Alathea's charge towards the besieged Aes Sedai does not last long as the crush of bodies in the way is too much for even her warhorse to navigate. The animal kicks and bites at the Aiel and pushes her way through the throng, but it is a slow process. Having recklessly charged into the midst of them, the Aiel nearby turn to attack her. Although her higher vantage and the hooves and teeth of the horse provide her with some protection, she's still an easy target, and she's stabbed twice. But her determination dulls the pain, and she ignores the spears in her efforts to reach the Aes Sedai.
From the corner of her eye, Alathea sees the nimbus of light spring up around an Aiel woman. She's not sure what the woman's intent is, but Fiallain's warning against these Shaido still echoes in her mind. Almost without thought, she spins a Shield and slams it between the woman and the True Source.
With the strongest wise one around shielded, Litheene turns around just in time to see a weave forming before her, at the hands of another wise one standing near. She realizes the effect too late, when a blast of air blows her to the ground.
Standing up, Litheene turns to face the wise one, when a thrown spear from her side makes it's way for her chest. She raises her arm quickly to protect herself, and feels the sleeve of her riding dress go wet from blood. I don't feel the pain, is it shock?. Two wills crush inside of her, as her fear pushes her back to her training, of killing with the power. Threads of fire and air mold themselves between her hands.
At the last moment, Litheene regains control. I'm not an animal the threads fall unfinished, as she channels another shield instead, throwing it at the wise one, and tying it off right away.
Feeling the sharp twang of a rebounding weave, Jasper locks eyes with the wise one.
Burn her from out, she must be mummers a voice
No. From within. Make her blood boil answers another
All must burn is a simple reply
but not yet. First, find your target. Commands a loud voice, making internal ears ring.
Who is my target? the simple voice says in question
HER!echoes two voices
NO! Not her. Those that defy us. Those that disrespect us. Those that HATE usCommands the voice.
Turning his gaze, Jasper's eyes fall upon a white flag, white with the most recognizable symbol in the entire world. One that represents disrespect, unjust laws, hunters, killers, destroyers of families to those men who can channel.
The flame of Tar Valon.
The symbol of Aes Sedai.
YES! TARGET THOSE THAT WOULD DENY YOU! Commands the voice
a slight pause, the briefest of moments in life, an eternity inside one's head.
One voice answers, inside and out, cries out with such force that it drowns out the battle for a brief moment.
BURN THEM ALL
Kicking his horse, Jasper spurs it, driving it through the masses, his flaming club knocking away spears, swords, polearms, and hands reaching to pull him from his horse.
Ryland growls as the wolf burst into flames and throws himself into to the air his sword held high, bringing all of his weight into his attack on the Wisewoman. He continues the arc of his blade as he lands, turning it and continueing his swing to come back in horizontaly from the right. Spit flies from his mouth as his lips peel back from his teeth in a visciouse snarl.
Power Attack #1:
Damage:
Power Attack #2:
Damage:
Without a care for herself, Jasmine's calm carries her through the battle but when she sees Jed almost take a spear through the throat, she ties off the ward and yells to her warder, Jed! Be ready to move into the gap!
She then gets a look of pained concentration on her before lashing out with a massive burst of fire and air hurled in the direction of the ring and the explosion near 100 feet across. Bodies hurl into the air and charred ruins litter the ground in the giant swath of destruction. Her hair blowing from the gust of wind from the explosion and her brilliant green eyes flashing in the sun.
Fiallain continues to press the attack against the honorless Shaido.
The Shaido continue their attack, their numbers hardly seeming diminished despite the casualties.
One of the Shaido Wise One's steals Litheene's tactic and attempts to Shield Litheene.
A group of Aiel attempt to tear Jed from his horse.
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Round 3 Battle Update
Litheene feels a brief flash of fear as a Shield attempts to cut her off from the Source. The Wise One wasn't strong enough however and the slight pressure on her connection to saidar vanishes quickly.
Jasmine watches in horror as Jed is ripped from his saddle by a number of Shaido warriors. It feels like an eternity before she spots him again as he throws off one of the attackers, his scalp bleeding and his sword swinging wildly.
Alathea cringes as the fireball erupts into the packed Aiel. Suddenly a burned warrior leaps towards her horse's legs, trying to lame the horse and bring her and it down. The horse kicks the man, caving in his skull before its eyes roll back and it rears violently at the attack against it.
A scream rips itself from her throat as Alathea can feel herself about to fall but with a sudden jerk, the horse's head is cranked down by the reins and she finds herself slammed forward harshly into the saddle. Looking up in startled shock, she sees the reins gripped in the large hands of a grim-faced Ogier. His other hand holds a massive axe, easily the height of a man, that he swings with ease as he cuts down the Shaido before him.
Jasmine shouts out for Jed before lashing out with the power at the one that has him grappled. Jasmine's eyes blaze with the power, those who can see her shining from the power surging through her. Reaching out with the power she rips the man's body apart, using that filthy weave she saw Serviana use all that time ago.
Jed fights back against the bodies pressing in on him, but the man who pulled him from his horse has a strong grip. Thankfully, the Shaido suddenly loses grip and Jed barely notices as the man falls to ground, seemingly ripped apart from within. Jed has just enough time to smack his horse on the rump, hoping it'll run to safety, before he is attacked once again. He parries the attack and returns with his own, ending that Shaido's life. "Let's move!" Jed starts to move toward the charred ground left by Jasmine's fire blast, cutting down foes on the way and trusting Jasmine to be right behind him.
Rylands sword slices through the wisewomans waist, she drops to the ground with her life blood flowing from her body as her eyes glaze over in death.
The woodsman sees a pack of wolves in full battle with a group of Aiel warriors and bounds to their side his sword slashing and stabbing as he moves through the Shaido, leaving death in his wake.
Attack #1:
Damage:
Attack #2:
Confirm Crit:
Damage:
Crit Damage:
Litheene gasps at the shield attempt, dully aware of a wound that appeared on the side of her leg. Her helplessnes grows, as she realizes the wise one shrugged her shield off I can't keep exchanging shields with her until it sticks!
Suddenly, the battlefield vanishes before her, and she finds herself staring into the eyes of ... herself. She sees from the eyes of both her persona's, starting at each other. The confident, brown sister, Litheene, looks upon the wild and haunted image of Shari, the despaired damane. While Shari, the hope clinging survival looks at Litheene, the battle fearing detached scholar.
You are not me! They scream at each other in union. Shari turns her eyes, unable to look into Litheene's I have to fight.
I'm not reverting to this Replies Litheene I will not use the power to kill.
I've already did Images of trollocs, suffocating to their death surround them at Shari's words.
It's different! Those are humans! Snaps Litheene at her.
Then you are going to die A weak laughter escapes Shari's lips Maybe it's better. Better than the leash. Without the will to defend yourself, what will I do when I face them again? They are human as well. And you can't shield them all At that, the trollocs fade, and suldams appear all around them, hundreds of them, with damane on leash.
Shari lifts her gaze, meeting Litheene's eyes, as Litheene's mouth remains wordless, her spirit filled with fear.
Desperate confidence shines in Shari's eyes, at her triumph. I'm not going without a fight
The vision fades, and Shari founds herself back on the battlefield. The wise one still staring at her smugly, as if no time had passed, and armed Shaido surrounding her on all sides. But the doubt is gone, as it is what she was trained to do, when she learned her first weaves. A sting of sorrow ripples through her as the ball of fire forms in her hand, and is gone when the explosion deafens her ears.
With the flag of the Aes Sedai filling his vision, Jasper fails to see the spear thrust at him. Too late does he shift, suffering a deep cut across his back. Pain cuts off the voices in his head as they all shout in agony.
Blood and Ashes! he howls.
Pressing onward, Jasper continues to smash about, protecting himself from harm.
Alathea cannot help but be caught up in the chaos and panic of battle. While trying to avoid the Aiel spears she loses her grip on her reins. Not the best rider in any situation, Alathea is all but thrown as the animal takes advantage of her lack of control and lashes out to defend itself.
Just as she's about to tumble into the tumult, Alathea finds herself eye to immense eye with a...nightmare? No, that's an...Ogier? I never thought I'd see one so close! He must have reined in my horse...but light, he's terrifying! I'm glad that he seems to be on my side! Nodding to the Ogier and calling out her thanks, Alathea waves her arms towards the Aes Sedai. At the top of her lungs, she cries out, hoping that the Ogier will hear her over the din. "I must go to the Aes Sedai! I must help!"
Hoping that the Ogier will accompany her, Alathea reclaims her reins and grips them more tightly and kicks her horse into motion. She must reach the Aes Sedai, and if doing so requires trampling the Aiel, then so be it.
Spotting the glow of saidar surrounding another Aiel woman, Alathea lashes out again with Fire and Air. These Aiel women are too strong for me to Shield, but they must not threaten the Aes Sedai!
Snarling at her wide miss, Fiallain reaches back with her spear in preparation to strike again at the elusive Shaido warrior. Suddenly a rhythmic pounding and thundering from behind registers and she spins to meet the oncoming threat. But not soon enough. Fia is sent flying through the air as the massive warhorse slams into her, its rider laying waste to those within reach of his sword. The two thousand pound beast and armored rider tosses the slight Aiel woman aside like a rag doll. The pounding of the horse's hooves recede into the general clamor of the battle as its path leads it deeper into the fight.
Despite her agility, Fiallain was given no time to maneuver and she hits the ground hard, the impact driving the air from her lungs and nearly knocking her senseless. Dully, one thought gradually takes shape in her mind. "have to....to get...up." She groans as one of the combatants, a yellow haired aiel trips over her, his heel grinding into her back before toppling over. The press of stamping feet and thrusting spears fill her senses as she desperately rolls to avoid being trampled in the press, all the while trying to crawl her way to her knees, still with no breath in her lungs "move burn you..."
Spying a large boulder a little ways away, she makes her way to it, using it as a somewhat dubious shelter as she catches her breath. With her faculties beginning to return, she scans the chaos for any sign of her friends and companions. Instead she finds the intense gaze of a shaido wise one fixating on her. Her heart sinks as the other woman takes a step towards her. No, not her... not one of them, I can't fight.... wise ones don't take par... the thought breaks off. She knows well that those days were past. Still, old customs were proving to be hard to break. Desperately, she prepares weaves to defend herself even as the other woman begins to draw on the power...
The Shaido continue their bloody attack, the oppresive heat already starting to bake the smell of blood into a nauseating stench.
Encased in her bubble, Jed and Jasmine have laid low a number of Aiel warriors. Only 3 remain in the tight space, 2 surrounding Jed while one rushes towards Jasmine.
As the spear stabs out at Jasmine, she can see a blade of Spirit attempting to slice into her Ward.
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Round 4 Battle Update
As Jed and Jasmine fight to keep the 3 Shaido at bay, suddenly Jasmine's ward collapses as it is sliced apart, a flood of warriors and combat washing over them.
Alathea manages to keep pace with the Ogier only briefly before even its massive size is lost amongst the throng.
Jed, though flanked by two tall Shaido, manages to come away unscathed. The first Shaido's attack glances off of Jed's extremely well-made breastplate. The second Shaido's attack comes closer, but Jed manages to masterfully deflect it with his top quality shield. He returns the attacks, cleanly severing the dominant arm of one Shaido. His second attack is less accurate, as the other Shaido deftly attempts to jump out of the way. Unfortunately, time has run out as more Shaido spill into the area around Jed and Jasmine.
"Jasmine, we should move! Where are we headed?!" Jed waits for her answer and then starts to fight his way in the direction she indicates.
Jasmine sees the rush of Shaido begin pouring in through the severed ward. We need to get to the center! But how?!? As the Shaido moves in she wheels her horse to break up the attack, the spear going past her head. Ffteenth rule of battle from Rodel Ituralde, you cannot fight what you cannot see. I told my father I paid attention during those lectures of Rosilda's.
Looking over at Jed she yells out their agreed word for this particular weave. EYES, Jed...and grab onto me! She then raises her arm above her head and a brilliant ball of light appears above her outstretched arm, blinding any and all who look at it.
Alathea pushes through the thronging hordes of Aiel, struggling to make progress towards the Aes Sedai. Her Fireball weave is all but too late: the weaves that the Aiel channeler had been weaving toward her had been strange, but she understands that if they had been completed, she might not still be alive. But her training in the Tower has been effective, and she hadn't cracked under the pressure. Instead of her, it is the Aiel woman who is incapacitated or dead.
In the heat of the battle, Alathea doesn't consciously remember the intricate steps of the Aiel woman's weave, but she copies it without thought. Perhaps this will open the way for me!
Ryland runs with the wolves among the Shaido. He moves and attacks as one of the pack, assiting with pulling down enemy after enemy, and receiving help in return. The wolves and the boarderlander always move, to stop is death among the Aiel, the sheer numbers of the enemy have worn the pack down. Ryland bleeds from cuts and stab wounds, his hair on the left side of his face has been burt to the skin leaving red blistered flesh exposed. The woods man has given up looking for wisewomen, he fights for survival now, his own and the pack.
Attack#1:
Damage:
Attack#2:
Damage:
Fiallain swallows hard, her throat parched already. Hurling her spear, she attempts to distract her attacker before she can get the weave off.
Immediately she begins to weave together a weave of her own to follow up on her attack, trying to keep the stronger woman on the defensive.
Litheene moves about detached, as if in trance, all her feelings crushed deep under the smell of burned flash, the trickle of her own blood on her skin, and the sight of deadly weaves forming all around.
She moves forward through the area blasted by her fireball, using her newly learned cast off, to throw aside Shaido that try to swarm toward her.
She sees no wise ones close by, and with the bodies and the stench of death all around her, she holds on the power, without the mental drive to make a focused attack, her mind fixed only on the wagons far ahead.
Urging his horse on, Jasper barely blinks at the shallow puncture that occurs from an Aiel spear grazing his forehead. Feeling the trickle of blood run down the right side of his face, Jasper wipes it away with the back of his hand, while kicking out at an Aiel that would unhorse him.
Voices, chanting in unison, scream and howl in his head
Kill them all
Burn them all
Weaves of fire to warm them
Weaves of Air to fuel the flames
Weaves of Spirit to shield them
Cursing those around him, Jasper continues to slog through the muck, his horse frocing through the lines of warring Aiel, Carheinians, Mayereners, and Tearians.
You can all feel the fatigue of battle creeping in as you continue to fight against the almost overwhelming odds.
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Round 5 Battle Update
None of you are sure how long you've been at this: minutes, hours, days. All you know is it feels like for every Shaido you kill or incapacitate, 2 more seem to take his place. Most of you fight on now with the grim certainty that you may not make it out of this alive.
A series of hollow thumps starts to patter the air around you, a new sound adding to the din of combat. Nearby a vertical line appears in the air, one you've seen before. Spinning open into a hole in the air, a black coated man leaps through and immediately catches a spear in his gut. But behind him half a dozen others pour through right after and around them the Shaido simply die. Flames erupt from bodies and lightning arcs through the air.
Alathea sees a Shaido leaping for her before it suddenly explodes in front of her, spraying a thick mist of blood and gore across her. It is all she can do not to be sick. With a dark grin, the man turns with his companions and continues his grisly work. All around can be seen pockets of death opening around rings of the black coated men and you can see that they're also appearing up inside the wagon ring as well.
Having traveled with Jasper, you think you'd be prepared for the carnage you see yet it's still enough to freeze the blood in your veins. It appears that the Asha'man have arrived.
Suddenly seeing the telltale signs of Gateways opening, Jasper pulls his horse short. As the Gateways open, Jasper is greeted by another familiar feeling. Saidan being channeled.
Seeing the men step out of the holes and begin to blast apart the enemies, Jasper moves towards a group of Asha'man, copying the same weaves that they use, and decimating those that stand between him and his brethren.
Alathea stares in horror as the Aiel leaps towards her, spear leveled at her chest, and knows that this time, it won't miss. She has only enough time to bite her lip and close her eyes before the spear pierces her heart...but the spear never comes. A sticky mist falls upon her skin, and she opens her eyes. The Aiel is no longer leaping at her; in fact, he seems to have disappeared. But there is another man there, a man in a familiar-looking black coat, a man with a mad sneer. Seeing the Gateways spinning about her, she has a sickening certainty of what happened to the Aiel spearman. The thought of who this madman is and what the arrival of he and his companions means is not much more pleasant.
Although she's on the verge of weaving another web of destruction, Alathea hesitates. Caught up in the arrival of these madmen, Alathea is unsure as to what they plan to do to the Aes Sedai. I must know what is happening!
Silhouetted against a halo of light, Jasmine sees the Asha'man leaping from their gateways and begin dealing death around her. Looking down at Jed she reaches and says Get on you big lug! We are going for a ride! Jasmine then kicks her horse to a gallop and weaves at the same time. Pulling threads of pure air together, Jasmine fashions a wedge shaped tool of air in front of her horse to deflect the Shaido to either side as she and Jed dash through towards the center, Jed laying about as they go.
Rylands arms are like led, if the sword he carried was not his father's, father's blade he would have left it long ago. The number of wolves he runs with have thined to something one could not call a pack any more. Two large females and a scragaly grey male are all that is left. The woodsman wonders how long they can keep running and fighting before they join their pack in death.
Ryland's battle fatigued mind does not process the thumps that are sounding around him, all he can hear is a roaring in his ears and the ocasional whine from one of his new friends. As a black cloaked figure steps through the slash in the fabric of reality, the Boarderlander's sword dips down as he stairs blankly at the Asha'man. "Jasper? What are you doing here?"
As the Shaido warrior explode around him, Ryland slowly shakes his head. This is not Jasper. We must follow him though, maybe he can lead us to a place to rest if for just a bit.
Once again the weary woodsman raises his sword and presses the Aiel near the Asha'man, following the path of distruction towards the ring.
Attack 1:
Damage:
Attack 2:
Damage:
Jed deftly jumps onto the horse's back, his armor not causing him any trouble. Once atop, he uses his shield to bat away any wild stabs by the Shaido who are blinded by Jasmine's bright light. "Nice work with that light!" Though Jasmine is injured, Jed doesn't feel the urge to provide her with his own strength just yet.
Fia and the wise one turn as one as the odd thumps begin, the wise one's expression turning to horror as she seems to realize what is happening. Fia isn't certain whether to feel relief or to mirror the wise one's fear. Seeing the other woman back away, Fiallain lets her go. Instead she grips her spears and twists and dances her way through the chaos, making her way forward towards the ring of Aes Sedai and cutting through any Shaido that get in her way. I hope the others are alright. Light..Alathea! I have added to the toh I owe her for I should have been at her side...You are a fool Fiallain Bo'airr!
Litheene turns immediately to face the gateway opening not far from her. Realizing she can't see the weaves, her first though is of an inverted weave, but then she sees the Ashaman step out, spreading death all around him, for any Shaido he can see.
They are more terrifying than damane. And another though slips into her mind They are more terrifying than what I've become.
With that she feels sharp pain, as awareness of her wounds returns to her, along with the full horror of the battle, and she finds herself Litheene once again, the shame for what she did almost making her lose Saidar.
I still need to get to the wagons! Litheene channels strands of air to freeze in place any Shaido that appear in front of her, while using Cast off on larger groups that appear. She pushes forward, closer to the ring, both avoiding the Ashaman, and trying to engage as little Shaido as she can.