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

As a bonus, here's one of the two goddesses worshipped by humans on the continent, though she's not as worshipped as Mayon in Thaln she's still part of the religion!

I figured it would be a good idea to sketch up how she looks, though Mayon's more important for this RP(she's coming soon enough).

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

I'll try and give more time between this update and the next to let people get replies up.

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

I got too excited and ended up posting, but it still shouldn't be too hard to post an introduction!

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

The knights who quickly volunteered for the scouting party were a considerable boon. It allowed Fanilly to understand their capabilities, at least to some extent, far more quickly. But the scouting party would wait until after they dismounted. She did want to try and lay out her plan of attacking the bandit camp in more detail, but for the moment it was important to understand what defenses were in place. The bandits themselves were invariably inferior to the knights in equipment and training, but the 'Bandit King' was something of an unknown factor, and it was possible there were some sort of defenses in place that could make an attack more difficult.

Fanilly paused as she listened to some of the concerns(and Tyaethe's rebuttal) voiced by her knights.

While scouting seemed practical, if they moved too slowly, didn't that give the bandits more of an opportunity to prepare, if they did know they were coming? It was strange that the Bandit King had challenged them so directly, but... ah, this was an odd situation. But the Iron Rose Knights wouldn't be cowed by bandits! She didn't want to be an unworthy captain, and when the order had such a history of striking down far more impressive threats then bandits...

Besides, this was Fanilly's duty. She had to carry it out.

As the knights around her spoke, Fanilly thought over what they knew of the bandit raids in her mind. Certainly, a few of the dead men of the King had been killed in methods one would expect. Arrows, blades, axes, spears. But the majority of the dead that had been recovered were slain through far more grisly methods. Whatever weapon had been used against them had not simply killed them, it had cut their bodies to pieces. Many soldiers had been cut entirely in half. Simple fact was that there was someone among the bandits who wielded an enormous weapon capable of doing such incredible damage to even someone wearing armor.

The forest was growing considerably thicker, here.

"It's not unlikely there may be scouts of the bandits, as well, but for the moment it's important to act quickly," Fanilly said, finally, "But the forest has become too thick for horseback, we must dismou-"

She stopped dead as she looked up. Ahead, wheels smashed, caught up against a tree, was a cart. A horse lay dead in front of it, arrows sticking from its side and neck. A man lay on the ground. He wasn't moving.

The Order's duty came to the forefront of Fanilly's mind immediately as she lept from her horse. There was the sound of metal on leather as she drew her longsword in one hand, the blade flashing in the light of the setting sun. Even if this was foolish... if that man was alive...!

The Captain of the Iron Rose Knights sprinted forward without a second thought. Soon she was upon the cart, coming to a halt and kneeling beside the downed man. He was an older man, in his late fifties perhaps, with greying black, short hair and simple clothing. His side was soaked in blood, and there was a gash in his flesh. And yet, he was still breathing, even if he was pale an unconscious.

"... He's still alive!" Fanilly called to the others, looking back over her shoulder, "But he needs aid immediately!"

The man's eyes fluttered open, and fell upon Fanilly's face, then the symbol on her breastplate.

"... You... an... Iron Rose Knight..." he said, weakly, reaching up towards the girl. Her attention returned to him quickly and she took his hand in her own.

"Hold on," she began. His wound was bloody, but if he got medical attention swiftly then he could perhaps survive, "As captain of the Iron Rose Knights, we will get you to safety!"

He weakly shook his head. "L... leave, this is... a trap..."

... A trap...?

Fanilly heard the sound before she saw anything. She released the man's hand, and did the first thing that came to mind, throwing herself to the side, catching herself with her free hand as she stopped and looked up. Three black arrows had buried themselves deep in the wooden cart where she had been moments later. Almost immediately, a hooded man in ragged leather armor sprang out of the downed cart and threw himself at her.

Fanilly threw herself to the side as he swung a shortsword down towards the short girl. His sword hit dirt, but he swung back up just as she drew her dagger and immediately locked his strike up in her guard, a followup strike forcing him back immediately. Just as her training had told her, just as she'd practiced a thousand times or more...!

"Heh," he spat, "Skilled for a little girl, but no use when the other guys get here. What are you doin'-"

His eyes found the symbol on her chestplate, and then his gaze found the other knights. His eyes widened in horror.

"... Th... the Iron Roses?! Oh gods above!"

Perhaps he had known there was a large force approaching. It would have been difficult for him not to, if he had been lying in wait. But it did not appear he realized it was the Iron Rose Knights.

He was hardly alone, however. A considerable number of bandits now emerged from the forest, brandishing shortswords, axes, and a number of other weapons. Not a single one of them appeared unshaken, but perhaps they felt they had little choice but to commit to their trap.

"Iron Roses, to arms!" called Fanilly, raising her sword.

@HereComesTheSnow@Raineh Daze@Asuras@jdh97@Dystopya@Psyker Landshark@Click This@OwO@PigeonOfAstora@Animal@TheFake@ERode@Virgil@Crimson Paladin@ghastlyinc@PaulHaynek

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

I can't wait until I can update again, I'm really excited to see how people handle the scenarios ahead!

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

@Virgil: Evening, yes. By the time we actually reach the camp it will likely be pretty dark.

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

Got a reply up for now, proper full-scale moving-things-forward update will come when more people get their intros up. Also...

@ghastlyInc: Accepted.

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

It was a little reassuring to Fanilly to hear that the oldest knight in the order approved of her decision. It was made for a simple reason, that riding horseback into a skirmish in a forest was a poor idea. The horses could easily be tripped up by roots, and render the advantage of cavalry instead into a liability. While Fanilly had never participated in a proper battle, at the same time she had tried to do as much research as possible before being appointed. It was part of her training, just as as her training in swordplay.

Just as...

For a few moments, the sudden bombardment of concerns of several of the short blonde's knights suddenly overwhelmed her. The look in Dame Fiora's eyes, too, seemed especially piercing and difficult to prepare for. But she couldn't falter, not before they even set foot in combat. No matter how her heart beat more quickly in her chest, Fanilly had to ensure she did everything she could. To lead her knights triumphantly into battle, and to leave 'King' Jeremiah's bandits dead or captured. The Artificer Elodie's suggestion was a bit of a shocking one. How could they ever bombard the camp knowing that there was even the slightest chance of killing potential prisoners? There were magi among the order, certainly, but simply firing off spells and hoping... there was no way the Iron Rose Knights could ever do such a thing!

Dame Narcissa's suggestion, however, gave her a good point to jump off from.

"Ah, yes, I..." she paused for a moment, trying to gather her thought before speaking, "Yes. After we have dismounted, sending ahead scouts would be wise. While I believe they do not yet know when we are coming, given their success against the King's men I am certain they must have some sort of defenses in place in case of surprise attack."

Fanilly couldn't falter even for a moment.

"I shall deploy, er..." she paused for a moment. Ah, she didn't even yet know the names of every knight... To be fair, it was difficult to know that even if you had been among their number for a long time, given how many knights there were, but as the new Captain this was just something else that made Fanilly feel self-conscious. "... I will ask for those among us who are the most capable of stealthy observation. They will compose our scouting party."

A small part of her considered the fact that this would help her become more aware of the strengths and weaknesses among her knights, at the very least. The forest was growing thicker, it would not be much longer before their horses would have to be left behind in order to proceed.

"... However, a magical bombardment is absolutely out of the question," Fanilly asserted, doing her best to sound commanding, "There's no way we could possibly risk the potential of harming innocent prisoners they may have taken."

@Raineh Daze@Asuras@ERode@Click This@HereComesTheSnow@Psyker Landshark@Crimson Paladin

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

@PaulHaynek: I don't know how I missed you sorry. D:

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

The sky was painted orange. The light played across the clouds, and cast that splash of color along the landscape beneath it. This light stretched the shadows of trees and other objects across the ground, making them seem almost jagged. Quite a large number of these shadows were moving.

The horses's hooves clacked as the hit the ground on a steady rhythm. Due to the large number of them, this created almost a chorus of clopping hooves. At the head of the group was a white mare, a young and sturdy horse clearly well-cared for. On her back was a girl, no older then sixteen, wearing armor with a flowing white and gold cape. Her armor was pristine, cared for with exceptional attention, shining in the light of the sunset. Though she had never been in any serious combat before now, the level of care to her armor would not falter even after doing so. Her hair was blonde, eyes blue, and skin pale. She had a rather intense expression on her face.

Bandit King Jeremiah. That was the name of the man they were riding out against today. He led a band of thieves and criminals, vicious bandits who had pillaged even small villages by this point. They had preyed upon the innocent. They had killed the defenseless to claim their belongings. And their leader had the gall to claim himself a "King". Reports told of how he had cut down soldiers sent to destroy his band. Of how he had sent a dying man back to the capital to tell of how he would ransack it, as well. Of how not even the Iron Rose Knights could stop him.

So, it had been decided it was time to put this to the test. To destroy these vicious and cruel men before they could take more innocent lives. Thaln's soldiers were unable to eliminate Jeremiah, but the legendary Iron Rose Knights...

Fanilly gripped the leather in her hands tightly. They... had to win. She had to prove she could do this, and they had to destroy such cruel, wicked bandits. There was no question of it. The bandit's camp was not far off, not even too distant from the road. The Bandit King's brazen attitude had grown, leading to little fear from his band of criminals at remaining so close.

She looked back over her shoulder.

"It won't be much longer that we will need to proceed on-foot," she said.

The strategy was a simple one. To position themselves around the camp, advance inward, and destroy it. While the bandits were powerful... an attack by the famed Iron Rose Knights when they unprepared could surely eliminate them. Even though she doubted herself... deep down, Fanilly felt that the Bandit King was more of a braggart then a powerful warrior. He had likely exploited whatever advantage he could to take down the soldiers sent to eliminate his band of thieves.

Her knights were prepared, however.

Fanilly could only hope she was as well.

@HereComesTheSnow@Raineh Daze@Asuras@jdh97@Dystopya@Psyker Landshark@Click This@OwO@PigeonOfAstora@Animal@TheFake@ERode@Virgil@Crimson Paladin