Quest Attack on Riverfall[Forward Archer Rank]

[Gianne Basete]

The mass of ravenous yukmen finally crashed into the front line of warriors. Their force had swelled to numerics so horrifying that she doubted she could even guess their numbers. Being stuck in the moment, it looked like this battle would never end. It would rage forever until perhaps the Gods might step in and put an end to it. Of course that wouldn't happen, though. One side would definitely lose. Hopefully not her's. The sound of physical combat was deafening; shouts, screams, and clash of weaponry smashing the earth and stone bodies of their enemies. Then above all else, the cry of the yukmen. It pulsated from an uncountable number of evil throats, all bent on murder. The order for artillery to fire was given and Gianne couldn't stop herself from gaping at the sky above as the deadly projectiles were released over and down to rain on the enemy. The crash of rubble and stone shook the earth and cut off the venomous screams of at least a small portion of their enemies. The ballistas were like giant arrows, and she could actually hear the sound of them slicing the air. Like a low whistle before they thundered down to devastate whomever had evaded the rock shower. So much death in one place, it was almost overwhelming. I wonder how much blood will be soaking into the land when this is all over? Hopefully not much. Hopefully much the casualties would lie within the earthen monsters' ranks. A horrible sound suddenly cut through her racing thoughts like a keen sword. It carried over the sound of battle, both her allies and yukmen were drowned out from it's scream. It squeezed her heart like a cold first and she couldn't help but turn fearful eyes on the woman next to her. Her bow arm grew slack as she released the tension on the string, allowing the weapon to point to the ground. Her arrow though stayed nocked on the string. Suddenly, she realized she knew the eypharian. From Beautyfest, only two days ago! "Rosela?" she whispered uncertainly. Her voice was only loud enough to carry to the woman's ears alone. It was thick with worry. "What... was that?" she asked uncertainly. It was at least obvious that whatever It was, was not good at all.

[Rosela]

The call to fire again surprised Rosela, and she fired a moment late for the second time. She prayed no one saw her trembling and tried desperately to get it together. Deep breaths. Glancing down involuntarily, she saw the front line tremble and writhe like the underbelly of a centipede, the scarce flashes of blue the only distinguishable feature. The clash of steel and the cry of warriors and yukmen alike seemed to surge with the sight of it all. It was a full moment before she could tear her eyes away, focusing once again on her arrowhead. Fire! The call startled her and she loosed the arrow more out of surprise than anything, but at least she was on time. The volleys were coming quicker now, and she found her chest loosening with slower breaths. Fire! Arrow plunging immediately into the air, she felt a kind of relief as she drew another. She was making her contribution. They asked no more of her than to stand here and shoot arrows into the sky. No sooner did her mind wander into terrible thoughts than she was being ordered to fire again. Immediately after another volley, there was a rumbling sound from the lines behind and Rosela looked up in alarm as a shadow passed over them. Massive boulders were hurtling through the sky, and it seemed impossible that something so enormous could reach beyond their forces. They did, however, and she watched with a burning stomach as the rocks tumbled through the yukmen horde, crushing line after line. Another volley, and massive bolts whipped through the air overhead, joining the rocks. They seemed to move quicker, and the air screamed with their passage. How could the yukmen stand a chance against these killing machines? Why were they even here? The bolts seemed to trigger something in the distance, far beyond the yukmen and Rosela felt a violent tremor run along her body at the sound. It reminded her of the stories of the Baral, back in Eyktol, though she knew those terrible, mysterious creatures only hunted in the Burning Lands. Her imagination continued to terrify her with a great black beast with indistinguishable features hulking over the intruding army, bellowing its deep roar. As she set up for the next volley with trembling hands, she dared another look at the other archer. Rosela was jealous of her apparent calm, and for the first time during the battle, their eyes actually met. Recognition sparked on both ends and Rosela felt the hot grip of terror fade for just a moment. ”Gianne? I didn’t even recognize you without the makeup! You should’ve kept it!” Another volley of rocks soared overhead, bringing her back to the present situation. The observation sounded silly now, though it was true, and it helped bring a sense of normalcy into the chaos. Gianne was obviously also concerned about the roar from behind the yukmen and Rosela rubbed two of her unused hands together. ”I-I don’t know. Maybe…I don’t know.” Her Baral theory almost slipped out before she realized Gianne had probably never been to the Burning Lands and would have no idea what a Baral was. ”I’m sure the commanders know what to do though.”

[Mist]

By know the battlefield was one giant mishmash of friend and foe, at least were the front line met the horde. All over the place were bodies, mashed and pulped, blood which looked the same regardless of race, and beings dead or dying. it was madness, utter chaos, with brute force being met by brute force. And there seemed no end in sight... It just kept on... A true battle was not like going hunting, or even fighting a few foes at a time... It went on and on... Once you killed one foe, three more took its place roaring in to kill you and rip out your throat. It seemed like it could do on for bells and bells. Far out were the cavalry were meeting the flank of the horde, the aweful deep scream of the YUUUK! could be heard, as a large form leaped through the air low to the ground, far to big to be a yukman, but sounding awfully like one... It had the basic frame of a large hunting cat, but beyond that its flesh looked more like a yukmans... And upon closer inspection, it had a smaller form on its back, like someone riding it as a mount... But no one had seen its like before... It leaped like a tiger knocking over a horse and rider together, and then ripped out the horses throat to a spatter of blood and flesh... It was not a yukman... But not a beast... Even the Akalak in charge of their line paused at seeing it... "Akajia preserve us..." He said, his jaw dropping. For he could see what the cavalry could not, a dozen more coming racing in low to the ground, preparing to leap and smash into the horses and men. He blinked a few times, and then looked down at his line. "Fire at the incoming creatures, target them before they hit our horsemen!" He said, pointing at the new beasts that were about to flank the cavalry. Already he and the line head readied their bows, and loosed them as he cried "Fire!!!" a bit of a crack in his previously calm voice. As soon as they left the bows, the Akalaks were readying a new arrow. Their line leader paused half a tick, and then screamed "Fire!!!" again, with everyone still aiming at the new incoming beasts. But as they stood there firing at these new entrants to the fight, a question might enter there mind if they were paying attention... What had happened to the artillery? Barely any had fired over their heads in a bit... What was happening within their own lines to cause such a delay, which was at a very bad time?

[Gianne Basete]

Rosela didn't know what it was, and obviously no one else did either. But she soon found out. The creature that leapt into view was like nothing she had ever seen before. Abomination! Then again, these yukmen alone were abominations as well. But this! No, this was terrible. It was like a giant cat, but had the same body as the earthen humanoids. And... was it being ridden by a yukman? Bile rose up in her throat, both from fear and rage. Normally wild cats were some of the most beautiful and graceful creatures to walk to lands. Like the night lions; she'd seen at least one of those out in the Sea of Grass. They were beautiful beyond belief. Deadly and wild. But this thing was a monster, ugly and murderous. There were quite a few of them to boot. The first had taken down a horse and rider, ending its victims' screams with a blow to the throat. Her eyes narrowed darkly as she watched this slaughter and followed the approach of the next wave of abominations. That was what she had decided to call them. These creatures didn't have a place in her picture of the world. After being marked by Caiyha she had gained a new outlook on everything her eyes fell upon. These fiends though, didn't have a piece in her puzzle. So to simplify things, she wanted them gone. It would be nice too if the yukmen would disappear, but that was unlikely. For all she knew though, the feline equivalent to the monsters they were fighting were the only ones of their kind. Should be easy enough to kill them off, what with having an army against them and all. When the order was given her arrow arced away, disappearing in the mass of the hundreds of others. An ominous hiss accompanied their flight, magnified by the sheer numbers. She was practically bouncing on the balls of her, another arrow already nocked on her string as the fist wave hit the beasts. Chaos ensued, and a grim smile tweaked her lips. Ever since her gnosis was bestowed upon her she had been undergoing changes that she herself didn't notice. Her tendencies were leaning more onto the animalistic side. Again the order was given and again she let loose a projectile. There was that familiar scape-slither of arrows sliding against their bows and the deadly hiss that accompanied soon after. Her attention was too riveted on the abominations being pummeled by hundreds of arrows to think anything of the artillery. She was standing on her toes, straining to see how many of those monsters were left. Her legs wanted so badly to run down there so she could take her dagger to their hideous bodies. Everyone else was forgotten at the moment.

[Rosela]

As soon as the relative normalcy of seeing a familiar face on the battlefield had come, it vanished as the source of the great roars appeared. Rosela almost wished it was a Baral, at least then she would have a name to give this terror. The creatures were almost feline in nature, and appeared to each have riders on their backs. She hadn’t seen these during her trek through the grasslands, and when she heard the commander’s low prayer, she knew they hadn’t either. If the commander was scared, what hope did the rest of them have? The order to fire temporarily drove the thoughts from her mind, and she tried to pick out individual beasts to target, to the exclusion of all else on the front line. She didn’t want to see the remaining horde of yukmen still tearing into their soldiers, and the other cat-beasts ripping through Akalaks with terrifying bursts of scarlet blood, even visible from their line. A single, violent tremor racked her frame and she forcibly quelled it. She fired again on command, and hoped her arrow was one of the many that plunged into the beasts. Her bracing hands released her forearms to wipe quickly on her dress. The heat of a thousand bodies in battle rose all around her like a sticky, fevery wave, and she suddenly wanted to shrug off her cloak. It seemed oddly…quieter in between the roars of the cat-beasts, and Rosela wondered how long it had been since the boulders and great bolts had soared overhead. Had something happened, or was time somehow slowing down? Or was it a natural delay? It had to take time to reload those things, but surely now of all times they’d try to speed things up a bit?

[Mist]

As their arrows left their bows, they were lost in the storm of arrows flying through the air. It seemed they were getting more or less in sync with the other archers, and the first shot at least was at the same time. Gianne would see it dissapear, and watch as they all arced down, peppering the ground. Only two were felled... One took an arrow to the head, and the entire mass of yukflesh fell, dead. Another not conjoined as the first they had seen had been, had its horse taken out, and its rider was launched through the air to be trampled underfoot of the rest... But onward went many more, 9 or 10 left... All with arrows sticking out of them, in some place or another, the blood unseen from so far away, but still moving and letting out their vicious YUUUK! As they came in they become a bit more clear, one was a bear type creation, another one like a tigers and grassland lions. Horribly wrong versions of them. Some had riders, and some like the bear were just solo runners. Seeing the first flurry of arrows having almost no visible affect was a bit demoralizing, but they still kept on, having shot the second ones before the first even hit luckily. The second set of arrows managed to take out another 2 of the hodgepodge of tigers and such, one of which also had a conjoined rider. But the rest pressed onward, now to close to the calvary for them to fire any more at them. They would have to return to the horde. "Take aim on the mass!" the leader of their row said, pointing at the massed horde of yukmen which was... Wasn't it diminishing? Or perhaps it only looked that way... He gave them a few ticks to ready themselves, to arm, to a deep breath and let it out... Paused, and then yelled out "Fire!" Once more... As a loud Yuk! sound drifted over their ears, from far to close for comfort...

[Gianne Basete]

This might be the worst day of her life. Everything was chaos; blood, screaming, the sound of hooves thundering. Fresh orders were given and she re-positioned her already nocked arrow toward the mass of swarming yukmen. The moment her fingers released the taut strings, an eerily close "Yuk!" made her jump and drop the bow in the beaten down grass. Gianne gasped and dropped to retrieve it, scrabbling clumsily with shaking fingers. When her hand closed over the stock, she found that she couldn't stand. Fear had snaked its way into her legs, locking them in place. She looked up at Rosela, a surprisingly calm expression masking what she really felt. "Rosela, are we going to die?" Gianne wasn't sure how safe they were now, tucked away between the front lines and artillery. The artillery that had stopped firing. A chill crept up her spine like the thrill one felt when stepping into ice cold water. Was the enemy behind them now, as well as in front? She wobbled to her feet on unsteady legs, gripping her bow in a white-knuckled hold. She wished Gill were here so she could ride away into the grasslands, away from the battle. Bloodlust was wearing off very quickly.

[Rosela]

Rosela tried not to focus too hard on the deformed beasts digging further and further in the solider ranks, her mind seeming intent on cataloguing every detail of the monsters her eyes flitted between. If they weren’t normal inhabitants of the Sea of Grass, where did they come from? Did they migrate from somewhere? With an awkward twist of nostalgia, she wondered if they’d wandered up from the Burning Lands, and if Ahnatep was fighting off a horde just like this one. She changed aim automatically with the order, happy to let someone else tell her what to do for the moment. She didn’t want to think about the battle anymore; she didn’t want to be there anymore. Her little shop was her contribution to Riverfall – why did they need this of her as well? The archers fired again, her arrow among them, and as another beastly cry rang out over the fight, terribly close, she wondered again how Xuphim was doing out in the field. Assuming he was out there. Assuming he was still alive- Movement to her left caught her attention and she started violently, wrapped up in bloody thoughts. It was Gianne, who was on the ground, arrow in hand. Rosela was speechless and her mouth worked silently as she tried to find a coherent answer over the screams and roars and terror. The other woman looked so very helpless down there, and Rosela was again suddenly, horribly reminded of an elderly figure, spurting blood around a gaping wound, falling to a stone floor. ”I don’t…I…” Her bottom lip trembled dangerously. Now that Gianne had spoken it aloud, that eventuality now seemed very possible. She didn’t see Gianne stand, as she’d turned to look unseeing out into the field. Her eyes were hot and itchy, and she reached desperately for that mental switch she’d become so accustomed to, to drive away the bad thoughts.

[Limey]

Gianne: Skill and Lore Rewards Skills Lore Bow 5 The Looming Dread Of Battle Observation 3 Fighting Fear Tactics 1 No Shame In Killing Monsters A Bloody Bill For Victory Courage: Not So Easy As The Bards Say Rosela: Skill and Lore Rewards Skills Lore Bow 5 Fashionable Yet Armed Observation 3 Just Breath Tactics 1 Concentrating On The Battle Battle: No Reason To Avoid Mascara The Wrong Time To Remember Shared Lore: Massed Arrows Equals Mass Damage Yukmen: Mindless Murderers The Devastation Of Siege Weapons Shoot The Big Ones! Additional Notes : Sorry this never got finished, ladies, that truly was a shame. I really couldn't think of much to award you so I was a little generous. Your both did great, though. I liked how you responded to Mist's hints well. Rosela, you were darkly funny with vain and superfluous little quips here and there, but ending with that dark undercurrent of horror. Gianne, I liked how your character fought her fear as best she could, but showed that all courage has a limit. Any questions or queries, please PM me.