deer would know that his ally had joined the battle and would respond with a stirring war song of their own. 

And thus did Eric ap Edrin, King of Aedelfaar, raised his sword to the heavens and a horn to his lips.

AAAAAHHHHUUUU! AAAAHHHUU AAHHUU!

"CHAAAAARGE!" Rang out the cry of the king and a wordless battle cry rose up around him as the Aedel men waved their weapons with vigorous intent. "For Aedelfaar and the Angels!"

And like a stampeding horde the Aedels ran from the treeline, weapons held high and numbers mixed up with packs of wolves and charging bears. As they ran Eric let his voice roar until he was hoarse, all the while he waved with his short sword to usher his men on and to see them spread out where their greater numbers would show their worth. For if they were to range further to the sides (much like the wolves that ran at their sides) then any archers hidden among the pirates would have a harder time finding targets. Better yet, once the two groups met the Aedels who spread furthest could lap around the sides of the smaller line, leaving the brigands to fight on two fronts. 

Eric could only hope his message for the birds had gotten through to the bear. Until then he ran among his men, raising the war call and readying his sword arm.

[center][b]Back in Waebury[/b][/center]

The people of Waebury were not deaf to the growing confrontation if nothing else. The roars of the unseen tree monster reached them in their humble huts and the shrill cry of Eric's horn soon followed it. All while the shouts of the assembled men and beasts carried across the small field like a distant rumble. The Aedel women and children were not strangers to the sights and sounds of war but these strange sounds that came out of the forest each day were enough to put even the sternest soul on edge.

As one of the learned men of the town and self made pillars of the community alongside Eric it was the place of Priest Ecgberht to find a way to busy the dread filled minds of his flock in this dark time. In rough-spun robes he walked out among the people, his shaved head and beak like nose making him look very much the stern servant of the angels.   

"Come now, are we to be found cowering and mewling away when our men return? We have not been made so weak by the shrinking of our clan as to be made useless I think. Remember the words of the Elder Angel Sauriel; Dow hast given thee hands so that you might work, and Dow hast given thee a world rich with pieces to be turned to purpose. To lose ourselves to worry is to squander the tools given to us by Dow and their angels so that we might forge our freedoms through our own strengths. So I say to you brave Aedel women to remember your hands and to put yourselves and your children to work so that their victorious fathers might return to a proper welcome."

And so it was with a heavy hearted energy that the women of Waebury went to work. Fresh water was taken from the well and ragged clothing was torn into strips so that it might be washed as the water boiled to ready bandages for the wounded. There was some talk of fetching fresh supplies, since much of the medicines the wise women had brought had either been used or spoiled on the voyage over. In the end it was agreed that some of the women would brave the forest edge to gather tree barks and plants that would be of use in making poultices and mixtures that would ease the coming pain. 

These brave mothers would bring their sons who had been too young to go with the king to battle so that their energy could be put to work and they might act as escorts as a man should. It was agreed by the village elders that such peoples would seem less threatening to the spirit of the forest and might be welcomed by it in this troubled time. Stories had spread how it had heard Eric's voice when he had spoken to it plainly from afar and had been pleased by their songs praising the angels. So they would go protected in faith it was said and would make sure to speak their intentions clear before entering the forest and to softly speak the prayers of their people so as not to disturb the woods while still garnering the favor of the all hearing divine. 

Such it was that Waebury did not wait still in dread as her people hoped for the best.