Fire Emblem: Call of the Abyss

[Derp53]

Following the Prince's engagement in the fray, Gale looked up and over for the attacking pegasus rider only to see an empty sky in front him. Figuring the best chance to reduce the likelihood of death was to work with another ally. Gale doubled back and noticed a woman hanging off a pegasus, her proximity to the target eliminated the chance of any spell of any spell Gale had of taking out the pegasus without the woman being hurt so he kept running.

As he was running the he saw the Dark Mage commanding Arcymis clerics into a defensive line, looking around for someone to cover him he saw Ned slipping by in the distance. Figuring Ned could probably ascertain where to strike Gale stopped and opened his tome turning page after page until the right spell presented itself. Focusing his mana, Gale raised his hand and shot the same compressed air blast that bloomed out with bone crushing force into the loose formation of clerics that resembled a defensive line blowing one off a couple of feet into unconsciousness and blasting another towards the Dark Mage, though it hadn't been intentional it was a welcome human projectile in Gale's eyes. Then as quickly as possible he slipped into a ditch for cover almost certain the Dark Mage in command had spotted him.

Spoiler:

I'm not doing anything impractical right? Because if I am don't hesitate to tell me, I'll try to correct it as fast as possible.

[Unionhack]

"You would expect me to bet the city on our duel?" The paladin asked aloud as he grabbed the visor of his helmet. "You've got spirit, I'll give you that. Very well, consider our holding on the city relinquished should you defeat me. Should you."

With that said, the paladin shut his visor and hefted his broad-tipped lance, falling into a battle stance. Knowing Daud's heavy armor would hinder his speed, the captain simply approached slowly with no intention of attacking, waiting for the heavily armored knight to attack.

Hidden:

This is all I've got time for tonight. Tune in tomorrow if I manage to find some time. Busiest week of the year starts Sunday!

[Baloth-Kul]

Daud smirked under his helmet. While choosing to wait as the paladin did held some advantages, it would also cost him some potential force behind his attack. The Estian knight charged forward, and aimed a powerful thrust at his opponent.

[MARS]

Robin

Robin had his hands full with a couple of Pegasi Riders who seemed to have their heads set on killing him no matter what. The strength and momentum of their mounts made a frontal counter-attack impossible; his arms would shatter, and dodging was difficult. He looked up at the sky, his hair fluttering in the wind. The duo was getting ready for another strike. He could already hear the Pegasus soaring downward, and the rider's lance glistened in the sun. Robin ducked slightly, ready to roll out of the Pegasus's trajectory. But where was the other one. His eyes jerked around looking but there was no time; he had to jump. He heard the whoosh of the passing rider right next to him. He got on his feet and turned, but his enemy was already too far away for him to strike.

Luckily for Robin, he had spied the other part of the Rider duo out of the corner of his eye as he was rolling. If he hadn't he would have a lance through his chest now. Instead, he ducked away at the last moment. He felt the wing of the pegasus above him and seized the opportunity, stabbing upwards. The force of the flying creature painfully yanked the sword from his hand, but it was wounded. The rider wasn't able to control it anymore, and under a series of pain-filled neighs the beautiful sky-horse landed clumsily, sending the rider reeling. There wasn't much time before his partner would react. Robin darted towards him. He was trying to get up, dizzy and staggered. Robin couldn't find his sword on the ground and so he opted to simply take his foe's weapon. He struggled, but the young Mercenary had the upper hand. He grabbed the lance with two hands and yanked the rider's arm around. He screamed and let go. Robin kicked him away and drove the tip of the spear into his visor. Robin didn't wait to see if he was dead or not; even if he wasn't, he wouldn't be getting up. He pulled the lance out and turned to face the other Rider.

Sure enough, there she was, already engaged in his furious descent. Robin gripped the spear in both hands, and threw it at his enemy once he was in range. The Mercenary ducked and sprinted away; he had spotted his sword. The spear flew in a straight arc towards the pegasus' head. The rider tried to deflect it, but only half-succeeded. The tip of the spear didn't burrow itself in his head, but it struck his mount instead. He was forced to bring it down, where it collapsed. The rider turned and began walking towards Robin, who noticed that it was actually a woman. He gripped his sword and prepared for the duel. It was his sword against her lance; things weren't in his favor. However, his opponent was used to fighting on a mount. He was a foot-soldier. He waited for her to strike; she didn't wait for him. At a safe distance she poked at him quickly. Robin jerked out of the way, the tip only narrowly missing his legs. She immideately struck again, higher this time. Robin swatted the lance away with the blunt side of his sword and tried to gain some ground. She struck at his feet, forcing him to jump back. In the end, it was Robin's lack of armor that tipped the scale for him. Once the de-mounted rider struck at his feet again he lunged, jumping on the grounded lance. The rider lost balance, giving Robin time to strike. After that it was over quickly. He wiped his sword clean on his pants and inspected the battlefield, to see where he was needed.

He noticed one of the mages casting spells at the Dark Knight up ahead; then jumping into a ditch. He seemed like he could use some help. Robin began jogging towards Gale.

[Baloth-Kul]

Hidden:

I, Baloth, am DM-Regent while Union is swamped with stuff. He's cool with it. Time to bring out the orbital cougar cannon on you all!

The two felled clerics most certainly did attract the notice of the Arcymis commander. The Dark Knight glared over at the ditch where Gale and Robin took cover. Without averting his gaze, he thrust his arm behind him and pointed at one of his subordinates. "You, on my rear. The rest of you louts, form up and clear this battlefield!" With that, the Dark Knight spurred his horse forward a few yards, flipped open a tome, and hurled a ball of flame at the Gale and Robin. Earth exploded in front of the ditch, raining dirt onto the pair. They were completely uninjured; most likely, the Arcymis commander did so to drive them out of cover. His subordinate cleric stayed behind him, ready to provide support.

The Indartian commander gave his horse a light kick as Daud neared. The beast whinnied and reared up onto its hind legs, and as it descended back onto all four, the paladin stabbed downwards at Daud. His steel lance struck home, piercing right through the knight's armour, wounding him in the belly. Daud gritted his teeth, but his attack was already in motion. The iron lance hit the paladin in the side, where his armour was weak, wounding the commander to about an equal degree. His men remained silent out of respect for the honourable duel, though there was some murmuring when their leader had been wounded.

There remained a couple of mages and a few more clerics in the Arcymis ranks, purple robes billowing as they took up new positions.

With the Indartians watching the duel, Isaac tore his gaze from them and turned about to face the Ormicans, greatest in number of those forces still battling. Overhead, Alora and another pegasus knight were locked in combat, trading lance blows and dodges. Faye, Silas, and Kasumi were all engaged with barbarians, killing down one or two. A barbarian who had raised his axe, preparing to bring it down on Kasumi, was himself brought down when Kasumi closed the distance and thrust her sword through his belly. Faye rode down another. Naomi's grip on the pegasus' harness loosened as the rider's lance jabbed down at her--not hitting its mark, but close. Cael watching this with a sour look on his face, as he drew his bowstring, trying to get a bead on the rider.

[Kerr]

Ned was fighting the Arcymis troops and saw the Dark Knight let off a spell. He checked to see if Gale and Robin had died, fortunately they hadn't. He sliced into a cleric and they fell to the ground. He then shoved his sword into their torso when they were on the ground to finish them off, last thing he wanted was one of their friends healing them.

[The SheoDovah]

Selana slowly got up from the ground and saw a big brute of a soldier in bloodied armour charging towards her with a sword. She went to cast fire at him but was blasted forward by a powerful blast of wind magic and was thrown through the air for a few seconds. She groaned after smashing into the dirt and saw a steel boot heading towards her face. She barely managed to roll out of the way and something told her to keep rolling if she didn't want to die. The brute missed her torso by a mere inch and cursed as his sword struck the ground.

She unleashed a small blast of fire at the brute but missed him. The brute easily dispatched 2 soldiers that had tried to attack him and advanced on Selana. "Just accept your death instead of prolon..." He said before bursting into flames. Selana did not cast any magic but saw a fire mage smiling in her direction.

She got up and nodded at the fire mage before watching him get beheaded by a soldier. She saw the wind mage that had floored her and was thrown backwards by his magic. She got up after hitting the ground and threw a fireball at him but the mage jumped out of the way. She accidentally killed two soldiers with the fireball. She felt something hit her in the face but the force wasn't strong enough to knock her to the ground. She knew the mage had just hit her with some wind magic and responded with her own.

It missed the mage and hit a barbarian. The barbarian turned to face her but in doing so, had made a fatal mistake and was killed by the soldier he was fighting. The wind mage picked up a sword and threw it at her then unleashed a blast of air at her. She tried to jump out of the way but the sword pierced her left shoulder and she lost her footing. She let out a cry of pain after the sword landed on the ground. She had just recieved a flesh wound to her shoulder and knew that she had to get out of the battle soon in order to treat her wound.

"I was once told fire beats wind." The mage said as he walked towards her and threw any soldier that got near him to the ground with wind magic. "Looks like they are wrong." He said as Selana tried to conjure up some flames but the pain caused by her wound was preventing her from doing so. The mage stepped on her injured shoulder and Selana let out a long painful scream. The mage smiled as he caused her pain and seemed to want to prolong her suffering.

The mage was killed by a stray ice spike a second later and Selana knew her role in the battle was over. She was in great pain and knew that she could not cast any magic untill she had her shoulder treated.

Hidden:

Made some changes as advised by the Cougar fearing Baloth.

[Baloth-Kul]

The duel between Daud and the paladin continued. Not wanting to waste any opportunity, the Indartian commander quickly wheeled his horse about, away from the knight, and spurred a quick charge. Daud barely had time to raise his lance as he was struck. The steel lance pierced his armour, and painfully gashed into his flesh. The knight gasped as it hit him; he thought he felt a rib or two break under the impact. He didn't merely stand there, however, as his lance caught the paladin under the shoulder. The blow was solid, almost knocking him right out of the saddle. The Indartian commander grunted as blood dripped out from his armour. Both were quite badly wounded, and it was likely that the next blow to fall would be fatal.

[Derp53]

Spoiler:

Since my prior post was eaten up somehow I'll retype it.

Gale covered his head with his arms and curled up as the fire blast rained hot rocks and dirt on his arms, shredding his sleeves and lacerating his forearms. As the rain of rock subsided he rolled out again and put his cover between him and the flanking mages tome at the ready and concentration burning in his eyes, clutching his book of spells tightly Gale fired off a massive chest high wave of razor edged air at everything to the front and sides of him leaving a clear space for Robin to run in. As the spell went off Gale looked back at Robin "Keep an eye on the flank! If anyone gets past my spell I'm screwed!" Gale also hoped his tempering of the spell to not hit Ned wouldn't doom him to the Dark Mage's horse, but anything was possible.

[Baloth-Kul]

Hidden:

Uh, I'd said it hadn't hurt you--it was really only to let you know that you'd been engaged by the DK--but if you want to have been hurt, then okay

Two mages were sliced repeatedly by the sharp winds, collapsed to their knees, and fell to the ground, bleeding out. Another was battered and bleeding, but still alive. Two clerics were behind him, and one raised his staff and said a few words unheard by the Estian party; the mage was healed, and seemed reinvigorated. The Dark Knight, who was only lightly wounded by the broad attack, looked to be preparing another spell, and his cleric was behind him, on standby.

Hidden:

Arcymis forces left; one mage, three clerics, and the Dark Knight. Surely, if you kill the mage and DK, any surviving clerics will surrender or flee. ...In the games, they just stand there and take the beatings they get. Usually a good way to train your rookie units. Heheh.

Y'can probably take them if you all attack, but I'll save the Dark Knight's reply to that for after another reply by Kerr and/or Mars, and/or whoever posts, fighting the remaining few Arcymis dudes.

There are still a bunch of barbarians and pegasus knights, though! And Naomi is still hanging off the side of a pegasus. XD

[Derp53]

Gale ducked back behind cover and took a breath "Damn, that healer has to go or he's just going to keep healing that Dark Mage." Taking a quick peak, he shot off a quick sharp blast of air meant to shatter the ribs of the target and exhaled in relief as he heard the sound of bones crunching in the direction of the blast. He then looked for Ned or Robin, Gale didn't possess the same chivalry as Daud and he was going to need some help against the superior numbers.

[The SheoDovah]

Selana placed her right hand on her injured left shoulder and knew the cut was deep but it wasn't deep enough to put her life at risk if she got it treated soon. The only risk it posed to her was blood loss. She could feel her blood slowly making it way down her sleeve and struggled to walk as a result of the pain. Tears were starting to form around her eyes and she was not paying attention to her surrondings. She knew she had to get to the healers as soon as possible to avoid dying from blood loss and she knew that the longer it took, the more danger she would be in. She tried to apply some pressure on her wound but it only increased her pain. She continued to walk without paying any attention towards the prince's side of the battlefield.

[Kerr]

Ned made his way over to Gale, sword still drawn in a defensive posture. "Just charging the troops seems like a bad idea with the Dark Knight there, have to make sure there's no clerics left before we go after him. Take him out though, the mages that are left might scamper." said Ned to his ally.

[Derp53]

Gale nodded in agreement, his main desire was to kill the Dark Knight "It might be smart try and get them separated, if we can get the clerics away from the Dark Mage and someone with more rapid attacks can finish them, I can engage the Dark Knight and cripple his horse. From there if he breaks his leg under the Horse's weight I can drain the life right out of him." Gale pulled out his tome of Nosferatu, his desire to drain the life from a living person showed in his eyes with the same enthusiasm in which Daud would have charged into battle.

[Unionhack]

Hidden:

Time to be a DM again!

Daud

The paladin, badly wounded by the duel, knew that he was wrong to bet the city on his overconfidence in battle. He would answer for this if he lived, win or lose.

To him, that still meant he had to win, no matter what.

"For Indartis!" he shouted despite the pain; he trotted his horse back and rushed at Daud, giving the knight a brief moment to do whatever he could to retaliate.

Gale, Ned, Robin

The Dark Knight in command of the Arcymis forces was growing increasingly stressed by his force's failing position in the battle. It didn't help that his personal cleric just got blasted away; others were nearby, but would need to rush to him in a pinch. He could rely on his own skills, he thought, and focused another blast of Elfire at the mound protecting Gale and the others.

The fire hit the mound, which still held. A shower of sparks rained over the heads of those hiding behind the mound, and it didn't look like their makeshift barrier would last much longer.

Selana, Isaac, Cael

Isaac, still worried about Naomi's situation, was even more startled when Selana came close in her badly injured state. "Duncan, handle Selana!" he shouted, swishing his rapier and deftly slashing a barbarian in the neck.

"At once!" Duncan shouted, swishing his staff in the air and dispelling a soft light on Selana. Her more serious wounds began to close and her vitals stabilized, but she was still incapacitated and unable to fight further, Luckily for her, the battle seemed to be reaching an end, with the Ormicans being the only ones putting up any real resitance now that the other two forces were distracted or otherwise occupied.

Cael, on the other hand, was focusing on Naomi, who was fighting for her life by avoiding the lance of the pegasus knight and trying to retain her hold at the same time. The archer on the ground let loose his arrow, clipping the pegasus rider but doing no real damage. Cursing himself, Cael nocked another arrow and took aim again.

Desperate, Naomi used her free hand to make a grab at her sword, grabbing it and drawing it. She then proceeded to slash upwards, slicing into the pegasus. The resulting flinch from the beast made the thief drop her sword in order to use both hands to hold on to her precarious position.

[Baloth-Kul]

Daud knew the next blow would be fatal, be it his or his enemy's. He caught his breath, just in time to shout his own cry. "For Esteos!" With energy he didn't know he had, he spun his lance around thrice over and thrust forward with all the strength he could muster.

[Kerr]

"Damn it." muttered Ned as he was almost blown away. He looked at Gale, he was readying himself to run out and attack. Ned found Gale's desire to drain the life out of the Dark Knight to be a little creepy but if it was efficient he didn't really care. "Alright, I'll handle the clerics, keep them focused on me and make sure they can't heal him, just make sure you get rid of the Dark Knight." With that Ned ran out from cover set about plunging his blade into the cleric closest to him.

[The SheoDovah]

Selana started to struggle to keep her eyes open as she saw Issac's men whilst stumbling towards them. She had no idea where she was walking and by sheer luck, she hadn't met the end of a sword. She was losing a fair amount of blood and her robes were stained with her very life force. She was in great pain and was beyond screaming out. She stumbled forward and felt something embrace her. Her shoulder knitted itself back together and she felt the pain disappear. Her eyes were becoming lighter and she saw the Prince. "Thank you." She called out to him as she clutched her shoulder. It was very sore and all of her magic had been disrupted by her pain. She was in no condition to cast a spell and needed to rest to help her body replace the blood it lost. She walked past Issac and attempted to increase the distance between her and her likely death.

[Derp53]

Gale nodded and stepped out wind tome in hand, with a gaze that called for the Dark Mage's personal attention he nonchalantly flipped through his tome stopped at a satisfactory spell. The spell that howled forward was an enveloping wall of air that wrapped about five feet from the sides of the Dark Mage's horse leaving enough room for the rider to comfortably move his legs but hem in the horse. the front wall was as sharp as an iron sword and seemed more designed to kill the horse than the rider.

[MARS]

Dark Night | Robin

Robin picked up the pace as soon as he realized that the Dark Knight was pressing his attack. He sprinted and slid into the mound just as the fire hit it. He covered his head with his arm to protect it from the sparks. There wasn't much time for talking or strategizing, so he simply relayed his plan to Gale and Daud, hoping they'd follow it without hesitating.

"We're pinned. I'm getting out to draw his fire, then you advance. If he turns to you I'll go in for the strike instead!" He got up and darted out of the mound, openly taunting the mounted spellcaster. If he couldn't dodge he, or at least part of him would be toast, but oh well. Whatever happens, happens.

[Baloth-Kul]

Hidden:

Union is again, temporarily, busy, so I shall make at least one DM post on his behalf.

The Dark Knight's horse whinnied once, briefly, as Gale's winds slashed into its head and killed the creature. The spellcaster fell from his horse--only very lightly injured, though now more angry than ever. "You little [&@%!], playing at war!" He flipped open his tome and sent an Elwind at the exposed mercenary, which painfully cut at Robin's arms and chest.

The two remaining clerics backed anxiously away from Ned, likely to soon flee. The one remaining mage stepped forward, brandishing his tome and seemingly preparing to attack.

One lance struck its mark, and one fell short; Daud's landed in the chest of the Indartian commander. The paladin swayed in his saddle. "I give my life for my...country..." He fell from his horse, dead. Daud gasped in shock and in pain, and grabbed at the opening in his armour. He stumbled forward a bit, and grabbed the reins of the fallen commander's horse as support, smearing a bit of his own blood on the horse's flank in the process. The Indartian soldiers looked crestfallen, and a few began to reluctantly leave the battlefield. A few approached Daud, but did not draw weapons. "We would take our captain's body, show him the respect he deserves." Daud nodded as he continued to breathe heavily, and the soldiers began carrying the commander's body away, as well as those of their fallen comrades.

Hidden:

Basically the Dark Knight and one mage left to kill, plus some barbarians and pegasi. Time to clean house, people.

[Derp53]

Gale wished Robin had asked him what the plan was but it was too late do anything but cover him, turning his attention back to the Dark Mage he nodded in disapproval of man's anger "Playing at war? I've seen puppies that have more bite than you!" Eager for the satisfaction that comes from victory Gale launched another spell. This time however the wall of razor sharp air did not envelop, it was simply a large wall of air moving at bone crunching speed that happened to be razor sharp.

[Rook]

Tristan reined his horse into a walk, and offered his hand down to Selana. "Up, mage. And be quick about it."

[The SheoDovah]

"Thank you." Selana accepted Tristan's hand and was starting to feel a bit exhausted as a result of her ordeal.

[Rook]

Tristan hoisted Selana up behind him. His horse shifted under the unexpected burden, but she steadied and broke into a fresh trot away from the engagement.

"Where do you wish to go?" Tristan asked, glancing behind him, "I should return to the battlefield as soon as possible."

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