The Forge of War

[Postmodernist]

Romulus, Shifter Swordsage

Romulus rolls his eyes as the king launches into his speech. "Pretty tokens and medals don't win wars, nor do words and parades. How about his majesty actually giving us something to fight for? I'd be willing to die for a chance with that princess, eh? A small private duel, some unarmed single combat, if you catch my drift," he quips, trying to get a chuckle from his fellow mercenaries. "I could care less about Brelish brotherhood or the vaunted honor of these tin men. I'm interested in when we get paid." He utters a low growl and spits on the ground, awaiting orders with the rest of the mercenaries.

[Madara]

Korisis Haskal d'Sivis: Artificer Gnome

Kor is quite glad that the warforged answered his questions, and he writes a memo to himself to sketch the warforge later. In additon, he finds himself quite pleased by the prospect of giving someone, or something a name. So, he decides to write himself a memo to work on that as well.

When Ash approaches, the Gnome indroduces him, finding the Half-Elf and the Denith man quite similar in personality. "The Fool's Dream is quite the ship, she'll be just find even with this much cargo. That reminds me, at some point I might like to have an assistant. I don't really need one at this point, but it would be nice to have some help in the lab."

Kor then waits for the Lt. to spend a little more time with his men before giving him a tour. He goes through almost the whole ship, except his own room. This tour involves showing emergency escape routes, important tactical notes, some fun facts, and even a few akward moments, as the Gnome doesn't always knock. The Gnome answers most questions, except any about how the elemental is bound. When all is said and done, the Gnome makes a list which details the positions and ranks on the ship, and who can give orders to whom.

1. Captain Merill
2. First Mate Ashayan d'Lyrandar(Effective as #2 only on ship.)
3. Ship Engineer Korisis Haskal d'Sivis(Effective as #3 only on ship.)
3. Lt. Kassad Denieth
4. Elite Team(To be determined)
5. Ship's Crew
6. Mercinaries ranked by Experience
7. Warforged

Once the list is made, he brings it over the Ash and the Lt. for their opinions. He doesn't feel that the captain needs to be bothered with this matter. Seeing as Ash had mentioned to bring minor matter to him earlier, the Gnome figures this is a good move. While he hasn't been in a war before, Kor suspects that they'll likely break into a smaller group for certain missions, because it would very difficult to properly move all these men without being detected. "So, what do you think?"

[hoverfrog]

Ashayan d'Lyrandar

"That's very interesting, Kor," and Ash thinks that it genuinely is, "but away from the Dream I don't really have any rank to speak of, neither do you. As members of Dragonmarked Houses we're officially classed as observers."

"Unofficially...well."

[Madara]

Korisis Haskal d'Sivis: Artificer Gnome

"I don't know about you, by my assignment included travel off this ship. While I'm not supposed to risk my life, my involvement as communication, information, and Magic Engineer remains the same."

But then the Gnome agrees. He decides to note their status to be elevated only on the ship/

[Ghost49X]

Captain Meryll, Ash and Korisis.
Looking at the soldiers milling about sighs and says "Ash make sure the supplies are properly stored in the hold. Korisis do any last minute touch ups I want to leave as soon as we are loaded. Afterwards keep them from fighting; I've got the helm."

The sun is setting as the soldier and mercenaries finish loading supplies and weapons into the ships. Though there were some mutterings from the mercenaries about the 'stuck up' soldiers and replies from the soldiers about 'mercenairy scum' such talk did not go far, for it soon caught the ear of Captain Emer "Since you ladies like to chit chat so much you can get to know each other real good when you're on double watch tonight, now get back to work!"

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if kassad was the one Emer overheard, the Captain adds "By virtue of your rank you should show some example, I will not have discord between Deneith and our employers"

Most of the barrels are quite heavy and most likely filled with food. Sweating profusely Romulus loaded heavy barrel after heavy barrel. As he put his back into lifting this last barrel, it gave him a surprise when he picked up without effort.

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If Romulus lets his curriosity get the better of him and takes a peak he finds the barrel filled with big feathers caked with a strange golden powder.

[Postmodernist]

Romulus, having succumbed to his curiosity, looks inside the barrels. Upon discovering the strange feathers, his quickly slips one into his rucksack. He then seeks out a mage or artificer to help him identify what it is.

[Ghost49X]

On the evening of the fourth day after leaving Wroat, the fleet crossed over into Darguun and landed in a valley where a Brelish Legion had made camp. On the other side of the Valley One could see the Banner of Thrane beside a camp larger than Breland's by half. Apon arriving Princess Borann lost no time to call forth all her officers for a strategy meeting aboard her flagship the Bear's prize. Of course Captain Emer and Captain Meryll were invited, and they in turn brought Kassad, Ash and Korisis. As they boarded the ship early evening, One could not help but marvel. Three times as long as the Fool's Dream and with four decks of arcane armements, this ship would be worth a legion in the field by itself

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Korisis takes note that to power something this size the bound elemental must at least be a lord of its kind.

On the bridge a long table was quickly running out of seats, more than a few would have to stand. Luckly Captain Meryll quickly spotted out a comfortable spot large enough for her group. Within minutes the bridge was filled with nervous chatter. A man in Silvery armor with a symbol of blue flame hanging from his neck stood near the head of the table framed by two stoic knights. Before one could speculate, the door to the aftcastle burst open and Princess Borann walked out dressed in field armor followed by a skinny man with a crooked nose and a bandoleer. Princess Borann takes a deep breath
"OKAY LISTEN UP!" once the chatter dies down, she speaks in a gruff and to the point manner "I want to welcome Bishop-Militant Grodan, he's in charge of Thrane's Troops for this campaign. As I don't want this to take forever, lets start"
Bishop Grodan steps forward interrupting her "If you'll allow me, I would like to bless this meeting before we go any further." Slightly annoyed Borann restrains herself
"Very well Bishop, proceed."
The Bishop opens his hands towards the seated officers and speaks in the loud and deep voice of one used to speeches
"Divine light guide our thoughts and our hearts so that we may bring forth rightious victory against the wicked." stepping back when done. Borann motions to the man besides her, he starts chanting and within seconds an illusionary map appears in mid air beside Borann. Complete with banners and pendants representing the different units. Borann takes a deep breath "We are here in Daargun to avoid the traditional battlefields of Cyr. Tomorrow we will march east into southern Cyr and take Darren's keep from which we will use as our homebase for the rest of the campaign. Cyrian troops don't know we are comming and should we take them by surprise they will fall quickly." The map animates and units move as she speaks. "That being said it will be no easy task, for our intelligence states that there are powerful wards and shields protecting the keep from bombardment magical or otherwise. The plan is for our main forces to entrench and move to scale the walls. While our will airships will circle around and our shock troops will jump from the ships onto the keep. Their main objective will be to disable or else destroy what ever is powering the wards and then I'll leave it to the troops to chase any opportunities they see. When last we held the keep, the key locations were..." and she goes on explaining the map and positioning of each unit.

Two hours into the night the meeting is finally adjourned and everyone slouches off to get what couple hours of sleep they can get.

[hoverfrog]

Ashayan d'Lyrandar

With Captain Meryll's permission, Ashayan briefs the crew and distributes feather fall tokens to those who will need them. Actually a few spares might not hurt and I'm more than happy to provide the Fool's Dream crew with feather fall tokens in case of accident.

[Madara]

Korisis Haskal d'Sivis: Artificer Gnome

Uknown to the rest of the meeting, Korisis takes notes on everything but the strategy. He writes down the different personalities, what kind of words they use, who takes charge, he even takes note of their attire. Indeed, the Gnome notes the meeting and finds himself curious about the man with the crooked nose. Still, it would be a busy day tomarrow, and he needed to get some rest. So, he lays out the gear he's going to take, including the wands.

When the morning arrives, he finds a jump location next to the Warforged he met the other day, and hopefully next to the Lt. The Gnome grabs two of the tokens and jumps with the others, when that time comes.

[Roguenewb]

Kassad

Kassad tosses and turns through the night. Every time his eyes close, his mind refills with the memories of the surging rush of corruption he felt during his test of Siberys, when his mark first lashed out at one of his 'attackers', when his torture began.

Just let it flow through you. Don't fight a gift from a god. Take it

[Escheton]

"Still", Warforged Magehunter



Falling like a lead brick, Still takes special note of the feeling and behavior of his fall as he makes experimental adjustments in his posture as he plummeted. So did he try to observe that of those falling along with him.
Only activating his safety measure at the last moment to halt his dead-fall and right himself.
Once on solid ground he inspected his gear and formed up with the rest of his squad.

[hoverfrog]

Ashayan d'Lyrandar

"Geronimo, wahoo", Ash, takes a flying leap over the side of the Fool's Dream and laughs at the sheer joy of freefall. "I've wanted to do this for ages," he yells at the others as they drop like stones. He activates the feather fall token at the last moment and drifts to the ground with a grin on his face. Now, where did the others land?

[Roguenewb]

Kassad

Kassad looks down over the great fall. You could plummet all the way into khyber...all the way home a voice murmurs in the back of the thoughts of Kassad. "Enough!" he shouts, and leaps off the ship. He tumbles through the air, barely managing to activate his charm before he hits the ground. He breathes deep, gets to his knees, and walks towards the rest of the crew.

[Postmodernist]

Romulus

The swordsage leaps from the airship into the void with utter abandon. The sensation of the wind whipping his fur as he plummeted toward the earth was exhilarating. It was a shame it had to end with the activation of the feather token. By the time the shifter landed, he was slavering wildly and desperate for a fight. He barely glanced around for his companions, looking instead for a means of ambushing his foes.

Spoiler

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Adopt Child of Shadows stance for concealment. Hiding, looking for enemies.
Hide: (1d20+8)[26]
Move Silently: (1d20+8)[26]
Spot: (1d20+3)[23]
Listen: (1d20+3)[20]

[Ghost49X]

Walking back to the fool, Captain Meryll addresses the officers and crew "I recommend you get some sleep, Tomorrow's going to be a wild day."

Early morning, The Fool's Dream
Ash wakes up to a boot proding him strongly, it takes a while for him to understand whats going on as his mind clears the sleep. He is in his dark cabin, empty of unusual things except for the female leather clad figure jabbing her leather boots into his ribs "Get up Ash, the war won't wait. Get ready for battle we take off in an hour, I'll wake the gnome"

Captain Meryll knocks and enters Korisis's cabin, finding the light still on and the artificer asleep on his notes "Not surprising" Meryll sighs as she pokes him with her sheathed rapier "Up, it's time" once Korisis sits up, Meryll smiles and leaves.

The night is still dark and a deep fog has settled when Ash and Korisis arrive on the bridge, most of the soldiers are still asleep though Captain Emer is up and leaning against the rail. Talking with Captain Meryll as he stares into the fog, a devious smile on his face. Seeing her crew assemble Meryll steps forward "Good morning gentlemen, we have less than an hour before the sun lights the sky, we have to be ready to leave before then.

[Madara]

Korisis Haskal d'Sivis: Artificer Gnome

The Gnome is mostly bothered by the fact that he didn't finish he notes, but he's still eager to get started. "This fog might be a problem, or a benefit, depending on how well we know the area." The gnome continues, "So Captain, how well do we know the land? Do we have maps? And how do you want us to organize ourselves?"

While the Gnome is excited to get real battle experience, he figures that next time he'd like to have more infomation and time to prepare what items he'll need. The Gnome then realizes that the captain said "March" earlier. Will they remember my short legs? I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with the rest of the company.

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I deleted my post above on account of jumping the gun

[Ghost49X]

The sun barely breaks the sky when the elemental rings burst into flames around the airships one by one as they slowly raise into the air. The ground troops packing the last of their stuff as they form up in large marching columns barely visible in the fog below. The greyness of the sky is a little bit unsettling, but so is the look on the faces of soldiers who have seen battle before. Grim and unyielding, it is the look of those that have have seen horror and they know the path they follow will lead them towards it again.

Kassad is sitting on a low barrel leaning against the aftcastle, polishing his sword and testing its balance. Pondering the meaning of its name while looking at his reflection through the polished silver blade and why it was asigned to him of all people. While doing so he notices the blade perfectly polished, enough that he could not remember looking through a clearer mirror. Looking through Honor's polished surface as he angles it at some of the soldiers he notices a ghastly grey man with white hair in a brelish uniform talking to another soldier. Looking up he sees a different person, a young and attractive adult female in her early twenties talking to the same soldier, looking back at the reflection he sees the grey man clearly. But by the time he snaps his eyes back to the lady, she and the soldier are gone.

[Madara]

Korisis Haskal d'Sivis: Artificer Gnome

The Gnomes asks around, trying to figure out if someone knows a way for him to keep up with the rest of the soldiers. He wouldn't mind the manner, as long as he gets there. In addition, he thinks of something useful to do. He takes his time searching for some cloth and a pole, so he can make some banners for the battlefield, Combat is very loud, so I need a way to communicate without words.

He activates his Mark and creates a highly detailed Arrow, in the same colors as Dragonmarks are, ontop of a piece of cloth that happens to be one of Breland's colors. Then he goes around the camp explaining that if the soldiers see the banner, it means to advance.

In the same sense, he creates another banner, very similar, but with a pair of looped circles(Much like a Venn Diagram) which represent to fall back in an orderly manner. This banner is a bright red, so he keeps it rolled up. With all this marching time, there's plenty of opprotunity for the soldiers to know the banners' meanings by the time they reach their destination.

While traveling around the camp, Kor notices Kassad looking at his sword. Even from a distance, its fine craftsmanship intrigues Kor. He walks up respectfully, "You look as though the sword is trying to tell you something. If you don't mind, I could give you more information about the sword, seeing as how weapondry is my specialty. Otherwise, you ought to keep moving, you're going to need a level head if you want to be a leader."

[Escheton]

"Still", Warforged Mageslayer

Packed closely with his brethren to preserve space, Still's mind wanders to the upcoming battle. Although he wields his weapons with a familiarity as if they where extensions of himself, he never did see battle. And some of the soul-searching murmers of the soldiers that have made him wonder.
So he ran simulations in his mind's eye. How to behave in tight quarters, when to charge in open space. What stance is best for dashing corners, etc.
Especially the different situations on which offence or a defensive front should be traded for ranged support interested the tactician in him.
And when there was noone else around he even tried to discuss his ponderings with those beside him.

[Ghost49X]

The Fool's Dream, Corporal Rand
Kitchen duty wasn't so bad, as far as extra duties went anways. You got to make food and Rand thought he was a decent cook, well thats what his friends told him anyway. Walking below deck he was searching for some fresh produce for the early morning meal. You couldn't let troops go into battle without a good breakfast or their strength may very well falter he reasoned. Looking through barrels and chests for the right ingrediants he arrived at a door. The sunlight shining through the deck above gave it a wierd shadowy look. Intrigued by the door and the posible contents of the room, he put his hand on the door. A feeling of caution and uneasiness touched his mind as he considered his action, but in the end curiosity prevailed and he gave a sharp push. Inside the dark and musty room stood a bunch of immobile warforge staring intently at him for since they've been in this room he was the only interesting thing to happen. "Um, Hi? So I guess this is where you warforge have been hanging out. Why don't you come and hang out on the bridge with the rest of us soldiers? If you should die this afternoon you wouldn't want most of your existance to be stuck in a dark musty storage room now would you?" with this Rand waves them out of the room.

[Escheton]

"Still", Warforged Magehunter

Though unsure what exactly "hanging" meant, Still wanted to make full use of this newfound increase in freedom.
Once outside the stockyard he observed and emulated the men. Excluding the crass social interactions of course.
He stood by the railing overlooking the land below, he stood in small groups, he played dice with surprise over the statistic anomaly of the numbers, he sat against the wall holding his abdomen and walked around.
Though the men seemed to tolerate him, none engaged in verbal communication except for the nice men playing dice, and the gnome that approached him earlyer.

While Korisis explained his visual instructions Still considered the mechanism.
Once the gnome was done he had some minor notes.

"Is it not true that magic items are created that enhance the voice-range of commanders? And is that not so because in a battlefield visual distractions are quite dangerous? Simple command as advance and retreat should be fine though, as they would not require active attention. Have you considered colored arrows for different teams? Or symbols meant to distract and taunt the enemy?"

[Madara]

Korisis Haskal d'Sivis: Artificer Gnome

The gnome is intreguided that such an inexperienced being was so knowledgable. "Indeed, such facts are true. However, I am not advanced enough to make such complicated items, nor scrolls. I used my Dragonmark in order to create the arrows which I can only use twice in a day. During combat, I could use my race's natural affinity to magic to project my own voice, but that effect is temporary."

[Roguenewb]

Kassad

Kassad saunters up behind the gnome and the warforged, looking sullen and unrested. "Commanders who give too many commands soon find themselves giving none," Kassad says, with the air of someone repeating a quote. "You have to trust the men to fight, or so the instructors tell me. Set an example, give your orders, and then get to it. If your squad commanders are no good, the fight's already over. Don't rely too much on the mark Korisis, they're gifts from someone far more powerful, which you should never trust" Kassad says, with a visible shudder and look of dread as he finishes the last part.

[Hazzardevil]

Dragonmarks aren't that useful when it comes down to it, a few times a day you do some small amount of magic that wizards can easily replicate. And when commanding, you give one command and make sure it is followed and know what happens after that or you make sure your officers can think outside of the chain of command.

[Madara]

Korisis Haskal d'Sivis: Artificer Gnome

True, but a large force must also move as one in order to prevent loss. While it is up to the individuals, a simply way to make broad commands helps unify the individual units. As for my Mark, you speak as if you know, but your house has not spent decades studying it, nor are you a dragon who has spent centuries."

[Hazzardevil]

A force too large moves slowly, a small elite force can do far more outside of pitched battle. I am not part of a house, but my people have two, and they emphasize a small elite force is better than a large cumbersome one.

[hoverfrog]

Ashayan Lovain d'Lyrandar

In the days running up to the battle Ashayan talks to the crew and the soldiers and boosts their spirits. He tells stories about heroes returning from battle, sings songs about glory and wealth, tells tales about how the women (or men if that is their thing) swoon over the returning heroes, etc. He'll tell jokes and use his prestidigitation to entertain them and keep tensions down. When not sleeping or on duty he'll make it his task to learn the names of the soldiers, get to know then and generally keep them happy.

Who knows, this might make the difference between life and death in a pitched battle.

[Ghost49X]

The railing of the Fool's Dream, Ash and Korisis
As the morning passes the men get restless, while some remain deadly calm. The sky opens up as the fog disipates late morning, revealing a system of vaste valleys and forests down below. Up above, Ash and Korisis are leaning on the railing admirering the sight when Ash notices a man on the vessel to starboard waving what seems to be colored flags.

A few moments later one of the mechanical soldiers walks over "I bear a message from: Captain Meryll." he waits for Korisis to acknowledge and responds "Tell my chief engineer I want to see him at the helm." Awkward pause "Ask around if you can't find him, he's the only gnome on board." then he abruptly turns around and walks off.

Captain Meryll, Ash and Korisis
Captain Meryll is standing by the helm when Ash and Korisis arrive "G'morning Chief, Ash." Handing a spy glass to Korisis, she points at the vessel flying to starboard"On board there is a man waving flags. Can you tell me what he means?"

[Madara]

Korisis Haskal d'Sivis: Artificer Gnome

The Gnome hurries up top, where he meets with the captain. Glad to be of help, he looks out the spyglass and turns back quickly with a worried expression. "We have to land in the valley immediately. I don't know why, but I suggest we proceed with caution, considering this wasn't planned."

[Ghost49X]

"Very well" The captain opens a compartment under the helm and takes out two brightly colored flags and hands them to Korisis "Take these, Acknowledge their message then pass it on to the next ship. Ash, get the officers together and give them the message. I want them men ready for a fight as soon as we hit ground, until further notice we're on alert." The captain sighs and looks to the horizon for a sign of what provoked this change of plans as the men hurry to their duties.