Rain pounded and arrows fell as the forces climbed up the siege towers, ran across the battlements, and tried to take to the walls and rush alternative entrances to the castle. It seemed that her options for assisting with the invasion at this point were to be flung violently into the air, or to climb up a slick stone wall and break her neck. Both options had the appeal and intelligence of a peppermint schnapps enema in her mind, but it was the plan that had been chosen. For some reason. Fuck her life.

Staying just behind the tanks which were deflecting large volleys of arrows with armor and shield, she growled and continued the slow advance forwards. Moral seemed to be waning faster than its bleeding could be stopped, and if nothing stemmed its tide then soon their lines would break and everyone would leave. They finally had their commander, and his lieutenant in case things went afoul, but nothing had been done to engender a respect and obedience to either man. Hell, she was in their guild and she barely knew either, or what made them most qualified to lead… It was as though they were all marching, blind, to a tune they merely had to accept because there was only one piper in town.

When she reached the wall and gazed up at its twenty meter height her heart began to pound and her muscles seized, vision obscured by rain and fear as water dripped down through the visor of her helmet and onto her nose and cheeks. It might as well have been twenty hundred feet! There was no way she could do this… none. She was vaguely aware of encouraging words coming from behind and the side of her as she gripped the stonework and prepared herself. She reached deep for something inspiring to help her upwards; the Litany Against Fear.


"I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

“Well that’s great and all but can you FUCKING CLIMB?” somebody shouted from behind. She glanced at them, and shook her head sadly.

3 + 20 - 10 = 13
Link to Roll

[13/1200]​

 

The call to war was sounded and Rook grinned up at the clouds above them, golden eyes wide with excitement. Their tarot cards remained safely tucked away, but they still called out with their magic in preparation for the fool plan ahead of them. While their cards were magically crafted items and resistant to water damage, they still didn't care for the risk. It simply seemed rude mixed with a casual disregard for the safety of such important tools. No, they'd suffer the longer time necessary to call out to the planar entities.

Rook was no tank and while they were ready to go, they remained behind the initial line of armored warriors. Instead they reached out a hand and whispered lowly under their breath. "The Winged Temple's domain spilt over, planes bled into one. Through pact and power guide, that more may be felled on steel-toothed judgement. This One beseeches, Sun-Son." Aeromancy's ill-tempered ilk could only harm with the storm at Rook's disposal and there were no targets yet. Instead Rook reached out to ask after another. A gentle hand pressed between their shoulder blades, though not in any reality they could see. Illumancy's shy presence whispered through them to echo their words with a voice like wind chimes. How ironic given the differing school of magic.

The tanks leading the charge would notice a temporary buff pop up in their UI. The Relentless status reduced the effects of movement-restricting debuffs that caused slowness, knockback, or forced a prone condition. With it, perhaps their march would move a little surer in the face of the slick surfaces and clutching winds. Rook, for now, would climb carefully behind the forward lines.

53 + 10 - 10 = 53
(Roll) Ground Invasion

[ 66 / 1200 ]​

 

100 HP

MAX HP

100 EN

MAX EN

For a moment, Ilusa quietly stared at the two message that spawned across the raid chat of which she was part of. Both were sent by Astor, both spoke of the plans for the attack. While she had heard him speak about being made a King, now seeing him in the leader position gave it more credence than just words.

Mention of people going splat… Made her decide to go with the ground force, especially as she then read the mention of the shiny, light stuff; that meant Jack Anders was much better at Illumancy than she was. So she would be much more useful, down, perchance maybe healing one of those going splat.

But as she walked, the felis noticed that some elves were… Looking at her. I was nothing overly pointed, but those discreet glances were still enough to make her aware of them. There seemed to be whispered conversations going on while they looked at her, so that meant she was being talked about.

Her tail swayed in the rain, very much like that of an annoyed cat.

As she walked, a pair of elves seemed to shadow her, but oddly enough there was no nefarious vibe she got from them. Then she remembered: in the time during the turn-around she had helped elves too, healing them. They must have remembered it and decided that as a healer, it would be wise to keep her safe. She turned at those two and smiled at them, feeling gratitude towards them. With them acting as protection she could heal up others much more, how kind of them!

“Now then…” The mystery resolved, she walked up the siege tower she had helped haul over, one person among many, with the elven shadows keeping up. There was rain. Haul of arrows thankfully not very precise.

The bridge did not look that good, but she had to brave it, just like the others did.

And she did. Running, on the slippery, shaky bridge, with strong winds trying to hurl her away, rain pelting her and others that reduced visibility. Someone pulled her back from a spell, spear of water splashed against the bridge instead of through her.

“Thank you.” She shakily thanked one of her watchers. Seeing his arm bleeding, she touched it and a quick simple spell fixed it. Surprisingly, the elf then stepped away from her quickly.

Then, she continued the run on the slippery surface.

78 + 20 - 10 = 88
(Roll) Ground Invasion

[154/1200]​

 

100 HP

MAX HP

100 EN

MAX EN

"Aaron Steele? Dulfy Scyan? Who the hell are these people? " Roland asked out-loud as he trudged forward through the mud. Apparently, the answer was they were in charge, Roland scanned the immediate area, trying to pick them out but was simply unable to. Maybe it was the mass of unknown players, maybe they hadn't arrived, maybe it was this god damn hang over. Well, at least he didn't have that much to complain about as he had not been forced to be launched by an Oak Heart to the top of the battlements. However, like he has said before this left them in a full frontal assault, because of fuck common sense.

He'd likely need to stop griping about it at some point, but the entire thing left a sour taste in his mouth. First there was the betrayal of Feralden, which they hadn't ever sworn oaths too, but still, it was something that Roland liked to stay away from. However, with the three top guilds pulling rank he had little choice. Again Roland sighed, he had to push past it and focus on the assault for now.

In the pouring rain, their move towards the fort was slow and wrought with numerous stops. However, upon getting close he saw several fools flying through the air aiming to get on top of the castle, Roland tried to ignore them and help push the siege equipment to its proper location, hoping not to get to hard by the hail of arrows soon to follow.

36 + 20 - 10 = 46
(Roll) Ground Invasion

200/1200​

 

100 HP

MAX HP

100 EN

MAX EN

Towers rumbled and wailed as they met their maker in the earth. Wheels churned through the slop, the attackers meeting the machines’ groans with groans of their own. They plowed through the rain and fog at a slow pace. Aeiou was drenched from head-to-toe, feet sore and hands trembling. But their war machines had made purchase, and there was a collective (but tentative) sigh of relief. A message sprung up in front of each and every one of them to be sure, giving a few words of … motivation. They had only just begun. What had Aeiou gotten himself into. This was supposed to be his way of returning a favor to the woman who had saved him. She better be there when he made his way up to the bridge.

A line of tanks trudged by and Aeiou quickly fell in behind them. His short stature made it easy for him to cower behind their shields and swords. It gave him some sort of confidence that they might just make it out alive. He gripped on to the wide brim of his hat and risked peering out from under it. Apparently that was enough to make the hat stir in irritation. ”Yeah, wonderful day for a stroll, ya morons.” It rasped. Aeiou gave an apologetic glance to the soldiers around him who shot him a look, unsure of whether or not they should chastise him, or his hat.

They made it across the bridge and immediately scattered, leaving Aeiou to glance around at their next line of action. He was met head-on with a wall that was … far less than welcoming. Those blessed with human-sized hands were sure to make easy work of this, but Aeiou’s nonexistent nails were another story. He glanced around for another solution and saw a familiar face, also dejected at the sight of the wall: the woman whose favor he was returning, the Admiral.

”Boss!” He cried out in a voice that did not match the vocal chords. One the Admiral would surely recognize. He met up with her and peered up.

”What, those fingers good for anything except diddling yourself? What’re you waiting for?!” The hat chastised. Aeiou, on the other hand, put an encouraging thumbs up before bracing the wall himself.

53 - 10 = 43
(Roll) Ground Invasion

243/1200​

 

100 HP

MAX HP

100 EN

MAX EN

Lucia had been urged to participate in this event since it's onset, but she hadn't been completely convinced upon taking a side from the start. In truth her guild's hate for the elves was understandable, she herself didn't feel too positive about sharing the limelight with another race as a human herself. On the other hand though she endeavored to bring about the age of the Risen and become a new race herself, so she couldn't completely get behind human supremacy either as she didn't want to have conflict with the kingdom when she decided to declare independence in the future. She considered how she should best contribute to her own cause, but in the end the pressure got to be too great. She couldn't let her guild mates friends and the like suffer because she was indecisive. In the end she found herself taking to the field with bound Necronomicon in hand. A heavy sigh coming from her lips as she made an effort to support those traveling.

With a series of hand gestures she kept everything buffed and in good enough condition to continue forward. Illumancy made that a bit easier compared to other masteries and skills, she would dedicate herself to supporting this round she thought. Those in trouble would be the ones she prioritized, but Lucia stuck to the back, a little concerned that she was in enemy territory since a bulk of her own guild had gone on the air raid, she wasn't quite sure who she could associate with. She wasn't particularly a social butterfly as she continued on her way.

45 + 40 - 10 = 75
Link to Roll​

 

100 HP

MAX HP

100 EN

MAX EN

Stepping to the side, the Admiral tried to bunker down against the parapets meant for archers to hide behind in times of siege, remaining out of the way as soldier after soldier began to ascend to the next area. Sitting down in the rain, she began to focus on the ground at her feet, kicking a pool of water that had formed there, venting her frustration upon it. When had she suddenly become so terrified of heights? She had always been an adrenaline junky and a flirt with danger, but now? Now she could barely look down without feeling intense vertigo, and wanting to lay down and curl up into a ball.

She became lost in her thoughts for a moment, not realizing that Aieou had run up in the rain to join her. When had he shown up? And why was his hat acting like it was part of a celebrity roast? She watched as the smaller figure went up to the side and began climbing in spite of his awkward build, wondering why she couldn’t manage the same.

11 + 20 - 10 = 21
Link to Roll

339/1200​

 

100 HP

MAX HP

100 EN

MAX EN

Amidst war shouts, heavy rain, wind, and enemy artillery raining down on front line Ju tried her best to properly read all the information in her system chat. Climbing a wall such as that was the worst possible thing for the grappler. The pink haired girl tried her best to glance at the objective in the distance, but the heavy rain made it a difficult task.

Meanwhile, she punched at the weaker magic bolts to deflect their effects from allies behind her – as the vanguard finally made their way to the wall and across the bridge Ju did not hesitate to start climbing it. Though sloppy, she still managed to go up, little by little.

32 + 0 - 10 = 22
(Roll) Ground Invasion​

 

(OOC: Yes we have a tank)

95 HP

MAX HP

95 EN

MAX EN

After some time of pushing through the muck, they finally made it to the wall. It was amazing how imposing it looked from the outside. It's long gray side stretched up seemingly hundreds of feet, at which archers let loose a hail of arrows down to those below. At some point, Roland had been volunteered to go first up the shoddy contraption they called a siege ladder. More or less it was just a normal ladder with two thick pieces of lumber shielding you on either side. They at least added some amount of cover at least.

Roland grit his teeth and headed first up the ladder. The grips were slippery, to say the least, Roland thanked his earlier decision to cover his hand in a sticky sap that allowed him extra grip. He had intended it to help him hold onto his swords, but it worked well enough on ladder rungs. Quickly, Roland moved up the contraption, trying to ignore the arrows slamming into its side. With great luck he made it out on top, only to be met with a group of angry soldier, "Hey guys!" Roland chuckled as he brandished his two blades, "Let's have some fun" With that he took a more defensive stance and tried to stave off their attacks as they came at him one by one. "LETS GET A MOVE ON DOWN THERE!" He yelled at his teammates as he did so.

88+ 20 = 108
(Roll) Ground Invasion

469/1200​

 

95 HP

MAX HP

95 EN

MAX EN

“Well. Worrying.” Ilusa murmured to herself, reading the message while also looking at the wall she needed to scale. It was, impressive, but also not. There were places one could hold on, reach and support themselves with. The wall was not uniform. She took a deep breath and looked up. It seemed that the rain has weakened, allowing her better sight and what was even more important; better grip.

Looking down, she found few good footholds. Stepping on one, she grasped with her hand another uneven part of the wall. And then, the climb started. In real life, she had climbed before. Not without gear, but she did. It was an experience that helped her, let her find good footholds or good grabbing-hold, made her pause and take a breather. Often her gaze was turned upwards and once she had to quickly let go of one hold and hang on by clinging with one hand to a place she held, and less than millimetre from her side a person fell. She winced and then hoisted herself back to hold the wall with both hands and restarted the gruelling climbing.

Few times she glanced down, seeing others climbing up, envying for a moment those with Aeromancy or Geomancy, who used winds or reshaped the stone for much easier trek upwards. Still, she preserved.

Few times there were troubles. Slippery stones, falling people, falling stones, falling weapons, crumbling stone, or enemies attacking them. It also was not easy for this body; she was not a physical character but one who focused on magic so far. Her heart beat, her breathing grew laboured and she stopped looking down, instead only staring up, seeing flames taking many shapes ‘Was that a Phoenix?’, light of Illumancy glowing as attack and support, winds howling, black something flashing by…

Then at long last, she reached the top.

Panting, she gripped the ledge and huffing and puffing pulled herself up, putting her knees over the ledge and then getting away from the edge, going on her knees.

That was it.

She had reached the top.

“Alright.” Looking around and taking a small breather she did find some familiar faces around and she started to focus on the health-bars to know who needed her help.

57 + 10 = 67
(Roll) Ground Invasion

[536/1200]​

 

100 HP

MAX HP

100 EN

MAX EN

Alonso had rushed around getting various groups into position. Even after the preparation of the night before, he still had to finish up a few bits of work. He did not mind being set back however. It was better he was certain the plan could go off without a hitch rather than allow the enemy to overrun he elven army. Once that was finished he rushed towards the front lines in order to do his part in supporting the ground troops. Granted, it was more about punching everything in the face with him, but that was still a viable tactic until he reached the walls.

The problem with running was being an open target. Not just an open target, but one without armor that somehow could pulverize the enemy using unarmed combat. The Felis was a terrifying site to behold, which prompted an enemy group to team up and assault the huge mass of cat man. Alonso could not do much to avoid it in time. He was hit by a few rocks, which were not boulder sized or else he would have been squished, but they were of enough mass and force that he lost his grip and fell to the ground soon after starting his climb.

22 + 15 = 37
Link to Roll

573/1200​

 

95 HP

MAX HP

95 EN

MAX EN

It wasn't inspiring to see everybody begin scaling the walls and joining the others up on the battlements, in the fight. It was humiliating. To see so many others easily vaulting obstacles and scaling things in order to join in the battles made her feel ashamed that she had collapsed into a puddle, quite literally, and sniffled in fear at something as simple as her elevation. In the face of all sorts of challenges she never balked, never faltered, until she had run up the arm of that oakheart and looked down in sudden and abject terror she hadn't been able to comprehend. She had not taken the time to process it or reflect, but in her moping throne of mud and stone, she had time to recall the event. It felt so similar to the now; a terrible and choking fear that crippled her into inaction. She kicked pointlessly at the mud again in frustration as Aeiou, Roland, and others besides started to make their way up to the fighting. Determined not to be the only person left behind, she charged up to the wall and did not look up. Did not look down. She merely stared straight ahead, feeling blindly for fissures to place her hands as she kept her attention focused fully on the wall in front of her. Crevice by crevice she ascended, slowly, carefully, until at last she made her way up and over. She fought the urge to look down, knowing it would just send her into more panic, and instead removed her weapons to get into the fight.

42 + 20= 62
Link to Roll

635/1200​

 

95 HP

MAX HP

95 EN

MAX EN

Lucia came to the wall with a frown on her face. A heavy sigh coming from her lips as she tried to rush her way up. As she approached the ladder, she made a few hand gestures carving a rune of lavander light in the air that seemed to simultaneously appear on her own shoulder as she ascended the ladder. "Banshee's Speed." She murmured her spell to assist her in rising to the top of the ladder even just a bit faster. She would no doubt have made it even without the buff to push herself forward, but she rose to the top as quickly as possible.

Upon making it to the top she saw others already fighting, a heavy groan came from her as she considered exactly what to do; stay and help the stragglers or hurry on ahead. She wrestled with that thought while continuing to gesture to make sure others could benefit from 'Banshee's Speed'. It wouldn't help much, but it was better then nothing as she made sure to stay in the path carved by Roland and the few others who'd make it up while she decided.

61 + 20 = 81
Link to Roll

716/1200​