Post by kensei on Aug 7, 2011 4:07:36 GMT -4
“Six years to break into Yussif, the Maldorian capitol city, uncover their secrets, and move our people wherever we need to, too protect them from the winter..” The worry in Galen’s voice betrayed him as he looked at the Lanister Tiberius, Grand Sage of Lantia. “You worry too much Galen; the Gods go with you in this fight. And as the head of the Order they will lend you there powers in battle. This is the largest single attack force the world has ever seen. You will breach there defenses, and you will discover the way to survive Winter. All of Lantia depends on this.” Galen shook his head, he knew that Lanister was right, they had to act now if they where too survive. “Now put on a brave face, your entire army will be watching you Sir Orol.”
Lanister pushed open the doors to the balcony. Below him over thirty thousand men stood, dressed for battle. “As you all know, six years from now will mark the start of the new millennium, and with it, the ten year winter. When Dea moves between Tera and the Sun our planet will be covered in darkness. Humanity has hardly survived these last three winters, and if Lantia is to survive into the fourth Twilight, then we must defeat the Maldorians! For they have created a city, large enough for an entire civilization, deep below the flat plains of the South. We have attempted to negotiate for a place in this grand city, but to no avail. The blood feud between our people has blinded the Maldorians, and our only path is war. Make no mistake about this war will determine whether or not the Lantian people survive into the next age. So I, Lanister Tiberius III, declare in the name of the Gods, a crusade! You will march with the Gods and destroy the heretics of the South, and secure Lantia’s future!”
It was a quiet cheer for an army of Thirty-thousand. The Sage’s words didn’t make it any easier for them to march to there deaths. They all knew the dangers surrounding the voyage across the Dunbrahk Mountains, the journey would be long and hard, and it was infested with the Dorgoth. And when they finally arrived it was going to take everything they had to bring down the Great Wall, a barrier thirty feet high and made of ten feet of solid rock at its thinnest point. Even only manned with a thousand men it was enough to thwart the last crusade, a hundred years ago. The Gods must not have marched with that group..
“Winter is coming.” Galen said to himself as he watched the men march out of the city. The ground shook from each step they took as a group. His head shook slightly, how was he going to convince a bunch of men to throw there lives down for something most of them didn’t believe in? Winter had just been a season for as long as anyone could remember, and the only thing telling them otherwise was a damned thousand year old scroll. They didn’t fallow the charts of the stars, things moved so slowly it seemed as if Dea had been where it always was. But Galen had been showed the turth, he saw the evidence, winter was upon them, and they had been fools not to prepare.
_____________________________________________________
Three weeks later
Alec sighed as he warmed his hands by the campfire, thinking back to how they had been placed in this position. Galen had asked him to take twenty of his best rangers and scout half days ride ahead of the main army. It had been a week without as much as a letter from the main army. He sighed as he pulled his white wool cloak around him tighter, shivering slightly as his breath turned to steam. Damn the mountains. It always snowed in the mountains, in spring, summer, there was a snow.. Luckily being in the middle of summer it was only a constant mild snowfall. “They should have been back by now..” He said as he looked into the darkness of the woods around the abandon road they traveled. He had sent out six men to collect food over three hours ago. The woods where filled with wildlife, it shouldn’t have taken more then an hour, two at the max, to find some food.
He pulled the bow off his back before knocking one of his men’s shoulder with it. “Adrik, grab your bow.. We are going to see what’s keeping them. The rest of you, man the trees. If we aren’t back in two hours, head back to the main army and tell them we have company.” He looked over to Adrik to make sure he was ready before taking the lead. All of the rangers where expert trackers, making it easy to follow where the men had gone, even so, they slowed themselves to be cautious. It had taken them thirty minutes of slowly walking before they found the end of the trail..
Alec motioned for Adrik to crouch down as they slowly went over a small hill. As there eyes peered over the hill, all of Alec’s fears had come true. The bodies of the men where nothing but mangled corpses, stricken of all of there possessions, and chopped to bits by the jagged and nearly blunt instruments of the Dorgoth. “Back away. Slowly.. We have to get back to camp, warn the others.” He said before turning around and slowly walking away. It didn’t take long for the adrenaline to take over, and soon both men where flying back to camp. There senses dulled as they where desperate not to get caught alone out here. They hadn’t even noticed their approach silent.
Shadows appeared beside the two, a dozen different men running and grunting. Where the hell did they come from? Alec thought in a panic as he looked to his sides, barley noticing the two that ran in front of them meaning to cut them off as the others dashed in around from behind. “Stop and take the two in the front out.” He said before nooking an arrow and sliding to a stop on the snow. He pulled back an aimed, launching the arrow into ones neck while Adrik took out the other one. “Adrik, run back to camp. I will hold them off long enough to give you a good jump on them.” He said before turning around a nooking another arrow before releasing it into one more of the savage men. Adrik knew better then to argue, or at least Alec hoped he had the sense not to die with him today.
He managed to get off another shot before the distance between him and the Dorgath was all but a few feet. He drew one of his daggers as he ducked under the wide swing of a crude battleaxe. Alec slammed his bow into the man’s legs, knocking him onto the ground. The shaft of his bow splintered on the impact, and he took the broken point to the man’s neck before drawing another long dagger. As soon as he had gotten up a sword was thrust towards his chest. He narrowly side stepped the attack before closing the distance between him and the Dorgoth man, plunging his dagger deep in his chest before pulling it out and turning to the next threat. He caught the downward slice of the serrated sword in between his two daggers. He let out a straight kick into the man’s gut, knocking the wind out of him. He once again took advantage of the situation and charged, slicing the man’s wrist as soon as it came into reach, causing him to drop the blade before slicing his throat open.
He turned once more, however not in time to completely dodge the blow coming towards him. The sword sliced across his chest, the impact only slightly lessened by his flimsy chainmail. The blow didn’t kill him, however he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. He moved to the man’s side, only far enough to be able to slam his dagger into the back of his shoulder. He kicked his legs out from under him as he pushed further with the blade, before kneeling down next to him and severing his spinal cord. Two raced passed him, charging Adrik down. He dropped his knife before pulling out two small throwing knives. The first blade found its mark, nestling itself deep in the man’s carotid artery. The other one however only landed in the back of the man’s leg, causing him to fall. Alec grabbed the dead man’s sword, turning as he heard footsteps behind him. But he was too late, this time his chain mail would do nothing as a massive battleaxe swept across his torso. He gasped for one last breath before a fallow up strike took his head.
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Andreas sighed as he looked down at the clearing that was once called a road. Created nearly two hundred years ago, it was now little more then a few misplaced rocks covered in ice and snow. “Damn them.. My ass is starting to get sore.” He complained as shifted his weight, trying to find a more comfortable spot on the branches. It had been nearly forty minutes since Adrik and Alec took off. “They better have some food when they get back or I am going to be pissed.” A long hoot sounded behind him, causing him to shake his head. It was ranger code for “shut the hell up.” It wasn’t his fault that he was bored out of his mind, talking just helped.. He let out a quiet groan, he was one of the best shots, that’s why he was with the rangers, but all the waiting around was starting to drive him insane.
He half jumped out of the tree as he heard one of the horses start neighing. He looked down to see it trying to pull free from the rope binding it to the tree, desperately trying to run. His eyes scanned the area, subconsciously he nooked an arrow. He focused on a shape in the distance of the dark forest. It was human, and running straight for the road. He pulled his arrow back, waiting to make a clear id on the target. He gasped as Adrik ran on the road, before noticing the figure right behind him. Out of reaction instead of rash thinking he let the arrow go. It slammed into the Dorgath warrior’s eye, causing him to drop to the ground. He grinned to himself before grabbing another arrow, he had noticed something before anyone else, see them complain about that! He looked down towards Adrik for a moment; before it clicked that he was alone. One of the rangers let out another birdcall, telling them he was going to get the information and the rest to stay there.
He gulped, scanning the tree line as he waited for any signs of attack. The minutes seem to trickle by as he shook with adrenaline, before finally succumbing to boredom again. It seemed as though hours had passed, but in reality it was only a few minutes before a call to dismount came. Andreas practically jumped out of the tree as soon as the single had been given. He slung his bow over his shoulder and dashed over to Adrik and Typhus. “Whats going on?” Typhus gave him a sullen look before saying. “Alec is dead, and the Dorgath are on there way. Go untie the horses we have to get back to the main army now..” He stared at him in fear, before finally grasping the severity of the situation, snapping back to standard army protocol like most had never been seen before. “Yes sir!”
His fingers slipped on the rope as he tried to untie the different horses. A half dozen of their remaining men helped him get the various mounts. Only getting the number they needed, leaving the riderless beasts to there fates. He was halfway done with the first horn sounded, a few hundred feet away from the side Adrik had came from. Another one sounded off, a dozen meters to his right. There movements where like beasts instead of men, there mouths spewing the curses of there rough and savage tongue. He panicked as he turned around and ran towards the group of rangers in the middle of the road. Rangers where suppose to be the toughest division of the army, but Andreas was never really one of them. He wasn’t hardened and trained; he only got in because of his uncanny skills with a bow floated him passed the melee combat and psyche tests.
The familiar twang of the rangers bow filled the air as a dozen of the attackers fell to the ground in an instant. They dropped there bows, having unsheathed there daggers, or small swords, by the time the bows had touched the ground. Andreas slowly stopped before turning around and drawing a blade of his own. He twirled the curved short sword as he scanned over the several dozen men around him. His stance was only that of a standard infantrymen, but that training was superior to anything the Dorgath had, they where savages, wild and crazy. He just had to find there holes.. Find there holes.. His hands shook as a large man with a battle axe swung for his head. He ducked under the attack, slashing out across his gut. He paused for a second as the warm blood splashed across his face, and he watched the man’s intestines slowly fall out. It seemed so much different up close then it did from being up in a tree and hitting them with an arrow. His stomach started to turn and he fought the urge to hurl.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man swing towards his shoulder. Snapping back to reality he quickly blocked the blow before the two exchanged blows and parries. It didn’t take long for Andreas to get the opening he needed as he went for a stab. He knocked the blade to the side before rolling closer towards the Dorgath, using the momentum to carry his punch into the man’s jaw. The Dorgath grunted from the blow, disorientated long enough for Andreas to stab his blade threw one side of his neck and out the other. Andreas lost his balance as he yanked the blade out, not noticing he moved into striking range of his enemy. The battle axe chipped the bone right next to his eye before slicing right threw it. The force of the blow threw him to the ground as he screamed in pain, grabbing his severed eye. The handle of the battleaxe slammed into his head, causing the pain to fade and darkness to overcome him.
The battle lasted another several minutes, as the Lantian Military elite did battle with the savage warriors. By the time it had ended, only four other rangers aside from Andreas had survived. But even though the Dorgath outnumbered them three to one, there excellent skills had won the day. Won a battle that they never intended to fight, and lost the best men they had to offer in doing so.. Damn it all..
________________________________
Day four:
A patient came in with a strange black rash all across his body. It bears several resemblances to different skin diseases; however I have only seen black flesh from cases of gangrene. I can only hope this isn’t a life threatening diseases, and just something the poor sod had before joining the army and getting actual medical care. Damn peasants would lie about it being a preexisting condition.. Either way, further testing is required.
Day eight:
Another patient was brought in today with that damn spotted disease, making a total of five different outbreaks. From the best I can surmise the spots seem to be patches of neurotic flesh, slowly spreading out. However its appearance is closer to leprosy, but the incubation period is far to short for it. So far all herbs and medicines I have tried have been unresponsive, on in some cases accelerated the skin decay. The damn clerks wouln’t get off there holy asses long enough come down to my hospital and check these patients out. If this is a plague they are going to pay for there arrogance.
Day fourteen:
So far twenty five patents have come in with the exact same problem. The clerks have finally started taking the problem seriously and are using there powers to try and heal these people, as well as investigate the source. However they have taken over half of my assistants leaving me understaffed for any of the other patients that come in here. But Sir Orol himself came down to tell me to give them whatever they want as well as a give me a little speech about how this can’t keep spreading and I need to do my job. Who the hell does he think he is coming in here and acting like this is my fault? It’s the bloody Grand Sage Tiberius who sent us out into this forsaken place. Why the hell did I get drafted for this job?
Day twenty-one:
There are now over fifty reported cases, and over a dozen deaths. We have been ordered to burn the bodies, despite that religion states they should be buried. But for the sake of the army, I agree that the Gods will understand. The good news is that the disease has been tracked to a local bird that had become a bit of an exotic meal for those good enough with a bow to shoot one down. Luckily none of the rangers wasted there time with it, otherwise Sir Galen’s boot would really be up my ass. I can hear him preaching now about how important the Rangers are. That man is a buffoon and a horrible headache.
Day twenty-four:
Today the scouting party came back, unfortunately they had been ambushed by the Dorgath and barley escaped with there lives. The Ranger’s leader, Alec, was killed during the attack. Under my care is a young rookie who lost his eye.. Poor lad will probably never be able to shoot an arrow again with just his left eye. In other news, the death toll from the plague now stands at forty-eight, with an additional seventy people sick. With no cures the Clerks have completely taken over my hospital, all one hundred of them are working round the clock. Maybe I was a bit harsh on them at first, when push comes to shove they also are trying to save these people’s lives. Even if it does take a bit more for them to start caring. However, for all our efforts, they are all still dying.
Day twenty-nine
Never thought I would live to see the day the Head Cleric herself came to fight a disease. Apparently news of this plague has spread back to the capitol, and concerns of this plague whipping out the attacking force are great enough to endanger the second most powerful person in the country. We will see what the head of the Holy Order can do. Gods know we could use all the help we can get anyway.
Day thirty-one
Amazingly, after three-hundred and twenty-nine cases, we have finally had our first cure. I must say Lady Helen certainly earned her rank as the greatest healer in the country. She is teaching this magical cure to the cleric’s, hopefully we will have this entire mess cleared up. Its already killed nearly two-hundred people, and we are only a days march from the wall.
Day thirty-four
All remaining cases of the plague have amazingly been cured. The rest of the day the clerics will spend purifying the entire camp before we march tomorrow. Already we have been delayed nearly a week because of this damned plague. Unfortunately Lady Helen will be riding back to Lantia with her armed guard. We could use someone with that kind of skill after this battle is over.
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Galen unrolled a map onto the table in his tent; all around him where the various leaders of the different regiments. “As we all know the Chragond Wall was built to be an impenetrable fortress. There is only one way to get an army past it, and that is by opening the large iron gate smack dab in the middle of it. They will be expecting us to make our push for it, as anything else would be idiotic.. However, breaking the gate free from its stone roots will be a far more difficult task then it seems. It is locked a foot into stone from all directions, from the spikes it plants into the ground, to the rails it slides down on. All nestled deep within her rock. So, instead of launching a full scale assault against the gate, the army will be acting as decoys.. Typhus, I want you to take the Rangers and scale up the mountain tonight. Tonight is an eve of no moon, strange as it may be, the Gods may have used that plague to give you the cover of complete darkness. During the chaos of the battle you will repel down, camouflaged by your cloaks and land on the wall. After that, make your way down and open the gate, letting the knights in to help you finish off the enemies.
The rest of you will man the front lines; I want the archers to be shooting as many volleys onto the wall as possible, and the siege weapons should be aimed so they cause the most chaos possible. The knights will stay back until the gate is opened, at which point they will charge in before dismounting and take the wall. You have your orders.. Go see to your men.”
Galen sighed as everyone left the room. It was a half assed plan, most likely doomed to failure, but it was the best they had. The Rangers where there elite fighting force, always kept a hundred men strong, but after the Dorgath incident, only eighty-four of them remained. Would that be enough to take the wall? He supposed it would have to be.. Dawn would be upon them soon, he needed to rest before battle.
Lanister pushed open the doors to the balcony. Below him over thirty thousand men stood, dressed for battle. “As you all know, six years from now will mark the start of the new millennium, and with it, the ten year winter. When Dea moves between Tera and the Sun our planet will be covered in darkness. Humanity has hardly survived these last three winters, and if Lantia is to survive into the fourth Twilight, then we must defeat the Maldorians! For they have created a city, large enough for an entire civilization, deep below the flat plains of the South. We have attempted to negotiate for a place in this grand city, but to no avail. The blood feud between our people has blinded the Maldorians, and our only path is war. Make no mistake about this war will determine whether or not the Lantian people survive into the next age. So I, Lanister Tiberius III, declare in the name of the Gods, a crusade! You will march with the Gods and destroy the heretics of the South, and secure Lantia’s future!”
It was a quiet cheer for an army of Thirty-thousand. The Sage’s words didn’t make it any easier for them to march to there deaths. They all knew the dangers surrounding the voyage across the Dunbrahk Mountains, the journey would be long and hard, and it was infested with the Dorgoth. And when they finally arrived it was going to take everything they had to bring down the Great Wall, a barrier thirty feet high and made of ten feet of solid rock at its thinnest point. Even only manned with a thousand men it was enough to thwart the last crusade, a hundred years ago. The Gods must not have marched with that group..
“Winter is coming.” Galen said to himself as he watched the men march out of the city. The ground shook from each step they took as a group. His head shook slightly, how was he going to convince a bunch of men to throw there lives down for something most of them didn’t believe in? Winter had just been a season for as long as anyone could remember, and the only thing telling them otherwise was a damned thousand year old scroll. They didn’t fallow the charts of the stars, things moved so slowly it seemed as if Dea had been where it always was. But Galen had been showed the turth, he saw the evidence, winter was upon them, and they had been fools not to prepare.
_____________________________________________________
Three weeks later
Alec sighed as he warmed his hands by the campfire, thinking back to how they had been placed in this position. Galen had asked him to take twenty of his best rangers and scout half days ride ahead of the main army. It had been a week without as much as a letter from the main army. He sighed as he pulled his white wool cloak around him tighter, shivering slightly as his breath turned to steam. Damn the mountains. It always snowed in the mountains, in spring, summer, there was a snow.. Luckily being in the middle of summer it was only a constant mild snowfall. “They should have been back by now..” He said as he looked into the darkness of the woods around the abandon road they traveled. He had sent out six men to collect food over three hours ago. The woods where filled with wildlife, it shouldn’t have taken more then an hour, two at the max, to find some food.
He pulled the bow off his back before knocking one of his men’s shoulder with it. “Adrik, grab your bow.. We are going to see what’s keeping them. The rest of you, man the trees. If we aren’t back in two hours, head back to the main army and tell them we have company.” He looked over to Adrik to make sure he was ready before taking the lead. All of the rangers where expert trackers, making it easy to follow where the men had gone, even so, they slowed themselves to be cautious. It had taken them thirty minutes of slowly walking before they found the end of the trail..
Alec motioned for Adrik to crouch down as they slowly went over a small hill. As there eyes peered over the hill, all of Alec’s fears had come true. The bodies of the men where nothing but mangled corpses, stricken of all of there possessions, and chopped to bits by the jagged and nearly blunt instruments of the Dorgoth. “Back away. Slowly.. We have to get back to camp, warn the others.” He said before turning around and slowly walking away. It didn’t take long for the adrenaline to take over, and soon both men where flying back to camp. There senses dulled as they where desperate not to get caught alone out here. They hadn’t even noticed their approach silent.
Shadows appeared beside the two, a dozen different men running and grunting. Where the hell did they come from? Alec thought in a panic as he looked to his sides, barley noticing the two that ran in front of them meaning to cut them off as the others dashed in around from behind. “Stop and take the two in the front out.” He said before nooking an arrow and sliding to a stop on the snow. He pulled back an aimed, launching the arrow into ones neck while Adrik took out the other one. “Adrik, run back to camp. I will hold them off long enough to give you a good jump on them.” He said before turning around a nooking another arrow before releasing it into one more of the savage men. Adrik knew better then to argue, or at least Alec hoped he had the sense not to die with him today.
He managed to get off another shot before the distance between him and the Dorgath was all but a few feet. He drew one of his daggers as he ducked under the wide swing of a crude battleaxe. Alec slammed his bow into the man’s legs, knocking him onto the ground. The shaft of his bow splintered on the impact, and he took the broken point to the man’s neck before drawing another long dagger. As soon as he had gotten up a sword was thrust towards his chest. He narrowly side stepped the attack before closing the distance between him and the Dorgoth man, plunging his dagger deep in his chest before pulling it out and turning to the next threat. He caught the downward slice of the serrated sword in between his two daggers. He let out a straight kick into the man’s gut, knocking the wind out of him. He once again took advantage of the situation and charged, slicing the man’s wrist as soon as it came into reach, causing him to drop the blade before slicing his throat open.
He turned once more, however not in time to completely dodge the blow coming towards him. The sword sliced across his chest, the impact only slightly lessened by his flimsy chainmail. The blow didn’t kill him, however he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. He moved to the man’s side, only far enough to be able to slam his dagger into the back of his shoulder. He kicked his legs out from under him as he pushed further with the blade, before kneeling down next to him and severing his spinal cord. Two raced passed him, charging Adrik down. He dropped his knife before pulling out two small throwing knives. The first blade found its mark, nestling itself deep in the man’s carotid artery. The other one however only landed in the back of the man’s leg, causing him to fall. Alec grabbed the dead man’s sword, turning as he heard footsteps behind him. But he was too late, this time his chain mail would do nothing as a massive battleaxe swept across his torso. He gasped for one last breath before a fallow up strike took his head.
_______________________________
Andreas sighed as he looked down at the clearing that was once called a road. Created nearly two hundred years ago, it was now little more then a few misplaced rocks covered in ice and snow. “Damn them.. My ass is starting to get sore.” He complained as shifted his weight, trying to find a more comfortable spot on the branches. It had been nearly forty minutes since Adrik and Alec took off. “They better have some food when they get back or I am going to be pissed.” A long hoot sounded behind him, causing him to shake his head. It was ranger code for “shut the hell up.” It wasn’t his fault that he was bored out of his mind, talking just helped.. He let out a quiet groan, he was one of the best shots, that’s why he was with the rangers, but all the waiting around was starting to drive him insane.
He half jumped out of the tree as he heard one of the horses start neighing. He looked down to see it trying to pull free from the rope binding it to the tree, desperately trying to run. His eyes scanned the area, subconsciously he nooked an arrow. He focused on a shape in the distance of the dark forest. It was human, and running straight for the road. He pulled his arrow back, waiting to make a clear id on the target. He gasped as Adrik ran on the road, before noticing the figure right behind him. Out of reaction instead of rash thinking he let the arrow go. It slammed into the Dorgath warrior’s eye, causing him to drop to the ground. He grinned to himself before grabbing another arrow, he had noticed something before anyone else, see them complain about that! He looked down towards Adrik for a moment; before it clicked that he was alone. One of the rangers let out another birdcall, telling them he was going to get the information and the rest to stay there.
He gulped, scanning the tree line as he waited for any signs of attack. The minutes seem to trickle by as he shook with adrenaline, before finally succumbing to boredom again. It seemed as though hours had passed, but in reality it was only a few minutes before a call to dismount came. Andreas practically jumped out of the tree as soon as the single had been given. He slung his bow over his shoulder and dashed over to Adrik and Typhus. “Whats going on?” Typhus gave him a sullen look before saying. “Alec is dead, and the Dorgath are on there way. Go untie the horses we have to get back to the main army now..” He stared at him in fear, before finally grasping the severity of the situation, snapping back to standard army protocol like most had never been seen before. “Yes sir!”
His fingers slipped on the rope as he tried to untie the different horses. A half dozen of their remaining men helped him get the various mounts. Only getting the number they needed, leaving the riderless beasts to there fates. He was halfway done with the first horn sounded, a few hundred feet away from the side Adrik had came from. Another one sounded off, a dozen meters to his right. There movements where like beasts instead of men, there mouths spewing the curses of there rough and savage tongue. He panicked as he turned around and ran towards the group of rangers in the middle of the road. Rangers where suppose to be the toughest division of the army, but Andreas was never really one of them. He wasn’t hardened and trained; he only got in because of his uncanny skills with a bow floated him passed the melee combat and psyche tests.
The familiar twang of the rangers bow filled the air as a dozen of the attackers fell to the ground in an instant. They dropped there bows, having unsheathed there daggers, or small swords, by the time the bows had touched the ground. Andreas slowly stopped before turning around and drawing a blade of his own. He twirled the curved short sword as he scanned over the several dozen men around him. His stance was only that of a standard infantrymen, but that training was superior to anything the Dorgath had, they where savages, wild and crazy. He just had to find there holes.. Find there holes.. His hands shook as a large man with a battle axe swung for his head. He ducked under the attack, slashing out across his gut. He paused for a second as the warm blood splashed across his face, and he watched the man’s intestines slowly fall out. It seemed so much different up close then it did from being up in a tree and hitting them with an arrow. His stomach started to turn and he fought the urge to hurl.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man swing towards his shoulder. Snapping back to reality he quickly blocked the blow before the two exchanged blows and parries. It didn’t take long for Andreas to get the opening he needed as he went for a stab. He knocked the blade to the side before rolling closer towards the Dorgath, using the momentum to carry his punch into the man’s jaw. The Dorgath grunted from the blow, disorientated long enough for Andreas to stab his blade threw one side of his neck and out the other. Andreas lost his balance as he yanked the blade out, not noticing he moved into striking range of his enemy. The battle axe chipped the bone right next to his eye before slicing right threw it. The force of the blow threw him to the ground as he screamed in pain, grabbing his severed eye. The handle of the battleaxe slammed into his head, causing the pain to fade and darkness to overcome him.
The battle lasted another several minutes, as the Lantian Military elite did battle with the savage warriors. By the time it had ended, only four other rangers aside from Andreas had survived. But even though the Dorgath outnumbered them three to one, there excellent skills had won the day. Won a battle that they never intended to fight, and lost the best men they had to offer in doing so.. Damn it all..
________________________________
Day four:
A patient came in with a strange black rash all across his body. It bears several resemblances to different skin diseases; however I have only seen black flesh from cases of gangrene. I can only hope this isn’t a life threatening diseases, and just something the poor sod had before joining the army and getting actual medical care. Damn peasants would lie about it being a preexisting condition.. Either way, further testing is required.
Day eight:
Another patient was brought in today with that damn spotted disease, making a total of five different outbreaks. From the best I can surmise the spots seem to be patches of neurotic flesh, slowly spreading out. However its appearance is closer to leprosy, but the incubation period is far to short for it. So far all herbs and medicines I have tried have been unresponsive, on in some cases accelerated the skin decay. The damn clerks wouln’t get off there holy asses long enough come down to my hospital and check these patients out. If this is a plague they are going to pay for there arrogance.
Day fourteen:
So far twenty five patents have come in with the exact same problem. The clerks have finally started taking the problem seriously and are using there powers to try and heal these people, as well as investigate the source. However they have taken over half of my assistants leaving me understaffed for any of the other patients that come in here. But Sir Orol himself came down to tell me to give them whatever they want as well as a give me a little speech about how this can’t keep spreading and I need to do my job. Who the hell does he think he is coming in here and acting like this is my fault? It’s the bloody Grand Sage Tiberius who sent us out into this forsaken place. Why the hell did I get drafted for this job?
Day twenty-one:
There are now over fifty reported cases, and over a dozen deaths. We have been ordered to burn the bodies, despite that religion states they should be buried. But for the sake of the army, I agree that the Gods will understand. The good news is that the disease has been tracked to a local bird that had become a bit of an exotic meal for those good enough with a bow to shoot one down. Luckily none of the rangers wasted there time with it, otherwise Sir Galen’s boot would really be up my ass. I can hear him preaching now about how important the Rangers are. That man is a buffoon and a horrible headache.
Day twenty-four:
Today the scouting party came back, unfortunately they had been ambushed by the Dorgath and barley escaped with there lives. The Ranger’s leader, Alec, was killed during the attack. Under my care is a young rookie who lost his eye.. Poor lad will probably never be able to shoot an arrow again with just his left eye. In other news, the death toll from the plague now stands at forty-eight, with an additional seventy people sick. With no cures the Clerks have completely taken over my hospital, all one hundred of them are working round the clock. Maybe I was a bit harsh on them at first, when push comes to shove they also are trying to save these people’s lives. Even if it does take a bit more for them to start caring. However, for all our efforts, they are all still dying.
Day twenty-nine
Never thought I would live to see the day the Head Cleric herself came to fight a disease. Apparently news of this plague has spread back to the capitol, and concerns of this plague whipping out the attacking force are great enough to endanger the second most powerful person in the country. We will see what the head of the Holy Order can do. Gods know we could use all the help we can get anyway.
Day thirty-one
Amazingly, after three-hundred and twenty-nine cases, we have finally had our first cure. I must say Lady Helen certainly earned her rank as the greatest healer in the country. She is teaching this magical cure to the cleric’s, hopefully we will have this entire mess cleared up. Its already killed nearly two-hundred people, and we are only a days march from the wall.
Day thirty-four
All remaining cases of the plague have amazingly been cured. The rest of the day the clerics will spend purifying the entire camp before we march tomorrow. Already we have been delayed nearly a week because of this damned plague. Unfortunately Lady Helen will be riding back to Lantia with her armed guard. We could use someone with that kind of skill after this battle is over.
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Galen unrolled a map onto the table in his tent; all around him where the various leaders of the different regiments. “As we all know the Chragond Wall was built to be an impenetrable fortress. There is only one way to get an army past it, and that is by opening the large iron gate smack dab in the middle of it. They will be expecting us to make our push for it, as anything else would be idiotic.. However, breaking the gate free from its stone roots will be a far more difficult task then it seems. It is locked a foot into stone from all directions, from the spikes it plants into the ground, to the rails it slides down on. All nestled deep within her rock. So, instead of launching a full scale assault against the gate, the army will be acting as decoys.. Typhus, I want you to take the Rangers and scale up the mountain tonight. Tonight is an eve of no moon, strange as it may be, the Gods may have used that plague to give you the cover of complete darkness. During the chaos of the battle you will repel down, camouflaged by your cloaks and land on the wall. After that, make your way down and open the gate, letting the knights in to help you finish off the enemies.
The rest of you will man the front lines; I want the archers to be shooting as many volleys onto the wall as possible, and the siege weapons should be aimed so they cause the most chaos possible. The knights will stay back until the gate is opened, at which point they will charge in before dismounting and take the wall. You have your orders.. Go see to your men.”
Galen sighed as everyone left the room. It was a half assed plan, most likely doomed to failure, but it was the best they had. The Rangers where there elite fighting force, always kept a hundred men strong, but after the Dorgath incident, only eighty-four of them remained. Would that be enough to take the wall? He supposed it would have to be.. Dawn would be upon them soon, he needed to rest before battle.
