Post by Voodoogk on Apr 2, 2017 22:47:50 GMT
I'm trying something different here.. I have never done a battle report this way and I'm not sure if anyone else has, hope its good, feedback is welcome.
The last rays of sunlight touched the blacker than natural outcroppings of rubble, outlining the barest form of the citadel that had been standing there since so long ago. Vladimir Tzepesci scanned it for movement, this ruin was supposed to be a secret, but he sensed a presence that he knew was not Khadoran. "I thought you said this place was deserted?", careful not to color the question with too much criticism of the massive man next to him. Orsus' gaze scanned the rocks for the enemy they both knew was inside "Are you accusing me of lying, or leaving a known enemy alive?" asked the berserker, turning and forcing Vlad to look up into his eyes. The attempt at intimidation might have worked on a lesser man, but he was a prince! "We need to hurry, I know how to open the door, get your force to the other side, it will open soon", turning his noble gaze into a challenge, and delicately tinging his words with the hint of command. As he had grown to expect with men of low birth, Orsus responded to his orders, taking a number of warjacks and a group of winterguard around through the trees.
Vlad proceeded towards the field that was the ruins sorcerous lock mechanism. The Orgoth had only respected strength, and so their fortresses could only be opened by an army with a sorceror in their midst. The giant rings of runes came alive on the ground just as the enemy he had been sensing showed themselves on the other side. The darkness masked their origin at first, rather than spending time identifying them he pushed all his will and magic into getting his army to the middle of the field where he could activate the fortress the most easily. Calling on the power of his ancient blood he dashed fearlessly toward the unknown enemy making his jacks smash through the field ahead of him at a reckless pace. The bulky battle engines on either flank trampled forward and blasted the earth at the edges of the locks to slow the enemies progress. His array of winterguard, mostly artillery, followed in his wake, some of the infantry able to keep up with him better than the large mortars and field gun behind. He kept Strakhov in the back, an ace up his sleeve.
The Retribution had become interested in this site recently, it's ancient evils had been sensed scratching away at failing protective barriers. Issirya wasn't sure of it's purpose however, and her people were not well versed in the Orgoth that had left these ruins behind. What she did know though, was that the Khadorans were power hungry and she had to stop them meddling with it. Advancing into the dim light she challenged the dark haired man leading them. Amplyfying her voice with her arcane power her voice echoed over the battlefield "This place is full of forgotten sorcery, you humans need to learn to leave it that way, lest you doom us all! Quit the field now and I'll let you and your men leave with your lives." To emphasize her point she had her strike force open fire on the huge red juggernaut at the front of the army, their bolts smashing hard into the metal they were designed to destroy. After the fusillade was over the jacks leg systems were no longer functioning. Her Phoenix shot another round into it. She had her sentinels and Stormfalls run out to the flanks to ensure she could enforce her will. Surely these savages would recognize the might of her advanced army and save bloodshed.
Vlad could already sense that the opposing warcaster, whoever she was, was not familiar with the Orgoth. She was wasting valuable time on threats and not being aggressive enough. He did not glorify her verbal challenge with a response. The deadly barrage of bolt fire that had crippled his warjack was not something he could ignore though, so he decided to reply with fire of his own. Vlad ducked behind the cover of a ruin and bent his considerable magical energies into a subtle but powerful working, throughout his army little things would influence a shooters aim, perhaps a small light to draw attention to a vulnerable point, or a mortar shell would have its trajectory slightly altered by a wind current. Subtle though the individual effects were, in the larger scheme of things the differences were huge. Bullets striking where they would not have before, and in more vital areas. Shrapnel guided more effectively into the targets of his artillery. He commanded his army to focus it's fire on the area full of moving shadows where the surprisingly effective jack killing fire had come from. From their screams he could tell he had gotten most of them. On his right flank the battle engine cautiously moved up and started firing it's guns into the more well defined forms of sword wielding infantry, due to his subtle influence the barrages wreaked havoc on the lines of men, after it was over only half of them were left standing. "Permission to attack Sir?", the question came from Andrei. "Your armor is far to shiny to be getting mud on it yet young Malakov", Vlad answered with an almost fatherly smile. "Besides, this fight is nearly over". Andrei looked with disbelief at the nearly full army in front of them, he was not used to working with Vlad, was he mad perhaps? Vlad returned his concentration to whatever sorcerous activity he had been at before and Andrei decided to watch and learn what he could.
Issirya was shocked, she had tried to reason with these savages and they had replied with murder! A shell had landed near Eiryss during the barrage and she now lay on the ground bleeding... why hadnt she stayed under the protective bubble of Discordia? She had her stormfalls advance into the strange glowing ring and fire on the enemy, and where their arrows landed Khadorans died, but there were so many! Her Sentinels charged the more thickly armored warjack but did little damage to it. In an attempt to prevent it from doing harm she blinded it quickly and had her phoenix open fire on the battle engine that had caused such harm, but she did not have it enter the large glowing ring on the ground for fear of a trap. Too much was happening too quickly, and now the sorcerer was doing something that was causing the runes on the ground to glow red. She felt like she was losing control of this fight and didn't know why.
Vlads gambit had worked! His withering attack had given the enemy a moments pause, he felt the horror of the orogths sorcery examining him with it's usual dread
alien senses. It casually noted that it would not recognize his claim as long as there were still living enemies in the west ring, drawing attention to the handful of warriors brave enough to enter it. "Patience monster, it won't be long" said the prince, he wasn't sure if the thing could understand Khadoran but the bloodthirsty entity seemed to understand his intent at least. Vlad continued his subtle working, and ordered a full barrage of the contested area, after the smoke from rockets and mortars had cleared the shadowy warriors were no longer, leaving only some easy to spot bowmen at the edge of the ring. The guardsmen in the gun carriage lived for this kind of prey. At the crack of the whip, the Umbrean draft horses strained at their traces, their mouths frothing at their bits as they dashed straight at the bow men. The carriage bounced over rocks and shrubs as it caromed directly toward the enemy, hitting one so hard that he flew into his fellow, leaving them both bleeding on the ground in a heap. As the last Iosan fell to the ground the runes on the ground grew bright red. Malakov watched as the alien runes coursed over his superior, the red lettering flowing around him and into his eyes, which had turned red as well. "Now do you see Andrei? The Orgoth are not to be taken lightly, even after all this time". Vlad turned his glowing red eyes toward the enemy and a bright yellow arcane light beat down upon them, Andrei could see them try to cover their ears in pain from a sound he could not hear.
Issirya nearly doubled over, almost convulsing, as the alien warning filled her mind, time seemed to slow, it could not speak her language, but it made it clear that to stay here was death. It bathed her forces in a light that made her skin burn, yet the light itself seemed cold somehow. She tested it for a moment inching forward to stop the raven haired sorceror, but the pain grew more intolerable with each step. Suddenly one of her men screamed out his last, and she knew she could resist no longer. She had been defeated, she would need to learn more about this hideous place before she returned. Her army fled.
The Butcher was not known for his patience, and Jozef was well aware of the danger of it running out. He watched as the giant paced back and forth, his anger clearly growing with each turn on his short circuit in front of the fortress door. Joe could tell it was getting bad because the two argii were starting to make anxious noises, obviously sensing their masters madness growing. Joe had been seconded to this beast of a man, but no sane man would ever volunteer for the position. The kovnik tasted his cigar, choosing to affect mild disinterest rather than the deep and growing unease he felt, he hoped Vlad would hurry. Just as the tension was becoming intolerable, one of his men, guardsman Olav came up to him with a worried look. Glancing over at the warcaster nervously, he held a piece of cloth to Joe, "Kovnik Sir, we found a man dead in the woods, apparently marched to his death, he was wearing this!". Joe unfurled the bandana, the Menofix made it clear, the Sul Menites were here. "We found tracks from a force leading to our location, I think they got here before we did Sir". Joe began to acknowledge him as Orsus interrupted by grabbing the cloth and fixing the guardsman with his half-mad gaze, looming over him. "If you're such a good scout, find how they got in. I grow tired of waiting!" his order was punctuated by one of the argii's anxious bark. Olav stuttered, he didn't know what to say, he was clearly cowed, he looked to Joe for support, pointing subtly to the building behind the Butcher. Joe raised his bushy eyebrows in surprise "I'm recommending you for a scout medal Olav, that's two finds in one day!" Orsus turned his gaze on Joe suspiciously "As you can see Kommander, your faith is well placed in the winterguard". Joe pointed his glowing cigar at the now open fortress door. Orsus frowned for a moment and then turned, with barely a grunt of approval on seeing the now open portal, he shouldered his axe and lumbered through the door, his canines following behind him. Joe crushed his cigar underfoot and sighed with relief, he started shouting orders for his platoon of guardsmen to follow him into the ancient ruins. Whatever was in them couldn't be worse than that madman.
The last rays of sunlight touched the blacker than natural outcroppings of rubble, outlining the barest form of the citadel that had been standing there since so long ago. Vladimir Tzepesci scanned it for movement, this ruin was supposed to be a secret, but he sensed a presence that he knew was not Khadoran. "I thought you said this place was deserted?", careful not to color the question with too much criticism of the massive man next to him. Orsus' gaze scanned the rocks for the enemy they both knew was inside "Are you accusing me of lying, or leaving a known enemy alive?" asked the berserker, turning and forcing Vlad to look up into his eyes. The attempt at intimidation might have worked on a lesser man, but he was a prince! "We need to hurry, I know how to open the door, get your force to the other side, it will open soon", turning his noble gaze into a challenge, and delicately tinging his words with the hint of command. As he had grown to expect with men of low birth, Orsus responded to his orders, taking a number of warjacks and a group of winterguard around through the trees.
Vlad proceeded towards the field that was the ruins sorcerous lock mechanism. The Orgoth had only respected strength, and so their fortresses could only be opened by an army with a sorceror in their midst. The giant rings of runes came alive on the ground just as the enemy he had been sensing showed themselves on the other side. The darkness masked their origin at first, rather than spending time identifying them he pushed all his will and magic into getting his army to the middle of the field where he could activate the fortress the most easily. Calling on the power of his ancient blood he dashed fearlessly toward the unknown enemy making his jacks smash through the field ahead of him at a reckless pace. The bulky battle engines on either flank trampled forward and blasted the earth at the edges of the locks to slow the enemies progress. His array of winterguard, mostly artillery, followed in his wake, some of the infantry able to keep up with him better than the large mortars and field gun behind. He kept Strakhov in the back, an ace up his sleeve.
The Retribution had become interested in this site recently, it's ancient evils had been sensed scratching away at failing protective barriers. Issirya wasn't sure of it's purpose however, and her people were not well versed in the Orgoth that had left these ruins behind. What she did know though, was that the Khadorans were power hungry and she had to stop them meddling with it. Advancing into the dim light she challenged the dark haired man leading them. Amplyfying her voice with her arcane power her voice echoed over the battlefield "This place is full of forgotten sorcery, you humans need to learn to leave it that way, lest you doom us all! Quit the field now and I'll let you and your men leave with your lives." To emphasize her point she had her strike force open fire on the huge red juggernaut at the front of the army, their bolts smashing hard into the metal they were designed to destroy. After the fusillade was over the jacks leg systems were no longer functioning. Her Phoenix shot another round into it. She had her sentinels and Stormfalls run out to the flanks to ensure she could enforce her will. Surely these savages would recognize the might of her advanced army and save bloodshed.
Vlad could already sense that the opposing warcaster, whoever she was, was not familiar with the Orgoth. She was wasting valuable time on threats and not being aggressive enough. He did not glorify her verbal challenge with a response. The deadly barrage of bolt fire that had crippled his warjack was not something he could ignore though, so he decided to reply with fire of his own. Vlad ducked behind the cover of a ruin and bent his considerable magical energies into a subtle but powerful working, throughout his army little things would influence a shooters aim, perhaps a small light to draw attention to a vulnerable point, or a mortar shell would have its trajectory slightly altered by a wind current. Subtle though the individual effects were, in the larger scheme of things the differences were huge. Bullets striking where they would not have before, and in more vital areas. Shrapnel guided more effectively into the targets of his artillery. He commanded his army to focus it's fire on the area full of moving shadows where the surprisingly effective jack killing fire had come from. From their screams he could tell he had gotten most of them. On his right flank the battle engine cautiously moved up and started firing it's guns into the more well defined forms of sword wielding infantry, due to his subtle influence the barrages wreaked havoc on the lines of men, after it was over only half of them were left standing. "Permission to attack Sir?", the question came from Andrei. "Your armor is far to shiny to be getting mud on it yet young Malakov", Vlad answered with an almost fatherly smile. "Besides, this fight is nearly over". Andrei looked with disbelief at the nearly full army in front of them, he was not used to working with Vlad, was he mad perhaps? Vlad returned his concentration to whatever sorcerous activity he had been at before and Andrei decided to watch and learn what he could.
Issirya was shocked, she had tried to reason with these savages and they had replied with murder! A shell had landed near Eiryss during the barrage and she now lay on the ground bleeding... why hadnt she stayed under the protective bubble of Discordia? She had her stormfalls advance into the strange glowing ring and fire on the enemy, and where their arrows landed Khadorans died, but there were so many! Her Sentinels charged the more thickly armored warjack but did little damage to it. In an attempt to prevent it from doing harm she blinded it quickly and had her phoenix open fire on the battle engine that had caused such harm, but she did not have it enter the large glowing ring on the ground for fear of a trap. Too much was happening too quickly, and now the sorcerer was doing something that was causing the runes on the ground to glow red. She felt like she was losing control of this fight and didn't know why.
Vlads gambit had worked! His withering attack had given the enemy a moments pause, he felt the horror of the orogths sorcery examining him with it's usual dread
alien senses. It casually noted that it would not recognize his claim as long as there were still living enemies in the west ring, drawing attention to the handful of warriors brave enough to enter it. "Patience monster, it won't be long" said the prince, he wasn't sure if the thing could understand Khadoran but the bloodthirsty entity seemed to understand his intent at least. Vlad continued his subtle working, and ordered a full barrage of the contested area, after the smoke from rockets and mortars had cleared the shadowy warriors were no longer, leaving only some easy to spot bowmen at the edge of the ring. The guardsmen in the gun carriage lived for this kind of prey. At the crack of the whip, the Umbrean draft horses strained at their traces, their mouths frothing at their bits as they dashed straight at the bow men. The carriage bounced over rocks and shrubs as it caromed directly toward the enemy, hitting one so hard that he flew into his fellow, leaving them both bleeding on the ground in a heap. As the last Iosan fell to the ground the runes on the ground grew bright red. Malakov watched as the alien runes coursed over his superior, the red lettering flowing around him and into his eyes, which had turned red as well. "Now do you see Andrei? The Orgoth are not to be taken lightly, even after all this time". Vlad turned his glowing red eyes toward the enemy and a bright yellow arcane light beat down upon them, Andrei could see them try to cover their ears in pain from a sound he could not hear.
Issirya nearly doubled over, almost convulsing, as the alien warning filled her mind, time seemed to slow, it could not speak her language, but it made it clear that to stay here was death. It bathed her forces in a light that made her skin burn, yet the light itself seemed cold somehow. She tested it for a moment inching forward to stop the raven haired sorceror, but the pain grew more intolerable with each step. Suddenly one of her men screamed out his last, and she knew she could resist no longer. She had been defeated, she would need to learn more about this hideous place before she returned. Her army fled.
The Butcher was not known for his patience, and Jozef was well aware of the danger of it running out. He watched as the giant paced back and forth, his anger clearly growing with each turn on his short circuit in front of the fortress door. Joe could tell it was getting bad because the two argii were starting to make anxious noises, obviously sensing their masters madness growing. Joe had been seconded to this beast of a man, but no sane man would ever volunteer for the position. The kovnik tasted his cigar, choosing to affect mild disinterest rather than the deep and growing unease he felt, he hoped Vlad would hurry. Just as the tension was becoming intolerable, one of his men, guardsman Olav came up to him with a worried look. Glancing over at the warcaster nervously, he held a piece of cloth to Joe, "Kovnik Sir, we found a man dead in the woods, apparently marched to his death, he was wearing this!". Joe unfurled the bandana, the Menofix made it clear, the Sul Menites were here. "We found tracks from a force leading to our location, I think they got here before we did Sir". Joe began to acknowledge him as Orsus interrupted by grabbing the cloth and fixing the guardsman with his half-mad gaze, looming over him. "If you're such a good scout, find how they got in. I grow tired of waiting!" his order was punctuated by one of the argii's anxious bark. Olav stuttered, he didn't know what to say, he was clearly cowed, he looked to Joe for support, pointing subtly to the building behind the Butcher. Joe raised his bushy eyebrows in surprise "I'm recommending you for a scout medal Olav, that's two finds in one day!" Orsus turned his gaze on Joe suspiciously "As you can see Kommander, your faith is well placed in the winterguard". Joe pointed his glowing cigar at the now open fortress door. Orsus frowned for a moment and then turned, with barely a grunt of approval on seeing the now open portal, he shouldered his axe and lumbered through the door, his canines following behind him. Joe crushed his cigar underfoot and sighed with relief, he started shouting orders for his platoon of guardsmen to follow him into the ancient ruins. Whatever was in them couldn't be worse than that madman.
