Sick Ducker

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

In the heat of battle, perhaps prior to the fight, Jonimir decided to make himself invisible. Wait, that wouldn't make sense. There wasn't a Jonimir there at all, absolutely no signs of a Redguard sorcerer anywhere, no magic, no flowing robes and no sixth set of footprints. Where he went, Edith knew not. She was honestly surprised at the sneak Jonimir was. Luckily, the group handled themselves alright with one man missing. Between Lucex's excellent marksmanship, Tennant's sheet strength and Relmyna's rapid knife strokes, Edith was happy to say they defeated all six Forsworns. Five of the six were dead, only one, the mage immobilized by Lucex earlier was now restrained by Tennant.

“Please, let me go.” The Forsworn, who's companions called him Sean, begged as he was forced on his knees and both arms bunched up in Tennant's massive palm. “I'm not suppose to be here, just release me and you won't ever see a sliver of me.”

Edith, Lucex and Relmyna were a little further away from the spectacle. They concentrated on getting the rusty, but somehow still locked doors open. Tennant looked to Sadri as he stomped Sean nose first into the dirt.

“Well?” The wrestler shrugged to Sadri. “Live or die?”

After Sadri chose the fate of Sean, and given proper treatments according to his decision, he could see the door finally cracking open. Turns out, the trio was pushing a door that was meant to be pulled. No wonder that despite all three putting their weights forward, it only budged back.

“Not so bright, Bright-Wings.” Relmyna laughed as they entered the poorly lit cave.

“Someone was following me though.” Edith snorted. Relmyna wanted to fire back, but Edith stopped dead in her tracks and pressed the Dunmer girl backward. Not too distant ahead was a moving torch.

“Sean? Is that you?” The voice came from a Forsworn woman. “What took you so long, you were suppose to clean Smokey's litters.”

Edith went to a crouch and asked the others to do the same. Lucex knew what he had to do. With an arrow notched and pointed to the moving shape, he released and watched as the torch extinguished. Taking down just one target didn't put him at ease. Indeed, he and Edith both wondered the same thing.

“Smokey?” Lucex asked nobody in particular.

“Not sure.” Edith shook her head. She took the group forward and they found a table. Embalming tools, knives, scalpels, linen and various surgery type supplies splayed about. However, the table was devoid of blood, flesh or any organic matters, save for one massive heart-like organ bigger than any human hearts. To the knowledgeable types, the clues pointed not to necromancy. Perhaps alchemy, but the table also lacked major herbs. One thing for certain, the Forsworns left zero notes.

“Look, over here.” Proceeding faster than everyone else, Lucex beckoned. He stood on the edge of a rectangular pit, about two meters deep, twelve meters across and five meters wide. There were one makeshift ladder on their side and the opposite side of the pit. Several chains were nailed into the pit's side, and a covered hole on one side stenches of animal waste.

Bear wastes, Smokey was grizzly bear.

Not just any grizzly, a grizzly implanted with a briarheart. Smokey was three meters in length and half of that at shoulder height. It was currently sleeping, muscles no doubt augmented artificially rose and fell, make the hastily stitched briarheart visible under torch lights.

“No way around it.” Tennant stated. He's right, the slumbering bear took up most of the width, sneaking five armored people around is going to be tough.

“Don't tell me we have to fight that thing.” Relmyna stuttered. Her voice shook with fear, and the realization of what they have to go through made her eyes wide open. “No, no, no, that thing will smash us like watermelons.”

“What's next? It'll breath fire?” Tennant said, only half joking. Even he, seven feet of brawn, paled compared to the bear.

“Shor's beard, it better not.” Edith clenched her teeth. She carefully walked along the edge of the pit, looking intently at the bear. She knew there got to be a weakness. The heart, if only they could cut it out, or pierce it, or set it on fire. “Lucex, can you hit the bear's heart?”

“It's going to be a narrow window.” The Imperial estimated. “Only the side is showing, and only when the bear breathes in.”

“Try, the rest of us will go in and try to cut it out.” Edith nodded. “At least, we can get it stirring so you have a better shot.”

With that, she got the five of them in the same position they had earlier. Lucex perched on top of the pit, Edith led the rest as they jumped down, feet first. Sufficient to say, she's got a bad feeling about this. Who wouldn't? Even Dumhuvud wouldn't do something as dangerous, if he had the choice, that is.

She didn't have a choice, and the best Edith could do was let Lucex take the first shot. Arrow whizzed above her, finding the target against the bear's side, missing just short of it's heart. She could hear Lucex cursing, but a deafening roar drowned out the rest. Smokey came to life, it reared up to full three meters and emitted a growl so thunderous that the cavern roof shook. Seeing the situation worsen, Tennant sprung into action and sprinted straight at the bear. He dove and tackled the bear to the ground. Two giants, man and animal, grappled with each other. The Imperial started with the upper hand, he landed on top of the bear and dug one hand into its face. The other reached for the heart, stretching every fiber to the limit in a bit to remove it from the host. However, he never got to finish. The bear leaned back and slung one paw back, then forward, connecting with Tennant and sending him crashing into the rocks. A dull thud could be heard as Tennant's skull went into the wall. His body followed suit and in a moment's notice, the man fell limp on the ground.

“Holy fuck!” Relmyna screamed. She panicked, but knew she had not time to climb back up. Instead, she hurled one dagger at the beast, impaling it in the belly. Against a normal animal, damage would have been significant. But this unnatural being barely flinched at the blood leaking out of its core, anger rising and barreled towards Relmyna. The Dunmer girl backed against the wall, she closed her eyes as the bear came crashing in. It never hit her, as Edith stepped in front and intercepted the blow with her shield. More than three-hundred kilograms came down on her left arm, but with years of conditioning and a proper stance, she somehow still stood. With the bear recoiling slightly, Edith followed up with a sword slash. Her blade caught the bear's paw, in fact, the edge embedded into it. This means the bear had a grip on the weapon, and it viciously swiped it away.

Safe to say, everyone was panicking now. Lucex had another arrow and launched it into the bear's spine. The arrow bought several seconds by causing Smokey to stumble on its side.

“Sadri!” Lucex blurted out while scrambling for more munition. “This is your chance, do something!”

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

HOLY SHIT, the Schaft is on 4chan.

And this, dank memes cant melt steal beams.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

@gcold since your the next Picasso and your diagram was great. Do the flankers get a good overlook at the camp and can they see the hostage

i'm re-doing my post btw, eta an hour or so.

@Sovi3t

Finally someone appreciating my artistic talents. To answer your question, no, they don't have a good overlook. They are beneath a 10 meter cliff, it's more like underlook.

If you are still confused, or want to do something different, send me a PM.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

Helpful info coming through.

This is what the palisades look like.



The mercs' been out at least 45 minutes now, so it's likely time of civil twilight or even early sunrise. The lighting is something like this, you can see reasonably well without torches, but darker corners still have enough shadow to hide in.



@Chrononaut, I can give you more details regarding Vurwe, if you need it.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

501st post and 51st post.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

I shall attempt to clarify current situations with my highly artistic diagram.



Vurwe is a large round building slightly behind the first row of structures.

Jorwen and Farid are closest to Roze.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

@gcold I do have another question. When Orakh delegates Sevine to secure the breach, if I didn't read incorrectly,
"Orakh then delegated Sevine for securing their breach", I got the impression that the gate is still closed? If it is, should my post contain breaking down the gate, and then barging in and hacking-and-slashing the Forsworn into pieces?

@MacabreFox

Yep, the gate held at first, but it'll break after you give it a couple of good whacks. Guys behind the gate will be dazed temporarily afterwards, good time to get Sevine's slashy fix.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

climbing mechanic in the Elder Scrolls series.

@Frizan

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

Thirty minutes ago, inside the Forsworn redoubt…

Three people, two men and a woman, all in elaborate fur clothing and feathered headdresses gathered around a tied up High Elf. They looked like the folks in charge. Vurwe was tied to a chair, both her arms and legs were secured. The Forsworns were not known for taking prisoners. But this one was just too out of the ordinary, an Altmer brat wondering through their Reach. The three people in charge, likely chieftains and shamans, laughed and raised their eye brows at first. But as they continued holding her captive and searching through her belonging, they realized this one was more than what meets the eyes.

One of the man was first to speak. He was a mage, probably some kind of shaman. “So you've been to places, heh?” He glared at Vurwe. “Well, your mum and pop are going to real worried. I bet they'll pay a handsome batch of goods for your return.”

“For fuck's sake, Sean, will you stop gloating in front of the prisoner.” The woman frowned, and the second man matched an equally frustrated look.

“Relax, will you all?” Sean said. “Not like it matters, I mean, I bet this girl doesn't even know where she is. That's why we asked that Ambrose Mackin fellow for help, right? Wasn't he your old buddy? You two got connections, I'll give you that. The pirate-lord of Wayrest, how can I find friends like-”

“Sean, shut up.” The second man groaned. He held a knuckleduster in hand and the prospect of ruining Sean's jawbones was ever more appealing. “Go down there and check on Smokey, make sure the cave's properly guarded. Go now or I'll feed you to Smokey myself, I mean it.”

Sean held his hands up and quickly backed out of the room. He would travel to the tunnel entrance, light up a pipe and take an arrow to the knee.

“How come we keep getting idiots like Sean.” The man complained.

“It's not just us,” The woman replied. “I heard the outlanders have this “Cat-Kicker”, quite an idiot and quite in-charge.”

In the same room, Sean's departure was replaced by another Forsworn. This one was a scout, someone who just hurried back from the valley. He told his leaders the outlanders were attacking, that they reached the ford and was dragging a siege weapon with them. They listened to the runner telling them about delaying action being taken right now. Some scouts would rain down missiles while others installed traps along the way. The leaders nodded, they then agreed on sending a dozen fighters to intercept their enemies on the slope.

“Well well, princess.” The remaining man cracked an evil grin. “Looks like your white knights are here, to die.” The grin disappeared and anger took its place. “Do you know this? Do they know you are here?”

---

The mercenaries...

Ashav was not one for retreats, he rarely called any, and in the cases when he did, he did for the sake of subsequent re-maneuvers. He knew this fight in front of him would be an uphill battle, a literal one at that. He fought in battles like this before, bled in them and lost comrades to them, therefore, the cost was well known. But in the end, the cost was just another number, another batch of man bound to die one way or another. Plus, they wouldn't be dying for nothing, if they could not break through, they would at least be distracting the enemy while the flankers gain grounds.

When Jorwen spoke, Ashav matched the Nord's glance eye to eye, from one veteran to another. “Caileach, the bard, correct?” Beside Jorwen, Daelin nodded. “He's no traitor alright, but captured right before our attack? Strange circumstance.” He leaned down on the table and put both hands on the surface for support.

“We could try.” Ashav sighed. He eyed several marked lines on the map, some of them were shortcuts just cleared hours ago by the very men across this table. Now he will be sending them out again; should he? “But Dumhuvud will fall back if he feels needed, and even if we do warn, what good would it do when they heard of it?”

“With all due respect, Ashav.” From behind the row of people, Keegan, who had been silent in the proceedings, spoke up. He could not bear the thought of lives, more than thirty of them, resting on the shoulders of Dumhuvud. The Altmer wouldn't dare to go back out to fight, he's too tired and inexperienced for that sort of thing. The least he could do was to make Ashav see reason. “We all know Dumhuvud could be, uh, well, stubborn at times.”

“He's right,” In front of Keegan, Daelin, the shorter Bosmer looked back and looked up, nodding at Keegan's comment. “If Jorwen and Farid pass though this portion,” He tapped part of the map. “They would arrive faster, since they are unlikely to encounter Forsworns along the way.”

Everyone's stares fell on Ashav. The Redguard scratched his bandana covered head. His mind paced back to before, twenty years ago when he was the lieutenant of another company, a time when he called a retreat and saved the lives of many. Perhaps by being in total command, he was looking to far out into the big picture, in doing so, he lost sight of the average mercenaries.

“Very well.” Ashav conceded. He stood up straight and gave the map one final glance. “Before you depart, know this. You will only advise a withdraw if, and only if, the attackers failed to reach enemy wall. Otherwise, you will observe and report back, understood?”

---

Out on the battlefield, the mercenaries enjoyed their first success. The Forsworn fighters, overly brazen and unknowingly outnumbered, fared poorly in combat. The have only managed to hurt or kill a select few, one of whom being the Imperial man that socialized with Felix earlier. The unnamed Imperial was inexperienced like Sagax, but unlike Sagax, his luck was strained and clashing blades against a hardened enemy resulted in him dead on the ground, and intestines spilled out of several large cuts in his midsection.

Frenzied from his kill, the Forsworn joined his comrade against Sagax. He laughed bitterly when Sagax called to them, his sword spun in an intricate pattern while cutting words returned to Sagax. Before they could launch themselves in a two-way attack against Sagax, another Forsworn swept in from the side. This one had just witnessed the Nordic huntress splitting a head in two, maybe out of fear, or maybe the realization of their doomed engagement finally came to, he wasted no time grabbing Sagax's opponents and hurried them back to up the slope.

When the mercenaries brought their siege weapon to the top of the slope, they had only lost two men; the unnamed Imperial and some Nord. At the same time, they managed to dispatch six out of the twelve Forsworns. The remaining six ran towards the opened gate, their feet beat as fast as they could so that the gate could be closed again before the mercenaries reach it. It was too late, some mercenaries spotted the opening, and roughly five charged with Sadann leading. Projectiles fell in droves from the walls, Sadann was first to be hit, with a frost blast that encased his entire body, he fell flat like an oversized doll. Behind Sadann was Thrice-Pierced, true to his name, he became a pincushion to three arrows, in the thigh, chest and straight through an ear hole. The other three had more time to react, one of them was an Argonian girl called Dazzi, she had time to release one arrow, hitting some unlucky Reachmen and literally turned tail right after. The remaining two were caught in between, one of them landed a slash against a straggler before the gates closed. In the end, both perished in a hailstorm of missiles.

Fighting and hiking, combined with the lack of sleep was draining Orakh down more than any other. What he lacked in stamina though, he made up for it with his vast experience and cool-headed restraint holding him back from the charge. He could not stop Sadann from rushing forward, indeed, the old Orc even thought it might come in fruition. But it clearly didn't, as he and other shield bearers marched step by step in front of the ram, wood and steel could not hide the sadness of seeing Sadann, who had became some sort of protegee to him, fell lifeless in the clearing. When the ram reached halfway through the clearing, Orakh immediately assigned a mercenary to check on Sadann and drag him to a safer position.

Just as the mercenary reached Sadann, a dreadful sight also crept up beside him. Dumhuvud, the bastard Orakh despised, put himself between the mercenary, Sadann and safety. From a distance, Orakh heard the Cat-Kicker yelling at the poor man to quit dragging a corpse, and “make himself useful”. Right, there he goes again. Orakh could let that idiot of a Nord disrupt his plan in middle of a battle, so he broke himself off the line to beat some sense into Dumhuvud.

Orakh didn't get to them in time, thankfully. A massive lightening bolt emerged from a Forsworn mage and connected with the mercenary near Sadann. The mercenary's head and torso was replaced by a smoking gap. The lightening also chained to the Cat-Kicker, however, it's power had diminished and it merely glanced off the left side of Dumhuvud's face. Still, is singed into his left eye socket, and churning the left eye into a tangle of blackened skin.

“Cat-Kicker!” Orakh shouted as he pushed Dumhuvud to the side. He didn't like the man, but that doesn't he would just leave him to die. “Stay back over there, you see it?” He waved at a set of bushes and also waved for a healer.

“No! Argh! I can't see jack!” Dumhuvud's pained roars boomed. He covered his injured eye with both hands, it was surely painful.“Damn it Orc, just go, lead these meat heads, I'll be fine.”

“Kyne's breath, shit, stay calm.” The healer appeared on scene and glowing restoration spells emitted from his palm. “Chief, get the spearman here.” Orakh did as he were told, he sprinted for Sadann, but as he knelt in front of the body, he felt nothing but cold air off the dark skin. He sensed no heat, no breathing, no heartbeat, no signs of life. Sadann once said he was born with a vulnerability to frost, and what cruel fate his gods handed to him, death by his greatest weakness.

“He's gone.” Orakh resigned and hung his head for a brief moment. The healer said nothing, he had the right idea, no point mourning on the battlefield when the very act could get more killed. He should make himself useful, yes, like his blood-brothers and sisters in the stronghold, Sadann would like nothing more than seeing Orakh leading them to victory. So that was what he did. The old Orc rallied the shield bearers to reform their phalanx ahead of the ram, as they braved magic and steel, and some payed their lives en route, the ram finally smashed into the gate. Orakh then delegated Sevine for securing their breach, as he himself went for Sagax, Tsleeixth and others who carried the ladders.

The ram took the brunt of incoming projectiles, and the gate held against their first hit. They needed to open another route, something to surprise the Reachmen.

“You!” Coming in front of Tsleeixth, he spoke to the Argonian, Sagax and several others nearby. “Get ladders on the walls, and start climbing!”

Orakh was so very busy that he failed to notice two newcomers in the fray. Jorwen and Farid ran up the slope, their first sight of the battle was a heavy arrow flying into Rozalia Éathliel's right shoulder. Roze's petite frame fell back from the sheer momentum of the arrow. The arrowhead itself chewed through flesh and came out the other side, while the arrow shaft buried three-quarters into her shoulder. As she tumbled to her back, the arrowhead sunk into the ground. It sunk in deep and solid, with only one good arm, Roze was having trouble making herself mobile again. If someone did not help her, she would hardly have the means to dodge stray missiles, trampling mercenaries or passing out from an increasingly severe bleed. Not to mention, the arrow was hurting like Oblivion, this one was bound to leave a scar.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

@Sovi3t Are you writing in the same RP as the rest of us? Half of your post is entirely inconsistent with what I wrote.

First of all, the mage light went up after they went into the valley, not before.

Second, you're messing up the group composition. "Shetland" is the player, not the character; you're talking about Tennat. Lucex is nothing like the "average warrior", he's more of a woodsman.

The two points above are minor to your third section. What is the "flanking position" part even about? Please read over what Peik and myself wrote. There's no such fight as you described, and you either change it to something more appropriate for I'll just say Jonimir went off to do his own thing.