[center][h1][color=ff5000][b]Renar Hagen[/b][/color][/h1][/center]

Finally, [i]finally[/i], they'd reach the camp of this so-called Bandit King. By the time Jeremiah's camp came into view, Renar was practically chomping at the bit in his own mind to dive into the fray. They'd been waiting long enough, and the previous batch of bandits had proved to be poor sport overall. That's all this was: sport. And a bit of pest control. These men had signed their own death warrants the moment they committed themselves to pillage and plunder as a way of life. There was no pity afforded to them, only contempt for their choices.

As the Knight-Captain began to call for the Iron Rose to separate into three assault groups, Renar joined the second, led by Paladin Tyaethe, simply because she'd been the closest to his proximity. Hopefully, she'd dive into the heaviest fighting. He simply nodded in response to her standing orders to focus on the two largest threats should they appear. It was sensible, and it guaranteed that he'd have his shot at the biggest targets among this lot. All in all, just fine for him. 

___

The assault began, and Renar charged alongside his group, his poleaxe lowered to prepare for a thrust. He ran a good distance away from Tyaethe, trusting that she was more than able to make short work of anything in her immediate vicinity. Instead, the bastard of Brias was a good distance away, the tip of his weapon already thrusting into a bandit's neck. 

A well-armed bandit in a coat of plates and bearing a halberd counter-charged, and Renar frowned beneath his helm's faceplate as he turned to meet the attack. The bandit had longer reach with his halberd, and if he knew what he was doing, it'd be a problem. Hopefully, he hadn't trained as extensively in the polearm-to-polearm counters as Renar had. Said halberd-bearing bandit raised his weapon and swung down. His first mistake. Renar narrowly evaded the downward swing and thrust his poleaxe down himself, locking the haft of the bandit's weapon beneath his own. 

With the bandit taken by surprise from the counter, Renar raised his left foot and stomped down on the halberd's head, keeping it locked in place. He drew his poleaxe back and thrust it straight into the man's unprotected face, killing him instantly as his poleaxe tip pierced the bandit's brain. 

Comparatively, the next few bandits to come before him fell much easier, all dying in single strokes, slashes, and thrusts. Oh, these men were experienced and decently-equipped, to be sure. But he hadn't been obsessively training day in and day out for nothing. That, and Renar had faced down orc warbands with parity in numbers before. Compared to those memories, these men didn't amount to much. 

[color=ff5000][b]"This is actually growing concerning."[/b][/color] Renar murmured to anyone in his immediate vicinity who could hear him as he withdrew the spiked butt of his poleaxe from a bandit's torso. [color=ff5000][b]"This Bandit King is hemorrhaging men, and yet he's still not made a move."[/b][/color]