A5G

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

"Yvonne, we are not killing innocent people for being in the wrong place and the wrong time." Well, potentially innocent. There's still the chance of the sentry lying through his teeth, but her duty to uphold the law couldn't allow any further killing until the crime was proven. "We're due for some talking. All of you, stay out of sight and ready. I'll have a chat with this mercenary leader."

Forcing the poor sentry up by the back of his tunic, Matilda clanked forward with the man in tow with no regard of being stealthy. She didn't look back, trusting her compatriots to remain just enough to be unseen by the little oblivious group playing cards under torchlight by the barn. The source of light would've cost them their darkvision, and they'll have no idea how big of a force she's bringing with her. Hopefully that'll prevent them from trying something colossally stupid.

The noise of her armor caught their attention before she even appeared. The group of... five stood up, hands reaching for weapons as they stared with uncertainty into the darkness. Then she stepped into sight, the motley bunch tensing as she let go of the sentry. The poor man stumbled before looking back for a confused second, then scrambled to rejoin his friends.

"I am Matilda Ironsword, servant of his highness King Fredricus of Kindeance. An important retinue of the king was recently kidnapped and our magicians are certain that he's held in this place. I demand your leader to present him or herself now."

She crossed her arms, looking as impatient as she actually felt like. Meanwhile, the supposed mercenaries looked at her and each other with incongruity before one finally snapped out of it and went into what looked like a slightly fancier tent than the rest. So far, so good.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

Well, needs must. The less uncontrolled variable, the better. Matilda didn't fear any pitched battle, but if the enemies failed to notice her then they'll not have time to play hostage or whatever dumb shit with her rescue charge. The orc nodded in assent, finally giving Veronica permission to run wild.

"Do it then. And make it quick."

The timing couldn't be any more perfect. As if on cue, some cloud decided that it's the perfect time to temporarily shroud the moon behind their fluffy mass. In a world of pitch-black darkness the vampiress strode forth, neither sound nor sight able to catch her presence. The first sentry was nodding off when something softly rustled to his right, a pair of bleary eyes slowly turned to that direction as he squinted hard. Ain't the first night he's on this duty, and still no head or tail of the supposed threat. An insect? A critter, perhaps? Complacency truly was a fearsome thing.

A pair of slender arm emerged from the darkness, one latching on his neck and the other to the back of his head. The sentry struggled and struggled, yet his captor didn't even budge. Within seconds his strength waned, and unconsciousness took him. And he was the lucky one. Two other sentries closest to the first was next, neither stood a chance as their mouth was covered and throat slit from the back. Then the first was retrieved for Matilda to question, his fate seemingly bleak.

Two more sentries surrounding the barn, and they soon joined their compatriots. If either had substantially less blood than expected, it's unlikely that anyone will detect it. The corpses were then dragged further away, two at a time thanks to Veronica's strength, and the job was done.

*****

"I dont know anything about kidnapping! I swear! We're paid to protect the cargo, client said some people wants it bad! Enough to kill for it! Just some wooden boxes, that's all. We ain't peeking, stuff's sealed but no way there's anyone alive in there after so many days. L-look, boss' a reasonable man, J-just point some swords at us and we'll give up the contract. No sense dying over money, yeah? Need to be alive to spend it, yeah?"

Veronica would return just in time for their terrified captive to be up and conscious, and... anticlimatically spilled everything. How much truth was contained in the words? The panic looked and sounded real enough, but who knows?

"Oh, you're back." Yvonne was the first to notice the approaching vampire, who had gotten way closer than she'd like. Creepy sort. Thankfully it's an ally at the moment. "Didn't get much out of this guy. I dont mind going in and killing all those guys but if they're really the mercenary sort we probably dont have to."

She glanced at the bloodstain. Then shrugged noncommittally.

"Pity about the deados, but hey. It's a dangerous business."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[GM Post]

Beyond the wooden palisade, the inner village could be seen. At some point in the far off past it was a strictly military establishment, but now only the great hall was distinguishable with the rest of it replaced or otherwise blend into the various buildings that was erected at a later date. More than necessary, in fact - the entire thing was a serious fire hazard with how tightly packed it were. At a glance there's a blacksmith, a stable, various living quarters, granary and other storages, and some miscellanous ones that were difficult to tell what they functioned for. Regardless, it looked like the (slightly) better-off part of the village lived there.

The stone walls, meanwhile, had something like copper veins buried into it. Rustic and rudimentary as it were, the warding scheme was decently robust for its apparent simplicity, strengthening the walls as its primary purpose but in this particular case it's acting akin to stained glass to distort what's beyond it. The courtyard between the fort and the wall was empty, acting as mustering ground for troops deployment though it didn't seems like it had seen much use at all for a long time. At least the grass was trimmed.

The fort itself had similar warding scheme spread throughout in an even denser concentration. Designed as a cheapest method to defend against magic, it strengthened the stone construction while at the same time simply disperse and blur out any attempt to peek inside by simple virtue of an ungodly amount of interference. While the design will also stop any sort of magical transmission from within, a mage on the defender's side could simply climb to the battlement if necessary. Not the most convenient, but beats having the fort falling to an assault due to sheer intel difference.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

The problem: there's a bunch of armed folks that'll likely try to stop them from reaching the barn. The solution: varying, depending on how good of a fighters they were and just how much preparations they've got set up. Information was lacking, as as much as Matilda preferred just waltzing in and crushing all resistance like Yvonne chimed there may be some other ways this could be done with.

"Is it possible to grab one of those sentries without the others noticing? One that is getting too sleepy for their own good? We can get some answers from him, and the hole in their watch perimeter will allow us to slip in." Matilda squinted to see the rough sketching, with great difficulty managing to get some sense of the drawing. Didn't seems much different from the scrying result reported earlier. "No need to risk taking down all of them. I cannot shoot accurately over long distance even in daytime."

"Same here. I mean, I know how to handle a bow without getting a cramp somewhere unpleasant. Or throw some javelins. But dont count on me hitting the bullseye." Yvonne tapped the brand new mace on her hip, the weight a bit different than the previous one but she'll just need to smash through a battle to get used to it. Ain't the first time she had to change weapon. "I'm better at crushing things up close and personal, yeah? If I get through I can smash the guards before the rest of them even wake up."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"So, we'll just walk in and hope they dont shank us or something? Dont get me wrong now, should be a walk in the park unless they've got someone like Admiral Delving in there. But it's not like people like that grew on trees yeah?"

Thin line between bravado and confidence, but Yvonne had enough reasons to be convinced that it's the latter. She herself was no pushover, despite the particularly embarrassing performance back in the entire underground hideout fiasco. Mattie should be at least her match, and then there's Chowder who dish out death like nobody's business. Never heard of this Veronica before, but the woman just legit ran alongside their horses and didn't even look out of breath. Definitely not a pushover either.

All in all, between the four of them there's really not much a "small" group of thirty can do to slow their advance. Juuuust gotta watch out for arrows in the dark, she suppose. Yvonne can shrug off most blows, but a longbow shot to the eye wasn't something she's confident in surviving.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[GM Post]

Regardless how many what ifs, no one suggested a better plan. The last bout of scrying before the partings revealed several things, in both villages. Neither seemed to have any activity going on at the dead of the night. On Pesti side, the prince was scried to be inside the barn of a farmstead in the outskirt of the village. Several completely out of place tents were erected around it, where armed men in non-uniform equipment were standing guard outside while a larger number sleep in the tent. About ten awake including the sentries, and roughly twenty more in place. Meanwhile, on Fanghorn the lord's fort looked almost completely deserted save for several sentries nodding off on the top of the battlement. The inner side, however, was a mystery - wards were built into the stone, a standard construction from a harsher times to protect fortifications from magical attacks.

"Veronica, Chounan, Yvonne, with me. Double time. The rest of you, follow the elf."

The wagon was parked as discreetly as possible on the roadside. Then, finally, the group separated.

*****

At the outskirt of Pesti, the wide farmstead came into view in the form of various torches kept lit by the armed defenders. There's fence surrounding the entire place, but it's more to keep animals in or out than to deter people seeking entry. However, spread evenly in the darkness were sentries keeping watchful eyes outward. They didn't seems to be doing that good of a job, constantly nodding off under Veronica's darksight, but there's no way they'll miss a direct approach.

In the distance, the lord's squat little fort loomed on the top of a natural hill.

*****

Nearing Fanghorn, the party slowed down as they beheld the village. Not far off from the riverside was an artificially elevated mound where a stone keep was raised. A ring of stone wall surrounded it near the top, a northern gate giving fast access toward the bridge if necessary while the southern gate opened directly to the village. The inner village was attached directly to the southern side of the fort, where the more important buildings were kept. Surrounding it was palisade walls, a section looked to be recently rebuilt while the rest seemed like it's been neglected for decades. The outer village was largely residential, with farmsteads jutting out with little thought or planning like some particularly blocky half-halo.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

"As you've said before, I have no direct command over you." Matilda glared at the elf without hiding her annoyance, momentarily considering how satisfying it would be to throttle that reedy neck. But calm down, calm down. The enemies were close. No need to take it out on an ally, no matter how belligerent. The orc took the communication device, steely gaze never leaving Jazdia's figure. "Fine. Splitting the force it is. Solomon, start sending your shadows now. I want eyes on both villages. Veronica, I need report on both place's potential hostile, now."

Independent contractors, bah. If given the choice, Matilda would've just took a regiment of the army and be done with it.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

"I care not about your rescue, mister bear." Reinhold pointed out the reminder, that his purpose here wasn't the same as the rest of them even if the two goals were reasonably aligned. "There are men I want dead in that place, whether your group decide to attack it or not. I'll go myself if I have to."

Probability of success? Zero, basically. Maybe he can take down a couple with a well-prepared ambush and traps, but there's no way a lone hunter like Reinhold can fulfil his revenge without aid. But he will make the attempt anyway - results be damned. A man got to have principles, aye?

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

"Ah. No, I'm not actively tracking. It's retracing my steps, and it's heading west. The bridge a while back, that was one landmark. There should be a lone big old tree on a small hill at the left side of the road soon enough, and from there the fort and the village should be visible." That should be... half an hour away at their current pace. "They circled around the village proper and went into the fort back then. Spent an entire day watching, never came out."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

"That was... insightful." Matched sufficiently with what Reinhold knew about bears, which honestly wasn't much. Hunters mostly stayed away from those, for good reasons. Maybe he could raise thorny bushes around his hut if he needed to deter bears in the future. If he survived this entire thing anyway. The man didn't expect to return alive at all.

"What I'm looking at?" Confusion was clear. "Squirrels? Hard to tell now that it's moving around. Just dark shape and some beady reflection for eyes."