Fable - Ask The Shattered Keep[Dreadlords]

[Ademar Acero]

Ademar very well could offer his assistance in getting them across the river. He could not spit fire or cause a chasm between the water for them to cross, but he could very well throw them across with some bruises on them. Somewhat effective at least, though it would probably give some insight to Virgil and Florinthe to deduce what magic he specializes in. Luckily he’d avoid that as Virgil offered his own hand at the manner.

“I’m no scout either,” he shook his head with the answer he gave to Florinthe, “but like Hal I can take on several opponents, I can work well with Hal on that.” Hal could easily devastate enemies at range with his magic while Ademar, in close quarters, could crush men at ease while just taking a flea bite.

The last words of Florinthe brought concern to his stoic face. He didn’t offer a frown, only absorbed them. They’d follow her orders as she outranked them, but that would all be thrown to the wind had she compromised them with or without intention. He’d rather die at the orders of a Second Level Dreadlord than a Third Level. He nodded at the end of her words, seeming to agree with her; it was only meant as a way to know she had his trust while she fully did not. Just a few ounces of his confidence in her which could be withdrawn at any time he decided.

Surely him, Hal, and Talus could easily outmatch her together. Individually? He’d have to see what skills and magic she possessed to see how he’d fair with his chances of fighting her.

He awaited for any orders or movement from the group to begin.

 

[Florinthe Othal]

Florinthe felt the immediate coldness that resulted from her warning. She knew all too well the kind of apprentices that flourished from the academy and she guessed this batch were none too different. Her demeanour changed as Virgil piped up and she found herself relaxing slightly as her plan was silently digested, and then accepted by the squad. "Perfect, work your magic then and we'll follow your lead." She nodded slowly towards him as she spoke.

Her attention immediately shifted towards Henry, his last utterance having sent her mind awhirl. Arrogance and self-assuredness, two traits that could bring out the worst in people, he could be dangerous - especially with his walking flesh golem of a companion. That being said she was stuck for them, so it seemed her best course of action was none at all, she was certain any error or misstep would give room for grievance. Which in Dreadlord terms, often meant a knife in the back.

Her eyes fell to Talus. He seemed more tempered in her eyes, while she was loathed to put her life in the hands of anyone here, she was thankful it would be him she was partnering with. "Very well, you take point and I'll follow close behind." She paused, considering the role of the rest of the team.

While she was certain that everyone in the squadron was actively hiding their talents - as every Dreadlord was guilty of - for now she had to act on what she knew. "Alright, you two stay together with bridge-boy. When we get into fights we need to ensure he has enough reserve afterwards to get across the river a few times." Florinthe spoke quickly, wanting to move past the crude nickname she had assigned. They were all strangers to her and, without introductions, crude nicknames were all she had to go on.

 

[Virgil]

Bridge boy. He pondered her thinking for a brief second before letting it go. They were working together, and allowing her to fall into the water before they got into a fight would hinder the thin wire of what could be called cooperation they all had at the moment.

He moved when the dismissal came and stood on a spot with cover, staring a while before breathing. Damned thing seemed wider now that he was looking at it. Kneeling down to one knee had him staring across the length as his magic formed.

It was similar for him to making a ward against physical attacks. A semi-physical shield that could be struck and pushed against without giving. He had been experimenting with further uses than simply acting as a floating shield. Forming rudimentary walls and attempting, though failing to make something akin to a ladder, as practice when his study of other magics were at best average in comparison to his wards.

Thin at first, the off blue of the extending platform made itself visible to those looking at it head on. From the side it looked as though the surface was rippling as the platform spanned the gap.

It felt strange not having the magic covering him, maintaining his focus while evening out his breathing. Concentrated thought was taken on his part to maintain the thing.

He kept pushing the platform until he felt the connection reach ground and make a circuit back to him. With the connection made, he spared a glance back at the group, noting the larger person among them and building the strength of it before calling to them.

"Bridge is made. Step quick, and don't slip." He quipped, the land bridge only being a handspan from the surface of the water below.

 

[Harry]

“Well done,” Hal moved swift and low over the bridge, taking exceptional care in his footing. He stopped on the opposite bank and knelt down. As the apprentice gazed into the forest in front of him, he pictured the fort beyond.

If Sierra was here, she’d be able to sense the presence of any guards. How long had it been since he last saw her?

Too long.

He looked back at the others as they crossed.

 

[Talus]

Talus crossed the bridge as fast as he could, mostly because he was pretty sure that either they were about to get noticed and blown to bits or some other disaster would manifest.

Surprisingly though the young Apprentice fell into step just a few feet behind Hal. He came to a squatting rest besides his friend, glancing at the tree-line briefly. There was no one there of course, but he could still make out the edges of the castle beyond.

Without a thought he drew the small elven dagger that he'd found on his mission with Hal.

The blade was quicker than his sword, and he could still move well with it. He'd rather have a weapon out and ready to fight that none. "I'll head that way."

He pointed to a thicket of the foliage and motioned to Florinthe.

The path looked difficult, and that was exactly why he'd chosen it. Doubtful any guards lurked there, and they could make their way quickly.

He quickly did as he had been told and broke into point, intending to guide the group South a ways before turning east and around the back of the Fortress.

 

[Ademar Acero]

Here he hoped the hulking size of him wouldn’t catch the attention of any guards at the walls or tower of the castle. Being tall and strong like him indeed had its perks, but also situational flaws that could be compromising. This was one of those situations, and he was counting on his luck their team would be spared from any vigilant eyes that would determine their fate.

Right after Talus, Ademar was careful in his steps with pressure on his mind to hurry up his paste. Somewhere in the middle he’d take a two second stop before continuing the rest. Near the end he jumped for solid earth of the bank which got him on his knees from such haste he made.

Picking himself up on his two feet he made over to Hal as Talus went out to take point with their commanding Dreadlord. A time of opportune he’d take as he looked at Hal, being mindful of the volume of his voice as then spoke.

“If she proves to be a threat for us, I’m not hesitating,” he didn’t ask for Hal’s opinions on Florinthe and went right to the point. Words that were meant for private and only for them to hear. Hal would know what Ademar meant by his words, and it would be somewhat of a risk for Ademar to have said that when he was on the thread of hoping Hal came to agree with his compatriot.

 

[Florinthe Othal]

Her gaze roamed across the apprentices as they made their way across the river. She hated to admit it, but she was almost impressed with the apprentice, his ward looked particularly strong - likely able to withstand powerful blows before buckling. Despite this, she was acutely aware that the holster on her back - despite being as light as possible - did add significant weight towards her total. Her mind stilled, however, the thought quickly dismissed in her head. Having spotted the knuckle-dragger make it across, she was certain it would be able to carry her and her armaments - and then some.

As she made her way past Virgil she gave a brief nod, a mixture of acknowledgement and appraisal at his efforts. Without a second thought, she quickly crossed the river and made her way towards Talus and Ademar, ready to begin the next stage of the journey. "I'll follow your lead, I suggest that everyone stays as far as they can from us whilst remaining within eyesight." She had learned quickly from her last attempt at leadership that these apprentices did not respond well to orders so she tried a different tact.

With that said, Florinthe withdrew a single shortspear from her quiver. The weapon, roughly a meter in length, was of a wicked and cruel design intended to inflict nothing less than a fatal blow. Even the simple act of withdrawing the blade from its home had elicited an eerie hiss as it split the air before it. Without further adieu, however, she quickly stepped after Talus with the intention to fan out as they progressed.

Interestingly, and despite the bulky holster and unorthodox weapon, Florinthe moved silently through the undergrowth and her movements left the foliage undisturbed. In mere seconds, she had disappeared without a trace.

 

[Harry]

Hal watched as his friend and the woman Dreadlord disappeared into the foliage. The apprentice cast a backwards glance at Virgil. He was far enough.

“None of us want to be here,” Hal saw much of himself from a year or two ago in Ademar. The large fellow was blunt and thought simply. “Infighting wouldn’t serve us well. Don’t misunderstand, I would save my own life at the expense of hers... but, that is a ranked Dreadlord. Focus on the mission. Any deviation of concentration- we’re dead.”

With that, Hal rose and approached Virgil.

“A ward of sorts, or something else?” He glanced and nodded at the bridge, “Clever use of it, whatever it is. Henry.”

He didn’t offer a hand or anything of the sort, but he did try to avoid looking down on Virgil.

 

[Virgil]

He returned the barest of nods to their leader before focusing on the bridge. It was a strange feeling as everyone crossed, feeling a push against the ward as was typical of whenever the ward was struck. An idea formed in the back of his mind for another use of his wards.

When everyone crossed, the bridge dissipated into nothing before Virgil focused on a more personal ward. He took off at a half crouched sprint towards the others, his steps finding a smaller version of the bridge that travelled with him as he cleared the water and stopped short of the pair that spoke secretly to one another.

It wasn't hard to notice the pair wanting to speak quietly, and he didn't want to be the one to interrupt them as his hands made sure he hadn't dropped anything in the river. One stood and approached him, getting a curious look from Virgil before he gave a smirk.

"Ward. Still figuring out what I can do with them." Virgil nodded. "Are you ready to make this a massacre of our design?" His smile was wry, a joke calling back to the poor planning of their leaders.

 

[Talus]

Talus moved quietly, far more so than one might expect from someone his size.

Fen had taught him that silence was as good of a weapon as a sword, and he stuck to that principal as soundly as he could. With quick and shallow steps the young Apprentice dashed through the undergrowth of the Forest.

Within only a few moments he lead the group around the Fortress, always keeping an eye on movements until he took them over a small burrow. There at the crest he held up a hand to stop Florithe and the others.

"There." He pointed out to the Dreadlord.

Though they were still hidden by a thicket of trees and brush, a gap presented itself which allowed them direct sight onto the back of the Fortress.

Though there was no collapse of the wall that they had hoped of, there was a small metallic grate at the base of the wall which flowed into a reservoir. Above it the wall scaled high, with three men standing atop it. Two of them were in conversation, the other staring aimlessly out into the forest.

All of them wore a strange sort of armor, small segmented plates overlapping one another slashed with colors of dark green.

 

[Ademar Acero]

A grey answer he received from Hal, with understanding he, too, agreed to act if Florinthe began to give questionable orders. He expected...a bit more from Hal. Ademar did know he was a blunt individual who thought straightforward and didn’t ponder in mincing words. His thought process was simple, white and black. Giving grey answers was like giving excuses, for him at least. The world only understand when one forced it to, a valuable lesson he was taught.

The man didn’t bother to near Virgil as Hal did, keeping to himself as his thoughts on Virgil told him to not associate with the man. Virgil was an apprentice like the others save for Florinthe, but other than knowing what kind of magic he used he didn’t know what else to think of him. There was always the chance he could be friends with Florinthe as were other thoughts his mind came to.

Following Talus and Florinthe, they came to a halt in their tracks still having the advantage of the thick trees giving them cover from any hawkish eyes from the guards. They were many meters away from the wall with three guards stationed, and below where they stood was the flaw of the castle that solved their problems; most of them anyways, or maybe few.

“I can take care of the grate with my hands,” he said in a low tone of voice. Virgil and Florinthe would probably look in confusion to his comment. Not many people could shape stubborn metal with their own hands, even Ademar’s height and build. Now they just needed a solution to distract or eliminate the guards.

 

[Florinthe Othal]

Florinthe crept up behind Talus, pausing when he did and quickly found herself led towards the outskirts of a break in the forest. From this vantage point, they could regroup and form the next steps of their plan. She sighed as she took in the sight before her, her main obstacle would be clearing the guards that stood on patrol.

"The guards wouldn't normally be an issue." She gestured towards the javelins holstered behind her, but her tone was doubtful. "But, I think that might be more than just mundane armour." It was a risk. If it was indeed simple plating her spears could punch through the metal easily, but if it had some form of enchantment then there was no telling what might happen.

She nodded towards Ademar, she'd seen stranger things than an apeman breaking a gate and she trusted his own estimation of his powers in this instance. Her mind was drawing blanks, without a clearer picture of her team's skills or an insight into the armour they'd likely have to gamble their next steps.

Another option flared in her mind, something that removed the need for testing the unknown. "We need a distraction." She paused, her words sounded ominous and she found herself quickly clarifying. "I don't mean one of us, just a noise or something unusual that'll draw their attention for a minute or so... any ideas?" She turned away from the keep and addressed the group quietly.

 

[Harry]

“Heh...” Hal looked away from Virgil and began to follow after Ademar, “I don’t plan on dying just yet.”

We need a distraction. Hal heard as he pushed through the foliage to reach his compatriots. He’d rather wait for the main force to begin their assault. The apprentice crouched close to Talus.

“Give me two- no. Three minutes. I’ll manage a distraction. Don’t wait for me.”

With that, he crept backwards and disappeared into the underbrush. Hal made his way back to the river, though he jogged upstream a ways to where the river bent around the wall adjacent to where the grate was.

Hal couldn’t control or shape ice that wasn’t of his own making and while he seemingly made ice from nothing, he required at least some water, generally using vapor in the air and then expanding upon that. Now, the apprentice had an entire river at his disposal.

He dunked his hands into the river and immediately the rushing water began to freeze. All of the water within view was frozen within a matter of seconds, but it did not stop. Hal could feel as his magic spread further in either direction. He sat there for several seconds freezing the river. It became unnaturally cold. A thick fog began to rise from the frozen river.

Ice began to rise from the riverbed until it broke the canopy, and like a tidal wave tore apart the forest between the keep’s wall and river. The wave of ice tapered to a single point and came down against the wall.

It would serve as a distraction for both the main contingent of dreadlords and his allies that would attempt to sneak in through the grate.

Hal wasted no time in sprinting to return to his allies, mostly hurrying out of fear of the Archon responding with his own magic.

 

[Virgil]

"Always a good answer." Virgil muttered in response as they made for the fortress. When they all had gathered, a moment of planning came about and the apprentice could do nothing but nod with appreciation at Ademar's answer to moving the grate by hand.

He made the mental note to keep a ward between himself and the behemoth should they not be fighting a common enemy.

The option of a distraction came from Hal however, and keeping his eyes open for that work came second to looking over their intended targets.

"If they are wearing something resistant to magic, brute force is always an option. Just aim for vitals instead of committing to a fight." He offered quietly. "Saves time and energy. Not like we are here to impress."

The ice show however quickly caught his attention, making another mental note about pissing either of the two conspirators. He would move whenever the others moved, hand keeping the sword on his back quiet and eyes watchful.

 

[Talus]

He heard a dozen calls from the wall and just behind as the wave of ice struck out against the fortress, horns blowing in the distance as an alert was sounded.

"Well that will work." Talus said quietly to himself.

With his off hand he motioned towards the other Dreadlords, glancing around at them for a brief moment before he looked at Florinthe. She was technically in charge here, but in just a few moments that wall would be filled with soldiers.

They had to act now. "Go?"

He asked, pointing towards the eastern wall and the grate.

It would be easiest to scale there, and slightly away from the Icey wave that Hal had thrown towards their enemy.

Barely waiting for word to go, Talus sprinted off.

 

[Florinthe Othal]

Florinthe was impressed, the cocky boy had shown some initiative and it would be useful to know that he could help them crossing over the river in a pinch. It quickly became apparent how redundant her leadership was, these apprentices were experienced and worked well together, they didn't need instructions or babying.

"It's equally likely that the armour protects from physical attacks than it does magic, or simply does nothing at all. I'd rather not take the risk, it doesn't matter now, the distraction works equally as well." She didn't need to respond to his remarks but questioning her planning felt personal. It was her idea after all.

She barely had time to nod towards Talus before he sprinted off. Sighing inaudibly to herself, she gestured towards Ademar and Virgil.

"Bridgeboy, Muscleboy, work your magics. We're storming this keep."

 

[Ademar Acero]

He had already sprung once Florinthe mentioned him, annoyed at the nickname he dubbed on him. She was already on his nerves and was very eager to kill her. Maybe he could make it on accident when they’d storm the Keep from the inside, or maybe he’d be blunt about it and just do it out of spite. She seemed to be one of the “lucky” types that managed to be a ranked Dreadlord. Perhaps it was pity that got her to the third rank.

Reaching the metal with the others, they all stood aside to allow Ademar do his magics. Everyone had shown their hand, him and Florinthe with only Hal and Talus knowing what talents he possessed. Both hands grabbed the metal column bars of the grate with his gauntlets, though on the underside of them his flesh was exposed and not protected from the metal of the gauntlets which allowed him to touch it with his skin. For Florinthe and Virgil, it looked like to be a magic act that jesters and fools would perform as perhaps they couldn’t deduce his power at closehand.

What happened was that his body began to absorb the sturdiness of the steel and had that enhancement proportionally distributed to his forearms. Extra strength and defense for him. Once absorbing it, his hands broke the bars weak steel shattering to pieces as if it was relatively easy for Ademar to do such feat. If one didn’t know his actual magic, they’d think it was his natural strength he honed and maintained.

“There,” he said, stepping aside for Florinthe and Talus to enter assuming they were still point of their group.

 

[Harry]

As Hal dashed through the forest to his companions, he could hear the sound of horns from within the fort. The ice would draw their attention for a moment. He wondered about the status of the main contingent.

His wondering came to an abrupt halt as a sudden shockwave from behind sent him careening forward. His ears were ringing and as he laid flat on his chest, he couldn't make any sense of anything. Several feet behind him, the forest was wiped completely off of the earth. Even several feet of earth seemed to merely disappear as if an impossibly large spoon scooped up the ground.

All of the ice that Hal had directed towards the wall went with it. Hal, too, would've ceased to be had he been any slower.

For the first time in years, he trembled in fear.

His cold, cold skin profusely sweat.

The apprentice became short of breath.

The next sensation that struck him was his ringing ears, then a pounding headache. The discomfort grounded him, reminding him of what it was they were here to do.

He scrambled to his feet and continued running back to his companions.

 

[Virgil]

Virgil brought his attention back to those around him, keeping with them as they moved. Standing clear of the grate, he pointedly watched for Ademar to work his magic. A brow cocked at the grasping of the bars before his full attention was spared to watched the steel shatter like glass.

He was no smith, but metal did not break like that unless it was improperly made. He had witnessed such a thing happen in training, a sword snapping when struck and the unlucky sod taken to the infirmary with steel embedded in their hands. The only other way was for something about it have changed with heat. Silently wondering if perhaps it was some kind of strange heat, or fire based magic Ademar wielded, the thought was put off for another time as the way was cleared.

Before Talus and Florinthe cleared the causeway, Virgil has his sword at the ready, silently drawing it and looking to the walls above as he prepared to put a ward over their collective heads. The horns sounding from the fort did not scare him, but sudden shockwave from behind made him glance backwards.

Ice had disappeared from behind them, and there was something strange about the way the trees had thinned. He pushed himself forward, not wanting to think to drastically on the ramifications of failing here.

 

[Florinthe Othal]

Florinthe watched curiously as Ademar began his work on the gate. He didn't seem like the brightest spark, far from it in fact, and seemed to bristle at the idea of being ordered about by a superior. Curiously, she mused, it would make him an excellent Dreadlord - or at least make him like all the others. She watched the metal buckle and rend before Ademar simply ripped the thing safely from the wall. Interesting, she puzzled out a few ideas before concluding some form of draining or weakening magic were involved in this.

Once the gate was wrested from its hinges, Florinthe witnessed the forest cover evaporate before her. Hal, having been in the heart of the magic, looked significantly frightened and worse for wear. Suppressing her own fear and anxiety, she wandered over towards the apprentice and slipped him a small yellow cube. "Take a breath and eat this." She kept her voice low so that none of the others heard her and slipped the apprentice a small bit of cheese. In truth, she was terrified, but it wouldn't do to let their feelings overcome them so close to the prize and she had always found that eating helped to calm her down.

"Right, Talus, you scout ahead and I'll follow." She spoke the orders easily. In reality, however, she was hesitant. Confined spaces were not her forte and she was not sure how useful she could be beyond her martial skills in such an area, however, she thought it best not to mention such limitations to the apprentices.

 

[Talus]

Talus was somewhat frozen, still stuck on the implication of what he had just seen.

Ten minutes ago they would have been inside the clearing that was now situated within the field. Ten minutes ago they would have been entirely wiped out without so much of a hint of a warning. What in the fuck was that?

Was that the Archon? Was that Velath Sunborn?

He had seen Admiral Naja move an entire sea, he had felt Crane stab needles into his skin, but this...this was something else entirely. A whole mile of the forest was simply gone. Wiped out within the blink of an eye simply because someone had willed it.

Someone they were supposed to kill.

Doubt crept into his mind even more so than it had before, and when Flortine spoke he stood still for a few seconds. His chest rose and fell, grip tightening on the hilt of his sword. It was only when he felt the odd silence in the air that he came back.

His head shook for a second, and then he slowly nodded.

Without a word Talus began to creep through the tunnel. He moved quickly, but a blue whispy smoke flowed from his skin. At any moment he prepared to phase-walk, knowing very well now the consequence of being even a second too slow.

Before long the water by this time came up to their knees, the pool very obviously feeding into a small watering hole just inside of the fortress wall. "We'll have to swim."

He told them.

"I think this will lead to a deeper pool inside the walls." Hopefully one that wasn't too well guarded.

 

[Harry]

Sweat dripped from Hal’s chin as he returned to the group. The Dreadlord woman offered a cube which the apprentice shakily took. As the other climbed into the hole, Hal stayed behind. He braced himself against the keep’s wall, trying to steady his breathing like Florinthe had suggested. He let the cube of cheese sit in his mouth and as his breathing finally settled, he bit into it.

The boy bent over and puked.

He wiped his mouth and was the last to enter the hole, quickly catching up to his allies. He only caught the last thing Talus said.

“What are the odds that we will be met by a row of crossbowmen?” he joked, more to calm himself than anything else.

 

[Ademar Acero]

There was little that Ademar feared, all thanks to the training from the Academy they were all forced to. But what they had all seen that happened to the forest did gave him some concerns and doubts. A whole forest wiped out in the blink of an eye, a whole mile of it. The land was scorched and the trees and other life, animal or plant, ceased to exist and were just mere ounces of ash. They would’ve been part of that scorching had they not moved towards the wall and grate.

He saw Hal puking, nausea and fear mixed in as he probably thought that they would have little success and wouldn’t last a minute once inside the gates of the wall.

Sweat from his forehead began to drip when Ademar began to have these thoughts.

But still they would have to follow the mission as they climbed up inside the grate with the water elevating more and more with each step they took.

Imagine trying to swim in this water with armor on.

“I assume there’s another grate ahead that’ll need to be destroyed?”

 

[Virgil]

Virgil said nothing as he followed behind them all, trying to keep his concentration of a ward to cover them once they cleared the wall. As if to sense his thoughts, Hal commented about being met by crossbowman on the other side. His brow rose on one side, a small smirk appearing before he spoke.

"I've got something for that too." Virgil quietly replied to Hal.

 

[Florinthe Othal]

She sighed to herself, following cautiously behind Talus. Carefully, and with much difficulty in such a confined space, Florinthe withdrew a short-spear from her pack and armed herself. She wouldn't be much use in such a tight space, but it eased her to have the familiar weight in her hand.

She nodded to Talus' suggestion, there was nothing more to be said, so she simply followed his lead. She'd grown up with pirates, so she was content enough swimming.

She smiled at Hal's comment and remained silent for Ademar's. She wasn't quite sure she could keep the nerves from her voice, plus the apprentices knew what they were doing - she'd follow their lead for now.