Borosev

The Prince's Royal Guard

"It is indeed rather puzzling-- if they are not at the front lines, then they must be elsewhere, doing something they consider to be more important...or they could be waiting." said Balthazar going over the information. "I am in agreement with the Duke--a good first step would be to close off the entrances they are using for their supply lines. If we deprive them of their access to supplies, reinforcements, and retreat, then they will be out in the open, and be forced to make rash decisions. When that occurs, perhaps we can lure them in with the prospect of attaining much-needed supplies, and then crush them when they move to take it." he continued

"Yes, that is an interesting idea." said the Duke nodding and listening whilst reading the map for ideas of his own.
"Now this tactic would work on any normal Orc invasion, but we may be dealing with something else."

"I agree if we can cut off the head, the Orcs will fall to infighting. But from what the reports say, there weren't any Orcs in the attack this morning. Does that strike either of you as odd? Usually Orcs can't stand to be in the back lines and are usually the forward charge, or at least that is what I have read from previous reports on Orc raids." began the Prince, "If the Orcs aren't showing themselves how do we draw out this Warchief?"

"I will have my men seek out more information on their leadership. For now, our next move should be to close those tunnels and seek our allies. When we learn more, we can think about what comes next." Before the men could continue conversing, the city bells could be heard ringing. A guard then arrived soon after, "My lord, It seems there is an attack coming from the western front!"

"Balthazar, I'll leave this here to you and the Duke, think up our next move. I'll go check the situation on the walls." He said briefly before heading out.
"Of course, Your Majesty. Fight well." replied Balthazar. The Duke ordered the guard to bring a few of his own High Guard to aid the Prince.
"Duke Karstilli, I would like your scouts to coordinate with mine-- I believe expanding the net will give us more knowledge of the battle to come."

"Of course my friend, my sources are at your disposal." the Duke said gratefully. "I trust the Prince will do well at leading our army. And I have faith in you with bringing about more information for us to work with. I will see to the welfare of the city's people, and arrange for more couriers to be at the ready." said the Duke before pulling out some papers to begin making plans.
"I shall procure you and the Prince your own personal quarters, and a personal study for your operation." continued the Duke.

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After firing off another shot from his rifle, he had just noticed the robed figure of Zatana charging into the horde of minor greenksins. The crazy...he began in his mind, "Watch your fire, one of ours is out there. Pick your shots!" he barked as he watched her eviscerate the goblins with relative ease. After reloading, he picked off another goblin that was trying to protect one of the runners
Two goblins managed to get to the gate. "Watch out!" warned Rudolph before taking cover. The charges went off, causing the walls to shake, the gate barely surviving from the impact. He turned to order some soldiers down below to begin with making the temporary repairs and maintaining of the gate, but he noticed that Captain Haart was already coordinating such an action.
He turned away just in time to see Zatana rushing away from the battlefield as explosions went off behind her. Despite the situation, he also noticed the greenskins were in full retreat. He then placed his rifle down with a sigh of relief, relaxing for a moment before straightening.

After a moments respite, he noticed a small commotion further along the wall and made his way over. Some of the Princes retinue were amongst them.
After pushing his way through he saw Merik offer his assistance to a figure on the ground. Rudolph eyes widened in surprise to see that it was Zatana, and to see who she was under her guise. A Drow, a bloody Drow. Rudolph shook his head and let out a sigh of disappointment. "Alright you lot, piss off and help out with the dead and wounded. Give the woman some space." he ordered. The troops were hesitant at first, but eventually dispersed.
Rudolph remembered both what Sirs Balthazar and Leonidas said before, and took into account. "What was that about? jumping into that mess out there?" he asked rhetorically. He shook his head and offered his hand to help her up alomg with Merik. "You have some balls on you, i'll give you that." he said sounding somewhat impressed.

The Prince's Royal Guard

"I don't have too much information about him-- he seemed to be perfectly content with lording over the smaller Orc and Goblin tribes, as well as raiding the occasional caravan." said Balthazar evidently in thought. "It makes me wonder why he had such a sudden desire to besiege Bergkoff." he continued.

"I see. Perhaps the beast is simply overconfident, due to its alleged triumphs." replied the Duke, becoming more curious about the Orc.

Leonidas spoke up next, "We are going to need to reposition one cannon to the east gate, and one to the west. We don't know when they will attack the flanks and we can't show a weakness on our sides. If we show these beasts any chink in our armor, they will jump at it without a doubt." He said observing the map. "The goblin numbers won't be an issue if we can keep them outside those walls. If they get in though, they could be a major problem. As for the Orcs, how many of them came out to fight this morning? Were we able to dwindle those numbers at all?"

"It is hard to say my Prince. As we have only the estimates provided by my and Sir Balthazars contacts. All we can do is hope these estimates are true to their strength." replied the Duke.

"My fear is the longer this battle lasts the more word of this fortress' strength will spread and draw in more Orcs looking for a challenge. So any thought on how we could try to end this battle quickly?" continued the Prince.

"I believe cutting off the head of the snake to be a viable option if it can be done. Alternatively, we could try to collapse the entrances to the tunnels that they are using to move around the region." said Balthazar as he explained his idea upon the map. "I suspect that it will be no easy task, but if we can do it, it would only be a matter of breaking down the remaining forces. An army without supply lines or reinforcements is certain to crumble, given time."

The Duke nodded in agreement,"A good idea. But perhaps, we should start on the tunnels first. That way, it may draw their leader out into the open, hopefully providing us a better chance at removing it." said the Duke as he observed the idea presented by Balthazar.

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Rudolph continued to guide the troops still atop the walls, occasionally helping some of them as they removed the dead and wounded from it. He then turned in time to see the large woman approach his position. "I just came from the cannons, the crew shouldn't be far behind me." said Faira as she viewed the situation. "If the cannon can break that catapult, we may not even need to leave the wall."

"You're not wrong there." Rudolph replied simply. He then saw that the goblins had renewed their assault, bolstered with some archers of their own.
He carefully observed their activity, Something doesn't feel right. he thought to himself unclear on what it was that made him anxious about the situation.
Soon enough, a familiar voice snapped him out of it, "Hey Rudolph!" it was Acrius, "Do you think fire arrows would work? Gotta try something, those cannons are taking their damned sweet time. I have half a mind to jump down there and burn them myself!"

Rudolph rolled his eyes at the thought and then replied, "Do what you like, as long as it involves killing the green bastards." he snapped back.
He took a glance at the city behind him to see what was happening. It appeared that the majority of the civilians were within the keep now, so at least that was one less worry. He caught a glimpse of a familiar figure staggering around some troops, it was the rotund form of Captain Haart. Good to see the fool is actually doing something other than being in the bloody tavern he thought scoffing at the thought of him.
When Rudolph turned his focus back to the fight at hand, he noticed the woman, Zatana had joined them, and was firing out a few arrows of her own. He also noticed further down that the lizardman had been throwing wooden beams like javelins, "Whatever." Rudolph said to himself as he sighed and turned away from the activity.

"Off the gate! Explosives incoming! alerted Faira. Rudolph immediately ordered several archers and riflemen to reposition to the gate. He picked up a dropped rifle and took up a position himself. All he could see were the usual goblin warriors. He squinted trying to see what the woman was talking about, and then he noticed some of which were carrying sparking objects, Could they really be..? Rudolph pondered for a moment.
"You lot! Focus your shots on the greenksins with the bombs!" he ordered soon after. How in the gods names did they get a hold of explosives!? he thought trying to wrap his mind around it.

A good few shots were sent out by the troop, but many of which seemed to either hit the shields of the goblins trying to protect the runners, or just miss altogether. At least two of the runners were brought down, one of the bombs went off killing a small score of the greenskins closer to it. The other hit the ground and the wick snuffed out by the mud underfoot.

The Prince's Royal Guard

"Yes we do have a lot to go over. Please give me a run down of what you know? Do we know how many we are up against? What are our defenses at the moment? Is there any weak points in the city we need to know about? How long will your supplies last?"
Leonidas began as soon as they entered the office. "As for Siegfried, yes he and his forces will hopefully arrive in two days. Have you received anything from the dwarves, will they be able to help us?" he continued.

Then Balthazar spoke up soon after, "Our scouts once reported numbers between two hundred and a thousand, but my informants say it is the latter. We can expect at least a thousand enemy combatants." Balthazar reviewed his notes from the report before he continued, "Eight hundred Goblins, two hundred Orcs, and perhaps an Ogre or two, lead by Waruk Shieldbreaker, an Orc Warlord of little renown. In addition, they've been using the underground cave systems to travel. There appear to be several prime locations for us to cut off their supply lines, but we'll need more time before we act upon that." Balthazar looked up at the Duke from his report as he continue, "Can you corroborate this information? I must know if my accounts are still accurate."

The Duke held up a hand before saying his piece, "Well Sir Balthazar, you certainly are well informed, as our reports say similar, though yours holds more detail.", he leaned on the desk to observe the map that Balthazar provided before looking up at the Prince.
"And to answer your questions my Prince, the main areas to keep a watchful eye on, are the sewer drains. As they extend beyond the city walls."
The Duke stood up and crossed his arms. "As for our defences, we have roughly four hundred of our infantry, and there is also the four cannons we recieved from the dwarves. They should be fine for use for now, but we did not have much in terms of ammunition to begin with." The Duke took a deep breath before he continued, his old weary body tiring already, "We would be better prepared, but unfortunately, these last few months have taken a toll. We have troops stationed at a couple of our watch forts further outward, and we think two may have fallen due to the orcs." he said stroking his bearded chin in thought. "We have indeed tried to contact the dwarves via carrier pigeon, but we have yet to recieve a reply. It is possible they themselves could be under threat of attack."
The Duke paused for a moment.
"Do you have any further information regarding this orc warlord you mentioned?" he asked Balthazar with curiosity.

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As soon as the bell rang, Rudolph made his way up to the walls, to offer what help he could.

Some rifle fire could be heard, but the majority of missles were from the bows. A few of the goblins in the assault were immediately killed from the first volley, but they were better prepared this time, as most of the arrows that hit, were blocked by their shields. However, the few shots from the rifles amongst them, blew through them with relative ease.

"Keep knocking the bastards down!" yelled Captain Fenne as he walked along the wall observing the attack.
Rudolph managed to get to the top of the wall just in time for the third volley.

The goblins got to a certain point before stopping.
"Bring the cannons 'round!" ordered the captain giving a signal with his hand.
A soldier from amongst the ranged units shouted "Incoming!" as two large boulders were coming their way. "Take cover. Take cover!" ordered the captain before he hid himself behind one of the merlons.
Rudolph himself hid behind one as soon as he saw the incoming projectiles.

With a loud crash, one of the shots hit the side of the wall, causing a minor tremor. The other made a direct hit, killing some of the troop that took shelter.
Rudolph was partially dazed by the impact, but thankfully was not in the impact zone itself. He then quickly gathered himself, "Are you alright Captain!?" he loudly asked as he staggered slightly across the broken wall using his halberd to keep him steady.
There were some soldiers missing, possibly they were knocked off the wall back into the city. Others lay upon the path broken and bloodied.

"Keep firing! Don't give 'em a breather!" yelled Rudolph as he went to investigate the whereabouts of the captain.
He quickly found the man, buried under a mound of rubble. He then removed some of it to check if the man still lived. Captain Fenne seemed mostly dusted by the debris, despite clear minor wounds. Rudolph looked closer and noticed that the back of the mans head had been caved in. Rudolph looked down with eyes closed. Damn them!.

Rudolph stood up and observed his surroundings. The ranged units were still doing their part, and trying their best at keeping the greenskins at bay. The cannoneers were still making their way over as the goblins renewed their assault against the walls.

"Alright then." Rudolph said to himself. "Cannons! Get a move on!" he ordered, and they began hurrying more so with the help from other soldiers currently unoccupied with the defences.
Here we go. he exhaled readying himself for the fight ahead.

The Prince's Royal Guard

The throne room was active. Serfs and soldiers were rearranging furniture, moving documents and equipment around.

"Greetings Duke Karstilli, we thought you might want a few more men to man the walls. I know it isn't much, but Lord Siegfried should arrive in the next two days with a company of 500 knights. Although I hope by then they will just be here for the clean up as we will have already finished this siege." announced Prince Leonidas.
Balthazar then bowed, "Duke Karstilli. It is good to see you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances. Perhaps we can share our insights in regards to the battle to come; though I suspect it will not be anything you hadn't already known." he said in turn.

Amongst the serfs and soldiers going about their business, an old but tall man wearing a fine maroon robe and bronze plate crown stood up. He turned to see who it was who entered. He squinted trying to recognise the man in armour, "Master Leonidas?" after realising who it was, a smile crept up on his old wrinkled face and he made his way over.
Manuel Karstilli let out a laugh of relief, "It is great to see you again your majesty. And of course, it is good to see you too Sir Balthazar, my wise friend." he said bowing in respect.
He gestured to the room, "As you can see, we are having to temporarily use the throne room as the war-room. The destroyed buildling outside was originally such. And unfortunately, some of my officers were killed." he slumped feeling a bit embarrassed.

With a cough he straightened himself, "So my lord. You say Sir Siegfried will be bringing his knights to the foray? that is welcome news indeed." he said with a grateful smile. "Come, we no doubt have much to discuss." he said leading them to an office, away from the activity.

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Rudolph made his way past the line of civilians, and down the street toward the guard barracks. He thought about what both the Prince and Balthazar said as he walked, Maybe the Prince is right in what he said. It probably is stupid to blame them for what happened. But I know the Drow have a long lifespan, and I don't doubt that some of the bastards responsible are still kicking somewhere. But i'll keep what they said in mind. he thought as he approached the barracks entrance.

The barracks seemed to be mostly empty, unsurprising given the circumstances.
"Morning Sergeant." greeted a soldier resting at a table, "Aye." replied Rudolph bluntly as he rested his halberd on the weapons rack.
"Oi Portor, any news on Murz yet?" he asked taking off his hat and coming to rest on the table with the private.
"No sir. Its been presumed he's been killed, given the orc presence." he replied simply before taking a sip of his ale.
Rudolph sighed. Whos around? he asked head resting on his hand.
Portor took a moment to think, "Captains Helt and Haart are above in the officers quarters. Captain Fenne is out tending to the walls defences. Most of the sergeants are out tending to the city. And Sergeant Collur is here somewhere too." he replied before finishing his drink and standing up. "Well sir, i'll you'll excuse me." he said giving a brief salute before heading to the troop quarters. Rudolph gave a nod to the man before he left the canteen.

Soon after resting himself, Rudolph got up and went to the troop quarters to change into a spare uniform, before inspecting his gears condition.
He then went out to see if he could assist with the city's defences.

The Prince's Royal Guard

After what must of been over five minutes, Rudolph noticed the Prince and the rest finally emerge from further down the road, and with the previously troubled caravan. "To attention lads, they're back." Rudolph ordered the men.
"Sorry we're late. We had something we needed to take care of." said the Prince as he came before them. "Understood mi'lord." he replied simply nodding, whilst looking at the caravan coming behind that had somehow employed the young Acrius as its driver. He turned and ordered the men to begin marching once again.

As they made way toward the city, Rudolph caught glimpses of the battle that occurred, and it seemed as though the defences had successfully driven the greenskins back, despite their clearly sizable force being enough to scale the walls.

With the temporary respite at hand, the army finally arrived in Bergkoff without difficulty. After the Prince ordered the men to take rest from their journey, Rudolph gathered his own kinsmen amongst them and had them go back to the city barracks to get some rest. He turned for a moment to look at the city, Home Sweet Home he thought, and then sighed with relief.

Rudolph walked up to the Prince and gestured to him to follow, "This way mi'lord. The Duke will likely be grateful you're here." he said as he turned to lead the way. The cannon fire had thankfully stopped before they arrived in the city, so he wouldn't have to endure a headache this early in the day just yet at least.

The streets were only partially busy as they past through. It was mostly being guarded by troops who were making sure civilians were escorted to the keep.
Some homes and shops were already destroyed. Rudolph shook his head in annoyance as he saw this, and renewed his pace to the keep im turn. "This is the last city from the Kingdom of Karsburg. Thanks to the bloody Drow of course." he said with evident frustration in his tone, "None of us were around at the time of the war, but the distrust and general disliking of Drow is still here, hence why you'll not likely find any about."

The keep itself was scarred from the Orc artillery, although somewhat minor due to the walls of the fort being sturdier than they looked. The gate of the keep was naturally abuzz with activity as civilians were slowly but surely making their way in. The occasional scuffle would appear amongst them, until the guards intervened.

Rudolph held up a hand to one of the gate guards as he approached, "We need to meet the Duke. Prince Leonidas Lionheart of the empire is here to help.", and as he mentioned the name, some of the crowding civilians looked up in surprise at the Princes arrival. They watched as he passed by, some bowing in respect, most chatting and gossiping.
"Oh" said a guard, "You! Inform the Duke that the Prince of the Empire is here!" he loudly ordered to another guard in the keep behind him, before ordering some of the other guards on the outside to help make way for the Prince.

Rudolph turned toward the Prince and Balthazar, "Go on ahead mi'lords. I won't be able to accompany you further. Theres other duties I have to sort out anyway." he said gesturing the two to press on and giving a slight bow in respect before heading back down the road from the keep.

"Right this way my lords." said the guard bowing at the gate. On the interior of the keep, the citizens were being escorted down into an underground chamber, beneath the keep's throne room.
Another building within the courtyard had been unlucky from the orc barrage, it was in ruins. The wounded and dead littered the area, with physicians trying their best to aid them.

The Prince's Royal Guard

Rudolph watched as Merik drew his large blade, and show off by cutting a tree down with a single strike, “Merik is ready.” said the lizardman with a grin etched on his face, but Rudolph simply rolled his eyes.
At least hes on our side. he thought.
He then noticed the Prince lead his party onward. Rudolph signalled the troop to start moving in a hurried pace to keep up.

After nearly 10 minutes had past since they'd left the camp, the Prince and his unit broke from the column and charged down an alternate road. Rudolph noticed that some civilains were caught off guard by a pack of mounted goblins. Bastard creatures! he thought to himself spitting to his side in disgust.
A soldier spoke up about the situation, "Sir! *huff Huff* Should we send a unit to assist the prince? *Huff* Or keep on to the city?", shortly after, he then heard Merik speak, “Merik will keep moving towards the town, Merik will save the humans. Don’t you want to save humans Ruduf?”. Rudolph hesitated before he answered, "Alright, we'll keep going. The Prince and his retinue will be more than capable. Theres plenty of fighting to be had yet anyway." he said focusing on the journey.

After another couple of minutes, the troop were nearing the end of the forest road.
"Halt!" Rudolph ordered, and the troops stopped immediately, slowly regathering themselves. The city was sitting before them, and the walls were obviously abuzz with activity. The loud boom of cannon fire coming from the western side of the city's defences, the power of each shot could be felt underfoot.
There was still some more road to travel yet. "We'll wait for the Prince to catch up before we carry on." he said leaning on his halberd for a moment.

The sound of battle could be heard from where they stood. They could just see that the orcs had already begun to attack the walls. "The party is still on at least." he muttered to himself as he watched his home face the tide of orcs.

The Prince's Royal Guard

Shortly after the soldier was sent to collect Merik, the lizardman turned up anyway. "Merik find you Ruduf, Merik lose horse again, so Merik go with you."
Rudolph raised a brow, and sighed, "Alright, you stay with me then." he said nodding to the lizardman. The soldiers standing before them were clearly still a little uncomfortable with Merik's presence.
They'll probably feel better when they see him in action alongside them.

"Klaus, go get that other lad i'd just sent away." he said to one of the five of his kinsmen, whom like him, were dressed in the dark purple and grey trimmed livery of the Bergkoff Guard.

Rudolph turned toward the Prince and his retinue,"Mi'lord, Merik has decided to join me and the troop, if thats alright." he said with a wave.

He then took a step forward toward the troops, "Have you lot collected all your gear and readied yourselves? 'cause you'll be seeing the greenskins soon enough, and theres far more of them than there are of us. They'll want your heads as trophies.", he took a moment before continuing, "If you die, then make sure you at least bring ten of the bastards with you!", the soldiers were mostly quiet. One piped up, surprisingly roused by his words, but awkwardly reeled himself back in.
"Anyway." Rudolph mostly said to himself, as he walked over to inspect them.
I do hope these lads manage. And I hope we get those reinforcements soon. Otherwise we're buggered.

It takes him a meer few minutes to check them all. "Alright, good enough." he said returning to the front reasonably satisfied.
We're as ready as we can get. he thought to himself, with some concern slipping in.

What character archetypes/characteristics do you gravitate towards?

Usually prefer the basic warrior or protector types. Normally the good guy, or anti-hero at most otherwise. Depends on story and enviroment really.

Dark Dagger

understandable. surprised you came back though

The Prince's Royal Guard

"That we would, and we should take that as a good sign. We will make it in time to help your home, that I promise you." said the Prince. Rudolph couldn't help but let a small smile creep up a little.
"Unless the fighting is over." came the voice of the large woman of the retinue. His smile dropped away again with a depressive sigh.

He noticed a commotion in the camp, and soon saw the young lad Acrius coming up to them after seeing two soldiers scurry away. Rudolph rolled his eyes.
That boy needs discipline. he thought to himself, as the Prince spoke at Acrius.

"Perhaps, Your Highness, I should go ahead of the company and see the state of Bergkoff. If the fighting is finished, or not yet started, the information would be valuable, yes?" the voice made Rudolph jump out of his time in thought. He turned to where it came from, and then saw the woman Zatana. Rudolph didn't now what to think of her, he barely saw her amongst the group much of the time, and had little reason to trust her, beside the fact the Prince seemed to.

Before the Prince replied, Rudolph felt something in the air, and quickly turned his attention toward the city, he saw the flashes of cannon-fire coming from the city amongst other things glinting in the sun-light as they flew into it in turn. The sound of the devices hit harder than expected.

He turned back just in time for the Prince to relay his orders. Finally we get some action. Rudolph thought with some adrenaline beginning to build up.
""Rudolph I want you to lead our infantry to the city. You should know this area, and know the best way home, and where a good place to strike should be." ordered the Prince, and Rudolph nodded in return without hesitation. He immediately turned and walked back into the camp to surpervise the troops as they hurried. He barked at them every now and then before they got into formation. "Form up lads, form up!" he said walking by the column of troops as they lined up. "You two,..." he pointed at two spearmen at the back, "You two will stay here and help guard the personel as they pack up the caravan." they hastily saluted and hurried to help the civilians.
He surveyed the troops amongst him, and watched as the Prince and his retinue, along with the cavalry readied themselves in turn. Rudolph squinted trying to find someone, "Oi, Wheres Merik?!" he asked the troops in front of him, eventually a soldier spoke, "He went out looking for food sir." replied the soldier.
Rudolphs shoulders slumped as his frustration grew, he let out a sigh, "Well go get him then!" he barked back at the soldier, shaking his head.
Everyone was more or less ready to go, and he was eager to get going again.
He listened to the battle that occured in the distance, Sounds like the dwarven guns are doing well at least. Wish we had more here. All we have is my pistol and the one rifle that Klaus has. Bows are good enough I suppose though. he thought as he looked over his troops again, I wonder if i'll get a promotion he then pondered.