Roleplayer Guild - Roleplay Forum

Colonel Serimus · #1 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009

"I don't like this," murmured Captain Keledan, piercing grey eyes scanning the landscape. Not that there was much of a landscape to scan. It was, plainly, rolling fields of grass and delicate, yet beautiful white lilies. To the east was a sheer cliff that climbed upwards hundreds of yards, creating a natural wall, one that would bar any adventurer or climber. To the west was the ocean. The cold grey rollers slapped on the wet sand quietly, hissing gently as they retreated into the watery wastes again.
To the north lay Samalis. The Port City. The Scelian-infested Hell.

Keledan didn't like it. There were at least two thousand Scelians in Samalis, which meant that in a best-case scenario, the Angel Knights were outnumbered two to one, which was bad odds in anyone's idea of warfare.
Keledan looked down the hill upon the Angel Knight encampment and shook his head, before returning his gaze to the fields of green below.
"They'll see us coming, four miles away," he said to the Prince. "That's too far."

Brynacha · #2 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009

Prince Kenan sighed, resting his hands on the pommell of his sword as he gazed toward the landscape. He liked the feel of the ocean breeze against his body, but he did not like the sense of impending doom that an attack on Samalis would mean.

"What do you suggest, Captain?" he asked rhetorically. The Prince was the one who did the deciding. "There is no way around, unless you mean to send our men back and up the cliffs, then cut around to the north of Samalis and we could pin them in." Kenan gestured with his hands as he did so, demonstrating how that might work. "That is not ideal, either. Splitting our men against such odds will not be wise."

Kenan stared for a moment at the distant city, and he bit his lip and turned, pacing in a wide circle to help him think. "Our only other option is to send in a few men to scout the situation," he thought aloud to the Captain and close friend.

Colonel Serimus · #3 (**permalink**) 08-01-2009

"And get them mowed down by Scelian sentries? No thank you, Kenan," retorted Keledan decisively, referring to the Prince by his name, rather than his title, as he usually did when not around other soldiers. "The only approach to Samalis is through a mile-wide plain of grass and lilies. There's nowhere to hide, even for an Angel Knight."
Keledan shook his head. "I think we'll just have to go through with a full-scale assault and siege. Damn it."
The Captain was only seven years older than Kenan, a rather young age to be commanding an army, but the man had proven himself capable beyond a shadow of a doubt in the Second Battle of the Burning Sand, during the campaign against the nomadic raiders from the south. His men knew and trusted him, and he was aware of what they could and could not do.
And he knew that they could take Samalis. But he was also aware that at least a quarter of them would never walk away from it.

Brynacha · #4 (**permalink**) 08-01-2009

Kenan let out a low, reluctant growl. He knew as well as Keledan what a full-scale seige on the city would mean. The assured death of many of his men.

And yet, there was no choice.

"Prepare the men for a siege then," said Kenan after regaining his air of command, trying to harden his heart against the very clear casualties that would occur. "Arrange them into groups of one-hundred. Half will go ahead, with me. Once we have breached the city, half will follow with you. Prepare the catapults, and tell the men - " What? Tell the men to say their prayers. "Tell the men to sharpen their blades. We will attack at nightfall on the morrow," he replied as coldly as he could muster.

After a moment Kenan looked up at Keledan, but he was too afraid to say anything, lest his voice betray his fear.

Colonel Serimus · #5 (**permalink**) 08-02-2009

"They're as sharp as they get," replied Keledan with a murderous glint in his eyes. "And the first one to find out just how sharp that is will be regretting the fact that he wondered in the first place."

With that, Keledan stalked down the hill towards the encampment. He knew that it was going to be a massacre. For which side, he was not at all sure.

"Alright people. I want the catapults to be assembled and rolled up to within firing range at the same time His Highness hits the gate with his five hundred. I want twelve troops to each catapult so that we can roll the damn things along."

Brynacha · #6 (**permalink**) 08-03-2009

All that day and most of the next was spent earnestly preparing for the seige of the city. Kenan pored over the maps of the city, again and again going over the statistics he was told, the power of the Scelian army and their troops, where they kept their weapons, everything. Everything had to be in his mind, so that when they stormed the city they could race to the capitol and debilitate their ability to retaliate. Then hopefully Captain Keledan could take care of the lower city as the battle waged above.

It was the afternoon before the siege. Kenan brushed a hand through his hair as an aide helped him into his armor. His thoughts strayed to the battle plan. He didn't want to get it wrong.

"Send for Captain Keledan," he said as the aide handed him his helmet, which he thoughtfully tucked under his arm.

Colonel Serimus · #7 (**permalink**) 08-09-2009

"Oi, Cap!"

Keledan turned to face the grizzled female Angel Knight, a nasty scar lancing its way down the side of her face. "Markney?"
Markney strode forwards, her usually sour face looking concerned. "I don't like this, Cap. We're gonna get our asses handed to us."
Keledan winced at her vulgar use of language. "With that sort of mindset I would be inclined to agree with you, Lieutenant." He turned away from the endless expanse of rippling grass and lilies to survey the camp below. "People will die. They always do. There is no such thing as a bloodless victory."
Markney grinned viciously. "If there were, we wouldn't be here."
Keledan smiled thinly in return, his response cut off by the fellow striding up the hill. "Captain! His Highness wishes to confer with you!" the soldier called out as he neared the two officers atop the hill. Keledan threw a swift salute in acknowledgment and descended towards the camp, Markney a pace behind him.
"I'm thinking if we rumble them by dark they won't see our pretty blue eyes before we're on top of the Scallions," Markney was saying as they approached the Prince. Keledan laughed silently at her stubborn persistence in referring to the Scelians as onions, before stopping a few yards from Kenan. "You called?"

Brynacha · #8 (**permalink**) 08-09-2009

Prince Kenan smiled grimly. "Captain. Lieutenant," he said, with an incline of his head to each. "Is everything in order?" he asked, knowing that the Captain was more than capable of setting things just so. "I just wanted to go over our plan again." It never hurt to be more than prepared.

Kenan turned to the table where maps were spread out. "I'm going in through here with my five-hundred. We will breach the city and storm the capitol. After the catapults start, of course. Then you will go in and quell resistance here." He pointed at another part. "Is there anything I should know before we go in?"

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