The Tiran Wars: Liberty, at all Costs

[DeletedUser28032]

"I say we go to Jehenna...." Mei spoke as she returned to join the others, drying her hands on a piece of rag she had found "...if we are to battle blood mages then i will need access to the tower of magi...I tried asking our friend but he refuses to speak to me" Mei had tried asking teh mage several simple questions such as what his name was or where did he live only to receive the same fearful silence, obvioulsy he was too far gone for simple kindness to work anymore.
"The only problem I can see is moving the mage...I've stopped the worst of the bleeding but I have no knowledge of how to set bones" she explained, trying her best not to look at Ral she didn't want him to think she was acusing him of anything he seemed to be a nice person and the look she had seen on his face was not one of a sadist.
"as for supplies I passed a village a few mile east of here before i joined up with the army perhaps we cou;d find some of what we need there?"

 

[DeletedUser]

Ral waited a long moment, gauging his companions response to the vote. He waited for others to give their opinions, but none came forth to offer their insight. Nodding, Ral spoke "Then it is decided, we shall go to Jehenna."

Ral looked over to where the blood mage was tied once again to the supports of a tent. He pondered over what to do with him. Ral couldn't bring himself to kill the mage, but if left alive the blood mage would be nothing but trouble for he and his. As he sat, looking deeply into the fire, his mind ran backwards in time, to his training once more. He remembered, with great clarity, the day he was taught how to keep a mage as a prisoner.

Magi needed their hands to work their spells, they also needed the ability to speak and enunciate, otherwise their latent powers would be worthless. Ral looked around the campfire, then at Joshua and Mei. "I see but one option." Ral said, taking his sheathed sword from where Alexandria had leaned it against the log they sat upon "The blood mage cannot be allowed to work his magic. That we agree on. The only thing we can do to make sure he cannot is to take off his hands. Mei, if we do this, will you be able to keep him alive?"

Once more, Ral shivered in his mail, but it all he could think of at this moment.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Joshua could barely restrain the grin that threatened to break out on his face. It seemed that his luck was finally turning...they were going to liberate his homeland. He was concerned about what revelations his homecoming would bring, but any cost was worth saving Jehanna from political uprising. His internal jubilations were cut short by Ral's suggestion that they cut off the mage's hands. "What?" he exclaimed. "That is...kist...I don't know the word for it. What is...something against the nature of civilization? It is that. There must be an alternative. There has to be." While he knew the mage was an enemy, the permanent removal of his hands was...inconceivable.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"Barbaric" Mei supplied helpfully, a look of embarassment crossing her face as the others turned to look at her "I...I speak a couple of languages" she stammered in response to the curious looks she was receiving from the others making her feel ever more self conscious.
She didn't normally display her talents, other than her magic of course, preferring to keep them to herself lest she be acussed of showing off.
"I may have an alternative to removing his hand..." she said quickly returning to the original subject "Earlier i gave him a draught in order to ease the pain.....If i was to increase the dosage it would send him into temporary coma, preventing him from casting" the thought of removing one of his limbs had sent a shiver down her spine, she'd already spent the better part of an hour covered in his blood as she had tried to repair the damage wrought to his body, the thought of having to deal with yet more blood made her empty stomach lurch at the prospect.
"If you want i can start mixing up another draught....i should have enough ingredients left...also i will need someone to help me splint his arm I am afraid its a little beyond my abilities"

 

[DeletedUser]

Thorin spoke up; "i think Ral has the right idea. fight fire with fire. it's the safest option. making a draught several times a day will only hinder us."
he continued chewing on the small rodent that he had roasted on the fire, waiting for the others to reply.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Joshua shook his head emphatically. "No. If we do this we are no better than the ones from which we are trying to free ourselves. I support Mei's plan. However," he added with an apologetic glance at Mei, "I don't think you quite have a firm grasp of my language. Barbaric was the word I was looking for, but the Jehannen equivalent would be 'Krantatlak'. Remember, Jehannen is all about smooth, almost lyrical sounding words. The more rugged, the worse of a word it is. By extension, the longer a word is, the less severe it is. Thus, 'Kist' is far worse than 'Krantatlak', as the bit 'rantatla' is by itself not ugly. To be barbaric is awful, I'm not trying to say it isn't. However, in our culture, it's hardly the worst thing to be."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Mei blushed slightly as she remebered why she didn't normally show off her talents...the fear of getting it wrong and looking foolish "Sorry...I...I've only ever seen it written down so my pronunciation is a little....off" she said apologising for her gramatical slip before quickly changing the topic back to the mage before she could make herself seem even more foolish " Anyway Joshua's right removing a limb is seriously bad karma where i come from and t may not be as effective as you believe my master told me tales of magi who learnt to cast without the use of a limb at least with a draught we have some control over it....besides which he'll require carrying anyway" she said casually, thankful that for once her dimunitive stature would work in her favour for a change.
Pulling the Mortar and pestle from out of her bag Mei set about grinding the last of her ingredients together, mixing the dry powdered mix with the foul smelling whiskey she'd found earlier. She would need the draught even if they decided to go for the more drastic approach to act as a seditive as she stitched the wound back together.
With the draught mixed and poured into a small clay bottle Mei rose to her feet once more "Joshua could you help me set the magi's arm? perhaps you could tell me more of your homeland while we work?"

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Joshua got to his feet. "I'd be glad to help, Mei." he replied to the friendly mage. When they approached the magi, Joshua hesitated for a moment, then said, "I just wanted to say that the mistake you made with my language wasn't large. It takes years to become a master at anything, and a language is intricately complicated. Don't let it get to you, alright?" he ended with a half-smile. So saying, he knelt next to the unconscious mage. "So, what do you want to know about Jehanna?"

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Mei paused in the process of splinting the magi's arm as she considered the question "Everything....I guess..." Mei had spent her entire life in a small village up in the mountains, isolated from the rest of the kingdom and so knew little of other lands and its people. She remembered how a wandering storyteller used to pass through her village and tell the children tales of far away lands, valiant knights and mystical enchantress' who fought evil wizards and dragons, Mei giggled to herself as she realised that she had fallen into her own fairy story, admittedly ther were no handsome knights and she was hardly a beautiful enchantress but all the same she did appreciate the similarities.
Biting her lip to stop the giggling Mei composed herself as she saw the confused look upon Joshua's face "Sorry....just a private joke....Tell me of this hall we are to seek and the queen, is she beautiful?" she asked as the two of them splinted the magi's broken arm to a piece of wood they had found nearby, his face scrunching up in pain despite the sleep brought on by the draught she had given him earlier, though in her oppinion he deserved more than a little pain but she decided to leave his punishment to fate and karma.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Joshua smiled, the action seeming slightly sad. "It's just as well that you're asking me, as I worked in Jehanna Hall for a while. It lies in the middle of the desert that composes much of Jehanna. It is not in the capital city, but it is near it, at a well disguised Oasis. It's shaped like a truncated pyramid...in essence a triangle with the top missing, and made of stone. The interior is plainly decorated compared to other castles and the like, but it is keeping in the tradition of our land. Everything has a function, and there is little ornament that doesn't provide some purpose. The throne room is a lot more ornate than the rest of the building, as that is where our ruler sits, and they should be honored."
He hesitated for a minute, then continued. "Queen Ismaire...she is most certainly beautiful, and well loved at that. The people call her, "The Queen of the White Dunes," as we have never had any sort of bloodshed that was not absolutely necessary during her reign...although that would have changed with the Magi taking over. She has long red hair...similar to mine, actually. Her face is proud, and yet she is gentle and understanding." Joshua stopped working on the magi for a moment, lost in thought. "I haven't been in the Hall for a long time now...and yet I still remember it all clearly..." he shook off whatever it was he was thinking and asked, "What else do you wish to know?"

 

[DeletedUser28032]

The magi's eyes shot open as the audible crack of broken bones sliding back into place filled the tiny room, the palm of Mei's left hand glowed in anticipation of any potential trouble only to subside once the magi drifted back to sleep, leaving Mei feeling somewhat relieved even injured the magi would be a dangerous opponent for her to tackle.
Breathing a sigh of relief Mei turned attention back to Joshua, the swordsman seemed so unlike the other warriors she had met, an enigma so to speak and yet something about him made her trust him "When we get to Jehenna could you take me to the tower of Magi? once inside i would be able to complete my training...it may also hold the answers for combating blood magic" she spoke lowering her voice as she finished tying the last knot about the crudly fashioned splint, covering her mouth to stiffle a yawn "I should get some sleep, its a long way to Jehenna" she said with a smile before rising off of the cold stone floor and heading for the main chamber where she intended to sleep and dream of the faraway lands that she would soon be visiting.

 

[DeletedUser]

Ral yawned loudly, stretching his arms out towards the fire. It had been a long day, emotional, life changing and violent. It was time for sleep, he told himself, gently brushing a hand over the bard's shoulder and nodding towards one of the many tents that sat empty now that Lucas was gone.

Ral sighed sadly, as he stood. With Lucas gone, it fell to he and his companions to lead the rebellion and they were starting by abandoning the forces they have left in Tiran. It left a bad taste in his mouth, but he was no commander, it had been a fair vote and the, even now, warring factions of Lucas's ragtag rebellion had made it plain that they stood alone. It was the only prudent option, to go and liberate the Swordsman's homeland, it was obvious he was something other than what he let on, but Ral knew not what.

Pushing the tent flap aside, Ral took his sword from his hip and laid it against the side of a double wide cot. Stripping down to his leggings, he took a blanket from a side table and laid down. It was not long before Alexandria joined him and he drifted off to sleep.
___________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, the companions stood around the remnants of the campfire. They checked their weapons one last time before the journey. Spirits were high, given the circumstances.

The blood mage was in a drugged stupor, Ral still favored cutting his hands off, but the flask Mei forced him to drink from every hour or so kept him in a stupid state of mind.

It was then, as the companions readied themselves to move out, that there was a great battle cry from outside the cave. Swords, axes and spears were pounded against shields, as a big group of men came streaming in the mouth of the cave. It was obvious by the beards and rough weaponry that these men were not Tiran soldiers.

 

[DeletedUser]

Thorin watched as the horde of men entered the cave, they were all bearded, wearing rough leather armour and carrying battleworn weapons. they looked much like the Leuktran, a tribe from the north-east who had aided the orcs in the war against the people of the north. but why were they here? surely the war in Tiran was of no concern to them?
but those questions could be answered later, if they were Leuktran, then there was a feud to settle.
Thorin raised his axe and charged at the warriors, whirling his axe above his head.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Today was the day...today they would set out to liberate Jehanna. Joshua was having a hard time not grinning like an idiot, but was still smiling slightly all the same. It was right before they were ready to leave when the warriors came running in. They weren't Tiran soldiers, and in fact he couldn't figure out where they had come from. Drawing Audhulma in case of someone charging at him, he attempted a diplomatic approach. "For what reason are you attacking us???" he yelled. No answer had yet come when Thorin charged the oncoming fighters. Sighing and knowing that now there was no chance of a diplomatic solution, he merely prepared for the first person to attack him.

 

[DeletedUser]

Ral had been standing beside the fire, warming his hands one last time before setting off into the chill morning air. His sword was still sitting beisde Alexandria, who was just now waking up in the tent. He hadn't seen any reason to buckle it on, there was no danger from Tiran and he hadn't expected treachery from the rebels, whom they were sort of default members of.

As a result, when the rebels appeared at the mouth of the cave Ral looked furiously around for a weapon, before seeing a round metal shield sitting on the ground, probably a weapon left by Lucas or one of his guards. Ral reached over and took it, lifting it up in front of him just in time for a huge man with a hatchet to barrel right into him. Ral lifted with his legs as the man impacted his shield and threw the man off of his feet. As the man crashed to the floor, Ral braced his right arm with his left and smashed down with the side of the shield, breaking the man's exposed windpipe.

A few of their attackers pulled crossbows from their backs and took up positions behind rocks to fire into the crowd. They would have decimated the companions, had it not been for the wall of their own men standing between the archers and their prey. A few of the attackers holding crossbows went down, an arrows impacting them hard, the others simply knelt down and fired their crossbows blindly.

Ral looked around for his next opponent. Many of his friends were fighting multiple enemies at once, they held their own. Ral decided that he needed to get his sword, so he turned, to see one of the huge attackers open the tent flap to his tent. Ral's sword, Justice, came out, point first and speared the man through the eye, he fell backwards, taking the sword with him, as he fell to the ground. In order to get his sword from the rebel's skull, he had to brace a foot on the corpse's nose and pull backwards, while pushing down with his foot.

His sword came free and Ral looked at the tent, Alexandria had bellied down and take up her bow. She lay in the shadows inside the tent and held her bow steadied upon the chest of one of the crossbowman, who fell back when hit with her arrow. Ral smiled and nodded at her, before turning back to the fight.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Joshua was in a tight spot, but it thankfully wasn't the tightest he'd been in. He'd accidentally fallen for a distraction by one of the soldiers, and now he was surrounded by five of them. The only good thing he could find was that all of them were wielding axes, and ever since he and Caellach had been a part of the same mercenary group he had taken care to know how to fight axes. He turned in a slow circle, waiting for his opportunity, when one of them suddenly was struck down by an arrow. Alexandria had apparently joined the fight.

Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, Joshua stabbed the man he was facing, then backflipped to dodge the counterstrike from the man behind him, spinning as he landed to slice through his stomach. He turned to face the other two, but changed his mind as he saw that some of the crossbow wielders were aiming at Alexandria, and launched himself at them instead while they were distracted.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Mei had awoken early so as to prepare the blood mage for travel, pouring a small cup full of the draught through his swollen lips sending him deep into a coma, he would require another dose at nightfall but for now they were safe from the mages abilities.
Crouched in the same small chamber with the pool that he had been interogated in, Mei was gathering up the last of her things after checking his injuries when a blood curdling cry echoed down the short passage behind, followed by the clashing of steel, they were under attack.
Clutching her bag fearfully Mei struggled between her fear of the unknown assailants and the desire to help her new friends.
A bellowing voice from down the tunnel broke the spell over her just as the bearded warrior burst into the room, a large boar spear gripped tightly in his large hands as he came towards her. Without even thinking Mei sidestepped the spear thrust, the chamber far too small to wield the cumbersome weapon effectivly, and scraped her boot down his instep before driving the edge of her hand into his exposed throat. Dropping his spear the warrior clutched at his throat gasping for breath, a furious gaze fixed on the young mage.
Realising that she hadn't hit her attacker hard enough and that he would recover any second now, Mei quickly started whispering an incantation causing the ice cold water of the pool to bubble and froth behind her. Meanwhile the warrior having recovered his breath drew his short sword and began to advance on her, an evil grin spreading across his heavily scarred face only to stop in horror as the giant tentacle of water erupted from the surface of the pool, dropping his sword he turned to run but it was too late as the tentacle leapt out and grabbed him about his middle and proceeded to drag him into the pool, his fingertips scrabbling for purchase on the stone floor of the chamber and finding none.
Mei physically slumped as the tentacle and its victim disappeared into the pool with one final terrified scream, the unfamilar spell leaving her dizzy as she leant against the caves wall for support.
Outside the sounds of battle still raged on, taking several deep breaths Mei made her way into the main chamber where her friends were currently fighting, any previous thoughts of hiding had long since disappeared.

 

[DeletedUser]

Ral turned from Alexandria, smiling after seeing she was safe. Luckily, he turned in time for the metal shield he'd picked up to absorb a pair of crossbow bolts that would have impaled him. The bolts impacted his shield with enough force to make him stagger backwards momentarily, painfully twisting his wrist inside the shield. As he regained his balance, he noted that he and his companions had killed many of the guerrillas and that the surviving members were forming up, assuming a more defensive posture.

Looking around, Ral noted his friends all still stood, Joshua, Thorin, Mei and Alexandria still drew breath. It was obvious to Ral now, these men were some of their supposed allies, one of the remaining generals wanted to take control of the Blood Mage for himself. The Blood Mage assured the owner's political powers, a living practitioner of forbidden magics, and one who could implicate the nation of Tiran in the use and encouragement of it's powers. The person who controlled the Mage could summon an army under his control and Ral wouldn't be surprised if all three of the generals put troops into this attack.

One of the guerrillas was slow in making his way back to his friends. Ral cut him down, Justice passed through both of the man's legs as if they were made of paper. The rebel fell to the ground screaming, crimson gushed from his bloody nubs. Turning, Ral stabbed down with a merciful strike that ended the cripple's life.

Ral his behind his shield, as he moved closer to his allies. He bumped into Joshua first. Glancing over, Ral called out "We need to break up their defenses. Any ideas, swordsman?"

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Joshua had been able to get to the crossbow wielders with little resistance, as their attention was focused on Alexandria and Mei, who were attacking from the rear. He was able to cut down five of them before anyone noticed what he was doing. However, the attention swiveled around to him as the alarm sounded. He quickly danced out of point blank range and ducked behind another rebel, killing him before he could react and using him as a shield for the crossbow bolts that came hissing through the air to kill him. Noticing that the remaining enemy were beginning to make a tactical defense, he dropped the corpse and killed a few more from behind as they retreated, changing directions constantly to make it extremely difficult to aim at him with the crossbows. Several times an arrow would take out a guerilla attempting to sneak up from behind. Twice a blast of magic seared past him, and once Thorin took out two guerillas at once with his mighty axe who would otherwise have trapped him.

It was during this process of ducking and weaving that Ral approached him and asked what plans he could formulate to cut through the remaining guerillas. Ducking behind a nearby rock outcrop, Joshua grinned at the nobleman. He was breathing almost regularly, such was his endurance, trained through harsh desert conditions and constant practice. "Well mate, I could try using Audhulma's magic properties...it's never worked before, but who knows? Maybe Lady Luck will smile on me this time." So saying, he stepped out from behind the outcrop and spun around, ending in a crouched stance. He hesitated, then shook his head and jumped back to cover. "Nothing. I think I know what the problem is, but there's nothing I can do at this time." The increase in his accent's heaviness was the only betrayal of his frustration.

He looked around to see everyone had taken cover for the moment, Mei and Alexandria holding the guerillas at bay for the time being. "We can't last much longer in this Kraem cave...Sooner or later one of those crossbows is going to find a target...our luck may be good, but not that good. We need to open a channel...if someone can rid a column of the armored soldiers I can probably run through the gap and take out the rest of the crossbows...once we take them out we should be able to route the rest of them. Sound good?"

 

[DeletedUser]

"You need somebody to clear a path for you? be my guest." Thorin replied as his axe thudded into the face of another soldier.
pulling out his axe he roared and charged into the centre of the enemy, Thorin fought like an animal, his axe whirled around him as he hacked his way through. within a few minutes Thorin was drenched in blood, and there were several crossbow bolts embedded into the shield that hung on his back, but he had managed to clear a small passageway, and was fighting to keep it open.
"If you're going to do something, do it now." Thorin growled.