Closed Out and About

[Samuel Longwell]

As hard as he tried, Samuel couldn't reach his dagger. The Yukman behind him had trapped it against his body, so he was going to have to improvise. The knight lashed out with his foot, which was mostly ineffective against the Yukman in front of him but bought him a short reprieve from the assault against his shield. The move sent the knight staggering backwards, almost toppling over the Yukman that held him. As he did so, he felt a jolting impact from behind as Michael drove the pole-arm straight through the body of the beast. The steel blade screeched against his armour, adding another scratch to the collection. But the squire had done it, the arms around the knight loosened. He was free.

Samuel was determined to make good use of the help that Michael had provided, so he leapt forward to attack. The knight had lost himself in the fight, seeing only the next opponent to triumph against. As such, he had forgotten that he had intended to remain close to the squire and help protect him. He swung his shield, striking a Yukman and knocking it back. The monster stumbled over the body of one of its comrades and Samuel pressed the advantage. He brought the edge of his shield crashing down on the Yukman's face, burying it deep in the beast's head. He pulled it free with a sickening squelch and spun back to the fight.

The first thing he saw was a Yukman leap onto the squire with savage ferocity. It looked like Michael was in dire need of his help. But between Samuel and the grappling pair were the two remaining monsters. The knight spied his sword lying between him and his antagonists, so he ran towards them and stooped to scoop up his blade. But he hadn't taken into account the Yukmen's speed. Before he had straightened up, one of the two Yukman had charged into him. Unbalanced as he was, the blow sent him flying to the ground. The knight managed to roll a little, reducing the impact from the fall but he was still momentarily stunned. The two beasts fell upon him, one wrenching his shield arm to the side and the other fastening its hands around his neck.

The knight quickly realised that the beast trying to strangle him was his main concern. If he passed out this fight would be over. Samuel couldn't find room to swing his sword, as his opponent was too close. Dropping his sword, the knight drove his mailed fist into the Yukman's side but it merely grunted and did not release its grip. Again he struck, but he lacked the technique to do any serious damage to the monster. Samuel's world started to go grey around the edges, his motions became more lethargic as his muscles screamed for the vital oxygen they so desperately needed. The knight's fingers grasped frantically at his belt, finally pulling his dagger free. He stuck it into the Yukman's chest and finally the killer grip around his throat was removed. Samuel managed to draw two painful breaths into his lungs before the other Yukman took the place of his fallen comrade and resumed trying to crush Samuel's windpipe.

Many thanks to Prophet for the box code.

[Michael Kyber]

When he was a child Michael had thought of combat as an epic, exciting adventure where man and best alike fought valiantly with skill and grace. There was no cheap trickery or unfairness, simply a fair contest in which might and will prevailed. As he grew up and the truth of reality had begun to sink in Michael's opinion of combat changed from a stage of valor to a chessboard; a place where the cunning and the prepared claimed victory, and where sound logic and planning would see one through to tomorrow.

But as he lay on a dirt road soaked to the bone with blood and sweat, with a ravenous Yukman pinning him down and gnashing its teeth at him as it tried to bite a hole out of his flesh, Michael realized that even that opinion was merely a delusion conjured by people who had no idea what fighting for their life was really like.

There was no logic or reason here, nor was their any chivalry or skill. There was too much chaos and blood and death everywhere you looked for anyone to think clearly, let alone think about honor. This wasn't like a street brawl where the loser went home with a black eye, this was the survival of the fittest. Combat was nothing but madness and ferocity where whoever was desperate and angry enough to use whatever strength they had to crush their enemies into the dirt was the victor, and by the gods Michael hated every moment of it.

Aided by gravity the Yukman pushed down upon him, its teeth drawing closer and closer to his neck with every passing moment. At any moment it could reach him, and just like that his life would be extinguished like a candle being snuffed out. He'd woken up this morning thinking another average day of training and patrolling lay in store for him, but for no good reason whatsoever his life could be ended just like that. As he realized this a strange blend of disgust and indignation arose in Michael, bringing with it an odd reprieve from the panic and terror blanketing his thoughts. He didn't want to die damn it! He didn't want anyone to die, that's why he'd gotten himself involved with Uldr in the first place!

He deserved better than this! Everything that lived deserved better than to die pointlessly in the dirt.

As if responding to these thoughts a steely resolve possessed Michael, chasing away the fear and confusion and kicking his mind into overdrive. He could do better than this! He was meant for greater things than to die by the hand of some trashy monster!

Taking advantage of his moment of clarity Michael pushed back against the Yukman with all the strength he had in him, calling upon the djed in his body to focus on his arms as he did so. Empowered by the flux his arms gained strength beyond their limits and pushed the Yukman off of him, giving him the room he needed to move properly, and seeing his chance Michael whipped one of his arms back and followed up with the hardest punch he could throw.

The punch hit the Yukman square in the cheek, and underneath his hand Michael felt bone snap as his flux-enhanced fist smashed its way through the Yukmans face. The monster collapsed to the floor, and Michael didn't stop to check if it was stunned, unconscious or dead before he was scrambling to his feet again and ripping his dagger and glaive out of dead Yukman next to him. Once the familiar weight of his glaive was in his hands again Michael turned the weapon in a quick arc and slashed through the neck of the Yukman he'd punched, beheading it in case it wasn't as dead as he'd hoped, and surveyed the rest of the fight.

Six of the Yukmen were down, two by his hand and four by Samuel's, however the last one that remained had Ser Longwell in a dangerous situation. It had him pinned to the ground, its hands around the knight's throat as it tried to choke the life out if him, and by the colour Sam's face was turning he didn't have much time left. There wasn't too much space between him and them, but due to the shock of the whole situation and his exhaustion from fighting on the ground Michael couldn't trust his legs to support him if he tried to charge over to help. He needed a different solution.

Despite his earlier failure Michael pooled up a mound of res in his hand again, emboldened by the battle focus that'd taken over him. He shot the res forwards towards the Yukman, willing it to change into water as it flew, and to his relief the res changed into another bolt of water as it sailed through the air towards the Yukman.

However to his surprise upon transforming the water bolt veered off course violently, smacking down on the ground dangerously close to Samuel's head. Strange, he'd been concentrating harder than before but the spell had slipped out of his control. Something felt... off about him. His mouth had a strange twinge of a metalic taste to it, and despite the grueling ordeal he'd just gone through he felt weirdly happy and exhilarated. Even so Michael decided to try casting again; the missed spell must have been a fluke, he was feeling really good about using his magic.

He focused on his hand and willed res to pool up in it again, intending to launch another water bolt. But as he did the taste in his mouth grew to uncomfortable levels, and to his alarm he could swear he could hear someone laughing into his ear just barely loudly enough for him to hear. Thinking someone had snuck up on his Michael whipped his head around to look behind him, only to see absolutely nothing there. The quick turn brought on a bout of dizziness Michael didn't realize he'd been feeling, forcing his legs to buckle and Michael to fall down onto his hands and knees.

[Samuel Longwell]

Although Michael's magic had not acted as the squire had intended, the force of the water bolt crashing into the ground was enough to distract the Yukman pinning Samuel for a brief moment. The knight managed to grab hold of a nearby rock, then struck the monster over the head with his makeshift weapon. The Yukman fell back, stunned, releasing the knight from the stranglehold. Dragging himself away from his antagonist, Samuel pulled himself shakily to his feet. He swayed uncertainly, still disorientated from the lack of oxygen. The Yukman seemed to recover quickly from the blow the man had inflicted, leaping to its feet and starting towards the knight.

Samuel swung wildly with his right fist as the Yukman approached, but the creature managed to avoid the blow. The monster swung back, seemingly copying the knight's action. The blow struck the plate armour, which absorbed the force admirably. Samuel was too addled to notice, but the Yukman was moving noticeably slower since it had taken the rock to the head. So when Samuel's fist jabbed forwards, the monster couldn't pull away in time. The steel gauntlet struck the rocky abomination directly in the face, knocking it back a step. The knight was grateful for the moment's reprieve, his head was still spinning and he struggled to collect his thoughts. But it wasn't enough, still the monster came on. Samuel wished that he carried more than a single dagger, it was far too easy to get separated from his weapons in the heat of combat.

The knight was preparing to meet the Yukman's next charge when an arrow flew from the treeline and pierced the monster's torso. It fell with a gurgle, the small group had finally been defeated. The knight turned wearily to see a group of four knights in light armour appearing from the woods. Each had an arrow nocked to their bowstrings, watching warily for other threats.

“How many were there?” the sergeant asked, approaching Samuel. “We need to know if we got them all otherwise they'll continue to spread.”

“Sev- seven.” the knight croaked, massaging his neck. He saluted with as much vigour as he could muster, understandably little considering the circumstances. “Any more and we would have been overrun. Honestly I'm not sure if we would have made it if you hadn't arrived when you did.” With these words the knight realised that Michael hadn't said anything. Looking over, he saw the squire sprawled on the floor. Samuel stumbled over to the squire and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder.

“You ok Kyber?” he asked, a note of concern in his voice. He was supposed to be looking after the lad, but it seemed like Michael had been instrumental in saving his life instead.

Many thanks to Prophet for the box code.

[Michael Kyber]

All around him the world was slow, fuzzy and muted, as if it was underwater. It was hard to focus on anything besides the aching of his own muscles, the coppery taste in his mouth and the ringing in his ears. As the rush of adrenaline from the battle ebbed away all the thoughts that Michael had blocked out during the battle; the memories of him slashing and stabbing through disturbingly human-like faces and the feel of his glaive chopping through real flesh, came rushing back to his already overtaxed brain. The effects of his slight overgiving were fairly weak in themselves, but his shell-shocked mind wasn't in a fit state to handle them.

The voices. They were so annoying! Within his whole muted world the only thing had any sharpness to it was the whispering that sounded so close to him, as if there was someone tiny sitting on his shoulder talking to him, but was so quiet he could barely hear it, let alone understand it. They sounded vaguely amused and condescending, like it was mocking him for his poor performance. Gods how he wished they would shut up!

"... ok Kyber?" The feeling of a hand on his shoulder broke his focus away from the whispering, and through bleary eyes Michael looked up to see Samuel, caked in blood and bruises of his own, standing above him with evident concern. He'd beaten that last Yukman on his own then, that was a relief.

"I'm fine." He mumbled out. "I'm just..." He paused, about to speak of the whispering when a worrying thought crossed his mind. Samuel was one of the few knights who wasn't wary of him for his magic abilities, he didn't want to ruin that by telling him about voices he knew weren't actually real.

"... tired. I'll be okay in a minute." He replied instead.

He looked around, finally noticing the other knights that'd come to their aid. It was a relief to know that he could finally relax a bit in the knowledge that if another horde of Yukmen came out of nowhere they could take care of it. A sharp pain on the side of his neck flared up as he moved his head, reminding him that the gash the Yukman had clawed onto him was still open and bleeding.

"'scuse me, Don't suppose any of you guys have a medical kit on you do you?" He asked the knights.

[Samuel Longwell]

Although the squire said he was fine, Samuel did not believe him. Crouching beside the younger man, the knight noticed a strange vacancy in his expression. It cleared a little as Michael started to look around, but Samuel intended to keep an eye on him. The lad probably hadn't seen much combat before today, and squires often reacted in strange ways to seeing violent death for the first time.

“Ok, just take it easy for a minute then.” Samuel said, with a commanding tone. “I'll go and see what medical supplies they have.” With these words, the knight stepped over to the squad who had appeared from the woods. It appeared they hadn't heard the squire's question, because they were deep in conversation. There were worried looks on their faces, and listening in to their conversation the knight understood why.

“There's another five out there. I don't know how they could have got separated from the group, they usually just stay clumped together.” one knight said.

“Whatever the reason, we need to go and stop them right now.” replied the sergeant.

“You don't happen to have any medical supplies that I could use do you?” Samuel interjected, “Squire Kyber got pretty badly beat up during the fight with the Yukmen.” One of the knights threw him a roll of bandages, then the group started to head back into the trees. The sergeant was the last to leave, saying a few words to Samuel before he left.

“Head back to the city,” he said, “neither of you are in any fit shape to be traipsing round the woods. I'm sorry we couldn't stay to help you any more, but we can't let the Yukmen get away. Don't take any unnecessary risks on your way back."

“Yes sir,” Samuel replied, “We won't.” He quickly stepped back over to Michael and inspected the wound on his neck. In his inexperienced opinion, the wound didn't look too deep. But it was bleeding at a moderate rate, so the knight tried to bandage it up. He pulled it tight, wanting to apply plenty of pressure to the wound. But in his haste to bind the wound, the bandage was cutting off the squire's air supply.

Many thanks to Prophet for the box code.

[Michael Kyber]

Though Michael couldn't hear most of the other knights hushed conversation, the sergeants last words to head back to the city cut through the fuzziness around his hearing with ease. Heading back to the squire's barracks, grabbing a quick bite to eat and crashing down onto a bed sounded really appealing right now. He was pretty sure he could sleep for a whole season the way he was feeling right now.

Samuel came over with a roll of bandages and began trying to cover the cuts on his neck, wrapping the strips of gauze tightly around the wound. However in his haste the knight pulled the bandages too tight, and instead of helping him Michael found himself being choked by the bandages. Too exhausted to even try talking with his throat being crushed Michael ripped the bandages off his neck and inhaled deeply, then unceremoniously snatched the bandages out of Samuel's hands.

"Thanks..." he grunted out, visibly trying to remain cordial despite his annoyance. "But if you don't mind I'll handle it."

Gently Michael wrapped the bandages around his neck, pulling them tight enough to put pressure on the cut without strangling himself. Occasionally he wrapped the bandages under his arm to keep the wrapping in place during the ride back, and when he was satisfied the dressing was done well enough tucked the remaining gauze up underneath it. He'd have to get it cleaned and properly dressed when they got back, but for now stopping himself from bleeding out would have to do.

He then forced himself to his feet, wobbling slightly but still able to keep himself upright. He looked around the battlefield, eventually spotting his dagger and stumbling over to it to pick it up, and gave it a quick wipe on a piece of excess bandage before sheathing it. He turned to leave but stopped as he noticed something white down by his feet; a Yukman tooth that'd been knocked out sometime during the fight.

Horrible as this nightmare was it had been a successful mission, against a tough opponent no less. He picked the tooth up and put it in his pocket, deciding to keep it as a trophy. It might come in handy for him to remember what'd happened this day sometime in the future.

"What do you say we follow his orders and call it a day Ser? I don't about you, but I could use a rest."

[Samuel Longwell]

The knight realised what he'd done only when Michael ripped the bandage from his throat, gasping for air. Samuel grimaced, it seemed he'd only made it worse. Now that he'd thought about it, it was obvious that he'd need to take more care when bandaging the neck. He decided that he needed to look into getting some proper training in medicine. Mistakes like that in a more serious situation could be fatal.

“Sorry lad,” Samuel said, rubbing his face. “I probably haven't quite recovered from the fight yet.” The knight grimaced, watching as Michael wrapped his neck carefully in the bandage. The squire bound the wound fairly effectively, it seemed it would at least hold till they got back to the city. Samuel helped him to his feet, then once he saw that Michael wasn't going to keel over he went in search of his own equipment. Once he'd sheathed his weapons, he shuffled back over to the horses.

“Aye, I think we'll do just that.” Samuel replied, sinking to one knee and cupping his hands. “I'll give you a leg up, trying to mount your horse after a fight like that isn't so easy.” With a heave the knight gave the squire a boost as the younger man stepped into his hands. Samuel staggered to his feet, then looked up at Dan. The Tiaden seemed much larger than he remembered.

The knight led his warhorse along the side of the forest, looking for something to step on. Eventually he found a fallen tree. Clambering atop it, Samuel had a much better chance of making it into Dan's saddle. He took a deep breath, then a flurry of motion ensued that finished with the exhausted knight atop his horse. Armour was a real pain when mounting.

“Ok,” he sighed, “let's go.” He gently nudged Dan into a walk, heading back towards the city.

Many thanks to Prophet for the box code.

[Michael Kyber]

Noticing that Samuel was equally as tired as he was Michael waved off the knights apology, feeling a little ashamed for being in need of the host aid when Sam had done the lion's share of the fighting. If he hadn't messed up his spellwork so much they both might've been in better shape. "It's alright, you have more right to be tired than I have. I'll head to the bath's when we get back, they'll sort me out."

Michael accepted Samuel's help and staggered onto his horse, gently patting the mane of the Zavian to calm it down. The horses had done well to not bolt during the attack; it was a sign of good training that they wouldn't abandon their riders even when monsters where attacking, and without them Michael didn't think he'd be able to make the journey back to the city. Jacky had done well today too, and the squire made a mental note to inform the stables of such.

He tapped his feet against the horses sides as Samuel set off, and it fell into a walk a few paces behind Samuel's Tiaden. As they began the journey home a feeling of relief rose within Michael, dismissing some of the ache from his body and dizziness from his mind. Today had been tough, painful, and was probably going to keep him up at night in the coming weeks, but despite all the bad things the fact remained that he had survived. He was still alive, despite the Yukmen's efforts to the contrary, and for that he could be pleased with himself.

"Hey Samuel... thanks for having my back today." He called out, giving him a weak smile before training his eyes on the side of the road again in case anything else tried to come at them. "I promise that if we ever end up in a situation like that again I'll be stronger by then, strong enough to make a real difference."

It was a promise he intended to keep. Michael resolved himself to redouble his training once he was recovered, he wouldn't let himself be caught short like this ever again.

[Samuel Longwell]

“Good plan lad, let them know you're a squire and you'll get healed up for free.” Samuel swayed slightly in his saddle as he spoke, he needed a good long lie down. He had no desire to speed up Dan's pace; although he was anxious to be home he just didn't have the energy to cope with a trot in his current state. So he simply let the great Tiaden plod onwards, grateful that he wasn't the one who had to walk back to the city.

Even after just a few steps, sleep rose to claim him. He shook his head in defiance, he needed to hang on till they were back within the protection of the walls. Fists clenched, he fought against the ever encroaching exhaustion that threatened to swallow him. The sound of the squire speaking stirred him from his drifting, and Samuel turned to listen.

“Hey Samuel... thanks for having my back today. I promise that if we ever end up in a situation like that again I'll be stronger by then, strong enough to make a real difference.”

“You're welcome lad.” the knight replied, returning Michael's smile. “You did your best, and I probably wouldn't have made it without you, so don't be too hard on yourself. But getting stronger sounds like a sensible plan, these are troubled times.” With these words, Samuel turned back to his reins. Not far back till the city now.

Many thanks to Prophet for the box code.

[Aladari Coolwater]

The tide brings in your grades.

Name:Samuel Longwell

XP Award:

• Leadership: +2
• Riding: +1
• Philosophy: +1
• Unarmed Combat: +2
• Weapon(Dagger): +1
• Tactics: +1
• Medicine: +2
• Weapon(Shield): +1

Lore:

• Lore of Squire Michael: Won't Ignore a Direct Order
• Lore of Polearms: Better for Mounted Combat
• Lore of Camouflage: Trees Conceal Friend and Foe
• Lore of Leadership: Know the Strengths of Your Team
• Lore of Philosophy: Magic is a Tool, Just Like Weapons
• Lore of Stealth: Dismounting is Noisy
• Lore of Yukmen: Travel in Packs
• Lore of Tactics: Distract the Enemy
• Lore of Medicine: Lack of Oxygen Makes One Dizzy
• Lore of Combat: It's Easy to Get Separated From Your Weapons
• Lore of Yukmen: Will Spread if Undefeated
• Lore of Yukmen: Dirty Fighting Monsters
• Lore of Medicine: Bind Bleeding Wounds Tightly...But Not Too Tight
• Lore of Medicine: Mistakes Can be Fatal

Name:Michael Kyber

XP Award:

• Riding: +2
• Weapon (Glaive): +2
• Weapon(Dagger): +1
• Unarmed Combat: +2
• Reimancy: +2
• Flux: +3
• Medicine: +1

Lore:

• Lore of Self: I Hate Being Late
• Lore of Riding: Slower is Easier to Manipulate
• Lore of Location: The Kabrin Road
• Lore of Ser Longwell: Does His Duty By-the-Book
• Lore of Stealth: Dismounting is Noisy
• Lore of Yukmen: Appear Human
• Tactics: Keep Enemies at a Distance
• Lore of Magic: Can't Focus Enough In Battle
• Lore of Combat: No Chivalry in Battle
• Lore of Self: I Don't Want to Die, Damnit!
• Lore of Self: I'm Meant for Greater Things
• Lore of Overgiving: A Metallic Taste
• Lore of Overgiving: Hearing Voices
• Lore of Yukmen: Will Spread if Undefeated
• Lore of Yukmen: Dirty Fighting Monsters
• Lore of Medicine: Wrap Bleeding Wounds Firmly
• Lore of Medicine: Wrap Bandages Around the Arm for Steadying

Penalties/Rewards :

Michael will have scrapes across his neck which will heal properly without leaving marks if cleaned. He will continue to feel urges to use his magic for the next day, and may occasionally hear whispers.

Samuel will find his neck bruised, fading throughout the course of a week. No permanent damage will be done, although he may find himself hoarse as it heals.

Shield Points:
+3 for Patrolling
+4 for Helping City
Total Shield Points (Both): + 7

Comments :

I usually get lost in combat threads and find them difficult to follow, but you guys made this nice and clear for me. It was easy to read and enjoyable to see each character's own ambitions brewing during the battle. Nice job.

Don't forget to edit your request to reflect its graded status. There was a lot here, so if you have any questions or feel I forgot something, please contact me and we can get it sorted out.