SyrianHamster

Battle Stations! - Castle Rivergate

Captain Trinton Ironspike was a sombre man. Twenty-five years he had toiled in the service of the Emperor; he'd taken part in countless bloody engagements, suffered more wounds than he cared to remember, and lost more than he had ever gained. In the heat of summer, his fractured knee ached with a dull numbness, and in the freezing caress of winter, it would swell to the point he would be considered unfit for campaigns. At the age of fifty, he knew that this long-standing injury in particular had put him beyond the reach of a comfortable retirement on some distant farm - one could not walk the plough on a busted limb. The Imperial Army was his only choice, but even then, age was dulling his usefulness. He feared more than death itself, the day that his Commander, Lord Polvark of Castle Rivergate, would relinquish him of his duties. He would die a useless cripple, eking out a meagre living in a cesspit no doubt - such was the way of many a downtrodden veteran.

Another barbarian horn blasted. Beneath the oppressive weight of his steel full-helm, the Captain squinted at the northern tree line. This was to be the third attempt the savages had made to take the castle; it appeared to him that they were getting desperate. Something was driving them this way, but he had no idea what. Why else would they seek to make war on the Empire? Their lands expanded northwards for many hundreds of miles - their Kingdom alone was a mighty landmass that dwarfed Imperial territories. Perhaps, he resolved to reason, they were simply just out of people to fight in that direction, and that the Empire was their sole remaining sparring partner. Either way, the Captain was becoming weary of serving Lord Polvark in his tireless endeavours to hold the frontier.

Looking to his left, and then to his right, the Captain took in the full might of the castle's defenders. They were a motley assortment - from all corners of the Empire. Technically, as Trinton recalled, the garrison had been designated as the 13th Auxiliary Legion. It had been given such a lowly name because Imperial blood was so heavily diluted by the presence of so many different peoples that it ceased to represent the Empire's ideals, and therefore had been relegated to a reserve army... a reserve army that did more front-line fighting than any of the real legions in the north.

"Steady boys," hissed the Captain with a voice fit for a roadway, "let 'em funnel through between the gap, right where the river dives underground. Then we release, and watch them squirm."

Shadows had started to emerge in the forest clearings; there was mass movement between the trees and the shrub. Last month the savages had come with three thousand men, and hadn't made it to the walls. He wondered how many they had brought this time. Judging by the slight trembling in the stone works that he felt tickling his palms as they lent against two merlons, they had brought a great deal more.

"Make 'em count boys, 'n just remember, whatever comes through them trees, you are all men - and women - of the Empire, and you will stand yer ground. Lord Polvark is watchin' and he don't like to see people soil their britches, especially when those people are his soldiers."

He cast a glimpse back at the keep, where he could see the dull mass of Lord Polvark's personal troops amassing on the ramparts there. His banner fluttered freely in the wind; a sea of green centred by a golden tree. Aye, he's watchin' alright, from a safe, safe distance.

Battle Stations! - Castle Rivergate

Fantastic first post by the way, that is exactly the gold we're mining for!

Battle Stations! - Castle Rivergate

thewizardguy said
I like your style ^^I've got my first post up, now to see if anyone else shows up to play. And don't worry, not all my posts shall be such walls of text. Probably. (=

All writing styles/levels are welcome. To me, Free RP is like a scrap book with which to improve my writing skills - it doesn't matter how much I write, or how little, so long as I write something. I imagine this applies to many others too. Above all though, the real aim of the game is to have fun!

Battle Stations! - Castle Rivergate

Of course! There's barely need to limit the player numbers in an RP of this simplicity. The barbarians are just about to happen upon the forest clearing, there's no need to wait for me to 'declare' their official arrival.

We are all GMs, and we are all players in this. That is the strength of freeform! My only real authority as creator is to step in and slap people if they do things that upsets everyone else :)

Open fantasy world

With the influx of custom races, I just want to be clear: The Mesocricetians are not furrys. That is all :)

Battle Stations! - Castle Rivergate

*Scratches head* I was not expecting to have to dawdle too much on what's what - it's a free form, hack n slash RP that you're getting thrown into head first.

Well I be reckoning that everyone likes magic, so I say: go wild. The "barbarians" are an undefined force of attackers, you're all supposed to be newly arrived soldiers at the castle with no-to-little experience of what's been happening in the area. I was hoping that the players collectively would give shape and life to our adversaries. All we know at the moment is that they're tall, strong and full of murderous intent.

To make for a better narrative though, I always go by the rule "What I can do, they can do better", that way your character avoids being God whilst at the same time gets to celebrate his/her victories more over an otherwise superior enemy.

Blocs - A Cold War NRP

AegonVI said
Afraid I must go. This just had horrid timing for me (about to go on Vacation)

So you found out just now that you're going on vacation? Or you forgot you were going? Seems pointless showing interest in the first place, if you had immediate plans. Not that it ultimately matters I guess.

Happy trails.

Battle Stations! - Castle Rivergate

Just jump in there, name him/her, describe him/her through the IC.

Battle Stations! - Castle Rivergate

It's up!

Battle Stations! - Castle Rivergate

Horns blasted from the forests ahead, as the defenders of Castle Rivergate scrambled to their places upon the parapets. Arrows were knocked, pitch boiled and steel drawn as each man and woman defending the isolated fortification awaited their attackers. This was not the first time the castle had come under attack by the wild savages from the north, and it would not be the last - it was a stalwart bastion on the fringes of the Empire, and here the brave men and women of its roster were charged with its defence to the bitter end. For if Rivergate was to fall, then it would open the ways to the south, and the savages would rampage for hundreds of miles until they met a force that could stop them.

The sun was high in the sky, but even with its strong rays, it was hard for anyone's eyes to penetrate the darkened depths the forest ahead. The stone-trembling low rumble of the barbarian horns sounded again, and though they could not be seen, no one on the castle walls was in doubt that they faced a mighty host.

A Priest, clad in garbled and grimy robes stood at the centre of the northern wall. In one hand he held a large staff, with a silver wolf's head nestling on the top, and in the other he clasped a thick, heavy tome with soiled covers.

"Make yer peace, lads and lad'esses, we're in for one mighty storm," he called out through jumbled teeth.

Several of those nearest the Priest heeded his words, and they bowed before him to receive his blessing.

More horns blasted, and flocks of birds fired up from the top of the tree line to the north; the barbarians were almost here.