The Cavour Incident [Paralogue!]

[Vic]

Paralogue Start!

help those lesser than ourselves

The town of Cavour stands eerily quiet in the early dawn, the windows upon the shabby homes are shuttered as a low breeze blows through the dead streets. Nearly all of the villagers have retreated into their homes, keenly aware that conflict is soon to come to their simple provincial town. Cavour is not a large village, yet there are several sizable buildings near the heart of the town, including the three story town hall which offers a commanding view of the area around it. The avenues of approach down the main road of the village have been barricaded, and several of the buildings closer to the Ylissean border seem to have been burned out. Any attackers would have to either destroy or vault the barricades or opt to take a stealthier approach through the side streets or even around the town.

Most ominously though, is the blue flag with the brand of the Exalt upon it that flutters atop a flagpole fastened to the roof of the town hall. Yet, even with this proclamation of control the town is yet to be under total control by the Ylissean forces masquerading as militia, as the Plegians still have a foothold within the shabby and crooked streets of the outer edges of the town. Yet, with the pressure of time weighing upon them, both sides are compelled to expel the other before the simple provincial town of Cavour becomes a meat grinder.

Order of Battle:
Ylisseans are within the center of town with their militia ( Cavalier x1 (Bronze Sword), Mercenary x2 (Iron Sword) ) and the Plegians are on the outskirts (Barbarians x2 (Iron Axe), Mage x1 (Fire)), both sides are on the offensive at the outset so keep that in mind. First four posts in the thread will determine posting order and then I will take over for your NPCs. Since each side has a ranking captain you're more than free to boss them around, I'll notify you all if we need to make changes. This is a bit of a test at player vs. player combat so hang in with us on that front! And as always, have fun!

Kieran
Xin'chi
kamille
ender

[Kieran]

This Carousel Spins Round and Round words: 640. tag: Xin'chi , ender , kamille. notes: N/A Kieran did not like Mathias. He didn't care more much of Ylisse's nobility in fact. However Cavour was the place he was born. So when he chanced upon the man talking about claiming the village and protecting it from Plegia he could not help but to volunteer himself for the battle. A tactican was a welcome sight on the field of conflict. Kieran was an untested neophyte when it came to orchestrating and dictating the flow of battle but he hoped that his performance her today would etch his name into the minds of Ylisse. He was a shy boy with confidence issues true... however as a tactician he needed to distinguish himself now that the knights had fallen a part. These were trying times and if he was to survive he would need to make concessions. Working with a slimy sleaze bag like Mathias was something he'd just have to deal with. He had an ulterior motive of course. The people of this place, of this village of Cavour, were the people who shunned him and his family for years. If he pulled their asses from the flame they'd sure end up with egg on their face for casting him so readily aside. Kieran sat in the makeshift war room he had set up in the town hall with maps strewn all about the table he had his elbow rested against. In the other hand he held a quill and was furiously scribbling notes all over the maps in order to drum up some semblance of a battle plan before the coming conflict. There was precious little time left. A small detachment of Plegian forces was already headed their way with no telling if there'd be reinforcements or not. The militia's numbers were few. They would need every advantage they could get and Kieran would have to use every memory of this town to use it to his advantage. Fighting on home turf was a valuable asset but only if it could be capitalized on. Furiously he finished his scribbling and collapsed back letting his hood fall revealing his fair features. The young tactician finished drawing up some initial battle plans. Now it'd be only a matter of time before the battle began. With uncanny grave the red haired youth rose from his seat and grabbed his blade and tome. He needed to prepare for battle just like everyone else. He wasn't the type to command from the back. As much as it would offer some semblance of safety not true commander led from the rear. The greatest of leaders commanded from within the ranks. He let out a deep breath and strode to where the rest of the meager amount of soldiers stood. All in all there was five of them. The cavalier he had scout earlier who had returned with news of the approaching force. There was also two mercenaries and the woman who he assumed was their leader. There was something unsettling about the black haired beauty that put him on edge. His every synapse screamed danger when around her. He supposed though he'd rather have the devil at his side with a knife aimed at the enemy than at his back with one aimed at him. Still he'd have to keep an eye on her. Keeping his hood up made it easier to stare without having attention drawn to the fact. Kieran was given to analyzing people and it helped. Beyond the dangerous air the woman gave off he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. It made him blush. He'd have given it more thought under different circumstances but now wasn't the time to be flustered. No, now was the time to make the final preparations for battle. He took a deep breath and steadied himself for the carnage he would face today.

ⒶⓀⒾ

[ender]

You could smell a war brewing, or that's what Ender thought. He wasn't sure if it was actually a scent, but there was something in the air, something that made him itch to reach for a sword and cut a few people in half. He was just a mercenary, or that's what he'd signed up as, complete with a tree branch at his side. If he seemed young, the recruiters didn't take note. If anyone questioned his presence at first, they got their answer after a few days of breaking down and setting up camp. They saw how little he minded the monotony of a forced march, and they saw how little he felt the pressure of an impending battle. Ender had done this before. He'd done it more times than he could count. He'd always stayed as a human, used whatever weapon he could find. Tree branch first, then take whatever presented itself off of someone else's corpse. For two thousand years, he'd hidden himself as a boy soldier. This time, Ender tossed the tree branch aside. Time to stop being a boy and start being a manakete. He was old enough, and he wasn't getting any younger. The company was small enough that Ender had no problem finding the commanding officer. He pushed aside higher ranking soldiers, not caring that such conduct was grossly out of line from a recruit. "I should let you know," Ender said to Kamille, without formality, "that I can turn into a dragon." He let that sink in as he toyed with a dragonstone in his hands, as if it were just a rock he'd picked up, like it might be used for a skipping stone had there been a spot of water anywhere near. "So put me where I won't be setting the wrong people on fire." Who were the wrong people? The Plegians? The townsfolk, certainly, but were there any people that were the right people to set on fire? (No. He remembered the screams of men as he'd seared their flesh from bone. Like a distant sound, it was a distant memory, and the screams echoed through the recesses of his mind.) But there were layers and layers of apathy smothering out the din of old memories, and he leveled a steady gaze, undeterred, at Kamille. kamille

[kamille]

Kamille was a sharp-looking young man with a gaze that saw as far as his arrows could fly. He locked onto things with the same sure intensity as if nothing he set his eyes on would ever get away. Cavour was the unfortunate, current object of his interest. There was no glory in retaking Cavour, an unimportant province that could disappear from the map and not have an impact on history. What this battle was about was personal feelings. Not Kamille's. It was about the pride of Ylisse and Plegia.

There had always been skirmishes between the two countries, but those were akin to pointless bickering; maintaining hatred, breeding reason for conflict. In time, tension accumulates and you will have senseless fighting like this. Senseless, because there was no glory, no purpose, no desirable result other than the childish satisfaction of a brief victory. Kamille didn't like it, but the small details were still part of the job.

“Forgive me for asking...” On his right, Kamille's lieutenant made a full turn. “But I've not heard of a plan. How should we approach this with strategy?”

“Strategy? You've got to be kidding me.”

Around him, the lieutenant and the soldiers were caught by surprise that it rendered them momentarily speechless. Perhaps, with their eyes on their commander, it was how a certain green-haired child soldier was able to push his way through to Kamille. The surprise turned to anger.

“Whose unit is this brat from?” the lieutenant growled at the soldiers. “Get him off!”

“This boy isn't yours?” Kamille asked. The lieutenant wasn't Kamille's own lieutenant. The man was fifteen years his senior and was captain of the unit that compromised the bulk of the company until Kamille came along and took charge.

“Wouldn't put a fodder in,” the lieutenant swore.

Kamille studied Ender. In comparison to the lieutenant, Kamille was young, young enough to suggest that he might be inexperienced and used influence to be acting as the head. But he was astute and being a soldier was the very essence of his identity. If this boy were acting, Kamille wouldn't be too ashamed of being deceived.

“What's your name?”

ender (If it's okay with everyone, can we finish this exchange? It won't take more than another round of post! 'Cause, yeah, otherwise I don't think I gave Vic much to work with for the mod post later xD)

[Vic]

ender kamille (( Go foooor it ))

[ender]

Ender glanced at the lieutenant, who didn't look much like someone that could be his father. It also didn't look much like someone he'd respect as a superior officer--but that described plenty of his superior officers in the past. With about as much inflection as you'd use to comment on the weather, Ender said, "I would hope I don't look affiliated with this ugly mug. I don't even want to wonder how he earned his colors." There was probably a reason he'd stayed a footsoldier, avoiding officers as best he could, in the past. He looked back to Kamille. "I'm Ender." kamille

[kamille]

Kamille made a motion of tapping his neck. “Watch your tongue, Ender. As a mercenary, you don't have the rights of a soldier. I can put an arrow through your throat and the law will see nothing. Anyway, you'll be turned over to my unit. Same goes for the lieutenant.”

“What?”

Kamille looked at the middle-aged man. “Hm? Surely you can set your personal feelings aside. Besides, I'm an excellent commander to work with, if I do have to say so myself.”

The lieutenant glared at Kamille and threw an arm at Ender. “You're bringing this boy claiming to be a markarit? And you don't have a plan? Commander – Admiral – whatever you are, I'm not letting you throw away my men's lives. You might be used to the casualties of large-scales battles, but death should be practically non-existent in amateur combat. With a plan.”

This was the thing in a medium-sized fighting force. There was no complicated tree of hierarchy where unquestionably following orders was part of how an army could function. The commander was closer, his orders relayed once, and his form visible for everyone to see. Soldiers were more conscious of the decision-making. It was a well-played plan by nature. In smaller groups, individuality mattered more for quality to outmatch quantity.

The soldiers were watching. Kamille undermined the lieutenant's authority for far too much to be concerned of a mutiny. Kamille wasn't worried. This was his plan all along.

In a way, small-scale battles challenged Kamille's leadership more.

“Lieutenant, let me tell you a story.” Kamille turned to the direction of Cavour's city hall, the Exalt's flag unsteadily flapping up in the air. “Beyond the rolling green hills and the western pastures was the land I was born and raised in.”

“I'm aware. You were an Ylissean.”

Kamille turned slightly to show a smile. He didn't find it funny or amusing, but he knew it was a good moment to show a bit of humanity. Dramatics. If there was something Kamille learned from Admiral Tremere, it was that soldiers loved to see their commanders as heroes of an epic journey.

“I'm impressed. My name didn't spread well because of the shackle to my former nationality. But this makes it easier.” Kamille looked at Ylisse's flag at the distance again.

“The Halidom is in tatters! A shredded sleeve barely hanging on to its threads! As you might already be aware, reports say that it was an armed militia that took Cavour. I suspect this was a move by a noble's private army trying to find more power to squander on. Our enemy has no sense of organization. They know we have means of overpowering them. We will crush them. We will pound in their bones an excruciating reminder of Plegia's might.”

Kamille pulled out his steel bow and faced the soldiers.

“This is a stepping stone! Reclaim one land and we may claim another tomorrow! Fight to achieve glory! Live to tell its tale!” The bow twirled in his hand and shoved above his head. “Burn these fools in the blaze of our power!” Kamille aimed the tip of his bow at Cavour's barricaded main road. "Charge!"

Kieran Xin'chi ender (Kamille, the lieutenant/Mage, and Ender are chilling behind for this turn. Thanks for waiting!)

[Xin'chi]

Ah, that smell of fresh blood in the morning! What a wonderful delight to behold. Too bad it wasn't one of those mornings. But then again, it soon would be after all. This little "militia" sham was much more amusing than usual for Matthias' orders. A chance to draw some blood proper rather than just slaughter more cattle for the Steward's meat cellar. It had become quite boring in recent days. But now as a Plegian banner appeared in the distance, Xin'chi was also well aware that business was soon to pick up. She looked to her swordsmen, a pair of burly brutes she'd acquired for her company up north in a land of warriors. She looked over as the gallop of hooves announced the cavalier returning from another quick scouting trip. One of her other hired hands, though this one came from Ylisse.

"The Plegians are starting to make a move! The unit moving towards us has a bowman and some axemen!"

Xin'chi nodded to the horsemen, contemplating for a moment. Her swordsmen would be able to take those axe wielders with ease, but an archer made this melee potentially dangerous. Hrm... Wait a moment. Now wasn't that other recruit a mage? Or something of the like. She saw him carrying one of those 'tomes' that the magical inclined loved to lug around. And speak of the devil, there he was now emerging from their impromptu little base of operations.

"Ah, our extra hand. How are you this morning, boy? You'd best be prepared for a fight, our enemy is starting their approach." The raven haired woman called over to the hooded lad. "They have an archer and mage with them. We will want to lure them directly into close quarters so that we can make the best of our blades." This she spoke aloud to all present. "And when we have them, show no mercy. They are the enemy of the Halidom! And we the braves who fight in it's name! Now don't be afraid to show them what that means!"

The mercenaries and horseman cheered while raising their swords aloft. And Xin'chi found her little speech a bit funny, to tell the truth. Well, what the lad didn't know about this whole thing wouldn't hurt him. Not that it wouldn't be amusing if it did. But at any rate.

"Now advance! Draw the axe men forward and away from their support! I want to see hit and run, not suicidal charging!"

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Tags: Vic Kieran kamille ender