Closed Kleaning up Kabrin Road [Rodistair, Cromley, I'kizo]

[Ellen Ansgot]

The black covers just spelled danger when Ellen looked at them. Though the men driving the caravan seemed friendly and calm enough, the young lady squire didn't like the look of those covers, and so she would keep her guard up. Once they got closer, Titus issued a few orders, and immediately Ellen was reminded why they were with him, as if she had forgotten. Someone here knew what they were doing, and was here to guide them. Riding had gone easy enough for the young group of squires and those they followed, hopefully the rest of their patrol would be just as smooth. Once they approached the caravan a bit closer, Ellen went to question the driver of the nearest wagon. As they went back and forth in menial conversations, Ellen thought she heard some singing. After looking around for just a moment, it was quickly dismissed as the song was most likely coming from one of the others in the group that she had just missed seeing. After that moment, she glanced around one last time, and resumed her interactions with the driver of the caravan. Simple questions about where the supplies were coming from, where they were going, what exactly they were carrying, were all answered with a calm attitude from the driver. A quick scan around again, and one of the other members of the caravan seemed a bit nervous. It was almost expected though, seeing as if they really wanted to they could take all of their wares, but that wasn't the way of the knights. Smiling at the nervous looking man, she tried to give him a bit of confidence that they were friendly, and then she returned to questioning the driver again, reverifying all the answers previously given. Everything was going well for the small group, all was according to routine so far. The singing came back though, and a bit louder this time. Someone inside the wagon must be singing because after another quick scan, no one around her seemed to be the origin of the noise. What would someone be doing singing inside a covered wagon full of food. Something was wrong here, and Ellen was quickly picking up the signs. Keeping calm, she looked around for Titus, giving him a look, making sure no one else had seen it, signaling that she needed help. After only a second of making sure Titus had seen it, Ellen turned to find the other two squires that were instructed to check the content of the wagon. The lady squire hoped to Priskil that they weren't going to do something stupid. Half of her hoped that there would be just food under the black sheets. The other half prayed that the other two didn't yell anything out and end up getting them in a fight with these could be bandits without Titus being closer. Her own sword and shield were close at hand, so Ellen would be prepared incase combat erupted, watching the two other squires as they went back to check the goods, and most likely end up finding the source of the singing.

[Rodistair]

Rodistair dismounted his giant warhorse, just as he rode past Ellen who was ordered to question the knights. He kept the horses reigns firmly in his hands, and he began to walk down the left side of the caravan, lifting up lids, and checking boxes. He heard the whispers of singing, and it gave him shivers, and goose bumps rose under his half plate armor. He slowly fingered the hilt on his sword, as began to feel nervous. Something told him not to lift that black sheet.

He kicked the wheels of the cart, and checked the yokes, and the axels, then swallowed hard, looking over at Cromely with wide eyes, then down at the black sheet before looking back at the older squire, and mouthing the word “petch it”. It was the only thing left for them to check, the contents under the black sheets. Rodistair reached for the edge, and waited for Crom to grab his end. They would have to pull this sheet back together, or not at all.

[Cromley Stronghammer]

Cromley rode his horse up to the cart until he was just beside it and past Ellen. He then dismounted the warhorse and began to walk the horse along, checking the crates and barrels on the right side of the cart. Everything seemed very ordinary and kosher until he was about halfway down the side of the cart, when he heard what he thought was singing. He looked around and couldn't see if it came from Rodi and he could see Ellen was not singing herself, not that Cromley had ever seen her singing. He dismissed it as just hearing some birds nearby and went back to checking the cart. As he reached the end of the cart he began to hear the singing again but this time it was a bit louder. It sounded like a young woman so naturally he looked back at Ellen, who was still talking to the merchants, and Cromley began to get a feeling of dread about what he must do. Cromley had heard of slave caravans before from travelers in Sylrias, but he never expected one to come so close to the city. These people must be pretty gutsy to be coming this close to Syliras and the influence of the knights with a slave caravan if that is what this caravan contains. As Cromley reached the back of the cart he looked over and saw Rodistair looking about as troubled himself. He knew what they must do. The only place left to check was under the black sheet covering the cart. A pit opened in his stomach as he thought about what he would find. He hoped to the gods that it was just a harmless bunch of goods but he could not be sure until they drew back the veil. He saw Rodistair mouth the words 'petch it' and it was clear to Cromley that he had the same suspicion. He released the reins of the warhorse who stood beside him and took hold of his corner of the sheet with one hand resting on the head of his mace ready to draw it if needed. He looked over to Rodistair and mouthed the words "On three." 'One' 'Two' 'Three' On the last count he gave a hearty tug at the sheet covering the cart unsure of what he would face.

[Radiant]

"Curse this..." Hons muttered under his breath when the signing of that petching Konti leaked out from the disguised slave wagon. The slaver looked to his partner named Koert, the calm man was silently gesturing with his right hand. It was time, no more of this charade. The black sheet was removed, revealing... a group of malnourished men and women locked in cages. Time seemed to slow down as realization dawned on the knights and squires.

At the same time, Hons grabbed his dagger hidden underneath his cloak then quickly trotted to the blond-haired squire, with a blur of movement. The man grabbed Ellen and yanked her down from the horse, the squire's lack of riding ability allowed him to do so swiftly, then he also jumped down from his horse then stomped his foot on Ellen's neck, holding her there. "Make a move! And she DIES!!" If one of them tried anything funny, Hons would snap the girl's neck like a twig.

"By Sylir!" Titus and the two knights immediately went on high-alert, the Knights brandished their bows and crossbows, but the slavers did the same. The situation escalated quickly as about five guards were aiming their bows to the knights and squires. Koert just waved his hand in a cold, calm manner. "We outnumber you, Knights. Let us pass and we'll let her live or..." He waved a hand, then the sixth guard brandished his sword, slip the blade into the cage, then put it on I'kizo's neck. "We can all die here."

"NEV-" Titus' scream was cut short as Hons put more pressure to Ellen's neck. He gritted his teeth, he didn't want Ellen or any slaves to die, but letting these slavers slip away was out of the question. The tall knight needed to think fast, his leadership abilities being tested to the fullest. He assessed the situation then... noticed no one in particular was watching squire Rodistair, maybe they underestimated him or his small form didn't attract much attention. The knight made a subtle gesture for the young squire to disable the nearest bandit, from there, him and the two knights would make a move. The tall knight prayed to Sylir that Ellen and Cromley had enough common sense and instinct to act appropriately.

OOCThe enemies, including Koert and Hons, would be eight in total.

What will you do? Be creative, guys! I'll let you control the slavers for this turn rotation, but make sure to play according to your skill levels.

[I'kizo]

There was little commotion on the other side of the cage, but Iggy could hear two sets of approaching footsteps over her singing. After a delay, they could finally see light. Light! Unless one of them were being punished, the tarp wasn't ever removed during the day. However, this excitement was soon dulled. As most of the slaves shielded their eyes from the sunlight, I'kizo, in specific, had to keep hers open and sharp; there was now a blade to her neck. Her eyes darted around, they were wide and frightened, and she quickly scanned her surroundings. The slim Konti, who wasn't in such poor health as the others since she'd been acquired quite recently, wasn't good in a fight, however she knew how to look for signs and outsmart simple minded slave drivers, such as these. One of the only other slaves who weren't malnourished was sitting across from I'kizo, his back to the man who held the poor girls life in his hands, and the gleaming steel blade shot just over his shoulder.

Both slaves locked eyes and understood that they were the only two able bodies in that pit of lifeless husks. One of the larger men began to shout, but he couldn't even get a whole word out before being interrupted by something, I'kizo didn't quite see what. What she did see, was the slightest motion from the knight to one of the other men, seemingly a small boy on her side of the cage, and decided that she would have to act soon. In order to ensure that they would be able to execute a quick act to turn the tables on the slavers, Iggy looked up to the young boy carefully and shot him one of those damsel-in-distress looks, then narrowed her eyes and nodded at him before whispering: "Actions are faster than reactions." Hoping he would act immediately, just as the knight had signaled, she returned her stare to the man across from her.

After a brief pause, her fellow slave grabbed the blade with his bound hands, letting the steel cut deep in to his flesh, and pushed it out of the cage, hitting it's wielder in the gut. In response, Iggy moved over to the side as the blade neared her once more. The slave forcefully pulled the sword back in to the cage and out the other side, bringing the guard with it. While all the other actions performed by the cunning duo were relatively silent, the sound of the guard's head banging against the cage bars wouldn't be so quiet, and if the boy couldn't reach that wretched Hons quickly, the girl beneath his boot wouldn't be as lucky as I'kizo, who was now busy sawing the cloth off her wrists. As she did so, the Konti looked over to see the young boy, fear growing in her quickly. Would he be her hero and save her from her captors, or would they all die on this spot?

[Ellen Ansgot]

Ellen's eyes shot back as the two squires pulled the black sheet off the back of the cart. The rest happened far too quickly for the young lady squire to process. One second, she was on her horse, about ready to turn and await the guidance of Titus, but the next second, she was on the ground with a foot on her throat. As a small conversation passed between knights and the slavers, Ellen wanted to scream out to do it, just to fight and leave her there. She knew this was against the morals of the knights, if there was a way to save her, Titus would explore every option before giving up. So Ellen laid there quietly, relaxed, not moving an inch, leaving both of her arms almost straight out to the side in the same position she hit the ground from her horse. As the tension was rising in this showdown, something finally happened, someone made a move. Ellen couldn't see what exactly had happened, but she heard movement next to the cart. It was barely audible, at least until the loud clang. At this moment, Ellen feared the most for her life, wondering if this noise would be enough for this man to kill her right then and there. Instead, everything the knights did was executed perfectly. The man above the lady squire turned his head for just a moment to investigate what had just happened behind him. In this moment, one of the other knights, Ellen hadn't a clue which one, saw an opportunity, and let an arrow loose. This arrow stuck Hons in just below the ribcage on his left side. The sudden shock and pain of the arrow allowed Ellen to release herself from the boots danger by punching the man as hard as she could in the calf, and rolling to her left. The swift movement paired with the shock of the arrow allowed Ellen to escape the mans boot without much trouble. Immediately she stood, drawing her sword and shield, but by this time, full combat had erupted. With just a moments survey, Ellen saw a man readying to shoot at her with a bow. Knowing that plate armor could save her life if she were hit in the body, the young girl pulled her shield up to cover her entire head. The arrow hit the shield with a rather strong impact, and from the shock accompanied by slight pain, Ellen could tell it would leave a nasty bruise. Much better than costing her life however. Looking down, Ellen noticed her momentary captor, laying on the ground, moaning in pain from the arrow that had saved her own life. She could kill Hons right now if she wanted to. After looking for just another moment, Ellen found something on him. Keys. Deciding against killing the man wasn't too hard for the young squire, thinking that he would serve out his, or receive punishment as the council saw fit. She was no executioner, and her goddess would not be too pleased with the needless taking of a life. Ellen sheathed her sword, keeping an eye out for any approaching aggressors the whole time, and grabbed the keys. She then turned, and began walking around the cart on the side furthest from combat, making sure to avoid being shot at or seen as she executed her plan to save the slaves. After making her way around the long side of the cart, Ellen quickly climbed into the back of the cart, and crouched down as she began to unlock cages. Most of the slaves seemed to weak to be useful in combat, and none properly equipped. As Ellen went by cages, if they were too weak looking she would say "Just lay down, take cover, we will have you out of here soon." But one pair of slaves in particular didn't look too beaten. They must have been the most recent picks, one being a male human, and the other being a Konti. Ellen unlocked the cage of the man first, giving him a few questions such as "Are you okay, Do you now how to stop the bleeding? You aren't going to bleed out are you?" The man didn't seem to have any answers. Turning around to the second cage, Ellen unlocked I'kizo's cage, saying "Help me get this man to the side of the cart." As they both grabbed one of his arms, and dragged him out of the cage, off the cart, and sitting him down on the side of the cart that Ellen previously walked past, the side away from the fighting. One more time, Ellen addressed I'ki "If you have anything to help this man, I need you to take care of him. Try and stop him from bleeding so much!." After looking at the two slaves for just a moment, the young lady squire stood, unsheathed her sword once more, and rushed out around the cart and engaged the nearest slaver. OOCSorry, I took a bit of a liberty there with I'kizo's character, assuming she would help me carry the bleeding man out of the cart If it's a big problem just send me a message!

[Rodistair]

Rodistair looked on in horror, peopled crammed in metal cages, it made the boy’s stomach churn, but he didn’t have much time to question the practice, as the ext few ticks became very intense. Ellen was pinned down, her neck stuck like a twig under that man’s boot. Training didn’t really cover situations like this, but it was becoming clear that training could only do so much to prepare the boy. He looked at the sergeant knight, Ser Titus, who gave a reassuring nod. A shiver slid down the squire’s body like west slime, he didn’t have time to second guess himself, the knights needed action, Ellen needed action. He gripped the black sheet with both hands, so tight that his knuckles turned white. He knew he wouldn’t have much of a chance against trained mercenaries, he was still learning which was the pointy end of a sword.

He met eyes with a konti woman in the cage, he felt bad for her, having to suffer at the hands of these men, to be sold and bought like an animal. He smiled weakly, almost to just reassure himself, more than her. Actions are faster than reactions, he would have to take that to heart. There was no time to sit and wait, hoping for an adult to save him, to tell him what to do, he would have to improvise. He would have to fight dirty.

He swatted the rear flank of his war horse, causing it to buck up, and run. He pulled the black sheet with all his strength and flung it over the nearest mercanry, and engulfed him completely in the thick black sheet, and as the fighting ensued around him, Rodistair leaped at the man tangled in the black sheet, who was brought down by the 170 pound boy clad in chain mail and plates. They tangled in the sheet, while Rodistair reached for his sword, and struggled to keep the sheet over the man. He drew his steel long sword, and with his right hand tried to plunge it into man, but he missed man, and tore a hole in the sheet.

[Cromley Stronghammer]

As soon as Cromley and Rodi pulled back the sheet he could feel the anger and disgust well up in him. How dare these slavers disrespect the knight's influence and try to smuggle slaves through here. This however was the least of his concern as chaos quickly erupted around him. He glanced over to Ellen and saw her on the ground with her neck under the boot of what seemed to be the head slaver. Almost instinctively his hand shot to his mace but was stopped short by the slaver making a grand demand of the knights. Looking around at the situation he noticed that there were slavers covering most of them including himself with a slaver standing about 30 feet away with a bow trained on him. His attention is quickly drawn to the cage when he sees a young konti and a human man struggling with a slaver. As soon as the slaver's head hits the bars of the cage however everyone's attention shifts there which Cromley is glad to take advantage of. He quickly turns to his warhorse and unlashes his shield. However this catches the attention of the slaver who was watching him who looses his arrow which barely misses Cromley as he turns. As soon as he unlashes his shield he turns to Rodistair who is writhing on the ground with one of the slavers. Dangit Rodi. Always acting rash. Cromley grabs his mace and runs towards the slaver that was targeting him before with his bow. Shield raised he blocks another shot from the slaver as he advances. The slaver seems to be surprised by this fact and staggers backwards as Cromley lowers his shield and swings his mace at the man's head. "How dare you disrespect the Knights of Syliras with this filth! You'll pay for enslaving these people and thinking you could get away with it here." said Cromley as he swung his brutal flanged mace at the slaver knocking him to the ground. He then turned towards his next target. Rodistair. He had to protect him. Hopefully he created enough ruckus with incapacitating one slaver that they will leave Rodistair alone.

[Radiant]

"PETCH!" Hons screamed as his ribs was struck by an arrow, he felt pain shooting throughout his body and the slaver fell down to the ground, clutching at his wound and screaming vulgarities. To make matters worse, the squire under his boot managed to wrestle her way out, punching him on the calf. Even for a rather experienced sellsword such as him, the combined pain from the arrow and punch shocked every fibre of his being, he had to fill himself with rage just to keep his conciousness. He was effectively out of the fight.

At this act, the charade was broken to million pieces. Koert said nothing more and him along with all of the bandits brandished their weapons. Three slavers aimed their bows at the two knights and loosed their arrows, the knights' armour protected them and they fearlessly returned fire. One slaver cursed as he saw Cromley bashed his comrade's head like an egg. "Petching dog!!" He threw away his bow and brandished a shortsword. He commanded his horse to charge at the mace-wielding squire. With a warcry, the slaver readied his sword and struck a mighty swing at the squire. He would not stop until either Cromley or himself returned to Dira.

Titus himself wielded his signature warhammer and nodded to knights. "FOR SYLIIIIR!!" He expected his companions would provide covering fire while he charged on horseback, heading to Koert, the slaver leader who was also riding a horse and wielding a pair of daggers. He knew his chances were slim, but the gods be damned if these law dogs thought he would go willingly.

The slaver who held I'kizo hostage didn't expect those caged men and women still had the willpower to mount a revolt. He felt himself being pulled by one of the slaves and his body crashed violently onto the cage's bars. "S-shiiiit!" Massive headache struck him as he lamented the reason on why he didn't bother to wear his helmet. The slave didn't stop there, he grabbed the man's arm and pulled him again and again to bang his head on the bars. Unsurprisingly, the slaver was knocked out. The man then released his wrists from the bounds by using the sword's blade to cut the ropes.

The male human slave then turned his head to the Konti, he helped her to release her bounds as well, then the sound of locks being released filled the slaves' ears. One female squire unlocked their prisons and the slaves were bewildered for a couple of ticks, before scrambling to escape. The man, however, looked calmer than the rest and gladly accepted Ellen and I'kizo's help. He got out of the cage and let them sat him on the side of the cart. "I'm fine," he said firmly, "Go help your comrades, I can handle myself." He saw Ellen returned to the scene of battle and sighed. "Yahal bless us..."

"W-what the petc-?! MPPH!!" An slaver, who was focusing to direct his aim a knight, surely didn't expect a black sheet coming out of nowhere and engulfed him. The surprise attack caught him off-guard and he fell down along with his mysterious assailant. The slaver struggled with the sheet until Rodistair's sword tore a hole, allowing his right hand to reach out from the hole and grabbed the boy's left arm. His screams were muffled, but one thing for sure, he would kill the boy. With all his strength, he pulled Rodistair down to force him in an awkward wrestling match.

As for Squire Ellen... no one took notice of her, all of the slavers were busy engaging the other squires and knights..

[I'kizo]

A bright, jubilant smile covered Iggy's face upon her rescue. It was a more than capable looking young woman that freed them from the cage, and the Konti quietly thanked her for saving them. Her smile faded, however, as she saw the violence break out among the slavers and knights; it was quickly turning in to a bloodbath. She shielded her eyes from the horrors of the battle as they carried the man around to the other side of the cart. I'kizo wanted something to distract her from the battle other than tending to the other slave's wounds, but their savior had already entered the fray of battle once again.

Regardless, she had an injury to take clean and dress, and gawking at the knights was not the way to do so. Iggy quickly ripped a the shoulder straps off of her rag-like clothing and lay it in her lap, and one large chunk of cloth off the pant legs, then proceeded to wipe the blood from the slave's hands with the latter. Once most of the blood had been soaked up, that disgusting, warm, crimson, vile liquid, the Konti pressed her hands against the man's and a faint light began to glow. Magic filled his wounds, hastily disinfecting the cuts, as steel blades were often quite filthy. After she'd finished, she removed the remaining pieces of fabric from her lap and began to wrap them around the man's hands to the best of her abilities.

"Apply pressure to those wounds." With a stern order, I'kizo rose and ran to the front of the slave cart, digging around for some sort of weapon, when she came upon the memory of the slaver who held that blade against her neck while they were still in the cage. It couldn't have gone far, and the cage was still open. Sighing at the fact that she had gone in the opposite direction, the girl ran passed her patient once again, heading back in to the cages to retrieve the steel. After retrieving the sword, I'kizo found herself staring at an abundance of slaves brutalizing the slaver who'd threatened her life moments before. One of the slaves was still inside the cage that used to contain the captives, and was holding the slave master up against the bars by his shirt. His head was drenched in sweat and blood, and he was still somehow conscious. Each taking turns, the slaves hit the slaver's head against the steel cage, whether they kicked his head in to the bars or pushed it in with their bare hands, or used some sort of blunt object, such as a wooden plank, for a more devastating effect.

Inside their cages and overpowered by their masters, the former slaves were weak and cowardly, but now that they were free men and women, and were unstoppable compared to the helpless tyrant, the only emotions that controlled them were anger and vengeance. The Konti wanted to stop them with all her heart, but knew that it would only anger them more. I'ki tried to block out the horrors of the battle by shutting her eyes, covering her ears, and singing once more. She was beside the man she'd healed, and under the protection of the cart, so she wasn't in any great danger, yet she began to shake in fear and horror, dropping the sword to the ground once she'd returned to the other slave.

It's just like one of dad's stories... Is this really what the world is like?