FE: War of Men (Gameplay)

[Michelaar]

Cecilie could never refuse some extra money. Plus, she would be helping people out. So when a well-clothed man approached her and her friends, Maurice and Joicelyn, and offered them a job. She never got all the details herself, no, but her companions looked like they trusted the man, and the job. Cecilie, being the kind heart she is, felt like she had no reason to doubt her companions. 

 

The guy they were waiting for finally came, but before Cecilie could really analyze the man, he was gone. Apparently, this was not the kind of job Cecilie would normally do, like ridding villages of bandits, or helping people clean, or the like. Luckily, Joicelyn was still with Cecilie, along with some other men that didn't seem to be upstanding citizen. Now Cecilie began to feel a bit uncomfortable. Cecilie began asking. ''What is the meaning of this? What is going on?'' She looked in Joicelyn's direction, with a concerned face.

[Intercopter]

Asther gripped the pommel of his sword, his eyes scanning the area. "It does seem like a trap... I'd like to free whoever's inside, but putting ourselves in unnecessary danger won't help anyone." Asther drew closer to the fort, but kept a safe distance so as not to be spotted by patrolling guards. "I don't like the idea of sending anyone in there alone, so two of us should try and gauge what's going on inside the fort, or find out if our target is inside." He turned to the others. "Any volunteers that feel light on their feet?"

Edited October 5, 2017 by Intercopter

[Enaluxeme]

For SullyMcGully

Spoiler

When the unknown figure approached Maurice, Joicelyn, Radle and Cecilie some days ago, it offered a not too unusual job: guarding the location of an inportant exchange. Only later, Radle and Joicelyn learned by Maurice that one of the goods to exchange was a kidnapped girl.

Being the mercenary he is, Maurice accepted the job. However, the man didn't like the situation and devised a plan: if, for whatever reason, the employers decided not to release the girl, they were to save her themselves.

Radle had been waiting with the others for the arrival of the man with the ransom. In his pocket was a special key Maurice gave him, capable of opening almost any lock.

The guy finally showed up, getting inside the old fort without dismounting.

"I brought it! Now release Isabel at once!"

For Thany

Spoiler

"Hello? Is there somebody else?"

Solare could hear another voice coming from outside the small room. Judging by the tone, it belonged to another very young girl.

"I tought I was alone here... What's your name? Did they hurt you?"

For Michelaar

Spoiler

Joicelyn got closer to Cecilie.

"Don't worry, everything's going according to plans. If things keep going smoothly we'll be done before dawn. Just keep your eyes open, we have to make sure no-one comes uninvited."

[Thany]

Hearing a voice that sounds like a girl close to her age, she was pretty relieved she wasn't fully alone in here. "Hello. I'm Solare Myst. and i think i'm ok. what about you? are you ok? and what is your name as well." she figured having a normal conversation with this other girl would keep her calm, even if she couldn't see her.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Thany

[SullyMcGully]

"Hey there, mister! I don't know exactly what's going on here, but I'm sorry that your girlfriend got involved. Feel free to get off your horse, and I'll show you to your lady."

Radle observed the young man with the black hair. Thank goodness he's here. While he didn't know all of the details of the situation, any job that required keeping women captive didn't sit very well with him. But now everything was going to be okay, provided...

"Can I see what you have in that parcel there?"

[Poimagic]

Hiero had been listening for anything that could lead to finding Sujad. He then heard something. "Is it just me, or did I hear a horse?" Hiero shoke his head, thinking that he was just hearing things. "Hey, Sujad. Can you use your magic to figure out who is inside the ruins?" Hiero whispered.

[Michelaar]

''B-but Joicelyn.... what is this job anyway? I'm scared.'' Joicelyn kept comforting Cecilie, to the point where Cecilie was calm enough to continue.

[Enaluxeme]

For SullyMcGully

Spoiler

A hooded man, presumably an affiliate of the person that hired the mercenaries, approached the man who had just arrived.

"The book, show it to me first."

Without saying a word, the man pulled out a tome from under his cloack. The book looked very thick and heavy, and was around ten inches long on the bigger side. It had a crimson cover, with silver decorations.

"Good... Now hand it to me. And you, go fetch the girl."

The order was given to Radle. It was clear that he was not to take the knight along, but at least he could make sure of the girl's conditions.

 

For Thany

Spoiler

"Yes, I'm fine. Those man weren't nice, but they did not hurt me. I'm Isabel. Were you kidnapped too?"

For Michelaar

Spoiler

"Scared? Look, there's no reason to. Just trust us, if all goes well we'll get paid and nobody will get hurt."

 

Edited October 6, 2017 by Enaluxeme

[Thany]

"It seems like I am.... but i dont understand why. i only wanted a place to sleep in for my journey... what wrong did i do to get locked behind a cell? and to have My poor horse taken away from me?" She started to sound a bit more concerned for her horse since she hasn't heard him make any noise yet.

[SullyMcGully]

Radle stepped down into the dungeon and found the right cell. As he put the key in the lock, he heard... two voices. How many girls are we keeping here? His orders were only to bring out the one called Isabel. He'd figure out what to do with the other one later. He opened the door.

"Miss Isabel?" A look from the girl confirmed her identity. "I hate to interrupt, but your boyfriend has come for you."

As he escorted her out of her cell, he let her know how he felt about the ordeal. "Sorry to keep you detained like this. I really do hate situations like this, but it doesn't seem like there's much else that can be done. I hope whatever the problem seems to be is resolved." 

For some reason, he doubted that last point. There was something about people in black robes that always suggested that there was more trouble in store. Whoever that man was, he wasn't being very subtle...

 

[Michelaar]

"I trust you and the others, Joicelyn. I just hope our work will be done for goodness' sake, not for evil. But... if you think all is well, I will believe in you. Now, let's get to the job."

[ThicreanPhoenix]

Two of us...Sicon took a look around at his fellows. He himself was ill-suited for stealth with all his armor, Abeloth was too hulking of a man, and it didn't sound like this Asher fellow was volunteering himself. The other one with a sword was far too boisterous. Which...left...the professional hunter and the one in robes.

"May I suggest...Rekia and..." He pointed at the mage, "Uh...I'm sorry, I don't remember your name. But you. They are the least noisy or conspicuous of all of us. On top of that, Rekia is still a hunter. Perfect for stealth."

[Moblin Major General]

Abeloth added his opinion. "I concur, let Lowe and Rekia go. Rekia, you seem to be familiar with wildlife calls, being a hunter and all. Can you make a loon wail? I see them around here all the time, they probably wouldn't suspect anything." Abeloth knew he couldn't be one, because he would either be noticed, raising their alarm, or would be mistaken for a bear, shutting them in.

[KingStaragna]

"I can manage it, yeah. Come along, mage. Apparently we look like bait." Rekia double checked his equipment and headed for the bandit stronghold. Hopefully he wouldn't run into trouble, but he wanted to be able to take care of himself if they did. He held no particular interest for the girl who had cried out, but apparently his party consisted of a bunch of sentimental fools. Elijah included, which was the only reason he was going to go in. His employer would be peeved if he refused a cry for help, and that was never good for business considering how tightly spun the mercenary community was.

[Iota Irondust]

Lowe's brow furrowed and he looked with a  confused expression between each person that elected him as one to press on further. "...fine. I suppose I do have the smallest equipment load to carry..." he began to carefully  follow Rekia while looking back at Asther and Hiero with wide eyes, for he never trusted himself to not cut loose and burst with excitement at any sign of a battle. Taking out and clutching his tome tightly to his chest with both arms, Lowe began lightly chewing on his tongue to force himself into silence while thinking...'Follow the hunter, follow the hunter. Don't yell or scream...Stay. Calm'

[Enaluxeme]

For Thany

Spoiler

"I see... I heard some horse noises before, while you were sleeping. I think your horse is just in another room."

Solaire and Isabel could hear the footsteps of someone coming closer to the cells.

For SullyMcGully

Spoiler

As Radle got closer to the cells, he met the guy tasked with guarding them. The man gave Radle the proper key to the cell, so that the swordsman didn't have to use the special key his colleague gave to him.

"B-boyfriend? But..."

As Radle saw the girl, he understood two things: first, she was scared, understandably; and second, she was too young to be her rescuer's girlfriend, but the similar hair and eyes color of the two spoke clearly about them being related.

As Rekia and Lowe got closer, they distinguished more clearly the figures patrolling the area: two muscolar men that looked like mercenaries of some sorts, a woman dressed in pink and a girl in a green robe. The four of them were all near the front gate, and no other entrance was visible.

[Thany]

"I-Isabel? a-are you ok? are you still there?" She said feeling worried, but not getting an answer and not hearing her conversation with Radie started to make her worried more. "O... oh no, what Happened? W-where did you go? I-I feel so alone again..." She couldn't help but swell up some tears starting to worry what could of happened to Isabel may happen to her as well.

[Enaluxeme]

For Thany

Spoiler

Solare heard the door of another cell being unlocked, someone talking and then nothing else, and was therefore concerned for Isabel. However, it seems she was being too loud for her captors' standards, as someone got close to her cell and banged on the door.

"Hey! Shut you trap girl, or I'll be sure to close it for good!"

 

[Thany]

Solare let out a shriek of being startled by the bang on the door, She quickly as her arms could tried to move to the opposite side of the cell, and started to cry, Trying her best with her arms to cover the sound so the Man outside doesn't come in to do something very bad to her.

[Michelaar]

Patrolling duty? That isn't too bad. Cecilie still didn't know what she was guarding, but guard duty is a thing she has done before. She was still kind of unsure what all of this was about, but it is what it is.

[SullyMcGully]

"Hahahaa! I'm kidding, of course. You're way too young to be that guy's girlfriend!" But Radle could see that the frightened little girl was not amused. He got down on one knee and began speaking in a more serious tone. "Listen, miss. I've already decided that after you're safe, I'm going to get to the bottom of this. If there's someone who needs to pay, I'll make them pay. So don't let it be said that I," he rose as the grin returned to his face, "your dear uncle Radle, have ever let you down!"

[Enaluxeme]

For SullyMcGully

Spoiler

"You are... nicer than the other men here... Thank you..."

Radle could see that the eyes of the girl were watery, as if she was about to cry, but she did not. For a moment, the mercenary could even see a slight smile on the girl's face.

Radle and Isabel eventually reached the room were the exchange was to take place. The man in black robes was browsing the precious tome, while the one who gave it to him was nervously looking around, with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Some runes are concealed, some passages are missing and some pages are blank. The old fox must have put a seal on the tome."

"Hey! I did as you asked!"

"Worry not. The seal can be dealt with. I see your sister is here, you can have her back."

"Brother!"

The girl left Radle's hand to run towards the middle of the room.

"Isabel!"

Her brother hugged her as she got close, then took her up and helped her on the horse.

"Are you satisfied now? Will you let us go?"

"Satisfied? No... But you met our request, and I have no reason to harm you or your sister. You are free to go."

Still looking suspicious of everyone, the man got on his horse and slowly directed the beast towards the exit.

At the same time, the cloacked figure got out of the room from the other opening that lead deeper in the fort.

A man on a horse slowly got out of the ruins, passing near the four patrols. His horse had a second rider, probably a child.

[SullyMcGully]

"And so my investigation begins..." Radle had no intention of breaking his promise with the little girl called Isabel. From the beginning, the situation had bothered him, and now he was going to get to the bottom of it. He had quite a few questions to ask. However, instead of talking to the hooded figure, he decided to go see Maurice first. He knew Maurice... or at least he thought he did.

[Michelaar]

While on patrol duty, a man on a horse came riding past from inside the ruins. Cecilie didn't think much of it, until she saw a child on the back. ''What is that? A child?'' She directed these words to the other 3 patrols.

[Moblin Major General]

Abeloth sees a horse coming from the fortress plus one littler person on it. At least we won't have to deal with him, anymore. I can't say I blame him if a person he loved was being held hostage.He turns to the group. "Sujad has flown the coop, but the tome is still in there, as he left with someone, probably a child or lover. We know this group is well armed and has hostages. We need to eliminate them and get back the tome. We can explain that Sujad didn't do what he did willingly, much as it pains me to say it." Abeloth clenched the scar on his chest. He then listened for the loon call so Asther could get everyone in position to rush the fort.