Zion: Light of the New Moon Part 2, Ch 1.3 Myre
Zion - Light of the New Moon, Part 2 Chapter 1.3
Myre Tormented
With all votes in, it appears that Myre is going to stay put for the time being until the immediate threat of Torments dies down. It also appears that Lady Marion will survive... for now. Based on the decisions the group has made this Chapter, the current modifiers are ++ Delay, + Danger, and - Luck, but this is still subject to change based on future decisions.
This morning was spent in a flurry of chaos. Cornelius was calmly taking with Bahrla, who was anything but calm, and put the 'argh' in argumentative. He moved around camp clearing out rocks and bits of fallen timber while she followed right after him, just short of yelling at him wasting time. "If we're staying here any longer we NEED defenses!" she slammed her fist into a nearby tree, "Those Blood Beasts were scared off, but they're coming back."
"I am aware of this, Bahrla." the white shepherd responded with that same, teeth-grinding serenity as he always seemed to address everything, "Rest assured, once Lady Marion regains consciousness we will do everything we can to protect ourselves from the impending attack."
"That's not good enough." the minotaur woman argued, following him further, "We do not have time for your eccentrics."
Without responding, Cornelius bent down to push a half-rotten log out of the near-perfect circle he was creating around the tents. "We could be doing it now." Bahrla added, and again the shepherd didn't respond. We all watched as she launched a hoof out and knocked the wood into splinters, sending it spraying far off into the underbrush, "As in, RIGHT NOW." she added.
"Alright. Enough." Sergeant Reilly moved in quickly to separate the two, "Bahrla... take Liam and Leijh and start work on the defenses... I'll help the Captain with..." and the brown-furred shepherd flicked an ear as he glanced at Cornelius, who was in the process of uprooting a small flower from within the cleared campsite, "...whatever he's doing."
Scowling, Bahrla led the two of us off into the nearby area, where she started chopping. The massive woman managed to take down entire trees with one to two hits, and had us bring them back to the camp site in preparation for building a basic wall. Believe it or not, Miri, she started a stockpile-- Bahrla Splithoof was able to chop down trees faster than Liam and I could move them! By mid-afternoon we were both exhausted, but at least the Wild Lander had managed to work out most of her aggression on the trees.
During the duration of our labor, Josh continued caring for Lady Marion. His prayers had kept her alive through the night and, though the poor cub looked as tired as I felt, he continued the prayers outside his tent, joined after several hours by Cornelius and Keeland, who had apparently finished the project that the Moon Pelted shepherd had, for some reason, felt necessary to complete.
By the time Liam, Bahrla, and I got back into camp, Lady Marion looked decidedly better. She was still unconscious, but her breathing had calmed and she didn't look as though she were hovering on death's doorstep. Josh, who looked about ready to pass out, simply sat back and fished around in his belt pouch. As Liam knelt down to inspect the priestess, Josh withdrew his paw, holding within it the cordial he had obtained back in the ruins. One quick swig later, and he was both rejuvenated, and recovered.
"She's not going to awaken tonight." Liam noted, taking a paw back from the side of her face, "She might not even recover by tomorrow morning."
"The priestess would be of great aid against the Blood Beasts." Cornelius lamented.
"You mean as much help as she was last night?" Bahrla questioned, calling from the perimeter of the camp where she was moving two tree trunks at a time, creating the framework for what looked like it would be a rough-cut wooden wall.
"It's a shame you don't have more of that drink." Liam said to Josh with a faint smile, "She's been treating us like we're unfeeling, untiring golems all day and I'm not sure I can pick up a sword, let alone swing one."
"We really DO need Lady Marion." the cub responded to the comment, "She has prayers and benedictions that make people feel less tired." he glanced to Liam, "I guess your syrup-stuff doesn't do that, does it?"
He shook his head, pulling the small crystal alembic out of his pocket, "No... it only--" he glanced to the priestess, "--heals." and, without a second thought, he popped the curved top on it and slowly poured the contents through the unconscious woman's lips. Tossing the empty container to the side, Liam knelt over Lady Marion. Josh and I joined him as the deepest unhealed wounds quickly scabbed over and we all sat back in unison when her eye lids fluttered, then opened.
"Oh... my..." Lady Marion announced, wincing as she slowly sat up, helped by Josh.
I said the first thing that came to mind, "Welcome back, priestess."
Meanwhile, Cornelius and Keeland had taken notice of our gathering and both dogs came over to join us, "She has recovered." the white shepherd noticed, "This is a good thing."
"Very astute of you." Liam stated flatly, "and yes... yes it is."
"Priestess--" I cut in before the distraction got worse, "We're still camped beside the ruins and Bahrla thinks that the Blood Beasts will be coming back to attack again."
"Then..." Lady Marion noted, shrugging all of us off, except Josh, who helped her stand, "I will get the Divine Shield ready."
"Lady Marion," Liam spoke up, "We haven't had much time to rest since our last battle." he glanced my way and I felt my cheeks flush even as the insides of his ears did, but he continue without pause, "and we've been working throughout the day to try and fortify the camp..."
"Are you well enough to speak a prayer for us?" Josh asked, looking to her with big, kitten-eyes.
"If I'm drawing breath then I can pray." Lady Marion confirmed, and all work in the camp (except for Bahrla, of course) stopped as we gathered to her, eager for the soothing breath of the Moon Goddess... and we were not kept waiting. As the prayer left the priestess' lips I immediately felt the influence of Tah'aveen wringing out the pain and fatigue from my aching limbs. Though I didn't feel as rested as if I'd awakened fresh, it was still a dramatic difference.
In the background, even as everyone whispered their thanks to the Goddess, I heard different words emerge from Cornelius Cymbeline. The spell that he cast crackled between our assembly, spreading out from him like the ripple in a pond after being disturbed by a pebble. One by one, the wave passed through each of us and, when it touched me, for a moment, it almost felt like my body was burning... but then a split second later, the heat flowed through me, searing out the remnants of strain in my muscles and bringing with it a surreal, warming sensation. I was confused, but Liam was not.
"What are you thinking?" the fox demanded of the shepherd, "You transfered that much energy to ALL of us?"
"I did." the shepherd acknowledged after catching his breath, "It is important for us to be as ready for combat as possible when they do come."
"So you exhaust yourself instead?" Liam challenged him, "Any trade like that with Focus is a bad one... how are you even still standing?" the fox questioned.
"I have always been in possession of a hearty vitality, an iron will, and an unflinching mettle." the shepherd responded, taking two purposeful steps forward so he could lean against a post.
"If last night was any indication we're going to need everyone again tonight, Captain." Keeland noted, "He's right... if you exhaust yourself you're not doing us any favors."
"I thank you for your concern, Keeland, but I have a reasonable understanding of my limitations." he smiled with his strange, serene calm, "Understandably, I will not do much use swinging a sword as I will have to surrender my armor this evening... but I am still competent with a bow." and he motioned toward the eight foot tall wooden walls Bahrla had nearly finished.
I know that I hadn't been paying much attention to her work and, apparently, I wasn't the only one. Others looked for the first time too, astounded at how quickly she managed to get the defenses put in place... all except for a ten foot stretch of open land to the north.
"Bahrla!" Keeland shouted, drawing the minotaur woman's attention, "Are you doing anything there?" he called, pointing to the opening.
"No." she answered, "That's where we'll defend." she explained, walking over as she wiped her hands off on her flank.
"Archers on the walls with a pawful of warriors holding the gap." Keeland proposed.
"We don't exactly have a lot of bows." Liam pointed out.
"Mr. Mail," Cornelius spoke up, and I felt a tinge of jealousy at the beautiful accent speaking the name, "Perhaps if we were to work together with Focus then we could accomplish much, both to slow the attack and to restore our stamina... from the back lines."
"I'm good with a bow and a sword." Liam pointed out, "I'd be wasted on just magic."
"Then draw a bow and I can join you on the wall." the shepherd offered.
"It makes sense." Keeland acknowledged, a faint tweak to his ears as he spoke the words in a professional manner, "Until Captain Cymbeline has a chance to rest it would be too risky having him on the front lines no matter how skilled a swordsman he is."
"If everyone is too tired, I will hold the line alone." Bahrla noted with a snort, "I didn't know I was dealing with cubs, kits, pups, and little furless children."
I wasn't particularly in the mood to deal with her posturing, but she was right, "I plan on doing my part." I offered in as neutral a tone as I could manage. As it turned out, everyone's part was going to be as much as they could handle... and then some.
* * * * * *
The Myrenese Party has elected to hold steady, which means they're still in the path of the Blood Beasts. Let's see what they do to prepare.
To begin, each character will have to be assigned to one of three posts: Melee, Reserve, and Ranged. Melee characters will be taking the brunt of the attack and will stand in should any foes get past the main line and into camp. Ranged characters will be up on the fortifiations and will not be attacked unless/until the rest of the party falls. In the case of stance, a higher stance indicates that a character will be more likely to move toward melee combat if there's a hole in the line while a lower stance indicates that they're more likely to withdraw.
Champions of Myre, since will end up in combat based on how the votes go 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 Thursday, November 17th.