Crimson Paladin

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

I improved the formatting on my character sheet. No information has been changed.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri briefly assessed the different groups. Fanilly would be leading from the front. Tyaethe the First and Youngest would be leading from the left. Sir Gerard, the Reonite former mercenary, was leading the right flank. Dame Aria, a veteran knight of the Larette family, was leading the rear flank. Fleuri had alrady interacted with and assessed Gerald, but he had not thought too much about the other two yet.

Paladin Tyaethe needed no further introduction, as her reputation preceded her. If the stories were true, she could probably handle the entire left flank by herself. He wondered if Tyaethe knew or remembered his ancestor Armand Jodeau, a renowned knight in his own time. Perhaps he could ask her about it later, once this bandit business was concluded. Assuming, of course, Fleuri had the nerve to approach and ask her- even as small of stature as she was out of her armor, she was quite intimidating.

The second flank leader, Dame Aria, was somewhat known to Fleuri. She was a decorated veteran of Cal's rebellion and a member of the Larette family. They were a powerful noble family, distinguished by their red hair and great stature. In the past, they were bitter rivals of the Jodeau, back when Fleuri's family was relevant. The mutual disdain didn't end when Jodeau relinquished its land and ceased to be a threat to Larette, as doing so only demonstrated how deeply contrasting the two familes' ideals were. It was unclear whether Aria adhered to Larette's ruthlessly pragmatic ideals, but what was clear was that she was a valorous warrior whose loyalty to the kingdom was not in question.

"I volunteer to fight on the rear flank," Fleuri announced to the captain. He wanted to see how the rival family- and their martial tradition- had fared over the years. She'll probably hate him, but why would a Jodeau ever care for a Larette's opinion?

---

OOC: History between Jodeau and Larette was discussed over PM.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

With some time to spare before being ordered into position, Fleuri removed his helmet to get a better look at where his armor was struck with a quarrel. To his relief, there was no damage beyond a minor scratch where it glanced off his pauldron. The only other telltale signs of his participation in the battle was his bloodied greatsword and a few scarlet drops that had dripped from his sword onto his white cape. The evening was still young, however, and they had another fight ahead of them.

Fleuri contemplated about what the bandit had said while being interrogated. If this knave is telling the truth, sentries might be an issue if they spot us before we can get into position. If the bandits were alerted before they were encircled, many of them would be able to slip away into the woods. The other detail he noticed was the mention of prisoners. It wasn't surprising that these brigands kept prisoners, but it posed a slight complication in that the camp contained innocent people. There was a chance the bandit was lying about that detail, but the Iron Roses would not gamble with people's lives by calling his bluff.

There was one other detail that was worth noting- the bandit's description of the Bandit King. According to the reports, most of the royal soldiers sent to stop the bandits were torn apart by a single, unknown weapon. It was speculated that Jeremiah was this weapon's wielder but assuming he wasn't some sort of elaborate red herring- which these bandits were clearly not smart enough to pull off- this further suggested that it was indeed Jeremiah.

If he is surrounded, he could try to break out- after all, if he's as skilled as they say, he could very well succeed. But a man as bold as Jeremiah does not seem like the type to flee. Fleuri glanced at Fanilly. If the Bandit King opted to stand and fight, he'd probably go straight for the young captain. The thought of the Order losing its Knight-Captain so early into her captaincy, and just a few short years after losing their previous captain, made him uneasy. On the other hand, from what little he had seen of Fanilly, she wasn't just some bravado filled fool. Between the Vindramael knight and the legendary First and Youngest, she was in good hands.

He thought of speaking up to the captain, but decided against it. He had nothing noteworthy to say, and there were already enough people telling Fanilly how to do her job. He silently put his helmet back on and mentally readied himself for the next phase of the battle.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

The skirmish was over. The bandits weren't just defeated, they were crushed. Most were dead and strewn on the ground, and the few that lived would no doubt hang for the depravities they committed. Looking over the battlefield, Fleuri wasn't seeing any casualties among the knights, thank Reon, just fallen bandits. To spring an ambush blindly without knowing what they're up against, and committing to a skirmish with the Iron Roses. How ever did these fools ever defeat a group of Thaln's soldiers? To Fleuri's relief, he hadn't seen any of them escaping- if any of them got back to warn the camp, the rest of them would be able to scatter like roaches into the dense forest.

Speaking of which, Fleuri needed to get his prisoner to the wagon as per the captain's orders. First, however, he would need to disarm him. Fleuri pulled a dagger from a sheath hanging from the man's belt and tossed it aside, then briefly patted down the prone brigand, checking for any weapons concealed in his cuffs or boots. Finding nothing else, he grabbed the bandit by the back of his leather armor and pulled him to his feet.

"Quietly. No sudden moves, or I'll take your head off," he sternly warned the man, directing him to the cart. The man complied, slowly trudging along as his captor demanded. There was no doubt that the man would hang. These bandits had killed innocents and royal soldiers alike, and intended to kill whoever sprung their roadside trap. Unlike the murderer in front of him, however, Fleuri found it distasteful to shoot or stab a fleeing man in the back, as fitting and deserved an end as it would be for someone that did it for a living.

"I got one that needs tying up," he announced, handing the man over to a knight who was helping to bind the captives. Glancing around, he noticed seemed that some of the other knights had wasted no time in interrogating the captives. Fleuri saw one of them being worked over by the Larette woman and Sir Reynaud, one of the order's Living Reliquaries. He himself was unsure that it would yield anything useful. The bandits seemed outmatched enough that it seemed doubtful that they could produce useful information, and even if they did, Fleuri would rather not place any trust in the words of a knave.

Regardless, he approached the two knights, curious to see how the interrogation would play out. He said nothing, merely observing, while silently waiting for the Captain's orders to resume advancing on the camp. The sooner they begin to lay their trap to surround the bandits, the better chance the knights would have at catching them off-guard and preventing their escape.

@OwO@ghastlyInc

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

I wasn't trying to take a prisoner, I just did it because I figured a brigand with a crossbow would panic and run when a knight is rushing at him with 2-handed sword. And in slasher movie convention, trip and fall on his face.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Through the chaos of the fighting, Fleuri could discern the captain's voice barking more orders.

"Do not let a single man escape! They cannot alert the camp to our presence!"

If there's was one advantage of having a sixteen year old girl in charge, it's that her voice certainly stands out, he mused. He looked over the nearest bandits, a scarred woman with a shortsword. His foe kept her distance, perhaps a bit shocked from seeing her buddy killed. Fleuri readied his sword and prepared to charge, when his concentration was disrupted by the impact of a crossbow bolt striking his left shoulder.

His pauldron deflected the quarrel, which tumbled and impacted harmlessly against his helmet. He was unharmed, but was all too aware as to how close the shot came to his neck. By Reon, that was close. Both his instincts and his anger concurred- he needed to take that crossbowman down as quickly as possible.

Before he could even scan the area for whoever shot at him, the sword bandit rush in, her earlier hesitation having evidently been to give her friend a clear shot. Fleuri raised his sword and brought it down as his assailant closed the distance. The brigand managed to bring herself to a halt of the tip of the greatsword, narrowly avoiding the downward swing, but kept at a distance by the sword's length. Before the brigand could regain her balance from the very sudden stop, however, Fleuri stepped forward and thrust his sword with all his might, pushing through his target's shoddy armor and skewering her through the chest.

He pulled his sword back and wrenched it free of the fatally injured bandit. Free of that distraction, he turned to his left, intent on finding who shot at him. Sure enough, there was a man frantically trying to reload a crossbow. Without skipping a beat, Fleuri charged. Seeing the knight coming at him, the man lose all nerve, dropped his crossbow, and turned to flee into the thicket. Fleuri was very briefly concerned that this bandit might actually escape to warn the others, lighter on his feet than the knight and no doubt more familiar with the terrain.

Fortunately for the Iron Roses, the man was not as familiar with the terrain as Fleuri thought. In his panic to escape, the bandit failed to notice an exposed tree root behind him, and tripped on it almost immediately. He hit the ground face-first, quarrels spilling from his quiver. It was a bit ironic, that he'd be undone by the same woods that he had relied upon for concealment.

Before the man could regain his senses, Fleuri was already standing over him, sword in hand.

"Stay down and don't make any moves, if you want to live," Fleuri spoke to the fallen bandit. "You can consider yourself a prisoner of the Iron Roses."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

>riding a gelding
Didn't realize this was little bitch hour

@OwO

@Psyker Landshark

Some knights really did ride geldings

These knights, specifically. It wasn't a behavioral thing, but rather to prevent their enemies from being able to breed them.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri was startled by the abrupt ambush, with a bandit boldly attacking the captain at the wagon and more emerging from the woods. He wasn't shaken, however; the captain had a plan, and this ambush was not going to thwart it. Hearing Fanilly's rallying cry, he turned and cantered to the left flank. The terrain further in was too wooded for fighting on horseback, but his horse would be useful for getting him into position as quickly as possible, and the attackers had made the mistake of emerging from the thicket instead of taking shelter within it.

The knight reached a suitable location from which to attack from, slowing to a stop. Fleuri discarded his lance and dismounted as soon as he reached the edge of the flank, drew his greatsword from a scabbard tied to the saddle, and briefly adjusted the fit of his helmet. He was ready. As the other knights closed in on the enemy, Fleuri rushed in as well. He circled around into the edge of the forest and charged into the bandits' flank, sword held high. There was no better way to destroy a foe's carefully laid plan and sow panic in their ranks than by hitting them where they didn't expect it. And from the look of this ambush, the bandits' plan was certainly not carefully laid.

Fleuri targeted a bandit at the edge of the enemy band, a man in leather armor, wielding a handaxe and crude wooden shield. "For Reon! For the Order!" he shouted as he charged, both to frighten his foe and to amp himself up for the battle ahead.

His target appeared to panic when he saw and heard Fleuri closing in, instinctively ducking and raising his shield to block the assault. It didn't do any good- the poor angle of the shield enabled the knight's greatsword to cut through it, fatally striking the bandit in the head through his leather skullcap with a sickening noise. The man crumpled to the ground, his left arm held aloft by the shield that was still stuck in his assailant's sword.

Fleuri placed his boot on the shield and pulled on his blood-stained sword, wrenching it free and turning to another bandit. If they were all as poor warriors as the dead man in front of him, this would be less of a battle and more of a slaughter. It was going to be a bloody evening, but by Reon, none of these murderers would be allowed to escape.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Despite being neither at the front or at the flanks, Fleuri was not difficult to discern among the procession of knights. He rode a few paces behind Narcissa upon a caparisoned stallion, holding his lance upward. Both the caparison on his horse and the pennant upon his lance bore the heraldic symbol of the Jodeau family- a black sun emblem consisting of twelve spokes or rays in between two concentric circles on a white background (derisively referred to by some nobles as the Jodeau Cobweb). This was not a mission where mounted combat would likely come into play, but he preferred to keep a cavalry lance on hand because his sword was of little use on horseback. Perhaps it was also due to his diminished but lingering desire to stand out.

From what he knew about this mission, it was a worthwhile cause to put these bandits and their "king" down. Nobody seemed to know anything about who this Jeremiah fellow was or where he came from, but he was clearly dangerous and murderously ruthless. Judging by the man's ability to organize brigands into a band capable of even defeating Thaln's soldiers, and his admittedly outlandish threats against the kingdom, Fleuri was willing to wager a guess that the man was a veteran of Phoran Cal's rebellion, perhaps a traitorous captain or knight-banneret.

"It won't be much longer that we will need to proceed on-foot," the Knight-Captain ordered.

Fleuri didn't envy Captain Fanilly and the burden of command she bore. To accept command at such a young age, especially after the impression left by her heroic predecessor, was a daunting task. Dame Forina and Dame Narcissa spoke out against rushing in, and suggested instead getting a closer look. On one hand, Fleuri felt, if they were already prepared, blindly attacking could be costly. On the other hand, there was no better way to destroy an enemy's plans than to hit them hard when and where they don't expect it.

He said nothing as he followed behind them. It was not his place to question the Captain's orders. Fanilly may be a child, but Fleuri trusted the in judgment of the goddesses to guide the Iron Roses. In time, with the proper guidance, mostly at the hands of the First and Youngest, Fanilly would hopefully grow into a great captain. For now, she needed the support of her knights in this difficult time.

Fleuri rode up beside Gerard Segremors, a knight who, like himself, was a faithful devotee of Reon, closely connected with Her church.

"Sir Segremors, what do you make of this? This so-called bandit king, I mean." From what Fleuri had heard, Gerard had rubbed shoulders with some arguably dubious folks before coming into the Church of Reon and the Iron Roses, and thus could perhaps offer a unique perspective on this banditry trouble.

@HereComesTheSnow

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

With the permission of the GM, I have made some additions to Fleuri's CS.

He missed out on the war because he was following a Reonite paladin around battling necromancers behind the scenes. The fact that nobody knows about it probably contributed to his glory-seeking attention whore phase.