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Samuel looks off the walls towards you squinting. You see the gravestones outside the walls half covered in snow. He waves and opens the gate as you approach, it's path having been dug out. The snow piles build up into it's own walls. "It's been quiet." he says to you.
Samuel turns to Nikolai, Florr, Guldar and the Deepflagons as you're leaving Bill's Library. Standard pay for recovering a missing Guild Member is 5,000 gold split. I doubt Guldar will want his share.
Sam looks taciturn and remorseful. Almost shamed. "I've prepared a report sir." He places a scroll onto the table in front of Bill. "Let me know if you have any questions.
Sam looks to Nikolai. "I think everyone involved in what happened at the temple should speak with Bill together. It's important we all compare what we saw together."
Seeing him slump Sam calls: "Medic! Patch up our newest member and get him to Guldar. I want him feeling healthy by nightfall. I'm going to buy him a big dinner."
You connect hard with the helmet Samuel is wearing and he's momentarily dazed by the blow. "Your spirit will carry you far." He swings hard, with a two handed grip, into your ribs.
He's poised with a follow up strike.
"Your attacks lack discipline. You attack with heart and ferocity, but without precision you leave yourself vulnerable." He sweeps your wild axe swings aside and and makes fast pommel strike into your snout.
"Do you yield?" He pivots his stance away and swings with a backhand across your jaw, missing as you duck your head.
Turning his wrist and rotating his club he comes down into the side of you knee. But misses, just grazing your thick scales.
He smiles "Haven't had a sparring match like this in quite awhile."
Before unleashing your breath, Samuel nods in respect. "You're tougher then you look!"
He gives out a cough. "Cool trick. But you're going to have to do better than that to best me."
Your dulled axe hits the captain's breastplate hard on the ribs, Sam is able to parry it slightly with the handle of his club but the armor is dented deeply and he lets out a painful grunt. Samuel looks at you, impressed, and in an instant, his club arcs with lightning speed. He cracks you across the jaw, the backswing connects with your weapon hand before he finally comes with a downward swing to the top of your head. He wields his long, heavy club elegantly gripping it only in one hand.
He feints and pivots his feet, causing your to over compensate, leaving your jaw open.
Samuel looks to you as he straps his helmet on. He's facing down a downright terrifying looking Green Dragonoid that's scarred and looking for a fight. Samuel let's out a grin and he adjusts the helmet's alignment and he picks up his large two handed truncheon. "Aengus's tankard! BAHAH! You're hired. Got quite the stones Nikoali. Quite the stones.... When you get a chance, get your paperwork in order with the clerk. and yes, bring that tankard back quickly. Aengus is liable to tear that building down looking for it!"
Sam puts on a helmet. Smiles at you and says. "Don't hold back. Been awhile since I've seen some action. I'd love to sweat a bit." He grabs , what looks like, a large square table leg. One side has been smoothed and rounded and is wrapped with brown leather.
Sam gives you a smile that suggests that he's a kind, confident and tough solider that's recently gone through quite a war recently. You remember seeing fresh graves dug on the outside of the walls. "Hah! Well don't you cut an intimidating figure! I've heard of Dragonborn, but the only one I ever saw was a mysterious stranger that helped during the Siege of the Hunt and Harvest festival. Got the killing blow on a wyvern and then disappeared into the rainstorm...." "I have a test for you. Go into the sparring ring." He motions to a large patch of sand, ringed with wooden posts and heavy rope. you see a rack of varying training weapons with unsharpened and dulled blades. "When you're ready, you'll show me what you got."
"Nikolai. I apologize that you did not get the customary welcome to Haven's Cross and evaluation process but your willingness to risk yourself without much thought is inspiring. Tell me, what are you specialties? What do you bring to our guild? "I see, we had a member of your skillset for awhile actually, still do. They seem to not take much work though." "Alright. Your test is to sticky finger 5 items from 5 different people. Bring me proof and return the item. Show me what you're capable of and I'll get you enrolled. Questions?"
Samuel and the remaining guards spend the rest of the day burying their comrades, horses and dogs on the outer wall of the town before the farmland starts. He doesn't say much. "We'll take the day off from training. One of you go grab the off duty folks first think in the morning. We'll need to reassess schedules and I'd like to see if there are any families looking for work during the winter. I'd like to to pull in a dozen new guards and start training soon. There's no farmwork to be done and the able bodied could make a handsome extra living. This town has been understaffed too long." "Nikolai. I apologize that you did not get the customary welcome to Haven's Cross and evaluation process but your willingness to risk yourself without much thought is inspiring. Tell me, what are you specialties? What do you bring to our guild? "I'll also be setting up training sessions for any that wish to participate starting tomorrow morning. Let's keep ourselves sharp and warm. Not much work at the moment for guild members, some are off working their own passion projects and exploring warmer climates. Don't feel obligated to stay in town."
"Thanks Florr, glad you're glad I'm alive! Me and Pence here, we were totally unharmed by whatever that thing did. Maybe it was fate, luck, not really sure. Definitely wouldn't have traded places with any of my men though...or my dogs. I have no idea what that thing was. But it was real smart. It stayed well out of reach of us, like it wasn't taking any chances or using any more resources then it needed to. It devoured the brains of my men, then, almost begrudgingly went for my dogs and finally the horses...didn't touch anything else, then the two of them disappeared. Gonna go get digging. Grounds gonna get too hard soon."
Sam claps Guldar on the shoulder. "Hey, we're not hurt! Just our spirits a bit. Nothing like watching your comrades, dogs and horses get their brains sucked out through their noses to take the wind out of your sails. Let's bury them outside the wall, in the usual spot. It would be great if you could say a few words over the Guldar, now that you've found your light again." he grins in reassurance, grabs a few shovels from a barrel outside of Mercy's goods and heads back out.
It's not long after you leave that you run into a haggard Samuel and a guardsmen limping very slowly back to town.
"I really hope I get to be the one to kill that thing one day." he shakes his head and doesn't make eye contact. "We need to get shovels now. We're going to need to buy more horses too."
Sam refuses to touch the rope. "it's going to kill all of us if you don't leave!"
Sam is pinned under his horse. He looks at Florr. He strains under it's weight and pleads with you. "RUN! Get out of here!"
The horse budges a bit.
"Let my dogs out!" He calls to a guard, who rushes to do so.
The captain keeps running for the horses. He shouts "If you don't have a crossbow, move your asses and get on a horse! They're making a run for it!" The two with the crossbows make 2 more shots.
Samuel Wyrmshadow are running from the gates of the yard towards the temple. "There, they're on the tower sir!" shouts a guard pointing. Samuel screams "Shoot them down!" he sprints for the stables. Two guards have their crossbows ready:
One guard pulls off an amazing shot, striking the creature between his shoulder blades, he still stands but he wails an unsettling alien screech.
"So you want the orcs killed and their hideout destroyed? I must say Baron, a town of your size with 3 people in your town guard is a bit reckless don't you think? It may be worth investing a bit more into your protection! Hopefully the orcs haven't done to much damage in the last month. You sure we're not sending these five in to face an army? Just a few small bands? If that's the case I think your previous quoted price is fair, if you're covering expenses." Samuel turns to the guildmembers in the room [ooc]Assuming Thravum, Oleksandr, Olias, Ruhhk and Jorlitharr?[ooc]. "Leave before first light tomorrow. Take horses or travel by cart. If you can, move at a faster than normal pace. Orcs are like sharks, if they smell blood in the water they'll be a lot that join the fight. The longer they're raiding the larger their numbers will grow."
"Hmmm. Well, I'm not exactly sure what the parameters of the job here are. What is it you want the guild to do? Protect Blasingdell? Hunt down the orc bands? How big are the bands of orcs? Is there a town guard? Have they been killed? How things tend to work around here is you lay out a job with clear stipulations, we tell you what it will cost and then we figure out a team to go based on their skillsets and what the job requires."
Samuel and the guards charge down the stairs of the tower scooping the man up and taking him towards the temple. Samuel looks over his shoulder at the exhausted heroes. "Eat. Rest. I have a job for you. If you're interested, you'll be leaving tomorrow." The townspeople slowly poke their heads out from the door of the tower. Looking around, they survey the carnage whispering to each other.
"My dummies!"
Days 3-10: Days alternate at this point between quick warm-ups followed by sparring sessions. A fresh man always stays out and rotates in as soon as someone is defeated, giving the winner the disadvantage of fighting a more rested opponent. You find yourself fighting into an almost trancelike state of exhaustion. You’re increasingly surprised at how reflexive your movements are becoming. The amount of thought you have to exert is shrinking giving you a zenlike state allowing you to start feeling what you need to do more than thinking of what you need to do. At one point you beat 6 guardsman in a row until you face a guard that’s been training with Sam for quite a few years. He’s been on duty the last few days. The veteran guard. He’s quite a bit more difficult. You almost get a few hits to his chest but he’s able to sidestep, he blocks your spear. On the last sidestep The next few days pass, largely reviewing previous days lessons with increasing time for live sparring. More than a few times initiates are injured and need healing. A few broken hands, a jaw, more than a few broken ribs and a surprising amount of stab wounds. Everyone patches up pretty quick or spends time watching the others. Later in the week you spend a couple days practicing strikes that tend to anger and goad the opponent into losing their temper and attacking you, causing them to act and fight emotionally. It’s very useful for opening up a very defensive enemy and allowing for avenues of attack. The day before last the focus is on ways to takedown the opponent. When holding shorter weapons you learned how to shove them off balance and use footsweeps and hipthrows to take them off their feet or plant them on their backs. With longer weapons you learn to rapidly flip the butt of the weapon behind the ankle or knee of an opponent to cause them to trip. The tricky part is timing it so they’re juuuuust about to put weight on their foot but haven’t yet. The final day of the week is brutal. Samuel faces off with each of you. You’re able to stay in over 2 minutes before getting walloped upside the head with a brutal square club that reminds you of a table leg. The veteran guard stays in for almost 5. No one else stays in for more than a minute and a half. Afterwards you run while his dogs chase after. They don’t bite anyone but no one wants to get close enough to find out. You fall asleep quickly that night.
** spoiler omitted ** Days 2 and 3 Training Sessions: You do your normal warm-ups and calisthenic exercises followed by some instruction from Samuel.
"Battles are rarely won or lost due to the actions and prowess of an individual. They're won because a group of soldiers is greater than the some of their parts. The ferocity and might of a solider pales in comparison to a well trained organized force that fights as a unit. Whenever possible your attacks should seek to set up the attacks of your comrades. Attack to the head, force your enemy to block high so the solider at your side has an opening to attack the legs. Combat is timing. In the heat of battle you must be ready to call out openings to your comrades when the chaos of the field is too great. Be each others eyes and blades. You drill in groups of three. Two of you attacking one. "See the openings! See the holes! Force them into what you want!" You practice forcing the defense of your opponent to move away from the zones of attack of your partner. When a successful strike is landed you rotate duties, practicing each role. You practice attacking the enemy together, side by side and flanking. As you're taking a water break and adjusting your kit, Samuel speaks to you. "There are many times when you're not in a position to attack an enemy directly. You could have been separated from the main force, or them you. You must let your eyes and ears reach out, their reach far exceeds the reach of your weapon. A missed opportunity can be all it takes to lose a battle." Samuel splits each of you up into groups of four. Two trainees spar while the other two coach. The trainees are not allowed to make any decisions and must do exactly as they're told. It's quite slow and unwieldy at first but eventually, you start to get the hang of it. You have plenty to thing about on the last jog of the day and the next day, you repeat the same drills over and over and over and over.
My Marksmanship lessons bring all the boys to the Yard: We don't do much shooting. A few times a week we spend a few hours putting arrows towards the target, but my men mostly shoot fast volleys en masse, not so much precision shooting. Might help you get faster though.
Day 1 Training: Day 1’s Lesson: Disarming Attack
After your warm-ups, Samuel has you each pair up. He barks “Weapons were invented because they are superior to fighting without one. An enemy without a weapon is quickly dispatched or apprehended.” He proceeds to take you through a number of methods for disarming an opponent depending on your weapon and your opponents.
-Striking at the hands and wrists -Catching weapons inside your own weapons -Disarms using the assistance of handstrikes, snatches or kicks. -Setting up disarms by tricking opponents into overextending or exposing loose grips. You rotate differently armed partners getting practice using your weapon of choice to disarm a varied selection of weapons for almost an hour. You finish by playing a game of “King of the Ring”. Two trainees enter the sparring ring, the first one to be disarmed leaves the ring and gets into a line behind the others. If a trainee wins, they stay in until they lose. Afterwards you and each of the trainees take a 5 mile jog through the surrounding farmlands.
Making your way through the inner gate and into the guild yard Samuel greets you "Glad to see you made it back in one piece, you've been gone awhile. What's up with the folks at the Vineyards? Are they alright?" Seeing the looks on your faces he shakes his head. "You can go on up to Bill's. He'll want to hear all about it. He's on the fourth floor. Door on the right. Knock loudly. Be honest."
"Well, you seem like a group of adventurers that have a lot of potential. Thravum, I don't think I've seen someone that has both the stones to hope in the ring with Quara, and the skills to knock a few of her teeth out! Olias, in times such as these, with the things adventurers see, someone who keeps spirits high and inspires their comrades to new heights is often the glue that keeps a party together. Not to mention that many problems can be solved with a silver tongue, not just steel or sharp wit. Florr, you clearly have a very real and powerful connection to Valkurr. He's not a very well known god out in these parts and I don't pretend to know much about religion, but from what I know, the more people appreciate the works of a deity, the stronger and more influential that god becomes. If at this point in your journey you're able to wield his powers with such devastating effect I can only imagine what you'll be capable of once you get more experience. Your ability to live off the sea will hopefully translate to a rugged resourcefulness in living off the lands. This wilderness is quite unforgiving and I'm not sure your companions are used to fending for themselves in the outdoors. Oleksandar, your spinning of the arcane forces is already elegant and clever. There are many lost secrets and relics to find and unlock in these lost wilds. Once you've shown you're trustworthy, Old Bill Wiseman will give you access to his libraries, which are filled with all sorts of tomes and talismans he collected on his adventuring career with Lord Haven and Guldal. Usually, I'd assign each of you to groups and send you on missions but you've demonstrated that you mesh quite well together as a team and quite frankly, I'm not sure what skills sets we'll really need on the mission I want to send you on. The Deepflagons are out trying to wipe out the last of a tribe of hill Giants that have been tearing through the hinterlands to the southeast displacing a benevolent tribe of nomadic Gnolls and the adventurers that are hanging around here waiting for work seem a little one dimensional and potentially reckless for a job like this. There's a manor north of here. It takes about Four days to get there on foot. Two on horse. It's mostly a vineyard and usually they come through and sell some bottles of wine once a month at our market and pick up supplies they'll need for the month. Occasionally they'll miss a month. We haven't seen them in two. I have no idea what happened. Maybe they're fine. Maybe they were pillaged by a band of orcs. I don't know, but we need to figure it out, I got a bad feeling. 'Rubrum Grima' is the name of the manor. You'll see signs from the road. Stay on the road. Scout out what happened. The more information you can get the better, and if you're in over your head, get the hell outta there. You won't do anyone any favors if we need to send people to figure out what happened to you AND the manor. I'd recommend stopping by the general store to get supplies you'll need. It gets pretty swampy and it's getting cold. Feel free to set up tents in the yard. Try and leave by tomorrow." Sam scratches his beard. "Hope I can still grab some stew down at the Horse."
"Quite an impressive display from the two of you! (he motions to Florr and Oleksandr), but tell me Oleksandr, How were you able to tell that Billy Potter was here already?" "Olias...while I can't say I have an ear for your music, or know of a specific use we may have for it, you seem to be awfully personable and clever. Men with your skillset tend to be fast and smooth talkers and no offense to the others here, but they're not the most particularly charming. Often we need people to be diplomatic or good at influencing powerful people. I'm sure your skills will be excellent for keeping up group morale on long treks through the wilderness as well." "Thravum, a protector and enforcer is a universally useful role. This is a dangerous place and your companions will need your muscle and battle knowledge. And I'm willing to bet Quara would love the chance to box a few rounds. Not many people here enjoy fisticuffs. Our new guard initiate didn't even make her break a sweat." "Florr, I think I may regret this, but here goes." He steps up and makes a quick jab strike to your jaw with the handle of his club.
Samuel is a tall, burly, bald man with a moustache. He has a fierce intensity in his eyes but he speaks with a genuine affection. He's leaning on what looks like a square mahogany table leg, one end having been rounded and wrapped with leather to form a handle. He wears a simple unadorned breastplate and is speaking reassuringly to a very young, out of shape looking male, wearing a guard's uniform. The boy is sitting on a stool outside of a sparring ring. The boy is shaking his head, sweaty and out of breath. Samuel looks up to acknowledge you with a smile, then turns back to the boy. He finishes whatever he's was saying to him, then and looks up to you with a wide smile. "New recruits! Wonderful. Before we find you a job, we need to find out what you can do. This isn't a test. You won't be denied entry. The more creative and impressive you can be, the more skills you can show off, the better the work I'll find you. So don't just tell me about yourselves. What can you SHOW me?" |
