Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 1.2 Bannihar
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 1.2
Bannihar Sundered Haven
The party has elected with a vote of 3:1 to assault the Wayside tower from above while the caravan guards attack from below.
Elesin was the first to be flown to the top of the tower. Sebastian tested his ability with lifting the kangaroo first by taking hold of her forearms and making several experimental flaps with his wings. Confident that he'd be able to take off with her weighing him down, the gryphon had her climb onto his back. He added with a beaky grin, "Just remember: if you ride me, I might ask you to return the favor." Roarg slapped himself in the forehead.
"Don't make a wish if you're not sure what you'll end up getting." the kangaroo replied with a wide smirk. Everyone laughed.
Once the two took to the air, gaining altitude as Sebastian slowly circled the tower, Roarg contemplated aloud, "Hmmm... 'if you're not sure what you'll end up getting...'. The question is, does she think she's too much of a woman for him, or does she have something he might catch?" everyone laughed anew.
Things had quieted down by the time Sebastian returned. Although it required a lot of circling for him to gain altitude when weighed down with a passenger, the gryphon was able to make a straight dive down to the group. "Alright... how about you next?" he looked at Iskiy.
"Coropral Thrush." Lord Raes spoke up, "Your turn."
Iskiy nodded and moved over to Sebastian, offering his arms for the same weight test. The gryphon snorted, "Seriously? You're a stick! You're like, half that kangaroo's weight. Just get on." The wolf flicked an ear and complied; the two were into the air a moment later.
Upon Sebastian's return, Lord Raes motioned to Alexander next, "We'll want you along... never know when a quick blade will come in handy." The cat said nothing, but obediently went to the gryphon. He hopped up into position, alighting on Sebastian's back gracefully. The gryphon took to the air and quickly circled to the top of the tower.
"Keep your eyes on the widows." Lord Raes spoke up, "There's no telling whether or not the Orgs have bows or spears." Fortunately, Sebastian completed another run without any interference from the tower. Returning to the group, Sebastian landed on the ground nearby and bled off is speed trotting over. Lord Raes looked at Kayte, "Priestess?"
Kayte walked to Sebastian and bowed her head, "Thank you for your aid, good gryphon."
Sebastian rolled his eyes, "I'm just glorified transportation." and he flopped his hind end onto the ground unceremoniously.
"Your aid is instrumental in helping us reclaim this site." Kayte pressed. She reached out and lightly patted the side of his face.
The gryphon's feathers puffed up in response, crest rising slightly as his beak opened in a smile, "Well... credit goes where credit's due, then." and he lowered the front of his body to the ground so that he was laying down, "You're welcome to ride me anytime, Priestess." his tail lashed expectantly.
Lord Raes offered a paw in aid as Kayte moved to straddle Sebastian's back. The gryphon stood and the priestess was in position. "I'm ready." Kayte spoke with confidence. Sebastian nodded, and, with a running start, took to the air.
Elias waited until the two had taken flight before asking aside to Roarg, "No comment about 'you're welcome to ride--" but was interrupted.
"Nope." Roarg interjected, "No comment."
The gryphon was just starting his second circle of the tower when a reddish-brown-skinned humanoid appeared in one of the windows. "Org!" one of the caravan scouts shouted. Several more humanoids came quickly into view, "They have bows!" Lord Raes announced.
The occupants of the tower began to take aim of the circling gryphon, but little ripples of motion began to flow up the walls. Kneeling to the ground, Elias' arms were dug into the earth up to his elbows as he focused his attention on the tower. When the shifting rock reached the windows they sealed up completely, blocking off the Orgs' view of the outside. "I can't close all of them." the armadillo warned, but it still appeared that he was going to try.
"The Goddess will protect them." Raes announced, watching the circling gryphon, whispering quietly as he gripped the amulet hanging from his neck. The holy symbol of the full moon disappeared beneath his massive paw, but little streaming rays of light still escaped through the space between his fingers. The few arrows that were managed to be fired were unable to strike either Kayte or Sebastian, turned aside by a divine field of protection.
Once the two were safely at the top of the tower the party members still below took time to review their options, "It will not be safe for the rest of us to fly." Lord Raes announced.
Roarg shrugged, "Between armor," he motioned to Raes, "shell," he motioned to Elias, "and gut," he slapped his own belly, "I doubt he'd be able to get us very far anyway... and you saw how long it took him to gain enough altitude with just Elesin."
"I don't like limiting the attack from above... they don't have enough people." Lord Raes commented, "And if the Priestess is up there, I should be as well."
Elias shook his head, "Actually, if she is up there, you should be down here with the guards... they'll have need of your Divine Shield."
"We're entering a Wayside, Geomancer; it has its own protection." the dog countered, "I feel that my 'shield' would best be of use protecting our head Priestess."
Elias shrugged, "Very well... you stick to what you know... and I will stick to what I know." the armadillo moved to the side of the tower and reached his arm into it. The Geomancer murmured, speaking to the stone itself as brick after brick after brick slid from its place on the wall, creating a spiraling staircase on the outside.
"You could have done that in the first place." Roarg suggested.
"Conservation of mana." Elias answered, "It may look easy, but it is still taxing."
"Good work." Lord Raes acknowledged, "Now come on." and he started quickly up the stairs.
Roarg followed quickly after the dog, but paused when Elias didn't follow immediately. The badger paused likewise, glancing back at the armadillo, "Coming?"
Elias looked to the caravan, the front door, then the stairs, "I'm not a warrior, you know."
Roarg nodded, "Neither am I."
"But you're so eager to rush headlong into a tower filled with Wild Land savages?"
The badger nodded, "Of course." he confirmed, "It's not just a tower... it's a Wayside."
"And it is the duty of every Faithful to come to the aid of holy sites of the Moon Goddess." Elias spoke the implied message in monotone.
Roarg smiled at that, "You don't sound very convinced."
Elias shrugged in response, "In my experience you can trust what you can see... what you can hold in your paw and touch with your fingers. I don't doubt the power of Tah'aveen or her ability to protect us, but I can't help but wonder how the Orgs could have broke in if her power is that complete."
The badger took the opportunity to shrug, "That's a good question for the Priestess... you can ask her when this is all over." he winked, "Come on."
Elias followed quickly once Roarg began ascending the stairs. They were half way up before the armadillo spoke again, "If you're not a warrior, why are you rushing in to do battle?"
"You can cut stone without being a stone cutter." Roarg pointed out, "You can build a fence without being a carpenter. You can grow a plant without being a gardener--"
"And you can cave in a man's skull without being a warrior... I see." Elias added in flatly, "But a stone cutter does a finer job and a carpenter builds a better fence. Gardeners know how to make their gardens bloom brighter. True warriors fight better."
"True," Roarg relented, "but who's to say that the Orgs are true warriors?"
Elias didn't reply and the two continued on the rest of the way to the top in silence. The party assembled and everyone made ready to enter the tower. Everyone checked their weapons and readied themselves for a fight. They were going to wait for the sound of combat below before they forced their way in; their task was to come at the Orgs from behind while the caravan guards engaged the main portion of the invading force.
Combat was engaged below, heralded by the sound of metal-on-metal. Raes and Elesin worked to force the door while the rest of the party made final preparations. Hefting his hammer, Roarg turned aside to Elias and spoke quietly, "Oh... and if you hadn't noticed, warrior or not I don't think Orgs stand much of a chance against a guy who makes the earth work against em."
A broad grin slowly spread its way across Elias' muzzle, "That gives me an idea..."
* * * * *
The Banniharian attack on the Wayside has begun!
Champions of Bannihar, since you are now about to engage in combat I will require a Stance from each of you. Stance is given on a rating of 0-5 where 5 is full offense, 4 is aggressive, 3 is neutral, 2 is conservative, and 1 is reserved, A rating of 0 indicates that the character will NOT be taking part in combat (not even in a support role). Please bear in mind that these ratings will increase your Offense the higher your Stance number and increase your Defense the lower your Stance number (or, in the case of 0, have the character try to avoid combat altogether)-- the opposite sub-trait decreases conversely (Defense goes down if the number is high; Offense goes down if the number is low).
I will also require a Utilization number for those characters that have an 11 or higher in combined Magic + Sub-Trait or Faith + Sub-Trait. Like Stance, Utilization ranges from 0-5. Utilization is a numerical equivalent of how free your contributed character is with their magic and/or prayers-- a charater with a higher Utilization is more inclined to use their abilities often and more powerfully while a character that elects a lower Utilization is less likely to depend on them (Utilization of 0 will result in the character foregoing any such abilities). Bear in mind that the higher the level of Utilization the more likely a character is to suffer from fatigue. Characters with higher Attribute + Sub-Skill totals are able less likely to be affected by fatigue unless they use a higher score of Utilization.
For an example of how to declare Stance and Utilization, please view the actions taken by the Author-Contributed characters below.
Contributing Readers, make sure you make your stance and utilization selections before midnight (pst) on Friday, June 10th.