Lucius Cypher

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

@Elevation

None specified, but such is the charm of a jump-in RP. You can make up the lord yourself. If you want, you can use mines.

I had it in mind that a particular lord that Malakaus is after for personal reasons is a man named Lord Bernard Dowson, a Warhawk who wanted to petition the previous king to subjugate their neighbors for land and resources. The old king for whatever reason didn’t support Bernard’s ambitions, but Mago did. So they formed an alliance which allowed Bernard to hatch a scheme to force the orcs, of which Malakaus was a member of, from their homelands and take the mountains they inhabited. After Mago took the crown after the death of the king, Bernard continued to appeal and petition to the ursurper to solidify control over the kingdom as well as invade more territories to take for themselves.

Bernard would definitely have the money to pay for things like mercenary armies and a guild of assassins, and it’s definitely in his interest to kill Maren or else she might take away his lands since he’s been starting wars to fill his own pockets. He’s pretty much the go to guy for “rich evil person”. The fact he’s so rich is why he’s a powerful ally to Mago since Bernard can supply the new king with arms and armor for his army.

He’s currently based in the orc’s old citadel city which he’s renamed Durum, far to the north. It’s sometbing of a frontier city since the lands up north is home to a powerful empire, but the mountains themselves were considered orc lands until Bernard pushed them out. A lot of people have been moving there, especially shady people with skills that normally isn’t approved in regular society like assassination or witchcraft.

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

Tis fine, Malakaus is about to square off with em. Might do a collab with @Zaphander since they work better for fast pace combat scenes.

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

I don’t think Malakaus is particularly allied to Mago, in fact he’s quite against him since he’s attacking Mago’s mercenary forces. Though I do got in mind some bad dudes who are allies to the usurper, but they aren’t going to be here yet.

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

@Elevation

Mago isn’t your character dude, certainly too important to just use like a regular NPC. Mago is pretty much the big bad of the RP, and thus the GM’s character.

There is a way this could work and that’s simply changing Mago to someone else, like an important lord or advisor to Mago. I’m sure the usurper King has allies within his court to have taken over the kingdom with such relative ease.

Though I should also mention that unless your character’s action is taking place ahead of time in the current IC, the orc’s Attack didn’t happen “yesterday evening”, but literally an hour ago. I got no idea how far the besieged city is to the capital, but I imagine it’s further than an hour flight by messager crow.

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

@Elevation

Yeah just jump in, try not to be too OP or a bellend, and enjoy ya self.

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

The attack was going good so far despite initial mishaps. Once unified the orcs did a proper job staying in formation, watching each other backs, and wiping out the opposition. Malakaus made sure to have his riders harass any enemy away from the bulk of his warriors and/or chase down any fleeing soldiers less they return with reinforcements. However things did not last.

As his warriors pushed closer towards the catapults it looked like the mercenary commander had personally joined the fighting. He was definitely a cut above the average soldier. Many of Malakaus’s orcs fell to his attacks, even the more experienced warriors could barely keep themselves alive, let alone fight the man. Malakaus knew he would personally had to fight this knight himself or else he may end up routing his warriors alone. Malakaus called for his riders to clear the soldiers around the enemy commander, as well as had his messenger head back to camp and tell Torkin to adjust his aim to destroy the siege weapons. Malakaus warriors could deal with the soldier once he defeats the leader.

The warlord charged towards Commander Diclonii as he was tearing through his forces. Bodies both orc and men laid around him. As two veteran warriors were trying to withstand the commander’s onslaught, Malakaus rose up behind the man quickly and leapt off his boat, taking out his axe to sunder the commander in half from head-to-toe while he was distracted. A classic helmsplitter technique.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@Hekazu

I say just a simple d20 tie breaker roll. I got an 18.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Whelp, the curse of Orchid being slow at the draw occurs again. I got a 5.

Fantasy RP - For those that want to 'Jump - In '

It didn’t seem like the soldiers were going to risk coming out to chase the orcs. Wise of them to hide behind their walls but it’ll only be a matter of time before the orcs can get pass their defenses. But before Malakaus could go for another run, a couple of the foot soldiers charged out from the woods to attack some of the soldiers busy with a siege tower. Malakaus sure cursed his lucky; those fools know that they weren’t suppose to charge until he gave them the signal!

The orcish warriors at least had the ah fly to not shout their battlecry out u til they had already stared attacking the humans, surprising them and getting a few kills. However their surprise attack quickly turned for the worse. Before the orcs were able to send the soldiers running because none were prepared for battle, but this time they were ready. Even after they lost a few of their own, they attacked the orcs with their superior numbers. Even the veteran warriors were quickly stopped as pokes skewered their limbs and legs, and swords hacked their bodies apart. This caused the younger warriors to lose moral seeing the more experienced and powerful warriors quickly cut down. They were about to break and flee when suddenly the siege tower was smashed apart by a large boulder.

An eagle screech cut through the night. Malakaus didn’t want to have to do this before his men softened up the enemy, but no plan survives first contact. At least Torkin’s aim was true. The boulder sent wood and body parts scattering around the soldiers as Malakaus sent a barrage of arrows to kill the men. He didn’t care if he struck his own orcs; he had gave them explicate orders to wait for his command and the fact they broke it made them traitors in his eyes.

As Malakaus and his archers rained arrows upon the soldiers he blew another horn that emulated a wolf’s howl. This was the signal they needed to hear to start charging. As the arrows tore through the mercenaries Malakaus lead a charge into the camp itself. He sent a few boar riders as a distraction to draw crossbow fire, losing one of the boars in the process. But as the crossbowmen would be reloading Malakaus and his riders charged the rear walls, shaking the defenses with the sound of their hooves and the shock from their arrows.

The palisades couldn’t withstand the strength of an orcish Calvary charge and soon the walls came tumbling down. The Karsusian mercenaries would barely have time to react as Malakaus and his warriors cut them down with their blades and spears, grumbling anyone they could personally kill underneath their pigs. By now Malakaus could also see the catapults shooting rocks into the city, so Malakaus blew his eagle horn again to signal Torkin to change his targets. All the while the orc footsoldiers poured in from the forest to finish the job at the other siege tower, using their own numbers and sheer aggression to crush any resistance.

Malakaus would need to meet up with his infantry soon, to avoid friendly fire from the Warwolf. He had his men throw oil around the tents and set fire in order to create further chaos and get the soldiers off their tail, allowing them to join up with the infantry and assist them in killing any soldier who could pick a fight.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Hey actually that ain’t a half bad idea. I’m a barbarian, tipping out spikes to stab people with sounds like something I’d totally do.