Death to Agasaria!

Calanthe glanced at the doe woman as she turned away, clearly wanting to stay. No point wasting time convincing her otherwise. She turned back and rode past the odd digging man, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and plopping him down on a fresh horse that had belonged to a bandit. In one fluid movement, she slapped the horse on the rear and watched it take off at a gallop. Now they were all moving at the same pace, she thought with a slight nod. To what, she wasn't sure. She was traveling with a politician, a Dwarf, and a man who confused her at best. This was going to be interesting.

[HAPPY NOW?! xD]
 
I rode, swiftly, possibly wearing the horse out completely, but I was oblivious to it. The journey was a silent one, as I neither heard nor spoke. I had one goal, one purpose, and pleasantries had long since been tossed out. I scanned the thin woods to east, and did not see anything of note, though no army would be stupid enough to hide in shallow woods this close to a road, not if they wanted to keep the element of surprise. Soon, the forest was completely gone, and I knew we were getting close to the city of Arimasnu, but then I heard it: The sounds of war. "God above...not this soon..." I said, and then kicked the tired horse as fast as it would go, and upon getting to the top of the hill, I was met with the horror in the valley below.

The city of Arimasnu was under siege, and it was losing. The city's walls, once five stories high and made of polished granite, were cracking with each stone or steel ball hurled at them. The enemy had ladders at the walls, and were on the battlements, the standard city defenders too ill equipped to fight against the professional army of Tarvanna. The gate screeched and fell, right before out eyes, and the Tarvannan infantry poured in, easily cutting down or trampling the lightly armored City Guard. "There must be over three legions here...Why would the crown not send reinforcements? Damn it Kilvan!" I shouted, cursing the emperor's ill-advised decision. I turned back to the other companions, my expression hard. "Well? Anyone got any brilliant ideas or troops they'd like to pull out of their asses?"
 
Rashid bit back a curse, there was a lot more then she thought and they were not robbers, these are soldiers. She knew she could call her other hillsman but she did not know how much she wanted to risk her peoples lives for people who did not care for them in the least and usually dismissed them. She looked back at the company she parted with and then at the path ahead of her trying to decide what to do.
 
Yorik kept close with the crowd of Agasarians. Strangely he didn't feel like he fit in at all, everyone here was so armored and strong or possessed some sort of magic. What did he have? He only has a shovel and a lantern. Surely he could dig something for his new comrades later in time as it seems they were quite fine with things right now, on the path to Arimasnu. The sounds of clashing and yelling were heard as Yorik joined the diplomat at the top of the hill. It looked like a bloody massacre down there, everything was being destroyed, men were falling and it was just so painful to think of how many holes he was going to have to dig for the dead bodies. The diplomat was enraged by all of this, Yorik wanted to help but he wasn't sure exactly how.

An idea came to mind, something that might be able to give them a chance in this attack. Yorik walked down the hill with his shovel dragging behind, growing closer to the Tarvannan infantry, they probably thought he was insane for doing this. Was he going to give his life up like that? Stopping for just a moment, he clutched his shovel with both hands and raised it over his head. The soft glowing red eyes of his glowing brighter as he yelled out a word. "RISE!" The ground below Yorik began to shake as hands erupted from below, attached to bodies. They certainly were human at one point, but they were rotted corpses now. There had to be at least a hundred of them, they stood still until given a command. Yorik pointed his shovel at the Tarvannan infantry and the army of the dead began to charge forth leaping and attacking anything that represented Tarvanna.
 
I blinked in surprise, to shocked to speak for a moment, and then shook my head. "Tell your ass I appreciate it's work. Now let's get into Arimasnu while the enemy is overwhelmed by those...things..." I said, watching the reanimated corpses attack the Tarvannan army. They were't overly smart, but they attacked and fought with enough rage and speed to be a severe concern from the back, as the army was now under attack from two fronts. Combine that with the fact that these new reinforcements didn't seem to be killed by any mortal weapon, a few travelers wouldn't be worth notice at this point. I turned to the dwarf, who had been quiet for some time. "I'm afraid we'll be needing to keep your carriage here. It draws too much attention, and I'm sure we've long since been spotted. Calanthe, let's get going! Time is of the essence!" I said, and kicked my horse to a gallop as I rode toward the grave'sman with an outstretched hand, ready to haul him onto the horse and ride off to the lighter sieged Western Gate.
 
Yorik watched as his army of corpses did work on the Tarvannan army. That would keep them occupied long enough for their group to make it into Arimasnu, and do whatever they needed to do. He finally felt useful, felt like he could contribute something to the team that the other members didn't seem to possess. The smile forming on his face as he lowered his shovel back down below his head and sighed with happiness. He heard the galloping horse behind with the man stretching out his hand, Yorik extended his own hand out to him, swinging in momentum up onto the back of the horse.
 
Calanthe was silent, having an ongoing conversation with her mount as the poor horse told her about the awful treatment it had suffered at the hands of the bandits. It was upsetting to hear that they apparently held no love for the beasts that carried them around all the time, but it was hardly surprising. The 'good guys' weren't all that different, she mused, watching Rokku ride his horse hard. It wasn't his fault, of course, but even from here she could hear the amusing complaints of his mount. Her attentions wandered as she gazed down into the valley and watched as Arimasnu was attacked. A faint frown crossed her features and she eyed the walls, then turned to Rokku as he asked for a brilliant idea.


"I can get rid of the enemy for you, if that is your desire, Lord Rokku," she offered in a calm tone, not caring if he wanted her to or not. This was not her battle and did not affect her people, but she would volunteer her services - she was never one to turn down a good fight. She watched as the digging man stepped forward instead and called forth an army of the dead. Interesting choice. He was fascinating, she decided, and looked him over for a few moments before looking back at Rokku as he spoke her name. Time.. Well, no point in wasting it.


As soon as Yorik was on Rokku's horse, a soft pulse of energy radiated from Calanthe. The three of them, along with the Dwarf and their three horses, all vanished from sight and appeared at the exact same time in the heart of Arimasnu. She would have dropped them at their destination a little more precisely, but Rokku's thoughts were too vague for her to pull it from his mind and she didn't have a personal knowledge of the tunnel they were seeking.


"I believe we just purchased more time, Lord Rokku."
 
It took some time to readjust my eyes after the world seemed to shimmer and then regroup itself. I looked around in shock to see that we were within the city walls, and then turned to Calanthe to hear her words. I nodded at her, and then returned to position to focus on the task at hand. It sounded like the undead soldiers from Yorik had been dealt with, and the Tarvannan army's attention has returned to battering down the front gates of the city, and judging from the sound of iron slamming against iron, that wouldn't be much longer. "Alright, our job now is to get to the Iron horse, which is no doubt packing full of refugees. The center of the city is that way." I said, pointing to the east, where a mob of people could be seen in the distance. "I hate to have to do this, but we'll need to push our way through to the train. I don't think I have to reiterate how important it is that we get back to Musari, and if we have to skin a few knees in the process....nevermind. Just get to the tunnel, and we'll deal with everything from there." Was all I said, and then dismounted the horse, hurrying toward the bustling group.
 
Rogdush felt like the whole world hated him. His clan killed, except him, who was taken as a slave. But he got away. Only to run in what he hoped was a safe direction, with no supplies for days. Then he arrived at a city that seemed friendly. Then the city was attacked, by the armies he had just escaped! Now he, like most of the people living here, was trying to get to a tunnel of some kind to escape. Being bigger than the humans, he was rather easily pushing himself forwards, through the crowd, towards the tunnel. And hopefully to safety.
 
Yorik took notice to how quickly things were falling apart. The chaos and discord the Tarvannan army left behind was just devastating. A heavy sigh escaped Yorik's mouth as he dismounted the horse and listened to Rokku as he gave the command to push through the people. Getting to the Iron Horse looked rougher than it sounded for sure..There was a huge sea of people blocking and they were surely not going to move. Tightly clutching his shovel he followed behind Rokku and began to usher his way through the group as fast as he could, making sure not to fall behind the slighetst..Who knows what would happen if he got lost? Would they even notice or try to find him? Not very pleasant to think about that right now..
 
Calanthe listened to Rokku and scanned the area. She had managed to get them fairly close to their destination, which was good, but they were very obviously not the only ones who were desperate to get there. Trampling people out of the way seemed like a rather poor way of going about things, especially for somebody so important in the public eye as Lord Rokku. She dismounted and murmured to her horse to stay put, having a feeling that after speaking with her companion, he may well decide that remounting would be a more wise decision than pushing his way through anxious people.


She made sure that the dirt man was closeby, then caught up to Rokku and tapped him on the shoulder a bit to let him know that it was her and not some crazed person looking for escape.


"Lord Rokku, if I may.. I believe that it would be more productive to simply use the same method that we used to get here, to get to Musari. It would certainly be faster and annoy less people who are apt to know your face. I could probably take a number of these people along with us as well," she said, adding the last part thoughtfully as she looked around at the milling people.
 
I looked at the daimun woman in slight disbelief. Musari was a week's travel by the Iron Horse, and over a month's travel by foot. I barely believed that she would be able to send us that far, but, for the moment, at least, it seemed wise to trust her. "How many can you take? It would be me, you, the gravesman, the dw-" I began, but then realized that the dwarf and his party had been lost in the crowd. I looked around, and still had sight of Yorik, and then noticed a large green creature pushing through the crowd. I had no idea what he was, but since he wasn't human, he certainly had reason to flee the Tarvannans. I forced my focus back to Calanthe, though, and decided to give her orders. "Take as many as you can including you, myself, the gravesman, and that green creature. I'm not going to allow the Tarvannans to turn him into one of their slaves. Women and children take priority as the others you rescue."
 
Yorik moved quickly through the crowd. Well, tried to move as quickly as he could. There were so many people in the way that simply moving them wasn't going to work. Yorik didn't want to resort to this, but using his bulky size he shoved through the refugees that were in his way making sure he could still see Rokku and Calanthe. His vision was a bit lower than both of them, but he could see Calanthe was close by mounted on her horse. Yorik figured that she was going to in the direction of Rokku. Following her was the best idea at the time that way the two would be able to locate Rokku and make their next move to reaching the Iron Horse.

The rush of getting to and keeping up with Rokku was difficult at the moment. Two rather large men were blocking the way. These two guys were really stubborn...Not bothering to move no matter how much Yorik shoved, the two goons would just shove him back. Yorik had no time for this game. Clutching his shovel tightly he lifted it over head and whacked both of the men that were blocking his way. Instantly the two fell to the ground and the others who observed such a heinous act moved out of his way to avoid the same action towards them. Yorik sprinted up behind Calanthe, finally reaching Rokku...Hopefully no more refugees would be blocking the way.

Rokku's orders were simple, take as many people as we could with us. But...They were not going to trust Yorik though. The people saw how he dealt with those who didn't cooperate.
 
Rogdush noticed some others trying to force their way forwards in the crowd, some more violet than others. He could hear that the armies outside the walls soon would be armies inside the walls, and started to try a bit more violence himself. He started punching the people out of his way, even picking up and throwing some of them. He was damn well determined that he would not be taken by that army, and he would damn well not die by their hand either. He felt that old feeling start welling up in him again. The pure anger. The bloodrage. He could feel his thoughts starting to get clouded. He was tempted to simply let it take over, yet he tried to keep it at bay as best he could. He knew it would not end well if he let it. Yet it was so tempting...
 
"Hmm.." she mused, looking around. She handed her reins to Rokku, assuming he would stay in place, then began to wander through the crowd. Her movements seemed to draw no attention, and people did not even notice when she plucked children from their arms or turned women about to follow her. By the time she got back to Rokku and the dirt man, she had collected seven children and three young women who were helping to hold them all. "Alright, I believe this will do. I'm not leaving Gralson behind either, of course," she said, nodding to her mount.


She pulled everybody in close and scanned the crowd one last time before a man caught her attention. Something about him was off. She tapped her chin thoughtfully, then reached out and grabbed the back of his collar as he passed. Pulling him in to the center of the group, she didn't even give him time to balk before she had made them all vanish. A half second later, they were standing smack dab in the middle of a Musari street. An odd sight, most likely. She cleared her throat and released the man, then patted a wrinkle from her leggings absently. Tired, but unwilling to stop just on her account, she swung herself up into her saddle and took two of the smaller children in front of her.

"Where to, Lord Rokku?"
 
I blinked as the chaos of Arimasnu gave way to the law and order of Musari. I looked around, and nothing seemed out of place, which was odd. The war banners should be hanging from ever government building and every flag pole in this city. I looked around, and there were no Commanders calling for recruits, the levy had obviously not been raised...Something was deathly wrong. "We head straight for the Imperial palace. Bring all the refugees you brought with you. We will need the testimony of every single one of us. I said, marching for the nearest patrol guards. The group of four stopped and nodded slightly out of respect. "My Lord." Was what the captain of the group said. I looked him directly in the eye with a hard glare, and asked harshly "Has the Call to Arms been issued?" The guards looked at each other, and then the one turned to me with a look of confusion. "My Lord...no such thing has been done...there has been no reason to do s- My Lord?! What are y-" the man was cut off as I abruptly began tp head toward the Imperial palace, and they quickly began following along, asking any number of questions in Agasaria, which I answered curtly. "All of you! Get your legs moving!"
 
Yorik was a bit off when they were suddenly in the middle of Musari. Calanthe surprised him greatly with her magic. Yorik looked around to make sure everyone was here an accounted for..Even the rather large man who rampaging through the refugees before was with them. Unfortunately, Yorik wasn't able to get any citizens to come with him, they were all terrified of being beaten with his shovel. It made him sad really, the thought of no one wanting to come to him just because he needed to clear a path. Well...At least the group brought some refugees with them. Yorik followed Rokku and the rest of the group towards the Imperial palace, seems like things weren't going the way they were supposed to..Probably because it seems like Musari doesn't even know what's on the horizon.
 
As he was forcing his way trough the crowd, someone suddenly yanked Rogdush by his collar backwards. Before he could even get his bearings, and the whole city disappeared, and suddenly, he was standing in what looked like a completely different city. He simply stood there, staring around, mouth hanging open. He could no longer hear the sound of an army. He could only hear the sounds that a large city usually makes.
He struggled to comprehend what had just happened, as he felt something missing. What it was, the orc did not know, yet he felt it was something important. Before he could truly understand what had just happened, and before he knew what was missing, someone shouted for everyone to follow. The man seemed to be in command, and he had some warriors with him, so Rogdush simply followed, still looking around at the huge city.
 
Jartis nodded at Lord Ambassador Rokku's assessment. "We were planning on leaving the carriage under guard in Arimasnu, but I agree that it would be prudent to approach as inconspicuous as possible." He motioned to a guard who had procured one of the bandits' stray horses and gave orders for them to situate the diplomat with the horse and provide escort, even to their deaths. </SPAN>

The sounds of fierce battle reached the party's ears even before they crested the ridge above Arimasnu. Jartis stared at the horror below with eyes grave and clouded. Tarvanna had most certainly not wasted any time in attacking Agasaria, and, judging by the heavy siege equipment and the broken walls, they weren't just probing defenses of Agasaria. He knew their little band had no chance against the Tarvanna military, no matter what luck surrounded them. If only he had five hundred dwarven infantrymen at his back, they could break through the siege. Suddenly, much to his surprise, the large shovel-wielding man gave a great shout, and a number of dead rose and began to attack the army from behind. Jartis was unsure what to think of this development, but barely had time to think it over as the whole party was suddenly wrenched from their overlook and transported to the middle of Arimasnu.</SPAN>

Jartis blinked in surprise at the sudden change in surroundings, the screams and sounds of battle and fleeing citizens now filling his ears. He dismounted quickly, motioning for the guards and diplomat to dismount as well. He unsheathed his war hammer from his back and instructed the guards, "Protect the ambassador at all costs. We must shield him from this crowd and somehow make it through to the Iron Horse transport with the others." Jartis quickly surveyed the crowd and knew that just yelling, announcing they were protecting an diplomat, and trying to force their way through would be nigh impossible. In the middle of a fleeing a battle, it was everyone for themselves – diplomat or peasant. </SPAN>

Jartis looked around again and noticed they had been separated from the rest of the party, and with the crowd surging and pressing in around him, he couldn't tell where they had gone. After another intense survey, he surmised the rest of the party had started making their way to the transport. He turned to his little group and shouted above the din, "We make for the Iron Horse at the center of the city as swiftly as possible! Protect the diplomat with your lives!" </SPAN>
 
The walls of Arimasnu could stand no more. With a final firing of the trebuchet, the front wall finally crumbled, and the infantry was able to pour into the city, slaughtering the town guard, who were ill equipped and ill trained. This sent the people into a panic, and more and more pushed and shoved to get through the tunnel, but the Tarvannan's wasted no time in firing volley after volley into the mass of people, taking no concern for age or disability. The army took control of the gate, and raised the iron bars to permit the cavalry to charge through, and straight into the mass of people. The citizens who were armed fought back, but they simply could not match the skill and equipment of the enemy military. As the archers filed past the wall, a man rode in behind them, mounted on a coal black horse. His armor was shined to a brilliant sky blue, with pure white trimming in an intricate pattern. The pheasant emblem on his armor marker him as Lord Itan, one of the Ten Great Houses of Tarvanna. On either side of him was a man holding the Tarvannan banner, each of whom ran to the wall and ripped away the red cross and golden laurels of Agasaria's flag, and hoisted their own, the red eye, surounded by thorns, the all-seeing eye of The royal family of Tarvanna. The general looked at them with satisfaction, and then turned to the small dwarven party, hearing the word 'diplomat'. He pointed at them, and shouted "Fire at will!" And the archers began looseing arrows.
 
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