Fire Emblem on Forums: Tiny Steps (IC)

[krim]

At the end of the battle, Ebon largely kept to himself as he strode through the remains of the fallen, looking for anything he could use or sell. The marauders wouldn't need it where they ended up, after all. Afterwards he loaded it all onto Blackwing and kept a watchful eye on the party from the back as they grew ever closer to the University.

Upon their arrival, he pondered at the bugs scurrying to and fro. He had seen many different kinds in his travels, of course, but something about this place and them unnerved him a bit. He couldn't tell exactly what, but it was probably something to do with their apparent lack of preparedness. A battle breaking out here would leave a lot of innocent casualties, and they didn't seem concerned about the possibility at all. There was barely a weapon in sight!

 

He shook his head and after musing over it a little more he decided that it was probably mantis instincts more than thoughtful wariness. They probably had mages at least, and who would want to attack a bunch of dusty scholars in their own camp anyway?

 

Breaking out of his thoughts, he listened intently to their new commander as roll was called. He let out a gruff "Ebon Knight....and Blackwing" in the same mildly threatening tone he had used in the redoubt before, but was intrigued when she started speaking of the human writing. He actually had seen stuff like that before on his journeys with Lotus, but never thought much of it. Relics from before his time - and not really good for selling -was all he ever got from them.

 

But...as she talked he realized that this was an oppurtunity. If they really did discover a new type of magic from this, he and Lotus would likely be paid even more handsomely than their current offer....And that was good enough for him.

[ctsun]

To be quite honest, all this talk about magic and writings and ancient humans were going completely over Sting's head. The most she'd gotten out of all this was that it all promised to be a grand adventure full of challenges and discoveries and brave deeds and that got her interest right away. Though, she could have sworn she's heard of humans before...from those barely remembered oral legends of mosquito heroes now long gone. 

 

Sting's back wings flared a little in excitement. She can't wait until she made her legend. This adventure sounded like the perfect place!...So long as she didn't get knocked so much again. That had hurt.

[Trash]

"I-I guess that is pretty interesting. H-human magic..."

"W-wait! What if their m-magic is why they all disappeared?!"

[kj1225]

Mercy rubbed his chin at the news. This... "writing" did sound interesting. A method of putting language into a more permanent form would likely be of great help for a lot of things, like keeping bodies easy to identify, or keeping records of what wounds a soldier had taken.... He'd have to request a demonstration from Brilliant Deduction if there was a chance later.

[Powder Miner]

It has been two and a half days since Brilliant Deduction's expedition convened at the Scholars' University and headed out to go travel the world in search of ancient human writings. As promised, Brilliant has been leading the bugs around her northwards up and out of the Scholars' Redoubt region, on a path that at times cut through area of grass like the kind of area the Marauders had been encountered in, at times around some of the trees in the area, and that generally seemed just to be trying to beeline through the region to get into the lands generally inhabited by the people of Wasp Hell. Brilliant, throughout, cheerfully waved away any questions of safety and caution, insisting that though their journey could overall be dangerous, running into two different attacks here of all places was unlikely. ...and, thankfully for everyone who had been traumatized by that awful fight with the suicidal bandits, she was actually right.

 

Her behavior had changed rapidly as they entered Wasp Hell, though -- she grew significantly more careful, and kept the party to the road and sidewalk, avoiding going into the grass. As she explained it, she'd traveled Wasp Hell before, and while there was a peace treaty in place these days between the hornets, paper wasps, velvet ants, and black ants... there were some people who weren't real happy about it, and who might be carrying some grudges. And, as she explained it...

"Well, uh, y'know, these legs here make it as clear as day I'm a hornet. But, well, if we have any trouble, I'm confident we can deal with it!"

 

 

In one respect, moving along the sidewalk had worked -- the group saw the ambush that ended up coming for them very easily, squads of black-clad bugs scrambling across the loam and the bumpy black hard surface of the old human road. Unfortunately, they weren't really in a position for seeing them coming to matter. The section of sidewalk was a rough one, huge rifts rising out of the mysterious hard, smoothish material it had been created with as age and decay had caused it to crack apart. This meant that the many large cracks made scrambling away difficult -- and the ambushers were coming in from multiple directions. Eventually, their identity became clear: black ants. One of them, in heavy armor and with the ruined stumps of a pair of mandibles around his mouth, spoke first and firmly.

 

"A hornet! Well, boys, I think we've found ourselves a group of our old enemies roaming around! Now let's show 'em how we do it, yeah?"

"Sergeant, I don't think that these guys are hornets. It's just the one."

"It would appear that one of them is even another black ant."

 

As the ambushers deliberated out loud, Bend scowled and crossed his arms.

"Oh, you have got to be FUCKING kidding me with this shit. Of all the assholes we could have run into up here, it's THIS particular brand of chucklefucks."

 

One of the ambushers was a mantis atop a pigeon and in white armor, who didn't have anywhere near the level of urgency of the others.

"For sure these guys are Redoubt guys, with that particular mixture of bugs. And... huh..." 

He squinted.

 

"Fuck 'em, they're good enough. If it weren't for those scholar jackasses, we wouldn't have had the treaty, and we wouldn't be fucking stuck out here in the first place! FUCK 'EM! We can teach everybody a lesson well enough if we make an example out of them! Corporal Dart, Adept Gloom, Flies Freely, set your squads up and get ready to take these guys down a notch!"

 

"Well, eheh, sorry everyone, I guess we did get into trouble on my account... but don't worry, I'll make sure to help get everyone out of it!"

TURN 1 ~ PLAYER PHASE

 

Map Notes

Spoiler

Objective: Rout the enemy!

 

Road and sidewalk tiles usually just count as plains for the purpose of movement, including the lines between panels of the sidewalk.

However, cracks in the sidewalk function as Cliffs and are impassable! Pebbles on the sidewalk function as Pillars.

Moving on or off the sidewalk costs 2 MOV. Attacks from the sidewalk to off of the sidewalk effectively have WTA, and attacks off of the sidewalk to on the sidewalk effectively have WTD! This stacks with actual WTA and WTD.

Status:

Spoiler

Players:

Ebon Knight: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Faithful Diligence: 18/18, Eq. Fire

Life-Recorder: 17/17, Eq. Wooden Chakram

Lotus: 17/17, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Mercy Harefoot: 16/16, Eq. Heal 

Pinecone: 23/23, Eq. Wooden Javelin (Iron Javelin)

Secluded-from-Illumination: 18/18, Eq. Worm

Soggyshanks: 20/20, Eq. Plastic Hatchet

Stardust: 16/16, Eq. Lightning

Sting: 19/19, Eq. Wooden Rapier (Iron Rapier)

Brilliant Deduction: 16/16, Eq. Heal

Recruit Bend: 17/17, Eq. Charming Flute

 

Enemies:

Black Ant Fire Initiate A: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate A: 20/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit A: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit A: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier A: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Corporal Dart: 19/19, Eq. Wooden Dagger

 

Black Ant Sniper A: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper B: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper C: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Flies Freely: 20/20, Eq. Gravel Mace (Iron Mace)

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate B: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Axe Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Black Ant Specialist A: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Adept Gloom: 23/23, Eq. Swarm

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate C: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate B: 20/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit C: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Specialist B: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Sergeant Indefatigable: 24/24, Eq. Wooden Pilum

EXP: 83/100

[Aurorix]

Great more fighting, literally the one things she didn't want! Wasting no time she went over to her brother and began shoving him forward and pounding on his back (Which really only felt like small taps).  "Go on you block head! Protect me-eeeer everyone and get the enemies attention! Stop dilly dallying!"

 

Stardust moves to C-9 and activates Charisma+

[ctsun]

Looks like more fighting ahead, she guessed. Sting hoped that this fight will hurt a lot less than the last one. She hopped forward energetically following Stardust's movements, pausing only briefly to ask Bend a question. He seemed to recognise these bugs.

"Hey, Bendy", she asked with a wide-eyed, curious head tilt. "Who are they? You seemed to know. Oh~! I know! Are they friends of yours?" she asked, clapping her hands in (supposed) comprehension. Maybe not. He didn't sound too happy about all this, for starters.

 

Move to D-12.

[RedMageCole]

Pinecone did his usual— standing by and marching alongside everyone, with only Diligence's faint tunes in his ears to accompany him properly. When they were ambushed, Pinecone did not even flinch or hesitate— as soon as Stardust had deployed herself, he was in the field.

 

"Well, it's another busy day at work! You will have to forgive me, I am doing this for everyone else's self defense. I hope you can understand!"

 

With Pinecone's cracked wooden javelin held high, he launched it at one of the lancers, preparing to stand guard for everyone's sake.

 

Pinecone to C8, guard any adjacent and willing units (including Stardust), launch a javelin into Lancer A

[krim]

Ebon cocked his head for a moment as the battle began. The ambush didn't surprise him, but something seemed off about the opposing bugs. The other bird rider especially. He wracked his brains trying to make sense of it, but ultimately turned to Lotus.  "Ready?" he asked aloud but added "Does the guy on the bird look familiar?" more quietly. Deciding not to dwell on it for too long, he took Blackwing's reigns and guided him to the closest bug, promptly thrusting his lance into the spearmans chest.

 

C7, Stab Lancer A, Get Guarded By Pinecone

[Powder Miner]

"No, I don't know 'em personally. I just know what type they are -- the people up here made a peace a while back, including the black ants here. But there are always some ants that just want to keep fighting wars, and so here we are."

 

Pinecone launched a javelin with a smooth movement of one muscular arm, making to score the first blow of this particular post-war scrap. The enemy notably hesitated, taken aback by Pinecone's casual tone.

 

Pinecone attacks Lance Recruit A!

Spoiler

Pinecone is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

Lance Recruit A is behind a pebble!

 

Hit: 85+15-15-1=85!

Hit roll: 26, hit!

Crit: 2-1=1!

Crit roll: 69, no crit.

Damage: 9-5-1=3!

 

While Pinecone may have been far from the quickest bug, being something of a lumbering, armored lunk, especially with his personality slowing his reactions... these black ant recruits with lances were amazingly somehow even slower, perhaps weighed down by their armor (not having a layer of bare-chest-protecting fuzz like Pinecone!). With that, plus the hesitation of the rather bemused lance-wielder, Pinecone found it extremely easy to land a javelin on the zealot-following ant, the javelin making a thwack of contact and falling away. But... unfortunately for Pinecone, what he lacked in toughness the lance-toting ant made up for in toughness, so the surprisingly anemic weapon didn't manage much but some bleeding.

 

Ebon followed up to take his own crack at the unfortunate recruit -- and he made for a more traditionally intimidating attacker than Pinecone, looming with his gruff attitude, jagged black armor, and massive fucking crow.

 

Ebon Knight attacks Lance Recruit A!

Spoiler

Ebon Knight has a Crow's Zeal!

Ebon Knight is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

Lance Recruit A is behind a pebble!

 

Hit: 93+15-1-15=92!

Hit roll: 47, hit!

Crit: 3-1=2!

Crit roll: 51, no crit.

Damage: 11+2-5-1=7!

 

Ebon Knight's strike also flew true, with the black-armored mercenary being quicker and more precise than Ebon, let alone the enemy ant -- and it struck harder, with Ebon having momentum and strength on his side compared to Pinecone. Still, though the ant quite clearly felt this strike, it still was not enough to lift him off of his feet. In fact, it wasn't even close. The ant had to take a moment to reel, but after but a second he managed to forcibly lean himself back forwards into a stable posture. "G-- guys! Seriously, come help me out over here!"

 

Map Notes

Spoiler

Objective: Rout the enemy!

 

Road and sidewalk tiles usually just count as plains for the purpose of movement, including the lines between panels of the sidewalk.

However, cracks in the sidewalk function as Cliffs and are impassable! Pebbles on the sidewalk function as Pillars.

Moving on or off the sidewalk costs 2 MOV. Attacks from the sidewalk to off of the sidewalk effectively have WTA, and attacks off of the sidewalk to on the sidewalk effectively have WTD! This stacks with actual WTA and WTD.

Status

Spoiler

Players:

Ebon Knight: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Faithful Diligence: 18/18, Eq. Fire

Life-Recorder: 17/17, Eq. Wooden Chakram

Lotus: 17/17, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Mercy Harefoot: 16/16, Eq. Heal 

Pinecone: 23/23, Eq. Wooden Javelin (Iron Javelin)

Secluded-from-Illumination: 18/18, Eq. Worm

Soggyshanks: 20/20, Eq. Plastic Hatchet

Stardust: 16/16, Eq. Lightning

Sting: 19/19, Eq. Wooden Rapier (Iron Rapier)

Brilliant Deduction: 16/16, Eq. Heal

Recruit Bend: 17/17, Eq. Charming Flute

 

Enemies:

Black Ant Fire Initiate A: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate A: 20/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit A: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit A: 13/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier A: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Corporal Dart: 19/19, Eq. Wooden Dagger

 

Black Ant Sniper A: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper B: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper C: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Flies Freely: 20/20, Eq. Gravel Mace (Iron Mace)

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate B: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Axe Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Black Ant Specialist A: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Adept Gloom: 23/23, Eq. Swarm

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate C: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate B: 20/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit C: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Specialist B: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Sergeant Indefatigable: 24/24, Eq. Wooden Pilum

EXP: 87/100

[ElfCollaborator]

Take Stardust's old space

[Trash]

"W-wait, i-is - one of them on a bird?"

Secluded-from-Illumination's tone dripped pure horror.

 

B9

[Yours Truly]

 

"You get used to it."

 

Soggyshanks moves to D10.

Bend to C10 and perform for Soggy.

Soggy moves to D8 and smacks Lance Recruit A with his Hatchet.

[Unlurking Sentinel]

"So many lives to be lost..."

 

Life-Recorder pulled from the back of her belt (just behind her cloak) a sharpened wooden ring. Not the deadliest weapon, but it could be thrown a long distance, yet was quick enough to wield in a close scuffle. Perfect for self-defense.

"Very well. I swear that not one bug on this field will be forgotten."

 

And so, with a burst of sudden alacrity did she rush closer to the front line, hoping to make out the details of the wounded lancer's face while he still stood.

 

Life-Recorder to D11

[Powder Miner]

Soggyshanks was another one of the Scholars' Redoubt party to take the front line, striding up towards his armored ant foe with what a surprisingly casual stride, before lifting up his hatchet and...

 

Soggyshanks attacks Lance Recruit A!

Spoiler

Soggyshanks is in it for his own glory!

Soggyshanks has the advantage of axes over lances!

 

Hit: 89-1+15=103, autohit!

Crit: 2-1=1!

Crit roll: 1, crit! //OOOOHHHHHHH SHHHHIIIIITTTTT SSOOOOOONNN

Damage: (11+1-5-2)*3=15!

 

--and seemingly without any effort buried his hatchet all the way up to its spine in a gap between two plates of the bug's wooden armor, right through into his shoulder. Despite the fact that the attack itself had looked apathetic, with Soggyshanks' energy tempered by his not currently standing out, it was still more than effective enough when completely unhindered by the armor that should have blunted it. For a moment, the ant soldier stood missing an arm... and then he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, without even making a sound.

 

(The fact that this was actually just dumb luck didn't need to stop Soggyshanks from looking cool.)

Lance Recruit A is dead!

"Damn! These guys clearly aren't nobodies. Hold fast, people, and then we strike fast! We can still deal with them if we hit smart!"

Map Notes

Spoiler

Objective: Rout the enemy!

 

Road and sidewalk tiles usually just count as plains for the purpose of movement, including the lines between panels of the sidewalk.

However, cracks in the sidewalk function as Cliffs and are impassable! Pebbles on the sidewalk function as Pillars.

Moving on or off the sidewalk costs 2 MOV. Attacks from the sidewalk to off of the sidewalk effectively have WTA, and attacks off of the sidewalk to on the sidewalk effectively have WTD! This stacks with actual WTA and WTD.

Status

Spoiler

Players:

Ebon Knight: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Faithful Diligence: 18/18, Eq. Fire

Life-Recorder: 17/17, Eq. Wooden Chakram

Lotus: 17/17, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Mercy Harefoot: 16/16, Eq. Heal 

Pinecone: 23/23, Eq. Wooden Javelin (Iron Javelin)

Secluded-from-Illumination: 18/18, Eq. Worm

Soggyshanks: 20/20, Eq. Plastic Hatchet

Stardust: 16/16, Eq. Lightning

Sting: 19/19, Eq. Wooden Rapier (Iron Rapier)

Brilliant Deduction: 16/16, Eq. Heal

Recruit Bend: 17/17, Eq. Charming Flute

 

Enemies:

Black Ant Fire Initiate A: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate A: 20/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit A: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit A: 0/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier A: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Corporal Dart: 19/19, Eq. Wooden Dagger

 

Black Ant Sniper A: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper B: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper C: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Flies Freely: 20/20, Eq. Gravel Mace (Iron Mace)

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate B: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Axe Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Black Ant Specialist A: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Adept Gloom: 23/23, Eq. Swarm

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate C: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate B: 20/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit C: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit C: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Specialist B: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Sergeant Indefatigable: 24/24, Eq. Wooden Pilum

EXP: 92/100

[kj1225]

Mercy merely raises an eyebrow at the lopping off of an unfortunate bug's arm. By his reckoning they likely died of shock before they hit the ground. A shame, but he'd seen it before.

Move to D9.

[Aurorix]

Lotus to B8 and attack Axe Recruit A

Brilliant Deduction to B10

[Powder Miner]

Not to be left in the dust by everyone, at least figuratively. Lotus decided to chip in her little part to the beginning of the fight, drawing an arrow from her quiver, pulling back the string of her mightily-sized (at least relatively) longbow, quietly aiming in on an as-of-yet-untouched member of their band of adversaries, and...

 

Lotus attacks Axe Recruit A!

Spoiler

Lotus is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

Lotus is an Ambush Predator!

 

Hit: 93+15+15-1=122, autohit! //(by a fucking lot!)

Crit: 3=1=2!

Crit roll: 28, no crit.

Damage: 11-4=7!

 

Lotus attacks again!

 

Lotus is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

Lotus is an Ambush Predator!

 

Hit: 93+15+15-1=122, autohit!

Crit: 3=1=2!

Crit roll: 72, no crit.

Damage: 11-4=7!

 

Big, meaty, gormless, and somewhat armored, the axe-wielding black ant stood no chance at even noticing Lotus' arrow before it zipped across the sidewalk and collided with him, let alone dodging it. And so the ant found himself rocking back and grunting loudly, before he looked down to see that there was an arrow jutting out of a black plastic plate at his side. And before he even finished reacting to that, there was another arrow suddenly sticking out of the same plate of armor. "W-what-- aw, man. I knew this was going to happen when you guys had me go out front... and they already took down Quivers, too... aw man..." The axe-ant hefted a sigh... but also hefted his weapon.

 

TURN 1 ~ ENEMY  PHASE

Despite his weapon now being upraised, the axe-ant visibly took a few moments to size up his competition before stumbling over to the side to try to strike at the bug that had just gone and shot him. His axe began its journey downwards, the ant grunting loudly as he threw his entire body into swinging the axe downwards, but to his surprise, by the time it reached its destination, a particular bee had already thrown himself in the way of the axe.

 

Axe Recruit A attacks Lotus!

Spoiler

Pinecone is Guarding!

Axe Recruit A has the advantage of axes over lances!

Pinecone is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

 

Hit: 81+15-15-3=78!

Hit roll: 55, hit!

Crit: 1-2=-1, no crit.

Damage: 15+1=5=11!

 

Pinecone counterattacks!

Pinecone is a busy. busy bee!

Pinecone is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

Pinecone has the disadvantage of lances against axes!

 

Hit: 85+15+15-15=100, autohit!

Crit: 2-1=1!

Crit roll: 67, no crit.

Damage: 9-4-1=4!

 

In that moment, it suddenly became clear exactly why such a slow-witted bug had been chosen to follow along with a little raiding band such as this (well, aside from... unflattering summaries of the black ant band as a whole). While the axe-ant may have been sluggish in several respects, as it turned out he was a wall of muscle. The wooden axe came crashing downwards, a splintering sound ringing out as the axe knocked a gouge into Pinecone's shoulder plate, carving through it to deal a serious blow to Pinecone. Being a tough bug, Pinecone was still standing mostly strong, but it had been a frankly titanic blow. It wasn't something that Pinecone let go totally unanswered, as a poke of his javelin drew a little blood, but he didn't quite have the power to respond in equal force. Still, the axe-ant was barely standing now. "Ahaha... almost, huh? Well, guys, now would really be the time for you to follow up..."

 

There was a sigh from the rear, where one of the ant mages spoke up. "Well, Muscles," there was a slight hesitation here, because the ant had always thought that name was stupid, "The Corporal is going to kill us if we let you die without doing anything about that." Taking in the situation, and how the large bee seemed to be there to throw himself in front of attacks for the others in whatever traveling group he was in... "Let me and Charred go first."

 

Dark Initiate A attacks Ebon Knight!

Spoiler

Pinecone is guarding!

Pinecone is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

 

Hit: 70-15-5=62!

Hit roll: 32, hit!

Crit: 2-1=1!

Crit roll: 48, no crit.

Damage: 14-3=11!

 

Pinecone counterattacks!

Pinecone is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

Pinecone is a busy, busy bee!

 

Hit: 85+15+15-2=113, autohit!

Crit: 2-0=2!

Crit roll: 99, no crit.

Damage: 9-1=8!

 

The ant mage held onto his tablet, focused on the representation on its surface, abstract as it was, and a cloud of thrumming black energy was sent in the direction of Pinecone... where it met his body, it channeled blasting force into him, and he was soon beset by a crisscross of wounds across his front as currents of energy in the miasma of dark magic whipped across him. The bee was, by this point, a mess, having taken two deadly attacks... but, incredibly enough, he remained on his feet to launch a javelin at his assailant. Not having expected his target to stay moving, the ant dark mage was caught entirely flatfooted, managing little more than a wheeze.

 

The other mage sounded... less than impressed. "How did you not manage to take him out???"

"I don't know!"

"Leaving it to me... typical."

 

Fire Initiate A attacks Ebon Knight!

Spoiler

Pinecone is Guarding!

Pinecone is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

 

Hit: 88-15-3=70!

Hit roll: 89, miss!

 

(The calculations here are lost, but Pinecone proceeds to nail her with a barely-autohit javelin for 9 damage.)

 

Fire Initiate A attacks again!

Pinecone is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

 

Hit: 88-15-3=70!

Hit roll: 52, hit!

Crit: 3-1=2!

Crit roll: 11, no crit.

Damage: 9-3=6!

 

Having made her statements, the black ant mage conjured a small bolt of fire, which she winged in Pinecone's direction. ...there was a brief silence as she missed entirely, the spell disappearing into nothingness with a small paff on hitting the ground. And then that silence was broken as Pinecone, ever diligent, nailed the enemy mage with a javelin, causing her to shriek and her arms to wheel backwards, evidently totally unprepared for a physical strike. "AAAAAAA NONE OF YOU SAY A FUCKING WORD!" At that point, another wild bolt of fire was sent Pinecone's way, and this one burst across him, the bloodied bug finally toppling over with a loud noise (and nearly taking Stardust out in the process).

 

Pinecone is down!

 

Next up in the attacking squad of ants was a wood-armored bug with a large wooden halberd in his hands. "Focus less on the bickering, and more on the battle." As he chided his teammates, he approached the biggest, most terrifying target on the field, and just went for him.

 

Halberdier A attacks Ebon Knight!

Spoiler

Halberdier A's Halberd deals extra damage against mounted units!

Ebon Knight is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

 

Hit: 81-15-10=54!

Hit roll: 68, miss!

 

Ebon Knight counterattacks!

Ebon Knight is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

Ebon Knight has a Crow's Zeal! 

Hit: 93+15-1=107, autohit!

Crit: 3-1=2!

Crit roll: 81, no crit.

Damage: 11+2-7=6!

 

Ebon Knight counterattacks!

Ebon Knight is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

Ebon Knight has a Crow's Zeal! 

Hit: 93+15-1=107, autohit!

Crit: 3-1=2!

Crit roll: 2, crit! //oh fuck he's SICK

Damage: 11+2-7=6*3=18!

 

However, as the halberd-wielding ant discovered, for all his stoic bravery, there's a large gulf between being courageous enough to attack an intimidating foe and being skilled enough to successfully attack an intimidating foe. His halberd was thrust slowly, and Ebon Knight's crow was able to step backwards with a large stride out of the way -- only for Ebon to drive it around the ant's halberd, opening the ant up to a pair of strike from Ebon's lance. The halberdier's armor, however, was heavy, thick wooden plates, and it would have protected him from much of the harm... would have, if the second jab dealt out by Ebon hadn't been a mighty one, the mediocre thwok of the first strike shown up by the meteoric CRASH of the second. The halberdier's chest plate splintered away when faced with the powerful blow, and then there was no further obstacle to Ebon's lance.

 

Halberdier A is dead!

 

"Ah, shit, shit, shit, FREELY! We need your people to help!"

With that increasingly desperate command, Dart, well, darted down to make her strike, completing the flank to the party's right as she ran with shocking speed right up to Harefoot.

 

Corporal Dart attacks Mercy Harefoot!

Spoiler

Corporal Dart is enforcing Parity!

 

Hit: 98-21=77!

Hit roll: 26, hit!

Crit: 13-5=7!

Crit roll: 3, crit!!

Damage: 10-2=8*3=24!

 

The ant corporal didn't have any of the problems faced by her underlings, as the target she chose was one much less able to defend against her strike, let alone counterattack. Dart moved with an odd sort of staccato grace, quick motions made one after the other, a release of a sort of thrumming physical tension that ended up taking very deadly form. With one motion, she was right up to Mercy Harefoot, with the next motion, she had a dagger suddenly out in her hand, with the third motion, that knife was buried into his neck. With the fourth, she'd pulled it out and was prepared to keep fighting even after her opponent's collapse.

 

Mercy Harefoot is down!

 

Meanwhile, across a crack in the sidewalk...

"Well, I suppose you heard the lady. Take some shots, yeah?"

"Only one real good vantage spot I can see here, Freely. You'll have to help with that."

 

"Gotcha, gotcha, I'll have your back."

 

Sniper A attacks Soggyshanks!

Spoiler

Soggyshanks is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

 

Hit: 93-8-15=70!

Hit roll: 63, hit!

Crit: 3-2=1!

Crit roll: 91, no crit.

Damage: 11-3=8!

Sniper B attacks Soggyshanks!

Spoiler

Soggyshanks is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

 

Hit: 93-8-15=70!

Hit roll: 87, miss!

 

What followed was slightly absurd. The first sniper (the one who'd spoken) stood at the edge of the crack, aimed his bow upwards, putting it at a precise angle with a squint, and then he loosed his arrow, which flew all the way over to Soggyshanks and landed true, striking against a relatively unarmored area in his leg for painful damage. Then the pigeon-riding mantis literally swept him off of his feet, pulling him out of the way and then putting him down on the other side of the bird... leaving room for the other sniper to take his shot. That shot missed, shattering to pieces against the sidewalk, but surely it was the bug-handling shenanigans that counted.

 

TURN 2 ~ PLAYER PHASE

 

 

Map Notes

Spoiler

Objective: Rout the enemy!

 

Road and sidewalk tiles usually just count as plains for the purpose of movement, including the lines between panels of the sidewalk.

However, cracks in the sidewalk function as Cliffs and are impassable! Pebbles on the sidewalk function as Pillars.

Moving on or off the sidewalk costs 2 MOV. Attacks from the sidewalk to off of the sidewalk effectively have WTA, and attacks off of the sidewalk to on the sidewalk effectively have WTD! This stacks with actual WTA and WTD.

Status

Spoiler

Players:

Ebon Knight: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Faithful Diligence: 18/19, Eq. Fire

Life-Recorder: 17/18, Eq. Wooden Chakram

Lotus: 17/17, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Mercy Harefoot: 0/16, Eq. Heal  3/3

Pinecone: 0/23, Eq. Wooden Javelin (Iron Javelin) 3/3

Secluded-from-Illumination: 18/18, Eq. Worm

Soggyshanks: 12/22, Eq. Plastic Hatchet

Stardust: 16/16, Eq. Lightning

Sting: 19/20, Eq. Wooden Rapier (Iron Rapier)

Brilliant Deduction: 16/16, Eq. Heal

Recruit Bend: 17/18, Eq. Charming Flute

 

Enemies:

Black Ant Fire Initiate A: 8/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate A: 12/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit A: 4/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit A: 0/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier A: -2/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Corporal Dart: 19/19, Eq. Wooden Dagger, Parity Active!

 

Black Ant Sniper A: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper B: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper C: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Flies Freely: 20/20, Eq. Gravel Mace (Iron Mace)

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate B: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Axe Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Black Ant Specialist A: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Adept Gloom: 23/23, Eq. Swarm

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate C: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate B: 20/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit C: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit C: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Specialist B: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Sergeant Indefatigable: 24/24, Eq. Wooden Pilum

EXP: 106/100, LEVEL UP!

[Trash]

"Aaaaaa get away get away get away get away-"

 

Even wounded and focused on other party members, the nearby axe-ant was terrifying to the gangly moth, and without concious thought Secluded pulled up a scintillating purple mass from her tablet - which she inelegantly hurled at the nearby enemy with all the finesse of, well, something without finesse.

 

Blast AxeRecA

[krim]

Ebon grimaced seeing Pinecone go down, as besides Lotus he was by far the most effective one here. Though the distraction didn't last long once he spotted the bug in dark robes that approached him. He wheeled Blackwing that way, delivered his strikes, then glided idly past where he once stood.

 

Then he watched, looking for anything that would tip him off as to who Flies Freely really was.

 

Stab Dark Initiate, Canto A7

[Yours Truly]

Grimacing as the arrow landed on his leg, Shoggy instinctively took out another hatchet, sliding it down to hack off the arrow's shaft as he took step after step at the enemy flier, preparing himself to charge right up and hurl a hatchet at their mount.

Soggyshanks moves to E7, and attacks Flies Freely with a Plastic Hatchet.

[Unlurking Sentinel]

Life-Recorder did her best to study and memorize the appearances of the enemy group, both the living and the now-dead, as she dashed towards the front line with all her power to get a closer look... until she saw the red-haired woman wound the delegation's healer with dangerous skill. This was a life-or-death situation, if something isn't done about it, both her and Deductions' projects will end where they stand.

That cannot be led to pass.

Life-Recorder to D8, attack Corporal Dart

[ElfCollaborator]

For Diligence's part, she was....unfamiliar with war and battle. This was....definitely not something she was expecting.

But ready for it, she would have to be. After all, it couldn't be that different from fending off bandits while she was trying to make her way up to her father's old haunts, right?

"Here goes!"
D10, attack Corporal Dart

[Powder Miner]

Fear, as it turned out, is something of a powerful motivator -- and the brief lull after both sides began their initial collision and either were still reeling or still approaching was broken by the wild attack of a very unhappy moth... a very unhappy moth with a destructive magic tablet.

 

Secluded-from-Illumination attacks Axe Recruit A!

 

Spoiler

Secluded-from-Illumination is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

 

Hit: 94+15-1=108, autohit!

Crit: 8-1=7!

Crit roll: 57, no crit.

Damage: 11-2=9!

 

"Wellllllll, shit." The poor bastard didn't stand a chance. As utterly slow and lumbering as he was, even Secluded-from-Illumination's abject panic didn't make her wildly thrown lines of corrosive magic miss -- they flew right into him, cutting lines into his body, and then he swayed backwards slowly, before landing backwards on the concrete with a loud crash that may or may not then have made Secludie jump right out of her skin.

 

Axe Recruit A is dead!

 

"Well, damn-- oh, and, of course, the bug on the giant bird has something to say about it." The black ant black mage took a slow step back, although his tablet was still kept in the ready position. "Hello there, big guy, let's just keep things cool oh shit oh fuck--" His morale began to break as Ebon went in for the attack.

 

Ebon Knight attacks Dark Initiate A!

Spoiler

Ebon Knight is extra buoyed by Stardust's (alleged) Charisma!

Ebon Knight has a Crow's Zeal!

 

Hit: 95+15-2=108, autohit!

Crit: 3-2=1!

Crit roll: 2???? no crit.

Damage: 11+2-1=12!

 

As lance strikes delivered by terrifying mercenaries on top of large (and also terrifying) birds tend to be, Ebon's strike was devastating -- and it was very much true. Sure, he didn't accidentally overwhelmingly exploit some weakspot, but slamming right into the black ant initiate's chest was close enough. The ant had been in a relatively healthy position, initially... but with a powerful blow like that from Ebon, THAT sure as hell changed. The lance plunged in and out, and the ant quietly held his chest for a moment. Then, he looked at the battle, at his assailant, back at the battle, at himself, and back at his assailant, groaned, and fell limply down.

 

Dark Initiate A is dead, probably.

 

Ebon Knight felt that this guy was familiar from a while ago... hmmm... maybe somebody he knew, but not very well, from before his exile.

 

Soggyshanks, meanwhile, took a rather outside-the-box course of action - he cut the arrow in his leg, and then proceeded to run right past the armored bug with a halberd, who was currently still halfway holding his weapon in Ebon's direction, mid-turn due to a slow reaction and his choice of weapon. This gave Soggyshanks the opportunity to get right up to the base of the sidewalk, and just lob that axe in a spinning arc towards Flies Freely.

 

Soggyshanks attacks Flies Freely!

 

Spoiler

Hit: 91-10=81!

Hit roll: 41, hit!

Crit: 2-2=0, no crit.

Damage: 12-4=8!

 

Lobbed over a big-ass crack of sidewalk or not, Soggyshanks' aim was not false, and his spinning hatchet rotated through the air until it came to a sudden jarring stop inside the flesh of a veyr unhappy pigeon, which made some sort of strangled squawking rage noise. For his part, Flies Freely shouted loudly as his mount was hit and shook, and still looked a little surprised.

 

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, we're eager now, aren't we? Come on man, I'm a mercenary, you gotta let me get through with some banter before you start on killing my bird. Especially with... wait, wait, wait, that IS him. Am I... blind??? The Ebon Knight himself! (But yes, see, I am a fan so let me at least talk to the guy for a moment.)"

 

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?? WE ARE DYING OVER HERE."

 

As if to punctuate her words, a double assault began on Corporal Dart, once she had to try to fight off desperately as both Life-Recorder and Faithful Diligence pulled out their weaponry and took shots at her. Sure, they weren't coordinated at all despite their recent but brief tenure together, as they weren't soldiers.

 

Life-Recorder attacks Corporal Dart!

 

Spoiler

Corporal Dart is enforcing Parity!

 

Hit: 86-17=69!

Hit roll: 4, hit!

Crit: 2-3=-1, no crit chance!

Damage: 8-3=5!

 

Faithful Diligence attacks Corporal Dart!

 

Spoiler

Corporal Dart is enforcing Parity!

 

Hit: 88-17=71!

Hit roll: 81, miss!

 

This lack of coordination from the two Scholars' Assistants likely saved poor Corporal Dart from a good amount of pain -- the chakram thrown by Life-Recorder still struck, bouncing off of Dart's cheek while leaving a slashed line across her face, but aside from the bleeding the wound didn't seem to be all that deep. Still, though, a wound doesn't have to be deep to inspire juuust a bit more caution than usual, and in this case it meant that she theatrically leapt right out of the way of the incoming fireball sent by Diligence.

 

"FREEEEEEELLLYYYYY!"

 

Map Notes

Spoiler

Objective: Rout the enemy!

 

Road and sidewalk tiles usually just count as plains for the purpose of movement, including the lines between panels of the sidewalk.

However, cracks in the sidewalk function as Cliffs and are impassable! Pebbles on the sidewalk function as Pillars.

Moving on or off the sidewalk costs 2 MOV. Attacks from the sidewalk to off of the sidewalk effectively have WTA, and attacks off of the sidewalk to on the sidewalk effectively have WTD! This stacks with actual WTA and WTD.

Status

Spoiler

Players:

Ebon Knight: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Faithful Diligence: 18/19, Eq. Fire

Life-Recorder: 17/18, Eq. Wooden Chakram

Lotus: 17/17, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Mercy Harefoot: 0/16, Eq. Heal  3/3

Pinecone: 0/23, Eq. Wooden Javelin (Iron Javelin) 3/3

Secluded-from-Illumination: 18/18, Eq. Worm

Soggyshanks: 12/22, Eq. Plastic Hatchet

Stardust: 16/16, Eq. Lightning

Sting: 19/20, Eq. Wooden Rapier (Iron Rapier)

Brilliant Deduction: 16/16, Eq. Heal

Recruit Bend: 17/18, Eq. Charming Flute

 

Enemies:

Black Ant Fire Initiate A: 8/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate A: 0/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit A: -5/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit A: 0/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier A: -2/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Corporal Dart: 14/19, Eq. Wooden Dagger, Parity Active!

 

Black Ant Sniper A: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper B: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Black Ant Sniper C: 18/18, Eq. Wooden Longbow (Iron Longbow)

Flies Freely: 12/20, Eq. Gravel Mace (Iron Mace)

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate B: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Axe Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Halberdier B: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Halberd (Iron Halberd)

Black Ant Specialist A: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Adept Gloom: 23/23, Eq. Swarm

 

Black Ant Fire Initiate C: 17/17, Eq. Fire

Black Ant Dark Initiate B: 20/20, Eq. Miasma

Black Ant Axe Recruit C: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Axe (Iron Axe)

Black Ant Lance Recruit C: 22/22, Eq. Wooden Lance (Iron Lance)

Black Ant Specialist B: 18/18, Eq. Poison Dart

Sergeant Indefatigable: 24/24, Eq. Wooden Pilum

EXP: 22/100

[ctsun]

She had been waiting long enough. Sting's tiny wings were nearly buzzing with excitement. With a tiny hop, skip and a lunge, she charges towards Corporal Dart with her rapier held in front and a wild "HAII-YAA!". 

 

Lotus to D7 and snipe Corporal Dart (E9)

Sting moves to E10 and stab Dart (E9)

Brilliant to B8 and heal Pinecone (C8)